Grumpy Cat Goes To The Display - With His Fujifilm

My Sunday amusement with the Fujifilm X-E2 and 55-200 zoom lens was a visit to the plastic model exhibition in Cannington.

The camera worked well, the EF-42 flash worked well, and the lens worked well...but I had forgotten that depth of field is shallow at close distances and long focal lengths. Some of the model aircraft had fuselages in focus and wingtips out - my fault for not thinking first. 135mm is 135mm no matter who cuts it off the loaf, and DOF is limited. Next year I do it with the 35mm f:1.4 at f:16. Fujifilm have a diffraction compensation program in their latest firmware that sharpens up the results.

The main thing that I took away from the exhibition was the realisation that the individual modellers were brilliant and their creations were charming, but the method of display forced on them by the venue and large number of entrants somewhat spoiled the show.

You see, all scales and subjects were thrown together - on tables covered in jumbles of cloth - with nothing but garish overhead lighting and no backdrops. It was like jewels scattered on a messy floor - still jewels but not shining.

Do we do this with our images? Do we throw too many of them out on our websites or at our exhibitions and jumble them all together. Do they tell a story visually or just babble? Are we just showing slides of our trip to Fiji when the audience wants to leave? Should we show less but show better? Hmmmm.

* Heading image: Wall art in Fremantle. Gotta love Fremantle...