This evening was the first proper chance to test out a new toy - the Fuji X-M1 and its 16-50mm kit lens. A near cloudless sunset over the Thames provided an apt setting and the camera did not disappoint. In comparison to the Olympus E-PM1 (not a fair comparison, although there are good promotions and cashback offers with Fuji at the moment) I loved how they squeezed in so much manual control in a small body. Having a tilting screen is something lacking on both the E-PM1 and my Sony a850 (the latter, being a "traditional" photographer's tool, doesn't even have live view anyway!) The jpeg engine and colours seem good (one of my favourite things about the Olympus cameras), however what blew me away was the lack of noise produced by Fuji's X-Trans sensor. Several of the below photos are taken at ISOs between 1250 and 4000, and are even on full crop, essentially noise-free while retaining reasonably strong detail. More on this later in upcoming posts, but I can see this becoming a favourite camera to use with the old manual focus lenses too - I'll post up more images soon.
Back to the photos - the Palace of Westminster (AKA Houses of Parliament), Big Ben and sunsets taken from Westminster Bridge. The lantern is taken at the entrance of the cloisters of Westminster Abbey (photos 6 and 7) and the last 5 photos are taken in the Victoria and Albert museum. Technical details: Fuji X-M1 with Fujinon 16-50mm lens.
0 Comments
Like last year (click here), here is another round-up of some of the most memorable images taken over the past year. Click the photos to navigate to the associated full blog post. Happy viewing!
Please take a few minutes to vote for your favourite photos - click here. More experimentation with the Dramatic Tone filter - photos taken in Wokefield Park (home to the BMW Group Academy, hence the photos) and walking along the amusingly named Goodboys Lane.
Technical details: Technical details: Olympus E-PM1 with 14-42mm lens. The elegant Mansion House interior at Wokefield Park provided a opportune setting to experiment with some "old-school" photography - shooting in monochrome and using manual focus lenses.
Technical details: Technical details: Olympus E-PM1 with Olympus OM 28mm f2.8 lens. A break in the torrential rain and gale force winds allowed us to take a pleasant (albeit muddy!) walk around Overton - home to a Roald Dahl museum (closed on xmas eve) and was once the site of a great sheep fair where 50,000 animals would be driven to the pastures by the river to be sold. There is also the remnants of an important milling industry - flour, silk production and cotton paper for bank notes. However, the historical highlight of the walk was an adventurous walk on The Harrow Way (fifth photo) - claimed to be Britain's oldest road that can be traced from Dorset to the Kentish coast. "Tin-traders, farmers, hunters, drovers, warriors and pilgrims have trodden out its course over perhaps five millenia - maybe much longer[!]" (Sommerville quotes in Walks in the Country). All the more dramatic as many trees lining the edges of the road had fallen in the recent winds and created and obstacle-course-like trek through what I thought was going to be a shortcut. I thought the sign shown on the photo was ironic! Finally, this area is also the inspirational setting of Richard Adam's classic tale Watership Down.
The more regular Capture the Soul blog readers will be aware that I rarely delve into the world of Instagram-esque photographic effects. However, something (I'm not sure what!) inspired me to play with the Art filters on the PEN Mini: most of the below have been taken on with using Dramatic Tone, however the second and third use the Grainy Film and Diorama filters (the latter I noticed is frequently used in the great BBC series Sherlock). Lastly, photos 5 and 8 have used the Pop Art filter. Technical details: Technical details: Olympus E-PM1 with 14-42mm lens. Photos taken at Meera and Shiv's Engagement at Navnat Centre, Hayes. Congratulations to the happy couple!
Technical details: Sony a850 with Tamron 28-75mm and Minolta 70-210mm lenses. Testing out a new lens while taking a countryside walk in Witney, during the Raj Saubhag Yuva Retreat. Aside from slightly slow focusing (and the known small aperture of lens), it didn't disappoint - especially considering its value for money, size and weight.
Technical details: Technical details: Olympus E-PM1 with 40-150mm lens. Photos taken during a visit to the magnificent yet serene Norwich Cathedral.
Adapted from Wikipedia: "Norwich Cathedral was completed over 850 years ago in 1145 with the Norman tower still seen today topped with a wooden spire covered with lead. Several episodes of damage necessitated rebuilding of the east end and spire but since the final erection of the stone spire in 1480 there have been few fundamental alterations to the fabric. The large cloister has over 1,000 bosses including several hundred carved and ornately painted ones. Norwich Cathedral has the second largest cloisters, only outsized by Salisbury Cathedral. The cathedral close is the largest in England and one of the largest in Europe and has more people living within it than any other close. The cathedral spire, measuring at 96 m, is the second tallest in England despite being partly rebuilt after being struck by lightning in 1169, just 23 months after its completion, which led to the building being set on fire. Measuring 140.5 m long and, with the transepts, 54 m wide at completion, Norwich Cathedral was the largest building in East Anglia." Technical details: Sony a850 with Tokina 19-35mm and Tamron 28-75mm lenses. Our dear friend Bal had long recommended a visit to the national arboretum (a botanical garden devoted to trees) in Autumn and we were lucky to have the opportunity to witness this riot of colour, or as the Forestry Commission describe it, "a natural firework display"!
Details on the arboretum: "The historic, Victorian picturesque landscape and internationally important tree and shrub collection contains 14,902 labelled trees (around 2,500 different types of tree), comimg from Britain, China, North America, Japan, Chile and other temperate climates. Planting started in the 1850s by Robert Holford; the rich Victorian landowner to whom the Westonbirt estate belonged." (Forestry Commission) Technical details: Sony a850 with Tokina 19-35mm and Tamron 28-75mm lenses. Photos taken during a circular walk that trails away from the Aquadrome, across farms and into the woodland - details and map can be found here.
Technical details: Olympus E-PM1 with OM Zuiko 28mm f2.8 lens. |
Vote for your favourite 2013 photos here!
Archives
July 2014
Categories
All
|