Please allow myself to introduce myself...

[Michael J]

With apologies to Austin Powers.

My name is Michael, I live in North Carolina, USA. I shall remain last name anonymous in the great tradition of internet forums.

I am what some people might call a "semi-professional" in that I get paid for some of my work, but honestly, I am nowhere near competent enough to be a professional. What I am is a writer who has to include photography with his work, and so I get paid for it and they won't accept the work without images, so hence the "semi".

Another forum that I'm on, I think it's Nikonians, you have to actually use your real name, which is refreshing these days.

Anywho...

I started back in the 70s (because I am that old) using film (duh) cameras, the last one being the ubiquitous Pentax K1000, and it was an occasional hobby with me, and then finally in the 21st century I bought a digital camera, largely for eBay and the like, and then I bought a "real" camera, a DSLR. It was a tough choice between Nikon and Canon, knowing that I'd be setting myself up for life, and I just preferred the feel of the Nikon over the Canon Rebel, no other reason. I started with a D7000 and then my editor insisted that I go full frame so I bought a D600 knowing about the shutter issues but did it anyway, only to have to clean my sensor daily to get the oil off, and so I sold that and got a D750. I also dabbled with the Df which was cool but not so much, and I think I actually bought it twice, making money on the sale both times. I got a Fujifilm XT which was really neat and great for travel, but I couldn't adjust to the different UI from the Nikon, which I still used for work stuff, so I sold that. Recently I bought the Zfc (again for the retro styling vibe, like the Df) but I really don't like the viewfinder, and the camera and kit lens just felt cheap and I didn't think the photo quality was all that, so I recently sold that on eBay at a huge loss.

I buy stuff new only if I can't get a big discount used, but I prefer the slightly older Nikon "D" lens to the kind-of-cheap "G" lenses. I have a Nikkor 105mm f/2.8D used mostly for eBay stuff, a 50mm f/1.8G for travel because it's so light and sharp, and a Tokina 24-70mm f/2.8 zoomie because it's perfect for work photography. It's way too heavy to travel with, so I just bought a hopefully very nice Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D off of eBay that I have high hopes for. I don't have the superduper fast lenses in these sizes because I'm just not good enough to justify it.

This is me, self-portrait from a few years ago.

 

[Smaug]

Welcome, from SE Wisconsin!

I had a K1000 SE for my first serious camera as well. Made a lot of images with that and its 50/2 lens. I was the family party documentary photographer throughout the 90s.

I used to prefer the D lenses when I was shooting Nikon F, but when I made this latest jump to FF mirrorless and they lost AF capability, I sold them all. I don't feel like the G lenses were cheap, but they had other priorities: They went for sharpness and contrast, and allowed more distortion, knowing that would easily be corrected by the modern camera bodies.

I sold my G lenses too and gradually went to native Z lenses for my Z5.

********

Back to you. What do you write about?

I have heard that photojournalist is a field that's dying, in most publications, because the editors just ask the journalists to take pictures too. I think that's a big loss to the printed publications. Not that you guys can't do an adequate job, it's just a shame that Photographer is a dying job. :-(

Enjoy your stay!

 

[Michael J]

Back to you. What do you write about?

I have heard that photojournalist is a field that's dying, in most publications, because they editors just as the journalists to take pictures too. I think that's a big loss to the printed publications. Not that you guys can't do an adequate job, it's just a shame that Photographer is a dying job. :-(

Enjoy your stay!

Thanks Jeremy. I write about cars, and motorcycles, for club magazines (BMW, Audi, etc.). I find cars challenging to photograph because they are big on the outside, small on the inside, and since I don't have a studio, I'm taking pictures outside which means shadows, direct sun, reflections, etc.

I think journalism, as a whole, is really changing with Internet "publishing" where anyone that can move their fingers can contribute content. Much of it is poor, unfortunately, likely due to the low bar of entry, poor pay and (IMHO) off-shoring of writing and editing by people meeting metrics rather than attempting to craft decent prose.

And the "photographer is a dying job" is likely partly due to the proliferation of smart phones with remarkably capable built-in cameras so that anyone can take a picture of anything. Again, IMHO.