30 Days with the Fuji x100s: Day 23

Today, I took a break from light trails and did some painting. I'm trying some abstract art with modeling paste.

Still enjoying the camera.

30 Days with the Fuji X100s: Day 22

King Street Metro Light Trails

I met a model at the King Street Metro to try and add a model the light trails pictures. While I was waiting I took some shots.

And here are the shots with Aaron. They are all about 10 second exposures with a little lighting help from a flashlight. Not bad for a first try!

30 Days with the Fuji x100s: Day 21

I was stuck at work until 6:30, so I had to take some pictures in Old Town. I learned that people leave Old Town after work so there's not much traffic down by the water.

Here's the only shot that I got. I'm in the median kneeling on the ground.

And here's a movement shot, I got tired of waiting for the shot to finish.

Tomorrow I try this with a model at the metro station. I should have better luck then.

30 Days with the Fuji x100s: Day 20

Patriotic Light Trails

I saw this flag over the highway and knew I wanted to get a light trail image with it. I love seeing American flags on overpasses. I always wonder why they are there.

I took the tripod and the camera and away I went. 30 minutes later, I had my shots. The only editing I did was to lighten the flag a little and take out some of the yellow to give it a more red, white and blue feel.

30 Days with the Fuji x100s: Day 19

Georgetown Light Trails

I walked over the Key Bridge into Georgetown. I knew where I wanted to take pictures, but there's no traffic on the Whitehurst Freeway on Sunday, so I had to abandon that idea.

But luckily there's lots of traffic on the Key Bridge.

I like this shot because that little blue light is a bicycle. I didn't like most of this series because I don't like the flair on the street lights.

This is on the way back to Rosslyn. I really liked the colors of the bus. Even with the black sky.

And this is my favorite. I have a ton of pictures with a washed out sky, but eventually the sunset and my exposure was just right. I like that I captured the pink in the sky.

30 Days with the Fuji x100s: Day 18

Washington Monument Light Trails.

I can't stop trying to get light trails. Today I learned that the Washington Monument doesn't turn on all of the lights until it's pitch black. And strangely it turns them on sections at a time. I didn't really notice until I was leaving and all the lights were coming on.

All my blue sky pictures are with the unlit monument. The street light has way too much prominence.

Here's my favorite shot even though only the top of the monument is lit and the sky is black.

I love when buses go by because I know I'll get multi-level lights. And cops always make me giggle too. 

I had to stop on my way to the car to get the fully lit monument. It was then that I realized it wasn't lit before.

I have always liked the size of this camera. It is the greatest thing about it. Even when I put it on a tripod, I don't feel like I am sticking out or taking up too much room. I fit on a very narrow sidewalk with the camera on a tripod and people were able to walk by. Another great thing is that since I've had this camera not one person has stopped to talk to me about cameras or ask me what camera to buy. It happens all the time when I pull out my DSLR.

30 Days with the Fuji x100s: Day 17

Old Town Alexandria Light Trails

I always think I'm getting a ton of great pictures and I get maybe one or two. And it's freezing out there!

I took the tripod this time and looked around Old Town for a place to shoot light trails and a model.

I tried Duke Street, where a cop came whizzing by:

I like the safety of being on the median, but the lights look so far apart!

Then I tried another intersection by the train station:

You can get close to the traffic, but the lights are synced strangely, so you get a lot of cars sitting there.

Then I tried the underpass by the train station:

Winner! I like the ambient lighting and buses go by so that's pretty cool. I have a model lined up for next Wednesday so I'll be right back here to try again. Hopefully, I can add a human dimension to the light trails.

While I was waiting for the sun to set, I played around with lens flare to see how bad it could be on this camera. It's can be quite strong and I had a lens hood on, but I can't complain too much since I was shooting directly into the setting sun.

This guy was waiting for his girlfriend to arrive. She arrived about 5 minutes after this shot.

30 Days with the Fuji x100s: Day 16

Rosslyn Light Trails

I thought I had a new hobby, until I got home and discovered all my blurry images. This light streak thing is hard! I had to rush to Rosslyn, find parking, and then it got dark in 10 minutes. I had all the wrong settings. I was trying to use the ND filter, but this area didn't have as much ambient light, so I didn't need it. But I didn't discover that until it got really dark. The time between these two shots is 14 minutes.

It's funny how little time you have to get the shot. About 40 minutes before it's just pitch black. And I'm thinking the first 20 minutes is the best.

Now I'm on a quest to find more locations and add a model to the shots somehow. So, maybe I do have a new hobby for a week.

30 Days with the Fuji x100s: Day 15

Buttons.

30 Days with the Fuji x100s: Day 14

Light Trails II.

I enjoyed yesterday's pictures so much. I went to try some more. I think I had beginner's luck yesterday.  Right time, right place, right light.

Tonight I was not as lucky. But I tried some new spots just to see what would happen. I think it works best when there is still some blue in the sky, but right now in the fall that's only for a very short time.

A small note about this merge area. If you look you'll see three yield signs because almost no one yields to the cars in the circle. All you hear are beeps and cursing (I'm guilty of that as well as I drive in this location often). On a particularly bad day, you'll see an accident.

This is my favorite overpass. I call it that but it's probably my favorite because I can walk to it and I often do. I have tons of pictures of it. 

30 Days with the Fuji x100s: Day 13

Light Trails I.

You know, I've never tried to get the long exposure traffic shot with any camera. So tonight I gave it a try. I tried a couple tricks. Using the ND filter to slow the shutter speed, putting on the timer since I didn't have a tripod or a cable release, and using bulb mode. I think my favorite one used the ND filter and bulb mode for 11.4 seconds. Longer light trails with those settings. I think I did ok without a tripod. I had to sit my camera on the edge of the overpass and try not to move because there was no way I was letting it go.

And here's what you get when you know you moved, but the long exposure isn't done yet. I'm sure everybody who's shot long exposure traffic shots has a ton of these.

I enjoyed getting these shots. And the built in ND filter helped quite a bit in this instance. I'll try and find some other ways to use it. Perhaps I'll try that slow flowing water thing. I've never attempted that shot either. 

30 days with the Fuji x100s: Day 12

Softball in the park. My niece pitches fast-pitch softball. I'm not sure this is the right camera for that, plus I'm probably not the right photographer, but when you make a commitment to carry around one camera for 30 days, you work with what you got.

30 Days with the Fuji x100s: Day 11

Not much happening today. But I will tell you that Wonder Bread is back! Most of you probably didn't know it went away, but when Hostess went under, not only did Twinkies and HoHos disappear, so did Wonder Bread. But not to worry, somebody bought the formula and it's back.

Also, I think that the designer of this sign failed miserably.

I truly can't understand why they couldn't move the sign so that big pole fell at the beginning of the L or the could have used it for the I. Weird to put it at the end of the L and make a U. Like they couldn't see that coming.

30 Days with the Fuji x100s: Day 10

Old Town Alexandria. City Hall is always patriotic looking.

30 Days with the Fuji x100s: Day 9

Today's lesson, never go anywhere without an extra battery. I grabbed the camera for a quick walk at lunch and after one shot the battery died. That is one annoying battery life. I had an extra battery in my purse, but I just grabbed the camera and nothing else. Lesson learned. Again.

It doesn't matter if it's a good picture, it's the only one I could take.

30 Days with the Fuji x100s: Day 8

I ate at Chili's. I know, not too exciting. The camera is small enough to pull out of my purse and not be obtrusive.

Here's a little fine art attempt (I actually took it last night after my Day 7 post).

And here's a shot I've taken before with my cell phone. I just like it that much that I need it in higher resolution.

30 Days with the Fuji x100s: Day 7

I love macro shots. I could take them all day. This camera isn't great with macro shots. It does well, but I would love to get even closer.

Pictures of my door. I'm  a firm believer in the saying "There's a photograph in everything, you just have to find it." And I must say, I take a lot of photographs and don't often find it. Frustrating, but worth it even if it only teaches me to see things differently.

30 Days with the Fuji x100s: Day 6

I didn't take pictures for a couple days. I was too worried about the cat recovering, but she's well on her way now.

I decided to try some external flash with the x100s. Hooked up the pocket wizards and my White Lightnings and everything worked as it should. Then decided just to take my Canon 580ex out instead of the heavy studio lights so I hooked the flash up to the pocket wizards and that worked as well. No reason to expect that it wouldn't, but it's always nice to see it all working together.

Here's my niece and her friends out in the alley behind the studio.

I have to learn to pay more attention to the settings. It was very overcast and some of the pictures are blurry. But this one turned out great. I added a little grunge in post processing to brighten it up. 

I take this camera everywhere, it is incredibly light. I have to try a bit harder to get some great shots.

30 Days with the Fuji x100s: Day 5

I think I found the black and white setting that I like. No more tweaking necessary in Photoshop. I should start playing around in color now, but I just like the black and white so much.

Today's theme is broken. In an attempt to clean up after my cat with the broken tail, I broke this figurine that was my great aunt's last gift to me. How melodramatically sad. I have captured today perfectly. You can't ask any more from a camera.

30 Days with the Fuji x100s: Day 4

Today sucked. My cat injured her tail bone. It's possible she was hit by a car. I spent all day at the emergency vet.

I learned that the camera has internal storage. Since my camera didn't have a card in it, I used that to get this shot waiting to go home.

Then the battery died. I go through two batteries a day. And I don't take that many pictures. I didn't pack before I took her to the vet, so no extra battery. All I did was grab my purse on the way out the door which had the camera in it.

Not much to report on the camera, it wasn't my main focus today. The cat, well, she's hiding under the bed and I'm sure she won't come out for her pain meds and I'm not going under there to get her. I've never heard a cat cry the way she did when I went to pick her up to take her to the vet. Without the towel that I wrapped her in, I would have been in shreds. It's amazing how something can hate you so much when all you are trying to do is help.

Fun day.

30 Days with the Fuji x100s: Day 3

I've already bought too many accessories for this camera, including two hoods, some filters, a case and lens caps. Ugh. It's not a fashion accessory, it's a camera. Looking at my old AE-1, I'm didn't even buy a special strap for it - I used the one it came with.

I think I like the styling of the x100s because it reminds me of my old AE-1, which was my first slr. I loved that camera.

Went on another walk. It's so easy to walk around with. And I do seem to love the black and white photos best. Maybe it's just a fad. But I do like being able to switch to color if I want to, something you just couldn't do with film cameras.

And my cat lets me get right in her face. She's hard to get a good picture of since she's all black, but this camera did a good job metering. I lightened her just a bit, but it was really minor.

I'm getting a good feel for the camera. I'm not in love yet, but I'm not ruling it out.