Yesterday I hiked at Jacobsburg State Park in hopes of finding some final colors of the year. To my surprise, there were vibrant colors all over the place. Temperatures in the early morning hours were in the teens. But the sunshine made up for the chill in the air. In addition to the colors, there were ice formations, reflections, fungi and did I say sunshine! All of the following images were shot handheld with the Olympus OM-D E- M1 MkII paired with the M.Zuiko ED 12-100mm f4.0 IS PRO.
A couple of years ago I visited Bhutan with a few fellow photography friends. It is one of the most beautiful places I have had the pleasure of visiting. It is located in the Eastern Himalayas and is bordered by Tibet & India. Bhutan does not measure their success by gross domestic product, but by a happiness factor and, as such, it is noted as one of the happiest places on our earth. From a photography perspective, I found Bhutan to be one of the most beautiful and colorful places I have ever seen.
Shortly after my trip, I did I did an exhibit of my images at the State Theatre in Easton, PA. The image sizes were 48″ x 36″ and 40″ x 30″. I mention this because I often get asked, can you make large prints with the Olympus system (all images were shot with the E-5). I can tell you, without hesitation, the answer is YES.
The following is a sampling of some of my favorite Images:
This summer we have seen more rain than usual. When this occurs, I always keep an eye out for the mushrooms. To give you a point of reference all the mushrooms averaged about 1 inch in height. All of these images were shot with the Olympus OM-D EM1 MkII and paired with either the 60mm f2.8 or the 30mm f3.5 macro lens.
Last weekend I had the opportunity to present a workshop on one of my favorite subjects, “Architecture” and to lead a photo walk to the Wisconsin State Capitol building in Madison. Both events were sponsored by Olympus for The Camera Company. This structure was amazing beyond my belief. This place stands as one on my top 5 places to photograph architecture in the United States. If you are anywhere near Madison, it is an absolute must see structure. I learned this building’s exterior dome is the largest granite dome in the world. I can’t wait to go back! All images were shot with the Olympus OM-D EM1 MkII paired with either the M.Zuiko 7-14 f2.8 PRO, ED 8mm f1.8 Fisheye PRO or the ED 12-100mm f4.0 IS PRO.
I was in Sarasota Florida a few weeks ago and decided to focus on my roots.
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M1 MkII with the M.Zuiko 12-100mm f4.0 PRO. All images created in camera with “Monochrome” setting.
A couple of weeks ago my friend Dave Rehrig and I decided to head over to Muhenberg College and photograph the Chapel. I have never seen it before and I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised. It had a very gothic feel and as such, I thought the images would be best viewed in a black & white. In order to capture the glass windows behind me, I used the Olympus OM-D E-M1 MkII paired with the M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm f1.8 fisheye PRO lens. Take notice to the light fixtures. The subsequent images of the fixtures were shot with the M. Zuiko ED 12-100mm PRO IS lens in order to give me some compression with the shot.
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.
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.
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.
A winter hike at Jacobsburg State Park. All of the images were shot handheld with the new Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II and the M. Zuiko 7-14mm f2.8 PRO lens (my favorite combination).
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