by successfulbob | Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, macro, photography
Getting in close can really change how you can see the world…
But, purpose built macro lenses can get pretty pricey and with the new micro 4/3rds systems still growing it’s selection of lenses I was looking for a way to get in close without breaking the bank. Enter extension tubes. If you use them it allows you to convert any of your lenses to give you a whole new look. There is obviously the traditional extension tube manufaturing company Kenko that run around 180 bucks. I found a similar economy version made by a company called Vello. And they even call it Econo AF Extension Tubes. Since the Econo tubes were only $49.95 I’d thought I’d give them a whirl. Happy to report they work just fine. And, a bonus is that the auto-focus works just fine. With the Lumix GX7 having the view of the image on the screen and being able to set the point of focus exactly where you want it to be.
The kit contains a 10mm and 16mm tubes. You can use them alone or you can stack them for a 26mm extension. Ideally you want to be on a tripod when using extension tubes but if you are really steady and have the camera set at a fast enough shutter speed you can get away with hand holding as I have done here because I was on a trip and left the tripod at home.
Without just a little info you won’t be excited about this photo. The wasp is smaller than the tip of my little finger and the flowers are about the size of the last joint on my little finger.
Captured with the Lumix GX7 and the 35-100 mm f2.8 Vario Lens at 100mm with, I believe, 26mm of extension tubes attached. ISO 400 – f8 at 1/60th sec. Note that the lens was at it’s longest setting in order for the tubes to focus properly. You can’t zoom throughout the entire range on a zoom lens.
I’ll revisit this idea in some future posts as I really like the different perspective you achieve by getting in close. As always if you have any question don’t hesitate to ask or drop a comment on the page.
Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | black & white, fine art photography, landscape photography, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge
Sometimes you just have to play…
I was experimenting with some slow shutter speeds and the ocean. Don’t consider this a finished piece but a sketch of the direction I want to head with this series. I might want to get horizons to line up a bit more maybe not. Probably get the tones to match a bit more… Or maybe not! Sometimes you just have to put things together and live with them for a while… Let me know what you think.
Breakwater on the beach – Rehobeth Beach, Delaware
captured with a Panasonic Lumix GX7 and 12-35 f2.8 Lumix Vario lens. Had a variable neutral density filter added to get a slower shutter speed to allow the water to become more ethereal…
Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | art books, kudos, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, photography books, photography education
Julianne Kost rocks!
Saw her presentation at the Sedona Photofest last week and picked up more ideas for my creative work. She has been an inspiration to me for many years and even seeing her program again I always get fired up about creative imaging all over again.
This post is a salute to Julianne turning a lemon into lemonade. In case you didn’t know she is not a fan of flying. OK maybe that’s a bit to soft. She really is uncomfortable flying. But, as she speaks to image makers all across the country for her job at Adobe flying is a big part of her work. So she chooses to get the best view from 30,000 feet and started capturing and creating interesting images from the air and compiled them into a book called ‘Window Seat’. I got my copy autographed back in 2006 and still pop back into the pages for ideas. In addition to sharing her images she gives some tips, tricks and ideas on how the final images were created using Photoshop.
As I flew across the country this week from Phoenix to Philadelphia I made some photos from my own window seat and share them with you here.
Phoenix from the tarmac while waiting for some crossing traffic.
Phoenix neighborhood… a study in line and form.
It feels like an ocean wave working it’s way over the desert hills.
It was a really good cloud day. Fun shooting them from above for a different perspective.
My images were created using a Lumix GX7 my favorite travel camera using the 35-100mm f2.8 Vario Lens. Julianne suggests a bit wider lens and shooting at f2.8 to make sure the outside of the window does not get in focus. In using the longer lens I was able to isolate and crop in on details as they unfolded. Be aware that as the plane is traveling over 500 MPH if you see something fire the shutter fast or it’s gone. Also don’t tilt the camera too far down as you’ll be shooting through too much glass and get the bottom of your capture blurred.
Order up Julianne’s book. You’ll get lots of ideas and inspiration to find your own personal project turning lemons into lemonade…
Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | black & white, graphic design, landscape photography, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, photography, photography education
I really enjoy the use of this preset on my Lumix GX7.
It’s called Impressive Art. It adds a slight glow to hard contrast lines, saturates and shifts colors and punches up the contrast. I’ve used this with success as is on a few videos for a totally different look. (take a peek at video here)
But my favorite way of using this setting was suggested by my fellow Lumix Luminaries to use Impressive Art but adjust output to Black and White. It gives a very graphic look to the image. I like it and have already used this setting to generate happy clients for my biz.
Here are a few from the canal in Lewes, Delaware. I was enjoying an evening Dogfish IPA at the bar and was attracted to the shadows, lines and reflections on the water… I couldn’t just sit there!
Reflections
Shadows and Line.
Shadows, Line, Reflections.
When using the presets on the camera make sure that you are capturing in jpeg. If you just shoot RAW you will see only the hint of what you thought you were capturing as the camera jpeg disappears when you download it. For the best of both worlds choose to capture in RAW + jpeg. Then you will have the camera settings but also access to all the information presented to the camera so you can do your own processing
by successfulbob | architectural photography, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, photography, photography education, photoshop tutorial
Speaking of Austin, Texas…
Wandered around downtown for a bit. Spent a little time in and around the capitol building. Lots of stunningly beautiful architectural detail. Could probably spend a day or two photographing and still want to come back for more, but I share a couple I was able to snag while there…
Silhouette of the salute to the Terry Rangers. There’s a couple quotes attached of which here’s one, “There’s no danger of surprise when the Rangers are between us and the enemy.”
I think the silhouette of the statue in front of the capitol dome tells more of the story of the place and has more depth than a straight shot of the dome. No my camera sensor is not dirty… Lights attract bugs. Bugs attract bats which is what you see in the sky above the dome.
Texas State capitol building and entry walk in Austin.
The wide view of the capitol building was made combining two exposures out of a 5 exposure sequence made with the Panasonic Lumix GX7. Each image was processed in Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) using the highlight and shadow sliders along with exposure and saturation. Even though the two images were made within milliseconds of each other when I placed one on top of the other there was a tiny registration problem. This can happen even when you have the camera mounted on the tripod so I use the technique below whenever I stack images for blending. Photoshop to the rescue!
Here’s how.
Turn the bottom layer from background layer into Layer Zero. Highlight both layers in the Layers Palette. Under the Edit menu select – Auto Align Layers. Make sure Auto Align is selected in the projection. I leave Vingette Removal and Geometric Distortion unchecked. Depending on the image and lens used you might want to remove Vingette. Click OK. In seconds the layers are perfectly aligned.
Next a mask is added to the top layer and painting with a brush and black chosen as the color allow any parts ot the image below to show through until the blending is to your satisfaction. You might want to save out the file at this point and continue any additional work on a copy of the file. If there was an error made in the masking the mask will still be available for adjustments instead of starting over from scratch.
Tomorrow we’ll go inside the capitol building for a couple photos….
Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | architectural photography, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, photography, photography education
Was in the wonderfully funky town of Austin, Texas this past weekend giving a couple classes at Precision Camera for Panasonic. I broke out my street shooting camera the Lumix GX7 for a little High Dynamic Range work while out and about.
If you have ever photographed neon lights at night you know it’s a subject that screams out for HDR to get the scene to look great. There’s no way to get all that lighting information into an image with a single push of a button. Fortunately, with the GX7’s frame rate I was able to get the exposures hand held as this was grabbed on the fly with no tripod.
Single capture of the Platinum Ink tattoo parlor gives an idea of the range of light in this scene.
If I was shooting this on assignment I would have spent more time and had a tripod, lost the car, rearranged the motorcycle and would have added some more gelled light to the scene to really make this image rock. As it was a little layer work with some masking of the five stop exposure gave me this…
Perhaps if they saw this at the tattoo parlor they might like to have some new images created for their web site next time I am in Austin? If you know pass on this link… We can talk!
Yours in Photography, Bob
