Thanksgiving + Fuji X100F

This past Thanksgiving I made sure to bring one of my cameras, just in case we managed to get out for a walk or just to take photos in general. I knew there would be one if not too dogs there so, it was pretty much a no brainer. Who could resist taking photos of dogs, or any kind of animals for that matter. The animals in question my wife’s cousin’s dogs, Frank, pictured above and Yoshi who you will see below. The camera I decided to carry with me on this day was the Fuji X100F. It’s portable, discreet and super fun to use. Oh, and it produces great photos. Although, I’d like to think I have something to do with that. Then again, I guess that is all subjective.

I actually managed to get outside twice in one evening, so I was in my glory. The first was with everyone, and we walked to the park around the block. We had some fun around the playground and got some fresh air in the process. As always, I just captured whatever caught my eye. Usually it’s just still life that I find interesting, but I also got some good shots of the dogs and my family too.

The second outing was just me and Frank. I took him for a walk across the street around the train tracks. He was so good off the leash, waiting patiently here and there while I stopped to take photos. However, we did have a close call. I took my eye off him for a few seconds down a back alley. Next thing I know, he was in a backyard pinned down by another dog. Frank just went into the fetal position and gave me a look saying ‘I’m just going to play dead and wait this one out’. Luckily it worked. With a little cohering, the protective dog, released his grip and just barked at us as we walked away in shame.

After all that excitement, we headed back for some well earned turkey. Even Frank and Yoshi managed to get some as well.

Mount McKay and Abandoned Cars

I have been spending a lot of time lately trying to hone my 'video skills' and my personal photo walks have taken a backseat. Well, this morning I decided to take my X100F into the rain, even though it's not waterproof, and see if I remembered how to take photos. ;)

I joke about taken photos, as I have been doing a lot of professional work, but I have missed just walking around aimlessly and capturing still images. My first destination was the Mount McKay lookout, at the base of Mountdale Road. I'm not sure if I a lot of people know about this spot, because there is rarely anyone there, but it is quite beautiful. As soon as I got out of my car, I saw a cute little chubby rabbit hopping around. I swear it looked like a household rabbit. I did manage to get fairly close before it hopped off into the gloomy forest. As I do with almost any cat, dog, horse or bird I see in my travels, I had a short conversation with it. Sometimes I worry that I'm a bit crazy. I can't be the only person that talks to random animals though right?

It was already raining lightly when I got to the lookout but I still managed to get, what I think, are some good shots. Remember, the X100F is a fixed 35mm lens so you really have to compose with your feet. I like to get in super close to things but also appreciate the landscape type photos. 

The next stop after that was the James Street Bridge. By then it was raining fairly hard but I just made sure to keep the camera somewhat covered. The crappy thing about the bridge, is that it has been closed to traffic for quite a while now. Even though you can still cross it, the usual pedestrian walkway is fenced off and you can only walk on a different walkway, which has fences on both sides, so no clear view of the river etc. 

The geese were out in full force and I got a wicked photos of one of them perched on the top of the bridge structure. He didn't quite know what to think of me but luckily I didn't get dive-bombed. Not wanting to go home just yet, I went for a quick drive to Mission Marsh and this little partially fenced off area with abandoned cars. It is by far one of my favourite spots in town. There is nothing special about it, but if you let me know loose in an actual junkyard, I would probably spend days taking photos in it. I love old vintage cars and broken down things. 

I called it a morning after that and decided to head home and do some actual work. The Fuji X100F is such a fun camera to use and it really forces you to move and compose. But then again, my whole Nikon professional kit, consists of primes so it's nothing new to me. 

Thanks for viewing!

Yonge Street with the X100F

Last week I was hired to photograph a 3 day conference in downtown Toronto and I was pretty excited to do so, for a couple reasons. The main one being that I got to be a part of an amazing conference for ONWA, which you can read about on my professional blog here. The second reason was that I could not wait to get out and do some street photography. Lastly, I was very anxious to try out my new X100F. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to do very much street photography. However, I still managed to go for a quick walk around the block one evening, and managed to get some keepers and test out the new camera. 

I little back story about my experience with Toronto. I lived all around the Toronto area off an on for about 9 years back in the day. During that time I was working as a Graphic Designer, which I still do here in Thunder Bay. But, it wasn't until I moved back to Thunder Bay about 9 years ago that I really got into photography. Being back in Toronto now so many years later and with my new 'outlook' so to speak, was almost overwhelming. It's hard to explain, but I was looking at everything through a fresh set of eyes. 

Don't get me wrong, Thunder Bay is a beautiful city, but you'd be lucky to find 10 or more people on any given block at one time, unless you it's an event of some sort. As I walked out of my hotel room onto Yonge Street, there are hundreds of people, not to mention all the architecture and history. I joked to my wife Anne that it was almost too much. I simply wasn't used to it. That did not stop me from wandering the area and looking for interesting compositions. In a perfect world though, I would have had 8 hours to just take my time and enjoy it. Alas, I only managed to get out for about 1 hour the whole trip. We are going to a concert in August, so I plan on leaving a lot more time during that trip since it's strictly a vacation and not for work.

As I mentioned above, I recently acquired an X100F. I actually traded in my XPro 2 for it, seeing as how I just wasn't using it enough. I originally owned the X100s but sold it a couple years ago to fund some of my Nikon purchases which I still have today. It was like being reunited with an old friend, I felt right home using the X100F. Boy was it fun to use as well. Don't get me wrong, I could have easily brought one of my Nikons but I wanted something indiscreet and portable. 

All the photos below were shot in RAW and processed in Lightroom. I'm always amazed at the initial colours coming out of pretty much any Fuji camera. The X100F is no exception. I can't wait to really spend some time with the camera.