GF32-64 f/4
23mm f/4 1/4 ISO 100
GF32-64 f/4
63mm f/5 0.3 ISO 100
GF120 f/4
f/6.4 0.3 ISO 100
I had the opportunity to shoot inside Colonel Ward Pump
Station while in Buffalo NY. I
had no idea of how massive these old steam pumps were until I entered the
building. The pumps are housed in a 1900s colossal five-story high building and
are 60-feet tall. The steam pumps are
quite now having been replaced by smaller more efficient electric pumps.
GF63 f/2.8
f/6.4 0.3 ISO 100
Anyone who follows us knows that we do not write reviews of
cameras or lenses. What we do instead is
show examples of what the camera and lenses are capable of producing. I believe any camera and most lenses are more
than capable to producing great images so long as the person who is operating
the camera doesn’t slip up. There are
2-brains behind any image. The camera
has a brain that needs to interact with the person operating it. While I attempt to achieve as much as
possible “in-camera” that isn’t always the case. When that happens you need software to help
it along. In rare cases no amount of
software processing will correct the deficiencies while in other cases just a slight
nudge is all it takes to make a mediocre image stunning.
The simplistic way of describing our processing
workflow is that we “listen” to the image.
It will either tell us we screwed up and no matter what we do it’ll
always be like putting lipstick on a pig as it remains a pig. Thankfully that doesn’t occur often. There are times we open the file and find it’s
perfect and nothing else is needed. There are times we open the image and “listening” understand it
would look better if processed a different way. Shooting inside Colonel Ward Pump
Station presented a set of unique options.
Do we show it as it was in color which actually looked more monotone or do we convert to black and white or use another process? The 2-images above reflect that dilemma.
And then there's the image below.
GF 23mm f/4
f/8 0.8 ISO 100
This was a change from shooing inside Silo City and offered
unique challenges. Where I used 2-lenses for the interior work in Silo City I quickly found the need for
other lenses. The light
was much better inside the pump station than shooting inside the darker
Silo City. I also enjoyed seeing the older
street lamps lining the upper walkway.
GF120mm f/4
f/6.4 0.3 ISO 100
The machinery wasn’t the only thing on a large scale.
GF 120mm f/4
f/8 0.8 ISO 100
GF 32-64 f/4
32mm f/4 0.8 ISO 100
I used four Fuji GF lenses while inside. There are 17 images
included here with the GF 23mm f/4 accounting for 3, 8-with the GF 32-64, 3-with the GF63 and 3-with
the GF 120mm.
GF 23mm f/4
f/8 0.5 ISO 100
GF32-64 f/4
64mm f/4.5.0.5 ISO 100
GF32-64 f/4
32mm f/4 1.3 ISO 100
All the images were processed initially in Capture
One Pro before sending them to Photoshop CC and in some cases processing in
either Nik Software or Topaz Labs.
GF 32-64 f/4
32mm f/4 0.8 ISO 100
GF32-64 f/4
52.7mm f/4 0.8 ISO 100
The GFX 50s performed just as well as it has done throughout
the time I’ve had it. Put any of the
above lenses on and it becomes a lightweight walk around camera system.
The camera was either in a backpack, attached to a tripod or hanging
around my neck. The unused lenses were
all stored in a backpack along with spare batteries. All in all a nice compact system.
GF 32-64 f/4
48.2mm f/4 0.8 ISO 100
GF 32-64 f/4
32mm f/7.1 0.8 ISO 100
Speaking batteries. I never once had an issue with power,
shooting all day at long exposures. I did screw up once on a particularly long
exposure by not checking the power and I count that as user error. I normally watch the battery level and once
it shows 2-bars I’ll switch (I do that as a normal course
with all my cameras). At the end of the
day I would have a battery in the camera that was close to 75% and
1-that I needed to charge.
GF32-64 f/4
36.4mm f/4 0.8 ISO 100
Shutter releases. My usual workflow is using a Fujifilm
RR-90 wired remote shutter and did so for close to 95% of the time shooting in
Buffalo. I also had a Pluto Trigger however
I kept it in the bag on this trip.
Thank you once again for allowing us to share our
experiences. Please let us know if you
have any question, suggestions or comments.
Don
