Editorial - Ilya S. /  by Tom Henderix

Location scouting with old friend and former classmate Ilya S.

The location turned out even better than expected, and the pictures are a nice bonus. Will definitely be returning to this place soon.

All shot on the Fuji X-T1, 56 1.2 APD and 16 1.4

 

Tough choices /  by Tom Henderix

Colour or monochrome? I really can't decide.

Taken in Warsaw just before sunrise, Fuji X-T1 and 56 1.2 APD.

Shadows and light /  by Tom Henderix

Opening night for the local cultural event season. Pitch black, near moonless night and no light apart from some candles and a few spots on the performers.

Fujifilm X-T1, 56 1.2 APD, all handheld, tripod was not an option.

Cap Gris Nez /  by Tom Henderix

Sweeping landscapes, rocky coast, moody weather, almost no people... What's not to like? Can't believe I lived at the coast for years and never came here before... Definitely a new favourite spot near home.

Portraits of myself thanks to my lovely wife. Obvious to see why I'm better behind the camera... All shot on the Fujifilm X100T, but cropped to 16:9.

First rolls of 35mm /  by Tom Henderix

So, an update on shooting film. These are shot on an old Nikon FM2n I found at a flee market. I picked up a few rolls of 35mm the same day and just started shooting. To say it's a different experience than digital, is putting it mildly... Last two images are digital, shot with the Fujifilm X100T. The difference in sharpness and lack of noise in digital files is enormous, but film has a certain look and joy of use that is hard to resist. Still, I'm not a fan of the Ilford HP5... I'm trying different black & white films to find something more to my taste. So far I prefer Kodak Tri-X. The Portra is not bad, I like the colours mostly, I'll try pulling some back to ISO200 next time to see what it does to the grain...

Forcing yourself to only take one shot does make it painfully clear afterwards how you need to improve as a photographer... But it's good exercise and can only make you better at observing and framing, so I'll stick to it. Zone focussing was not bad for a first occasion, but then again shooting at f8 and f11 a lot tends to be in focus anyway... I definitely need to shoot more people and try to capture more emotion. Shooting portraits feels very natural to me, but on the street I'm still too shy to really get close enough...

Location for these shots was Budapest, some in flight around Europe and at the orchid was taken at home.

Shot on a Nikon FM2n & Fujifilm X100T
Film used was Kodak Portra 400 and Ilford HP5 400
Developed and scanned by Carmencita Film Lab

An evening over Barcelona /  by Tom Henderix

Trying to catch the sunset, but sadly no luck. Sun was behind us and already moving behind the clouds. But still, nice reflections on the cloud layers, so it wasn't all bad...

Fujifilm X100T, 23mm. Velvia.