Winter | Frank's Photography Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Winter

Jan

December 2019 Newsletter

Categories: Photography
Tags: Holiday, India, Newsletter, Olympus, OM-D E-M1 MkII, Peace Valley, Peace Valley Park, Photo, Photo Walk, photo workshop, Photo-Walk, Photograph, Photography, Winter, Workshop

If you didn’t receive my newsletter for December here it is:

How Do You Spell Peace Valley

The weather has been a bit challenging here in the northeast with rain being the dominating factor. With the holiday break (and a little time off) we decided to do a hike at Peace Valley Park where typically the bird watching is great and the views over the lake – amazing. This year the lake had been partially drained so I opted to trek the back trails and found a break in the clouds and some amazing reflections. This shot was taken with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera and the M.Zuiko ED 7-14mm f2.8 PRO lens. The settings were ISO 200, 7 mm, f/7.1, 1/1250 sec.

Happy Holidays to You

It is a tradition in our family to create the family Christmas card each year. The dynamics have changed over the years with the grandkids and Bo. This year, Jaxon at 2 1/2 made the photo shoot more of a challenge – while on the other hand, Bo at 10 was OK with whatever. Here are the results.
The images were shot with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II using the M.Zuiko 25 mm f1.2 PRO lens. The settings for both were ISO 200, 25mm, f/1.8, 1/60 sec.

INDIA Photo Trip

India is a favorite photography location for me. This past September I had the chance to visit a new region, Rajastan. The trip was organized by my friend Abhishek and I went with a few of my fellow photographer friends.

I am always intrigued by the colors, culture and ever changing geography. From street photography to shooting in small villages there is always a great image to be captured. The people are always friendly and I have learned how best to interact to capture great faces and scenes.

The 1st image was taken with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II and the12-100mm f4.0 IS PRO lens with the settings at ISO 200, 34mm, f/4.0, 1/100 sec.

The second image was again taken with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II. I used the 12-100mm f4.0 IS PRO with the ISO 200, 41mm,f/4.0 and 1/640 sec.

Photo Walks – University Campuses

Lately, I have had the privilege to lead photo walks on several university campuses with various camera clubs and camera stores in partnership with Get Olympus. I am naturally drawn to architecture and the opportunity on these photo shoots is amazing. The sites are rich with history and the campuses are so vibrant with the students. Here are a few shots from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), Lehigh University (Bethlehem) and Yale University (Connecticut).

This 1st image at the University of Michigan was taken with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II using the M.Zuiko ED 7-14mm f2.8 PRO lens.The settings were ISO 200, 8 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec.

The 2nd image is Lehigh University. This image was taken with the same camera with the following settings: M. Zuiko ED 8mm F1.8 Fisheye PRO with the following settings: ISO 320, 8mm, f/5.6, 4.0 sec.

The 3rd image is Yale University. This image was taken with the Olympus OM-D E-M 5 Mark II with the M.Zuiko ED 7-14mm f2.8 PRO lens. The settings were ISO 800, 7mm, f/2.8, 1/80 sec.

It’s the Holiday Season

With the holiday season here, the opportunity for great shots increased! I had the chance to visit the amazing Model RR at the Lehigh & Keystone Valley Model Railroad Museum.

Everything here is so lifelike and with this lens I’m able to create beautiful feathered bokeh. This image was shot with the OM-D E-M 1 Mark II using the 17mm f1.2 PRO lens. The settings were ISO 320, 17mm, f/1.2, 1/60 sec.

We also took a Saturday to spend in downtown Bethlehem – always a beautiful city and at Christmas time even more. Here is one of the black and white street photos I took. I took this using the PEN-F camera and the M.Zuiko 17 mm f1.8 Premium lens with the following settings: ISO 800, 17mm, f/9.0, 1/60 sec.

Inside The Photographer’s Mind

This is an interview of me, Frank Smith, with Adorama sharing more about me and my photography journey. Check out this video.

Looking For Olympus Shooters

As an Olympus Visionary, I am encouraged to always be on the lookout for Olympus shooters. Olympus likes to feature Olympus users on their social media channels – especially Instagram.

If you are an Olympus user, especially a new user of Olympus equipment, please send me an email to frank@franksmithphotos.com that I can share with Olympus. You can also use these hashtags on your images when posting:
#getolympus or @getolympus

Upcoming Events

Bethlehem House Contemporary Art Gallery
Opening October 19th- January 16th
http://www.bethlehemhousegallery.com/category

Lehigh Valley Photography Club
February 21, 2019
Lehigh Valley Photography Club

CNPA Annual Meeting
March 7-10, 2019
Presentation, Workshops
Nature Presentation

DeSales University
March 25, 2019

York County Camera Club
March 26, 2019
Architecture Presentation

Westchester Photographic Society
March 29, 2019
Workshop & Photo Walk

Cape May Photo Walk -Architecture & Abstracts
May 6, 2019
Photo walk in town

NECCC Conference
Ju;y 12-14, 2019
Nature Presentation __________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Interested in booking a talk or workshop?
Visit my website by clicking here.

Nov

8 TIPS FOR CAPTURING FAMILY HOLIDAY SCENES

By Frank T. Smith 4 Comments

Categories: Photography
Tags: Christmas, Family, Holiday, Holiday Card, Holiday Scene, Olympus, Photo, Photograph, Photography, Winter

Whether you’re trying to create the ultimate holiday card, or capturing a special photo that speaks to the joy in your life, keep these simple tips in mind this holiday season.

1. SET THE STAGE

Plan for your props, test the environment and adjust the background accordingly ahead of time. Shooting outside? Take advantage of local holiday venues and try to find locations with good lighting opportunities

OM-D E-M1 Mark II | M.Zuiko 12-40mm F2.8 PRO| 1/50sec | F2.8 | ISO1600

2. BE PREPARED

In order to get the appropriate lighting and depth of field correctly I typically will shoot the area prior to adding the subjects (kids and dogs). In this particular instance, I set my camera at ISO 200 at 50 mm (I00 mm which is 35 mm equivalent).

3. KNOW YOUR SUBJECT

When you are shooting with toddlers, remember that your window is short and that sensitivity to pre- or post nap is important. Don’t plan around your schedule – plan around theirs and always plan for snacks. Keep in mind that even though you planned for the day, toddlers can decide that running and falling (creating a goose egg on their forehead) is not their concern – but now yours. Regardless, get the shot and then work on the goose egg in post processing!

4. DON’T FLY SOLO

You need to enlist support of family or friends who both your subjects will respond to. You will need as many hands as possible.

See a before and after, having removed the bump from her forehead.

5. FOCUS ON WHAT’S IMPORTANT

Use defused artificial light source when natural light is not an option. Not only do you need your camera (with flash – indoors) but you may also want to use a reflector to capture light in shadow areas. For this shot, I used one on camera flash with a modifier and a reflector positioned low to the ground in order to get even light distribution.

6. ADD LIGHT

7. BE NIMBLE, TAKE LOTS OF PHOTOS

Take photos using multiple poses and angles – even if though they may or may not reflect your planned final result. You may be surprised! Be nimble and quick – take as many shots as your subjects (in this case a dog and toddler) will tolerate, adjusting positioning and lighting as you go. With this shoot I had many great takes with just the toddler so I decided to make an additional gift of a “triptych” image of 3 great poses.

8. PERSONALITY, NOT PERFECTION

Remember, perfection of the subjects is not the goal – moreover seeing the personalities come through should be your aim.

This post is taken from the Olympus Learning Center Page. “Click here for a link to the original content”

Feb

Niagara Falls

By Frank T. Smith 5 Comments

Categories: Photography
Tags: Canada, Helicopter, Ice, Ice Formations, Landscape, New York, Niagara, NiagaraFalls, NY, Olympus, OM-D E-M1 MkII, Photo, Photograph, Photography, Snow, Waterfall, Waterfalls, Winter

As many of you know, I enjoy photographing waterfalls. But, I never photographed the infamous Niagara. Last year I had the opportunity to do so. I was also fortunate to arrange some shots from a helicopter. However, I wanted to schedule my visit during a time frame when it would be the least crowded. So I picked February, assuming it would be extremely cold. Luck would have it, that the temps reached into the 60 + degree Fahrenheit range. The good news was that the preceding weeks were all below freezing and there was still plenty of snow and ice around. All of the images were shot with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 MkII. Be forewarned, if you view the video clips and you are susceptible to motion sickness, the second clip might cause you some discomfort.

Jan

Glen Onoko Falls

By Frank T. Smith 3 Comments

Categories: Photography
Tags: Carbon County, Glen Onoko, Glen Onoko Falls, Hike, Hiking, Landscape, Olympus, OM-D E-M1 MkII, PA, Pennsylvania, Photo, Photograph, Photography, Snow, Winter

Last week I ventured up to the frozen Glen Onoko Falls in Carbon County, Pa. It was incredibly beautiful. But incredibly difficult. Once you went past the first set of falls, the trail turned into a sheet of ice. It would have been almost impossible had it not been for the boot chains I had.

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.

Feb

Winter’s Chill

By Frank T. Smith Closed

Categories: Photography
Tags: Jacobsburg State Park, Landscape, M. Zuiko 7-14mm f2.8 PRO, Olympus, OM-D E-M1 MkII, Photo, Photograph, Photography, Snow, Winter

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).

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

Hopewell Furnace

By Frank T. Smith 2 Comments

Categories: Photography
Tags: Architectural, architecture, blast furnaces, Furnace, Historic, Hopewell, Hopewell Furnace, Industrial, Iron Plantation, National Historic Site, Olympus, OM-D E-M1 MkII, Photo, Photograph, Photography, Urban Decay, Vintage, Winter

Hopewell Furnace is a restored iron plantation built in 1771 and is a national historic site located in Berks County, PA. I have always been intrigued by this place. As a young boy, I remember my parents taking me here. I have photographed this place before, but never in the middle of winter. The day was very cold and filled with periodic rain, sleet & snow. Not the ideal conditions for a photoshoot, except that it is great for not having many people in your pictures. All of the images were shot with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II.

Jan

Fly Like an Eagle

By Frank T. Smith 4 Comments

Categories: Photography
Tags: Birds, Conowingo, Conowingo Dam, Eagle, Eagles, Fauna, Maryland, Olympus, OM-D E-M1 MkII, Photo, Photograph, Photography, Winter

I made a quick morning run down to the Conowingo Dam on the lower Susquehanna River. I wanted to try out the new Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II with the M.Zuiko ED 300mm f4.0 IS PRO paired with the 1.4x Teleconverter MC-14. This gives me the focal equivalent of 840mm. All of the images were shot handheld at a shutter speed between 1/1250 and 1/1600 sec. and ISO’s of 200 to 2500. The camera outperformed all of my expectations.