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Dusk seascapes between storms using the Olympus E-M5 camera hand held

Tuesday, March 5th, 2013

Last week I went on a camping holiday to the remote Croajingalong National Park in far eastern Victoria some 7 hours drive from Melbourne.

The trip was mainly a reconnaissance style trip rather than a photography trip as we wanted to quickly get to as many locations as possible to explore.

This necessitated very light travel without tripods – a perfect scenario for taking Micro Four Thirds cameras and lenses.

Most of the lighting for the trip was not conducive to good photographs so I was not too heart broken with not having the time to really do landscape and nature photography they way I would like to.

Nevertheless, the Olympus E-M5 camera with its image stabilisation and fast prime lenses made relatively long hand held shots after sunset in thick storm clouds possible.

For example, the following shots were taken between storms well after sunset on a wonderful beach near Mallacoota using the Olympus 12mm f/2.0 lens without any optical filters:

Beautiful rock formation textures and colours (best seen viewed large by clicking on the image), ISO 200, 1/10th sec, f/3.2:

Capturing some spiky wave action to mimic the spiky leaves on the top of the rock formation, ISO 400, 1/3rd sec at f/2.2 (I was in a bit of a rush with this shot as the waves were coming in at me so the long exposure shot is not as sharp as I would have liked, but better than any other camera could manage hand held at 1/3rd sec):

And if anyone is interested in visiting this wonderful part of the world, here is a shot of the beach area in Mallacoota township adjacent to a very large caravan and camping park – highly recommend it for those who want to get away for some peace and quiet yet still want to explore the wilderness cold temperate rainforests with its large goanna lizards, tall eucalypt and fern forests, go fishing, sunbaking, or even hire a boat on the estuaries – there is something for everyone – but don’t tell anyone it is a paradise as it might become a car park!

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Tags: 12mm, beach, coastal, E-M5, Four Thirds Micro, Micro Four Thirds, Olympus, seascapes, Victoria

The Olympus OM-D E-M5 in Dublin and the Whitlow Mountain region of Ireland

Monday, October 22nd, 2012

After the many posts on new cameras and lenses in September, I had forgotten to finish off my UK/Ireland holiday series of posts, so here is my final post from that trip… Dublin and the Whitlow Mountain region.

A mountain stream hand held at 1/5th second to show some water blur thanks to the image stabilisation of the Olympus E-M5 combined with the 12mm lens.

Cemetery at Glendalough, a 10th century abbey:

Guiness cash:

Sorrow and despair of the potato blight famine (Olympus 45mm f/1.8 lens):

Temple Bar, Dublin at night (Olympus 12mm lens 1/13th sec ISO 200, hand held no flash):

Faces in the crowd at a march in Dublin’s streets (Panasonic 14-140mm lens):

The Olympus E-M5 camera in western rural Ireland

Saturday, August 11th, 2012

My holiday in June took me to Ireland and although the weather was too poor for us to consider squeezing in a drive down to the Ring of Kerry, we did make it up to the Connemara region which was a nice treat, even in the stormy conditions.

I must admit the dynamic range of the Olympus E-M5 Micro Four Thirds camera has really surprised me – being much better than any digital camera I have ever used, including the Canon 1D Mark III dSLR.

We went for a drive around the Burren region south-east of Galway, but again it was a very wet day and coincided with a bicycle race which did not make it as pleasant as I would have liked – certainly not a relaxing drive through the Irish countryside when one has to keep a close eye out for cyclists on the narrow wet winding roads.

12th century Corcomroe Abbey said to have been built c1182 for Donal Mor O’Brien, King of Munster. It ceased formerly functioning as an abbey in 1564 (contrast has been increased):

Having decided to abort our weekend drive around the Burren, we headed down to Ennis:

More photos on my Flickr set.

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Tags: E-M5, Four Thirds Micro, Ireland, Micro Four Thirds, Olympus, travel

Olympus E-M5 camera in the misty morning showers of Warwick

Saturday, August 4th, 2012

My last day in England before flying to Dublin from Birmingham Airport, took me briefly to Warwick Castle.

When we arrived there was a low mist making for extremely dull photos, so we went for a walk, and waited … until for a brief few minutes, a few rays of sunlight broke their way through the misty cloud to highlight the castle in a gentle bathe of glow, just as the swans decided to have a swim….but I think you will agree, the wait was worth it ….

and from a pretty English garden perspective:

and yes… I probably should have cropped out those leaves on the left border!

ps… I highly recommend flying out of Birmingham Airport – low stress, easy access for hire car drop off, not as busy as Heathrow yet a reasonable number of retail shops to browse whilst awaiting your flight – my only annoyance was when Aer Lingus unilaterally decided to re-schedule my pre-booked flight for 6 hours later in the day impacting my hire car plans in Ireland with no option to negotiate other than by international phone call – and I was not going to throw more money after bad – they notified me by email a fortnight after I had booked the flight but indicated that any return email would be neglected.

Next stop …. Ireland …..

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Tags: castle, E-M5, England, Four Thirds Micro, Micro Four Thirds, Olympus, travel

The Olympus E-M5 goes searching for some British sun on the south west coast of England

Thursday, July 26th, 2012

My 1st adventures roaming south-west England in my hire car were dominated by an unusually wet and cloudy British summer, and thus when the forecast suggested there would be sun for a day that month – but only in the Swanage region of the south coast, I decided to head down there and get some lovely much needed UV light.

Here are a few of my iPad processed shots taken with the Olympus E-M5 Micro Four Thirds camera.

Here I pushed the E-M5 almost to its hand held long exposure limits again to capture the flowing water at Durdle Door using a Hoya R72 infrared filter and hand held 1/6th second exposure with the Olympus 12mm lens which had some vignetting and toning added using Phototoaster on the iPad:

another infrared photo with lots of Phototoaster processing for fun on the iPad, this time of Corfe Castle ruins:

and another one of Corfe Castle but this time with a polariser filter, and no IR filter but processed in Phototoaster to add some atmosphere to this wonderful site – what would have been a great little castle in its day until the Parliamentarians spent 6 months destroying it with gunpowder:

oh… and I promised a little British sun at the beach:

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Tags: E-M5, England, Four Thirds Micro, infrared, Micro Four Thirds, Olympus, travel

The Olympus E-M5 wanders through the Roman city of Bath in England

Saturday, July 21st, 2012

My 1st adventures roaming south-west England in my hire car took me by necessity to the wonderful little city of Bath in Somerset – one of the “must see” tourist destinations in England, and I must say, I did enjoy walking its streets.

Here are a few of my iPad processed shots taken with the Olympus E-M5 Micro Four Thirds camera.

Here I pushed the E-M5 to its hand held long exposure limits again to capture the flowing water of the River Avon at dusk at the 18th century Pulteney Bridge – 1/3rd second exposure with the Olympus 12mm lens:

a night time hand held shot in the rain with the 12mm lens:

an outdoor public wooden sculpture by Sophie Dickens depicting judo wrestling “Morote seoi nage” to celebrate sport and 2012:

a happy couple in the evening light:

Shepherd’s Hall in one of the back streets:

in celebration of the healing powers of water at the early 16th century Bath Abbey – some nice bokeh using the Olympus 45mm f/1.8 lens:

and you can’t visit Bath without visiting the reconstruction of the Roman Baths:

While in Bath, there is much to see, including the Holburne Museum of Art which displays some very nice historical artefacts and paintings such as this one taken with the Olympus 45mm lens (without a flash of course!) by Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1565-1638) depicting a busy farmhouse kitchen at the “Visit by the Godfather” (this is essentially straight from camera with the picture frame cropped, contrast increased a touch, and resized for web – custom white balance taken prior to shot):

I managed to find some very nice coffee at a cafe called Same Same But Different, and breakfast at Pulteny Bridge on a “Summer” morning was lovely at the Riverside Cafe.

All the above were taken with the amazing Olympus E-M5 Micro Four Thirds camera, more pics on my Flickr set

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Tags: E-M5, England, Four Thirds Micro, Micro Four Thirds, Olympus. E-M5, travel

A first trip to England would not be complete without a drive through the Cotswolds and a walk through Oxford – the Olympus E-M5 shines again

Monday, July 16th, 2012

For an Australian, driving in England is not so bad given we drive on the same side of the road – the only thing that really stressed me out was the ridiculously frequent speed camera warnings on the Tom Tom GPS and worrying if the rental car company was going to send me a massive bill for the speeding fines – fortunately, I seem to have managed to drive 1000km (for those still in the land of dinosaurs – that be about 600 miles) whilst ensuring I was under the speed limit – not so easy for the uninitiated when the speed limit is a circle with a stripe through it and which seems to vary between 60mph and 70mph while the locals do 80mph.

It is even more weird that the roads, once off the motorways, have a 60mph speed limit yet are narrow two way affairs on winding, hilly roads with massive hedges each side making one claustrophobic and preventing any chance of stopping to check any views – at least I presume there may have been some nice views behind the hedges.

Nevertheless, they have done some things well like trying to keep cars out of the busy centers such as Oxford.

Apart from the quaint, lovely medieval villages and lovely English country gardens, the Summer rural countryside reminded me of home … yes central Victoria and Gippsland in Australia … in Winter … well perhaps Spring … when the fields are still green…

If Australia did have a medieval past, none of it would remain anywhere given the propensity for regular bushfires each century to destroy everything in their path and pave the way for nature to renew itself … a bit like nature cleansing itself of the presence of man ….

But I digress … back to the medieval villages, many of which are now detracted by the tourism, but to the new tourists, still quaint and pretty.

Bibury:

Minster Lovell Hall – ruins of a 14th century country manor:

Bourton-on-water … the only time I bothered to get my little 30cm tripod out on my whole trip … and this was to try taking a 10sec exposure of the flowing stream using a 10 stop ND filter on the Olympus 12mm lens and post-processed on the iPad whilst I was travelling:

Castle Combe village:

Oxford is a wonderful little city which I enjoyed immensely, even in the rain, and makes a nice base from which to explore the Cotswolds – I stayed in a lovely hotel near the Ring Road to make access easier, and caught a bus into Oxford as car parking is apparently problematic.

Oxford university exam day when the students must wear suits with flowers to attend the exams:

The tree used in the Harry Potter movie – New Oxford uni campus:

As usual, all the above were taken with the amazing Olympus E-M5 Micro Four Thirds camera, more pics on my Flickr set

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Tags: Four Thirds Micro, Micro Four Thirds, Olympus E-M5 England, travel

The amazing British Museum, London

Monday, July 16th, 2012

Those visiting London for the Olympic Games in the apparently atypical very wet “Summer”, should make sure they take the time to visit the wonderful British Museum – it’s free entry, out of the wind and rain, and unlike the London art galleries, you can use your camera – all the better if you can use a wide aperture prime lens with image stabilisation as I did by using the brilliant new Olympus E-M5 Micro Four Thirds camera with the Olympus 45mm f/1.8 portrait lens which allows even the darkest areas inside glass enclosures to be photographed without using a flash.

Be aware though that the E-M5 has so much dynamic range that you will probably want to shoot RAW and increase contrast in post-processing as I have done to most of these.

You may wish to set custom white balance in the camera in the variable museum light sources as most subjects do not have a neutral colour to use later on, but if shooting RAW, you can adjust WB to your heart’s content which I did for some of these just for fun.

The British Museum (the only photo in this post taken with the Olympus 12mm f/2.0 lens):

Lion hunting, Assyrian Empire c700BC:

Amazon woman fighting a Greek man:

Parthenon statues – Hestia with Aphrodite lying in her mother’s lap (Dione):

Bust of Zeus in the library, from Roman Emperor Hadrian in Tripoli:

Skeleton in an Egyptian coffin c3000 BC – placing a body in a coffin resulted in decay and loss of soft tissues as the body was no longer in contact with the drying effects of the sand, this practice apparently started around 3,000 BC:

There is also a nice selection of etchings by Pablo Picasso such as this one of 4 nude women with a sculpture made in 1934:

And a very difficult to photograph large Epifania Cartoon made by Michelangelo in 1550-1555 using black chalk:

There is so much more to see at the museum, it was a fascinating day well spent – don’t forget to take a break and get some lunch at one of the many cafe’s in the adjacent district – I found a lovely French one where the waitress actually made some proper coffee – almost unheard of in England!

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Tags: E-M5, Four Thirds Micro, London, Micro Four Thirds, Olympus, travel

More of London – walking the streets with the Olympus E-M5

Tuesday, July 10th, 2012

A few more shots as I explored the streets of London.
A side lane in Kensington, and inner suburb:

Here is an indoor shot of a Nando’s restaurant in a renovated wharf storehouse shot hand held without a flash using the brilliant combination of the Olympus E-M5 with the Olympus 12mm f/2.0 lens:

Tower Bridge:

The Gherkin:

War memorial honoring the many British women involved in the war:

No trip to London would be complete without a shot of their red telephone boxes:

A book shop with some interesting titles:

Stalagmites of Westminster:

And finally, for this post, an example of their Jubilee celebrations with even the taxi’s getting a coat of paint:

I will be adding more posts over the next 2 weeks, but for those who wish to cheat, they can check out some photos that I have already uploaded to my Flickr set.

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Tags: Four Thirds Micro, London, Micro Four Thirds, Olympus. E-M5, travel, UK

Walking the streets of London with my Olympus E-M5

Sunday, July 8th, 2012

Having arrived in London a few days after the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations finished, many areas such as Buckingham Palace were off-limits due to workman removing the stages.

Nevertheless, I thought it was my duty as an Australian and descendant of a convict – or two, to document a few iconic images of London despite the overcast conditions and lack on nice sunrises to give the classic Golden Hour (not that London’s public transport starts early enough for you to take a train into London before the 4.30am or so sunrise!).

First up we have the fabulous Westminster Parliament Houses and of course, Big Ben – here I used a Cokin tobacco gradient filter on my Panasonic 14-140mm lens to make it a bit more interesting given the otherwise boring gray skies, and it was cropped in a iPad app and uploaded to the net, although this version has been further down-sized in Lightroom:

And, the once cute black cabs, which have now been taken over by consumerism (sadly Picadilly Circus is now starting to look a bit like New York’s Time Square with it’s super-sized flashing advertising signs – but I guess that is the sign of the times and money trumps aesthetics and culture):

and another waiting at traffic lights at the Black Friar’s pub:

It seems the London youth are fed up with the inequities and injustices created by globalisation exacerbated by the economic adversities resulting from the GFC, although, perhaps unfairly, they are here targeting the Royal family, although a bit of graffiti is nicer than burning down the house: