Better Fuji Photos

Better Fuji Photos Episode 17: Focus Tips - Zone Focus Autofocus isn't working. You don't want to bring the camera up to your face to focus manually. You can still get sharp photos just by estimating! That's called the "Zone Focus" technique and that's what we'll cover in this episode: using the zone focus technique in Fujifilm cameras. We cover: What Zone Focus is Se...

Better Fuji Photos Episode 16: A Better Way to Edit your Photos When you're in Lightroom or Photo Mechanic or any other program that allows you to "rate" your photos, as you select which ones you want to process, are you choosing between 1-5 stars for each image, or something like that? That's what I used to do. It's wildly inefficient and inconsistent. I'm now on a binar...

Better Fuji Photos Episode 15: The Benefits of Kelvin White Balance Do your photos look "too yellow" or "too blue"? Do you want them to look yellow or blue? Is Auto White Balance not working, or giving you inconsistent colors? Here are some reasons to explore the Kelvin White Balance feature in our Fujifilm cameras to address all of these things and more. It's another tool...

Better Fuji Photos Episode 14: Don't Get Caught Using Auto-Review! How do you like that auto-review feature (called Image Display in Fujifilm cameras)? You know, that feature that shows you the last image you took automatically after every photo. It's nice to be able to check your last photo, right? But how many special moments have you missed because you've been conditioned by this fe...

Better Fuji Photos Episode 13: All About Fujifilm's Shutter Types We (myself included) often leave the camera on one shutter type and never think about it again. But that's likely not the best strategy as it can have serious implications for our photography. We'll cover the (up to six) different options in the Shutter Type menu in this episode and their advantages and disadvantages. To...

Better Fuji Photos Episode 12: Not Using Photoshop Makes You A Lazy Photographer...? A "photography professional" was quoted in 2019 stating that "not using post-processing such as Photoshop is not a high ground. It is a choice to sacrifice your quality because you are lazy." I bit the clickbait and wrote a response outlining how the opposite can be true. This episode expands t...

Better Fuji Photos Episode 11: Extending Battery Life in Fujifilm Cameras Tired of your camera battery dying at the most inopportune times? Here are some tips that you can use to squeeze as much juice as possible out of your batteries. I break these tips up into four categories: Focus Displays Accessories Battery conditioning This episode will outline various little things within those four catego...

Better Fuji Photos Episode 10: Treating Your Memory Cards Like Film Film photographers know that every photo is expensive - and thus (usually) need to be deliberate about every photo they capture. Digital photography has all but eliminated that need, and it's costing us in other ways. In this episode we'll talk about a challenge to limit the number of exposures we can capture on our memory...

Better Fuji Photos Episode 9: Controlling Contrast with Dynamic Range NOTE: The webinar is postponed until March 22nd due to a weather emergency. The Dynamic Range setting is one of the most mysterious Image Quality settings found in Fujifilm cameras. However, it's also one of the most important when you're trying to get great in-camera JPEGs. This setting also affects the RAW file, so it's essent...

Better Fuji Photos Episode 8: Six Tips to Improve your Travel Photography There are some straightforward, easy things that you can consider to see remarkable improvements in your travel photography. And we're not talking about which gear to use. These are some big-picture considerations to incorporate into your travel photography: Do your research! Know your gear Pack light Don't try to do it all...

Better Fuji Photos Episode 7: Consistent Colors with Auto White Balance Lock Auto White Balance is super-convenient...when it gets it right. Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn't. Variations are especially noticeable in sequential photos when changes in composition result in pictures with different color casts. How can we address this? Use Auto White Balance (AWB) Lock! This feature is found...

Better Fuji Photos Episode 6: Getting Started in Photography This episode comes from a listener question about pursuing a career in photography when you don't even have a camera yet. So many photography resources - mine included - assume you already have some experience. But what if you don't? Where do you start? We'll discuss a few considerations in this episode. Links mentioned in this episode:...

Better Fuji Photos Episode 5: All About Fujifilm Film Simulation Bracketing I gave you a one-year challenge in Episode 1, a challenge to pre-process your photos rather than post-processing them, which will help you become a better photographer and make the most out of your time. One tool to help you with that is Fujifilm's Film Simulation Bracketing mode. This episode will cover what this mode doe...

Better Fuji Photos Episode 4: Should You Specialize in a Photography Genre? For photographers who create photos for any reason other than it's strictly a hobby , there's often the question of whether or not they should specialize in a genre. There are many opinions on the subject, both for and against specializing in one photography genre. And many of them are valid. In this episode, I want to off...

Better Fuji Photos Episode 3: AUTO ISO for Sharper Photos I was haunted by unwanted motion blur for years when I started my digital photography journey. Keeping track of an ISO that would produce noise-free photos and a shutter speed fast enough to freeze motion seemed to be beyond my grasp. But then I became comfortable using auto ISO. Suddenly (most of) my photos were sharp as a tack! And I've n...

Better Fuji Photos Episode 2: The Photography Scavenger Hunt! Scavenger hunts aren't just games! This is something that I do with all of my photography students during photo walks. It doesn't just make it fun and give them something to do, but it challenges them and produces results. Having something like this when you go out with your camera serves two purposes: 1) It serves as a prompt when you...

Better Fuji Photos Episode 1: Your One-Year Fujifilm Challenge Fujifilm cameras have some very specific tools - not found in other cameras - that can help you improve your photography. It doesn’t matter where you are on your photography journey, whether you’re a novice or a published photographer, whether you’re just recording the JPEGs, or you’re a RAW-only photographer. These tools can help ever...

Welcome to the Better Fuji Photos Podcast! What can you expect from this podcast? Every week we’re going to alternate between Fujifilm-specific topics and broader photography topics. At the end of each short episode, you’ll have one actionable item that you can take to improve your photography using Fujifilm cameras. If you ever have any questions that you’d like to have answered in an episode, pl...