Sunday, November 11, 2012

Street Style - Photographing the Newtown Festival with the Fuji X-Pro1

The most important thing about today is that it was Armistice Day, 11 11 11 the day the shooting stopped in one of the worlds greatest conflicts; and if only all conflict had stopped on that day, well the world might be as wonderful and fabulous as the day was today at the Newtown Festival. Conflict still continues, I wish it didn't but the world is a complex place. And to all those who have paid the ultimate price, I; we, those who enjoy the freedoms you have allowed us; thank you.

So today was also the Newtown Festival, I have not been in years and years; my friend Nyk thought it might be a good work out for me and the X-Pro1 and he was right - here are the results of a very enjoyable afternoon photographing the style, the fashion, the people that made the Newtown Festival the great success it surely was, You! These shots were all made with the Fujifilm X-Pro1 with the XF18mmF2 R lens and the tiny dedicated EF-X20 flash unit - as I knew the light would be tricky and I wanted to try a bit of a 'Martin Parr' Magnum on camera  fill-flash approach to the shots. More photography details after the pictures for those so inclined..
Newtown Festival, Fujifilm X-Pro1, Man in lion Suite 'Thumbs Up'

Newtown Festival, Fujifilm X-Pro1. Two girls, happy, making faces, ice-blocks, red, red.

Large colourful earrings, shirt, happy face, street style, Newtown Festival, Fujifilm X-Pro1,

Dame Edna sunglasses, couple in embrace - street style, Newtown Festival, Fujifilm X-Pro1,

Tattooed man with flowers, blue print tee, hat and sunglasses. Newtown Festival, Fujifilm X-Pro1,

Gingham top, black skirt, Newtown Festival, Fujifilm X-Pro1,

Crowd Newtown Festival 2012

Threesome, classic styles mixed, vest check pants, Sunnies times 3, Newtown Festival, Fujifilm X-Pro1,

Green shades, blue tee, mauve shorts and white Hi-Top seekers, Newtown Festival, Fujifilm X-Pro1,

Innner city country style, RM Williams men's boots, hat, check shirt, man bag & shorts, Newtown Festival, Fujifilm X-Pro1,

Cherry Dress, Red Hair & festival crowd, Newtown style, Newtown Festival, Fujifilm X-Pro1,

Two couples & festival crowd, Newtown style, Newtown Festival, Fujifilm X-Pro1,

No Publicity - Street photography, Newtown Festival, Fujifilm X-Pro1

White and Red floral hat, Penis tattoo on arm Street photography, Newtown Festival, Fujifilm X-Pro1
Black hat, dress boots, empty cans, Street photography, Newtown Festival, Fujifilm X-Pro1

Boots, Hat, Khaki, Asian Style, Street photography, Newtown Festival, Fujifilm X-Pro1

Phone call, Pink hair, Street photography, Newtown Festival, Fujifilm X-Pro1

Pink hair, manga dress, Street photography, Newtown Festival, Fujifilm X-Pro1

Men's 70's rock style;  Street photography, Newtown Festival, Fujifilm X-Pro1

Four girls, Gurrll style, Newtown Festival, Fujifilm X-Pro1

Mohawk hairstyle, Newtown Festival, Fujifilm X-Pro1

Newtown Festival, Fujifilm X-Pro1, couple, empty tinnies, shorts, tee, print dress.

Newtown Festival, Fujifilm X-Pro1, happy party girls, pink tee shirt - save the orang-outangs.

Newtown Festival, Fujifilm X-Pro1, White sunnies, bubble gun, yellow flowers in hair.

Newtown Festival, Red hair, leopard print shots, pink ground sheet, Fujifilm X-Pro1,

Newtown Festival, Fujifilm X-Pro1,  Hippy Style, last light back-light - Fresh Coconut drink.



I knew the harsh Australian 'Summer' light would make it very difficult to create a consistent set of images at the Newtown Festival. I decided to see if I could use the X-Pro1's EF-X20 TTL flash to get a series of  shots for a Street Fashion Sydney post. This is the first time I have tried shooting in this style so I tested flash and camera settings at home in my backyard before heading out. I settled on shooting with these settings - Camera at 125th - the fastest flash sync speed, lens set to Shutter priority, A setting on the lens. ISO at 200 and .. Exposure compensation at -1 EV (but I jiggled it to -1 1/3 & -2/3 depending on the light). The flash I also ran mostly at the minus 2/3rds setting. So Minus on camera & Minus on flash. Most of the shots here ended up at with an F# between 11 & 16 due to the brightness of the light with 16 the highest F# on the lens. I set the focus point to the left of centre and kept it there all day, great for vertical portraits and if the shot was not; I did a 'half press' and re-composed which was quick and worked. I shot just over 200 frames; went through six so-so quality AAA batteries in the flash; and the results are above. All the pictures above were quickly adjusted from the camera JPEGs in this software. You can read my review of the X-Pro1 here.

If I took your picture and you don't see it here; drop me a line, let me know what you were wearing and I will email you a copy of your shot.  200+ pictures down to 26 was a big call, there were many lovely pictures I loved but passed on. Hope you enjoy the Newtown Festival shots as much as I enjoyed making them.

Telling Stories in Pictures all over..
Kent Johnson, Sydney, Australia.
0433 796 863

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

bonjour à vous, j'aime la manière d'en vous projetez un individu au premier plan sans le détacher de la foule, créant un liant magique, par la lumière peut-être; il en sort ainsi une personne au sens de l'anonymat et l'extirpant de la foule vous créez ou révélez un personnage, le personnage de son histoire. je me répète mais vous êtes un grand artiste: Thibault