At the end of 2022, I found myself in a new country. I've been to this country before but that's not what this post is about. I wanted to share my thoughts about what I want to practice with my photography journey in the year 2023.
The Approach
Since my start in making images, I've been shooting a mix of color with a dash of black and white. For 2023 I am committing to making images only in black and white. Around mid-December, I came across Eric Kim's blog. Eric is a fantastic street photographer with a signature style. One of the many posts on his site covers black and white and his thoughts behind it. I was inspired.
Limitations
I had a funny realization about taking images on my phone vs taking images on my camera. I don't crop at all when I shoot with my phone. I will apply that same principle with my cameras. I have nothing against cropping at all, I've done my fair share of it. Since I've stopped cropping I've noticed that I am more aware of what's on the edges of the frame. I tended to be a very straight-on shooter and my cropping followed that mentality.
I will be using a mix of 3 cameras this year, all roughly with the same focal length.
Sony A7
Sony A7RIII
FujiFilm X-E1
My primary camera will most likely be the A7. It's light, full frame, and pairs nicely with the ZEISS Loxia 2/35. I only have two batteries for it, which at the moment lasts me about 10-30k steps when I go out to shoot.
If for some reason I forget to charge the batteries or am feeling conscious about the lack of a silent shutter, I'll use the Sony A7RIII also using the ZEISS Loxia 2/35
The Fujifilm X-E1 is a camera that I just enjoy using. It's outdated and slow and I find that I can only focus properly when I shoot in black and white. The Fuji will be paired with the ZEISS 2.8/28 from the Contax G cameras.
Personal Challenge
I'll also be sharing one image a day on social media. The photos are number 0** to share one image for each calendar year. My thought process is simple. Not allowing me to overthink which image goes well with a previous post and allowing me to explore why I took the image in the first place and why it captivated me.
The numbering system also ties in with a health challenge that I've set up for myself with push-ups. Keeping it as simple as 1 more push-up per day, with only one set. I am finding that this allows my body to incrementally increase my strength and allow my body to recover very quickly.
Final Thoughts
I will keep this process simple. At the end of the year, I will print out all the images I took and add them to a journal. I'm still testing out the paper, but that's another story. Once the journal is completed I'll send it out to one of my subscribers. Cheers