Learning

After the first shot (see previous post) I decided to do some more research... hey it's been a record for snow and cold in Boston so no better time to read up and get informed than when one is snowed in.  Anyway, I started to really sink my teeth into the genre and check out some sites, photographers, Flickr groups, etc.  One photographer on Flickr I have always liked was Thomas Leuthard.  I really like his style and he seems like a super nice guy... his work is available for free full size on Flickr, and he shares his approach for free via free ebooks and videos.  He even has a youtube video of his LightRoom workflow.  For me this was eye opening... most images are processed in less than a minute with only some slight adjustments and a vignette.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSNlplqlWrY

Also, he recently started offering low cost classes on the Udemy website.  I am about 50% through his beginning Street Photography class (he now has a class on Composition) and having a great time with it.

https://www.udemy.com/streetphotography/#/

I have a bit of concerned at the moment that I might be following his style and approach a bit too much, but for now I think it's OK as I learn and reduce the fear of approaching strangers.  I think my photos have improved a lot in just the week or so working on it.  Newest to oldest below.  I find these a lot more interesting and compelling than any street shots I have taken before.  Super psyched to start being proud of my street shots.  The journey has definitely started!

Finally Street Photography

Starting in January 2015 I decided to finally get over my fears and start shooting some street candids.  Armed with the new Fuji, Auto Focus, and a tilt screen (haven't used yet) I hit the streets to take some candid shots.

Granted this is not the best shot... however it was super cold here in Boston and the snow was record breaking.  Honestly, I was just happy to get out when it wasn't snowing and use the new cam.   I actually kind of like this photo... the marque in the back on the theater, the obvious story of cold... but her front foot is cut off and overall it isnt that super interesting.  Keep trying.

Fuji X-T1. The perfect compliment to a Leica M8 kit

Given the limitations of the Leica M8 listed in my previous post... The Fuji X-T1 was the perfect compliment to my Leica kit for several reasons:

- Size - I love the small mirrorless body and lens size.  I travel a lot so it'ts imperative that I have a small kit to carry every day to work when traveling.  The Leica was great in this regard and the Fuji is a great fit as well.

- Manual "Tactile" Controls - Other than image quality, one of my favorite aspects of the Leica is the shooting experience.  Simple, tactile, intuitive.... just awesome and joyful to use.  I looked at the Olympus OMD's, and Sony A7's but the Fuji really felt great and operated as I expected... very similar to the Leica.  The locked ISO dial drives me nuts, some of the lense aperture dials dont go "stop to stop" (they just spin so you have to look at the readout to know when it's wide open), but it's still a joy to use.

- Weather Sealing - Yay!  an affordable small weather sealed kit.  Really happy to have this as an option for those misty/light rainy days.

- Auto Focus - I am still getting used to the AF and the moving AF points, lock, etc.  It is taking some getting used to but I have been doing a bunch of street shooting so its been really nice.  Also, the AF on this camera is very predictable and I don't find myself waiting for it to focus or stop "hunting".  In addition to the AF it is nice having the different burst modes to take several shots quickly.  The Leica was really slow in this regard... the Fuji is like a machine gun in comparison and actually caught me off guard at first.  LOL

- Electronic View Findder (EVF) - This has been written about a ton, so no need to repeat here... except that it is stunning!  It is like looking into a huge room.  Awesome to use and you can turn off all the electronic information and just keep it simple clean.  Nice.

- Wifi JPEG and Out Of the Camera shots - I do love Lightroom and digital workflow on most occasions but I really started to loath having to do the work on almost every image.  Thus far I am super happy with the OOC images from the Fuji.  Also, it has built in Wifi connection and an iPad app so it's super easy to be able to get the photos quickly off the cam and post straight away.  I still use LR but its awesome to have OOC images I really like.

- Other modern features - Some other items that are cool about the Fuji but not super critical... It's fun to use the Fuji "film" modes like B&W, Chrome, etc.  For OOC shots its fun to have those in JPEG while keeping the RAW for the final images.  The "electronic" silent shutter has been awesome for street photography.  I love the different format options like 1:1 for squares... that along with the nice tilt screen satisfies my inner Vivian with waist level shooting and 1:1 format like a Rollei.  Good times indeed.

Overall I am super excited about the new camera.  The images have been really nice and the camera has been fun to use and learn.  Up next... my new obsession with Street Photography...

New Camera and New Energy

It's been a long while since I posted here, but I am excited to be back!  Some life events have made it difficult to take photos, let alone post to the blog.  However, life is back on track and so are the posts!
This Winter I started down a new path on my photographic journey.  The Leica has been an awesome camera and I have used it a lot and really enjoy shooting with it.  However, the M8 does have some limitations for the photography I really wanted to explore.  Limitations include:

- Limited high ISO.  Really the M8 for me was only usable to 640 and maybe 1200 in certain circumstances.  I started to find more and more than I wanted higher ISO capability.
- No weather sealing.  Over the last several years I have spent a lot of time traveling to Amsterdam and other locations in Europe and Asia that get a lot of rain.  I found that more and more I stopped even bringing the Leica because I figured I most likely wouldn't drag it out in the rain.
- No tilt screen.  This was a strange one for me... I typically don't even use the rear LCD on the Leica because I like to use it like film and view the photos later on my iPad or Laptop.  However, I have started to do more street photography so I thought it would be great to have a TLR style waist point of view.  A tilt screen would make this possible
- No Auto Focus - Yep... I admit it... maybe it's my aging eyes but there are times that I find it hard to use the RF focus.  It is true that 99% of the time I like the control of manual focus and I LOVE the RF patch and zone focusing to nail the focus.  I love that system and RF shooting in general is awesome, but there are times fast AF would be great.  Note, I have two baby niece and nephews so AF is awesome for capturing great snaps of them.  Hi Lilly and Mead!

Of course I have known these limitations for a long time and in many ways they were part of the charm of the M8 and why I bought the camera in the first place... no AF helped me slow down... crummy LCD so I didnt chimp... I have learned a TON as a photographer and I think I have progressed a lot since the beginning.  I think the RF experience has definitely improved no only my images but also my overall joy of the art.  Most importantly I have had an absolute blast shooting with the Leica and I am not selling the kit.  However, recently the limitations really started to stick in my mind so I needed to make a change.  Enter the Fuji X-T1...

Stones

Stones, a photo by KJDreese on Flickr.

Sydney Stairs

Sydney Stairs, a photo by KJDreese on Flickr.

Tree Grove

Tree Grove, a photo by KJDreese on Flickr.