When most photographers think of shooting sports, they think of 400mm glass on the 50 yard line. When I think of sports, I think about ultra-wide, ultra close. That said, any sporting event involves fast moving action and the need for equipment that can both quickly respond, and take a bit of abuse. These things were on my mind when I covered The Race of Gentlemen this year.
Once a year, tattooed and heavily bearded men (and a few women) gather in Wildwood, New Jersey, and take over a section of the beach. With beer on tap, loud music, and louder motorcycles and cars, this motley crew waits for the tide to recede and then grinds up the sand racing antique vehicles down a quarter-mile. Known as The Race of Gentlemen, the event is a celebration of a time long passed.
Like most serious photographers, I mostly shoot RAW. However, both my wife and I have clients that just want jpgs straight out of the camera. This wasn’t a problem with my wife’s old Canon 1Ds mkII that I first started with, but it was with my Sony a7R II. The out-of-camera (OOC) jpg files produce less than desirable skin tones. I know about the glorious Fuji colors, and I use Fuji simulations in some of my post-processing. After reading numerous glowing reports about Fuji OOC jpg colors, I decided to rent a Fujifilm X-Pro2 with a 56/1.2. I’ve also read great things about Olympus jpg colors so I added an Olympus Pen-F with a Panasonic Leica Nocticron 42.5/1.2.
I wanted to judge skin tones in both OOC jps, and after processing RAW files in Lightroom (my version of Capture One doesn’t recognize the new Fuji RAW).
So, I grabbed my wife, and fellow photographer, Kelly Williams and we shot all Saturday afternoon.
So lets look at the OOC jpgs…
Fuji X-Pro2 with Fujifilm 56mm f1.2:
OOC Fuji Provia
Push the READ MORE Button to See the Full Skin Tones Comparison
A very great many ‘togs seem to protest at the idea of cat photos…
When the Fujifilm X-Pro2 finally landed, the internet wags quipped that the Fujifilm X-Pro1 was now only good for “cat shots and infrared conversion”
:) I did have to laugh
The thing is…
I love cats!
I realise that some find them aloof, greedy and self centred. But animals didn’t ask to be domesticated, they didn’t sign up to some mutually exclusive deal, you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. Animals exist in our domesticated world because we have use for them, or because we tolerate them.
But many large urban areas have stray animals, perhaps once a pet, perhaps the offspring of a pet. Strays are NOT a Porto problem, they’re not a London problem or a Rome problem or a anywhere problem, they’re a humanistic problem.
Strays say something about our own species; and it’s not nice. Animals stuck in a neither world of not being part of human existence nor being free of it. They exist in this space because of the human world and despite the human world.
When we take a pet, we create a dependant. When we break that bond, we create a shadow.
These are not cutesy kitties, they could be… they have the capacity, but these are street creatures, discarded and dirty. Left to eek out an existence on whatever they can get.
I love cats.
And when I look into the eyes of these strays I see the struggle they’ve endured and their defiance in never giving up. This isn’t some sort of aloof detachment. This is the primordial square root of survival. Even the little indoors only kitty curled up on your bed has this ability.
These cats are not pets… To me, they’re as valid street subjects as anything else in the genre, after all, if we say that ‘street’ is the documentary of the humanistic world, then what tells our story more than the problems we create and the things we discard?
All these shot are taken with the X-Pro1 and X-T1.
Both bodies soon only to be suitable for infrared conversion, and cat shots. Perhaps even infrared cat shots :)
I realise that you may not enjoy cat shots… But hopefully you’ve seen a different side of the kitty, one which is perhaps a bit more engaging than a pampered fat cat chasing a toy or lapping up some milk…
If it’s of interest, you can see more of my work on the links below.
My name is Jon Macapodi, I’m a Fuji shooter and work as a freelance fashion photographer in New York City. You can view my work on my website.
When I started doing this full-time about six years ago, I was fully entrenched in the Nikon system. My first experience with Fuji was with an [shoplink 46368 ebay]S5 Pro[/shoplink] I had borrowed, and it left an impression that in some ways still ring true today, “Unparalleled colors and skintones, quirky operation.” After that, based on my love for Fuji’s color science, I purchased a used X10 as a “day-off” camera. Immediately I fell in love with the straight out of camera jpegs, and even the aforementioned quirkiness (in this case, the super high dynamic range pixel-binning party trick of the X10). I began using the X10 for some personal work, then actual work, when the technical limitations of the camera wouldn’t interfere with the creative goals or requirements of the shoot.
I shot heavily with the X10 for about a year alongside my Nikons, and it was probably the most influential year for my work from an artistic standpoint: the inherent limitations as well as strengths of the X10 really pushed me to produce and become a better portrait photographer and deepen my creative vision for women’s fashion without relying on the visual “crutch” of full-frame DOF on f/1.4 glass.
I traded in my X10 for the X100S upon release and it was the death-knell for Nikon in my camera closet.
Fast forward to today, and I’m now fully invested in the X system, with an X100T + TCL, X-T1, X-Pro2, and the 16mm f/1.4, 35mm f/1.4, 56mm f/1.2, and 90mm f/2 and the Rokinon 135mm f2 (I really wish Fuji made one of these…). For the longest time I was holding onto my D800 and some glass for occasional video booking, but once I saw the quality, color, and undeniable “Fuji Magic™” present in the video files of the X-Pro2 I gladly sold what the remainder of my Nikon collection.
Today’s Fuji’s are still not without occasional “quirky operation” moments (especially as a video tool), but the X-Pro2 particularly is the most enjoyable and complete photography tool I’ve ever worked with, and it continues the tradition of the X10 as a catalyst for creativity in my work in women’s fashion.
Here’s are some samples from a shoot this past week, including a short fashion film shot on the X-Pro2. Credits: Claudia Todman @ RE:QUEST Model Management, styled & shot by Jon Macapodi, beauty by Claire Beevers @ Smith & Brit.
I thought I’d set out to share my journey in digital photography with the good folks here at Fuji Rumors. Perhaps some of you have a similar experience and the story will resonate with you, but maybe not. I actually think that at this point I have a somewhat unique perspective on the worth of Fuji and gladly extol their virtues to the nations. Here we go…
I was raised on film. I’ve enjoyed shooting here and there since high school, but my interest really took off in college. I took a photo class, and as many of you may know, the joy of being in the darkroom can be superlative. Developing your own film, inspecting the frames on a lightbox, enlarging them creatively with the likes of dodging and burning, and finally the wonderful smell of fixing agents…incomparable memories! Especially when the picture comes to life in the chemical bath, it’s like magic! I was even privileged to have a darkroom at my house in an unused bathroom. These vivid experiences cause allegiances to be formed and so when digital came along, I was like, “Nah!”
Enter Fuji. When digital hit a reasonable price and the 4MP mark, I dove in and purchased a Fuji FinePix s5100. It got me through an amazing Europe trip to the Netherlands and France. Tons of images, easy functionality, super convenient, and absolutely terrible noise. At the time, though, excellence of image quality alluded my appetite, which was great since it dodged my budget too. The SLR-like bridge model was a perfect fit, and I was hooked on digital.
My old Fuji s5100 working in Europe
As my interest grew, especially in landscape photography, a DSLR was needed for image quality, and more megapixels would have been nice too in case I ever wanted to print…imagine that!? I decided on Nikon, and still love the ergonomics of Nikon over some other brands. I used a D80, D200, and then D300 for over 100,000 images (easily), from 2008 to early 2015. This was almost exclusively for landscape photography. Most of the landscape images at my website are from the D200 and D300. They were valiant and strong soldiers for me, but have now been mercilessly auctioned off in the halls of cyberspace. I’ll always have fond memories!
One may ask, “Well, why no more Nikon?” Glad you asked! The main reason is that my photographic interests started to diversify. In 2013 my family took a trip to Philly and Quebec with some dear friends. I knew it would be mostly urban photography, walking around the city with my crew. The idea of having my rather large D300, bouncing around my neck, my huge bag-a-bouncing, and scaring potential subjects away, was not pleasant. Plus, the fastest glass I had was a 50mm f/1.8 lens, which had a 75mm equivalent after the crop factor… no thanks.
Re-enter Fuji. I Googled “retro digital camera” and a thing of beauty was before my eyes. The X-E1 with a real leather half-case. Fugetaboutit! I had to have it, and my wife let me (did I just say that?!) So before leaving for the East Coast, I bought the X-E1, the 50mm f/1.4, and the 28mm f/2.0. Oh, and also some sundry manual focus Russian lenses that are so handsome in trying to emulate the look of Leica lenses. I ended up not using them too much (or was it not at all?), but you gotta admit, my X-E1 looks amazing! Who wouldn’t want to shoot with this in your hand?!
Seriously, who can resist this beauty?!
It was so fun! The camera inspired truly soulful and fun shooting, prompted interest from people around town (“Oh, you shoot film!?”), and was very discrete compared to a DSLR. I was blown away by Fuji’s regular updating of firmware, amazing lens quality, and ambitious lens roadmap. It felt like the place to be.
But when I got home from that trip and wanted to do some landscape shooting it was back to Nikon where I had kinda forgotten the feel of the camera. It came back soon, though, and all was fine…until. Until we went on a trip that had both city shooting opportunities and landscape. Alternating between two systems was getting to me. Plus, I was exceedingly unsatisfied when I’d use my Nikon 10-24mm on my Fuji with an adapter. Plus, it would be nice to buy gear, a battery at for example, that could serve both interests. Oh, if only Fuji had a camera that was fit for landscape shooting also!
Enter the X-T1. It was weather sealed, had a very sharp 10-24mm available, and had a form factor that was conducive to landscape and street shooting. I mentioned earlier that I felt like my satisfaction and usage of Fuji was a bit unique, and it’s in this: probably more than others, I use my Fuji for a wider swath of artistic imaging. Really, it has encapsulated the unifying theme of the artistic vision over at my website, WILDNESS & ARTifice. (and @medees on Instagram)
When I’m street shooting, I grab my stylish leather hip-bag, X-T1 body, 18mm, 23mm, and 35mm primes, batteries, and then rock ‘n roll. Fuji fits the part. At my site, which I hope you will frequent with great care (shameless plug!), over 95% of the urban street images are from my Fuji gear. Only a few are from my previous system.
But when the clouds light up a fiery red, all I do is grab my X-T1 body and batteries from my street kit, throw them into my clunky photo backpack with the, already-to-go, Fuji 10-24mm and 18-135mm lenses… boom, done! For what it’s worth I still have my Nikon 100-400mm and 90mm macro lenses with adapters. I can’t afford the changeover on those yet, but maybe someday. I’m very happy with the X-T1 as a landscape camera, with only one gripe in case the off chance that somebody from Fuji is watching: the exposure bracketing burst range is bunk! I’ve requested a firmware change (twice through the official Fuji site) that would enable a burst of 7 to 9 frames, but to no avail. Bummer, because it makes my job harder when the action is fast in the last moments of sunset, for example. I forgive you, Fuji.
And so there you have it. Started with Fuji, went off to another love, and back again. My wife inherited my handsome X-E1, and I have the more robust X-T1. Definitely a match made in heaven… me and my wife of course ;-)
