A day out with Dan Acharya and Chris Faulder, testing Fuji glass and infrared round Cambridge.
We were there just to have a look around Cambridge, which I've been to three times before and somehow managed to go to bits of it I've never been to. Which was nice. But more importantly, we were there to test out some more Fuji SOOC (sock) photography, but this was with the main reason which was to test out the Tamron 17-70mm lens. I've used this on my Sony A6700 and it's an excellent lens. It's very sharp, it's f/2.8 so fast, and because of the focal length range, super for street photography.
Cambridge Fuji Day Out Gallery 1
You can easily get a wide street scene, as the 17mm is equivalent to around 25.5mm if you were using a full frame, and the 70 is 105mm, those incidental casual shots of people. For me the AF responds quickly and smoothly, and it's fairly accurate, although anyone who's used a Fuji will be totally perplexed by how complicated it is, the way you need to set up your autofocus for moving subjects, for still subjects, for zone type of thing, just mind-blowingly complicated. But once you have it set up, it's a piece of cake.
Also, I have a lovely Sigma 56mm f/1.4, which is superb. Very, very fast, very sharp, good autofocus. And finally a Laowa 9mm manual focus Zero-D lens. I love this lens. It's small. It's light, fast, although I tend to use it at f/5.6, f/8, and distortion's kept down to a minimum.
Why do I have these three lenses for my Fuji set up? Well, cost is one reason. Sharpness and AF speed (accuracy) is another. Flexible focal range and size matters too, since I'm carrying this stuff around all day. And you need to select lenses that actually work with infrared cameras, so you don't end up with that annoying white blob (hotspotting).
Cambridge Fuji Day Out Filmstrip One
One of the advantages of the Fuji is those film simulation profiles — although I have a total disdain for the term "recipe" that's crept in around these, because we're not making cakes, it's a picture or image profile, and it's simulated to look like film. On the X-T3 I used the Classic Chrome one, which is quite nice, although I feel it does desaturate images a little bit too much and it can be a bit muted, so I'd want to kind of improve that look. The X-T2 IR I have as Velvia, with Highlight at +2 and Colour at +4.
Cambridge Fuji Day Out Gallery 2
It was a lovely warm day. We met down at Trumpington Park and Ride and got the bus into town, dropping us at Downing Street, not London, just shares the name. We then walked through the park, wasting the best part of an hour, as every time I use the X-T3 I'm totally baffled as to what buttons I've set up and how it works, I hadn't put a battery in it for ages so all the settings had gone. This is done very subtly and nobody ever notices, and Dan and Chris were perfectly happy to remain calm and patient whilst I have a little meltdown. Amazingly, it's all set up back properly and worked brilliantly and I don't know what the hell I was doing wrong.
Then we started to do some tests, I swapped over the lens so Dan could play with it and he seemed to quite like it, he agreed the Tamron 17-70mm f/2.8 is an excellent lens. We spent quite a lot of time tracking the many cyclists, some of those loons on the electric bikes whizzing about. Anyone who knows me knows I can't resist to chat with the general public and grab a few portraits or interactions with them as it was good. This time I was very well-behaved. I don't think I approached too many people, but I did do some candids. I was very patient and waited, relatively silently, for my victim (sorry, subject) to appear exactly where I needed them to, whilst waiting for other actors to form the framing as they walked through the scene.
I think I was able to remain quieter, and due to somebody giving me a cold or a virus a few weeks ago and that resulting in blocking up my ears, I was slightly deaf, feeling like I was underwater, so having conversations was difficult. If anyone was quietly spoken or mumbled, I'd no chance, especially if I couldn't lip read.
The whole thing was a fairly good day, we quite enjoyed ourselves. In spite of all the wonderful offerings in the market, where I have to say I do quite like this trend for street food, because everybody brings all their different flavours and spices and stuff and, yeah, it's pretty tasty. They like to give you free samples just to test it out, like, this does work, cause sometimes I do actually buy some from them. But on this occasion, only Dan had some chips, but Chris and I were still full up from the massive breakfast we had at the lovely Coasters Café in Knebworth. It opens at seven on a Saturday, triffic.
I've put up a selection of images. These are definitely SOOC, and usually I would want to edit them because, you know, you've got a vision and you see in a certain way. With the infrared, these are not how I would edit them, these are just straight out of camera, just really as a guide, just to see what they're like.
Cambridge Fuji Day Out Filmstrip Two
Cambridge is very nice to walk about and there are quite a lot of alleys and streets. It's quite condensed, and personally I prefer walking about Oxford, but Cambridge has ample for a day out photographing, you don't have to go to the typical tourist places, just walk off down the river in the park and some of the little areas away from the centre. Obviously you've gotta go to the centre because there's very nice buildings and history and things there. I do love a bit of history.
Want to improve your street photography? Struggling to spot the opportunities, or take the photo once you're there? Maybe I can help — I've been running one-to-one training sessions and group courses for a number of years in London and the South East. Book a session, or get in touch and let's find what works for you: www.melentraining.co.uk/p/urban-street-photography-course.html
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