Here's your copy of my May 2018 Photography Newsletter
Published: Tue, 05/08/18
Hi ,
I just got back from my "Spring 2018 Desert Heat Speaking Tour," which included 3 camera store presentations in Las Vegas, Riverside, CA and Palm Springs. It was 104 degrees in Palm Springs on Saturday, which officially makes it 60 degrees cooler here in Anchorage today.
I took my bike down with me, which was a lot of fun. Not only was I able to ride warm dry trails for the first time in months, I got some heat training done for an upcoming 40-mi mountain bike race I’ll be competing in on May 18 in Grand Junction.
Along the way, I stopped at Joshua Tree National Park. I hadn’t visited the park in about 20 years, so it was wonderful to spend a short, but sweet visit and remember why I love that place so much. I could hike around and explore Joshua Tree for days on end. It’s such a beautiful and wild park with a very intriguing landscape. Here are three of my favorit photos from my first evening there.
Processing? What Processing?
When I do my talks at camera stores and events, I always point out that nearly every single image in my presentation is a straight JPEG right out of the camera. The reality these days is that for how much I shoot, I do very little processing. I’ve noticed that this is a topic that resonates in a big way with my audiences.
For me, this has been an incredibly liberating change in my photography. In the past, I shot everything in RAW and processed almost anything that went out the door or up on my website.
With my “back to film” approach to photography, my current goal is to walk away from my scene with an image I love, instead of a bunch of RAW files that I have to process when I get home. Not only does this take more time at the computer, I’m so far removed from the emotions and visual excitement I experienced when I stood there in the moment and clicked the shutter.
With my X Series cameras, I depend on the film simulations for color choices and occasionally tweak them with my Highlight and Shadow Tone and Color control in the Q Menu. I’ll occasionally shoot RAW+JPEG if the light is really tricky, but most of the time, I rely on the JPEGs only and save myself endless hours of time. Most modern cameras feature specific "color settings" which allow you to shoot with a variety of color palettes.
When I do process, I use Luminar, which has recently been updated to offer even faster performance and improved tonal reproduction, especially with Fujifilm X-Trans sensor RAW files. That said, I’m often just making quick adjustments in Luminar to my JPEGs, which still contain a wide range of tonal data. (If you're interested in using Luminar, be sure to use discount code DANBAILEY to save $10 on the program.)
If you’re strictly a RAW shooter, I encourage you to try shooting more JPEGs and trust your camera’s internal image processor. Every camera these days, no matter what brand, produces great looking images these days. Do you want to spend more time taking pictures of things you love or siting at your computer sliding sliders? The choice is yours.
FUJIFILM X SERIES UNLIMITED is Now Available in Paperback from Rocky Nook.
I’m so proud to announce that my bestselling FUJIFILM eBook, X SERIES UNLIMITED, is now available as a print book from Rocky Nook!
FUJIFILM X Series Unlimited: Mastering Techniques and Maximizing Creativity with Your FUJIFILM Camera has just been published as a 256-page paperback, and it contains all the info and content found in my extensive eBook guide.
If you order directly from Rocky Nook and use discount code DANBAILEY25, you’ll get the book for 25% off.
The Rocky Nook team did an amazing job with the formatting and I LOVE the cover we chose. It’s different from the ebook, but I think it works really well and is very eye catching. It even ties in with the Black X Series color scheme and that classic “Fuji Green” from the film days.
If you already have the original eBook version of X SERIES UNLIMITED, then the paperback is technically duplicate content. However, a number of readers have said that even though they already have my eBook on their computers and mobile devices, they love being able to have the print book as a tangible reference. Either way, it’s a great companion to the eBook.
I’m thrilled and honored to have my ideas published in this format, but I’m even more excited that I’ve been able to teach and share my insight with so many of my fellow Fuji users out there. You are the ones who really made this happen. You are the ones who bought my eBook, and stuck with me as I fixed the typos and released updates, and then gave me feedback.
Without you, book thing wouldn’t exist. So thank you, I really appreciate your support.
Benefits of Using the Electronic Shutter
During my recent desert trip, I stopped in Prescott, AZ to photograph some mountain biking and meet up with a few of my Alaska friends who flew down for the weekend races.
While capturing the final sprints near the finish line, I set my X-T2 to Electronic Shutter Mode. This allowed me to shoot at 14 fps, which was awesome for getting short bursts of around 3-8 images. With very fast action, a lot can happen in a single second, so this ensured that I got a good variation of scenes within that extremely short time frame.
Most of the X Series models max out at 8 fps, which is still pretty fast, but the ES allows you to shoot at either 11 or 14 fps. This doesn't just apply to Fuji, most modern cameras allow a fps jump with the ES. This can give you that high speed advantage when shooting fast breaking scenes and extremely quick subject matter.
In addition, the ES can help prevent camera shake when you’re shooting with very slow shutter speeds on a tripod. Instead of using a remote, I’ll often use the ES instead. No matter what you shoot, the ES can come in handy at times, so give it a try!
Upcoming Workshops
There are still a few spots left on my Tanzania VIP Great Migration Photo Safari with Discover Tours, Aug 30 - Sept 10, 2018. This promises to be an amazing photography experience in a small group setting. You’re guaranteed to see a wide range of animas as we move through Africa’s most renowned national parks. Visit the Discovery Tours Website for more info. This is truly a bucket list photography trip with spectacular scenery and very high-end, luxury accommodations.
Our 2018 Fujifilm X-Photographers Nature & Travel Summit is running this fall, from Oct 30 - Nov 4 in the Great Smoky Mountains. Both of our 2017 Fujifilm summits were very well received by participants and we had lots of fun photographing and making new friends. If you’d like to join two veteran landscape shooters, Jack Graham, Bill Fortney, and me too, for a few days of intensive Fuji photography and fun, please visit this page for info.
Even if you don't own a Fuji, you can still attend, as we'll have X Series and GFX loaner gear on hand for you to try.
Finally, if you plan to be in Alaska this summer and would like to arrange a half or full day custom photo tour or private photography lesson with me, please let me know as soon as possible, as the calendar fills up quickly. We can focus on landscapes, or incorporate brown bear photo tour or do an aerial glacier helicopter photo tour, which includes a landing right on the ice, or an aerial-assisted photo hiking the mountains high above the glaciers. Visit my workshops page for more info.
Gear Corner
Fujifilm Instant Rebates
Fujifilm is currently running a huge rebate deal right now. Most X Series cameras and lenses are on sale for up to $200, including the X-T2, and lenses like the 14mm, 16mm, 23mm, 90mm, 50-150 and 100-400. X Series & GFX camera/lens kits are on sale for up to $1,000. If you’re thinking of picking up some new glass or a brand new Fuji camera, this is a great time to build up your kit!
Canon Savings
Canon also has a number of deals going right now. Save up to $300 on lenses and up to $650 on Canon camera bodies.
7 Artisans 35mm f/1.2 for Mirrorless Cameras
7 Artisans builds lenses for mirrorless cameras, and I recently tried their 35mm f/1.2 for Fujifilm, which is a surprisingly cool little lens. They also make them for other camera mounts, including Sony and Canon.
Not only does it have an ultra fast f/1.2 aperture, it has 9 aperture blades, which produces wonderful bokeh. It also has a sweet, very compact classic Voigtlander style design.
The 7 Artisans 35mm f/1.2 is very sharp and it has a very short focus travel, which makes it super easy to focus manually. With Focus Peaking set on the camera, you can focus this thing with incredible quickness and accuracy.
Best of all, it only costs $145, and for that price, it’s it performs quite well, with very little flare or chromatic aberration. I was highly impressed with this lens, as were the two knowledgeable photo industry people who showed it to me. Image quality is very good, with sharp edges and a nice, slightly low contrast look, which gives it a nice palette for shooting things like portraits and still life.
Overall, the 7 Artisans 35mm f/1.2 is a sweet little item and it’s a great deal. If you’re keen on classic, stylistic manual focus lenses, it’s definitely worth checking out.
Mindshift Backlight 18L Backpack
Mindshift recently introduced a smaller 18L version of their super popular BackLight packs, which are great for outdoor photographers. I’ve seen a lot of BackLights out there, but the regular 26L version is quite big, especially if you’re carrying a mirrorless setup.
The new 18L is a much more manageable size, and it still holds a decent amount of gear, including a 13” laptop or tablet and offers good organization for all your photography equipment. With the back-panel access, the BackLight allows quick access to your bodies and lenses, and it also has separate space for all of your other accessories. Interesting note, the lead designer at Mindshift used to work with Galen Rowell, who was very demanding when it came to camera bags and packs. I wonder what he'd think of today's photo packs.
Around the Web
• Living the Dream - Q&A with Adventure Photographer Dan Bailey. Last month, one of the Light Stalking contributors came up to Alaska, and we sat down for a nice chat about photography and bush flying. I also took him for a ride in my little Cessna. Read his interview recap with me here.
• The Most Important Question You Can Ask - Robert Rodriguez Jr recently wrote a great little blog post about creativity, motivation and personal vision.
• My friend and fellow Fujifilm photographer Bryan Minear is an awesome shooter. He has a wonderful eye and I love his style and creative attitude. Read his post, On the Creative Thought Process Behind a Photograph. It’s worth your time.
• Last month, SmugMug acquired Flickr. That rang as pretty big news across the photo world, and I took it to be a good sign, especially given that Yahoo, the previous owner of Flickr had recently been bought by Verizon. Who knew what they’d eventually do with Flickr. Anyway, Thomas Hawk has some really good insight about what the new SmugMug/Flickr world might look like.
--------------------------------
Ok, that’s all for now, . As always, thanks for sticking with me until the end. I realize these monthly newsletter get a bit long, but there’s a lot of stuff I want to share with you!
I hope you enjoy the rest of May and are getting out on a regular basis with your camera. If you’ve got an awesome recent photo you’re especially proud of, feel free to send it along so I can check it out!
Take care and enjoy my recent blog posts!
Happy shooting. :)
-Dan
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
   |
Unsubscribe to this newsletter |
Save Save Save Save Save Save
SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave