Hey there Fujifilm family

As a creator, I believe it's essential to keep exploring and trying new things, both in terms of technique and location. Since my last blog post, I've had the chance to shoot in the 3 cities I frequent the most, experimenting with different aspect ratios and styles.

In Amsterdam, I played with the 1:1 aspect ratio, also in my viewfinder, which provided a unique and interesting perspective. Even though the raw photo is a full image, when you are walking around, you feel the limitation and so you must physically change your position. If you want a lot of things or a whole building in frame, you have to walk backward or find a new vantage point. This is something nice to experience in an age where we all just use the wide angle on our iPhone if something is just out of frame without having to move. A week later in Eindhoven, I decided to switch to a classic 4:3 aspect ratio and visited the old Philips factory, now transformed into a trendy neighbourhood (Strijp-S). I had my second photoshoot here as well in the winter, but now the sunlight made the experience and the photos a lot more interesting.

Just a week ago, I visited friends in Maastricht, and now it’s second nature to bring my Fujifilm X-T5 with me. I had a string of bad luck that day: missed the bus and so I missed the train. In the train, I spilled a stranger's coffee on my leg, and worst of all, realizing my camera had been "on" the entire time, maybe for longer than my trip, causing it to die once I reached the city center. I did manage to make some really nice pictures. I wish I could’ve made more because it was sunny and cloudy at the same time, giving some nice contrast, and visually, I always like big clouds in the background.

Scroll below to see some results or go to @fujifocus_ on Instagram.

Initially, I set my viewfinder to black and white and was planning to post .jpg straight out of the camera or #saac as is the hashtag on Instagram. After all, one of the reasons to get a Fujifilm camera is the amazing film simulations straight out of the camera. But back home and editing the photos, I discovered they looked much better in color with my GAEX presets. That nice vintage photography look I used for a lot of my photos. The Strijp-S photos are almost not edited with a preset, just tweaked a bit so it’s not really #saac.

For my next photography trip, which is again Amsterdam, I plan to experiment with creating my own Fujifilm film simulation for black and white photos. So that means +2 whites, +1 blacks, and other things I haven’t tried out yet. And then #saac jpg on my phone and then later on Instagram. Probably somewhere next week, as I still have my Maastricht photos to post. However, I'm considering moving away from the 4:3 aspect ratio, as it doesn't work for Instagram, which is where I upload a photo every single day.

As I reach the milestone of 100 days since I started this journey and began sharing my experiences on Substack, I'm grateful for the growth, challenges, and opportunities it has provided. Stay tuned for more updates, and remember to keep pushing your creativity!

Okay, bye.