October 2025 – Richard Schulz

Scope creep.

Projects of any nature tend to evolve.

continuous or uncontrolled growth in a project’s scope, generally experienced after the project begins.

The definition above explains scope creep. I found out about this while working as a freelancer. The first client I worked with needed a website for his real estate business. After a few months the requests started to become a bit more ridiculous. Add this, change that. If you hear someone say “I want it like Windows” you know you’re in for a rough ride.

Scope creep to boost creativity.

I sat down and thought about the good VS the bad of scope creep. This morning as I was having my coffee I checked myself and wondered: Why write about the bad, focus on the good.

Think of scope creep as breaking boundaries. It takes us outside of the creative constraints. A different route. Letting creativity run wild…is never a bad thing. This is where new ideas come from. Whatever comes into your mind re. your photos / photo project, write it down. Make notes. Let inspiration take over.

I was working through the images of my Apartments project and thought about single windows within the photos. These are often windows which stand out – your eyes drawn to them immediately. And what if I edited them in a 1:1 ratio?

Here is an example of how a single window stands out from the rest. Curtains wide open in the evening. Most of the other windows in the photo have their curtains drawn. Perhaps a free spirit knowing you can’t see into the windows on the 3rd floor (2nd floor).

Same thing in this image. A complete opposite of what is going on around it.

The small details in this crop are interesting. Slivers of light coming in through some of the curtains which haven’t been closed completely. Two windows down you can see burglar bars in front of the windows. In the very foreground you can see thing horizontal lines – electrified fences on top of the wall running around the complex.

Limits on creativity.

This might seem like blasphemy. I mean creativity should run rampant right? Strike while the iron is hot and just keep going until it starts getting cold.

Yes & No.

Yes because creativity doesn’t always strike when we want it to. No because I think straying to far from your original idea might bring in variations which you didn’t anticipate. More effort into your art for less results. (but maybe art and creating shouldn’t be about results?)

When you set out on exploring the extent of a project look at your original idea. Does the new direction help or hinder your efforts? Can the new direction stand on its own, perhaps a new project?

Questions of this nature is important.

tl;dr

Boundaries are important but they shouldn’t constrict creativity. It is down to the individual to decide how far they venture into the unknown of creativity. If you’re currently working on a project, how do you stop scope creep from distracting you?

Thanks for reading : )

A few more photos of apartments.

Of late I don’t take a lot of photos for my ‘Apartments’ project. Between work and writing I think I am probably mismanaging my time. Looking through the collection of images I have at the moment it goes back a year or two, perhaps more.

It’s only a recent addition to the project where I aim to capture some cars passing by which gives some beautiful light trails in front of this complex.

I’m sharing a few images from October. I’ve taken more than 30 images – I know, not a lot but I’m focusing on getting some better images. Also, cars don’t follow my routine in terms of when they pass by. September was a bit better, I think more than 40 and then the winter months (June – August) was the best.

I started this after I had already taken many photos of these apartments. It was only after thinking about the images of the place at night when “do a project” popped into my mind.

The next step here is to start putting together some of the existing photos and looking at a sequence that makes sense and talks about the subject. Ideas around a zine for this is up there. Writing about the images is another idea.

Since I enjoy writing & photography I keep leaning towards this type of thinking for the project. I’ve found a printing company and as time goes on I can also do a few prints of the photos. I think it will be a nice touch and a tangible way to show the efforts of my work.

Thanks for reading : )

Something technical.

Long exposure photography is something which has grabbed my attention over the last few months.

With my Canon 1300D it’s simple. You set the shutter speed to 30″ or BULB, choose small aperture and find a subject. Lovely night shots with light trails if you’re lucky enough to have a car pass by.

I also have a Fujifilm XE-2 and it takes great photos.

But for some reason I couldn’t get the shutter to stay open for longer than 1 second. I thought to myself it must be damaged / broken. I bought the camera as used and it has been with me for more than five years.

But tonight I wanted to shoot long exposure with the Fuji. Come hell or high water. So into the internet I waded and thought to myself – why not ask chatGPT?

It gave me a few suggestions and I tried some of them and then this came up:

When your X-E2 shows SS 1”, it’s set to a 1-second shutter speed, not Bulb mode.
Even though you might have turned the dial toward “B,” the camera isn’t actually in Bulb yet — it’s just sitting on the one-second mark.

Here’s how to fix it and get true Bulb mode

Check your shutter speed dial
- Turn the shutter-speed dial past 1″ (the one-second mark) to “B.”
- It should clearly display “B” on top of the dial, not “1″”.
Confirm on your screen
- The LCD or EVF should now display “BULB” (not “SS 1″”).
- Now the camera will keep the shutter open for as long as you hold the button (up to 60 minutes).
Make sure the camera is in Manual (M) mode
- If the mode dial is in A or another auto mode, Bulb won’t activate properly.
- Turn it to M.
If you’re still limited to 1″, check these:
- Electronic shutter: Bulb only works with the mechanical shutter.
  Go to MENU → Shooting Settings → Shutter Type → MS (Mechanical Shutter).
- Drive mode: Make sure you’re in single shot (S), not continuous or bracket.
  Bulb won’t engage in burst modes.
Optional — remote or timer
- If you have a remote release, you can press once to open and once to close (no need to hold).
- Otherwise, you’ll have to hold the shutter button the entire time in Bulb.

Point 4, sub point 1.

After I switched back to ‘mechanical shutter’ in the options I found my problem of a 1″ SS was solved. I now have the option to shoot in BULB mode. I just need a remote to connect to the camera – to keep the shutter open in BULB mode requires me to hold down the shutter button which causes some shake in the camera, based on what I see in the images.

A blurry image of an apartment complex taken at night. — Apartment complex, Fujifilm XE-2

tl;dr

If you have any thoughts on this, and experience with shooting long exposures on your Fuji I’d like to hear about them – leave a comment or drop a comment on Substack.

Thanks for reading : )

PS – some additional reading on shutters for the X series

Electronic and mechanical shutters.

For passion.

A bird sitting on a telephone wire. Foreground is meta loop which forms a frame around the bird and telephone pole. — Lined up.

A stormy afternoon.

Light rain fell down and this turned into a downpour which lasted about an hour; maybe two. The stormy weather rounded off the work week. Between writing I am watching Sicario. Instead of trying to focus on what’s new at the moment I often revisit some older favorites.

I’ve been thinking a lot about photography and writing.

Mostly how I can turn this into additional income. I’ve had a few internal struggles about this. Can a hobby turned job still be fulfilling? Can I handle the jump from the one to the other? Will I still enjoy photography on the days where I’m not taking photos for a client?

These are some of the questions going around my mind.

I concluded that if I am still asking questions perhaps it might not be a bad idea to at least try and see where it will lead me. Am I thinking quit 9-to-5 and hit the streets running?

No. I’m probably going to post a few cautious adverts online and see what sticks. Hand out a few business card here and there. I’ve recently connected with a business which can facilitate payments so selling photos aren’t off the table completely.

But why?

A bird flying in the right hand side of the image. Background is a cloudy sky. — Bird against the cloudy sky.

I thought about this a bit and one things keeps sticking out in my mind.

Photography makes me feel alive. Happy. Grounded in reality. Present in the moment. Feel free to use your own synonym.

Not in the sense that bungee jumping or skydiving would make you feel. It’s not a rush of adrenaline. It’s a strong desire to keep doing something I enjoy. I enjoy the moments behind the camera. What comes after is what I enjoy more: seeing the results, thinking about what I captured. It gets my brain working and thinking about the next time, the next photo. This makes me feel and think about possibilities.

Perhaps life isn’t as difficult as I imagine it to be. It might not be as overwhelming. Would I enjoy making money from the photos I take or being a photographer, even part time? Definitely. Shit, who wouldn’t enjoy their hobby making them money.

Yet the more I think about it – one thing keeps appearing to me as a beacon. Yes, money from photography will help. But at this point in my life I’m looking for some type of purpose. Go to work. Go back home. Sit in front of a computer browsing YouTube. I don’t want this type of routine.

I want to something with purpose. With passion. Something to consume me. I want to do something which matters to me.

Even if there is no financial reward involved.

Thanks for reading : )