Kenko Nostaltone Orange filter.

Hi everyone,

The other day in a post I mentioned I was waiting for delivery of a new filter. This filter is one that I’ve been greatly looking forward to trying out. Kenko make three Nostaltone filters in orange, blue and green. They all have different properties, I chose the orange version to try out as I have a leaning towards warmer, softer, diffused images. The orange has a stronger colour effect and some unusual flare properties as well as a weaker diffusion effect compared with the blue version. The blue version has a weaker colour effect and a stronger diffusion effect and also some interesting flare properties. I’m not sure about the green filter as I’ve not been able to find a lot of information on it. These filters are somewhat hard to get in the UK and mine came by a very circumventious routefrom Japan via Spain and France!.

Below are some straight out of camera shots taken with the Nostaltone filter mounted on my Olympus 9-18mm lens at ISO 200 with sunny white balance setting. I wanted to find some Autumnal foliage as I though the filter would work well with the Autumnal colours. It’s been a lovely sunny day, because we’ve had a long, hot, dry summer the foliage is still very green for this time of year, I’ll probably repeat this later in the month. I haven’t done anything in post with these images except for lens corrections and, as the filter softens the image, I’ve left it that way and not applied any sharpening. I edited the last image to make it look more Autumnal. 🙂 With one minor exception I couldn’t get it to exhibit the blue lens flares, even without my lens hood fitted.

Kind regards to all,

Leigh

Photography in one’s advancing years.

September 29, 2026 by Leigh Kemp - UK-based "Paintographer" in Leigh Kemp, Photography, Photography equipment, Travel | Leave a comment

Hi everyone,

I found this very interesting video and as I’m inexorably nudging towards 70, I can fully identify with what he’s saying. My own minimalist camera choice closely resembles his. A small camera bag, one camera body, a spare battery, a small filter pouch with an absolute maximum of four small diameter filters, a lens cloth and, in my case, a couple of very small and lightweight zoom lenses which weigh in at a combined lens weight of 288g or approx. 10 oz!.

As someone who doesn’t habitually shoot many shots at telephoto focal lengths if I’m going to carry a “what if” lens, particularly when travelling, it has to be the smallest, lightest, most compact telephoto that I can pack and at 133g with a length of 5.6cms that’s my Lumix 35-100mm (70-200mm equiv.) f/4-5.6 lens which fits in the palm of one’s hand. At this weight I can live with it even if it only gets used very occasionally. It’s small size means that it’s an eminently pocketable lens which is useful. This lens nicely compliments my equally small and lightweight M.Zuiko 9-18mm (18-36mm equiv.) f/4-5.6 lens which I more than often find myself using at or towards the long end.

In the flashy promotional gear videos you always see a young, fit-looking guy bounding up the rocks with the waves crashing effortlessly carrying a backpack full of gear and a tripod with a heavy camera and lens hanging from his neck. Nowadays I couldn’t even climb up the rocks let alone do so with camera gear. 🙂 So at the end of the day it boils down to a simple choice, adapt to one’s physical limitations or give up. In total honesty do I feel slightly aggrieved that I’m not that man in the videos?, absolutely, will it prevent me from pursuing and enjoying my photography?, absolutely not!.

Kind regards

Leigh

The Taylor Swift Look :)

September 28, 2026 by Leigh Kemp - UK-based "Paintographer" in Leigh Kemp, Photography, Photography equipment, Travel | Leave a comment

Hi everyone,

I recently discovered that Taylor Swift, another Olympus/OM Systems user’s favourite look for her Instagram page is using the Olympus Vintage 1 art filter. As I shoot RAW most of the time and Olympus’ Workspace software allows me to add the art filter in post I thought, for fun, and as I couldn’t find any obliging celebreties, I’d give a few of my recent street shots of Worthing the “Taylor Swift Look”. I never thought I’d have anything in common with Taylor Swift. 🙂 All shots taken with my Lumix 35-100mm f/4-5.6 lens and Pen F camera.

Moving swiftly on, sorry couldn’t resist the pun, I’ve ordered a new filter from Japan, one that I’ve been interested in for some while now. More on that when I’ve received it and had a chance to try it out but, suffice to say, I’m quite excited to see the effect this filter has.

Kind regards

Leigh

Photo walk in Worthing with Lumix 35-100mm f/4-5.6

September 22, 2026 by Leigh Kemp - UK-based "Paintographer" in Leigh Kemp, Photography, Photography equipment, Travel | 2 Comments

HI everyone,

As it’s been a beautiful, sunny, hot day I thought I’d take my 35-100 (70-200) mm lens and my PEN-F camera for a walk around Worthing. This lens is so tiny, light and sharp and it’s a real joy to use. Although street photography isn’t my genre it was fun, I particularly like the shot of the lady dancing to the rap music coming from the boom box. 🙂 I processed these shots with various Teal and Orange LUTs. Below, a few shots:

Best wishes,

Leigh

Thinking ahead (M.Zuiko 9-18mm lens).

September 17, 2026 by Leigh Kemp - UK-based "Paintographer" in Photography equipment, Travel | 4 Comments

Hi everyone,

After feeling a bit “down in the dumps” following the enforced cancellation of our trip to Canada my thoughts have turned to our hopeful short city break and what lenses I might take. As it’s a city break and, as always, I want to travel as light as possible, I think that I’ll take my Olympus M.Zuiko 9-18mm lens as a main walkabout lens. This lens has strangely only ever travelled with me once before and, looking back on the trip, I took some of my favourite shots with it. At its widest end it’s a very useful ultra-wide angle 18mm equivalent well suited for architectural, interior and scenic shots and at the 36mm equivalent end a classic street photography focal length. Unlike other wide-angle zooms it doesn’t have a bulbous front element and therefore one can fit filters to it.

It’s not fast, it’s not weather-sealed and it’s plastic fantastic but it does punch well above its weight and I’ve found the image quality to be more than acceptable. I’ll probably pack a couple of other lenses like my Lumix 20mm f/1.7 and 35-100mm f/4-5.6 lenses, all equally small and lightweight as well a small selection of filters and a couple of spare batteries and that’s it. I’m also hoping to get some nice night shots.

Here’s a few shots taken with this lens:

If this lens interests you search YouTube and you’ll find some excellent reviews by well-respected photographers including Peter Forsgard, Robin Wong and Emily from Micro Four Nerds amongst others all of whom rate the lens favourably. Actually Peter and Emily have each done two reviews this lens.

Kind regards

Leigh

“Gone Fishing”

April 30, 2026 by Leigh Kemp - UK-based "Paintographer" in Leigh Kemp, Photography, Travel | Leave a comment

Hi everyone,

I’ve rediscovered just how good Affinity Photo is at launching all my software as plugins. I’ve had it ages and not done much with it. It works with pretty much all my software including DXO, Topaz and Skylum products as well as a few others such as Athentech Perfectly Clear.

All the best,

Leigh

“All the world’s a sunny day”.

April 24, 2026 by Leigh Kemp - UK-based "Paintographer" in Landscape, Leigh Kemp, Photography, Travel and tagged camera, cameras, film, film-photography, Photography | 6 Comments

Hi everyone,

Back in the 70s and 80s my favourite 35mm films were Ilford FP4 black and white and Kodachrome ISO 25 and 64 colour slide films loaded in my Olympus OM-1 and OM-2 cameras. I tried other colour films but I kept returning to Kodachrome, back then, as many of you will remember, Kodak was THE name that was pretty synonymous with photography throughout my formative years. I vividly remember getting the Kodachrome slides back in the post from the Kodak Lab in their yellow plastic container with an opaque lid. I went for a trip into Southwick around the port area a short distance further down the coast from one of my favourite locations Shoreham By Sea. I’ve not been there before and I just took my Olympus PEN E-PL8 and a Lumix 12-32mm lens. As this was a first visit, I didn’t know what I’d find there, and I only wanted to take one lens, I took the zoom and resisted the urge to go totally retro and fit just my M.Zuiko 25mm f/1.8 lens, if and when I return I might just take a prime lens next time. The only accessories that I took with me were a spare camera battery and, as it was a beautiful sunny day , a CPL filter.

For fun I thought I’d process my images using DXO FilmPack 8’s Kodachrome 25 preset with a little added saturation and/or vibrancy to taste as I remember the colours, particularly the reds popping with Kodachrome 25. As Paul Simon said in his song Kodachrome, “Gives me those nice bright colours”. I also added a little softness as the lenses that I was using back then weren’t as sharp as modern ones, lastly I decided to add a slight matte and fade effects in Luminar NEO. On the way there on the train I got into the mood listening to some of my favourite music from that era and a bit earlier, specifically the band Cream with Eric “Slowhand” Clapton and one of my drumming idols “Ginger” Baker 🙂 . What a nostalgic, fun, blast from the past day wandering around in the sunshine, unencumbered by heavier clothing, with a small lightweight camera and lens, feeling good. I’m not solely trying to recapture my youth, in a funny sort of way I’ve gone full circle. It’s the simplicity and joys of feeling free of the burden of bulky heavier gear which greatly enhances the fun factor and gives me a “buzz”. If photography can’t be enjoyable then, in my opinion, it’s simply not worth pursuing. For a few hours at least, all the world really was indeed a sunny day!. 🙂 .

Leigh

A sunny morning in Chichester Cathedral and Gardens.

April 20, 2026 by Leigh Kemp - UK-based "Paintographer" in Leigh Kemp, Photography, Travel | Leave a comment

Hi everyone,

I took my PEN-F and one of my Lumix 12-32mm f3.5-5.6 lenses for a photo walk back to one of my favourite local locations to take some test shots. All the outdoor shots were taken with my Marumi Super DHG CPL filter. The indoor shots at up to 6400 ISO at apertures from f/3.5 to f/5.6 and my K&F Concept Shimmer Diffuser filter as I haven’t had many opportunities to try this filter. I prefer the effect of this filter over black mist filters as the halation effect is localised, is less pronounced and doesn’t wash over the entire image.. Normally I’d have used a faster prime lens in low light but I was keen to see how well the 12-32 performed and I think that it coped admirably . All images processed in DXO PureRAW v6 and Skylum Luminar NEO. Resizing the images for the blog doesn’t do the lens justice. I also met a fellow PEN-F owner, not something that happens very often 🙂

Some 100% crops:

Kind regards

Leigh

Arundel, W.Sussex, UK.

April 17, 2026 by Leigh Kemp - UK-based "Paintographer" in Landscape, Leigh Kemp, Photography, Travel | Leave a comment

Hi everyone,

A new landscape work of Arundel, West Sussex, taken with my PEN-F camera and Lumix 12-32mm lens.

Kind regards

Leigh

Stream and Trees

April 12, 2026 by Leigh Kemp - UK-based "Paintographer" in Landscape, Leigh Kemp, Photography, Travel | 2 Comments

Hi everyone,

Another new work.

Best wishes,

Leigh

As I sit here looking at my modern digital cameras I’m reminded of my first camera and, in particular, the first photograph that I ever took. Nowadays we take cameras and camera technology pretty much for granted but when I was a child I can’t remember many photographs. The only time our camera saw the light of day, and it had to be the light of day, as there wasn’t a flash, was on a few family occasions, the usual thing, school sports days, birthdays, etc.. My interest in photography didn’t start until my grandfather “loaned” me his camera to take with me on a week-long school trip, sleeping under canvas, in Snowdonia, North Wales. It was a somewhat battered old twin-lens reflex camera in which one looked downwards in to the viewfinder when taking a photograph.

I remember being very excited at being entrusted with the family camera, film wasn’t cheap and I had very little to no idea how to use it. The experience must have made some kind of impression on me as, after all these years, I still remember taking my first photograph. The coach stopped en-route at Blenheim Palace, the ancestral home of Sir Winston Churchill and it became the subject of my first photograph. Although, sadly, like my other photographs from the trip, it has long since disappeared, however, I really don’t need the photograph to remind me as the experience is indelibly etched on my mind. I wonder if this is perhaps where my interest in landscape photography stems from but that’s probably too much of an assumption. As far as I remember I was the only kid on the trip to have a camera, that’s how different things were, nowadays, just about everyone has a camera of some sort built in to their mobile phones. It also taught me to be disciplined to the point of being frugal when taking photographs as the trip was for one week and I only had a 12 exposure black and white film in the camera.

Some years later I really got the photography bug and bought my first camera, an Olympus OM-1 35 mm film camera and I went on to own their OM-2 and OM-4ti cameras and a range of lenses. Film was still pretty expensive considering I earned about £20 a week in my first job so I got in to developing and printing my own black and white and, later, colour films to help keep the costs down and make things more affordable. Not only did this experience teach me an awful lot about image-making start to finish, many of the techniques and skills that I learned in my makeshift darkroom, a small room adorned with genuine World War 2 blackout curtains fitted to keep out the light, another hand-me-down from my grandfather, these skills would re-surface and be invaluable some years later when I started working on processing my digital images.

I put myself through University as a mature student and I badly needed the money so I had to very reluctantly part with all my photographic equipment, but needs must. After I graduated I bought my first digital camera, a small fixed lens Kodak compact camera, reduced in a sale. It had, by today’s standards, a laughably small maximum image resolution of 640×480 pixels or, to put it another way, a stunning 0.4 Megapixels!. For all of this and further equipped with screw on wide angle and telephoto lens attachments, it proved to be a fabulous little camera which I took all over the place with me. Put simply, digital photography was a revelation, to me, no requirement for film, no real running costs and a lot of image capacity on a small memory card which I found absolutely liberating.

A few years before that I had discovered some free graphics editing software on the cover disk of a computer magazine and that started off my real passion for working with graphics and, ultimately, photo processing. So I then had all the tools I required to develop, pun intended and further, my interest in digital photography. Processing is where the magic starts for me, I am totally absorbed in and fascinated by the range of options that digital processing affords me. It encourages me, if, that is, I ever need encouragement, to constantly experiment with new styles, new techniques and is such an important part of my enjoyment and interest in photography.

I went on to own several DSLRs but, as I got older I began to find that they were simply too heavy and bulky. I switched over back in 2013 to Micro Four Thirds cameras and lenses. My choice of MFT system was heavily influenced by my experiences with my Olympus film cameras, maybe it was, in truth, part based on nostalgia that I decided on their OM-D system. As a landscape/travel photographer I have to carry my gear around all day and the weight and bulk saving is highly significant. I’ve been very impressed with the image quality of my Micro Four Thirds equipment, it has traveled with me extensively, never let me down and I have never had cause to question my decision to go over to that format.

So my 50-plus year photographic adventure has led me from twin-lens reflex and single-lens reflex film cameras to digital cameras, from stumbling around in a dimly-lit darkroom to working with my images on my computer. I’ve heard it said on occasions, including a comment I read some while back by a very famous photographer, that cameras being so much an every-day item now and available in mobile phones etc. devalues photography. I feel quite the opposite, I firmly believe that it empowers everyone with affordable technology to take photographs and enjoy photography and that, in my opinion, is fantastic. Although I’ve very much enjoyed my personal photographic journey I do confess to feeling a slight tinge of regret that the technology wasn’t available when I started out but one can’t put the clock back and I intend to keep on embracing all these great technological advancements, experimenting and enjoying my work.

Cameras:

Olympus: OM-D E-M5 Mk II (titanium) & HLD-8G grip, OM-D E-M1 Mk I (black) & HDL-7 grip, OM-D EM-5 Mk I (silver) & HDL-6 grip, PEN EPL-5, PEN EP-5 (silver) +VF-4, PEN E-PL8 (Silver) +VF4, Tough TG-5 (red), PEN-F (silver), Canon Powershot G10, Nikon Coolpix A100

Lenses:

Olympus: M.Zuiko: 12 mm f/2, 17 mm f/1.8, 25 mm f/1.8, 45 mm f/1.8, 30 mm f/3.5 macro, 9 mm f/8 body cap fisheye, 15 mm f/8 body cap, 9-18 mm, 12-50 mm, 12-40 mm f/2.8 PRO, 14-150 mm II, 40-150 mm II, 12-45mm f/4 PRO, MCON-P02.

Sigma: ART 60 mm f/2.8.

Samyang: Manual focus 7.5 mm f/3.5 fisheye.

TT Artisan: Manual focus 17mm f/1.4, 23mm f/1.4, 35mm f/1.4.

Panasonic Lumix: 14 mm f/2.5, 20 mm f/1.7, 12-32 mm x2 (black and silver), 12-60 mm, 14-42 mm II, 35-100 mm, 45-150mm.

PEN E-P5, 9-18mm,12-32mm, 40-150mm II. A lightweight kit with virtually continuous coverage from 18mm wide angle to 300mm telephoto.

OM-D E-M1 I, 14-150mm II, 12-40mm PRO. . Heavier than my other kits but with complete weather-sealing. Coverage from 24mm wide angle to 300mm telephoto with some overlap for backup.

OM-D E-M5 II, 17mm, 35mm, 12-60mm. A balance of two fun manual focus lenses with a weather-sealed body and zoom lens.

PEN E-PL5, 9mm, 15mm, 25mm, 60mm, 12-50mm. Another lightweight fun kit with a zoom option.

TG-5, OM-D E-M5 mk1, 7.5mm, 12mm, 17mm, 45mm, 30mm macro. M-CON.

PEN-F, 14mm, 20mm, 12-32mm, 35-100mm. Probably my favourite lightweight day-to-day kit. Two fast primes and two zoom with almost continuous coverage from 24mm wide angle through to 200mm telephoto.

Software:

Corel: Paintshop Pro Elite 2020 & Video Studio 2019.

Skylum Software: Aurora HDR 2019, Luminar 4, Luminar AI and Luminar Neo.

DXO Labs: PhotoLab 5 Elite, Viewpoint 3, NIK Collection 6, Film Pack 5 and PureRAW 6.

Anthropics Technologies: Landscape Pro Studio 3 and Portrait Pro.

EyeQ: Perfectly Clear

ON1: Photo MAX RAW 2026

Topaz Labs: Studio 2, Sharpen AI, A.I Gigapixel, AI Clear, AI Adjust, DeNoise AI and Various legacy plugins.

Adobe: Lightroom.

GreenScreenWizard Studio Pro.

Serif: Affinity Photo

Microsoft: Image Composite Editor (Free).

Darktable (Free).

Olympus: Olympus Capture, Olympus Workspace and Olympus Webcam (Free to Olympus owners).

Sony: Movie Studio Platinum.

Datacolor: SpyderExpress display calibration device and DisplayCal software.

Lighting Gear:

Godox TT350o flash, Godox X1T radio flash trigger, Godox Lux Junior flash, LED ring flash, GVM RGB LED light, Olympus MAL-1 Macro Arm Light. Two Godox LED36 lights, Godox Litemons LED6R light. Three Bowen studio flash heads, barndoors, honeycombes, umbrellas and flash meter.