Showing posts with label fuji x100. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fuji x100. Show all posts

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Swing Dancing!

Two days ago I was hired by my swing dancing friends and colleagues from swingwerkstatt in Hamburg to photograph their new promo shots. 
It was quite fun and for the first time I got to use the X Pro 1 with studio lights. I used two Profoto 600 Compacts with a 5" Octa Softbox. 
Unfortunately while setting up everything I ran into trouble because my X 1 Pro would not fire the strobes. Neither cable via the sync outlet nor radio triggered with my Pulsar radio triggers would work. It took me a while to realize that my camera was not properly working so luckily I had a second body which just worked fine. 
Once everything was up and running it was quite fun to shoot with the X Pro 1 in a studio setup and the results turned out quite nice. 

Please visit my friends at www.swingwerkstatt.de

So here are a few Lindy Hop pics....














Saturday, January 12, 2013

Teaching at the University of Washington


Soon after I came to Seattle in November I met visual artist Susie Lee (http://www.susiejlee.com) and she invited me to collaborate in teaching a photography class at the University of Washington. 
I was very excited about the project especially because the idea was to combine and research elements of tap dance and photography that both art forms have in common. We discussed different physical and musical exercises that could work together and lead the students to new ideas in their art making and we developed different ideas around time, timing, movement and space. 
Last Monday classes started and it was quite fun. We started off using exercises that I often use with my dance company to create an awareness of space, rhythm and time and that helps your mind connecting with each other and your environment. It was was great doing this not with dancers but photography students. We later combined these exercises with image making.
The class will continue for a few weeks and it's gonna be very interesting to see where this will lead.

Here are a few photos from our experiment.... 

//Thomas




Friday, November 30, 2012

Urban Landscapes: Seattle #2

I have been in Seattle now for two weeks and have done quite a bit street photography. The city is very photogenic and the light here is just beautiful.
All pictures were done with the Fuji X-Pro 1 and the X100.

More to come....








Sunday, August 19, 2012

Full wedding documentary shot with Fuji X-Pro 1 and X-100

Final thoughts on the Fuji X-Pro 1 and X-100 for wedding documentaries.
Yesterday I photographed a whole wedding documentary only using the two Fuji cameras. I only used the X100 (35mm), the 18mm(27mm) and 35mm(50mm) on the X-Pro1.  For backup, I had a second shooter on my side with Nikon gear, so I knew I would be covered or could easily switch system if things don't work out well.
But it did work out very well, so I wanted to share some of my experiences:
One of the best things about the X-Pro 1 to me is the combined use of OVF, EVF and Liveview which just works seamlessly together. The camera is set with the eye sensor turned on, hanging around my neck. This way, the screen is off when hanging down at my body. As soon as I raise the cam I can either take it to my eye and work with the OVF or EVF or use the back screen. This is super convienient and allows me to use the camera any way I want to instantly.
I love using the back screen for taking quick snapshots from angles were it is inconvinient to look through the finder. It also gives me a more casual street shooter style of working. Almost like using my GRD for street work. The OVF is my favorite because I can compose and frame pictures that way best. The clear view and abstraction from the actual photograph gives me more creative power. The downside of it is, that for example with a fast lens like the 35mm f1,4 stopped down open wide it can be crucial to get accurate focus on something like the eye when doing a portrait. That's when I change to the EVF and I can precisely see how the picture will turn out and if focus is where I want it to be.
So all three modes have advantages and disadvanteges but I really like to make use of all of them. In a way it enhances my creative workflow while shooting.
Battery life. That is a big thing because obviously you don't want to run out of juice during a long shooting day. I came with three full batteries but only used one and a half, which surprised me. i thought they would drain faster. I shot exactly 745 frames on the X-Pro 1 and that is not too bad at all. Of course I wish it would have a battery like the Nikon D3 where you don't really worry about changing batteries too much. On assignment the power off function is turned off so I won't miss any shots by waiting for the camera to wake up. In between use I just switch it off and I make use of the fast power on feature even if it consumes more battery power that way. And yes, start up time is another thing that could be improved.
Image quality. Like I said in earlier posts, I really love the way the X-Pro 1 renders photos. I use it only in Jpeg mode and love the outcome. I have played around with a few of the color settings but for this shoot I went back to the Standard setting. Skin tones look great, color and contrast is perfect for my use. I only use auto white balance and I am very happy with the results. It seems the most accurate camera I have ever used regarding WB. I still process my color photos with Color Efex though to get the specific look that I want for my wedding jobs.
For a few shots yesterday I also used standard black and white mode. The outcome is pretty good for a digital file. Great tonality, rich blacks and well controlled highlights. And after using the BW jpeg with NIK Silver Efex Pro they got the right look, less digital and more film like. I also noticed that Silver Efex Pro works great with monochrom files. Sometimes better than with color files. Yes, you lose the ability to apply color filters in post production but grain, contrast and brightness look perfect. So the combination of the in camera bw jpeg engine and later developement in Silver Efex seems to deliver great results. Maybe Leica had a point when bundling the Monochrom M9 together with Silver Efex.
 So all in all I am more than happy with my X-Pro 1 and X100 setup for professional wedding assignments. Next week I will have another gig and use this combo again. Will I ditch my Nikons? By no means. They are powerful tools I know i can always rely on. But I try to leave them in the bag as much as possible.
Enjoy the pictures and thanks for looking, Thomas

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Monday, July 16, 2012

Wedding of Sabine and Anand

This was a wonderful wedding at a beautiful palace on the river Elbe in Storkau. The photos were taken with a Nikon D3 and D700 as well as the amazing Fuji X100. I love this little camera so much, that I recently got me the XPro 1. In a couple of days I will post my experiences with the new camera. But so far I am more than happy with it.
So here are a few shots from a lovely couple at a beautiful location and nice weather. Who could ask for more....











Saturday, June 9, 2012

Wedding of Katleen and Dirk

A week ago I shot the wedding of Katleen and Dirk in Hamburg. It was a nice ceremony followed by a boat ride on the river Elbe with an old steam boat. The weather was a bit chilly but it was a lot of fun. 
Again I used the Fuji X100 along with my Nikon D3. In the end the Fuji was used for 40% of all keepers. That is very good. And I can only repeat myself but I really like the X100 for documentary work. 
In this series the last two are from the X100. Enjoy...