WILL YOU BE MY METAPHOR – Mardee Maree

WILL YOU BE MY METAPHOR – Mardee Maree

A word of warning – the following blog is prevalent with adjectives, slight tongue twisters and inuendos and is written from a personal emotional viewpoint.

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As an art student who took the leap into portrait, boudoir and wedding photography I tend to chase emotive images (as all art should evoke emotion). The old artist in me used to translate vigorous brush strokes and vivid palettes into emotionally palateable extensions of my imagination. Whereas the budding photographer in me merely ended up loading pallets full of unemployed gadgets and gimmicks sold to me through a series of devious stratagems.

What I have learnt along the way is to remember that your eye and subject is your photography, the canvas and brush strokes are your post processing. The translation between your mind and brush is your imagination!

So now that myself and google have your attention – I stand before you void of clutter, doubt and confusion.

My small bag filled with a minimalistic set of lightweight tools that now act as my minds eye! So enough with the overuse of metaphors and underuse of grammarly – let us begin!

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If we are to choose a brand and camera that we will accept into our family, its much like accepting someone to date our only daughter (we see how they fit into our eccentric family, find out what their life goals are and of course how they can be a positive influence on our innocent little buttercup).

Ok so maybe I lied about the metaphors…

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Firstly: Fitting in

When I started photography it was still the days of film. Shooting on 35mm film (full frame equivalent) and the whole world had access to this format of “sensor”. And I followed the craze when I went to digital. I used a full frame DSLR with a 70-200 F2.8, 14-24 F2.8 and the 24-70 F2.8 which together weighed just shy of 4,5kgs. Now a few years on my APS-C mirrorless equivalent* kit weighs 2,6kgs. I know, I know weight doesnt dictate quality (I mean…what if they have a great personality. Then again piggy backing them on family trips could change YOUR personality for the worse).

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As some believe fitting in has nothing to do with size or shape of camera, lets delve into the personality. I have highlighted the word ‘equivalent’ as I do believe many of you do not agree with this as full frame and APS-C are comparatively wine to grape juice. When in fact its extrovert to introvert. Fujifilm takes a smaller sized sensor and body and gains the same light efficiency(eg F2.8) and focal length equivalent (24-70 FF from 16-55 Fujifilm roughly on the 1.5x crop factor).

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Of course the next part is interesting – Bokeh! this is dictated by actual focal length and internal lens configuration and {distance to subject}:{distance to background} ratio. for instance the FF 85mm 1.8 is far closer matched in this regard to the Fujifilm 90mm F2 than the Fujifilm 56mm F1.2 that has the similar focal length equivalent. BUT the 90mm F2 focuses more than 20% closer which improves the above-mentioned ratio even more.

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If your faith is not yet absolved in this introvert, know this to be true – comparing the sharpness between the 85mm F1.8 and 90mm F2 to gain the sharpness that the fujifilm has at F2, the FF 85 has to drop down to around 3.5 to equate the sharp whit of this underrated introvert. So either choice really comes down to having the right understanding to which is a better fit for your eccentric family gatherings. We deal with enough ‘isms in our day to day life – don’t allow trovertism fall into a stereotype. (don’t bother googling it, I made it up!)

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Secondly: Life goals

As stated I am primarily a photographer of people. My original business name was shoot2print as I brought forward my past goals of film into my digital future. Saying that I hand over all my jpeg images to my clients unedited and untouched might elicit some shaking of heads and mxm sounds as well as some duck faced pouting in disbelief – but hear me out.

1. The mirrorless world of WYFSIWYFG (casually translated to ‘what you see is what you get’) allows me to capture exactly what my eyes see through the viewfinder. No hidden surprises after releasing the shutter!

2. Make changes on-the-fly to the Aperture (controlled from where your hand naturally holds the lens).

3. See the depth of field live within the EVF.

4. Independantly change my shadow tone or highlight tone, not simply a single slider that forces you to lose highlights or detail in shadows.

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Thus for my everyday workflow has saved me time as every image’s film simulation, monochrome options, contrasts, focus points, flash setting, face tracking and shutter choices can be changed within a second – altering the result instantly without taking your eye off the EVF. (Imagine having so much control over these troubled youths, without tripping over badly structured menus and incoherent slang that forces you to delve into the depths of the urban dictionary.)

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Lastly: Positive infuence

As we know children are raised by a community, and so knowing the influence they receive along any journey is pivotal to their character and growth. So too my growth is due to my Fujifilm family. I dare you to find any camera brand or group of creatives that are more invested in sharing personal knowledge and insights to help you grow as a photographer. Workshops, one on one interactions at expos and friendly responses to any questions. Even behind the scenes hints and tips, helping you decypher the alphabet soup that comes with navigating this creative field. We are always here to help.

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You might be wondering why I don’t mention which camera within the fujifilm stable (and no it isn’t only because my metaphor doesn’t see colour, race or sexual orientation). The entire Fujifilm range of cameras have the same abilities – from the XT100s and XT30s all the way up to the GFX100! All of which are designed to put that gleaming, proud smile on your face as you walk your daughter down the aisle, knowing you are welcoming the right brand of character into your family.

Mardee Maree
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