Quinault Rainforest

After another long break from posting on the blog we return to where we left off. After I left New York I traveled to Seattle and went on a road trip through Washington and Oregon. My first stop was the Quinault Rainforest.

35mm 1/80sec, f/4, ISO 1000

It is an amazing place, especially if you don't have much time for hiking the trails around it. You can just drive your car and park it every few miles along the road and discover waterfalls, creeks, huge threes and moss everywhere.

35mm 2sec, f/16, ISO 200

I used my little joby tripod to take the long exposures. I would have preferred my old Benro tripod, but I was happy to be travelling light.

35mm 1/80sec, f/4, ISO 1600

Visiting Quinault was easily one of my best memories from the trip and it proved to be a nice test for the Fuji x100s. Low light hand held shots, macro and long exposures were all there.

35mm 2.5sec, f/16, ISO 250

You can actually do a loop around the lake in search of interesting spots, sadly the road changes from asphalt to gravel halfway through which is not as enjoyable.

Morning Sunshine

          After an unexpected trip to the Customs Office I found myself  close to the South Park of Sofia. And since the x100s is always with me I went in search of some early morning landscapes. Parks are usually packed with so many people, you cant really appreciate their beauty. Early Monday morning meant there were only some joggers around, and I had the park all to myself.

1/125s  f/8 at ISO320

1/160s  f/4 at ISO640

I decided to try the macro mode on some maple leafs, finding an interesting one proved to be a difficult task, since most of them were quite dry, but I think I ended up with a good one.

1/60s  f/5.6 at ISO500

           The light kept on changing from long shadows to glowing light in the crowns of the trees.

1/125s  f/5.6 at ISO500

          This pond was absolutely gorgeous, not a ripple in the water and a perfect reflection, I immediately regretted still not having a CPL filter on a 49mm thread, but I had to make due without it. It turned out to be one of my favourite pictures I've taken so far with the x100s. The more I think about it, I realise that I wouldn't have taken any of those pictures with my old Nikon D700 because it would be in my bag, at home. Having the x100s with me all the time, makes it the best camera I've ever had.

A stroll in the woods

         I really wanted to take some Autumn pictures before the snow falls. Every year it's different, and you never know how long the season is going to be, it could be 2 months, it could be 2 weeks. I guess I should thank global warming for that! The weekend seemed like the perfect opportunity to get out of the city and enjoy nature.

1/1.3  f/16 at ISO200

           One place that I really enjoy and still haven't fully explored is the forest under the Dragalevski Monastery. There is a nice little river that allowed me to take some long water exposures for the first time with the Fuji x100s and it came out with flying colors.

10 sec.  f/11 at ISO400

6.5 sec.  f/8 at ISO200

I have been really impressed with the "T" function of the camera. It's like a smart "bulb" mode and it comes in when you want to have exposure longer than 1 second, since the knob on the camera only goes to 1/4. The 3stop ND filter gave me the opportunity to keep my ISO low where I needed it. Can't wait to go out again and find more stuff about the x100s!

1/30s  f/4 at ISO500

My girlfriend came with me and endured the cold and windy weather for the sake of the pictures! So, I want to thank her for that :)