Test Camera Shoot | Fuji X100 in Cannes, South of France

As a busy North Yorkshire freelance photographer regularly doing a 50-70 hour week I find it hard to squeeze in some time off, so a recent trip to the South of France with my family was a real treat.

Most of the time we stayed at St Maxime, not far from St Tropez, but for the last few days we splashed out on a stay at a four-star hotel in Cannes. On the Sunday morning the fun of sharing a family room, I woken very on Sunday morning before dawn had broken (crazy I know) and picking up my new Fuji X100 camera, I set out for a stroll along the beach. 

I was amazed how many people were up and about at that time, including groups of revellers coming home from a night out. I came across runners, fishermen, beachcombers, people sleeping rough – it was a glimpse into the side of life that most tourists would not see and I was pleased to have the chance to take some great pictures as I played around with my new camera.

Being a professional NorthYorkshire photographer working all over the north east regions means I can often be out all day so I’m used to carrying quite a large camera bag with a couple of camera bodies, lenses and other equipment in it, but having a small, lightweight camera allowed me to blend in with everyone else and take some casual shots.

I’m used to working to a photography brief for my commercial clients, so it was really enjoyable to have no pressure to deliver, and just be able to take random pictures. As the sun came up and the light bounced off the sea, subjects from beach-cleaning machines to a group of ants enjoying an apple core all found themselves on my shots list.

I wish I’d paid more attention in French class at school, but through a mix of my broken French plus some gesticulating I was able to talk to people and ask if I could take their photo. I got some interesting close up shots of one hardy middle-aged swimmer who goes down to the beach every morning for a dip in all weathers.

As it started to get hot I could see the attraction in getting your daily exercise done 
early. It could be that we were in Cannes, the home of the beautiful people, but it seemed to me that in general the French take good care of themselves and I was impressed by the number of pensioner-age people I came across walking, running and swimming. My new Fuji X100 camera was a joy to work with and even had a little go on video mode. 

Arriving back at the hotel I realised I’d been out nearly four hours and walked about three miles. My new camera had coped with conditions from near-darkness to bright sunshine and I can maybe see it being a useful addition to my commercial photography equipment range.