So I think I recognized a few names around here when I just glanced down the board. I used to surf these board web talkins quite a bit. Then photography went from being a job I loved that happened to make money to a job that I did to make money. Then I left that job, but was still, more or less, out of photography.
I was shooting high school sports, with a dash of collegiate and pro here and there. At first the team picture days were the thing that did it. They became a drag. I learned a lot from doing them early in my career, but they became a drag quickly. Nobody wanted anything creative, they all just wanted the same exact picture that they'd been getting for years and years, flawlessly executed, and quick. I wasn't so much a photographer during those shoots as I was a logistics specialist.
Then even the games started to be a drag to me. At times some truly special stuff would happen but it mostly turned into a "I need to deliver x number of shots of the players, one of each player if possible, cheerleader shots, crowd shots, a few atmosphere shots, I need y % in landscape and z% in portrait orientation, how quick can I get out of the stadium when the game is over?"
I had become jaded. Cameras were purely utilitarian tools. I used a Nikon D7000, D3 and D800 and Canon 7D, 1DX and 5DMIII depending on who I was shooting for. I used some really incredible lenses (Canon 70-200 f/2.8 IS-II L being probably still my all time favorite lens). But they were all just gear. Heavy gear. Gear that marked me as a dude that was there to take some photos because somebody had paid him to do it. Gear that got the job done. And at times I did like it, but it was also just a job by that point.
So, I left. And I didn't regret it. Waking up at 3 AM to prep for a full day of on site shoots at different locations was gladly left behind. Bratty kids whining about the hot sun, even though you were in all black and there all day, a thing of my past. And I was relieved.
I thought I'd pick up my personal camera more. And I did, but only very occasionally, and even when I did pick up my personal camera, 99% of the time it was because I felt some sense of personal guilt; $30K of camera gear sitting under the bed (lights) and in your closet (cameras and lenses) has a way of weighing on your mind. I didn't feel that thrill. And the stuff I took during that period showed. I still had my technical skills, I could still take a perfectly acceptable photo. But nothing I took during that period would ever adorn a room in my house.
And then, on a sort of whim, I bought a Fuji X100T as a birthday present to myself. I had had a good sales year, no other "frivolity" was calling my name, and I had always loved the feel and look of those things the few times i had seen them in person.
At first there was the "new gear honeymoon" phase, of course I was taking pictures with it. I love playing with new gear, be it a laptop, nice pen, new watch or whatever. But then something funny happened: I fell in love with *photography* again for its own sake.
With a camera that could go basically anywhere with me, that I didn't have to fuss with offloading a 80-200 two ring f/2.8, I actually *did* start taking it everywhere with me. And with the Fuji you aren't "that weird guy with a camera weirdly taking pictures, kids stay away from him please and if he looks at you funny yell and scream" you're "oh, that sort of vaguely hipstery looking guy who is otherwise just normal." Whereas people had an almost repulsed reaction about my dSLRs, everybody loved the X100T. Tell them that I can email them a picture *right there from the camera*? Game over.
And it changed my approach too. I used to be a "always shoot raw, always!" person. I fell in love with Fuji's JPG processing. Editing was previously this huge formal affair involving long hours and blurry eyes and coffee. Now it's mostly done on my phone or ipad, if it all.
I used to snipe away at a distance, everything nicely in rule of thirds, perfect shutter speed for the action, appropriate depth of field, all controlled manually. Now, I get in. I mostly shoot manual-ish still, but with auto ISO set up and exposure comp. That dang auto-iso these days, man I tell you what, it's something. To think you used to have to actually physically change film to do that.
Photography was, once again, about how I felt. It was again a release, not a burden. It was about my love of the image, my love of what I'm seeing.
While the X100T is a great piece of gear, and certainly not cheap, maybe my favorite thing about it is that it just gets out of the dang way. It's my favorite camera ever, because it makes things not about the camera.
It's like going from the finnicky girlfriend who you have to constantly worry about every little thing. She has all the measurements and is objectively way out of your league. She impresses people, but in a standoffish, aloof sort of way. But you don't like being with her. The Fuji is the classic beauty who just lets you relax and enjoy yourself and just have fun with being with her.
Every step along the way just flows, from carrying it, to quickly being able to grab a shot, to nailing the in camera JPG processing, to uploading it in seconds after shooting.
My D600 and D7000 are great cameras. All the glass I have for them are awesome. I don't love those cameras. I love the X100T.
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