I my previous post I showed you a few portraits that I’m still working on and Moritz from Germany asked in his comment if I could share my lighting setups.
I decided to show a specific setup for every single one with a scheme and short explanation.
This is three lights setup… a combination of two strobes and a neon light. Strobe on the right side had a small DIY grid attached and I used it to light up a face. A neon light from above was really dimmed so I set the exposure to match it and then I was adjusting my strobes. If I remember well, back strobe was on a half power and strobe with the grid was on 1/4 of a power.
This one is really simple. One strobe with small grid attached and moved far away from subject so I could light up almost a complete figure but without unwanted spill over the scene.
As well as the previous one, simple one light setup. It was hard to match a color balance between strobe and light bulbs so I had to correct it in post production. I used silver bounce umbrella as a light modifier. Light stand was some two meters away from subject and that is why light is a bit harder.
Also a one light setup. Strobe is hidden behind the door and my idea was to mimic a day light coming from the other room.
Two strobes. Back one is bare bulb (without modifier) and front one had small grid attached. Front strobe was hidden behind supporting beam. This tunnel is a very narrow space so I had to be careful with the strobe power. Front one was on the lowest setting (1/16 of a power) and back one was 1/4 of a power.
This is two lights setup but with combination of window light. Front one with a grid and back one bare bulb.
One light. I tried to boost a window light with it.
This one is also a one light setup and I think it’s self-explanatory. Cca 45 degrees angle.
I’m using two Vivitar285HV strobes. Those are simple manual strobes with decent power. Triggering it with old but reliable Elinchrom Skyport radio triggers.
Here are some photos of my small grid that I made from a piece of cardboard and few black straws. DIY grid mounted on a Vivitar285HV hard fall off
On the last image, strobe was set some 1.5 meters from the wall.
It is that time of year when I don’t do anything about my blog/portfolio/self-promotion… As I did for past 400 days. But being the best Fuji X photographer in Bosnia (I’ll explain this later) bring some responsibility to all three of my readers to say something about what I did in past few hundred days.
Let’s start with frustration… Feeds on my humble social networking presence are overwhelmed with new Fuji gear, orgasmic reviews and pixel peeping comparisons. And… I like to read them all. To be honest… some of them for several times. And yes… I’m an XPro1 user… there is a new XPro2… and I need one more camera body… aaaaand it would be great to get my hands on it… aaaaaaaaand no… my incomes are just no match to it…. Too bad, since I believe we would be a great match.
So… I decided to run one more story about how good my current camera is and to cover last year with some shots since I haven’t put even a word on my blog for more then a year. I wrote some initial thoughts on Fuji XPro1 two years ago here.
Confession…
You can call me whatever you like… hobbyist, enthusiast, amateur… Photography is a part of my life for more then a half of it (and I’m 36) so you do the math. Occasionally, I do get some paid jobs or some paid assignments but it is impossible to make a living out of it (I have other job which pays my mortgage, taxes, food, gas, kindergarten, some cigarettes, shoes and clothes from time to time…). Ok, my wife has a job too… ok,…. we have a decent life here but… still… as I said… incomes are insufficient when it comes to gear renewal. Last time I did it, I sold out all of my gear that I had and with some additional savings I managed to purchase a new camera. Why? Because of the mileage of my previous one, because I wanted something lighter and because I needed something more technologically advanced. So I ended up with Fuji XPro1 and it was love at first sight and it still is.
XPro1 is ok but not on par with industry leaders?
I was slicing my brains out to find some downsides and to make myself more criticizing about it… but without success. Yes… there are some stuff that DSLR purists will say that are more then a good reason to run away from it… (slow focusing, slow sync speed, precision-less OVF, etc.) but at the end… you just get used to it and start to love all the things that you made together. XPro1 is a great companion in every situation you can imagine yourself. At the time Fuji decided to upgrade their flagship model, you don’t feel cheated as most people do when some new technology comes out. At Fujis, new is good but the old one is still keeping up. This is not a praise to Japan company (I do believe that they are no different than any other in terms of profitability and moneymaking business). Just want to point out that they did a great job back in 2012. On the other side I do think that models like XM1 or XA1 were unnecessary but hey… I’m not a business expert. I still think XPro1 is on par with most newer models made by competition. I have experience with most of them (Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic…) so my subjective opinion is based on usage and not on web reviews.
How I became THE BEST…
Very simple. You would think that I will probably tell you a story of how hard I was working on building my portfolio, shooting endless assignments, shooting days and nights until my finger cramp… and it is the common story of many of my fellow best photographers around the world, but not in my case.
I just bought the camera no one did in my country… so immediately I became the best X photographer in Bosnia (I’m pretty sure that I’m still the best around here or there are just a few best of us). So… being the BEST here, it gives me the right to ask some sample equipment to test it out from Fuji. Just point me at nearest camera store to pick it up. O wait… there is no camera stores around here. Ok… I’ll talk to your representatives in my country and try to convince them. O shit… yes… you don’t have it here.
My point is that Bosnia is not a market that is interesting not only to Fuji but to many other camera companies. But it would be great at least to have one specialized camera store here where one could go and test some equipment or maybe to rent it and at the end, to buy it. So… all of you dontknowwheretoinvestmymoney people, come to Bosnia, open a camera store and in some short time… you will loose everything, but hey… you’ll have a chance to become THE BEST camera store here ever. 😉
Ok… I lost it a bit. This post could easily become a sobbing confession of how hard life is around here… and how we have crappy politics… and how system of value is distorted and blah, blah,blah….
Enough…
Ok… enough with story without any point. Long story short… XPro1 is still a great piece of gear. Since I’m in a process of thinking about additional camera body – it would be great to have a new XPro2 as a main camera but hey… I would be pretty much satisfied with another XPro1 body too. Good ergonomics, decent AF speed (no missing shots in 99%), decent high ISO output (at my standards, even ISO6400 is usable in some situations), good weight-shoulder ratio, 16MP sensor can give a print output of 70x55cm easily… do anyone need more?
Let me show you some images I did recently…
Motion
I love slow shutter speeds and how you can create surreal images in some simple and common situations and I noticed that when ever I shoot, no matter what, assignment or personal work… I always do a few slow shutter images.
Featured
If you went through my blog archives , you would notice that my work is often based around theatre. Also, I do follow some extreme sport clubs in region so you could find some xsports features… extreme climbing and uphill cycling. I do also a wedding photography from time to time but rarely. I’m an official photographer for Tourist organization of city of Prijedor since this year.
Portraits
I do consider myself a portrait photographer so here are some of the most recent I’m still working on for Prijedor city theater. They asked me to do some formal portraits of ensemble and I did it. But somehow, wasn’t very satisfied with it so I proposed a bit different approach. Idea is to show a theater that is not visible to majority of people. Old depots, hidden tunnels over the main hall, wardrobes, workshops, etc. And all of thatin form of a portrait. So… this is the result
If somehow you made it to this part of my blog post, I hope it was pretty much clear how XPro1 is more then a capable camera. Sports, weddings, documentary,off camera flash… you name it. Essentially, it is not up to camera… It depends on your imagination and preparation. Any camera would be as good as this one only…. you are makeing a relationship with any camera you are using and… I just think that XPro1 is more then any other generic model (no matter if a lot of them are technically superior) on a market. All the benefits combined with negative issues are creating a unique experience upon no one can be left indifferent. Long live XPro1… welcome XPro2!!!
As I already did few times before, occasionally I’m publishing some work I’m doing for Prijedor city theater (I would like to link them but they don’t have a working web site… in 21st century). Sometimes it’s just making photos for archive kind of work and sometimes is something more (like posters, video…).
This time it was complete visual identity (except the scene itself). From main poster, photos for brochure, video material and projections that were used in the play to promo videos and trailers.
Third Kozara MTB marathon took place yesterday organized by Austronet-procycling club from Prijedor who commissioned me to cover it. I was a bit nervous knowing the limitations of my equipment and on edge to borrow some different camera just in case. But… I didn’t. I decided to try out my Fuji and to find out how big are my own limitations. Anybody who ever tried to shoot with Fuji X-Pro 1 had to notice it’s superb quality but in the same time it’s lame AF performance. Fuji did a great thing by upgrading camera firmware constantly but still… X-Pro1 isn’t made for action and sports photography. Or maybe it is…? I’m quite satisfied with the final result. I relied on a well known recipe: scout a few locations few hours before the start, calculate your time well, get out of the way, set some lights, make test shots, PREFOCUS (this was the most important part), and wait. One cyclist – one shot. I didn’t used burst mode. So, the final result is here. 1 camera (Fuji X-Pro1), 1 lens (23mm – or 35mm if you like) and 1 strobe (Vivitar 285HV – just on one location).
For last two months I’ve been working with director from Prijedor city theater Darko Cvijetic on a new play called “Phoenician women, materials”. It is experimental kind of play at least for Prijedor’s theater. It is a concept, without predefined monologues or dialogues. Play about women, suffered from war (any war) and by its aftermaths. Five stories about women who have lost a brother, who were raped, who gave birth to a warrior, who played for a soldiers, who are searching for a grave, who are waiting in vain…
“Phoenician women” by Euripides was taken just as a idea not as a background. But if you search just a little bit about Theban war and stories about king Oedipus you will find out that no war is different no matter if it is some mythical ancient war or some modern Bosnian, Syrian, Ukrainian or who knows which war.
Here in Bosnia, even 20 years after the war, people are still unsettled and restless. PTSD is in its full potential and no category is exempt. We are society of destroyed marriages, youth grown up without fathers, abandoned children. Violence on women and children is more present then ever. And many wounds are still unhealed… But nobody is taking care about it. It is like a taboo in a society burdened by national identity, criminal privatization, stale democracy and trash culture.
My series of five portraits “Theban women” started as a side project but became a significant part of a story and visualisation of a play itself.
For a play itself, I made 5 photo essays or 5 photo stories trying to correspond with each story but not in an obvious way. My storytelling is not narrative and banal. My intention was not to show anything that actress will already do or say but to amplify emotions. It is hard to paraphrase the play. Hopefully, in a few days, there will be a full video of “Phoenician women, materials” online and I will be able to post a link here so you could see for yourself.
Here are my photo-essays. Each video is minute and few seconds long.
All portraits and all images in photo essays are made with Fujifilm XPro1 camera and XF35mm f1.4 lens.
I’m using a Fuji X-pro 1 mirrorless camera for almost a year and I LOVE it. And I HATE it. But then again… I LOVE it!!!
When this camera was released back in 2012, I must admit, I fell for looks of it. That was my firs impression not knowing how it performs. Loved that rangefinder style, compact size and OVF/EVF combo. So… these were my thoughts before I even read some reviews or seen some image samples.
I’ve done my research and Zack, David and Bert (among many others) were convincing enough to decide to purchase one for myself.
Metal lens hood and a Lance strap
First of all, I bought mine at B&H photo (great service, very satisfied with them since I’m living in Bosnia – I’ve got a package just a four days after purchase).
After first ten minutes of looking at the camera and touching it, playing with OVF… (that was the thing I was eagerly awaited for the most – that OVF… but I’ll get there), I realized that lens hood that was provided with a lens I bought (35mm f1.4 Fujinon lens), even if it doesn’t look so bad on a lens has a terrible hood cap (with that kind of lens hood it was impossible to use a lens cap since shape of lens hood attached is square). That lens hood cap was falling off without any force engaged to it. It was falling off while carrying camera around, putting it in a bag, or if you succeeded to put it in a bag while cap still on a hood it will fall off for sure when you grab your camera out of the bag. Next day – I bought a metal lens hood with a cap on ebay for a few bucks.
I think, having a small lens hood on every lens will provide you some extra protection against accidental direct hit in a crowd or in narrow spaces.
Next thing I did was to order that great looking (and even better feeling) Lance strap.
OK… enough about fashion… lets talk about photography
I was blown away when I transferred those first test images on my computer. Most of them were low ISO, wide aperture JPGs. I will not post any kind of low ISO – high ISO comparisons – since there are dozens and dozens of samples over the internet. But… I was a long time DSLR shooter and sincerely was surprised by the quality. I knew that X trans sensor can produce high quality images and I expected a lot since it is an APS-C size senzor… but I didn’t expect that level. Dinamic range of RAW images I took later was even better. I don’t do a lot of PP on my images but it is good thing to know that most of your images will retain a high level of details in both blown or under exposed areas.
Great dynamic range and high level of details
And… lets HATE it a bit…
Initial firmware on my camera was 1.0.0 or 1.0.x as well as a firmware of a lens. I knew also that AF is an issue that many photographers pointed as drawback from buying a Fuji at all. O man… it was truly bad, shitty and disappointing experience. Camera couldn’t lock focus almost anywhere except in high contrast scenes. I shoot mostly with 1 centered AF point and recomposing. OK… initially… I realized that there is no way I will get that speed I had with a Canon. I tried with multiple AF points but I could’t find a pattern camera was using of how to choose AF point and I just ditched it. Luckily I get used to it very fast. Realized that I have to plan my shot more carefully and also to find more alternative angles or positions in case that AF starts with glass disco. Not long after I bought a camera, Fuji released a firmware update 3.0.0 (and latter 3.0.1) with many improvements concerning AF as well. Situation is much, much, much better now. AF is more precise, focus peaking is improved so you can finally help yourself with manual focus… etc. But still… AF is nowhere close to a MFT or a DSLR camera. But I must say… I never missed focus. I was in a situations when camera hunts a lot but when it locks it is precise.
situations like this are piece of cake for Fuji’s AF. A lot of contrasts.
And… that would be all of me hate this camera… or not…
That OVF/EVF combo thing was a true revelation for me. I’m using OVF 99% of time and the greatest feature is to be able to see image you made right after the shot in your viewfinder. I know most EVFs have this feature by default but as I said I’m using OVF most of the time. Why I like it so much? Being able to see beyond my image border line is great and helpful in anticipating your next shot. Since there is no mirror I can see what is going on during the exposure. It’s bright! Downside is that since you are not looking through the lens there is no way to know if your focus is accurate until you take a shot. But it is a learning curve, and it is easy to get used to it. Of course there are very helpful things like double AF point (if you are using single AF point) – one for closer focusing and another for further ones.When your object is somewhere not far away but also not close enough just aim in between those AF points (at least it works for me). Also there is frame line correction since there is parallax involved because your line of sight is different from lens. But there is one thing that is completely useless for me. It’s a focus area scale or zone focusing scale or DoF scale. They made it so narrow on every aperture you choose that it is impossible to rely on it. But I believe it will be possible to correct in next firmware.
OVF view. Double AF points. Lower one is for focusing at closer distances.
Of course, depending on which lens you are using, you can change frame lines inside your OVF as well as zoom in or out for more or less space on the sides. Using EVF on this camera is unpleasant for me. There are situations when it is needed (while focusing manually or in extreme low light when only thing you can see through OVF is pitch dark). Most of reviews are affirmative to Xpro’s EVF but I still didn’t find a way to like it. Sorry! Lag is present but not intrusive. Maybe if I bought XE1 instead of Xpro1 and maybe if I didn’t looked through OVF I would be satisfied with EVF but… I didn’t.
LCD on the back is beautiful. High resolution, clear and natural colors, sharp enough to see your result.
X Pro 1 has aperture ring on a lens (lenses) and it is very natural and there is no effort at all to get used to it – especially if you have experience with film cameras and older lenses. Exposure dial is on top of the body and you can use it without moving your eye from a viewfinder since you have information you need in it, but still you have to move your finger from a shutter button to change exposure value.
I like to shoot with flash (off camera flash) and I’m disappointed with the flash sync speed (1/160). I managed to get a 1/200 sync but since there is no such value on exposure dial I had to use EVF and change the value through quick menu. Compensation for slow sync speed are great lenses. Because of that, I can use different ND filters (both quality and some cheap ones) to get the desired effect maintaining relatively slow sync speed. (Even for the exposure value of 1/160 you have to cycle through quick menu because exposure dial is classic full stops dial. Thereis no exposure value between 1/125 and 1/250 on a dial. 1/160 is a sync speed according to Fuji’s manual but as I said I did manage to push it to 1/200. I tried also with 1/250 but at that point curtain was visible.)
35mmf1.4 I found it to be great for portraits. Hehehe… like I discovered something new… 🙂
In general, I enjoy using this camera. I have only one lens for it (35mm f1.4). It changed me a lot. During my DSLR period, I was taking a lot more pictures during an assignment and I was using wide angle a lot. I still do love wide angle shots so my next purchase will definitely be a 14mm lens. But now, I shoot lot less images during an assignment. I’m planing more carefully. I think more intensively and I’m stealthier then before . I’m not a wedding photographer by default by I do weddings from time to time (maybe once a year 🙂 ) and last time I did it, I was using this camera backed up with old and reliable Panasonic Lumix GF1 (several images can be found in my previous post). First of all, I noticed that people truly weren’t aware of me at all. I was just a guy with two small cameras going around – no big deal. Even the bride and the groom were suspicious of what kind of result they can expect. At the end, they were VERY satisfied. 🙂
full high res image. Open it and see the amoun of details X trans sensor can produce
Fuji X Pro 1 is packed with many more features… like… double exposure, panorama mode, film simulations, hd video, etc. I shoot mostly RAW, even, OOC jpegs are great, I like to punch my photos with contrast a bit in PP. I tried video mode once and… strange, but… I found that GF1 produces much better video then Xpro1 but it was just a marginal test so maybe I was wrong. I almost never shoot video so I truly don’t care about a quality of it.
Fujinon 35mm f1.4 lens is nice piece of glass (and some metal too). It is 53mm focal lenght in terms of full frame so you could say this is a normal fast prime. No distortions at all (at least I didn’t noticed any), so ideal lens for merging photos (panorama or Brenizer kind of stitching). Sharp lens! I’m not a pixel peeper so I don’t care a lot if my lens isn’t razor sharp at 1.4 or reasonably sharp at 2.0 or lacking sharpness on the edges bla, bla, bla…. It is SHARP lens(end of story)! Only criticism I could address to Fuji concerning this lens is why they didn’t make it similar to Olympus 12mm lens in terms of manual focusing. Both are focus by wire but Olympus made it stop at minimal focus distance as well at infinity. On Fujinon lens you can turning it endlessly in both direction. But it is not something that should discourage you from buying this lens.
I would like to try other Fujinon lenses on my camera but it seems to be that I’m the only one in Bosnia (and maybe wider) owning this camera (not to mention that there is no way you can buy it here in a camera store or to find a representative of Fuji). If I’m wrong, please let me know.
Vertical panorama made of 7 images
Who should buy this camera… Photographers of course! It has everything you need to make great photos – a body, lens mount, sensor and a shutter (ok… maybe you should consider buying an SD card or two… but that is all you need).
Feel free to ask anything you like… about Xpro1, why my photos are so incredible 😉 … anything.
P.S. I’ll post my view at Panasonic Lumix GF1 in few days. That is a camera that no photographer can stay indifferent to. Believe me.
I own this camera for almost a year, and honestly I can say that it is a piece of equipment that is at the same time admirable as well as frustrating. Will try to explain it in next post. It will not be a classic camera review. It will be a completely subjective view to a gear with image samples.
Since I sold out all of my DSLR equipment I was forced to choose what and how to shoot on a different way. One camera, one lens and a lot of patience.
I cheated a little bit… some images are made with Panasonic Lumix GF1 (those two composites) 🙂
Second set is a wedding. I don’t do weddings very often but I find it to be very challenging and creative if you are devoted and not obstructed by some crazy wishes of drunk uncles and not so pretty aunts. 🙂 Sanja and Srdjan let me do this on my own way but with some reasonable wishes and suggestions. If you are confused by the images from the rock – that is the place they met so I decided to make a series and included it in their album.
Ok… I sneaked a few made with GF1 again… couldn’t help myself (I simply love that camera) 🙂
Veso is a long time taekwondo fighter and trainer from Prijedor with remarkable results from whole over the world who recently got an information that he is selected for the Taekwondo Hall of Fame in Las Vegas (USA). Ceremony will take place in mid October this year and Veso asked me if I could help him with promotional campaign. So I did a few shots of him and gave him a proposal of billboards. Veso Arežina is first person ever from Bosnia and Herzegovina who got nominated and selected for Hall of Fame.
I’ve been off this blog for a long time and writing and posting again is injecting some strange energy. Main reason I was on stand by is that I became a father, so priorities in my life are drastically changed. Even though I didn’t post anything I was spending a lot of time thinking about this blog, what it became, what should be different, what it is…
I’m aware of fact that this blog is not much concerning a stuff you can read on it. A lot of photos so it could be called a photoblog too but I prefer just a blog, or web site, or sketch book… Also, I know that all those photos are scattered through posts and hard to find. In short – not presentable as a portfolio. So I decided to make it a blog/portfolio site. I’ll try to do it on fly so it is possible that sometimes these pages will be in weird condition but hopefully it will not last too long.
I started a new series of portraits calling it simple: “PAINTERS!!!” (don’t ask about exclamation marks – I just like it!).
In this series of portraits I will try to combine a portrait of a painter with a part of his/her work or with a whole opus. Initial thought was to combine a portrait with actual work (painting, drawing or a sculpture) but I ditched the idea as a plain and dull and not creative.
Here, you will see a lot of photo manipulation – things that I haven’t did before in my work, at all. All the photographs combined in one portrait will be taken by me and complete visualization of a portrait will be produced by myself. Portraits you will see in this series are my own vision of someones work. For the artists with online portfolios I will not write much. Hopefully, I will publish one portrait per week (I think it is a reasonable goal since I’m still learning to act as and to be a parent 🙂 ).
First in a row is Dragan Indjic. As an inspiration, I used his grotesque portraits and tried to implement it without any changes on combined images except blending them together (3 photos).
This one is also a one light setup and I think it’s self-explanatory. Cca 45 degrees angle.
Feeds on my humble social networking presence are overwhelmed with new Fuji gear, orgasmic reviews and pixel peeping comparisons. And… I like to read them all. To be honest… some of them for several times. And yes… I’m an XPro1 user… there is a new XPro2… and I need one more camera body… aaaaand it would be great to get my hands on it… aaaaaaaaand no… my incomes are just no match to it…. Too bad, since I believe we would be a great match.
Ok… enough with story without any point. Long story short… XPro1 is still a great piece of gear. Since I’m in a process of thinking about additional camera body – it would be great to have a new XPro2 as a main camera but hey… I would be pretty much satisfied with another XPro1 body too. Good ergonomics, decent AF speed (no missing shots in 99%), decent high ISO output (at my standards, even ISO6400 is usable in some situations), good weight-shoulder ratio, 16MP sensor can give a print output of 70x55cm easily… do anyone need more?
IGRMTL 