Hmmmmm, Yup, I think I will :-)

Happy 2017 everyone!   I know everyone is hoping for it to be a better year then 2016.

2017 got off to a very rough start for Jen, myself and Jackson.   Jen and I both came down with full blown influenza.   Jen was down and out for 3 weeks and I was knocked on my ass for a week.   Recovery after that seems to be about another week.   Here we are the end of January and we're just now starting to feel human again.   It was so bad that we didn't even get the xmas tree taken down until mid-Jan.    Considering it was a live tree it had to go haha

X-T1 35mm - Our big boy Jackson

The other big issue I've been dealing with is our big and oldest dog, Jackson.   Suddenly he seems to have a case of anxiety that is very hard to deal with at night.   After several days of no sleep (us that is from his pacing and barking), we got him into the vet and confirmed that his arthritis in his front shoulders is pretty bad but we also found his ears were red and he had a swollen toe.  Looks like the nail was partially separated from the toe.   Given that we are always with him we're not sure how that happened.  Anyhow, a mitt full of drugs and he's on the mend.  Unfortunately the anxiety still seems to be a problem.   He will not sleep in the room that he has always slept in and will pace and bark throughout the night.  He wants to be with me but won't come where I am.   For the past week I've been spending most of the night on the coach in the living-room where he will eventually settle down.   Still playing with the drugs but hopefully he's on the mend and the anxiety is only related to the pain.

X-T1 35mm - Homemade thundershirt to help with the anxiety.  My Dr Who shirt :-)

While being sick I had lots of time to research, cause I sure felt way to sick to go out shooting.   Up until Christmas, I had convinced myself that I would not get the Fuji X100F but instead get the XF-23mm F2.0 and pair that up with my X-T1.   600 bucks vs 1950.   And I like the feel of the mini-dslr X-T1 in my hands vs the range finder style of the X100 series.   Seems to make logical sense, just buy the lens and then I have the same focal range and great quality.

X-T1 35mm - Classic Chrome - Fina (a guest for a week) and our little dog Wookiee playing.

If only it were that simple.   What was my gateway drug into the Fuji world?  X100.  Which camera do I typically have with me when I travel?  X100.  Do I like changing lenses all the time?   Nope.   Do I like dust on my sensor?  Nope.  Looking at my pictures, can I tell which was the X-T1 and which was the X100S?  Nope (unless it's an obvious zoom).

X100S - Looking out my radio room window on a chilly morning.

But on the flip side, I'm going to Bermuda this coming June to watch the America's Cup sailing, I really need that 100-400mm Fuji lens for that trip - IT'S A MUST!  Can't take pictures of sailboats with a 23mm can I?  But lets be realistic, it's a 2 week trip how much will I use a $2200.00 lens after that?  The whole reason I went Fuji was for a small and light package.   Do I really want to watch the racing through the lens of a camera?   Fair enough, I can talk myself out of the 100-400mm.

X100S Macro Mode - Waiting for the dogs to do their business and decided to play with the macro setting, something I have rarely touched.

So we're still talking a $1200 difference between the 23mm and the X100F.   What does the 100F have that my X-T1 or X100S doesn't?   Well now that was interesting to learn when the specs came out.   When the camera was announced, at first glance, it looked like a minor upgrade.   But when you dig you discover that it now has the same processor and same sensor as the X-PRO2 and the same AF system.  Holy cow, that is huge.   An X100 with fast AF, 24mp and costs 200.00 less then the body pf the X-Pro2?   Ok, hang on here, lets think this through.   Normally I only buy every 2nd generation of camera.   The X100F is 2 generations after my X100S so if I were looking to upgrade just the X100S it would make sense.  But my X-T1 is only 1 generation behind the chips and sensors in the X100F.   So what else does the F have that the T1 doesn't?   Well, the big things are the 24mp, the faster AF, the very small size factor but it does have one thing that the T1 will probably never get, ACROS film simulation.......oh my.    I am a huge fan of Acros and my focus for 2017 was to do more street work and more black and white.    For street, I would be using the X100 with the 23mm lens and small invisible form factor.   But street also calls for black and white, and if you can have acros as well..... enough said.

X100S - Black and White Yellow Filter, Acros film from Silver Efex Pro

I made the mistake of walking into Henry's camera the other night and they reminded me that I can pre-order with no obligation.    The camera comes in, they call me, I come and look and either walk away or buy it.   Naturally I pre-ordered, what do I have to lose?   My plan is to go in with my X-T1 and mount the 23mm and then put the X100F in my hands, compare the two and make the decision.   My heart is on the X100F just from how much I use the X100S and it will be a substantial upgrade over my S version but less so over the X-T1.  But the X100 series has always had a special place in my heart, it is such an amazing little camera series.

X100S - Black and White Yellow Filter, Acros film from Silver Efex Pro

I hear you ask, well what about the X-Pro2 and the 23mm - then you have weather resistance and everything you mentioned above AND interchangeable lenses.   I thought about this.  It's another 700 bucks more then the X100F and to be honest I seem to like having a fixed lens and being made to think about the picture I'm taking.   I put the X-Pro2 in my hands the other night and yes, it is very very nice and I can see maybe replacing my X-T1 way down the road with a Pro3 when the day comes but for now, I handed it back :-)

X-T1 35mm Classic Chrome - Wookiee and Fina having a rest

They say the X100F should arrive in stores around mid-Feb, so a few more weeks to wait and a few more weeks to change my mind and research the hell out of it.   HAHA.  I can be so fickle about these things.   But I have to admit, I am kinda excited to try out a new X100 with all the things my X100S was missing.

X100S - they were calling for light snow flurries today - LOL

Playing with the Pets

Argh, forgot how much I hate winter.  Not a good time to become of street shooter -lol.   Not that I have had any time to get out.   So continuing to play at home with the X100s and the X-T1 with the rarely used 35mm.   I definitely prefer the 23mm (a 35mm in the full frame world) focal length over the 35mm (effectively a 50mm)  Trying to decide if I would want to upgrade to an X100F when it comes out or just pick up the 23mm F2 lens for the X-T1?   I prefer the feel of the X-T1 and the much quicker focus, but I love the smallness and stealthiness of the X100 series.   I'll wait for the F to come out and check the stats but for now I'm leaning towards that 23mm F2.0 on the X-T1.

A few from around the house a mixture of the X100S and the X-T1 w/35mm;

Kitten wondering if chewing on xmas lights might be a good idea or not.   NOT!

Onyx is our rarely seen cat who I managed to catch in the morning sun.

Wookie sporting her sweater on a cold Dec day.

Had to take this in colour to showcase her eyes and the brick.

A friend of ours came over with her new puppy (about 3 months old) and she is such a cutie!  She loves the snow.

Another of fluffy.

Fina, the puppy, enjoying the cat toy - lol

But I seriously need to get into downtown Ottawa and try my hand at the streets.   Or maybe I'll just become a pet photographer :-)

Time for Changes?

I can tell it must be getting close to winter,  suddenly I find myself with time on my hands and it seems I get myself into trouble when that happens :-) cause I start thinking too much.

My first thought is what to do about my camera equipment.   I love my Fuji's but I'm questioning if I need to keep my X-T1 and it's lenses.   Recently I went to the UK and only took my X100S and did great with it - and I did the same a few years back in Bermuda.   I walked for hours with it in the little Peak Design Field Pouch Bag with the slide sling and never felt it on my shoulder.  Pulled out the X100S when a picture grabbed my attention.  If I wanted to zoom, I walked closer and when I wanted wider I would walk backwards or use Pano mode.   When I use a fixed lens I find myself working on composition and bending and stretching to get that interesting angle instead of zooming in and out.   Thanks to the EVF I never need to "check the screen" to see if I got the shot.  I put the camera up, take the picture and keep walking.  

The other advantage, it is rare that people flinch out of a photo when I put the X100S up to take a picture.  They see a point and shoot and never bat an eyelash where if your carrying anything that looks like an SLR or a zoom, panic!

That said, I love the feel of the X-T1 in my hands when compared to the X100s.   I prefer the SLR feel to the rangefinder.  My switching to Fuji was because of hauling my big Nikon gear around Bermuda and being covered in sweat .  The Fuji gear is so much lighter and smaller.   But now I find myself thinking that maybe I should go even smaller and just focus on the X100 series.

Some of this stems from my researching the Fuji 50-400mm lens.   Next June I'm going back to Bermuda to see the America's Cup.  (a sailboat race for those who don't know) and during this past trip to Bermuda I had the opportunity to take a few pictures of the boats and quickly realized that I would need a bigger lens to really capture these boats when they are racing.  

That 400mm here in Canada is around $2300 + tax.   Holy shit that is a lot of money.   I got thinking about it and is it worth spending that kind of money for a single 2 week trip?  My mind tries to justify it "well you want to move into street work, just image the candid shots you can get from far away with a 400mm lens."   No no no, that is the wrong thinking for street work.   Small and close should be used for street, don't be a stalker be bold and get close.  I know by Fuji standards that 400mm is much smaller then a Nikon/Canon 400mm but do I really want a big heavy lens?   And the same goes for the 50-140mm, oh my I would love to have that lens.  Again, around 2k as a final price - ouch.   If I were to focus on the X100 with no zooms, my trip to America's Cup will have no racing photos, instead I would focus on the docked boats and the people - is that really a bad thing when everyone else will be focused on the boats and racing?  Stepping out of the normal...hmmm....is that really a bad thing.  This should probably be my new thinking.

Fuji rumours has the new X100F being announced in Jan 2017.  I'm sure the price range will be getting close to that 2k level but that is a full camera with an outstanding fixed lens vice the same money for a single lens that will only be used for the odd thing.   I suspect that the upgrade from my older S model will be worth the upgrade.  The X100T wasn't quite enough to upgrade but this will be 2 generations of upgrades.   Get an X100F and use the X100S as a backup?

Second thought, time to focus completely primarily on Black and White?  I have always had a love of black and white but have only dabbled in it since digital.   I have always gravitate to the big landscapes with big vivid colours.  Fuji colours just make this so easy to move towards.  My comfort zone that I am known for.

But what do I find myself looking at online?   Yup, black and white.  Street work, real life, gritty stuff.  Rarely do you see a good landscape guy who does black and white (they exist and they do great work but it's rare when compared to colour).  And no, I'm not a fan of Ansel Adams.   I love the work done by guys like  Donald McCullin and other artists who don't worry about what gear they are carrying.  Many carry small fixed lens rangefinders.  The images are raw and capture the feeling.  They don't worry about pixels, noise or sharpness.

Which leads to the third thought, how do I stop gravitating to landscape work?   I go to Bermuda at least once a year, I dare any one to try and ignore the amazing scenery and colour down there.  How do I stop doing that?   But looking at this years picture, any that were landscapes I can go back and find the exact same shot at least 3 times in my library.   I'm just repeating myself over and over.  Yes the newer versions are usually visually nicer (in colour, contrast, pixels, etc) due to technology and my own increased editing ability.  But nothing new or original.  I took this shot in Bath, on the fly and it's one of my favorites of the trip.  I want more of this in my library.

This was a nice little catch in London.

From a few years ago in Bermuda.

To recap;

Thought 1.  Should I sell my X-T1 and lenses (or keep them status quo and on the shelf) and become a fulltime X100 man?

Thought 2.  Time to really focus on black and white?  Switch the camera to black and white but save the raw's for those few pictures that look better in colour (and yes, those will exist).

Thought 3.  Get out of the landscape comfort zone and get onto the streets of Ottawa and do street work which I love to look at so much.

Right now my thoughts for 2017 is to switch my X100S to black+white and raw.  Either sell the X-T1 or put it in a drawer for when it's really needed.  Bundle up for winter and get out on the streets of Ottawa and start shooting.  After 10 years of colour digital landscapes it's time to go back to my passions of black and white and learn to shoot what I love to see and stop going deep into my comfort zone of landscapes.   Wish me luck :-)

Last Long Weekend of Summer 2016

The past summer we have had several great weekends as very good friends of ours have invited us out onto their boat located in the 1000 Islands.  The past few days we had another excellent final trip for the year.   Can't thank them both enough for such a great time on their 2nd home this summer.  A few shots from this past weekend.

We got very lucky and found a mooring ball to hook onto and the decision was made very quickly to stay the night.

The 1000 Islands are a lovely spot with many hidden coves and passages.

I managed to catch a candid shot of our gracious hosts while we treated them to supper for a change.

Sunset through a lantern.

The golden hour approaches.

Next morning as the sun kinda came up.

Sunrise was a bit of a fizzle but still got a bit of a golden sky. 

Couple of neighbouring boats.  Very peaceful spot.

As the fog rolls across the water as it burns off in the morning sunshine.

Back in Bermuda, the black and white edition

Yes, I just left here 6 weeks ago  ;-) but was asked if I would house sit for a few days and I jumped at the chance as this time of year I can get Jen and Erin down to the island with me.  Given it's just a quick 10 day trip and I'm playing tour guide vice hardcore photographe I decided to do something different.  Set the Fuji X100s and X-T1 to black and white and that is where they are staying.  If I can resist colour in this amazing place I can do it anywhere.   I also have raw turned on so there are colour versions available to me to look at during a later date if I so choose.  

The other part is I'm doing all of this with an IPad mini.   Left the laptop at home.  I have the mobile version of lightroom and what a pain trying to figure out how to move files around but discovered that if I share to G+ then I can snag them from google for the blog.   Only 2 days left in the trip and we lost 3 days to rain but got a few pictures I like.   Some of these are a bit out of my comfort zone but have to say I'm enjoying living in monochrome.

As I said, crappy weather when we arrived but made for nice moody skies.

Inside the cave at Tom Moore's jungle.   It was a hot humid day and a Bermuda holiday (Cup Match) so locals were taking a swim in the cool waters.

I love this floor.

Jen "Monroe" at the Frog and Onion

Caught Erin posing for her mother but have me a great angle to sneak a shot in.

Did I mention I like this floor?

The clocktower at the Royal Naval Dockyard and the "Spirit of Bermuda" a beautiful Bermuda sloop.

One of the feeders at the Bermuda aquarium, I like this shot.  It's a harp seal.

A lemur hiding in the trees.

An otter came out to say hi.

Not something you see everyday.  A dog on the back, a kid on the front.  Both having a great time.

Hamilton was pretty quiet during cup match.

He was checking out my beer.

Not sure what these berries are but the bird like them.