The 23 Mark II: Contacts

I’ve written before about the importance of iteration, in the field, as we’re capturing images. Because moments evolve, and while our instincts can be right on the first take, they can also be a little off at times.

I never use burst mode for this: I prefer making a conscious choice on each individual frame. A burst is usually too aggressive, imposing a rhythm that doesn’t lend itself to these kinds of micro changes.

As the title says, the images here were all shot with the latest 23mm f/1.4, as part of the promotional film I produced for Fujifilm.

1

This was entirely reactive: I spotted the light on the doors as the man was walking by me and I shot three frames in quick succession. The subject had obviously disappeared in last one—I shot it as an empty space.

2

I was crossing the street and spotted the white shoes against the concrete—tone on tone. A bike goes by as I’m shooting: I’m not sure how I managed two shots with the same timestamp without burst mode (!)

3

This is an example of having more time to make decisions. I’m at a stop light and have been following this man for a few minutes. I’m standing on the first two images, shooting at eye level, which explains the almost identical frames. On the last one I crouched, intentionally cropping the subject’s head off to get another option. It’s the one I chose for the promo video but the others could’ve worked also.

4

This is an outtake that isn’t part of any published material. I like the very shallow focus on the ramp, and the lines in the background—but decided to skip it. There’s something interesting about the way those two groups are divided by those yellow line…but there’s too much overlap and the sign gets in the way.

5

I’d been walking the entire day in the heat and my feet were killing me. But I saw the two bikers in the distance and took a chance—after switching from aperture to shutter priority and dropping the shutter speed to 1/30 s.

6

A minute’s worth: the light and shadows were great so I took my time. The first image is obviously tentative, but the composition is set with the second frame, as I notice someone walking in the right direction. From here it’s just about grabbing a few options. I chose the last one but I don’t dislike #3 and #4.

7

Looking back, I prefer the first composition to the second: the building structure is more interesting. I chose #2 because of the subject’s pose and the way he’s fully enclosed against the museum wall.