This was the sunset image from the same evening as the last few posts. After some great light we had an intense rain storm and then the skies started opening up just before the sun set. All the photographers left the butte except one other PSA member and myself. This image was the reward for sticking it out.
Captured with the Panasonic Lumix S1R and the Lumix Pro S 70-200 mm, f/4 lens at 70 mm. Exposure triad: f/11, 1/125 sec at ISO 800.
Before leaving the Palouse, I would really like to venture inside one of the giant combine harvesters that the farmers use. The are specially designed machines that traverse the steep inclines and slopes of the Palouse without tipping over. The cab is fully climate controlled and has computers that monitor and measure things like quantity of the grain being harvested, the moisture content and many other indices.
This is an image captured on Sept 20, 2019, in the late afternoon before the storm. I used the Lumix S1R with the Lumix Pro S 70-200 mm lens. I have cropped a slight amount on the top of the frame to remove a distraction. The performance of the S1R is exceptional. This was a normal (not a high resolution) capture. A severe crop of the frame just to get the farmhouse is shown in the image below. (Please do click on the images for a larger rendition).
Exposure triad: f/11, 1/15 sec, ISO 200. Focal length 200mm.
I arrived in Spokane, WA for the PSA Board Meetings and the Conference. It was a long flight from Boston to Spokane but I was not going to pass up the opportunity to take a ride to the wheat fields of the Palouse. The weather did not look good but then bad weather can make for some great images.
Most of the afternoon the fields had barely any light and when there was some it was flat. As the afternoon progressed there were occasional openings in the dark cloud that were letting some light come through. The was a large expanse of rain clouds that were dumping rain while the sun shone through on either side casting some warm light on the harvested wheat stalks.
This image was captured in high resolution using the Panasonic Lumix S1R and the Lumix S Pro 70-200 f/4 lens. Exposure triad: f/11, 1/25 sec, ISO 200. Lens at 70mm. The 1440 x 934 pixel image is about 8% of the original file.
Please click on the image for a larger rendition.
When the sun was setting this past weekend (Sept 7, 2019) the moon was about 60% and quite high over the horizon. As the light from the sun was all but gone, the moon shining on the water created this cool/warm juxtaposition in harmony with these old pilings.
The breaking waves in the foreground appear to be trying to blend the warm and cold together. Also, notice the split in the color temperature how the light significantly affected the shadows of the pilings on the right vs. the ones on the left.
These situations remind me of George Eastman’s quote:
“Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.”
The weekend provided
I first shot this composition wide with lots of negative space but realized that with the rocks so small in the frame the beautiful texture was getting lost. So I composed tighter to show much more detail while the image still remained minimal. The setting sun cast some lovely light in the rocks and created a glow in the sand. Although the slow shutter speed remove the detail from the sand, I like the way the color creates a leading line to the rock formation.
The image was captured with the Panasonic Lumix S1R and the Lumix 24-105 f/4 L-Mount lens. A Benro circular polarizer was used to reduce reflections and a Benro 10 stop ND filter was used to slow the shutter down.
Exposure triad: f/8, 60 sec, ISO 100
The barred owl, also known as northern barred owl or hoot owl, at the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Florida this afternoon. The swamp has way too much water and as a result, the number of birds is minimum. This owl remained with its eyes closed for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, when the park staff came by to say we had to leave, I stopped by to get this image.
Coppersmith Barbet Psilopogon haemacephalus – Lumix G9 with the Leica 100 – 400 mm. Exposure triad: f/6.3, 1/640 sec, ISO 8000
Barbets are a species of tropical birds in the family Capitonidae (order Piciformes). Barbets are named for the bristles at the bases of their bills that they use to dig holes in rotting trees where there will nest. They have large heads and short tails and are not agile fliers. They eat insects, lizards, birds’ eggs, fruit, and berries.
The Keoladeo NP has three species of Barbet. I was able to photograph only the Brown-headed Barbet Psilopogon zeylanicus and the Coppersmith Barbet Psilopogon haemacephalus, The third, White-cheeked Barbet was not found.
As these birds sit in very dense leaf trees the light is hard to work with and high ISOs become mandatory.
Brown-headed Barbet Psilopogon zeylanicus – Lumix G9 with the Leica 200mm and 1.4X teleconverter. Exposure triad: f/5.6, 1/125 sec, ISO 1600
Tricolored Heron Reflected – Exposure triad: f/5.6, 1/1600 sec at ISO 640. Focal length 800mm (Full Frame equivalent)
Last week at the Florida Space Coast Wildlife and Birding Festival this image was shot hand-held using the new Lumix G9 and the Leica 200mm lens with the 2X Teleconverter. What I really love is the ability to handhold this combination, yes 800mm equivalant, for the entire morning. The image stabilization is exceptional and the lens performs great. Mind you the lens I was using is a pre production sample and I am sure when I have the production version, it will be even better. In addition, what is truly great about the G9 is the way it renders color – it’s just fantastic!
Great Blue Heron in early morning light. Lumix G9 with the Leica 100 – 400 at 528 mm eq. Exposure Triad: f/8, 1/320 sec ISO 800
It was a gorgeous 84 degree day yesterday when I arrived in Titusville for the Space Coast Festival but this morning it was a cold 51 degrees. This rapid change is no good for bird photography as most of the birds were hunkered down in the mangroves. The few that braved the cold were mostly way out of reach even with an 800 mm equivalent lens.
These are a few decent images albeit severely cropped. Now for the good news – the new Leica 200 mm f/2.8 arrived and I have just unpacked it. Will give this lens a shot tomorrow morning.
Snowy Egret. Lumix G9 with the Leica 100 – 400 at 800mm eq. Exposure Triad: f/6.3, 1/6400 sec ISO 400
Spoonbills and Great Egret. Lumix G9 with the Leica 100 – 400 at 800mm eq. Exposure Triad: f/6.3, 1/2000 sec ISO 200
Spoonbill Preening. Lumix G9 with the Leica 100 – 400 at 800mm eq. Exposure Triad: f/6.3, 1/1000 sec ISO 200
I have been asked this many times and no matter how much I explain it there is still some confusion. Basically, the Post Focus function in the supporting Lumix cameras rely on the high-resolution video capability in conjunction with focus racking to capture a sequence of images that can be selected by defining the plane of focus. So as an example, if you were to set up a yardstick and let the camera take a post-focus image – the camera would focus on the nearest point to the lens take an image and then gradually refocus a bit further out and take another image till it reached the end of the frame at the farthest point. There would be a series of images each one at a different point of focus. Note however that this sequence is captured using the video mode of the camera.
Once the images are captured, the camera does internal processing that then allows you to tap on the screen to select the image that has the best focus at that selected point. You can then opt to save this selected image. Supporting this function is post-capture peaking to confirm focus and in addition, you can magnify the image for a selective selection.
This feature is further augmented with a merge function. You can merge all the images captured into a single image that is tack sharp from the closest focus point to the farthest. However what is even more useful, particularly if you use large apertures for a shallow depth of field and you want to keep your background out of focus. You can select the range you want to merge and thereby leave the remainder of the scene out of focus.
The following image that I used as the lead image was captured in post focus and merged in its entirety.
For this next Post-focus demonstration I placed a postcard on the background and merged the entire set of images. As you can see the postcard is in focus as are the flowers.
Next, I used the same Post-Focus set but this time iI selected just the range I wanted, just the flowers and executed the merge. The following is the resulting image with the postcard nicely blurred:
I hope this gives you a better understanding of the power of this feature and the many ways you can use it. Please note that when these images are captured using 6K Photo Mode, the resulting images are 18 MP and suitable for very large enlargements when processed with the appropriate software.
