Nikon Z50 Giveaway Winner!

When Nikon reached out to me to try their new Z50, I was humbled and so excited. When they asked if I’d consider running a camera giveaway, I was beyond thrilled. After I returned from Puerto Rico, I opened up a photo contest on my Instagram page. The contest was open for one week, and contestants had to do three things: 1. Send the best photo they’d taken in the last year, and why it was meaningful to them; 2. Tell my why they wanted to win the camera and what they’d do with it; and 3. Have a friend follow my page. I never expected the outpouring of moving stories and images that poured into my inbox. The decision was much more difficult than I had anticipated. I even extended my offerings, to offer two additional portfolio reviews to two runners-up.

In the end, I chose a young photographer, Natu Makombo. She is working on a project about toxic masculinity and navigating NYC as a black woman, and her camera had recently broken. When we finally met in person, I was immediately impressed by her wisdom and depth, and drawn in by her energy, light and enthusiasm. On the brink of giving up photography because she had been feeling so discouraged, winning this camera completely turned things around and I am so excited to see the work she makes with it. I’ll be sitting with her in a few months to do a portfolio review and I invited her to join Camera of the Month Club. Congratulations Natu and a huge thank you to Nikon for making this possible!