You are welcome to read my latest article about beauty portrait photography in 117th issue of the international photography magazine Good Light. Captured using the FUJIFILM GFX100, every detail is enhanced and the rendering is beautiful paired with the GF 110mmF2 lens.
The FUJIFILM X-T30 | First Impression
For a camera under 900 $, the FUJIFILM X-T30 is truly a “little giant” as FUJIFILM tags this system. A 26 mega-pixel with advanced auto-focus, legendary film-simulation and let’s not forget the 4:2:0 8-bit 4K 30p internal video capture, this is an entry-level camera to consider for both amateurs and enthusiasts alike.
On Feb 14, 2019, FUJIFILM announced the X-T30 as the successor of the X-T20, a lovely camera by itself. As mentioned above, this camera holds tremendous improvements in AF and video capabilities. It boasts a higher resolution sensor with a BSI (Backside Illuminated) technology that makes it more sensitive to light. With no Low-Pass filter in front of the sensor, you can resolve more details from your captured scene.
The 26MP BSI FUJIFILM X-T30. The little giant. Ariel Cohen ©
My favorite upgrade to the AF comes in the form of Eye-AF improvement, which is even better than the X-T30 older brother, the X-T3. For a portrait photographer like myself, this is a blessing, as getting almost 100% accurate focus on the model's eye is a must.
I would have talked about the video features of this camera, but I'm not a videographer. However, I can say that finding a 4:2:0 8-bit 4K camera with the external HDMI 4:2:2 10-bit 4K output option, an awesome one.
But perhaps the biggest deal with this camera is the fact that it's small. Weighing only 383g, it's super-light and can be carried around without any effort. And the amazing part is that this doesn't affect the image quality which is great for it's kind.
The FUJIFILM X-T30 is truly a little giant. This is the mirrorless age.
Sunrise with the FUJIFILM GFX 50R
For some time now I’ve been wanting to drive to a magnificent view point located on Mt. Saul (Israel) but always had excuses no to. Whether it’s the absent of time or the long time it takes to get there, I’ve missed a lot of opportunities.
The view for Mt. Saul is facing east, so if you’re planning on shooting the sunrise, that’s an excellent spot. Just beneath it lies a vast and beautiful valley near the city of Beit-She’an.
I had to drive about 100 km and wake 3 hours before the sunrise itself to position myself just in time for a several minutes to take the shots that I needed. But that’s landscape photography, I guess.
The sunrise from Mt. Saul, Israel. A perfect viewpoint for landscape photographers.
While I was up there, I’ve made a short clip (in Hebrew) about my photo process. You’re invited to watch and follow me on YouTube for more videos.
Hello, World!
Lou | My first portrait experience with the FUJIFILM GFX 50R
After I've received my Fujifilm GFX 50R medium-format camera, I had to test it with portraits. So, I've joined with the lovely model Lou and went to the small cliffs near the Mediterranean Sea just outside the city of Netanya. It was windy yes the sun was pleasing as it got decent. For portraits, I has the Fujifilm GF110mmF2 R LM WR lens. It's an awesome lens. It's sharp with beautiful bokeh and compression and I love to shoot with wide open aperture, otherwise, there's no point in getting that kind of a lens. I've spotted a nice patch of grass and some Chrysanthemum flowers. So, carefully, I've positioned Lou in a place where I could get a supporting foreground and background just as the sun is behind her because I like to have a natural rim-light or some haze above the model for a more dreamy look.
To balance the model with the strong light that’s coming from the sun, I had to lit her with an off-camera flash with a large octagon to diffuse its light.
The lovely Lou. FUJIFILM GFX 50R and the GF110mmF2 R lens
The lens is capable of delivering impressive contrast and with its 51 megapixel sensor the amount of details is just overwhelming. One of the things that pulled me towards FUJIFILM other than Sony or NIKON (which offers awesome systems themselves) is the colour rendition. I like to use the PRO Neg. Std for my portraits for the subtle tones as I prefer them over a more punchier look (like the Classic Chrome). But when it comes to black and white photos, that’s where the FUJIFILM system really shines. The Acros film simulation with the green tones does an amazing job with portraits and currently is my favourite.
The Acros+G film simulation delivers great contrasty and tones to any portrait.
Overall, I had an extremely great experience with the FUJIFILM GFX 50R and the GF110mmF2 lens and looking forward to creating some more awesome portraits.
Shooting Landscapes with the FUJIFILM GFX 50R
It’s been almost a week since I got my new medium-format camera, the FUJIFILM GFX 50R, and just had to give it a test-run shooting the sunset. So, I had to wait for the right weather (took a few days) and headed to Israel’s Pora national reserve (just north to Be’er Sheva).
This time of year you can find a lot of fields of golden wheat. As most of them are harvested by now, some are still intact, and lucky me just found one.
I’ve done a short video of the way I photographed it. My apologise for it’s in Hebrew.
Here’s the final result.
