Fujifilm
Make the Switch ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE Jeremy Willcocks’ first love is cap uring landscapes, but with the pandemic and lockdown, he caught the bug for insect photography, enjoying the skills of a Fujifilmmacro lens
SCARCE CHASER Fujifilm X-T3 with the XF80mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR, aperture-priority AE, 1/450sec at f/6.4, ISO 400
I USED TO shoot close-ups with my Nikon D300 and 150mmmacro lens, but I never got on with it – and certainly wasn’t getting the results I’m getting now! I don’t knowwhy; perhaps it was the time of life and maybe I was less patient back then. During the first lockdown, I watched a few YouTube videos and became inspired to shoot water droplets using my FujifilmX-T3 and standard zoom (fitted with extension tubes to allowme to get in close). That combination worked well and inspired me enough to invest in a FujifilmXF80mm f/2.8 R LMOISWR.
It’s expensive, but a fantastic lens. Since then, I have been focusing on insects and flowers around local wildlife trusts and nature reserves, as well as my landscapes. My favourite location is northWales, especially Snowdonia. I really enjoy macro. The thing with landscapes is, if you go shoot a scene, you can bet your bottom dollar it has been photographed to death – that’s not the case with macro. Also, I’m quite restless. I’d never make it as a wildlife photographer sitting in a hide all day, but insects are different. You still need loads
of patience, but it’s a different sort of patience. If you take the time, you will get the shot. I enjoy plants, too. My journey to Fujifilm cameras began seven years ago with the X-T1. Before I took up photography more seriously, I had a Fujifilm digital compact and, although I can’t recall the model, loved its colour output. This was years before the FujifilmX Series, so I bought a Nikon D300. A few years later, I was finding the Nikon D300 outfit too bulky for long hikes, so I switched to a Micro Four Thirds outfit based on the Panasonic
Lumix G1. I used both systems in tandem for a while, but more Panasonic than Nikon because of the weight, then switched to the X-T1 when it came out. I added an X-T10, which I later upgraded to the X-Pro2 – I love its rangefinder style. My lens collection has also expanded, with the XF10-24mm f/4 R OIS, XF50- 140mm f/2.8 R LMOISWR, XF35mm f/1.4 R and XF18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LMOIS. More recently, I added an X-T3 – a wonderful camera that is instinctive to use and just gets on with it. I normally use aperture-priority AE, set a lens aperture
JEREMYWILLCOCKS LRPS Keen landscape and macro photographer jeremywillcockslrps southwestscenes.zenfolio.com
22 Photography News | Issue 90
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