In the past 18 months working on my own as a freelance photographer, principally for sdsportscene.com, the camera I originally purchased to do the job has gotten quite a workout. 

Its shutter has clicked tens of thousands of times covering four state basketball tournaments, two state track meets, a state baseball tournament, a state football championship, a state volleyball tournament and the state cross country meet just in that time frame. That doesn’t even begin to include the umpteen regular season high school and college events that I have covered as well along the way.

It is a fine camera but I was beginning to worry about it breaking down. (I also worry about myself when it comes to breaking down, but that is for another column).

Knowing that the camera is like a car or a major household appliance, it means it could break down at anytime. Usually at the worst time. I had that happen to me before a few years back while at a state basketball tournament while working for the newspaper. Luckily I had a backup camera in my bag and could continue working.

When a breakdown or malfunction occurs, it takes two or three weeks to get a repair done, not counting the shipping time. I have been concerned lately that a repair would leave me on the bench and the website without fresh images for weeks or even months.

So having a backup camera was becoming a more obvious next step in my new career.

Which is why I took the plunge and recently purchased and put to use a new camera that features the new mirrorless shutter technology. My hope is to learn how to master all the controls quickly enough to make it the new workhorse and give my first camera a little rest. 

The new technology will allow me to make images at up to 12 frames a second and has a more accurate autofocus system. All of which should help me make more and better images for you to view on this website. Some of the images I have made so far have surprised me as to how well the camera can perform.

The higher frames per second rate has allowed me to catch the moments I used to capture all the time back when I worked at the newspaper with what I considered the Cadillac of digital cameras at the time.

Moments like the one above of a golf tee flying through the air as Olivia Olson watched her tee shot at the recent SDGA Jr Tour event. And images like the one below of the bat meeting the ball when Jaiden Smith swung at a pitch during a recent Aberdeen Smittys game at Fossum Field. 

It is my plan to continue to make and maintain a level of high quality images at every event I cover, even during this learning process while I get better acquainted with the camera. 

One thing is for sure though, just as with every other time I have gotten a new camera (since my first one in 1976) I expect this camera will renew my love of taking photographs.