Rolling With Whatever Life Throws at You

5 minute read

Rolling With Whatever Life Throws at You

Emmanuel Akinnitire tells us why being flexible is the key to great photography and how FUJIFILM X-S10 gave him the versatility he needed when he used it to create studio portraits with FUJINON XF55-200mmF3.5-4.8 R LM OIS and XF50mmF2 R WR

For his latest project, Emmanuel Akinnitire wanted to tell the story of working life by portraying the different moods that we can experience during a day at the office. “I love framing different emotions, so I thought it would be cool to do a mix of ideas in a mix of locations,” he tells us.

“Sometimes you’re with your favorite coworker, you have a good schedule, there aren’t that many customers, and you get to goof around and have a great time,” he continues. “But there are also times where you’re slammed, customers are giving you a hard time, and your boss is on you, so you’re not necessarily feeling as good.”

Photo © Emmanuel Akinnitire | FUJIFILM X-S10 camera and XF50mmF2 R WR lens, 1/125 sec at F2, ISO 800

Just as the concept behind the project explores a variety of different scenarios, the project itself did the same. While Emmanuel was on location, he noticed an additional space with a motorcycle prop that he simply couldn’t resist. “It looked really cool and my stylist happened to have this jumpsuit with a load of paint splattered on it. And I thought it would be kind of cool to combine that with the motorcycle as an almost cyberpunk-looking shoot.”

Such a change in direction during a session is a common way for Emmanuel to work, and for that reason, he made sure he was prepared for it. “I wanted a lot of space for us to play around. When I was doing my scouts, I chose a location with areas I thought we would 100% use for the session, but also other spaces that we could use if we felt the vibe was going that way,” he tells us.

Photo © Emmanuel Akinnitire | FUJIFILM X-S10 camera and XF50mmF2 R WR lens, 1/200 sec at F2, ISO 320

This process of preparing for the unexpected and allowing his creativity to take control during a session began way back in high school when he first started making images. “It was very fulfilling, just seeing what kind of images I was going to get that day,” he recalls. “And school, you know, it’s an ever-changing landscape; no day is the same, despite the schedule you’re on.”

Being quite a shy person, it was the perfect way for Emmanuel to connect with the world around him. “Photography has definitely given me opportunities to escape a shell and get out of my comfort zone,” he explains. “I’m constantly able to meet new people and get to see what they’re passionate about. I love that process, and everyone you meet is going to give you a different story.”

In order to work in this way, it is essential to have a setup that allows you to be agile enough to follow your creativity. For Emmanuel, that is all about size, ergonomics, and performance; boxes that were all checked by X-S10. “I really liked that X-S10 made it easy for me to do my job. I want my camera to allow me to focus on creating. I don’t want to be looking through my menus, fiddling with my camera to make it do what I want it to do,” he reveals.

He continues: “I can almost hold the camera with one finger, that’s how light it is. And that made it so much easier to frame up for shots. I was also blown away by how fast it was able to focus. I don’t think I got one shot out of focus, which was honestly amazing.”

X-S10’s superfast autofocus, capable of reacting in as little as 0.02 seconds and performing right down to -7EV*, is powered by the outstanding X-Processor 4 imaging engine. When combined with the back-side illuminated 26.1 megapixel X-Trans CMOS 4 sensor and five-axis in-body image stabilization (IBIS) you have a camera that is capable of creating professional-quality images and 4K/30p video with extraordinary versatility.

Photo © Emmanuel Akinnitire | FUJIFILM X-S10 camera and XF55-200mmF3.5-4.8 R LM OIS lens, 1/80 sec at F4, ISO 2000

For all of the images in this project, Emmanuel used the MONOCHROME+G FILTER Film Simulation mode. FUJIFILM Film Simulations are advanced image modes exclusive to FUJIFILM cameras that digitally recreate the look of analog photographic films to make your images truly unique.

The MONOCHROME Film Simulation mode alone produces beautiful black & white images with a classic look, but there is also the option to apply different color filters for different effects. In this case, Emmanuel used the MONOCHROME+G FILTER, which can help to reduce blemishes on the skin and is therefore the perfect choice for portraiture.

Having such fantastic quality JPEG files straight out of camera was a real advantage for Emmanuel as it saved him time in post-processing. “It’s honestly amazing how little post-processing I had to do on the majority of my images, because of how good they looked straight out of the camera,” he reveals. “I really like the Film Simulation modes, I was able to use MONOCHROME+G FILTER for the whole session and it worked for all the different lighting scenarios I used it with.”

Photo © Emmanuel Akinnitire | FUJIFILM X-S10 camera and XF55-200mmF3.5-4.8 R LM OIS lens, 1/160 sec at F4.7, ISO 800

All these features came together to create an image-making tool that gave Emmanuel the freedom he needed to achieve his vision and he tells us that this ability to fit into any workflow is his favorite aspect.

“I think you can just float with this camera and focus on making images, so I’d recommend it to people who do portrait work, people who do event work, and anyone who just loves photography in general,” he concludes. “I think X-S10 definitely makes you fall in love with photography.”

Need we say more?

FUJIFILM X-S10 is coming soon to your nearest FUJIFILM Authorized Dealer. Learn more and read the full specifications here.

Find out more about Emmanuel’s creative process in this exclusive behind-the-scenes video!

*When XF50mmF1.0 R WR lens is attached.


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