How a ND filter and CPL Polarizer can Help on Bright Days.

 

Today I spent a couple hours in the afternoon at McKinney Falls State Park.  It's only a 15-minute drive from my house and a $6 day pass for one person. It was mid-December, the sky was clear, and the temperatures were in the mid 60's.  

I took my Fujifilm X-T5 and used the following lens with a K&F 72mm Variable fader ND2-ND32 filter and CPL circular polarizing filter:  

-Viltrox 50mm 1.4f

-Fujifilm 70-300 4-5.6f

-Fujifilm 10-24 F4

For bright days a ND filter is great for keeping the shutter open longer, which enhances detail, and the polarizer makes the sky blue, takes the shine or glare off the water and just generally makes colors pop.  

I also used the Fujifilm bracketing option and for every picture it captured it the following three film simulations:  Velvia, Classic Chrome, and Acros +G which is a Black and white sim.  I LOVE that I can take one picture and the camera processes the photo three times so you have three pictures.  My favorite sim is becoming Classic Chrome.  It's not as punchy as Velvia (brighter colors and contrast) and just has a great "soft" look that works great in both indoor and outdoor settings.  

(To set your bracketing, in the menu go Shooting Settings-Drive Setting-BKT Setting-BKT- Film Simulation BKT)

Here are some pics with the Viltrox 50mm:

 

Velvia Sim

Classic Chrome Sim

Acros +G Sim

Here is a pic with the Fujifilm 70-300.  I didn't have a lot of situations to use it:

Here is a pic with the Fujifilm 10-24:

For this outing the Viltrox 50mm was my favorite lens to use.  It's ironic that I went to take landscape pictures but one of my favorite pics was pointing the camera straight down at the low water creek I was standing beside.  The polarizing filter made this pic POP with the 50 mm lens.

Christmas is Better with Grandbabies.

 

It's official, I am entering my first Christmas season as an amateur photographer and a first-time grandfather.  So far I've done two family-requested photo shoots and a third is coming.   My youngest daughter, Makenzie, gave birth in October to a healthy baby boy, Rowan.  We picked an evening about an hour before sunset to walk the square of their little hometown of Smithville, Texas and look for interesting backdrops for family pictures.  I used my Fujifilm X-T5 with a Viltrox 27mm lens.  I stayed in auto-mode--I'm still nervous to go fully manual, but I can tell I'm getting more confident, that will come in time.  

Here's a selection of photos:

NEO Preset filter

NEO Preset filter

NEO Preset