One second of the Austin Rodeo
I had a nice opportunity to shoot Rodeo Austin this year with a press pass. It gave me the chance to get into the Rodeo and to sit temporarily in any unoccupied seat. As a city slicker from the East Coast, it was great fun. And while I’ve been to the carnival portion of Rodeo Austin many times, this is the first time I ever stepped foot into the heart of the rodeo itself. Austin doesn’t feel very “Texas like” in many places but here I certainly felt transported to a whole different world. Sort of like a tourist in my own home town.
I often say that mirrorless cameras like the Olympus Pens are not suited for fast action sports. And that’s true in many cases but not all. Let me explain. If you shoot soccer, kid’s soccer in my case, the almost random back and forth motion of the game is hard to capture with a mirrorless camera. It’s really the continuous focus that suffers. Composing with an optical view finder, not an EVF, is really the best way to go and DSLRs are great for this — there is no EVF or LCD lag.
However, for fast action that is more predictable, the Olympus Pen can do a spectacular job. Below are 8 photographs I took with my Olympus E-PM2. This kind of action is perfect for this camera since I knew exactly where the rider and bucking bronco are going to start.
Bucking Bronco 1 – 8, Rodeo Austin – Austin, Texas
I took all 8 photographs in 1 second. Look at the LCD clock at the top of the picture. It matches perfectly with the E-PM2 specs of 8 continuous frames per second. All were shot at 1/500 of a second at f1.4 and ISO 1600. I used my favorite Panasonic Leica 25mm f1.4 which gives a 50mm equivalent view.
The action happens so fast it was hard for me to keep track. I basically aim at the gate and a fraction of second after the gate opens, I mash my finger down on the shutter. Then I just follow the action. As long as the horse remains at the same relative distance from me, they all stay in sharp focus. I got a pretty decent keeper rate too. After a second or so buffer fills up and the shots per second slows down dramatically.
I got a lot more than bucking broncos so I’ll post more photos from the rodeo in the coming days. It’s hard to believe that I shot these back in March. Time flies when you shoot too much and talk too much about gear. It’s all fun.
Please stay tuned.
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The struggle to make an impact in a noisy, digital world
Jack Jams, Red River Street – Austin, Texas
In this increasingly connected and noisy world, it is hard to make an impact. — to rise above the background clutter — to get noticed. I think about this all the time as I put my photographs out there and post to this blog. How do I increase my audience so that I can share my thoughts and images with more people? It is an exciting, brave new world. More than ever, individuals can put their art out there and broadcast it to the world. This opportunity has never existed before in human history.
I’ve talked about and featured photographs of Kao=S, a band that fuses traditional Japanese instruments with rock. I’ve taken a keen interest in this band, not only for their unique music but because I identify with their struggle to break through — to get noticed and build an audience. Unlike the other Japanese bands I’ve seen in Austin, Kao=S takes every opportunity to be heard. Beyond performing at clubs, they took to the streets to perform in front of anyone that would listen.
Shuji on Red River Street #1 – Austin, Texas
Daisuke and Jack, Red River Street – Austin, Texas
These photographs are from one of their impromptu concerts. They setup on Red River Street in the middle of the SXSW 2013. You can feel the energy, and a dynamic that’s different from a stage performance. I have tremendous respect for artists willing to perform in front of an unfamiliar audience.
Kaori performing, Red River Street – Austin, Texas
I see many parallels between music and photography. Both are tremendously impacted by digital copies and easy world-wide distribution. Both art forms are stolen by many people without a thought about the consequences. But ultimately, beyond the fear of theft, the fear of irrelevance is stronger. What good is art if it isn’t seen and heard by others? And though I don’t get the impact of performing directly in front of a crowd, I suppose I post my photos to put a piece of me out there. Perhaps something that will outlast me, in the digital ether, long after I’m gone.
Jack with his shamisen, Red River Street – Austin, Texas
Shuji on Red River Street #2 – Austin, Texas
While I don’t think photography has the same visceral impact as music, it’s the way I’m trying to leave my mark. I feature these photos as a proxy for my struggles to be seen. Photographs of me taking pictures or post-processing doesn’t seem as cool as these guys jamming on the street. But the same struggles are there, with any artist, in this modern, digital world. I’m glad that, in some small way, I can share the artistry of Kao=S through my art of capturing life in the city.
Kao=S on Red River Street – Austin, Texas
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The magical (but imperfect) path to the ocean
The Stairs at Battery Crosby – San Francisco, California
Yesterday, I talked about Battery Crosby, an absolutely fantastic place to make photographs of the Golden Gate Bridge. In that post, I mentioned stairs that offer a good vantage point of the bridge and here they are. These stairs lead from the concrete bunker down towards the ocean. I didn’t have time to explore so I didn’t go any further. What looks like gently curving stairs directly to the ocean actually stops short and runs parallel to the water line, according to Google Maps.
As you might have guessed, this is another HDR photograph. Processed in a more painterly style and not my usual, more realistic approach. I don’t think it’s over the top but it definitely passes that fuzzy line between realistic and artistic, at least in my book. Your mileage may vary. Why do I process some HDRs realistically and others in a more artistic fashion? It really depends on the mood I want to convey. The golden light, the green grass, the meandering path to the ocean and the distant sunset hills put me in the romantic mood, I guess. I think the place has a magical Tolkien-esque feel. Why not amp up the magic with some HDR post processing?
In retrospect, I wish I framed this differently. At least, I should have experimented with different points of view. That is one of the disadvantages of using a tripod. There is a tendency to set it at a particular height and shoot it from there. I move around more when shooting hand-held but I get more bogged down with the three metal legs attached. I was also rushed — trying to maximize my time taking photos of the Golden Gate Bridge — my primary purpose. The moral of the story, look around, shift your point of view. It wouldn’t have taken too much longer to find a better framing and I would have been rewarded with a stronger image.
What don’t I like about the photo? I think there is entirely too much ocean. The balance of the elements are not quite right. I would like to see more stairs and greenery, less water. I do like how the silhouetted mountains came out. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think it’s a bad photo. I really like the color and mood, it’s just that the composition could have been stronger. Perhaps if I lowered my tripod to get more of the stairs. It would change the angle and reduce the ocean. Would this alternate framing would work better? Who knows but the point of this post is that I should have explored other possibilities.
Battery Crosby is a beautiful place and I hope to get back there. Maybe next time, I can create an even better photograph.
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Battery Crosby and the Golden Gate Bridge
Wildflowers and the Bay at Sunset – San Francisco, California
My timing was perfect. I arrived at Battery Crosby on the western shore, near the northern part of San Francisco, a few minutes before sunset. I came here to shoot the Golden Gate Bridge. It was awesome.
I usually don’t shoot traditional landscapes, the kind filled with nature. I’m a city person and gravitate towards the urban look. But when I saw this view from the road — It took my breath away. It was 7:30pm in a quiet nature filled area called The Presidio. I parked on the broad shoulder on Lincoln Blvd near the Battery to Bluffs Trail. I’m not sure if this is an authorized parking spot but I took my chances behind one other vehicle.
If you look at the larger view of the first photograph, you might make out a concrete bunker to the center left. This is the remnants of Battery Crosby a defunct installation that once housed a gun that protected the bay. I shot nature along the path leading from the road to the battery, taking in the sunset and soaking in the sounds of the surf. As I approached the concrete bunker, I saw majestic views of the world-famous Golden Gate Bridge.
For the first time, I used the standard Olympus 14mm – 42mm kit lens that came with my Olympus E-PM2 camera. I normally shoot with prime, non-zooming lenses — they are smaller and usually of higher quality — but I wanted to use this kit lens for two reasons. First, to test the image quality of this inexpensive but well-regarded lens. Second, I knew I wanted to shoot the bridge from different focal lengths and I didn’t want to bother switching prime lenses. Zooms are certainly convenient for these purposes, allowing me to shoot anywhere from a 28mm to 84mm equivalent with a twist of the lens.
From on top of the battery and the stairs leading down on the other side, there are no bad views of the bridge. I suggest moving around, up or down the stairs, to get your preferred framing. I took the two photographs below from the same spot on the stairs. The first one at 28mm and the next one at a 70mm equivalent. I was waiting for the skies to darken and the bridge to light up. EXIF data says it was shot around 8:14pm on April 13th. That’s about 25 minutes after sunset. I like the way it came out with the golden red contrasting against the cool blues of the sky and ocean.
I’m also pleased with the performance of the kit lens. It just goes to show that even the standard plastic lens can produce some great images. My prime lenses are still higher in quality but the increased versatility is an acceptable trade-off in this case. The only visual anomaly, the star bursts of the bridge lights were not crisp and had a strange pattern. I’m not sure if this was due to the lens or that I was hitting diffraction limits at f13. Either way, it’s not really noticeable unless you zoom in. All 3 photographs are HDRs combined in my usual subtle but colorful way. The first photo was combined from 3 exposures. The bridge shots were a combination of 4 exposures.
Golden Gate Bridge, Battery Crosby – San Francisco, California
Golden Gate Bridge Up Close, Battery Crosby – San Francisco, California
To get there, use your favorite mapping software and enter Battery Crosby. I would time your arrival from 30 minutes to 1 hour before sunset depending on how much you want to explore. For urban photographs, like the bridge, I like to stay at least 30 minutes after sunset to catch the blue hour. The yellow city lights against the blue sky makes for a nice color contrast.
WARNING: Be careful walking around the concrete structure after sunset. The trails and steps run through the concrete battery area and there are no fences at the edge of the concrete. Under dark conditions, you can easily walk off the edge and seriously or mortally hurt yourself. I was lucky that I could still make out the edges of the drop off. Definitely have a flash light and proceed with caution if you are up there after dark.
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An evening trapped in bland Albuquerque architecture
Dream of Flight – Albuquerque International Sunport, New Mexico
My flights to California have been, for the most part, trouble-free. My last trip, however, ended up taking a lot longer than usual. I was trapped all evening in an architectural limbo that would tax the most dedicated photographer.
Midway between Dallas and San Francisco, a passenger had an issue with his heart. We made an unscheduled landing in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The paramedics rushed in as soon as we landed and escorted the older man to a nearby ambulance. Luckily, he was at least upright and walking with assistance. A planned quick landing and refueling took longer than expected. A lot longer.
Our landing damaged one of the tires. Something about being heavier than normal — since we had more fuel — which caused the problem. Apparently, 737 tires are not very common in Albuquerque and had to be flown in. I guess a trip to the local Discount Tire wouldn’t suffice. We need to wait at least 5 hours to get the replacement. If all went well, we’ll be ready to leave by 10pm.
My usual desire to explore airport architecture would do no good here. The 80′s or 90′s era airport had all the charm of a shopping mall on the wrong side of town. The kind that’s past its peak and clearly hasn’t been updated in a while. The place was clean and well maintained. It was just oppressively boring. The muted southwestern colors and long featureless utilitarian architecture was not worth the click of a digital photo. Dynamic modern architecture is nice but just give me interesting. If it was some old, run down 50s or 60s era structure, at least there would be some character.
This dynamic sculpture, at the mid-point of the airport, was the only worthwhile photo opportunity. Called “Dream of Flight” by Santa Fe artist, Lincoln Fox, notice it’s surrounded by the best in 80′s mall design. Perhaps its simple lines purposely intending to contrast the textured sculpture. Long ago, before cost benefit calculations, public places had grandeur. A sense that a shared space like a train station, library or courthouse should be something special. Somewhere we lost this. Things are looking up though. Newer airports that I’ve visited are investing in better architecture. I think people realize that the airport is the gateway to the city. A cheap airport reflects poorly on the host city.
We were all boarded at 10:30 and ready to go but then an engine wouldn’t start. Somehow, I made it to SFO at 1:30am and to the hotel by 2:30am (4:30am Texas time). I was originally scheduled to land at 5pm. Ultimately, a memorable but not too terrible experience. I had a nice dinner and talk with a guy from Scotland. I also created a souvenir photo of an important piece of art — one that has the difficult mission of adding character to a large generic box of an airport.
Finally, I think about the old man with the heart condition. Hopefully he is resting comfortably and the flight detour was in time for him to make a strong recovery.
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The new American, a photo comparison
The New American – DFW Airport, Texas (HDR)
Continuing with the Airport travel theme, I wanted to show off the new American Airlines branding on their new Boeing 777.
As I took the Skytrain at DFW airport, I noticed two 777s parked at Terminal D with the new American Airlines color scheme. Conveniently, my flight to San Francisco was also leaving from D. I found a good view of one of the new planes and shot it with my Olympus XZ-1. This XZ-1 point and shoot has become my entertainment during my travels — a fun, convenient way to snap interesting compositions.
I’ve hoped for a couple of months to get a nice photo of the new American plane and I decide to use my Olympus E-PM2 to create a higher quality image. I also did a hand-held HDR to further add dimension. The first image is my HDR. As you know, my technique tends to be on the light side, generally opting to enhance the color and texture only somewhat. A little bit more saturation, a bit of grittiness in the details and a bit more shine off the metal. I’m rarely heavy-handed in my HDR approach.
The photograph below is one frame (the middle exposure) from my trio of photos use to create the HDR. I think it looks decent but a bit washed out. I’ve post-processed it to increase the saturation, texture and contrast but it still doesn’t match the HDR for detail and depth. The effect is subtle but look at the engine and the shadow under the plane. Also notice that the HDR has more texture and reflections off the surface of the plane.
The New American – DFW Airport, Texas (Olympus E-PM2)
The last photograph was shot with the XZ-1 point and shoot. The framing is not the same but you can tell the colors and details are a bit more muted. There is a dull feel, almost like a grayish layer over the image. It’s still nice and most people will be happy with it but there is a difference between it and the Olympus E-PM2. Not surprising given the E-PM2 has a much larger and higher quality sensor along with a high quality prime lens.
The New American – DFW Airport, Texas (Olympus XZ-1)
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The challenge of seeing something new
A wild night on 6th Street – Austin, Texas
If you follow my blog, you know that I go on a lot of photowalks. Some by myself, others with a couple of friends and once in a while, with a huge group. Many of these walks happen in Austin, my home town. The problem is, there’s not a lot of places to shoot urban landscapes in Austin.
For all the national attention Austin seems to get these days, it is a medium-sized city at best. Sure it has 1 million plus people in the 5 country area but the central core is pretty small. The good news is that the downtown is growing and the fabric and texture of the city continues to improve. Never the less, this is no New York, San Francisco or Tokyo, nor does it have the wonderful old details of even a smaller European town. The result, if you shoot urban landscapes and architecture like I do, Austin poses a big challenge.
But like most challenges, taken positively, it strengths you. It hones your skills. I believe the dearth of interesting subjects in this city allows me to dig deeper, see differently and try new things. I try to discover new shapes and angles. I’m constantly in search of unique situations that may give a new perspective to an overshot scene. I also change-up lenses or cameras that give me new capabilities.
What this means is when I get to a big city, the visual possibilities are almost overwhelming. My brain seems like it’s going to explode with the 1000s of frames that I see around me. Trained for sparse visual conditions, the mind becomes drunk with overstimulation. In a place like New York City, I think I could shoot 8 hours a day, everyday for a year and not exhaust the urban material. Perhaps, some day I will get that opportunity.
I went on yet another photowalk this past Friday. A different group of people from a week ago but in the same general area. I almost didn’t go — I’ve been to this place so many times. But I wanted to meet my friends, which is a big part of the fun of these things. I’ve been on a HDR kick lately, enjoying my new-found freedom with my new, light weight Olympus setup. I saw color. I saw reflections. I created this festive shot in Austin’s famous entertainment district, 6th street. The image for me represents the sometimes wild, party atmosphere of this place.
It’s a new angle, one that I’ve never seen before.
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Missing Flickr and losing track of friends
Silicon Laboratories Headquarters at Sunset – Austin, Texas
I started my online presence on Flickr. Things were a lot simpler, social media wise, back then. A bunch of local Austin photographs kept in-touch via this photo sharing site. I had a pretty large following and there was only one place to post my photos.
Then things changed. People started shifting more to their personal blogs, Facebook, 500px and even Google Plus. The cohesive community started to break down. I am guilty myself. Despite my best efforts, after expending energy on my blogs, I found it increasingly difficult to stay active on Flickr. I let my presence diminish and I regret that now. I’m starting to post sporadically again but my friends have either left altogether or busy looking at other people’s work.
I’m reminded of the simpler days and the confusing array of online sites today, when a Flickr friend visited from Germany. He contacted Jim as he passed through Austin. I met Jim, Kay and his wife in downtown Austin for a Flickrwalk a week ago. We did our typical tour for out-of-towners. Start at the Driskill Hotel on 6th street. Walk up Congress Avenue for a tour of the State Capitol. Down Congress to the river just in time for sunset. Finally shoot the Austin skyline during blue hour. I captured the photograph above, at sunset, just as I crossed the river. An old-fashioned HDR, for old times sake (though I shot it with my small mirrorless camera instead of a DSLR)
This get together reminded me of the best part of Flickr. An easy way to meet a world-wide, friendly group of photographers. Facebook and Google Plus aren’t the same — there is too much noise. I want a place to interface with people through photography. I don’t want to know about their religious, political and social viewpoints. I may have to go retro and go back to Flickr. I am, however, staying with my smaller mirrorless cameras. Some trends are here to stay and the move away from the DSLR is one of them.
By the way, my Flickr account is atmtx
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SXSW Japan Nite: Wacky and full of variety
Cumi from Josy, SXSW Japan Nite – Austin, Texas
One thing you can say about the Japan Nite shows, they have a lot of variety. 2013 was no exception.
You got quirky Japanese Bands like charan-po-rantan. Folk and Jazz bands like Pirates Canoe and Yamazki Chihiro+Rote 14 band. Of course, as I mentioned, you also have my favorite Kao=S which fuses traditional Japanese instruments, Rock and a Samurai Sword. I didn’t bother listening to all the bands. I shot the ones I wanted and socialized during the rest.
I brought three cameras but mostly used two. The Canon 7D with the 50mm is the same as last year but my Olympus gear got upgraded extensively from the E-PL1 with the 20mm f1.7 to the E-PM2 with the 25mm f1.4. They both worked great. I’ve talked about the equipment I used that night on two recent posts, SXSW Japan Nite: Kaori’s etherial petals and Olympus E-PM2 vs. Canon 7D, guess which won?
The only gear related point I wanted to add is about the stage lighting. In brighter and dramatic stage lighting, I would prefer to go totally ambient and not use any flash. Red, purple, blue and other multi-colored LED stage lights gave a sense of moodiness but they are not great for skin tones. And these lights weren’t bright either. Here are a series of 4 photos that show the lighting options.
Option 1: Here is Non from the band Josy again (I had her in a previous posting) with an example of what the Canon 7D with the bounce flash looks like. I used it to overpower the ambient light. It made for much better skin tones but you lost most of the feel of the club.
Non from Josy, SXSW Japan Nite (Bounce Flash with Canon 7D)
Option 2: This next photo was taken with the Olympus E-PM2 with a very weak direct flash. It added fill to her but maintained some of the color of the stage lights.
Non from Josy, SXSW Japan Nite (Weak direct flash with Olympus E-PM2)
Option 3: This photo is from the Olympus with no flash and it worked pretty good since she was up front and closer to the stage lights. Most other non-flash shots were very dim. In most cases, uninteresting and dull.
Non from Josy, SXSW Japan Nite (Olympus E-PM2 with no flash)
Option 4: Finally, another non-flash shot but with a slower shutter that added some nice motion blur. These types of shots are very hit or miss but I like the way this came out.
Non from Josy, SXSW Japan Nite (Olympus E-PM2 no flash, slower shutter)
My most wacky band award goes to charan-po-rantan. Imagine Polka like Japanese accordion music with eclectic and colorful costumes.
charan-po-rantan, SXSW Japan Nite – Austin, Texas
Like last year, Japan Nite was held at the Elysium on Red River just north of 6th Street. It is a dark cave like place with lots of black. You get the feel of the place with this photo of Pirates Canoe taken from mid-crowd.
Pirates Canoe, SXSW Japan Nite – Austin, Texas
Yamazki Chihiro+Rote 14 band, SXSW Japan Nite – Austin, Texas
Chihiro was fantastic on trumpet in the jazzy Yamazki Chihiro+Rote 14 band. And finally, more photos of my favorite Kao=S. This year, they add a Shakuhachi (Traditional Japanese Flute) player which adds a nice dimension to their music. Combined with the Shamisen (Traditional Japanese Stringed Instrument) and western guitar, there is a nice East – West mix. Of course, Kaori look great in her Kimono and dramatic performances.
Daisuke plays Shakuhachi in Kao=S, SXSW Japan Nite – Austin, Texas
Jack plays Shamisen in Kao=S, SXSW Japan Nite – Austin, Texas
Shuji plays Guitar in Kao=S, SXSW Japan Nite – Austin, Texas
Kaori performs and sings in Kao=S, SXSW Japan Nite – Austin, Texas
Finally, I didn’t use it much but I had my E-P3 with my 14mm f2.5 and wide-angle adapter. This older camera and slower lens does not quite match the 25mmf1.4 on the E-PM2 but made a couple of decent back and whites, especially paired with a flash.
Shuji, Daisuke and Jack jam in Kao=S, SXSW Japan Nite
Shuji, Daisuke and Jack jam in Kao=S, SXSW Japan Nite
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Olympus E-PM2 vs. Canon 7D, guess which won?
Non from Josy, SXSW Japan Nite – Austin, Texas (with the Canon 7D)
Non from Josy, SXSW Japan Nite – Austin, Texas (with the Olympus E-PM2)
You might think it’s a bit odd to compare a small, entry-level mirrorless interchangeable lens camera like the Olympus E-PM2 with the Prosumer Canon 7D. You would expect the 7D to outclass the Olympus in every way. An unfair comparison, most people would say. But, I was very surprised with the results. Shocked actually.
Before I get into the results, a little background. I attended SXSW Japan Nite again this year. I brought along my Canon 7D with the 50mm f1.4 lens, like last year, and I also brought my newest Olympus mirroress, the E-PM2 with the Panasonic Leica 25mm f1.4 lens. The two cameras actually make a decent combo. The 50mm on the Canon is equivalent to the 80mm when accounting for the 1.6x crop factor while the Olympus 25mm is a 50mm with the 2x crop. Both are f1.4 lenses which I wanted for these darker, indoor music venues. I also had external flashes attached to both cameras.
This is the first time I used both of these cameras together. A nice opportunity to compare them in a challenging, real-world setting. I shot both typically at ISO 800 and sometimes at ISO 1600 in Manual exposure. With the Canon, the bounce flash became the primary light source. Aperture set to f2.5 to with a shutter speed of 1/250s. With the Olympus, I balanced the ambient, colored stage lights with a touch of fill from the small FL-300R flash. Shutter set to 1/160 and aperture set to f1.4.
The difference in look between the cameras is due to the way I use the flash. If I did a bounce flash with the Olympus, you will get the nice skin tones but lose of the feel of the ambient stage lights. The tiny FL-300R flash is much too underpowered to do a bounce so I opted to do a very weak direct flash.
Here is what I found.
Kaori Gestures, SXSW Japan Nite – Austin, Texas (with the Canon 7D)
Kaori Gestures, SXSW Japan Nite – Austin, Texas (with the Olympus E-PM2)
Ergonomics
The E-PM2 is much lighter and easier to handle. Its main advantage — since I can used the back LCD screen like in a point and shoot — I was able to hold the camera high above my head and frame shots with no difficulty. This gave me a point of view closer to the level of the on stage performers. With the Canon, all my framing needed to be done via the optical view finder, creating more restricted compositions. The 7D live view is primitive and unusable for anything with motion.
The Lenses
Though both are f1.4 lenses, I didn’t use the Canon wide open. The Canon 50mm f1.4 is not very sharp wide-open. It also has an extremely shallow DOF. In order to make it easier to focus on the eyes and get sharper results, I shot at f2.5 instead. The Panasonic Leica f1.4 on the Olympus is one of my best lenses and I have no problems shooting wide open at f1.4. Also because the Olympus sensor is smaller, I get more DOF and thus had no problems getting the entire performer’s face in focus.
Focus Speed
Surprisingly, for relatively steady subjects, the E-PM2 actually seemed faster to focus than the 7D. This is perhaps affected by light levels but at this club, I noticed the 7D hesitated more. For fast action, like Karoi’s samurai sword performance, I preferred the 7D.
Focus Accuracy
I consistently got better and sharper focus with the E-PM2. While the E-PM2 may miss focus once in a while, the 7D had more misses. Perhaps because of the softness of the 50mm even at f2.5, I generally didn’t get many tack sharp photos. The contrast detect focusing and the ability to place the focus point at nearly any place on the screen let me nail the focus on the Olympus. I was a bit surprised by this.
Image Quality
At ISO 800 and 1600 image quality from both cameras were in the same ballpark. The fine noise pattern at 100% differs between the two but the details and level of noise were similar. If pushed, I think the Olympus has slightly less noise.
Raw Image Latitude
This was the biggest surprise in this comparison. When I post processed the RAWs and pushed the processing, the Canon files started to fall apart faster than the Olympus. When I lightened the shadows and added some sharpening, I noticed tiny white pixel-sized specs on the Canon photos at 100%. They showed up ISO 800 and got noticeably worse at ISO 1600. Luckily, these processing artifacts do not show at regular screen resolutions on a 27″ monitor, only when I pixel-peep at 100%. My Olympus photos were generally darker since I used primary ambient light with a touch of fill, I needed to brighten the photos a lot more. Even so, I noticed very little of these types of artifacts with the Olympus RAW file. Photos from both cameras were processed using Apple’s Aperture 3 software with Apple’s RAW converter for each camera.
Conclusion
I created nice looking photos with both cameras. And certainly the lens is important to the overall quality and capability of the cameras. But when you consider what the newest generation of Olympus Pens can do, it’s a real eye opener. Even though the E-PM2 is the entry-level model, it shares the same processor and processing engine as the flagship OMD E-M5. So this little camera is deceptively powerful.
As for the Canon, the 7D is now a 4-year-old camera. Perhaps it’s beginning to show its age, especially in the RAW processing and high ISO image quality. For Canon, the problem is their newer APS-C DSLRs are not much better than the 7D. Also, the 7D is still in the Canon lineup with no replacement. And what about the focusing speed and accuracy. Isn’t that what DSLRs are known for?
Even though the camera tech improves rapidly, I was surprised by the results. At Japan Nite, as the performances continued, I used the Canon less. I tucked it in my bag and had fun shooting with the small camera. I enjoyed the ergonomics but more importantly I was confident that I was getting great pictures.
UPDATE: As my friend Steven correctly points out that even at f1.4, the micro 4/3 format is not going to give you the extremely shallow DOF that the 7D or especially a full frame (35mm) camera will give you. The bigger the sensor (or film) the shallower DOF field that is possible at any given aperture or focal length.
Shallow DOF can be an advantage or disadvantage depending on what you are photographing and what you want to achieve. In this case, having a shallower DOF will have the advantage of blurring out any distracting background elements and focusing more attention on the subject.
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SXSW Japan Nite: Kaori’s etherial petals
Kaori’s Etherial Petals, Kao=S at 2013 Japan Nite – Austin, Texas
It’s not often that I have a favorite photograph from a photography session or an event. Typically, I may have a dozen or so selects. Luckily, I was able to attend the 2013 SXSW Japan Nite last Friday and this photograph is my favorite. I shot about 800 photos and narrowed my choices down to about 100. This particular image still bubbles to the top. Of course, it’s from my favorite group, Kao=S. While Kaori, the lead performer, is known for some dynamic and aggressive samurai sword performances, this scene with the cherry blossom petals is quite the opposite.
I wish I can say that I can nail this kind of photo all the time but I do admit there is a certain amount of luck and good timing to these things. I didn’t know she was going to blow the petals and I just happen to be there to catch it and with a good expression. I think the color and light works well and the wispy, motion blurred petals have an etherial quality.
While good timing is key, having the right camera settings also help. Here’s how I got the shot. I used my Olympus E-PM2 with the Panasonic Leica 25mm f1.4 lens. The real star, equipment wise, was the little Olympus FL-300R flash. It’s a really compact flash that runs on two AAA batteries and is properly scaled to the small Olympus Pen bodies. I dialed in a really light -2 1/3 flash exposure compensation. This allowed me to add just a touch of fill on the subject while preserving much of the colorful stage lighting. I used ISO 800 and at f1.4 which gave me 1/160 second shutter.
Like last year, I also used my Canon 7D with the 50mm f1.4 lens but the Olympus Pen really hit its stride this year. I use the older Olympus E-PL1 and the 20mm f1.7 lens last year, with no flash. The images were usable but nothing special. This year’s Pen setup was dramatically better and in some ways bested the results from the 7D. Quite surprising, actually. I’ll talk about how the two cameras compared at Japan Nite, in an upcoming post. Please stay tuned.
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SXSW Photowalk: A black and white exploration
Trey Ratcliff addresses the Crowd, SXSW Photowalk – Austin, Texas
I wanted to do something a bit different for this post. I’m using all black and white photographs. While I certainly love color, usually the more color the better, I have an appreciation for black and white. In fact, recently, I’ve done more black and white conversions. I took these photos on the SXSW Photowalk from this past Monday. I’ve posted my favorite color photograph from the event, earlier this week. But for today, we are going strictly monochrome.
We started the photowalk on the steps of Austin City Hall. There were 200+ participants and I was one of a dozen “coaches” who helped people with questions about photography. I brought two cameras with me, the Olympus E-PM2 with the 14mm lens and the wide-angle adapter. The other camera was my Olympus E-P3 with the 25mm f1.4. My smaller E-PM2 was attached most of the time to a light weight tripod for doing long exposures and HDRs. The other camera was perfect for street photography. Most people used traditional DSLRs but many looked at my gear with curiosity. Some even commented that they wanted to downscale, weight-wise to a mirrorless camera.
The SXSW Photowalk Crowd – Austin, Texas
Trey Shoots Nicole, SXSW Photowalk – Austin, Texas
How do I decide when to go black and white? This will probably make purists cringe but the short answer is I use black and white when I think it looks better. Subjective certainly, but as I gain more experience, I’m beginning to get a better idea of when to axe the color. Here are some of my simple rules.
1. I often use black and white to emphasize shapes and texture. This works great for architecture and cityscapes, especially if the color pallet is simple.
2. Sometimes, a black and white can add more mystery and moodiness to an image, especially when there are a lot of dark areas.
Hidden Blackberry, SXSW Photowalk – Austin, Texas
3. Black and white can also be used to simplify the image especially when similar colors blend into a similar shades of gray. If you have distracting color in the background, getting rid of the color can also simplify. There are at times when black and white can work in reverse and make at image too busy. If you have too much non-repeating texture from trees and bushes for example, it can overwhelm your composition. Make sure your subject is not overshadowed by the increase in texture.
4. When you can’t get those nice blue skies because it is overexposed, turning the image to black and white may better harmonize with the subject. The lack of a blue sky is no longer a negative, it just becomes a non-issue.
5. If the color in the photograph is blah and boring, I find a B&W conversion is worth a try. With black and white, I can usually increase the contrast more than in color. In boring, uninspired light, the stronger contrast can bring out interesting details and add more dynamism.
The Astronaut Among Us, SXSW Photowalk – Austin, Texas
6. I’ve also converted to black and white when the color cast of a photograph is particularly nasty. People’s skin color is especially important and in mixed lighting conditions or indoor lights with poor, limited spectrum lighting, getting rid of the color can be an easy way to make a better picture of people.
7. I’ve converted to B&W when I want that “traditional” street photography look or when I try to emulate a particular old-time style. This is perhaps just a gimmick but I do admit to doing this.
8. Finally, you can convert to black and white, just because. You are the photographer and you can do what you want when in pursuit of your art.
The Corner of 6th and Congress – Austin, Texas
The first 5 photographs are a straight forward black and white conversions using Apple’s Aperture 3 software. The last three photographs are black and white HDRs. I created a HDR out of 3 exposures and then converted the resulting image into a black and white. I think the increase in texture and dynamic range adds to a level of detail that changes the feel of the image. To my eyes, it simply looks different from a typical digital photograph. The last 3 photographs were also taken on 6th street which is normally packed with cars. The street was pedestrian only during SXSW so I had a unique opportunity to shoot the street life without the interference of parked cars or worry about getting run over.
Roppolo’s and Ritz, 6th Street – Austin, Texas
Bars of 6th Street – Austin, Texas
Museum of the Weird, 6th Street – Austin, Texas
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SXSW Photowalk: 6th and Congress sparkles
6th and Congress Sparkles – Austin, Texas
A mass of 200 – 250 people stormed through Austin last night with cameras in hand. We organized at City Hall and took a zig zag pattern though downtown. Yes, I attended the SXSW Photowalk organized by Trey Ratcliff, yesterday. As the group moved, we spread out into smaller clumps, occasionally regrouping as we travelled through the colorful entertainment districts. Why so many photographers? Was there a celebrity nearby? People were either confused or accepted that maybe this was just another wacky SXSW stunt.
I reached the corner of 6th and Congress Avenue at the peak of blue hour. I popped open my lightweight tripod topped with the Olympus E-PM2 and the 14m with wide-angle adapter. My camera was pre-set perfectly for HDRs, set to manual focus, ISO 200 and a deep aperture. I shot several brackets, this one, my favorite.
The streets were busy, the trees sparked and the Frost Tower shined. The mid-60′s temperatures tricked visitors into thinking that Austin is perfect — just wait until summer. But for now SXSW is in full swing. Interactive winds down as the music spins up. 4 days gone, 6 more to go.
More photos to come…
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Seeing beyond the church at Mission San Jose
Tree with Character #1, Mission San Jose – San Antonio, Texas
Mission San Jose is one of the 5 missions that are located in San Antonio, Texas. They were founded by the Spanish Missionaries in the late 18th century. While the Alamo is the most famous of the missions, Mission San Jose is known as the “Queen of the Missions” and is the most impressive.
I went there last week on a 4th grade class trip. While I did photograph the famous church itself, I was drawn to the bare trees that stood by the old mission walls. I love the structure of these “trees with character” and its contrast to the highly textured stone walls. I’m back on a HDR kick of sorts and I took my tripod and my Olympus E-PM2 to create these images.
I’ve been doing more HDRs recently for several reasons. First, it allows me to be deliberate, encouraging me to more precisely frame a photograph. Using a tripod, setting it up and waiting to take 3 exposures takes a bit more work than my recent free-form style. It’s not quite as exacting and precious as film but it does get me to slow down. Also, the look of HDRs is different with its simulated dynamic range and increased detail. I get a richness and color that a regular exposure does not produce. Finally, with my newest Olympus E-PM2, I now have a truly light weight setup that creates photos with, a no compromise, HDR quality. No need to lug my Canon 7D and bigger tripod with me.
Tree with Character #2, Mission San Jose – San Antonio, Texas
This is my third time at this mission. On the first two occasions, I made the obvious photos. Multiple angles of the church exterior. The requisite shot down the middle aisle towards the altar. Sure, I shot those again, just in case. But I feel most proud of these alternate shots. The less obvious ones that perhaps not everyone would see. As I train my eye and improve as a photographer, I’m trying to create the less common photographs. Not totally unique, maybe, but something that breaks the “me too” mold. Not an easy task given that there are some many good photographers taking more photographs than ever.
Note: The last photograph is a black and white HDR. They don’t have to be in color and the HDR processing brings out more texture and detail. I didn’t like the color in this photo and the ground was much too cluttered and distracting. I found that the black and white conversion created a more compelling image.
Tree with Character #3, Mission San Jose – San Antonio, Texas
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How technology has shifted from 4 years ago
Adobe House, Institute of Texan Cultures – San Antonio, Texas
I took the day off on Friday to go on a school field trip to San Antonio with my younger son. It’s an annual event for 4th graders and I went on the same trip with my older son 4 years ago. They went to the same two locations, the Mission San Jose and a museum called the Institute of Texan Cultures. I thought it would be interesting to compare the two trips, photographically, and primary from a technology point of view.
First, I noticed a big change in the type of cameras the parents used. It’s no secret that point and shoots are diminishing in popularity. Most every parent I saw shot with iPhones. The kids used iPods and inexpensive digital cameras, perhaps the hand-me-downs that the parents no longer use. I also saw only one DSLR on the entire trip. Four years ago there were many parents that used DSLRs and smaller dedicated cameras. Not a statistically significant sample but interesting none the less. A couple of parents even said that they had DSLRs but they were too heavy to bring on the trip.
You know that I have shifted away from DSLRs. A bit crazy and unwieldy but I brought 3 cameras with me. The Olympus E-P3 with the 25mm f1.4, the E-PM2 with the 14mm f2.5 and the Olympus XZ-1 point and shoot. My rational? I was going to do two distinctly different types of photography on the trip. I wanted to shoot casual, mostly candid pictures of the kids to share with rest of the class. I also wanted to shoot HDR urban landscapes on tripod. You can see a subtle HDR that I shot during the trip at an old Adobe house. I used the XZ-1 for the casual snaps, mainly outdoors. I used the E-P3 with the f1.4 lens indoors so that I didn’t have to use flash. The E-PM2 was attached to a tripod and acted as my “serious” landscape camera.
I just looked at my archives and discovered that I brought two DSLRs with me on this trip, four years ago. I used a Canon 20D with a 18-55mm kit lens and a Canon Rebel XT with a 70-210mm. Outdoors, I also used an external speedlite to tame the harsh sun. Indoors, I cranked the ISO up to 1600. Back then, I had no need for a tripod, I just shot people and didn’t do any urban landscapes. Today, even with three cameras and a tripod, I’m pretty sure my gear weighs less than it did back then.
I was surprised to see the XZ-1 point and shoot held its own, in daylight, compared to the DSLRs 4 years ago. The XZ-1 has a slight edge in resolution, 10MP vs the 8MP DSLRs. The DSLRs have a shallower DOF and more dynamic range, however I used a flash on both cameras outdoors and the resulting images were very similar. Using flash outdoors tends to soften harsh shadows and reduces the need for wide dynamic range. Of course I used fairly basic lenses on my DSLRs back then so I’m sure nicer glass would have tipped the quality balance towards the DSLRs. Back then I only shot JPEG, while now I use RAW. The RAW has the benefit of grabbing more detail and dynamic range in favor of the XZ-1.
Indoors, the DSLRs will run rings around the XZ-1, of course. But the Olympus E-P3 with the f1.4 lens holds its own and surpasses the Canon 20D and XT. Noise wise, the E-P3 has similar performance to these 2005 vintage DSLRs. The Panasonic Leica 25mm f1.4 lens however is clearly superior to the Canon kit lens. Ironically, I was getting shallower DOF with the Olympus and the 25mm, then with my Canon DSLR with the kit lens. The image quality of my newest Pen, the Olympus E-PM2 is even better than these DSLRs.
It appears that my candid and posed compositions of the kids were no worse and possibly better than it was 4 years ago. This is noteworthy since I rarely shoot these kinds of photos anymore. Back then, it was all that I did. Nowadays, I do a lot more city and urban photography. There are also changes in the way I shoot and post-process photographs. These days, I tend to expose darker and my photographs are a lot more colorful. The JPEGs that I shot back then were minimally processed and had dull appearance. Ironically, even though I now shoot exclusively in RAW, my colors are a lot more rich and vibrant. I attribute this mainly to my post processing that has evolved over the last several years.
Finally, I guess after years of practice, I now have the ability to shoot different kinds of photographs on the same outing. While I concentrated exclusively on candid, event type photography 4 years ago, I’ve added tripod based landscapes with HDR to my repertoire. It certainly keeps me busy and perhaps a bit goofy juggling multiple cameras, but it seems to work for me. I have little downtime and no dust, since I don’t have to change lenses. Since the cameras are so light and small, I’m not bogged down with a huge load of gear like a pack mule. I’m curious to see what I will be shooting with, 4 years from now.
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2013 Chinese New Year Celebration in Austin
Girl with Parasol, 2013 Chinese New Year Celebration – Austin, Texas
The Chinatown Center in North Austin had their annual Chinese New Year celebration yesterday. I wanted to do something different from last year, photographically, not creating the same type of photojournalistic pictures. I took a different set of cameras and lenses and forced myself to see details instead. It’s easy to take snapshots of the event but I struggled to make more artistic images. There are so many distractions, people, poles, and fences what take away from the photograph. My tactic, get closer or zoom in to reduce clutter. I don’t think I was entirely successful but it forced me to see things differently.
Red Flags, 2013 Chinese New Year Celebration – Austin, Texas
Lion Closeup, 2013 Chinese New Year Celebration – Austin, Texas
Neon Characters, 2013 Chinese New Year Celebration – Austin, Texas
Color Clash, 2013 Chinese New Year Celebration – Austin, Texas
I took 3 compact cameras with me, leaving at home the Canon 7D that I used last year. I brought my Olympus E-P3 with the 25mm f1.4, the Olympus XZ-1 point and shoot and the 40-150mm zoom on the Olympus E-PM2. I mentioned on a recent post that the Olympus 40-150mm lens was on sale for $100 but I didn’t use the lens very often. I decided to give it a try yesterday, taking advantage of the 80mm to 300mm equivalent zoom, to get close. The lens performed a lot better than expected. And since I’m not typically a telephoto guy, it taxed my brain to create different kind of compositions. I ended up using this lens the most.
Shades of Red, 2013 Chinese New Year Celebration – Austin, Texas
Lantern Dance, 2013 Chinese New Year Celebration – Austin, Texas
Dancing with Parasols, 2013 Chinese New Year Celebration – Austin, Texas
Alternating Colors, 2013 Chinese New Year Celebration – Austin, Texas
The XZ-1 worked well enough but I used it the least. There are several reasons for this. Switching between two cameras isn’t too bad but things get rather confusing for me when I added a third. The XZ-1 focuses moderately fast but both Olympus Pen cameras are faster so I tended to use them for action. With up to 300mm of zoom, I got more range than the maximum 112mm on the XZ-1. Finally, I noticed that the XZ-1′s LCD was not quite as bright as the Pens so shooting in bright sunlight was less ideal. So while to the XZ-1 might make a handy all around, one camera solution, given the choice, I still rather use my Pens.
Lion’s Eye, 2013 Chinese New Year Celebration – Austin, Texas
Lion’s Fur, 2013 Chinese New Year Celebration – Austin, Texas
Of course the highlight of the celebration was the Lion Dance and the firecrackers. With all the smoke and commotion, I found capturing images were a bit hit or miss. The 40-150mm lens did allow me to step back just a little to get out-of-the-way of the exploding firecrackers. I’m not sure I totally succeeded in my photographic goals but the big surprise was the performance of my infrequently used long zoom. The image quality of course does not match my Panasonic Leica 25mm f1.4, but it’s surprisingly good. The lens is not very big or heavy considering is long telephoto range. Perhaps I need to take it out some more and play with its capabilities.
Lion Dance #1, 2013 Chinese New Year Celebration – Austin, Texas
Lion Dance #2, 2013 Chinese New Year Celebration – Austin, Texas
Lion Dance #3, 2013 Chinese New Year Celebration – Austin, Texas
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A view from the Hotel Valencia
A view from the Hotel Valencia – San Jose, California
Sometimes everything falls into place — the sum of the parts being greater than the whole. This photograph, that I shot last week in San Jose, is an example. One that the Santana Row Tripod Police could not stop. I shot it off the 5th floor balcony of the Hotel Valencia, where I stayed.
I shoot enough HDRs that, usually, I have a good idea how they would turn out. I was pleasantly surprised by this one though. The orange color you see on the horizon is not the sunset. The sky was already quite dark but the long exposure brought out the details. I increased the saturation and tweaked the color temperature and got this wonderful deep blue with the orange, which I suspect is created by the glow of the city’s lights.
As usual, I shot 3 exposures two stops apart. The new Olympus E-PM2 now conveniently has a HDR bracket which helps you take the photographs. It does not, however, create the HDRs in camera — you still have to post process them on the computer. I used Photomatix Pro to create the HDR, did some manual layer blending and did the final adjustments using Apple’s Aperture 3.
More than any of my other photographs, this one gives the feeling of Santana Row. The place really does do a nice job to simulate a city, even though it really is a shopping mall. Austin has “The Domain” which is a similar kind of development. I hope someday, will fill out as nicely as this one.
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I’m a Professional because I use a tripod
Sino Reflection, Santana Row – San Jose, California
I took these photographs last week in San Jose, California at a place called Santana Row, an upscale, city like development. The detailing there was terrific and I decided to use a tripod to take my usual night-time urban landscapes. Just as I setup my tripod, a security guard came over and dashed my plans.
“I’m sorry you can’t take photographs here”, she said nicely but with some hesitation. I was a bit confused because I’ve shot there many times without interference. Then I realized that she was taking issue with the tripod. Yes, “You have to get permission first” before taking professional photographs. I smiled and played dumb and said, a professional, with this camera?, as I pointed to my Olympus E-PM2. For the uninitiated, the E-PM2 is a small camera barely larger than a point and shoot.
This kind of incident is actually fairly common for tripod photographers. Police and Security are trained, for ease of identification, that people who use tripods are professional photographs and must be dealt with in a different manner. They usually give bogus reasons such as “protecting privacy” to restrict tripod use which, of course, is equally an issue with photographs shot freehand.
Vintage Wine Bar, Santana Row – San Jose, California
I didn’t make a fuss in this case. You see Santana Row, despite looking city like is, most likely, private property. It is basically a shopping mall development wrapped in a faux-city fabric. Kind of ironic since, in many ways, Santana Row looks more urban than the real downtown San Jose. On private property, the owners can impose photography restrictions. Undeterred however, I complied with the no tripod request but still took my long exposures by placing my camera on tables and railings. I was a bit restricted on the compositions that I could create but I still managed to take the type of photographs that I wanted.
Pinkberry, Santana Row – San Jose, California
Unlike my previous outings where I shot free hand, I wanted to do some HDRs this time, which require multiple images precisely aligned. A tripod is usually best for alignment but as you can see, there are ways around this. The general aversion towards tripods is a source of frustration for photographs and especially people who like to shoot HDRs. It is one thing for private property owners to restrict use but It is more distressing when public cities also limit tripods. I’ve heard cities such as Washington DC and New York are not very tripod friendly.
What’s been your experience? Have you been asked not to use tripods? Share your thoughts below.
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Colonial Williamsburg: The U.S. history theme park
Governor’s Palace, Colonial Williamsburg – Williamsburg, Virginia
Colonial Williamsburg was a puzzle to me. I’ve heard about the place but never went there, even though I lived on the East Coast. I heard conflicting reports that it was a made up place while some claimed it was a real town. So when I had the chance, I decided to start our winter vacation there. And even after looking at their website and brochures, I still didn’t understand Williamsburg until I actually got there and started exploring.
Colonial Williamsburg is sort of like a theme park for American history. Buildings have been moved and rebuilt to simulate life in the American colonies around the time of the American revolution. But it is also the real deal — the town really did exist from way back. The Governor’s Mansion and Capitol, the centerpieces of Williamsburg, were rebuilt on their original foundations as close as possible to the original specifications. The Courthouse and The Magazine, where they kept the arms, are original structures.
Virginia Colonial Capitol – Williamsburg, Virginia
While there are actors in costume, in fairness to Colonial Williamsburg, this is no ordinary theme park — there are no cute mascots and amusement rides. It’s more of a living museum to American History. Also, unlike a typical amusement park, you can get in and walk around in the town without a ticket. Paying the entrance fee entitles the visitor to tours of the trophy buildings and seeing the demonstrations of the craftsman, such as the blacksmith and wig makers. There are no blatant food stands but there are restaurants in recreated Taverns that line Duke Of Gloucester, the main street.
In Costume, Governor’s Palace – Williamsburg, Virginia
In Costume, Virginia Capitol – Williamsburg, Virginia
Next to Colonial Williamsburg, there are the Market Square Shops, a shopping area done in the Neo-Colonial style. And beyond that, lies the College of William and Mary. Colonial Williamsburg buses, that allow ticket holders to get on and off at several places, make it easy to get around. The main Visitor’s Center complex is where you can buy the tickets. It also has additional shops, restaurants and is the logical place to get started. Everything is done in a classy way and I have come to realize the price of admission is well worth it.
Merchant Square Shops – Williamsburg, Virginia
Colonial Williamsburg Bus – Williamsburg, Virginia
We spent 2 relaxed days there but there is more than enough to fill 3 days. There are resort style hotels right next to the historic buildings but we opted to stay in a more conventional hotel several miles away. The greater City of Williamsburg is like any small city with the usual sprawl. Drive down Richmond Road and you can find a large selection of standard, new restaurants with modern 21st century food.
The DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art museums, both under the same roof, are surprisingly good. The museums are included as part of the general admission ticket. Entrance to the museum was a bit confusing — you can enter the primarily underground complex through the Public Hospital of 1773. Since we were during the winter vacation, there was a magnificent Christmas Tree in the restaurant area.
Christmas Tree, Rockefeller Folk Art Museum – Williamsburg, Virginia
Big Cat, Rockefeller Folk Art Museum – Williamsburg, Virginia
Exhibits, Rockefeller Folk Art Museum – Williamsburg, Virginia
Colonial Williamsburg is a must for history buffs especially if you are into early American History (the Historic Jamestown settlement is also fairly close). I think the 13-year-old was old enough and knew enough history to appreciate the place. For my 9-year-old, it was more of a stretch. He liked the optional Tavern Ghost Tour we took at night and he was mesmerized by the blacksmith’s handicraft. There are activities geared towards kids that we didn’t strictly follow. Perhaps if we did, our younger son would have like it even more. The Fife and Drum parade down Duke of Gloucester, while not exactly the Disney Electric Parade, did add a nice closure to our stay.
Blacksmith, Colonial Williamsburg – Williamsburg, Virginia
Fife and Drum Parade, Colonial Williamsburg – Williamsburg, Virginia
Of course for me, any new place is a chance for photography. I enjoyed Williamsburg and its history but I like the architecture the most. It’s not the big city and there are no shiny lights but finding texture and compositions entertained and challenged me. If anything, I would like to spend more time shooting photographs deliberately but the family schedule didn’t allow for that. My small bag carried two cameras with lenses attached. My new Olympus E-PM2 with the 14mm f2.5 and the Olympus E-P3 with the Panasonic Leica 25mm f1.4. That’s it. I also had a Panasonic wide-angle adapter that I can attach to the 14mm but I had no other lenses. This kept the photography gear to a minimum and let me enjoy the experience without being weighed down.
The Carriage and Courthouse – Williamsburg, Virginia
The Magazine, Colonial Williamsburg – Williamsburg, Virginia
Historic Jail Cells – Williamsburg, Virginia
Reflection on Duke of Gloucester Street – Williamsburg, Virginia
Sunset at the Capitol – Williamsburg, Virginia
My wife, who doesn’t know much American History, also enjoyed Colonial Williamsburg. We vowed that sometime in the future, perhaps when we are retired, we will return to this place. We can take our time and savor the details especially since we won’t have young kids in tow. Sounds good to me since I’m always up for more photography. I wonder what kind of camera I’ll be using in the distant future.
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The Olympus E-PM2 and the 4 city East Coast tour
Staircase, Peyton Randolph House – Williamsburg, Virginia
Happy New Year!
I hope y’all had a wonderful holiday season. I got back from my big East Coast trip several days ago. I needed a few days to recuperate from my vacation, which sounds strange but I’m sure you know what I mean. After a whirlwind 4 city, 6 state tour with my family, I needed some time to unwind. I’m happy to report that everything went off without a hitch after an initial worry due to a flight delay in Austin. We made our connection in DFW with 10 minutes to spare and a bit of good luck since our next plane to Richmond was delayed a few minutes too.
Arches, Library of Congress – Washington DC
So where did we go? The photographs on this post reveal the answer — they are from our 4 major destinations. After we landed in Richmond, Virginia it was a quick one hour drive to Williamsburg. We stayed there two nights. Despite living on the East Coast for a while, I never visited that place before. I was quite familiar with the 3 other places. We stayed in Washington DC for 4 nights, Philadelphia for 2 nights and New York City for 4 nights.
Bourse Interior – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
First and foremost, this was a family trip so I made sure we did family fun activities but I did manage to take a bunch of photographs, both for my blogs as well as family snapshots. In fact, I got my latest camera, the Olympus E-PM2 with this trip in mind. After 4000+ photographs with the E-PM2, I know the ins and out of this camera quite well. For the most part, it worked well. There were, however, a few things that didn’t work as well as expected. I will do a full E-PM2 review soon.
Skinny Dinosaur, Museum of Natural History – New York, New York
Over the next few weeks and months, I’m sure I’ll post a bunch of photos from this trip. There is a lot of architecture and urban landscapes, of course, as well as some street photography in New York. If this was a pure photography oriented trip, I could have easily shot for 2 weeks or more at each place. Instead, I squeezed in shots as we travelled between museums, activities and the 4 cities.
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Happy Holidays, See you next year
Holiday Bokeh, 37th Street – Austin, Texas
I took this photograph on 37th street near the University of Texas campus. It was during the Drink and Click photowalk that I talked about last week. The theme and contest challenge during the photowalk was “Bokeh”. This photo was going to be my entry — except I got a bit lazy and ran out of time so I’m posting it here.
Bokeh is a word frequently used by photographers, usually mispronounced and the meaning if often misunderstood. First of all, it is pronounced like Bo, sorta like Bo Jackson or Bo Derek, if you prefer. The second part is pronounced like Ke in the name Ken. It’s not Boka or Bokee. This Japanese world, in the context of photography means, the quality of the out of focus area. How good do the circle of lights look? Is the background harsh or smooth? It has nothing to do with depth of field (DOF) where some people call a photograph with a shallow DOF as having good bokeh.
I’m not a bokeh expert per say but from what I know this lens have very nice bokeh. I used the Panasonic Leica 25mm f1.4 (which is a 50mm equivalent on a 35mm) on my Olympus E-PM2. Notice that the out of focus lights are nearly, perfectly circular with a consistent fill. You don’t see a doughnut effect. There is also a smoothness to the light.
You may be interested to know that the worked bokeh, which should be properly spelled boke, is used frequently in Japan but not necessarily in the photographic context. It is used to mean fuzziness or forgetfulness. If one forgets something, they may say they are starting to Boke. Also if you say Boke Boke, that is a code word for senility or Alzheimer’s.
On that note, I like to wish my readers a very Happy Holiday. Thank you for coming back time and time again to read my blog — it means a lot. I have some ideas of where I’m taking this thing next year — some of which you are starting to see. I’m going on a family vacation to the East Coast so I probably won’t be posting here until next year. I will be posting photographs to mostlyfotos, my one photo per day site. Perhaps I may even post some photos from the road so that you can see where I’m visiting.
Have a Happy New Year!
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The Driskill Bar, a cozy, holiday filled corner
Cozy and Festive Corner, Driskill Bar – Austin, Texas
As I mentioned in my post several days ago, I been shooting the main Driskill Hotel Christmas tree for four years now. But this year, I shot another one, tucked back in the corner on the other side of the hotel. It’s in the Driskill Bar right near the 7th street entrance.
The place was quite dark and I had some doubts if this would come out. I used my Olympus E-PM2 with the 14mm lens on a table top tripod and put it on a cushy ottoman. I shot three photographs at 2 stops apart and use the HDR bracket option that is new to the E-PM2 — this isn’t available on the E-P3. Just to be clear, the HDR bracket feature just takes the photographs, it does not do any in-camera HDR processing.
I used my standard, subtle HDR processing technique to get it just right. I wanted the Christmas tree lights be bright and festive but still wanted to keep the moody, wood-paneled bar feeling. I’m happy with the way it came out.
I hope everyone has a great Holiday Season. I’m shutting things down here and packing up for a family vacation to the East Coast. I may have one more post coming before I go for the rest of the year.
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2012 Driskill Hotel Christmas Tree
2012 Driskill Christmas Tree – Austin, Texas
It’s become a mini-photo tradition for me to photograph the Driskill Hotel Christmas Tree — this is the fourth year. I’ve posted images of the tree from 2009 and 2010 and part of a three tree set last year. I went downtown a couple of nights ago with my friend Mike to capture this year’s tree.
While the position of the Christmas Tree remains constant, every year the shape of the tree and the decorations vary. I’ve also used different cameras and techniques over the years. In 2009, during the beginning of my HDR phase, I shot the tree as a 3 image blend with my Canon 20D with a 29mm equivalent. The 2010 and 2011 trees were simply shot with the Sony NEX-5 with 24mm equivalent lens, down low with a table top tripod. This year, I used the Olympus E-PM2 with a 22mm equivalent lens (the Panasonic 14mm f2.5 with a wide-angle adapter) with the same table top tripod.
I decided to go back to a lightly-processed HDR technique this year and blended 3 photos. It enabled me to capture the detail in the stained glass and keep the rest of the exposure bright. I also altered the white balance to more of a warm red just to change my artistic interpretation. I’ll post more Christmas decorations from the Driskill, Austin’s grandest old hotel, over the weekend.
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Attending Drink and Click, a festive photowalk
Aigerim at Spider House – Austin, Texas
Last week, I attended my first Drink and Click, a new social photography group started in Austin, Texas. I’ve meant to go for a while but my schedule just didn’t work out. Juan Gonzalez, who started the group, has done a heck of job and many chapters have opened around the world. He is a friendly guy and I had good time talking to him. Juan along with Lotus Carol run the group, both very popular photographers on Google Plus.
I’ve gone on many photowalks but this one has a slightly different dynamic. While other photowalks tend to be very photography oriented with a bit of social tacked on, Drink and Click seems like equal parts photography and socializing. Like a group of people out to have fun that just happen to take pictures. But don’t let all the socializing fool you, there were some outstanding photographers. It’s just that they don’t take themselves too seriously. I’m going again because I found it refreshing.
Beer, Tattoo, Spider House – Austin, Texas
Hotel Reno, Spider House – Austin, Texas
We started at 37th and Guadalupe, an old neighborhood with eclectic holiday lighting. We then headed over to Spider house a few blocks down for some more clicking and some drinking. I’ve never been to Spider House and it was fantastic — my kind of place with wild decorations, neon, and a whole mess of lights. It’s the kind of place where you might find holiday lights up in August. Of course, we were there at night, which is my favorite time of the day for photography. I’ll post photographs from 37th street another day but today it’s all about a very Austin looking joint.
Bar Neon, Spider House – Austin, Texas
Warm and Eclectic, Spider House – Austin, Texas
I had my new two camera Olympus setup with the Panasonic Leica 25mm f1.4 attached to my new E-PM2 and the 14mm attached to the E-P3. I’m really liking the combination of the 50mm and 28mm equivalents. They give me enough focal length variety to take my urban landscapes, architecture with the 28mm and I like to use the 50mm for portraits and capturing details.
Crazy Lights, Spider House – Austin, Texas
Spider House Lamp Post – Austin, Texas
Time flew quickly and the gathering was going strong when I left at 11pm. I’ll need to go back to Spider House again. It’s the kind of place where I can spend hours shooting. And I will certainly go to another Drink and Click for some more social photography. You can check this rapidly growing list for a local Drink and Click chapters near you. Photography tends to be an individualistic activity but you might have a good time shooting with a fun group.
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