A photograph is a photograph

So, on Tuesday we visited the gallery of Jim Brandenburg in Ely, MN. It was a treat to see so many great pictures. The last time I saw an exhibition of his work was for his "Chased by the light" book over at the U of M many years ago.

However, I did see something there that sort of disturbed me. There was a selection of his photographs that had been reproduced as Giclee prints on canvas so they took on the look of an oil painting. Now you're quite welcome to disagree with me but a photograph is a photograph. It shouldn't masquerade as an oil painting. No matter how much the subject matter looks like it could be an oil painting.

Just my twopenn'orth

Reflections (part 2)

Sorry, that title sounds like a Kenny G instrumental...
I just realised I haven't publicly reflected on the first month of the picture a day project.
I bored the folks at the mu-43 forum with some thoughts about it but now I've had a few more days to reflect a bit more.
There were good times and bad times.
Incredible highs when I produced a picture that received a positive reaction even though I thought I was aimlessly messing about. Then there was the lowest of lows when faced with the choice of cheating on myself and submitting a picture from a previous day I submitted something taken on the day despite how dull it was. I'd say that 95% of the time I've been happy with the shots I've taken.
Do I have some favourites? The woodpecker holes in the tree are a particlaur favourite as I'd never seen such a thing up close. What with April being a month filled with great weather I got outside a lot more and got to photograph a lot of nature. Which is not anything I've done before. Many of the shots I feel would be better served by having a macro lens but you can't have everything. That's not to say I don't like my flower shots. I'm proud of all of them. I'm just being overly picky I suppose.
If I've learned on thing from this first month it's more about nature than the craft of photography. Because I've never actually walked around and really looked at flowers and trees and seen how they are growing and blooming. Like when I was following the flowering cherry for a week.
So what does the future hold? How long will I be able to keep going? Who knows. Carrying a camera is easy for me. Seeing the picture is pretty easy too. I hope I have the time to keep going for another month and longer.

Some reflections

I've had the camera for some 6 weeks now and completed a month of pictures for my picture a day project. So its time to sit and reflect a while.
Firstly the camera. I couldn't be happier with it. I'm now getting used to the controls and the small 3-way control dial that seemed so small when I first got the camera doesn't seem all that bad. In fact I can quite easily change settings while looking in the viewfinder.
Oh the viewfinder. It's a gem. I'd be lost without it. Several times on the p.a.d. project I've found myself in situations where setting the camera up made using a conventional camera quite awkward. With the EVF I just tilt it and bingo! Viewing is easier.
I've spent the first 6 weeks exclusively using the 14-42mm lens. Pictures are sharp colours are great. It's an excellent lens.
Two weeks ago I uploaded firmware 1.1 to the camera and did notice an improvement in the performance with the autofocus.
I've now added the Panasonic 45-200 lens to my outfit and though I've not had much chance to use it yet, the results seem pretty good, certainly sharp. The one thing I have noticed with it though is the sluggish autofocus in dull conditions. The duller the light the slower it gets. Is this all down to the lens or is some of this to do with the camera? I don't know. But the lens is certainly fit for purpose, witness the picture from May 1st.
So six weeks in I can't complain. I'm taking some pretty good pictures. Though I do miss not having a swish looking DSLR strapped around my neck. But then I think how heavy that would be and I don't miss it anymore.

Don't you hate it when that happens?

I like running. It's good for me. It keeps my Doctor off my back.
Strangley I like running marathons too. You can't beat the feeling you get when you cross the finish line after 26 point 2 miles.
Training works well for me as when I'm out running I often look around to see if there's anything that would make an interesting picture.
Today it happenned. I saw one. A total and utter belter of a scene that grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and yelled in my face.
"TAKE A PICTURE OF ME!"
The lighting and the colours were perfect. But of course it's hard to carry a camera around your neck when you run. It was in my bag by my desk.
So I'll return to the scene after work but of course by then the light will have changed and the scene will have lost its magic.
Perhaps tomorrow...

First impressions

This post isn't a review just a set of observations after my first shots (115) with it.

I think it's fair to say that I like this camera a lot.

There's a lot to like. Lightweight, small and easy to carry and handle.

Like all Olympus cameras that I've had before, the operation seems quite intuitive. The instruction manual did seem somewhat complicated at first. But after a few minutes working out the control dials, operation seemed to come quite easily to me.

There's eight modes. Yes eight, perhaps that's needlessly complicated. But I'll endeavour to try them all. Except perhaps the HD video. I've already got a HD video camera thank you very much.

This last weekend I shot nearly all the pictures in P (Program - fully automatic) mode. I think the pictures show that it works very well like that. I also used the iAUTO function that automagically selects the right scene mode, i.e Landscape, Portrait, Macro etc; depending on what you focus on. Line up a shot on the Duluth waterfront, it picked landscape. Pan over to the wife and close in on her face, it picked portrait. I've no idea how it does it, it just does.

On top of that you've also got 4 different formats you can set the sensor to. The standard four thirds format 4:3. You can change it to 6:6 square format (looking forward to trying that out.) 3:2 more traditional film proportions and 16:9 the widescreen format, my other favourite.

That, is as far as I've got so far. There's a whole load of flash modes, film speeds, art filters and whoknowswhat in there to discover yet. Quite how a proper camera reviewer can cover it all is quite beyond me.

I love the VF-2 electronic viewfinder, it's so bright and clear. I wouldn't have bought the camera if that wasn't available. I abhor LCD screens on cameras. It definitely makes the camera look like an old rangefinder camera with that viewfinder on.

What don't I like?

I can only find two things so far. I find the main control dial in the camera back a tad too small at the moment. There's a rotary dial, a four way button and a single button on it and as yet my fingers aren't used to it. It's easy to change to a different function when you are trying to change one function.

The other thing? I know LCD monitors are useful to review shots you've taken. But I just seem to cover this one with fingerprints. So I'll have to find one of those iPhone screen protector thingies and put it on the LCD screen. My E-1 actually had a plastic shield over its LCD screen.

So, half day off work tomorrow, looking forward to trying the camera out again.

An explanation

"So what's it mean then? Is my Pen mightier? Mightier than what?"
Not an unreasonable question really. The title is a bit of an obtuse play on words. Wether obtuse means good or bad is yet to be decided.
Anyway we are all familiar with the phrase "The Pen is mightier than the sword." Absolutely stuff all to do with photography though...
But as the camera is known as the "digital Pen" I thought it too good an oportunity to miss, to mangle a well known phrase for my own ends.
So is my pen mightier than what?
Basically the cameras that went before it. My E-20 and my E-1 both were magnificent cameras that I loved to use and when I bought the EP-2 I was concerned that this tiny new camera wouldn't be able to match them with regards to performance and ease of use.
So far these fears are unfounded.