Tag: photography

Photography-related posts. I talk about inspiration, settings, gear, other photographers, etc.

Simple Camera

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"Camera Love" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: Motorola Moto G (4), 3.64mm, f/2, 1/15 sec, ISO3200
 “Camera Love” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは！How’s it going? Are you staying warm this winter? The temperatures will drop below freezing here tonight, but we’ll be warm and cozy in our beds!

Today’s photo is of my camera, the Fujifilm X100T which I have blogged about before. I’m still loving it – definitely my favorite camera I’ve ever owned. It’s not the fastest, doesn’t have the highest resolution or specs, but it has a certain charm in its body design and the image quality that the jpeg processing produces. That combination is why so many people love their X100 cameras, and Fujifilm cameras in general.

This camera has changed the way I think about making photos. Having multiple lenses that cover the ultra-wide to the super-telephoto range isn’t that important to me anymore. Simplicity has become much more valued to me now. The single focal length simplifies so much. Decision-making is easier. In fact, a lot of decisions have been eliminated… and I love it! It’s truly liberating.

Of course, I value the knowledge and experience I’ve gained from owning and using many different cameras and lenses, and it still comes into play with the photographic duties I sometimes take on at work, but for my personal photography, the X100T is all I need.

I guess this simplification is part of a trend in my life… getting rid of things I don’t need or use. Do I need all the apps on my phone? No, I only need a few. Having less keeps my phone light and fast.

Do I need to keep all the books I have already read? No. I donate or sell them, and free up physical space and clear the clutter. Seeing books that I’ll probably never read again just gives me a feeling of incompleteness. Get rid of them and close that chapter for good. (I made a pun!) Closure feels nice.

There are so many opportunities to simplify!

Focusing on just a few quality items seems to be a path that makes sense to me now. It gets me excited to think about jettisoning the things I don’t need anymore.

I hope you had a great day!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Postcards from Big Bend

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"Modern Vintage" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/20 sec, ISO3200
 “Modern Vintage” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！How’s it going? Here in central Texas, not only has it gotten colder, but it’s also gotten wetter, with a light rain all afternoon. It looks like it will continue all weekend as well. I’m glad we don’t have outdoor activities planned! 🌧

Today’s photo is of the three postcards I bought at the Panther Junction Visitor Center in Big Bend National Park. I love the vintage design of these! So when I took the photo, I decided to post-process using one of Nik Software’s vintage camera presets. I like the way it came out. 😊

In looking at the designs, I realized that I took some photos of the same subjects or locations. I posted these before, but I thought it was neat to match them up with the postcards – the Rio Grande, the Milky Way, and Casa Grande.

"Santa Elena Canyon" Big Bend, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/7.1, 1/140 sec, ISO400
 “Santa Elena Canyon” Big Bend, 2016
"Starry Night" Big Bend, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 18mm, f/3.2, 20 sec, ISO5000
 “Starry Night” Big Bend, 2016
"Casa Grande" Big Bend, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/6.4, 1/170 sec, ISO400
 “Casa Grande” Big Bend, 2016

While on the travel subject, I have to admit that I have been getting into watching YouTube videos about minimalist travel, gear, and packing. It’s so fascinating to me! It’s funny, but minimalist travel, backpacking, and motorcycle travel all have similar recommendations, most notably to use synthetic or merino wool clothing (not cotton!), dress with layers in mind, and don’t overpack!

As some of you may know, I love bags and backpacks, and I’ve been searching for the perfect backpack. I pretty much found the perfect (for me) messenger bag in the Patagonia Minimass, but I haven’t found a backpack that I really love. I think I am going to sell my North Face Router and Jansport Hatchet, and pick up an Osprey Porter 30. It looks like a perfect travel backpack! But we’ll see. It’s fun to do the research at least. 😄

I hope you had a nice Friday!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Flash Sync

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When I was growing up, my parents had one of these Kodak cameras with the flashcube. I remember being fascinated by how the cube looked when it was all spent. It had a blurry, bluish discoloration.

But my main memory regarding flash was from my 6th grade year in 1980, when I competed in a trivia quiz-show at the high school. After the competition was over, all the parents were taking photos of us kids, but my mom had run out of flashcube, so she tried to time her shot with another parent’s camera flash. I don’t know if it worked or not, but I’d have to say that the chances were pretty slim that she could nail the timing. 📸

Photo editing using Snapseed for Android

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Hi all! It’s a couple days after we returned from a 6-day vacation, and during that trip I blogged every night, including photos that I took during the day. Since I didn’t have Lightroom with me, I did all my photo editing on my Android phone using the Snapseed app. I’m pleased with how the photos turned out, considering I used just the mobile app. And so I thought I would share how I edited my photos with you all! (If you use an iPhone, you can find the same/similar apps for that platform)

First, I take all my photos using my Fujifilm X100T in JPG mode, usually the Standard (Provia) color setting. Then, using the Fujifilm Camera Remote app, I transfer the photos via WiFi to my Motorola Moto G phone. I browse them using the QuickPic app, then when I find one I’d like to edit, I select Share, then choose Snapseed from the list:

2016-11-27-20-02-15

The image opens up in the Snapseed app and then I get down to business! I’ve found I like to start by using the Rotate tool to straighten things out (it will do its best to auto-straighten, which works surprisingly well!), then Crop. Next I will use the Tune Image tool, adjusting the Shadows, Saturation, and Exposure. Lastly, I might add a slight Vignette. For many photos, this is all I do.

2016-11-27-20-02-29

On other photos, I’ll go to the presets and play around more. I like to use the Tonal Contrast to give the photo a little more definition, the Drama presets to add a little punch, and the Grainy Film presets for a VSCO type feel. If I only want to add some grain, I will use a Grainy Film preset, but set the Style Strength to 0, and only use the grain adjustment. FYI, most people like to reduce grain for a super clean image, but I like the feel of grain, so that’s why I use the preset.

2016-11-27-20-02-49

 

After I am satisfied with my edits, I’ll click on Done and move on to the next image. When I have all my photos edited and ready for posting, I’ll select them all in QuickPic, and Share them with my WordPress app, which will add them to the WordPress Media library. And that’s it! They are ready to be added to my post when I type it out on my Chromebook.

Of course, there isn’t the same kind of control as you get with Lightroom, but I think it’s a great mobile solution, and it doesn’t take long at all. I hope this helps! Please take a look at the photos I edited using this technique below:

Modern Still Life

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"Modern Still Life" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 35mm, f/2.5, 1/240 sec, ISO400
 “Modern Still Life” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！How was your Saturday?

Today’s photo is of our breakfast table, and the afternoon light coming in. I thought it looked nice the way the margarita was illuminated.

I like taking photos like this “still life” because it captures a moment in time… but more than a regular photo does. Of course photographs freeze a single moment, but what I mean is that there are things in this photo that tell more about the way we lived. For instance, if someone looked at this photo 100 years from now, they would see an antique camera, ancient computing device, and some kind of liquid in a fragile container. And that table… is that natural wood?

The photo is a glimpse into a bygone era.

Or, more personally, I like to think that a distant relative would be wondering what their ancestor’s lives were like. Maybe this photo could be something that would shed light on that mystery.

Or, it’s more likely that Mariko and I see this photo in 20 years, and it brings back some memories of our house, and how we used to enjoy our homemade margaritas.

I don’t know if any of this will come to pass, but I like to think that still life photos like this one would hold some value…

Take care!

おやすみなさい

– B Barron Fujimoto

 

Around the Kitchen

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"Fresh Baked Yum" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/125 sec, ISO4000
 “Fresh Baked Yum” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！Hi, how’s it going?

At my work, we have a weekly food and/or drink social hour, where the company brings in food and we all eat and hang out. Today there were desserts including giant cookies, brownies, fruit tarts, lemon bars, etc. 🍪 I had to try one of the peanut butter cookies, but I kind of regret it. You see, I don’t eat sweets often, and so my body is ultra-sensitive to sugar, and I’ve also grown accustomed to less-sweet Japanese desserts. 🍡 I don’t know if those are less sweet, or if American desserts are just ultra-sugary, but at any rate I wasn’t feeling so great after eating that cookie. It didn’t help that the cookie was enormous!

Back at home, Mariko was baking a beautiful loaf of bread, and you can see it in the photo above. Pretty, isn’t it? To me, the fresh bread is like a dessert to me! I can eat good bread and butter all day. ❤️🍞

While thinking about my daily photo 📸, I looked around the kitchen to see if there was anything interesting, or something I’d like to capture so that years from now, when we are living far away, we can look back and see part of our everyday lives.

We have many “kitcheny” things in the house, so I took a photo of one of the shelves where we keep some oils and vinegars. In Lightroom I used the same preset that I applied to the bread photo. I really like the “look” of the photos from that preset. That’s one thing I love about Lightroom – the ability to adjust the settings and them save them to custom presets. I think it’s a nice way to develop a photographic style.

"Mad Scientist Supplies" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/90 sec, ISO6400
 “Mad Scientist Supplies” Cedar Park, 2016

I hope you had a nice Thursday!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

X100T Camera Wishlist

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Fujifilm X100T
Photo info: Canon EOS 60D, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/80 sec, ISO400
 Fujifilm X100T

My camera of choice, the Fujifilm X100T, has recently been discontinued, which means the new model is on the horizon. The things I love about my X100T are that it is small, simple, lightweight, and the file-sizes are reasonable. It’s perfect for my style of shooting. That being said, there are some things that I wish my camera had… hopefully the next iteration of the X100 series will address these shortcomings:

  • Weather sealing – It would be nice to be able to not worry about a little rain. 🌧 There have been a few times when I’ve had to hide the camera under my jacket.
  • Custom Settings
    • More than 7 –  Even if there were only 7 available in the Q menu, it would be handy to be able to save more than those and then designate which ones are available in the Q menu.
    • Names for Custom settings – Instead of the standard “C1”, “C2”, etc., I’d like to name the settings things like “Work Headshot”, “February Event”, “Snapshots”, etc.
    • Save image size in Custom settings – For the aforementioned “Snapshots” custom setting, I’d like to switch the image size to Small, 1:1, so I’d be able to capture super-lightweight files quickly.
  • GPS – I love to see the photos on the map 🗺 in Lightroom and Flickr. But another great reason for having GPS in-camera is that your date/time settings are always correct. 🕗

These improvements are relatively minor, and the X100T is still an excellent camera. 📷 Just a few more tweaks, and it would be perfect!