I’m stephen,
nice to meet you
My Photography journey
The first camera i can remember was a canon slr i got in primary school. there i learned film photography as well as developing the pictures afterwards, which made for great birthday and christmas presents :)
After that a long time went by until my next one. It was a Canon 500d with a kit lens just around the time I started university in addition with a third party zoom lens. With my interest in photography renewed and the money from my first jobs I got myself a Sony a7 iii as well as some lenses from Sony and Tamron (really great value for money). I was impressed from the full frame quality and started taking my camera with me on my trips as well.
After a couple of years I noticed that I lost some of my motivation to take out the camera and instead took more photos on my phone, which I guess is fine, but defeats the purpose. I figured out the main reason was the weight of the full frame setup. This lead me end my Sony adventure and sell everything.
By this time Fuji released the XT-4. I always liked Fuji, but when I took a look at the XT-3 some years before I was sad it didn’t have optical image stabilisation. Fortunately they fixed that with the XT-4. This is my camera of choice for some years now and I’m very happy with it. In my kit are two zoom lenses as well as a nifty fifty. Nothing special but it works well for me
hiking, climbing and much more
Being outside is an important part of my life. It’s a much needed break from working a normal desk job. This is true not only for my physical, but also my mental wellbeing. This is why my wife and I recently moved from Berlin, Germany to the beautiful Graz, Austria. Here we are much closer to nature and the mountains.
Hiking, via feratas and climbing are great ways to explore the vast nature here. My camera always with me, of course. Sometimes climbing up a mountain is a bit tough, because of my moderately fear of hights. It got much better over time and hopefully one day I will overcome it completely.
As many of you probably too, I also deal with mental problems. Being out in nature, away from the noise and busy city, helps me to slow down, reflect and recenter myself. Sometimes it is hard to get going, but as soon as I’m out the door I’m looking forward to the adventure.