Andrew & Denae are a husband and wife photography team who live and love both digital and analog photography. The duo’s popular YouTube channel follows their explorations of the various Fuji systems through gear reviews, technique suggestions and more.
They also educate and inspire other photographers to Do Good with their cameras. This message to spread hope and positivity with crafted images resonates strongly with us here at KEH. We’re exceptionally proud to have been sponsors of their yearly Do Good With Your Camera contest in the past. The latest contest is ended, but check back in September for the announcement of 2021’s contest.
Like many professional photographers, their photography business was profoundly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Several camera bodies and a mountain of lenses were now seeing a lot less use than they were in the past. After taking a hard look at the glut of gear they’ve acquired over the years, they decided it was time to go for a more minimalist approach.
Taking account of what’s most important in their lives allowed them to reprioritize some of their passions. If you find your passions shifting, why not make a change? Mixing it up to try something new could be just the boost you need to get inspired again!
Denae, primarily a portrait photographer, found herself taking fewer professional portraits apart from the occasional socially-distanced front-porch photo shoot. However, her love of a good portrait found a new outlet in the form of more family photos, with good reason. Documenting the life of a child or time spent with loved ones can be extremely fulfilling, and could feel even more meaningful now than ever before.
Andrew, on the other hand, took some time to dive deeper into some other passions of his, like restoring and building up mountain bikes. Starting another YouTube channel to share those videos has turned out to be a great success. He also shoots a lot of documentary-style photographs of rural locations and small-town decay, which he’s found only requires a few choice pieces of equipment. This left a lot of their old favorite gear to collect dust, unused in their kit.
We all go through phases and changes in interests as life goes on. For Andrew & Denae, these shifts in the way they create led them to realize that downsizing their kit might not be as painful as they’d expected. Focusing on their most exciting projects allows them to trim the fat from their process, omit some of their less-preferred options and give themselves more freedom.
See which gear they’ve decided to keep and how it might shape their future work in the video below.