Long live XPro1… welcome XPro2

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!!!

City portrait #25 – Srđan Vasić

I don’t know much about Srđan and I met him just a few days ago for the first time. But, there is an interesting story about Srđan and me. While I was working out of my hometown I was traveling by a car. Almost every day I was passing him running next to the main road that is entering the city. And so on… I was thinking for my self… what a fool this guy is (probably some of the international stabilization forces soldier) ’cause he is running through city center and he has all this beautiful nature around the town. Just a few days ago I found out that he is no foreigner and every time I met him in urban part, he was running from the mountain back to his home. And then I also found out that he is a free climber, that traveling by a bicycle for several hundreds of kilometers is no problem for him. And then… I realized… what a fool am I.
Don’t let the prejudice to guide you in your conclusions.

City portrait #24 – Nikola Bogdanović

Nikola is a young graphic designer from Prijedor, BiH, who caught my attention few years ago with his set of lamps that he made out of trash and industry remnants. His work is extraordinary and very creative so I decided to by some of it.
Concerning this portrait, I had a big dilemma how to show his inspiration by light. So… we tried several times but I was not satisfied with the result and finally, yesterday it just hit me and we did it in a few minutes.
Here is the result:

And one of our earlier attempts:

Friday night in PD

Exhibition opened. It was rainy Friday night. If you have  chance, come and visit it until 25th of August in Prijedor city Gallery 96. Thank you all who came!!!

Special thanks to: Dejan Dejanović, Dino Mrkalj, Radenko Marin and Tiho Ilijašević

All photos below by Dragana Motl.

Exhibition tonight at 8:30pm

Everything is set to go so I’m using this opportunity to call all of you who are somewhere near to come tonight to Prijedor city Gallery 96. Opening is set for 8:30 pm and exhibition will last until 25th of August.

Final City Portrait

This is my first group portrait in City Portraits series and in the same time last one in the same series. On the picture is DUU MANIFEST.

Once again, exhibition will take place in Prijedor city Gallery 96 on 30th of July 2010 and will last for a month. So, wherever you are, I believe you will find time to come to see it.

If you are interested in technical stuff about the photo, here it is:

This is not composite photo. It is one exposure of 61 sec. where I was running around all these people, lighting them with two small strobes from my hand (why two strobes? – I used them alternately because of the charging time).   F stop was 8 because I find it ideal for the power of my strobes but also good enough for some decent depth of field.

City portraits Exhibition

I’m proud to announce an exhibition of my series of City portraits that will take place on 30th of July in Prijedor city Gallery 96. Opening ceremony is planed for 20:30 h, so I’m inviting all of you (no matter if you are near or far away) to come. I would like to thank DUU”Manifest” (Association of urban artists) who helped me to organize it.

I’ll give you more information about all details in next few days. Day after the opening, I’ll present a simple workshop on basic photographic technique that is free to attend (basic photographing technique, composition, light, etc.)

S ponosom želim da objavim moju narednu izložbu serije “City portraits” koja će biti otvorena od 30. jula u gradu Prijedoru u Gallery 96. Izložba će biti otvorena mjesec dana a dan nakon otvaranja održaću radionicu na temu osnovnih tehnika fotografisanja, kompozicije, svjetla… Ulaz je slobodan i svi zainteresovani su dobrodošli.

DUU”Manifest” je zaslužan za organizaciju ove izložbe i ovim putem im se zahvaljujem.

Više detalja slijedi u narednim danima.

City portrait #20 – Jelena Maksimović

I know Jelena for more then 15 years and ever since, she was ambitious and successful as she is today. She has a degree in Communications and mass media and works in city municipality as independent consultant for culture. She has been volunteering for long period of time and for several non governmental associations. While she was involved with “Sanus” organization (environmental protection association), she started a project for getting professional equipment for demo studio so young musicians from Prijedor region could record there.
So, therefore a portrait inside that same studio.

This is a two light setup. One light on camera right with small softbox and other bare light behind model. Studio is quite small so I had to be careful about unwanted reflections from musical instruments and bright ceiling. I like the texture that sound dumpers created. Good thing in such small room is that no ambient light is involved and you don’t have to worry about balancing it with your strobes. All control comes from amount of light from your strobes and your aperture value. Here… strobes are on half power, f7.1 and with shutter speed of 1/200. Because I didn’t have enough space to clean up the room, some of the instruments were covered with black canvas and those with most reflective surfaces were positioned behind me.

Fisherman

Here are few from todays shooting. Great place that fish pond Saničani.

City portrait #18 – Dalibor Popović Mikša (take two)

Again, I tried to do a portrait with Mikša. And again, I let my mind wondering, and as a result, it evolved my original idea to this. I love that process!!!
Original idea was to show Mikša as an all around artist – musician, painter, song writer, wanderer… Then, he showed me his 2D/3D installation of railroad electrification wires. It gave me an idea to do something similar with photography.

City portrait #17 – Rade Vranješ

Rade Vranješ – street book salesman. Also, great photographer (retired temporarily), studied in Zagreb (Croatia) – agriculture, but never finished it because of war in ex SFRJ (Yugoslavia). He is selling books on streets of Prijedor for several years. That is his life.

I can not decide which one is better to me so I’m posting both of them. What do you think?
On first picture I used one Vivitar285HV strobe set to 1/2 power, 1/125 sec., f8. Second one is taken with two Vivitar strobes. First one on 1/2 power and other one that lights books set on 1/16 power, 1/250 sec., f8.

City portrait #16 – Mirjana Maksimović

Mirjana Maksimović is a professor of biology and ecologist. She is a founder of “Sanus” a non governmental organization based on environmental education and environmental protection.
One of the programs that Sanus is covering is also a prevention in water pollution.
So… I thought… there will be my starting point in making this portrait. I pictured it in my head very clearly and I was pretty satisfied. When we went on a location I realized that things are not going as well as I imagine it. Idea was to take a picture of Mrs. Mirjana holding a glass of water through which will be visible a chimney of old brick factory – symbolizing water pollution by heavy industry. But… it is hard to get that through glass reflection. So… here is the result.

I tried with another approach and try a different one with Mrs. Mirjana holding a glass and trying to save it clean.