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.
An apartment building at night.
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.
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 dialpast 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.
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
A break in routine. A change up of the familiar. I had a day off from work. Initially I wanted to stay in bed. Catch up on as much sleep as possible (which we know isn’t possible). Get up late, spend the day drinking coffee and doing this I usually don’t have the option to do.
After some consideration and the fact that I needed a haircut I decided to head into town. But with a minor set of changes to my standard routine.
Slept until 7:50am. Usually up at 4:40am.
Cycled into town at a leisurely pace. Usually I speed in while dodging people in their steel cages with wheels.
After getting a haircut I went for a cup of coffee. As I left the barbershop I found this cool doormat in front of the business. The owner is from Algeria if I’m not mistaken and has a really chilled vibe to him.
Hello You Lovely People.
While having my coffee I spent some time scribbling and people watching. Looking at people going about their day-to-day is something I enjoy. As someone who is reserved and not too ‘extroverted’ this helps me understand people.
I have written this elsewhere but if you need to brush up your people skills, want to understand people better or just want to marvel at humanity then go into retail.You will learn quite a lot about yourself as well.
Here are some of the scribbles I made while drinking my coffee.
“The hustle of a coffeeshop. People in and out going about their day. Ambient music in the background designed to make you spend more. This is a far cry from the barbershop where I just spent about 13 minutes. Quiet. Just the noise of the electric trimmer turning me into a presentable human being.”
While I sat down there was a mother and young son having breakfast. He kept taking food from her plate and when he caught my eye I waved to him. He got shy fairly quickly and ducked under the table much to his mother’s delight. After finishing their breakfast they had the remained of the breakfast packed into a doggy bag and left the shop.
“turn short splashes into longer pieces”
The piece above is more focused on my writing. Take the short pieces I write and expand them into things which have a bit more meaning. Write more descriptively and write more personally.
As I finish this post the clock says almost 2 pm. It’s been a relaxing day and I hope to take much of these ideas into the weekend as I try to get my writing back on track.
There has been a slow decline in my “urge” to write. I don’t want to completely stop writing. I do get a measure of satisfaction from it. The scratching and scribbling in notebooks and on blank pieces of paper. Those still happen but as I return to these moments in history I find less and less things of interest.
I don’t know whether it is a type of burnout. Perhaps. I’ve been writing on Substack for more than two years. Then eight months ago I get a website. I’ve had it for a while but didn’t do much with it.
Looking back it’s been a rough year for me when it comes to my mental state. Lost my mother. Lost one of my best friends. Been in a job for a year which I have to do (money and all that). All these things feel as if they are tying my down. They aren’t all I focus on but when it gets quiet and my mind has a second to recover or stand still they are the main antagonists in my story.
The pale blue house.
I guess I’m stuck.
Writers’ block. Photographers’ block. How ever I want to phrase it I am at the juncture. The one where I know what I have to do (write and take photos) but I’m not motivated enough to do it. I’m thinking “why?” quite a lot when it comes to my photography and writing these days. Not because I want to stop doing it because it does give me some fulfillment. But does it provide enough? And once I get “enough” will that be enough?
Writing for an audience probably does this. Suddenly you don’t know what the audience wants. You’re uncertain if your writing is still valid or relevant. Like when your photos don’t hit the spots on social media.
I think I’m just uncertain at this point in time. About many things. I’ve put to rest the idea of living of my writing & photography. I haven’t ever considered this is idea to be plausible but at very least I thought “I might sell a photo or two“. For writing: the bar for entry is pretty much gone but making money from it, a lot more difficult than some hustle bro would like you to believe.
Turn ahead.
Am I a little bit jealous of those making money from their hobbies? Fuck, it’s difficult to say. The people I follow seem to be doing alright – I might be a little bit jealous. Mostly of the ability to do more of the things which I enjoy while I feel stuck in first gear. It’s almost like Facebook all over again. The highlight reels which turned so many sad people into really depressed people.
To Let.
tl;dr
Writing & photography is taking a bit of a back seat in my life at the moment. I’m still here, I’m still on Substack. I’m still taking photos but just not for public consumption. Hopefully I’ll be back to my old self in no time.
At the end of the work week I finally find time to write a little bit. I have not been as focused on writing as I’d like to be. Most of my evenings are spent watching a little bit of YouTube and then going to sleep.
Finding time for a hobby is often one of the more difficult parts of it. You might have more time than myself. Or less. Squeezing in a few paragraphs here and there might be all you have time for. Scribbling down new names for the character with a bio in short hand just so you don’t forget it.
Regardless of how much you do – it’s important to do something. To keep the momentum going. Today one paragraph. Tomorrow two. Or two pages. Put down a few ideas on what you’d like to write about in your next newsletter.
All the small sessions tend to add up. You find an idea in something you wrote earlier during the day. As you look back you discover a gem hidden away in your Keep notes. Or a post-it note stuck on the corner of your computer screen with a cryptic phrase on it.
These tend to keep us going. The bursts of excitement during a long idea drought. It nourishes our attempts. It says “stick with it. keep doing what you’re doing”. Perhaps it is for your latest novel. Or a newsletter. It might be nothing more than a hobby. An attempt to create a career as a writer / photographer / painter.
On consumption
I’ve slowly stopped reading Substack on my computer. Mostly because while the tab is open my mind tends to wander – first YouTube and then Pinterest. Then a myriad of other things which randomly jumps into my mind. I open Substack on my computer only when I write something [comment / note / newsletter].
I’ve cut down on my YouTube watching. The amount of “X things to do to make your Y better” videos I watched was too much. Honestly I didn’t learn as much from the as the creator hoped. All I managed to do was fall into comparison traps.
Reading is one thing I try to do but I curate a whole lot more. What value does this newsletter add? Can I gain some knowledge which I didn’t have before? A different insight into a problem I might be experiencing.
With that said, I think we should [on occasion] read / watch something which has nothing to do with our particular craft. It’s a reset for us. Like putting your camera down and not taking photos for a week. Or not writing. Blasphemy I know but sometimes the lack of something makes you see it with a renewed vigor when returning to it.
In this world where we have access to tons of information and stimulation how can we not get distracted? YouTube, Instagram. You don’t even need to jump into social media to get distracted. Browse Wikipedia and you’ll see what I mean.
There is nothing wrong with distractions if you take them in small doses. Working for a few hours and then getting distracted for a few minutes. A distraction can help you to reset. The few moments away from the screen or the code / the project / the paperwork.
Like everything in life, distraction without balance is not a good thing. If you’re consistently distracted at work you don’t do the job required from you. If you’re consistently distracted while writing the work tends to suffer. Same for photos.
Battling distractions are difficult.
If we’re not invested in something it is easier to become distracted. Don’t feel like going out – watch Netflix. Don’t feel like writing? Do some ‘research’ and end up scrolling endlessly. Look for something on YouTube on how to beat distraction.
Battling distraction is difficult because it is uncomfortable. It becomes a comfortable zone where we come home after work and instead of reading or doing something constructive we open YouTube, IG or whatever gets your dopamine flowing.
Do this for a few weeks in a row and you have a full blown addiction. It becomes your routine. A new routine dedicated to keep you from doing something you enjoy.
The key part of distraction is to keep a handle on it. Find something which isn’t a distraction which will take your attention away from the important things. If you’re a writer, get distracted by other people’s writing. Subscribe to a newsletter and spend some time on reading the thoughts of people.
I’m not advocating you fill your time with only photography. Or writing.
Sometimes a distraction needs to be nothing. No noise. No music. You and some peace and quiet. Away from the millions of bits of information out there trying to sell you something. Trying to push you to feed an algorithm. Trying to get yourself filled up with dopamine only to crash down a few hours later.
tl;dr
Sometimes, we need distraction.
Long day at work. Tough week at school. Things not going your way. Whatever the reason may be. Perhaps your craft has gotten the best of you. Writer’s block. Photographer’s block.
Here distractions can be good. A few minutes stepping away from the keyboard or the pen & paper. Setting down the camera for a day or two. Let the images on your memory card (or film) rest. Let them breathe.
engaged in a specified activity as one’s main paid occupation rather than as a pastime.
Professional photographer.
Over the past month, I’ve been considering the idea of moving from hobby photographer to professional photographer. Initially I’d only do this on a Sunday. You know, do it on the side. Part time. My train of thoughts were mostly along the lines of: Keep doing it until it can pay my rent. Then quit my day job and pursue it full time.
As I thought about this more and more I started wondering – is this a wise decision? Once I start doing this it will become a job. Suddenly the pressure to take photos isn’t only me telling myself to do it – now I have a paying client. Or two. I’m on the clock, have to finish this before this time tomorrow or don’t get paid.
Gone are the carefree times when I went out with my camera because I wanted to. Not because I have to. Gone are the walking slowly into to town and capturing misty mornings. Suddenly your hobby, which you enjoyed, is a job you hate. Or at very least dislike.
Something for the winter evenings.
I think this is where it gets tricky.
If you’re eager to escape the rat race, or just move into a different direction, life as a professional photographer might not be as fun as you think. Once you accept money, it’s not friendly anymore. You create expectations. You tell people “I am good enough at this”. You sell yourself. You sell your work. Perhaps you start to corrupt the thing you enjoyed in the beginning.
This happened to me once before.
In another life I worked in IT. Hardware. Fixed printers, did a little bit of network related stuff, set up emails. Basic stuff. I wasn’t really happy with this. It was mundane. It was repetitive. Some months I had to wait for my salary.
Go into software development. It will be fun they said.
At first I was really excited. I would often think about how a teacher in school failed to teach me about programming yet I taught myself how to program within a few months. At first I did it as a hobby. Then I thought why not find some clients? Easy money. This turned into a full time job for a few years.
Today, even after being gently nudged by friends, I don’t want to see a line of code. I don’t hate it but it doesn’t give me the same amount of joy as it did when I only messed around with it.
It’s not the same anymore.
Dinner.
I think it will be exactly the same if I started taking money for photography. It will be great for a few months. Then the suck will start. Being told by people who have no idea about my craft how to do it. But I can’t tell them to get buggered because then I might not get more work. And if I don’t get more work I start to worry.
I’d end up in the same position I find myself in now. Not enjoying what I’m doing. With one major difference – now I destroyed the thing which helped me escape these bad times. What will the next stop be?
I recently read two newsletters which capture my thoughts much better. If you’re in two minds about whether you should / should not monetize your hobby give these a read. At very least you’ll walk away with a different perspective.
The first one is by Ali ‘O Keefe and you can find it here. If you’re not familiar with the concept of shit sandwich you will be after this. The next piece is by Razlyn Lysaught and you’ll find it here.
tl;dr
Doing a job which doesn’t fit into the idea of normal seems like a fun thing. You take lots of photos. Shoot with models. Travel to cool places. But it’s not always sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes it will suck. Sometimes you’ll have to eat some shit. Perhaps the same type you’d hope to escape when you embarked on this new journey.
If you’re on this journey I hope you don’t start hating your hobby. I’m still on the fence about taking money for photography. After reading two pieces above my thinking is different. Full time photography isn’t something I’d enjoy. I need to do something different. I get distracted easily. I want the photos I take to reflect something other than “I hate this gig”. I might do it for free, perhaps take a coffee as payment. But I want photography to be part of my journey. Just not as a full time paid up photographer.
First as a means to impress someone then moving into a way to improve myself. Having worked in a fast food restaurant for a long time the idea of cooking and taking photos of food is something close to my heart.
If I had the opportunity I’d cook everyday. Curry and rice, chicken and pasta with mushroom sauce. Pot roast with potatoes and carrots. Or a simple chuck stew. Nothing too serious but enough to keep myself fed.
Santoku or chef’s knife used for chopping. Smoked paprika. Chili flakes along with fresh thyme and rosemary from my small herb garden. Or mayonnaise mixed with hot sauce to ease the burn.
Something for the winter evenings.
I try to make the simple things I cook the more interesting. Soup with a mix of vegetables. Instant noodles and curry vegetables. Or simple a frittata.
Noodles.
One thing about food photography which I still have to manage is the planning. Cooking a large meal for a few photos doesn’t fit into my budget at the moment. I mostly take photos after I’ve cooked something.
Dinner.
The ideal would be planning a meal and then photographing the process. From breaking the eggs to finishing the omelets. Hopefully this is something I’ll do in the not to distant future.
It was in my usual spot this morning when a young man, actually two, passed on a scooter. I greet them each morning as they pass by, then stop at the corner shop, buy cigarettes [probably] and then head to work.
This morning was a bit different. I’m not sure what was wrong with the scooter but they had to keep it revving to avoid stalling. It was slightly funny but more annoying as the sound of the revving engine just kept going up and up.
As they left I still heard the high revving even as they were out of sight.
Scooter.
I snapped this with my phone as he waited for his passenger. If you look closely you’ll see another motorcycle passing in front of them. I took the photo hoping to catch both of them in full view but slow auto focus. It turned out alright in the end.
If you’re new here thanks for taking time to read my writing. If you’re looking for a bit more then head over to my Substack and see some other photography related content. There is also a link at the top of the page where you can see the options available to support my work here & on Substack.
It’s been a while since I decided to sell my photos.
I guess many photographers have this in mind at some point. For the rest of this post lets forget the why behind the reason and focus only on the prints. When it comes to selling photos you have two options – sell digital or sell physical prints. Three options if you decide to sell both.
Selling digital photos are the easiest option. Setup a store front and make the product downloadable after purchase. Done. No shipping, no printing.
Selling physical prints of your photos tends to be a bit more messy. I live in South Africa so I suspect it will be messier (more expensive, logistically a bit more difficult) than someone living in the US. My primary concern was the shipping and then the printing.
I’m still working on the shipping but over the past week I printed some of my photos I want to sell. To see a few things:
The quality isn’t bad. From the images I can see my photo quality isn’t as bad as I initially thought. I printed photos from my Canon 1300D (18MP) and I printed photos from my Fujifilm XE-2 (16MP) and both results are fairly good.
Paper quality. For a photo which will be framed I suspect the paper will do the trick. From the printer’s website “crafted on Fuji Lustre paper using a high-quality wetlab printer“.
My big questions now are mostly related to the paper quality. What is a good enough quality paper for selling photos? Then another one pops up. What is a good size – I’ve been looking at some other photographers selling prints and A4, A3 & A2 tend to be popular sizes.
Overall I’m happy with the process. Mostly done online and if I need to ship locally I could even let the person doing the printing handle the shipping.
In closing.
I’d like to hear from anyone else who sells their photos. What are some of the challenges you’ve had?
