Find out how Z by HP helps creative pros up their game

Jody MacDonald has had many challenging assignments, but for the award-winning photographer, a six-week trek testing an all-weather camera through the Sahara Desert stood out.

During the day, the heat was unbearable, the nights freezing. She slept on top of iron ore, on the world’s longest train. She encountered huge sandstorms.

With extreme weather conditions like this, her gear gets banged around a lot as it travels on the backs of donkeys, pickup trucks and small aircraft. She needs powerful, physically durable equipment.

In 2018, she became a Z by HP ambassador as she tried out a new HP ZBook x2, replacing her MacBook Pro. With it, she’s experienced a level of detail and ease of use in the editing process she’s never had.

For digital artist Rik Oostenbroek, sunset and dusk at home in the Netherlands are also prime times for inspiration.

His favorite color is orange, which also happens to be the national color, and his work reflects that in intricate swirls, flames, sparks, leaves and abstract shapes. His art, like the nature that surrounds his environment, changes and grows organically with different textures and shapes. He also decorates his home in orange accents, like the light bulb in his office and his steel desk. Even as he moves about, orange makes its mark – in his watch and on his shoes.

He had spent his entire freelance career – 10 years – working with Macs, and he had grown frustrated. The system’s performance issues were huge for him, as was the difficulty in upgrading and installing new parts. So he decided to switch to an HP Z4 late in 2018.

Find out how MacDonald and Oostenbroek use Z by HP at Microsoft Stories.