PA | Frank's Photography Blog

Posts Tagged ‘PA

Apr

Trexler Park – Long Exposures

Categories: Photography
Tags: Allentown, Architectural, architecture, Landscape, Long Exposure, Neutral Density Filter, Olympus, OM-D E-M1 MkII, PA, Photo, Photograph, Photography, Slow Shutter Speed, spring, Trexler Park, Vintage, Wide Angle

This past weekend I had it in my head that I wanted to accomplish some long exposures in an area by a beautiful foot bridge in Trexler Park, Allentown, PA. Having been there the week before, I had a pre-conceived plan of how I wanted to approach the composition. The only thing I needed was the cooperation of Mother Nature. She was a bit finicky at the start. But in the end, she came through for me. Note: All of the following images utilized a 10 stop neutral density filter and were taken with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 MkII paired with the M.Zuiko ED 7-14mm f2.8 PRO.

ISO 64, 10mm, f/16, 60.0 secs.

This next image was taken using Olympus’ “Live Composite” mode. By using this approach, I am able to create a more painterly effect in the sky. This is accomplished by setting the camera to expose every 2 seconds. The total time on this image was 3 minutes.

ISO 200, 9mm, f/5.6, 180 secs

This final image is a shot of an old hunting cabin adjacent to the the foot bridge.

ISO 200, 10mm, f/10, 60.0 secs.

Feb

Lehigh Gorge State Park (2 of 2)

By Frank T. Smith Closed

Categories: Photography
Tags: Ice, Landscape, Lehigh, Lehigh Gorge, Lehigh Gorge State Park, M. Zuiko 12-100mm f4.0 PRO, Olympus, OM-D E-M1 MkII, PA, Photo, Photograph, Photography, State Park, Waterfall, Waterfalls, Winter

As a follow up to the previous post I did, I went back to the Gorge 2 weeks later. It was amazing to see the change with the temperatures dropped. I was also experimenting with Olympus’s new 12-100 f4.0 PRO lens. With this camera & lens combination you achieve up to 6.5 shutter speed steps of compensation. The long exposure shots in this post are 2 seconds long and handheld. I continue to be impressed with the image stabilization technology.

Feb

Lehigh Gorge State Park (1 of 2)

By Frank T. Smith Closed

Categories: Photography
Tags: Ice, Landscape, Lehigh, Lehigh Gorge, Lehigh Gorge State Park, Olympus, OM-D E-M1 MkII, PA, Photo, Photograph, Photography, State Park, Waterfall, Waterfalls, Winter

A short while ago I decided I wanted to do some winter hiking in the Lehigh Gorge State park. It is located just outside of Weatherly, PA and encompasses two counties, Luzern & Carbon. The park follows the Lehigh River and includes some beautiful waterfalls & ice formations. I spent a fair amount of time around Buttermilk Falls. I brought my Olympus OM-D E-M1 MkII with me. I wanted to see how I could do with hand held long exposures. The second image in this series was hand held for almost one full second. I have some other shots that went almost 3 seconds. I continue to be amazed at the internal image stabilization of this camera.

Jan

Tank Hollow (foggy) Trail

By Frank T. Smith 6 Comments

Categories: Photography
Tags: Flora, Fog, Hike, Hiking, Landscape, Olympus, OM-D E-M1 MkII, PA, Photo, Photograph, Photography, Tank Hollow, Winter

This past weekend I went to a new hiking location called Tank Hollow. For those of you living in the NE, you may recall this entire part of the country was covered in heavy fog most of the weekend. I thought it would be a good opportunity to try out my trusty water resistant Olympus OM-D E-M1 MkII. I got soaked, the camera got soaked and we both lived to tell about it.

Jan

Graffiti Warehouse

By Frank T. Smith 2 Comments

Categories: Photography
Tags: Architectural, architecture, Art, Graffiti, Olympus, OM-D E-M1 MkII, PA, Photo, Photograph, Photography, Urban, Urban Decay, Vintage, Warehouse, Winter

On New Year’s Eve day my nephew, Matt (a new Olympus shooter) turned me on to a place he had visited several times that includes some amazing artistic graffiti. It is an abandoned warehouse that skateboarders frequent. Here are a few shots from the day.

Dec

State Theatre

By Frank T. Smith 1 Comment

Categories: Photography
Tags: Architectural, architecture, Behind the Curtain, Easton, Historic, historic State Theatre, Low Light, Olympus, OM-D E-M1 MkII, PA, Photo, Photo Tour, Photo Walk, photo workshop, Photograph, Photography, State Theatre, Theatre, Workshop

A couple of weeks ago I did the “Behind the Curtain” workshop & photo tour at the State Theatre in Easton, PA. This is always a fun event, particularly, since we are granted unobstructed access to this incredibly beautiful gem of a facility. I tell people, as photographers, we get to see the intricate nuances of the various design components in this theatre. Most people, and rightly so, go to the theatre to see a particular performance. However, for me, as a photographer, the main show is in the many incredible masterpieces within the structure. During this event I also had the opportunity to use the new Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera. The reason I mention this is I always tell my participants to bring a tripod because of the low light. I now may need to rethink this position. All of the following images were handheld for between one second and 1/60 second at ISO 6,400. The image stabilization and image quality at this high ISO has surpassed all of my expectations. Take a look and you be the judge.

Aug

MacArthur Road Car Show

By Frank T. Smith Closed

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

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.

Jun

After the Rain

By Frank T. Smith Closed

Categories: Photography
Tags: Allentown, Flora, Flowers, Lehigh Parkway, Macro, Olympus, PA, Photo, Photograph, Photography, Rain, Raindrops, spring, spring flowers, Super Macro, TG-4

For many of us in the northeast, we had a fairly rainy weekend. This sends a lot of photographers to the indoors when this occurs. However, I find that this is where and when the opportunities present themselves. This is a time frame when I change up my gear and, for me, the the ideal equipment is my rugged Olympus TG-4 waterproof, crushproof & freezeproof camera. It has a very fast f2.o lens and allows me to shoot in RAW. All of the images were shot in the “Super Macro” mode.