Photographer's Block

It happens to all of us now and again, we tire of the subject matter we are shooting.  The cliche' flower and landscape just loose their substance after a while.  The problem isn't the subject matter, it's the perspective of the photographer.

It's a problem that everyone suffers from and the issue is deeply rooted in the influences around us.  We grow up thinking that the best pictures are those of vivid mountainous landscapes, a winding river, a glowing sunset or a garden full of colorful flowers.  The problem is we all don't have the luxury of having those national geographic 'esq subjects in our backyards and even when we do like everything else the interest fades after a while.

Perspective is key in solving 'Photographer's Block', our limitations are bound only by our imagination, not by the subject matter than stands before us.  For instance, we may take a stroll downtown through a city and take pictures of buildings, monuments, etc.  After a while we become bored with the location after all buildings and the like don't change very often.  So how do we bring fresh subject matter to a location that doesn't change ?  We change perspective: A Building shot in color, is now shot in black and white.  Instead of shooting the building as a whole we instead shoot the windows, the door, or the sign hanging above.  We shoot from  the round looking up, from the side, or an angle.  We shoot a patron smoking right outside the door, or slow down our shutter to capture the movement of traffic in the street.  We change, because sometimes our subjects do not.

Every time we visit a place, we need to look at things with a fresh perspective.  Our eyes and mind are programmed to look at things as a whole complete product, but it's the little things that truly make great subject matter.  When we focus in on a subject, we draw attention to it, we compel the audience and sometimes we tell a story.  When our subject is too complex, we sometime loose our audience to the visual overload being presented.  Do yourself a favor the next time you visit your proven, but worn hunting grounds - look at things you didn't look at before, attempt to shoot things that you would normally pass by - you will not only overcome 'Photographer's Block', but you will also become a better photographer. 

Alone

Dead Dog Saloon

The Pier

No Flash Required

It's probably the biggest complaint I have read about on forums: the EP-1's lack of internal flash.   For some people (especially those migrating from a P&S), flash is a critical element of the camera.  For me, the lack of an internal flash turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  Learning to use the camera under natural lighting conditions and taking full advantage of the respected high ISO performance of the EP-1 has allowed me to produce some of my best work to date.

No Flash Required ( Tips & Tricks )

• With still subject matter, the EP-1 has built in stabilization to help combat the effects of camera shake.  Use this to your advantage.  I have hand-held shots as low as 1/16 of a second using IBS.
• If  you need more shutter speed, raise ISO.  The EP-1 has a maximum ISO of 6400.
• If ISO 6400 doesn't cut it, you can 'push' the camera ISO.  Just dial in a exposure compensation of +1 (or higher) EV.  Pushing the ISO will generate more noise, but the look is perfect for B&W.
• Select Continuous Mode.   The EP-1 has a burst rate of 3 FPS, giving you a higher probability of a sharp picture.

Dramatic Black and White In Camera

Want a very dramatic black and white picture straight out of your pen ? Want a touch of contrast and some soft vignetting ? Well the formula is quite simple: shoot in color using the PinHole Art Filter and then convert in-camera (using the JPEG editing features) to black and white.  The camera of course makes a copy of the original during the black and white conversion process so you'll have both in the event you find yourself indecisive with the desired effect.  The Pinhole + Black and White, in my honest opinion, is nothing short of gorgeous.

Before Black and White Conversion

After Converting to Black and White in camera.

The above picture was actually a candid of my wife as she sit waiting in the living room - she looked up and I snagged a quick shot under some rather poor, incandescent lighting.  ISO 1600 f 5.2 36mm.  Studio In a Box ? Of course, no flash is necessary with the pen.

The "Bleached" Pin Hole Effect

I have been a huge Photoshop fan since it's inception, which is why it's very bittersweet for me to state that the Pen has made me Photoshop free.  Many of many favorite effects and processing tools are built right into the camera so why should I spend the added time in the digital darkroom when I can spend more time in the field shooting ?  To demonstrate the depth of Photoshop-free effects achievable with this camera I will continue to enlighten my blog audience (crickets !) with tips and tricks that provide those ever-popular and fashionable looks people are searching for.

The Pin Hole filter is one of my favorite all-time effects and with a little tweaking you will find that this is not simply a static filter, but one that can be changed to your liking by modifying other camera parameters. Today's topic: The Bleached Pin Hole Effect.  The Bleached Pin Hole Effect is very simple formula: Pin Hole Art Filter + Overexposure.  That's it, nothing more, nothing less.  I recommend as a starting point  a roughly +1 stop of exposure, but of course tweak to your liking.

Exposure pushed +1.3 EV

I think this look is somewhat reminiscent of the film era Bleach Bypass effect.  I see wedding photographers adding this effect to their portfolio all the time, of course they have sit behind a desk and process each image to achieve this look, us pen owners are fortunate enough to have it built right into the camera.

Firmware 1.2 released for the Olympus EP-1

Quoted from dpreview.com

Olympus has released a firmware update for its E-P1 Micro Four Thirds camera. Version 1.2 changes the duration of the enlarged MF Assist view, 'to improve operability'. It also changes the camera's behavior when the screen backlight is turned off. The updates improve the autofocus operation of both the lenses. Firmware updates can be downloaded via the Olympus Master/Studio software