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. 

 

 

 

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.

x

Since moving here and first visiting our shopping mall, I’ve felt the need to photograph the desolate, near liminal space. Something about the empty hallways interspersed with skylights and (real!) foliage brings on a certain type of melancholic nostalgia. I recently made a trip there for the purpose of shooting some of the areas that always seem to grab my attention. 

I decided to start slow. I thought exterior shots would be easier, considering there was no one else there, but it actually felt a lot more intimidating once I got out of my car. Although the mall is pretty empty, there was still security doing rounds and I was right next to a fairly busy street. I was relieved to see that security didn’t seem to mind my walking around and taking photos and I eventually got comfortable enough to really get into the swing of things.

The tattered paper on the inside of these doors unsettles me, yet I can never look away.

With the mall being as empty as it is, I was really self conscious on this outing— a lot more self conscious than I normally am when shooting in public. And because I was shooting film, the camera I was using wasn’t the most inconspicuous, either. In more crowded spaces I’m able to melt into the crowd. However, I was one of the few people walking around in that big, open space. I felt as if I was on display as I composed each shot. I don’t know why I’m telling you this. I suppose I just want you to know that I’m proud of myself for not skimping out and forcing myself to take my time in getting the photos I wanted to get. (Though I was really tempted to spray and pray and call it a day.) 

The mall may be dead, but these plants are not.

We’re always sure to grab a slice at the local pizza place inside our mall. It’s genuinely great pizza and it feels like an appropriate nod to my adolescence, hanging out at the food court with my friends or on family shopping trips.

I don’t remember why I chose to shoot black and white on this day, but I’m happy with how it turned out. There isn’t much color in our mall to begin with, and I knew that the angles and shadows were what I was aiming to capture. Although I’m happy with the photos overall, if I had to do this over I’d choose an orthochromatic film stock instead of panchromatic. 

These photos were taken on a Canon 35mm SLR with a Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM lens. My film stock of choice was, as the title suggests, Kentmere Pan 400. 

This batch of film was processed and scanned by State Film Lab. 

I have quite a few rolls of film that I’m in the middle of working on, and another batch about to be sent out, so look out for more regular posts on here in the near future!