Land of the giants /  by Mario Mirabile

Land of the giants was a 60s television sci-fi series where a band of travellers were stranded in a world populated by 20 metre tall people. The acting and scripting was bad, the effects cheesy. Despite all that, I eagerly awaited and devoured each new weekly episode. I was, after all, only 11 or 12 years old at the time.

What has that got to do with anything? Well, our current camera club weekly competition topic is "miniatures". I really had no idea on how to proceed with this. The best I could come up with was a model boat,  a miniature dog breed or perhaps a macro shot of some sort. But during the week, a simple search of something called Google by a colleague (thanks Jason), set me thinking on a different track. This is the result, and it reminds very much of the set design aesthetic of Land of the Giants, although , needless to say, its executed to a much higher standard. 

And the dog? That's Boo, the miniature Schnauzer. Cute, isn't she?

Tech Talk
Land of the Giants was shot with my Olympus E-30 and Zuiko Digital 12-60mm SWD, Boo with the Olympus E-5 and Zuiko Digital 50-200mm SWD. The real fun was in setting up the giants shot. 

The little camera was a commemorative miniature OM-1 Olympus produced for the release of the first OM-D model. I'd left it unopened until recently in the hope it might me worth something someday, but so many were made and given away that there was little chance of that. It was the perfect foil for the huge Zuiko Digital 25-100 f2.0. Lighting was provided by a pair of small home-made soft boxes and Olympus FL-50r flashes.

Winter sun /  by Mario Mirabile

Even in the depths of winter the sun will occasionally show its face to relieve the gloom. Full sunlight in mid-summer is harsh and hard, but it's a different story in mid-winter. The angle of the light is lower, and it has a softer, watery quality about it that makes it seem like it's coming through a diffuser. Even the colour is different - more blue than summers' hard white.

All too quickly we were back to gloomier weather, but the brief glimpse of the sun is a gentle reminder that spring is not far away.

Tech talk
Just a few snaps from a brief walk in East Melbourne. Olympus E-30 and the stunning Zuiko Digital 12-60mm. The lens has a versatile 24-120mm equivalent zoom range, reasonably fast f2.8-4 aperture, focuses quickly and accurately, and is super sharp. If I was forced to keep only one lens, this would be the one due to its versatility. Fortunately, no-one is forcing that decision on me.

Geometry lesson /  by Mario Mirabile

Geometry is the branch of mathematics dealing with shape, size, space and position. Interestingly enough, all of these are also elements that can be used in artistic composition. From the simplest to the most complex, the geometric elements of a photo can play a multitude of roles. 

Lines can lead the eye where the artist chooses, divide a picture into discrete areas or create boundaries which constrain and bind the the various elements of the compositions. Shapes can frame the subject, or like the line, compartmentalize the image. Occasionally, they may even become the main focus of the image. Oh, and as always, don't forget to choose the right angle for your shot.

Tech Talk
Melbourne's Etihad Stadium has an almost endless selection of nooks and crannies to explore. Catch it on a cold winter day and there won't be too many people to get in the way of the architecture.

Olympus E-30, Zuiko Digital 14-60 f2.8-4.0 .

Winter blues /  by Mario Mirabile

There's a park near home which is notable in being the only place that I've seen one of my favourite birds locally - the superb fairywren (Malurus cyaneus). At their most striking in summer when the males develop stunning blue and black breeding plumage, they are nevertheless attractive little creatures in their winter clothes. Even then, the males keep some blue in their tails, while the females' red-orange mask is a year round feature.

Sunday was as perfect a winter's day as you'd expect to see, and a total contrast to the wild weather of the preceding few days. As I hadn't been out all week, I thought I'd wander down to the park to see if there was any birding action on offer. I was surprised at the number of superbs hopping around in the grass feeding.  I even spotted a male in breeding plumage, but couldn't get near enough for a good shot. There were a few red-browed finches (Neochmia temporalis) about as well, a species I've only seen here once before. Hopefully it bodes well for the local bird population later in the year.

Tech Talk
Bird photography usually call for a long lens. My 50-200mm is a wonderful zoom, fast and sharp, even wide open at f3.5 at the long end. It is one is truly one of the gems in the Olympus Four Thirds system. But even with a 2x crop giving the equivalent of 400mm at the long end, it's not nearly long enough for these small birds in the wild. To try getting more reach with this lens, I picked up a 2x tele-converter a couple of years ago at a bargain price. I also had hopes of pairing it with the exceptional 150mm f2.0, if I could ever find one (I'm still looking.....) .

I did some tests with it on the 50-200 when I first got it and quickly dismissed it as not sharp enough. I ignored the teleconverter for the best part of a year, but pulled it out recently, did some more careful testing, and was quite pleasantly surprised with the results. This combination demands good light. With the tele-converter attached, the aperture starts at f7 at the long end of the zoom, and you need to stop down to f8 or smaller to get good results. It lacks the biting crispness of the lens on its own, but it's still a reasonable combination if the conditions are right.

Olympus E5, Zuiko Digital 50-200mm f2.8-3.5 zoom, Zuiko Digital EC-20 tele-converter.

Winter daze /  by Mario Mirabile

I've been struggling for inspiration over the last few weeks. Perhaps it's the all too short and chill days of midwinter, perhaps it's the head cold which has been threatening for a while and has finally started to develop. I'm sure the fact that I haven't had too many chances to wander far from home or work, and thus been confined to well trodden paths, has  been a factor. Whatever t is, it's been a quiet few weeks photographically.

Don't be surprised if you don't hear from me too often over the next couple weeks. I'll post if I think I have something worthwhile, but I won't try to keep up the established twice-weekly schedule. My enthusiasm for the blog hasn't waned, but I feel like I need a breather. In the meantime I'll leave you with a few shots from recent lunchtime group walks. The themes were "stripes" and "blue". It's not too hard to figure out which is which.

Sunday blues /  by Mario Mirabile

The Elwood Blues Club is a weekly happening that transforms the bar of the Greyhound Hotel in St. Kilda into a blues venue. Every Sunday night, 'Salty' Dennis Trevarthen presents an ever changing line-up of established performers and new and emerging talent. On this occasion Dan Dinnen and Greg Dodd were the headline with, as usual, several sets by the EBC Allstars house band rounding out the night's entertainment.

To top it all off, it's free to get in - great entertainment and great value. If you're into the blues, get along and have a look.

Tech Talk
The lighting at this venue is better than the last one I tried band photography at, but is a challenge nevertheless. It helps that the venue, promoter and musicians are very photographer friendly and you're free to move around looking for the best angles.

I used my Zuiko Digital 35-100mm f2 lens for the gig. It's a monster of a lens, particularly with the hood attached, but it's hard to imagine a better lens for this type of shoot. It's sharp wide open, and the fast aperture helps overcome some of the high ISO limitations of my gear. I was managing to get around 1/250 second which helped catch some of the more active performers, but even so you still end up with far more misses than hits.

A surprise around the corner /  by Mario Mirabile

Sometimes you think it's just not going to happen for you. This was just such a day. I needed to go downtown, so as usual I took a camera with me. I didn't have any photographic goal - it was a shopping trip primarily. Never the less I was disappointed when I turned for the office, shopping completed, but without having seen anything I considered worth photographing.

As I walked up Little Bourke Street I passed up one of the myriad laneways and alleys that criss-cross central Melbourne. What I saw didn't immediately register as odd, and it took my brain a couple of seconds to process it. I backtracked, and sure enough there was a pair of legs and a hand clutching a book protruding from a doorway. Knowing the scene could evaporate without warning, I went to work immediately and got shots from several different angles. I like the contrast between the fashionable shoes (at least I think they're meant to be fashionable - I'm certainly no expert in these matters) and the grunge of the alley. I'm not convinced the colour treatment is right though, and may revisit it one day.

Just in case you're wondering, he's reading this - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guns-Germs-Steel-history-everybody/dp/0099302780. Sounds interesting.

Tech Talk
Olympus E-30, Zuiko 14-54mm f2.8-3.5 lens. This combination makes a reasonably compact (at least for a DSLR) high quality kit, and has, for the time being at least, become my everyday kit. As I said above I'm not sold on the differential colour treatment, mainly because it has been overused to the point of becoming a cliche. I think it has some merit here because it highlights the outrageously bright shoes.

Shot RAW and processed in Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CS6.

Shepherds warning /  by Mario Mirabile

This sunrise was captured a couple of months ago from the beach where I used to swim as a child. I don't think too many people swim there any more. The sand has largely washed away and the few facilities that existed were demolished years ago. All that's left is a walking track, a narrow, weedy and rocky strip of land, and a concrete storm water outflow that makes a handy shooting platform. Oh, and a few memories as well.

Tech Talk
Olympus E5. The two red skies are stitched panoramas with the Zuiko Digital 50-200mm f2.8-3.5. The pre-dawn cloudscape was with the  Zuiko Digital 12-60mm f2.8-4. All processing in Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CS6.

The red clouds might look like they've had the saturation pumped up, but that's pretty much what it looked like. I'll show you the RAW images if you don't believe me. I did have to work on the shadows quite a bit, though. Fortunately, the detail was still there, which is the big advantage of shooting RAW.

Vertically challenged /  by Mario Mirabile

A friend who recently moved into a new house has a space on the wall she'd like to fill. She asked if I had anything decorative that might fit the bill, and I thought sure, why not. Any opportunity to have a new audience admire my work is not to be passed up lightly. The only problem is that the blank wall in question requires a piece in the order of one and a half metres long to fill it. And we're not talking a nice canvas to mask any lack of resolution and imperfections in the original - a framed photographic print is required. To top it all off, the space is highlighted by a row of spotlights to expose any problems with the work.

Don't get me wrong, I'm flattered and excited by the request. The chance to be hung so prominently is a very nice prospect. It's just that my best camera, and most cameras, will have trouble producing an image which will stretch to 120-130 cm and hold up to such close scrutiny. One solution is to use a stitched panorama, where multiple overlapping images are merged to create a single, higher resolution image. Another possibility is more than one image on the same theme in the same frame. So, today I tried something new. Working on the theme of Melbourne's laneways, I thought I'd try some vertical panoramas. Most panoramas stretch along the horizontal plane, but these extend in the vertical plane, which suits the laneways' form well. 

These are just test shots really, to see how well the vertical stitching works. I'm happy with the results, but as to whether the idea ends up gracing a wall, only time will tell.

Tech Talk
I wasn't aiming for a finished product here. The light was poor, the shots were hand held and I'd prefer to tackle the job when there aren't so many people about. People certainly add to the atmosphere, but too many makes it difficult to stand around blocking traffic (particularly with a tripod) waiting for the "right" combination of humans in the shot. There's certainly things I'd do differently next time I try this - a tripod, longer lens to reduce geometric distortion, smaller aperture and a closer attention to differential exposure over each of the frames. I had concerns as to how well the stitch would work given the relatively severe perspective changes as the camera was angled upwards, but Photoshop has handled the job well.

Each panorama was stitched from 3 landscape images. Using a 12 megapixel camera, I've ended up with files which range from 16-32 megapixels, which gives me greater flexibility when it comes to printing. Given that, my mind spins as to what's possible with a 36 megapixel full-frame!

Olympus E-30, Zuiko Digital 14-54mm f2.8-3.5 lens.

Less is more /  by Mario Mirabile

I was sent a link to an interesting article on minimalist photography this week. Minimalism is an expression of simplicity found in many artistic endeavors - music and dance, literature, design, and of course the visual arts. Simple doesn't mean boring though. At it's best, a simple composition with strong lines, texture or color can tell a compelling story.

It's a form of expression I find appealing and challenging. It's not necessarily easy see simplicity in a complex and crowded world, and deciding what to leave out of the picture can be as hard as deciding what to put in. Googling "minimalist photography" will turn up thousands of examples. Study them to see what appeals to you, then go look for the simple things in life.

Tech Talk
Not much technique to discuss here, just keep your eyes open for a composition that appeals.

1. Olympus E-30, Zuiko Digital 50-200, f2.8-3.5
2. Olympus E-30, Zuiko Digital 14-54, f2.8-3.5
3. Olympus E-5, Zuiko Digital 50-200, f2.8-3.5

All images shot RAW and processed in Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CS6.

The unexpected tomato /  by Mario Mirabile

It's usually annoying when something comes up at work as your thoughts are turning to heading for the door and going home. Normally, it's a long-winded phone call or perplexing programming issue that you just don't want to leave until the next day. Occasionally, however, something completely unexpected and different pops up.

I was sitting at my desk late in the day when Martin - my colleague and unofficial blog proofreader - excitedly arrived at my desk and demanded I immediately follow him to his. I began to follow, but something made me ask "Should I bring my camera?". He answered in the affirmative and continued on his hurried way. When I arrived, the cause of the excitement was obvious. A ripe tomato sat on Martin's desk, caught in a shaft of golden late afternoon winter light which had somehow managed to find a path through the surrounding buildings.

While the photographic appeal was immediately obvious, the scene was not without it's challenges. Aware that time was short as the narrow shaft of light moved across the desk, I sent Martin to fetch a sheet of A3 copy paper as I considered the arrangement and moved the usual office desk rubble out of the way. I've no idea where Martin disappeared to, as I ended up getting the paper myself, as well as recruiting an assistant to hold it. With the paper as a stage, I got off  a couple of quick shots before the light faded.

I like the final result, but was bitterly disappointed when Martin ate the tomato the next day. I think artistic objects deserve better.

Tech Talk
A couple quick shots using available light. An A3 sheet of copy paper provided a handy seamless backdrop, and I cleaned up the final result in Photoshop CS6, including the toning down of a rather harsh specular highlight on the tomatoe.

Shot with Olympus E-5 and Zuiko Digital 12-60mm f2.8-4. If I had to keep only one lens, i would probably choose this one - it's sharp, fast and has a very useful zoom range. Fortunately though, it's not a choice I've been forced to make. 

Things are looking up /  by Mario Mirabile

Sometimes you need to broaden your outlook when you're out and about looking for a photo opportunity. You can travel to another city, state or even country in search of new vistas, but that's a little awkward when all you have is an all too brief lunch break. Sometimes you just have to change the direction you're looking.

Last weeks' assignment to the lunchtime photo walkers was simple - UP. As well as offering different views, pointing a lens upward introduces a markedly different geometric perspective to a picture. You may even be treated to an aerobatic display by a pair of abseiling window cleaners. Just beware of getting soapy water on your lens.

Tech talk
Converging vertical lines can be an effective way of emphasizing a sense of height. Usually, the most effective images are shot with a wide angle lens, but you need to be careful to maintain a degree of symmetry. If you don't, the image can lose any sense of balance. The best way to do this is to pay attention to your horizontal lines. Even if they're curved by a fisheye len, keeping them even will give the image a solid grounding.

All images Olympus E-5. No 1 Zuiko Digital 8mm fisheye, 2 & 3 Zuiko Digital 12-60mm.