Category Fuji GA645zi

Mar 2 2019

Creating Etherial Long Exposures With Breakthrough Photography’s X4 ND Filters


The  Peace Of The Creative…

Slowing down creates peace on multiple levels. 

For you as the photographer and for those who view your work, this has never been more true!

Roanoke Marshes Light. Fuji GFX 50R for 20 seconds with a Breakthrough X4 6 stop ND and the X4 2 stop soft graduated ND

I am going to do a slightly different type of post this time. 

We will discuss the art of Long Exposures a bit but we will focus more on the technical aspects of using ND filters to correct for different types of lighting as well as talk about good ND filter systems verses not so good, and why it is always best to invest your money in good filters!

Definition:  Long Exposure – To create an image in camera with the shutter open for longer than a few seconds in order to smooth out movement over time.  This can be softening the  flow of water over a waterfall, flattening of waves in lakes and oceans or tearing clouds moving across the sky.

Setup:  For camera setup you want a long shutter speed (for me usually from 20 seconds to 60 min), mid range aperture (f/16)  and the base ISO that your camera provides.  You do NOT want to switch on the L ISO in your camera. While it  forces the ISO lower it costs you in reduced dynamic range! You should also verify that your camera has Long Exposure Noise Reduction turned on.  This is a royal pain due to doubling of exposure time and forcing you to wait twice as long for a shot but it removes sensor generated noise as well as sensor hot spots.

Note:  I have added a video to the bottom.  It discusses everything and more that we are talking about in this post but it is quite long!

The top image was taken at the always inspiring Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse across the sound from Nags Head Island in NC. As one of my favorite locations for sunrises over the lighthouse it is also a most worthy location for daytime long exposures! These are usually very easy to create due to the small waves in the sound! This image was done on a Fuji GFX 50R medium format digital with a 32-64mm GF lens, 6 stops of ND (Breakthrough X4 magnetic) and a X4 2 stop soft graduated ND on the sky to balance the difference between the sky and water. The exposure was 20 seconds an hour after sunrise and in the rain.

But by what criteria did I choose the solid ND and the soft edge graduated ND?  This is where a little technical knowledge will really help you in creation of amazing long exposures.

First, there are a few points to consider when thinking about using ND filters:

  • ND filters are simply sunglasses that you put in front of your lens to limit the amount of light that reaches the camera.
  • There are 2 basic styles of ND, Full and Graduated.  Full covers and darkens light passing through the  entire lens, Graduated cover and darken only part of the light passing through the lens with the ability to rotate the edge angle of the start line and moving the line up or down in the scene.
  • In the full family there are several values and styles.Breakthrough Magnetic lens mount with the rotating dial on the back to rotate the filter
    • Screw on:  they simply screw onto the end of your lens
    • Magnetic:  these are a new (2018) system from Breakthrough Photography.  They require you to buy a special magnetic mount bracket for the filter threads on your lens.  The adapter has a rotating ring that allows the filters to be actually turned (for use with polarizers) and costs about $20. Currently, Breakthrough is re-designing both the magnetic filters and the magnetic lens adapters to allow for stacked magnetic filters.  This should be completed by summer 2019 and they will replace the older style magnetic filters and adapters. It is important to tell you that when you use the magnetic filter system alone or with the square system there is NO vignetting.
    • Breakthrough Square holder that attaches to the magnetic adapter
    • Square:  these use a square holder and in the case of the Breakthrough this holder will attach directly to the magnetic holder allowing use of and stacking of both systems at once. The square holder will hold 3 to 5 filters depending upon how you initially set it up. This is good for difficult lighting situations where you might need two different graduated filters at the same time.  This style  tends to suffer from light leaks around the edges of the square solid ND filters unless you carefully assure  that they are installed exactly right and only in the holder slot closest to the lens.
  • In the graduated family there are several types:Breakthrough Photography X4 soft Graduated 100mm filter system
    • Hard edge graduated:  where the dark area of the graduated filter is a sharp line.  This is for use on subjects which have a harsh division between the foreground and background . An example would be shooting on the ocean where the horizon is a sharp line between the horizon and the sky.  This is where you would choose a hard edge graduated ND.  These filters usually come in 1, 2 and 3 stop values where they start light and graduate to the dark.
    • Breakthrough reverse grad
    • Soft edge graduated: where the dark edge of the graduated filter starts very soft and  light and darkens as it moves up the filter.  This is for use in areas that you need to balance the foreground from the background but there is no clearly defined edge in the scene.  This is what I used in the image above to darken the sky so there was detail there and still enable the water foreground to be bright and almost a platinum look and feel.  These filters usually come in 1, 2 and 3 stop values where they start light and graduate to the dark.
    • REVERSE graduated:  this is a special graduated ND where it starts DARK and graduates up to lighter values.  If you desire to shoot sunrise/sunset this is a MUST have filter because as the sun approaches the horizon you get a very bright line of colors there that will either be blown out or if exposed correctly cause the rest of the image to be way too dark!  These filters usually come in 1, 2 and 3 stop values where they start dark and graduate to the light.
Breakthrough Photography Magnetic filter system.

So for the Roanoke Marshes Light above, I chose a Breakthrough magnetic X4 (newest technology) 6 stop solid nd to darken the entire image allowing for the 20 second exposure with the camera set to the lowest native ISO value (100),  an aperture of f/16 and a shutter speed of 20 seconds.  the initial results of this exposure was pleasing water in the foreground but the sky was also too light with little to no detail.  So I left the 6 stop magnetic filter on the lens and clipped on the 100mm square filter adapter onto the end of the magnetic adapter and installed a X4 soft edge 2 stop SOFT graduated ND filter.  While watching thru the viewfinder I adjusted the graduated ND up and down making sure that the soft edge came down to the horizon or a little above darkening the sky to allow for more detail there yet allowing the soft white water in the foreground!  It was as simple as that!  The entire process after the first shot took about 30 seconds to setup on the camera lens then shoot!

 

So let’s talk about sunrise/sunset images when the sun is close to the horizon.  We have all been out at sunrise, do you remember the very bright band of intense color that it right at the horizon as the sun approaches?   This is why the reverse grad ND filter was created, to keep the bright colors from destroying the overall exposure!  Here is an example image, amazingly at the same spot!

Roanoke Marshes Light, 3 seconds with the Breakthrough reverse grad placed on the horizon
Breakthrough X4 reverse grad.  See how you might place the dark area on the bright line at the horizon?

Do you see how bright the light is at the horizon?  The ONLY WAY I was able to capture this image was to use the reverse grad ND placing the dark section right on the bright band of light. Because the overall exposure was only 3 seconds no other ND filters were required.  Should I have desired a longer exposure to further soften the water’s surface I would have dropped in the 3 or 6 stop X4 magnetic filter into the adapter already on the camera!

Let’s take a short side trip here and discuss the actual filters.  By now you all have seen that I am a strong user and promoter of the Breakthrough Photography X4 line of magnetic and graduated filters.  There is a reason for that:

  • All dark solid ND filters suffer from some sort of light leaks around the slide in filter holder.  The magnetic mounted X4 Breakthrough filter line has solved this problem.
  • The X4 Breakthrough filters have ZERO COLOR CAST!  This is a really big deal.  I have been a big user of B+W and Lee filters over the years and still have them on hand.  Unfortunately, both of those both have strong color casts that force me deeper into post processing to attempt to correct these color casts.  I had always thought that this was simply the cost of doing long exposure!  Well NO MORE!   I am so pleased to report that those problems are not the case with Breakthrough, ALL BREAKTHROUGH filters!  Cost wise they all cost about the same when you get up into the same quality levels (B+W, Lee, SinghRay and Breakthrough).  So for me it was an easy choice, I have totally converted over to the Breakthrough X4 line of filters. I currently am using the magnetic and square system from them.
  • There is ZERO vignetting with the magnetic system on ANY of my lenses.  I currently and using 72mm, 77mm and 82mm lenses and mounting both the magnetic system and the 100mm system together!
  • Breakthrough filters come with a 25 year guarantee and their customer service is crazy good.  They are currently (Feb 2019) working on an updated magnetic system where the filters can be stacked in the holder!

 

So my advice is this.  Cameras come and go, it is your glass (lenses and filters) where your quality lays.  Invest in the best you can.  You will never go wrong with the Breakthrough system!  (gee I wish they would pay me…)

Ok, back to images.  After sunrise is done and before sunset is anywhere near we can still create AMAZING long exposures!  There only 2 problems that we must overcome!

  1. Slowing down the shutter speed to give the long exposure.  During normal daylight we will likely be using a 10 or 15 stop solid magnetic X4 ND as long as the sky and the foreground are near the same exposure value.
  2. Should the sky be brighter than the foreground we will also use a X4 soft edge graduated ND filter to balance the foreground and sky.
Pawleys Island Pier in dense fog. The foreground and sky are close to the same brightness so I only needed a 15 stop X4 magnetic filter

Here is an example of a scene with little difference between the sky and the foreground. The waves were HUGE this day so I used a X4 14 stop magnetic filter so smooth them down (490 seconds) and give the feel I desired.  The fog in the sky took care of itself and I walked away with a balanced ethereal image that I just loved creating! Another example of this is shown in the image below.  This again was a super foggy day so the need for detail in the fog was unnecessary so the oly ND needed was again the X4 15 stop magnetic filter!

Nags Head Pier in super dense fog.  X4 15 stop solid magnetic filter for 10 min

 

Ok, let’s take a look at a problem image where the sky has detail that you can see but when you only use a solid nd the sky is totally blown out!  What you simply need is a X4 Soft Grad filter to balance the sky and water to give you a bit of detail in the sky!

Duck, NC boardwalk and Tdock (broken) with a X4 6 stop magnetic filter plus a X4 2 stop soft grad ND on the sky down to the horizon.

These last two images show a extreme case of no balance between the water and the sky and more nd was needed on the sky to correct the imbalance.

 

P

Pier, Outer Banks, 12 min exposure, 15 stop X4 magnetic filter and a 3 stop X4 soft graduated filter down to the horizon.  The sun was up to the right and lighting the bottom side of the clouds.

Ok, one last thing… I had a live group hangout last night with some of my online students and we discussed everything in this post but with more info and thoughts on choosing the correct ND filters for a number of scenes.   Here is the link:

https://youtu.be/_qFkUJZzXmw

I know that this has been a long post but it was necessary to show the technical side of creating pleasing long exposures.    Next time I will discuss how to meter for long exposures.

As always please let me know what you think!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dec 16 2018

The ART of creating MOOD


What Makes Ethereal Moody Images?

Kathy Dean, medium format film

This post is going to be a bit different from my otherwise technical (Geeky) posts of the past.  I am going to share my philosophy of creating MOOD in my art.

I spend a LOT of time studying the fine art photography of the past masters (Ansel and others) and current photographers.  I visit galleries, web sites like 500px scouring  for examples of the creative process that generates images that speak to me.   This takes up a lot of my time but I feel that it is a worthwhile investment to further my understanding of what makes great art that reaches out and grabs my attention!  I do NOT do this in order to copy others, (that is not my way) rather it is to understand what about an image makes it reach out and tweek my artistic desire!  You would think that after 55 years of personal photography that this would not be necessary, but if you think about it you will realize that life is learning and we never stop that process.  Sometimes it is re-learning forgotten lessons, other times it is about learning new lessons.  We all change and our tastes also change as we age, so to me this is a natural progression in our path in artistic endeavor.

I personally tend to work mostly in B&W Film, but do not limit myself to it.  I create as well in color both digitally and on film too, but my real passion is B&W. Here we are going to discuss only B&W and all of my examples are created on various 6×4.5 medium format camera systems because working with flim and the process of film motivates and enhances my creative process.  I am going to leave out the technical details of the images because I want you to really study the images without considering the technical aspects of the creative process.

Let us consider the image above of Kathy Dean, a shrimp boat in Port Royal, SC.    What about this image gives you pause, making you want to really study it?   Sit back and consider the mood of the image and what you are drawn to as you study it.  For me, it is the dark moody sky and reflections contrasted against the bright whites of the boats.  My eyes continuously circle around these details and re-settle on the boats again and again.  The dark sky and water create a moody ethereal frame that traps our attention on the boats themselves yet provides a scene free of the distractions of color. 

If we were standing there today with camera and tripod wouldn’t we be thinking that we could have a much better image with fluffy clouds?  Let me suggest that if indeed there were clouds the day I created this image that they too would have been a distraction from the mood of the image. 

I will honestly tell you that as I stood before this scene that it was my primary thought that this could be an amazing moody image provided that I set it up as a longer exposure to smooth the water and darken the sky and reflections.   In other words, I studied the scene, pondering what it was that drew me to it and how to use the camera (my tool) to create my vision! 

These are my secrets to successful fine art photography:

Stop, Look and Think about the scene:

  • Why are you attracted to it?
  • How do you compose for a simple yet powerful image free of distractions?
  • How to super charge the image with mood?
  • How to use the camera to create this vision?

Lindale Denim Mill, a study of extreme dynamic range in a single image…

Let’s take a look at another image, this one digital (yet another tool), and the camera on hand when visiting the inside of the Lindale denim mill in Georgia.  This is one of those  location that  will NEVER fail to deliver scenes full of wabi/sabi goodness full of amazing mood providing you approach it with the right motivation and mental tools!

Lindale Denim Dye Tank

I spent 7 hours here over the course of 2 days.  It was a power parade of mood that swamped my senses and at every single turn. I was continually stunned at what lay before me as I moved through the factory!  What more motivation could a fine art photography artist desire?  I slowed down, WAY DOWN and studied each and every hint of mood before me. 

For this scene, (Blue dye tank) I studied the dark moody ceiling and walls behind the pillars, the deep tank with its grungy details, but I particularly paid attention to the play of light coming through the windows and highlighting the entire scene!   I realized that in order to capture this scene with mood that I would need to control the sunlight and keep the dark areas from loosing detail.   I setup the camera to control both and average the entire composition.   This happened quite fast (remember 55 years of experience) and it only took ONE SINGLE EXPOSURE…

To me, this scene has amazing flow that draws me in thru the lighted windows, walking around the exterior of the room and moving down the ladder.  My attention never leaves the room.  It has a wonderful dark mood and speaks to me of days long gone.   

What more can a photographer ask for in such a creation?

My path in creating this image:

  • I walked around the entire room several times, studying the elements that the scene contained.
  • I constantly asked myself;  “Mark, why do you like this?”  and “What do you actually like?”  I answered; “The dark mood broken into segments by the light coming thru the window and the LADDER!”
  • Can the camera I had capture the overall mood and range before me?  “YES!”
  • What is the best vantage? “Closer to the ladder!”
  • How best can I control the contrast and range of this image? “Multiple spot meter readings to shift the scenes entire dynamic range into that of the camera!”

After this it was just a simple matter of setting the the composition, exposure and capturing the image!

 

Ok one last example…  Daddy’s Girls…

 

Daddy’s Girls, medium format film

This is one of those scenes that I visit time and time again.  It is only a few hours from home down in Bluffton, SC (a location where my oldest son lives).  There is only one single boat at this commercial dock and processing plant.  There is a boat launch and pier close to the left, but  for for this shot I wanted a more head on view.  I got my son to take me out on his boat so that I could get this angle on a terribly stormy day. Dark and Stormy it was.  Heavy rain and wind, but these were the components that were in my vision so I suffered through it to get this image.  I took several shots of the scene (waves, no tripod and a moving boat) so I invested an entire roll of 16 images knowing that a lot of them would be blurry and out of focus.   Good thing too, I only got this one single sharp image but it was so worth the effort!

Do you see what I am getting at?  I KNEW what I wanted with this image, I knew what tool (camera) I wanted to use so I returned dozens of times here, re-evaluating again and again till I got what my vision demanded!   I have been here a hundred times over the past 4 years and was NEVER satisfied with the scene!

What my vision demanded:

  • Moody, Stormy Sky.
  • Bright light on the boat.
  • Cloud detail.
  • No other boats to clutter the scene at the launch.
  • Medium Format Film only.
  • No workmen on the boat.

So it took years of returning again and again until I got the scene that matched my vision!  But to me it was well worth it!  Will I stop returning?  Heavens no, you NEVER know what nature will provide you with so keep returning!

As always, I hope that you enjoyed this post!   Please consider leaving feedback and comments!

 

 

 

 

Sep 9 2018

Another Film Dynamic Range Adjustment Post!


A Quick Dynamic Range Followup and Example

Hurricane Florence is coming… Spent all day today starting to get ready. But yesterday I stopped by the causeway bridge to Litchfield beach and shot 1 roll of FP4+ film on my Fuji GA645zi changing between the red R24 and R25 filter. I was looking to the North from the bridge. It is a very beautiful spot and scene.
This is one of my go to spots when I am looking for inspiration and it did not fail to deliver for me. I was heading home but decided to stop at the studio and put the film into the processor, wait the 20 min then hang it in the dryer overnight.
 

But…

When standing there looking at the clouds I realized that the whites were going to be blown so I subtracted 30 seconds from the development time to compress them down towards Zone 8 so that I could capture the entire dynamic range, then in scanning moved them back up a bit to place them closer to my memory of them and bring the blacks up a bit! I love the effect the deep red filter gives to the blue sky.

How did I do this you ask?  I am glad you asked!

With a hand held spot meter I measure the brightest white I desire texture in, then measured the darkest black for texture.  Pushed the average button on the meter and got the zone 5 reading along with a chart showing max and min.  This tells me that the whites will be blown out on the negative.  SO I adjusted my exposure to give texture (Zone 3) in the blacks I wanted and let the whites fall where they will.   In the processing knowing how far over exposed the whites are I can now adjust the developing time (-1N in this case) to compress the whites down to zone 8 (-30 seconds).  Easy!
In the scanning software (VueScan) you have the opportunity in the extended menus to again shift the black and white points up or down.  I simply adjusted both to expand the dynamic range back out to the range of the Gicle’e (RIP) printing system I use in my studio yet keep the whites from being blown out!
  1. Measure the range of the scene and determine if the film can capture it all
  2. Expose to move the blacks with texture to zone 3.
  3. Pick a -N developing time according to where the whites fell in the negative (1 stop for this one)
  4. Scan to keep the textured blacks at zone 3 and move the compressed whites back up where they belong in VueScan)

 

The Results:

 

The Causeway going to Litchfield Beach, SC

It was a pleasant and very satisfying endeavor and made me very happy today when I scanned this image on my way home from preparations.
 
Data: GW645zi – 55mm – Roll 95 – Fr 8 – Red 25 +3 Filter – f8 – 1_60 – FP4+ – Xtol Stock -30s – Wet Scan – T CI 50 – Litchfield Marsh- 2018-09-09
I know, this was a really short post, but I was really pleased with the image results and the entire process was one of those “By the seat of the pants” type of evolution.  I wanted to share again, now simple the process is for adjusting the range on film in development and scanning.  There will be yet another one of these in the future but it will be VERY detailed and perhaps even with a video!

As always please let me know what you think!

Sep 3 2018

Beach Day For Lilly!


Exploring new things can be fun!

 

Let’s Get To It, Fuji GA645zi with FP4+ processed in Xtol Stock and Wet Mount Scanned

Well, we went last week (Ellen and I, Megan and the 2 grandkids Lilly and Jordan) for a beach day here in Pawleys Island South Carolina.   Meg asked for some images of Lilly’s reaction to the ocean!  I am really not one for hours on the beach but who can turn down a 17 month old babies reaction on B&W film?

I grabbed my Fuji GA645zi camera (auto focus, 4 position zoom, great meter and built in flash) with a roll of Ilford FP4+ film and we headed out!  Not a long trip since we live in Pawleys  so soon we were there.

Data: Fuji GA645zi using a yellow/green filter to bring out the skin tones and a bit of the sky and clouds with Ilford FP4+ film processed in Xtol stock and wet mount scanned today.

Lilly did not know what to think of it all but went into the water and quickly backed up.  Meg sat down with her and helped ease her into the concept of big water.  Pretty soon she was running around having great fun.   Normally I do not do a lot of posts of people or family but hey, you know film?  You got to honor the challenge!

Meg easing Lilly into the water! Fuji GA645zi with FP4+ processed in Xtol Stock and Wet Mount Scanned

Of course Jordan, my 9yo film photographer grandson is an old hand at this and just looked good at anything he did there!

Jordan my 9yo grandson film photographer!

I took only the one roll but saved one shot for  the local beach landscape!  Hey your there so you gotta do it right!

Dunes behind us!

As always, comments are welcome!  Let me know what you think.

Aug 28 2018

Railroad Day Trip and the Fuji GA645zi


The Art Of Film Photography And Travel

 

Jordan standing on part of a giant Redwood tree on the top of the mountain

Day 1

Earlier this month Ellen and I took our 9yo grandson Jordan on a week long trip to the San Francisco area.  We did many things and visited some great sights! One of the most memorable was a 2 day visit to the Roaring Camp where the Big Trees and Pacific Railroad is!  They offered several train trips around the mountains and through the giant Redwoods. 

There also were two covered bridges in Felton, one in Roaring Camp itself and another a short distance away in the town. Here is the Roaring Camp bridge.

Roaring Camp Covered Bridge

Dixiana, a 160 yo steam train being lubed

Our first trip was on the Dixiann a 160 year old narrow gauge steam train designed to move ore down the mountains from the mines.  It was special in that it had geared drives to all of its wheels and while it could not move fast it could pull loads up and down the mountains and take as much as an 8% grade!.

The rail yard was full of amazing trains that were in various stages of repair or being torn down for parts. It was a photographers dream!  There was so many different parts, trains and cars around the yard that I could have spent hours and many rolls of 120 film there.   The film I did choose was Kodak Tmax 400.  The reason for this was the fact that I was in the mountains covered in giant Redwoods and there was not too much light!

 

Pacific Railroad Yard in Roaring Camp, Felton, CA

Dixiana, a 160 yo steam train arriving at the station to pick us up

Once it was time to board the train Jordan and I went down beside the tracks trying to get some good angles on the steam engine with its puffing smoke and steam. 

As it approached we were physically pushed aside by an foreign  woman and her daughter who then stood directly in front of us taking phone pictures. 

We were already setup with our film systems when they did this.  It was the only black mark on the day for us and caused enough anger for me to yell at them for being so rude but they simply did not care.  So this next image had to be majorly cropped to remove them from it. Some people are totally clueless and without a shred of common sense or decency.

If you take a look at the engine you will notice that there is really no dark smoke.  This is due to the fact that it has been converted to burn used motor oil!  There was a water town that it pulled up to and topped off its water level too.

The engine  had a central drive shaft that powered the gear drives to all of the wheels.  Next is another image of it getting ready to leave the top of the mountain on the ride back down to the station.

Dixiana, a 160 yo steam train getting ready to head down the mountain

There was another interesting covered bridge in Felton as well.  It was the tallest covered bridge that I have ever seen!   The town built a nice park around it.

Felton Covered Bridge, Tmax 400

Felton Covered Bridge, Tmax 400

 

 

Fuji GA645zi Medium Format Camera

Let’s take a bit of time to talk about the photography a bit…  On these two train trips, light was an issue as well as not being able to use a tripod.  As this was a week long trip and not photography based I chose the Fuji GA645zi medium format camera because of its light weight, 55mm to 90mm 4 position f/4.5 zoom lens, fast autofocus, accurate built in meter, Aperture, Shutter and Manual modes, internal flash and lightweight as the only camera I would take and carry. It is also tough with a solid titanium body!  In other places around California I was able to use a small carbon fiber travel tripod from Really RIght Stuff and then shutter speed became a non issue.

As I said earlier, ALL shots in this post were done on Tmax 400 due to it being difficult using a tripod as well as lower light levels in the Redwoods.   Normally in a situation where I have enough light or am able to use a tripod I will always choose Ilford FP4+ 125 ISO  film for its amazing sharpness, small grain and great contrasts.  I also shot with an orange filter whenever I could but sometime even that had to come off in order to keep a decent shutter speed.   Processing was done in Kodak Xtol stock in my FIlmomat automated table top film processor.   Once dried I used a wet mount scan process.  I find the Tmax films very easy to use and they give consistent results are easy to load on the reels due to their thick film base.  I also brought along some Velvia 100 film and managed to shoot a few rolls of that at the covered bridges and ocean scenes.

Day 2

TIme for the Beach train ride!  This was a 3 hour trip from the mountains down to the boardwalk along the beach in Santa Cruz! Of course Jordan liked this trip also because the boardwalk held a huge amusement park!   We had an hour to play there once we arrived but he was having so much fun that we decided to wait 4 extra hours for the last train back to Felton.  The train this time was a diesel, Gene O”lague #2641 that took us and we actually rode on tracks thru Santa Cruz proper!  I was pretty interesting and sad at the same time due to the VAST numbers of homeless people who had setup permanent camps along the tracks in the low mountains outside of town.

Gene O”Lague, the diesel that took us down the mountain to Santa Cruz for the beach trip

The train is shown here arriving to pick us up at the station.  It was huge and I managed to capture this one image of it arriving before a mob of people again ran out in front of me, oh well…  

The trip done out of the Redwoods was very interesting and we even went through a long tunnel as we came into Santa Cruz.  The tracks are actually down the center of the streets and was very slow do the traffic!  ALL of the people on the streets, in the cars and trucks waved continuously as we would pass.

After we arrived at the boardwalk the train powered down and sat there for an hour waiting for the first trip back to Felton.  This gave me ample time to do some detail shots of the train which I found very interesting.  This is my favorite of the roll!

Gene O”Lague, the diesel that took us down the mountain to Santa Cruz for the beach trip stopped at the boardwalk in Santa Cruz

 

Of course we were now at the boardwalk amusement park.  We were there a few days earlier (the park) but could not spend much time there for Jordan.  So as I said earlier we decided to add 4 extra hours here for him to ride and play.  It was time well spent and he enjoyed the day.

Sky RIding on the boardwalk in Santa Cruz during the Beach train ride

Ellen & Jordan

All in all the train rides and park were a nice time on the trip for us all.  It was both fun and very tiring but I managed to capture 14 rolls of B&W 120 film and 4 of color slides.  I continue to evolve in my technique for travel photography with the inclusion of more capable travel medium format camera systems which makes me VERY happy.   I hope to travel much more with Ellen in the future and once in a while I will take my larger Mamiya 645AFDii camera and lenses there is good reason to stick to the lighter Fuji GA645zi system with its single zoom lens!

Things learned:

  • While a wider range of interchangeable lenses would be nice, the camera/lenses are just too heavy to travel with and carry…
  • I love rangefinders but an auto focus made my photography much more fun and faster with my family in tow…
  • Take more film…
  • Split the B&W film evenly between slow and fast.  Stick with Tmax 400 and Ilford TF4+ 125…
  • Take along a faster slide film…
  • Get a bigger dark bag to hold exposed film…
  • Did I say take more film?  Yep, but it is a biggie!

 

Thanks for bearing with me thru this ultra long post.  While it does come across as more of a family vacation (which it is) post it really does go into ways to make such a easier and funner experience!

 

As always, please let me know what you think of it all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oct 27 2017

Testing the new Fuji GA645zi Medium Format Camera


A Light Weight 120 Autofocus Travel Camera with a Zoom Lens!

Fuji GA645zi

Fuji GA645zi

Well…. I have been waiting to test out my new Fuji GA645zi camera for about a week now but due to family issues I have been unable to do so.
I finally made it out to visit the shrimp boats just west of Tybee Island and the light house there! The sky was very plain with no clouds but I really needed to test this camera out. I put on a yellow filter to slightly darken the sky and used Fuji Acros 100 film.
 
This is the shrimper Agnes Marie.
Shrimp Boat Agnes Marie

Shrimp Boat Agnes Marie

Data:
Fuji GA645zi – Acros 100 – f19 1-30 Plus 1 EV, Yellow Filter 9-18-17 – Wet Mount scanned – Agnes Marie – 2017-10-27. Processed in Xtol 1:1.
Fuji GA645zi

Fuji GA645zi

Please note that along the bottom of the frame ALL of the exposure data is recorded!  This is a feature that I really like.

 
The auto focus system is very robust, fast and dead on! It is not as loud as people claimed and I really enjoyed using it! I had an issue with my first roll in that it did not clear the take up reel and bulged out fogging most of the roll. Bad me, I used the one that came with the camera, so I then used the reel that the Acros came on and all is well there now. 
 
I know that the sky is plain but I am still happy with the results!
 
I am looking at this camera as a small light 120 travel camera. I know that the 6×4.5 negative is smaller than my 6x7and 6×9 systems but it still gives a large enough negative for sizable prints.  An other nice feature is that the camera has a 7 position zoom quasi zoom lens which again makes it attractive for travel!   
I only had time to wet mount scan 1 image today but I put 4 rolls of film thru it so there will be more on the way including the Tybee Lighthouse!