Okay, he’d actually only just turned 9 at the time of this picture. But his face feels so much like the look of innocent joy on Steve Carell’s 40-Year Old virgin poster that I couldn’t resist.
When people talk to me about camera gear (which happens a lot when you carry giant lenses around your local zoo), I try to point out two things:
1. Upgrading lenses does more than upgrading cameras.
2. You don’t need the newest highest megapixel biggest cost stuff.
This shot was taken with a 5-year old consumer level DSLR made by a company that most “real” photographers ignore outside of their fond memories of an old k1000 film camera. It was taken with a 3rd party lens from the 1980s. Snap that lens onto a $100 k100d from 15 years ago and you’ve got a perfectly usable Zoo or Wildlife rig for less than $300. Will you have all the modern snappy autofocus and vibration control? Nah. Does that stuff help? Totally. Do you need it? No. Take what you’ve got and make great pictures.
The Zootographer 