Jean-Michel Lenoir (France)
A passion for nature from an early age led Jean-Michel LENOIR to photography as a means to cap-ture magical moments of nature and wildlife. Contemplative by nature, he does not seek to capture a descriptive image, but rather a suggestive one, one that tells a story and bring us in an onirical atmosphere.
Always seeking stunning lights that sublimate wide natural spaces, his graphical sensitivity presents as refined images, combining strengh and emotion. Between dream and reality, he published in 2013 his first book called « The silvan souls », a per-sonnal approach on trees and forests.
Jean-Michel's pictures are showcased at NATURAGENCY and he is regularely published in Geo magazine. The recognition he has receive at recent WPY, and GDT photography competitions strengthen his resolve and encourage him in his photography pursuits.
Combining his passion for travel photography and wild spaces, Jean-Michel organizes and guides photo tours with Photographes du Monde agency for five years. From north of Europe (Scotland, Norway, Finland) to South america (Chile and Bolivia), his photographic universe brings him to beautiful wild places where he finds his main source of inspiration.
The travel and landscape photography both requires lite and efficient gear. That is to say a camera which is built with a high resolution and dynamic sensor (over 20 Mpix), and also high quality lenses, allowing fine details restitution. Such characteristics I couldn’t imagine fit my needs until I was given the opportunity to test an X-T2.
Many times the filled experience demonstrated me I wasn’t as creative as when I was using a compact equipment. A small waterproof bag containing a body, two optics (10-24 and 16-55 mm) and my filters poach, allow much more mobility rather than with my full frame reflex and lenses, and thus much more focus on my subject. Released from these restrictions, I get my freedom of moves back.
Easy taking in hand coupled with flawless (that I believe essential) seduced me as much as the intuitive access to specific functions and spanner adjusters. Having the sensation to turn a f-stop for real and finding the right buttons at the right place, gave me an incredible efficiency and an overall experience of great simplicity. What I specifically appreciate with Fujifilm cameras, is the intimate feeling that the gear was thought and designed for photographers, getting rid of the unnecessary options. In a nutshell, everything is clear, logical and optimized for shooting.
Regarding the image finish, I can get a dynamic that is more convenient for my needs in contrasts as colors (PROVIA mode), saving some precious time for more field experiences. Indeed, I try to spend as less time as possible for processing my photographs. Film profiles I used with silver process cameras, allow me to get closer to my initial intentions. That’s a major highlight.
