Interviews

Story behind the photo – The drizzle in Sevenoaks

by Marc Horner March 19, 2015 Comments4

Long exposure of Chipstead, Sevenoaks, Kent

I’ve worked with professional landscape photographer Paul Sanders on various projects and he knows about my recent falling in love with landscape photography. I saw this image by him on his Facebook wall and had to learn more about it because I was completely blown away by it.

One quick email later and Paul told me everything I needed to know:

Photography for me is emotional, it is a reflection of my state of mind and the reaction I have to a certain place at a certain time.

These trees sit in a boating lake near my home in Kent, it’s a place that is surrounded by the M25, A25 a bustling village and noisy schools. However when I go there I hear none of the bustle of the world.

I had this image in my mind last year, so it has been a long time coming to fruition. I rarely plan my shoots but having revisited this location a number of times I knew exactly what I wanted and the conditions that would make it work.

The weather was drizzle, mist and gloomy. Strangely it largely reflected my state of mind! On the off chance that the mist and drizzle would continue I headed down to the boating lake and stood listening to the birds.

The drizzle intensified and the mist thickened a little over the lake, perfect for me, ideal for my island of trees.

To get the image I had in my head I used the Fuji X-T1 and XF50-140 lens, shooting upright which I’m starting to do more of, but I still find challenging.

I wanted the trees to be virtual silhouettes against the mist, sort of isolated but stark.

For this shot I exposed for the darkest part of the island, this intentionally overexposed the back ground exaggerating the misty feeling, shooting at F9 on telephoto also helps by utilising the shallower depth of field the 50-140 has over a wide angle lens.

Of course the joy of using the X-T1 is that the EVF means I can pretty much see the exact image I have in my head at the time of shooting, making the whole process more about the final image than the camera and the technical aspects of photography.

I didn’t want hard reflections on the water and the choppy conditions combined with the an exposure of 2 minutes rendered them as I hoped. There was very little in the sky so I added a .75 soft grad to hold the tone. I used a Lee Big Stopper increase the exposure to two minutes from 1/8th of a second.

The first shot I took was the one that nailed it for me, I did a second one but forget to release the remote until about 5 minutes later I was so lost in watching the mist moved over the lake! I often get lost in the moment and totally forget why I am there.

Once I got home, I loaded the image into Lightroom, converted it to monochrome in through Silver Efex, selecting to develop it with an blue filter to increase the tone in the trees in the foreground, increased the contrast marginally added a platinum tone from the finishing menu and saved it – five minutes of post processing!

With every picture I create it’s all about pre-visualisation and connecting my emotions with the landscape and feeling the photograph.

—

About Paul Sanders

Paul will be speaking at The Photography Show on Monday 23rd March at 17:00 in the “Behind the lens” theatre.

You can see more of Paul’s amazing work on his website, or following him on social media.
Paul Sanders’ Official website
@wiggys on Twitter
@wiggys on Instagram
Paul Sanders Photography Ltd on Facebook

Filed under Be Inspired Landscape / Cityscape / Seascape

Interview with Mr Soga – the man responsible for the XF lens roadmap

by Marc Horner March 18, 2015 Comments19

Mr Soga holding an X-Pro1 with XF16-55mmF2.8

The best thing about the CP+ show last month was getting access to people I wouldn’t normally have access to. One individual I was particularly excited about meeting and interviewing was Mr Soga – the man behind arguably the best part of the Fujifilm X system – the lenses.

We spoke about the new XF16-55mmF2.8 lens, as well as the roadmap update that was announced on the 10th February 2015. Here’s how the interview went:

Could you tell us what your job covers generally?

I am in charge of the lens product brand.

Ok, so are you responsible for the lens roadmap in general and final signoff to which lenses are added?

Yes, I am.

Starting with the newest lens to hit the streets, what was the overall goal when creating the XF16-55mm lens?

Our goal was simply to achieve the best image quality possible.

And what sort of photographer would you see using this lens?

The main images we expect to see shot with this lens are landscapes, portraits and fashion images.

Is there a specific reason why the lens does not have optical image stabilisation (OIS)?

Yes, there is a trade off relationship between OIS and image quality.

Lens shift caused by OIS can sometimes be seen in this focal length, 24mm-84mm (35mm equiv.). Since we aimed to develop our best flapship zoom, we have prioritised image quality and decided not to employ OIS for this lens.

Edit: added more information

OIS needs to move the lens inside to compensate for camera shake and as a result can cause loss of resolution in the edges of the image.

In long zoom lens such as the XF50-140mmF2.8, the angle of view is narrow enough to not show this negative effect of OIS in the edges.

However, the angle of view of the XF16-55mm, when set to the widest setting, is large enough for OIS to affect resolution at the edge of the image.

Considering this trade-off, because we wanted this zoom lens to start wide at 16mm and F2.8, and we wanted to best edge-to-edge quality throughout the entire zoom range, we decided to not employ OIS.

A question I’ve been asked a lot: was there a reason for the focal length overlap between the XF16-55mm and the XF50-140mm lenses?

We planned this product to be very useful lens for both landscape shooting and portrait shooting. 24mm (35mm equiv.) is good for landscape shooting. 84mm (35mm equiv.) is good for portrait shooting. We consider to include both focal length when developed.

Moving on to the products in the recent roadmap update, this new XF35mm F2 is a very interesting product. Is it aimed as a step up lens for an XC zoom user or would this be for the high-end Street & Reportage photographers?

This lens is aimed towards the professional or serious amateur photographer that wants to increase the mobility and speed of their photography. With the original XF35mm f1.4 lens, its speed was not as efficient due to its many lens elements moving together.

So this new lens would have increased focusing speed?

Yes that’s correct. We wanted to make a lens that could be the next step for a photographer who already knows and loves the quality of the XF lenses. We think of this lens as a mobility lens due to its clever design.

X1000024 — The new XF35mmF2 will be smaller and lighter than the XF35mmF1.4. It will also have faster auto focus due to there being fewer moving lens elements inside

I understand that the newly announced XF1.4x tele-converter is not compatible with all of the existing lenses. Is there a reason for this?

Due the ergonomics of the converter, it physically will not allow other lenses to attach.

The design of the XF1.4 X TC means that it will only fit on lenses that have enough space between the camera and the rear elements — The design of the XF1.4 X TC means that it will only fit on lenses that have enough space between the converter and the rear lens elements

Are there plans to create other sizes? For example a 1.6x or 2x?

This is very much a possibility, we may create a 2x converter in the future although this has not been confirmed.

Do you know what the aperture options are for the XF100-400mm?

This is still under consideration.

X-Photographer’s Spotlight – Jefferson Pires

by Fujifilm EMEA March 9, 2015 Comments0

Tell us about yourself and what got you into photography?

My name is Jefferson Pires and I am the founder of a menswear and lifestyle online magazine called SchoolBoyCouture. I got into photography due to multiple reasons. When I was younger I used to always carry a sketchbook and sketch whatever I saw, capture whatever inspired me. Photography was a natural progression of that. Also when I first started my site, I wanted to create original content that stood out from competitors. It is then that I started taking photography seriously. The first proper camera that I got was a Fujifilm X100 when it was first released.

Why did you choose Fujifilm cameras?

I was drawn towards Fujifilm because of the unique form factor and the emphasis on physical dials. It’s great to see how much the ‘X’ camera lineage has progressed since the X100 and even how much the X100 has changed due to regular software updates. I’ve still got mine and it holds a special place in my heart, even after all these years.

Do you have a photographic philosophy you live by?

A lot of people tend to get caught up in the technicalities of things. ‘Pixel Peeping’ and ‘Spec Wars’ are all a waste of time in my opinion. There is always going to be something better around the horizon and the camera that you spent hours contemplating and comparing online is going to be obsolete before you know it. What’s important is that you buy something that works for ‘you’ and that makes you want to go out and shoot. That’s exactly how I work. Think of the bigger picture.

Key inspirations – What & who inspires you?

I spend a lot of time on social media platforms like Tumblr, Pinterest and even the VSCO Grid. I think there’s some fantastic inspiration that can be had from those channels. But the simplest thing you can do is put your smartphone away when you are travelling and look around you. There’s inspiration to be had everyday, right in front of your eyes.

Do you have any tips or tricks you could share with us?

Be yourself. Try not to copy someone else’s style of photography because that is unique to them. Instead try different things and you will eventually find your niche. And, like I mentioned earlier, you don’t need the latest gear to take the best pictures. It’s all in the eye. Capture what you see!

What’s next for you?

I’ve recently launched The SBc Journal on my site with its own dedicated Instagram account. It’s a page where photographers from around the world can showcase their work. All they have to do is submit their images on the site via email or tag their images with #TheSBcJournal on Instagram. The Instagram account handle is @TheSBcJournal.

Contact info

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twitter
facebook
website

Filed under X-Photographer

X-Photographer’s Spotlight – Matt Hart

by Fujifilm EMEA February 26, 2015 Comments16

Tell us about yourself and what got you into photography?

I was born in Hammersmith in London, England UK. I was born Dyslexic and I struggled at school with the more academic subjects, but did very well in the Arts and Science. I found being Dyslexic more of a gift than a disability. My Dyslexia was one of the more rare forms where two areas of the brain are not connected in the Wernicke’s area and Broca’s area, so there was no hope for me to improve my academic skills. After I found out Einstein was Dyslexic along with quite a few photographers at the time, there was no holding me back. I had a dream of one day becoming a photographer. I left school with average grades and started out shooting events and weddings with 35mm film. This was short lived due to starting a family so the photography was hit and miss over the years. I am now a professional photographer shooting events and street photography, as well as teaching photographers on training courses and workshops in Street photography.

I moved to the North West of England about 9 years ago to be with my girlfriend Jane, at first it was quite hard to adjust but now I find that Liverpool inspires me to take more and more images. The North West is also in a great position in the UK for me to travel up and down the country to teach courses and talk at events.

I have always been a people watcher, it’s in my nature to want to know what is going on out there on the street, and I feel at home out in the streets of our cities. I think Street is very important even to this day of digital. There have been so many amazing Street photographers in the past and if it had not been for them documenting the streets of the world we would not be able to look back at our history.

What I love about Street is that you never quite know what you are going to get. Things happen all the time in fractions of a second that will never happen again, and only the person who is there that day with a camera can get that shot. No one can recreate or set up some of these amazing Street moments and that’s what makes Street photography unique. So my style is still developing, I was heading in one direction but now I use the X Series, I have slowed down to re-evaluate where I am going.