Photo walks for me are a must. If I don’t press the shutter in a couple of days, I start having withdrawal symptoms, and to be honest, pressing the shutter on the Fuji XE1 is to much fun. I got a black soft button which fits like a glove from an Ebay vendor and I can wholeheartedly recommend you add one to your Fuji X cameras, its such a better tactile feeling. Here are a few from yesterday afternoon while walking in the Gables.
VSCO 04 is revolutionizing my workflow, not only because of the great presets, but also the wonderful accompanying tool kits that are included. For this candid, I used Agfa Scala 200 Contrast ++ as a starting point. The good folks at VSCO recommend adjusting the exposure and the white balance and then apply the preset of choice ― sage advice and one I always follow. So from the Agfa Scala 200 Contrast ++ preset, I then played with a few sliders in the Black & White Mix block, added a slight curve, increased my black point with the tool kit and added a little grain. Processing time, 30 seconds, saving the new forked preset 4 seconds, uploading a post from Lightroom directly to the Blog via the LR/Blog plugin 15 seconds, coming to a look I find pleasing for street photography in less than a minute ― priceless. Thanks VSCO! Update: This image got Flickr Explored !!
Framing with a viewfinder that gives you a direct look at the sensor is truly a gift of modern times. I had my first experience with these cameras back when I shot Micro Four Thirds a couple of years ago. I then transitioned to various dslrs kit for their image quality ranging from Canon to Nikon and most recently with Pentax. All great systems without a doubt and they helped create my vision in their respective times but I always had a soft spot to composing my images and knowing exactly what they would look like through the viewfinder. Its such a liberating feeling ― seeing, adjusting, and capturing. The Fuji XE1 married to the HG-XE1 grip has managed to capture my imagination once again and rekindled those feelings I had a few years ago. I decided to start my Fuji lens kit with the amazing Fujinon XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS for its wonderful versatility providing me with a field of view of 28-85 mm (full format equivalent), its sharp as a razor …
Two months have gone by since I received my GR (pictured above) and a few thoughts come to mind. I’ll talk about the pros and cons of this wonderful small package. Let’s start of with the good and in no particular order just as they come mind. Folks, the sharpness of this lens is truly outstanding. I’m not an optical engineer and don’t know for sure but I would guess that lack of AA filter has something to do with end results. This puppy cranks out some amazing images. In the end, I think Ricoh did the right thing in debuting with the GR with out the AA filter. The way the GR handles is another point worth mentioning right of the bat. Its slightly bigger than the previous models and just the right size, you really have to hold it to know but trust me when you hold it you’ll probably feel the same way I did ― amazingly surprised. I wished Ricoh would have included a more heavy duty wrist strap and a …
A hug is a handshake from the heart ― Unknown
There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered ― Nelson Mandela Isn’t that something huh, often times we photograph the same places, the same faces, and although those themes may be unchanged or appear not to have changed, only then do we realize that our vision has changed over time. Its an evolution folks, so take it slow, breath, slow down that shutter and enjoy those frames for what they are ― glimpses of our past. With that said, I’ll be going on a brief sabbatical. I’ll catch up with the various comments that have been left already and continue to curate the site behind the scenes (the power of mobile). I’m going into the “darkroom” and coming out a new man. Exciting times indeed I tell you. See you in a couple of weeks. Upon my return I’ll publish my “Final impressions of the Ricoh GR” so stay tuned. All photographs by Jorge Ledesma ― Pentax K5 IIs & 100mm 2.8 …
When it comes to street (casual) photography one thing is often over looked ― what bag do you have and use? There are a multitude of bags which I suppose are small and fit just about any cameras but I’m not here to talk about the normal bags, I’m here to talk about the “best street photography bag” in my humble opinion. I’ve tried quite a few bags, too many to name, but let me tell that the Thinktank Photo Retrospective 5 has stolen my heart and the hearts of my two primary photographic tools ― the Ricoh GR and the Pentax K5 IIs. Its like this: you know how you fall in love with a certain comforter and that’s what you like to sleep in all time. Well, its like that for the GR/K5IIs and the Retrospective 5. I can’t think of any other bag that has all the features that one needs to have while on the field photographing. I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t want to trust my photography gear …
I recently discovered the work of the great Yousef Karsh and this particular quote immediately struck my attention. Compromise sometimes must be the stuff of which pictures are made Wise words indeed. When you think about it further this is so true. If not the focal length you have, its the iso performance of your camera, if not, then the way it handles, and so forth. Luckily, with the K5 IIS very few compromises come to mind. The set below was processed with a few forked versions of the presets from Really Nice Images which I highly recommend. Check this post for a 20% savings coupon. Cheers. All photographs by Jorge Ledesma ― Pentax K5 IIs ― Pentax SMC-FA 31mm f/1.8 AL Limited ― click to view as a gallery
Ledesma Photography 