Sunshine After Rain

DSCF2233FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/5.6, 1/90 sec, ISO200)

I mentioned it in my previous blogpost. I love the constant sunshine in the South West of the US. But there is one thing that is even better than sun and blue skies and it’s sunshine after rain.

When we reached our hotel in Albuquerque there was a weather warning on TV. Some severe thunderstorms with local flooding. We stayed in the hotel but nothing happened. Just a light shower but the sky looked very dramatic.

DSCF2182FUJIFILM X-T1 (18mm, f/5.6, 1/70 sec, ISO200)
DSCF2184FUJIFILM X-T1 (42.5mm, f/5.6, 1/50 sec, ISO200)
DSCF2185FUJIFILM X-T1 (55mm, f/5.6, 1/50 sec, ISO200)

I took a couple of shots straight trough the window of our room. There was a gas station and a Walgreens just opposite but the real subject was the light and the sky.

Usually all we got in our trips in the South West is the same endless blue sky. It is just what you need for your soul but it is a little boring in landscape pictures. The nearby thunderstorm made my Monument Valley shots special this year. Clouds change a landscape shot and if there is still sunshine they improve the picture a lot. A sunlit subject with a dark sky behind it is magic. But even if you have to shoot against the light the effect can be very nice.

DSCF2191FUJIFILM X-T1 (55mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec, ISO200)
DSCF2201FUJIFILM X-T1 (50.5mm, f/5.6, 1/300 sec, ISO200)

I started to shoot with my XF 18-55 lens but switched to the XF 14/2.8 as soon as the rain stopped and the dramatic sky appeared. The XF 14mm is perfect to cover a huge part of the foreground or the sky or of both. This is what I discovered in our Monument Valley shots too. I preferred the pictures taken by my wife mostly because they were shot at 16mm where mine were shot at 18mm. Wider just looks better when it comes to landscape images.

I think Fuji should make a small but high quality XF 16-70/4 OSS. It would be perfect for travel photography.

DSCF2219FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/5.6, 1/100 sec, ISO200)

The shot below was my favorite of the series. The red reflections on the clouds appeared only for a couple of minutes. After that they were gone like in the shot above. So in landscape photography you need to be in the right spot at the right time. Sometimes it is better to stay where you are to avoid that you are driving on a highway while the best light just disappears before you can stop to take the picture.

Sometimes light and sky are more important than the location.

DSCF2233FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/5.6, 1/90 sec, ISO200)