Fundy SOS - Album Design Software, Online Album Proofing, Work Flow Software, Photography Pricing Software » Shooting

Can the EP-2 Be a Pro Camera?

"Fundy" — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 04:24:03 +0000

It’s official, I’ve sold off my last DSLR and 35mm lens. The only “high end” camera I own is the Olympus EP-2 along with the 20mm 1.7 and 45mm 2.8 (remember, Micro 4/3 cameras have a 2X lens factor). Today, I took that little baby out on the town to see what it could do. Just for fun, I set myself up with some constraints. I only shot in manual, only used the two lenses listed above. Additionally, just for something different I only shot in 1:1 and 9:16 panorama format. After shooting in 2:3 ratio for so long, I want something a bit different, a bit fun. For me square format means those old Hasselblads that I could never figure out how to use. The 9:16 ratio has something about it. With all of the wide screen TVs, widescreen cinemas, and panoramic cameras out, the format really interests me. Exposure Shooting in manual is sooo easy with this little thing. While the electronic viewfinder seems a bit odd at first, the bonus is that you have a live histogram all of the time. Just watch the histogram fall into place as you adjust the aperture or shutter speed. Getting proper exposure is pretty much a 100% guarantee. Manual Focus One of the bonuses of shooting with the EP-2, is that whenever you adjust the manual focus ring, the viewfinder auto 7x or 10x zooms in. So, you have a mega close up of where you are focusing. It works like a charm. I did have a few shots out of focus due to moving around after focusing. User error. But, when it is on, the focus is on. Quality Overall, the quality looks incredible. Is it on par with a high end DSLR? No, of course not, the sensor is half the size. But, as you can see, the clarity is far from in this 100% crop. This image was actually taken with the 1:1 ratio option, so I didn’t even use the full frame. As a test, I did a vertical crop at 5:4 and did some quick test prints at Costco. The 16×20 looks incredible. Absolutely no issues at all. It is sharp as a tack. The 20×30 print, lost a little resolution, but at arms length, in a frame, you would be hard pressed to find any fault with it. Some More Shots Here are the rest of the shots from the day. I hope you enjoy them. Fundy

DSLR, a Tape Measure and America

"Fundy" — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:49:36 +0000

This Levi’s ad was created with a Canon Mark II and a whole lot of sweat. It really is amazing what you can create with very little. These guys drove across America and in 14 days created this Ad. It really is amazing. For the behind the scenes check out this Video.

Tip of the Week – Cool HDR "Look" without the HDR

"Fundy" — Thu, 06 May 2010 19:37:33 +0000

One of the new super cool features in CS5 is the HDR Image Toning. It let’s you create that cool HDR ‘look’ with just one image. Last week we did a great shoot out in Yamhill, Oregon and I was able to use my 14-24 2.8 for some amazing shots. It thought it would be a great test for the HDR. As you can see in the Pre-HDR and the After HDR, there is a dramatic difference in both the shadows and the highlights. If you see this image at full resolution it is amazing the detail it brings out. It is just amazing. My settings The default HDR settings are good except for Portraits you need to change the following.

Radius – bump up to 200
Strength – 1.3
Vibrance – 13
Saturation – MINUS 4

To access this Toning function, go to Image>Adjustments>HDR Toning. Adobe has a free trial of CS5, give it a whirl.

Shooting in noon-day sun can be a challenge

"Fundy" — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 04:36:12 +0000

Let’s face it, shooting at noon on a sunny day, pretty much is one of the worst situations around. Saying it is a challenge is an understatement. Whenever I’ve stuck in noon-day sun, I try to solve the problem with three simple techniques. 1. Find open shade. Open shade is where the couple is in the shade, but light is still hitting them from the sky. In the photo on the left, the sun is directly above them, but the overhand is shading them. Just above in front of them is blue sky. The blue sky without the direct sun, gives a nice soft light to shoot with. Backlight. In the second shot, the couple has their back to the sun. This is really easy to do. You’ll want to meter off of the faces and shoot in manual mode. I don’t care how awesome your camera is, it will under expose in this situation. Once you have the exposure down, just shoot and shoot an shoot. The bonus with back lighting women is that the highlights in their hair look just incredible. Fill Flash – This is my least favorite technique. The basic fundamental is put your flash on -1.5 or so and shoot away. This will work in most situations. In the third photo, I really wanted to bring out the background colors, so I did something a bit different. I metered off the couple’s faces and bumped my exposure DOWN about 2 stops. Then had my flash on normal TTL. This produced some very dynamic colors. Thank you for your time and happy shooting. Fundy Fundy is the creator of Fundy SOS and creator of Mobile Fotographer.