First trip with the X-E2

[dasminimalist]

I think I took at least a few thousand pictures already, but only so few of them are worth something, if at all. Adjusting the aperture/focus/shutterspeed all at the same time is driving me close to nuts. I wish there was someone to go through all my pictures and guide me into some directions.

Anyways, these the few shots of Iceland + Manhattan that I wanted to share with you. I love the camera, it's more than I could've asked.

 

[cgw]

Sorry but have you futzed around with aperture priority(AP)? If the X-E2 allows you to set Auto ISO ranges, then store these and use them when/if the light matches.

 

[dasminimalist]

Sorry but have you futzed around with aperture priority(AP)? If the X-E2 allows you to set Auto ISO ranges, then store these and use them when/if the light matches.

Yes, that's where I had first started off. But I thought I was supposed to do everything manually so I've been doing it manually so far. I will try using aperture priority to see if that makes it easier for me Thank you!

 

[Ysarex]

Everything new and worthwhile takes some time and practice, you'll get there. Example: sit down in front of a piano and play some Chopin for us.

You're using the camera mostly outdoors and handheld. Set the shutter dial to A and the lens to A -- that's Program mode. Set the ISO to auto and as cgw suggests consider capping the ISO range. I'd try and cap the ISO to 800 but every so often you'll need to override that.

The thumb wheel, see photo:

is Program Shift. You'll see the camera meter's shutter speed/f/stop combination in the viewfinder. Turn the wheel and the combination will shift up and down. You're first concern as you begin to take a photo is can you handhold the selected shutter speed? If not then you turn the shift wheel to change the shutter speed (the f/stop will change to follow). The f/stop is your second concern. In photos like the ones you posted the f/stop choice is less critical than a shutter speed you can handhold. If the f/stop choice does become critical for you it's a simple switch on the lens to disengage A and then you set the f/stop with the lens ring. The camera will select the matching shutter speed.

You're seeing the image in the viewfinder as the camera will process it, WYSIWYG, which is considered an advantage of mirrorless cameras. The +/- dial on the top back right of the camera will allow you to brighten or darken the entire image to your taste. Any adjustment you make will show in the viewfinder. Make sure and zero it back when you're done. HINT: Establish a default state for the camera settings and force yourself into the habit of always returning the camera to default before you turn it off; think about it.

First photo above is very nice. The people stacking stones on the beach is a great juxtaposition to the awesome scenery.

As you begin the camera's auto support functions can be relied on to do a lot of the heavy lifting. Eventually you want to take control of all that and you will in time, but to begin with you have a more important task. You have to learn to see the light. It's not the natural tendency. The natural tendency for everyone as they pick up a camera is to place all of their conscious attention on the 'thing' the subject they are photographing. They are typically unaware of the light condition. Nothing will move you forward faster than learning to see and assess the lighting condition: where is the light coming from, is it high or low contrast, is it mixed color, what's the dynamic range, etc. And then obviously with the lighting assessment comes, what's the best treatment with the camera which can include walk away.

Let's look at your last photo as an example and analyze the lighting. First the scene is basically backlit. The light is coming at you. The sun is low to your far right, technically sidelit but the sun is blocked by the ridge on your right. That gives you a bright light in the background and a weaker sky light on the waterfall. That's a pretty high dynamic range scene with bright light in the back and some very dark shadows foreground right. It's also mixed color light. The sunlight in the back is yellow while the skylight up front is very blue. That's why the waterfall is blue. It would be nice if the background sky, clouds and mountains could be darker (sky would be less cyan) and clouds would stand out more. But it would also be nice if the shadows around the waterfall were more open and we could see more detail and if the waterfall were less blue. But you can't go in opposite directions at the same time. The lighting makes the photo difficult. No camera can treat two different parts of the photo differently. It's still an amazing scene and the photo you took is a good record. But can you assess the lighting and do better.

Our most modern digital cameras have a partial solution. They can apply a different tone curve to a scene that will help quite a bit. These camera features all fall into a category called enhanced dynamic range. You have a scene with a high dynamic range. Fuji cameras have what Fuji calls DR functions. The camera default is DR100. You could have assessed the light condition and used the DR400 setting on the camera.

The other option you may not be ready to hear yet is editing. The light isn't always ideal but there's a lot we can do processing the photo to make adjustments for that.

I opened the shadows on the right. I darkened the sky and mountains in the back. I made color changes to take the blue out of the waterfall and shift the sky blue and I adjusted the exposure and contrast. Focus on the camera now but remember you have unlimited potential going forward if you want.

Joe

 

[dasminimalist]

View attachment 135954

I opened the shadows on the right. I darkened the sky and mountains in the back. I made color changes to take the blue out of the waterfall and shift the sky blue and I adjusted the exposure and contrast. Focus on the camera now but remember you have unlimited potential going forward if you want.

Joe

That's more than amazing, I am always thankful for your encouragement. With the DR function, I have found that with low ISO the camera limits it down to either 100 or 200. If I set the cap limit to 800ISO, does the DR automatically give you the highest number?

 

[Ysarex]

View attachment 135954

I opened the shadows on the right. I darkened the sky and mountains in the back. I made color changes to take the blue out of the waterfall and shift the sky blue and I adjusted the exposure and contrast. Focus on the camera now but remember you have unlimited potential going forward if you want.

Joe

That's more than amazing, I am always thankful for your encouragement. With the DR function, I have found that with low ISO the camera limits it down to either 100 or 200. If I set the cap limit to 800ISO, does the DR automatically give you the highest number?

No, on auto DR the DR function will limit itself to either DR100 or DR200. To get the DR400 result you need to purposefully set the ISO to at least 800 and manually set the DR to DR400.

Try some test shots in very high contrast light to see the results.

Joe