As most of you know, we are blessed to have my granddaughter Abigail living with us along with her Mom and Dad. Â Abby is so much fun and always finds her way into my office. Â I am forever putting my hats on her hoping to capture a cute moment. Â Yesterday I was able to make this one capture before she took the hat off and moved on. Â I’ve been trying to get a “great” shot of Abby for months! Â She is fast and the light in my office is always a challenge, typically too dark for a fast enough shutter speed. Â That said, I have not been deterred and ALWAYS have my Fuji X-E1 handy. Â
I recently purchased the 35mm 1.4 lens and had it wide open at 1.4 for this capture with the ISO up to 1600. Â And lo and behold, MAGIC happened! Â So the moral of the story is, have a camera ready, pre-visualize an opportunity and be prepared, you never know what might happen. Â For me, these new mirrorless cameras are making photography spontaneous and fun again. Â Their size makes it so there is no excuse not have a camera with you. Â And the quality of the images from the Fuji X-Trans sensor is nothing short of amazing. Â I am grateful that I had my camera sitting on my desk for this shot!
So, what about you? Â Are you looking to join the mirror-less revolution? Â Sony, Olympus and Fuji are all offering great cameras. Â I’d be interested to know what folks are doing.
[Tweet “Fuji X-E1 Capture with 35mm 1.4 lens wide open”]
For processing I brought up the crazy good Alien Skin Exposure 5 for the B&W conversion and then blended that back in with the original at 60% opacity for the third look. Â The lead image is a straight out of the camera jpeg shot in the square format.
One last thought, I’m trying a new plug-it for WordPress that allows me to add these click to tweet boxes making it easy for you to share content that you like. Â We live in a social media world and I would appreciate your sharing if you feel so inspired.
Click here and use the code JBW0913 for a 10% discount on any Alien Skin Software.
[Tweet “10% off Alien Skin Software with code JBW0913 http://bit.ly/1arx4be”]
This one is just crazy good JB. It is obviously very spontaneous and natural, a real winner. It would have been very tough to get this with your ‘big boy’ camera. Of course, I suspect that Abby is pretty used to cameras by now! Great job!
Thanks Mr. O. I’ll take CRAZY good from you any day! 🙂
Hey, John! That is one beautiful shot, but…….with a subject that sweet how could you miss? 🙂 That’s the photographic equivalent of shooting fish in a very small barrel! More seriously, your little angel is a beauty and it’s no wonder you delight in having her around. She has eyes that make Audrey Hepburn’s look small ! You know Wordsworth and friends believed in heaven but that is precedes rather than follows life. Hence children exist there first and then are born into this world. That’s why they are so angelic. Your granddaughter, and your excellent shot of her, could stand as proof positive that Wordsworth might have been on to something. Thanks for sharing this one. Slainte!
Love your poetry Bruce!
Fabulous photo of your granddaughter!
Thanks Mimi.
John, very nice. I enjoy photographing the grandkids – one of them is camera-friendly and the other shy. Always a challenge. You certainly have me interested in the mirrorless cameras.
Thanks Merrill. The Mirrorless stuff is good now and will just get better over time. Sony will be announcing a full frame soon. Fuji is rumored to be working on one… Its a fun time for gear.
She’s absolutely beautiful, love those eyes!
Magical is the word I thought of first. A magical capture of a beautiful, angelic young lady. How blessed you are!
I just bought a Fuji X-E1 and am still getting used to it. I like the ability to capture high quality images with smaller equipment. I know Trey Ratcliff loves the Sony NEX-7 and Teri Lou just got an Olympus. After looking at them at the camera store I just liked the look, feel and image quality of the Fuji. It is a new era in equipment. With that said I’m certainly not trashing my DSLR’s just yet. 🙂
Congrats on your new purchase! I would suggest you get the Thumbs Up from Match Technical. Tell Tim Issac (owner) I sent you. Makes the handling of the camera much more solid. That is where I got my red lady bug soft release too.
Preparation and Opportinity coming together equals Priceless! As like our children, they grow far too fast… Unfortunately that means we become that much older and wiser
Priceless image JB!
Children grow up way too fast! Unfortunately that means…. Precious moments!
Lovely image of a beautiful young lady!!!
I have a NEX6 with a Zeiss 1.8 24mm and the images a great.
Sony is making some great gear.
She’s way beyond cute and this is a beautiful image.
Thanks Dan.
Great photo of one gorgeous child! How lucky you are!
I was about to e-mail you and have you remind me where you got the thumb grip, when I saw the response to Jim’s comment above. I’ve contacted Tim to order one. Along with the RRS grip, it will make the X-E1 perfectly stable. LOVING mine!
I am lucky and I know you’re loving your Fuji
Great capture John!
Don’t forget to include Panasonic in your list of mirror-less cameras. I’m enjoying my Lumix G5 (G6 is now out). And the Panasonic GH3 is getting lots of praise from the mirror-less community.
You’re right Bruce. Panasonic makes excellent products. Great for video too.
Your granddaughter is the cutest and most beautiful little girl! What a sweetie! I trust you are smothering her all the time with kisses and big JB hugs! I know I would be. And by the way, great photographs of her! 🙂
You bet I am!
Beautiful image! I love blending color and black and white together like this. But you started with a great photo and a great photo subject, too. such a cutie.