Picture of the Day #4

This picture was taken autumn last year. This year the leaves in this area are mostly yellow again. This is in the same place as Picture of the Day #3.

Picture of the Day #3

It's autumn again, a time of great colours in the outdoors. I took the photo above last year in a place which my children and I frequently pass by when going to their school. Nothing out of the ordinary really about the place so no surprise there that the image I took was er, just ordinary, too.

Picture of the Day #2

I took this picture in autumn last year while practicing the zoom burst technique. This was taken in my son's school. The ground was covered with fallen cherry leaves, mostly coloured yellow. I chose this particular composition where one leaf was surrounded by others. I thought it would make a good focal point for a zoom burst picture. I loved the results of the original coloured version, which I featured in the zoom burst post. It turned out better than I expected.

Multiple exposure nature portraits

Last spring, I bought a set of 3 photography magazines to keep me updated with techniques and latest news on gears in photography. One of the magazines was an issue of Photography Monthly (Issue 146 | April 2013). In pages 49-53, I came across the wonderful multiple exposure portraits of Christoffer Relander (www.christofferrelander.com), a Finnish photographer. In the featured photos, Relander combines images of people and trees. I thought to myself back then that I would try it.

But I didn't know how to take multiple exposure images and try as I might I can't find a tutorial to follow. Until a few weeks ago. I was going through various photography tutorials in YouTube when I came across PhotoExtremist's tutorial on multiple exposure nature portraits. Bingo! The multiple exposure portraits in the said tutorial are similar to Relander's. So, I gave it a try. (Note: if you want to try this technique, check that your camera has the option on multiple exposures. I knew beforehand that my Olympus Pens have it.)

There are 2 main steps in taking multiple exposure portrait shots: 1) in-camera using multiple exposure option and 2) post-processing.

Picture of the Day #1

This is my first proper multiple exposure shot, a portrait of my son. He was not happy during this shoot as he was busy in his computer game. You can see it in the pout he's giving me when I took the shot. This was a good thing actually as it turned out to be quite artistic. I explained the details on how I took and post-processed this final photo in my post on multiple exposures.

My inspiration is Christoffer Relander (www.christofferrelander.com), a Finnish photographer. I know I can never come close to any of his wonderful multiple exposure portraits. But, I'm here mainly to satisfy my objective of taking decent creative shots. In the future, I hope to come up with a series of multiple exposure portraits of my own. Watch this space!

Panning

Shutter priority, f22, 1/20s, ISO 100 (Olympus Pen E-PL1 + 14-45mm @ 14mm)

Aside from zoom burst (or zoom blur), there is another technique you can use to imply motion in your images. It is called panning.

Zoom burst creates motion by turning your zoom lens while your camera is stationary. On the other hand, the panning technique requires the photographer to move the camera parallel to, and at the same speed as the action or subject focus. Oftentimes, slow shutter speeds are used in this technique.

Panning enables the photographer to keep the main subject, e.g. moving car or cyclist, clearly in focus while the background is a blurred motion.

Creating beautiful 'zoom burst' images

Photo: Pinoyborian's Flickr

Making creative images with my digital camera is one of my goals. However, as a beginner photographer I have many limitations. So, I buy copies of the magazine Photography for beginners to help me with my learning. In one of the magazine issues I came across the zoom burst technique.

The zoom burst technique is quite simple to do and quick to create. Images from this technique implies motion, with a centre subject that is sharp and the surrounding elements giving a directional blur. A camera with zoom lens is ideal for this technique although moving your body to zoom will also do.

Olympus Pen E-PL1

Pinoyborian's Flickr

In Christmas 2011, I bought my first "serious" digital camera. It was not a straightforward and easy decision to make. In the end, it was the cost of the camera and the non-DSLR body that made me decide.

The Olympus Pen Lite E-PL1 is one of its earliest micro four-thirds mirrorless interchangeable lens camera. I bought it as a twin lens kit from Jessops on a 10-month 0% finance scheme.

My camera gear and accessories

Since 2011 I have slowly build up my digital camera equipment and accessories. The list below will be regularly updated.

Digital camera (body)
• Olympus PEN Lite E-PL1
• Olympus PEN Lite E-PL2
• Olympus PEN Mini E-PM1

Native mu-43 lens
• Olympus 14-42 mm f3.5-5.6
• Olympus 40-150 mm f4-5.6
• Olympus 17mm f2.8
• Sigma 30mm f2.8
• Sigma 60mm f2.8

Adapted lens
• Minolta Rokkor MD 50mm f1.4
• Vivitar 2x macro teleconverter 50mm (MD mount)
• (Fotodiox MD to mu-43 adapter)
• Ozeck II Super 135mm f2.8 (FD mount)
• Vivitar 2x macro teleconverter 50mm (FD mount)
• (unbranded FD to mu-43 adapter)

In addition, I also have 2x Olympus Trip 35 film cameras when I feel like shooting in film, which is seldom.

My family (and me occasionally) are now using my old point and shoot cameras, Olympus mu-725 SW and Nikon Coolpix L110.

Note: This is also posted as the Gear page.

Welcome and come again

Welcome, or as we say it in my native tongue, "Dajon" (come in) to my photography blog. In here, I will chronicle my journey as I strive to improve on my photography skills. Like most budding photographers, my aim is to master my digital camera and take better pictures.

Photography is mainly a hobby for me. I have only gotten a bit serious on it when I bought my first interchangeable lens camera a couple of years ago. It is a micro four-thirds mirrorless camera, the Olympus E-PL1, which came with a twin lens kit. And I've never looked back since then.