Embracing the Abstract

Creating images in the mind...

"Line of Trees" - Fujifilm X-T1 - XF18-135 @ 90mm - 1/110s at f/22 ISO200

This February I was once again in Yellowstone National Park running MagicIs photographic workshops with some really extraordinary people.  Over the two weeks I learned a little about nuclear physics, banking, metallurgy, reconstructive surgery, hitech roof construction, information technology, farming and how a 12 year old boy sees the world through a camera...

In return I showed them some of the most extraordinary sights on earth and endeavoured to give them some of the skills to translate what they saw before them into images - be they wildlife, landscape, or something more abstract.

Anything Goes

Every summer I am part of a team that runs a week-long residential music/theatre workshop for FCMG: London's Children's Choir based at Sevenoaks School in Kent.

The 2013 show was Cole Porter's "Anything Goes" and for the first time I photographed the dress rehearsal and performance using only my Fujis - X-Pro1 with 18-55 and X-E1 with 55-200. With the latest firmware the auto focus worked fantastically even though much of the show was quite darkly lit.

All images were shot around f/4.0 in aperture priority with variable amounts of exposure compensation - the constantly changing lighting meant that much tweaking of the exposure was needed to keep the mood right in the images.  White balance was kept constant on Tungsten so changes of lighting colour were preserved and not white balanced out to neutral!  ISO was in the range of 800 to 1600 throughout.

The RAW files were developed and book designed in Adobe Lightroom 5.

You can see the results in a Blurb photobook - if you have a fast connection use the full screen preview bottom right:

Anything Goes (Hardback) by Simon Weir | Make Your Own Book

Red, White & Blue

On the 3rd June 2012 Great Britain turned out en-masse to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee.

I spent the day on the bank of the river Thames in central London photographing the "Great British Public" in all their glory festooned in red, white and blue.

All I took with me was the Fuji X-Pro1 and the XF35mm f/1.4 prime lens - a perfect combination for fast moving street photography.  The compact size not only makes it easy to carry round all day but also means it is less threatening to those being photographed than a big SLR - everyone featured was happy to have their photo taken - such was the joyous atmosphere throughout the celebrations.

This sort of shoot is perfect material for a photo book - really as a keepsake to bring back happy memories and pass them on to the next generation...

Red White & Blue by Simon Weir | Make Your Own Book