DOORS OF SAINT JOHN, NB

I gave myself a photo project while vacationing in Saint John, New Brunswick. I was inspired by a photographer/artist who was selling prints of the colorful doors in the city. Saint John is a typical Maritime city with many colorful buildings, but especially with its doors. Saint John is Canada's oldest city and has some fantastic older architecture. Some buildings are over two hundred years old. So I spent a lot time wondering the streets in the older area of the city looking for interesting doors and buildings. Some buildings have faired better than others, typical for any old city I guess.

 

This was a great little project, it gave me another reason to explore the city and experience it's charms. I had a lot of people stop and ask me what I was doing, and some were very helpful, directing me to certain streets and buildings.

Saint John is a beautiful city and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in Street, Travel, and Architectural Photography! You wouldn't be dissappointed, but be prepared for some foggy/rainy days. If you do go, do yourself a favor and explore some of the older streets away from the usual tourism areas, you will not regret it.

All pictures taken with Fujifilm's X30 and are property of Richard Belfry Photography.

A QUICK UPDATE ON OUR VACATION AND THE FUJIFILM X30!!!

Just a quick update, we just returned from over a week plus vacation in New Brunswick, Canada. We were based in Saint John but we also did a lot of travelling within the province. The weather was typical Maritime weather, some sunny days but also a lot of overcast/rainy days. While on this trip I really put the Fujifilm X30 through it's paces (as well as using my Fujifilm HS25EXR). I committed myself to a photo project while there (inspired by a local photographer selling some prints in the amazing City Market(more on that later) in Saint John) of shooting the colorful doors that are famous in the city. I will be posting more blogs about Saint John and New Brunswick with pictures once I get the shots edited.

But all in all the X30 behaved beyond my expectations. For Street Photography it is an amazing camera. It is small and compact, easy to carry and easy to conceal (in those "sketchy" neighbourhoods that all cities have). The pictures I got with the camera were amazing!

I used the camera not only for Street Photography but also for general travel photography and was never let down. I will be posting follow up blog entries on our trip and the different type of photos I took with both the X30 and HS25EXR. It was a great trip!

Sample pictures from the X30

Here are some of the first shots with the Fujifilm X30. I went out last Saturday morning, before sunrise, to Barrie to do some street shooting. I got into town in time for the "Blue Hour" (that hour before the sun has risen over the horizon but is still getting light out). I got a couple of great shots. I was shooting in Aperture mode with ISO set at 800.

I also wanted to test out the new Fujifilm film Simulation "Classic Chrome". Fuji has long been known for it's film simulations. Even my HS 25EXR which is about 4 years old has great simulations. Well now Fuji has created this "Classic Chrome" which is supposed to give the pictures a look and feel similar to the old "Kodachrome" film that was popular in the last century. Here are some example shots using this simulation.

All and all I am very impressed by this camera. It has a great size and weight to it that is perfect for Street/Urban Photography. It takes great pictures, even though it is only a 2/3 sensor and only 12 MP. But that 2/3 sensor is FujiFilm's amazing X TransTM CMOS II sensor, which takes amazing JPEG's that require little or no post processing. I am going to have a lot of fun with this little but awesome compact camera!!!!

Street Art!

A big part of being a Street/Urban Photographer is that you see some really fantastic street art (both commisioned and graffitti). I have seen some amazing murals and street art done in a lot of different locations. For example, there is a town in the area where I grew up called Midland. This town was looking for another idea to attrack tourists, so they commissioned an artist to do a series of murals around town highlighting some of the town's history. And they have become a huge tourism draw. I have also found some great murals and art in places like the Kensington Market area of Toronto.

Some street art looks great in B&W photos, but some are so colourful that they cry out to shot in colour. The following are some of my favourite Street Art photos that I have taken and they were all taken in the Kensington Market area of Toronto.