Flight From Callahan County

I have been an Olympus/OM System micro four thirds user for many years. I love the format, cameras and lenses for many reasons, including the small size, light weight and quick automatic focus. But I also enjoy photographing some subjects with third-party, manual-focus primes on my Olympus E-M5 and E-M1, taking me back to the days of shooting film with less-sophisticated cameras. But the manual-focus primes are best for portraits and still-life shots, not for anything involving action. My first venture into the manual-focus lens world was an adapted used and cheap lens from an old Olympus film camera. Not satisfied with the speed, I stepped up to a new and expensive Voigtlander Nokton f0.95 17.5mm lens.  The robust lens produced images with a unique character, which I loved. The well-built he lens was big and heavy, which I did not like. It was like a having military tank mounted on the front of the camera.  Here's a shot from the lens, stylized to give it a black and white fi...

 Using texture overlays is a great way to add character and flair to the final processing of some images. Traditional processing cannot produce the eye-catching distinction achieved with the superimposition of a texture onto a digital photograph. You can produce your own textures by photographing interesting natural textures, but there are many sources of textures online, too. So, why spend time re-inventing the wheel when it's already rolling for you. Shot of a pool with a Texture Bite added. My favorite online source is the Texture Bites package from Photomorphis. Each Bite design comes as a four-layer Photoshop file. Three layers are textures, and the other layer is used to direct placement of your original file within with the texture files. Antique International Harvester Roadster shot at the National Automobile Museum. Texture Bites brings distinction to this image. Open your image in your photo editor capable of handling layers. Then open the Texture Bites file and copy all ...

 A few months ago I did a bit of camera and lens trading/buying to return to the basics of the micro four thirds format: smaller is better. I acquired a very good, used Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III camera and an excellent-condition Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 17mm f1.8 lens. E-M5 iii with M.Zuiko Digital 17mm f1.8 and Olympus LH-48B lens hood. The used lens, introduced in December 2012, actually came with an Olympus-branded lens hood. Now that I am a "senior" -- old -- and use a cane for walking, I need to have my camera attached to a neck strap, often shooting with one hand. This combination is perfect for that. The 17mm is now my "normal" lens. Cropped image shot with the M.Zuiko 17mm f1.8 on E-M5 iii. I sold my Panasonic Lumix DG Summilux 12mm f1.4, which I acquired soon after it was released in 2016. It is one of the best prime lenses in the MFT lineup, but it was just too bulky and heavy for an old man to deal with. Replacing it was the M.Zuiko Digital 12mm f2.0. Bot...

 Just figure me as an oddball. I don't subscribe to the Olympus micro four thirds trinity of prime lenses: 17mm f1.2 PRO, 25mm f1.2 PRO and 45mm f1.2 PRO, even though I desire the beautiful depth of field achieved with primes. These fast, weather-sealed, expensive lenses produce images with feathery bokeh and cover the slightly-wide, normal and portrait ranges. But the high prices and angles of view are not quite right for my needs. Plus packing all three of these glass-heavy lenses is less than ideal for traveling. Despite the steep price, I purchased the Olympus M.Zuiko 25mm f/1.2 PRO -- the normal view -- soon after it was released, replacing my slower M.Zuiko 25mm f1.8.  The f1.2 PRO works well on my Olympus E-M1 III camera and my Olympus PEN-F if a third-party grip is attached for better balance. The field of view of the Oly 25mm Pro is 47-degrees, arguably close to that of a human eye. By the time of this purchase, I had established the f-stop of 1.4 as the fastest neede...

 I have just discovered an image app that may completely replace and streamline my photo editing workflow. It's Pixelmator Pro 2.3 Abracadabra , just released earlier this week. Pixelmator's graphic, introducing the latest version of this Mac-only image editing app. Making the transition to a Mac from Windows a few years ago, I stuck with the traditional multi-platform image editing software when I moved to my new system. I found alternatives to Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, but they were all available for Windows, too. I saw an occasional reference to Pixelmator, but paid little attention because it was Mac only. Little attention until I recently watched a YouTube video  by Austin photographer Jim Nix. I purchased Pixelmator Pro a few days ago at a Black Friday sale price of about $16 USD. Normally the price is $39.99 USD, still a bargain for this powerful application. Layers-based Pixelmator Pro does all that most amateur photographers need and most of what all enthusiast a...

I have found the replacement for my Olympus 75-300mm MFT lens. It's an adapted vintage four-thirds Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 50-200mm f2.8-3.5 SWD lens. The Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 50-200mm f2.8-3.5 SWD with Four Thirds MMF-3 adapter on my Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III. The release of the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 100-400mm F5.0-6.3 IS for the micro four thirds system several months ago seemed to be the solution for my need to move up to a longer lens for flower and bird photography. The reviews have been good and the test images I have seen are impressive. However, the $1,500 USD price is a little bit expensive for my budget. I had been using the  Olympus M.Zuiko 75-300mm F/4.8-6.7 ii for several years. It is light-weight, auto-focus is quick, keepers are very sharp, and I can hand-hold throughout its focal range. However, I have often wished for a little longer reach, and the bokeh in shots with defocused background is very unpleasant. Back when an Olympus OM-D E-M5 was my pri...

ON1 Software’s non-destructive raw photo converter/editor, Photo RAW 2020, is now in public beta with the official release scheduled for next month. I have been using this software for several versions now, and the latest release has some impressive features. Here are the most useful changes I have found: First, the presets in the Browser are either brand new or remodeled previous offerings. After selecting a preset, there’s a slider for controlling the intensity without having to open the Effects module. The black and white film presets appear to have been reworked and much better than those in RAW 2019. Second, the Develop module in much improved. The Auto button does a better job of balancing the contrast in a troublesome image without blowing the highlights. There’s an AI Match option that shows you to change to the look of the image you saw in the camera EVF when you took the picture. After choosing either Auto or AI Match, a master-control slider change...

I buy lens caps by the two- or three-pack because I lose so many. They fall off the lens while stored in the camera bag. They fall off while stored on the shelf. They fall off – and then down through the drain grate – while walking down the street. They fall off – and then roll into a bottomless canyon – while hiking through the mountains. They fall off – and then into the ocean – while on a whale-watching tour. Lens caps should be sold by the bag like cookies. Not only do I lose lens caps, I break them. If a lens cap falls onto rock, concrete or asphalt, the plastic shatters or cracks. If the plastic survives the plummet, the locking mechanism is damaged. Part of my problem may be related to my choice of camera system. I switched to Olympus micro four thirds cameras soon after they were introduced by Olympus and Panasonic in 2008 because of the smaller size and weight. The kit-lens zooms and the early primes came with clip-on lens caps. When I attached thir...