AV’S Photo Corner - May & June 2024
Sharing my creative journey with monthly photography insights, behind-the-scenes content, and community highlights to inspire you and help you grow as a creative! Support my work by visiting my store.
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INTRODUCTION
The goal of this newsletter is to do a couple things.
First off, I want to provide VALUE to my readers. Whether you’re a hobbyist photographer looking to get better, seeking some inspiration, OR you’re a creative trying to build a business around photography/video, this newsletter will hold nuggets of info on a monthly basis that you can apply to your growth. Second, this outlet will give me a space to recap what I spent the month prior doing - on top of a quick overview of any videos, blogs, etc. that I post, you can expect additional behind the scenes looks at what I’ve been up to, and sneak peaks on photos I’ve made that haven’t been posted yet. Third, I will also share a lot of work from others in the community that I was impressed with, inspired by or thought you folks would get something out of.
This first one will be a combination of both May & June, since I didn’t wanna rush putting the first one out. Going forward, you can expect one of these a month!
AV’s May/June Watch List
Not only do I shoot a lot of photos and try to make a good amount of content, but I also consume photography content like a madman in search of continued inspiration, new techniques to try out, and new ways to view the medium. Here’s a few videos I watched (not necessarily posted in during these last two months) that I pulled something from. Maybe you’ll get some value from them as well!
May and June Community Favorites
Saw a TON of good work coming from photographers I follow in the community - wanted to pick out and share my favorite Instagram posts from these last couple months. Mix of landscape, street, and more.
New Gear & Tools
I’m not a huge gear guy, but I do enjoy trying out new things and expanding my arsenal when I run into a barrier that new gear can help with.
That said, these last two months I added a couple new tools to the tool belt, each for various reasons. I will probably make some content individually about each of these in more depth (probably a blog or video) in the coming weeks.
I came across URTH back in March or April of this year after seeing a number of photographers speak about their gear, and a couple friends recommending their filters when I mentioned I was in the market for some solid Neutral Density filters for video work.
I got my hands on their Essentials Kit +, which contains a UV filter, CPL filter, & 2 ND options… I grabbed the 77mm version of the kit since I usually use my 18-55 lens, which has a 77mm thread.
So far, I have had a great experience with this kit! I’ll have more thoughts on it after a few months of use.
URTH FD to Fuji X Mount Adaptor
URTH also offers a range of other products, most interesting to me is their adaptor suite which allows for users to adapt lenses across camera systems. I was fortunate enough to get a copy of one of their adapters, specifically, the FD to Fuji X mount version, so I can mount some of my Canon FD lenses on my Fujifilm cameras.
Being able to take an actual film-SLR lens and put it on a digital camera has the potential to enhance the character of your images, and add to the film-like experience while shooting (since those lenses are all fully manually controlled). When it comes to getting the film look with a fujifilm camera, this piece can only help.
I will definitely be making a video about this on my channel down the line, as I get access to more FD lenses and have some time to put them to good use.
Hyped to add one of these to the camera bag. I’ve actually been prioritizing my b-roll video work with this for all of June… that said, I’ve got something in the works that’ll be coming soon.
In the meantime, you may see this make a cameo appearance here and there.
I was using the 18mm f2.0 for street photography, but honestly, after 6 months of street photos with it as a daily carry, I came to the conclusion it was just a wee bit too wide for me.
Thus the 23mm F2.0. Picked this up simply to use as a daily carry, and after putting it on my camera in May, it's become my main lens, and almost always stays on my camera.
That said, I’m starting to think the Fujifilm XF 23mm f2 is the best street photography lens.
Related to the 23mm, I bought this just to continue building out my suite of prime lenses. In my recent POV video on youtube, I talk a bit about how good of an exercise it is to commit to a focal length and force yourself to move your body as opposed to relying on a zoom lens.
That said, I picked up the Fuji 35mm F2 with the hopes of trying to shoot some tighter compositions and also working in lower light, on top of again trying to focus on using primes and committing to focal lengths.
MY Youtube Posts In May and June
In both May and June, I was able to finish and release two videos a month. I am going to continue this pace for the remainder of the year, and if capacity allows, even increase to three if possible. This said, I am really putting my efforts into the production quality, concepts of my videos, and the actual photos, so when it comes down to it, those will take priority over the quantity. In queue, I have more BTS/POV videos, editing tutorials, in-the-field composition tutorials, etc. Stay tuned!
Blog Posts In May + June
NADA. I was lazy. Next month this will change. Hehe.
What I’ve been Up To - May and June
In this section, I will typically share a short recap of the previous month’s adventures - usually this will consist of b-roll screen grabs & quick iPhone pictures. Why not actual edited images you ask? Because I’m slow. I sit on work for too long. That’s why.
For most of the last 9 months I’ve almost exclusively been exploring New York City & the surrounding areas, but I do occasionally get chances to branch out further into New England.
That said, nothing changed within May and June, as it was mostly a mix of NYC, New Jersey, and Upstate New York.
Here are some sneak peaks of some of the scenes I was able to photograph:
