Why the Fujifilm X100 T?

First and foremost—quality of the images coming from the Fujifilm X100 T is outstanding.  They are sharp and crisp and have little noise.  The color rendering is outstanding and the gradation from highlights to shadows to blacks is smooth. I believe all of this is due to the quality of the lens, sensor and the lack of low-pass filter.  The dynamic range of the sensor is more than adequate for most shooting.

The image below was shot in JPEG using the camera settings for Velvia, which is considered to be rich, bold and colors with high contrast.  I often shot Velvia film when shooting landscapes.

As I looked at the scene in the image below, I thought that it had very interesting contrast—the reflection of the buildings in the glass looked like a 4K image shown on a very high definition television and the muted colors of the pillars, plants and sidewalk as presented on a print on watercolor paper.

I think that the camera handled both extremely well.  

Camera settings:  Fujifilm X100 T, ISO 1250, f/8 at 1/400^th of a second, JPEG shot with Velvia film profile.

Post Processing:

Lightroom 5—lightened shadow area.

Why I Got the Fujifilm X100 T

No, I am not giving up shooting with my Nikons.

Why did I get the Fujifilm X100 T? 

I have been interested in the newer mirrorless cameras from some time.  Then why recouping from my knee replacement, one of my friends went out with me to do a little street photography—probably my favorite form of photography.  I was armed with my normal equipment—Nikon D4 with Nikon 28-300mm lens attached.  Within a few blocks, I was feeling a little discomfort because of the weight.  At this point, he handed me his Leica M240 with a 50mm f/2 lens attached.  I immediately had more bounce in my step.  I fought with the manual focusing the rest of the day, but did enjoy the more relaxed pace of the shooting with the Leica, and of course, the reduced weight of the equipment.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed shooting with the Leica M240, I was not and am not prepared to drop $10,050 (body $7,950 and lens $2,100) to duplicate this experience.  I started doing some research and soon discovered that the Fujifilm X100 (which is a autofocus, fixed lens camera) is a reasonable substitute for the Leica.

The picture below was taken with Fujifilm X100 T in downtown Houston.  It is a JPEG image that was shot in black and white.  I really liked the crispness and sharpness of the image.  Reminds me of my film shooting days.

Camera settings:  Fujifilm X100 T, ISO 200, f/2 at 1/1000^th of a second.

Post Processing:

Lightroom 5—added contrast and clarity and cropped image to 4:5 ratio.

Looking Back to 2014 and Forward to 2015

Like a bad penny, I am back!

2014 was a year in which I started to do bigger and more complex commercial photographic work.  It was fun, but most time-consuming.  The year ended with me devoting almost all of time to rehabbing my knee from a total knee replacement.

Guess what I got for Christmas?

Yep, you guessed it.  I got a Fujifilm X100 t. 

In the coming weeks, I hope to give you some idea as to what it is like to shoot with this camera and the adjustment from my Nikon D4 and D800.

Hope you enjoy the posts on the Fujifilm X100 t.

Camera settings:  Nikon D800, 50mm f/1.8 lens, ISO 200, f/4 at 1/125^th of a second with Nikon SB800 snooted and pointed at camera.

Post Processing:

Lightroom 5—applied Nikon standard preset, set white and black points.

Cate—No. 3

Today’s photo uses the same lighting and camera settings as the one last week.

In this photo, I wanted to bring –out the green in Cate’s eyes so I had her change into a green blouse and very bright red lipstick.  The complementary colors work well and get the job done. 

Enjoy. 

Camera settings:  Nikon D800, 50mm f/1.8 lens, ISO 200, f/6.7 at 1/125^th of a second. 

Post Processing: 

Lightroom 5—applied Nikon portrait preset, set white and black points.

Cate—No. 2

 

First, let’s get the technical stuff out of the way.  The background was simply a sheet on the wall and was lighted with two Elinchrom Quadra set at f/11 (about 1½ stops over the setting for Cate).  Cate was lighted with a single Elinchrom Quadra shot through a white umbrella at about eye level and to her left—I wanted a slight shadow on the right side of her face.   I used my Nikon D800 and 50mm f/1.8 lens at f/6.7.  The Nikon 50mm f/1.8 is especially sharp at f/5.6 through f/13; this f-stop also makes sure that when I focus on her eye, her entire face will be in focus. 

To me, Cate’s best features are her eyes and her mouth—and that is what I tried to emphasize in the photo.  I wanted this image to be straight-on to show off those features. 

Enjoy. 

Camera settings:  Nikon D800, 50mm f/1.8 lens, ISO 200, f/6.7 at 1/125^th of a second. 

Post Processing: 

Lightroom 5—applied Nikon portrait preset, set white and black points, added vibrance.

Cate—No. 1

 

Meet Cate.  I met Cate on the Worldwide Photo Walk that coordinated for Bay Area Photo Club on October 5, 2013.  Overall, the photo walk was a real success—mainly for the comradely more than the actual photography.

Cate is an aspiring model.  After I took her photo, we exchanged e-mail addresses.  Later we met and agreed to an exchange—I photograph some head shots for her portfolio and in exchange she would model for a couple of projects that I had in mind. 

My thought process for this shot was simple—blown-out background with her properly exposed.  I set my camera on manual exposure at f/6.7 and 1/1000 of a second and then set my flash to -1 EV (thus telling my flash to underexpose the exposure on her face by about one EV).  My flash was on camera so I pointed it towards the open space on the left—thereby, softening the light falling on Cate. 

Enjoy. 

Camera settings:  Nikon D4, 28-300mm f/3.5~5.6 lens at 82mm, ISO 200, f/6.7 at 1/1000^th of a second. 

Post Processing: 

Lightroom 5—applied Nikon portrait preset, set white and black points, added vibrance.

Painted Church of Texas

 

Again, forgot to get the name of the church. 

Here, I liked the contrast in colors and the quaintness of this small chapel.  The frosted windows did not help the overall scene and although I took another exposure with the windows less bright, a combination of the two exposures did not really enhance the overall image. 

I applied a “HDR” preset in Lightroom and then adjusted it slightly. 

Enjoy. 

Camera settings:  Nikon D800 on a tripod, 17-35mm f/2.8 lens at 30mm, ISO 100, f/22 at 3 second. 

Post Processing: 

Lightroom 5—applied Nikon vivid preset, set white and black points, added a loft of vibrance and clarity, adjusted saturation of various colors.

Painted Church of Texas

 

Most of the time, I photograph the sign outside of churches so that I can later label them; however, for several of the painted churches that I photographed on this trip, I did not do that.  Why?  Getting really old! 

When I first entered the church, I was taken back by how all the colors worked so well together and the overall symmetry of the church.  I tried to capture both. 

I wished that I had taken a few additional under-exposures so that I could have added more details in the windows, but, alas, I did not.  Getting really OLD! 

Enjoy. 

Camera settings:  Nikon D800 on a tripod, 17-35mm f/2.8 lens at 19mm, ISO 100, f/22 at 0.8 of a second on a tripod. 

Post Processing: 

Lightroom 5—applied Nikon vivid preset, set white and black points, added a loft of vibrance and clarity, adjusted saturation of various colors and used lens correction to correct for distortion.

St. Mary’s Church of the Assumption in Flatonia, Texas

 

St. Mary’s Church of the Assumption in Flatonia, Texas is one of the “painted churches of Texas”.  If you are in the Houston area, I would definitely recommend that you visit the painted churches which are located about 90 miles west of the city.  The following description of the churches was taken from http://www.klru.org/paintedchurches/index.html. 

“From the outside, they look like many American country churches built around the turn of the last century -- arched Gothic Revival windows, facades clad in white frame siding or in stone, lone steeples rising up into the Texas sky.  

“Cross the threshold of these particular Texas churches and you'll encounter not a simple wooden interior but an unexpected profusion of color. Nearly every surface is covered with bright painting: exuberant murals radiate from the apse, elaborate foliage trails the walls, wooden columns and baseboards shine like polished marble in shades of green and gray. These are the Painted Churches of Texas. 

“Built by 19th century immigrants to this rough but promising territory, these churches transport the visitor back to a different era, a different way of life. Inscriptions on the walls read not in English, but in the mother tongue of those who built them: German and Czech. The story of these buildings is the story of a people striving to succeed in a new country and still preserve the values and culture of their homelands. 

“In 1984, 15 of these churches, with their unique style of art, were listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Once taken for granted, the painted churches of Texas, and the people who built them, are now capturing the interest of designers, historians and ordinary tourists, both in Texas and out of state.”

If you are ever in Houston, I would recommend you make the 90 mile trip to see these wonderful churches." 

Enjoy.  

Camera settings:  Nikon D800 on a tripod, 17-35mm f/2.8 lens at 19mm, ISO 100, f/22 at 0.8 of a second.

Post Processing: 

Lightroom 5—applied Nikon vivid preset, set white and black points, added vibrance and clarity, adjusted saturation of various colors and used lens correction to correct for distortion.

Early Morning

 

No.  I did not die. 

No.  I did not contract a life-threading disease—unless you count laziness as a life-threading disease.  

I just had no desire to post anything. 

A couple weeks ago, I had a job west of Houston.  As is my habit, I left well before sunrise so that I would not be late.  Looking through my rear view mirror.  I saw the sun coming-up in a clear sky.  Since I had my Nikon 80-400mm lens packed in my bag, I decided to stop and try to get one of those classical sun-rising shots. 

Enjoy. 

Camera settings:  Nikon D800 with white balance set to 10,000K on a tripod, 80-400mm f/4.5~5.6 lens at 400mm, ISO 100, f/5.6 at 1/750^th of a second on a tripod. 

Post Processing: 

Lightroom 5—applied Nikon vivid preset, set white and black points, added vibrance and clarity.

Visit to Cockrell Butterfly Center at Houston Museum of Natural Science—Part 3

I cannot photograph butterflies in flight.  I usually get nothing but blur.  I did not do it in this photo, but I really like how the butterfly in flight in the background adds movement to the image.  Again, I like the bokeh in the background. 

Enjoy. 

Camera settings:  Nikon D800 on a tripod, 80-400mm f/4.5~5.6 lens with an extension ring attached at 300mm, ISO 1600, f/13 at 1/45^th of a second and a Nikon SB800 on the hotshoe. 

Post Processing: 

Lightroom 5—applied Nikon vivid preset, set white and black points, added vibrance and clarity.

Visit to Cockrell Butterfly Center at Houston Museum of Natural Science—Part 2

Good bokeh helps create this photograph.  The leaves and flowers in the background were no more than four feet from the butterfly.  But, because of the shallow dept-of-field (even at f/11), they were turned into a soft canvas background of muted colors.  I think this soft background helps set off the butterfly—the star of the show. 

Enjoy. 

Camera settings:  Nikon D800 on a tripod, 80-400mm f/4.5~5.6 lens with an extension ring attached at 400mm, ISO 1600, f/11 at 1/60^th of a second. 

Post Processing: 

Lightroom 5—applied Nikon vivid preset, set white and black points, added vibrance and clarity.

Visit to Cockrell Butterfly Center at Houston Museum of Natural Science—Part 1

Recently, Bill, a friend, and I went to the Cockrell Butterfly Center at the Museum of Natural Science.  I wanted to do something different; something that made me think about the basics of photography—focus, composition and lighting.  

Equipment wise, I used my Nikon D800 with either my 105mm f/2.5 macro or my 80-400mm f/4.5~5.6 with an extension tube (so that I could focus closer to my subject).  All the photos in this series included the use of flash—Nikon SB800 mounted on the hot shoe of my camera, but generally pointed at an angle to the subject and dialed down 1 to 3 f-stops.  I used the flash to add a little fill to the subject.  I tried not to have the photos look “flashed.” 

Today’s photo is about form and color.  I had taken several close-up photos of this butterfly and then decided to do a more environmental portrait; so, I moved my tripod back a little and zoomed out to 200mm.  I like how the leave provides a soft line across the frame so I angled my camera to make the leave form a diagonal line.  To me the three colors—green, red/orange and black—work very well together. 

Enjoy. 

Camera settings:  Nikon D800 on a tripod, 80-400mm f/4.5~5.6 lens with an extension ring attached at 200mm, ISO 1600, f/13 at 1/90^th of a second. 

Post Processing: 

Lightroom 5—applied Nikon Standard preset, set white and black points, added vibrance and clarity.

Yellowstone 2013 Visit—#6

While we were eating our lunch in a small park, this mother deer and fawn moved through the eating area.  Both of them watched us for some time from the safety of the woods; but then, mom decided that we were not too much danger so they moved through the area. 

Even though only the fawn’s head is in the photo, this is my favorite image that I took because of how both mom and baby are looking straight at me. 

Enjoy. 

Camera settings:  Nikon D4 on a tripod, 80-400mm f/2.8 at 350mm, ISO 280, f/5.6 at 1/7500^th of a second. 

Post Processing: 

Lightroom 5—applied Nikon Standard preset, set white and black points, added vibrance and clarity.

Yellowstone 2013 Visit—#5

 

We often encountered fog early in the morning.  Today’s photo is all about the light.  I have no idea as to why, but the light seemed to have two distinct colors—warm light on the trees and cool light on the water.  This lighting only lasted about ten minutes.  I felt like the different light colors generated two different photos in one. 

I have no idea what caused this, but would be most interested to learn why the light acted this way. 

Enjoy. 

Camera settings:  Nikon D4 on a tripod, 28-70mm f/2.8 at 70mm, ISO 180, f/8 at 1/180^th of a second. 

Post Processing: 

Lightroom 5—applied Nikon Standard preset, set white and black points, added vibrance.

Yellowstone 2013 Visit—#4

There are about 2,000,000 acres in Yellowstone National Park, yet, the only place this guy found to walk was down the middle of the road.  Go figure! 

Enjoy. 

Camera settings:  Nikon D4, 80-400mm f/3.5~5.6 at 400mm, ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/180^th of a second (supported by hood of auto). 

Post Processing: 

Lightroom 5—applied Nikon Standard preset, set white and black points, added clarity, sharpness and vibrance and did some dodging and burning.

Yellowstone 2013 Visit—#3

As far as I am concerned, today’s photo is totally about the water blur—if it is not, I spent a lot of time and frames trying to get exactly what I wanted!  I wanted the water to look very soft so that it would contrast with the hard, jagged edges of the rocks. 

I forgot my neutral density filter, so I had to reduce my ISO to 50 and my f-stop to 22 in order to get the shutter speed down to ½ of a second.  

Enjoy. 

Camera settings:  Nikon D4, 28-70mm f/2.8 at 70mm, ISO 50 (Lo1), f/22 at 1/2^th of a second on a tripod. 

Post Processing: 

Lightroom 5—applied Nikon Standard preset, set white and black points, added clarity, sharpness and vibrance and did some dodging and burning.

Yellowstone 2013 Visit—#2

Today’s photographs are not about Yellowstone National Park, but, rather something that I found funny. 

We stayed in West Yellowstone, which is just outside the park.  Every morning, we would get a cup of tea (JD) and coffee (me) and head into the park.  We would then sit at one of the parking areas, watch the animals and eat our peanut butter sandwiches and drink our tea and coffee.  To us, this was much better than eating an over-priced, poorly prepared breakfast in a restaurant.  The Woodside Bakery had good tea and coffee, so that was our spot to pick-up our drinks. 

One of things that really surprised us about the park this year was the number of Asians visiting the park.  I would estimate that Asians represented about 40-50% of the people that we saw within the park.  As a result, the most popular restaurant in West Yellowstone for dinner was the Red Lotus, which served mainly Chinese food.   

As proof that capitalism is alive in West Yellowstone, look at the signs of the gun shop two doors down.  The signs advertise services for what people want to do—shoot a machine gun—and accommodate its customer base (note the Chinese characters on the small sign) which according to an employee says the same thing. 

In talking to the owner of the gun shop, he said that his business had almost tripled after he hung the sign in Chinese—which, I guess proves that if you offer a product that people want, tell them that you offer it, they will come. 

Enjoy. 

Camera settings:  Nikon D4, 28-70mm f/2.8 at 50mm, ISO 110, f/6.7 at 1/30^th of a second. 

Post Processing: 

Lightroom 5—applied Nikon Standard preset, set white and black points, added clarity, sharpness and vibrance.

Yellowstone 2013 Visit—#1

 

JD and I just got back from our trip to photograph my nephew’s wedding and our visit to Yellowstone National Park. 

Our visit to Yellowstone did not match our last visit.  Why?  Too many people, and too few animals.  Although the temperatures were generally in the 70’s, the animals were just not moving much except in the very early morning and very late afternoon.  We do not like driving in the dark in the park due to all the animals on the road—just too dangerous for us wimps!  So, I had to settle for shooting other things. 

We spent a lot of time hiking through the various geothermal features—geysers, hot springs, mud pots and fumaroles. 

The color in the hot springs shown in today’s photograph is caused by heat loving organisms that live in and around the hot springs.  The different colors are caused by the varying temperatures of the water as it flows from the hot springs. 

For this photograph, I pre-focused my camera about three feet into the scene and then lowered my camera just above the water.  I wanted a very expansive look to the image so I used f/22 and 24mm focal length.

Enjoy. 

Camera settings:  Nikon D4, 28-70mm f/2.8 at 50mm, ISO 400, f/22 at 1/125^th of a second. 

Post Processing: 

Lightroom 5—applied Nikon Vivid preset, set white and black points, added clarity, sharpness and vibrance.