Photography News 92 Newsletter

Fujifilm

Make the Switch ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE Peter Degnan used to have a wide-ranging interest in different photo genres, but in recent years has funnelled that down to documentary and street with his Fujifilm cameras

MY PHOTOGRAPHY STARTED in the days of film and a Zenit-E. I shot black & white and was lucky enough to have my own darkroom, spending many hours around my home-town Glasgow, developing films and printing projects. I had a break from photography when the kids came along, then digital arrived. I didn't rush into it and bought a Fujifilm FinePix to start. Later, I got a Nikon D80, then progressed to a Nikon D750, which was great. At the time – like many photographers – I wanted to be a master of all trades, so I was doing

landscape, portraits and still-lifes, but nothing was very successful. When I looked back at my photographs, it was clear that I was interested in documentary – what people now call street photography. It was probably because it was a subject I was most comfortable with. To get my mojo back, I saw that StreetSnappers were holding a workshop in the East End. I didn't know London that well, although I liked going there for exhibitions, but tended to stick to the tourist trails. The workshop exposed me

to a side of the city I had never seen before and where I could get interesting pictures. This fired me up. I had been ticking along, but that really kicked me into action. I quickly realised that the D750 with a zoom was really killing my wrists – and I was getting pain after a day of street shooting. Its size also didn't help me blend in. So, I bought a Fujifilm X100F compact – a great little camera that I still use. This got me interested in the Fujifilm X Series, because it made me realise I didn't need a big camera

to take good pictures. It was time to say goodbye to the Nikon stuff and get down to what I wanted to do, which was street photography. I traded in all my Nikon gear for the X-T3, with the VPB-XT3 Vertical Power Booster Grip, and three lenses: the XF23mm f/2 R WR, XF50mm f/2 R WR and XF55-200mm f/3.5-4.8 R LM OIS. I reckon 80% of the time I work with the XF23mm f/2 on the X-T3. My camera set-up is quite straightforward. For street, I use zone focus. I switch the camera to manual focusing, set a distance of around 3m

PETERDEGNAN Check out Peter’s new blog on his website peterdegnanphotography.com

GLASGOWBARRAS STREET SCENE Fujifilm X-T3, XF23mm f/2 R WR, manual, 1/250sec at f/8 and ISO 320

40 Photography News | Issue 92

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