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!

We lost a legend!

The photography world, and especially the Fashion and Street Photography fields lost an icon yesterday. We lost Bill Cunningham do to complications from a stroke. He was 87 years old. For those who know who Bill Cunningham is, he was a mainstay in the New York photography world. He worked for the New York Times for decades as a photographer, mostly covering the fashion scene. He was also famous for riding and walking the streets of "Midtown" Manhattan looking and photographing any individuals who had a personal fashion style that he found interesting. It became an honour to photographed by him, and even more if he published those pictures in his Times column.

Mr Cunningham was the subject of a 2010 documentary called Bill Cunningham New York. This was how I discovered him, through that documentary. He quickly became a favourite photographer of mine. He will be missed by fans worldwide!

Dream locations!

As a Street Photographer there are certain places in the world that I would love to visit for the sole purpose of photography. These are famous locations as far as Street Photography goes.

A) New York City, USA!

This is probably every Street Photographers dream location to shoot in. I long wanted to go there, for more reasons than just photography. It has held my interest ever since I was kid watching shows like Hill Street Blues and other shows shot there. It is the "home" of so many of the great Street shooters for a reason. It is full of so many iconic buildings, bridges, the subways and of the diverse people that live there means that one could never get bored. If there is one place in the world that I could live in strictly from a photography angle it would be New York City!

B) London, England!

I would love to shoot in London strictly for the history that surrounds the city. London is an iconic place and would be another dream location to spend time as a Street Photographer. With the palaces, churches, the iconic streets and the "Underground", London would have a lot to offer.

C) San Francisco, USA!

San Francisco has so many locations that I would love to shoot. The iconic hills, the Golden Gate Bridge and of course Alcatraz Prison. I would love to visit there.

D) Rome, Italy!

Like London, Rome is so full of history that I would never get bored as a photographer. Some of the places that would be high on the list would be the Coliseum, the Vatican, the ancient streets, it seems like an amazing place.

E) Tokyo, Japan!

TheTokyo that I have seen in pictures is a mix of time periods. The city seems to be a mix of ancient and the new. With its modern tourism areas and the old temples and buildings it would be an interesting place to shoot.


I will probably never get to any of these places, but as a Street Photographer I can dream!

Photo Shoot Location Hunts!

One of the things I alway look for when I am out on my Street Photography walks, besides great subjects for Street Photos is possible locations for future model shoots. These could be just about anywhere, in an alley, a store, near a lake or pond, on an abandoned rail line or in an abandoned house/barn. Over the years I have found a few great locations and come up with some great ideas for future shoots. All I need now is a model to work with that will be a sort of "Muse" for my ideas. I do have the beginnings of studio which is portable, but location shoots are my main interest. I am intrigued by the idea of facing the challenges that location shoots offer, such as lighting etc. The pictures included are some examples of different locations that I have found that I think would make good locations for model shoots.

Alleys can make great locations for model shoots, if you can deal with the lighting challenges.

This is a local parking garage, I found the lighting here to be pretty unique. Unfortuantely I didn't have a model with me when I found this location.

A bridge on an abandoned rail line. I have actually used this bridge for an engagement shoot, the couple were the ones who first took to this location. It has a lot of potential but both the model and crew would have be very careful not to fall or get hurt. It is a long way down and there is a river below.

Locations like this stone wall offer a lot of different options for photos. I found this in a local park. You could have the model sit or kneel in front of it and use it as a backdrop, or you could have the model lean on it or sitting on top of it.


So next time you are out for a walk, with or without your camera, keep an eye out for locations that may lend themselves to future model shoots. You will be surprised just how many you will find.

Cellphone cameras and Instagram....Saviours or Destroyers of Photography?

There have been a lot of professional photographers out there that have stated that Instagram and cellphone cameras are the destroyer of traditional photography! I on the other hand think that in a lot of ways Instagram and cell phones have rekindled interest in photography in the general masses, to a level not seen since the Polaroid days. 

Back in the 70's I think photography had hit an all time interest level high, mostly because of the popularity of the Polaroid cameras. I can remember that everyone had one, and I can remember being at family parties and there being a few Polaroid's snapping away. My family still has photo albums full of fading Polaroids. 

Jump to now to modern times and cell phones and Instagram, we have a simular interest in general photography. In my opinion, the addition of cameras to todays cell phones and the ability to post pictures to sites such as Facebook and Instagram as soon as you take them has re-stirred an interest in general eveyday photography. 

Now in my opinion it has created upsides and some downsides to the fields of photography. On the upside end of things, one of the most interesting is an interest in "still life" photography. This is evident by how many "food pix" you see on Instagram. If some of these people would put that interest in using real cameras we could have new generation of product and still life photographers. The cellphone cameras have also led to an increase of interest in the field of street/urban photography. Almost eveyone has a camera with them now when thy see something interesting while walking down the street. A positive side benefit is that few people are intimidated by someone taking a picture with a cell phone allowing you to get the shots you would have a hard time getting on the streets with a DSLR. 

In my mind one thing that can be considered both a positive and a negative is the rise of the "selfies". As annoying as it can be, it can also lead to an increase interest in modelling and portrait photography. 

So in my opinion there are both positive and negative aspects to the rise of cell cameras and sites like Instagram. It will take time to see what this will all mean for the art of photography. 

PHOTOGRAPHY RESOURCES AND LEARNING MATERIAL

As I got more and more involved with photography I had to look for ways to learn the keys of being a good photographer. There are a few main methods I used to learn from. The main types can be broken down into two categories, physical and online.

The physical tools I use can be broken down into two types, books and magazines. I am huge fan of reading. There are some really good magazines out there that deal with photography. Some are dedicated to landscape and wildlife photography, some are aimed at portraits and still others focus on conceptual/ artistic photography. And still more don't limit themselves and cover a wide variety of styles. I don't really want to endorse any particular magazine, most are really good learning materials, it just depends on your interest and focus as a photographer. The one area of photography that I find lacks coverage, at least in magazines that are found in stores, is Street Photography. I wish there was a widely available magazine that covered Street/Urban photography, if there is I have not found it.

Another great physical learning aid that I have learned a lot from is of course books. There are some really great photographers out that who put out some great books. Unlike magazines I will endorse one author who I have enjoyed and learned alot from, and only because his books cover a wide variety of photography styles. That author is Tom Ang. I have at least four of his books and I have learned a lot from them. I recommend his books to anyone interested in photography.

Now on to Online learning aids and this list could get way too long and could be it's own blog entry at a latter date. There are so many ways to learn online. You can do online training courses, you use photo sharing sites to get constructive (and hopefully not "bitchy") feedback on your shots. You can join photography groups on "Social Media" sites. There are blogs (like this one) that cover a lot of different genres. There are many other ways to learn online. However there is one online option that I recommend to any and all photographers to take advantage of, and it's free to use, and that is YouTube.

I have learned so much from YouTube videos, and not just dealing with Photography. I have a long list of photography "channels" that I subscribe too. Some are Street based photography, some "focus" on portraits, others are gear review based and some cover just about everything. In my opinion there is no better resource to learn from than YouTube.

There are other ways you can learn about photography, you can join clubs, attend photowalks and learn from other members. You can attend college/university courses, attend workshops and seminars and many others ways to learn your craft. I haven't done any of these, partly because of geography, and partly because of money. I hope to do some these in the future though.

Fujifilm X30 Review Continues!

A quick update on the Fujifilm X30 compact camera.......

I have to say that the X30 has exceeded my expectations so far. I am loving this awesome little camera!

I haven't had much opportunity to get out do any more Street Photography with it, which was the intended reason why I bought it. I have however been able to use it to photograph my Step-Son's "Competitive Dodgeball Team" (yes there is such a thing as competitive dodgeball) with the camera. I have to say that using the camera, and cheating a little by using the sports scene mode, I didn't have any problem focusing or catching the action with only a little motion blur.

The lens is extremely sharp and clear. The manual zoom, while less than I am used to from the HS25EXR, is very smooth. The EVF (Electronic View Finder) is very nice and easy to read. The camera so far handles very nice and I will be hopefully putting it through its paces very soon. I will be posting more indepth reviews of the different functions as I discover and "play" with the camera.

Fujifilm HS25 EXR....more than a "Bridge Camera"!

I have mentioned in other posts that my main camera for the last few years has been the Fujifilm HS25EXR "Bridge" or "Superzoom" camera. When I first bought this camera I was looking for something with a longer zoom range for landscapes and such. I couldn't really afford to get into a DSLR at the time, especially with the price of the lenses.

At the time I was using a Fujifilm Finepix S2950 camera which had an impressive 18 times zoom, but I wanted more. I really like the Fuji camera so I decided to look at the newer Fuji cameras that had longer zooms. I settled on the HS25EXR, which has a zoom range of 24-720mm. 

I bought this camera just in time for our trip to Canada's east coast, and it was amazing camera for that trip. I managed to get some great photos, from street to landscape to wildlife photos. I was pleasently surpized by it's performance on that trip.

By watching YouTube videos (my main learning tool) I discovered a lot of things that the videos were describing for DSLR's I was able use and do with this camera. I have done portraits, weddings, engagements shoots, and other such shoots with this camera. It may have a smaller sensor than a DSLR, may not have as good low light performance and other such things. To me though it has been a great and versitle camera. 

I recently got the FujiFilm X30 camera, mostly for Street Photography, and now that I am getting really serious about portraits and other such shoots I will be looking to upgrade my camera. I will be looking at upgradeing to a FujiFilm X series mirrorless system camera, such as the XT1 or even a bit cheaper XT10. It will depend on how much I am able to spend.

 With the experience I have had with the S2950, the HS25EXR and now the X30 I have to say that I love Fuji cameras!. 

SETTING UP MY HOME STUDIO!

Even though my main interest in photography is in the genre of Street/Urban/Photojournalism, I still enjoy doing portraits. I have been working on setting up a small studio space. I have had a couple of backdrop rolls (one black and one blue) for a while now. I also have some makeshift and some pro lighting options.

Well this week I found someone that was selling a backdrop frame for $50.00. When I saw her add in a FaceBook buy/sell group I jumped on it and she was able to hold on to it for me till payday.

Then yesterday I was looking around Kijiji for backdrops and other stuff, I didn't find any backdrops but I did find someone selling a Master/Slave flash lighting kit for $80. I jumped on that one as well. It came with two flash heads, two stands and three photography umbrellas (two transluscent and one reflective).

So my little photography studio is starting to really take shape. As the weather gets warmer I will be spending time cleaning up my shed which is a nice size for a studio.

And the advantage to my gear, is that it is all pretty much portable and I can take just about anywhere to to do a shoot. Such as when my wife and I do our annual "Santa Claus" photos each year at the store she works at. Every year we have to try and "Magyver" an area for the shoot. This year with the backdrop frame and hopefully a Holiday backdrop by then our pictures will be even better.

So once I get things set up I will be available for shoots!