E-Book for the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II

There’s a brand new e-book already out, all about the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II.  Professional photographers Gary L. Friedman and Tony Phillips have collaborated to quickly release this new book, and it’s another good one!  You’ll find it provides the shortest learning curve for this infinitely configurable camera.

The book is very well written in the usual easy-reading style you find in all of the camera books from The Friedman Archives.  In its 430 pages, there is great coverage of virtually every button and function on the camera, with lots of photos, examples, tips, and tables.  Speaking of tips, here are a couple of good ones straight from the book:

I’ve read several camera books by both of these guys and always appreciate the thoroughness and depth they provide.  I highly recommend this book for new (and experienced) E-M5II shooters.  Plus, with the money-back guarantee, you really don’t have much to lose.  So head over to The Friedman Archives for all of the details.

And don’t forget to look around while you’re there.  Gary has many outstanding images, and there are books about virtually all of the recent major cameras from Olympus, Sony, and Fujifilm.

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Friedman’s A7/A7R Book – Highly Recommended

A few weeks ago, +Gary Friedman  at The Friedman Archives released his new book about the Sony A7/A7R … and, yes, it’s excellent just like his previous books about various other Sony cameras.

At about 600 pages, it’s a bit bigger than most camera books, but it is filled with A7/R goodness.  🙂  As usual, Gary goes into detail about every feature, function, and button on the camera, while revealing a depth of knowledge that is rare in these types of books.  His background as a NASA engineer and long-time professional photographer give him the insights necessary for this level understanding.  On the other hand, his sense of humor and light style of writing make all of his books very readable and an enjoyable way to learn all the ins and outs of your new camera.

So, give it a look!  And if you don’t have an A7 or A7R, no problem … you’ll find books about virtually every Sony Alpha/Nex camera released over the last few years. Not a Sony shooter?  Well, there is also a recent book about the Fujifilm X100S (X-T1 on the way) and a “coming soon” book about the Olympus OM-D E-M1.

Camera Ebooks at The Friedman Archives

Now Available! The Complete Guide to Fujifilm’s X100s Camera by Tony Phillips!

Tony Phillips is an experienced Pro Photographer from Australia, and has written several excellent camera books.  He’s now followed those up with his latest book about the terrific Fuji X100S.  Here’s what The Friedman Archives has to say about it:

“In this 494-page full-color book you’ll learn: What every mode, button and function does – in plain, easy-to-understand text. My personal camera configuration. The secrets of taking outstanding photos. Details about the innovative features such as Real High Speed flash Sync, the ND Filter, Motion Panorama, Film Simulations, Multiple Exposures and more! All about movie mode. All about Flash and Advanced Lighting. The most common digital “jargon” and what it all means to you. A tutorial to help you get the benefits from shooting RAW. Get the most from your investment – Learn about the wonders of digital imaging and improve your photography at the same time!”

Other titles coming soon from The Friedman Archives include books about the Sony A7/A7R, Sony RX10, and Olympus OM-D E-M1.  Of course, there are also numerous other books about all of the previous Sony Alpha and Nex cameras, and some great general photography titles.  There’s a money back guarantee, so you can’t go wrong … give it a try!  On the website you’ll find easy links to sign up to be notified when future books are ready.

Light Painting with the Fujifilm X100

You’ve seen many examples of “light painting” around the web. However, I think the best I’ve seen was by Dave Black. He also wrote a great article about techniques he uses when doing this, and you can find it on the Nikon website.

What is involved with light painting is using a hand-held light source, commonly a flashlight, but it could be about anything. Essentially, you use a long exposure and then selectively light your subject with the flashlight to attain the effect you are looking for. It’s a bit of trial and error, since your metering system is mostly useless and may, therefore, take several exposures before you get a satisfactory result.

For this image of “boots”, I set up in a darkened room with my X100 on a tripod. Then, with the lights on, I set the focus and made sure it was in manual focus for the shot. Finally, with the lights off, I achieved this result with a 5 second exposure at f/8.

What’s really fun is to take a look at the RIT (Rochester Institute Technology) annual Big Shot! They’ve been doing this for quite a few years, and had over 1,000 people helping with the lighting on last year’s project. This way, they are able to add lighting to an impossibly large area for their photograph. It’s really amazing so check it out! ☺

Fujifilm FinePix X100
Lightroom 4 (beta)