Post Your Micro 4/3's Still Life Shots

[pioneervato]

Post Your Micro 4/3's Images

Ok, it's been too friggin' hot to go out and shoot but I was wanting to play around with my new Olympus Pen E-PL1 but then I figured I would play anyway. Indoors.

And so lurking and hiding in the deep bowels of my fridge (well not quite) I found this bad boy. OK, so maybe we don't need another thread for posting your pics but I thought it would be cool to limit the postings in this one of only still life images you set up yourself and have made with whatever 4/3 camera you use, preferably the micro series but I guess the standard 4/3 format would be OK. You don't have to post a pic of your setup but I encourage you to post some of the details such as camera, lens, lighting, exposure, etc.

So show me rotten fruit, vegetables, etc. I bet some of you got some pretty nasty stuff metamorphosing in your fridge. Well, at least say that you do just to make me feel like I'm not alone in this area. Otherwise my feelings might get hurt.

My first example is a pear that has been in the fridge for at least a couple of months. I posted a shot of a pear some time way back using Polaroid film in a 4x5 camera and so I thought this would be a fun subject to do again. I think this pear still looks edible to me.

Here is the setup. Pretty simple shot using the spare bedroom as the stage for the still life and natural window light coming from the right and forward of the camera position. The background is the plain earth tone colored wall of the spare bedroom. The pear was placed on top of a pine board which I had left over from a recent furniture build project I completed a couple weeks ago. The board was placed on top and spanned across two 24" bar stools and held in place with a woodworkers clamp. I used a Photoflex Lite-Disc for bouncing some fill light onto the left side of the pear.

The camera is my Olympus E-PL1 with my 24mm f2.8 AI-S Nikkor using the Nikon mount adapter and held steady with my 30 year old Bogen 3021 tripod and 3047 head.

You guys turned me on to the micro 4/3 and so I know several of you like to use this format so have some fun with this. Best part is you don't have to venture out and deal with the heat and humidity. Stay indoors in cool comfort unless you use your patio or garage for the setup.


Photo was processed in Adobe LightRoom 3 and converted to black and white.

Shot setup:

The completed digital image. Exposure: 2 sec. at f5.6, ISO 200

Hmmm....I wonder what else I have in the fridge? :scratch2:

 

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Here is another processed and grainy variation of the pear.

 

[Texun1]

Jessie,

Those look great but I think it's time to ditch the Pear.:yes: FYI, If you haven't tried LR 4.0 download the trial. I am impressed with this new version, it just does everything better. I though it was worth the 80 bucks for an upgrade.

 

[pioneervato]

Jessie,

Those look great but I think it's time to ditch the Pear.:yes:

Well Tex, I was thinking of using it to make a "smoothie' out of it. :yes:

 

[Texun1]

What can I say, You guys out West are tough... Better yet add a little sugar & yeast bottle it for a week or 2 and have a little pear wine.

 

[addylo]

Very interesting thread idea. I like how you set up your shot.

No 4/3 here so I can't participate but it will be interesting to watch.

 

[chicks]

Sigh. Your first days with the format and already showing photos way beyond anything I've been able to capture. So, I need to look for one of these reflector thingies, shoot raw, and buy Lightroom, as a start? :sigh:

 

[Texun1]

Sigh. Your first days with the format and already showing photos way beyond anything I've been able to capture. So, I need to look for one of these reflector thingies, shoot raw, and buy Lightroom, as a start? :sigh:

Chicks, in my opinion shooting in RAW and using Lightroom is a good idea. RAW captures all of the information that the sensor takes in. In audio terms a Jpeg is like a compressed MP3 file and the Raw file is the Lossless format. No detail is lost. I am not trying to start a debate here this is just my opinion as to the better format.

Lightroom just came out with a great new version and they also cut the price in half. It was 300 dollars when it first came out. The full version is now 150.00. Most people are afraid of the learning curve for a new software but this thing is easy to use and the catalog feature is one of the best out there.

 

[chicks]

Great, so now I will need to buy a new PC to replace my 10 year old one, too. Sigh.

 

[pioneervato]

Chicks, you don't need anything than what you may already have. A reflector can be a sheet of mat board, foamcore, copy paper, etc. or, as I like to use in the classroom, a car sun visor reflector that has a silver foil side to it. Even aluminum foil that you would use in the kitchen works great as well. You already have the camera and some great lenses and so all you really need is an imagination. It's the main reason why I posted a shot of the setup I used so that you can see it's simplicity. No studio lights but just some basic equipment such as a tripod which I believe is a must for most still life shots.

Just give it a try and you just might surprise yourself. Keeping it simple is key and it sure whiles away the time when you might not have anything else going on.

As for software, use whatever you generally use and it does not have to be converted into black and white. Me? You know I like black and white because that is what I have been doing for a very long time.

The fun and challenging part to this theme is coming up with subject matter that can make a great photographic subject. Hey, I usually get paid for teaching this kind of stuff but I'm on summer vacation and so for now the lessons are gratis!

I hope to add some more examples in similar fashion.

 

[chicks]

Here's one I posted yesterday that didn't turn out too bad, despite being Jpg OOC with no post processing other than resizing. Still imitation of life.

 

[Texun1]

That is a good photo..

 

[pioneervato]

That's the idea, Chicks! Try it without the chairs in view and use the rule of thirds guideline to place the vase off center and see if that does anything for you. Take note on how the lattice work on the window frames the subject.

 

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Here is another example only this time the subject is fresh and not beyond its useful life. The setup was done in the kitchen because I wanted to use the black kitchen table as part of the scene and to emphasize the luminous tones of the onions.

For the reflector I replaced my Lite-Disc with just plain aluminum foil attached to a piece of cardboard and held fairly close to the subject left of camera and just out of camera view. The light is window light again but this time much softer than what I had for the pear shot.

Exposure is 1 sec. @ f2.8, Nikkor 24mm AI-S MF Lens
Processed in LightRoom 3 and a bit of cropping off the bottom.

 

[HandyHamlet]

So what is the verdict on the new format and camera? Pics look gorgeous. How is the noise factor? Ease of use? How did you trip that thing without a cable release?

 

[pioneervato]

And one more for now. Same setup as the previous but I used garlic this time for the subject.

Exposure: 4 sec. @ f5.6, 24mm Nikkor AI-S MF

 

[pioneervato]

So what is the verdict on the new format and camera? Pics look gorgeous. How is the noise factor? Ease of use? How did you trip that thing without a cable release?

HH, I'm having some fun with it now doing some basic still lifes. I plan to take it on my next photo outing for some more work and then we will see but I don't think it will disappoint. I would like to do a comparison with some other lenses I have in the Nikon family as well as Pentax and Canon.

I definitely am thinking of getting the VF-2 electronic viewfinder because in low light the screen leaves a lot to be desired and I'm hoping that it will be better with the VF-2.

As for tripping the shutter I just use my good old right index finger and give it a gentle squeeze to minimize any sudden movement of the camera and gently move it off the button and wait for the exposure to run its course. However, I have to give credit to the Bogen tripod I was using as it is doing a fine job of holding the camera rock steady. No challenge, really, for such a light weight camera as is the E-PL1.

 

[pioneervato]

Very interesting thread idea. I like how you set up your shot.

No 4/3 here so I can't participate but it will be interesting to watch.

Well maybe its time. Do you have a birthday or something coming up? Heck, no reason to wait for such things because I certainly don't always follow that logic.

The nice thing about the E-PL1 is that with the micro 4/3 series you can use pretty much any lens you want as long as you have the right adapter. I bought 3 different ones from the place Chicks posted about. Fairly inexpensive and so far they seem to work rather nicely.

 

[addylo]

I'm interested and the price is right. I was just reading a review of the E-PL1 on DPReview. I'm not sure I have a real need for one but it looks like an interesting little camera.

 

[pioneervato]

I'm interested and the price is right. I was just reading a review of the E-PL1 on DPReview. I'm not sure I have a real need for one but it looks like an interesting little camera.

I agree 100%. I didn't really need one either but for the price it is a lot of bang for the buck and I can see it as a fun street camera or candid camera and a great carry-around camera that is very easy to handle.