May 9, 2022

This post was pulled from the archives after the web server went down.

Hello!

Entry number 125 for the 2022 365 Black & White Challenge is a photo from The AUSVEG VIC Awards for Excellence event.

Sunday

Well, that was a weekend.

A birthday party, a huge event to photograph, Mother’s Day and roller derby training. But the biggest thing for me was a phone call I was not expecting to receive until August.

Regular readers of my blog will know that I had a camera on order that wasn’t due to arrive until August. Yesterday afternoon, I received a call saying it had arrived.

I immediately cancelled any plans I may have had for the afternoon and at 3 pm left for the CBD with everything I needed for the AUSVEG awards night event I was shooting, packed in the car. I made it to Ted’s Camera by 4 pm and started the trade-in procedure on two of my cameras. The bulk of the money had already been paid, I was just waiting on the new camera to arrive before trading in the two cameras that would be part of the transaction.

Once all that was done and the new camera and accessories (stupid memory cards were $500 each!) collected, I headed out to grab a bite to eat before my event that night. Found a little sushi place and then proceeded to order what was the worst sushi I’ve ever had. I couldn’t even finish one piece, let alone four. Resigned to the fact I’d be eating on the way home after the event I set off for the venue.

I was around 90 minutes early when I arrived and went into the ballroom at the Pullman Hotel on Albert Park lake, a very swish venue. The videographer was just starting his setup and asked me about the gear I was using. I told him I had a brand new camera I was excited to use. He asked how old it was and then had to pick up his jaw as I literally took out the box and unwrapped the camera. I immediately began charging the battery and going through the menu to start setting it up.

To cut a potentially very long and complimentary post about the Nikon Z9 camera, it has exceeded all expectations and although I would advise anyone against using a camera they only just picked up on a paying gig, it performed admirably.

I’m so glad I didn’t initiate the move to Sony and so grateful to have the Z9 in my kit. My wife has (currently) 1/3 ownership of the camera which was how we could afford it and I’m genuinely excited to see her use it. We now have to save for another one (I only have to save for 1/3 ownership of that one) and we’ll each have one if we ever have a shooting conflict.

I’m now off to actually read the manual as this thing nearly needs a post-graduate degree to operate and it does so many cool things that I actually want to figure it all out. I may lose my “man card” for reading the manual, but I’m gaining one hell of a tool.

If you’ve made it this far, as always, thank you for your time and your attention! I will see you for the next post.

Richard