Tag Archives: LumixAmbassador

Echoing Curves

May 18, 2019 by sverma | 0 Comments
Echoing Curves

The beaches beyond Marineland in St. Augustine have some beautiful rock formations. This image was captured while the colors in the sky still had some magenta while the horizon was turning warm gold. The way the ocean had receded taking sand away from the front of this rock and exposing the bright green moss caught my eye. Even more interesting were the curves in the sand, the shape of the waves and the shape of the face of the rock. Each curve in harmony with and echoing the other.

Captured with the Panasonic Lumix S1R with the 24 – 105 f/4 lens. A Benro filter holder with a 3 stop ND, a polarizer and a 3 stop soft edge grad was used for this image. The lens was at 35mm and the exposure triad: f/8, 8 sec, ISO 100.

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Lumix S1R – The value of great resolution with good pixels

May 16, 2019 by sverma | 0 Comments

Last month I spent a few days in St. Augustine at Florida’s Birding and Photo Festival. I took the Lumix S1R along even though I knew I would be shooting predominantly with the Lumix G9 and the Leica 100-400, an ideal bird photography combination. I was also hoping to try out the Sigma MC21 and some of the long glass that Sigma makes – more on that in future posts. For my very first shoot I decided to lave the G9 behind and just use the S1R with the Lumix Pro (Leica certified) 70-200mm f/4. Boy was this a great combination. The following images are an example of what impressed me most.

I am a strong believer on exposing to the right to maximize the ammout of data captured and this root image is an example of this technique.

The image below is of a Roseate Spoonbill that had landed near some alligators to drink water.

Focal length 200mm – Exposure triad f/4, 1/800 sec., ISO 160

Typically I will adjust exposure, white /black points, highlights and shadows to get the image to what it looked like. These adjustments are shown in the screen capture as below.

As the composition was limited by the focal length of the lens I decided on a tight crop while maintaining the reflection as in the image below. The original image is 8368 X 5584 pixels and the cropped image is 1934 X 2528. Though not exact it is close to a 2X crop or the equivalent of a micro four third sensor. This provides a field of view equivalence of 400 mm.

This image has been resized down to 1400 px on the long side for web presentation.

Seeing the detail and the quality of the cropped image, I went a step further and cropped further to 1934 x 1434. This is approximately another 50%.

Once again this image has been resized down just a bit to 1400 px on the long side for web presentation.

In my opinion this is a perfectly good image and useable in and digital competition as most competition require the image to be 1400 X 1050 px.

So why not take it one step further. A severe crop of the neck and head.

This image has not been resized – it is 546 x 817 px

To further test the quality of images from the S1R, I took this small jpg image above and resized it to 1050 px high.

Resized to 1050 px high

Using the same original jpg image a further resize was done to 1920 X 2678 px. This is more than sufficient for any screen/monitor display and any photographic competition.

You should be able to double click this image to see it at 100%

ull disclosure, I am a Lumix Global Ambassador and use Lumix cameras and lenses for my photography. I will say that after using the S1R for a month, in my opinion, it is an exceptional camera and the best digital camera I have used to date.

The LUMIX S1R is Panasonic’s new 47.3-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor camera.

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Vietnam – 2

March 31, 2019 by sverma | 0 Comments

Nam Cuong sand dunes were amazing – though there was not much texture in the sky the dunes were a beautiful sight. They were really pristine till a bunch of tourists started climbing the slopes. Managed a few shots before the decimation.

Panasonic Lumix G9 with the Leica 12-60mm. Exposure triad: f/8, 1/160 sec, ISO 200

A local Cham cowherd had brought his bulls and a wagon that had truck wheels to help traverse the dunes. Lovely warm light on this man’s made for an interesting candid image.

The Chăm Pa now a minority were dynasty that extended across the coast of central and southern Vietnam from approximately the 2nd century AD. They were absorbed and annexed by the Vietnamese Emperor Minh Mạng in AD 1832. They are the poorest people in Vietnam.

Same equipment as with the dunes. Exposure triad: f/4, 1/25 sec, ISO 200

Why miss an opportunity – here are his bulls that he had unyoked from the wagon.

Exposure triad: f/3.8, 1/50 sec, ISO 200

A young Cham girl plays with simple toys while sitting on the dunes in a pile of tires.

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Vietnam – March 2019 – 1

March 27, 2019 by sverma | 0 Comments

Sitting at the airport in Ho Chi Minh City waiting to board my return flight. As there is a bit of time I have started looking at some of the images from this fabulous trip. Despite the heat and humidity (both bearable), the photo opportunities are just phenomenal.

This is a late evening view of the tallest building in Ho Chi Minh. It is not a part of the main skyline but to the right as you look across the river. Access to photograph the main city skyline was closed due to major construction.

Panasonic Lumix G9 with the Leica 12-60 mm lens. Exposure triad: f/8, 1.6 sec ISO 100.

Day three we drove past some very very large fishing villages. The image below is one that caught my eye. It was in the village of Mui Ne on the coastal route from Ho Chi Minh to Phan Rang. It was interesting to see practically all the varieties of fishing vessels you find in Vietnam.

Panasonic Lumix G9 and the Leica 12-60mm at 60mm, Exposure triad: f/8, 1/800 sec., ISO 200

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Barred Owl – Corkscrew Swamp

March 12, 2019 by sverma | 0 Comments

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.

Panasonic Lumix G9 and the Leica 100-400 mm lens – hand-held.  Exposure triad: f/6.3, 1/60 sec, ISO 500.
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MINWR Field Workshop

January 27, 2019 by sverma | 0 Comments

January 25, 2019 – 7:00 AM field trip to Merrit Island National WIldlife Refuge, Black Point Drive yielded some decent images once the clouds dissipated and we got some good light. The day prior was a washout because of the storm that came through the area – high winds, heavy rains and reports of tornados.

Reddish Egret fishing – Panasonic Lumix G9 with the Leica 100-400 mm lens. Exposure triad: f/6.3, 1/800 sec, ISO 500

This year the number of Glossy Ibis in the reserve is exceptional. I have never seen so many flocks of 20 Ibis or more.

Glossy Ibis stepping into the water – Panasonic Lumix G9 with the Leica 100-400 mm lens. Exposure triad: f/6.3, 1/1000 sec, ISO 640

On the other hand, the Roseate Spoonbills are not as abundant as in past years.

Roseate Spoonbill with a Great Egret keeping a watchful eye – Panasonic Lumix G9 with the Leica 100-400 mm lens. Exposure triad: f/7.1, 1/1300 sec, ISO 200
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Lumix G9 Hi-Res Mode – Canyonlands, UT

December 25, 2018 by sverma | 0 Comments
Canyonlands, UT. Panasonic Lumix G9 with the Leica 50-200 mm lens at 50mm (100mm equivalent). Exposure triad: f/8, 1/1000 sec, ISO 200

Despite windy conditions, I wanted to test the Hi-Res Mode of the Lumix G9 in a lighting situation where there would be a minimum shadow definition. I found this location and vantage point and returned at near high noon. The clouds were interesting but as they were not interfering with the light falling on this monolith, I set up and captured this image.

The original RAW file before any crop was 10368 px by 7776 px and approx 138 MB. One for one pixel (native resolution) at 260 DPI this image will print 40 inches wide. The image was processed in Capture One and I cropped down from the top for a better composition. The reduced resolution is a 1400px by 922px file.

No sharpening or lens correction has been applied, nor has any chromatic correction been done.

To determine the detail and quality of the image I have done an extreme crop as shown in the image below.

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The Lumix GH5S in Arches NP, Utah

October 13, 2018 by sverma | 0 Comments

I took the GH5S with the Leica 8-18mm lens to the PSA Conference in the hope I would get to use it and capture some night skies.  It was mainly a bust most evenings except last night when the skies were clear.  The park is crowded with tourists even at night – and of course 30 – 40 at a time they climb out of busses and vans with bright flashlights – not a care that someone is trying to photograph the stars.

I was so happy to get a few shots that I really like.  The milky way is not ideal for this time of year but good enough to test the performance of the GH5S.  In my opinion, it gets 5 Stars.

Panasonic Lumix GH5S with the Leica 8-18. Exposure triad: F/2.8, 20 sec at ISO 1600.

 

Panasonic Lumix GH5S with the Leica 8-18. Exposure triad: F/2.8, 25 sec at ISO 1600.

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Fog X FLO -2

September 6, 2018 by sverma | 2 Comments

Fog X FLO at Arnold Arboretum. Panasonic Lumix G9 with the Leica 12-60mm lens. Exposure triad: f/5, 5 image bracket HDR, ISO 250. 

This was photographed at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University located in the Jamaica Plain and Roslindale sections of Boston. It was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and is the second largest “link” in the Emerald Necklace.  This was another test of the Lumix G9 and Leica 12-60 lens combination’s weather resistance.  Both camera and lens were soaked as a result of the spray from the high pressure water misters but performed flawlessly.

This art exhibition runs through the end of October and is worth visiting.

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Fog X FLO an interpretation

September 5, 2018 by sverma | 0 Comments

Fog X FLO at Fens. Panasonic Lumix G9 with the Leica 12-60mm lens. Exposure triad: f/5.6, 1/200 sec., ISO 100

This image was captured midday on Sept 3, 2018, when the temperature was 95 degrees. This location is Back Bay Fens in Boston.

“Emerald Necklace Conservancy presents the first citywide exhibition of Fujiko Nakaya’s “climate-responsive” fog art, sited in dialogue with the landmarked landscapes designed by Frederick Law Olmsted (FLO).”  This exhibition is to mark the 20th anniversary of the Conservancy.

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