Fujifilm XT-1, 18mm lens, 90 seconds @f11, ISO 200

This photo is taken from the moat that surrounds the Forbidden City in Beijing. It was made with a 18mm lens, a shutter speed of ninety seconds and the aperture set to f11. No neutral density filters required as it was dusk. The orange glow on the brickwork is from the street lights on the other side of the water.

Further reading: Long Exposure Photography with the Fujifilm XT-1

Landscape photography with Fujifilm cameras

There are two features on Fujifilm cameras that make them ideal for landscape photography.

1. In Bulb mode, the camera displays the elapsed time on the rear LCD screen. This makes it very easy to see when you should stop the exposure.

2. In manual focus mode, the camera displays a distance scale in the electronic viewfinder that tells you where the lens is focused and how far the depth-of-field extends in front of and behind that point. This makes it easy to find the hyperfocal distance.

In processing (Lightroom), I set the Dehaze slider to -5 to soften the image slightly.

Further reading: The New Dehaze Slider in Lightroom CC (plus a workaround for Lightroom 6 users)

The mirrorless switch

I took a new tripod on this trip – the MeFoto C1350 Roadtrip. It’s a carbon fibre tripod and lighter than my older Giottos aluminium tripod. Part of the rationale behind switching to a mirrorless system is that it would allow me to use a smaller, lighter tripod than my EOS 5D Mark II required. So far this tripod has worked extremely well.

Further reading: Why I Switched from Canon to Fujifilm

Whenever I set my camera up on a tripod in China someone comes up to have a look at the LCD screen. People there seem to be curious, in a friendly, genuinely interested in what you are doing kind of way. The only thing is, if the camera is part way through a long exposure, I can’t explain to somebody who doesn’t speak English why they can’t see a photo at that particular time.

More photos to come soon.