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Wild at heart Wildlife photographer Alan Hewitt needs a camera that combines speed, versatility and portability. The Fujifilm X-H2S ticks all those boxes – and more!
ALAN HEWITT alanhewittphotography.co.uk
work, he was invited to teach others. Now a full-time professional and Fujifilm X-Photographer, education remains an integral part of Hewitt’s work. Rather than solely plying his trade in his native north-east England, he travels to lead tours in Kenya, South Africa and – hopefully next year – Botswana. A deep understanding of his subjects helps Hewitt lead tours, but it’s also a crucial part of his photographic approach to the genre, admitting that his bookshelves are populated with far more fieldcraft titles than those with a portfolio of amazing images. “I like wildlife portraiture and will always take that kind of photograph when the situation presents itself, but I prefer to photograph wildlife in a more contextual way,” he admits. “What fires my interest is behaviour. I’m always trying to learn a relationship between species – mutualism, parasitism, commensalism.” When it comes to equipment, Hewitt has been through a transition that will be familiar to many. He started with DSLRs, but became disillusioned with an increasingly weighty camera bag. “I could see that mirrorless was going to take over, but wasn’t struck by the quality of EVFs at the time. I thought they were slow and not good enough for what I wanted,” he admits. “It wasn’t until I saw the X-T2 that I started to think
“With the X-H2S, I can get 15 or 16 sharp shots from a single burst. That gives me greater scope” centres to hone his craft, getting his first real break at a venue where they were so impressed with his to bite, though, he didn’t initially record the animals he’d spent so long watching. “I couldn’t afford big telephoto lenses, so I started with landscapes,” he tells PN . “But I got bored waiting for the right light and realised I was spending that time watching wildlife. I decided that I needed to photograph something I felt passionate about: animals.” Hewitt started saving, eventually investing in a telephoto lens that would help him record the images he craved. Initially using photography as a release from a stressful job, he visited local wildlife FOR MANY WORKING photographers, the passion for their chosen discipline often comes before the interest in a means to record it. That was certainly the case for Alan Hewitt, whose formative years were spent watching BBC wildlife documentaries, devouring anything that could teach him about the natural world around him. When the photography bug started
DINNER TIME Leopards like to drag their kills up trees to remove them from any potential scavenging hyenas and lions
Fujifilm X-H2S with XF100-400mm, 1/35 sec at F5.6, ISO 3200, 400mm
36 Photography News | Issue 102
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