Season 2 of First Take With Chris Burkard features the Sony Artisan connecting and creating with a wide range of talented photographers. In Episode 4, Burkard is joined by Sony Alpha Ambassador Shauna Wade in California. Wade is originally from Jamaica, and while she now lives in New Jersey, she states that she is Jamaican to the core. “That is something that I take pride in,” she says, “and it’s always going to be a part of me.” The two sit down to discuss more of Wade’s journey before cruising out to the sand dunes outside of Pismo Beach to photograph horseback riding.

Wade began shooting using her cell phone before taking it more seriously and upgrading to her Sony camera. Even still, her journey hasn’t been a straight path, as she explains she took some time off for photography. Burkard commends her for not forcing the creative process. "I just think it’s a really amazing thing that you took that time off for yourself."

Wade explains that she had to in order to figure out what it was she wanted to do, but ultimately, she knew she needed to travel and she needed her camera in hand. “Something happened at work where I saw that I am just disposable, and it was an eye-opening experience,” she explains. “I was like OK, so it was kind of easy for me to decide to go to photography and that’s what I did. It was a blessing in disguise. It’s just taking it a day at a time and figuring it out as you go along.”

Using the Sony Alpha 7 IV paired with lenses like the Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 G Master and Sony 35mm f/1.4 G Master and the Sony Alpha 7CR paired with the Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 G Master II, the two photographers capture beautiful action shots of horseback riders through the dunes at sunset. 

“I definitely don’t know what the future holds for me, but I definitely know that it’s going to hold me being a photographer,” Wade concludes.

See more videos like this one on the Alpha Universe YouTube Channel.