The X-Pro2: Street Portraits

Continuing the blog serialisation of my popular X-Pro Series lust/hate/love story:

Part 68: The X-Pro2 Review: The X-Pro2: Street Portraits

At the start of the year I shared my intention to experiment with taking street portraits.

In case you missed them, I’ve shared two Street Portraits posts, which you can read here and here

My original tag line with the street portraits has been

Many wonderful things have started with a conversation; and what can be a more exciting as a prospect, than a conversation with a stranger?

The most fascinating chap I got talking too was the guy on the pilgrimage, which you can read about here

But of course not every person you meet has a whole interesting back story to tell!

But that doesn’t mean I’m disappointed to meet and chat with people, not at all – it’s an honour to be permitted to document strangers and I’m grateful to each and every one of them!

So despite not sharing the grand story of ‘The Pilgrim’ here’s five more street portraits and some back story for each!

I ran into this guy as I had just finished in one of my favourite street spots (Mercado do Bolhão) and I was immediate struck by the purposefulness of his stride and demeanour.

He was more than happy to stop for a photo, and I liked his wry smile, I’m not sure it comes across in the shot, but he had a real ‘Frank Sinatra’ vibe about him!

I see this next guy quite frequently… he often asks people for money, I regularly see him eating in the cafes, and he’s a bit of known face around town. I got chatting to him, and gave him some money, afterwards I asked for the picture and he was more than happy to oblige. There’s certainly some character in that face!

This lady works in Mercado do Bolhão, and she seemed to be flattered and humbled that I wanted to take her picture. I showed it to her on the LCD of the camera and she seemed really happy with it.

This guy’s kiosk is usually very busy, but for whatever reason, no one was buying anything there, so I asked the guy if I could have a candid shot and maybe he was just bored, but he was happy to stop for a picture

I saw this guy waiting outside of Sao Bento railway station. This is a busy area of town, streams of people coming and going. But this dude, much like the character in the Cohen brothers movie, The Big Lebowski didn’t seem hurried or stressed. I asked for the shot, and he considered for a while before agreeing! I don’t think he was ever going to say no, he was just so laid back, that it took him a moment to answer 🙂

Yet again, I have to say that the X-Pro2 was a great camera for street portraits. Not at all intimidating and people where curious about the analogue looking X-Pro2

The Fuji has a great sized sensor for fairly close up portrait work, the Fuji glass is very sharp and the smaller (than FF) APSC sensor offers a decent DOF for getting what you need in focus.

The Fuji film simulations, (these are from RAW but I’ve used Pro Neg Std and Astia as my base) work exceptionally well with people and their skin tones.

If you have questions about street portraiture, don’t hesitate to drop me a line.

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