Why I love my x100s pt1

Why are Fuji’s x100 range of cameras so much fun to use? I don’t think I could sum it up in just one blog post. If I am honest I'm not really sure why I love shooting the x100s so much. I just do! That sounds like a really crappy explanation, in fact it isn't an explanation. For that reason I am going to start blogging a little about the x100s, why I love it so much & why you should maybe consider picking one up. Maybe I am just an x100s fan boy. Or maybe there really is something in it!

Fresh in my mind is a shoot for a Toni & Guy Salon here in the UK I did just recently. We were four hair styles for a competition. I had spotted one of the models Jimmy was covered in tattoos. As soon as we were done with he head shots (using the XT-1 & 56mm 1.2) I switch to the x100s & got a bit more creative. Jimmy got his top off & we shot a handful of images. 

The x100s just makes me excited to shoot. I love the focal length. I love having to get in close. I love the perspective. The camera is so easy to shoot. With the full stop aperture clicks on the lens you can quickly adjust exposure.

I was shooting with a large Octabox to camera left & two Speedlights acting as ‘kickers’ in the background. I literally set this up in about 60 seconds. If I was to put more time into this I am sure I could have made better images but for me this was more about having some fun.

Anyway, here are three images form the three minutes we spent shooting for fun. They are not perfect but they are pretty sick in my opinion. Studio shooting isn't really my kind of thing, I much prefer shooting candid or street photography stuff but this was fun. Would it have been fun with a DSLR? Yeh, sure, but the x100s just has something a little special about it & the high sync speeds up to 1/4000th of a second really do help in these dramatic images where you want to kill the ambient light…

I hope you have enjoyed my rambling & most importantly the images!

Howard

How I made this photo pt3...

Ok guys, for part three of this series I am going to talk about one of my favourite photos… Now I am not picking this photo only because I love it, it takes some skill & practice to create this panned effect… In this blog post I am going to share with you in detail how I captured this shot… I will talk about technique & post processing so that you can go out, practice this technique & share your results with everyone…

I captured this photo whilst I was visiting Italy in 2014… My wife & I started our trip in Milan, Italy which made a great place for some interesting street photography… As often is the case hunting for a good shot left me frustrated… It is easy to get discouraged if your results are less than what you had expected when out shooting street photography but the key is to just keep the camera close by & ready… Remember even ‘pro’ street photographers claim to only take a handful of good photos each year!

We were walking down a busy street & all of a sudden the sky’s opened… A sudden down pour left us scouting out locations for shelter… Perched under a tree near the side of the road we ‘people watched’… People were franticly rushing around, trying to avoid getting wet… Umbrellas were up, making for some more interesting photos… I was shooting & enjoying it, the rain was almost acting like an invisibility cloak, people just didn’t see me… They were too caught up with avoiding the rain… I noticed the cyclists were bombing it to get from A to B… Using umbrellas on a bike looks amusing to me, I figured it had the potential to be a good shot so using an umbrella myself I stood closer to the road starting practicing some panned photos of the cyclist & people on mopeds… 

Panning is a technique where you follow the motion of the subject you are photographing with the camera whilst using a slow enough shutter speed to create some motion blur in the background… I found that a shutter speed of between 1/50th & 1/100th worked well in this situation… Too slow & the subject won’t be sharp, too fast & you won’t create the effect as much… For this photo I was shooting my trusty x100s, the setting were as follows : 1/80th,f5.6, 400 ISO… As you can see on the crop below this enabled me to get a perfectly sharp subject & in my opinion this is one thing that really makes this photo pop...

There are a few factors that came together to create this photo… Firstly was the fact that I had my camera on me… I can’t stress how important it is to carry a camera with you as much as possible… Photo opportunities are always popping up & this is where a Fuji camera has an advantage over a DSLR for example… Fuji’s cameras are small & dare I say it stylish… Yes, we all know part of the Fuji appeal is the hipster goodness so don’t fight it… Embrace it… The fact that Fuji’s cameras are small and look sexy as hell mean that I want to carry mine more often & you should too if you want to capture more moments like this…

Other than the fact I had my camera on me at the time, the weather played a huge roll in giving this phot some extra punch... For a minute imaging the chap on the bike was simply riding along without striking the pose he is… The photo is still nice but it doesn’t have the same impact… If it wasn’t raining he wouldn’t have been using his bag to shield his face from the rain… Next up is the guy himself… If he was dressed all scruffy the photo wouldn’t have had the ‘class’ that it does… This guy is dressed well head to toe & to top it off he is riding what looks like a nice old classic bike… Bang, more punch added to the image again…

The last part that makes this image for me are the road markings… I stood in this location for a reason… I like the bike markings on the road… I will however always kick myself about clipping the front off the arrow… Dammmm!

Post production for this image was fairly easy… I used one of my Black & White presets and had a little tinker to add a bit of contrast and grain… If you look below you can see all of my Lightroom modifications to get this photo to how you see it now… Feel free to copy them & share your images below to see how you get on recreating this look…

Lets wrap this up... What are the take home messages from this post…

  1. Keep your camera with you as much as you can (the x100 range is great for this)
  2. Rain can make for interesting photos not only because of how people react, but because it helps you become ‘invisible’…
  3. Learn to pan… Try shooting cars or bikes at 1/50th – 1/100th for practice and post your results below… Prefocus to the spot where you want the subject to be when you pull the trigger... Remember to move your camera before you take the shot & carry on moving afterwards… Think about how you would shoot a clay pigeon with a shotgun… You need to move the camera at the same speed as the subject to keep the subject sharp with slower shutter speeds...

I hope you have enjoyed reading... Now get shooting & post your photos below!

As always please like, comment & subscribe...

Howard

My Fuji line up

So if you read my first fuji blog you will know that I have recently made the switch from Nikon to Fuji… If you didn't read the first blog post, keep up! Here is a link for you to check it out…

Making the switch from my full frame Nikon gear to all Fuji was something I knew I wanted to do, but for a long time I was having a hard time actually pulling the trigger, that was until a family member mentioned she was looking at starting up her own wedding photography business & was looking to get a complete kit… She was after a kit with zooms so I offered her a deal on all my Nikon gear & she decided to take it…

Then came the tough decision making process… What lenses, cameras & accessories to buy to complete my new kit… The hardest decision being wether to drop the zooms for primes or carry on shooting the classing 24-70/ 70-200 equvilent line up that has worked so well for me for a long time… Fuji’s 50-140 f2.8 lens had amazing reviews, the image stabilisation is known for being amazing & the images it produces have a beautiful look… In the back of my mind I was imagining every time I cranked the 70-200 out to 200mm to capture the tight portrait shots during a ceremony, or the times I like to compress the hell out of the background in an images to give the smoothest bokeh imaginable… I then remembered the reasons I love the Fuji cameras… The classic look, the small size, the retro feel… The 50-140 goes against all of that for me… I decided against the 50-140… Once I had decided on that the rest almost all fell into place…

Standing out, the XT1 with it's 'EVF hump'...

I already owned the x100s, X Pro 1, 35mm f1.4 & a few Fuji instax cameras… The XT1 is currently Fuji’s top performer & with a nice little Black Friday offer it was quickly added to the line up… Next was a portrait lens… I could ‘get away’ with only shooting the 23mm of the x100s & the 35mm 1.4 but I needed something that could give a little more compression & a little better separation from the background…

The fastest lens in my kit, the gorgeous 56mm 1.2...

The 56mm f1.2 from fuji was an obvious choice although I did consider the 90mm f2 for some time but decided it just wouldn't be as practice & again it was getting a little large… The 56 will stay on the XT1 most of the time acting as my main portrait lens & low light monster with its massive 1.2 aperture… 

Oh... Isn't she sexy... I really should have moved that water bottle out of the background though!

Having decided on the longest lens in my kit I was after something a little wider than the 23mm on the x100s… A lens that is fast enough to be used during the evening reception of a wedding with good focusing abilities… It needed to be wide but not so wide that it would distort peoples faces as this lens would be used for group shots of people… Fuji’s massively underrated 18mm f2 lens was perfect… Its wide, but not too wide, fast, quick to focus & is sharp enough for what I need, plus its as cheap as chips… Im sold, the 18mm is in the kit too…

On top of that lot I added the Samyang 12mm f2 just for a bit of ultra wide fun, the Nissin i40 flash for some TTL flash fill for people shots during wedding evening receptions & Fuji's 16mm Extension tube for ring & detail shots…

Anyway enough is enough… I got a rip off Pelican case to pack my gear away safe & loaded it up… So now you know what I will be shooting... All of this gear will be reviewed & field tested in my up & coming blog posts so please stay tuned!

Please like, comment & subscribe

Howard

p.s. The next blog post will be the first of a series... 'How I made this photo', where I share a photo, some background info & how I processed the photo to get it to its final state...