F2.0 overlooking a road in Shenzhen

A bridge over a busy road, Shenzhen, China, X100F

Shot at f/2.0 from a bridge over a busy Shenzhen road — the wide aperture compresses depth and throws the layers of the city into a softened relationship. The X100F’s 23mm lens at this aperture produces gentle out-of-focus rendering without a clinical quality. Monochrome holds the tonal transitions cleanly through the frame rather than competing colours pulling the eye in multiple directions. See the full article: China — Shenzhen Day 3 on IJM Photography.

Pollution ?

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This is actually a measure put in place to combat pollution. Mist sprinklers… Foshan, China, X100F

Mist sprinklers in Foshan photographed against the light — an anti-pollution measure that becomes an atmospheric subject. The X100F and backlit water mist: the droplets catch the light and the frame becomes about atmosphere rather than subject. Monochrome intensifies the graphic quality, turning the sprinkler heads into silhouettes and the mist into a mid-tone wash. See the China series on China: The Final Frame on IJM Photography.

Crossing the road…

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Waiting for the scooters to cross the road. Foshan, China, X100F

Waiting at a Foshan crossing — the patient street photographer’s natural moment. The scooters and figures create a layered scene that monochrome simplifies into a clear visual hierarchy. The X100F’s fixed lens means you work with your feet, finding the frame through position rather than focal length. The slight motion blur on the scooters in the background gives the still figures their stillness. See the China series on China: The Final Frame on IJM Photography.

Waiting to rehearse

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Just looking up in a theatre before rehearsing in Shenzhen, China, X100F

Looking up into a Shenzhen theatre before rehearsals — the X100F pointing upward at the rigging, the lights, the architecture of performance. Backstage spaces in available light are a challenge: functional illumination that is unflattering in colour but stripped to tone, the cables and battens and the bodies waiting below become a genuine composition. See the full article: China — Shenzhen Day 3 on IJM Photography.

Clément

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My Friend, and fellow horn player, Clément, Shenzhen, China, X100F

A portrait of Clément — fellow horn player, Shenzhen. The X100F held close for a natural light portrait in the moments before or after a performance. The 23mm equivalent at this distance keeps the environmental context while the available light does the work. Monochrome brings attention squarely to expression and light without the colour cast of whatever room you’re in. See the full article: China — Shenzhen Day 3 on IJM Photography.

Where’s my luckin coffee??

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Taken during my December 2024 Orchestral Tour to China with the Symphonique des Bords de Loire, in Yong Zhou, Hunan Province. With one letter change, this could have been very funny…

Yong Zhou, Hunan Province — December 2024 orchestral tour with the Symphonique des Bords de Loire. Street photography on tour is opportunistic and quick: the X100F stays in your pocket, and you shoot the thing that makes you stop mid-stride. The Luckin Coffee sign needed one careful letter change to be very funny indeed. Monochrome was the obvious choice — it is, after all, a graphic image at heart. See the China series on China — How a Journey Transforms a Man on IJM Photography.

Molly

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For once I used just my phone to capture this photo of Molly, aka Doggy Dog, aka Daddy’s beautiful girl, aka Gorgeous, aka Silly Billy Doggy! Conversion to black and white carried out by Snapseed.

Sometimes the best camera is the one in your pocket — Molly photographed on the phone, converted to black and white in Snapseed. Portrait photography works in monochrome because it strips the background of its colour, leaving only the quality of light on the subject and the expression. Molly’s eyes do all the work. More on IJM Photography.

Something special from the archives…

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Canon AE1 and Ilford HP5+ working their magic in October 2016 on a walk near Nantes. It’s a photo that just oozes peace to me…

Canon AE1 with Ilford HP5+ on a walk near Nantes, October 2016 — from the Film Archives series on IJM Photography. What makes archive photographs resonate is the combination of subject and the physical qualities of the film: the grain structure of HP5+, the slight imperfections in developing and scanning that a digital file will never replicate. A photograph that oozes peace is one where the photographer felt at peace. See the series: The Opening of the Film Archives on IJM Photography.

Northumberland

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Fields, dry stone walls, and sheep. I love this countryside so much. You can see this photo and more like it in my UK Chronicles series on ijmphotography.net. For those of you who are interested, shot with the X100F, edited in Lightroom.

Fields, dry stone walls, and sheep — the Northumbrian countryside with the X100F. Monochrome landscape photography is about simplifying a scene that is already simple: the tonal relationships between sky, stone, and grass are all the picture needs. The X100F’s fixed 23mm lens works well for this kind of expansive framing; you include sky rather than trying to compress the scene. See the full UK Chronicles series on IJM Photography.

On the beach with my son

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Heading onto the beach at Bamburgh with the X100F — a photograph of movement and direction rather than a formal portrait. Beach light in Northumberland is wide and even; shooting into the light at this angle silhouettes the figure against the sand and sea, and monochrome holds the tonal range from the bright sky to the foreground shadow without compromise. See the Northumbrian Summer series on IJM Photography.