Fujifilm X100VI, from absolute zero.

1 · RULE OF THIRDS

The one framing rule that upgrades everything. Imagine the 3×3 grid (or just turn it on) and put the important stuff on the lines, not in the middle.

• Horizon on the top or bottom line, never through the middle — here it's on the top third, so the beach gets the space.
• Subject on a vertical line or a crossing point — the surf line and the walkers sit on the right third.
• X100VI: with Face/Eye AF on, the camera keeps focus wherever on the grid you place a person.

Photo: Bonosag3 · CC0

2 · LOW ANGLE (THE HERO SHOT)

Crouch and tilt up. Buildings, statues, festival stages, friends — everything gains drama when the sky becomes the background.

• Drop to knee height and tilt up until the top of the subject has clean sky around it, like this dome.
• For people: full-body shots only — from below, a face is all chin. Keep the camera at their chest height or lower, feet near the bottom edge.
• X100VI: tilt the LCD screen out and up — you can shoot from your knees without lying on the sidewalk.

Photo: Radomianin · Public domain

3 · 45° FOOD ANGLE

The default plate shot — it's how a hungry diner sees the food, so it reads as appetizing automatically.

• Stay seated, lean slightly over the table — your eye ends up at roughly 45° to the plate.
• Chase window light from the side or behind the bowl (that's what makes broth glisten like this). Never overhead spotlights, never flash.
• X100VI: exposure comp dial to +⅓, Astia sim, and get closer than feels polite — it focuses down to ~10 cm.

Photo: Yuet Man Lee · CC BY-SA 4.0

4 · OVERHEAD FLAT-LAY (90°)

Stand and shoot straight down — the whole-table spread. Brunch, ramen sets, anything with multiple dishes.

• Stand up, hold the camera flat over the table, elbows tucked so it doesn't wobble.
• Style it for 10 seconds first: nudge plates and cups into a loose grid, drop napkins/cutlery in the gaps, watch for your own shadow.
• X100VI: tilt the LCD out and check the grid — frame edges parallel to the table edge, or it looks accidental.

Photo: Anthony Delanoix · CC0

5 · LEADING LINES

Stand where a street, rail, hallway, or bridge rushes toward one point — the lines drag every viewer's eye exactly where you want it.

• Stand dead center of the path so both sides converge, like this Kyoto lane.
• Put something at the end of the lines — a person, a lantern, a sign. The lines are the arrow, not the subject. Wait for a walker to hit the spot.
• NYC is made of these: avenues, crosswalks, subway platforms, the Brooklyn Bridge cables.

Photo: Basile Morin · CC BY-SA 4.0

6 · FRAME IN FRAME

Shoot through something — an arch, doorway, window, subway entrance, a gap between people. Instant depth and focus.

• Find the frame first, then wait for the scene inside it — here the arch does all the composition work.
• Let the frame go dark. Expose for the scene inside; the shadowed border is the whole point.
• X100VI: single-point AF placed on the subject through the opening, so it doesn't grab focus on the frame itself.

Photo: Pseudopanax · Public domain

7 · LOOK STRAIGHT UP NEW

The skyscraper move. Stand at the base and aim 90° up — the verticals converge and even a boring office tower turns into geometry.

• Walk to the corner where 2–3 towers meet (like this) — one building is a snapshot, converging buildings are a photo.
• Rotate until the buildings slice in from the corners of the frame, with a pocket of clean sky in the middle.
• Also works on: tree canopies, station ceilings, fire escapes, atriums. X100VI: point it up at chest height and tilt the LCD toward you — no neck cramp.

Photo: Marek Ślusarczyk · CC BY 3.0

8 · SHOOT DOWN FROM UP HIGH NEW

The opposite skyscraper move: observation decks, rooftop bars, hotel windows, bridges, even a mall mezzanine. The city becomes geometry; people become dots.

• Two distances, two photos: far = skyline (left, shot from Top of the Rock); near = one intersection turns into shapes and stories (right).
• Through observation-deck glass: put the lens right against the glass and cup your hand around it — that kills the reflections.
• X100VI: the ~6-stop IBIS makes handheld dusk shots like the left one realistic — still brace your elbows on the railing.

L: Rhododendrites · CC BY-SA 4.0 · R: tomislav medak · CC BY 2.0

9 · SQUARE-UP (DEAD-ON FLAT) NEW

Stand perfectly square to a flat surface — a facade, mural, painted door, or painting — so it fills the frame with zero tilt. Instant Wes Anderson.

• Feet parallel to the wall, camera level (not tilted up), back up until it fills the frame — window grids become wallpaper patterns (left).
• In museums: stand centered on the painting, no flash, and let a visitor into the frame for scale and story (right).
• X100VI: this is what the grid is for — lay the gridlines along window rows or the picture frame. One degree of tilt is the difference between "snapshot" and "print."

L: Wilfredor · CC0 · R: Adele Keith · CC BY-SA 4.0

10 · WINDOWS, GLASS & PUDDLES NEW

Glass is a free filter. Café windows turn people into silhouettes with neon bokeh; after rain, every puddle is a mirror lying on the ground.

• Café window: put your subject against the bright outside and expose for the lights — the face going dark is the mood (left).
• Puddle: get the camera almost touching the water and tilt until the whole reflection appears (right). Bonus: flip the shot upside down later.
• X100VI: decide what the photo is of — the reflection or the thing — and put single-point AF on it; autofocus guessing wrong is the #1 fail here. The tilting LCD saves you from lying in the puddle.

L: Sean Witzke · CC0 · R: Maria Eklind · CC BY-SA 2.0

1 · HANDS IN POCKETS (your default)

The safest confident pose there is. If you don't know what to do — do this.

• Hook your thumbs out of the pockets (or tuck hands fully in) — never a jammed fist. Keep it loose.
• Weight on your back foot, front foot a step forward and turned slightly out. Instantly relaxed, not stiff.
• Roll your shoulders back and down, chin slightly forward. Look just off the lens.

Photo: Pexels · free license

2 · LEAN ON A WALL

Leaning reads as "I'm comfortable here." It also gives your body an angle instead of a straight line.

• Lean a shoulder or your upper back — not your whole slumped body. Stay tall.
• Cross one foot over the other, or plant a sole flat on the wall behind you.
• Hands in pockets, glance away for candid or into the lens for intensity.

Photo: Pexels · free license

3 · OVER-THE-SHOULDER (the jawline shot)

The single most flattering head position for a man — it stretches and defines the jaw and neck.

• Turn your body ~90° away from the camera, then rotate only your head back toward it.
• Push your forehead toward the lens and drop the chin a touch. Feel your neck lengthen.
• Looks especially strong in high-contrast or black & white (X100VI: try the ACROS film sim).

Photo: Pexels · free license

4 · WALK TOWARD THE CAMERA

Movement kills stiffness. A walking shot looks powerful and effortlessly candid.

• Actually walk — take real steps toward the lens, arms swinging naturally. Don't freeze.
• Look slightly off-axis (not dead into the lens) for a softer, cooler read. One hand can hold a jacket.
• X100VI: set focus to AF-C (continuous) and hold the shutter for a burst — you'll get one with a clean stride and expression.

Photo: Pexels · free license

5 · THREE-QUARTER TURN + EASY SMILE

Turning off-square slims you and adds shape. A genuine smile does the rest.

• Angle your torso 30–45° to the camera, leading shoulder slightly back. Never chest-on.
• Keep your weight on the back leg; let the front knee bend a little.
• For the smile, think of something that actually makes you laugh — a real one crinkles the eyes; a posed one doesn't.

Photo: Pexels · free license

6 · LOOK AWAY (the "plandid")

Eyes off camera = instant natural. A planned pose that reads as a candid moment.

• Look toward the light or off into the distance — give your gaze a destination.
• Add a subtle squint so your eyes look like you're thinking, not spacing out.
• Great when you're self-conscious — you're not staring down the lens.

Photo: Pexels · free license

7 · DRESSED UP — BLAZER + POCKETS

Same hands-in-pockets confidence, sharpened for when you're in a jacket.

• Hands in your trouser pockets, thumbs out — it pushes the jacket open and shows a clean line.
• Standing: button only the top button. Sitting or leaning: unbutton it so it doesn't bunch.
• Angle the body, one shoulder to the camera — never both lapels flat-on.

Photo: Pexels · free license

8 · REST A HAND / LEAN ON SOMETHING

The cure for "where do my hands go." Give them something to hold and the whole body relaxes.

• Rest a forearm or hand on a railing, ledge, chair back, or your own bent knee.
• Let it pull you into a slight lean — asymmetry looks more natural than standing to attention.
• Keep the resting hand soft, not gripping — tension shows in photos.

Photo: Pexels · free license

9 · FULL-BODY, STREET-STYLE

For the full outfit / "fit pic." How you look head-to-toe.

• Shoot from just below eye level (camera around chest height) — it makes your legs and height read longer.
• Keep one foot clearly ahead of the other; don't stand feet-together like a passport photo.
• X100VI: the 35mm-equivalent lens is flattering full-body — stand ~8–10 ft back so your proportions stay true.

Photo: Pexels · free license

10 · MOODY LEAN (use side light)

Same relaxed lean, but let light do the work for a cinematic, magazine feel.

• Turn your face toward a window or side light and let the far side of your face fall into soft shadow.
• Small chin drop, relaxed hands, calm expression — this one is not a smile shot.
• X100VI: dial exposure comp down about −⅔ so the shadows stay rich instead of washing out.

Photo: Pexels · free license

A · HOW TO HOLD (VIDEO GRIP)

Video grip ≠ photo grip. You're not bracing for one click — you're becoming a tripod for 10 seconds.

• Camera at chest, LCD tilted up, both hands on the body, elbows pressed hard into your ribs. Your torso does the stabilizing, not your wrists.
• Neck-strap trick: shorten the strap and push the camera forward until the strap pulls taut — hands + strap = three points of contact, an instant "poor man's gimbal."
• Breathe out slowly while rolling. Holding your breath makes you shake more. X100VI: IBIS ON; use the LCD, not the EVF, for any shot where you move.

B · PICK YOUR ANGLE (ONE PER CLIP)

All ten photo angles from section 4 work in video too — the rule is one angle per clip, not a tour of all of them in one shot.

• Eye level = people talking. Chest level = walking b-roll — it's steadier and instantly more cinematic than eye level.
• Low + tilted up for drama (crowds, buildings, festival stages); overhead for food, hands, unboxings.
• Change angle between clips, not during. Shoot the scene wide, then again from low, then a close detail — three separate 8-second clips edit together beautifully.

C · THE VIEW (FRAMING FOR 16:9)

The frame goes wide in movie mode, and moving subjects change the framing rules slightly.

• Headroom: put eyes on the top gridline — same rule of thirds as photos, just wider.
• Lead room: a person walking or looking sideways gets empty space in the direction they're moving, never behind them.
• Keep the horizon dead level — a tilt reads ten times worse in video than in a photo. And shoot 5–10 second clips, one idea each; short steady clips are what edits are made of.

D · MOVE YOUR BODY, NOT THE CAMERA

The camera stays glued to your chest — all movement comes from your knees and hips. That's the whole secret of gimbal-looking handheld footage.

• Ninja walk: bend your knees, shuffle heel-to-toe in small steps — your bent legs absorb the bounce like suspension.
• The 23mm lens doesn't zoom — your legs are the zoom. Get closer by slowly walking in, wider by walking back (glance behind you first).
• Pan from the hips, arms locked — never swivel your wrists. Orbit by side-stepping a slow circle around the subject at constant distance.