POTD - Elements In Japan

Elements In Japan, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

This is an shot from back in 2011 that I resurrected with my brand new Nik Software suite. This was a couple of filters in Color Efex 4. With all of this planning for the October meetup, I had to find something Disney to post. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

POTD - Spring Snowmageddon

Spring Snowmageddon, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

This past Sunday, during what should have been good first spring weekend, we ended up with 12+ inches of snow across the St. Louis area. For us, that is a lot in one day, luckily for me, work closed so I was off while the snow came down on Sunday. I was scheduled for Monday to be my off day, so I knew I'd be going out to find something to shoot. I went to a couple places, this one of the Butterfly house is one of my favorites. It was also a lot of fun romping through a foot of snow with my D90 in tow. I kind of wish that it wasn't still snowing when I took these shots, but then again it does add to the scene I suppose. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

POTD - Sharp Through Sharp

Sharp Through Sharp, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

There are two things that I really liked about this shot. I was really happy with the depth of field. If you've never shot your f/1.8 lenses at f/4, do it, you will like. Lenses are typically sharpest one to two full stops above wide open, which I believe is especially true of prime lenses. I also really like that you can even see detail of this butterflies second wing through the first one! Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

POTD - P-P-P-Purple!

P-P-P-Purple!, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

Those of the community that are recent Olympus adopters whether it was a second body or a replacement should know something if you don't already. The Olympus sensors can really read some purple quite excellently. I know I've been posting a lot of flower and orchid shots here lately, but this little Olympus really picks it all up so well. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

POTD - Light Through Orchid

Light Through Orchid, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

A couple of days ago I finally was able to get my brand new, 27" iMac! Which also meant that I got my Lightroom 4, which meant I could finally process my new Olympus E-PL5 camera's RAW files. I ventured out yesterday morning as early as I could to the Butterfly House here in St. Louis. Not only are there thousands of butterflies there, but plenty of these outrageously beautiful orchids. I was fortunate enough to catch this one just as the light was cutting through the thick trees and vibrantly lighting it up. I was very pleased with how the RAW files processed in Lightroom 4. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

POTD - Orange Dream

Orange Dream, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

One thing that I have noticed about the new Olympus PEN image sensors is that they really can pickup and recover warmer colors quite well. Oranges, reds, and purples are actually coming out quite well as evident here. Of course and as usual, my 17mm f/1.8 lens did not disappoint. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

POTD - Eye Catching Guard

Eye Catching Guard, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

The other day I went to the St. Louis Zoo with snow on the ground, as some of you know from my last photo. When I approached the bird house, I noticed this guy guarding on of the side doors to the house. He didn't move from the front of the door accept to ruffle his feathers at a few lady Peacocks. I've never gotten a chance to shoot a peacock with his feathers up like this. I had to 45mm f/1.8 Olympus lens on my PEN so I was probably about ten feet from him. Since our zoo sees so many people and these Peacocks have free roam, he didn't really mind me too much. I just had slow steady movement and by the end when I got this shot it almost looked as though he was starting to try different poses for me, as he'd moved just a bit every time he'd hear the shutter click. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!

POTD - Brave The Elements

Brave The Elements, a photo by DisHippy on Flickr.

So this past Monday I decided to venture out into the melting snow from a weekend storm here in St. Louis to our Zoo. I was banking on pretty much nothing being out, but it's still a great place for a walk on a brisk sunny snowy morning. The one animal that was out was this beautiful little Red Panda. This is only the second time I've seen her in the past 6 years or so. The photos from this trip turned out considerably better. I had the 45mm f/1.8 on my Olympus, which with the crop factor makes it a 90mm, was perfect for shooting here. I was obviously one of very few people in the zoo based on the snow, so it was quite easy for me to get her attention if I wanted. Please let me know what you all think as any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Enjoy!