The Monastery of Petra - Behind the scenes - A travel story.

Today I'm writing to you, to just show you how surprisingly funny travelling alone can be.
Since I changed my photography style a few months ago and tried to implement more human elements into my frames, I was a bit afraid to not have any girl in the frame while traveling alone. So most of the time, I stood in the frame and triggered it myself remotely. But as we can see, I also found girls to pose for me, even strangers I did not know before.

This picture has been taken deep in the valleys of Jordan's desert, in front of the Monastery of Petra. The back story of this image starts one day before the actual shot, when I went the evening before to "Petra by night". There, I met a French couple asking me about my photographs I was taking during the event. So we chatted a bit were hoping to bump into each other again the next day. And in fact we did, in the very end of the valley. I was just searching shelter in the shadow until I heard someone pronouncing my name with a cute French accent: "Matthias, c'est toi?"
And yes, c'était moi! So we started to chat again. That was really a funny coincidence! And obviously - as a photographer - I spotted her outfit which was perfectly matching the environment of Petra. So I asked her (and of course her boyfriend) for a short picture session.
I was really happy about the image I captured, as it is an unposed moment, but still very dynamic, harmonic and female. After the short photo session, I gave her boyfriend my business card with my website and contact information. But since then, I had not heard of them again, although I wanted to show them how popular my picture became on the official channel of @visitjordan on Instagram. And now, finally after 3 months, he finally messaged me and sent me over those nice images of me in action. Once again, open your heart, engage with people and you will have so many great experiences and will never be alone while traveling alone! (And even capture portfolio shots) ;)

Merci beaucoup, Alex!

>>>>> https://photographyalexandretoesca.squarespace.com <<<<<
 

Money, happiness & passion - Stop making excuses and live your life!

Recently, I talked to many people surrounding me, friends, co-workers and new acquaintances. Somehow, we often quickly ended up talking about money. During those conversations, I realised that I changed over the last year. Many changes have happened. Because the jist of the conversation for my counterparts consisted mainly of the opinion: "Money brings happiness. Hence, money is the most important goal in life to pursue happiness." For a long time, I thought like that too, but now I could not disagree more.

Why am I in Poland and not in Germany?

Some of the people I talked to, prefer to go on "holiday on demand" instead of a sick leave, some others prefer to work night shifts, to get 20% more salary per night. What am I doing instead, you ask? I try to arrange to have as many holidays as possible. I prefer to work through public holidays, cumulate my holidays and take them off when it suits me better. Because there is one thing I realised: If you don't have time, you cannot even spend your money. 

That brings me to the next phenomenon. People ask me: "Matthias, why do you live in Poland? In Germany, you can earn so much more and be much happier." People seem to be confused that I am here. I am not here, to make money. I saw many Poles leaving the country, pursuing a better life, only having in mind to earn lots of money abroad, get stuck in jobs they don't like and return to Poland after a few years when they are "rich".  But then I ask myself: "People leave the country for happiness, but the only thing they get, is money. They waste 3, 4, 5 or even many more years just to gather money and work in simple jobs, although they invested in their education, learned foreign languages and much more." Pursuing money makes blind. And those people mostly hate their jobs. So my biggest concern here:

People leave their country for a better life, but in fact, it's getting worse. They don't like their jobs, work 12 hours a day, work in the night, are tired, have negative energy and don't become happy. They get richer, for sure. If you want to be rich, that's a good strategy. But to become happy, I highly doubt it.

Coming back to the question, why I prefer to live in Poland rather than in Germany. 
I hear stories from my family and friends, in which I can see, how the working life in Germany looks like: Officially, you have a 40 hours workload per week. Mostly starting at 8am or 9am in the morning and finishing at 4pm or 5pm. But if you leave the office punctually at the end of your official work day, people start telling you that you are lazy, even though you finished your work already before time. You just have to stay longer, to show what a good employee you are. Otherwise, you are getting called "lazy" and your reputation in the company rapidly will be decreasing. I realised that myself working in a German company abroad. I guess, there are similar values. Connected to that, I see at which time some people come home on a daily basis: It is mostly in between the span of 7pm to 11pm. Or I heard people saying: "My life is perfectly balanced. I leave my flat at 8am and return at 9pm. Then I have two hours of private life. That is enough for me. And then I go to sleep." 

In contrast to that, in Poland, I very rarely stay longer and I even would not mind at all, to stay one hour longer one day not getting compensated for that. But two times, I had to stay 30 minutes longer at work, due to a conference. And then, I was totally surprised when I was asked: "Hey Matthias, when do you want to take off your 30 minutes you stayed longer?" So yes, in Germany you might have more money, but no time for spending it.

I guess, that explains everything. I might have a lower income than the European average, but I have a life! I sleep for 6 or 7 hours, work for 8 hours and have 9 or 10 hours for my private life. Another thing that is really important: I work in a job that I really like. It's not like "oh gosh, it's Monday again." No, I like to work with those people, I like improving my skills in retouching and spending time at the office. Without it, I would feel empty, I guess. And I do like it, because I know that I still have plenty of time to fill my day with other things I like. That is why I am in Poland: I love my job, I love the work-life balance and I love the possibilities I have here. It is about the attitude you have, not about the amount of money in your pocket.

Happiness

Coming back to the statement "Money brings happiness. Hence, money is the most important goal in life to pursue happiness." First of all we need to find an answer to the question: "What is happiness?" - Wikipedia says:

"Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Happy mental states may also reflect judgements by a person about their overall well-being."

And undoubtably, as it is a human emotion, it is very subjective! In my opinion, happiness is a temporal state of mind. Once you found it, it does not mean it will stay. You need to take care of it. I think, it can be compared with a flower or even a relationship: The more you stop taking care of it, the more it starts dying, crumbling and falling apart. So now, let's approach this topic from my personal experience:

About 2,5 years ago, I started my professional working life in Poland. In the beginning, I just started somewhere, to have an income after my studies and to survive abroad. So I worked as a tele-marketer and translator in a start-up company on the minimum wage. Then I changed my job to get more money as an accountant, although I studied geography. Landing this job was easy for me, due to the fact that I am a native German speaker. But as you can imagine, I did not like that job. That was the first time, when I started to realise that I come home after work and I felt that I am just wasting my lifetime. I lived during the weekends, because during the week, I had negative energy from work, so I escaped from it with photography, but after a while more with playing video games and watching tv series. I could just not stand dragging myself down any longer, so I knew it was time for a change. That was the moment, when I realised that I want to pursue happiness and not money in my life. Hence, I quit my job and changed my career path again completely to work as a journalist. At first, it was a nice job, since I came closer to what I wanted: Working with photographs. But after a while also that job did not end well and my contract has not been prolonged. I was crashed. I lost my job from one day to another, without any warning in advance. That's the downside of the Polish law, while being on probation. You just get to know it the very last day. That day, my friends, who worked even on the same level in that company, were shocked and offered me to meet up, talk about it and help me. What happened then, was the weirdest thing for a long time. My friends said: "You are all the time smiling. I have never seen you that happy before!" I realised that I was again stuck in something I did not like. But someone else ended it for me, luckily. I obviously needed to be free. Finally, I could live again. I was unemployed though for two or three months, but I survived even with a small amount of money per month. My new gained freedom, allowed me to make one of my dreams come true: Living and working in Norway. 

Pure joy. I was fighting for my dream to visit Trolltunga. And I did it! 

Sharing is caring. Me and my Couchsurfing guest together on my dream hike.

That was the new chapter of my life. I tried to pursue happiness and I found it. I found a job that allowed me to travel, to see all the beautiful places in South Norway. I moved to Stavanger and started working as a tour guide. At first, I was totally afraid, because I had to guide groups of tourists through places I haven't even been to myself in person. But I studied quite intensely and prepared myself, so I was quickly able to tell my friends: I finally found a job I am good at and that I like! I had human interaction with tourists, inspired them and they appreciated my inspiring stories. Also, I could hike to my dream destinations, I dreamed of for many years: Preikestolen, Kjeragbolten and Trolltunga. I was even 30 times (!) on Preikestolen and got paid for it. I would have never imagined to be paid for that! As my job was just a part-time job, I did not earn much money but I learned to reduce myself to the essentials. But then some crazy things happened and my tourists started to tip me a lot. This tip allowed me to quickly replace my broken camera. So, once you do things you like, money comes by itself. I was proud of it and shared this experience with my friends and flatmates in Stavanger. But then, the greatest thing ever happened. Even though I got tipped a lot, I started to not care about it that much anymore, because there was one thing shining brighter than money: Faces! Lots of tourists came to me, after the tour, shook my hand and said: "Matthias, that was so inspiring! I needed that. I wish you all the best that your dreams come true! I had a really great day today." They smiled at me and went back to their cruise ships. I realised: Happiness has to come from the inside. Once you find it, share it with others and make them happy. 

Apart from my job, I also went on several hikes, as I already mentioned. Those hikes were life-changing for me. When I got stuck in nature people always helped me out: I was stuck in a village in the Lysefjord without any inhabitants and the ferry did not arrive, so someone drove me home by car. I froze in the mountains and someone gave me his woollen shirt. I could not go back down the mountains due to a serious lack of sleep, but someone motivated and accompanied me. My bus, the only way back home, did not arrive and someone took me by car. I lost my wallet in the car and this person sent it with all its money inside back to me. I hiked up the mountain, had an accident and a flesh wound on my knee and someone medicated me. In the end, all the bad things turned out to be good and made me meeting people and collecting unforgettable experiences.

The bottom line here is: Once you show happiness and trust in people, you gain happiness.

I learned to believe in the good side of people, knowing that everything works out. When I asked people what I owe them for their help, the typical Norwegian reply was: "We helped you, so next time help someone else. Together, we can make the world a better one, starting from the small scale. And that's what I did: Someone needed shelter, I invited him into my tent. Travellers needed a cheap place to stay in Stavanger, I offered it to them. Someone needed food, I shared mine.

I scratch your back, you scratch my back. One hand washes the other.

Once you believe in the good side of people, trust people, they will feel valued and don't want to abuse your trust. This life lesson I learned in Norway. It was the key step on my way to pursue and find happiness.

After my job in Norway, I returned to Poland again - to my own surprise, actually. My one dream came true: I lived in Norway and hiked up all the fjord attractions I wanted to see. With lots of positive energy I came back to Poland and gave a 2,5 hours speech at Sztuka Wyboru in Gdansk about my experiences in Norway. Here, just a small excerpt from the end of my speech.

Back in Poland, I had lots of positive energy. But I did not know that it was about to break very soon: I struggled hard to find a flat. For two months I constantly visited flats, but it was a living nightmare. In the end of summer, everyone here in Gdansk wants to win the jackpot with exorbitant rent prices for low standard rooms. It really dragged me down. I got depressed. All the positive energy gone. I wanted to escape from it, as I usually did: Traveling. But due to my new job, I was not allowed for the first three months to take a day off. So I was faced with a challenge. I knew that travelling makes me happy, but I could not. I felt trapped and thought about running away to another country. But that was no option. My job is too important to me. Most of my friends were in a relationship, I was alone. I returned to the place with memories of my previous relationship and faced those memories. I contemplated in my room, I did not like, about the meaning of life and became sad. That had to end, so I searched for new ways of becoming happy. 

Passion

The weather was bad in November. Lots of rain. But I grabbed my camera and started shooting urban environments, what I haven't done that much before. But I also knew that I am already pretty good at photography and life is too short to only master one thing. 
In the past, before I dedicated my life to travelling and photography, I used to play piano for 10 years, organ for 2 years, tennis for 4 years juggling for 5 years, magic and cardistry for 6 years. Weirdly, I heard people saying or commenting under my youtube videos: "This dude has no hobby and no life. He has too much time." And those are probably the people, only hanging out on Youtube and watching television. Anyway. As you can see, I had quite a bit of things in my life to focus on and to find passion in it. And for a certain time I obviously did. Otherwise, I would not have pursued it for that long. Anyway. I knew that sitting at home, causes me to be unhappy. So I tried all the best to stay away from it.

I met with friends in bars, talked about my issues. It made it sometimes better, sometimes worse. So I had to finally stop thinking about negative things. I learned in Norway to think positively, to focus on the good sides of bad events and it was already gone? No way! So I started to engage in sports. I went running every second day in a nearby park. The flat and the district I lived in, were ugly, but the park beautiful. Finally, seeing the good in the bad. Luckily, after a while I found a new place to move to, but it was away from my beloved park. I wanted to do sports, but running on asphalt was not that much joy. So I took my bike instead and explored regions of the city, I still had not visited that time. That was great! But the bummer was about to come: My bike had been stolen. But somehow, I was in such a good mental shape that I even did not get angry and people said: "At your place I would be so angry now. I guess it was expensive." Instead, I thought about the next solution to do sports: The sports card from my company. I ordered it and now I pay about 20€ each month. I can use it for a climbing hall as well as for my favourite swimming pool and sauna. So I went there everyday after or before work, one day for swimming, one day for sauna. It became my refuge. For three months already, I live like that. I was done wasting my lifetime. I did not want to stare again into a screen after 8 hours of work in a dark room with a bright screen. And it worked! It balanced me, it took my mind off the bad things distracting me, I got into shape, I can eat whatever I like (chocolate/ burgers) and don't have to worry to get fat. When people started seeing that I even post a new picture every day on my Instagram feed, additionally to all the sports and the full-time job with 6 hours of sleep, they asked me: 

"Where do you get this energy from? I wish I could get this motivation. But for you it's easier. You have your passion for photography. That makes it easier."

To be honest here: Passions are not just coming to you, you need to try new things. So now, after reading this text, I guess you know where it comes from. I don't want to sit around and wait until my life is over. I want to be the director of it and as soon I realise that I am not happy, I have to change something about it.

It is not about money, it is about your mindset! 

After my bike had been stolen, my friend said: "Man, you should try longboarding. I think it might suit you." So I thought back to my childhood, when I always admired skaters and played lots skating games. So i bought a longboard and started skating. I was always afraid of doing "dangerous" sports. A bunch of years ago I had accident in the swimming pool and broke my spine. I am still alive! So I want to feel alive! I faced my fear! I go every second day to the swimming pool. I was afraid of skating, now I do it two or three times a week. Just yesterday, when the weather was fantastic, I did not want to sit at home. Instead, I grabbed my board and skated 17km along the beach and back through the city. I finally feel alive!

And you still think that money makes you happy? - It's a lame excuse.
When have you tried something new the last time? - Passions are not just coming to you. You need to find them yourself.
Have you faced your fears?

Try it! Once you did it, I can tell you it feels great!
While trying something new, search buddies with the same interest, via Instagram, facebook groups or any other kind of event or platform.
I unexpectedly found a great new friend for skating and hanging out, just by posting into a facebook group and being spontaneous.
We had such a blast and one of the best evenings for a long time. I just turned off my head, had fun, let out my inner kid and started forgetting that I'm 26. 
Age is a number, nothing more.
Does it matter what the society expects from you?
Just be yourself and be happy! 

In that sense: 

Fuck the money, start exploring yourself and having fun!

Skating 17 km on a sunny day after work. Could it be better? :) 

A photographer who lost his vision, found it again and became an artist.

"Buying expensive frying pans, does not make you a good cook; buying expensive cameras does not make you a good photographer."
or to formulate it a bit differently:
"Gear does not matter, it's vision that counts." 
I guess, we all heard such phrases already. I usually reply similarly when I'm getting asked which camera I own. But now, I realized something way more important.

-- Gear does matter. It's vision that counts. Buy gear that helps you expressing it. --

Introduction

Just as a brief introduction: My name is Matthias Dengler, I'm a 25 years old self-taught retoucher and photographer. I started shooting when I was 16. Over the last years, I specialized in travel- and landscape photography. I saw beautiful places, had great expriences, but my inspiration died. But recently, I finally started becoming creative again. I changed my shooting style drastically. And it just happened by purchasing a Fujifilm X-T1. The new gear unleashed my photographic soul again. If you feel restricted by your gear or less inspired, this is your article. - I am not sponsored nor am I paid by Fujifilm to write this article. It's not a promotional article about Fujifilm. I just want to inspire you. -

Back story

For more than 6 years, I shot with a Canon EOS 600D and was absolutely satisfied and not thinking at all about the so called "upgrading" - whatever that means. Unfortunately, my year-long friend, I'm talking about the 600D, broke on a hike through the Norwegian fjords. Since I was only for a limited amount of time in Norway, I quickly decided to pick up a used Canon EOS 7D, to just continue shooting and have some kind of more durable camera body.

But soon, I had to realize how heavy and bulky this camera is. Although I hiked and travelled with the minimal gear possible (7D Body + Sigma 17-55mm F2.8 + Tripod + Filters and some other small gadgets) my backpack became already quite heavy. Adding outdoor gear such as a tent, clothes and other things, I often carried 15kg or more on my back. Not much fun on 22km hikes. The worst though was the fact that my camera was too heavy to carry it in my hand or around my neck. Consequently, it was inside my backpack. And that brings me to one of the main points of this article: I missed out on shooting! I could not capture the moment and shot less than I wanted. It was just too complicated to take off the backpack to dig for the camera. Long story short: The camera was just too heavy and bulky. (And it was not even as heavy as full-frame gear). On my trip to Iceland, I faced another problem: Water condensation inside my lens and body. That was the moment when my friend and I realized that my camera does not fit my needs. So we summarized my gear needs: The camera has to be small, light, weather-sealed and have a big dynamic range. The answer to that was pretty simple: Mirrorless. But now, Sony or Fujifilm?

In Reykjavik, we visited several camera shops and compared only the size of Fujifilm cameras to the Sony cameras. We realized that Sony's gear is still quite big and heavy, although mirrorless. And somehow the Fuji just felt right. You just need to follow your instincts as a photographer. I'm really a guy, who does not worry about gear too much, besides the already mentioned needs. So I made my mind and bought a used Fujifilm X-T1 and a used Fujinon 16-55mm R Lm Wr. At that time, I did not know what a huge impact that decision will make on me growing as a photographer and that I would call myself even an artist a few months later. Now let's have a look on my photographic (7D) and my artistic shots (Fuji).

Canon 7D Shots - Landscape

Those pictures are nice, but not creative. Simply said, it's a documentary of sunsets and images pushed up to their limits. And I pushed it so far too the limits that I even pushed out my soul and heart, seeking for absolute sharpness, the lowest noise but strongest colours and contrasts possible.

But honestly looking at them, I realize now that they are just static shots taken from a tripod with HDR bracketing and nearly oversaturated colours. No big vision or personality. It was hiking and waiting/ hoping for good weather. Landscape photography led me to beautiful places and gave me unforgettable experiences, I really appreciate it and spread out those stories with my heart and soul. But it also dulled my creativity. Basically, landscape photography is travelling to a place, every landscape photographer travels to, waiting for the right weather. But in the end it is always a similar shot just slightly different. All over again the same subjects from nearly the same perspective. Why else are 500px and Instagram cluttered with landscape shots from Kirkjufell or Skogafoss in Iceland, Reine at Lofoten in North Norway, Marina Bay in Singapore, Mount Fuji in Japan with the temple in the front and so on and so on. It's always the same. I felt good at it, but it just started getting boring.

Fujifilm X-T1 - Moments, emotions and creative angles.

So now, take a look at this. Everything shot in a small time window of 3 months. Since I picked up the Fuji X-T1 I started to unfold my creative soul! No tripod, no long exposure, no waiting for the perfect weather. Just going out and shooting. Grab headphones, listen to music and let go from all the worrying about the smallest amount of noise or other technical issues. Just shoot and feel the moment. Enough of the words, just take a look:

Would you imagine that the same person would have shot both of these sets?
I don't think so. The styles are so drastically different. From super shiny happy travel pictures, to pictures with grey overcast skies, skateboards, girls laughing, dreamy bokeh and other beautiful moments. They have much more soul than the "high quality tourist shots" I took before. Do you agree?

My subjective experiences with both cameras

I am not claiming to make a full camera review. There might be other factors to take into account. I just outline the features that made a huge difference for me.

Time to share subjective experiences with both cameras a little bit:

Fujifilm X-T1:
- Travel Kit: Used Fujfilm X-T1 (600€) + Used Fujinon 16-55mm F2.8 (800€) --> 1400€
- Light, small: 440g Body - Lens: 657g = 1097g. Always in my hand or around my neck. Small and handy for traveling and being less recognised when shooting on the street.
- Menu: No need for going into the menu. Everything I need can be programmed and handled by the dials on top and on the lens itself with direct access and without complicated button combinations.
- Weather-sealed: Body - yes, lens - yes
- Intuitive: YES! After shooting with it for 3 months I feel perfectly confident in most of its functionalities. 
- Wifi: Yes + Remote control app for mobile phones (free).
- Tilting screen: Yes
 

Canon Eos 7D: 
- Travel Kit: Used Canon EOS 7D (600€) + New Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 (450€) = 1050€
- Heavy, bulky: 860g Body - Lens: 565g = 1.425g. Always on a tripod, too big for my hands, to heavy for traveling.
- Menu: Always browsing through menus for HDR bracketing. Buttons everywhere reacting differently depending on the automatic you are in (AV, TV, M).
- Weather-sealed: Body - yes, lens - no
- Intuitive: Not really for me. I shot with that camera for 5 months and still got lost in it, although shooting with another Canon camera for 6 years. I would expect more after such a time.
- Wifi: No
- Tilting screen: No

Just to visualise that quickly:

Both bodies without lens.

Both cameras as my personal "travel kit".

Same Canon configuration, Fujifilm with my everyday walk-around lens (23mm F2.0)

*Thanks to http://camerasize.com/ for these nice comparisons.

My Fujifilm X-T1 in a blizzard. 

Looking at the size I think it's obvious that the Fujifilm fits my personal preferences way better than the Canon EOS 7D. It's always way smaller and lighter than the Canon, although the Fujinon 16-55 is undoubtably a really heavy and huge lens. But still the body is smaller and I can reach any button without any problem and can shoot one handed. I guess, it's not necessary to see the winner size-and weight-wise, when screwing on the 23mm lens. the Fujifilm X-T1 It just gave me the freedom of walking around again, not having to worry about the gear to break in snow or drizzles. Instead, I had a camera i could handle completely by dials on the top even wearing my winter gloves, not having to fumble through any menu: Straight-forward, direct, quick, uncomplicated and just intuitive. 

ISO, Shutter speed, exposure compensation and aperture are directly available through physical dials. Also high-speed shooting and bracketing or other camera modes as well as metering systems are directly available. Fujifilm mastered it to create a camera in which I do not have to use the menu inside the camera anymore. Instead, I can focus on the moment, the model, my environment and start living photography again.

I also missed the tilting screen from the Canon EOS 600D on my 7D. I also wish that Fujifilm will implement a completely flippable screen, but for now Fuji found already another geeky solution: The remote control app. Just connect your phone with your camera via Wifi and adjust all settings (aperture, shutter speed, ISO) via phone and press the shutter. Then you can also take a selfie standing away from your camera. To be honest, it is still quite buggy though and sometimes the reach is rather small. But it is a first step into the right direction.

Focus peaking is also a functionality of big importance for me. As you could see, more and more people came into my frame. And I never, really never mis-focussed. Focus peaking is the technology of the future. Simply said, the camera's display highlights areas in a colour of your choice showing either the highlights or shadows you focus on. That way, you can see directly through your viewfinder, which is by the way the same screen as your screen on the backside of the camera, which areas are in focus. I have heard very often about it, before I decided to purchase a mirrorless camera, but I really underestimated the power and accuracy. Another tool to enhance your confidence and reduces your worries while shooting. Without this fantastic technology of Fujifilm, I would not feel confident in my portrait photography.

I don't want to go too deeply into gear reviews. You can read that somewhere else much better than in my post. I am not specialized in gear reviews. I just want to express how this camera helped me grow as an artist by giving me back my lost creativity.
I'm going out to shoot nearly everyday. It fulfills me with pure pleasure.
I think, it also reflects in my photos.

Growing as an artist / Summary

First of all, I want to outline clearly that it's possible to shoot both kind of pictures with both kinds of cameras. I am not saying Canon is worse than Fujifilm or vice-versa. It's also possible to change your photographic style without changing your gear. The most important thing I want to share is: Don't buy a camera, because it is expensive, don't buy a full-frame just because someone told you it is "professional". Buy a camera that suits you! 

My gear restrained me for too long. I'm back where I started my photographic journey nearly 10 years ago: I'm going out and just do what I love, just now in better quality than 10 years ago. Photography is too important in my life to just keep watching how I'm losing my creativity, caused by unsuitable gear. I want to live photography and feel alive in it. When I had my Canon 7D, I realized quickly it does not suit me, it's not light, not small and not weather-sealed. But I was paralyzed and was afraid of change. But Fujifilm made it surprisingly easy to quickly adapt to a completely new camera system. I even do not have to stop down my lens, I can just shoot widely open on F2.8, get a beautiful bokeh, no chromatic aberration and just classic film noise, not just digital grain, because the low- light performance of the DSLR camera is bad. In the past, I cleaned my pictures up, reduced any kind of noise, but these times are over.

Who tells you, what's a good or a bad picture? It's not the amount of grain, it's the composition and the heart you put into your work. Of course, technical knowledge and post-production are significant as well. But if you shoot bad pictures or have a bad attitude while shooting, no software in the world can fix that. And now I love my pictures for having this nice film grain and film look. There is also one secret to my new style: The Fujifilm X-T1 has implemented film presets which you can apply in Lightroom or raw- converter of your choice. I learned to love the Classic Chrome preset, which desaturates the picture, brings in more blacks and just gives you a good start-off for emotive pictures.

But the biggest secret is: If you don't feel comfortable with your camera, don't be afraid to change it. By the way, I still stick to APS-C. I would recommend thinking about changing camera manufacturers instead of joining discussion or thinking about "fullframe or not". If you want to change your gear, go for the big change. The slightly bigger sensor won't make a difference anymore. Since I bought the Fujifilm X-T1, I only once merged and uploaded an HDR. But I realized quickly that it is absolutely not necessary. The dynamic range of this sensor is so immense, as well as the file sizes, so that you can tweak them as never before. Even if you over- or underexpose some shots, the Fuji-files are very forgiving. You might have to get used to a different feeling in your raw processor, but also those small obstacles will disappear very quickly.

If you are running out to the shop and just buy a Fuji X-T1, I definitely failed in transmitting my message. The message is: There is no such thing as "a camera to rule them all". But there are cameras that do not fit your needs and your style. Be honest to yourself, be courageous and find one that suits you. Don't waste time for being restricted by your camera. Your soul and heart have to form the picture, not the camera.

Happy shooting!

Yours,
Matthias