D 209 - Too gloomy to fly today

Pigeons at a rooftop.

Equipment

E-510 with ZD4015

D 207 - Beggar

Pigeon in a gateway.

Equipment

E-510 with ZD4015.

What I learned

I've attached the kit tele-lens zoom the my Olympus and try to keep it on at all times. I've strongly neglected this focal length range before and so I feel that only forced practice can give me the feel of it.

D 175 - Giraffes

Not cows.

Equipment

E-510 with ZD1442.
RAW edited in Lightroom.

What I learned

I slowly learn gravity of the term 'standard zoom' lens. It could be called: 'between 80-99% of your photographs' lens. Unless you are struck with some specific kind of photography like macro or astro. Even if you are, than if you shoot in the field, you will find yourself eventually drifting into those percentages.

Just try to click "ZD1442" tag under the post. Divide it by 175 and you will see what fraction of my photos have been taken by the standard zoom since December.

Hmmm... I did that and I only got 50%, but the figures would be correct for last few weeks. Exactly 83,3%.

D 155 - Busy Bees

On a walk in the park with my son he collected sow thistles and suddenly a hungry bee came down to feed on those I held in my hand. I just had a mobile phone handy and took this macro shot.

Equipment

Sony-Ericsson W810i.
Cropped and enhanced saturation in Lightroom.

What I learned

I learned to finally leave behind Picasa and do the works in Lightroom. I don't even need to use GIMP, because I don't do any multiple-exposure shots or collages and I gradually learn to appreciate the functions of Library module.

D 143 - Bird Receivers

The same location as the last time. There are patches of satellite dishes every few dozens meters on the backyard walls of the mansions.

Equipment

E-510 with ZD4015.
Developed from RAW in Lightroom.

D 140 - Canine Communicating

Village raised dog is trying to get his way with the city guys.

Equipment

E-510 with Pentacon 30mm.
RAW file developed in Lightroom.

What I learned

I have a constant problem with standard focal length lens. The ones I can afford to own are manual prime lens or kit zoom lens. The first group needs to be focused very precisely if it is to be used at largest apertures, because of small depth of field and the kit zoom is too dark - having maximal aperture about f/5 at standard focal lengths.

D 121 - Dead Dog

A dog. Asleep. Right in the middle of the busiest pass in the house.

Equipment

E-510 with ZD1442.
Developed from RAW in Lightroom: levels, color mix, sharpness and just a 1-2% of a frame cropped from the top.

What I learned

Coming back from the land of no editing I admit that many shots should be leaved as they come out of camera without any changes and only some need anything more than sharpening and a slight crop correction.

There is however no way I can imagine making b&w photos without playing around with the RAW file in Lightroom. Just to show my point, here is the same photo as it came out of E-510 in jpg format (click to enlarge):



With each level of zooming in the amount of detail lost becomes obvious. And remember, that in Lightroom I was working on the original 10 megapixel file, so I was able to witness 10x more details that this 768x1024 file.

D 109 - Dog couchant

Another snapshot made with mobile phone camera.

Equipment

Sony-Ericsson W810i.