15.10.2020 Keiko Akahane

#SOOC: Keiko Akahane x X-S10

Keiko Akahane

A model and photographer. She studied under photographer Ichiro Fujisato and became independent in October 2020.
As a model, she made several appearances in TV commercials including ANA “New Haneda and Vienna direct flights” in 2019, and Fujifilm “instax” in 2017. She also modeled for the 2018 Ichiro Fujisato Photo Exhibition “Marginal” and the 2019 “Re:Marginal”. As a photographer, she has published her international snapshots for “magao~Jiwari Te~” in 2018 and “magao~8 days in 3 different countries~” in 2019.

Meet the FUJIFILM X-S10

What a nice camera it is!
The grip is compact but deep and easy to hold. And it also has the Classic Neg. Film Simulation.

When I touched the X-S10, an image came up. I want to take pictures of girls! I want to take pictures of downtown! In those situations, I want to shoot “X” which means various things are crossed. Let’s take “X” as our theme.
I decided to go out to a town full of “X” where there is physical “X” and “X”’ of emotions and feelings.

I want to take pictures from near and far sides. But I didn’t want to change lens so often. As I love both street snap shot and street portrait, I chose the convenience zoom lens of XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS. With a focal length from wide to mid-telephoto, this lens is perfect for the X-S10 and me, as it can instantly handle any subject.

I wanted to take a picture of my cute 15-year-old friend from Wakayama and let her adapt “Shibuya”. Shibuya is a place where all kinds of people come to visit with a variety of purposes, and as someone who grew up in Gunma, I’ve always been fascinated by it.

The clothes are just casual. I decided to use Classic Neg., which I love, to capture her in a coordinated look that would blend in easily with Shibuya.
Classic Neg has an amber taste in the highlights, while the deep blue of the shadows goes well with the current mood of Shibuya. Then, even before shoot, I was excited. That is the reason why I chose Classic Neg.

When the shooting finally began, I was surprised to see the variety of expressions on her face, even though I had never met her before.
Perhaps the compact X-S10 helped ease my nervousness about the camera.
And as the shooting progressed, she would act cool, walk past me, and suddenly smile. I felt like that I met sister who I hadn’t seen in a while.

Thanks to the deep grip, I was able to follow her free-spirited movements with a firm hold in both vertical and horizontal positions, and I was able to release the shutter with complete freedom. This directly led me to the fun sensation of taking pictures.

During the day, I also tested the video performance.
With the camera strapped around my neck, I was able to shoot video without blurring, as the image stabilization worked well even when I wasn’t looking through the viewfinder with my arms extended.

Furthermore, Film Simulation can be used in video shooting as well. So, the same colors in both photos and videos are one of the best points.

On another day, I decided to take street snaps in Fukagawa, a downtown area with a contrasting image to Shibuya. The streets and the people living there are very peaceful and I can enjoy taking snapshots in a relaxed manner.

The compact X-S10 blended in well with the city and was able to capture the people, scenery and feelings of the city with ease. One of the advantages of the X-S10 is that I was able to complete my work by shooting out JPEGs after returning home without having to develop the images.

I’m very comfortable with being able to decide Film Simulation, sharpness and contrast to match the mood of the shot at the place immediately. I have always appreciated Film Simulation in particular.

No matter who you show your work to, you can feel the atmosphere and the beautiful colors of the scene.  I believe that the colors of FUJIFILM come from the subconscious mind of the people, which is why I can complete my work with just the color expression strait out of the camera.

The X-S10 will be the perfect companion for me to start my career as a photographer.
I hope that I will be able to create works that will reach the hearts of many people with this camera.