Random Recipe Challenge: 10 Frames with LomoChrome Metropolis

The Fuji X Weekly App has a brand-new feature that’s super fun: Random Recipe! When you tap the criss-crossed arrows at the top-right, the App will randomly select a Film Simulation Recipe for you.

If you are a Fuji X Weekly App Patron and you have various Filters selected (such as Filter by Camera, Filter by Film Simulation, Filter by B&W, etc.), the Random Recipe selector will only choose from the list of filtered recipes, so you can have it select from what is compatible with your camera. In my case, I chose “Filter by X-E4” prior to tapping the Random Recipe selector, so only the recipes compatible with the X-E4 were considered.

Here’s a fun way to use this new feature: the Random Recipe Challenge! The rules are 1) use the App to select a Random Recipe for you⁠—whatever it selects you have to use (if you are not a Patron and the App chooses a non-compatible recipe, you can try again until it lands on a recipe that is compatible with your camera)⁠—and 2) shoot with this recipe for 24 or 36 frames (your choice), like it’s a roll of film, before changing recipes. If you post to Instagram, use the hashtag #fxwrandomrecipechallenge. I hope that you have a lot of fun with the Random Recipe Challenge, and I can’t wait to see what you capture!

When I tapped the Random Recipe icon, the App chose for me the LomoChrome Metropils Film Simulation Recipe. I shot 36 frames with this recipe on my Fujifilm X-E4 with a Vivitar 135mm f/2.8 lens attached to it. Below are my favorite 10 pictures of the 36 frames. Enjoy!

Lather – Phoenix, AZ – Fujifilm X-E4 & Vivitar 135mm
Malnatis Pizzeria – Phoenix, AZ – Fujifilm X-E4 & Vivitar 135mm
Cheese ‘n Stuff – Phoenix, AZ – Fujifilm X-E4 & Vivitar 135mm
Local – Phoenix, AZ – Fujifilm X-E4 & Vivitar 135mm
Umbrella – Phoenix, AZ – Fujifilm X-E4 & Vivitar 135mm
Empty Hummingbird Feeder – Gilbert, AZ – Fujifilm X-E4 & Vivitar 135mm
Daylight Bulb – Gilbert, AZ – Fujifilm X-E4 & Vivitar 135mm
Tree Leaves – Gilbert, AZ – Fujifilm X-E4 & Vivitar 135mm
Spraying Water – Gilbert, AZ – Fujifilm X-E4 & Vivitar 135mm
Palm Tree Top – Gilbert, AZ – Fujifilm X-E4 & Vivitar 135mm

Find the LomoChrome Metropolis Film Simulation Recipe and over 200 others on the Fuji X Weekly App! Don’t have the App? Download it for free today! Become a Patron to unlock the best App experience.

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The Ray Manley Photo Challenge

In 1939, Ray Manley, who was at the time a broke college student in northern Arizona, made a decision that would change the course of his life. Ray decided that he wanted to be published in Arizona Highways magazine, so he purchased 10 frames of Kodachrome. During that era, Kodachrome was not cheap, and Ray could barely afford those 10 frames. He had some prior experience shooting black-and-white film, but not much. Color photography was completely new to him, and he’d never used Kodachrome before. Still, Ray was determined, and he set out to make the most of those 10 exposures. Three of those Kodachromes would be printed on the cover of Arizona Highways during the 1940’s. And it was those three pictures that helped Ray launch a successful photography career, which included publication in National GeographicSaturday Evening PostPopular Science, as well as several books that featured his pictures.

The Ray Manley Challenge is to capture 10 exposures and only 10 exposures, attempting to get a minimum of three good pictures out of it. The intention of this is to train yourself to slow down and really think about what you are doing. It’s about being very deliberate and making every exposure count. Ray had only 10 exposures because that’s all he could afford, and it’s incredible what he did with it. You have unlimited exposures, yet, I know for myself, meaningful pictures are only captured sparingly. This photo challenge is a good way to refine your photography skills, and increase the odds of capturing something good.

I had considered using my Vintage Kodachrome recipe to really mimic what Ray was up against, but decided instead to use any settings that I felt would best fit the scene. I might try this again and use only Vintage Kodachrome, although I’m not really sure right now if I’ll do that. You can choose to do so for an added challenge, or use whatever settings you feel is best. It’s really up to you how you want to tackle this challenge, as the only real rule is that once you’ve made 10 exposures, you are done.

Here are my results:

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Frame 1: Mt Wolverine Reflected In Silver Lake – Brighton, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & 35mm f/2 – 0.7 Seconds, f/11, ISO 160

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Frame 2: Flowing Creek – Brighton, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & 35mm f/2 – 0.4 Seconds, f/11, ISO 320

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Frame 4: Big Cottonwood Creek – Big Cottonwood Canyon, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & 35mm f/2 – 1/5, f/13, ISO 160

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Frame 5: Flowing River Monochrome – Big Cottonwood Canyon, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & 35mm f/2 – 0.3 Seconds, f/11, ISO 160

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Frame 10: Hidden Falls – Big Cottonwood Canyon, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & 35mm f/2 – 2 Seconds, f/13, ISO 160

How did I do? I would say mediocre.

In the first exposure there’s that bright stump on the top-left that I really didn’t want to include in the frame. Unfortunately, there was a bridal photo shoot going on just out of the right side of the frame, and I had to pick between including people in the shot or the stump. I chose the stump. Otherwise, I like that picture. I felt like I did a good job of taking my time and creating the best picture that I could with what was there, and I think this is my second favorite frame from this challenge.

The second frame is a well executed photo of a rather bland scene. I feel that there probably wasn’t a better picture that I could have created at that spot, but perhaps I shouldn’t have made an image at all, and saved the exposure for a different location.

Frame three was identical to frame four other than I didn’t get one setting right, so I made another exposure. If I had taken my time just a little more I wouldn’t have made that mistake. Frame four is a good picture and probably my third favorite from this challenge.

The fifth frame is alright. I don’t think I composed it particularly well. I put the tripod with the camera on it in the river, which was a risk. At this point the light that I wanted was quickly disappearing, and I wasn’t taking my time like I should have been.

Exposures six, seven, eight and nine were all failures. I was going too fast. I should have stopped and really soaked in the scene and worried less about the disappearing good light and saved those frames for another time. This was the lesson that I needed to learn.

For the final frame, I made sure that I got it right. I slowed myself down and really thought about how I wanted the picture to look. I moved the tripod a couple of times to refine the composition. This is my favorite exposure of the 10 that I made.

On the drive home, just a little ways down the road from where I exposed the 10th frame, I saw what I thought would have been a great picture. I stopped the car and looked at the scene, but I left the camera in the bag. If I hadn’t wasted several of my exposures, I could have captured this place. I got back on the road and stuck with my restriction.

This project didn’t go quite as well as I had hoped, but it was a great photographic exercise that proved to be valuable. I learned much. I intend to do it again soon, and I invite you to join me in completing the Ray Manley Photo Challenge.