New toy, Fuji x100s

A couple days ago I was lucky enough to receive a Fujifilm x100s as a gift from my parents for completing my MSc degree. This is more than I would have ever expected to get for that but I am beyond grateful for it.

I normally shoot with a Canon rebel T2i. My favourite lens on it is a 50mm f/1.4, but I often use a Tamron 17-50 f/2.8, for many of my conceptual images, as well as a Canon 7-200 f/4 for portraits and wildlife photos. I have been thinking of a wide fixed lens like a 35 mm for a while. This Fuji x100 has exactly that.

It is a pleasure to use with more features than I could ever imagine on a camera. Plus it looks cool too!

I have walked around the neighbourhood for a few hours the day after I got it and took hundreds of photos. I could not stop seeing things to take photos of. The film simulation is very neat, especially being able to see it live with the viewfinder.

 This camera may not be for everyone, but it is a perfect carry camera. I find dslrs too large and have been eyeing mirrorless cameras for a while. Glad I finally have one of my own.

What is your favourite camera/lens to use?

Birds

Birds are a favourite subject of mine. What I don't like so much about it is having to wake up so early to get a decent photo of them. But many weekends while living in Ottawa I would go to bed while the neighbours were partying so I could wake up at 530 and ride my bike down to Dow's lake to get there just after sunrise. The serenity of being surrounded by only birds in the early morning is unmatched.

Unfortunately, for our little friend in the photo above, tree swallows do not typically feel the same way about me. At Dow's Lake, they have a number of these bird boxes setup for the tree swallows to nest in, and earlier in the year they have this brilliant blue hue so I try to get as close as possible. Male tree swallows will viciously defend their nests as a group, and with every step closer I take they will buzz my head more and more, eventually they will start hitting me, and usually at that point I take it as my cue to vamoose! They will usually chase you for about 500 feet or so to make sure you are gone. I think they began to recognize me after a few weekends as well, as I would often pop straight into the clearing and immediately start getting buzzed. I usually try to pinch off a couple photos before they start actually hitting me!

Show me your favourite bird or wildlife photos you have taken!

Diving at sunset

Diving is something I have only begun to do in the last couple years but absolutely love it. I don't get many opportunities to go, but every time I have has been one of my favourite experiences of my life. If you have never gone scuba diving I highly recommend it. It is both a very tranquil and mind expanding experience.

I went to Mexico diving in June this year and every day since I have been back I have missed diving. It came to a head a few days ago and I just had to put all the equipment back on. You can't see it in this photo but I have the BCD, a steel tank, the mask and whole octopus (with regulator on). It was heavy, hot and uncomfortable but I had a lot of fun with this photo.

Flowers

Everyone I think starts taking pictures of flowers. They are easy to make look good and in the summer readily available subjects that don't move very quickly!

This is a photo of an Evelyn's rose from my mother's garden. She takes great pride in her garden and it grows from year to year. Being back at my parent's after finishing my Masters' has really blown me away how much is has grown since I was last here.

For this photo I took it at noon, on a cloudless day, so everything was coming out blown out and way too contrasty. To fix this, I grabbed a reflective umbrella, put it on a lightstand and used it to block the sun, now I had the flower in the shade. I then grabbed a firefly beauty box (a new light modifier I have been having fun with recently) and put it just outside the frame. I got this very nice light with it.

It was shot at f/16so I could get the shutter speed low enough to sync with the flash. Despite every one on any internet form warning to never go above f/8 or "you will get soft photos from diffraction!", I think it came out alright.

How do you take photos of flowers?

Fog

I find fog to be one of the most interesting natural phenomena to use in a photograph. Whenever I see it I wish I had my camera with me to shoot. Couple nights ago I went out for a nighttime walk as it was very humid from raining all day. I had walked about 5 minutes to a major intersection and noticed how foggy it was. The sun had just gone down so the sky was a beautiful blue. I races home grabbed my tripod, camera and a housecoat and spent the next hour trying to get a good picture. The fog slowly dissipated but I think I got something I am happy with.

I still have a dozen ideas of photos with fog. And I have a specific photo in mind that I one day need to take. But I will have to continue to wait for the conditions to be right.

What is your photo you haven't taken yet but know one day you need to capture?

Self-portraits

I end up taking a great deal of self-portraits. I don't do it from conceit, but rather I am available when I feel the urge to take a photo. If I had friends that were potential models nearby or on hand regularly I think I would end up using other people more, but there are a great deal of benefits to using myself.

I know what I look like, and if I can pull off the look I want. I don't need to give myself any direction to obtain the look I want, it is more take a shot, look at LCD, adjust pose/look, repeat. Additionally, as many of my portraits are an exercise to improve my understanding of lighting techniques they may end up taking a significant amount of time before I achieve the look I am aiming for. People I have used in the path get obviously frustrated (and who doesn't get frustrated when mom or dad at family gatherings says "Wait, wait that didn't work everyone back together!!").

On the other hand, I would love to use other people as a model as there are many photos ideas I have recorded that just wouldn't work with myself, being an issue with build or more specifically gender!

I took this photo the other night and more or less happy how it turned out.


Do you prefer self-portraits or using models? And if so, where do your models come from?

Vacation photo

I went to Playa del Carmen after I submitted my Masters' thesis earlier this summer. Just went for a week to go scuba diving. I didn't take a ton of photos as I dove every day I was there. I went out a couple nights to take a few photos. The one above is from one of the last nights I was there. I liked how the colours came out a lot and the seeming bliss of the people on the beach.

Trying to work out a photo this weekend but I can't seem to make it work. I think I know what is wrong now, but I'll have to go out again in a couple weeks when I get a chance. Defending my thesis this friday so I should really focus on that!

Until next time.

Half-portrait

This photo came about as I was thinking of drawings one day and one particular drawing I have always liked was one a friend drew very quickly back in elementary school. It was a few simple lines, just an eye, a line down for a nose and ended with a line for a mouth. I am sure many others have seen it and I have tried to google for an example but been unable to find it. The simplicity of it always appealed to me.

So one night, I set out to try to recreate it. I began by getting a piece of cardboard and cutting out sections so when a flash fired through it, only those parts of my face would illuminate. I was at this for a couple hours, doing different cuts in cardboard. Different angles of the flash. Nothing worked. So I would call this a failure as I don't love this photo, but maybe one day, I can go back and try to create what I have in my head.

That is my biggest frustration with photography. I often have ideas what I know would look great if only I could some how have the skills to create it.

Such is life! Until next time.

Introduction

I started taking photos more seriously about two years ago when I was gifted a DSLR. I read everything I could on how to take pictures and brought it with me everywhere. Today, I often try to take a photo once-twice a week and typical I have a photo in my head before I ever pick up my camera.

I am started this blog as I want something to chronicle my continuing exploration of photography to see how it changes. I use flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/grahamirvine/) for many photos but feel apprehensive about keeping it clean and a particular style of photos.

I have two photos I want to post. The above photo I took a couple weekends ago of my best friend, his girlfriend and myself as we went exploring at his cottage. It was just a bit of fun and a few drinks.

The second photo will be in a following post.

Please comment and critique freely! I am always looking to improve.