Musings from the last best place - Thoughts on living and working in Montana
 

First Pics with Olympus E30

I recently supplemented my old camera body (an Olympus E500) with a new Olympus E30. I got a great deal from B&H Photo - rumor has it that Olympus will soon be announcing their replacement for the E3/E30, and the price I got certainly is in line with that.

Nevertheless, I took a few indoor shots today to start getting the feel. These were taken with my 50mm f2 Zuiko lens, tripod mounted. The first shot was tweaked in LightRoom; the second, as-is out of the camera. Both were shot as jpgs. I will need to play with the camera settings a bit before I'm satisfied - both were a little noisier than I would have expected at ISO 100. I know Oly's have a reputation for noise, but I expect better results than this. The shots were taken with in-camera noise reduction off, just to get a baseline feel for what I'm dealing with.

On the plus side, I used the live-view articulating LCD to take these shots - it was nice to frame and shoot without having to get up on a stool to look through the viewfinder!

I think I'll like the camera once I get her dialed in.

   
Click here to download:
First_Pics_with_Olympus_E30.zip (12689 KB)

Posted May 1, 2010
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Golf Green - Maui, Hawaii

Here's #6 on one of my favorite courses on Maui (I'm not going to say which one - it's a local secret and I don't want to ruin it!). Your approach on this green is completely blind; the green is protected by a hill on the left and the ocean on the right. And as you can see the green is long and narrow, which means there's little room for error. I can't wait to get back there this spring to see if I've got the game to play this hole better than I have in the past...

Posted April 13, 2010
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Sledding Wipeouts

What happens when you haven't had snow for several weeks and daytime temps are warming up into the 30s and 40s? That's right - icy conditions on the sledding hill. Here are a handful of the best wipeout shots from today's outing. No broken bones, but a few bruised egos. Needless to say, we weren't on the hill that long... Shot with my Olympus e500 and Zuiko 50-200mm lens (have I mentioned I love this lens?).

     
Click here to download:
Sledding_Wipeouts.zip (1418 KB)

Posted March 20, 2010
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Bay Photo Metal Print

I received my metal print from Bay Photo last week. I was very happy with the print quality, although the glue used to affix the mounting plate to the back didn't adhere quite as well as I'd like. Either way, the print is light and I don't think it will fall off the wall anytime soon.

I took this shot with my new Zuiko 50-200mm which I received tonight after purchasing it from Cameta Camera. It was an Olympus demo, but I can't see any wear on it whatsoever. Focus is very fast (SWD model) and it's almost as sharp as my 50mm prime. You can see a little bit of barrel distortion in this shot (I've got it backed out to 50mm), but I think it's going to be perfect for what I bought it for - sports and wildlife photography. The 4/3s system is not a great landscaper's kit, but it's certainly a great choice for any type of photography where reach is important. This lens is fast (f2.8-3.5) and when coupled with the 4/3s sensor, gives me a reach of 100-400mm (35mm equivalent). f3.5 at 400mm? Not bad. And the thing is built like a tank. I knew it would be big, but it dwarfs every other lens in my bag - even my Zuiko 70-300mm (which I probably need to sell now, if only to fund the purchase of a 1.4 teleconverter). I can't wait to use this lens to shoot indoor swimming pics at the Montana State Short Course Championships in a few weeks. I hope it performs as well as I anticipate.

Posted February 22, 2010
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Metal Print - Bridgers Spring

I've ordered this image on metal from Bay Photo. I'm really excited - I've been investigating printing on metal for several years and this will be my first attempt. Hoping it turns out well...

Posted February 2, 2010
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Hay Bales in Grasshopper Valley, Montana

This past summer, my family and I took a weekend road trip through the Pioneer Mountains in Montana. I love this part of the state and try to plan the trip so that I'm getting good light toward the end of the day. This field of harvested hay with an old truck says "Montana backroads." Shot with my Olympus E500; post-processed in LightRoom.

Posted February 2, 2010
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Sledding in B&W

Here's another shot from some sledding we did in the mountains around Cooke City, Montana this past Christmas. Tried a black-and-white treatment this time. Shot with my Olympus E500; post-processed in LightRoom w/ PhotoTools 2.5.

Posted February 2, 2010
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Snowmobiling - Cooke City, Montana

I took this shot on a blue-sky day of sledding a couple of years ago. We like sledding in this area - deep snow, little chance of slides, sort of out of the way so not so many other riders. And, as you can see, the scenery's not bad, either!

Posted January 31, 2010
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Schedulicity - New Feature Release

Schedulicity.com New Feature Release Focuses on Speed, Responsiveness and Social Media
Customers at the center of the company’s message and site redesign
January 28, 2010 – Bozeman, Mont
Schedulicity.com (http://www.schedulicity.com) announced today to customers its most ambitious software release with dozens of new features to make the online appointment scheduling service even easier to use, more responsive, more social and now faster than ever before. While the company has nearly doubled the available features since its beta-launch in March 2009, the price remains at $29 per month for a single user and $49 for 2-20 users. At the same time, the company launched a new website whose purpose is to amplify the voice of the service professional.
via schedulicity.com

Schedulicity's latest update has been well-received by our subscriber community - something that makes those of us on the dev side of the company very pleased. This was a major release - hearing from subscribers that they love the enhancements not only makes all the hard work worthwhile, it gets us fired up for what's coming next. We've got some great stuff in the pipeline!

Posted January 31, 2010
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Dreamin' of Summer

Rabbits loved the front yard of our old house. In the midst of winter here in Bozeman, I stumbled on this photo in my archives and it made me think of the joys of summer. Looks like he's pretty relaxed, doesn't it? Taken with my Olympus E500 and 40-150mm Zuiko lens; 1/100 sec at f4.5.

Posted January 15, 2010
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