Hello, and welcome back to my blog. For those new here, I’m a Melbourne, Australia, street and travel photographer. I love nothing more than chasing the light in an attempt to capture unique moments in time and space. In my last article, I talked about escaping South Yarra and hitting the streets of Melbourne with my Fujifilm camera and lens combo. I also talked a little about my recent case of Covid. I’m pleased to say that I am almost 100% over the dreaded plague. Just a little lingering fatigue and a cough. It’s heading into winter here in Melbourne, and there’s a lot of cold, flu, and Covid doing the rounds. 

Since my last update, I’ve had a fair bit going on with work. I took a week off writing for Shotkit to recover from Covid – it always gives me a shocking headache that I just can’t do much with. The night before I first felt Covid-sick, I was asked by Fujifilm Australia to attend a bespoke live concert experience. The artist was Cap Carter, who is a singer-songwriter with an incredible voice. Fujifilm Australia supports Cap Carter and the event I attended – HIDDEN. HIDDEN took place in the Wayfarers XXX in Docklands, Melbourne. Fujifilm’s involvement in the event also allowed them to showcase the video capabilities of the Fujifilm GFX 100 II and the Fujifilm X-H2S cameras. Cap and his band performed live in front of a small audience while Fujifilm recorded everything – the videos are still in post-production. 

Keep in mind that I’m not a videographer, and I was not invited to be part of that crew. Instead, Fujifilm Australia asked me to attend and capture photos of behind-the-scenes and intimate moments during the event. Fujifilm loaned me the new Fujifilm X100 VI and the Fujifilm X-T5 with the XF 56mm F1.2 lens. I had the X100 VI on a shoulder strap and the X-T5 on a wrist strap. It was a bit of a juggle, and my neck and shoulder were very sore the next day – but that may have also been the start of Covid. It was a really fun event to be a part of and to be given a free license to shoot it how I saw fit. 

I loved the X100 VI and have recently reviewed that for Shotkit – check it out here. As for the Fujifilm X-T5, it was a dream to shoot with and an incredibly capable camera. I’ve owned the first three generations of the X-T series and have revised both the X-T4 and now the X-T5. That review is due out soon so stay tuned for that. I had to hand the X100VI back at the end of the night. But I got to hang on to the X-T5 and XF 56mm F1.2 for a bit longer. As a result, I was able to make the most of the loan camera for some street work around South Yarra. It’s a dream machine that still retains the form of the X-T series while delivering a considerable performance boost. The X-T5 features a 40MP X-Trans 5 image sensor and the X Processor 5. It also has IBIS, enhanced autofocus, and snappy subject detection and tracking. Sadly, it, too, has been returned to Fujifilm. 

Aside from that and the usual weekly articles I write, I’ve been busy with the Fuji X Aus Facebook community. It’s an amazing Australian based group dedicated to providing a space for any Australian and New Zealand Fujifilm photographers and videographers. I’ve been an admin of the group on and off for almost a decade. I dropped out as an Admin when I became unwell a couple of years ago. I have recently been invited to return to my Admin role, which is amazing, and I’m once again grateful to my community for the support. I have been aching to meet up with some of my friends and fellow photographers from the group. My first duty as admin was to organise a couple of Melbourne CBD street walks. The first was last weekend, and we had about 15 members of the community show up – I consider this to be an excellent turnout. A friend of mine who lives in West Africa was in Melbourne for a couple of days, so he joined us with his brand-new Fujifilm GFX camera. It’s an absolute beast with a 102MP sensor. I don’t know how he carries it around like it’s a compact street camera. 

I lead the walk from our meeting place at Federation Square just outside of Flinders Street Train Station. Leading up to the event, I had told all attendees that this would be a single-lens challenge. I clarified that people should try to bring only one lens and make it work. To their credit, everyone stuck with the challenge. From Fed Square, we headed East along Birrarung Marr, enjoying the Autumn morning – cold but clear. We crossed the Yarra River at Swan Street Bridge and looked West to capture wonderful views of the city and the river. We walked West back to St Kilda Road and across Princess Bridge back to Fed Square. We all congregated back at the Transport Hotel at the front of Fed Square for a debrief and general chat about all things photography. I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent catching up with old friends and meeting new people. It was also great to talk about photography, the upcoming Fujifilm X Summit, and what we’ve all been up to. Such a lovely bunch of people – I’m very lucky to have their support. 

The second photowalk is scheduled to take place tomorrow. I organized two walks so that people who couldn’t make it last week have the opportunity to join the group this week. We will once again be meeting at Fed Square in the morning. This time, instead of heading along the river, we will walk north into the heart of the CBD and explore Melbourne’s streets and laneways. I will be organising more photo walks even though the weather is turning cold. I’ve missed this so much and based on the reaction to these photo walks, it seems that others have been craving the same connection and opportunity. I think the next walks will take place in different parts of Melbourne – just to mix up the experience and make it more interesting for everyone involved. I will definitely be organising a later afternoon walk so that we can do some setting sun and night shoots. 

It’s been a busy time, and my beautiful partner has been far busier with her own work. Aside from that, we manage a household of five children, two dogs, and four – no five – cats. Last weekend, Teh Doctor and I adopted a new kitten from the Lost Dogs Home. Her name is Haru, and she is delightfully calm but curious. She also loves a cuddle and sleeps under the covers with us. Talking about the cat…and The Doctor, of course. I have more writing work ahead of me with Shotkit and Lucky Straps. Plus, the recent Fujifilm X Summit in Sydney revealed four new Fujifilm products that I hope to get my hands on soon. More on that in the future. Until then, take care and happy shooting. G