Another one with the 17 f2.8. Just loved the way the sun was shining below the tree bathing the lawn yellow light. I had to pull the shadows in this one, but I think it turned out ok. When I do this with some images contrast decreases and you can tell that the image has been manipulated.
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12/20/12  Olympus mZD 17 f2.8 III1412
E-M5 Focal Length: 17 mm Aperture: f/5.6 Exposure Time: 1/40 sec ISO: 200 • Tuscany • evening • mZD 17 f2.8 • Olympus
12/19/12  Olympus mZD 17 f2.8 IIAnother evening shot with the 17 f2.8. What actually attracted me to this shot were the chimneys. I think it's something typical Italian I something I haven't really seen before. You can also see that the image is quite sharp, well sharp enough for my usage anyway. 1876
E-M5 Focal Length: 17 mm Aperture: f/5.6 Exposure Time: 1/320 sec ISO: 200 12/18/12  Olympus mZD 17 f2.8The 17 f2.8 for m4/3 come to used more on this occasion that at any other time since I've owned the lens. It gets knocked but I found it ideal in many situations. Even this image was taken hand held. Another couple of minutes and it was really black out there. 2852
E-M5 Focal Length: 17 mm Aperture: f/2.8 Exposure Time: 1/80 sec ISO: 400 • Olympus • mZD 17 f2.8 • evening • landscape
12/17/12  Olympus mZD 12 f2The wife insisted that we go and see Siena. It tuned out to be a really lovely place, but expensive! It's got lovely small streets which is great for getting lost in, and a dream come true for the architectural photographer. I'm certain you could spend a couple of months there and still have a lot left to photograph.
What was really interesting to see was the Piazza del Campo where the famous Palio horse race takes place twice a year. This is where 10 riders from the 17 districts compete in a 3 lap race around the square. Having seen the square in person I really can't imagine myself taking part in such a race. It must be brutal.
The tower in the above image is situated in the Piazza and it gave me a reason to put on the mZD 12 f2. This really is a fine lens, although it's not that cheap. I stopped it down here to f8 but I think f5.6 would have been enough. 2087
E-M5 Focal Length: 12 mm Aperture: f/8.0 Exposure Time: 1/640 sec ISO: 200 • mZD 12 f2 • Siena • Italy • architecture • tower
12/16/12  Tuscany LandscapesAgain another typical Tuscan scene. The Poplar trees along the driveway and the vineyards off to the left of the image. In the background you can see the rolling hills of the Tuscan region. Really delightful to just drive around and stop to take a photo whenever the fancy takes you.
As you can see from the exif my trusted mZD 14-150 was mounted during most of my drive around Tuscany. The range of the 10.7x zoom was just so practical.
1661
E-M5 Focal Length: 60 mm Aperture: f/8.0 Exposure Time: 1/320 sec ISO: 200 • Tuscany • Italy • Landscapes
12/15/12  Tuscany LandscapesThe town in the background is called San Gimignano and is a very popular tourist attraction. If you can manage it, go there during the week and not on a weekend. It's very crouded. I think it's one of the most interesting towns I've ever been to, very pleasant to walk throught he small alleys and streets with some very nice shops (and not only touristic shops).
It's got an interesting story to it regarding the towers you can see. The towers used to be the homes of the rich a couple of centuries ago. What normally happened and did in most other villages in the area is when the towns and inhabitants got richer, the towers were demolished and normal houses were built. That's why these towers can only be really seen in San Gimignano. It was too poor at the time to demolish the towers and so they've stayed there until the present day. Now of course, they're a huge touristic attraction and all of the other towns in the area wished they had them too. That's life I suppose. 1442
E-M5 Focal Length: 20 mm Aperture: f/8.0 Exposure Time: 1/320 sec ISO: 200 • Tuscany • Italy • Landscapes
12/14/12  Tuscany LandscapesHaving seen many landscape images of Tuscany I've been wanting to visit the area ever since. Well, in September I had the chance but the weather was not ideal. We had a lot of rain and mist which really put a stop to the sort of images I wanted to make. However, there were a couple of days that showed some promise so I was on the road from morning till the sun set. You have to make the most of what is offered.
This is the sort of scene I had imagined and I had a couple of chances to get some nice images like the one above. It was a little hazy though but that didn't stop me at all. This was the only chance I was going to get for some time to come. Even id the images are not "exhibition quality", they are mine and I like them enough to hang on to them.
As a sidenote to a post I made a couple of days ago about abandoned farmhouses. The farmhouse at the top of the image is still in use, but the one further down on the left in the image, is not. Again it's been abandoned for some reason. There was still a "for sale" sign on it which gave the impression it had been there for quite some time. 1273
E-M5 Focal Length: 52 mm Aperture: f/8.0 Exposure Time: 1/400 sec ISO: 200 • Tuscany • Italy • Landscapes
12/13/12  Olympus mZD 9-18 on the OM-DDuring our stay in Tuscany we did a little detour to see the leaning tower of Pisa. It really is quite amazing because according to the engineers the tower should have fallen over time ago. It didn't, and it's now been stabalized so that it's going to stay as is for the foreseeable future.
Like many cities in Italy, Pisa is a pain to drive through and finding a parking spot a nightmare. The grounds are well visited, when we were there must have been thousands just walking the grounds. If you want to take some photographs here without people in the image then you can either forget it or come and take a look in the middle of the night.
The mZD 9-18 isn't a lens I use a lot but when I do need a really wide angle lens then I'm glad I brought the lens with me. This is one occasion where the lens had some good use. I experienced no problems on the OM-D and as you can see, it's quite sharp. It's cheaper then the Panasonic 7-14 and it can take filters unlike the latter lens. I've heard it said that the 7-14 is even better than the Olympus. I'd love to try it out but I'm not planning on buying that one any time soon. The 9-18 is good enough for me, and I'm not really the wide angle type anyway. 1487
E-M5 Focal Length: 14 mm Aperture: f/8.0 Exposure Time: 1/640 sec ISO: 200 12/12/12  AbandonedAfter having travelled a large part of northern Italy in September I was surprised at the amount of abandoned farmhouses there were on route. Even in the hart of Tuscany farmhouses such as here in the image seemed to be just left to fall apart. Reminds me of Ireland after they joined the EU and cash flow was immense. That's when a huge amount of the Irish built new houses adjacent to their old abode, which was then just left to fall apart. Here however, I didn't see any new houses at all.
It would really interes me to find out if it's just the economic climate in the area is what drives the people away. One thing is certain, Tuscany offers some rich pickings for the landscape photographer. 1561
E-M5 Focal Length: 63 mm Aperture: f/8.0 Exposure Time: 1/100 sec ISO: 200 12/11/12  Olympus mZD 75-300Even at 75mm (150mm in 35mm terms) you can still see the compression in the lanscape that is not visible at shorter focal lengths. These mountain ranges are miles apart in reality, but appear to be just behind each other in this image. I don't get a chance to photograph something like this too often, so when I do get the chance I take as many different photographs as I can at every folcal length at my disposal. With the 75-300 lens attached I worked the scene but the best image came out at the 75mm setting. There was just enough of the mountain ranges visible to show the compression. 2376
E-M5 Focal Length: 75 mm Aperture: f/11.0 Exposure Time: 1/250 sec ISO: 200 • Olympus • mZD 75-300 • mountains • compression
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