Tag Archives: Fuji X-E1

Nature, Travel, Urban

Mission Trip in Jamaica

My wife and I just returned from a week long Mission Trip in Jamaica.  Together with other members from our Church, we all went down to visit, help out and worship with a Church in Jamaica.  Most days were filled with building a swing set, doing maintenance work on the building, harvesting moringa tree’s or spending time with the local children.  Being that I was designated the ‘photo guy’ by our team members, I had my camera on me the whole time to document the trip for our Church.  With what little free time I had, along with a free day at the end of the week, I managed to sneak in some creative photography for myself.  It was an eye opening trip and my wife and I can’t wait to go back.

On a side note, I packed very light and only took my X-E1 and 18-55mm lens with me.  All shots were processed in Lightroom on my Windows 8 tablet.  The combination was perfect for shooting and processing on the go.  The bag I used was the Thinktank Turnstyle 10 and even when fully loaded, it never weighed me down.  See my other post for more details on my travel kit.

Portraits

Recent portraits and thoughts of the Fuji X-T1

This Winter has been very busy for my family and I, so photography unfortunately has taken a backseat for a bit.  Between work, house projects and other family things, I haven’t had any time to get out and shoot.  This past week, I had my first chance to get some photography in this year.

These are a few 1 year old portraits that I shot using a Fujifilm X-E1 with the 35mm f/1.4 prime and a few off camera flashes.  I think the shoot went well and everything turned out well.  It was a challenge though, as the 1 year old was very excited and not one to sit still.  The session took place in a smaller room with just a small overhead light illuminating the scene as ambient light.  The autofocus on the X-E1 was struggling and at times would refuse to lock.  So I switched to manual focus and had a go at that, which made things a bit easier.  It was far from ideal though, and my thoughts quickly went to when my newly pre-ordered X-T1 would arrive.

When Fuji announced the X-T1, I wasn’t sure what to make of it.  It looked like a better done Nikon Df, just smaller and a bit more logically laid out.  Once I read more about it however, I was swayed enough to order it.  The viewfinder looks wonderful, the autofocus and tracking appears to be greatly improved and the controls look very well placed for the most part.  I’m hoping it as good as everyone says it it.