I am always diggin’ Fall, it is probably my favorite season, no wait it is my favorite season. I guess you could say the Fall Tri-Fecta happened here this weekend, we had our first freeze, we went to the pumpkin patch, and I made 5 pounds of chili! Yes, it was a good weekend. There is something about the leaves changing and the smell of chili in the Crock Pot that gets me all revved up for the next couple of months!
We had planned on going to the Pumpkin patch but had no idea it would be 38 degrees with the wind chill. We layered up and went anyway, even though the little man had cold cheeks it didn’t stop him from picking up a few pumpkins and throwing them around. Gotta love being a boy and watching your boy do boy things, as Tim Allen would say, “Uhhh Uhhhhh Uhhh!”
I didn’t feel like packing up my whole rig to go to the pumpkin patch so I took all these shots with the Olympus E-PL1. At $259 on Amazon, this little guy is a steal! It was my first mirror-less camera purchase that oddly enough got adopted by my wife when her point and shoot went kaput! I really like these little cameras as they shoot a pretty good RAW file. All of these shots were single RAW files with the ACR and Topaz Adjust 5 HDR treatment.
Photo Tip For The Week:
Instead of spending a couple hundred dollars on a new lens, try thinking smaller. These new Mirror-less Cameras are awesome! Light weight, extremely portable, and most importantly they take very nice quality pictures. I was always that guy that went everywhere with the family with multiple lenses and my bulky camera. I fumbled with it most times trying to juggle it with my son and all of his necessities. However, these little compact interchangeable lens cameras are perfect for outings like this one.
Is HDR a problem? Absolutely not, most all of these cameras shoot bracketed exposures in AEB mode. The E-PL1 captures 3 exposures at +\- 1/3EV, 2/3 EV, or 1 EV. As I stated before the Olympus E-PL1 is a steal on Amazon right now, sure their are much more high quality ones on the market right now, but this thing packs a punch at a point and shoot price!
For Blake, it's all about the art and process synergy. He dives deep into complex topics and makes them easy to understand through his outside-the-box thinking so that you can use these tricks in your workflow today!
Careful with those little cameras. They have a way of multiplying and enticing you to buy accessories. I started with an E-PL1, graduating to an E-P2 (which can also be had for relatively small dollars). I then sprung for the VF-2 viewfinder (which is wonderful, though ugly) and a few extra lenses. The really fun thing is how easy it is to adapt old manual lenses to work on these things. My favorite lens is an ancient Pentax 50mm f/1.4. Very sharp and focuses wonderfully. Lots of fun.
I still consider my 5D Mark III to be my go-to shooters, but it’s surprising me how often I reach for my little Oly.
I could see that, those things are soo darn cool! It is nice to know a Canon 5D Mark III owner also owns a little bitty Oly too! I can see how the viewfinder is a necessity, I keep picking it up and putting my face up to it as if there is one, so frustrating!
Why bother with camera that can’t do at least +/-2. when you like to do hdr? I would have grabbed that small Sony with the large sensor if Sony would improve their aeb.
You are right, it would be difficult for me to pull the trigger on any camera that didn’t do at least +/-1 EV. I find it hard to stray from my Oly E-30 because it does 5 AEB @ +/- 1 EV giving me that +2 to – 2 range.