Month: July 2013

Paranoia … it’s Alive and Flourishing!

Most of you wouldn’t be familiar with these lyrics:  “Paranoia strikes deep, into your life it will creep …”.  It was from a popular song written in 1966 by Buffalo Springfield called For What It’s Worth, but it still rings true, today, as I found out in a local grocery.

I live in a relatively small neighborhood and sometimes I take my camera out for a walk.  Often, I’ll stop by one of the local stores to see what’s interesting, photographically speaking.  What I like about the super markets is they have great lighting and are full of all kinds of detailed patterns and bright colors – perfect for photography.  And the one I frequent most seems to be struggling because there are almost never very many people there so it just makes it easier to take photos relatively unimpeded … usually.

This morning was different.  I was wandering around snapping a few photos, some of their “secret” stuff like apples and apricots, when I was approached by a manager asking what I was doing.  So I told him and showed him the last few shots which were very colorful (apples) and competely benign – not incriminating in any way.  He said they have to be careful and on the “lookout” for competitors and/or journalists, but then was nice enough to tell me I was okay and maybe just ask in the future.  Okay, I guess I can understand that, but still ….

So, what is going on in our society?  I’ve noticed other times when people would look at me with that concerned frown on the their face as they wondered, “Who’s the guy with the camera and what is he up to?”  I’m not “up to” anything.  I’m just a photographer out looking for some interesting images.  If I were doing something nefarious, I wouldn’t use a nice camera, I’d use an 8MP iPhone, get great images and no one would ever know – or wonder.  Maybe it’s just that I look intimidating.  A 63 year old with a slight (very slight 🙂 paunch, grey hair, not tall and obviously not in great shape is a scary sight.  Yeah, that’s got to be it.  hehe.

I guess I’ll just start asking permission but then that makes me think of a couple of quotes:
“If you can’t take the answer, then don’t ask the question.”
“It’s better to beg forgiveness than ask permission.”

Y’all have a great day!

The apples and the balloons were shot with the Olympus OM-D E-M5, using the Panasonic Lumix 12-35mm f/2.8 lens.

Waiting Game – Olympus PEN E-P5 Release Delayed

I ordered the E-P5 the day it was announced from Amazon and have been waiting for almost two months … nothing yet.  Initially, Amazon showed a release date of June 21st, but then on June 21st they informed me the release had been delayed to sometime between late July and late August.  So, what does one do …… Get the E-PL5 and stick the new VF-4 external EVF on it!  🙂

The E-PL5 is a very nice little camera but I miss the control dials that are on my E-M5 and coming on the E-P5.  Image quality is of course pretty much the same as the E-M5 (same sensor) and the menus are nearly identical with just a few differences.

As for the VF-4, it is very nice!  The higher resolution is a bonus and the larger view is wonderful.  I don’t really like the look of the camera with the VF-4 sitting on top, but I much prefer a viewfinder for composing shots instead of using the rear screen, so I’ll make the sacrifice.  It looks a bit fragile and vulnerable up there, but it actually attaches very securely, by plugging into the accessory port and also the hot shoe.  Another nice feature is that it will rotate up 90 degrees, which can be a big help when composing shots with the camera close to the ground.

Hopefully, the E-P5 will show up in the next 3 or 4 weeks at which point I’ll be putting up my first impressions and images from the new camera.

Below are a few of the initial shots with the E-PL5.  The first one is an HDR from 5 images at 2EV spacing and processed in Nik HDR Efex Pro.