I was recently in the market for a smaller camera that I can use as an everyday carry when Andrew is traveling and I’m on my own with our dogs. I love my X-T5, but I find it to be a bit too cumbersome to have bouncing around on my neck when I’m on my own on our walks and hikes. I would also hate to lose my footing on a walk around the neighborhood and compromise my main camera on such a mundane outing. That means I usually leave home without a camera, and end up regretting it. 

Recently, I’ve been carrying my LUMIX GF1, a micro four thirds camera from 2009. It’s the one camera that I kept when I sold my MFT gear when switching to Fuji, along with the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 II. And while it’s still a perfectly capable camera for everyday photography, it’s definitely showing its age. I find it just a little too slow to keep up with the faster pace my dogs demand, and its lack of viewfinder means that composing and taking photos takes me a bit longer than I’d like. It’s more suited to solo photo walks where I can give each frame the time it needs.

 

I landed on the Fujifilm X-E2, which is from 2013. Old, by most standards, but perfectly suited for my use case. This model has the addition of phase detect autofocus, rather than solely relying on contrast based autofocus like the X-E1, and I find it to keep up quite well. I took many photos during my initial walks with it where I’d shoot from the hip and fire off shots in quick succession to see how it kept up. I also took many, many photos of Wednesday as we played fetch at the dog park, and it didn’t miss focus once. I’m not going to be doing any wildlife or motorsports photography with it, but it can clearly keep up in the areas I need it to. 

 

 

 

Last autumn, Andrew and I took a day trip to Sleepy Hollow, New York. I remember watching the Tim Burton film with my mom many times over the years, and it remains a staple today. In fact, my Christmas gift from Andrew two years ago was the baby pumpkin bag from La Femme en Noir. Our trip was originally supposed to be for New York City, with a detour to Sleepy Hollow on our way home. But as I built the itinerary, I realized how much more excited I was about visiting Sleepy Hollow.

 

Unfortunately, due to the time of year we visited, the sun was setting really early in the day. Therefore, I wasn’t able to visit most of the cemeteries and museums that I’d planned on. I did, however, get to spend a lot of time at the Old Dutch Church and Burying Ground, which is what this blog post will focus on. This was our first stop, and I spent a couple of hours making my way through the grounds with my camera and the chill November air to keep me company. Most of the leaves had already fallen, but the ones that remained were the deepest red that contrasted beautifully with the gloom of the afternoon.

After walking around, Andrew, the dogs, and I drove around a bit before deciding to head to White Plains for a store I wanted to visit. I knew the sun was setting and there was no chance of getting back to Sleepy Hollow in time to do anything else on my list, so we improvised the rest of our night. We got some milk tea at Susuru Ramen, then split a margherita pizza from Mr. Nicks, before driving around aimlessly looking for some kind of memento. I stumbled upon Cozy Coven— a metaphysical shop that had just what I was looking for. I spent some time chatting with the owner, and I was soon on my way home with some souvenirs from our day.

We didn’t do any of the museums or tours that I’d hoped for, nor did I get to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery before the sun set, so I’ll be doing that next time we find ourselves in that part of New York.

We, of course, had to visit the Irving family.

I don’t know if this is me managing my expectations for once, or if I’m just now learning to roll with the punches. It would have been so easy for me to be thoroughly disappointed with the outcome of our trip, but I just can’t bring myself to minimize the genuinely good, if offbeat, experience we had that day. I didn’t get to do the vast majority of what I planned on, but the things we did and the places we went just made such a good impression on me that I can’t imagine regretting them. Everyone I met, from the guy at Mr. Nick’s Pizza to the owner of Cozy Coven, was just so damn nice and fun to talk to.

 📷 Fuji X-T5 + Fuji XF 23mm f/2 R WR 

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We had a couple of outings with friends over Fourth of July weekend, and I, of course, brought along my XT-5. I haven’t had the camera for very long, but I can already say it’s such a natural fit— easily the most comfortable I’ve ever felt with a camera from the get-go. I’m not sure if it’s the physical buttons and dials or simply the feel of it in my hands, but it makes for such a seamless shooting experience. Just before that weekend, I’d received the Fuji XF 35mm f/2 lens, and I was excited to bring it along with me. I was worried that I’d feel constricted with the ~50mm focal length as I’m more comfortable with a 35-40mm lens, but it felt so natural from the moment I began shooting with it. All that to say, I’ve carried it around a lot and have taken many photos I really love. I’m excited to share some of those here.

As we were packing up to head home, we decided to meet up again the next day for some snow cones, iced coffee, and a stroll around the park. It was a hot day— hot enough for my camera to give me an excessive heat warning. But we made it through with tired dogs and a satisfied sweet tooth. The dogs even got to enjoy their own puppy snow cones!

During the firework display the previous night, I’d set my shutter speed down to 1/30. Because of the physical dial, I forgot I had to manually change it back to auto for the walk the following day. I didn’t realize my mistake until halfway through our walk. While many of the early shots are overexposed, I actually really love these photos of the ducks. The slower shutter speed gives the photos an ethereal look that I wouldn’t have otherwise thought to try. That small mistake now has me thinking up different things I want to experiment with in-camera. I’m very hard on myself with the photos that I take, but I actually have these displayed on my wall and set as the wallpaper for my desktop, iPad, and phone. To me, these perfectly encapsulate the summer so far.

Our favorite bench in the park lol

My friends were having fun with my camera while I was fussing with the dogs, and I like this photo of myself trying to enjoy my snowcone while giving them their pup cups.

They're so well-behaved when treats are involved.

Green Grape and Dada came along, too.

Although these were taken over just two days, Andrew and I rarely go on outings like this. As tired and sweaty as we were, we had such a good time that weekend. I hope we’re able to have many more weekends like this before the season is over. I’m still adjusting to living somewhere with all four seasons, so I have to remind myself to enjoy each one while it’s here.

All photos taken with a Fuji XT-5 & Fujinon 35mm f/2 R WR lens.

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