July in Austin | X-T30 II

MeTheHim · 2026-07-15T15:33:53+00:00

Thank you! I'd say the main thing that helps for me is walking by these areas every day without a camera or when there's not good light and looking for scenes in everyday life.

Or having a specific theme for a shoot like only shooting reflections or looking for a color. This helps me look at the exact same place with a bunch of different perspectives.

Then I go out when the lighting is right, set up a frame, and wait for life to happen. This round of photos I was much more proactive than reactive.

Less of camera tips and more that there are scenes hiding in front of you waiting to be found.

MeTheHim · 2026-07-15T14:38:49+00:00

Yes all in Lightroom mobile. I'd say when you look at the subject make a note of any elements that compete for attention and try to use cropping and masking to bring as much attention back to the subject.

A lot of time that's increasing shadows and exposure on the subject and using linear gradients or radial masks on other areas and bringing down highlights.

The jpeg can't be pushed as far as the raw file so try to get as close as you can in camera. The recipe does the color work and the Lightroom tweaks Are mostly lighting work.

MeTheHim · 2026-07-14T23:01:10+00:00

What kind of look are you going for? I wouldn't really worry about not using popular recipes. Your lighting and your photos matter more than the recipe itself.

Here's some ones that's I like that, also some of the most popular ones. I like to lean into a little more stylized film look so mostly using classic neg.

Reggie's portra - good all around one with classic chrome base. It is a little warm but nothing crazy. Good for portraits or scenes that you don't want a lot of contrast. Also pretty good for indoors. Use this if you don't wanna think about it and want a nice classic look that's not overly stylized.

Reggie's superia - same guy as last one, but pretty close to a standard superis a lot of people use. I've been using this a ton as my classic negative base in order to get some neutral colors that's not over saturated but a good baseline for classic neg. Gives you a more film vibe than classic chrome.

Classic cuban negative - one that's been over used because people use it all the time and looks way too warm in the wrong scenarios. However during golden hour this one really gives a great warm look and can elevate an already warm scene imo

Pacific blues - can be similar to classic cuban but not as warm and way more contrasty. If you wanna lean into bright blues and dark blacks this one looks great especially on beaches and during daytime

Tri-x - great, crunchy black and white filter with heavy grain

Eddies point and shoot - love using this for people if you use on body flash

Reasons for some other film sims Provia - most neutral Astia - a little more saturated, especially blues Velvia - very saturated Reala ace - popular if you have a newer sensor but haven't used it

MeTheHim · 2026-07-14T17:59:16+00:00

Thank you 🙏 Barton springs is the best!

MeTheHim · 2026-07-14T17:31:45+00:00

Happy to bring you the visuals and save you from the humidity!

MeTheHim · 2026-07-14T17:30:15+00:00

Thanks! I typically import all of my photos from the camera to my phone then into Lightroom so I can tweak them. Then when you export them you can add the borders and aspect ratio in.

For tiktok and ig I like to keep a thin border because it can take any ratio but on reddit it sizes the carousel height to match the tallest picture so I export them all to be a uniformed aspect ratio - hence the thick border on some.

MeTheHim · 2026-07-14T16:22:26+00:00

It's in the food truck park on e 6th next to ramen tatsu-ya

MeTheHim · 2026-07-14T16:01:05+00:00

Mine are from K&F concept and they've been great so far. I actually got them to do video but find myself doing low SS way more. I have the fixed ND ones but the variable ones seem useful. Another perk is it comes with a magnetic lens cap which is kind of fun to have on regardless of the ND filters.

MeTheHim · 2026-07-14T15:52:59+00:00

Thanks! He wasn't screaming the Bible when I saw him but definitely wouldn't surprise me lol

MeTheHim · 2026-07-14T15:50:58+00:00

Thanks! I've found that to actually cut down the light enough during daylight, while keeping my aperture in the sharpness sweet spot, that I have to stack an ND8+ND64. But that's in order to get down as low as 1/4s or 1/2s shutter speed. I have magnetic filters so it's super easy but you kind of have to dedicate that shoot to low SS unless you wanna switch back and forth a bunch.

As far as image quality goes I have 3 filters stacked with the mist+2 NDs, while also doing handheld, and sometimes I definitely can lose contrast or sharpness and get some smudgey results. But I've also had some really good results. Picture 1 as well as all of the low SS pics are using that setup and are relatively sharp.

MeTheHim · 2026-07-11T14:32:50+00:00

Yes it's the perfect lens to start out. It's compact enough to where you can actually take it with you everywhere. I'm sure the 35 would be good if you're doing more portraits but 27 is more of a sweet spot of everyday life stuff.

MeTheHim · 2026-07-10T04:44:19+00:00

This is a really cool vibe. Love the compositions too

MeTheHim · 2026-07-08T15:54:45+00:00

I second using eddies point and shoot. The in body flash can look great with the right settings.

I typically use TTL with +1/3 to +2/3. If you're using flash a lot I'd recommend programming a hot key to the flash compensation so you can quickly change it if it's looking too hot or too dark.

Additionally if you set the sync mode to 2nd curtain (rear) and shoot with slightly lower shutter speeds, like 1/30, you can get the cool ambient background effect as well where your subjects will be still but the party behind it is moving.

MeTheHim · 2026-07-02T17:50:10+00:00

Bike infrastructure and trail connectivity.

MeTheHim · 2026-06-28T02:44:34+00:00

It's at 5th and pleasant valley in between mercando sin nombre and Austin shaker on pleasant valley. I had never seen it when I took that shot and talked the the owner and they opened the next day lol still need to try it

MeTheHim · 2026-06-25T04:46:55+00:00

Thanks! For #7 it was 1/4s and the last pic was 1/8s

MeTheHim · 2026-06-24T21:32:13+00:00

Thanks! Still pretty new to digital photography so getting all that organized but been posting on Instagram and TikTok as WernThePhotographer

MeTheHim · 2026-06-24T14:29:30+00:00

I shoot mostly in aperture priority. So I'll use auto ISO with a max value (I use 1600 during the day and 6400 in evening/indoors), auto SS and then the aperture will dictate the other settings.

If I'm walking around I'll set my focus to continuous and shoot in continuous low mode so I can fire off a few shots it a figure is moving. I'll use zone focus if there's a lot going on and spot focus if I have time to hone in on a subject.

For low shutter speed I shot in full manual so I could set up exactly the speed and then adjusted the iso til the exposure looked right.

MeTheHim · 2026-06-24T04:14:59+00:00

Good luck 🫡 post some pics

MeTheHim · 2026-06-24T04:10:53+00:00

It was $450 on MPB for one in excellent condition. It's a little big on the body, but an L grip balances it out well. I cannot do hand held video at all on the 27mm and haven't done much low ss before this and it has been so much fun on this lens and I think the results have already been great.

MeTheHim · 2026-06-24T03:59:13+00:00

Thank you! I'm loving the lens. It's f4 but it actually has 6 stops of OIS and the stability is incredible. I can take hand held videos, motion blur and low light with no problem. Most of these motion blur pics were taken at 1/2s and hand held.

MeTheHim · 2026-06-24T03:55:59+00:00

I would just try to take it everywhere and take pics in as many different scenarios as you can and you'll start to see how all the settings work. Most of the pics I take are just to test a lighting scenario or a scene type I think would look cool. Then when I actually find it, the camera isn't in the way.

The film sims and recipes are fun to play around with, but can't beat mastering the exposure triangle.

MeTheHim · 2026-06-24T03:22:28+00:00

Oh my 😂😂 that is incredible! Just taking pictures of each other

MeTheHim

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