Pic(k) of the week 36: DESERT STORM - Landscape photography with Fujifilm X-100V

When one looks at the small fixed lens Fujifilm X-100V camera, using it for landscape photography is not really what comes to mind first. For me it is my number one "Street Photography" camera but is also pretty capable to shoot these unexpected great desert landscapes!

Last week I had noticed during the course of a few days, that one or two large clouds had been forming typically around 4-4.30pm, over the desert, about 40mins away from my home in Dubai. I decided to take my chances and go out for a road trip the next day and eventually found exactly what I was looking for.; "Desert Storm" was born. Driving to one of my favorite spots the dramatic cloud was just at the right place at the right time. I framed a few shots in the same area and came up with the following tryptych in post editing. Whenever I see dramatic clouds in the desert, I automatically start seeing in Black and White; likely influenced by the great work on Ansel Adams. 

Desert storm Image details:

  • Fujifilm X-100V
  • ISO640, 1/500s, f14
  • RAW development in Lightroom Classic
  • DxO SilverEfex 2 for Black and White conversion
  • Lightroom Classic Print module to make the triptych
Yes, the shot was done handheld and yes I could have reduced the shutter speed and ISO to a lower value. Does it bother me? No it doesn't. 

I sometimes get the question, what I do to get these great dark skies in my black and white landscape shots? First one needs to have a good dark blue sky as a starting point. You can consider using a Circular polarizer to increase the effect even more (not done here). Using a digital yellow or red filter will then obtain such an effect. On my Fujifilm cameras I typically will shoot Acros + Y (Yellow) or Acros +R (red) for my B&W stuff.  If using colour channels to do your black and white conversion, sliding the blue slider to the left will also enhance this effect. 

The triptych is something that will be printed shortly...  

Remember: "Sometimes I just arrive when God is ready for someone to click the shutter" - Ansel Adams.



Comments

Post a Comment