Olympus Gallery

From Tywyn to London, part II: Olympus 8mm f/1.8 Fisheye image samples

12/05/2015 By Mathieu 15 Comments

Update: check out our full review of the Olympus 8mm f/1.8 Fisheye!

The 8mm f1.8 Fisheye was the second lens announced by Olympus today. As with the 7-14mm, we received it just before heading to London for our third photo walk. As coincidence would have it, Heather’s father and his Welsh male voice choir were singing at the Royal Albert Hall on the very same day, so we had a lovely ride on the bus down to London with him and the other members of the Côr Meibion Bro Dysynni. During the 7-hour journey through the UK countryside, we tried to take as many pictures as possible with the lens.

From Tywyn to London, part I: Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8 image samples

12/05/2015 By Mathieu 4 Comments

Update: check out the Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8 complete review here!

Today Olympus announced two extreme wide angle lenses for the Micro Four Thirds system: the 7-14mm f/2.8 and the 8mm f/1.8 Fisheye. We received these two new lenses a few days before travelling to London for the LNDWLK 3.0 event, and with our preparations for our trip to Canada in the mix, we decided to postpone our review for a couple of weeks so that we can have more time to try them in-depth. Of course we didn’t want to let our readers down, so we took as many sample images as possible over the past three days and have shared them here for you to see.
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First Signs of Spring – A gallery edited with Tammy Lee Bradley’s Lightroom presets

05/05/2015 By Heather 2 Comments

They say that Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year but I would dare to argue that there is nothing quite like the first few weeks of spring. The sounds, smells and colours assault our senses, reminding us that beauty and new life always return, even when winter seems never-ending.

TLB Amazing Preset II – E-M1, 1/320, f/ 28/10, ISO 640 with M.Zuiko 60mm

X-T1, 1/450, f/ 18/10, ISO 200 — TLB Tints and Hues 12 – X-T1, 1/450, f/ 1.8, ISO 200 with Touit 32mm

One of my favourite springtime hobbies is searching for wildflowers in the fields behind our neighbourhood and photographing them. Not only is it an enjoyable and relaxing exercise for me as a photographer, but it also helps the National Plant Monitoring Scheme, an organisation that monitors changes in plant populations across the UK.

E-M1, 1/500, f/ 8/1, ISO 400 — TLB Amazing Preset – E-M1, 1/500, f/ 8, ISO 400 with M.Zuiko 60mm

E-M1, 1/1250, f/ 8/1, ISO 640 — TLB Amazing B&W XXII – E-M1, 1/1250, f/ 8, ISO 640 with M.Zuiko 60mm

A half a world away in sunny Florida, there lives another photographer who enjoys shooting plant life and nature as much as I do. Tammy Lee Bradley has been an inspiration for us since we first began MirrorLessons, as she always manages to beautify even the simplest objects through her use of impeccable composition and light. Not only is she a great photographer but she is also a talented artist who works with a variety of mediums including pencil, watercolour and oil.

Recently she developed a set of 98 black and white and colour presets for Lightroom, which she kindly send us to try. These presets are based on the post-processing techniques she uses for her personal images, and are heavily influenced by her knowledge of the fine arts.

Lightroom Presets Download — TLB Amazing Preset XX – E-M1, 1/200, f/ 28/10, ISO 640 with M.Zuiko 60mm

tammy lee bradley — TLB Amazing B&W XX – E-M1, 1/2500, f/ 5, ISO 400 with M.Zuiko 60mm

In the collection, you’ll find a medley of styles, from the overpowering to the extremely subtle. Not every preset will suit every image but by experimenting, it is quite easy to find one that matches the image you are trying to post-process. The image below for example would look good with any of the following four presets, as well as many others.

TLB BW IV – E-M1, 1/160, f/ 2.8, ISO 640 with M.Zuiko 60mm

TLB Amazing Preset VI – E-M1, 1/160, f/ 2.8, ISO 640 with M.Zuiko 60mm

TLB Amazing Preset XXI – E-M1, 1/160, f/ 2.8, ISO 640 with M.Zuiko 60mm

TLB Tones IV – E-M1, 1/160, f/ 2.8, ISO 640 with M.Zuiko 60mm

I thought I would end up steering clear of the presets that dramatically change an image’s original colours but I have actually found myself using them for certain photographs such as the one below. These presets are effective if there isn’t too vast an array of colours in the original image.

BEFORE – E-M1, 1/500, f/ 2.8, ISO 640 with M.Zuiko 60mm

AFTER – TLB Old School – E-M1, 1/500, f/ 2.8, ISO 640 with M.Zuiko 60mm

That said, I usually prefer subdued to punchy for my nature images, even when I post-process without the help of presets. Some of my favourite subtle styles from the TLB set include Amazing Preset, Colour II and Colour XI to name a few.

Tammy Lee Bradley's Lightroom Presets Download — TLB Amazing Preset – E-M1, 1/1600, f/ 3.2, ISO 200 with M.Zuiko 60mm

X-T1, 1/340, f/ 18/10, ISO 200 — TLB Colour II – X-T1, 1/340, f/ 1.8, ISO 200 with Touit 32mm

X-T1, 1/1700, f/ 18/10, ISO 200 — TLB Colour XI – X-T1, 1/1700, f/ 1.8, ISO 200 with Touit 32mm

The images you see here were taken with two different cameras, the Olympus OM-D E-M1 with the 60cmm macro and the Fujifilm X-T1 with the Zeiss Touit 32mm. The presets worked well with both kinds of Raw files.

Presets are an excellent starting point if you are unsure how to start post-processing your images but would like to give them a special “look”. They work to unify a series of images and help you to develop your own personal style by spring-boarding off the groundwork of someone with more experience.

If you are interested in trying out Tammy’s Lightroom presets, you can order them here for $24.99.

Lights and shadows – A day walking in the Lake District with the OM-D E-M1

08/08/2014 By Mathieu 2 Comments

I love the UK for many different reasons but speaking strictly from a photography perspective, I love this country for its landscape opportunities. Seeing that unique harmony of light and shadow moving over the green lands is like watching someone literally paint with light over the countryside.

The Pet Shop Boys ‘Electric’ Tour – Using the Olympus OM-D E-M1 for concert photography

29/07/2014 By Heather 3 Comments

I’m not really what you would call an avid concert goer, but as soon as I heard that one of my favourite groups, the Pet Shop Boys, would be holding a free concert in Turin’s enormous Piazza San Carlo during the Traffic Festival, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I had seen them in concert over ten years ago with my mum in downtown Toronto, and while the experience was unforgettable, from where we were sitting, Neil and Chris appeared to be no more than two tiny moving specks off in the distance.