Rekindled Fire

        In the year before I found the x100s, I barely took my camera out of the house. Photography was starting to take the back seat, and I really hated that. Somewhere between switching between a few jobs I lost my desire to just get out there and take pictures. I would remember with fond nostanglia when I was walking on the street and my eyes kept on framing different shots. Taking pictures is one of the great joys in my life and I wasn't ready to give it up because of extenuating circumstances. If changing that would take selling all of my lenses then so be it.

        A month later during the first time I got out for a walk in the center with the Fuji, my eyes started darting again, looking for the elusive frame, something nobody else will see. I was starting to feel it again, my love and passion for photography  was back. Now lets see where its going to take me...

48 Hours with the x100s - Part 2

              Next on the list was a nice 6pm walk in the center of Sofia, and believe it or not my first try at actually taking some pictures of the city I live in. For me Sofia is a very beautiful city, it has all kinds of combinations of architecture, ranging from 4th century churches to classic early 20th century houses to the communist style apartment buildings and monstrosities. The thought of carrying a bunch of lenses and a honking 5kg tripod was a bit offputting, but that is going to change now...

1/125s  f/16 at ISO200

The building of the National Theatre is one of the most beautiful in Sofia, and a trip around the center of the city is never complete without a visit to the City Garden and the Theatre as its centerpiece.

   1/60s  f/4 at ISO200

         A roman tablet embeded into the wall of the Archeological Museum.

"Attention Garage!" 1/125s  f/2.8 at ISO200

Most of Sofia's center is covered with layers of graffiti, and it has become the natural background of many streets. This for example is the entrance of an appartment building in one of the most central areas of the city, not a back alley toilet.

1/30s  f/2.8 at ISO500

1/125s  f/2.8 at ISO800

Solunska str. has a lot of second hand book sellers and this one thought he can advertise the qualities of a  "special" mineral water that you can buy only from him. It's a street that connects a lot of big boulevards in Sofia, and it has it's hidden gems. When people are walking in a hurry from point A to B, they never think to look up at the buildings. Many of them have very different third floors, with special ornaments and designs, which I will explore and share with you in the future.

1/250s  f/5.6 at ISO800

I finished my walk by catching the sunset at "Independence" square and a look from the Saint "Petka" chapel  towards the National Assembly.

1/125s  f/16 at ISO400

48 Hours with the x100s - Part 1

            On my way to the farewell party of a friend of mine I stopped by an antique bookshop, where they have piles and piles of books, but its dead quiet, and incredibly tight. I didn't want for the owner of the shop to know that I am taking a picture, and the x100s was there to help me. I would never have taken my DSLR there, and the loud "CLICK" in that bookshop would have sounded like an explosion.

1/100s  f/2.8 at ISO400

It was already 8pm outside so there were a lot of people going through the underpass, and that was another opportunity to try out some low speed handheld shots of the crowds.

1/4s  f/8 at ISO800

There was another "guy" who was looking at the passing people with interest, but he was probably hoping for some food or a good scratch behind the ears.

1/15s  f/2.8 at ISO800

At the party I heard that there going to be fireworks, and I started thinking about the tripod that was sitting at home. But hey, maybe the Fuji is going to surprise me again and deliver some decent shots, after all...why not? It's handheld capabilities have been something that I was quite impressed with so far...

1/15s  f/2.8 at ISO1000

The next day I met with some friends at the Mall. They had their little daughter with them, and as all other kids she loves going to the rides, and since we were there anyway I decided to take some shots (handheld again). This one was my favourite.

1.3s  f/16 at ISO250

to be continued....

First Impressions

I haven't had a lot of time to take pictures since I got the camera a week ago, because I am pretty busy at work, but here the x100s has given me the ability to take pictures of things that I usually walk by since my huge backpack was always at home during the week.

1/30s  f/2.8 at ISO200

I took this one on the way out of the Mall. 1/250s  f/11 at ISO400

One of the many great things about this camera is that I can shoot handheld with it at speeds that before when I was using my DSLR I would have considered impossible. I am still going to use a tripod on occasion but its great to know that you have the ability to lower the shutter speed if you need to.

On my way to the metro station. 1/15s  f/2  at ISO400

More to come soon...