X100 & Shadows

Hey X100 lovers, 


I have noticed lately that I have been shooting a lot of subjects that either appear completely as shadows or have a strong, usually very contrasty, shadow element. This is of course a pretty conventional aspect of photography and far from original. What I have noticed though, and find interesting from a point of view of my own style, is that I am now actively looking for shadows everywhere. Just like when you are looking for a new car, camera or whatever, you start to notice them everywhere because its at the forefront your mind.

So how does this relate to photography and the X100 in particular? Well, there are a few observations that I wanted to make if anyone is interested in this as a simple project or subject they might want to explore.


First up, I have found that the more I use the X100 the more I have become completely at home with the focal length and camera controls and set-up. I remember reading a very nice piece by Thorsten Overgaard on the Leica Digilux 2 where it became very clear that much of his affinity with the camera was down to how comfortable he had become with its simple controls, focal lengths and operation, to the extent that the camera was 'out of the way' and he had industrialized his photograph taking workflow to such an extent that the subject or topic gets explored without conscious thought for the camera. I am not sure that I have reached this ultimate state of enlightenment ( he has been using it for a very long time) but I would say that I have become entirely comfortable with how I use the X100 and this helps a lot when these kind of opportunities come along. I find that I look for shadows all of the time now and as soon as I see something interesting I slip the aperture to f8 (there is usually loads of light) compose and shoot. I have found that the X100 meter is extremely reliable for shadow shooting and only occasionally have I had to tweak the exposure comp dial.

Secondly, remember this style is all about contrast. Generally, the more contrasty and stark you can make the shadow then the more impact the shot will have. One thing that noticed on my recent trip to Chiang Mai is that a polarizer can help a lot with this kind of shooting and in particular where you have white walls. I wouldn't normally have bothered with this but I lost my X100 lens cap and wanted to protect the lens a bit while I wandered around so I slipped an ancient 49mm polarizer that I had onto the camera. As rule I wouldn't recommend this as I don't like anything that goes in front of a lens as its likely to degrade the image in some way through either dirt, flare or by simply slowing the lens as is the case with this polarizer. However, as there was loads of very bright light around this wasn't an issue in this case.

The third aspect of this style for me is the editing of the resulting images where its essential to bring out the contrast. Regular readers will know that I am on a Snapseed trip just now and I think it does a very nice job for this style. Some may think its over done, and I have to confess to being pretty conservative as a rule, but I like the exaggerated contrast and, as long as the photo structure is simple enough, the results can be very effective.

I find that the Snapseed drama tones do a very nice job of brining out grainy detail and this makes what could be bland subject matter that little bit more interesting and causes the eye and mind to linger a little longer on the shot.

It needn't all be black and white of course and sometimes a nice streak of color can liven the shot. Again, it might be worth trying a polarizer if you have enough light as it will definitely help with the contrast and tones.


I hope that this was interesting to you guys and here is a final image to close. I have used this before in the blog but make no apology for using it again, it has become my favorite shot from the Chiang Mai trip.

See you all soon,


Steel

X100 at the Botanic Gardens and some Snapseed v's Lightroom Comparisons

I gotta say, I am having lots of fun this week with the X100. Its so versatile and easy to carry around and the results are just awesome, what a great piece of kit. I took it out and around on a photo shoot with some friends to the Botanic Gardens in Singapore and then on to Esplanade for sunset. I felt so unburdened at carrying this tiny pocket battleship while everyone else labored with bags and tripods :) Admittedly, the X100 is a bit limited in the macro front so its not ideal for true macro work however it does allow you to get in close and the focus is sharp if you are careful, as ever, the colors are delightful. 


I am not very big on macro close ups but I am a big fan of against the light shooting and trying to get a little flare into the corner of the shot. I have mentioned before how flare resistant the X100 Fujinon lens is but it can be done with careful positioning.

This shot just looks so bright and summery and the fresh droplets after the rain give it a nice dreamy look. The above shot was edited in Snapseed which followers of the blog will know I am using a lot just now. The files are not very hi res but this allows for easy uploading and they will stand up well to smallish sized prints. By way of comparison and just for fun, I also edited a similar shot in Lightroom which is my favorite, main management and editing tool. I simply hate processing and editing, I would so much rather be shooting !!! Anyway, I have a workflow that is very quick and allows for minimal time at the desk and the following photo got the basic treatment. It's richer and more detailed but to be honest I prefer the Snapseed version in this case.

Here is another comparison of one of the shooters Riyanti who took a few minutes out to pose these shots for me.

This is the Lightroom version with a little bit of tonal contrast adjustment in Nik Colorefexpro which is again, a very simple and fast tool that, like all Nik products, delivers fantastic results.


And now the Snapseed efforts which got the drama tone 1 effect which to my eyes gives a delightfully contrasty and somehow, modern feel and look to the images.

Same effect again, and I have commented before how well this effect works with Asian skin tones. These are all in natural light by the way but I would have liked to have had my trusty reflector (which I had stupidly left at home) handy to get a bit of catchlight into the eyes and brighten the face a little.

I wouldn't say that these are necessarily better than the Lightroom processed shot but they were a darn site simpler to produce and were done on the fly in Starbies !!! I am a sucker for the drama tone 1 & 2 effects, I simply delight in the way they deal with tonal contrast.


Let's get back to the flower shooting which to be honest doesn't do much for me but I did like messing around to see what the X100 could do.

One thing that more experienced flower shooters than me will I am sure advise, is to take a reflector or something to give you a plain white or black background depending on the flower color and contrast. I usually carry a smallish 5 in 1 reflector with me everywhere but as I was traveling so light I had left it behind :( I did manage to find a large cream cloth however and held it behind this gorgeous black orchid. This is a truly stunning flower and I am afraid that I have done it little justice with getting the DoF wrong but, as I said, flower shooting is not my game.

Here are the final two plant shots and as mentioned I was finding it a real challenge to find a suitably dark and clear background to frame the shots with in the absence of an artificial backdrop.

Going close in on some of the wonderful foliage on display took care of the background issue and the patterns and textures came out beautifully in the X100's rich files.

A nice simple B&W shot to close the Orchid garden section. This is one lovely place to visit and I am sure any dedicated macro photographer would be in seventh heaven here. For me, it was a fun place to visit and mess around with the X100, I always feel I learn something that benefits me in my more normal shooting when I try something new such as the flowers and close ups here.

A quick word on workflow with these images and some closing shots from my favorite haunt at Marina Bay. I bought a simple little SD card reader for the Ipad and can literally load and edit on the move with Snapseed and I can't wait to try it out on my upcoming photo trip to Chiang Mai with the cool guys at  Singapore Trekker . I am sure the iphone and techy guys on the trip will have a good laugh at how behind the times I am with editing on the go and will be showing off the latest apps. I am a bit of a traditionalist in some ways though and only adopt something once I am sure it has the benefits I need and I guess in some ways that's why I love the X100's quirky and unique blend of old and new.

Well, that;s it for this weekend and I am very interested in any views or experiences with regards to the snapseed v's Lightroom comparison, drop me a note or leave a comment. Here's a nice, if very cliched shot of the Fullarton Hotel as dusk falls, what a stunning setting Marina Bay and Esplanade is.


Hope all you X100 fans had as good a shooting weekend as I did,


Steel

X100 ....... Red

I love Steve Huff's excellent website for his interesting reviews, comments and video clips which mostly happen to be on equipment that I like. The only niggle I have is that I am never that impressed with his test photos (or most of the others for that matter) although I have to say that his more serious work on the recent Seal tour was excellent. Having said that I really liked his recent  X100 Filmstrip post in which he pointed out how well the X100 handled color and in particular, red. This inspired me to have a go on this theme myself and I found some nice red themed subjects on a recent long weekend trip to Bali.

I find personally that strong red can be a dangerous color and is best used where it appears with more dominant monotones or alone as in the lead flower photo (incidentally, I was tempted to change the orientation of this shot but felt it looked like the flower was shedding a tear so left it alone) The above shot from a statue in Bali shows this to good effect. Like all of the shots in this short post I processed it in the lovely little Snapseed app on my Ipad. This is a simply marvelous app for use on the road and I will write a separate post on combining it with the X100, coming soon. Back to the statue shot, I processed this in the 'drama' tool in the app and selected 'dark 2' which exaggerated the contrast of the whites and blacks very nicely and the red flower just adds that extra touch of color interest to bring the shot alive. This for me is a nice discreet use of this powerful color.

Here is a slightly more conventional use of it, again on a contrasty monotone subject. I avoided the mega contrast effect of the last shot as there wasn't enough inherent black and white on the statue itself so I felt this more discreet handling worked better.

Finally, back to the 'drama tones' for the final shot and you can see how the app has changed the natural hue of the red flowers unlike the natural tone of the first image. The benefit here though is that the water droplets get exaggerated and I think the photo gains something from this albeit highly inaccurate rendition of the tones and colors. Again though, I find this works because the red is a block and not dominating or fighting with other colors.

Hope this was interesting and I think its worth using little projects like this to make you focus on a particular theme or subject. I know I had fun searching out nice reds on this trip.

For those that are interested, I found the red flowers in the wonderful butterfly garden in Singapore's Changi international airports Terminal 3. Make sure you have a look when you are there next, its a great location.

That's it for this post, back soon with some more on the interesting Snapseed app, in the meantime keep working the X100 and have a go at a project.

Steel