Inspiration (To Switch)

This post from Dave Fieldhouse popped up in my timeline a couple weeks ago. It hits incredibly close to home. I had the Nikon equivalent of his Canon DSLR and standard zoom combination, and a trip to the Lake District was the last I endured with DSLR weight on my back.

Not only is Dave’s work an excellent source of photographic inspiration, if there were any doubts about leaving the DSLR, this should help quash them.

Dave’s photography is lovely, and I’ll be keeping a close eye out for that well known spot outside of Ambleside next time I’m there.

The Fuji makes me want to take photos where I wouldn’t in the past.

So today I finally let it go. The Canon is heading off to pastures … for now and the immediate future I’m all in to Fuji. A second body and a bag full of prime lenses arrive next week so lets see what happens next…

I’m looking forward to it.

Inspiration: Riley Joseph

Today, Riley Joseph published the latest in his series of “Photo Stories,” titled “Palm Springs.” I’ve always enjoyed Riley’s restrained processing style, and the consistency of his eye has been getting better since I first started following him way back when I got my first X Series camera, the X100S. He did more gear-oriented posts back then, but I enjoy the more photographically-focused content just as much.

Riley‘s always captured great photos—nuanced detail missed by the casual observer, clever compositions, and precise timing—but after a few redesigns of his site, he seems to have hit a new stride, and his work has reached new levels. Or maybe he just got around to posting it, I’m not sure.

Anyhow, with Palm Springs, it’s not just how well he captured the time warp of the area he visited, it’s also the presentation. The balance of text and images is just right for me, and I found it wonderfully compelling. I really felt like I was there with him, seeing through time, so to speak, and he was reminiscing about a shared experience. It is indeed, storytelling.

Check out Palm Springs, and Riley’s other Photo Stories.

Palm Springs, Riley Joseph

Paml Springs, Riley Joseph

Palm Springs, Riley Joseph

Inspiration: Ian MacDonald

This is an inspiration post that’s been in my drafts folder for ages, but the promise, and delivery, of more and more excellent content kept me waiting.

In addition to a remarkably diverse portfolio, Ian MacDonald contributes an astounding amount to the Fujifilm community. From his three-part photographic diary of shooting in Amsterdam that is rife with superb photos that, having travelled to Amsterdam myself fairly recently, capture the city extraordinarily well. Oh, and he’s done it for Paris as well. And Vegas. And... you get the idea.

When he isn’t out on assignment, running a workshop, or shooting travel photography for the joy of it, he’s writing excellent reviews Fuji gear including a five-parter on the X-Pro2, or writing cautionary tales about not letting this hobby of ours get the best of us, or how to make the most of our travel photography. How this guy isn’t an X-Photographer yet is beyond me.

Ian’s website and Twitter account are ones that shouldn’t be missed by any Fuji fan, as is his Instagram account by anyone who enjoys beautiful photographs.

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Inspiration: Olaf Sztaba & The Canadian Rockies

This is a special double feature inspiration post, both the photographer and location—the Rockies of my home country, Canada—are inspiring.

New to my personal feed is a fellow called Olaf Sztabo. He’s been posting some fantastically composed images with marvellous black and white processing from a recent trip through the Rockies. He’s inspired me to take another look at some of my own images from my time there.

His is a Twitter handle worth following. Below is just a small selection of what Olaf has on offer at his blog, where he truly has captured the majesty that is the Canadian Rocky Mountains.

Inspiration: Patrick La Roque

It’s about time I plug some photographic talent from my home country. While there’s no shortage of talented photographers using X-Series cameras, one name does come to mind first.

Patrick La Roque

Patrick is a sterling example of the finest of art photography. He has all the talent, without a shred of the attitude. In fact, Patrick is incredibly humble, and just plain nice. This is especially admirable given his uncanny ability to turn any subject matter into impossibly captivating images.

He breaks every last “rule” of composition and comes out the other end of his masterful processing with images that are deceptively difficult to create. You might look at Patrick’s images, find yourself mesmerized, then erroneously think, “Well that’s just the simplest of objects, I could make an image like that.” You probably can’t. Sure, you might get lucky here and there, but Patrick routinely posts complete series’ of these kinds of images. They draw you in, and make you feel as though you were there, sharing the experience.

It’s not hard to see why the folks at Fujifilm Canada love this guy. Below is a handful of images of his that I really like. There’s a ton more where that came from including his most recent publication, These Subterraneans.

In addition, Patrick has a fantastic blog, and created one of, if not the preeminent Fujifilm collectives, The Kage Collective. If you happen to live in the Montreal area, or plan to visit, you could do much worse than learning from La Roque.

Inspiration: Thomas Menk

As a reader of this site, you almost certainly already know Thomas Menk as the hardest working guy in Fuji curation. Lately, I’ve been enjoying the appearance his work as a photographer in my Twitter feed even more.

While I’ve always enjoyed Thomas’ photography, I really like the the images he’s been posting from a recent workshop in Venice. The processing is sublime. There’s a feel to them that I haven’t seen from him before that stops me from scrolling, and compells me to just enjoy the image.

Check out more of Thomas’ work here.

Inspiration: Valérie Jardin

Of the 385 or so “Official X Photographers” Fuji have, only about 30 are women. That’s a mere 7%. Happily, another woman has joined their ranks, and for good reason. Valérie not only has a wonderful eye for clean, minimalist images, she’s also able to capture slices of life and moments of subtle brilliance. To pay small tribute to her well earned induction, Valérie is the perfect choice for a bit of inspiration. You can see much more of Valérie’s work on her website, or hear her on her podcast, Street Focus.

It’s great to see more gender variety added to an already culturally-diverse roster of photographers. Let’s hope the trend continues and that percentage cracks double digits soon.

As a reminder for Fujifilm UK, my very first Inspiration piece was on Verity E. Milligan, another perfect candidate for X Photographer status.

Man, I need to find some photographers who like colour a bit more!

Inspiration: Marco Larousse

If there‘s one person I follow on Twitter who makes me feel inadequate about my street photography skills, it’s Marco Larousse, who is perhaps equally well known as “HamburgCam.” Marco’s eye, patience, and post processing, be it digital or darkroom, add up to some incredibly clever photography that routinely makes me stop and think, “Holy shit, that’s nice.”

I had the good fortune of meeting Marco in person and he’s as nice a guy in real life as he is on Twitter.

You can see lots more of Marco’s work here, read an excellent interview with Marco here, and you can follow Marco, a.k.a HamburgCam here.

UPDATE: It turns out my friends over at MirrorLessons had a similar idea. Another great interview with Marco can be found here. Crazy coincidence.