What to do about the Olympus Problem
“Micro Four Thirds is Dead” proclaimed Tony Northrup. Truth be told I haven’t watched the video and I probably won’t, because I’m done with talking about cameras. But I just had to say something on this subject. Never-the-less, for those that haven’t seen the video causing all this uproar in the Olympus communities, here it is:
My take? Micro Four Thirds is not dead. But it certainly is in a critical condition, no thanks to Olympus.
Hear me out…
In all of the Olympus Facebook groups, forums and communities that I am a part of I hear nothing but positivity when it comes to OM-D’s. Olympus photographers absolutely adore their cameras and so they should! Lightweight and compact with brilliant image quality. So why then, does someone like Tony Northrup declare Micro Four Thirds as a dead format? Why is it that everyone else in the photography industry seems to look at Micro Four Thirds as the red-headed stepchild or the wannabe digital camera brand? I loved my OM-D and defended Micro Four Third on a regular basis.
The Micro Four Thirds technology and sensor standard is actually pretty good! Sure, it has its limitations, as do all sensors, but if you ask me the issue lies with Olympus as a company - not the actual technology itself. Now, typically when we speak about Micro Four Thirds as a standard, we should be taking Panasonic along for the discussion too, but in all honesty ‘despite’ their Lumix range also utilising MFT, they’ve built an amazing reputation in the world of digital video which is still looked upon incredibly positively. They differentiated their primary use of the MFT Format and weren’t really ever playing the same game as Olympus. I think they get a pass here. Olympus however, do not.
Allow me to be pragmatic for a second…
From the outside looking in, that is; through the eyes of non-Olympus, Panasonic and Micro FourThirds users, it’s hard to see the attraction and lure of Micro Four Thirds for stills photography. Really, it is! Sure, its a small and lightweight system, but so is the Sony a7 series*. (Cue Uproar and arguments about how that isn’t true). *I agree - The Sony Alpha system isn’t as small, or as lightweight as what an OM-D offers and yes, I fully acknowledge that the lenses are massive and often and heavier than traditional DSLR lenses, but the thing is, Sony says the advantage of their system is lightweight and portability and so many people believe it. That’s a fact. Like it or not. Any camera brand can shout about lightweight enough and make it appear true. Consumers will believe what they hear and see in ads!
In this day and age; that being the age of fake news and tribes gathering themselves around their favoured brands and vehemently denying facts that don’t suit their belief (Olympus users are guilty of this too), if someone like Sony use these things as strap-lines in their marketing and enough people believe it, then the perception becomes the reality. (You could say the same for German cars and their apparent reputation for being reliable).
So, what we end up with is a market where people look at Sony, look at Olympus and see two systems; both small and lightweight (apparently), but one packing a Full Frame sensor. Combine that with the even more common perception that “Full Frame is for Pro’s” and we’re left with the common belief that the Sony surely, must be ‘the better camera to go for?’. Hence the reason Sony is currently killing it in the camera market and almost single-handedly set in motion arguably the largest disruption in the camera market since demise of film.
Why blame Olympus?
I work in IT and recently took on a new job. I moved from a monster of a Corporate to an Agile company. I don’t foresee the Corporate even existing in 10 years time, whereas my new company have recognised that disruptors can come from anywhere at any time and so they are seeking to be the disruptor. As David S Rose said; “Any company designed for success in the 20th century is doomed to failure in the 21st”. Loosely, David is talking about how a company can become inflexible and how their product-to-market lifecycle often becomes so long that in the middle of their next big development cycle, some other company comes in and smashes it out of the park with something else that makes their efforts totally obsolete. Like my previous corporate monster company.
Well, I see a lot of this same behaviour in Olympus. Not only in their awfully slow R&D cycles which are akin to companies pre-2000’s, but also the fact that even when they do release a new camera, it’s merely iterative and often in response to something from a year ago, meaning they play catchup.
You could argue that the iterative improvements and firmware updates massively improve the OM-D’s…but even on paper, do they really, even then, stack up against the competition in terms of performance? No. Olympus identified a need for a high performance yet compact camera and delivered it via Micro Four Thirds, but now the market has swung back toward wanting larger sensors again, as it always did. Whether this is driven by consumers or by manufacturers doesn’t really matter. Olympus are catering for their market, not the camera market in its entirety. This may well explain the partisan view of Micro Four Thirds and why those ‘in the circle’ love Olympus and those outside it scoff at the format.
Olympus is playing catchup again and all that most of us Olympus owners can legitimately argue is that our cameras are ‘Lightweight and portable’ or we resort to talking about how “it’s really all about preference at the end of the day” or, as I’ve seen so many times, we dismiss the fact that anyone may ever print larger than A4 and say that anything bigger than Micro Four Thirds is a waste.
Really? These are the best arguments we have to offer on behalf of Micro Four Thirds?
Us Micro Four Thirds owners are dismissive and have little in our arsenal to argue with. Sure, there are flaws in those other systems, but it often does help those fans of other cameras that their cameras can often track focus better, have a higher resolution or have better low light performance. Let’s be honest.
One camera to rule them all? Not any more.
That’s not the only issue though, whilst other camera manufacturers, much like manufacturers of cars, golf clubs, bicycles, computers, hell, even mobile network providers, have learnt to differentiate their products by purpose and have expanded their product range to play in as wide a market as possible, Olympus continues to confuse consumers by differentiating the OM-D range on price alone and appear to be pigeon-holing themselves as ‘That Micro Four Thirds Camera company’, rather than ‘that awesome camera company’.
Olympus has done nothing to encourage photographers to choose an OM-D over anything else on the market. They’ve not really even done anything to encourage existing Olympus owners to opt for an E-M5 over an E-M1? Is the E-M5 really just a poor man’s E-M1? If that’s the case, their effectively telling us that they really want us to buy the E-M1 and that the E-M5 is the compromising mid-range model that merely exists to occupy a set price-point.
Why not give the E-M5 a purpose and value proposition all of its own? (I'll come to this again, shortly)
At no point have Olympus put out an advert that speaks specifically and directly to a wedding photographer and said: “Hey, this OM-D E-M1ii can solve this problem”. Their best effort so far in this sense was to gun for the sports market, with much of the hype around the OM-D E-M1ii being about speed, accuracy and focusing. But even then, that was largely about playing catchup. Not many people really sat up and took notice. Again, to illustrate my point about disruptors and Olympus’ own slow R&D cycle, it was only months later that Sony released the A9 and all gazes were once again diverted towards the Full Frame Mirrorless market.
The right tools for the job
It used to be, in the days of Canon and Nikon’s utter dominance, that their camera ranges were linear. Both in terms of features, performance and price. Do you want the best camera for any job? Well, that would have been the range-topping Canon 1Dx or the Nikon D5 then, right?
This is absolutely no longer the case. However, Olympus continues to operate this model: As the feature-set increases, so does the price.
In the last few years or so the mainstream camera manufacturers have moved towards a focussed model approach. That being that you opt for a specific camera for a specific purpose.
Do you want Resolution? Then take a look at a Canon 5Dsr, a Nikon D850, a Sony A7Riii or the Fuji GFX then (I know, Fuji, right?!). Simple. Can Olympus compete here in this space? No! Market lost, Instantly. What does Olympus offer? A high res mode that can only be used in specific scenarios. That’s just not going to cut it.
Do you want low light? Great! Take a look a the Sony A7s, Canon try their best with the 5Div and Nikon offer us the D750. Can Olympus compete in the low-light game? No. Again, market opportunity lost!
What about the speed and accuracy of focusing? This is where it gets interesting, as this is an area that Olympus has tried to leverage for the EM-1. The problem is though, as good as it is, it still doesn’t stack up to the Sony A9, Canon 7Dii or 1Dx or the Nikon D5 or D500. Can Olympus compete in the speed game? At best, they can try, but they’re not genuine contenders right now. Argue all you like, but how many Olympus’s do we see pitch-side at The Olympics or top-end sports?
Olympus have become like a certain red and white, North London Football club - consistently aiming for ‘above average’ and ‘aspiring’ to 4th place, but never truly looking to be number 1. As Ricky Bobby said in Talladega Nights: “if you ain’t first, you’re last”.
So, where is it exactly that Olympus do win vs their competitors?
What’s the stand out factor, feature, on-paper spec or Unique Selling Point that makes would-be owners say “Man, I need that Olympus over camera x, y, z”? Which of those cameras from the lists above will an Olympus OM-D E-M1ii genuinely cause a photographer to choose the Micro Four Thirds option instead?
None.
Never has the old adage ‘Jack of all trades’ been more appropriate. That leads us back that argument about how the OM-D is small and lightweight. And that’s not terribly exciting, is it? Is that really all Olympus has to offer?
What’s the solution?
The Austin Mini. Originally produced in 1959. The aim was to be small and light. Remind you of a certain camera company? Regardless of whether you like Mini or not, today you can buy about 6 different variants of the mini; the ‘standard’ mini, the coupe, a soft-top, the club man and even a bloody 4x version! (This analogy is actually scarily appropriate!) The point is, the original Mini that was unleashed to the world is/was a totally different Mini from what we see today.
When modern Mini, as a company, saw found that 2 in every 5 cars sold in the UK was an SUV (or at least a larger vehicle, higher off the ground, akin to a 4x4), they got in on the game and made a model to take a slice of that pie. They leveraged the brand they had. The market went in one direction, Mini followed. They’re doing very well for themselves! If Mini had stubbornly stuck to their original ethos and refused to expand their range, I’m sure they’d still be a tidy little car company today. But ‘aspiring’ and ‘tidy little car company’ are oxymoron’s.
So why is Olympus not doing the same? Why are they so slow to react? Panasonic have just done it to great acclaim and they haven’t even officially released the S-Series yet. Sony saw that Canon and Nikon had a strangle hold on the camera market with their DSLR’s. All they really did was remove a mirror and launch the world’s first Full Frame Mirrorless Camera. It was heralded as revolutionary, when really, all they actually did was step to one side and use a different lane. They didn’t innovate! But they changed the game. Why? Because it omitted a mirror! Laugh all you want; but the big two have finally reacted as well and have launched their rather pitiful full frame mirrorless offerings.
Again, laugh all you want, but we all know that Canon and Nikon die-hards will sooner opt for something from their favoured brand than ‘step down’ to Olympus.
Olympus, without focus and by refusing to react quickly, are shrinking and missing their opportunities to pounce on a market that is in choppy water for the first time in decades. People don’t change camera systems often, but when they do, they usually go big. Olympus are missing a trick by not expanding their range or at least compelling people to look at the OM-D for a specific purpose.
An OM-D for this, an OM-D for that.
Here’s what I think Olympus really need to do; they need to at least start by looking at their cameras as tools that each have a different target market, rather than simply making a camera platform and then adding and removing parts to meet certain price points.
The fact is that with the smaller size sensor, you can’t make a single camera to rule them all. If you could, it would have been done far more successfully with a larger sensor already. The fact is we’re still in a time where the number of pixels vs the size of pixels requires some compromise. So heres what Olympus need to do (for starters):
The PEN-F
Make it the consumer camera that is customisable. Different coloured grips, accessories, cases and all that jazz. Make it the fun camera. The one that can be made so unique that you’ll find it hard to come by another photographer with the same-looking PEN-F as you! With it’s lack of dials (vs an OM-D) It’s optimised for full and semi-auto modes. So this camera, ultimately, is your point and shoot. It’s your street photography camera. It’s the camera that slots into your bag and takes up the smallest amount of space.
Price-wise? Depends on your level of customisation at the point of ordering.
The OM-D E-M10 range
This is your basic interchangeable OM-D. Naturally, it would remain the cheapest of the bunch, but why else would you buy it instead of an E-M5? Well, how about this camera has a songle card slot and is aimed at ametuers? Why not put a 35mm f/1.8 on it as part of the package Ideal as a cheap and cheerful point and shoot to compete in the Canon G7 and Sony A6000 space. Give it 4k if you like, a fully articulating touch screen, WiFi and make it an awesome Vlogging camera.
It’s ability to track subjects for stills photography needn’t be amazing, but that’s the job of the other cameras in the range;
The OM-D EM-5 range
The video camera of the OM-D’s. Give it the perfect number of pixels optimised for 4k video. Design a battery grip that connects to a range of external recorders. Give it a fully articulating screen for pieces-to-camera. Allow it to shoot fully ungraded, S-Log video. Hire the guys at Panasonic that made their Lumix’s so darn good and make the E-M5 better!
Sure, it needs to be a capable still camera, but let’s be sure people know that still’s are it’s secondary function, as is often acknowledged with many of the Lumix cameras.
The OM-D E-M1 range
3 variants: low light version, resolution version and then a model designed specifically for and totally optimised for sports, wildlife and action (optimise resolution for best buffer speeds and focus tracking). In all three of these models lets forget about video. Much the opposite to the E-M5, let’s make no bones about it; videographers; this camera is not for you.
These E-M1’s will then have appeal to those that have a specific need. Landscape and Portrait photographers will have their OM-D’s with massive resolutions. Wedding photographers and those needing low-light will have their OM-D with great high-ISO capabilities and those needing an E-M1 for sports and action will get a system that can track as good as any Full Frame DSLR.
Let’s make it clear what each camera is for. You never know, you may well start sellng more cameras!
Summary
So, after Joe Edelman recently interviewed Aki Murata and discussed the current state of play, we received a commitment to Micro Four Thirds Development and an acknowledgement that Full Frame is wanted by the market, but that Olympus “[…]use our resources only on micro four-thirds, instead of developing a new system”.
Seems to me that Olympus were setup for success in the 20th century…
If Olympus aren’t shouting about their intention to develop, innovate and expand their systems, then chances are, much like most inflexible corporations, it’s because it’s either a) not already in their plans, b) because the company are moving in a different direction to the market or c) because it will simply take them so long to get there that when they arrive, they’ll be right where they are now: behind again and not relevant to what the market is asking for.
So, whilst those of you that celebrated and were happy to hear of the commitment to MFT in favour of the development of another system, I would posit this; your joy in Olympus' commitment to Micro Four Thirds serves only your own short term, selfish need for the format to be vindicated and validated. It serves your own need perfectly as it helps you to warrant your own purchasing decision in Micro Four Thirds.
As someone who genuinely loved my OM-D cameras, but found they simply were not as capable of delivering on the job as others available on the market, I tell you now that It is simply not in the interest of photography, the camera industry and certainly not in Olympus’ own interest to paint themselves into a corner. Which is what this commitment signals
The continued self-congratulatory high fives are simply celebrations of stagnation. Whether this is Olympus’ own choice as a company or because they are simply not setup for further innovation remains to be seen.
But right now, the writing is starting to appear on the wall, long-time fellow evangelists for Micro Four Thirds - Panasonic - have listened to the market and are reacting. Canon and Nikon (arguably more gigantic ships that are harder to steer in a new direction) have jumped into Full Frame mirrorless, and Sony continue to raise the on-paper specs of their cameras at such a rate that even the most dynamic of competitors are struggling. Where does that leave Olympus?
I’ll tell you: they have an old-fashioned business model and structure, a rapidly decreasing value proposition in a camera market that has clearly signalled that the new benchmark, standard sensor size is going to be 35mm digital / Full Frame.
Tony Northrup says “Micro Four Thirds is dead”. That’s clearly a headline to grab attention and get views. That I think we can all agree on. However, I think the discussion about turning off the life support machine is being had right now.
Closing question for debate:
So I would flip the debate and ask all those that were so pleased to hear that Olympus have no near-to-midterm plan to launch a Full Frame camera a single question: Why would Olympus committing to Full Frame be a bad thing?
Shooting Soccer with an OM-D: Can it do it?
This week we have a question that was sent in from Andrew Kern (or, AJ). Rather than replying to the email directly I thought it would be best to answer AJ's question right here on the blog for everyone to see.
If you're in a position to listen then go ahead and hit play on the audio player below, if not, scroll down a little further and you can read through today's question from AJ and my response. Either way the audio is the same as the text to make sure you're not missing out.
AJ is an Olympus shooter photographing High School Soccer (or, as we call it in the UK, Football :) ). AJ writes:
Hi Mike,
I'm already in the Olympus camp. I jumped in buying an E-M10 kit with the stock lens. After that I picked up a 40-150mm f/4.5-5.6 MFT lens and after that a used 4/3 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 non-SWD with an adapter. Using Manual Focus with peaking and High sequence mode I have managed to get good results by anticipating where play is going to be and then focusing there. However, I'd like to increase my keeper rate and not feel as though I'm missing shots by anticipating play. Most of the games happen under lights near dusk so I feel that a fast lens is a must. I'd love to say that my gear puts bread on the table but that's not true. So my question is what should my next investment be to help me:
Better glass (OLY 40-150mm f/2.8)
Better body that can better use the glass I already own (E-M1 second hand prices should dip a little when the E-M1 mkII is released)
Something else?
Thanks
AJ
Thanks AJ for your question. This is rather timely. Only last week my good friend Paul Griffiths and I were discussing how each type camera has it's place as a tool. Paul, being a Fuji shooter and myself, using Olympus of course, both agree that when it comes to professional sports photography a sports-oriented DSLR is probably still the way to go. I'll dive into the reasons why in just moment as part of my answer. But, to start I'll address each of your three points separately:
1. Better Glass?
When is there a reason not to get better glass? Well, in all honesty the answer is actually that you should be using the best that you can reasonably afford, with particular emphasis on the 'that you can reasonably afford' part. AJ mentions that sports photography doesn't pay his bills, which to me says instantly that AJ should be looking for good value in his lenses and equipment. That said, when it comes to sports photography we need more than just sharp glass. We've all come to know and love Olympus lenses for their sharpness, there is no doubt about that. Even some of the entry level lenses that could be considered budget options are able to resolve fantastic sharpness.
However the difference these days between a top lens designed for a Pro and an entry level lens isn't just it's ability to resolve sharpness. That's more of a minimum requirement. The difference in fact is the quality of the components inside those lenses, specifically the motors and mechanisms that rotate and move the optics inside the barrel. Naturally more expensive lenses will use higher quality components, which, as you would expect work faster and more accurately. So yes, in effect the Olympus M.Zuiko 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO will focus faster than the lenses you've mentioned in your question and they'll stand a better chance of maintaining that focus too.
Add to that the 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO is a constant f/2.8 aperture and comes with a tripod/monopod collar and you're looking at a lens that is definitely more tuned to shooting soccer. That said, the lens won't make all the difference. In fact, a better body will likely be a smarter investment:
2. Better Camera Body?
The OM-D E-M10 you mention is quite similar to the other OM-D's in the range, however, let's be clear; sure it may be able to produce images just as sharp, but again, it's ability to maintain focus on a moving subject is going to be far more limited when compared to it's more premium brothers. Even (and especially) when compared to the now rather old Olympus OM-D E-M1. Aside from not having things like weather sealing, the area in which the E-M10 comes up short is that it only has contrast detect autofocus. So, when it comes to locking focus on a static subject in reasonable light it shouldn't have a problem at all, but the issue is when that subject is moving and light is less than favourable.
You may have seen my motorsports images that I shot with the E-M1. There were some circumstances that allowed me to do this. For starters, the E-M1 itself makes use of phase detect autofocus, meaning it is able to better determine the subject by the distance between the subject and it's background and by what's moving. The E-M1 does this in conjunction with contrast detect; it will pick out the vivid colours of a car (or the lights on the side of a car in the case of Le Mans) and use that to help maintain focus. Above all that though, and perhaps most importantly the subject is moving in such a way that it is ultimately easier to photograph: the cars themselves are actually moving in a predictable motion; i.e from left to right and they're also maintaining a relatively similar distance to me throughout the entire panning range.
Soccer, or Football and other team sports, whether that's hockey, Basketball, NFL football etc will pretty much all feature players changing directions and pace quite rapidly, which is why really you see the top sports photographers using those cameras with full frame sensors with a multitude of huge pixels making use of phase detect (often cross type I may add) focus points. Another factor is of course the multiple subjects. You will have players on the same team in the same colours both in the foreground and the background of your frame making it even harder for the rather limited focussing system on the E-M10 to determine which is the intended subject. Effectively cameras, such as the Canon 1Dxii and the Canon 7D are all going to lock focus using both the contrast and the distance of the subject and then be able to better maintain focus on that subject. They're going to far superior at shooting sports than the E-M10 (and E-M1) Which brings me to my final answer...
3. Something Else?
My answer to this last part is purely because your question talks about high school soccer. If you were shooting anything else, such as motorsports, weddings, portraits, macro work etc then sure, I'd tell you to keep at it and keep practicing, if you can reasonably justify an E-M1 and or a 40-150mm then go for it - it will help your cause.
But, given that you're shooting soccer, I would advise you to go and hire, or even buy if you're that way inclined, an old Canon 7D mark 1 at least and see if you can get a telephoto lens to go with it. You'll be able to see the difference immediately. Your keeper rate will improve no end. Not least because of the more capable auto focussing system, but also because the optical viewfinder is simply faster at this point in time. Perhaps in future the EVF's we've all become so fond of will refresh just as though you were looking through the lens, like with a DSLR. For now though, using a mirrorless for sports will reduce your keeper rate.
That's not to say that practicing won't get you some way to negating this. I found that with motorsports my keeper rate went up every time I went back to the track to make more photographs.
Lastly, I would add also that even Fuji and Sony mirrorless cameras won't do the same job as a high-fps, crop sensored DSLR can do when it comes to shooting this sort of subject. I'm sure they'll be there before long though. At the time of writing and recording this post an announcement for the E-M1ii is just a week away, but right now, if we talk about using the right tools for the job, I think realistically the most instant way to increase your keeper rate when photographing a team sport such as soccer, is to pick up a DSLR.
Your Results?
I would love to see sample photographs of Football (soccer), NFL, Hockey or any team sport that you've made using your OM-D or O;ympus camera. Share a link below for us all to go and take a look at and I'll be sure to give you a shout out in the next episode.
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Happy New Year & The Best of 2015
I wanted to leave my 'Happy New Year' post until a week or so after New Year. I don't know about you but my inbox was full of offers, promotions, discounts and all sorts of other things that just added to the noise immediately after New Years. Everyone wants you to visit their site and buy their product. I felt that If I were to release this post just after Christmas, or on the 1st of January that I too would be adding your inboxes that are likely (like mine was) busting with things I just wasn't interested in.
Now that most of us are returning to some sort of normality and a sense of routine I thought it would be a good time to share with you, what I think, was some of my best work from 2015 and take a look back on those 12 months.
So, firstly I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that you spoiled yourself with some lovely new photography-related goodies. Personally I think photography books are the best Christmas present. As great as new gear is photography books give you so much and can help you grow. If you get a new book at the beginning of a year it can really inspire and inform you for the year ahead. Whether it's business or technical, or even just a photo book filled with amazing photographs to inspire, photography books are fantastic. If you've received Amazon or book vouchers, one book I would recommend is Gregory Heisler: 50 Portraits. Wow!
Best Street Photographs of 2015
I found this to be harder than I thought this year. Usually I would just pick out 10 images and post them right here, but this year I thought instead I'd select a few more and put them in to a slide show. Some of these images are seeing the light-of-day for the first time, which surprises even me. As I looked back through my library in Adobe Lightroom there were a few images that jumped out at me - images that I had previously overlooked as good enough to share with the world. So, here are my favourite Street Photographs from 2015:
[If you're reading this email in your inbox you may need to open this in a browser to watch the video]
Best Of the Rest
As much as I consider myself primarily a street photographer, the truth is that I photograph everything. 2015 saw me travel to Dubai, Venice, France (for the Le Mans 24hr) and Turkey. I moved to a new area here in the UK and of course I'm actually a wedding photographer 'by day' and so this year has seen me make some photographs that I just haven't made in previous years that I'm particularly proud of. I would add though that one massive change to my photography has been the move to the Olympus system. I'm not suggesting that without the Olympus I wouldn't have made any of these photographs however, there were times when I was undecided as to whether I'd take a camera with me because of the extra thing to carry. More often than not I took the camera but I do feel that If I were still shooting Canon and had to lug a DSLR body and a selection of not-so-small lenses, it would have been the other way round and I'd have been consigned to using my iPhone for moments that really called for a quality camera. Ben Nevis is a perfect example of this.
This was perhaps my favourite photograph from my trip to Scotland. This is not from Ben Nevis at all but was actually a photograph I took as I pulled over the car on the way home to jump out an make a final few photographs before leaving these beautiful landscape behind me. I was most pleased with the colours, the stream in the foreground, the rolling clouds - everything seem to come together to give me exactly what I was looking for!
Ben Nevis & Glencoe
Here are a few more from that same trip:
Macro Dandelions
Another surprise in my library of favourites were these images of Dandelions that I made using the superb Olympus 60mm f/2.8 Macro lens. Before this lens I had only used a Canon Macro lens on hire on a few occasions for weddings. My need and desire for a Macro lens never warranted me owning one, however when making my switch to Olympus and making a sizable investment in new kit I decided that a Macro will be part of that. Before my first wedding of 2015 I took it to the lake near my house to see what i could find to photograph with it - and this was the result:
From that very same trip here are a few more Macro's of Dandelions. I find the close-up detail fascinating!
Motor Sports
If you've been following me for some time you may be aware that each June I make my way to Le Mans in France to watch / photograph the legendary 24 hour race. Although this photograph isn't from the Le Mans 24 Hour Race (it's from the 6 hours of Silverstone here in the UK (another date on the same race calendar) this was the first time I had put the Olympus OM-D E-M1 through it's paces and shot motorsport with it. It was on this day, with photographs like this, that the E-M1 proved to me that it was able to do what my Canon DSLR could and that my switch to Olympus was a justified move. I wouldn't have been overly upset had the E-M1 not been able to produce the goods, but knowing that my new favourite camera was a match for the system I had just moved from, it made me very happy indeed. The post I wrote about the E-M1 and motorsports was also one of my most popular posts in 2015 as well. This was also the first time I really got to put the astounding Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO through it's paces.
For more E-M1 motorsport photographs have a look at my post 'A Day At the Races with the Olympus OM-D E-M1'
Richmond Park
This was a memorable day for me, as much for what I saw with my eyes as for what I managed to capture with the camera. This was perhaps the most golden of golden hours I have ever experienced. The light really was the colour you can see here in the photograph:
I've been to Richmond on numerous occasions to capture the stags rutting and the images I usually make are close ups of the stags with as much detail as possible. I tend to end up coming home with technically sound images; well cropped, good Depth of Field and sharpness etc. Being a park the images almost always have a dark or green feel to them as well. But this particular day I wanted to try something different than what I had before and the Golden Stag above reflects that. I was really pleased that what I had when I got home was something a little different and that, for me, was very reflective of 2015 as a whole. In part thanks to the EVF in the Olympus, more in part to my own personal development and growth as a photographer. Here are a few more from that morning in Richmond:
Summary
So my top picks for 2015 certainly differ dramatically from my look back in 2014 (which you can find here: 2014 Top 10). You'll see that back in that review I was still between systems; shooting both DSLR and Olympus (mirrorless). Whilst for many it doesn't have to be a question of one system or another, for me, I simply found that the Olympus was a very intuitive system to use and the EVF allowed me to (literally) see what it is I was about to capture. This made 2015 a year where I learnt even more about photography; with a solid technical background I found I was now able to more easily break rules and try out new things with a higher chance of success.
Throughout 2015 the only camera I have used has ben either the Olympus OM-D E-M5 or the OM-D E-M1. And I couldn't be happier.
Show me your top 10 from 2015
I'd love to see your top 10 or even just some of your favourite images from 2015. Drop a comment in the comments section below on the blog and be sure to include a link.
Steller Stories
If you've been following me for a while, you may have seen me share my top 3 inspirational photographers. My list included landscape photographer Steve Gosling, street photographer Thomas Leuthard and of course, outstanding portrait photographer Neil Buchan-Grant.
Not so long ago Neil started sharing stories on a new platform (well, new to me at least) called Steller, and I've been captivated ever since. It's a superb way of sharing photographs that tell a story. Effectively it's setup for telling visually-led stories with short paragraphs and quotes to guide and narrate the reader through the story. Neil Buchan-Grant has - as you would expect - has put together some great stories on Steller. Including this beautiful story called 'Frida's Story' and also a number of stories about his fashion and portrait work (which, I'm sure you'll agree is out of this world!).
So, this has inspired me to give it a go as well.
It's something I've been meaning to do for the longest of times, but the way that Steller works is that all stories are created from your mobile device. This of course requires you to have the content on your phone to put into your story. One thing I'm terrible at is making good use of being an all-Apple setup at home and Syncing my portfolio's from my iMac to my iPhone. But once I sat down to do this I had all the ingredients I needed to create my first story, which i titled 'Venetian Memories'.
One of the great things about Steller is that they allow you to grab the code and embed your stories on your website too:
I was very pleased with the response and the feedback and the comments I received from the wider community, as well as Steller and so I've been spurred on to put together some more stories:
A few drafts in the works over on Steller
Are you on Steller?
If you're on Steller come and follow me and I'll be sure to follow you back. So far the quality of a majority of the stories told on Steller are very good indeed - I would love to see yours too!