Some shots of the girls in the college studio from last night

[Ian]

Julia invited the rest of the family to her photography evening class last night at West Herts College in Watford, mainly so that our daughters (Lara - 11, and Elizabeth - 13) could be volunteer models in the studio.

I managed to sneak a few a shots of my own taken with the new Olympus Pen E-P2. Most of these were taken under big studio flash softboxes, with modelling lights, against a white backdrop:



Elizabeth (above)



(Above) This was taken without flash at ISO 3200.



This is Lara - looking rather serious



And Lara looking up...



And Lara shaking her hair!

Ian

[Stephen]

Re: Some shots of the girls in the college studio from last night

Nice shots Ian, and colours seem to have been rendered well. Even the ISO3200 shot would be acceptable for many situations. Does the E-P2 have a coaxial socket for external flash use, or did you use an adaptor in the hotshoe?

[Ian]

Re: Some shots of the girls in the college studio from last night

Thanks Stephen

There is no co-ax socket, so a hot shoe adapter was used, but this does mean I couldn't use the hot-shoe EVF for the flash shots.

There is no LR/ACR support for the E-P2 yet, so these were all developed in Olympus Studio from RAW.

Ian

[Stephen]

Re: Some shots of the girls in the college studio from last night

Thanks Stephen

There is no co-ax socket, so a hot shoe adapter was used, but this does mean I couldn't use the hot-shoe EVF for the flash shots.

There is no LR/ACR support for the E-P2 yet, so these were all developed in Olympus Studio from RAW.

Ian

Thats a pity, I think I would prefer a viewfinder when working in a studio or with studio lights.

I'm also surprised the E-P2 is not supported by ACR, why have Olympus changed the file type so its no longer compatible. You would think it would be identical to the E-P1 in that sense

[Ian]

Re: Some shots of the girls in the college studio from last night

Thats a pity, I think I would prefer a viewfinder when working in a studio or with studio lights.

I'm also surprised the E-P2 is not supported by ACR, why have Olympus changed the file type so its no longer compatible. You would think it would be identical to the E-P1 in that sense

It may well be, but I would expect that LR or ACR will seak to identify a particular camera ID, and in that sense the E-P1 is not the same as an E-P2.

I agree about the finder - the E-P2 is not easy to hold and view and manually focus (which I prefer for these situations) with a cable and strap getting in the way

But let's face it, the camera is not designed for studio use.

Ian

[Julia]

Re: Some shots of the girls in the college studio from last night

The children are brilliant and began to enjoy themselves. Especially when asked to jump in the air!

I have updated my blog and my gallery with some more from the evening.

http://dpnow.com/forum2/blog.php?bt=414

http://dpnow.com/galleries/showgallery.php?cat=1016

[Ian]

Re: Some shots of the girls in the college studio from last night

I'm a bit frustrated nobody else has joined in here - maybe I should hav put this lot in the Critique board?

Ian

[Autumn]

Re: Some shots of the girls in the college studio from last night

Never fear Ian, I am here.

I really don't have a favourite here. They are all lovely photos of very pretty girls.

I am intrigued by the jumping one. Is Elisabeth jumping down from something or jumping up from the floor? If the latter is looks a high jump. And is it paper she is jumping on?

I love the first one of Lara, but just see the difference in size and colour of the pupils in her eyes on all three images.

[Graham_of_Rainham]

Re: Some shots of the girls in the college studio from last night

... the E-P2 is not easy to hold and view and manually focus (which I prefer for these situations) with a cable and strap getting in the way

But let's face it, the camera is not designed for studio use.

Ian

While it may not have been designed with this specifically in mind, I would imagin (and would love to try) that it can be used very successfully in a studio situation. As you say you prefer manual focusing, which in a studio with the model in a fairly fixed position, fixed focus can often provide for a very effective way of getting moving shots (such as the hair shake - Good shot by the way) With the camera set at f/8 the DOF takes care of the small shifts in optimal focus position, which allows you to concentrate only on the composition of the subject. I often find I can do this better with Live View and both eyes open, and being able to see the whole area an advantage.

Can the FL-14 be set down to very low levels to act as a strobe trigger? If so that gets rid of the lead. As for the strap getting in the way...

[Ian]

Re: Some shots of the girls in the college studio from last night

Never fear Ian, I am here.

I really don't have a favourite here. They are all lovely photos of very pretty girls.

I am intrigued by the jumping one. Is Elisabeth jumping down from something or jumping up from the floor? If the latter is looks a high jump. And is it paper she is jumping on?

I love the first one of Lara, but just see the difference in size and colour of the pupils in her eyes on all three images.

Yep, she was jumping up and that is indeed backdrop roll paper she's jumping on. There is another shot of her jumping taken by someone else and she must be four feet off the floor! She is quita a sporty athletic type at school (doesn't take after me! )

Ian

[Ian]

Re: Some shots of the girls in the college studio from last night

While it may not have been designed with this specifically in mind, I would imagin (and would love to try) that it can be used very successfully in a studio situation. As you say you prefer manual focusing, which in a studio with the model in a fairly fixed position, fixed focus can often provide for a very effective way of getting moving shots (such as the hair shake - Good shot by the way) With the camera set at f/8 the DOF takes care of the small shifts in optimal focus position, which allows you to concentrate only on the composition of the subject. I often find I can do this better with Live View and both eyes open, and being able to see the whole area an advantage.

Can the FL-14 be set down to very low levels to act as a strobe trigger? If so that gets rid of the lead. As for the strap getting in the way...

I don't have an Fl-14 (the matched low profile flash for the Pen series), but I would expect it to have adjustable power output.

It would be very different if the camera was on a tripod of course

Ian

[Josh Bear]

Re: Some shots of the girls in the college studio from last night

I'm a bit frustrated nobody else has joined in here - maybe I should hav put this lot in the Critique board?

Ian

East tiger, its only been a day.


great pictures. I love the olympus colour. The sharpness is very good as well. what was the lens used? I wish I could get my kids to co operate like this. Mine tend to run when they see the camera.

Best Regards

Josh

[Ian]

Re: Some shots of the girls in the college studio from last night

East tiger, its only been a day.


great pictures. I love the olympus colour. The sharpness is very good as well. what was the lens used? I wish I could get my kids to co operate like this. Mine tend to run when they see the camera.

Best Regards

Josh

14-42 kit lens on the E-P2

Julia tried to persuade them to come along to last week's evening class - without success. This week they were still not that keen. At the end of the evening it was: "can we come back next week?!"

I think Julia is learning about Photoshop in the classroom next week, so the answer has to be 'no'!

Ian