Tag Archives: Fujinon XF 18-55mm

A Short Hike in Bad Light

As I woke up today, the sun was nicely diffused by a blanket of clouds and only a few beams of sunlight were able to pierce through.  Combining that with a free afternoon caused me to pack a camera bag, throw on a bunch of layers and venture out.   As usual, my close to home hiking spot is Ohiopyle State Park and even though I knew there would be no snow on the ground, no leaves on the trees and probably not much in the way of grand scenery, I had an urge to be out in the woods.

Once I arrived and to begin my hike, the clouds parted and the sun shone bright.  It was right around noon and the light was harsh.  This kept my camera pointed at the details rather than the majestic landscapes, not that I minded.  I shot mostly with the Fujifilm XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 and had some generic macro extension tubes on hand to assist with the close in shots. Walking around and finding interesting details in such harsh light was a fun challenge and I hope to be out again soon doing it all over again.

An Early Morning Under the Bridge

Once again it’s late August and my wife and I visit the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, WV for her to attend a work conference.  I tag along and during the day, while she is busy attending meetings, I venture out to the surrounding area with a camera.  Previous years, I’ve been to the Falls of Hills Creek and Sandstone Falls.  This time I drive a bit further out to see the New River Gorge Bridge and drive the single lane road underneath it.

I arrived just after dawn and roamed around for a few hours waiting for the light and happily stomping around the river.  Once I got the shots I wanted, I headed up to the trailhead parking lot for Long Point.  This trail is almost 2 miles and heads to a beautiful rocky overlook of the bridge and surrounding area.

Other times during our stay, with my wife in the conference, I wandered around the grounds of the resort and happily snapped away at the historic structures.  The kit I brought with me consisted of the X-Pro2, Rokinon 12mm, 23mm f/2,  XF 18-55mm and XF 55-200mm along with a tripod and other small accessories.  For walking around the grounds, I carried only the primes to keep weight down and force me into certain perspectives.  Once again, the Fuji setup was a pleasure to use and produced some great images.

Spending time with the birds

Today my family and I explored the National Aviary in Pittsburgh.  We had never been there and were pleasantly surprised at the many exhibits and hands on activities for kids.  Seeing as there would be brightly colored birds, I had to bring a camera bag.

My X-Pro2 along with the 18-55, 55-200, 12mm and the 56mm came along.  I ended up using the 55-200mm for most of the bird shooting, but the other lenses were used for various shots of the family and of the architecture.  Thankfully, since the Fuji system is relatively small and light weight, the camera bag wasn’t too heavy at all.