Saint Paul at Night

A Photo Walk With the Fujifilm X-Pro3 and XF 18mm f/1.4 Lens

By Andy Johnson III

April 22^nd, 2024

Ever since picking up another Fujifilm X-Pro3, I have been inspired to get out and shoot photos in the streets around the Twin Cities. While living in Los Angeles, I used to take a lot of night shots and it's been awhile so recently I decided to go out and take some street photos of Saint Paul at night. I set the Fujifilm simulation to Acros so that I was capturing in black and white, focused more on light than on colors. Acros is probably my favorite simulation to shoot with under the right circumstances.

Cossetta

My route along Fort Road passed our favorite pizza place in the Twin Cities. The Cossetta Alimentari offers a range of food experiences including an Italian market, a pasticceria, a tavern, the Louis Ristorante and Bar and our favorite, the Eatery and Pizzeria with some of the best pizza that you'll find anywhere. This is a food place in Saint Paul that you need to check out if you haven't done so already!

Best of Times

One thing I like about shooting at night is that it causes you to notice scenes that you might entirely overlook during the day. As I walked up to this business marked "Best of Times", I passed an elderly man slowly walking by and then noticed that the Smokeshop Sign for the Best of Times was well lit and featured an interesting retro look. I stood in front of the sign for a bit and took pictures of groups of people walking by. The lighting from the sign shed light on faces that added to the interest and one particular group of animated young people gave me what was probably my favorite shot of the night.

The Apostle Supper Club

Seeing the world in black and white through the camera makes scenes like the signs for the Apostle Supper Club stand out so much more. I found the signage, lighting and typography for this establishment stunning.

Xcel Energy Center

Street crossings are full of opportunity to capture interesting scenes. People crossing the street are focused on doing so safely and less aware of the presence of a camera. This particular crossing was rather busy with a concert just ending and many people still out and about on the downtown streets late at night.There was an an Olivia Rodrigo concert on the night of my photowalk. Although the concert was over, you could still see remnants of the crowd in the streets and on the vehicles around the stadium.

Zamboni's on 7th

What a fitting name for a restaurant and bar that's situated right by where the Minnesota Wild play hockey. This old brick building with its various lights and foot traffic is a great place for people watching and photos at night.

Walking Back

Once I reached the Xcel Energy Center, I walked back to my truck on the other side of the street, often affording a new perspective on places I had already taken pictures of. Gaining perspective on subjects by trying both sides of the street can help unlock the images initially unnoticed. Going out for a night time photo walk again was invigorating after many years of not doing something like this. I think I'm going to have to do this more often. Years after I first took a photo walk at night with a Leica M-240, I'm impressed by the details and contrast that the Fujifilm X Series can capture at night and almost entirely straight out of the camera.