Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 18-55mm, ISO 1250, ƒ/5.6, 1/100

I enjoyed seeing the sights in London. But unfortunately, some of the views were just reflections on the sidewalk of the Coke sign in Piccadilly Square in London.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 55-200mm, ISO 400, ƒ/4.8, 1/100

There is so much to see in London, and there is not enough time for any tourist. So you pick your locations. For example, our family went to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard ceremony.

Finding one location to get good photos of every part of the ceremony is impossible. We got right next to the railing of the front gate. I had to shoot through the iron gates to get this photo.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 55-200mm, ISO 800, ƒ/4.8, 1/100

I found the Fuji 55-200mm lens just great to use for this situation. Unfortunately, I was too far away for the 18-55mm, but I could have fun moments like this one of the London Bobby with tourists taking a selfie.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 55-200mm, ISO 800, ƒ/4.8, 1/100

I just had to wait and watch to capture people in beautiful moments of expression. The people were more uncomplicated to do than catching the guard. They are very business-like throughout the event in their role.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 55-200mm, ISO 640, ƒ/4.8, 1/100

In photography, to capture people’s attention, you need “surprises.” Most of the time, I find that expressions on people’s faces are the easiest to find. Different enough to be a “visual surprise,” like this guard wearing a turban rather than the tall bearskin hat that the rest of the guards wear—the only one with a beard makes this better photo.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 55-200mm, ISO 400, ƒ/3.5, 1/150

The most important thing for me the entire trip was that my wife and daughter were having fun. If they were enjoying everything, then I was OK with wherever we were in London.

We all love Harry Potter, and my wife has been a Downton Abbey fan for a while. So London was a perfect place for a vacation.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/5.6, 1/70

This photo made me think of the “Night Bus” in Harry Potter. Maybe before Harry Potter, it would just be a double-decker bus in London, but the storyline of Harry Potter is part of my memory, and now these are the Night Bus in the series.

Technical Tip

Before I could concentrate on capturing the moments and moods of England, I had to understand my camera and make it do what I wanted, not just whatever it would create.

For all these photos, I used the ExpoDisc to create a Custom White Balance. Unfortunately, using presets or Auto White balance usually doesn’t yield good results. So here is how I do that in an older blog post.

For the most part, I think you can shoot much of travel photography with lenses between 28mm to 200mm. The FUJINON XF 18-55mm and FUJINON XF 55-200mm give me between 27mm to 300mm coverage. These two lenses was important to get those photos at Buckingham Palace.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 18-55mm, ISO 1600, ƒ/5.6, 1/100

You don’t have to get a camera with changeable lenses; you can buy cameras with built-in zooms that cover this range.

My last tip for your vacation travel and all photos is to write captions and keywords for the images. This way, you can find them later on when you need to. I use the software PhotoMechanic to do all my captions and keywording. Here is an earlier blog post to help you understand how this works. For those who prefer a video, I created a video showing this workflow.

After this trip, I will most likely create a coffee table book with Blurb, so I can enjoy this trip for years to come.