shutter therapy sunday, part deu

Near Kohls, Gainesville, Florida

I drove to Gainesville Florida today to visit my oldest daughter and drop some items off for her. We stayed long enough in Gainesville to do a quick visit, a quick round of hugs, some very brief conversation, and return a pair of Crocs (shoes) at a local Kohls before heading back to Orlando. It's a two hour trip one way; we'd left the Labs back at the house (this, after their morning walk, feed and water, and a final trip out to the back yard). So we had to get back home at a reasonable time.

While I was waiting for my wife to return the shoes I walked around the Kohls' parking lot grabbing some environmental/architectural photos of the store and its immediate environs. I was using the Olympus E-PL2, Panasonic 14mm, and the E-PL2's dramatic tone art filter. Today's lens setting was f/4, two stops down from the 15mm body cap lens.

Looking in from the outside, Kohls, Gainesville, Florida

Shadow play, Kohls, Gainesville, Florida

All three of these are from the store and immediately next to it. I've reached a point where I want to move away from dramatic tone and experiment with the other art filters. If there's one feature I wish the Pens had it's the ability to layer effects. The E-PL2 can almost do it, with the ability to use dramatic tone with either color or black and white. But it's not the same as using dramatic and, say, pinhole. Never-the-less it's still an enjoyable little camera to work with.

Pastureland, on I-75 south of Gainesville, Florida

On the drive back to Orlando my wife and I kept seeing broad swaths of color, wild flowers that have been deliberately planted along the shoulders of I-75 and a number of other Florida highways. I pulled off onto the side of I-75 at one point to photograph the wild phlox growing along a section, as well as a bit of pastureland. I keep forgetting that Florida has a 500-year history of cattle ranching starting with the Spanish in the 16th century. As you drive along I-75 and other main road between Florida's cities you'll see pastureland with cattle, sheep, and horses. And some of the best looking live oaks I think I've ever seen.

Wild phlox, on I-75 south of Gainesville, Florida

Some of my blooming orchids

When I first purchased my E-M5 it was body only, minus the 12-50mm kit zoom. I began to realize that was a mistake when I and the E-M5 got rained on one day, and since that day I've been looking for a low-cost way to pick up the lens. Jamie MacDonald (https://twitter.com/MacDonald_Photo) sold me his and today I took it with me, mounted on the E-M5. Starting with Pastureland above, I started to use the lens and discovered that the lens isn't nearly as bad as so many make it out to be. In particular I have discovered that the 43mm macro mode is actually very very good. That's what I used for the wild phlox and these following flower photos. It's more than good enough for what it does. If anything the M.Zuiko 12-50mm is a better kit lens than the eternal M.Zuiko 14-42mm kit lenses. In fact I'd call the 12-50mm impressive.

And my mandaville back in bloom again. Note the subtle details captured, especially upper left.

Technical

A mix of the E-PL2 with Panasonic 14mm and the E-M5 with 12-50mm kit zoom. Art filter when used was dramatic tone. All other was vivid. Every image SOOC, no post processing, cropping, nothing. Just straight out JPEGs.

I remember when I ran with straight JPEG out of my Olympus E-300. As much as I still love and miss that camera, the E-M5 and today's Zuiko lenses just leave the E-300 in the dust.