Starting tomorrow, I’m heading to Portugal for 15 days, my first of what I hope will be two trips across the Atlantic to Europe this year. I don’t have any plans yet for the second trip, but I always try to travel at least twice a year, as time and budget allow. Planning this trip to Portugal involved more back-and-forth than I expected.

I’ve been wanting to plan my next adventure for a while. Over the winter, especially, the idea of warmer destinations and better travel timing was hard to ignore. I started jotting down ideas: cities I wanted to visit, then ways to connect them and make the most of my time across the Atlantic.

I’ve been shooting Fujifilm long enough to know that the usual “JPEG vs RAW” argument doesn’t really fit here. Fujifilm’s JPEGs, especially when you dial in that perfect film simulation or custom recipe, can often come out so close to the realized vision and tone that they deem RAW files unnecessary.

There’s a lot of noise in photography. It’s hard to escape the pressure to upgrade your photography. Everywhere you look, there’s a new body, a sharper lens, a brand that somehow is the one that everyone is moving to, or an accessory being pitched as the missing piece in your work.

Fujifilm’s DR400 setting is one of those features that quietly sits in the menu until you realize how beneficial it can be to your images. And then it can become an essential consideration in any Fujifilm recipe. Now, fortunately, the dynamic range of most Fujifilm cameras I have used has been great, sometimes exceptional.

Travel is amazing. It’s a chance to step into places you’ve never been and see things you may never see again. Each trip is a brief window to explore and pay attention in a way that’s hard to do at home. Even if you spend a month in one city, that’s still a tiny slice of your life, which is exactly what makes it feel so special and fragile.

Fujifilm recipes are a fun and exciting way to experiment with your photography. Using them is a way to take your work in directions you may not have considered and create memorable photos. Recipes can help you achieve a stunning look; however, it’s essential to realize that they don’t always work, and using one in the wrong shooting conditions or with the wrong subjects can result in images that don’t turn out as expected.

There are countless ways to set up your Fujifilm camera for travel, but during my actual travel time, I don’t want to be buried in menus and figuring out how to do things. I want a simple, reliable starting point that lets me react quickly to whatever I find: early‑morning light, busy streets, and that once-in-a-lifetime shot.

Every photographer faces the same moment of truth: the review process. When you’re staring down hundreds of shots from your travels, how do you know what stays and what goes? What’s the first step in editing, and which images deserve your full attention? For me, deciding what to delete, rate, or save goes beyond that initial scan. It’s an evolving part of the creative journey.

As photographers, we can be obsessive about the perfect lens, the best camera, or the ideal conditions. We can strive towards that perfect shot. And as we do so, we hesitate. Sometimes that hesitation extends so long that it doesn’t happen at all.

I talk about Fujifilm recipes quite a bit as I think they are a great way to unleash some creative fuel that encourages more discovery and more time behind the camera. It’s also a great way to simplify a photographic workflow, as it greatly reduces any time spent in front of a computer with post-processing. However, not everything is easy: not every recipe works in every situation.

It’s been almost three years since I shot a similar model, a 2023 Genesis G90, and although not much has changed on the outside, three years of tech advancements can be substantial. I had a short window with this G90, a custom order in Savile Silver, as the owner was due for delivery on Monday.

When I first placed my order for the 23mm lens, I thought it would become my secondary lens for travel photography when I needed something wider. I had the 35mm on the X-E4, but when I sold it and replaced it with the X-H2, I wanted at least one more lens. The 35mm was good, but I knew that when I travelled, I would like some choice, but at the same time, I didn’t want anything large.

Embarking on solo travel can be frightening to some. The idea of going somewhere alone, so far from home, can be an undertaking and a stress some may not want to undergo. It is a lot to consider, and for most, it’s not just about leaving home and enjoying a new destination; there are financial considerations and responsibilities, things that can’t be ignored or delayed.

I’ve always considered myself a frequent traveller and a travel photographer, though the term can be a bit misleading. I don’t make a living directly from the images. Still, those photographs, the ones I share on social media or here on my site, play a quiet but meaningful role in connecting people to my work, sparking conversations, and occasionally leading to income in unexpected ways.