Going gritty with the Fuji X-T1 and Zeiss Touit 50mm macro

I have been photographing stock photography for a very long time. The other day I was thinking how interesting it is that the actual subject matter of stock images has not changed over the decades. Sure, technology has advanced and brought new products into the mix, but by and large the conceptual subject matter is the same now as when I started. What has changed, and is constantly changing at a more and more rapid pace, is the stylistic treatment of the subject matter.

One of the more popular styles today is what I call "gritty". By this I mean it has a more candid look, as if someone had grabbed the shot spontaneously with a cell phone -- blocked up shadows, blown highlights, lens flare like crazy. Everything we used to think was "wrong" is not "right". In the past I might have carefully stacked some dollar bills, all looking newly minted and perfectly aligned. Today I am looking for wrinkled bills in random patterns.

Below are some samples I did recently in the studio of typical subjects where I wanted to refresh the style to make them more current.  I photographed this series with the Fuji X-T1 and Zeiss Touit 50mm macro. The X-T1 is nice to work with because its electronic viewfinder can be set to show me exactly what I am getting, something important when I am blasting out the hightlights and need to know where the blow-out is occurring and how much detail I am loosing in the subject. The Zeiss Touit 50mm macro has become my favorite macro lens. It is a perfect focal length for me with a auto-focus accuracy that is rare for any macro lens.