Well, it certainly has been a while...

So, what's been going on? Let's see..

1. I broke up with my girlfriend of 3 years. Wow was that tumultuous. I'm actually glad its over. Unfortunately, she was a bit of a muse to me, so between that and...

2. I HATED my Fuji X-E1. Slow slow slow slow slow and unreliable auto focus just crippled an otherwise amazing camera. Correction - amazing sensor. I hated nearly everything about the camera. Battery life, confusing menu system, the metering system, just all of it. I hated almost every minute of using it.

3. I sold the Fuji and thought long and hard about WHAT TO DO NEXT? Well, to be honest, I've always preferred the look and feel, the mood, really, of film to that of anything that looked overly 'clean' and digital. That sort of photography just looks clinical and unfeeling to me. There's a certain beauty inherent in imperfection. After all, I'm a people and portrait photographer, and I'm damn sure that we're imperfect. Why should my images have a clinical, perfect feeling? The question was, how should I go about achieving those results? So I...

4. Researched and researched. Should I go back to shooting a Leica Rangefinder? If so, digital or film? After all, I've spent quite a bit of money on the great VSCO film emulation plugins, only to make my digital images feel more like film, so why not just suck it up and shoot film? Oh yeah, the slow workflow....well, what if I simply had fewer frames to deal with? What if I just slowed down and really tried to get just what I want? I'd always loved the look of medium format, and especially loved the 6x6 square format....would it be crazy to go back to film?

5. I just bought a Hasselblad 501C with a Zeiss 80 f/2.8 Planar. Great camera and great lens. I have an Epson V500 from my 35mm film days just hanging out, so I figured why not? For the price of a decent to crappy Leica film body, I can get an entire setup that will give me incredible results....what's the harm?

I have a couple portrait shoots coming up - I'm finally excited to shoot again!!

Maymont, Richmond, and (finally!) the Start of Spring!

What a nice day to go for a little walk around the Italian and Japanese gardens....the flowers are about to burst!

Last Days at the Apartment...

Hung out with some friends for St Patricks Day...she's leaving this cool little apartment. For a much bigger and equally cool apartment. But we'll miss the window...

I don't know what it is...

But suddenly all my pictures seem to make it on the Explore front page!

So it snowed a little today...

Hope my Fuji X-E1 is just slightly...slightly waterproof!

In Search of Inspiration...

As much as I want to get out and shoot - its been cold and rainy. I've had enough of the cold...

EXPLORED!

Its funny how it happens when you least expect it...This is one of the first 30 or so frames I've taken with my new Fuji X-E1. Right now its #70 on Explore! Cool surprise this morning to wake up to!

So my all time favorite camera was....

My old Leica M8...10 megapixels. Super old. Magenta cast problem. Short battery life. Long read/write time, etc. The list is shockingly long for a camera that I loved so much. What did I like about it? Its small. Incredibly well built. Beautiful. Inspiring. Discreet. Simple, yet hand it to someone and watch them be totally lost! The noise characteristics were stunning - the noisier it got, the more 'film-like' the results.

The Fuji? Right now? I prefer the X-E1. Its just a better camera! AF isn't blazing, but its probably very very close to my focusing speed with the M8. Plus the high ISO noise characteristics are extremely similar to that of the M8, and that, along with the shooting experience, are what made me love that camera SO much.

This is why I needed to switch. Because I WANT TO GO SHOOT!

Here are some old Leica M8 shots.

Fuji X-E1! First impressions...(and shots!)

Tiny! Well built! Great lenses...(18mm and 35mm). Quiet! The AF is on the slow side, but I think it'll serve my needs. More to come!

Here are some silly sample images...

Finally!! Why I can't wait to shoot my Fuji X-E1

Ugh I can't stand to not have a camera around. I ditched my Leica M8 about 6 months ago when I got a job working with a fashion photographer in Los Angeles. I loved my M8, but figured I needed something a little more versatile for my work out there, so I picked up a Nikon D800. Brilliant camera. Amazing dynamic range. Huge resolution.

And hugely uninspiring. And just plain HUGE! I simply never wanted to have it with me. And for me, that's everything. Photography has been a journey and I feel like I'm coming around to what I feel passionate about - and that's documentary photography centering around people. I like to tell stories. I like for the world to have a chance to see things the way that I see them. Its a form of communication to me. The D800? It never spoke to me. Small cameras - we get each other. They allow me to blend in and just see.

Hopefully it'll be waiting for me at the office today. I'll have some images up tomorrow and I'll discuss how it feels to shoot this little guy. Can't wait!

ugh...

The Fuji was backordered....looks like it'll be the end of the week! On the positive side of things - I did score an amazing deal on a Fuji XF 18mm f/2 on eBay! $370 shipped! Can't wait to try it out...

Looking like Wednesday...

I can't wait to get my hands on my new Fuji X-E1. Some people may think I'm nuts for switching from a D800 to an APS-C camera, but to me, having a camera on me is more important than ultimate image quality. And there's something about analog - perhaps its the inherent imperfection, I don't know - that I just dig.

I'll have a full report by Friday. Can't wait!

PS...

If you happen to stumble upon this...check out my site! Michaelhulcher.com

Here comes my new Fuji X-E1...a modern M8?!

We'll see... I loved my M8. If I like this camera half as much - I'll be happy.

So I finally decided to move back to a smaller, cheaper camera. Which means more photos...looking forward to posting some new images!