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.

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.