NZPhotographer Issue 19, May 2019

Interview with
Mike Bouchier
which was adequate and a step in the right direction
but I wanted more. Then came the Canon EOS6D
and a Samyang 14mm manual lens. I bought my
first Fujifilm mirrorless back in 2016 which was an X-E2.
I bought this for a trip to Melbourne as I didn’t want to
carry the Canon 6D. I loved the form of the X-E2 which
has a classic Rangefinder Style.
HI MIKE, CAN YOU TELL US WHO YOU ARE AND
WHAT YOU DO?
I live in Whitby, Porirua North of Wellington with my
wife and son. We moved to Wellington nearly 10 years
ago from Bristol in the UK.
I work for Transpower in the National Coordination
Centre as part of the team securing the nation’s
power supplies! I have worked in the electricity supply
industry all my life. I started as an overhead linesman
then power station operator, trader and power system
operations.
HOW DID YOU GET INTO PHOTOGRAPHY?
I have always had a camera, an old film point and
shoot for holiday snaps and family shots originally.
I bought my first digital camera in 2001, a Sony DSC
P50 2.1 megapixel which was so slow! I never thought
digital photography was going to take off after this!
I then had a Casio Exilim 6 megapixel and then a
Panasonic Lumix TZ10 14.5 megapixel.
Around 2012 I came across Mark Gee’s images and
that seemed to spark something in me. I wanted to
emulate an image like Marks. So I researched what
equipment I needed to achieve this so I bought a
second-hand Nikon D70 with an 18–55mm F3.5 lens
WHAT ARE YOU SHOOTING WITH NOW?
I now have the Fujifilm X100F which lives up to the
hype! I love the compactness of this 24 megapixel
camera. It’s easy to carry around and is nearly always
with me. It has a fixed lens of 23mm which is 35mm full
frame equivalent, great for street photography.
It also has a built in ND filter which is great in really
harsh light or if you want a long exposure. But
what I really like about the fujifilm X Series is the film
simulations you can select in camera. Most of my
black and white images are taken with the Acros
Simulation which gives great tones.
In terms of lenses, I have the Fujinon XF18–55mm f2.8–
4, XF27mm f2.8, XF35mm f2, XF 50–140 f2.8 and the
Samyang 12mm f2. The 18–55 is so much more than
a kit lens and is often found on my X-E2 or X-T20. The
Samyang 12mm is fantastic in low light and great for
astro.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR
PHOTOGRAPHY STYLE?
I didn’t think I had a style but when you look at my
instagram feed, there’s definitely a trend going on
there! I’m a bit of an opportunist and tend not to plan
too much. That is probably why my feed is becoming
more and more street focused.
Landscape photography is still a passion though. Now
winter is almost with us, I look more at my shift roster
followed by the weather and moon phases just in
case an astro opportunity could be had.
HOW WOULD YOU SAY YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY
HAS IMPROVED OVER TIME AND WHAT HAS
BEEN YOUR BIGGEST LEARNING CURVE?
From the outset, because I wanted to make astro
images, I had to learn very quickly how to drive my
camera in manual and focus in the dark! Not an easy
task when you’re impatient and want those images!
Having to understand the relationships between ISO,
40 NZPhotographer