People and the Sea – Adventures with the X-Pro2

I have always loved the sea, from childhood trips exploring rock pools near my grandparents’ house to my work as a marine biologist and photographer, and I have been fortunate enough to have spent much of my life next to, in or on the sea. Naturally, a lot of my photos are seascapes or subjects that relate to the marine environment or the people who use it. 

Changing from Nikon to the Fujifilm X-series system has allowed me to carry all the equipment I need in a much smaller and lighter bag, which really helps when scaling slippery rocks and hopping onto boats. Having a lighter camera also means that I can get away with a lighter, smaller tripod which makes it easier to capture spur of the moment long exposure seascape photos. Every seascape trip I take now includes the trusty tripod, neutral density filters and spare batteries, which all fits in a small daysack (even with space spare for other important kit: lunch and swim shorts)!

 

An area of photography that I have always wanted to explore further is street photography which often seemed intrusive; however, with my new, less conspicuous X-Pro2 I feel more confident experimenting with these shots. This confidence has led to my new personal project; People and the Sea, a combination of landscape and candid photography, aiming to capture the personal connection many of us feel with the marine environment. This overview includes snapshots of local fishing communities dependent on the bounty of the oceans, to holiday-makers travelling long distances to reach sandy shores.

 

 

 

I am lucky enough to be combining my two main passions through this project as I am currently based in Santa Margherita Ligure, a large town with two differing identities. Firstly, as a coastal fishing port where the fishermen mend their nets on the pavement and sell fresh seafood from stalls and secondly as a pretty seaside resort beloved by famous writers and movie stars throughout the ages including Samuel Beckett, Laurence Olivier and Elizabeth Taylor.

 

 

Over the last couple of months, I have had plenty of time to explore the local villages and coastline to capture images for this project. In the week before arriving in Italy, I took the somewhat impulsive decision to purchase the X-Pro2, as I wanted to take advantage of the larger sensor, faster processing and improved autofocusing. I was a bit sceptical at first (no tilt screen for landscapes!), but I have been very impressed with the improved focussing speed, the focussing joystick and the image quality straight from the camera, especially the ACROS simulation. Although I expected to be reaching a lot for my X-T1 for capturing landscape photos, I have mainly used the X-Pro2, although admittedly it is difficult sometimes to approach my usual style of low angles without the tilt screen, but I can use the mobile app or contort myself if necessary to get the shot!

 

 

 

Overall I am really excited by my change to the Fuji X-series, as this has completely rejuvenated my passion for photography which I am now fully pursuing as a career, and given me the ability to capture new angles I had not previously considered. It has also been wonderful to combine my love of photography and the sea, and I intend to add to this collection in the future as an open workbook.

If you would like to see more of my work or to view the ‘People and the Sea’ workbook as it evolves, please check out my website, Facebook page, or the Instagram account. You can also contact me at lawrence@eaglingphotography.co.uk.

 

 

 

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