Continuing the blog serialisation of my popular X-Pro Series lust/hate/love story:
Part 132: Holiday Snaps: Limited Time and an Open Mind
So last week I told you that I’d been away on holiday 🙂
It wasn’t a long break, but our first in six years 😦 and we were determined to make the most of our time away.
Of course this meant a situation that perhaps some of you are familiar with… It’s not that the woman who’s the mother of my child isn’t into photography in the slightest, but equally I knew that I wouldn’t be able to spend my time stalking the streets of Vigo and attempting to take street photography profit from long winded people watching moments.
It was to a be a holiday.
So which camera, which lenses to take?
Well, as a popular (and IMO, worthwhile) youtuber likes to say: hold that thought
So let’s see some holiday snaps
The views from the train both before and after we crossed the boarder into Spain were wonderful
The view from the hotel roof top gave a hint of the streets and sights to be explored
We took a day trip to the Cies Isles.
I managed to do a little ‘beach street’ while I was there 🙂
Holiday breakfasts always taste better outside
At night the streets were alive with people and there were plenty of places to eat
I never truly take a holiday from street photography 🙂
Many restaurants had a queue, I passed the time with my camera!
The city has an ancient view point, that I think is well worth the climb
Of course if you’re six years old, you might not be so enthralled with either the view or the climb 🙂
Not only is it a bit cheaper going in September, there’s less people in the pool too
I can’t see myself winning any travel photography awards anytime soon with this! 🙂
But I was on holiday, I was in documentary mode, and if I’d lingered too long my child and her mother would have (100% fairly, why should they wait for me) wandered off and I’d have been searching them out in a strange city. Of course I could have just phoned them, hey where are you? Yeah I stopped to take photos. OK, no of course I don’t know that place. OK, well can you stay there and wait for me while I find you? It wouldn’t have been an insurmountable problem….
…..But equally one doesn’t pay money to go to a hot place to get served up a frosty atmosphere (which would have been just deserts after all)
So shooting fairly quickly had to be my forte, two eye open shooting, not just because that’s a handy thing to be able to do, but also to keep an eye out for where my daughter and her mum went.
I had another little hurdle too…. Do you recall when I wrote about the Portuguese cycling start up here? Well my good friend João had a shoot on while I was away, and he really wanted to use a Fujifilm camera…
With the net result being I ended up lending him my X-Pro2 and all my XF glass. I own two other digital cameras, I nearly took my LX100, it would of been a good choice (24-70 FF eqv zoom. M43 sensor. Small compact and light)
At the start of this ditty I linked last week’s article. In that piece I talked about really, if you stop and think about it… Just how wonderful ALL of today’s modern cameras are. Sure we each have some needs that mean certain models from certain brands aren’t going to cut it for what we want to do. But make no mistake, modern rigs are featured filled and supremely capable.
So I didn’t take the LX100.
Did you hold that thought?
I took my Leica M9p and two lenses (a 35 and a 50)
I went on a family holiday armed with nothing more than two focal lengths and a camera with no auto focus, no weather sealing, no EVF, no dual card slots. A camera that has a rear LCD so marginal it confirms little more than you’ve taken a picture (or not) 🙂 A camera with one metering mode and an ISO that gets ghastly after 640 (and completely tops out at 2500).
And I trusted this camera (and myself) to be able to make pictorial memories of my very first holiday with my daughter, in places that would not be that easy to get too again.
And you know what? It was a very liberating experience. I enjoyed shooting against the combined challenges of an antiquated camera and the time pressure to get the shot quickly.
All these new cameras are indeed sensational. Whether you’re thrilled and seduced by the new X-T3 (which I suspect many of you are) or tempted by the Canikony mirrorless offerings, I can’t imagine you’re going to be disappointed with what you chose…
But I’ve just spend a week away with little more than a lens, a viewfinder, a shutter and a way to capture photons… and I still managed to take some pictures
That said… I’ve been back over a week, it’s time to call João and get my Fuji back 🙂
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Adam Bonn Fotografia 