(English version at the bottom of the page)
Sept mois. C’est le temps qu’il a fallu pour qu’un Streettog d’Aix-en-Provence me contacte via mon site. Quand je l’ai crée en novembre dernier, je voulais partager mon travail sur la ville d’Aix au travers de mes photos, mais mon but ultime c’était de rencontrer des photographes qui arpentent aussi les rues de ma ville. Histoire de partager une passion commune, et aussi de se faire des petites sorties Street Photo.
Fuji XE2 | 27 mm | f8 | 1/320s | ISO 2000
Il y a 3 semaines de ça, Antoine.S m’a contacté après avoir sûrement vu une de mes photos sur Instagram. Un rapide tour sur son profil Instagram m’a permis de voir plein de photos de rues d’Aix-en-Provence.
Fuji XE2 | 27 mm | f8 | 1/320s | ISO 400 | – 1,3 EV
C’est assez rigolo de voir des photos de sa ville vue par quelqu’un d’autre. Je voyais d’un œil nouveau tous ces endroits que je connais bien.
Fuji XE2 | 27 mm | f8 | 1/500s | ISO 400
On avait convenu de se retrouver dans Aix pour aller shooter ensemble. J’étais un petit peu intimidé par cette rencontre. Jusqu’à présent la Street Photo est surtout une pratique solitaire pour moi. J’ai déjà fait une petite sortie avec un pote mais là c’était avec une personne que je ne connaissais pas.
Fuji XE2 | 27 mm | f8 | 1/450s | ISO 400 | – 1 EV
Rapidement, le courant est passé avec Antoine. On a parlé photo, un peu de notre expérience, de matos, puis on est allé traîner du côté du Quartier Mazarin pour commencer la session. C’est sûrement le plus beau quartier d’Aix-en-Provence.
Fuji XE2 | 27 mm | f11 | 1/900s | ISO 400 | – 1 EV
Cette après-midi comme souvent, la lumière était fabuleuse. Ce qui est bien en Street Photography, c’est que le terrain de jeu est immense. On est pas tous agglutiné au même endroit à photographier la même chose. Même si on traîne aux mêmes endroits, nos photos seront différentes.
Fuji XE2 | 27 mm | f11 | 1/1800s | ISO 400 | – 1,7 EV
Pour l’occasion j’avais décidé de ressortir mon Fuji XE2 avec le 27mm. Rappelez vous, je l’avais utilisé pour la première fois à Porquerolles. J’avais décidé de passer toute la journée avec le 27 mm. Pas encore de zone-focusing car je ne maîtrise pas encore les distances avec cet objectif.
Fuji XE2 | 27 mm | f8 | 1/1000s | ISO 400 | – 1 EV
On aura passé 3 heures dans les rues d’Aix-en-Provence. J’ai pu essayer le 16-50 mm d’Antoine (qui shoote aussi avec du Fuji) le temps de quelques photos. Mon avis sur le 27 mm ? Il est cool à utiliser. Par contre je m’y sens un peu à l’étroit et la mise au point, du fait de la focale plus longue que le 18 mm, est moins évidente à maîtriser en photo de rue.
Fuji XE2 | 27 mm | f8 | 1/600s | ISO 400 | – 1 EV
Pour le coup, j’aimerai bien essayer le 23 mm f2. En tout cas j’ai adoré mes retrouvailles avec mon Fuji XE2. Je le trouve super rapide et il gère très bien la montée d’ISO contrairement à mon Ricoh GRD IV. Je me ferais peut être plaisir plus tard avec un 23 mm, mais pour l’instant le Ricoh GRD IV me convient pleinement.
Fuji XE2 | 16 mm | f13 | 1/320s | ISO 500 | – 1,3 EV
Juste avant de partir récupérer mes enfants à l’école, j’ai croisé la route de Roberto. Originaire de Rome, il voyage à travers l’Europe et fait aussi de la Street Photo!
Ricoh GRD IV | 6 mm | f8 | 1/710s | ISO 100 | – 1 EV
Une bien belle rencontre qui clôtura en beauté cette petite virée dans Aix-en-Provence.
Ricoh GRD IV | 6 mm | f8 | 1/710s | ISO 200 | – 1 EV
Ah oui, les deux dernières photos ont été prises avec mon bon vieux Ricoh GRD IV. A court de batteries avec mon Fuji XE2, je l’avais heureusement glissé dans mon sac !
Cliquez ici pour la galerie complète.
~ o ~
Aix-en-Provence through the 27 mm (Fuji XE2).
Seven months. This is the time it took for a Streettog from Aix-en-Provence to contact me via my website. When I created it last November, I wanted to share my work on the city of Aix through my photos, but my ultimate goal was to meet photographers who also walk the streets of my city. So as to share a common passion, and also to make photo walks.
Fuji XE2 | 27 mm | f8 | 1/320s | ISO 2000
Three weeks ago, Antoine.V contacted me after having surely seen one of my photos on Instagram. A quick tour on his profile Instagram allowed me to see a bunch of photos made in the streets of Aix-en-Provence.
Fuji XE2 | 27 mm | f8 | 1/320s | ISO 400 | – 1,3 EV
It’s pretty funny to see pictures of his city seen by someone else. I saw with a new eye all these places I know well.
Fuji XE2 | 27 mm | f8 | 1/500s | ISO 400
We had agreed to meet in Aix to go shoot together. I was a little intimidated by this meeting. Until now the Street Photo is mostly a solitary thing for me. I already made a little session with a buddy but there it was with a person I did not know.
Fuji XE2 | 27 mm | f8 | 1/450s | ISO 400 | – 1 EV
Quickly, we got along well with Antoine. We talked about photography, our experience and gears, then we went to hang around in the Mazarin’s neighborhood to begin the session. It is surely the most beautiful district of Aix-en-Provence.
Fuji XE2 | 27 mm | f11 | 1/900s | ISO 400 | – 1 EV
This afternoon as often, the light was fabulous. What’s good about Street Photography is that the playground is huge. We are not all clumped in the same place to photograph the same thing. Even if we hang around the same places, our pictures will be different.
Fuji XE2 | 27 mm | f11 | 1/1800s | ISO 400 | – 1,7 EV
For the occasion I decided to take out my Fuji XE2 with the 27mm. Remember, I had used it for the first time in Porquerolles. I decided to spend all day with the 27 mm. Not yet zone-focusing because I do not master my distances with this lens.
Fuji XE2 | 27 mm | f8 | 1/1000s | ISO 400 | – 1 EV
We spent 3 hours in the streets of Aix-en-Provence. I even tried the 16-50 mm of Antoine (who is also a Fuji shooter) for a few pictures. My opinion on the 27 mm? It is cool to use. On the other hand I feel a little cramped and the focus, due to the longer focal length than the 18 mm, is less obvious to master in street photography.
Fuji XE2 | 27 mm | f8 | 1/600s | ISO 400 | – 1 EV
For sure, I would like to try the 23 mm f2. Anyway I loved my reunion with my Fuji XE2. I find it super fast and it handles very well the rise of ISO contrary to my Ricoh GRD IV. I might be happy later with a 23 mm, but for now the Ricoh GRD IV suits me fully.
Fuji XE2 | 16 mm | f13 | 1/320s | ISO 500 | – 1,3 EV
Just before heading home to get my kids back to school, I ran across Roberto. Originally from Rome, he travels through Europe and also makes Street Photography !
Ricoh GRD IV | 6 mm | f8 | 1/710s | ISO 100 | – 1 EV
A beautiful encounter that enclosed this little photo session in Aix-en-Provence.
Ricoh GRD IV | 6 mm | f8 | 1/710s | ISO 200 | – 1 EV
I like the photo of your new friend Roberto very much, that beard is truly magnificent! Antoine has a similar style to you by the way. It appears to me that no matter which lens/camera combination you manage to produce the right results, great presentation as usual…proof that gear or lots of it is of no importance to photography, might come as a shock to some!
Warmest Regards
John
Yesterday I went shooting with my old Nikon FM2 and I ran into Roberto again ! I really enjoyed shooting film again. But don’t know if the photographs will be any good. I made one shot of Roberto with my old Nikon. We’ll see soon ;). After trying the 41 mm (Ful frame), I shot with the 24 mm (full frame). Well if the 41 was a bit narrow for me, the 24 is a bit too wide. Guess I’m so used to the 28 mm …It was cool to shoot with Antoine and we are planning to shoot again some other time.
Thanks for reading John !
Best regards
Do you know the story off Goldilocks & The Three Bears? “This Porridge is too hot, this porridge is too cold, but this porridge is just right and she ate it all up..”. Swap the porridge for Lenses. 41mm too narrow, 24mm too wide, so he tried a 35mm and it was just right!! Funny how things come back to 35mm!
Yes that right John ! Vasco ended up with the same conclusion. You can try different focal length but you’ll come back to the one you really love even if you did have fun with the other focals. Speaking for me, the 18mm (28 mm FF) has my preference. I’ve been shooting with it for a little more than one year. I thought that buying the 27mm (41 mm FF) that I would get excited trying something different, but in the end I’m thinking of shooting more with the Fuji XE2 but with the 18mm again (better buffer, iso compared to the Ricoh GRD IV).
Jeff I’m a little confused as to who took what images here but the high contrast is most definitely inspiring and they all look like your work. My favourite is the man with the totally shadowed eye socket like an eye patch or permanent sunglasses!
Cheers Lin
Hey Lin, all the photographs were taken by me ;). I just went shooting with another streettog (Antoine) during an afternoon. Quite fun even if I still prefer being alone when I’m shooting Street Photography. The thing is that unconsciously we push ourselves and that’s a good thing.
Cheers mate
Great article as usual. I also prefer to shoot alone in the streets. Especially because I’m much more attentive and focused. I had a little experience shooting with another street photographer and I did not like it. Not only because it distracted me with conversation but also because he tried to copy not only the style but also the same POV. About the lens I think we should fall in love with a lens. The lens became our eyes and it makes or ruins our photos. So I think we should try several and after that will choose the one that can best deliver our personality and character to images. as you know for HCBresson it was a 50mm. But for Bruce Gilden must be a 28mm. With a single lens we can build a more consistent body of work. I tried before the Fuji X Pro2 with a 23mm (35mm equivalent) but I discovered that the 28mm (full frame) reflects more what I feel and my way of seeing – mainly because of the greater distance it creates between foreground and background. I feel also that with the 28mm you translate better your way of seeing. Cheers.
Shooting with Antoine was fun. Of course you can’t avoid some chating, but I can stay alert to some opportunities. We stayed in the same place but we were never on the same spot. Antoine has posted some pictures he made during this photo walk and if you look at them on his instagram, you can see that we were attracted by different stuff ! So in the end, really different pictures. Besides this, he shoots in color ;). What I liked about this was to see how he was acting in the streets. What caught his attention. I found this more interesting than the photos. I love this. Just seeing how people operate in the streets. I can learn a lot by looking at other streettogs.
Regarding the focal lenght, we share the same love for the 28mm (18mm on my Fuji or 6mm on my Ricoh GRD IV). I started street with this focal and I’ve shot so many times with it that as you said, your eye get use to this focal lenght.
Thanks for sharing your meaningful thought on this topic Vasco !
Best regards
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