FujiRumors 2021: My Top/Flop Blogger Moments, My Most Used Gear and My Top/Flop Photographic Experience

December 29, 2021
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We’ve already looked back at the Fuji year, and everybody picked its own highlight. You’ve voted here.

Today I’d like to look back a second on myself. What were my highlights working on FujiRumors? And which ones the struggles? How was my photographic journey in 2021?

Well, here they are:

Top & Flop Blogger Moment

FLOP

Has anyone out there found a job that has only Pros and no Cons?

And don’t tell me “photographer” as I know that would not be true at all ;).

Well, running FujiRumors is no exception.

It is an enormous privilege to be able to run it and make so many fellow Fujifilm X/GFX shooters come together, it’s something I’ve created with hard work and true love over many years. It makes me proud and happy. But it has some Cons.

Most of the Cons I got so used to, so I don’t consider them Cons anymore.

Yes, I work on it 365 days a year 24×7. Yes, ahead of announcements I hardly sleep for entire weeks to cover the leaks. Yes, I did cancel travels due to Fujifilm announcements, because who wants to work constantly at the computer during a holiday? Yes, sometimes I am so stressed out from my day job that writing articles and replying emails squeezes the last drop of energy out of me.

But as said, I have learned to live with these situations, and they are no longer an issue for me. The joy of running FujiRumors outweighs these challenges.

However, there are some moments, when running FR is harder than ever.

And this was the case in the last few weeks, because my old and lovely dog Maggie passed away after 17 years we spent together. It did seem unreal to focus on megapixel, deals, specs and rumors, when everything inside me was in pain. So motivate myself to get on the keyboard and write something was real challenge lately. And I apologize if because of that I made some errors.

On the other hand, closing myself in grief would not have been the answer either, so being forced to work, to focus on other things, did help a bit, too.

TOP

Just hours before Fujifilm had its biggest product launch ever on January 27, I was holding my wife’s hand while she was giving birth to our first child.

So what has this to do with blogging on FujiRumors?

Well, missing out on Fujifilm’s biggest announcement of the year (if not of all time) would have had a terrible negative financial impact on FujiRumors, as without a live blog I’d have no readers and hence nobody would support me for months of hard work and breaking rumors by using our affiliate links to pre-order gear.

But here is the thing: when I was there with my wife, I forgot everything. There was no FujiRumors, no cameras, no gear. Gosh, I even forgot to take pictures after my son was born… so much I was living the moment! If somebody would have told me “Patrick, soon there is the announcement” I think I would have replied “which announcement?”

All that mattered, was that our son would be born happy, healthy and strong, and no money in the world could compensate for the lack of any of these qualities.

So I guess my top blogging moment was to realize that, even though I can be incredibly immersed, dedicated and passionate while blogging on FujiRumors, my heart still knows where the priorities are. Time for my family is the top of all priorities now.

And yet, Fujifilm… never do that again! ;)

Top & Flop Photographic Moments

Top

It was without a doubt and by a large margin my biggest photographic challenge: photographing my first wedding.

First off: if anyone reading this is a wedding photographer, you have my deepest respect. Gosh, I think I could not handle this kind of responsibility and pressure for too long. Plus it is technically a terrific challenge to photograph a wedding, with conditions and settings constantly changing.

So yes, I had my doubts and uncertainties on many things except for one: I knew that if I keep cool, my Fujifilm X gear will surely not let me down. And it didn’t.

Sure, looking back, I see what I could have done better. But this was my very first wedding, and considering everything, I am very happy with the results (and so was the couple). I am happy I accepted the challenge and somehow navigated through it with photographic dignity ;).

Flop

The year started with the birth of my son. And then the lockdown. In late April, the lockdown was lifted. Summer was approaching. I made a list of mountains around my area that I would like to hike, climb and photograph.

Looking back now, I ticked off too few destinations on that list. Mostly because my wife took an intensive language course this summer, so I had to stay at home to look after the baby while she studied, but also for other personal reasons.

So I guess my biggest photographic struggle was not being able to take all the images I wanted to.

Anyway, the list is still there, and the mountains too. And with my son being a bit bigger by next summer, I will surely bring him with me on some of those mountain hikes (like I did in late summer here). It will make the whole experience even better.

My Most Used Gear

I’ve used most my Fujifilm GFX100S and GF32-64mmF4. And I guess it was inevitable, as it is my “newest” gear and hence I wanted to test it out as much as possible.

However, when it really mattered most, at the weeding of my friend, I did take the X-T4 and X-E3 with XF23mmF1.4 and XF56mmF1.2. I am most familiar with my X series gear and I trust it blindly.

Lots of family pictures were also taken with my X-E3 and XF27mmF2.8 R WR. Gosh, I must be one of those rare cases, where 99% of the images on my smartphone are actually taken with X/GFX gear. It’s funny when I show images to people on my smartphone and they almost always say “wow, the quality of your smartphone camera is amazing“. Maybe gear matters at the end… just a little bit ;).

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