The Digital Contact Sheet :: Episode 1

Welcome to episode 1 of The Digital Contact Sheet. I explained yesterday what the aim of this series was, but if you missed it, click here. I posted this photo (below) on my street photography blog 35mmStreet last summer and I thought it would be a good example to get started. All these shots were taken with the Fujifilm X-Pro1 and a 35mm f1.4, 125th sec, f3.6. ISO was set to auto and moved between 400 and 640. I don't recommend using Auto ISO with the X-Pro1 or X-E1 at the moment, due to the lack of a minimum shutter speed in Aperture Priority and the lack of Exposure Compensation in Manual Mode. But on this overcast day, the lighting was flat and Auto ISO done a good job.

• Image 1 (below, top left) I spotted this Chinese man from quite a distance away. I was hoping this wasn't going to be the only shot I'd get, but it's important to fire one off as soon as you can, just in case! But if this had been the only frame I'd got, it might still have been usable in black and white.

• Image 2 (below, top right) The woman walks into my frame and the man's eyes are half shut. This one is a reject and will never be used, but I'm now in position. My focus point was already set to the left of my frame as I am walking on the left side of the street beside the kerb (road side), so everyone is passing or coming toward me on the left.
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• Image 3 (above, bottom left) I took this shot and thought it was the one I was after, but as he hadn't even noticed me (thanks to the black X-Pro1 and my invisibility cloak :o), I kept the camera to my eye and went for another.
• Image 4 (above, bottom right) Click, and number 4 is even better, but I'll go for another.

Image 5 (above) The 35mm f1.4 has a lag when focusing (18mm f2 is much faster), but in this case the delay between me pressing the shutter and the camera grabbing the shot, actually helped and got me something very unexpected. I knew I had got the best shot as soon as I heard the click, but when the LCD popped into the viewfinder for the preview, I knew I was done and walked on. Five frames taken and the subject still hadn't even noticed me.

Post Processing (top of this post) All shots from this days shoot were imported into Lightroom 4 and I applied my Fuji preset to all of them, which sets Contrast to +25 and Clarity to +15. That's always my starting point with the X cameras.  I hit P for pick on shot 4 & 5 and then sent them over to Silver Efex Pro 2. As with all my street photography shots, it's one click and I'm done! I have made three versions of my own preset, one under-exposed by a stop, one over-exposed by a stop and one in the middle. I can see by the previews in the left side of Silver Efex Pro 2 which one is right for the photo and I click it and hit save to send it back into Lightroom. Job done! I only wish all my post processing was as quick as my street photography shots.

So thats it for episode one! I hope it's been of interest to at least a few of you? I'd really appreciate a bit of feedback on this series so I can tell if I'm on the right track. If you have the time, please leave a comment down below with your thoughts on The Digital Contact Sheet?

My Bag Is Featured On Japan Camera Hunter

My Street and Documentary camera bag is featured on Japan Camera Hunter's 'In Your Bag' feature. I'm number 390 in this long running feature. You'll find a list of what's inside my bag, plus a bit of information too. Click here to see my bag Japan Camera hunter, AKA Bellamy Hunt is the man to contact if you're looking for quality cameras and equipment. Bellamy sources great gear from in Japan (where he's based) and ships it all over the world. Looking for a Leica M2? Bellamy's your man.

The Digital Contact Sheet :: A New Series

EPISODE 1 COMING TOMORROW

The idea behind The Digital Contact Sheet is to show a sequence of photos and explain why one was chosen over another or why one works and another doesn't. It could be a street shot, a portrait, documentary, wedding, landscape, basically anything under the sun. The point is to show what comes before or after the money shot! I'll also show the difference between shots that are straight out of camera and ones that are edited in Lightroom, Photoshop or Silver Efex Pro. It's a warts and all type of thing and I hope it will help or inspire anyone out there that doubts their abilities as a photographer or think that their photos aren't good enough. Maybe you need to take more, maybe you need to slow down and wait for the right shot and therefore take less photos? Hopefully there will be something in this series that will help another photographer in some way.

I'm not sure how this feature is going to work out! I might run it a few times, or maybe it will be an ongoing thing, I really don't know.... it's up to you. I'll post the first Digital Contact Sheet tomorrow. I just hope I'll have the words to describe what I need to, and make this a worthwhile feature for the readers of this blog. But I'll give it a try and hopefully some of you will get something out of it???

A Mute Reminder :: New Story On The Kage Collective

I have a new story on The Kage Collective website today. I say new, but it was actually shot back in November at the remembrance day parade in Glasgow, Scotland. As you can imagine, it was an emotional day for everyone involved, but especially for those who had lost friends and family in any of the conflicts around the world.

Please take a few minutes to have a look at A Mute Reminder and if you feel like leaving a comment on the Kage site, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the story. A Mute Reminder was shot with the Fujifilm X-Pro1 & X-E1.

The S Factor :: Fujifilm X100s

New from Fuji is the X100s, an update to the original X model. Fujifilm has done the opposite of what a lot of camera manufactures do by just giving the camera an S rather than naming it the X200. How many times do we see new models coming out with very minimal improvements? With the X100s, it looks like there has been a huge leap in the technology inside the camera, but very little on the outside. I'm really glad it's that way round as the the camera looks stunning!

Here are some of the new features:

• 16.3 million pixels APS-C X-Trans CMOS II sensor
• EXR Processor II
• Hybrid Viewfinder (OVF / EVF)
• FUJINON 23mm F2 lens
• Intelligent Hybrid AF (with the world’s fastest AF speed of 0.08 secs
• Start-up time of 0.5 secs
• Shutter time lag of 0.01 secs
• Shooting interval of 0.5 secs
• High-contrast and wide viewing-angle 2.8-inch Premium Clear LCD (460K dots)
• Super Intelligent Flash
• Burst shooting rate of up to 6 frames per second at full resolution (max. 29 frames)
• Focus Peak Highlight function
• Digital Split Image display
• Artistic filters
• Full HD movie recording (60fps / 30fps)

It's nice to see the old split screen focussing making a comeback. I have a similar thing in my Olympus OM2-n, but with a horizontal line, rather than vertical. The X100s looks like a cross between that and a rangefinder patch in the centre of the screen. I'm looking forward to trying it out. The X100s will also have the fastest focusing in it's class.

Let's hope we get an update to the X100 firmware to get an updated menu and to add a Q button function to the Raw button. While I'm on the subject of firmware, we really need a minimum shutter speed added to the Auto ISO in the X-Pro1 and X-E1. This should be a Fuji priority!

Aperture Blade Runner

This is a cross post with my street photography blog at 35mmStreet where you can see the black and white version of the above photo. Click HERE to see both colour & B&W together and let me know in the comments what you think looks best?

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). 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!

Trigger Happy :: Flashwave III Radio Triggers

I've been a heavy user of Nikon's Creative Lighting System for the past few years and it has worked well for me...if I'm shooting Nikon. But these days I need a radio system that would work equally well on the Nikon and the Fuji X-Pro1, X100 and now the X-E1. The latest pocket wizard plus iii's were looking like the direction I was going to go, but the system was a bit messy as the transceivers needed to be hung from the lights by lanyards. The Pocket wizards were also working out pretty expensive as I would have needed six units.

I was turned on to the Flashwave III system after reading that Billy 'the Fuji Guy' used these units and recommended them for the X cameras. I ordered two sets from Warehouse Express to try before buying the rest of the receivers that I required. A set consists of one very small transmitter for the camera hotshoe and one receiver to trigger a flash. One of the plus sides of the Flashwave system is that the receiver has it's own hotshoe that a strobe can be mounted on, plus because it has a flat base, the receiver also doubles as a Speedlight stand. These units can also be mounted on light stands via a threaded socket on the base.  A set of Flashwave III's also come with an impressive array of cables and adapters that most companies would charge as extras.

Built quality is pretty good and although the units are plastic, they have stainless steel plates on the flat areas that give them a quality feel. I get quite a few miss-fires with the Nikon SU800 commander unit (probably due to it being infrared line of sight), but the Flashwave's fire every time. Channels are controlled by 4 dip switches on all units, which gives a total of 16 channels. So if you do events with other photographers, both of you can select a different Channel and avoid firing each others lights.

It's great to use two cameras with a Flashwave transmitter on each! With a 50mm on one and an 85mm on the other, I can get through a full portrait session without having to change a lens. I used to either switch lenses or switch off cameras and move the SU800 from one to another.

The downside of using generic radio triggers is that you can't change power from the transmitters, they simply trigger and nothing more. But on the up side, I find that my lighting is more consistent when I come to editing a shoot, as I'm less likely to try to micro adjust power settings. Which of course means that photos can be adjusted in batches as the exposures are all the same.

We Are The Kage Collective :: An Announcement

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

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 series 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 my 35mmStreet blog 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.

Nikon D800 :: It's Not You, It's Me!

I've had a strange relationship with the D800 ever since it was first announced. I bitched about all those megapixels right from the start and feel that I've been forced into an arranged marriage that I should hate!. The trouble is, it's the best DSLR I've ever shot with! I still say that 36mp is too much (for me), but after having a hands on with the D600 and being unimpressed by it's lack of pro feel and features (great sensor though) I had only three options, D800, D700 or 5Dmkiii. If Nikon had put the D600 in a D300s body, I would have bought it right away!

The D700 is a fantastic camera, but lacking in two features that are crucial to me, dual card slots and quiet mode. Canon came so close to having another The 5Dmkiii user. It's a fantastic camera in the hands, so comfortable to hold, but the draw backs for me were just to many. I use custom white balance all the time and Nikon have a really easy way to handle this feature and is so quick. Canon on the other hand, use a reference photo (that you have to move to manual focus to take when using an ExpoDisc) that you then have to delve into the menus to find. It's just to many steps! Moving focus point is done by pressing a button first, a small thing, but one step more than Nikon. What it came down to in the end was that I have worked my way up to owning the best prime lenses that Nikon produce and I am so deep in Nikon's CLS lighting system that it would have been crazy to move. It was always kind of obvious, but sometimes you just don't see the woods for the trees! My friend Patrick LaRoque took the chainsaw out and made a small clearing...just enough to see the Nikon forest.

So the D800, the camera I said I wouldn't own is the body that I now think is pretty awesome! I've shot portraits and product shots with it and have been blown away by the quality and sharpness. My 85mm f1.4G is outstanding on the D800! In fact all my Nikon Primes have suddenly shown their true potential. My big problem with the D800 will be when shooting weddings. I probably shoot less pictures than a lot of photographers at weddings and I'm always trying to be selective on the day by composing as carefully as possible and definitely not praying and spraying! I'd rather spend my time in post editing, rather than wading though hundreds of images that won't make the cut. But at around 103 raw photos per 8gb card, my workflow will have to be adjusted. The up-side is that I actually shoot more shots at a wedding on the Fuji X-Pro1, so that takes a lot of the pressure of my hard drive.

Click on the photo above to see the full size jpeg and then the one below to see the full size of the crop.

So as you can see from the shots above, the D800 is a camera with amazing resolution. It's also the DSLR with the biggest files.  The  Raw file for this photo was 43.3mb and the jpeg was 12.6mb. I've been shooting  jpeg with the Fuji X100 and X-Pro1 and never once wished I had a Fuji raw file, so I'm thinking of shooting  jpeg on the D800 for weddings on one card and raw on the other. I'll import the jpegs into Lightroom and unless I need to recover any blown highlights (vary rare), the raw files might never get used.

The Fujifilm X-E1 :: Hands On Review

There's more similarities between the X-E1 and the X-Pro1 than not, so I won't go over old ground here. You can find plenty on both the X-Pro1 and the X100 elsewhere on this blog, so I'll just give a brief roundup of the few differences and how this new camera feels.

I chose the black version for one reason...stealth! I recently tried to take photos at a murder scene and only had the X100 with me. Although it was dark, I was we'll aware that the silver body would be noticed by the police around the area far more than a black camera would, so for me, the X-E1 had to be black. I will probably put black Gaff tape over the front name plate of the camera to cover the white letters too.

First reaction when I unboxed the camera was that the packaging was a big drop down from the X-Pro1 (which was a drop down from the X100’s). The second thing I noticed was how light the camera was. I've had this initial feeling with all the X's, but like the X-Po1, when you add the battery and a lens, it starts to feel quite nice! I'm eagerly awaiting a Gariz half case to be made available, which will not only protect the body, but add a bit of weight and make it a bit more comfortable in the hand. The X-E1 is almost identical in size to the X100, but feels a bit easier to grip, thanks to the front rubber grip and the raised section that houses the Q button. Like the X-Pro1, I feel that the AE-L button would have been better placed to the left of the thumb wheel (where the View Mode button is). I would have liked the play button to have stayed in the same place as the X-Pro1 (just for consistency between cameras).

You notice the OLED viewfinder is obviously much higher resolution as soon as you look through it! The addition of a diopter is great too, but the one big thing that annoys me (apart from the lack of minimum shutter speed setting in auto ISO) is that unless you are using the rear LCD screen for shooting (why would you?) when you press the Q button or Menu button, you have to look into the viewfinder to see the display. This is a bit un-natural. For me the viewfinder is for shooting and the LCD is for menus. I know I'm not alone in this as I've read the same thing on blogs about the X-Pro1 when using the EVF.

The X-E1 is a cracking little camera and in my opinion the best in it's class! A firmware updates could sort out a couple of niggles, but there's nothing that should prevent anyone from buying this camera. If I didn't own any X cameras, I would buy the X-pro1, but if you're looking for something smaller, lighter, less expensive or to compliment an X-Pro1 or X100, then this is the one to buy. I have the 35mm f1.4 on the X-Pro1 and the 18mm f2 on the X-E1 right now and it's a pretty sweet setup. I'll buy the 23mm when it comes out next year as I love the 35mm point of view, but for now, this is a s good as it gets! Fuji are on fire right now and there commitment to existing products and customer feedback is unmatched by any other brand in my opinion.

One thing I should point out is that although the shutter sound is as awesome as the X-Pro1, there is an extra noise as the shutter closes that sounds almost like a rapid wind on of film, very short, but I wasn't sure if it should be there. I checked with Fuji UK and they confirmed that it was the sound it should make.