Exploring Bouddi National Park with a camera

It has been a long time since I visited a landscape or seascape location with a camera. Since I became immersed in the world of street and urban photography my passion and focus has remained there, although there have been many times where I have admitted to myself that it would be a nice change to mix it up and go and shoot something a lot more relaxing.

Nestled in the lower Central Coast of New South Wales in Australia, and approximately two hours north of Sydney is the beautiful Bouddi National Park.

I have been to this place many times since moving to the region in 2017, however it was never with a camera.

A close friend of mine, and buddying photographer had already spent a couple of days shooting with me recently during his visit to our state, however they were both street shoots. Since we are both fond of landscape scenes at such locations we thought that we would head to the park to see what we could find from a photographic perspective.

We exited the carpark late afternoon and were immediately onto the main beach which makes its way around to the beginning of the rock formations.

From there you can stay on the lower level where many people like to fish, with plenty of interesting rock formations at the ocean’s edge to shoot, however if you choose to do so you must research tidal information, because the water there can often have a tendency to smash into the rocks and spill well beyond the edges.

Alternatively, you can climb the rock formations and steadily make your way to the top of the cliffs, or take the dedicated stairs… be warned, your calves and quads will get quite the workout!

From the cliff top you will be confronted with absolutely stunning views, and you will quickly realise just how wonderful the colour palette is. When you visit this location for the first time it can take your breath away, and it is very unique to have such a beautiful place right near populated urban environments.

I took along both my Fujifilm X-T5 and X100VI cameras. The X-T5 (with my 16-55 2.8 lens) was going to sit on my tripod, and the X100VI was there to take candid and documentary type pictures, some of which were for the purpose of my mate’s video that he will be creating where he will be showcasing his pictures.

Despite arriving late afternoon the sun was still way too high and was therefore quite harsh on the rocks and water’s edge, so we decided to head up to the cliff top to search for compositions which would work when the sun was much lower on the horizon.

Here is the view as you reach the top, as the cliffs look east.

Look at the patterns in those rock formations!

I know what you’re thinking, why did he mention the beautiful colour palette there, yet he took monochrome pictures?

Be patient, there are coloured pictures too.

The timber stairs which start at the eastern end of the main beach eventually take you onto a walkway which runs all the way along to the beach at the eastern end of the park. Approximately two thirds of the way to the second beach there is a walkway which heads up toward the north eastern lookout, from there you can take a hike along the cliff top on the opposite side to where we were… we chose not to check that out on this day.

My mate searching for compositions as the sun began to draw closer to the horizon.

We found a great spot which was providing golden light before sunset, and therefore we chose to take many pictures there, knowing that later the sun would not reach there.

Facing this direction away from the western sky we could see three young teenagers who were accompanied by the father of one of them swimming in the ocean below. Apparently they were there on an overnight camp.

I love the leading line of the water hitting the shore, leading the eye to the rock formation at the eastern point.

Look at the golden light hitting those magnificent rock formations!

Looking back toward the west.

I couldn’t resist taking this picture after seeing the spot of golden light hitting the whitest part of the cloud!

The sun was getting closer to the horizon and it was almost time to head to the western side to see what the light was doing there before it faded… time for a few last minute efforts here.

We made it over to the western side in time for the sun being closer to the horizon, however sadly by this time more cloud had moved in and blocked it.

Just as I decided to swing my camera around to face west again I placed my left foot on a large rock to begin moving to another spot, when the rock suddenly gave way beneath me.

My left leg crashed down hard onto another rock, leaving me with a gash on both my knee and shin.

After several minutes of hobbling around in pain I turned my camera around to see this beautiful and colourful rock formation.

It wasn’t my favourite composition from the day, however the colour really stood out for me and my leg was now telling me to quit the shoot, therefore I decided that this was to be my last picture… we were almost out of light anyway.

Well, we didn’t receive the lighting conditions that we hoped for from the lower west facing locations, however we did have beautiful golden light earlier from atop the cliffs which enabled both of us to create some nice pictures.

The winner for the day was the time spent with a close mate, talking crap and creating valuable life experiences… nice pictures are a bonus.

I hope that you enjoyed reading the blog and the pictures. I really appreciate you taking the time to check them out.

Roger Brooks.

A change of pace... Balmain East with the Fujifilm X-T5

Recently I have hit the wall, figuratively speaking, with what is known as traditional street photography… the process which typically sees a photographer amidst a lot of people and trying to take their pictures in relatively close proximity.

Truth be told, the process of being out there and working that way is likely only one part of the frustration, other parts have nothing to do with photography at all, yet tend to negatively affect creative mindsets.

I almost never shoot on Sunday’s, I just tend to shoot on Saturday’s and leave Sunday as a ‘whatever I feel like’ day.

Also, there are a lot more people on the streets on a Saturday when compared to a Sunday.

Strangely, I found myself one Sunday being motivated to head out and shoot, problem was that I didn’t have a clue what and where to shoot.

I decided that I was going to head south into Sydney, however my initial instinct was to avoid the CBD. But where do I go?

One location that had recently entered my mind was the Balmain and Balmain East area. When I first thought about this area my concept was to find interesting perspectives where there were buildings, vehicles, people etc in the foreground, with the city skyline and Sydney Harbour Bridge deep into the background.

Balmain and Balmain East are adjoining suburbs in the inner west of Sydney, just a few kilometres from the Sydney CBD.

 

This is a very affluent area with hugely expensive real estate and stunning views of the Sydney CBD and Sydney Harbour from various streets.

That concept sat well with me, but what gear setup should I use?

Well, my favourite cameras are my Fujifilm X-Pro3 and X100VI, however the X100VI has a fixed 35mm focal length lens, too wide for this application, and the tightest small lens that I have for my X-Pro3 is a 50mm focal length lens… this change of pace and concept required something a lot tighter.

The ‘no brainer’ was to take my Fujifilm X-T5 with the Fujifilm 16-55 f2.8 lens. Of course I’d prefer to have a longer lens than that for this process, however that’s the longest lens that I own, so I had to make it work somehow.

Yes, the 16-55 lens can go onto my X-Pro3 also, however the longer, heavier lens just feels better on the X-T5 for me.

I had a quick look at the Rozelle end of Balmain upon arriving however I just wasn’t feeling it, and so I decided that Balmain East was going to be the way to go… this way I knew that the water from Sydney Harbour would feature in many pictures.

Darling Street is the main one running through Balmain and down to the water at Balmain East. I decided not to focus on the many people in the main part of Balmain, and instead focus on the back streets and look for those perspectives which could depict what the area looked like, whilst showcasing the skyline and harbour at the same time.

I parked my car in a side street and within fifty metres I stumbled upon my first opportunity to shoot a scene with the harbour in the background.

The temptation was to immediately follow the street down toward the harbour, however I decided to head into back streets first to see where I could find more obscure perspectives than the first two pictures..

“When I first thought about this area my concept was to find interesting perspectives where there were buildings, vehicles, people etc in the foreground, with the city skyline and Sydney Harbour Bridge deep into the background.”

— Roger Brooks

If you take the time to walk these streets, you’ll find plenty of opportunities to shoot ‘through the streets’ and highlight the beautiful Sydney Harbour at the same time.

I love the rich contrast that can be achieved with monochrome pictures.

In most streets here there is some type of Sydney Harbour Bridge perspective.

Imagine living here and staring at the harbour through your windows!

I decided to head back across to Darling Street and then down toward the water. Darling Street is filled with stunning historic terrace houses, I’ve always been fascinated by them, especially the ones which have been meticulously cared for.

As you head down the hill there are beautiful semi obstructed views of the bridge.

When you reach the bottom of Darling Street you are in full view of the harbour, well, not the Opera House side, complete with views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and some of the city skyline.

Just above the harbour there is a narrow street with some very old and historic dwellings, along with some interesting trees and fauna.

This is a very unique part of Sydney. Being able to reside this close to the city and harbour must be a fabulous and fulfilling experience.

I thoroughly enjoyed slowing down and taking my time walking through these back streets to create pictures that partly tell a story of our beautiful city of Sydney, without the need to fill each frame with people.

I hope that you enjoyed the pictures, and thank you for reading the blog.

Roger Brooks.

Experimenting with a 50mm focal length for street photography...

I recently purchased a new Fujifilm XF35mm F2 R WR lens to add to my kit. On an APS-C camera this lens is approximately a 50mm focal length full frame equivalent, and provides a tighter perspective when compared to my 28mm and 35mm options.

With prime lenses like these you really have to use your feet to get the perspectives that you’re looking for.

Here are my favourite pictures from the very first outing with the new lens.

I absolutely love the juxtaposition here as it looks as though the person in the foreground was actually on the street in 1969, and in the picture on the wall.

I love creating layers and depth by incorporating multiple people in a picture. What I like most about this picture is the guy on the tram platform staring into the sky, whilst the guy in the foreground (and others) are simply looking ahead of where they’re walking.

To me this implies that there is something unknown in all four directions of the picture.

A young boy playing soccer on a very busy Sydney CBD street, now that is unique and something that you might typically only see in South American countries.

Despite the chaotic scene, most of the people here have enough space around them, allowing the picture to avoid being too messy and distracting. With a 50mm lens you have to take many steps backward before creating this shot.

“With prime lenses like these you really have to use your feet to get the perspectives that you’re looking for.”

— Roger Brooks

An eye on Sly!

Pictures like these are much more engaging when taken with a tighter focal length, my wider lenses would not have been able to compress the scene and bring the artwork and person closer together.

Mind you, they weren’t too far apart to begin with, but still, the tighter focal length is more practical here, unless there are interesting characters to the left and right.

Even then, the tighter focal length allows the picture to be more intriguing by including the large face on the artwork and just one person.

Check out the father staring at me as I came down the escalator, obviously uneasy about me taking pictures! I bet that he is one of a zillion people who happily take pictures with their phones in public all the time, post the pictures and tag whoever is with them, yet frown when someone does it with a proper camera?!

And, and, and… if and when WE publish the pictures, no-one knows the identity of the people in the picture. Soooo, Mr and Mrs Public, what the hell are you whining about?!

RANT over!

The compression of a 50mm focal length allows perspectives such as these. This picture was taken from the southern/city side of Circular Quay train station, against the tram platform, and looking through the opening toward the ship terminal and Sydney Harbour Bridge.

These people were approximately 150 metres from the ship.

In this picture I allowed the 50mm focal length to compress the depth of the scene. I also purposely allowed the two people in the foreground to be inside the minimum zone focus range, therefore they were out of focus, allowing the eye to bounce from them and into the rest of the picture.

Here are a few images of the new lens on my Fujifilm X-Pro3 camera.

I gotta be honest, whilst I was out there trying techniques that I believe I needed to use in order to maximise the benefits of a 50mm focal length, I wasn’t inspired, nor confident that I was making interesting enough pictures.

When looking through the pictures after uploading them I still didn’t feel good about them.

I decided to take a break from them and returned to them a day or so later, and that gave me a new perspective and focus on the pictures, and only then could I see that in some ways I did achieve the desired results.

Even if I did not feel good about any of them, it was my very first time at using this focal length. Making changes such as this often require time and patience.

I am keen to continue to pursue compositions with this focal length, but not with every shoot.

I firmly believe that the 28mm and 35mm focal lengths are my favourites for street stuff, but now I have a challenging and very interesting option to throw into the mix every now and then.

If you’ve never shot with a 50, take a leap of faith and grab one, and be patient if at first it doesn’t feel right.

Hope you enjoyed my thoughts and the images, I appreciate you taking the time to check it out.

Roger Brooks.

Dealing with lack of motivation with your photography | Fujifilm X100VI

It has been a short while since I have felt passion and motivation in my street photography.

It’s not for a lack of effort. I have been out there, well, maybe only three or four times to be honest, and each time I have felt something missing whilst I’ve been out there… a feeling which was confirmed when I saw the images after uploading them.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t necessarily believe that not really liking any of the day’s images means that the day was not a success. I am far too familiar with the realisation that being out there does not guarantee what we perceive as good results.

My recent issues extend well beyond whether the images were good enough or not… or do they?

If I really liked many images from those shoots then would I feel the same way about my photography?

Are there other causes affecting my outlook on my craft?

Well, I have a very busy job, there’s the day-to-day life matters outside of work, and oh, I’m currently in the worst physical condition of my life!

Now, I know that being fit and healthy can positively affect your outlook and possibly enhance your experience out there on the street, however its not a pre-requisite.

Good pictures can be made by physically unhealthy people… haha.

Look, I don’t really know what the ultimate cause, or causes are, but I do know that many obstacles in life are more often than not just temporary.

And, should photo shoots yielding unsatisfactory results be considered as life obstacles?

I think not, surely.

So where to from here?

At some point there will be a positive day which will change my mindset about my work, right?

In order for that to happen, there has to be some form of plan, a method, a challenge perhaps?

It is times like these where the focus has to be a little sharper, with a little more intent… spraying and praying won’t get it done!

Ok, so it was time to get this sorted, but how?

Well, to be honest there was no grand plan, I kept it relatively simple.

My plan was to follow the light (hooray, no insight there, genius!), focus on getting as many layered images as possible and most importantly, just be happy being out there with no super expectations.

So, I saw a sunny weather pattern appear in the forecast and decided to head onto the streets late one afternoon to set this thing in the right direction.

Now, I didn’t have a lot of time, therefore I decided to restrict my walk to within four or five blocks of the Sydney CBD, and pretty much central.

I began with a few warm-ups.

After hanging around the Town Hall precinct for a little while I headed north along George Street to see what the light was doing at a few busy intersections.

As some of you know I love the pictures of old time Sydney adorning the boards guarding people from entering the many construction sites in Sydney at the moment, and I enjoy shooting people as they move across these pictures. I really like these three examples, especially the depth created by multiple people in the last one.

Sunny days like these enable pockets of light to appear in certain spots, as they appear in-between buildings, in turn providing plenty of scope to isolate people to a large degree.

From time to time you’ll find ways to create something a little cheeky and humorous, such as this fella and his haircut as he passed by the barber shop sign.

And this one, where I captured the guy as the liquor bottles on the tram lined up with the movement of his arms, as if he was skulling the drinks!

I often enjoy capturing scenes like these, where it appears as though they’re at an intersection and people are giving way to others.

Couldn’t resist this group of office workers as the guy on the bike was racing by… I love the depth in this picture.

Here’s some more random pictures that I made as I took one last look around the Town Hall precinct before I was done.

The beautiful rumble of this Harley-Davidson Street Bob!

So, my message is to focus on what is important in your life. If something is important enough to you, and there appears to be obstacles, then take a step back, breathe and you’ll discover a way around the obstacles.

Thank you for reading the blog. I hope that you enjoyed it.

A photowalk with a close friend...

It’s been almost a month since I have taken any of my cameras anywhere.

Bad weather, other commitments, and to be honest a lack of desire to shoot have been the reasons behind the inactivity.

Life, and your mind can tend to get in the way sometimes and temporarily freeze desire and ambition.

On this day I had an opportunity to shoot with a close friend, Matthew, who was visiting from his recent new home location of Tasmania in Australia… no better way to break my photography mini drought.

The Sydney CBD was the location and we decided to meet mid morning in front of the Town Hall, a familiar and convenient place to do so due to it being pretty much at the midway point of the city, and also the close proximity to parking stations and train stations.

Truth be told, I arrived approximately thirty minutes earlier than the agreed time and therefore once Matthew arrived I was already warmed up… and yes, warming up is important.

Here are a few of my warm up images.

Love the contrast of old and newer vehicles here...

Couldn't resist the building reflecting in the car window...

Take the picture and look away!

Despite being warmed up I was in need of a coffee and food therefore we headed south down George Street and found ourselves at Starbucks.

A large coffee, bacon and egg roll and some catchup chat and we were now ready to get moving and make some pictures.

On this day I brought along my Fujifilm X100VI, along with my DJI Osmo Pocket 3, Matthew had his Fujifilm X-T4.

We decided that the Haymarket area was as far south as we wanted to go therefore we walked there to start the journey.

Whilst today wasn’t the busiest I’ve seen the city, there were still plenty of people about.

As well as being a keen photography student, Matthew is also a very accomplished musician (guitar and vocals) and can never ignore an opportunity to converse with buskers on the street.

On this occasion, and to the busker’s surprise, Matthew joined in and began singing the song that the busker was playing on his guitar.

Eventually we decided to head back up George Street to see what else we could capture, all the time searching for pockets of light to enable opportunities for subjects to be more prominent.

Here’s Matthew capturing a food delivery cyclist alongside a tram.

Never just walk blindly along George Street, pay attention to what may be available in side streets or laneways, such as these ladies walking between blocks as well as the guy with the suitcase having a smoke break, strangely remaining faced to the wall.

Sensational Korean fried chicken beside the cinema complex… I didn’t have any that day.

As we reached Bathurst Street and faced the Town Hall precinct we were again greeted with beautiful light.

A bicycle bonanza!

It always bemuses me when I see the positions that people get into when taking portraits of others with their mobile phones!

For the record, he was taking pictures of his mate, not the girls… I think.

I was honestly unaware of the graffiti inside the phone booth until I edited this photo of Matthew whilst he was creating reflection shots against a digital billboard… haha!

You are always guaranteed of at least one strange looking character in the seating area opposite the Town Hall building.

Below is probably my favourite image from the day… love the way that the guy is positioned low in the frame, allowing your eye to move upward into the sky which is framed by the buildings on either side of Park Street.

From here we ventured further south down to the Apple store as the light can reflect off the huge glass facade and shine across the King Street intersection.

Alas, it wasn’t really happening there at this time today, although I did manage to capture this interesting perspective of the facade.

With the lack of light here, and the fact that we were now foot weary we decided to head back to Grill’d near the Town Hall for lunch.

The lunch sit down was a great opportunity to rest, eat, chat more about life and simply enjoy each other’s company.

After lunch we made the short walk back past Town Hall so that I could grab a box of egg custard tarts from Breadtop for a snack once I got back home.

Love this shot of Matthew in the left corner of the frame, with the hustle and bustle all around him.

Not quite sure how all six of the tarts survived the drive back up to the Central Coast without being demolished in my mouth, but there you go!

Did I remove my photography funk?

Pretty sure that I did, but more importantly we filled each other’s cup with laughter, smiles, random stupidity and serious conversation, all hallmarks of a great friendship.

Add photography into that mix and it gets even more special.

Thanks for the great day man!

Thanks for reading the blog, I really appreciate it.

A culturally sensitive day in Sydney with my Fujifilm X-Pro3

As we near the end of winter in Australia you can already feel the sense of spring approaching. It is still very cool in the morning, evening and night as I write this, however when the sun is out during the day the temperature is very pleasant.

I made my way by car into the Sydney CBD and parked where I usually do, deep below the Queen Victoria Building, aka the QVB.

The QVB is right next door to the beautiful Town Hall building and is fairly central, allowing a relatively even distance in all directions within the city. The parking fee there on weekends is relatively inexpensive, even if the car has been there for several hours (definitely not the case on weekdays).

After exiting the QVB I usually tend to move south, and when you do that you are immediately bang in the middle of the Town Hall precinct which has arguably the best lighting conditions in the city.

In this area you have the Town Hall building itself and St Andrews Cathedral beside one another, each dating back to the 1860’s, along with modern light rail stops, seating benches, shops, passageways to the underground Town Hall train station and plenty of people.

It is this area where I usually begin to take some warm-up shots before heading further south down George Street to get the leg muscles activated.

Heading south down George Street is often too tempting for me, because I usually cannot resist purchasing some egg tarts (a small oval shaped egg custard tart) from Breadtop which is a chain of self serve Asian and Western fusion bakeries.

On this day, somehow I managed to resist getting some. I did however let myself down and eat take-away for lunch!

Sometimes during these initial warm-up walks I will stop before reaching Liverpool Street, which is only about a ten minute walk from the QVB and then turn around and begin heading north back toward Town Hall and onto Circular Quay.

On this day I decided to keep heading south as far as Chinatown, just in case anything caught my eye down there.

To be honest, it was pretty chilled between Liverpool Street and Chinatown, and despite taking pictures there was nothing I was overly happy with.

What wasn’t chilled once I arrived back at the Town Hall precinct, although without aggression or incident, were the two simultaneous protests taking place, one outside St Andrews Cathedral and the other outside the Town Hall building.

The protest outside St Andrews Cathedral was by the people of Bangladesh in relation to what they claim to be atrocities against Hindus, Buddhists and Christians in Bangladesh.

This was very much a peaceful and respectful protest, yet one which displayed much purpose and angst.

No more than fifty metres to the north, and right outside the Town Hall building was the other protest.

This protest by the people of Venezuela was part of a global protest in relation to an alleged election steal by the Venezuelan President.

Much like the Bangladesh protest, the people were full of passion and there was an abundance of rich saturated colour.

As with the Bangladesh protest, this was also peaceful and respectful, whilst spreading their strong message proudly.

And so ends a fascinating day in the city. Well, truth be told I ventured further north and took many more pictures away from the protests, however they’re potentially for another day.

Irrespective of beliefs everyone has a voice, and there’s nothing wrong with making that voice and message known, provided that it is done respectfully.

Both of these protests were conducted peacefully and respectfully, with no impact on the local community in terms of noise and potential obstruction of vehicle and foot traffic. Peace be with you.

Thank you for reading the blog, and I hope that you enjoyed the pictures.

Roger Brooks.

I purchased a Fujifilm X-Pro3

Well, recently I’ve been writing about camera update considerations and to be fair, it hasn’t necessarily been about GAS (gear acquisition syndrome), it’s been a constant review of my camera/s setup to determine what I believe could ultimately be the most practical options for both performance and experience.

Recently both my Fujifilm X-H2 and X100F have been sold, and during that sales period I purchased a new Fujifilm X-T5.

The X-T5 is incredible, of course it is.

40 megapixel sensor, IBIS, 4K video (actually performs above that, but who needs it), articulating screen, D-Pad, orgasmic shutter action, the list goes on!

When I purchased the X-T5 I added both the Fujinon 23mm f2 and 16-55 f2.8 lenses which made it a powerhouse setup, but somehow something was still missing.

What was I missing out on?

Well, I had decided that the X-H2 did not give me the experience that I was craving in the street, despite being such a magnificent camera, and whilst the X100F did give me the experience, I decided that I needed my second body to be weather sealed and to have 4K video capability.

In the end departing with the X-H2 did not leave me feeling emotional, however the sale of the X100F did, for sure!

I still have the Fujifilm X100Vi on pre-order, and the latest arrival update is mid to late August (it is now July 12).

So, you’re this far into the blog, you’ve seen the blog title and you’re thinking, tell me about the X-Pro3!

The difficulty in waiting so long for the X100Vi is that I’ve had way too much time to consider if I’m doing the right thing, and that inexcusable reason has led me to many videos and articles about the famous Fujifilm X-Pro line of cameras.

What immediately fascinated me about this line of cameras was the true rangefinder appearance. Many people refer to the X100 line as being rangefinder, but the X-Pro’s are true rangefinders.

No brand names on the front of the body, no large housing, beautiful ergonomics and just a beautiful and unassuming camera body in my opinion.

Obviously I now have a 26 megapixel and 40 megapixel camera, but come on, you don’t need me to tell you that 40 megapixels is way too many for street stuff.

Before you comment about the X-Pro3’s renowned screen ribbon issue, I hear ‘ya, I know all about it. To be honest I believe that most, if not all users who have experienced the issue have pushed the ribbon way beyond its means, and by that I mean that they’ve likely folded it up and down well beyond ninety degrees and often, causing unnecessary stress on the ribbon, causing it to fail.

Yeah, I know, it shouldn’t be a problem in the first place, we shouldn’t have to worry about that, yet here we are.

So why did I proceed with an X-Pro3 purchase? Why not the very well regarded X-Pro2?

Well, the X-Pro3 has the fold down LCD screen, and whilst it is hidden from normal viewing, it is there for whenever I choose to shoot from the hip.

The X-Pro2 has a screen in full view and not hidden, yet is fixed.

One of the other reasons for purchasing the X-Pro3 is that I have been very reliably informed that the X-Pro4 release has been delayed until approximately 2026, so I decided to go with the current model now and I’m pretty sure that I’ll jump on the 4 when it is released.

I have only been out once with the X-Pro3 thus far, however immediately I feel as one with this camera.

It sits in my hand much better than an X100 and has an amazingly authentic shutter sound. Add to that the combination of getting to know a new (to me) camera, including shooting without chimping to avoid folding down the screen, and arriving home with no idea how any of the images turned out, and arguably you have the most thrilling photographic street experience that has not incorporated film.

Almost forgot to add, I recently purchased a new Fujilfilm 18mm F2 lens to add to the stable.

I’ve heard all the garbage about the poor performance and noisy sound of that lens, and mostly from street photographers.

Tell me the last time that you worried about the sound of your lens on the street - do you somehow believe that people can hear your lens over people talking and traffic?

Auto focus, well yeah I don’t rate the auto focus, but zone focusing fixes that issue right way!

The 18mm f2 weighs nothing, is very small and provides me with a wider perspective, and that’s a great reason for me to experiment with it alongside my 23mm f2 to cover my wide street requirements.

The 18mm f2 isn’t weather sealed, but if I’m shooting with it and the rain comes, I’ll swap it for the 23 which is weather resistant, done!

Don’t tell anyone, I haven’t cancelled the X100Vi pre-order yet!

I have added just a select few images from what was ultimately a very short photo walk with the Fujifilm X-Pro3. I look forward to sharing my thoughts and images as I continue to work with this magnificent camera.

Thanks for reading the blog, I really appreciate it.

A short walk through Chinatown in Sydney with the Fujifilm X-T5

A late afternoon visit to the city and an unexpected opportunity to take a quick photo walk, this is why you should have a camera with you as often as possible.

This was also another opportunity to become more familiar with my new Fujifilm X-T5, coupled with my pre-existing 23mm f2 lens which makes for a great street photography kit.

The streets weren’t exactly bustling at this time of the day, and to be fair I’m in a transition phase right now regarding my photographic perspectives, and what I believe to be interesting enough photographs.

I am challenging myself more than ever to resist taking what I consider to be standard street photographs, and focus more on trying to create more depth, and hopefully stories with them.

Now, I honestly believe that some of these photographs can be considered to be standard street ones, and I struggled with them whilst editing, however I also believe that sometimes standard photographs can play a role in telling an overall story, particularly when writing blogs such as this one.

For example, the following photographs are what I consider to be standard, and I would have preferred to have more depth and story in them, however when you look at them as part of the complete set of photographs I believe that they can play their role, because they help to display the character of the location.

Every now and again you will have an opportunity to discover quirky photographic opportunities like this one below.

Whenever I am in locations where not much is going on I look for interesting perspectives such as shooting through glass or telephone boxes, as often they will have textures, stickers, graffiti etc on them which provide an interesting view with subjects in the background out of focus.

One of the ways to help create depth in street photographs is to take pictures of people around you and incorporate the background. The background, motion and/or character of the people help to tell the story of the location that you are in.

And of course, when you find yourself staring into alleyways you should always go deeper to see if anything interesting can be found, just like this door sign.

Time was almost up for this short photo walk, however I never put my camera away until I’m back at the car or on a train.

That’s a good thing because I found myself in front of this iconic mural and decided to take a photograph with the motorbike in the foreground, just to help create a sense of scale and depth.

Often I will prefer to shoot through trees like this to add more texture to the photograph.

As I approached the parking station there was one final opportunity, because there was a light rail stop right outside with many commuters on hand.

I managed to grab this photograph as the tram was leaving the platform, agonisingly close to the person in the foreground. This one works for me because of the slow shutter speed enhancing the appearance of the tram, the commuter calmly standing right near the moving tram, and also the reflections in the tram windows.

As you can see there are various ways to create photographs even on a very short photo walk, however it won’t happen if you’re not prepared to take a camera with you.

Thank you for reading the blog, and I hope that you enjoyed the images.

Roger Brooks.

New camera considerations... dilemma, dilemma.

Recently I have been considering a camera upgrade for my street and general urban photography, and to that end I decided to pre-order a new Fujifilm X100Vi.

Most serious photographers will know that due to the popularity of this camera there is a global shortage of supply, and as I write this blog I have already been waiting seven weeks, and I’ve been advised by the retailer that it may just be another seven weeks before it arrives.

Whilst that appears to be a frustrating circumstance, not only do I currently own both the Fujifilm X-H2 and X100F and therefore have cameras to shoot with, it has also enabled me to consider whether I am really making the right choices, and just how I should proceed.

Now, the X-H2 will definitely be sold at some point, because I have decided that whilst it works really well on a tripod in non urban environments, it just doesn’t feel right when I’m shooting stills on the street.

The X100F feels fantastic on the street, yet I am beginning to experiment with different angles and styles which certain features of the X100Vi will assist with. On top of that the X100Vi has features such as 4K video and in-body image stabilisation (IBIS) which the X100F does not have.

These features will allow me to be more creative on the street.

Another new camera contender is the fantastic Fujifilm X-T5, more on that in future blogs.

What do I do?

Well, on this day I decided to take my Fujifilm X100F out into the Sydney CBD for a very short photo walk and simply go about my processes and see how I feel afterwards. Is the potential new camera purchase now an overwhelming thought which cannot be stopped, or, do I stay in love with the older camera and push on with it?

Hope you enjoy the images.

Roger Brooks.

Motorcycle Diaries: Part 3 - A sunny day in Wollombi

The Easter long weekend in 2024 was upon us, and with a favourable weather pattern across the four days we anticipated a lot of riding was going to take place.

Little did we know that the toll of a very busy ongoing work schedule meant that as we entered Good Friday we found that we had little desire to ride, rather we decided to let our bodies tell us what we wanted to do, and ultimately that led to pretty much chilling out across Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Generally speaking I am a big believer in seizing the moment and living your life to the fullest, on the flip side I also believe in resting when your body (and mind) are telling you to rest… they are doing so for a reason.

So, with three days of chilling out behind us we decided to head out on the bikes on Easter Monday to the Wollombi Tavern for lunch.

Wollombi is a small village in New South Wales, Australia, and dates back to the 1820’s. Wollombi is approximately one hundred and twenty eight kilometres north of Sydney.

The route that my wife and I generally take is through the beautiful town of Yarramalong, then past the famous Jerry’s Cafe at Kulnura which is a bike mecca, then into the Wollombi valley which is a very scenic run with a rural atmosphere.

This route is perfect for all riders. There are very little straight bits of road, and plenty of climbs, descents and twisties to put your bike through its paces.

Whilst this run is not considered a long one for us, it still provides an opportunity to breathe the country air, stare at wildlife and feel the thrill of manoeuvring a motorbike through a rural setting… not to mention what awaits you at the destination.

Along the way we tend to stop here and there to simply get off the bikes and experience the quiet. This is essential, even if the total journey is not a long one. I love taking the opportunity to take pictures where possible, and these short stops are great for just that.

As the road turns into a fifty kilometre per hour section you eventually arrive at the township of Wollombi.

You do not have to look far to see where the majority of bikers are located, because the Wollombi Tavern is immediately on your left if you have travelled from the east and instantly you will notice the line of parked bikes right outside the tavern.

This tavern has had a few renovations over the years, none better than the improved beer garden where there is plenty of room for riders and families alike to chill out with good company, good food and good beers.

There are a few great cafes just around the corner also, and some funky arty shops if that interests you.

This is a great stop as the final destination, but also if you’re intending to ride to Broke and beyond, either way it is a fantastic way to spend some quality time on the bike and with loved ones or friends… this is what life is all about.

So, after a relaxing afternoon at Wollombi it was time to head home back along the same roads that we came in on. Not only did we get to ride these great roads twice, but we also decided to stop in at Jerry’s Cafe on the way back for a quick coffee.

Jerry’s Cafe is like a biker’s institution in these parts, and there’s always an opportunity to look at other bikes and strike up a conversation with like minded strangers.

What a great day! We are very lucky to have so many great destinations within relatively close proximity to where we live, and the run out to Wollombi and back never disappoints.

Sometimes you need a really long ride to dust off the cobwebs and clear your mind, other times you simply need to be on the bike, no matter how far or near, and when you have these roads, pubs, cafes and people as part of the adventure, life is good my friends.

Thank you for reading the blog, hope that you enjoyed it.

All images taken with my Fujifilm X100F.

Roger Brooks.

Motorcycle Diaries: Part 2 - Camp Quality MotoCyc Charity Ride

A good friend of mine advised me a few months prior to the 2024 Camp Quality MotoCyc Charity Ride that he was participating in the event, and I immediately responded by donating to his charity account. Initially I was unavailable to participate, however a month or so later an opportunity presented itself and I committed to the event, thus began my own fundraising endeavour.

Camp Quality is an organisation designed to help kids who are affected by cancer. The organisation helps kids create positive memories that can change their cancer story.

Camp Quality do this by helping children and their families build optimism and resilience through community, education and fun. Camp Quality are there for kids dealing with a cancer diagnosis every step of the way: in hospital, at school, online, and away from it all at their camps and retreats.

Fundraising is of course crucial to the organisation, and one of the popular events that Camp Quality organises is MotoCyc, which is an annual three-day event that brings motorbike riders together to enjoy their love of bike riding within a community of like-minded people.

In 2024, the eighth annual MotoCyc event saw approximately seventy riders set off on a wet Friday morning in Heatherbrae, New South Wales just outside of Newcastle and head toward Armidale for day one of the event to spread the message and culture of Camp Quality.

Half of the group were road riders, the other half were off road riders and we each went our separate ways each day, only to meet up as one large group at each of the accommodation locations.

The road riders set off from Heatherbrae and traveled toward Raymond Terrace on our way to the first stop of the day, a fuel stop at Gloucester.

Exiting Gloucester we now moved toward the Great Dividing range which was to include a stop at Carsons Pioneer Lookout at Nowendoc, along the majestic Thunderbolts Way.

Time to move on and enjoy more of Thunderbolts Way, surely one of the greatest motorbike riding roads in New South Wales.

Thunderbolts Way is three hundred and five kilometres in total, is in the northern tablelands and links many great towns. On this day we would exit Thunderbolts Way at Topdale Road and head further inland toward Nundle, then eventually stopping for lunch just outside of Nundle.

Unfortunately upon arrival we saw that an old BMW bike had been placed on the trailer of the support vehicle, a victim of an electrical issue. The rider and pillion, Joel and Jillian were lovely people, whose company we thoroughly enjoyed on the Friday night during dinner.

There was one final fuel stop of the day before the final ninety-five kilometre leg toward Armidale, however due to the station only being able to allow one refuelling at a time, it ended up being quite a long break given that at least fifteen bikes required fuel, nevertheless it was a welcome break anyway.

We arrived into Armidale mid afternoon after enjoying a few hours of dry weather, which was welcomed after the testing conditions much earlier in the day.

The large group were spread across two separate motels, although they were not only across the road from one another, but both were right next door to the Armidale Bowling Club which was the venue for dinner that night, along with breakfast in the morning.

We rose early on day two to be greeted by a beautiful sunrise before packing up and heading across the road to the bowling club for breakfast and the day’s riding brief.

With all of the bikers, organisers and support crew fed, we left Armidale on day two of the event and headed toward Dorrigo, with our final destination of the day being Port Macquarie.

The route on this day is one that I have done many times, and it includes a fantastic run toward the town of Ebor, and then funneling into Dorrigo.

This region has many stunning waterfalls, and arguably the best is Dangar Falls just outside of the Dorrigo town centre.

Dangar Falls was the destination for morning tea on day two, offering a magnificent vantage point almost directly above the falls.

After morning tea at Dangar Falls we headed along the fantastic Waterfall Way which led down the mountain and into the very eclectic town of Bellingen, just outside of Coffs Harbour.

Waterfall Way is a favourite route for many bikers, with plenty of tight twists and turns, although it can be difficult to maintain concentration as you pass the various small waterfalls making their way down the mountainside and under the roadway.

As usual the Bellingen town centre was very busy, making for a slow run toward the highway where we would cut across and head through Urunga where we all stopped for fuel.

It was at this fuel stop that one bike actually fell into a bowser whilst filling up, and two helmets fell off bikes onto the hard ground.

The final leg of day two was a relatively short run from Urunga to Port Macquarie, seeing us stop at the beautiful town of Macksville for lunch.

A huge array of sandwiches and cakes were provided as we sat beside the river overlooking the old bridge and main town centre on the opposite side.

It was now that we headed toward Port Macquarie where we would spend the night before heading home on the Sunday morning.

The dinner at the pub behind our motel was fantastic, topped off by an auction conducted by the event organisers which helped to raise a huge amount of funds on the night, this was a truly humbling and rewarding experience to witness how people can come together and throw their support behind this cause and event.

We awoke on the Sunday morning and had breakfast onsite, and not too long after we were off on our way toward Taree for morning tea by the river.

With morning tea done, it was time to head toward Buladelah for lunch, where again a feast of sandwiches and cakes were provided.

The day and event was to culminate back at the starting point in Heatherbrae, however for personal reasons myself and a friend had to depart before the riding group from Buladelah, meaning that we missed out on the debrief and celebrations, oh well, perhaps next year.

I will say that this was one of the most rewarding events that I have participated in. Helping to raise funds for such a wonderful cause is the least that I can do, and I am in awe of the hard work and dedication that all of the event organisers and support crew put in, to see first hand how the event is co-ordinated and managed is astonishing, yet it goes ahead so seamlessly.

All in all over two hundred and fifty five thousand dollars was raised, what an extraordinary achievement, congratulations to all involved, and I very much look forward to participating again in 2025.

Thank you for reading the blog, and I hope that if you are a rider you will consider joining us next year.

Roger Brooks.

An afternoon at the Newcastle Breakwater with the Fujifilm X100F

Sunday, March 10, 2024 and the temperature soared above thirty degrees celsius in Newcastle, north of Sydney and the Central Coast in New South Wales, Australia.

My wife and I decided to jump in the car and head north for a visit to the Newcastle foreshore and also some lunch.

To be honest, on the journey we weren’t sure exactly where we would walk once we arrived in the area, however as we approached Nobbys Beach I realised that despite being here many times over the years, we have never ventured into the area where the lighthouse and breakwater were situated, at the very northern end of Nobbys Beach.

Nobbys Beach is Newcastle’s highest profile beach and a favourite swimming spot for both locals and visitors alike. It is also very well regarded by surfers.

As well as a public recreation area where you can barbecue or purchase fish and chips, there is also a pathway which leads to the Newcastle Breakwater after you pass beneath the iconic Nobbys lighthouse.

From the breakwater there are fantastic views looking back toward the lighthouse and beach, the dog friendly cove on the western side of the breakwater, active fishing boats and to our surprise on the day, a pod of beautiful dolphins.

There were many people that decided to take a look along the breakwater, also a handful on bicycles, and one keen fisherman.

The heat was pretty intense, and the decision not to bring along headwear with more protection than a trucker hat, and no sunscreen proved to be a huge mistake.

Despite the heat there was the odd respite with a nice ocean breeze which was welcomed, albeit too brief.

For shooting, today I chose to take along only the Fujifilm X100F, mainly to minimise the gear I would need to hold. There were the odd compositions here and there where I would have preferred to have a longer lens, however I also like the way that a 35mm lens allows scenes to breathe when you’re not in a street environment.

When you have a 35mm lens and you’re in an open landscape like this you have no choice other than to incorporate a lot into the scene, and then try and direct the viewer’s eye toward a point, or points of interest.

You have to pay attention though. For example, you cannot shoot out toward the ocean if there are no definitive points of interest, that’s where the viewer can become lost and disorientated.

I always try to create pathways for the eye to follow, to identify points within a scene where at times they are obvious, and other times they are a surprise to the viewer.

So there you go, a very warm day at Newcastle Breakwater with the Fujifilm X100F.

I hope that you enjoyed reading the blog, and I also hope that you enjoy the images.

Roger Brooks.

Motorcycle Diaries: Part 1

Often when I’m riding my motorcycle with my wife I find myself thinking that I should bring along one of my cameras to document the day, and maybe even begin to create blogs showcasing aspects of the day’s adventure… enter my first motorcycle blog.

Now, of course I could always document the day with the help of images taken with my iPhone, however when you’re a photographer and there’s a Fuijifilm X100F in the stable, well, you get the idea.

On this warmish Sunday we left our house on the Central Coast of New South Wales in Australia and headed for Broke which is a beautiful little town situated in the wine region known as the Hunter Valley.

There are a few routes that you can take to arrive at Broke from our house, and usually we would ride through to Wollombi and then onto Broke, however on this day we took the long way around and went through Cessnock, then Lovedale and then down Broke Road.

This part of New South Wales is full of fantastic bike roads with rolling hills, mountains, wineries and plenty of livestock to gaze at. There is also an abundance of great places to eat making for a very enjoyable day out.

We have stopped and eaten at many places in this region, however today we decided to head for a cafe called Magoony’s Coffee House, which was originally a service station.

As you leave Cessnock and head toward Broke you bypass Lovedale and then turn left onto Broke Road and into the town of Pokolbin.

Pokolbin houses many of the famous Australian wine makers and on weekends the carparks are full of visitors. You will always be able to enjoy great wines and a great feed in this area, and that includes a few dessert cafes.

After you pass the wine makers the speed limit increases and the road becomes a little windy in places, which gets the heart racing when you’re on a bike. Eventually Broke Road becomes Cessnock Road and before you know it you’ve reached the bottom and have arrived at Broke.

We parked the bikes outside the Magoony’s Coffee house and immediately felt a sense of calm. There were plenty of visitors there, yet the quietness of the landscape was overwhelming.

We enjoyed a traditional meat pie and coffee and took in the surroundings… no rush, just recharge the batteries.

Broke in New South Wales is within three hours of our house, making for a practical riding distance. We often ride plenty of kilometres, however when you get the chance to enjoy a beautiful experience like this and not too far from home, well that is pretty special.

On the way back we decided to stop in at the Wollombi Tavern for a beer, and today my choice was a schooner of Tooheys Old… bloody beautiful.

It is a special day whenever I get to combine two of my favourite past times, photography and motorbike riding.

I hope that you have enjoyed my first motorcycle blog, and I hope that you enjoy the images below.

Roger Brooks.

An evening in Melbourne with my Fujifilm X-H2

February 6, 2024 and I have just completed day one of a four day business trip in Melbourne.

Being summer I knew that by taking one of my cameras on this trip it would mean that I would have at least one chance to go out into the late afternoon/evening after the day’s work and walk around the city to see what pictures I could see, so I left my Docklands motel and headed in.

It was a very pleasant day in Melbourne… not too hot, not too cold.

I made my way around the water and up over the train line toward Spencer Street, before turning right into Spencer and then heading toward Flinders Street.

The streets were full of people who were just finishing their work day and heading for public transport, some into grocery stores etc, some already dining.

For street photography Melbourne rarely disappoints. There is always movement here, always something to see and shoot, you just have to be on watch all the time and you’ll find it.

Once you reach Flinders Street you now have more trains and trams coming into the scene, along with pedestrians either travelling beneath the train line toward South Melbourne, or heading back up Spencer Street to catch a train from Southern Cross Station which is majestic.

I began walking along Flinders Street toward Flinders Street Station, the late afternoon/evening sun now low in the sky and providing a beautiful glow across the urban landscape.

I love scenes like those where you can find beautiful pockets of golden light sprinkled through the city and contrasting against the shadows.

Once I reached the station I turned left onto Swanston Street and began making my way up through the maze of people, eventually threading my way to Bourke Street and beyond, then back toward Chinatown.

Even as the clock moved toward 8 and 9pm the streets didn’t seem to slow down, and this was a Tuesday night.

People interspersing with trams, bicycles and cars, the lights of Chinatown, the many Asian restaurants filled with diners… Melbourne has a soul.

I stopped in at Beast City which is a burger chain, with Melbourne’s one on the corner of Swanston and Little Bourke Streets and enjoyed one of the finest chicken burgers I’ve ever had, and the chips, bloody awesome too!

While I was eating I was noticing through the window that the people walking by and the cars moving along Little Bourke Street were partially blocked by the neon burger sign in the window, and I instantly thought that it might make for some great long exposure shots, introducing blur and saturated colour to the images… I’m happy with the way that they turned out.

I am beginning to force myself to experiment more whilst being out with a camera in the street, gotta mix it up more.

Well, it was getting late and I had three more full days of work in front of me so I headed back toward Docklands. On my way back I happened upon some more interesting scenes to shoot, including road workers incorporating tram movement and the beautiful magenta and blue glow around the Bolte Bridge which I captured by using a 40 second exposure with the camera sitting on my gorilla pod… glad I brought the pod with me to Melbourne.

Thank you for reading the blog, and I hope that you enjoy the images.

Roger Brooks.

Down by the Hawkesbury River for lunch with the Fujifilm X100f

It is Boxing Day in New South Wales, Australia, and on the Central Coast a large storm cell has blown in and thwarted any consideration for my wife and I to ride our motorbikes today.

Despite the bad weather we decided that we needed to escape the house and get some fresh air, therefore we jumped into the car to head off somewhere, anywhere, with no particular destination in mind.

Thankfully, I decided to take a camera just in case we had an opportunity to take some interesting photographs, particularly with the storm activity present.

Not long into the drive the rain began and became very hard, and although that can often provide great photographic opportunities, it wasn’t conducive to getting out of the car to take them, and especially given that my camera of choice on this day was my Fujifilm X100f which is not weather sealed.

We saw that toward the west the sky looked relatively clear, despite the easterly direction looking grey and forboding, so we decided to drive toward the west.

As we headed down the M1 motorway we quickly noticed a lot of holiday traffic heading north in the opposite direction, and we quickly decided that we did not want to be part of that on the way back by traveling too much further, so it was decided that we would pull into Brooklyn by the Hawkesbury River for some lunch, and hopefully photographs.

The weather was the complete opposite of what we saw on the way down. Here it was clear and warm, and a perfect day for a short stroll, fish and chips for lunch and to take some photographs.

It had been a while since I used my Fujifilm X100f, and I have to say that it was quite liberating. On this day I used my wrist strap, again something that I haven’t used for some time, and it really did feel like I was able to shoot faster with this setup.

My wife and I walked along part of the marina to see the various fishing vessels, which is right alongside the train line and Hawkesbury River Station.

This train line provides a magnificent journey from the Central Coast to Berowra, and then eventually down into Sydney. It can be a long one if you’re stopping at each stop, however it is well worth it. I recommend looking for the fast service through there.

The marina, train line and station, plus the abandoned wharf made for a lovely walk and some interesting photographs.

Oh, and the fish and chips for lunch was sensational.

If you’re a photographer and you’re stuck for motivation, or you’re simply searching for something interesting to do and shoot, with little fuss, I can highly recommend short excursions such as this one.

Thank you for reading the blog, it is very much appreciated.

Hope you enjoy the images.

An early evening in Melbourne

During spring in November of 2023 I travelled down to Melbourne from New South Wales for a three day business trip.

I anticipated that there might be a window of opportunity one afternoon/evening to wander around the city and shoot, therefore I decided to bring along one of my Fujifilm cameras just in case, I chose the X-H2.

The late afternoon that I arrived in the city was on the back of a very warm Melbourne day, and the low setting sun added a warm, yet beautiful glow to the streetscapes.

All too often we move around in busy places completely oblivious to how we appear to others, which makes for fascinating footage and images because you are capturing people in their regular environments and in completely candid circumstances.

For me, I love the hustle and bustle of a very busy large city such as Melbourne. People, trams, cars, motorbikes and trains all moving back and forth in controlled chaos, all susceptible to the seemingly elusive photographer who can become immersed in scenes, creating a visual journal if you will.

If you are brazen enough and fully immersed you will inevitably earn the ire of some people, however I tend to focus elsewhere if I identify that and move on quickly, after all, I’m not breaking the law.

I must say that for the most part people tend to be too busy to worry about whether their photo is being taken, hopefully that is a sign that they readily acknowledge that they themselves take thousands of photos with their phones, and often in public places where there are usually strangers in the shot anyway.

I walked around parts of the city for three hours, focusing on some key areas which are known to be very busy and ones that can provide many great visual opportunities. You see, I lived in Melbourne between November of 2010 and April of 2017 and became very familiar with the city streets, in fact I still very much miss this beautiful and fascinating city.

By the time I made my way back around to Flinders Street Station I was spent, especially after working all day, time to head back to my accommodation and take a look through the images and footage.

Thank you, Melbourne for another fascinating insight into the daily lives of your inhabitants, I’ve missed it greatly.

I hope you enjoy the images, and please feel free to check out the short film that I made from the walk in the YouTube section on this website.

Thank you.

Roger Brooks.

An evening in Newtown...

Newtown is a very eclectic inner west suburb of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia, just a quick hop away from the Sydney CBD.

I’ve been to Newtown on thousands of occasions, whether it be to shoot gigs at the famous Enmore Theatre or dine at one of the many fine restaurants and cafes, however I’ve never wandered the streets with a camera and people watched.

This was my first outing with my new Fujifilm X-H2 camera, and whilst I usually have the Fujinon 23mm f2 attached, tonight I was armed with the Fujinon 16-55 f2.8 lens to help give me a wider perspective.

It was a warm spring evening in Sydney as I ventured into the famous main street of Newtown, King Street.

I met up with a close friend and fellow photographic enthusiast, Matthew Slager, whose photographic skills are improving rapidly. Matt is studying the photographic art form, although usually when he is in Newtown it is as a professional musician, not a photographer.

There is never a shortage of photographic and artistic video content here in Newtown. Newtown is a place where you will find graffiti and street art, wonderful restaurants, theatre, live music etc, it has it all.

There was still plenty of daylight available when we arrived, and we chose to wander to the northern end of King Street to stretch the legs and warm up.

Though the traffic was hectic, it was still too early for a huge people stampede as we marched toward the Enmore end of King Street. The window of daylight gave us opportunities to shoot people entering and departing the precinct with a setting western sun behind them, and the odd plane arriving into Sydney also added to the story backdrop.

As dusk began to take place, suddenly the lights took effect and different opportunities presented themselves.

We now had street lights, car and bus lights, retail shop and restaurant lights, all set before a magnificent magenta sunset.

Enter the darker part of the evening and now there were considerably more people and vehicles, making for candid images or b-roll of people moving about, almost always completely unaware of the cameras near them.

People, vehicles, lights, action!

My new Fujifilm X-H2 is perfect for hybrid shooting. A couple of buttons and it changes quickly from photo to video and vice-versa. It is such a wonderful machine to work with, so light and functional, and the image and video quality is outstanding.

After a couple of hours Matt needed to head home, so I bid farewell, thanked him for the companionship and continued to walk around a little more on my own.

This gave me the opportunity to head back to my car, grab my tripod and do some time lapse of vehicles moving along King Street - this was always the plan, however I didn’t want to lug the tripod up and down King Street for a few hours.

Well, my legs and back were now too sore to continue, and I had a tonne of content to work with, so I headed back to the car to begin the drive home.

I have scratched the Newtown photographic itch, although I’m quite sure that one day I’ll return, perhaps later in the night when it is even busier than when we we there.

Thanks for taking the time to read the blog, hope you enjoy the images and the YouTube short film in the YouTube tab on my website.

Roger Brooks.

#streetphotography

#fujifilm

#fujifilmxh2

#fuji x-h2

#urbanstreetphotography

#shortfilm

#urbanshortfilm

#sydneyaustralia

The morning ritual of ocean bath swimming...

I could imagine that there would be no more senses awakening actions than early morning ocean swims, particularly in winter.

On this cold July morning in Australia I decided to take a one hour drive north from my place to the Merewether Ocean Baths in the Newcastle region of New South Wales, and observe the locals going through the motions of their morning ritual, which is swimming in the ocean baths and I’m told this particular ocean baths is the largest of its kind in Australia.

To be honest, on the night before I was contemplating whether there would be any swimmers there given the time of year, however I was pleasantly surprised that not only were there swimmers, but plenty in fact.

I was suitably dressed for winter filming and taking pictures in long pants and several top layers combined with a beanie, but then I wasn’t the one getting wet.

It was dawn when I arrived and there were already several swimmers in the water, whilst others steadily arrived thereafter and proceeded to prepare themselves for the plunge.

Many of them wore wetsuits, whilst others were braver and chose more traditional swimwear.

Back and forth, back and forth, lap after lap, many performing traditional swim styles, whilst others appeared to be performing some type of designated hydrotherapy.

As I watched the people arrive and begin preparing to enter the water, I identified that this really is a ritual for them, very purposeful. There is a process involving how they prepare themselves, it is measured and definitely not rushed… there is reason.

The laps in the water tend to be like clock work. There is a defined mindset here, one that is focused on achieving a goal. The goal may be a certain number of laps, it could be to stretch muscles with weightlessness, or it could simply be almost transcendental to achieve mindfulness, just by being out there.

Then again, it could be all of the above.

I observed the swimmers as they exited the water and I could sense that their day had begun as it should, by exercising both the mind and body, to experience a short period of time in our often hectic lives where time almost stands still and you cannot be distracted by anything.

One cannot control distractions nor stop them from occurring, however one can provide a calming platform to enable us to stand a better chance of managing whatever life throws at us.

I could not think of a better daily platform than swimming in ocean water early in the morning and getting ready to embrace the day.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for checking out the images.

Roger Brooks.

#fujifilm

#fujifilmx100f

#x100f

#fujix100f

#oceanswim

#shortfilm