Making Tea - A Quick Slideshow

I was looking for something to photograph this evening, and decided to try out the new Teavana tea infuser that I got for Christmas. I set up a black cloth background, put the Nikon Df on iso 200 with my 28mm f2.8 lens and 3-stop ND filter. With this setup, at f16, I could leave the shutter open for minutes at a time without ambient light showing up in the pictures. I then proceeded to "paint" my subjects with a small flashlight, making images at various points in the tea making process.

 

Here's how it turned out:

 

Relaxing Holiday Tea, by Reed A. George

 

Just a little diversion for an afternoon. I learned a few things from this. First, I needed to be more careful about spots on the glass infuser. Second, I needed to pay close attention to the flashlight being directly reflected from the ceramic and glass surfaces. But, it's definitely something I could perfect in a second shooting, if I decided to. I see now why product photography is painstaking and difficult. But, it's actually pretty fun.

 

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Belizean Sunrise

I got my butt out of bed at 5AM this morning to catch the sunrise here in Belize. I shot several images, and plan to work on them when I get home, including a plan to try some subtle high dynamic range (HDR) processing. Here's one that I like pretty much as-is:

Belizean Sunrise, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1, Lumix 20mm f1.7 Lens with 3-Stop ND Filter

iso 160, f16, 1 sec.

 

I liked how the shoreline formed an S-curve, ending at the thatched dock shelter at the horizon. I edited this image in Snapseed on my iPad.

 

More to come.

 

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O'er the Beautiful Snow

It's another snowy, stormy day here in Northern Virginia as I write this. Rather than let it keep me inside, I decided to take a walk in the woods and try to capture the mood. Choosing a simple and durable setup, I grabbed my Lumix DMC-TS5 (waterproof, everything-proof compact camera) and figured out how to set long shutter speeds manually. I wanted the longest exposures I could get, so that I could get some nice motion blur as I walked.

 

In order to use 1 second (or 1/2 second in some cases), I had to hold up a 3X neutral density filter over the lens on the TS5. No problem.

 

I've set a short selection of the images (unedited jpegs from the TS5) to one of my favorite songs, "O'er the Beautiful Snow," by Melissa Wright and the Acoustic Burgoo. The mood of the song is perfect for what I wanted to portray.

 

O'er the Beautiful Snow, by Melissa Wright and Acoustic Burgoo

Images by Reed A. George

 

(Click Here) to see the slideshow set to the music (~4 minutes playing time). Be sure to have your volume up to hear the music!

 

Melissa was nice enough to give me permission to use the song for this purpose. I hope you enjoy.

 

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Bhupinder2002 at mu-43.com Shoots Olympus 45mm f1.8 With 10-Stop Neutral Density Filter for Motion Effect

 

Image Source: http://www.mu-43.com/f38/olympus-45mm-meets-10stop-nd-filter-few-images-38956/

 
I've posted about using neutral density filters in the past. For me, the most common uses are to:

1. Reduce the light coming into the lens to allow me to shoot at wide apertures (for shallow depth of field) in bright light
2. Reduce light to allow the use of longer shutter speeds, which provides the ability to blur motion.

I usually carry a 3-stop filter, which allows me to move from say f8 in daylight, as some reasonable shutter speed, to f2.8. That makes a real difference in depth of field, for instance if I want to take a portrait in bright light, and blur the background.
 
Bhupinder2002 has posted some shots using a 10-stop neutral density filter on a 45mm f1.8 lens with the Olympus OM-D. This provides for a much larger change in settings, including allowing very long shutter speeds in broad daylight. Hence the moody motion of the water in the image above. It's a cool effect.
 
(Click Here) to see all of the images Bhupinder2002 posted.
 
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10 Stop Neutral Density - What For?

 

Dramatic Reflection, by Sam M. on mu-43.com

Image Source: http://www.mu-43.com/f60/dramatic-reflection-32274/

 
This is timely for me. I have been known to use a neutral density (ND) filter occasionally, usually to lengthen my shutter speed to allow a longer expsosure, as was done by Sam M. in the image above. However, I carry a 3-stop ND filter, which allows 8 times the normal shutter opening time.
 
(Click Here) to see Sam M.'s post on mu-43.com
 
ND filters basically block a substantial portion of the incoming light, in a color-balanced way, allowing you to increase exposure in bright situations (either by lengthening the shutter opening time, or by opening up your f-stop for shallow depth of field).
 
In my Leica Akademie class on the M9 recently, our instructor, Justin Stailey, talked about 10-stop NDs. I had trouble imaging where I'd need that much of an effect. Sam M.'s image above answers the question well. Let's say you're shooting in broad daylight at iso200 - using the sunny 16 rule, you would want to shoot at about 1/200 second at f16. What would a 10-stop ND filter do for you? Well, if you wanted to make a long exposure, you could shoot at f16 for four seconds!
 
The shot above was made at 20 seconds exposure. That's what makes the clouds look so cool.
 
By the way, this effect would be very hard (impossible) to replicate in post-processing. The same is true if you use your ND for decreased depth of field.
 
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Oh, Man, I Can't Wait For That Olympus 75mm f1.8 to Arrive!

 

Image Source: http://www.mu-43.com/f38/olympus-75mm-f1-8-first-thoughts-29556/
 
Member 938mm on mu-43.com has posted their initial thoughts and some results, shooting the new Olympus 75mm f1.8 lens for Micro 4/3 on the new Olympus OM-D.
 
(Click Here) to read the original post on mu-43.com.
 
938mm seems quite pleased with the handling of the lens, and the results speak for themselves.
 
Mine is on order from Amazon, but is not yet shipping in the US.
 
938mm mentions that one challenge with such a fast lens is that to use a wide aperture in bright sunlight, you may need to use a neutral density (ND) filter. This is probably something I will want to do. The filter diameter is 58mm, so I'll have to add another filter to my kit.
 
On the subject of NDs, many people are now purchasing extremely expensive variable ND filters. These allow you to adjust the density and resulting effect of the filter across a wide range of exposures with a twist of the wrist. So far, I have decided to go the less expensive route, sticking with a 3-stop filter for my Lumix lenses. In my opinion, that has not been a difficult compromise. I find that if I need an ND, 3-stops is usually sufficient.
 
Some photographers have complained that 75mm (equivalent to 150mm field of view on full frame) is too long for portraits. I wholeheartedly disagree, especially when you consider that you have to go a little longer on the Micro 4/3 sensor to achieve shallow depth of field. I have always leaned telephoto, so 75mm is going to work great for me.
 
Looking forward to sharing some results with this lens on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, just as soon as it arrives!
 
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