2020 Vision | My Neighbourhood

My Neighbourhood has a quite peaceful dignity about it - I love living here.

Welcome to Maida Vale

Yesterday, I decided to think Scenery and create images on my XPro1 using the18mm.

This Lens is gorgeous; it is Wide but not too Wide.

It requires a certain understanding and composition strategy to ensure an effective capture.

With this Lens, I opened my mind up to the expansive gesture of Home, my Park and surrounding area.

This Lens on the XPro1 is outstanding, like the 35mm 1.4, they compliment each other perfectly.

My Aperture was set to F5.6 and I left it that. Fuji Shooter Adam Bonn discovered that F5.6 using this Lens gave great depth of field. He is right - the images look dam sharp through the frame.

With a Wide Angle Lens like the 18mm, there is this big conversation about foreground interest; while this creates beautiful depth to an image, what do you do if there is no foreground interest to take advantage of?

Personally, I did not make a big deal about.

The scene was enough, that spoke volumes to me.

Sometime I find the foreground interest adds nothing to a scenery, so I try and create this interest from the scenery itself.

Seeing my neighbourhood like this through a Wide Lens gives me a deeper appreciation for it. I have lived here all my life - from the age of 6.

Photography has given me fresh eyes to see beauty in the everyday expression of life.

I chose the 18mm because it matches the sense of depth and space of my neighbourhood that I see every day.

Every area has its unique vision which matches a particular Lens. If had used the 16mm or my 14mm, then getting close to that foreground interest would have been my first priority. I don’t feel that so much with the 18mm. I can just allow myself to be taken by the moments.

The 18mm is not considered a Portrait Lens. However, it can be used to great effect when creation images of people. This distinction is important because a Portrait is head and shoulders and I would use my XF56 or 90mm.

For a group shot at F8 the 18mm is perfect.

This is my friend and neighbour Valentina and her husband Branco, the gentleman on the right is their friend Florian.

They very kindly allowed me to create this image because I told them I was doing a project documenting our neighbourhood. This image was totally impromptu and I am glad I had this Lens because it meant I had to work and create the image.

We enjoyed a great conversation about life, The Pandemic and just having gratitude for everything.

I was sat next to Valentina as we chatted and I saw a picture in my mind. The 18mm allowed me to create this strong image - the diagonal leads you right into the frame.

This Lens is really lovely.

I love it.

I love using it.

Thanks for reading x