Porto with the X-Pro2 and XF35/1.4

Adam Bonn

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Location
Porto
Name
Adam Bonn
Porto with the X-Pro2 and XF35/1.4

I've posted this in travel, but I actually live here :) Still I have to leave the house to go to town!

I got my X-Pro2 about a month ago and it's only this last week I actually had half a day all to myself to go shoot with it!

I'm no stranger to Fuji, but this is a new sensor and I'm still finding my feet with it/my workflow...

I've got a funny taste in PP anyway!

So here are some of, well not my first ever shots, but my first day out to a location I know well shots!

It's been well over 30 (37 on one day, which is what? 98F?) here for a month, it's too hot, seriously - a lot of the Portuguese countryside is on fire (only about 7 clicks from our house actually..) the air has stunk of burning and the past few days have been smoggy...

These shots are just before that, when the only thing more harsh than the heat - was the light!

But I don't let bad light stand in the way of bad photography - no sir!

For those that care about such things - all shots from RAW, PP with SilkyPix Pro7

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I love the crazy crap that I see painted on the walls here in Porto.

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It was too hot to be outside, so I decided to go into the market

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Amongst many other things, the market has a LOT of fish stalls. I always ask before taking pictures of people's produce, a request which is always granted, and that gives me chance to get in close and take my time.

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This was quite a large Octopus, I'm not really skirmish about stuff like this and I eat meat... But I also love animals... yet somehow I can live with myself and this hypocritical contradiction.

Obviously I apologise to anyone offended by the fact that animals are killed and sold for food and then purchased by people like me.

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After the market it was time to head back onto the streets! At this time of year the place is heaving with tourists. I LOVED the XF35/1.4 on the X-Pro1 and it's just as scummy on the ExProTwo ;)

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I decided to try some back streets, Porto is zig-zagged with back streets, it's never hard to find a new one! This one lead to the 'Old Billicia' :D

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As the day wore on the light got softer (and the temperature goes up as the streets and buildings start to release the heat they've soaked up)

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I love sticking my nose in places with bars across them... it's a guilty pleasure... I never really understood that phrase... I guess I'm guilty, but it gives me pleasure! (This was a store that closed down)

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The decorations are still up from June's Sao Joao festival.

I'm very much enjoying the X-Pro2... There's a few niggles... The OVF is a bit hard to see in bright light, I've given up adjusting the dioptre wheel every day and put electrical tape over it, and stuck a bit of rubber on the AF-L button. Nothing insurmountable... I did find I was blowing the red channel with very little clue from the (luminance only) histogram which is a bit annoying, but the type of thing that once learned.... (I hope)
 
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I've been working through some more shots from that day, so I hope you'll forgive the indulgence of sharing some more?!

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I've got to say... I'm really falling for the X-Trans Pro sensor (or X-Trans III or whatever they've called!)

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Igreja Paroquial de Santo Ildefonso

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I always try to explore new backstreets! Luckily here it's nearly all backstreets :)


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House of the crocodile!
 
more please

Thanks Roger, I'm sure I can dig a few more out :)

(But I suspect you've seen the best ones)

If it's images of Porto that you're liking, there's a fair few blog posts on my site Blog: Table of Contents that have Porto images.

Most of them are with the X-Pro1 (plus a few XT1/X100S and even Pani LX100!!), so if it's the fact that these shots are with the X-Pro2 that's caught your eye, then stay tuned as I haven't had the new camera for long and I'm still yet to shoot it as much as I'd like
 
OK...

This is probably your lot!

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Being English, it amuses me greatly that phone boxes look like this here :)

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Like Wabi photography? Come to Porto!

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This is a bit sub par tbh... it just didn't really work!

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Again sub par.. my timing was slightly off, and it's a bit flat. Meh - Roger wanted more pictures!!

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The golden hour here isn't always a full hour, but the light truly is wonderful! (yes PP obv! But less than you might think!)

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Did I mention Porto Light / Wabi at all? Oh yes right - repeatedly :D

And finally one from yesterday... a rare foray into LR actually, because although I don't really use it, it's rather good with purple fringing! (maybe SilkyPix is too and I haven't figured it out yet, that's generally how SP seems to work)

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Some more shots from around town - taken last week :)

This time I made myself use the 18 and 60, as I hadn't given them a X-Pro2 work out yet!!!

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XF60. I'm really falling for the extra resolution and micro contrast of the X-Pro2!

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Fear the Reaper! Street with the XF60

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Bread and Water with the XF60!

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Sao Bento interior (it's a railway station and very popular and famous) XF18

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I've always felt the 18 had a undeserved bad rep... OK, so the 14 and 16 (and even the 18-55 @ 18) are better lenses... But truth be told, I did wonder if the 24mp of the Pro2 would be a little merciless... I think that little 18 can hold it's head high frankly, it does as good as job as it even did !!

To get the look I like... I often have to play with colour channels... but I tell you, that little 18 gives me the least work to do, it just renders lovely for my tastes!

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The shot in my posts above - "The house of the Crocodile" signage, well it's a shop and it was open this time - so I went in. They sell handmade leather goods, and have a dead crocodile hanging from the ceiling !!!
 
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