Hay Bales on Henley-Berwick Rd

New Zealand is in summer now and last night I visited the Henley Cheese factory. The conditions weren’t great and the image, okay, but nothing special. However, on the way there, I did enjoy a welcome distraction. I love hay bales, straw ones, not the kind shrink-wrapped in plastic, I hate those with a passion.

However, yesterday evening, as the sun was going down, I couldn’t help but turn my camera to the hay bales wrapped in ghastly green plastic on Henley Berwick road. The way the light was catching on the plastic, well, it was lovely, almost mesmerising.

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A tractor in the field, resting after a productive days work. GFX50sii, 35-70mm @70mm, 65:24 crop.

I couldn’t find an amazing composition, but it didn’t matter, I was just enjoying the display of hay bales dotted over multiple paddocks. Definitely worth a snap or 2.

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Henley-Berwick Road. Fujifilm GFX50sii 35-70mm @70mm

When I finally arrived at the Henley Cheese Factory, I’d already had my reward, not in pictures, because I couldn’t do the scene justice, but just by being there to see lovely fields of green plastic hay bales. Not something I thought I’d ever acknowledge. However, that’s the beauty of landscape photography, you never know what is going to look great under the gaze of an evening sun. Here below is a cheese factory pic from last night.

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Henley Cheese Factory, GFX50sii, 110mm f/2 @F8

I’m not sure if I’m getting a bit soft in my old age or perhaps just a little more grateful for the small things, but I did enjoy that hay bale surprise, and I look forward to the next one.

The Medium Format look on Fujifilm GFX: Fact or Fiction?

I have been shooting with the GFX system for over a year now and in that time I have often wondered if I would ever shoot a ‘medium format look’ type image. I have definitely seen the ‘look’ mostly courtesy of images taken with the Mitakon 65mm 1.4. The only fast GFX lens I own is the Fujifilm GFX 110mm F2. The lens has become my go to for portrait work, it has pop for sure, but I have never taken an image and thought, nailed it, thats the look, well, until recently.

I was on a photoshoot with Bulletproof Convertible a local Dunedin band. The band members have a real style about them, with fedora hats, braces and a couple even have beards. So they look damn cool, great subjects for photography. The location we shot at was an old abandoned railway tunnel entry. The tracks have been removed, but the location has shear walls, with shrubs and ferns climbing up the sides. The day was overcast and dark with the location only getting down light. So I cranked the ISO and started the shoot.

Then boom, I got one. I had the lens wide open and when I looked on the back of the camera it was like being transported back in time to Otago during the gold rush in the 1860’s. This is 2023 though, but the way the subjects looked and how the lens rendered the scene, kind of blew my mind. The image had an old film look.

One of the band members asked if I could deliver a sepia versions of the images. Usually I am a little reluctant to convert images to sepia (It reminds me of when I sold landscape imagery in gift shops and the shop owners requesting sepia versions as the browns suit home decor) but I gave it a whirl with my own colour grade and I have to admit, sepia, kind of made it cooler.

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Bulletproof Convertible

So is a medium format look fact or fiction on the Fujifilm GFX? Well, so far from my experience I think I have evidence of the ‘look’ occurring once, yep, just the once though. I look forward to the next occasion. Hopefully it doesn’t take another year.

The Henley Cheese factory though Autumn and Winter

I have been taking images of the Henley Cheese Factory for a good few months now. Every time I visit there is something new to appreciate. It’s like saying hello to an old friend and enjoying a new and engaging story about their life. In this update I want to highlight 3 images.

This is an image I took around 5am in the morning when it was still dark. The night sky was clear and the moon was beaming bright over the landscape. Apart from the background light trails of cars on State Highway 1, the image has the appearence of a bright sunny day.

Henley Cheese Factory by moonlight.

In this next image a thick shroud of fog envelopes the factory. The calmness of this scene with its glass like reflection was very relaxing. When you take the time to slow down and connect with an environment like this it can be really rewarding.

Henley Cheese factory in fog.

The image below was taken during a morning sunrise. The grass is covered in a rather biting frost. On chilly days like this I look forward to grabbing a coffee afterwards.

A frosty morning at the Henley Cheese Factory

Infrared Black and White.

When I started this ‘study’ of the Henley Cheese Factory I wasn’t sure how the journey would evolve. Currently I am consistently photographing the building from about the same perspective. I could change it up, but I find there is comfort in familiarity of form and composition, so for now, I’ll just keep on keeping on. Thanks for stopping by and reading this small blog.

Xpan Crop on Fujifilm GFX - Flowers with the GF 110mm F2

In Dunedin we recently had a weekend of misty overcast days. These conditions were perfect for soft flat light photography. I had been visiting the Dunedin Botanic Garden to scout a location for an upcoming family photoshoot, when I noticed how lovely the flowers were looking. Under the flat light their colours popped and many were bejewelled with dew drops adding interest to their petals and branches. I had my portrait lens with me the GF 110mm F2 for framing scenes for the upcoming family session, but I couldn’t resist taking a few photos. What started out as a bit of fun turned into a weekend of colour and peaceful relaxation. I hardly ever take images of flowers as I find them hard to compose. However, I thought it might be easier (and fun) for me to manage my compositions by using the XPAN crop ratio option on my GFX. The XPAN crop uses half of the sensor and creates a panoramic aspect ratio of 65:24. I was hoping that the restriction of view would help me create pleasing images.

SATURDAY

All the images I took on Saturday were hand held. Shooting the GF 110mm at f2 with minimal focus distance only gave a sliver of focus plane to work with. So I just experimented with how much i stopped down to get more in focus.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F2.8. ISO 100, 1/250sec.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F8, ISO 160, 1/60sec.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F5.6, ISO 200, 1/80sec.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F3.6, ISO 100, 1/250sec.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F2, ISO 320, 1/1000sec.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F3.2, ISO 100, 1/200sec.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F4, ISO 250, 1/160sec. One of my favourite images from Saturday, and I would return again to this scene on Sunday.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F3.2, ISO 100, 1/200sec.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F3.2, ISO 100, 1/125sec.

Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F2.8, ISO 250, 1/500sec. Another image I loved. The colours and the almost painterly out of focus areas were very pleasing.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F8, ISO 500, 1/100sec.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F2, ISO 100, 1/320sec.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F4, ISO 100, 1/125sec.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F5, ISO 100, 1/160sec.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F3.6, ISO 100, 1/200sec.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F4, ISO 100, 1/160sec.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F2, ISO 100, 1/160sec.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F2, ISO 100, 1/250sec.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F3.6, ISO 100, 1/125sec.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F2.2, ISO 100, 1/200sec.

Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F5, ISO 100, 1/125sec.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F3.2, ISO 100, 1/320sec.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F4.5, ISO 160, 1/160sec.

SuNDAY

I really enjoyed the experience of slowing down and taking images of the flowers on Saturday. On Sunday when I returned, I thought I’d be even more deliberate by mounting my camera on a tripod. By doing so I could also look at trying to focus stack some scenes to get more in focus while maintaining a lovely creamy bokeh with out of focus areas. I still just shot with the GF 110mm.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F5.6, ISO 100, 1/25sec.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F5, ISO 100, 1/30sec.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F5, ISO 100, 1/20sec.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F3.6, ISO 100, 1/60sec.

Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F3.6, ISO 100, 1/60sec.

Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F2, ISO 100, 1/160sec. Focus stack.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F3.6, ISO 100, 1/100sec. Focus Stack.

Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F5, ISO 100, 1/160sec.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F2.8, ISO 100, 1/160sec. Focus stack.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F3.2, ISO 200, 1/200sec.

Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F2.5, ISO 100, 1/125sec. Focus Stack. A repeat visit to this scene I loved so much.

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Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F5.6, ISO 800, 1/200sec. Again another take on a scene I really liked from yesterday.

Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F4.5, ISO 200, 1/125sec.

Fujifilm GFX 50sii, GF 110mm @F2.8, ISO 100, 1/125sec. Focus stack, again a scene from yesterday.

I really enjoyed photographing the Dunedin Botanic Garden over the weekend. The fresh colours were an absolute joy to capture. The XPAN crop gave me the ability to more easily compose an ordered image and the GF 110mm performed admirably. Using a tripod gave me the advatnage of setting my composition and selectively focus stacking the image. However a disadvantage was not being able to get the best angle on all occasions as the tripod is not as flexible as the camera being handheld. Finally, a word of thanks to the staff at the Dunedin Botanic Garden who are doing a splendid job on my cities public garden.