This shot was taken last week in a spell of really bad weather with heavy rain and high winds. A brighter evening persuaded me to venture forth with my kit in the hope of some decent shots. I made my way to the town of Carrickfergus, which lies on the north shore of Belfast Lough, about ten miles from the city itself. A high tide with strong winds meant that a lot of seaweed had been washed up onto the small beach at Fisherman’s Quay and as the tide was just going out I made my way down.
I set my tripod up just on the edge of the seaweed, fitted my Fujifilm X-Pro1 with the XF 10-24mm lens. It was still quite windy so I knew that a long exposure would flatten the sea and blur the clouds. I use the Lee 100mm filter system. I know lots of people recommend the 75mm system for Fuji cameras but I’ve found that the 100mm works just as well with the added bonus that there’s no vignetting at the 10mm end of the lens, as some people have reported with the 75mm system.
I composed the shot I wanted, focused using manual focus, fitted the Lee 3 stop Pro Glass ND filter and waited for the light. After about 30 or 40 minutes the sun was low enough to shine through the clouds, giving a nice side lighting to the seaweed. I took a quick meter reading, added the Lee Big Stopper and adjusted the exposure to 2 minutes, as recommended by the exposure card. I took several shots before the light went and this was my favourite. It turned out to be 4 minutes at F16 ISO 200.
I absolutely love working with the little X-Pro1 and the XF 10-24mm lens is quickly becoming my favourite. It is sharp, even at f16 and I’m sure I could’ve pushed it to f22. The Lee filters are legendary for their quality. I am amazed that some photographers complain about the price; why would you spend thousands on a camera and lens and stick a cheap piece of plastic in front of it! Shortly after taking the shot above it started raining again and I made my way back to the car, returned home and started processing from the comfort of my home. Unlike the XT1, the X-Pro1 is not weather sealed, well thats my excuse anyway.
