Falling in love with photography (again).

Fuji X-Pro 3 + Fuji XF 27mm f2.8 WR

As I get older (I recently just turned 35) I find myself returning to the medium which started it all for me. Photography. My stills camera(s), outside of family affairs, have sat idle on my shelves, and I hadn't picked them up for any creative projects for over 10 years. Perhaps it's the lack of leisure time that comes with having a two-year-old, the 9-5 office environment, or the fact that I dipped my toes in filmmaking for a few years which pulled me away from photography. Irrespective of the cause, it is now undeniable to me that I have the urge to make more pictures and invest myself in some creative projects. To me, a photographer living in 2025 without Facebook, Tik Tok or Instagram, a "creative project" means a body of photo work that conveys some form of meaning or narrative which I will have professionally printed into a photobook (to go alongside the others in our book cabinet). My intent for these is always to have something tangible (the book) to look back on, be proud of, bring my son closer to understanding his father and to inspire me to continue making pictures.

One of our family photo books (Created in Lightroom and printed via Blurb).

This past week, to get the creative juices flowing, I made a pact with myself that I would take my trusty Fuji X-Pro 3 with my everywhere I went for the entire week, and just snap away at anything that caught my eye. Nothing more - no intention, no expectation, no end product in mind, just "whatever caught my eye" throughout the week. Here are some of my favourites from the week (amongst many many duds that didn't make this gallery).

I drove past this soon-to-be-demolished petrol station on my way to the Gym on Monday morning and the sunrise was casting some gorgeous golden light, so I obviously had to stop.

Fuji X-Pro 3 + 7 Artisans 35mm f1.2 @f8

On one of the days I decided to ride in and out of the office (I can't remember which day), I decided that on the way home, I would intentionally take a longer route and ride around some back streets...

Fuji X-Pro 3 + Fuji XF 27mm f2.8

Thankfully, it paid off as I stumbled across this car parked in someones front garden, which is, safe to say, a film photographers wet dream.

That same afternoon I got home to my son playing with the hose in the backyard where the sun was backlighting him, creating some gorgeous sun rays. I swapped out my Fuji 27mm for my 7 Artisans 35mm f1.2, as this lens flares like crazy (and I love it):

Fuji X-Pro 3 + 7 Artisans 35mm f1.2

I always find myself vexed by candid and innocent childhood moments like these. One part of me wants to go get my camera and capture it as perfectly as possible, but another part of me is happy to just leave the camera in the cupboard and be present in that moment with my son. Having said that, on this occasion, I am glad I snapped these moments, as they'll definitely end up being framed prints in the house.

In retrospect, I'm really glad I pushed myself to take my camera everywhere with me this week, it has definitely been good practice and I'm stoked with some of the pictures I made.

Thanks for reading :-)

Ty Van Haren.