Rob Jenkins Photography Blog

Different shoots - all with Fuji camera. The jpg’s it gives me are a good base to create what I see in my head when I take the shot. Sometimes I just add tones or contrast, sometimes a lot more.

Maybe you remember the Lou Reed song, New Sensations, well there’s a line about how much he loves his GPZ (motorbike) he could “kiss her” 

That’s kind of how my old Fuji XE1 is to me. I love that old thing. But there’s a reason why I love it and won’t ever sell it. Why it’s a special camera to me. You see there’s a bit of a story. One I’ve told friends and I’m not sure they understood. So maybe I’m not much of a story teller..? 

So I’ll have another go here, I’ll try and get it out. Not cause I want to get “likes” or reposts, no, it’s cause it’s been inside of me for a long while and I have to get it out right just once. Here goes...

A couple of years back my daughter, Leah went on a trip. Overseas. She’s a kid in my eyes, she was just 19 and for me to have my kid head off to Europe for that big trip kids want to do before they get too settled, well it freaked me out. I had a couple of things that gave me minimal comfort though. One was she was going with her close friend, second she did a self defence course with my instructor who’s kind of like Liam Neeson and has a “special set of skills”. He also promised her if she got stuck or needed help to call as he had friends across Europe that could help... thanks Nino, you’ll never know how much I appreciated that.

Off she went. Four months. Those four months went too slow. I spent many a night on my knees praying, begging might be more accurate. Yeah I have a strong faith, but I’m a realist and I know that God isn’t my fairy godmother granting me wishes at will. I’d unfortunately watched some movies like Taken and so on and so worried the whole damn time she go missing or something crazy.

But, it was also around this time I got interested in a new camera. I’d been a Canon shooter and had no real issues or reason to change but something about that little XE1 got me thinking. I read every review, watched them on Youtube. Read them in magazines and saved my pennies. Some nights in bed, my wife asleep next to me I’d start to worry about my kid. It was almost overwhelming cause there’s nothing you can do except hope she’s ok, safe and look forward to her next message via social media. 

Well, those nights I’d pick up my iPad and read something about that damn camera, just to distract me. Over time I fell in love with that little camera and I didn’t even own it yet. It was the anticipation of getting it that kept my mind off worrying about Leah. I’d read about the way it was fun to use, the amazing jpg files, the retro look, the dials... yeah it looked like fun. So I waited until I had enough money and kept reading to distract me from being a worrying dad. 

Then the day came. I got my Fuji XE1, and yeah, I love it so much I could kiss her... 

A bit more then what? Grilled cheese? Fish and chips? A hot bath on a cold day? Well yeah sure but I love it a bit more then my XT1.

I love the way it feels to use.

I love the picture files, yes I know it’s got the same basic insides as the XT1…

I love how it looks.

I love its range finder style, yes it’s not a range finder but you get my meaning.

I love that if I’m walking the street and doing some shooting, no one pays attention to me. I also love how Fuji offer updates to the firmware and improve all their cameras, I guess they really like their customers.

It’s light and easy to use. It’s a brilliant camera for anyone to learn on cause you see how your settings affect your image. Lots of mirrorless cameras do that and it really can help you craft your shot.

This was taken in Melbourne Australia, if I remember correctly - Easter time 2015. We’d decided to visit for a few days holiday. You can do that in Australia, like just about anywhere I guess. Jump on a plane and in an hour you’re in another major city. I was walking around with my old faithful Fujifilm XE-1 with the 18-55 zoom. The old XE-1 isn’t the fastest focusing camera in the world,  but it’s a great walk around camera and, for me, it holds a bit of sentimental value. So even though I’d upgraded to the XT-1 by this stage I prefer taking the range finder styled camera out for walks. This was the Thursday before Easter. We had decided to set off for a walk.

This young guy had just dropped his board down from carrying it so he could take off up the hill. I noticed him getting read so brought the Fuji up to my hoping and in the back of my head hoped I’d get the focus right.

He took off and I did a bit of a pan to try and capture him - panning isn’t my strong area.

Some Days you just want to sell all your photo gear. You look at your gear and what you created and the black dog of depression suddenly appears and you’re wondering why you bought all that stuff...

But those days pass. You shouldn’t let the dog hang around too much. Don’t feed him cause he’ll be round regularly.

What fixes it? Well lot’s of things can help. But sometimes time itself is the best healer.

Planning something new and fresh that gets your heart beating just a little bit faster can help too. The Tuesday blues will go and you’ll be on the downhill ride to freedom.