Going wide throughout Holland

Let’s start this out by saying how much I love shooting with wide angle lenses from the Fujifilm X series system. Ninety percent of the time, they are what you would find in front of my cameras, when shooting landscapes.

When I started on my journey back to the Netherlands, I had a couple of things already written down for what I wanted to do this time around. First, was try to shoot all of the iconic places in Holland within a 2 week period, then try to compare the 10-24mm F4 OIS to the 14mm 2.8R. I also wanted to try out my new NiSi V5 Pro 100 filter kit after giving up my Lee filters. However, all that planning went south fairly quickly after I started shooting with the Fujinon XF 14mm 2.8R. It’s an ultra wide angle prime lens with a 35mm focal length equivalence to 21mm with a maximum aperture of F/2.8 with 1/3 stop increments.

Yet all that planning and preparation did not prepare me for the sharpness this lens was giving me, from image to image. I also found it much lighter than my XF 10-24mm F4 R at 408g, considering the 14mm was only 273g with cap and hood and much smaller. Chromatic aberrations are minimal, as are lens flares; you had to really work at getting them on to your images. The only downside I see to the 14mm and 10-24mm is that FujiFilm make them for landscape and street photography, yet does not weather seal them, knowing that we photographers use them in extreme conditions.

As you see in most of my images, I love using wide angle lenses and doing long-exposure photography. Here are some things to consider when shooting long exposure, I’m sure there are a couple more reasons out there but these are what I consider important to me.

Foreground, the reason for using wide angle lenses is to capture more of the scene. You need to make sure you have something interesting in your foreground to shoot at, so find a focal point. Use the sky, take advantage of it by using long exposure, which will accentuate and add depth to your image.

Next, look for leading lines. They are what draws the viewer into your images.

Also, shoot Portrait mode (Vertical), some images are just better suited at portrait mode than shooting at (Horizontal) landscape mode.

Lastly, consider the composition of the image which you are shooting and/or try shooting at low angles, as it can create interesting views. The images shown here are from Groningen, Nijmegen, Kinderdijk, Amsterdam, Haarlem and the Famous Zaanse Schans.

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Manuel Alvarez

“Hello, my name is Manuel Alvarez and I am a retired Culinary Arts chef living in Japan, in the Kanagawa Prefecture. My main passion and focus in Photography are landscapes, portraits, and street photography.”

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