Red Bull Soap Box Race

The moment before impact!

I spent a very enjoyable day at the Red Bull Soap Box Race.  I used my Olympus E-PM2 with the 40-150mm IIR lens shooting the soap boxes coming down the 400m long course.   Mirrorless cameras are not known for their continuous tracking ability but I decided to use this event to try out C-FA+TR focus mode.  Here is a sequence of a crash in focus.

I stationed myself at the finish ramp at the bottom for most of the day and I was pleasantly surprised at the number of images in focus.  The soap boxes were traveling at about 30mph (50kph) by the time they hit the ramp at the finish.  As long as I got the first image in focus, it was able to track focus most of the time.

There were a number of crashes and some people needed to visit the hospital for broken hand, missing tooth and broken nose.  The race organiser had to alter the course to slow the soap box down with a chicane and then reduce the angle of the ramp at the end.

It was a great day out and would definitely go to a future event.  Here are some of the great images captured during the day.

All images taken with Olympus E-PM2 and 40-150mm IIR lens. © Yat Tang


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Olympus VF-3 Experience

VF-3 fitted on Olympus E-PM2

I am a long time user of Micro Four Thirds camera from E-PL1, E-PM1 and now E-PM2.  This system appeals to me because of its small size.  One thing that consistently held it back for me was the lack of EVF.  With the E-PL1, the screen was barely visible in day light.  This was changed with E-PM1, the screen is now quite useful in daylight, apart from the glare and reflection.  The rear screen of the E-PM2 looks very much the same as the E-PM1.

Close up of VF-3

For my style of shooting, I much prefer a view finder, hence the purchase of VF-3 recently.  It has transformed the way I shoot.  Now I no longer need to stretch out my arms and squint at the LCD.  It also adds stability when shooting at low light.  VF-3 can also be pivoted through 90° and I have used it like a waist level finder at time.  This is a style I developed in the past when shooting a compact camera with a flip out LCD screen and I quite like it.

VF-3 showing diopter adjuster

This is a user experience because I do not have access to VF-2 which has higher resolution.  All I can say is it works and I use it all the time and it is rarely off the camera.  It is not all good however.  The problem is not the resolution of the VF-3, it is the colour and contrast compared to the rear LCD.  When shooting with the rear screen, the image you see is comparable to the final image.  The image you see on the VF-3 is nothing like the final image.  It looks very yellow in colour temperature and over amplified; even the shadow area looks bright on the VF-3.  Therefore it should only be used to compose the image and nothing else.  I find I use the rear LCD to view the image I’ve shot rather than relying on the VF-3.  As a tool, I find it very useful but it is flawed in its execution of its task.

Recently, Olympus released the VF-4 which apparently solved all the above problems, but is very expensive.  I do not see myself buying one in the near future.  The VF-3 when used knowing its limitations is a very useful aid to Olympus shooters.  Here are the Pros and Cons:

Pros:
·         Very useful in day light.
·         Can be pivoted 90° and used as a waist level finder.
·         Makes the camera more discrete, rather than everyone seeing your rear LCD.
·         Helps with stability when shooting.
·         Resolution good enough for manual focusing.
·         It has a locking pin, so unlikely to drop off like the VF-2.
·         Cheaper than VF-2.

Cons:
·         Colour temperature is different to rear LCD.
·         Very low contrast and shadow is way too bright.
·         Lower resolution than VF-2.
·         Add bulk to the camera.
·         Actual viewing area is quite small.
·         Cannot use flash or any other accessories when it is attached.

View from the back

Although it has its drawbacks, it is still an invaluable tool to Olympus M43 shooters.  Therefore I can highly recommend it noting the Cons listed above.  I still think it is overpriced and if the VF-2 and VF-3 are cheaper, Olympus will sell a lot more of them.

Update 13th October 2013: I've had the VF-3 now for a while and I can say it is not good enough.  As a viewfinder to use during bright sun light, it works.  Also it makes taking photo more stable because you are not holding the camera at arms' length.  Ultimately it fall short of what I expect a viewfinder to be.  After shooting in good light at the Redbull Soapbox race, I want happy with it.  But after using it at the London Fashion Weekend cat walk show, I was very disappointed.  I was using a Canon DSLR at the same time and the optical viewfinder so much superior.  The VF-4 may be a lot better, but I don't have one to test and it makes the camera viewfinder combination cast more than a good DSLR.  Unless mirrorless cameras have good viewfinders I think they will not be taken seriously by enthusiast and professional photographers.

Long Exposure Shooting with 10 Stop ND Filter

HMS Belfast on a cloudy day, not great for ND filter use

Long exposure day time shooting is a type of photography I have wanted to try for a while.  I just did not have the time as I want concentrating on portrait and fashion photography.  After purchasing Micro Four Third cameras, I find myself carrying a camera with me a lot of the time.  I decided to try this type of photography by buying a Haida Slim ND3.0 (ND1024) filter.  It was a reasonably priced filter by a company I’ve not heard of (purchased from www.premierink.co.uk).

The Shad on a bright sunny day

View from South Bank, London

I used this filter with my Olympus E-PM2 mainly with my Olympus 9-18mm lens with a mini table top tripod.  With this set up, I was able to shoot almost everywhere and very light weight.  The way to work with 10 stop ND filter was to focus and frame your shot then set up the camera before fitting the filter.  After fitting the 10 stop filter, it was almost impossible to see what you are shooting; therefore it is very important to do everything before shooting.  I normally do everything and use a 2 second timer to shoot the image.

Water fountain outside Pantheon, Rome

Water fountain outside Pantheon, Rome

St Peter's Square, Vatican City

From my experience, results are best from a sunny day.  You can shot in low light or cloudy days, but images look flat and unappealing.  Shadow details are greatly reduced, I think difference between the brightest and darkest areas are increased.  The outcome will vary between cameras.  Shooting on a bright day with the sun behind you will yield you the best results.  It is also important to shoot in RAW so you can adjust white balance afterward or set up custom white balance.  The ND filter confuses the camera and images are way too cold.  Again, the camera exposure meter is totally confused by the ND filter.  Since I normally shot in aperture priority, I simply add +1 stop exposure compensation.  This is my experience with my setup, so your combination of filter and camera will be different.

Spanish Steps, Rome

Spanish Steps, Rome

If you go through the trouble to shoot slow and frame your shot, you are rewarded with images  that are slightly different.  You can achieve blur smooth water during the day, clear days with blur clouds or scenes where you can see people movement.  I shot with this filter a lot recently to test it out, but it is not a filter I want to shoot with all the time.  With my M43 cameras, it is not too much trouble to carry a table top tripod and this small filter.


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Rivoli Ball Room with Mariana Chuleva

This is by far my most organised shoot.  It all began at the beginning of the year when I wanted to step up my shooting style.  I wanted to shoot more fashion type images and to create much more bespoke images.  I prefer not to shoot against a plain background in a studio, so I am always on the lookout for shooting locations.  Rivoli Ball Room is an amazing location and I wanted to shoot there for a while.

Since I wanted to up my shooting style I set about getting a team of people together.  First to come on board was Robyn Skinner, a makeup artist I worked with before.  A casting call for designer was placed on Model Mayhem.  Luckily Timea Talian responded, she also suggested I contact Mariana Chuleva to model for us.  After some communications between us, Mariana came on board also.  I also need help with light setting up and general help during the shoot.  For this I asked Nick a work colleague and his wife Niha.  They also stood in for the model, while she was at makeup, so I can set up the lights as I wanted them.  I was ready to shoot as soon as the model was ready.

The next step was to have a clear version of the type of images I wanted out of this shoot.  I did a lot of image search on various fashion sites and settled on a few different looks, then set about to create mood boards, so everyone has a clear understanding of the goal.  This is the first time I created mood boards and I will carry on using them.  It does focus your mind and you do not forget your original aims.

Mariana was great as a model and she was excellent when it came to posing.  I only had to let her know the general idea of what I wanted, she was able to pull off many different looks and pose.  The difficult task came after the shoot, there are so many great images, it was hard to select the best images for retouching.  I am not into heavy photoshop as I like to get as much right in the actual shoot as possible.

All in all, an amazing experience and I came away with some great images.

Model: Mariana Chuleva

Hair and makeup: Robyn Skinner

Styling: Timea Talian

Clothing and accessories: Timea Talian Designs

Assisted by: Nick and Niha Brown


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Opium Latex with Emilia Vile Salmon

I was lucky enough to shoot with Emilia at Bodyline Studio a few weeks ago.  It was a group shoot and you do not have total control of who, where and when who get to shoot with.  As it happens, I shot Emilia at the white back drop with the largest softbox ever!  I did not measure it, the softbox has to be about 3m in diameter.  She was wearing an outfit by Opium Latex and it looks like it was made to measure for her.

Lighting was simple, the large softbox was slight off to the left and two large reflectors were on the right to fill out any shadow.  With such a large softbox, the light just wrap around the model, the quality of the light was amazing.

Emilia was a great model and able to pull off many poses without direction.  When I want a change, I only had to tell her and she was able to adapt very quickly.

I did not need a lot of time to produce some great images.  It was hard to choose the images to edit afterwards, they were all so good and I only want to process the best few.  When you shoot against a plain background, you need a good model that can pull out a variety of poses, Emilia did just that.  Since there is little distraction, you have the viewer’s full attention, the smallest change in pose or expression can make a large difference to the total look.  I am very happy with how these photos turned out.

All Photos:
Model: Emilia Vile Salmon
Latex: Opium Latex

Olympus 9-18mm F3.5-5.6 Experience

9-19mm lens fitted to E-PM2 in retracted position

9-18mm lens in ready to shoot position

Since selling my Sigma 10-20mm lens for my Canon DSLR, I do not have an ultra wide lens any more.  It is a focal length you do not tend to use all the time, but very useful for creating perspective that is very unusual.  Used creatively, very striking images can be produced.  This is when the Olympus 9-18mm lens comes in.  In 35mm terms, the angle of view is equivalent to 18-36mm.  Any focal length less than 24mm can be considered ultra wide.  The only other option available for M43 users is the Panasonic 7-14mm F4.  It is a lot wider but twice for cost.  For a lens I will not be using all the time, I cannot justify it.

This lens certainly give you different views

The lens is very small and light.  However, the length doubles when it is extended from its’ travel position to the shooting position.  Considering the cost of the lens, Olympus still does not supply a lens hood.  I was told by the marketing manager of Olympus UK, Mark Thackara, Olympus users do not use the lens hood, so they are not supplied.  Of course, I disagree and use a hood as much as possible.  I shoot with studio lights a lot and finds lens hood helps a lot with preventing flares.

Distortion looks OK for an ultra wide 

How well does it perform?  From my experience of shooting with it for just over a month, I find it sharp enough, but not as sharp as my regular lens, the Panasonic 20mm F1.7.  Focus speed is fast and silent.  As a wide angle lens, I use it mainly to create unusual shooting angle and view points.   For that it work very well and distortion does not look too bad either.

Looks far away even though I was next to him

EPM2 with 10 stop ND filter

The ultra wide angle lens option for M43 users is very small.  Apart from this lens, the only others are the Sanyang 7.5mm F3.5 fisheye and the Panasonic 7-14mm.  It is not as sharp as the Panasonic 20mm F1.7 or the Olympus 45mm F1.8, but still respectable and do well as a landscape lens.  When I have shot more with this lens, I will add more images shot using it.

Portfolio Shoot with Tori

I did a  beauty shoot with Tori a few weeks ago and I really liked the outcome.  She is a dancer and needed some photos for her dance portfolio.  The photos were shot at Photovibe Studio in Benfleet.

We had a good idea of the type of images we wanted from the start.  The type of images dancers have are quite simple and the lighting are quite simple.  We went through a few looks.

The most interesting images were the ones in front of the silver reflectors.  They provided something a little different.  In order to stop the lights showing in the reflectors, I had to move the light to the left and used two foam reflectors to reflect the lights back to Tori.