If you’ve read any of my posts on gear, like this one about why I switched from Canon To Nikon, you’ve heard me say that I truly don’t believe great photography is about the latest and greatest gear. I think it’s about the way we each uniquely see the world, the way we connect with each other, the hustle we put into how we do our job, knowing how to technically capture what your imagination sees – and, oh, only about 4000 other things. That being said, when you know what your vision is, when you know what you are most seeking when photographing your subject, working with the best gear for your unique style is a significant factor in being able to best create what you often visualize first. One of my favorite gear choices is the Nikon D800, for a lot of reasons – but a big factor is simply that it is exceptionally robust and strikingly portable. That’s a big deal for me because my shoots are very active ones, and I don’t like to get trapped under a lot of heavy gear. So, given my love for this camera, I’m quite honored that Nikon chose to showcase my philosophy on shooting and my work in their latest 2-page advertisement in this month’s super cool PDN Magazine, all about the D800. They created a pretty lovely spread: 
In addition, Nikon was kind enough to feature me and my work in their current issue of Nikon World Magazine. You can see the whole article here. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen this magazine in print, but it’s gorgeously put together. They use lovely paper and seriously spot-on printing of some truly great photography. In this world of Online Everything, it’s truly a pleasure to sit down and read a purposefully-printed periodical (go ahead, say that 5x fast). Check out the magazine when you get a chance! 
What do YOU love most about your gear? Doesn’t matter what brand, what product, what usage – what do you love that you can express with your choice in gear?? For me, it’s about using a great tool that crisply, sharply, beautifully allows me to show what I see and works with how I uniquely shoot. (Because it just doesn’t do me much good to use a 100-pound gear setup extraordinaire that’s incredibly precise but won’t let me move). For you? My friends at my favorite (huge) House of Gear, Adorama, are doing a $100 gift card giveaway to one commenter on this blog post. You can use this $100 towards any gear or product or software or tool or accessory or educational product or, seriously, whatever you’d like. Adorama sells pretty much anything imagery-related – plus much more. We’ve done this gift card giveaway multiple times in the past on this blog, and I love it when the winner emails me : “Wow! That was just like a free $100, pretty much.” Yeah, pretty much. So, go! Share what your gear helps you most express in a comment below and be automatically entered to win. And entered to win fast. We’ll be sending you your $100 Adorama gift card giveaway next week!
I have always been a fan Tamara and enjoy your books and seminars. You have inspired me to just be myself and form my own style in photography. I hope we get to meet in person someday. Until then, keep up the great work.
I love that my gear allows me to capture my most precious memories.
I just recently upgraded from a D90 to the D800 and I love it! It is by far the best camera I have ever owned and I don’t know how I lived without it for so long! Thank you Nikon for everything you do and thank you Tamara Lackey for continuing to educate us all!!
I love the ease of use of my equipment! I don’t want to have to think about where is my setting when I have little ones running and I need to get the shot. I also love the crisp, almost HD look on my images!
Unmistakably for me, when I shoot portraits, I use and love my D800. It makes my job easy my capturing all the detail that I’ve thought during the course of a shoot, and doing so beautifully and efficiently – there’s no need for me to recompose again and again and when I’m dialed in, it’s pure magic with each click.
I also am one to who lives by the thought that the gear doesn’t make the photographer, the photographer makes him/herself. The right tool just helps. 🙂
I fell in love with my canon 5dmkII because it let’s me shoot without the need of a flash in most situations. I don’t like the look or the extra bulk. But really any camera will do as far as I’m concerned.
Thank you Tamara for all your do for our industry. I’ve heard you speak at Skip’s Summer School and have always followed your work. When I went pro I switched to Nikon and love it! Thank you again!
More gear doesn’t help you get better… but better gear often does.
I remember the first time I shot with a non-kit lens and saw the photographic world open before my eyes. Going back to that kit lens was like shooting through mud and I knew I had to get better glass. That was the beginning of the journey for me. I bought a 50mm f/1.4 specifically to photograph my kids. That lens also taught me a lot about the way I see.
Congratulations on being showcased by Nikon! Your work is inspirational.
I have been so inspired by your work and your lifestyle, thanks for sharing!
I agree, it’s not what gear is the best… it’s what gear is the best for the vision you are trying to relay to your audience. After watching your courses on CreativeLive and KelbyTraining, I can say that I would follow your work, Tamara, if you were shooting sheet film through a Nine West Shoebox Pinhole Camera. I appreciate your vision.
I love that my gear allows me to use different pieces (sometimes many pieces together) to suit the many different moods and moments I want to capture, share and cherish forever. There’s nothing like capturing a moment and showing it to someone else and seeing that same feeling come over them that you had while photographing it.
Congrats on the two publications. I love my gear (Nikon D90 and my 50 mm 1.8 nikkor lens). Helps me document my life, see pretty much like my “normal vision” would.
I think my gear allows me to capture forever what my eye sees for just a moment. I am looking at a standout on my wall of my girl when she was about 4, I had made her a fairy tutu (tons of tulle) for a costume and she was so excited, said I was the best mommy and that she would never take it off. I looked down to see her smoothing the tulle with her then chubby little hands and I knew I needed to have those chubby hands and that moment on my wall. She is 11 now and I can still remember how the light was flooding in my window and how full my heart was. Lordy, do I miss those chubby little fingers. My camera is not just a tool…it is a memory maker.
I recently upgraded my body (to D600) and I love being able to capture the atmosphere I want now, in low light situations that I couldn’t before. It gives me WAY more creative license without the noise and stress, and I can get the image I see in my head, not the compromise I have to make due to equipment limitations. My gear allows me to play with natural light more and get more natural results.
By the way, I have loved and learned a lot from your Kelby Training workshops. Please keep up the great work – you are a great inspiration.
My gear enables me to freeze time so to speak. To capture the memories and special moments that go by way too fast!
I would love to win a $100 gift card from Adorama, I am currently in the market for a new Nikon!
As an owner of a simple Canon T3i and a 50mm 1.8 I find that for me it’s about how I make the customer feel during and after their session and not so much the gear. Don’t get me wrong would love to shoot with the expensive gear but its not an option right now. Make the most with what you have and create images that your customer will fall in love with. I recently had done a Senior session and this girl was going thru a state of depression and after our session she Facebook’d me a message that basically said “over the past year I have been dealing with some pretty bad depression and anxiety and not much self confidence, and with the pictures you took I can honestly say that I believe that I am truly beautiful and I can definitely see God’s beauty in me! It’s a great feeling so thanks so much for all of that I really appreciated it.” Those words just blew me away and that’s why I do what I do:). Yes we can get all geeky over our gear but its how you make your customer feel, that’s what is important to me.
My gear lets me capture my baby girls SMILE & GIGGLES! <3
Love, Love, Love your work Tamara!! I also Love Adorama!! I recently purchased the Nikkor 85mm 1.4G and I love it!! My best purchase by far!!
I’d like to start off saying how much I appreciate your work.
My favorite piece of gear is my 50mm 1.4 lens. it’s built like and rock and always provided great results.
I love shooting with my Pentax K-5. I am looking forward to the next round of new cameras or so when they make improvements to this camera and/or come out with the full-frame camera. I am looking to go bilingual with Canon in the future. I’ve already tried to go bilingual with Nikon and it doesn’t work for me. Everything is opposites on the gear and thus hard to mentally remember which way to turn the lens, etc. The feature I most look for is its ability to shoot in low light with high ISO for births.
Know that I know my gear inside and out I feel my portraits are at a whole new level since I am focusing more on the connections of my subjects.
What I love the most about my gear is that its really reliable. I can count on my Nikon D 7000 each and every time to get the shot as I envisioned it or as it the moment happens. Its ease of use makes it possible for me to change and adjust anything needed to get the shot just right very quickly. I feel really comfortable doing all kinds of photo shoots because I know exactly what is possible with my gear.
I am a Nikon girl and just upgraded from a D90 to the D600 so that I could officially launch my business and I love how portable it is and the amazing quality of pictures I get with it!
Tamara, I am a big fan of your work and believe that gear is important in the overall. I do believe it’s the artist’s eye and vision and then having the right equipment to complete the vision.
Thanks Tamara Lackey for sharing, your work inspires me, thanks for teaching and helping other photographers to grow up. I love my Nikon and my 50mm lens..
My gear (Canon 7D, Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 & 90 f/2.8 lenses) allows me to achieve my vision and share it with others. It allows me to concentrate on capturing a personality in my portrait work.
I love that my gear can help me create amazing art! From my camera to my computer, I can’t have one with out the other. It all works together to create beautiful images not only for my clients, but for me too when I feel super creative! I love everything about what I do! Even on the hardest of days I can look back and feel great accomplishment!
Honestly, I love my manuals! Especially my camera’s because it helps me augment the possibilities and learn things I thought I would never need to use…until I do! I mean, nobody need back-button focus, right? 😉
I shoot with Pentax DSLR’s – I love that they’re weather sealed, with heavy duty titanium alloy bodies. This is really critical, since I shoot a lot in NYC, and tends to get banged around quite a bit. I also love shooting in the rain, and also do a bit of nautical work, so not having to worry about my cameras getting wet is important.
Well, I am just starting off in this amazing journey of photography and I LOVE to capture the moments that I never want to forget. It’s what I look for and I know this is going to sound so simple but on top of my little 50 mm that the more I learn how to use, the more I love using it, but I really love my reflector. LOL. I know it’s huge and seems like an inconvenience to carry but as I’m learning how to manipulate the light and work my settings together, the reflector is starting to really help me!
My gear helps me with my vision. ,some days it helps me document a moment in time, special! I love that I can captures life, color an mood! Photography to me is like my breath!
After much thought I too, switched from Canon to Nikon. I’ve never looked back! My Nikon is not only incredible but it is intuitive to use. I feel like it’s the difference between using a PC and an Apple.
My Canon 7D lets me express exactly who I am because I can take it ANYWHERE because of it’s solid, durable body. Rain, hikes, adventure, you name it. I can take it all the places I normally go because I don’t have to worry about baby-ing it!
Next, I would have to say that my Lensbaby Composer Pro + Edge 80 optic is what gives me freedom to express myself because of the selective focus that can be adjusted so quickly to give the perfect look.
I love that my gear helps me capture those special moments in time for families. I love that I can trust it to do what I want it to do, and that it is easy to use.
Emilie
I love how my gear allows me to capture what I visualize in my head. Getting that perfect SOOC shot is so important to me and my Nikon allows me to do that. Thank you, Tamera Lackey, for sharing your work and inspiring me to be a better photographer and person!
I love that my gear allows me to capture the true
essence of my subjects and the beauty and simplicity of the complexity of being alive.
I LOVE my D600. It is by far the best thing I’ve done for my hobby. It has allowed my to capture so many photos of my boys in low light and I love that even when I do have to push my ISO the grain is minimal and my prints are still gorgeous. I also love that i can take (awesome) video and stills with the same camera. Thanks Nikon for making my perfect camera.
$100! Yes, please! I have your books and watched you on creative live. I love following you!
I love my Nikon products but the favorite lens is a tie between my 24-702.8 and my 70-2002.8 love them for different things but they are both awesome. I attended Tamara Lackey’s class in Vegas and it was awesome also.
I love it when real life becomes our priceless art. Great job Tamara, I’m a huge follower on Creative Live and I have a bookshelf with the best of your books. 🙂
I love that my gear frees me from hours of post-processing. I want to be shooting and connecting not editing behind a computer. Having complete manual control of the dials and internal settings is incredibly liberating! Knowing I can get that shot out of the camera means everything.
Currently I use a Canon 60D and I am looking to move into a full frame – I have been entertaining the idea of a switch to Nikon and Tamara has given a really good argument toward doing so. I have followed Tamara’s work and love the quality of her images.
I love my gear because It gives me the ability to follow a dream I have wanted for a long time. It has been a long journey and I have so much further to go. The point is, that I am on my way. Upgrading my gear is part of my goal and education is the other. Thanks to Tamara and her many educational project I am one step closer.
Tamara, first, let me say I really appreciate you and your work. A little over 6 months ago, I quit my full-time job to devote my time to art. I freely admit it has been a struggle to even make ends meet. But, when I recently watched your workshop on Creative Live, it gave me a huge boost of confidence to create the images I wanted, as well as a wealth of information about the techniques needed. I feel blessed to have a Nikon D7000 as well as an 18-200mm lens and a SB-910. These 3 items, coupled with the generous support of other amazing artists such as yourself, have helped me capture portraits of people in the incredible way that I see them. Thank you so much!
I was so close to switching to Nikon from Canon, but now that I have my Mark iii I love it. I’m still really interested though in the comparison and congratulate you on switching and being selected for their feature! You are a fabulous photographer and inspiration to children photographers!
I love the sharpness that my Nikon D600 gives me and I love that I can use a much higher iSO and still achieve beautiful images in low light.
My passion is observing people and especially children to try to catch those special natural moments when the subject is unaware of the camera. Love capturing the eyes which is one of the reasons I love your work so much Tamara. Nothing better than capturing the emotion of the moment whether joy or sadness. My first camera was the Nikon F with an 85mm1.8 lens which I bought used from a struggling college friend. I was hooked on Nikon from then on! Their lenses are the best! Using the 24-70 2.8 mostly now and saving for the 70 – 200. My hat is off to you Tamara for all the good you do with your work – enlightening the world as you travel through it!
Ok I admit it – I have a massive photographer crush on you Tamara! (-: (But not in a weird, creepy and scary way so it’s cool.) You live in my office in books and on my computer, thanks for Creative LIve (love you too). I often find you nattering away and bursting out loud laughing in my head while I am shooting children. Like Princess Leia – you appear in my hour of need. How’s your head doing? (LOL) FYI, Your ‘Tamara Way’ is also especially effective with wrinkled children. I too am a D800 lover and lover of all things Nikon. I’d love to attend one of your live events one day. Yeah – bring on the $100 from Adorama!
Shooting with my D90 and 80-200 lens to see the world at 2.8, ie, lighter, colorful and cute!
My favorite gear is my 35mm prime lens. I love the wonderful bokeh it creates around my beautiful little clients <3
I just love full frame, I bought my first full-frame camera used and even though it was quiet an old model, once I saw the images I was hooked. There is something amazing about a super wide lens and a full frame camera. All I need at the end of the day is any brand full frame camera and a 1.4 lens and I am done. Whatever the magic is, it keeps me shooting and pushing to improve myself.
I just upgraded from a D200 to the D800 with the 85 1.4. I really wanted full frame, but what I love most is my 85mm lens. It give me the shallow DOF that I love and it’s so creamy. I shoot tight, I always have, and sometimes it’s a double-edged sword, but it’s the way I have always shot and my equipment supports that and I couldn’t be happier. It was a long time before I could upgrade, but I’m so excited that I could finally do it….
That is awesome. $100 would go a long way toward the bag I would like to take on our trip to Disneyland next month. I have a D5100 and the 2 kit lens. I try not to think about the limitations of the gear. I just try to focus on what I can do with it and give it my best attempt. Besides focusing on the gear cause a massive attack of GAS(gear acquisition syndrome), which is bad for moral and the budget. 99% of cameras are better than 99% of all photographers, to quote Scott Bourne. C[__]
Tamara, I started out with a Nikon D80 and now own the Nikon D7000 I love taking landscape photos but most of all I love taking children and family photos! I have watched and learned so much from your classes on Creative Live! I love the way you interact with children and families to get the most natural shots that reflect the dynamics of families and the sheer innocence of children to be themselves! With a four month old grandson and another grandchild on the way in January, I have loved learning from you so I can improve and enhance my skills to be able to create some of my own art of my cherished loved ones. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience with all of us so that we may create our own masterpieces so that we may be able to share with others and proudly display on our walls! I am a huge fan of your style of photography and your process of making family photo sessions fun, relaxed, and memorable! Thank you so very much!
I think gear is an extension of vision. I think truly great photographers use their gear – whether it’s Nikon, Canon or another brand – to share the beauty of the world that only they can see. Because we all see it differently. We could all be standing at the same point and be seeing and focusing on different things. So when I take a shot that is able to convey the emotion or feeling that I was trying to capture, and I can share that with others, then I know my gear has served me well.
You do wonderfully with whatever brand of tools you have in your hands! Keep up the fantastic work.
I love my 70-200mmL. It’s the first piece of “pro” gear that I was able to buy using money earned strictly from photography. Because I worked so hard to earn it I’ve taken the time to learn it inside and out.
Tamara- Thank you for everything you do for the photography community. I’m sure you don’t remember by you replied/retweeted a tweet of mine about sitting outside, reading your. Well it meant so much to me that I printed it out and it now hangs at my desk.
My gear allows me to captivate memories that we can never get back. I have a Nikon D7000 that I LOVE and still working on my skills daily.
You are one of the photographers that I hope to meet someday and thank you in person. Your first creativeLIVE class was the my first as well. Your way of teaching, your personality took me away and destroyed any chance of getting anything else done that weekend. Thank you for being candid, sharing your skills and most of all loving what you do. Your passion inspires us all.
I love my Nikon 85mm f/1.8G. It lets me capture the everyday life with our two boys beautifully. Love the sharpness. Love the bokeh. Thank you Nikon! 🙂
I love Tamara’s energy! I also love my Nikon D800. I use it everyday to share my love of photography with people around me. I just have one problem with it, the sensor is constantly getting durty and i have small hair inside that nobody seems to be able o get rid off 🙁
Photography is my happy place. It allows me a freedom in my life that is too often restrained by my career and my family. I shoot for me and me alone. I find peace and beauty in places most people woul never think to look. I don’t share much of my work. It’s so personal an it’s the one thing in my life that is mine, 100% without compliment or critics. It allows me to put feelings that I don’t have words for into perspective.
Love your work, Tamara! I heard of you through CreativeLive and was so helped to watch you work and learn from you! I live in North Carolina, also!
I love that my gear helps me to improve the lighting situations I find myself in and capture the light in the eyes.
So excited for this giveaway – congratulations for being featured by Nikon!
I love that my gear allows me to never miss capturing a moment!
Congrats to you Tamara on the great feature!
What I love about my gear is the way it helps me escape. I can get completely lost in the moment of creating and capturing all the things I am being drawn too. Whether its children, nature, city life. The peace I feel when I am capturing life around me is unmeasurable.
I great friend once told me… It’s the wizard, not the wand…. I’ve always loved that perspective. I find that gear doesn’t make one a great image capturer, but more that it has degrees of how much it will limit what you can do. I dragged over a decade out of a first generation Canon Digital Rebel. I was sooo comfortable with it I could go through all options blindfolded.
A recent upgrade to a Canon 6D though has just taken down some limitations in terms of ISO, AF Features, resolution, wifi connection to my phone (able to tweet and Instagram from the expo show floor at photoshop world was a treat). What I love about my gear? I love how much it frees me.
My gear helps me express emotion and personality of those on the cusp of change in life. I love it! 🙂
Having top quality gear (that you can afford w/in you budget) is great, but you need to have a vision and the innate knowledge of your equipment, composition & lighting, not necessarily in that order.
I’ve taken some great shots with both my D700 and nikon1 V2 — the later camera which I keep pushing in situations I’ve used it in with great results. So it just goes to show that you need a great photographic eye and you can produce great images with most any camera.
Love that I can freeze time! My littles are all growing up way too quickly and I can look back at all the photographs from the years and be taken back in a moment to all the places and feelings I don’t want to forget. My natural memory cannot do that on it’s own, although in the moment I am adamant that I will never forget, my brain has a way of letting me down 😛
My Nikon D7000 helps me to simply stop time for just a moment. As a parent we watch our kiddos grow up so fast which is why I love photography. With the simple click of the shutter we can freeze time forever (sort of). I want my boys to grow up but I also want to keep them little forever. My Nikon lets me do that!
As a photographer I get the grand priviledge to also stop time for all the other mamas and daddys out there that feel the same way. I can capture that crazy smile or the ninja moves their little is showing me during a session. It is truly a sweet moment to know that I have gotten that shot for someone. I LOVE it!
I love that my gear is semi-lightweight and I don’t have to concentrate too much when I’m capturing the kids, so I’m more inclined to bring it with me and use it.
My gear brings my passion for photography to a whole new level, it allows me to experiment, play around and capture images that I envision in my mind and it brings it to reality. Would I be alone without my gear? No! I would still have my vision and imagination to create. My gear is simply my assistant and a good one at that 🙂
I love my Nikon, it’s exacting capabilities to capture and create a beautiful piece of art work.
My gear allows me to shoot what I see-not what the camera thinks I see.
Tamara,
Moving up to D800 from D700 and working with primes. I can see what each piece of gear will give me before I take the photo. Love my gear, but I’m working on simplifying my kit and using the constraint to do better work. Also trying to get more balance while building a photography business, thanks for setting a good example on that front.
I’m the most comfortable version of myself when I’m behind a lens. I find it’s the only time I’m ever able to fully express who I am by capturing what I see. The world I live in is diverse & vibrant and I have a hard time finding the words to express that. When I’m able to capture it with my camera I no longer have to worry about finding the right words.
This might sound a bit odd, but what I love most is that there’s such a selection of good quality gear available these days that I’m able to find set ups that allow me to capture the things I see in the world in spite of the fact that I have a type of arthritis that can flare up pretty unpleasantly and make it difficult to hold a camera or operate things like some types of tripods. (Basically anything fiddly that’s hard to grip or that requires a lot of grip strength to use properly is a nightmare.) When I went shopping for my camera body I was able to test a variety and find one that fit my hand comfortably without knowing that I was significantly sacrificing image quality for form factor.
When you have a disability sometimes you have to make a lot of trade offs to allow for the fact that what works for everyone else might not work for you, and it’s really nice when those trade offs don’t mean having to give up on doing something well.
I started DSLR shooting with an older used model and a mid-level zoom. Both were tantalizingly frustrating — the camera wasn’t fast enough and the lens wasn’t long enough for my needs. I upgraded to a better camera and an 18-200 zoom. The camera was faster, but the lens was very funky — low contrast, flare, and chromatic aberration. My third iteration is a breath of fresh air — first-rate lenses and a fast camera. At last, my equipment isn’t preventing me from capturing what I see, and I’m shooting a lot more.
Great pictures and great story
I picked up an old 1960s 50mm Nikon macro lens last year because it was very budget-friendly. I have a Canon body so I got a cheap adapter for the lens. This has allowed me much greater creativity when shooting flowers because I can get so much closer. Well worth the $100!
I’ve created a challenge for myself to see how cheaply I can make or substitute gear to get the shot I want, but it sure would be nice to have some $$ to actually buy some gear I’ve been lusting after 😉
My gear helps me express my love for family. I am alwways trying to capture moments.
I love that my gear allows me to capture so much more than people normally see. I can bring to the front what is normally obscured or accentuate that which might be overlooked.
I love my Rogue XL Flashbender. Extremely flexible and effective.
After attending PPA and WPPI this past year and after speaking with Brian Smith and David McClain, I switched from Canon to Sony. The built in vibration control is a huge asset for me. It allows me to take better photos on each shoot and has given me a lot more confidence in my photographer. I loved my Canon kit, but for me, Sony was the best way forward.
My gear is my friend and traveling companion. It preserves the details of those special moments forever and allows me to share them.
I adore my D800 too! It allows me to shoot in less than optimal lighting conditions and still come away with photos I love, as well as images that are ready to be enlarged without loss oh quality. My husband is a scuba diver who shoots lovely cideos and tells me it would take amazing underwater footage, but he’ll just have to buy his own 😉
I love that my gears allows me to capture memories in the way I view them. I love capturing children innocent and playing and my equipment allows me to capture those sharp evenly lit portraits.
Great stuff! Not camera makes a photographer, but photographer makes a photographer. But I sure do love my D800. 😉
I love expressing my love for the outdoors. We live in such a beautiful world!
I use a D800 too! And, after watching your CreativeLive class, I’m super into your work. Really great vision.
Photography, and the gear I use, enable me to share the beauty I see around me.
What I love the most about my gear is that it helps me capture my vision in a variety of situations.
Good read
Great article, have been learning to use my D200. Hopefully one day I can move up to a D700 or maybe even my dream of a D4
Sooo true about gear. Or as Zack Arias puts it G.A.S. ( gear addition syndrome) the equipment is just a tool to produce the final product.
I love my Nikon gear! I have a D7000 and my dream is to one day have a full-frame… making it all work, for now! Watched your videos on Kelbytraining – thanks! My favorite piece of gear, handsdown, is my 2.8 70-200 lens!
Tamara, I am a huge fan of your work! I use CANON 5DMII, and i love the simple interface that allow you to do any changes fast without thinking to much about what button to press 🙂
My favorite lens is the 85 1.4 but I also love the 50 1.4. I’m a Canon girl and shoot with a 5D Mark II. Would love the Mark III someday. Thanks for sharing all your knowledge with us on CreativeLive! 🙂
My D800 with the 70-200 VRII is my work horse!
This is my most used setup and would not have it any other way.
I love the compression of the background it gives me and the separation of the chosen subject from the background when shooting wide open.
I also have my 14-24 2.8 that has its place in my camera bag for those really creative shots!
Thanks for giving back to the community Tamara and Adorama!
The gear enables the art. The art lets you not only capture what is there and how you see it, but enables you to see beyond what is there way out to what it could be. You start seeing the world more vividly and more for the positive of what could be. Never just capturing what is there, but capturing it your way and how you can make it better than it was. Imagine if we approached this concept with people. Don’t judge them or write them off for what they do or did, explore what they could be and approach your interactions with them through that viewfinder. To me photography, enabled by the gear to make this so, and it has opened up my limitations on people with it. The best part of photography for me is one on one with people and capturing their spirit.
Thanks for sharing. I shoot with a 5D Mark II and love it, but am totally interested in reading why you switched to Nikon. Having a pro series camera has made my life so much easier in capturing those special moments.
I am a Nikon fan all the way! I have been in desperate need of an upgrade for a while now and I am eyeing a D600 or 800 pretty heavy. Thank you Tamara for sharing your work and you connections with your fans! It really is inspiring!
Love Nikon. I started with the D60 and upgraded to the D90. My oldest son now shoots the 60. I’m looking to upgrade to the D7100 or beyond!!
I fell in love with my D7000 the first time I picked one up at the store, it just felt right in my hand and I haven’t been disappointed by it yet (well maybe the buffer size a few times but, that’s all) The great thing about my gear is that it’s comfortable, easy to use and versatile – I’ve shot a landscape, portrait, macro, HDR, a rodeo, and lightning all in the same day! The lens choices are amazing and not just Nikon lenses but some great 3rd party lenses as well (you’d have to pry the Rokinon 8mm fisheye out of my cold dead hands before I gave it up) It was great reading about your switch to Nikon, the D800 is on my upgrade path although it’ll probably be the D900 by the time I have the cash to get one. Congratulations on the recognition it’s very well deserved, and I’m glad that Team Nikon has a new member to replace that Scott Kelby guy who jumped ship…
Also, a Nikon girl. Love that you are so down to earth and make learning so easy.
I love my Nikon gear and also shoot with the D800. But I especially love the versatility of simple and multi use equipment! Lenses that are versatile AND sharp!
CL introduced me to Tamara. I was a Nikon shooter and had been working on my photography for 3 years at that point. She was so sensible and engaging. I didn’t have anyone to bounce my ideas and thoughts off of about photography and the business side of it all. In that one class she answered my questions, stomped my fears, and inspired some real business thinking. It has been a few years since then and now with my D800 by my side and tons of photography under my belt I am opening my first physical studio the 1st of next month. It is so exciting for me but would love to thank you, Tamara, for feeding that spark with just the right puff of wind at the right time. And speaking of wind… Girl, you can talk! Never shut up!!! Thanks! xoxo
I love that my gear allows to capture someone else’s special moments and freeze them. Able to go back to it several days, months back and remember those times and see their eyes sparkle is so magical.
I’m the travel photographer’s wife (read:assistant/bag wrangler/widow), so I’m not usually the one wielding the camera. However, I have an old 1970s polaroid sx-70 that uses Impossible Film. It’s pretty expensive film to buy, so I tend to ration out a pack for each trip we take- just eight small simple shots. Shooting just 8 polaroids on my sx-70 forces me to capture the moments that matter. Often, they’re the weirdest images that would mean nothing to anyone else- but they capture a memory for me that is more meaningful than the 5,000 or so images we take digitally on the same trip, and helps keep each trip personal when there’s often so many professional demands on our experience.
I recently upgraded to the D600 and I love it! Great equipment is important, but knowing how to use it is a million times more important. 🙂
I’m just starting out so my bag’s pretty empty. I could really use this $100 to help fill my bag.
I love that my gear is adaptable to my eye. It can show the world as I view it, and even transform it into something that speaks louder than any words I could try to find to describe it. My gear is my voice to the world.
that I can capture memories with the people closest to me. Weather with a point and shoot or a DSLR. The camera doesn’t matter as much as the memories that are attached to the finished product.
What a great giveaway! Im in!
Tamara, You are truly inspirational. I really appreciate you sharing your gift with the world. I’ve been following you since the early days on Scott Bourne’s podcast. I love your style. I would not be where I am in my photographic journey without people like you sharing your knowledge. No joke. I love photography, but it’s a steep learning curve and you have helped me tremendously. I love my Nikons and sure would like to add to my arsenal of tools.
I love that my camera is light weight, compact, and fairly consistent in body design, over the years.
Thank you, Tamara, for sharing your knowledge of working with/photographing children. Your energy and work is an inspiration.
Helps me capture the emotion of the moment
I love that my gear can make my job easier.. going digital is the biggest difference & convenience of all! Different lenses make a difference in my images, back up gear saves me in emergencies, etc.
I love that I can use my gear to photograph amazing memories for couples and families! This gift card would get me that much closer to upgrading my D300s to the D700!!! 🙂
Tamara, since I have time constraints at present, it is nice to see you in Google+ where I can keep up a little with you. Like the others have said before, I appreciate you being there.
I am still enjoying my Nikon D7k and Sony RX100. My glasses to the world for now. Photography is my way of expressing myself creatively but also a mediation that blocks out the “noise” of busy life.
I’m a gear head. At night I fall asleep imagining faces, and shapes, and deserts, and forests,and fairy folk, and gnomes, and little girls in white dresses–bathed in ethereal light as I embrace my magical beloved gear.
I am a Nikon girl from age 3 when my father took me out on the nature walks. Hand in hand we would spend hours taking macro pictures of flowers and the beautiful plants out in the wilderness! I’ve always loved anything Nikon and hope to own my own DSLR. Winning the gift card would be a great start for me to own and of course, to capture great memories just as my dad did so long ago.
Thanks for sharing this opportunity with others. 🙂
I recently purchased the Canon 5D Mark ii and I absolutely love it! My images have a much crisper look now than they did before on the T2i, even though I was still using a 24-70 f2.8 lens. Next big purchase, the 70-200 f2.8 ii. Tested it for a wedding recently and I’m in love again!
Tamara, I love following you on Facebook. I currently have two D90’s, but I’m looking at upgrading soon to the D800. I love that I can do what I love every day I walk into my office. I also enjoy that fact that my office includes the whole world. Loved seeing you on CreativeLive. I use your techniques every day. Thanks for a great learning experience.
I had been a Nikon user in the film days – still have my first Nikon FTn with several Nikkor lenses. Although I don’t use the camera anymore (switched to Canon digital SLRs), I can still use the lenses (manual only) as there are adapters for Nikon to Canon mounts. Thank you Tamara for all that you do – I first saw her on CreativeLIVE, love her photography and her sharing so much great info., but more than that she is a wonderful giving person. The only thing I can’t figure out is how she fits everything in in the time that she has. One day I hope she writes a book with a chapter on that, LOL.
I love what my Nikon D700 allows me to capture. When I photograph a bride dancing with her grandfather or a family playing together, or even my own children I know each image is a gift and that will be charished for years to come. That is truly something special!
Love following your work! Congratulations on the article! I can’t wait to get a full frame, for now I am loving my 60D and my 17-55 f2.8 lens. I love it because my lens allows me to shoot close up portraits and also large groups of people with a little wider angle! It’s plenty for me to grow on right now, but I’m really feeling like the full frame can’t come soon enough either 🙂 You rock, keep up the great work! You inspire us all to keep learning and becoming the best that we can be!!
The Nikon D800 is on my wishlist and the D90 is in my bag now. Tamara Lackey I have been following you since I saw a session with you on Creative Live. I love your work and use it to inspire what I shoot. My vision is sort of open and yet precise at the same time. What I mean is that, say I’m taking a picture of a flower. The thoughts running through my mind as I composing my shot are that I want to do something no one else has done. In the grand scheme of things this is impossible but maybe I can at least do something with that flower that hasn’t been seen in a while. Yeah, I’m kinda screwy but I hate taking bland pics!
My gear (Canon 40D x 2, 17-55mm, and 50mm) allow me to achieve images that customers will keep forever, I’ve been very happy shooting Canon. I don’t find myself with a lot of set backs with my current gear but I am contemplating upgrading to a 7D someday. Its been such a fun part time hobby/job for me.
I love that my gear allows me to meet new people in new circumstances and it forces my creative side to overcome my engineering/methodical side.
I upgraded from a D90 to a D7000 and love how crisp and vibrant my pictures are compared to my old camera. 🙂
My Nikon D7100 doesn’t get in the way when I’m trying to make my images and express my personal vision.
Thanks!
Love my reflector. 🙂
I love my iPhone! It’s the one piece of non professional gear & it helps me to capture moments when I’m not concentrating on photography. It’s become my go-to camera for capturing moments that I’m really LIVING, too!
Love my Nikon D600 but also love the D40X that was my first digital camera. Learned how to squeeze everything out of that little camera I could!!
I love my D600, and I have a D800 on it’s way to me now, every now and again I will break out my F5 and a prime for some old school B&W though.
I agree with Tamara gear is a tool for creativity, but it is awesome that you can have a radio controler for your flash or a better lens, so you can improve the quality of your pictures,
#I’mjustanOlygirl shooting in a full-frame world so I can’t offer an opinion on anything Nikon or Canon but I can say only good things about Tamara who shows a kinder, gentler approach to photographing children. Taking the hustle and bustle out and keeping it real. Bonus? Random quips from her young ‘uns always bring a smile to my face.
Hi Tamara. I wanted to say that I love my camera, because it allows me to capture life, love, friendship. Feelings. Emotions that are fixed to a memory of a certain moment, and photographs are that. Memories.
Big hug from Madrid.
Sami.
I was recently told by someone that photographing children is a scapegoat because all children look cute. I don’t think that statement can be farther from the truth. I love my d600 and my go-to 24-70mm/2.8 for allowing me to capture emotion with versatility as well as giving me mobility in weight, range, and lighting, among other things. It’s truly special to capture those moments when a child is captivated by something, their pure joy in seeing their parent, dog, or anyone/thing they love, or even those priceless pouty faces right before they burst in tears. I know I will cherish these photographs of my child forever as I know my clients will also.
By the way, Tamara, you truly are an inspiration with not only your works of art but your amazing personality and professionalism in the way you are able to manage difficult personalities and situations. I want to be like you when I grow up 🙂
This is awesome. Tamara…i absolutly love your work. Thanks for this opportunity 🙂
I bought my first Nikon, a Nikkormat EL in 1968. It was hard to save up the money, but I wanted tools that allowed me to express my vision and that camera was really special and it helped, it really helped. It had the first electronic shutter and that was a big deal, a revolutionary advancement. Now I am using a D600 and that is another in a long line of revolutionary tools. Light, yet with every feature I need and an easy to handle and take anywhere with an array of great lenses to continue to express that vision that started in 1968. For the past few months I have been following Tamara, since I watched one of her Adorama videos. She has a great photographer’s gift of vision and clearly know the best tools to achieve that visions.
I love that my gear not only gives me options, but it allows me to explore and express myself in so many ways.
Wow? My favorite gear? I would have to say my latest favorite gear is my reflector. I know it sounds simplistic. I am enjoying manipulating the light and getting that twinkle in the subject’s eye. And where did I learn this? From Tamara herself -at one of her workshops. She is amazing! I’m still excited and applying what I learned from Tamara’s workshop and that was almost 2 years ago!
Thank you Tamara for introducing me to the D800. I had begun my photography journey with my D90 and kit lens 4 or 5 years ago. AI loved the photos it allowed me to capture however looking back on the shots I loved pale in comparison using the same Nikon gear after taking courses and workshops that allowed me to take advantage of how great this gear is. The gear has always been amazing and it ‘s allowed me to grow and watch my images improve with leaps and bounds. I have just made the leap and purchased my first prime lens with the 50mm 1.8 Nikkor lens. I am hooked! Been looking at my next Nikon body and You’ve convinced me it should be the Nikon D800. Ready to send my next group of prints off to Adorama. Only place I send my images to be printed. Would put that $100 to good use!!
I love my gear in general, but I love my gear in particular because it allows me to create the images in my mind, not as others might see it but as I see it. Good quality lenses on a good camera body coupled with good editing software goes a long way when they are all manipulated by my creativity.
Thanks SO much for such incredible comments!
And a huge CONGRATULATIONS to Nikky Rhae Photography, who won the $100 gift card from Adorama : ) : ) : )
I love photography as it allows me to capture life and moments I time that others might otherwise forget… I started out with a Polaird instant camera given to me by my grandmother….I eventually moved up to the big girl camera of the Nikon D40 then to the Nikon D90 ..So I guess I love Nikon products….Thanks for sharing and always providing good information on tools and products to better enhance the work that we so love…..
I agree with Tamara in that it great photography isn’t all about the latest and greatest gear. But having an exceptional piece of equipment gives us confidence in our abilities to take our vision, and with the help of Nikon, transfer it into a strong image.
My gear, minimal that it is, lets me express the beauty that I see around me, whether it’s in a landscape, animals in the wild, or my family and friends. It also helps me capture images that invoke special memories. There is an emotion tied with each picture I save, and by looking through my pictures, I get to relive a moment I might otherwise would have forgotten. Thank you for all that you teach us and for this amazing giveaway!