The Olympus E-system thread

This swan has a bit of a story behind it. I was walking down a trail toward the river to get a shot of a large cement factory posed in front of snow capped mountains. Where the trail broke before the river I came upon this swan preening itself on the shore. I know zip about these birds but I'm guessing this was a youngster. It let me get within two or three feet with my camera before slowly waddling away...Very trusting, perhaps too trusting I thought. I then noticed two very large birds of prey directly above tis young swan. Me being me, I decided this young swan was in danger as I thought maybe the big eagles would have him for supper when I left. So I herded the swan into the river figuring he'd be safer there than on the land. The silly thing went in the water for a few moments and came back out. Nothing I did would deter him. Figuring it for an English speaking swan I pointed up to the big birds in the tree and told it they were very bad for his health. The swan seemed not to care so I left it at that.
 
This is the cement plant I was on my way to shoot when I met the swan:)

cement.jpg
 
Love all the shots of the boats on this page and the last ... just beautiful. I don't remember if you mentioned previously or not, but what lens(es) do you use for these shots?
 
Thanks Larry....These were shot with an Olympus 14-42mm & Tiffen haze filter. My other lense is a 40-150mm, both kit lenses that came with the Oly 500. I have also a 14-45mm that came with the e-510. I'd like to invest in a fast prime and also a 500mm zoom. Sometimes I can't get close enough to get good bird shots.
 
Wow, nice! They are so sharp and the colors are so brilliant I assumed it was a prime lens.

Any reason why you use the filter, rather than apply a "haze" in PS after the fact? I ask cause I had looked at several filters, but then figured they could all be replicated in PS, so it would be better to keep the shot "clean" in camera.

Anyway, great shots ... looking forward to more.
 
The haze filter doesn't create haze it just brings it out more in the shot. I find it works like a polarizer for clouds and mist...Any kind of haze. The sharpness of the image has to be credited to the e-510 and its OIS cos it was too cold by the river for me to hold that puppy steady....BRRrrrrrr!
 
Just reworked this image a tad to lose the tree and bring out more detail. I like it better. What's your take?

fog2.jpg
 
I think they both look great but to be honest, I think I like the original a tad more. I think getting rid of the tree was a good move. But the vignetting on the lower left hand corner of the new one is abrupt...on the original...it fades into the picture nicely. Also, the new one has bright spots and edges; the bluish glare off the water, the light hitting the wood, etc. This causes you to zoom in on one aspect of the photo. Makes the foreground seem more important than the background, when the ships in the back are pretty darn interesting.

But what I liked about the original is that it is so gray and drab throughout. The eye isn't drawn to any one particular item just the picture as a whole...plus a little more contrast and some crushed blacks and I'm thinking of a scene from a classic 40's flick with Bogart or Tracy. Thats just my opinion of course...
 
Thanks Rick....All valid points, funny, I thought the second one looked like a scene from the original "MYST" game. I have left the mood intact on the final below and only removed the trees.

fog4.jpg


PS...I deicate this image to my Mother who passed away a couple of weeks ago and I've called it "The final voyage" My GF thinks it's a bit heavy LOL, but I think it suits the mood well!
 
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Sorry about your mom. Not to take this thread completely off track but I can't just comment on your pics without at least sending my condolences. I can imagine what a tough loss that is.
 
Thanks Rick. As loss goes I'd have to rate it as one of the worst I've felt and I was flying pretty low to the ground for a few days. She will live in my heart and memories forever and that's what pulled me through:)
 
I just reworked this shot as it was bugging me for a while that I had pushed it too far in my early attempts at HDR. My complaint is now only with the fact this bridge only carries a commuter train and the traffic bridge right next to it needs twinning or replacing. I would have thought, if you were going to build a bridge you could have gone the extra mile and built it to carry trains and cars! Just plain old silly thinking on my part:)

bridge.jpg
 
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