The “reboot”
Coming back to photography after over a decade feels like stepping into a familiar room that’s been renovated while you were away — some things are exactly where you remember them, others are new and unexpected. My path into photography wasn’t linear: I started by assisting local photographers around 2005, moved into wedding photography after leaving the tech sector during the 2008 financial crisis, built a professional practice, joined WPJA, and collected awards that affirmed the craft. In 2014 I stepped away and returned to the tech world. I haven’t picked up a camera since — until now.
While being part of our clients’ most important days was deeply rewarding, I found myself spending more time on non-photography tasks—logistics, client management, and the ever-growing admin side of the business—until the craft itself felt secondary. I also noticed I had unconsciously begun chasing trends from Style Me Pretty and similar sites, shaping our work to match a popular aesthetic rather than staying true to the vision that originally drew me to photography. After exiting the business in 2014, I stopped using a camera entirely, not even for family moments, until a couple of years ago when I picked up a Nikon ZF and began photographing our kids, our three German shepherds. Those early, quiet sessions brought small joys back, but it wasn’t until a trip to China this year that the spark fully reignited—being in new places, seeing familiar subjects through a different light, reminded me why I fell in love with photography in the first place.
It was not a planned photo trip at all, it was just for fun and sightseeing. I only packed a Nikon ZF with a single 26mm lens. As it turns out, that was all I needed.
After a long flight to Shanghai, I went to the Bund early next morning just hoping to get some photos of the iconic scene in good light before the 4 hour high speed rail to Beijing. Saw a group of people “twirling” their kite. I watched a gentleman doing this, got some random shots from the side and thought to myself: I have GOT to get a shot of him hopefully with the kite circling around him. At that moment the instinct kicks in.
Nikon Zf 26mm
I haven’t had the sense of anticipation for years - the sense that if you work the scene, something interesting might happen. I have spent the rest of that trip having fun, eating lots of yummy food, and not really caring about photos at all. But that image stuck with me afterwards.
So, maybe it’s time for a ‘reboot’ back into the photography world. For myself.
-T
