Exp: 1/640 @ f/4.0, ISO 100
Gear: Canon 40D, 70-200F4L IS @ 144mm, 25mm ext. tube

Exp: 1/160s @ f/4.0, ISO 100
Gear: Olympus E-P1, Leica 50mm Summicron

This was taken at North Chagrin Reservation. There was an area right in the parking lot full of bluets so I spent about an hour shooting different angles.  This is my favorite.  Proof you don’t have to go far to find a photograph.

Exp: 1/2s @ f/8, ISO 200
Gear: Canon 40D, 17-55F2.8 EF-S @38mm, tripod, remote release

I took a day and stopped in Yosemite National Park on a recent business trip.  Only having a day decided I’d make the most of my time. I started along the upper part of the park making my way down to the valley for lunch. After a short hike I drove up to glacier point for sunset. This shot is the last one I made long after the sun had set. Everyone was heading back to their car but I was still shooting. A couple stopped me and ask what I was doing and after showing them the back of the camera they said. We didn’t even notice the beautiful colors. One thing photography has taught me is to slow down and notice things that are happening.  Especially to be sensitive to the light.

Exp: 1/50s @ f/5.6, ISO250
Gear: Olympus E-P1, Leica 50mm f/2.0

A lot of people write about “zooming with your feet” and tell you to go out an buy prime lenses.  Instead of doing this I thought I’d explain my experience using prime lenses.  The major advantage I get with using prime lenses is visualization.  I know that at a certain distance from a subject it is a certain size.  From experience I know how the frame will drop around that subject when I bring the viewfinder up to my eye.  This makes for a much more fluid process of making images.  There isn’t any fiddling around with the zoom ring to try to include or exclude portions of the image to frame it like you saw it.  So when I see the image its very easy to adjust the exposure and capture the frame.  I didn’t have to look around the viewfinder to look for things sneaking in on an edge or for some funny merger ruining the image.  I’ve captured what I saw and can bring that back the viewer.

My other thought is that it feels much more natural to shoot with a prime lens.  Which makes sense because our eyes are fixed focal length.  As we move around the world we change our perspective on an object.  Shouldn’t we do the same when we are photographing?

Here’s a little activity just to see how you’re really using your zoom lenses.  Go through your images and see what focal lengths you are actually using.  This may surpise you, it was a surpise to me.  Even though I have an infinite number of choices along the zoom range of a lens most of my shots were taken at either the widest setting or the most telephoto setting.  How is this for you?

Exp: 1/80s @ f/2.0, ISO 100
Gear: Olympus E-P1, Leica 50mm f2

We’ve had some relief from the rain here in Cleveland for a few days so I’ve been able to get out and enjoy the nice fall color we’ve had this year.  As it happens many times this shot was taken after my primary subject, tinkers creek gorge, wasn’t all that spectacular.  So I turned around and started walking down along the road.  It wasn’t long until a came across this bundle of leaves sticking out away from everything else.  I knew this would make a great subject for the short depth of field of this lens.  I’m quite happy with how this lens renders the transition and bokeh.  Because this lens is mounted to the E-P1 using a mechanical adapter it operates completely manual.  You might think this is a downside I find having manual control over the aperture and the focus makes using the E-P1 a very different but rewarding experience.   Since I have independent dials for focus, aperture, and shutter (wheel on back of camera) I can make changes by touch.   This kind of control allows the camera to melt away and I can concentrate on making images.

Exp: 1/125 sec, f/8.0, ISO 100
Gear: Olympus E-P1, 14-42mm @ 19mm

Well I’m back relaxing in the hotel after a 3 day kayaking trip on the lakes around Saranac Lake, NY.  Since we were kayaking I wanted to keep my photography equipment to a minimum, at least that what I’m telling myself, it was just an excuse to put the E-P1 through it’s paces.  So I threw the E-P1 in a medium sized SealLine Padded Storm Sack dry bag that I picked up at the outfitter and start paddling.

The E-P1 takes some getting use to after using a DSLR.  I probably need both hands to count the number of times I tried to put it up to my eye to find there wasn’t a viewfinder.  Do I miss the viewfinder? Not really the live histogram more than makes up for it.  It really allows me to nail the exposure.  I was going through the images in Lightroom and I’m expecting my normal test shots for a given subject as I’m dialing in the exposure and I find only one perfectly exposed image in it’s place.

The above image is no exception I had the camera set to manual mode and framed it how I wanted and just dialed the shutter speed up until the bright part of the clouds just kissed the red highlight section of the histogram.

All and all it was a great trip I got some good shots but also missed some shots. Mostly due to a combination of shooting from a bobbing kayak and learning how to use a new camera.  The E-P1 is a winner in my book, it has good image quality, handling, and features in compact package.  I’m pretty sure it will become my camera of choice on future kayak/backpack/or other assorted outdoor adventures.

South rim of the Grand Canyon

Gear: Canon 40D, 17-40F4L @ 21mm
Exp: 1/800s @ F/8.0, ISO 200, CPL

On a recent road trip across the country I had a chance to stop at the Grand Canyon for the first time. I didn’t have too much time there but the above shot was my favorite shot of the set. Unfortunately the time of day wasn’t the best for shooting so I had to do some work to add contrast and definition to the far side of the canyon and compensate in the sky for the dynamic range. The person standing on the ledge in the left of the image give perspective and scale, you may need to click the image for a larger version to see them.

Exp: 1/3sec @ F4.0, ISO 200
Gear: Canon 5D mkII, 70-200F4L @ 145mm

While here in California I was able to spend time in the Muir Woods National Monument.  Since I visited the park during the week I pretty much had the park to myself for the first 2 hours that it was open.  Confined to the the trails it was hard to make wide angle shots of the trees so I focused on picking out details.  Found this group of branches hanging low enough to set it against the trunk of these other trees.  I just had to shift down until the spaces between the trees were closed.  I converted it to black and white to bring out the texture and light in the image.  If you are ever in the San Francisco area and have an hour to kill you should definitely head out to Muir Woods.

Exp: 1/3s @  f/22.0 , ISO 100
Gear: Canon 5D mkII, 70-200F4L @70mm w/ ND filter

This will be a quick post as I’m headed to the airport to drop my rental car off. But I wanted to share an image from the other day.

Exp: 2.5sec @ f/11, ISO 100
Gear: Canon 40D, 17-40F4L @ 17mm, CPL, 0.9ND

Well after two days of snow and about 8 or so inches later, I figured I’d venture out and do some shooting.  I only had about an hour of light left after going to a great photography exhibition at the Brecksville Center for the Arts.  They are featuring 6 photographers from the Cleveland Photographic Society.

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