Wedding

Learn from Fujifilm X-Photographers live at SWPP

by Fujifilm EMEA January 6, 2016 Comments1

Join official X-Photographers Damien Lovegrove, Kevin Mullins and Trevor & Faye Yerbury at The Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers (SWPP) 2016 Convention in London between the 20th and 24th January 2016.

Damien Lovegrove

An official Fujifilm X-Photographer, Damien Lovegrove has become one of the foremost trainers of portrait photography in our industry. A published writer and regular columnist, Damien has traveled the globe sharing his knowledge and expertise.

Damien left his role as a cameraman and lighting director at the BBC back in 1998 after 14 successful years to create the renowned Lovegrove Weddings partnership with his wife Julie. Together they shot over 400 top weddings for discerning clients worldwide.

In 2008 Damien turned his hand to shooting beauty & portraiture and has since amassed a dedicated following for his distinctive art.

Superclass: “Master Location Lighting” 10:00 – 16:00 Wednesday 20th Jan

On this 6 hour photography workshop at a unique London Location, you will learn a variety of trade-secret interior portrait lighting techniques. You will use the beauty of natural light as well as use continuous spotlights to add a sense of drama to your shots.

This is a styled, fashion orientated shoot that will give you the knowledge and skills to recreate a repertoire of lighting setups – changing the way you see the world around you. Throughout the session Damien will provide you with hands-on instruction and an excellent grounding in how you and your camera can achieve amazing results.

Limited to just 15 delegates. Click here for more information and to book now

Masterclass: “Top tips to create Striking Portraits” 16:00 – 18:00 Thursday 21st Jan

Damien will discuss the 7 top techniques that he uses to create and capture those key moments in portraits. He will explain in detail a number of important elements that you can combine to produce great images. Having a strategy and a vision is fundamental in creating portraits that wow and this is your chance to learn from a contemporary master at first hand.

Click here for more information and to book your place

Kevin Mullins

Kevin is a wedding photographer by trade with a passion for people watching. He wants his wedding photographs to be snapshots of real, uncontrived but tender moments in time.

He wants his clients to be taken right back to that moment in time when the image was exposed and see it from their guests eye view. For Kevin it is imperative that his clients don’t remember their wedding day as a fashion shoot with the photographer. He would rather they forget entirely about him, but in 50 years’ time when they are showing their grandchildren the pictures of their wedding they can point to real moments, real people, real photographs.

Location seminar: “West End Street Photography” 10:00 – 16:00 Thursday 21st Jan

Join Kevin on this six-hour sojourn around the streets of the West End of London.

The session will start with a briefing where we will discuss the core elements of good street photography and we will finish off with a beer and de-brief.

Kevin’s Street Photography workshops sell out each time and this is a great opportunity to dip your toes into the fascinating world of candid street shooting, or, for the more experienced, understand how Kevin works in more detail when shooting on the streets.

Limited to just 15 delegates. Click here for more information and to book your place

Masterclass: “Pure Wedding Photojournalism from the Heart” 9:00 – 11:00 Friday 22nd Jan

The session will explore what’s needed to be a successful wedding photojournalist, from both an artistic point of view and from the business elements.

There will be a frank and open discussion about client management, expectation and the mechanisms of building a business based on candid wedding photography. You will spend time analysing images, see full weddings, and dissect the factors of this genre that are so appealing to clients. Kevin will also talk about his migration from DSLR to a fully mirrorless configuration.

Most wedding photographers shoot at least some candid photography and this Masterclass is aimed at anyone who wants to either improve that element of their photography, or, who want to move their business more in the direction of wedding photojournalism.

This is part of the Masterclass multi day event. Click here for more information and to book your place

Superclass: “SEO is Changing” 14:00 – 18:00 Saturday 23rd Jan

In this session Kevin will discuss everything you need to know to get up to date with the changing world of Search. Be prepared to take lots of notes and take away with you the knowledge that will get you onside with Google.

We will talk about the huge power of Social Media, Graph Search and the Network so… If you think SEO is about Keywords, think again!

Limited to just 20 delegates. Click here for more information and to book your place

Trevor and Faye Yerbury

As true educators with a wealth of experience behind them you could do no better than attend one of Trevor and Faye Yerbury’s workshops where you will learn how they light their portraits in the studio and on location or how they designed one of the most successful boudoir marketing promotions.

Trevor Yerbury comes from a long and historic family of professional photographers. Trevor’s Great Grandfather established the company in 1864 and Trevor is the 4th generation to carry out the family tradition.

Faye joined Trevor full time in 1996 and has earned an enviable reputation for her work. On 3 occasions she has won the title of “Kodak UK Child Photographer of the Year”. She also holds a Kodak Gold Award and, like Trevor, is a Master of the Society of Wedding & Portrait Photographers.

They are both Fellows of the SWPP, MPA and are invited Fellows of the Royal Photographic Society a rare honour. In 2014 they both were awarded Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Seminar: “Fine Art Nude Location Class” 10:00 – 16:00 Friday 22nd Jan

Trevor and Faye Yerbury have been photographing the Fine Art Nude for over 30 years and are represented by galleries in Amsterdam and New York. Collectors worldwide seek out their work, which are printed on the finest art paper using the platinum/palladium process. Their work has appeared in countless books and magazines. The Glasshouse Hotel commissioned over 240 of the art nude images from their archives for wall artwork to grace the hotels bedrooms and suites. They have also had exhibitions in Edinburgh – London – Madrid – Malta – Paris and Vancouver.

This unique Location Shoot provides a unique opportunity to spend a day with Trevor and Faye exploring their world of fine art photography of the female figure.

SEMINAR SOLD OUT. Click here for more information

Masterclass: “Lighting Portraiture” 14:00 – 16:00 Sunday 24th Jan

Trevor and Faye will take you through their history in portrait photography with examples from 4 generations of the Yerbury dynasty including original portraits of Andrew Carnegie, J M Barrie, King George 1V and many others.

This will be a very inclusive seminar as they take you through a series of their classic and contemporary portraits and talk about the session, how they approached it and how the subject reacted. They will also demonstrate how they approach a portrait session and what equipment they use.

Click here for more information and to book your place

Are Fujifilm mirrorless cameras ready to replace your D-SLR system?

by Fujifilm EMEA October 9, 2015 Comments13

Fabio Camandona became a photographer in 2007 during a vacation, twenty years after the thought “I’d like to be a photographer” first entered his head. From there he embarked on an intense independent study of the art, which led to him becoming a Master of the Nikon School in just two years, holding many high-level workshops for the company and himself. He began photographing weddings almost by chance, and with the arrival of his wife Simona Pilolla, he opened a studio called CamandonaPilolla which has had great success across the nation. Member of Fearless Photographers, the official photographer for both the Reggia di Venaria and the Torino Polytechnic University, and testimonial for Fujifilm Italia, he continues to hold numerous workshops despite the many weddings he photographs every year. He defines himself as an extremely simple person who loves life and living it.

“I’ve owned a Fujifilm X-E2 for two full months, one of the most recent mirrorless cameras to be released by a company which gave a raison d’être to the mirrorless sector and managed to win over the market.

I’ve been following this sector for quite some time now. I’ve always harboured great interest in it and have been waiting for the moment when it would become possible to sell all my reflex cameras and continue to work using lighter and less invasive bodies.
I had some requisites that needed fulfilling however:

I didn’t want any significant loss in quality compared to the cameras I was using before. I have a Nikon D600 and D700, both of which are up for sale at the moment. They’re excellent cameras. They’ve allowed me to do things that have satisfied me personally and have helped me to produce images which have received appreciation in various countries around the world. With two great lenses in front of the sensor, I knew I couldn’t accept a decrease in quality. I needed something that was at least equal. Many have asked me, “why don’t you want more?” It is because I believe that there is a limit beyond which I would just be looking for trouble. Keep in mind that I am talking about MY personal photography. With these two cameras I was able to do everything I wanted. They were exceptional.
Reactivity. I do lots of weddings in the Kabul style. What does this mean? It means that our clients know very well that they need not pay any attention to us during their special day. As such, they dart back and forth from one part of the house to another, to the church and to the location, doing exactly what they want while we race behind them. (And rightly so: it’s their day!) For this reason, I need an autofocus that is both instantaneous and precise.
High ISO. Weddings are almost always in the evening. The locations are romantic and dark. High ISO is indispensable and 6400 is the bare minimum. I don’t expect every pixel to come out clean like at 200 ISO but I want my images to be useable. The D600 gave me what I wanted, the D700 didn’t.
Strobism. The technique of using flash controlled remotely via transmitter. I use it almost all the time. For me it’s fundamental.
Resilience. Ah yes, it’s important. Cameras and lenses fall, get wet in the rain and become victims of spilt martinis and flying sushi. It happens.

In short, a mirrorless had to give me everything I’ve listed above. However, I was also looking for a few extra characteristics that a reflex could never provide…

Discretion. Discretion as in not being identified as a crazy paparazzi. Discretion is something that can allow me to take NEW kinds of photographs and this is very important to me. Much more important than a crop or a shallow depth of field created by a Noctilux lens. Enormously important. New photos, new emotions.
Weight. Carrying around two catafalques for 12-14 hours was a lot. They were heavy; during the final hours I was always exhausted and a little bit aggravated. The desire to jump to my feet and photograph the bride being thrown in the air by her friends was purely psychological: my body, on the other hand, would be cursing me. We do lots of weddings but on top of that, we also engage in other services, workshops and of course, personal photography – in other words, a lot of shooting. About halfway through the season last year, I experienced a very strong inflammation of the meniscus and at the end of the season, I was completely burned out.
New incentives like the ones the iPhone gave me two years ago or the Fuji X20 (a super camera but not comparable to a reflex and thus appropriate for other purposes). There is always a need for new incentives and challenges.

Every year I tried the newest releases but there was always a missing link. Last year the X-E2 was released and as the slogan goes: the AF is lightning fast! (Well, more or less.) Interesting. The autofocus was one crucial aspect that Fujifilm always struggled with.

I wrote to Fujifilm, suggesting a one year project and they accepted. It was at that point I pleasantly discovered just how wonderful the company is. A company that keeps its promises. A company that goes above and beyond. I admit that I’m still a bit dumbfounded.

They sent me the X-E2 with three lenses: the 18-55mm kit lens, a 14mm wide-angle lens and a medium 60mm lens. I bought myself a couple of batteries and I was ready to go. I started to search for potential test shoots to verify whether or not my needs could be met.

The first: Its inauguration. A paid event similar to a wedding. The results? Excellent.
The second: A semi-sports photo feature at the Thay Boxe Mania event in Torino. A paid job. Again, excellent results.
The third: My best landscape workshop of the year, Snowscape. We’re talking serious landscapes. For the 14mm I bought ND filters, remote shooting etc. Excellent, just excellent.
The fourth: A photo feature at the fast-paced Orange Battle of Ivrea following the Devils under the floats. Excellent once again.

In between I had a few engagement, landscape and corporate jobs. The X-E2 shone every time.

In short, I’ve realised that I haven’t lost anything compared to my old gear. The images from the Fuji during the tests provided at least the same quality. In some cases, it was even better. Actually, sincerely speaking, it was always better but I repeat, going “beyond” the quality of my old gear simply isn’t important. I’m more interested in other features.

More than anything, I’ve released that I tend to take far more photos during the spare time between one service and another. It’s small, and it’s always on you. You naturally take photos with it.

One of the educational topics I often push at my workshops is just that: the act of taking photos. You have to take lots if you want to improve and this applies to anyone. With this camera, I’ve taken many more photos than I ever did before.

I tested the camera at high ISO speeds. I looked at the reactivity, the robustness, the quality of the files, the portability and its use for strobism. (By the way, the Yongnuo RF603 kit for Canon works just fine with the Fujis.)

But there was one aspect that made me reflect more than anything. I’ve always loved participating in photography groups and sites such as ArtFreelance, Shot Magazine, Full Frame, 500px, loveyourpix and so on. It’s something I do often. I measure the quality of my photos by how many times I am selected by the editors and by their placement in the various galleries some groups use. It’s useful, and the comparison continues. There are some very skilled people in these groups.

Let’s just say that since I started using the X-E2, the number of times I’ve been selected by the editors has doubled.

I’ve come to notice that I shoot much as I used to in some ways, but quite differently in others. I don’t really understand the reason but I believe it is also related to the question of chemistry. The positive attention I’ve received from Fujifilm has surely helped as well. In fact, it’s probably related to a number of things. But in the end, who cares? I’m producing better images for myself and my clients and that’s what counts. Nothing else matters.

Yes, I am selling my entire reflex system. The switch is effective as of now – I’m going mirrorless and the Fujifilm X-E2 is my camera of choice.

P.S. The question of chemistry is a fundamental one. I know many photographers (colleagues and friends) who for various reasons continue to use the reflex system. Reasons include being involved in a particular micro-sector of photography, the need for a large grip or a general indifference towards the gear used. Obviously if it works for them, then that’s fine.

This is my story and I cannot speak for everyone.

See more of Fabio’s work

www.fabiocamandona.com
www.camandonapilolla.com

Filed under Be Inspired Healthcare Photography Portrait Reportage Wedding

Five wedding photographers who made ‘The Switch’

by Fujifilm EMEA October 7, 2015 Comments13

So you’re thinking about making the switch to a Fujifilm mirrorless system. You’ve read the reviews, watched the videos and listened to people tell you how their experience of shooting weddings has changed since they halved the weight they carry around for 14 hours every Saturday. They might have also mentioned how much time they have saved with post processing due to the quality of Fujifilm’s JPG files. Or how many candid shots they are getting now since they blend in with the other guests.

But you’re still not sure.

Let these five professional wedding photographers tell you about their experience of making the switch.

If they can do it, why can’t you?

Ian Weldon – Ian Weldon Photography

“I had my Canon 5D II in my bag and a 580 EX-II Speedlight, just in case. My head was spinning all day and I must have opened that bag 3 or 4 times and had to force myself to not take the ‘easy way out’.”

“After that day, nearly 4 years ago, I’ve never used anything other than Fuji cameras for my wedding work. Light, inconspicuous and all round pretty cool. What more could a documentary style wedding photographer need?”

“80% of my wedding work is shot with the X-Pro1 and 18mm f2 and the rest, mostly dancing shots, are with the X-T1 and 18mm f2. I do switch to the 35mm f1.4 on occasion for that extra bit of reach and use a Nissin i40 flash with sync chord. That’s it, liberating!”

See more of Ian’s work

Website: http://www.ianweldon.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ian-Weldon-Photography-124854627581367/timeline/ & https://www.facebook.com/ian.h.weldon
IG – @ianjweldon
ello – https://ello.co/ianjweldon
tumblr – http://ianweldon.tumblr.com

Paul Richards – Albion Row Photography

“I first used Fuji at a wedding way back with the original X-Pro & 35mm in July 2013, originally using it alongside a DSLR. I loved it, but it wasn’t until 2014 and the purchase of an X-T1 along with the 23mm & 56mm that the system really took over my wedding photography.”

“The Canon 5d3 was rather swiftly retired; there’s a lot that I love about the Fuji system but for me the main eye-opener that changed the way I work is the tilt-screen. I shoot weddings in a documentary fashion and the tilt-screen has become a firm favourite of mine. I love being able to move among guests in tight receptions with a wide-angle prime and the ability to shoot with the back screen as a waist level viewfinder. I get so many shots without people noticing I am there and without the intimidation of a camera raised to the eye. I can get closer and make shots with a feeling of intimacy and of being there – with a guest’s eye perspective.”

“For a wedding photojournalist I think the combination of image quality, ease of use, discretion and weight (or lack of!) that the Fuji system offers is outstanding. Nowadays I shoot with 3 X-T1 bodies and mostly the 16mm f1.4, the 35mm f1.4 and the 90mm f2 lenses and I am immensely happy with the system as a whole.”

See more of Paul’s work

Website: http://www.albionrow.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/weddingphotocornwall
Paul has also written a couple of blog posts about his switch that you can find here and here.

Lord Parker – Lord Parker Photography

“I switched from Nikon to Fuji in the latter half of 2014, after Damien Lovegrove advised me this was the future. I’m a disabled Photographer, so the weight of the DSLR has always been a problem by causing me to be more unbalanced.”

“When I switched to the Fuji X-T1 I was astonished by the weight of the camera and the images that were coming out of it, in my opinion superior straight out of the camera compared with the Nikon. The Fuji X-System has really helped me with my disability, no more arm aches and back ache”

“I shoot all my weddings using nothing more than the Fuji X-T1 and the X-Pro 1 with the 27mm, 18mm and the 16-55mm lenses. I don’t use flash, unless I’m getting creative after the wedding with a Cactus for some off camera flash work, I find that the ambient light, a low F-Stop and an ISO of 6400 is easily manageable.”

See more of Lord Parker’s work

Website: http://lord-parker.co.uk

Steve and Samantha Vaughan – SSV Photography

“We are documentary style wedding photographers, based in Bicester, Oxfordshire. Our style is to photograph the whole day, from preparation to well past the first dance. We starting using Fuijfilm X-series equipment a couple of years ago, to lighten the load on a long wedding shoot, but to also make us less obvious during the day.”

“With our DSLR gear, we found guests would pose and point at us. Using our 2 X-T1’s and X100T we are able to mingle with the guests and take natural, relaxed images. It is truly liberating to shoot a whole wedding with just a small shoulder bag, two bodies and 4 lenses.”

“The image quality from our X equipment is fantastic, as are the lenses. We are totally committed to Fujifilm equipment now.”

See more of Steve and Samantha’s work

Website: http://www.ssvphotography.co.uk
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SSVPhotography
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BicesterPhotos
Instagram: https://instagram.com/stevevaughanssv/

Mike Riley – Michael Riley Photography

“I’ve been a commercial photographer for a while now but have recently decided to start offering a documentary style wedding coverage. I’ve thought about it before but I’ve always resisted as I’ve never liked the wedding pictures I’ve seen in the past – all grip and grin, faked smiles and endless group shots which don’t tell you anything other than what people wore on the day.”

“As a contrast to the highly technical staged commercial studio work I do I want to tell stories. To tell stories I have to be in the middle of the action or at least very close to it and so when picking kit to do this with I settled on the Fuji X system.”

“I already had an X-Pro1 for personal use and the quality was fantastic – so good in fact that its sometimes hard to match the jpg quality with a RAW edit. The X-T1 I’ve added to the kit bag now is even better as it its a more responsive in use and is completely silent with the electronic shutter allowing me to be stood right next to the registrar or vicar and shooting without them knowing about it.”

“I can be right in the middle of the action capturing the story of the day without people stopping and gurning at the lens. Because of the small size of the kit I can move fast and easily and not worry about a massive lump of glass and metal swinging around as I move. I’ve shot one wedding this way so far and look forward to many more.”

See more of Mike’s work
Website: http://www.michaelrileyphotography.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mikerileyphotography
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MRileyPhoto
Instagram: https://instagram.com/michaelrileyphotography/

Filed under Be Inspired Photography Reportage Wedding

The Fujifilm X-T1 – The wedding photographers preferred choice?

by Guest Blogger September 7, 2015 Comments2

Fuji X-T1 | 16-55 f2.8 – 1/200th @ f8 ISO 200

By Scott Sharman

I’ve been a massive fan of Canon since becoming a professional photographer around ten years ago. Photography is in my blood, passing down through family generations, and I currently shoot around 60 to 70 weddings a year in Staffordshire, Cheshire and throughout the UK.

I had been reading some excellent reviews about the new Fuji X-T1 cameras and lenses. Lightweight, portable, compact and an incredible (EVF) electronic viewfinder which enabled the user to see live changes including white balance, exposure and so on.

Fuji X-T1 | 23mm f1.4 – 1/640th @ f16 ISO 400

And yet, was I really ready to move from my trustworthy Canon 5D MKIII’s and 1DX to the lightweight Fuji X-T1?

I contacted Fuji regarding loan units but all the loan units were out with other photographers. So here’s the brave bit. I jumped straight in and traded-in my tried, tested and trustworthy Canon 1DX there and then for the new Fuji X-T1, together with the 56mm f1.2 and 23mm F1.4 lenses.

And the results? Incredible. Fuji had since then gone on to loan me an XF16-55 F2.8 and XF50-140 F2.8 lenses to use with the X-T1. Although I was apprehensive at first to use this new Fuji equipment at weddings, I eventually found myself over the past month or so using it more and more.

Here’s why I was so blown away with the results:

• The lightweight and compact Fuji X-T1 camera has revolutionised my working day – more portable, increased maneuverability, and less back-ache!

beth shenton 190715 005 — Fuji X-T1 | 56mm f1.2 – 1/4400th @f1.2 ISO200 (The first image out of the X-T1, natural light, no adjusts, image direct out of camera)

• The EVF is amazing – One massive advantage and top tip. When shooting manual focus or ‘back button focusing’ I get a split screen image in the EVF which contains a 100% preview of the focus point and a overall framed image. I am also able to adjust and see live results of exposure changes giving me a full knowledge of exactly what the finalised image will look like. In fact, I’ve found myself shooting fully manual most of the day as opposed to 60-80% Aperture priority on the Canon’s.

lucy taylor 250715 321.tif edit — Fuji X-T1 | 23mm f1.4 – 1/80th @ f1.4 ISO 1600

• The nifty folding screen helps me to reach those awkward high-up shots and low-down shots much more easily, albeit reaching high above the bride during bridal preparation or shooting low, such as ground or water level.

samatha greenhaf 010815 087 — Fuji X-T1 | 23mm f1.4 – 1/160th @ f1.4 ISO 800 (Read LCD screen used, camera raised into a light fitting)

• The 56mm F1.2 lens is amazing – it’s one of the sharpest lenses I have ever worked with.

laura williams 060815 059 — Fuji X-T1 | 56mm f1.2 – 1/500th @ f1.2 ISO 400

• And the 50-140mm F2.8 lens is really good too, in fact, seriously good – the lens is pin sharp throughout the whole focal range.

Fuji X-T1 | 50-140mm f12.8 - 1/640th @ f2.8 ISO 400 — Fuji X-T1 | 50-140mm f12.8 – 1/640th @ f2.8 ISO 400

• Amazing natural light images are captured, the colour warmth and depth to the images is stunning. If you process in Lightroom like myself I would strongly advise changing the ‘Camera Calibration Profile’ back to Fuji’s own profile as Lightroom as a tendency of applying ‘Adobe Standard’ to all imported images. The photographs seem to show a ‘film look’ using Fuji’s profile and can be a little bland when using Adobe Standard.

lucy taylor 250715 028 — Fuji X-T1 | 23mm f1.4 – 1/30th @ f2.8 ISO 200

Any negatives? Not many. I need three or four batteries to get me through the day (bit more than usual). And, with only one SD card, I miss that automatic back-up throughout the day. Plus, the Fuji focus tracking falls a little short of Canon’s. And I still prefer to work with raw images, despite Fuji’s track-record on JPG quality.

lucy taylor 250715 089 — Fuji X-T1 | 23mm f1.4 – 1/2500th @ f1.4 ISO 400

And finally, the million-dollar question..

Would I recommend the Fujifilm X-T1 and the above mentioned lenses to other wedding photographers?

Most definitely, yes. The 16-55 f2.8 is a direct competitor for the Canon 24-70 f2.8 and the 50-140 f2.8 for the Canon 70-200, pretty bold statements I know as these lenses have such a proven track record and any wedding photographer will tell you these are the ‘must have’ lenses.

lucy taylor 250715 312 — Fuji X-T1 | 56mm f1.2 – 1/950th @ f2.2 ISO 400

To see more of Scott’s work

www.scottsharman.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Learn more and buy now

Click here to find retailers selling the Fujifilm X-T1

To learn more about the XF56mm click here

To learn more about the XF16-55mm click here

To learn more about the XF50-140mm click here

To learn more about the XF23mm click here

Filed under Be Inspired Photography Wedding

POP BOOK – the cutest photobook ever?

by Marc Horner September 2, 2015 Comments6

My fellow Fuji Guy Dale recently got married. I went to the wedding and took my trusty “pocket-rocket” X30 and took some shots from the pews where I was sat. I was hardly shooting the wedding, but it still made for a fairly interesting series of shots as the story of the traditional British Christian wedding ceremony unfolded in front of me.

Like most of the images I take for personal use, they ended up in a gallery on my Facebook wall for friends to see. But I wanted to do something a little bit more. This is where Pop Book came in…

Now I know this sounds like your usual sales pitch but it really isn’t. I heard about Pop Books from my colleagues in our printing team. For the small fee of £4.99, I was able to take 21 of my favourite images and compile them into this little cute photobook to give to Dale and his new wife as a little gift and token of my gratitude for being invited to share their day.

How does it work?

I’m pretty sure that Pop Books are mostly aimed at smartphone photographers (nothing wrong with that!) because you can only create a Pop Book by using an App for Android or Apple devices.

Once you’ve installed the App you get started by tapping “Create your POP BOOK”. You then need to choose where to get your images from. You can either browse your device, or choose either Facebook or Instagram.

I chose Facebook, logged in as me, and then selected the images from my Facebook gallery. Once you have selected 21 images you can click “Create your POP BOOK” button again and this takes you to the final stage.

You can now double tap on any picture to Edit it. You can Crop, add an instagram-style filter and add text. You can also select either a white border of black border for each of your images

Finally you can change the order that the images will appear in.

And that’s it. Just create an account and go through the basket process, and “between 10-14 days” your Pop Book should be with you. In my case it was actually 4 days.

You even get a pretty cool viewer that allows you to see the book how it will appear. You can see my book for Dale here.

And here’s the final result

…and with a shiny English pound for scale:

Tips

If you know you’re shooting for a Pop Book, set your camera to 1 : 1 ratio to help compose your shots and save any post process cropping.

You need exactly 21 images to make a Pop Book. No more. No less. Make sure you have your 21 images ready to go before you start the process as it makes it smoother. In my case, it turned out that I didn’t actually take 21 different images that I was happy with so I had to get creative with the crops to make a few very similar shots have very different final looks. It really helps to go into this thing knowing you need 21 images to start with!

Learn more about POP BOOK

Click here to visit the official POP BOOK website

Filed under Photography Wedding

Punjab travelogue by Sinbad Phgura and his X100s

by Guest Blogger December 12, 2014 Comments3

My name is Sinbad Phgura I am a fashion, lifestyle & travel photographer

For me photography has been a life long passion , I got my first a square 35mm box tammy camera at the age of nine and and have been shooting ever since.

I use mostly digital format cameras now, but not much has changed subject-wise, it’s people that I like to capture most, working with natural light & keeping the whole process as simple as possible. The magic for me has always been in the character study, to capture the honesty of the moment, & to connect with the soul somehow.

That’s why India is such a joy to shoot, with all of it’s humanity right there in front of you to see, smell, hear & touch! I love the light, it’s incredible how its shades, textures & changes everything it touches throughout the day.

www.sinbadphgura.com

I’ve been around the Fujifilm X system for a while now, one of my best friends Alex Lambrechts shoots with it & I know that these cameras are capable of stunning results! But I myself have so far have resisted to try one.

It’s only when you have the camera in your hand and you have to shoot with it for a period of time, adjusting your mindset from dslr to rangefinder that the magic happens.
Equipped with the Fuji X100s and a Millican camera bag I was off on my journey, Qatar Airways to Amritsar & into the heartland of the Punjab for my nephew’s wedding.

It was a very special time for all of our family and it was so wonderful to see the remote family farmhouse turned into a fairytale setting.
What I wanted to capture with this picture travelogue was the backdrop to the wedding, the rural way of life, the people the environment and the excitement & build up to the big day.

The X100s is indeed a beautiful looking machine with its classic styling it’s a great to hold and a pleasure to use. The physical dials feel just right, and it’s a joy not to have to scrabble through a ton of menus. I like that the fixed lens made me think more about composition and less about focal lengths & changing lenses, just being in the moment … capturing the moment. Taking me back to real photography, back to my film days when I used to shoot film.

The biggest thing I found using the X100s was that you just can blend into the environment much easier and that there is less of a barrier between you and your subjects. It really makes this the ideal street / reportage carry everyday camera, silent lightweight and stealth!

This wedding was such a special time for all our family! I’m so glad I got to enjoy it to the full & still get some great shots without worrying about loads of heavy camera gear!
Yes I really liked my Fuji X experience! And now with the new X100t out, I’ll definitely be coming back for more.

For images of the whole experience, please click here.

Filed under Be Inspired Portrait Reportage Street Travel Wedding

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