Fujifilm Corporate Blog | #streetphotography

My perfect travel kit

by Marc Horner February 6, 2015 Comments21

CP+, an international comprehensive camera and photo imaging show presents the latest products and technologies, all in order to help further the development of the photo industry and photographic culture from Japan — the heartland of the photo imaging industry — to the world

CP+ Camera and Photo Imaging Show 2015 will be taking place in Yokohama, Japan next week and I’ve been lucky enough to be invited to go along to help out.

I’ll be there for a week and I’ll be shooting for work pretty much constantly, but will hopefully also get the opportunity to shoot for myself, something that will be made especially amazing since I’ll be in great company with an amazing bunch of professional photographers:

Damien Lovegrove – portrait photographer and lighting guru from the UK
Chris Weston – wildlife photographer from Switzerland / UK
Knut Koivisto – portrait photographer from Sweden
Tomasz Lazar – reportage photographer from Poland and winner of a World Press Photo award 2012.

So now I’m left to decide what gear to take…

Documenting the show

DSCF2400 — The “show bag”. Everything I’ll need to shoot and share at the show.

I want to travel light during the day, and at the show I will be looking to capture images that will reflect what is going on. I’ll be writing some blog posts and I’ll want some images that will help convey the general atmosphere and feeling of the show. For this I can’t think of a better option than my trusty X100S. (Actually an X100T is a better option for the wireless transfer but my Eye-Fi card lets me work around this). If I can get hold of one before next week, I’ll also be packing the WCL-X100 as it’s tiny yet that slightly wider angle of view can make a big difference when I don’t have any more space behind me to step into. Finally, I’ll also be using my trusty Gordy’s camera strap to hold my camera secure and close to my hand at all times.

Shooting for me

My wife has challenged me to help her decorate the living room. This basically means she wants some nice landscape shots (that I took so there’s a personal attachment) to print and frame. I’m not entirely convinced how plausible this might be looking at my schedule, but assuming I’ll get at least some free time in either Tokyo or Yokohama, I’ll need to make sure I’m prepared.

Camera + lenses

DSCF2402 — Fujinon XF35mmF1.4 and the X-T1 with XF14mmF2.8

For this I’m going to pack an X-T1 and XF14mmF2.8. I know the XF10-24mmF4 is also a great choice, firstly for the flexible focal lengths, and secondly for the pretty amazing OIS for handheld shooting in low light, however the smaller size and the focus scales on the outside of the lens, as well as the ability to shoot wider than f/4 if I really need it, mean the XF14mm is going to be my wide lens of choice.

I think I’ll also take an XF35mmF1.4, mostly as a backup. If I find in the evenings that I could really use the wider apertures, you can’t go far wrong with any of the “trio” (soon to be “quadro”) of fast primes. As much as I love the XF56mmF1.2 for portraits, I find it fairly inflexible for general use, and since I’ve already got the equivalent focal length to the XF23mmF1.4 in the X100S, process of elimination leads me to the super all-round XF35mm.

Remote Shutter

The Fujifilm RR-90 will come along for the trip to avoid any camera shake for any long exposures. Which brings me onto…

ND Filters

DSCF2404 — LEE Filter Seven5 Deluxe kit plus rings to attach to X100S and also the XF14mm lens

I will certainly afford a bit of space in my luggage to hold my LEE Filter Seven5 deluxe kit. It’s small and gives everything I need for my level of photography. It comes with the holder, a polarising filter, a 0.6 ND Soft Grad, 0.6 ND Hard Grad and a 0.9 ND Hard Grad, and finally the 10-stop Big Stopper. Whether I’m fighting off the glaring sun to balance the exposure across my images better, or just trying to slow everything down to capture a more peaceful scene, I should hopefully have whatever I need.

Tripod

My 3LeggedThing “Brian” will be coming along. He’s small and light and still stable enough for what I’ll be shooting. I’ve also got the smaller AirHed 0 ballhead that not only compliments the size of the X100S and X-T1, but also carries our own “X” branding! (almost)

Bag

DSCF2412 — The “show bag”. You can also see the little felt camera bag that keeps the X100S extra safe inside the soft bag

I’ll actually take two bags. I have a lovely little bag called “Daniel” made is a collaboration between my faithful emploters and Millican that will serve as my “show bag” for when I know I’m only working. It’ll hold my X100S, WCL, wallet, iPad and other sundries like spare memory cards, spare batteries and charger very comfortably. It doesn’t add much in the way of protection – I learnt this the hard way when I discovered a broken filter that had been in the bag for one afternoon – but for what I’m carrying perfectly suitable, not to mention very light and (if I may say so myself) rather stylish.

DSCF2418 — The “full kit bag”. This’ll basically be what I’m carrying when I’m out specifically shooting.

I’ll also be taking a ThinkTank Retrospective® 7. Although it’s a lot bigger than the Millican bag, this is a seriously good bag that pretty much lives on my hip if I go anywhere I know I might want to shoot. It’ll more than comfortably hold everything I’m taking, including the contents of the Millican bag, so if I do get the change to go out specifically to shoot, I’ll have everything with me at all times.

Other bits

I’ll take the EF-X8 (the one that comes with the X-T1) and EF-X20 flashes “just in case”, although I tend to just try to shoot with natural light. Also 2x spare batteries for each camera, chargers and pin adaptors.

Full list:

Fujifilm X100S camera
WCL-X100 Wide Conversion Lens for X100 series
Fujifilm X-T1 camera body
XF14mmF2.8 R wide-angle prime lens
XF35mmF1.4 R standard fast prime lens
Fujifilm RR-90 Remote Release cable
LEE Filter Seven5 Deluxe kit
3LeggedThing “Brian” tripod
Fujifilm X Millican “Daniel” camera bag
ThinkTank Retrospective® 7 camera bag
Fujifilm EF-X20 TTL flash (plus spare AAAs)
Apple iPad for uploading images in real time to Instagram
2x spare NP-95s for the X100S, 2x spare NP-W126s for the X-T1

So what about you?

I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below. In fact, if you post it soon enough I might even have a chance to change my mind if anything is recommended that I hadn’t thought about. What would you take if you were planning a similar trip?

Notes

The use of third party products here is as result of my own choice, not that of Fujifilm’s. This blog post is not an official endorsement of any of these products from Fujifilm. It is simply my own opinions on which camera gear I will take on a trip, and why.

Follow me at CP+

I’ll be posting regularly on the following pages, as well as hopefully on here as much as I can.

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

See you soon!

Filed under Photography Travel

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

Shooting street fashion portraits with Alex Lambrechts

by Dale Young October 24, 2014 Comments16

“Join me as I walk you through my photographic expedition into the world of street fashion photography with the masterful” – Alex Lambrechts.

In this ‘episode’, Marc and I were given an excellent opportunity to join the exciting Fashion X Street workshop with Alex Lambrechts. The aim of the workshop was to get photographers using the system in-the-wild, on the fly and to build upon an individual’s confidence in a shooting style, which is to my mind, full of adrenaline, passion and presence.

The group met inside a beautiful coffee/pizzeria house located in the heart of Soho, and it was here that Alex began to explain his craft and the general structure of the day. As part of the ‘FujiGuys UK’ we took along some of our new Fuji toys for the group to have a play with. These included the X100T, XF18-135mm lens and the pocket-rocket X30. After a coffee and a chat, we set out to the streets of Soho armed with our Fuji cameras in hand!

Alex led us to our first destination; a small, dark and empty alleyway – sounds ominous so far I know, but bear with me 😉 Alex showed us how the light between two buildings gave the perfect softbox lighting effect, and that this would prove excellent for the style we were going for.

He gave the client’s brief, which was what he wanted to see in our shots and practical suggestions as to how to achieve exactly that. The brief immediately grabbed my photographic appetite and I couldn’t wait to see what I could achieve.

The fictitious brief was this (not a word for word quote):

“Because the subject is a musician and a model. I want to see you capture and explore the human element within the shots, not just the standard model expressions but ‘who’ our client is. And as this is to be published in a fashion magazine, I want to see shots off-angle, gritty and real.”

You can probably see why I was excited; it was something completely new to me and just wanted to get as much experience out of it as possible.

This is where Alex’s stunning wife & professional model Jasmin Lambrechts came in, and what a combination! As they worked side by side, Alex explained things in an informal, yet very informative style. He gave some seriously useful tips on how to direct your model, how to set the camera and how to achieve the perfect lighting on the subjects face.

We started with some slow shutter speeds ‘1/30 to 1/60’ of a second panning shots, this was to capture movement and a unique style, only really achieved in this manner. I think we all found this a pretty tricky technique, but it was probably the most rewarding when you actually got a “YES, I got a good one!”.

TFST0070 — X-E2 – XF35mm – 1/40 – ISO 200 – f4.5

As the workshop progressed, we started giving some direction to Jasmin, it was bits and pieces at first, and I’m sure this was down to some of us never having shot a model before. It did however, become more and more natural as we built a rapport with Jasmin and as we found what camera settings worked best.

One of the most helpful tips Alex gave in my opinion was regarding lighting. He really wanted to focus our attention to the exposure of the shot, to ensure we were exposing for the highlights of her face. It may seem an obvious piece of information, but I found really focusing on it turned images from delete to keep. It ensured all the detail was kept on the face, especially when dealing in this ‘contrasty’ environment.

The shot above is one of my favourites from the day. I asked Jasmin if she would throw her hair back so I could try and capture it in full swing. Here I used a fast shutter speed of 1/3000, a generally accepted no-no of ISO6400 (because I needed the fast shutter speed) and had the camera set to manual focusing to make the shot ‘instant’ when the shutter was depressed – and yes, this was not the first attempt, maybe more like the fifth to get it right! The ISO performance on the X-E2 is SO good.

This was another great tip from Alex in regards to action and street photography. He said if you pre-focus on an area where your subject is going to walk and then switch to manual focus, you know every single time that your image is going to be in focus when the subject / model hits that spot. This is particularly useful in street photography, it allows the photographer to frame up a shot and then simply wait for the subject to walk into that frame.

Here are other shots I took that ‘made-the-grade’, at least in my book anyway 😉

Alex had great presence when talking us through ideas as we shot in this environment, throwing us suggestions, checking our shots on the go and even highlighting some great shots our fellow photographers were getting whilst there. This all helped spur me on to try and get the best results I could.

Once we had shot this location from every possible angle, other than hanging off the side of the building (which I would have tried if I could have found a way!), Alex talked us through the next stage in this exciting photography voyage.

Basically, we were going to be on the move, shooting fashion in the streets of Soho amongst the general public. This was where my adrenaline levels went from 7 to 15 (out of ten!) in less than a second. Alex explained how he wanted us to capture the more human element in this environment, the ‘circus’ as he put it, and it really was just that.

Jasmin stepped into the busy, bustling streets of London and we needed to be ready. We were advised to keep ahead of Jasmin to ensure we could scope out the best framing, best angles and to be more aware of great photographic, candid moments. For me, this involved running like mad to stay ahead, trying not to get run over by cars, bikes or pedestrians, not photobombing other photographers shots and still find a good angle myself with the correct exposure! All in all, super exciting, very challenging and incredibly fun!

The reason it was such a circus is because we looked like the Paparazzi. Imagine 12 -14 photographers chasing a beautiful model down the street, all trying to get the perfect shot will certainly draw some attention. People were taking pictures on their mobiles, just-in-case she was famous, asking who she was & who we were – what a buzz I can tell you!

We even had a local restaurateur take to the street stage to grace us with his surprisingly good singing voice. These were the kind of quick paced moments you needed to really know your camera settings, luckily I was just about ready to capture this one below.

After the crazy, brilliant and thrilling roller coaster ride, it was nothing short of perfect to get back to the pizzeria for a beer, pizza and have a chat. The group mingled beautifully, each sharing our successes, failures and our ‘what we would try next times‘. Alex wrapped the day up nicely by highlighting things we did well, things we could improve upon and again, going through individual’s images to give personal feedback – this was a nice touch.

For me, I compare this experience to that warm fuzzy feeling you get at Christmas. I had been given the experience to meet our lovely photographers face-to-face, develop my skills as a photographer and share this experience with like-minded individuals.

10712395_10152550311853579_9169321068005723950_o — The Gang

If you get the chance I highly, highly recommend going on this course and any other that gives you the chance to learn your photography with others. It not only is a great sociable experience, but most importantly, you get to learn how others see shots that you, yourself may have missed.

If you have any thoughts, questions or comments, please do drop us a line below and we will try and assist where we can.

Click here to see images taken by other members of the group (Log into Facebook required to view).

Thanks for reading

Dale

Filed under Be Inspired Portrait

Fujifilm X Magazine issue 6 is now available for your reading pleasure

by Fujifilm EMEA July 29, 2014 Comments0

It’s that time again. A new Fujifilm X Magazine issue is ready to your reading and viewing pleasure.

Interview with Merhdad Samak-Abedi

This issue features an interview with pro photographer Merhdad Samak-Adebi who travels the world as part of his job (working for a German airline) and therefore is lucky enough to get the opportunity to shoot his passion – landscape photography.

Take a walk around Varese, near Milan

This issue’s “X Marks The Spot” features some fantastic street photography by Italian photographer Emanuele Toscano in and around Varese, Italy.

Be inspired

Issue 6 also contains the other usual features; “What to Shoot Now” provides you with inspiration on what subjects to shoot during the summer holiday months, “Get more from your X series” takes a look at bracketing functions that feature on most Fujifilm X cameras and the “Exhibition” shows a fantastic array of colourful images, plus the stories behind them, shot by our readers.

Competition time

issue6-comp — Fujifilm X Magazine competition – win a Fujifilm XQ1 underwater kit

And finally, you could win a fantastic XQ1 underwater kit in our competition. For a chance to win, send us your best holiday shot. More details in the magazine itself!

Download the Fujifilm X Magazine now!

Filed under Blog

Nice one, centurion

by Roger Payne July 17, 2014 Comments6

By Roger Payne

Is it just me, or have other people experienced a weird phenomenon when they start using Fujifilm X-series cameras? I’m not talking about aesthetics here, I’m talking more fundamental, cerebral kinda stuff.

Lately, thanks to the nice people at Fujifilm UK, I’ve been able to get my hands on some of the X-series models. I’ve tried the X100S (it’s very nice), the X-T1 (it’s very nice) and, most recently the X-E2 (it’s, erm, very nice). But when I’ve gone back and looked at some of the shots I’ve taken with this trio of models they all bear the hallmarks of me transforming into some wannabe reportage-come-street photographer. It’s really quite alarming.

Beggar at the Collosseum. Sadly, there are a lot of these. XF10-24mm, 1/240sec at f/5.6, ISO 400.

Tourists at the Collosseum – a flip out screen would have been handy. XF10-24mm, 1/1900sec at f/5, ISO 200

Tourists – the very first shot I took when I arrived. XF18-55mm, 1/100sec at f/7.1, ISO 200

Orange umbrella – I followed this lady for ages, think she rumbled me in the end. XF10-24mm, 1/125sec at f/22, ISO 400.

To understand the full gravitas of this situation, it’s important for you to understand what sort of a photographer I was before I started using X-series cameras. The immediate word that springs to mind is ‘safe’. Technically adept, but safe. I photographed landscapes because they don’t move, buildings because they don’t talk back to you and my dog, because he’ll do pretty much anything with the promise of a treat. The idea of photographing a fellow human being filled me with fear while the very thought of photographing a fellow human being in a candid way would have me blowing into a paper bag to calm my nerves.

But Fujifilm cameras have changed all that.

Vatican gift stall (2). XF10-24mm, 1/140sec at f8, ISO 200.

The Vatican, this is a heavy crop, but the quality remains. XF18-55mm, 1/80sec at f/10, ISO 200.

Vatican gift stall. One of at least 100. XF10-24mm, 1/140sec at f/8, ISO 200

The Vatican. XF18-55mm, 1/80sec at f/10, ISO 200

I’d borrowed the X-E2 to go on a short city break to Rome. It was accompanied by an XF18-55mm and an XF10-24mm. Ordinarily on a trip of this type, I would have sought out the tourist hot-spots, documented them in my technically adept way and then gone home to bury them on an external hard drive, never to be seen again. But with the X-E2 in my hand, I became some kind of gung-ho street photographer, snapping pretty much anything that moved, and some things that didn’t. Within minutes, Rome went from a selection of photo locations carefully plotted on a tourist map to a photographer’s playground. My playground, to be precise.

Fiat 500. XF10-24mm, 1/50sec at f/5.6, ISO 800.

Graffiti, apologies if it’s rude. XF10-24mm, 1/60sec at f/11, ISO 200.

The pictures I’ve brought home are unlike anything I’ve ever captured in a foreign city. They include people; people I’ve never met before, nor will I ever meet again. As you can see, they do also include a few shots where I lapsed into capturing subjects that didn’t have the ability to talk to me, but even these are a little different. They’re not hackneyed scenes photographed millions of times before by others, they’re my interpretations of the locations I visited; they communicate how I was feeling and how I viewed the area.

How was the X-E2? Well, it was excellent. Sure, it could do with an articulated rear screen, but I also enjoyed not having an optical viewfinder option to choose from; the finder in the X-T1 is fantastic, but I didn’t miss its functionality. In fact, I preferred the X-E2’s viewfinder simplicity (just don’t tell Fujifilm, OK?). The lenses were great, too – sharp, easy to use, no complaints.

So, am I alone, or have other experienced feeling of photographic invincibility with an X-series camera in their hands? Oh ok, just me then.

Couple. XF18-55mm, 1/80sec at f6/4, ISO 400.

Filed under Be Inspired Photography Street Travel

Alex Lambrechts Fujifilm X Series Street Fashion Workshop

by June 19, 2014 Comments7

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.

X-E2 - 1/60 f/4 ISO3200 Image by Nathan Wake — X-E2 – 1/60 f/4 ISO3200
Image by Nathan Wake

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.

X-E2 - 1/50 f/2.8 ISO3200 Image by Nathan Wake — X-E2 – 1/50 f/2.8 ISO3200
Image by Nathan Wake

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.

X-T1 - 1/125 f/1.2 ISO250 Image by Nathan Wake — X-T1 – 1/125 f/1.2 ISO250
Image by Nathan Wake

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.

X-T1 - 1/125 f/11 ISO250 Image by Nathan Wake — X-T1 – 1/125 f/11 ISO250
Image by Nathan Wake

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.

X-E2 - 1/350 f/8 ISO200 Image by Nathan Wake — X-E2 – 1/350 f/8 ISO200
Image by Nathan Wake

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.

X-T1 - 1/125 f/11 ISO640 Image by Nathan Wake — X-T1 – 1/125 f/11 ISO640
Image by Nathan Wake

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.

X-T1 - 1/125 f/1.8 ISO1600 Image by Nathan Wake — X-T1 – 1/125 f/1.8 ISO1600
Image by Nathan Wake

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.

X-T1 - 1/40 f/8 ISO3200 Image by Nathan Wake — X-T1 – 1/40 f/8 ISO3200
Image by Nathan Wake

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

—

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.

—

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!

—

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.

—

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…

Taken by Tuesday De Mairt — X-T1 with XF18-55mm
f/2.8, 1/4000, ISO500

—

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!