BTW when catching up through a months worth of posts I saw some images that really stuck in my mind. They were of a dragonfly with a very skilful use of SDOF. Props to whoever that was would love to be able to have got some shots like that!





I really have throughly enjoyed reading this thread and yet again many thanks to Duncan for sharing his work and thoughts with us but.......
.... I bought my X10 in April after which I have been hit very badly with serious health issues which affect my walking and general health. Consequently I have not been able to get out much at all. Rarely out of Totnes (where I live) and so the X10 has been sitting there but largely unused and I just can't take in the learning curve needed to get the best from it. So it is been offered on the 'For Sale' section as I need to accept I can only ever be an occasional snapper and need something more of a 'point and shoot'
So I will be looking at cameras with good IQ that offer 'one handed' control and that do fit in my pocket so Canon S95/S100 or LX5 but no budget for the latest models.b
So if anyone wants a pristine X10 take a look in the 'For Sale' section.
Well finally, will be able to join the official owners thread, well 2 of us actually, me and Yves Geza will be the proud new owners of Johns X10 and we shall try our best to be a good and loving owners
Mind you, having seen Souldeeps pics, I think I might just slink back to my D700's and practice a bit more....![]()
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Souldeep - life is a journey and most of us would envy your start point.
Things can change real fast.
A year ago I was aimlessly taking images for no purpose other than I was enjoying myself.
Yet here I am with my first paid wedding comfortably under my belt, a request to undertake a much bigger wedding in London next year and my ARPS application being submitted in a couple of weeks time.
But it's not sustainable with a full time job.
I'm now in limbo land; I need to decide to take my photography less seriously; or try and make a go of it.
Meanwhile, get out there and do what you love doing - and don't let any idiot tutor tell you otherwise
P.S. that sunset really floats my boat. Why does it remind me of Bladerunner?
P.P.S hope my guru won't mind, but here's a quote from her response after I emailed her a link to your recent set of images.
I expect her X10 will arrive by the weekend and the book shortly after.
"Wow! and WOW!!!!!!!! and COR!!!!!!!!! SO sharp apart from anything else! Can't wait to try it - but until I do, am wondering about metering and depth of field - but I've ordered the book - think I told you"
I think she was impressed![]()
- unlike you Duncan, Mr Measured and cool, to be so passionate in the comment regarding tutors. It looks like most people on this forum have had experiences of tutors - and at that - non particularly positive! I've paid for the course already and start tonight so I hope I don't have the same disappointment as some of you have experienced.Souldeep, your photos have inspired me to dive into matters, post-processing matters. Until now, I tried to get away with SOOC pictures. Admittedly, the X10 has produced more pleasurable pictures than any of my previous digital cameras. But even so, a lot of the photos seemed flatter than reality (I know, lack of photographic skills/command of the X10). So I did have a dabble with processing software in the past: LR, RT, UFraw, DCraw, Gimp, but I never seemed to get results that I was satisfied with.
Tonight, I've spent a few hours reading and practising a bit and lo and behold, I managed to turn a slightly flat-looking photo into something more appealing. Funnily enough, the new (processed) version also seems to be the picture I remembered seeing when actually looking at those stilted birds. The difference may not be enormous, but I'm happy with the output (using Rawtherapee on JPGs, for now).
Souldeep, you definitely were the instigator of this, many thanks! But also a big thank you to all other contributors, and Duncan as the driving force behind all of this.
I would appreciate any feedback (no need to be gentle)
Many thanks!
Rob
Well finally, will be able to join the official owners thread, well 2 of us actually, me and Yves Geza will be the proud new owners of Johns X10 and we shall try our best to be a good and loving owners
Mind you, having seen Souldeeps pics, I think I might just slink back to my D700's and practice a bit more....![]()
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Oh dear - not sure if me being the instigator is good or bad. Some people are very anti PP.
Well my first comment is your PP is subtle. Thats a good start. I think some of you will remember my first attempt at PP back in April and it nearly ripped the eyeballs from your sockets. So credit on that.
Next up I see you have done something with the vibrancy. Thats really cool as the pinks jump out more now.
Have you tried bring up the shadows slightly - I would be interested to see whats lurking in the shadows back of the pic. Not saying it would make a better picture but worth playing with to see what happens
Regarding your comment of what you saw - that to me is the whole point of a bit of PP. PP is art - make a moment your own - the way you see the world. Good luck with the learning![]()
Mate - welcome to the forum. What a set to drop as an intro.
Yes these were the puppy's. Great composition, detail, sharpness, colour. Everything I would look for in a photo I take. I cannot fault them! Would love to be the owner of those. Respect and look forward to more postings!
Hey Rhodese - some great shots in that set! You've really got the X10 working well.
I really like the field with the church in the background.
Also the street shot, fired from the hip, is great. Looks like the fella is about to fall forwards! That picture has a certain softness to it, like I have noticed with Lindsay D's work.
Cool attempt at straightening out the pano. How the heck did you do that?
One of my biggest gripes at the moment is that I can't seem to sort out the x10 barrel distortion I get in a lot of my architectural shots. Wish they would post a Fuji lens fix in LR.
We have seen some excellent Panoramas recently Using the Fuji sweep.
The problem with that is, that it can only produce cylindrical projections with their characteristic bowed look to straight lines. Most of souldeeps views were chosen very well where this is not a problem.
But the X10 is also capable of taking conventional stitched panoramas, these can take advantage of the many available projections. and also be produced at a much higher resolution.
Like all panoramas they can be taken hand held or with the available panoramic brackets.
I use the Nodal Ninja 3 MK2. It also gives greater opportunities to "mend" mis-stitchings and remove unwanted partial images. or correct horizons.
It can be advantageous to take a sweep panorama and then a more carefully shot conventional one to process later.
Thanks for the tip Terry!souldeep said:Robenroute - no I haven't even heard of that software. Is it freeware? Looks like it may be worth adding to the workflow if it sorts barrel distortion. I don't have the time or inclination to play with the transform tool![]()
Just a reminder that today is the new firmware launch date http://www.fujifilm.com.sg/news/2012/26sep2012/fujifilmX10Details/
Download and more detail here http://www.fujifilm.com/support/digital_cameras/software/firmware/x/x10/index.html
PDF here http://www.fujifilm.com/support/digital_cameras/manuals/pdf/index/x/x10_manual_02.pdf
I'll be grabbing it over the weekend if I get to ground for 20 minutes.

Souldeep, have you had a look at Rawtherapee yet? Version 4 has lens correction features (incl. automatic ones) that could address some of your issues. I've tried it myself and it wasn't too shabby...
Regarding that flamingo photo and turning the shadows completly black: I haven't tried that, but I'm rather sure it would take away a lot of depth. The flamingos in the foreground need a "tangible" background. But then again, that's just my take.
We have seen some excellent Panoramas recently Using the Fuji sweep.
The problem with that is, that it can only produce cylindrical projections with their characteristic bowed look to straight lines. Most of souldeeps views were chosen very well where this is not a problem.
But the X10 is also capable of taking conventional stitched panoramas, these can take advantage of the many available projections. and also be produced at a much higher resolution.
Like all panoramas they can be taken hand held or with the available panoramic brackets.
I use the Nodal Ninja 3 MK2. It also gives greater opportunities to "mend" mis-stitchings and remove unwanted partial images. or correct horizons.
It can be advantageous to take a sweep panorama and then a more carefully shot conventional one to process later.
I still prefer the multiple still shot method as opposed to the Fuji sweep. The sweep is certainly quick and easy but for quality of image a multi shot with the camera in portrait orientation and a high res setting takes some beating.
What I'm really fascinated about - how does the single colour mode work. What I can't quite believe is that the camera can produce a shot like the demo image of the red flowers. For example most shots we take would have different hues of reds all over the place. How the heck can the senor/siftware figure that only the red flower heads should be the only part of the image not to be grey scaled. Have you tried that function yet Duncan?
That technique needs very good pre-visualisation, which I don't seem to have.
It's really nice to see how the straight lines get bent and keep taking until they become a positive part of the composition.
As for resolution, 3840 pixels is more than is needed for the biggest pano I've ever printed; I'm happy with that!
I did try it; and as gimmicks go, it is a lot of fun!
Just like the Pano thing I mentioned above, it is really nice to see what you are getting in camera and refine the composition to get the best from the effect.
Here's some images showing what happens when the colour is just out of tolerence; there is no soft edge.
First, here's a 120deg pano (lens is zoomed in so this is no where near 120deg!) which shows the actual colours we are dealing with.
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Second, Selective Red - note the hard edge with the gray. The blanket is all the same colour, a fairly muted red. Note the POP the X10 has given the red!!!!!!!!
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Third, my 21 year old moggy posing on my desk behind a box of tissues. The red stripes really go zing.
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I quite like the results that selective colour is giving.
Gonna need some proper playing with later![]()
PS - love the cat! Although not sure what it's up to with a tissue box next to it's bed. Is it a tom by any chance? ;-)
I still prefer the multiple still shot method as opposed to the Fuji sweep. The sweep is certainly quick and easy but for quality of image a multi shot with the camera in portrait orientation and a high res setting takes some beating.
Thanks for the Rawtheapee nod. Ive just downloaded it and it looks promising , a bit like LR but free, that cant be bad. Cheers.
Terry thats a nice shot, is it a battery charging station?