Zuiko and Curtains

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E-30 with Zuiko Digital ED14-35mm F2.0 SWD

35mm, f/2.8, 1/100s, ISO800, -0.3ev

I was lying down under the window, when I noticed the pleats of the curtains providing beautiful abstraction of light rays pounding on soft fabric. I quickly took the shot with my camera. The surrealism of the curves of light on the fabric gave an eerie effect that I thought was mesmerizing, at least.

A bit of light balancing post-process techniques that included Contrast Masking with Layer Blending mixing providing the tones and hues that I wanted.

The abstraction looks a bit frightening at a quick glance, though.

Zuiko and a River

A river runs through it.

Canon S90, 7.5mm, f/8.0, 1/20s, ISO80

It has been more than 10 years since I visited this small Malay village en-route to Slim River from Tanjong Malim. The water still flows cool and clear. The scene is still beautiful. Nature at its finest.

It was an impromptu visit, and I didn't have my swimming trunk and even the DSLR with me. Luckily, the Canon S90 point-and-shoot was there.

While the IS helped a lot to get low shutter speed to get the water flowing effect while ensuring the image is sharp and crisp, I was not able to get a lower shutter speed to say 1/4s. This was because of the f-stop limitation! The S90 only allowed until F8.0, as this was the theoretical limit before diffraction effect kicked in. Even with ISO80, the shutter speed wouldn't go lower than 1/15s.

Nonetheless, the S90 did a very good job. I got the image as I perceived it to be. That's the bottom line.

Zuiko and Event Shooting Class

Lately I am quite busy with non-photography stuff; thus, the lack of new pictures and even substance for my blog. I am trying to find the time to do some photography, but since January, my weekends are swamped with family commitments.

Nonetheless, my teaching of photography is still on. Next week, I will hold a class on Event Shooting with additional Photoshop session. The 3-day course will be mostly practical as I expect the students to already master the basics of exposure and composition as this will be a very fast ride in advance skills and techniques.

Today is the day I have to submit the learning materials to the training organizer; and I hope all goes well.

Scrambling now....

Zuiko and Birthday Wishes

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Wow... I didn't touch my DSLR for quite a while. Having the S90 in the back pocket did not help the situation at all. But, for this occassion, I had to shoot the DSLR. I knew the S90 won't cut it! My son's birthday was 12 days ago, and I confessed that setting up the DSLR gears took quite a while for me to do!

E-30 with Zuiko Digital ED14-35mm F2.0 SWD
31mm, f/2.8, 1/160s, ISO800, -0.3ev

Making a child happy is the greatest thing any person could do. It's the most wonderful feeling. The moment, the innocence, the cheeriness - everything is shown through their eyes. Seeing and feeling it with him is wonderful, and to capture the right moment is magical.

Birthdays are easily one of the things that make a child happy. Having his friends around him celebrating in joy, the presents, and the fun of it all. To see them mesmerized with the event and immersed with the love is just bliss!

And, make sure the flash batteries are all charged up, coz I forgot mine! Maybe due to the monthlong isolation from serious photography has made me a forgetful photographer. And, somehow without motor drive mode, I managed to get the shot! Talk about luck!

Zuiko and Evolve

Recently, Olympus Malaysia has created a website titled http://www.evolve.com.my/. There was some hype in Facebook and Mychiarosuro.net websites.

9 days to evolve? Hmmmm...

There's rumor everywhere on the unveiling of the new E-5, or even a new line of E.. the E-700 series. No matter what it is, I really hope this will be something that is really, really good for us Fourthirds users.

Nonetheless, I have a feeling it's not for the Fourthirds... I am guessing it's for the microFourthirds E-PL1 camera. This is considering the expected launching of the E-PL1 in March 2010.

Ah well... let's wait and see.

Zuiko and a Self-Portrait

A simple self portrait I did with the E-30 camera and the Zuiko Digital ED7-14mm F4.0 lens.

I used a two-light source, main at high point, fill at low point; with self portrait composed using real-time Live View screen and triggered with a wireless remote.

I tried to do a macho look, so-called a self-portrait of the ultimate maleness in myself. Hmmm... I think I didn't do quite a good job.

The thing is, when I was doing this, I solely relied on two features in self-portrait shooting. 1. The remote trigger, in this case the usage of the RM-1 remote trigger. 2. The flippable LCD, in this case I used the LCD screen flipped facing me so that I can compose myself into the frame (this was done in full Live View mode).

Oh yeah, I used full TTL shooting with the Olympus wireless flash system; with the main using FL-50R and fill using FL-36R. The E-30 was mounted on the Manfrotto 709b table tripod for a very low angle shot.

Well, these feature made shooting self-portrait much easier. But, it still did not solve the problem that I was not a very good model.

Ah well....

Zuiko ED50mm F2.0 Macro

I love this lens. It serves 3 purposes. And it is small too, just mere 300 grams or so.

Firstly, it's a macro lens. Based on the specification, it can do 1:2 magnification. Roughly means, it can frame up to 36mm by 27mm. That's quite a good magnification, considering the size matches a Full Frame 135 size sensor.

Secondly, it's a fast lens. The F2.0 maximum aperture ensures its capability to shoot in low light scenes. The above shot is rated at EV2, or F2.0, 1/20s, ISO2000. Typically EV2 is like shooting a total eclipse of the moon. That's low light!

Thirdly, it's a portrait lens. It has a telephoto angle of view similar to 100mm in 135 format. The bokeh of this lens is excellent, along with the razor sharp performance. It may pose a problem with skin details, but better be sharp than blur.

Well, there's no perfect lens. Optically, this lens is flawless - no problems in matching the Zuiko Digital ED14-35mm f2.0 and ED35-100mm f2.0 twin zooms. However, the 50mm lens suffers with Auto Focus performance. Unlike the 35-100mm lens that has a focus limiter, the 50mm does not have it. And considering it is a macro lens, the focus performance can be a real nightmare. Miss focus, and it will travel to and fro such a long focus range that is highly annoying.

Despite this one flaw, I love this lens.