The Roving Photographer -

Simple Clicks – AM-PM Birds

May 10, 2012 | in Simple Clicks, Wildlife | Leave a Comment

This past weekend, I stopped by at Tobyhanna State Park in Northeast PA. The last time I was there, I captured a shot of a Great Blue Heron looking for lunch and I thought I might see if he (or she) were still around. No heron to be seen, and the day at that point was quite overcast and the lighting flat, but as I was close to leaving the swimming beach, a bald eagle swooped in and landed at the very far edge. He began poking around at the ground and then giving the water at the shoreline — pardon me — the eagle eye. I was far away, but with the 300 mm mounted, I tried creeping closer, hoping his preoccupation might allow me a better shot. I got somewhat closer and grabbed this shot.

The Eagle Eye

m4:3 Panoramas

May 8, 2012 | in Personal | Leave a Comment

Took a moment during last Saturday morning’s outing to shoot several series of images for panoramas up at Fords Pond. This was my first opportunity shooting a pano series with the E-M5, and to be honest, it was brought on as much by the dearth of wildlife at the park as by the desire to capture the sweeping spring vista.

I was a little curious how well the photomerged process would work with the E-m5′s files. Turns out there’s very little difference compared to assembling a pano shot with the 7D, except that the E-M5′s was finished quicker due to the smaller file sizes. I was very happy with the results, however, and found the color rendition very pleasant and the sharpness quite good, considering I was using the kit lens.

Again, please keep in mind that these are fully processed panoramas; I’ve tweaked the colors, contrast, and sharpness in post just as I would any other regular shots.

Click both images to view them larger.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Review: Studio Work (static)

May 8, 2012 | in Equipment | 4 Comments

Although the majority of my personal work takes place outdoors, my professional ventures are split about 70/30, with the smaller portion taking place in an indoor studio setting, be it with models, products, stock, etc. Although I’m really dying to get a model in front of the E-M5, I’m taking this one step at a time and starting with static subjects. (Who am I trying to kid – I just haven’t gotten around to booking a model yet!)

This is a simple series of test shots, but it proves several important points and has gone a long way to furthering my respect for this little camera and what it’s capable of. Since we’re working with small items here, in a static setup, what better to use than the last of my Canon gear? Not only do I get the test shots I’m looking for, but I’ve also got pics for my sale ads online now.

Simple Clicks – Wildlife Teaser

May 3, 2012 | in Simple Clicks | 1 Comment

Killdeer at Abington Area Community Park on the afternoon of 27 April 2012.

I’ve got a full post coming on shooting wildlife with the E-M5, but just to keep you all on the edge of your seats, here’s a quick teaser, just to show what kind of results I’m getting so far! Shooting the E-M5 and Lumix 100-300mm is very different from shooting with the 7D and 300L – they are different creatures entirely.

But I’m not sorry to have made the switch!

Simple Clicks – E-M5 Landscapes

May 1, 2012 | in Simple Clicks | Leave a Comment

Just a couple of landscape captures with the E-M5. I took these just after getting the camera, on my first test-shoot with it in the field. At the time, “test shoot” was probably a bit of a generous description, since most of it was me walking around the park with it. As adventurous as I got was to climb a slag heap and check out the view.

But despite my vanilla outings, it was a good chance to start getting a feel for the 14-42mm lens. Due to the initial inability to process RAW files with ACR, I was forced to stick with the JPGs. But now that Lightroom 4.1 RC 2 is out in beta, it’s possible to work with RAWs there, and I was finally able to really work with the files and tweak them to look their best.

These are not straight from camera – I’ve processed them, and both have a VSCO Film emulation applied to them, plus additional RAW and PS adjustments, including sharpening. But still, I think this shows just how good the E-M5’s images are, and how well they respond to processing.

More to come!

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Review: General Shooting

May 1, 2012 | in Equipment | 3 Comments

This is probably the toughest of the reviews to write, just because I want to cover a number of different points. You can probably think of this one as a catch-all, the place for anything that doesn’t exactly fit with the other, more specific posts that are coming (I’ve been writing them out of sequence). But anyway, here goes…

Although many of us may end up using the E-M5 for professional applications, there’s no doubt that we’ll also be using it for our own captures and side-projects. And from time to time, DSLR or not, pro or P&S user, we shoot landscapes or even revert to snapshot mode, so I’m going to be talking about things from this kind of standpoint here.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Review: General Overview

April 28, 2012 | in Equipment | Leave a Comment

Image Credit: Olympus USA

I’m going to kick off my reviews of the Olympus OM-D E-M5 with a general overview of the system. This is probably the least exciting part of the review from a photo-standpoint, but I think that it contains a lot of useful information, especially for folks who are still waiting for – or have just received – their OM-Ds.

I’m not going to bother with any of that unboxing nonsense – that’s like getting to watch someone else open their Christmas presents knowing you don’t have any. So everything I have to report on comes after the camera is out of the box, the battery charged, and the SD card in place.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Review: Introduction

April 26, 2012 | in Equipment | 12 Comments

Image Credit: olympusomd.com

Since I know that many people are still anxiously awaiting a shipping notification for their own OM-Ds, I’m going to forgo my usual policy of delaying gear reviews until after I’ve used the equipment for several weeks, and share whatever I can with you in hopes that, when you do receive your shipments, you’ll know what to expect. (Or, at the very least, maybe this will keep you entertained while you wait!)

I’ve had my OM-D for two weeks now and during that time I’ve begun putting it through a series of test situations to evaluate its performance. The main purpose behind these evaluations is to prove the viability of the m4:3 system to myself. I’m buying into it as a replacement for my Canon EOS kit; however, until I’ve spent a little more time with the m4:3, I’ll be maintaining a pared-down version of both systems.

Lens Rentals

April 24, 2012 | in Equipment, Tips & Tricks | 1 Comment

Image Credit: Canon USA

This past trip was my first foray into the world of lens rentals. Up until this point, I’d never really considered it, although I’m not sure why. I guess in part because I’ve always felt that, if I had a real need for a lens, I’d be better off just buying it and adding it to my kit.

But that’s not always practical, especially when it comes to Canon’s big white telephotos, many of which cost more than a good used car. Or, in my case, when I needed a travel-sized telephoto for a long weekend. (Or if you want to test a couple of comparable lenses before picking one to buy, as a friend of mine is planning to do.)

Olympus OM-D E-M5: First thoughts

April 24, 2012 | in Equipment | 1 Comment

Image Credit: Olympusomd.com

The photo gods were obviously smiling on me this week, as I seem to have landed one of the first Olympus OM-Ds shipped from B&H. It arrived on Wednesday evening and I’ve used just about every free moment since then to start working with it. I’ll have more detailed posts over the next couple of weeks, in which I’ll detail my experience with it.

But to kick things off, this is just a simple list of my first impressions as I begin getting to know the Oly. These began as an email to a friend, who is still anxiously awaiting his order to ship, and I figured I might as well share them with everyone: Read more »

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