I am back on the streets… 167 days later.

For a population of 4 million people, Panamanians have been hit hard by the pandemic, over ninety thousands people infected, close to two thousands dead, and an economy in intensive care, after all measures to control this virus, we seem to finally see a shed of light in the distance. And for the first time in so many months, I can finally come out with a camera and roam the streets.

This was not an easy photo walk. I felt unease at the emptiness of the streets, the sidewalks, the shops, the everything, where is everybody? So much have changed. Nevertheless, moments later the whole excitement of finally walking the streets came back, and for the first time a new companion tagged along… the Nikon D700 and the Nikkor 50mm 1.4g lens. What a chunky beast of a camera, it was heavy, with a great grip for my big hands, and it was loud, I mean that shutter was VERY LOUD. I just giggle every time I heard it.

But never mind those minute inconveniences, the camera was fast, responsive, the ergonomics (being sincere) felt a bit awkward, since the form and placement of buttons force you to look at the camera to make fast changes to your settings. Whether changing your exposure, or changing your metering, or changing your minimum speed in you AUTO ISO setting, well, it takes extra steps, of course, when compared to a Fuji camera. In other words, it is a different shooting experience.

At the end, with a cloudy day, with little happening around, I decided to end my short walk and come back home to edit all pictures in black and white (except for this blog's cover). I want to keep shooting with this Nikon full frame camera to learn more from it, in terms on how this sensor behaves with different kinds of light and see if there is something missing in my pictures compared to shooting with my crop sensor cameras, or even film.

Moving forward, if we as Panamanians can keep working together, keep practicing the safety protocols, we will one day get this pandemic under control. I will try to keep shooting and learning photography. Soon I will share with you some great news.

May all of you stay safe and healthy, I for one am have much to be grateful for.