Frank's Photography Blog

Sep

Missouri State Penitentiary

I recently had the pleasure to lead a workshop with Creve Coure Camera which was sponsored by Olympus at the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson, MO. The following images were taken during the workshop. This was my first experience at this location. I have photographed the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia many times, so I was somewhat familiar with what to expect. There were many similarities, but there were equally as many differences. One of the differences was that this facility had it’s own gas chamber. I must admit, I had a very eerie feeling in here. The prison operated from 1836 – 2004. Many of the images were processed in-camera with a monochromatic filter and a couple of them in HDR. The equipment I used was the Olympus PEN-F paired with the M.Zuiko ED 8mm F1.8 Fisheye PRO & the OM-D E-M5 MkII paired with the M.Zuiko ED 7-14mm f2.8 PRO (an amazing combination).

Welcome to the Gas Chamber

Sep

Tales of the Great Allentown Fair

By Frank T. Smith 5 Comments

Categories: Photography
Tags: Allentown, Allentown Fair, allentown fairgrounds, Fair, great allentown fair, KISS, Night, Night Photography, Olympus, PEN, PEN-F, Photo, Photograph, Photography

The following images are a collection of my perception of the life and stories of the Allentown Fair. In order to capture these images, it required me to first start a dialog with my subjects, and then after gaining their trust, I would take the picture. This requires one to step out of there comfort zone and try to become a small part of the “culture”. All of the images were shot handheld with the Olympus PEN-F and in many cases the exposures were in excess of a half of a second. I was only able to accomplish this because of the Olympus built in image stabilization system. One additional bonus from this shoot, is that it happened to be the day KISS performed, which provided some additional characters for the evening.

Aug

Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis

By Frank T. Smith Leave a Comment

A few weeks ago I did a couple photo-walks & presentations for Creve Coure Camera in St. Louis. The event was sponsored by Olympus. The first photo-walk was at the Cathedral Basilica. The following images are from the day’s shoot. I have traveled a lot domestically/overseas and have photographed my share of Cathedral/Churches and this one is at the very top of the list, as far as beauty and wow factor. The cathedral was built over a 100 years ago and was designated a basilica in 1997 by Pope John Paul II.

Aug

MacArthur Road Car Show

By Frank T. Smith Leave a Comment

Categories: Photography
Tags: Car, Car Show, Classic, classic car, Dramatic, Dramatic Tone, MacArthur, Olympus, OM-D E-M5 MkII, PA, Photo, Photograph, Photography, SOOC, Summer, Vintage

I always enjoy photographing car shows and this weekend was no exception. I don’t pretend to know a lot about cars, but I do enjoy capturing their various graphic elements. My friend Dave and I had shot this event a couple of years ago and thought it would be fun to check it out again. Many of these images were straight out of the camera using using the Olympus OM-D E-M5 MkII “Dramatic Tone” filter. Most of these images were shot with one of my favorite lenses, the M.Zuiko ED 7-14mm f2.8 PRO.

Jul

Manhattan from Brooklyn

By Frank T. Smith 2 Comments

Categories: Photography
Tags: Brooklyn, Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Cityscape, Landscape, Live Composite, Manhattan, New York, NY, Olympus, OM-D E-M5 MkII, PEN, PEN-F, Photo, Photograph, Photography, Sky, Skyline, Summer

A few weeks ago I traveled to New York with my friend and fellow Olympus Trailblazer Alex McClure. Our plan was to photograph the city from Brooklyn. We had done this back in November from the area around the bridges, however, we ran out of time to get shots from the this location (in front of the piers). This time, when we arrived at this location, we were greeted with a beautiful evening and a wonderful sky. I had two camera bodies with me and I used both of them for the following images (The Olympus OM-D E-M5 MarkII and the PEN-F). After we photographed the city skyline we walked up to and over the Brooklyn Bridge. The remainder of the images were from the bridge. The one with the car headlights and taillights was done in “Live Composite” mode.

Jul

It’s-A-Com 2016

By Frank T. Smith 3 Comments

Categories: Photography
Tags: Allentown, Characters, Comic, It's-A-Con, ITZ-A-CON, Movie, Olympus, OM-D E-M5 MkII, PA, Photo, Photograph, Photography, Portrait, Steampunk

A couple of weeks ago Lehigh Valley Itz-A-Con held there 2nd annual event in Allentown, PA. The event is all about steampunk, comics and movie characters. It was quite the photographic opportunity. All images shot with the Olympus OM-D E-M5 MkII.

Jun

Bogert’s Covered Bridge 175th Anniversary

By Frank T. Smith 2 Comments

Categories: Photography
Tags: Allentown, Anniversary, Bogert, Bogert Covered Bridge, Bogert's Bridge, Civil War, Historic, Landscape, Lehigh Parkway, Olympus, OM-D E-M5 MkII, PA, Parkway, Photo, Photograph, Photography, Summer, Vintage

On Sunday, June 12, 2016 Bogert’s Covered Bridge celebrated its 175 Anniversary. Bogert’s is located in the Lehigh Parkway which is part of the Allentown, PA city parks. This is a location I enjoy shooting. There were many groups present for the celebration. I especially enjoyed the reenactors. I was fortunate to have met Gen. U.S. Grant (aka Ken Serfass), President Abraham Lincoln (aka Rich Neely) and Fife player (aka Chris Zimmerman). These three gentlemen were a pleasure to photograph. All images were shot with the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II with the 12-40mm f2.8 Pro or the 7-14mm f2.8 Pro lens.