Personal Best vol.16 | William Chua

03.01.2019

Written by... William Chua

William Chua is a Fujifilm ambassador for the last 8 years. He is an international award-winning photographer based in Singapore.

He does predominantly weddings, portraits, travels, and wildlife photography.

He has garnered over 200 international awards from IPA (New York), MPA (London), PX3 (Paris), PDN, Sony World Awards and One Eyeland Awards

Most notably, he was the Top Singapore Wildlife Photographer 2021 from One Eyeland

Top 12 global photographer 2020 from One Eyeland

Px3 (Paris) Wildlife Category Gold Award Winner 2014

The MPA Far East convention winner in 2011

Rangefinder (Global) Wedding Photography contest winner for 2 consecutive years in 2013 and 2014

Top 5 Wedding Photographers Globally in AGWPJA in 2010

He had a joint photo exhibition in Singapore in 2022 to raise awareness for the Breast Cancer Foundation

His photo of the wildebeest migration was exhibited in Photokina 2018 (Cologne, Germany)

He also has his solo exhibition of this wildlife images in Raffles Hotel Singapore in 2011

William’s works have been published in various publications (including Silverkris Magazine, Drukair Magazine, Asian Geographic, Geographical Magazine (UK) etc) and is a joint author for ‘Your Guide to Great Photography’ alongside other global photographers.

His images have been consistently placed with the Natgeo Editor’s favorites through the years. And they are represented by Modern Art Etc. based in Los Angeles, California for sale as Fine Art prints.

Having led photography workshops globally, and given numerous talks on photography, he hopes to be able to help photo enthusiasts take their photography to the next level

Gears:

FUJIFILM GFX 50S
GF110mmF2 R LM WR
GF250mmF5.6 R LM OIS WR
GF1.4X TC WR
FUJIFILM X-T3
XF50-140mmF2.8 R LM OIS WR
XF100-400mmF4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR
XF1.4X TC WR

The Story

It was with much joy when I brought the FUJIFILM GFX 50S to Kenya in 2018. With a 50 megapixel camera, I would be able to create bigger prints with no loss in resolution. The details in the prints would be exceptional as well. This image is one of my favourites in this trip

We were driving to our lodge in Kenya, when we spotted this leopard up on the tree with its prey. We were the only vehicle around, so we can get much closer to the leopard. I quickly switched to my favorite lens GF110mmF2 for this shot and pressed the trigger when it turned its head.

It was the perfect image for me. I printed this image when I came back to Singapore, and the details of the fur of the Leopard blew me away. We can never achieve such details with a 35mm camera. The GFX 50S besides being a 50 megapixels camera, is also rough enough to be taken out to the wilderness of Africa.

GFX 50S & GF110mmF2 R LM WR

Now that there is the GF250mm lens as well, it definitely helps a lot in getting those faraway shots.

This image was taken with the GF250mmF4 lens with the 1.4x teleconverter. Even at F5.6, the Lion pops out nicely from the background due to the larger sensor from the camera.

We were following this Lion across the plains for almost an hour, and the camera does a good job in the focusing even when we were on the move.

GFX 50S & GF250mmF5.6 R LM OIS WR + GF1.4X TC WR

Although the camera might not be the fastest around, it does a great job in moving images too.

We got a good vantage point of the wildebeests migration and I was using the camera to capture the moving wildebeests. Focus was spot on and I love how it created that background blur even though it was shot with the 1.4x teleconverter at F5.6

GFX 50S & GF250mmF5.6 R LM OIS WR + GF1.4X TC WR

If I need a longer reach, I can always switch to the latest X-T3 camera with the XF100-400mm lens

The image below was taken with the X-T3 + XF100-400mm lens with the 1.4x teleconverter. The wildebeests was crossing the mara river, when this Lion came out from the bushes to get its prey.

This scene was shot across the river.. I could not have been able to capture this scene if not for the camera and lens combination. Quality of the image is fantastic.

X-T3 & XF100-400mmF4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR + XF1.4X TC SWr

The range of lenses from the X-T series is fantastic. I have no lack of lenses to choose from on my trips to the Safari. The following image was taken with the XF50-140mmF2.8 lens. Fantastic lens without the weight.

It offers a good range for the wildebeests migration. Sometimes, we do get quite close to the action, and a prime lens might restrict us at times. So this zoom lens is a good option for me. I can zoom out if the action gets closer to me.. so I do not have to worry about changing lenses all the time </p@>

X-T3 & XF50-140mmF2.8 R LM OIS WR

FUJIFILM cameras and lenses are important and reliable for me as a wildlife photographer. The quality of the images from the cameras are unparalleled. Every year, I am looking forward to improved equipment from the company in my area of work.

Gears:

The Story

Read more on “Personal Best”