I’m a professional photographer concentrating on landscapes, seascapes, architecture, macro, and travel (or all of these combined, when in a foreign country). In addition, I shoot some commercial portraiture, street photography, infrared, and astrophotography. I even make occasional but somewhat laughable forays into wildlife photography (my wildlife skills are rated at ‘roadkill’ level).
So what is a high-frame-rate, fast-focusing action and sports photography camera like the Canon EOS R3 doing in the hands of a low-shot-count, compositionally contemplative photographer? The answer, quite simply, is opening creative doors.
Everyone who holds my R3 in their hands looks back at me and grins. I have seen my 80-year-old mum start to grin and shape-shift, as she too can feel the limitless power that resonates from this magic wand.
Becoming the owner of top-level professional level equipment changes you a lot. It demands you become the very best you can. You stand straighter, walk cooler as the world seems to pass more harmoniously. Armed and dangerous, you become more observant and talk less. On the daily commute, you devour the thousand-page PDF manual, looking for methods that will become your advantage. On the sofa, you scrutinise the menus in blank self-absorption, practising and memorising mental pathways, learning the layout and handling like Jason Bourne. Right now, I could kill you with a towel.
I owned a Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III and then an EOS-1D X in 2014 and it changed everything. The 1D X spent most of the year rather surprisingly as a summer backup to a Canon EOS 6D (which has Wi-Fi and GPS essential for my work). Sat lounging around in hotels smoking cigars, it sat waiting patiently for deployment in the Arctic during the auroral winter months. One winter morning in northern Finland, I broke a personal record
