New Landscape Shots With Re-acquired Olympus E-PL1

02-27-2012

Last Feb 8th, I decided to try out an Olympus E-PL1 again. This is the "mini-SLR" I had initially tried out last November, only to sell it. I decided I really wanted something like that & to try it again.

How great that I did so. I have gotten some shots with it. (Today: on the 27th, I replaced the original kit lens, which was buggy with me the 1st time around & the leading reason I gave up on this initially, with the newer 14-42 II MSC. I find it a MUCH better lens. Nonetheless, these are good shots taken with the original version you see here.)

Here are some shots I took on the morning of February 14th, I woke up to find the atmosphere very foggy. After seeing Helen off at the bus stop, I hopped on my bike & went looking around.

Here are some shots I took at the railroad track down CR 138 between 7 & 8 a.m.

1. Probably my favorite. Olympus E-PL1, 14-42mm at 15mm, 1/30 second f/11 ISO 640. RAW mode, converted to black & white in Lightroom 3.5

Click to view thumbnail (20120214_073827_rj_b_epl1)

2. Olympus E-PL1, 14-42mm at 30mm, 1/40 second f/13 ISO 500, again RAW mode converted to black & white in Lightroom 3.5

Click to enlarge (20120214_074945_rj_c_epl1)

3. Olympus E-PL1, 14-42mm at 24mm, 1/50 second  f/13 ISO 640. Again, RAW mode converted to black & white in Lightroom 3.5

Click to enlarge (20120214_074438_rj_b_epl1)

Here is some shots I took on the 10th, just 2 days after getting the camera.

4. Went walking through woods near the back, saw this. Olympus E-PL1, 14-42mm at 37mm, 1/100 second f/11 ISO 320. RAW mode, retouched in Lightroom 3.5

Click to enlarge (20120210_170037_rj_b_epl1)

5. A water bottle in our yard of all things. Olympus E-PL1, 14-42mm at 42mm, 1/160 second f/10 ISO 400. An edit of a Superfine Large JPEG.

Click to enlarge (20120210_133728_sf_b_epl1)

6. A leaf in our woods. Olympus E-PL1, 14-42mm, at 42mm, 1/60 second f/10 ISO 800, straight Superfine-Large JPEG

Click to enlarge (20120213_153705_sf_epl1)

7. A pine-comb in a mud puddle in our woods. Olympus E-PL1, 14-42mm at 40mm, 1/30 second f/8 ISO 1250 (yes, ISO 1250!), straight Superfine-Large JPEG

Click to enlarge (20120213_160527_sf_epl1)

I have more to come, fixing to turn in. And oh yes, my best-camera ever, the Nikon D5100, which I upgraded to via my tax refund, arrived today. Woo hoo!

Great Shots of Helen & Adrian, 01-22-2012

I cleaned up today, wow!

 

Since last Wednesday, we're back where we were most of last year--with a Nikon D3000 & Nikon D5000 pairing. I upgraded the D60 to a D3000 at very minimal cost, (I missed having 11 AF points, the D60 had only 3) buying it, of all places, at Dpreview (their buy-sell is not all that active, & the particular posting went back to November).

Now, finally, I can settle down for awhile & learn to leave well-enough alone.

Today, after church (their grounds makes for good portrait settings), the lighting was good (cloudy) & we got some good shots of Helen & (mostly) Adrian. I edited in Lightroom 3 with the included "Yesteryear" preset (not the Oh So Posh ones this time) before doing VERY MINOR touch-ups in Photoshop CS.

Here we go.

Nikon D3000, 18-55mm VR, Normal-Large JPEG, SanDisk 4G SD Card (holds >1000 JPEGs)

#1 Adrian, 1/500 second f/5.3 at 40mm ISO 400

Click here to enlarge (20120122_125422_nl_c_lr3_d3000)

#2, Adrian 1/800 second f/5.3 at 40mm ISO 400 

Click here to enlarge (20120122_125435_nl_b_lr3_d3000)

#3, Adrian, 1/125 second f/5.3 at 40mm ISO 100

Click here to enlarge (20120122_125521_nl_b_lr3_d3000)

#4, Helen, 1/200 second f/5.3 at 40mm ISO 100

Click here to enlarge (20120122_125756_nl_b_lr3_d3000)

#5, Adrian, 1/320 second f/5 at 38mm ISO 200

Click here to enlarge (20120122_130130_nl_b_lr3_d3000)

#6, Adrian, 1/250 second f/8 at 35mm ISO 200

Click here to enlarge (20120122_131014_nl_b_lr3_d3000)

#7, Adrian, 1/200 second f/5 at 26mm ISO 200

Click here to enlarge (20120122_131130_nl_b_lr3_d3000)

Wow, what a day, I really cleaned up.

FOG SHOTS

On the 29th of December, I awoke early to find the atmosphere very foggy. I rode into town with the wife on the way to her work (I typically just stay home for the duration) armed with my D60--oh yes, for the "everyday-beater" d-SLR, I ditched the 6mp D40 & got the 10mp D60 for only $20 more. Here we go again, it seems. (If you remember when, for much of last year, the "beater" model was the D3000--the D60 is the predecessor, and it has the same sensor & thus same resolution, and is also a basic model--even more so, actually.)

Anyway, with the fog being everywhere, naturally I wanted to take photos, so I took my D60 into town and, after dropping the wife off at work, went to checking out the lay of the land. I did, in fact, get some good shots. Here are (arguably) the best two.

Nikon D60, 18-55mm VR, Raw + JPEG mode, ISO 100, aperture-priority mode, edited in Nikon View NX & Photoshop CS

#1, 1/60 second at f/10 at 26.0mm iso100

Click to enlarge (20111229_091031_rj_c_d60)

#2, 1/100s f/10.0 at 32.0mm iso100

Click to enlarge (20111229_091049_rj_c_d60)

Great Photo of Helen

Tuesday, on my 43rd birthday, I got a great photo of Helen. In doing so, a commonly-recited saying was confirmed once again: always take your camera with you. I took the "beater" D40 with me this morning when I was merely going into town with my wife only to return moments later after taking care of a few things. While waiting for the mother-in-law to return us home (while I left our vehicle at work), Helen & Adrian played in a deserted lot beside her job in a grassy area. It wasn't anything special, but while they played, Helen was sitting on this rock & I saw a photo opportunity. I had to grab it, as Helen doesn't typically make the best poses. This turned out to be a real winner & a testament as to why I almost always have a camera on my person.

Nikon D40, Fine-Large JPEG (not Normal-Large this time), 18-55mm VR, 1/160 second f/6.3 ISO 200. Edited in Lightroom 3 with the {Oh So Posh} actions.

Click to enlarge (20111213_111519_b_lr3_d40)

Isn't that just adorable? She smiled this way for maybe barely a second, she wasn't at all "holding" this pose, thankfully my reflexes & the camera's speed were plenty to capture this very fleeting & adorable moment.

That's why I almost ALWAYS take a camera with me, and a GOOD one--no freaking camera phones for me! This spot where this photo was taken isn't anything special, I was merely there for a few minutes to do some quick tasks before returning straight home, but I wouldn't have obtained this treasure had I left the camera at home.

New Portraits, Niece-Nephews


Body Circus
We now have a Nikon D40 & D5000 (6mp & 12mp d-SLRs respectively). At the time we had the "beater" D5000 only (after I sold my good one to try out a micro 4/3rds only to decide I'd rather not, sold it) & I just couldn't get over the wife using it for things like photos for listings on eBay/Listia etc. So I used the funds from the E-PL1 experiment & got her a Nikon D40 kit, one we owned before (as far back as 2007) for her to have "everyday". (Actually it started out as a D50, couldn't get a D40 cheap enough, but a local guy traded me evenly, as the D50 works better with the older lenses he owned.) This is for her (and me too), more "everyday."

For me: we sold the "beater" D5000 and got another less-used D5000 for the same price, this is for me ALONE as the "good" model (again). I think the "body circus" has settled down for now (as long as I can resist temptations during tax refund season just as I somehow managed to last year).

Also, last August I had purchased on the cheap an Epson Workstation 1100 printer, a large printer which is capable of prints as large as 13x19 inches. I only paid $50 for it including the ink, brand-new, when they normally go for $150 or so. I had never set it up, it sat in the backroom waiting, still in the cellphone plastic. Over the weekend I finally set it up back there. I had some Canon 8x10 paper from before (the other printer didn't like it) and tried it out on it, and it did a really good job. I'm impressed.

The Photos
But anyway, on to what matters--the PICTURES. In fact, these photos inspired me to break out the printer, they were that good to me.

We had our niece Madison overnight Fri-Sat & the in-laws were over Saturday with our nephew Dylan also. Naturally I took some photos, and frankly I got some of the best ones ever.

I used the "everyday" Nikon D40 in Normal-Large JPEG mode, and retouched in Lightroom 3 using the {Oh So Posh} presets. This did result in the shots being rather "jazzed up," which seems to be the going thing these days. (I always keep the originals which are free from such alterations, so I can go back.) For some I used the "kit" lens (the 18-55mm VR), for others I broke out the 50mm 1.8 G lens to get a little fancy-creative.

 #1. Madison, 18-55mm kit lens at 32mm, 1/25 second f/6.3 ISO 200 (how did I get this shot that crisp with only 1/25 second shutter speed?) It was her idea to put this stuffed animal on her shoulder as a "prop," between that & her suggesting good spots, I told her she was going to grow up to take better photos than I do (ha ha). (Attention: SK, if you see this, I speculate you were probably like that 13 years ago, ha ha.)

Click to enlarge (20111210_114338_nl_b_lr3_d40) 

 #2 Madison, 18-55mm kit lens at 55mm. This is perhaps my favorite one. Same pose & location, moments later, I just got closer. 1/60 second f/6.3 at 55.0mm ISO 800.

Click to enlarge (20111210_114558_nl_b_lr3_d40)  

 #3 Madison, 18-55mm kit lens at 55mm. 1/125 second f/5.6 ISO 1100 (wow, ISO 1100?).

Click to enlarge (20111210_142054_nl_b_lr3_d40)

Okay, 2 shots in a row where I'm shooting at 55mm. Maybe it's time to break out the 50mm 1.8 G lens and go for a smoother background? Okay, here we go.

#4 Madison, 50mm 1.8 G lens. 1/125 second at f/2.5 ISO 200. Same spot, notice how much blurrier the background is (which is what I wanted) shooting at f/2.5 instead of f/5.6.

Click to enlarge (20111210_142323_nl_b_lr3_d40)

#5 Dylan, 50mm 1.8 G lens, 1/125 second f/2.5 ISO 200. One of my favorite shots of Dylan ever.

Click to enlarge (20111210_142551_nl_b_lr3_d40)

These are the sorts of shots which just bring such joy to my heart, and make me even think I could possibly do this for a living. Maybe, I don't know--although, as I'm going to be 43 years old tomorrow, I better get to cracking on making SOMETHING my consistent livelihood (ha ha). This may always be "just a hobby" for me (with occasional side income from locals with little money who have me take photos for me since they can't afford a "real" professional), but if so, so be it--it's ridiculously fun to me. If only digital D40 & D5000`s had existed for me years ago when I was in my 20s, what I could've been doing all of this time. Oh well.

A GREAT Photo of Adrian, Others

A GREAT Photo of Adrian, Others

11-29-2011
Well I haven't done a new post in quite sometime (nearly 2 months), I'm WAY overdue to show off some new photos.

This is a GREAT one I took of Adrian recently. We had been at a yard sale & I got this one "hillbilly-looking" hat, meanwhile my wife had dressed Adrian in some overalls. Now, I've often-times hated overalls on our kids, because of the difficulty in getting them off when needing to change diapers. But as our son now is potty-trained, it's not an issue, so overalls can be cute for me as well.

Anyway, my wife had put these overalls on him, and I put that hat on him, and it was SO cute, and so naturally I took some photos. I managed to come up with this absolute WINNER of a shot. (Used the "beater" Nikon D5000, 50mm 1.8 G, RAW, 1/400 second f/2.5, processed with the {Oh So Posh} presets in LR3, I forget which one):

Click to enlarge (20111113_113612_rj_b_lr3_d5000`2)

Now you tell ME that isn't just the cutest, most adorable thing you've ever seen? That absolutely belongs on our wall as an 11x14 or maybe even a 16x20.

New Landscapes

For a short while, I experimented with a "micro 4/3rds" camera, a new-emerging type of camera which gives you quality images in a small package. The idea was its smaller size would mean I would ALWAYS have something with me, but not something like a camera phone, and thus get more images--especially of landscapes, or of children as well. In the end, I sold it because of struggles I had in using it for children shots--a shame, as it did well for me in landscape shots. It is the PERFECT sort of thing to have for always having something with you that nonetheless does well on top of not being as bulky as the SLRs we always use. I don't doubt I will try one of these again when I'm more ready for it--for now, I still have to lug the d-SLRs everywhere.

Here are some shots I got with it:

Click to enlarge (20111114_130446_rj_c_lr3_epl1)

Click to enlarge (20111114_122749_rsf_b_epl1)

Click to enlarge (20111114_163152_rfl_b_epl1)

Click to enlarge (20111115_135235_sf_epl1)

I was able to get SOME of the shots I took of children to come out well. Here are some which did, featuring our niece Madison:

Click to enlarge (20111120_130407_nl_epl1)

Click to enlarge (20111120_130431_nl_epl1)

Click to enlarge (20111120_130448_nl_epl1)

More Recent

Our nephew Dylan (age 5½), is very photogenic as well. All 3 of them, actually, stayed overnight with us Fri-Sat (Nov 25-26 2011) and did well sleeping in their own room the ENTIRE night (an absolute CARDINAL rule around here--kids sleep in their OWN room, PERIOD). The next day, we went exploring in the woods & got all muddy (and we also broke glass in "The Pit," ha ha). Once we returned them, Dylan climbed onto this pile of brush in gran-gran's backyard and posed for photos, I got this nice one:

Click to enlarge (20111126_154232_nl_d5000`2)

Here is a cute one of Adrian taken Sunday before church:

Click to enlarge (20111127_105702_nl_d5000`2)

Helen is less cooperative with photos, enough that she has even been disciplined for it, but I did get this one of her wearing a new nice outfit my mother bought for her:

Click to enlarge (20111127_123734_nl_d5000`2)

We were at WalMart's and my wife had them sit in Santa's lap. They took a free 5x7 photo which we still haven't claimed. I took one myself with my own camera:

Click to enlarge (20111127_134831_nl_d5000`2)

And then these last 2 while we had the spot to ourselves during a lull in the activities:

Click to enlarge (20111127_135136_nl_d5000`2)

Click to enlarge (20111127_135636_nl_d5000`2)

New Shot of Adrian From Sunday

Yesterday, 10-02-2011, was Fenton Isaac Harrison's 10th birthday. (He's our 1st born son we are not able to see, haven't in 8 years when I'm writing this.) However, we made a positive day of it, enjoying our 2 children we have, and I got some good shots of Adrian in it. Again I used the "good" Nikon D5000 in RAW mode, Zeikos portrait grip, and 50mm 1.8 G lens.

Here is (arguably) the best one:

Click to enlarge (20111002_155646_rj_b_lr3_d5000)

I edited it in Adobe Lightroom 3 again, this time I used the "moonlight lighten" preset, then in Adobe Photoshop CS used the "healing brush" to touch up small facial blemishes, then applied unsharp mask for sharpening.

What a cutie! This could be an 11x14 easily. And man, the way I'm cranking these winners out, it's almost TOO easy (ha ha).