My most preferred composition of our summer hiking holiday in the Swiss alps was already shown in the last blog post - Fly and morning dew - so this can only be the runner up. Already before pressing the shutter, I liked this composition and still do. The regular pattern and orientation - from the front right to the back left - is one of the elements that I like. While the composition only depicts a small scene, an intimate landscape, the reflection on the water, towards the top of the frame, hints at the surrounding mountain landscape (the ice covered summits of the Monte Rosa massif) and the bright blue sky. However, what satisfies my most is the fact that it is a "different view" of an incredibly much-photographed subject. Stellisee is one of two small lakes (the other being Riffelsee) that offer an unobstructed view of the Matterhorn. If you search for photographs of this iconic mountain top, you will find countless sunset and sunrise shots of the Matterhorn and its reflection in these two lakes. I was hoping to discover an interesting composition at these two lakes, but did not intend to repeat one of those classic evening or morning photos. I am satisfied with the result, even though I can imagine that this photograph is less appealing to you than to myself - but maybe, or hopefully, some of you do like this capture.
Archive for August 2015
Intimate Stellisee composition
My most preferred composition of our summer hiking holiday in the Swiss alps was already shown in the last blog post - Fly and morning dew - so this can only be the runner up. Already before pressing the shutter, I liked this composition and still do. The regular pattern and orientation - from the front right to the back left - is one of the elements that I like. While the composition only depicts a small scene, an intimate landscape, the reflection on the water, towards the top of the frame, hints at the surrounding mountain landscape (the ice covered summits of the Monte Rosa massif) and the bright blue sky. However, what satisfies my most is the fact that it is a "different view" of an incredibly much-photographed subject. Stellisee is one of two small lakes (the other being Riffelsee) that offer an unobstructed view of the Matterhorn. If you search for photographs of this iconic mountain top, you will find countless sunset and sunrise shots of the Matterhorn and its reflection in these two lakes. I was hoping to discover an interesting composition at these two lakes, but did not intend to repeat one of those classic evening or morning photos. I am satisfied with the result, even though I can imagine that this photograph is less appealing to you than to myself - but maybe, or hopefully, some of you do like this capture.


2015/08/28
by Florian Freimoser
Categories:
nature details
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GX8 adventure: Limiting choice
Choosing a camera, or anything really, can be a daunting task nowadays. We have far too many choices - different formats (sizes of sensors), different brands, several camera models within each brand, and then we also need lenses, for which we have even more choices (at least for some formats). We can randomly buy what is the easiest to get, purchase what we already know, or try to make an informed decision. Here are the criteria based on which I limit my choices in order to make it easier to eventually decide what to buy.
- Possibility to mount the Mirex tilt-shift adapter
- A built-in viewfinder


2015/08/20
by Florian Freimoser
Categories:
GX8 adventure,
Moderation,
Toolbox
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Fly and morning dew
At the moment, the photograph above is my most preferred creation of our recent vacation (and of those taken with the GX8). I have searched for and tried different compositions of blades of grass with drops of morning dew. It was only in the viewfinder, that I discovered the tiny fly (only a few millimeters long) that adds, in my opinion, the icing on the cake in this photograph. The camera was positioned amidst the wet grass and some of the blades were just in front of the camera, others further in the back. I really like the horizontal, regular structure, the light, and the perfectly sharp fly. This photograph is actually one of the cases where a larger display is better - it looks definitely more impressive on my computer screen.
The composition has been added to my "macro gallery", where you can find different kind of close-up nature shots; some of which were taken a long time ago (I did a lot of macro photography in my youth).


2015/08/19
by Florian Freimoser
Categories:
GX8 adventure,
Macro,
Switzerland
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Four Matterhorn compositions

This year is a special year for Zermatt and the Matterhorn, because it was 150 years ago, in 1865, that it has been (semi-) successfully climbed the first time (four out of seven climbers died on the descent). It was one of the last 4000 m summits of the alps to be conquered! Although photographs of this remarkable summit are omnipresent, at least in Switzerland and especially during this year, the sight in person, from Zermatt, is still irresistible. And despite the many photographs and little chance to contribute a new and interesting composition, I "had to" photographs this iconic mountain. Sometimes it is not important how many people have already photographed a subject, but just a pleasure and wish to do it yourself.
At the moment and in honour of the anniversary of the first ascent, a light installation traces the route of the first climbers with 50 solar-powered led lamps, which added a surprising element to the composition above. At dusk, the lamps light up one by one, for three minutes all lamps shine, and then they are switched off. The spectacle is repeated several times during the night and is, in my opinion, a really felicitous and elegant project. The photograph above is my most preferred capture of this light spectacle and by far the Matterhorn composition that I like the best (of those that I created). Note that not all lamps are visible from this point of view; most notably a red lamp that indicates the place where the four climbers fell down.
The second photograph, above, is a composition, that I had imagined before, but that did not work out as envisioned. Either the summit was hidden by a cloud, I forgot, or I did not find a suitable reflective surface to photograph two Matterhorns in one photograph. The composition shown here is the best, but I am certain that it could be improved significantly. Finally, the sunset and cloud compositions that follow are, in my opinion, decent Matterhorn documents. I like the positioning and dynamics that the clouds create in the last picture; it seems to me that the clouds dwarf the summit. All photographs except the first one have been taken with the Lumix GX8.



2015/08/13
by Florian Freimoser
Categories:
GX8 adventure,
landscape
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GX8 adventure: Small enough and good enough

For many years, we had a camera for "family photography" and another one, supposedly better one, for my "real photography". The family camera was usually a digital point-and-shoot camera. The "real camera" was first an analog Konica SLR, then a XPan (now sold), for a long time the Lumix GH1 (now destroyed), and shortly the A7r. Interestingly, the only one of these cameras that became THE camera for everything was the GH1. Why? Because it was small enough to be carried around all the time and good enough for my "real photography" (although I mistakenly doubted that sometimes).
Once the Lumix GH1 became the camera for almost everything, carrying a second, "better" camera (e.g., the A7r) became really a burden and contradictory. After all, the main argument for the micro four thirds (m4/3) format is the small size and weight of the cameras and particularly the lenses. How does this relate to the GX8, or the GX7? For me, there are no better cameras for everyday photography than the GX8 or the GX7. Using the GX7 is, at least to me, more similar to the GH1, but in many aspects it is of course much better. In contrast, the GX8 handles more like the XPan or A7r. The Lumix GX8 is the "better" camera in the body of a compact family camera. The GX7 is certainly a good enough camera in an even smaller body.


2015/08/10
by Florian Freimoser
Categories:
GX8 adventure,
Toolbox
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GX8 adventure: Customer friendliness
As I have accidentally destroyed my most preferred digital camera so far, my beloved Lumix GH1, just before our summer holiday, I needed a replacement quickly, within a week. In my despair, I filled out the contact form on Panasonic's website, explained the problem and asked if they could sell me a GX8 prematurely. It seemed a hopeless trial balloon. I was so devoid of expectation that I actually bought a used GX7 already; after all it was the last weekend before our holiday and one was on offer close by. It was thus a surprise, when a few days later a friendly person from Panasonic replied that they cannot directly sell to customers, but that they were of course willing to help me. They offered to loan a GX8 to me - two weeks were fine. Woow! No conditions, signatures or anything; just a few friendly emails and the next day the GX8 had already arrived.
To clear out any potential misunderstanding: I am not turning my blog into a review site and neither have I become an employe of Panasonic, nor received any form of payment for these posts. However, this overwhelming example of customer friendliness motivated me to photograph and encouraged me to write about my experiences and equipment choices. In upcoming posts I will thus write much more about equipment than I usually do, but I will also use these post to share photographs from our recent trip in the Swiss mountains (that were mostly taken with the GX8, but also with the GX7).
Overall, both cameras, the Lumix GX7 and GX8 are a pleasure to use (the children clearly preferred the GX7, myself rather the GX8). Having worked with a Lumix camera for many years, it was intuitive getting used to the new models, setting up the menu and buttons to my liking, and starting to photograph immediately. To summarise my GX8 adventure: the Lumix GX8 is clearly my most preferred digital camera yet (and the GX7 is very nice too) and I am still amazed by Panasonic's friendliness and accessibility!


2015/08/09
by Florian Freimoser
Categories:
GX8 adventure,
Toolbox
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4 comments