Fuji X-Pro1

The difference could not be more stark, after 2 months of being surrounded largely by nature, mountains, forests, the ocean, deserts and mostly small towns, I find myself thrust into the third largest city on the planet, São Paulo. Where there was the silence of the night, occasionally punctuated by animal sounds, now police sirens and the low mechanical drone of twenty four hour traffic are omnipresent. Where there used to be mile after mile of arid bush, now people fill every square inch of available space, all going about their separate chores. This was supposed to be familiar territory for me, having grown up in Singapore and living in London, but someone, it seems strangely alien, perhaps what the prodigal son might have felt when he first arrived home, a sort of reverse culture shock perhaps. I know my mind will switch modes to accomodate The City but for now, the African bush is a temptress in my head. 

Adrian Seah:
I left my job as an advertising Creative Director in August 2012 to travel Africa and South America for a year with my wife, documenting these beautiful places with my Fuji X-Pro1.

I'm an architectural photographer, traveling around the world on assignment. In between shoots, I explore the cities I'm in. The X-Pro1 came in to fill a gap; to allow me to move lightly and quietly when the rest of my equipment is simply too much of a burden. And also, it allowed me to engage in architectural photography in a different way.....

In case I missed someone, it's because their suggestion is now part of the shared social imaginary for camera wishes (like a digital Rolleiflex, f/1.2 zooms, affordable Leicas ...). Onto the list, in no particular order. I'm a big fan of live-view, not only because of 100% framing, but also as a way to evaluate exposure. My working tools are Canon cameras and tilt-shift lenses, and the latter are known to cause craziness to a camera's metering system. There, exposure simulation live-view came to the rescue, as I can see exposure right off the LCD screen. It's a valuable asset, and works well from bright to low light – though on long exposures it starts to fail, it's still something manageable. The Fujifilm X-Pro1 could certainly gain exposure simulation in all PASM modes. In PAS, metering should be activated with a shutter half-press, and stay on even if it's released. All information displayed in the screen, including Auto ISO's choice, varying the parameters as light changes. In M mode, display exposure as is; if the exposure values selected under or overexposes the image, let the screen blackout or whiteout. I'll know what to do. Also, please honor exposure compensation when in M mode and Auto ISO, by throttling up or down sensitivity.....

Visit Pedro Kok's website:

http://www.pedrokok.com.br/