Hi, and welcome back to my blog, where I document my life as a photographer and writer. If you’ve kept up with some of my recent entries, you’ll have noticed that I’ve been in a little bit of a creative funk recently. When writing and creating content for my clients, the energy and creativity flow without an issue. When taking photos to accompany my articles, such as gear shots, I don’t have any problems setting up and conducting a shoot. However, I’ve been a bit off when it comes to getting out and about to pursue the light for fun. As I’ve written recently, I found it very hard to find the motivation to grab one of my cameras and head out to take some shots. I didn’t know if it was seasonal depression due to the cold and drab weather or if it was something else. Either way, it’s been bothering me that even on nicer sunny days, I just wasn’t feeling motivated or inspired.

It was time to take charge and push myself to get out and chase the light again. I’ve been out about twice this week to wander and take shots. On the first occasion, I took my Fujifilm X-E4 with the XF 50mm F2 compact prime lens. I don’t typically shoot street and everyday images with the 50mm, as I usually prefer to work with a 16mm or 23mm focal range. However, I needed to set myself a challenge and change up my usual approach to everyday photography. I decided to add to this challenge by setting my camera to shoot in the Acros Fujifilm film simulation. By removing colour from my compositions, I was purely focused on light and shadow elements.

Further to this, I set my lens aperture to F2 and challenged myself to capture subjects in sharp focus while background elements were soft and blurry. I am pleased to say that I was utterly engrossed in the overall creative process by such criteria. I sought compositional contrast and opportunities to grab interesting images where a subject stood out in sharp focus. I started in my local neighbourhood of South Yarra and wandered around Chapel Street and the Prahran Market.

By setting myself specific settings and limitations, I was far more focused on seeking light and image structure. Knowing that I couldn’t change the aperture and wanted subjects to be in sharp focus with a faster shutter speed, I mainly controlled ISO only. From South Yarra, I ventured into the Melbourne CBD to meet up with my sister for some brunch. Once outside of Flinders Street Station, I made the most of the early morning commuters and the decent light filled across the city.

On my morning outing today, I finished my work commitments early and grabbed my Fujifilm X70. I walked to my local train station in Hawksburn and jumped on the first train. Two stops later, I hopped off at Richmond. The station was elevated and very open, so lots of light poured across the platforms and down into the subways.

I took a few minutes to wander the platforms and the subway tunnels below before hopping onto another train headed through the City Loop. I arrived at Melbourne Central Station and headed upstairs to explore a couple of regular shopping spots. EB Games and the Lego Store were at the top of my list. While in Melbourne Central, I grabbed a couple of nice shots of the original shot tower and glass roof above Melbourne Central.

With my shopping done and a snack devoured, I headed back underground to the station to take a quick ride through the loop to Flinders Street Station again. The sun cast long shadows around the station, creating an excellent setting for street shots of people emerging from the shadows. I hung around Flinders Street for a little while until I once again longed to be home – The Doctor was working from home today. I crossed Swanston Street to the tram stop outside Fed Square before jumping on the 72 tram to return home.

I spent the rest of the morning editing the day’s images in Lightroom before writing this quick blog entry. I noticed today that I was really eager and motivated to get out and make the most of the wonderful light. What’s more, I felt inspired and was able to see the compositions forming as I roamed about with my camera in hand.