During the rainy season here in Arizona it pays to keep a camera nearby and one eye peeled for the ever-changing weather conditions. I was at dinner and noticed a rain shower passing by and thought I’d better go scope it out. I had the Lumix FZ1000 with me when I checked outside to find this rainbow (trying to double-up) from the deck at Sound Bites Grill.
Working on a double rainbow over the red rocks of Sedona
I used the Panorama Mode to capture the entire rainbow. With the FZ1000 I had to make a few passes for this scene because there was nt a lot of detail in the sky for the software to see and stitch. I was wishing for the Lumix GX8 or the G7 as they have new stitching that does a better job in situations like this. The FZ1000 has so many easy options it’s hard not to make it your carry around camera. Next time I’ll grab one of the others and my small Think Tank Mirrorless Mover 20 bag with a couple lenses to add a few more options…
I should also have captured a series of RAW images for later stitching in Photoshop or Autopano Pro. Next time.
Times are changing in image capture. In the latest cameras put out by Panasonic it’s easier than ever to capture action. 4K photo mode allows you to capture up to 30 frames per second video that allows you to pull 8 MP stills. There’s even one mode that allows you to capture 1 second of action, 30 frames, abefore you press the shutter. So you can see something start to happen and still get the moment! Lumix GX8 and Lumix G7. Check out this quick video for details…
Started out to be a beautiful morning. Up at 5:20AM to catch a flight to Nashville for my speaking and judging gig for the Tennessee Professional Photographers Association. Flight is 7:35 lift off… Err not so much. Maintenance issues called for the plane to not be in service…
So when do we anticipate our new flight? 10AM. Bummer!
Well work on tweaks to the program, answer emails and check some forums on the web.
The flight actually took off a bit later than anticipated about 10:30AM but before we boarded the plane they announced that everyone would receive a $100 travel voucher good until a year from now.
It’s appreciated.
I personally don’t want a plane in the air that’s not ready to go so I say fix that bad boy!
This is the first time I’ve flown Southwest Airlines in many years and I was impressed. I’ll be back.
Got word that the Lumix call center has been receiving a number of calls from people who are confused about which SD cards are recommended for which models. In the past “Class 10” were regarded as the fastest out there. The link below shows the speed of each type of card.
Most important numbers to look for when choosing an SD Card for cameras. The write speed.
Also, most people are not aware that SD cards have three speed ratings – Read, Write and Copy. The fastest speed, usually quoted, is the READ speed. The WRITE speed is the important one to consider when selecting a card.
This time of year Arizona can lay out a pretty nice palette for us to enjoy. It’s called monsoon season and thunderheads will pop up in the afternoon and put on a show. I gather all kinds of cloud formations for use in my artwork. I decided to challenge the Lumix G7 (new baby brother to the GH4) to see how well it could do in capturing some panoramic photos of the sky in camera. In the past I’ve found that sometimes the lack of definition in sky scenes made it difficult and I would find stitching errors there occasionally. So I shot some soft cloud formations and some harder edged formations and here’s what happened…
I really thought that the camera might have problems with the lack of definition with this panoramic cloud capture. No problem at all!
Overall did a great job on this one. There was one small area on the left that I had to look hard to find a small stitching error that was easily rectified with the Patch Tool from Adobe Photoshop
Here was another that had an error. It was off to the right and was in the transition area from bright clouds to very dark clouds. After a quick crop this is what’s left.
And, not to forget that the camera can create panoramas in different directions. No stitch errors on this or about 10 other files I let the G7 create.
My overall thoughts on the new panorama stitching in the G7 gets high marks. I always recommend using good camera technique. I point my body to the direction where I want to end up. Then using stomach muscles turn back to the start of the panorama and slowly pivot using the stomach to make the movement to capture the image. If it is a very important pano I will always shoot it several times just in case. Many times an in camera stitching error can be traced to operator error of not capturing the scene smoothly. Even though you can play back the panoramic image at a larger size on the camera you might miss small errors that wouldn’t show up in another pass with the camera.
And then I felt this warm drippy sensation on my arm…
Yep! If you get underneath seagulls while they are feeding you can be shat upon.
It was interesting shooting video from behind (and under) the birds. In addition to the extra present sent my way I thought it was fun capturing this angle for something a bit different.
As I was working on the Lumix GH4 4K files I saw some still frames I want to extract to to experiment with in creating some art pieces. Since I was shooting the video in 4K I’ll be able to pull 8MP still frames. Now I wasn’t shooting in 4K Photo Mode so the frames will have some movement in them which is what I like about them. If I was to capture in the Photo Mode the shutter speed would have been automatically increased in order to make sure there was no ‘Rolling Shutter” in the still frames.
Seagulls in Sarasota, Florida video.
Lots of fun to be had with the new tools that keep coming our way!
For infrared conversion of my cameras I use LifePixel. Infrared allows you to put an older camera to use and opens up a new time time of day for productive image creation.
Fotopro tripods are well worth checking out. You can learn about the ones I use and recommend by clicking on the Fotopro Tripods link at the top of this page. If you want to see what other tripods might fit your needs check out the Fotopro.com website. Check back with me before you buy as a Fotopro Ambassador I’m able to get you discounted pricing including complementary continental USA shipping for my followers that you won’t find through retail outlets.
Learn Photoshop in a fun environment. Aaron Nace applies the right amount of fun with easy to understand and follow tutorials. Actions and brushes are included with lessons!
Lightning, waterdroplets, sound, time-lapse, HDR sequences, smiles and much more control for your camera!
Cameras Get Smarter -
A High Speed Smart Camera Remote
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Platypod has become a great resource for being creative in getting your camera gear easily into unusual places. As an Platypod Pro I get to work/play with the gear even before it comes out. Head over to Platypod, subscribe to the newsletter and you will get special discounts reserved only for subscribers.
