Aperture-Blade Runner

This is a cross post with my blog for photographers at Derek Clark Photography where you can see the colour version of the above photo.

I was out today, having coffee and talking shop with a couple of photographer friends John McPake and John Summers. After a few cups of tea and coffee and covering all things from sensors to lenses, books to editing, Santa Claus to Filipino Xmas parties and everything in between, we decided that we should be shooting pictures instead of talking about them. We made plans to go out for a days photography to a derelict building that's been on our photographic horizons for a while. But we made the arrangement that we would go out and shoot as long as the weather was ok, but if it was raining we would probably just get together indoors and talk or play around with radio triggers or light modifiers.

When I left the two John’s, I headed into town to have a look at the photography books in Waterstones. It was raining pretty hard and it was dark, but I pulled the Fuji X-E1 out of my bag and kept it up high, under my umbrella. I shot a few photos on the way to the bookstore and then a few afterwards on the way back to the car (with a really nice Time Life book having been purchased :o). I'm showing a few shots from my walk and I hope you all like them. But the main point of this blog post is just to point out that we shouldn't just go out in ideal conditions, or even fair weather. Sometimes it's the things you think you should avoid that give you something a little bit different or a little bit special. So although the golden hour is desirable, don't avoid the rain or the midday sun. Instead, we need to embrace them and use the qualities they have. The rain provides fantastic reflections and the midday sun gives us harsh contrasts shadows that can be amazing in black and white!

Hanging Around

I'm having a bit of a clear out right now. I haven't been feeling too great recently so I've not been able to shoot much street. But to keep things moving along here on 35mmStreet I thought I'd post some shots that I didn't get round to posting closer to when they were shot. The first two are from Venice and were taken back in May this year when I was in Italy and shot Running Into Darkness, which can be seen at The Kage Collective. The second two were shot at this years Edinburgh Festival.

Blackberry Had A Child...The Damn Thing Gone Wild!

Here's a few shots linked by the mobile phone. Folks on phones are probably the easiest people to shoot on the streets, as they're so connected (excuse the pun) to their phones that they tend not to notice a camera pointing straight at them. The first shot was taken outside Stills Gallery - Scotland's Centre For Photography in Edinburgh. The next two were shot in Glasgow.

We Are The Kage Collective :: An Announcement

I can finally announce the launch of The Kage Collective (pronounced Kaji), a project that I'm involved in with fellow photographers Patrick La Roque (Canada), Paul Pride (England) and Robert Catto (Australia), with me heading up the Scotland branch.

As you will see from the Kage Collective website, we are a group of international photographers shooting documentary projects about a wide variety of subjects. The one common thread that runs through the project and the thing that not only brought us together, but also binds us, is that we shoot with the Fujifilm X cameras. At the moment the X100, X-Pro1 and X-E1 are the models being used by the collective, but I'm sure other models will become available to us, and of course we can't wait to get our hands on the new XF lenses as they come available.

Kage Collective has been simmering away in the background for a few months, taking shape and getting refined ready for todays launch. It's been difficult not to let it slip a few times, especially on Twitter. I'm excited and thrilled to be a part of this collective and couldn't wish for a better group of photographers to collaborate with. To say we're on the same wavelength would be an understatement! So please take a look at the brand new Kage Collective website (built by our very own Patrick LaRoque) and have a look at our launch stories. The site will be updated regularly and will definitely give us all a bit of pressure to go out with our Fuji X cameras and document life as we see it!

The photo above is taken from my first story on the Kage site 'Running Into Darkness' which was shot on the streets of Italy this year. As you can see, my style is my style, so if you're a regular on 35mmStreet and you like my black and white photography, you should take a look at the Kage website. If you're not familiar with Patrick, Paul or Robert's work, you really are missing out on some great photography. Let me know in the comments what you think.

Hats On The Move

Here's a couple of shots from the X twins. The shot above was taken by the X-Pro1 and the 35mm f1.4. The shot bellow was taken by the E-E1 and the 18mm f2. Stay tuned for an announcement of something new on Thursday.

The Bank Job

There's an old British television show called The Sweeney that's just been made into a movie. The new version stars Ray Winston and the word is that it's very good. But I have some great memories watching the TV version starring John Thaw and Denis Waterman, in bed on my tiny black and white portable TV. The man in this shot reminds me so much of one of the bank robbing baddies (I'm sure thais man is a law abiding citizen though).

The Weekend Is Just Around The Corner

Three X100 shots for a Friday. Looking after sick children over the weekend, but looking forward to hitting the streets at the start of the week. Have a good weekend everyone.

Mixed Bag :: The Edinburgh Arts Festival 2012

Here's a mixed bag of more X-Pro1 street shots from the Edinburgh Festival this year. 

Get Your Kit Off :: Edinburgh Arts Festival 2012

Here's a couple of shots from the X100. This guy was so in love with the look of the X100 that he didn't notice he had dropped something.

Asking for directions to Bath?

Musicians On The Streets :: Edinburgh Arts Festival 2012

Here's a couple of interesting characters on the streets of Edinburgh during the Fringe Festival. I think the guy in the foreground might be Slash's (Guns & Roses) sisters friends cousins uncles neighbors step-son...but I could be wrong!

This street muso has decided that the more tone holes in his guitar the better. In fact it might have been the woodworm that decided!

Another street musician that's just surprised to be here.

This guys instrument was so poor that thief's stole his case and left the guitar.

I think someone's got instrument envy. Not that he wants one...more he'd like to be one! All these shots were taken with the X-Pro1.