Hi,
With the imminent demise of the Skylum Insiders forum I’d like to welcome anyone who has followed me to my humble photography blog. I try and post whenever I can a somewhat eclectic mix of my photography work as well as photography and tech gear that I find of interest.
Kind regards
Leigh
Apologies for re-posting this but the son of a close friend has kindly given me permission to use one of his band’s tracks to accompany my video. They’re a young duo who toured Canada coast to coast before returning home to the UK. They deserve all the publicity they can get. It’s so hard starting out in any of the arts.
Music: “Midnight Moon” by kind permission of “The Rabbitts” from their album “Tall Pines & Tangled Vines” https://www.therabbitts.com/
Hi everyone,
It’s been three years since I last published a video of my work in early 2020 before COVID brought things to an abrupt end. A lot has happened since then including moving to the UK south coast. I haven’t been idle, this video brings things up to date with a selection of my work from the last three years.
Locations: Bognor Regis, Felpham, Pagham, East Wittering, West Wittering, Chichester, Storrington, Amberley, Arundel, Littlehampton, Bosham, Emsworth, Worthing, Shoreham-by Sea, East Molesey, Richmond-Upon-Thames and Carshalton.
Link https://youtu.be/bZsTgxQ7xmE
Leigh
Hi everyone,
Some years ago I bought some Manfrotto XUME magnetic filter adapters which worked well for me at the time. In hindsight, I made a mistake as I ordered 62mm ones which at the time was fine as they were for my M.Zuiko 12-40mm lens which was my staple go to travel lens. As things turned out since then I have standardised on 58mm filters. The XUME ones are no longer on sale and change hands for ridiculous money second hand. I’ve ordered up 4 of each 58mm lens and filter adapters from a cheaper make to try out. I’ll post when I’ve tried them as they’re very attractively priced and I do like the convenience of magnetic filter attachment especially when constantly changing filters and it does speed things up and save the lens filter threads from wear and tear as I’m always somewhat wary of the longevity of plastic lens filter threads. If one somehow manages to strip one of these then, to use a good old British expression, one is “stuffed”. As I very rarely use very wide angle lenses there shouldn’t be any problem with vignetting.
Kind regards
Leigh
Hi everyone,
I’ve been testing the new DeepPRIME XD3 noise reduction in PureRAW v6. I think that this is a real game changer for high IS0 images. The quick test shots below were all taken at an absurdly high 25,600 ISO. I very rarely have the need to go anywhere near as high as that but the results were very impressive and yes, as if you couldn’t tell, I am a Blondie fan. 🙂 .The lens was my M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8 prime lens @f/5.6.
100% crops, noise, what noise? 🙂
Kind regards
Leigh
Hi everyone,
Another new work.
Best wishes,
Leigh
Hi everyone,
This year marks the 13th Anniversary of my switch to using Micro Four Thirds cameras and lenses. During this time my cameras and lenses have travelled thousands of miles and taken thousands of images. If it wasn’t for the small size and particulary the low weight of my cameras and lenses I wouldn’t be able to still be taking pictures today. Above is a shot of three very small and ultra-compact lenses that constitute a very nice lightweight travel kit. The Lumix 20mm f/1.7 prime lens and Lumix 12-32mm and 35-100mm zoom lenses which, along with a small camera body, all fit in my Billliingham Hadley Digital camera bag along with a few accessories.. When travelling it gives me the flexibility of taking just one lens with me when out and about such as the 12-32mm, two lenses by including the 35-100mm when I think that I might require it and the 20mm lens is there for low light/night time shots and one can get some nice environmental portraits with this lens as well as making a versatile all-round walk-about lens. I have found the 12-32mm to be such a useful lens that I own two of them and one lives in my travelling tech bag as a backup should I ever require it. The only thing that I’ve done is adding after-market lens hoods to suit my preference. and enable me to fit my standardised 58mm filters. I don’t know of any other system where one can pack three equivalent focal length lenses like these for a combined weight of 235g or just over 1/2 lb!.
20mm f/1.7:
| Weight | 100g (3.5 oz) |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 63mm diameter x 25.5mm length |
Lumix 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6
| Weight | 70 g (0.15 lb) |
|---|---|
| Length | 24 mm (0.94″) |
Lumix 35-100mm f/4-5.6
| Weight | 135 g (0.30 lb) |
|---|---|
| Length | 50 mm (1.97″) |
So you can see from the above specifications just how small and lightweight these lenses are and they are all more than acceptably sharp. I’m not hooked up in the pursuit of absolute sharpness and I often prefer to diffuse my images occasionally with filters but more often in post-processing to create a softer, more atmospheric feel.
Kind regards
Leigh
Hi everyone,
Olympus PEN-F camera and M.Zuiko 17mm lens. Processed in DXO PureRAW 6, Skylum Luminar NEO, DXO Filmpack 8 and selective adjustments in DXO NIK Collection 6 Vivesa.
Kind Regards
Leigh
Hi everyone,
A few shots taken in Bognor this morning with my Olympus PEN-F camera and one of my oldest lenses, my Lumix 14mm f/2.5, the black and white processing in DXO Filmpack 8. I’m not a street photographer but it’s fun once in a while.
If I was a street photographer I’d have cropped one of my shots like this.
Kind regards
Leigh
Hi evryone,
It’s getting ever increasingly more difficult to get the shots that I want. I’m now down to taking out just one small prime lens and pretty much the lightest of my Micro Four Thirds camera bodies. I started with prime lenses years ago and then bought several zoom lenses including my original travel zoom my Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO lens which is now far to heavy for me to take out. The lens that I need doesn’t exist and in terms of technology probably won’t exist for many years to come that’s a “standard” zoom lens that covers my preferred focal length range, mid wide angle to medium telephoto, as fast, light and compact as a standard focal length prime lens It’s a bit ironical as a standard zoom is what I need nowadays as , with my mobility problems, it avoids having to zoom with my feet or maybe that should be move with my legs but it’s not adequate as a one lens solution as I need a fast lightweight, compact lens for both day and nigh time use. So, the lens that more or less ticks the weight and speed boxes the best and covers most of my requirements albeit with its limitations is my M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8 35mm equivalent lens. I’m missing some shots because my legs get very achy and tired very quickly on leaving the house not to mention painful by the end of the day but at least I’m getting some shots. At the risk of sounding melodramatic I’ve come close quite a few times to considering selling up my gear but something inside always stops me short of doing so.
Filters:
I’m not a big user of filters as I like to do most in post processing but I have narrowed it down to an absolute maximum of four filters that I’m experimenting with taking out and about with me.
Marumi Super DHG circular polarising filter. Not a filter that I need that often but useful on occasions.
Tiffen FusionPOL combined 1/4 pro black mist and CPL filter. I very rarely take portraits of people but it’s handy to have the black mist effect as well as the CPL but, for me, it’s not as useful as my other two filter below for use at night.
Kenko Black Mist #0.5. This filter has a pretty strong diffusion effect and works well if one want the halation to effect the whole image. It has it’s uses in both day and nigh time but I find my last filter give a more pleasing all round effect.
K&F Concept Shimmer Diffuser 1 filter. Unlike the black mist filter this filter is much more subdued, the halation is localised to light sources and hardly noticeable in daylight. I like this filter for nigh time use as the effect it a lot more subtle that black mist filters.
Software:
I’ve just invested in upgrading my DXO PureRAW software to the latest version 6. I’m a fan of DXO’s lens correction profiles which apart from lens distortionc correction it also includes corrections for lens-specific global sharpness and, vignetting as well as chromatic aberration correction option and, in my opinion, the best noise reduction out there and now incorprorating the DeepPRIME XD3 denoising tecnnology, The latest version also includes saving as compressed DNG format.
Kind regards
Leigh
Hi everyone,
A landscape shot of Emsworth from my recent visit.
Best wishes,
Leigh
Hi everyone,
Another work of Emsworth, Hampshire, UK.
Have a great Easter, Kind regards,
Leigh
Hi everyone,
Some shots from my visit this morning to Emsworth in Hampshire all taken with my M.Zuiko 25mm f/1.8 lens and Olympus PEN-F camera. I took my M.Zuiko 12mm f/2 lens as well but didn’t end up using it, this focal length is too wide for me. Nice lens but, try as I might, it is just doesn’t work for me.
Kind regards
Leigh
📷 Digital Art Photography 🎨 : "Paintography" ✈ 👍 