I am shooting with the SIGMA SD14, a very capable camera despite its age. In fact, the camera and the lenses I am using were originally owned by Seng Merrill and her late husband Dick Merrill – one of the designers of the Foveon sensor used in so many SIGMA cameras! Seng Merrill was kind enough to loan the camera to me more than ten years ago, trusting me to create many memorable images with it – a gesture for which I feel very thankful and honored.

Back then, I had already been familiar with many different cameras due to my portrait and event photography but when I saw the photo samples taken with the SIGMA camera, the clarity and sharpness of the images was something special. I don’t think I would ever get tired of beautiful portraits and lovely scenes either way, but when I began using the SIGMA SD14 ten years ago, I noticed a certain mood and mystery in the images. Since then, I began composing my photos in ways that reminded me of illustrations found in books, driven by the idea to suggest stories behind the images to the viewers.

When I began using SIGMA cameras ten years ago, the digital era had arrived. In this period of great changes regarding gear and workflow, I was glad that the SD14 forced me to slow down a bit. In terms of composing the images or when it came to RAW editing, the whole process felt like shooting with film again.

While I own many digital cameras by many brands – “use the best tool for the job” and so on – the SIGMA SD14 and its RAW files are truly something unique. It may take time and practice to master the camera, but the journey is absolutely rewarding. I think the philosophy behind SIGMA and its cameras is something that every visual artist should try and look into.