Seattle Street with the EP3

Ray Sachs

Legend
Location
Not too far from Philly
Name
you should be able to figure it out...
I spent the past week in Seattle. I lived in the area for about 15-16 years and still know it well - our daughter is there now so we visit reasonably often. I still love the place. I shot lots of scenic shots and lots of street shots. I used the X100 and GRD3 some, but mostly the EP3 because I'm still enjoying that new camera smell!

These are almost all 14mm and wider, with several at 9mm using the 9-18, which, as has been noted many times, is a wonderful walk around lens, given the range of wide and only sorta wide options it presents. I sort of re-discovered that lens on this trip and had a blast with it. Between the angles and the processing (some with the built-in 'dramatic tone' filter, some emulating that look with Color and/or Silver Efex Pro), a lot of these look like they may have been shot on Mars. They're all from Seattle - I promise...

The full set (not full yet, but content is still coming) is here:

Seattle - a set on Flickr

-Ray

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This one is actually a telephoto shot, with the 14-150, which I generally don't use for street shooting, but every now and then I break the rules ;) :

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And Bruce, I didn't get much I liked from the Fremont weekly fair, but here's one token shot just to show a bit of the atmosphere (both Fremont and Ballard are FAR more hopping neighborhoods than they were when I lived there!):

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Welcome baaaack! It looks as though you were busy on the streets, Ray and I'll be heading over to catch up via your Flickr set later on. Of course I'll be guessing which photos were taken with which camera...which is a challenge with limited EXIF info...though you usually do leave those file numbers and letters up for our inquiring minds.;)

Impressed with the in camera dramatics!
 
So far all EP3, BB. I shot more with that than the other two and got generally better results. I'll find the decent ones from the X100 and GRD3 and put them up in the next day or two, but this was largely an EP3 trip. Lots of scenic stuff (and family shots) still to sort through - so far just the street stuff.

-Ray
 
I always loved the 9 side 9-18 lens, Ray. For the ones you have here, am I correct that these are jpegs and often the in camera dramatic tone filter was used...with some afterwork done in Aperture?
 
On most, that's right BB. On others, I either didn't have the dramatic tone filter turned on (I use it in bracket mode - not alone, so I don't always remember when its off or on) or it really overcooked the processing in ways that aren't recoverable, so I'd just use the straight jpeg and process with Silver Efex to mimic the basic effect of that filter. Using the selective color slider liberally (non-selectively?) and the other tools in Silver Efex can create some cool muted color results. Which is similar to what the dramatic tone filter does in-camera. I like that filter - it gets it close enough to right a very high percentage of the time.

-Ray
 
Appreciate your taking the time to explain, Ray. I've only tried that Selective Color Slider once or twice - specifically. Will have to give it ago more liberally. Today while walking my dog, I remembered another means to an end that I'd forgotten about right in Lightroom for me - the split toner.

The dramatic tone filter sounds like a winner.(y)
 
Great series. Is the AF with the 9-18mm as fast as with the new Olympus kit lens? Am tempted to give the EP3 a try, it could be a great addition to the X100.
 
OK, now I am searching, Bruce.;) But that's good because I'm procrastinating by looking at Ray's full set.:D

P.S. Found it! Ray, this is a very entertaining and well done set of pictures. I've just gone through rather quickly and posted some initial reactions. You had a good time shooting! Too bad you and Bruce couldn't meet up for a quick secret handshake or a cup of ubiquitous Seattle coffee.
 
Great series. Is the AF with the 9-18mm as fast as with the new Olympus kit lens? Am tempted to give the EP3 a try, it could be a great addition to the X100.
I haven't done any testing to tell you if its AS fast, but I can tell you its DAMN fast! The only lens that is slow enough for me to perceive some difference is the Panasonic 20, which is quite fast, but not quite as fast as any of my other lenses. Everything else feels pretty instant to me.

-Ray
 
My office building is immortalized by Ray in the upper right corner of P8082275...

That one is one of the older of the "new" buildings. It was either complete or nearly complete when we left the area in 1992 - a lot of the current buildings are newer than that.

I used to work in the Smith Tower - that was there before all of us...

-Ray
 
The more I keep seeing photos from this camera, the more I want it. I keep thinking that the price of the E-PL2 will drive down and be a good upgrade to the E-P1, but this is making it much harder to decide.
 
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