This Old Blog

Happy New Year. Just a very quick entry to prove to myself that the one and only post for 2014 (and the last post chronologically) wasn't a fluke. It's also the briefest of outlines for what might be in store for 2015 and beyond. I've been collecting Olympus gear, specifically OM-D cameras and prime lenses. The one you see above is my last lens acquisition, the M.Zuiko 1.8/17mm. Since that time I've picked up two new camera bodies, a second E-M5 and an E-M10. The photo above was taken with the Panasonic GX1 and the Olympus 45mm. With the three OM-Ds I have enough bodies to mount all my favorite lenses, and to just roam about taking photos without changing lenses. Sometimes I'll just take one of the bodies with a specific lens and just use it exclusively. This coming year I intend to start another photo project using just the OM-D bodies (the GX1 was given away, along with the Panasonic 20mm). I want to do something along the lines of Matthew Robertson's...

The Colonel dressed as Santa I don't know why but Chitose near where I'm staying has Christmas fever. There's Christmas decorations everywhere, and Christmas music (carols and other seasonal American songs) are playing in the background. This Colonel, at a Japanese KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken to all you old timers) was dressed out in a Santa suit right near one of the entrances into the store. I would have eaten there except they were cash (Yen) only and wouldn't take plastic. I've since fixed the yen problem, finding out that the hotel will exchange dollars for yen at the rate of 97 yen to the dollar. Tomorrow I'm going to have my Japanese KFC meal. Looking down from the ninth floor I walked around the hotel a bit, exploring the nearer blocks, keeping the hotel in view to avoid getting lost. So far I'm remembering landmarks, so that I can begin to walk farther and farther on my explorations. This view from the ninth floor gives you an idea of the ...

two seniors say hello It's Thanksgiving week. I'm taking a few days of personal time before Thanksgiving Day because I'll be flying on business to Japan on Thursday. My wife and I are running around trying to get as much done as possible before I leave her alone with the two Labs and the three cats. She'll have our two daughters to come and visit as well as all her friends and our neighbors, but still, I worry. And because I worry I plan accordingly. One trip was to our vet with Max and Lucy. Max needed his ears checked, and Lucy needed to have a minor operation checked to see if she was healing well. Both little guys came away with flying colors. Max in particular is happy because his ears are in great shape. Max is a Lab, and Labs are Hounds, and a Hound's ears are very important to them. you don't smell like a puppy... While we were in the waiting room for out turn with the vet, many little characters, large and small, came over to pay their res...

E-PL3, Lumix 14mm, and FL-FM1 Some men pass the time by chasing women. I did that and wound up married, and we all know how expensive that gets, especially when you add in some children. Some men pass the time with hobbies like fishing or golf, and wind up spending considerable sums on expensive boats, expensive fishing gear, or expensive golf equipment (some very expensive). Some men even have photography as a hobby, and we all know how expensive that can get. I, on the other hand, with my limited budget, have a hobby collecting and using older cameras that have passed their prime (no pun intended). So I wait, usually several years, until all those former new hotness cameras become old and busted in the eyes of the market and they go on considerable markdown. The Olympus E-PL3 is one of those cameras. Introduced the latter half of 2011, it was the last of the 12MP µ4:3rds cameras (the other two being the E-P3 and E-PM1). The next cameras to come out of the Olympus camera chute...

Top view: Nikon Df vs. Nikon FM3a (via TheOnlinePhotographer ) I came across this scale comparison on the Internet's today. In one simple picture it summed up why the Nikon Df isn't the digital FM3a so many want it to be. It also illustrates in part why (outside of the price) I won't purchase the Df. If you look at the top plates of both cameras, you can see the top plate outline of the FM3a literally sticking up from the Df body. The Nikon Df is much deeper than the FM3a from the front (the lens mount) to back (the LCD). What we have here is an odd-ball digital camera design that appears to have bits and pieces of the FM3a stuck on it like a collection of spare parts someone had lying around at the time. When old people like me say they want a digital Nikon FM3a (or in my particular case, a digital Olympus OM-1), we want the film sized body with a same-sized digital sensor replacing 35mm film. And as the Nikon Df illustrates so eloquently, that won't happen...

I look damn silly in this costume... Yeah, Ruby, you look damn silly in that costume... We had a large number of Trick-or-Treaters come by the house this past Halloween. It started early (just barely past sundown) with two little kids, probably first graders. Parents stood on the sidewalk watching, laughing when Ruby came out in her costume to greet the kids. And the kids, even ones afraid of dogs, were immediately put at ease with Ruby's costume. As the night grew progressively late the age of the treaters grew progressively older until the last, a group of polite ninth graders, showed up around 8:30pm. I gave them the rest of my dwindling candy supplies, then turned off the outside lights and called it an evening. Every single kid was nice and well behaved. I had my E-M5 set up for the evening with the flash that comes with the camera, but the only subjects I used it on were Ruby and Lucy. I had the Panasonic 25mm mounted on it and opened up. As this is the first ti...

We (meaning the human family) have a new cat. Her name is Loki and she lives with my oldest daughter in Gainesville. I don't know how old Loki is, but I peg her age at around a year. She's an all black cat with a touch of white on her brisket. She's an extremely shy little creature, especially around humans she has no familiarity with, such as myself. Everything taken with the Olympus E-M5 and Panasonic Leica 25mm at f/1.8. Heavy flaring due to shooting directly into the sun coming in the window (Loki felt safer in that spot, so you go where the cat is). I also set the E-M5 to the gentle sepia (#9) art filter and took everything straight out of the camera, except for resizing. If you're wondering why she's named Loki, everybody thought she was a he before the vet told them different.

More phrivolous phun with photography. I named Lucy after Lucy van Pelt (from Peanuts, because of her attitude) and Lucy (in the Sky with Diamonds). The Olympus Key Line filter gives me a little psychedelica mixed with a cartoon-like line drawing effect. Perfect for Lucy and mixing metaphors this late morning. I've been asked to "explain myself" as to why I took this photo. So here goes... People take themselves too seriously with photography. Whether it's putting down the cell phone photographer with their Instagram app or screaming that the only way to make Good Photography is with Expensive Full Frame gear, there are too many amateurs taking themselves too seriously and spending way too much money. I like to explore, to goof around. You learn more that way. I liked all the warm reds and pinks that popped out of the photo with the use of the Key Line art filter. Especially Lucy's pink nose. The red behind her head and the light orange from where the su...

eggssssss... Time for a bit of silliness. Lulu on the edge of the kitchen table, stalking me as I was fixing breakfast. Little character will just about kill for scrambled eggs. So I grabbed the E-M5 for a quick one. Camera held down at her level and taken with the LCD flipped up. Touch-to-expose. Panasonic 25mm wide open. Post processed in Silver Efex Pro 2, using its Tri-X film effect.

Four photographs, two from the Olympus E-M5 with Panasonic Leica 25 mm and two from the Sony NEX-5N with Sigma 19 mm. Both sensors with 16 MP resolution. Does knowing the difference really matter anymore if you can't see it? Group 2 All photographs taken in Key West Florida, post processed in Lightroom 5.2 and Color Efex Pro 4.

Sometime early tomorrow morning around oh-dark-thirty, I'm going to get up, pile into my rental with my luggage and my cameras and drive back to SEA-TAC for a twelve hour flight back to Orlando, via a connecting flight in DFW. This trip has been a true business trip; a lot of time devoted to the job, with little left over for the pursuit of personal enjoyment. For me, personal enjoyment means getting out and exploring and documenting what catches my eye. Today was the first full day I wasn't on the task, as it had ended 24 hours ago. I wanted to plan a big day of driving and exploring, but I got up late and felt tired. So, instead, I ate a late breakfast, piled in the rental with my cameras, and sort of meandered up towards the harbor area and Steilacoom. When I got to the area around Steilacoom I felt more like just walking around and enjoying the mystical border between land and water than doing anything of significance. I grabbed a few snaps, but nothing to set the wo...

OM-D E-M1 with MZuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO zoom lens About a month ago I wrote a long soppy post about how I was tired of buying cameras and I wasn't gonna buy no more new cameras, no way, no how. I managed to keep that promise through the Olympus E-P5 and the Panasonic GX7. While the E-P5 was pretty, the design of the GX7 left me cold. And then Olympus leaked (yes, they did) the video of the E-M1 with the Zuiko Digital 12-35mm f/2 mounted on it. I looked at the blurry video and found I could resist the siren's call. And then, over on 43rumors , there appeared these two, much much clearer, more professionally produced photos of the E-M1 with the equally rumored 12-40mm f/2.8 constant aperture zoom. You're probably thinking "Here it comes. Here's where he falls off the wagon and makes wild claims about buying the rumored E-M1 no matter what." Maybe. I certainly like the design of the E-M1. It has an incredibly attractive chiseled look that spe...

This is my trip report for the second, and possibly last, day trip to Seattle. I would have written this earlier but I've been busy and at the end of the day I'm tired. The biggest reason I didn't write this up on Sunday evening after I got back was because I had a week's worth of dirty laundry I had to wash and dry before the start of my second (of three) weeks here in Dupont. So here I am writing about an event three days after it happened... There's a lot to like about Seattle. It's a dense, compact, multi-level city. When I say multi-level I'm not referring to its skyscrapers, I'm referring to the steps and levels that exist from the harbor up to First and the San Francisco-like steep streets that run east-to-west through the center of the city. I had a great time walking through Seattle centered around the Seattle Art Museum and the section of First that ran roughly north and south for a good 10 blocks in either direction. Seattle is a city fi...

And sometimes, it's nice to find little examples of nature to please me along with the big trains. I wish I could get out to the parks. But it won't happen any time soon. Maybe Saturday before I have go work second shift I can go to one of the nearby wildlife reserves. I've been walking around with the 45mm on the E-M5. No other lens. Sometimes the 45mm makes me wish for the 75mm. The 45mm is so small and sweet, and such a nice optic to work with.

machine ghost There are trains in my family's background. My grandfather was a lineman working in Texas in the 1930s (my father was born in Dallas before the family moved to Savannah Georgia). My great-great grandfather owned a railroad in Georgia. I've always had a fascination with trains, especially as a little kid. Before my grandmother started to fly between Atlanta and Savannah to visit us, she would travel on the Nancy Hanks II, an earlier generation diesel. My toy trains as a kid were models of diesels. I didn't care all that much for the steam models; they were too "old fashioned". There's something about the raw horsepower of machines of this type. They don't go fast, but they're the closest thing to an irresistible force I can think of. And there's the hybrid nature of using the diesel to drive an generator to drive the electric systems that drive the wheels. My Prius is a hybrid, but nothing like this. The D-E is probably the most ...