Here’s another picture I took a few weeks ago right before a large storm.
P.S. I’m hoping to post another video this weekend showing what I routinely carry in my bag.
ISO 200 f16 7mm (Olympus OM-D, Panasonic 7-14mm f4, 7 exposures, HDR Efex Pro 2, Define 2, Aperture)
If you didn’t see my video discussing my typical settings for my Olympus OM-D yesterday, you can find it here.
Here is another picture taken at Millennium Park. I personally think the art and memorials at the park are well put together. Here is another one.
ISO 200 f4 7mm (Olympus OM-D, Panasonic G Vario 7-14mm f4, HDR, Photomatix, Photoshop CS 6, Aperture)
I’ve posted a video displaying my micro 4/3 lenses and my routine setup for my Olympus OM-D. You can view it here.
Recently, a lot of storms have crossed our area. One evening I drove out to an old cemetery (I’ve posted a prior picture here) and shot some long exposures with my Nikon D800E. This is a 6 second shot. I really like the clouds.
ISO 100 f2.8 6’s 14mm (Nikon D800E, Nikon 14-24mm f2.8, single image, HDR Efex 2, Photoshop CS6, Aperture)
Another great place to visit at Millennium Park is Crown Fountain. If you haven’t visited, it’s 2 large video sculptures that periodically spray water. In the summer time, it’s typically full of kids playing and cooling off.
ISO 200 f4 Panasonic 7-14mm (7 frame handheld HDR)
Landscape and professional photographers know that if you want to capture great images you should shoot during the “magic hour” (or also known as the golden hour). This is the first and last hour of sunlight during the day.
During my recent trip to Chicago, I woke up early and headed down to Millennium Park to capture pictures of the sculpture Cloud Gate, also known as “The Bean”. I got there around 0530 and began shooting pictures. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay long since I was approached by a security guard (he was very nice) who alerted me that I wasn’t suppose to be there and that the park didn’t open up until 6. Luckily, I was able to capture a few shots.
Olympus OM-D and Panasonic Lumix G Vario 7-14mm lens
ISO 200 f/8 7mm (7 exposure HDR, used HDR Efex 2, Photoshop CS6, & Aperture 3.3)
I’ve mentioned in other post I don’t frequently shoot HDR’s anymore. One of the main reasons is because I don’t shoot as many landscapes. Recently, I’ve had the opportunity to shoot more and have been delighted with the results with my Olympus OM-D and the Panasonic 7-14mm lens. You can bracket up to 7 shots (at .7 EV each). I find 7 exposures works very well. Also, I’ve started to transition from using Photomatix to Nik Software HDR Efex 2. So far, I think Nik’s software is more user-friendly, has better adjusts, and allows for a more realistic images (that’s the kind of HDR I like).
As most know, we have gotten little rain this summer. A few weeks ago we did have a storm come through and I was able to get out and take a few images. Here is one that I captured.
ISO 200 f4 7mm – shot with Olympus OM-D & Panasonic 7-14mm lens
I’ve been busy traveling the past few days and will continue to be busy throughout the remaining month. Hopefully, I can at least post a new pic every other day.
Last week, I decided to sell my NEX-7 and move to the new Olympus OM-D. Both are great cameras but the NEX-7 just doesn’t have the amount of lenses on the market. Also, I really like the functionality of the OM-D.
Here is one of my first pictures taken with the Olympus OM-D with Panasonic’s 7-14mm lens. When shooting landscape with this lens there is very little distortion but when you have a subject within inches of the lens you can see that it gives it a unique perspective.
It’s been an amazing past few weeks with the wonderful weather. Hopefully it continues. Here’s a picture I took with my Sony NEX-7 and Leica 90mm macro elmar using the Novoflex adapter. Leica glass on this already great camera, makes even more remarkable pictures. Oh, and the “pixel peaking” feature on the NEX-7 for manual focusing is wonderful and probably will be used by others because of how well it works.
ISO 100 1/60 f/4 Leica 90mm macro elmar
This will probably be my last post in regards to showing the capabilities of the NEX-7 & Zeiss 24mm. I typically leave these types of post to other bloggers but since there are not too many of us that have this camera, I felt that I should post some initial pictures and thoughts.
The Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 can focus within 6 inches of it’s subject. I’ve had other lenses in the past that had this capability but since using my Leica lenses I’ve grown accustomed to having to be about 3 feet from my subjects.
These shots were all taken within 6-12 inches from my subject. I’m truly amazed on the quality, detail, and sharpness when looking at these pictures at full resolution. I definitely think Sony has a winner, my only hope is the next one will be a full frame sensor.
I’ve posted the original picture and a 100% crop of my subject.
ISO 160 1/60 f/1.8 24mm
ISO 100 f/1.8 1/60 24mm
ISO 320 f/1.8 1/60 24mm
I posted my first picture using my new Sony NEX-7 on Saturday. I used my Leica 50mm summilux (80mm equivalent) lens and I had a few people inquire about pictures with the Zeiss 24mm f1.8 lens (38mm equivalent). Today’s post includes pictures using the 24mm lens.
So far I’m extremely impressed with the quality of the camera and lens. My previous camera experience includes “point and shoot”, Canon dSLR’s (including the 5D Mark II), and my Leica M9-P. I’ve grown accustomed to shooting with manual focus and forgot how nice it is sometimes to just let the camera do it. Most of the reviews out there will tell you the Sony NEX-7 autofocus is slower than other cameras in its class but acceptable. I don’t have any other experience shooting with other micro 4/3 cameras but so far I have absolutely no complaints about the speed. I think the speed is 100% acceptable and most would not be disappointed.
I use Apple’s Aperture for my camera raw processing and library and currently they don’t support the NEX-7 raw files. I’m trialling Phase One’s Capture One software since it does support it (I actually like the software but unsure if I want to use it in my workflow).
The pictures today are jpegs converted from raw files in Capture One. Little, to no editing was performed.
ISO 100 1/250 f/1.8 Zeiss 24mm
ISO 100 1/320 f1.4 Zeiss 24mm
ISO 1600 1/50 f/1.8 Zeiss 24mm
