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We’ve been working with Alex for sometime now and he’s been creating some eye-wateringly good fashion shoots and editorial work in the UK and abroad for a while now.

We wanted to offer a select few the opportunity to come along to London for the day, shoot a top international model (the tallest and most beautiful person I’d ever met and am likely to), try out the Fujifilm X-T1, X-Pro1, X100S and range of lenses. The real pull however was to be working in close
proximity with Alex and get almost one-to-one training with. Alex would generously offer top advice and techniques on how to shoot street fashion, with an edgy feel. We ran a quick competition and notified the lucky people that would be invited to come along.

So, at The Sanderson (FYI if you’re thinking of visiting London try and stay here. The lift alone will blow your mind-honestly) I, along with Nathan and Hannah from Fujifilm, were there to meet the lucky winners.

The attendees were a real mix of shooting styles and photographic weapons of choice, but all very proficient photographers. Up in the lift (I will bang on about that given half the chance) to the fabulous suite which we were using. Jasmin had her hair and make-up fixed, tips were given from Alex how to direct hair and makeup and how to go about choosing a team of people to work with.

While the styling was taking place Alex talked through how he came to use the Fujifilm system, why its worked for him and why it offers him creative freedom. How he can get shots which wouldn’t be possible with a traditional DSLR (more on this to come). Our competition winners then chose which camera / lens combo they wanted to use, Jasmin was revealed -ta-dar- and we were ready to hit the streets of Soho.

6 photographers, 3 Fujifilm staff, one International model, one videographer (special thanks to Sinbad) and one Alex Lambrechts out on the streets of Soho. For those unfamiliar with London, its quite common to see lots of creative and exciting things going on, but we were stopping traffic! The public were quite rightly curious as to what was going on, but we all got into the hang of it straight away.

Alex was teaching us on the fly what to look for, angles, backlighting, top lighting, inspiring everyone and giving them confidence to try something new. On the spot, on the go.

We tried different techniques, going down side alleys, using the urban architecture to frame different shots and learning more and more about how to create ‘wow’ shots using the cameras. Pretty soon anyone who may have been lacking confidence were sharpening their elbows to get in and get the shot.

Streets, alleyways, walkways, building entrances-anything and everything was being shot. SD cards were filling up at a rate of knots.

After a good few hours of shooting, stopping and dodging traffic we were spent, so decamped to a pizzeria in Soho to take stock.

Cameras were passed around, experiences shared, top tips from all participants were exchanged.

Throughout the whole experience Alex was there, on hand, giving advice, giving encouragement but also letting you get on with it.

The whole experience was filmed in order to share with others what its like to shoot in those kind of conditions, with this kit. These are cameras which Alex shoots with professionally, not for a past time. They have to help him make a living. But this experience was showing others either new to the system, those thinking of trading up etc what opportunities there are and what they can enjoy from the Fujifilm X-Series.

Home, exhausted, happy and with some amazing images and memories which make me want to shoot more, challenge myself more and become a better photographer.

You’ve read the blog, seen the images, now you can watch the video too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlfemoBIY5g 

View more of Alex’s work here

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The attendees

Nicola Mueller

The reason I wanted to attend was to learn from Alex and to try out Fujifilm X series cameras and street photography
I liked the buzz of the street photography experience and the camera was excellent and very manageable due to its size. I was really concerned as I am not technical that I wouldn’t be able to get nice images but I was very pleasantly surprised.

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Brian Rolfe

Having just purchased my X-Pro 1 and Alex being one of the reasons that helped me make that jump, I wanted to get an insight into how Alex used the system, settings and tips on the X system and get some hands on time with my new camera and try something different.
I’ve had almost no previous experience in shooting street photography.
I really enjoyed the day, Alex took the time to go over how he came to use the X system, how he uses it and the benefits as well as a few pointers on particular settings. Aside from getting a better understanding of the cameras and some of the settings I learned a couple of new focussing techniques and how to shoot ‘on the fly’, totally different to most of my studio work and a refreshing change!

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Robert Morgans

I wanted to meet Alex Lambrechts, Fuji staff, and experience an assortment of Fuji cameras and equipment and to have a go at some street photography. I enjoyed being with like minded people, picking up tips, and having a good time.
The day was a massive success despite being late getting outside. I really enjoyed it and met some lovely people who are now Facebook friends, plus got some great shots and learned some things.
I didn’t have a great deal of street photography experience, mainly shooting architecture. I did photograph people but, in my mind, the picture needs to pick up something interesting, an expression or act, to warrant the picture being worth publishing. I see too many nondescript street pics, so my experience is that it’s a difficult area to get expressive images but very rewarding when it happens.
I really enjoyed the day and the company. Alex and his wife, Jasmin, are a great couple and make the day. Jasmin was so good as a model that getting a great shot was fairly easy!

I learned that it is best to utilise the Fuji option of setting a minimum shutter speed to avoid motion blur and let the camera chose whatever ISO as even at very high ISO the file quality is superb. Setting the aperture small (like F11) for getting background sharp and more open for closer work.

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Tuesday Dé Máirt

I carry my dslr (with some heavy lenses) everywhere I go but it’s surely wearing me out so I asked Facebook friends to recommend me a handy camera that produces good quality pictures. Someone told me about the upcoming Fujifilm camera (back in January) so I waited and purchased XT1 when it became available. So coming to the workshop was the best idea – to learn more about the handsome camera’s capabilities.
This is my first time to try street photography.
The experience was remarkable! It was more of a relax kind of just chatting and taking photographs. Alex is very talented when it comes to teaching (aside from capturing great photographs!), he definitely made everyone get excited for the day and encourage everyone to just take pictures, waste no time! I love the tips I got from him, he surely know what he’s doing. And Nathan is there to help with technical stuff which I was expecting to learn that day too. Definitely a memory worth to keep…

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Gerry Walden

My reasons for attending was to keep myself fresh on trending styles of photography with a hands-on experience.
I have extensive experience of shooting ‘street’ but this was a first for me within the style. My normal work is a more social documentary style.
The day was a great opportunity to interchange ideas with Alex and the others, and to network with fellow Fuji users of various abilities. It took me out of my comfort zone and challenged me to think more progressively about what I am doing.

Joshua Brathwaite

Being relatively new to the world of photography the Fujifilm X Street Fashion workshop was fantastic and just what I needed. It gave me not only the technical pointers that I’d hoped for, but being introduced to the Fujifilm X systems changed my whole view of photography. It opened me up to new ideas and techniques that simply aren’t possible with the DSLR camera. I’m now saving up to buy the XT1. Alex and the Fujifilm team were very helpful and put on an awesome day in the streets on London.

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Finally, a special thanks to Nathan Wake for shooting the lovely images that make up the first part of this blog post!