November, unlike October was a veritable feast in terms of photography, with fireworks displays, a wetland visit, as well as a trip to Madrid to cap off the month in style. A true highlight of 2021

let’s get into it then with a literal bang with bonfire night…

After the colourful start to the month, I fulfilled a little bucket list tick off, with the opportunity to photograph a starling murmuration at RSPB Newport.

I had heard this was a good site to see this happen, but was still not prepared for how amazing it was when it began to unfold around me as I walked through the reedbeds that make up the reserve as the sun set.

MADRID

A trip to Madrid took up the end of the month, allowing me the opportunity to put the FujiFilm X100V well and truly through its paces in the Spanish capital.

When I wasn’t eating my own weight in tapas and drinking the local beer, I was out and about taking photos throughout the streets and parks of Madrid, hoping to capture a little of what this city has to offer on camera.

I have tried to sort of group the images I captured over my time here into a few vague categories that I hope shows a little bit of how life is in the Spanish Capital.

Starting things off with Madrid’s Street graffiti which seems to permeate throughout the streets with some form of graffiti adorning the walls, windows and even cars across the city centre. I tried my best to capture some of the more quirky and interesting examples I came across while wandering around.

The next few images are shots of the more day to day architecture that make up the bulk of the streets in the city. From small shops and restaurants, to large open bulevards, Madrid has it all in spades.

One of the most fun, and equally challenging aspects of street photography I am finding is photographing people. This was something that until I got the X100V, was an area of photography I just didn’t feel comfortable doing, and came to the conclusion it just wasn’t for me. However with the silent shutter, 11 frames per second, and the unobtrusive look of the camera, I can now much more easily capture people as they go about their daily lives without them noticing I am taking their photo. This I hope also gives more context to the overall ‘feel’ of Madrid as a body of images rather than just a set of unconnected photographs that only shows the architecture.

The next group of images are the more touristy stuff that when you are visiting somewhere like Madrid cant be passed up on. I was a particular fan of photographing inside the Catedral de la Almudena, which provided some great images of one of if not the most impressive cathedrals I have ever been inside.

With wildlife in short supply as well as having only my X100V with me with its 23mm (35mm full frame equivalent) lens, getting any ‘wildlife’ was near to impossible. I still tried my best to capture at least some of the local non human residents that inhabit this bustling metropolis, with even a small parrot species living their best lives in the local parks and gardens around the city.

That’s about it for Madrid. An amazing place to go full on street photo crazy, with the X100V truly shining throughout the trip. Hopefully more trips like this to come in the future as my opinion on street photography continues to change. Lets just hope covid doesn’t ruin everything again…..

FIN