She Knows
October seems to have totally passed me by this year, with hardly anything to really showcase at all which is very disappointing. After the trials and tribulations of September, October has been a bit of a flat month photo wise, with inspiration eluding me as November rears its cold, dark head once again.
Black Headed Gull
Camera - 5DMK III
Lens - Sigma 150-600mm f5-6.3 Contemporary DG OS HSM
I have been in several minds as to what direction to take next with my photography, with several different options pulling in very different directions, leading me to a bit of a quandry. The success of the FujiFilm X100V and its film like simulations has changed the game for me and moved me away from the actual film process. The slow realisation that sustaining medium format film cameras month in and month out is crazy expensive to do (£60 for 5 rolls of film, 10 photos in each roll). That’s before the cost and time associated with processing the film too by the way! Now i’m far from snap happy, and working with film has really helped me slow down and think about my composition more, but the kind of restraint needed in taking photos on film can start to wear on you after a while.
On top of this, the wildlife aspect of my photography is at a bit of a crossroads too. Getting the Sigma 150-600mm lens has had its challenges, but it has made me realise that in the UK especially you really do need the extra F stop that higher end lenses give you like an F/2.8 or F/4 to get the most from a longer lens. The issue with this is of course the cost and size of these lenses. I can’t tell you how long I have spent looking at 400mm,500mm and 600mm lenses online with no real decision on how or what lens I would go for that would most suit my needs. Going for one of these lenses would also mean the sale of the Canon 400mm F/5.6 and the Sigma 150-600mm plus some of my film equipment like the Pentax 6X7 along with it, so it’s a big decision regardless.
Post Box
Camera - FujiFilm X100V
The other option I have is to upgrade a body or two, with the relatively new canon R6 a forerunner, as I continue the handover from DSLR to mirrorless. Or do I keep investing in Fujifilm and swap a canon body for the mirrorless FujiFilm X-T3 plus some lenses.? Again all this costs money so more gear would need to go in order to facilitate these upgrades.
River view
Camera - FujiFilm X100V
I tried my hand at a bit of roller skating, with a trip to ‘bump’, a roller disco place in Bristol at the start of October. Of course I thought taking the X100V was a bright idea, so nervously I bought it along with me and attempted to both stake and take photos at the same time. Impressively I achieved both, with no falls and a couple of nice images to take away with me. It was however (as expected) quite difficult to do both but it was fun trying all the same.
‘BUMP’ Skating
Camera - FujiFilm X100V
‘BUMP’ Skates
Camera - FujiFilm X100V
Moving on from the escapades of my skating experience, a visit to see Bilbo the labradoodle was a slight change of pace for me ( I was on more solid ground for a start). He is growing at a rate of knots, so it was nice to photograph him a little older and more playful this time, even if he didn’t stay still for more than 30 seconds.
Bilbo
Camera - FujiFilm X100V
Bilbo portrait
Camera - FujiFilm X100V
Bilbo Hiding
Camera - FujiFilm X100V
Another change of pace was the attempt to do some macro style photography with the X100V on one autumn walk. I was confronted with a log, packed full of tiny little fungus and only my X100V on me to try and get a nice image with. Ultimately this camera renders the colours in the image really well, but falls down on sharpness at such a close distance which is a real shame.
Forest mushrooms
Camera - X100V
Forest mushrooms
Camera - X100V
‘BLM’ Carved into a tree
Camera - X100V
Rounding out the month of October with some impromptu halloween pumpkin carvings taken with the X100V and its inbuilt flash. I am utterly useless when it comes to using this on camera flash, so getting anything at all is an unbelievable achievement for me.
Pumpkin Carving
Camera - FujiFilm X100V (with flash)
Pumpkin Carving
Camera - FujiFilm X100V (with flash)
Hopefully November will be a lot more fruitful photography wise, as this month has been a bit of a damp squib in that regards. Luckily a planned trip to RSPB Newport is hopefully on the cards (weather permitting) in November, so hopefully a lot more images to showcase than this month. Oh well, onwards and upwards.
FIN
