mirrorless – Dutch goes the Photo!

Welcome to the 167th round up of the Tuesday Photo Challenge!

Your entries on this week’s theme of Outdoors were fantastic! I was blown away by the amazing variety and creative approaches that all of you took to the theme; ranging from playgrounds to waterfalls and everything in between. Clearly, you have been to some fantastic locations and captured them with skill.

Thank you for all of your creative efforts in putting your posts together; I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Here we are outdoors…

From this weekend’s test drive of my new EOS R, the outdoors can feature a point, at which we might be out of doors, as this door fades into the past.

Please enjoy the following blog posts:

Ladyleemanila kicks things off this week with a wonderful set of outdoor shots that really help us appreciate it!
Nicole showcases a stunning field of flaxen her post in Une Photo, Un Poéme; she really captured the glow and beauty of this field!
In another amazing post in Travel with Tech, we get to experience some of the breathtaking scenery of Switzerland!
Shelley saves us on a hot day of outdoors in her post in Quaint Revival, through the application of Bleu Cheese Burgers! Delicious!
In a wonderful post in his blog, Ghost Dog, Benn takes us to some incredible outdoor spots.
Brian probably has some of the best outdoors spots, where he lives, as is evident in Bushboy’s World; I could kick back and sit on that bench for a while!
Na’ama reminds us of some essentials of the outdoors in her post in Na’ama Yehuda; those rocks are definitely key!
In another wonderful post in Take a Walk and Discover…, Michelle reminds us that there is great outdoors in cityscapes!
There’s yet another great post in pensivity101, which shares a lovely set of places that she has visited! Great travel times!
Klara’s post in her blog Sliku svoju ljubim II brings us another great outdoor activity: concerts!!
Irene brings us a wonderful sunrise in her post in Heaven’s Sunshine, as she awaits for the sun to rise in Haleakala National Park. In a second post, Irene takes us to Diamondhead with a great photo in Heaven’s Sunshine.
Debbie brings us numbers in her post in Travel with Intent, which may have some historical significance…
In an inspiring post in For the Love of …, we follow some parts of a big outdoors project: a bridge to cross the Mississippi!
With another great photo in the post in Geriatri’x’ Fotogallery, we go to the delta!
Eliza takes us to the Cliffs of Moher in her post in Albatz Adventures which is a location that I enjoyed as well this year!
Jackie has a rather unique vehicle in her post in Junk Boat Travels, which is Otterly funny!
Sarah brings us an amazing view in her post in By Sarah as Sun and landscape are simply stunning!
David brings us another set of amazing images in his post in David M’s Photoblog; which is the one that you enjoy most?
In a lovely post in Life Amazing, we get to enjoy a great variety of outdoor locations!
In a fantastic entry in Willowsoul, we not only get to see the wonders of the outdoors, but also something that is better to happen indoors…
Xenia’s brings us both great images and poetry in her post in WhippetWisdom; that contrast is just amazing! In a second post, she shares more of the whippet fun in gorgeous landscape in Whippetwisdom!
With another stunning post in Don’t Hold Your Breath, we get a stunning view of the widlife in Priene.
Ken brings us a stunning view in his post in Pictures without Film, as he shares his Solway View!
Another stunning image in this week’s contribution in the gorgeous blog, theonlyD800inthehameau; the moon over Sir Bani Yas island in Abu Dhabi is a winner!
Sandy brings us perpetual motion in her post in Out of My Write Mind; it’s very apt for the Great Sand Dunes!
There are a great number of outdoor moments in the post in A Day In The Life, each of which is special!
With a great vista in UpNorth, Eric takes us for a peaceful afternoon on Grand Lake in Colorado for a bit of kayaking.
Robert takes us outdoors in the city in his post in Photo Robert Blog, showing his great eye for capturing some amazing art.
Cee brings us a wonderful array of the outdoors with the great shots that she shares with us in Cee’s Photography!
Woolly takes us to Botswana in his post in WoollyMuses, where the outdoors is just simply stunning!
Liz goes on a run in her post in OneMillionPhotographs, where she encounters some great decoration!
Andrea combines two themes in one great post in ARHtistic License, as the burning palm tree speaks to her!
The Lamb’s Ear is right there in the post in Land of Images, so there was no need for a long walk to capture this great image!
In very cool post in sgeoil, we get to see the redwing blackbird find its way through the brush and a great quote by Jimmy Carter!
Teressa takes a great approach in her post in Another LQQK, as it’s part of the outdoors that is so enjoyed by kids; in another post in Another LQQK, we get some amazing flowers!
Deb finds a duck in her post in Twenty-Four; it’s a wonderful looking location!
Khürt takes us along the Gorge Trail in Ithaca, NY, in his post in Island in the Net; his capture of the Upper Buttermilk Falls is stunning!
In a wonderful post in Nowathome, Aletta takes us to Namibia for a gorgeous view!
In a great post in Alive and Trekking, we learn about what might be missing in a Dutch upbringing, but the love for the outdoors can be acquired later in life!
Indira brings us some amazing photos in her post in Sharing Thoughts; to me, there’s nothing more stunning than those birds!
Donna’s post in Wind Kisses shares her appreciation for the outdoors both locally and when traveling.
Debbie shares a wonderful post in her blog ForgivingConnects, in which she talks about the importance of pausing when practicing self-forgiveness, and how outdoor runs helped her practice.
Miriam shares highlights of her article on Wandering through Wandi in her post in Out an’ About! The pub definitely looks cozy and the Wandiligong scenery looks stunning!
Hammad shares a wonderful variety of outdoor spots in his post in the Blog of Hammad Rais; which one do you prefer?
There are some great traditions that bring families together, as we can see in another great post in One Letter Up – Diary 2.0!
This week’s entry in Thief Images Photography Blog is brilliant in capturing art appreciation in Sydney’s Hyde Park!

Please let all of these great bloggers know your thoughts about their posts!

Recently, I spoiled myself with a new Canon EOS R camera and an RF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM zoom lens to go with the new Canon RF series mount; note that the camera came with an adaptor for all the Canon EOS mount lenses that I have, but I did want to make use of the full integration that comes with the new lens series.

You may ask, why I decided to go mirrorless; actually, I had already gone mirrorless for my travel photography with my Fuji X-H1, which is a great camera. There were some minor nuisances in this camera that kept me looking for other possible cameras to fit the niche. The most significant issue that I have with the Fuji is that it is a crop sensor. As a result, it’s ability to shoot real wide angle landscapes is a bit restricted.

Also, I have a significant investment in Canon lenses that I really like… Thus, when Canon released the EOS R last year with its full frame sensor, I was intrigued. However, I’m not exactly an early adopter in cameras, which made me wait until the 1.2.0 firmware release was out and the EOS R had ample field testing under its belt. Also, there was a significant rebate available at this time, which made the purchase more tempting. So, a couple of weeks ago, I pulled the trigger and used my Adorama credit that I had and a great credit deal (6 months with 0% interest) to buy the camera and lens.

View toward Windsor Dam at the Quabbin Reservoir

First observations of this camera is that it fits my hands well, its menus are well laid out in the familiar Canon style. Also, even though there are some changes to the layout of buttons and dials, they are quickly picked up and work well with my shooting style; I tend to shoot in either Aperture Priority or Manual modes, and making adjustments to settings while shooting in these modes is mostly done with 2 dials that are lined up with the index finger and thumb. Common adjustments for me, depending on mode, are aperture, exposure compensation, shutter speed and ISO speed, if light is highly variable.

After making my usual changes to default settings; which took about 10 or so minutes, the EOS R was ready for business. Btw, batteries have the same form factor, although there is an upgraded battery that can be charged by connecting the camera to a USB-C power source (MacBook…).

This weekend was the first real landscape shooting trip, as I hadn’t really caught great light conditions over the past week during the gaps in my schedule.

Part of what I wanted to exercise is the HDR shooting capability of this camera. There are a good variety of options and I have found that Canon did a passable job in its in-camera processing and it still does a reasonable job, even though the processing takes quite a bit of time in the EOS R (I will get exact timing, but it seems like more than 5 seconds, which is slow when you are eager to shoot more). The shot of the Ware River is an in-camera processed HDR shot; it’s okay, but not stellar, as there was a slight breeze and trees get a bit fuzzy.

Hardwick Mill brick detail – Gilbertville, MA

The first image in this post was a quick test shot, which was unremarkable, but certainly workable. The brick detail image is the first of an HDR series, aka the EV 0 image; the raw image was taken through my basic Photoshop process and shows the sharpness of the lens and camera.

The second mill image shows that the camera handles the exposure range between the white of the doors and the brick and darker sections pretty well. Both of the last two images were shot at f/5.6 and 400 ISO to get 1/500 s or faster shutter speed.

So far, I’m very happy with the results and I will continue to take this camera on the road for more opportunities (next stop: Brno).

One quick note on HDR; of course, I was looking forward to taking the HDR sequences through some proper processing. Unfortunately, I was thwarted, as Aurora HDR by Skylum does not support the CR3 RAW file format yet. Yes, the format has been out in public since February of 2018 with the release of the EOS M50, but Skylum has not figured out how to make the format work yet. Instead, I tried Photoshop Merge HDR processing, but was less than enchanted by the results, as ghosting is not handled very well. I will look for other options, as I enjoy the freedom of creating something unusual through HDR… Stay tuned!

	Stephen Greaves on Tuesday Photo Challenge…
	pensitivity101 on iPhone Friday
	jansenphoto on iPhone Friday
	pensitivity101 on iPhone Friday
	jansenphoto on iPhone Friday

Tag: mirrorless

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Round Up 167

Taking the EOS R for a test drive