Blue Moon Photography

Welcome!

My name is Thomas Laux. By profession I am a software developer and small business owner of Blue Moon Development Company. I'm also an avid runner having completed close to 60 marathons (including three runs of the Boston Marathon). But this blog isn't about software or running, it's dedicated to my other love - photography. I publish my work under the name Blue Moon Photography and under the web site Blue Moon Imagination as well as on the BetterPhoto.com web site (http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/default.aspx?id=244415&mp=V2).

I'm primarily a Canon shooter with my main rig being a 40D complimented by an arsenal of "L" lenses. But I've recently added a new and very interesting option to my camera bag; the new Olympus Pen E-P1.

For a while I think I'll be discussing this new and very intriguing camera. I got my Pen just in time for a recent vacation to Hilton Head Island along with the two available lenses. There has already been plenty written about the specs and technical information on this camera so I'm not going to repeat any of that. I'm writing this to fill in some of the blanks that I haven't seen often and that's something about the usability of it and the actual photography and art that can be produced with it.

After my first couple of weeks my initial impressions are:

• The size of this camera, esp. for travel is just about perfect. My entire outfit (camera, two lenses, flash, optical viewfinder, travel wall charger and extra battery) all fit into a very small PhotoRunner waist pack.
• This is a professional feeling unit. It's solid, weighty and metal. And just beautiful. Even nice than in the pictures.
• Shooting speed is very usable. I upgraded to the Pen from a Canon G10, a very nice travel camera in its own right, and I believe the Pen is quicker to shoot (very minimal shutter lag) and immediately ready for the next shot. I wouldn't rely on it as a sports shooter but there's no frustration in missing a shot waiting on the camera.
• Image quality is nothing short of awesome. I've been shooting in RAW+jpeg mode but using the jpegs for now until Adobe Camera Raw gets updated to process these files. Using primarily Lightroom for post-processing of the jpegs has been a joy. I can't wait until ACR is updated to start using the raw files. (I'll post later about the Olympus raw software. Not very usable.)
• Art Filters are cool! Especially the soft focus. So far that's been my favorite.

There are other things I really like about the new system. There are also a few things I'm not so impressed with. I think I'll write an entire post about those. For now I think I'll just post some shots from the recent trip (including the image above).

Enjoy!

Tom Laux

August 20, 2009