photography by wasim.

Tag: mirrorless

Photofocus Does It Again – Notch Up Another Point For The Samsung NX300

I’m absolutely humbled to have my second Featured Image on the Photofocus homepage. This is crazy. Thanks to Melissa Niu, Scott Bourne, Richard Harrington and the entire Photofocus team for this ridiculous honor. Words cannot express how appreciative I am. Had to share that.
Meanwhile, Part 2 of the Mirrorless Camera Pacific Northwest Photo Trip coming up soon. I’ll be sitting on a train for 7 hours today from Portland to Spokane, so that should give me plenty of time to wrap that bugger up. If you missed Part 1, “To DSLR Or Not To DSLR, That Is The Question,” just click the title there to the left. And considering both those Photofocus featured images were shot on the Samsung NX300 for their Imagelogger program, that provides just another point on the board for mirrorless. The rest of this trip ought settle that score once and for all. And if you missed the first image Photofocus featured, check it out by clicking here.

April 25, 2014
To DSLR Or Not To DSLR? That Is The Question – A Mirrorless Camera Pacific Northwest Photo Trip – Part 1

So when he called and said he needed a ‘wingman’ for a video and photography project, I was already in. When he said he’d pay me, I lost my frickin’ mind…literally…the gig I’ve been dreaming about for…well…ever. Yes. Done. Let’s go. Can’t talk too much about the project just yet, but essentially, the man behind bringing the world’s best magicians to the forefront, Murphy’s Magic’s Director of New Product Development Jason Brumbalow, who I also worked with at VectorMount for GoPro, was recruiting me to go help and guide him through making a series of nature videos and photographs in the Pacific Northwest for a personal project. I was humbled and I was immediately in.

My biggest decision was whether or not I was going to be taking my DSLR with me. Why was this a big decision? Well, I’ve never taken any sort of extended trip, let alone a trip designed for photography and videography, without the DSLR. And even a short 2 years ago, I wouldn’t have even considered it. But after playing with these mirrorless systems thanks to Samsung including me in their Imagelogger program, well, the decision became…real. And when it came down to it, I figured, one, these things are definitely capable, and two, if anything, it would add a bit of a challenge and excitement to what was already shaping up to be an epic journey.

Thanks to that program, they recently sent out their new NX30 body, and just last week, a surprise package that included a 30mm/f2, a 10mm fisheye, and a 50-200mm lens showed up at my door. I took that as a sign. So I went with the Samsung NX30. And I left the Nikon kit behind (*gasp*)!

Anyhow, figured I’d post here to take you along the journey the best I could. Here are a few images taken from Day 1. We flew into Portland at about10am, and were picked up by Jeremy, our host for the week, and Jason’s good friend. From the airport, he took us for a bite at one of his local haunts, Produce Row, where the taste and flavor absolutely matched the presentation. From banger plates to corned beef gruyere sandwiches, somehow it all landed on our table. Once were crawled out from under the coma, he took us to the house, we settled in, and then he dropped the keys to the truck in our hands and off we went!

We spent the remainder of the afternoon scouting the surrounding areas to see what were in for. Umm…in a word…perfect. Our first location was Moulton Falls, and literally, it was the first place we pulled off on the side of the road on the east fork of the Lewis river, a tributary that leads into the Columbia River, and it was immediately apparent it was the first location we’d set up at the next day. We then headed downstream just a tad further to the Lucia Falls, also on the Lewis river. At this point, the rain started up and the sunlight began to disappear, so we figured it was as good a time as any to head back to home base to work out our game plan for the week.

Some of the best pictures of the trip are in part 2 of this series, “Going Green And Greener And Greenest”…trust me, they’re worth it!!

(Oh, and yes, please excuse the vertigo…I went a little crazy with the new fisheye on day 1…all apologies…I’ve never had a fisheye before. I promise it tapers down in the coming days)

For more of my madness: Instagram: @wasimofnazareth Twitter: @wasimofnazareth Google+: www.Google.com/+WasimMuklashy Facebook: www.Facebook.com/WasimOfNazareth

April 23, 2014
An Afternoon Admiring Ansel Adams At The J. Paul Getty Museum

So for those of you not in my Google+ orbit, I wanted to share a set of images made last week when I went to check out the Ansel Adams exhibit at the The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California. While we were prohibited from taking pictures in the exhibit itself for very valid reasons, I highly recommend checking it out if you’re around…standing in front of a perfect silver gelatin print of “Winter Sunrise” almost brought me to my knees. I found myself walking back in and out 3 different times for that particular image. In any case, after the exhibit, I was able to spend a few hours in the gorgeous gardens that are nestled in the middle of the property between all the buildings, and that’s where I was able to make these images. This marks the second outing in which I ditched the DSLR in favor of a strictly mirrorless camera kit, the trusty shiny happy Samsung NX30. Can’t say I regretted it…one single tiny bit. Loving this mini-beast! Click through the break to see the gallery…

In case you missed my first set of mirrorless camera images from a whale watching outing a few weeks ago, click here if you’d like to check them out.

For more of my madness: Instagram: @wasimofnazareth Twitter: @wasimofnazareth Google+: www.Google.com/+WasimMuklashy Facebook: www.Facebook.com/WasimOfNazareth

April 2, 2014
I Ditched The DSLR And, Wait For It, Didn’t Miss It! What Have You Done To Me Samsung!?

So this weekend marked a milestone in my photographic adventures – I went fully 100% mirrorless. As a participant in Samsung’s Imagelogger program, I’ve been playing with their NX300 for the past several months and I must admit, I was extremely surprised and pleased with the quality of images it was producing. However, while I used the NX300 to produce most of my personal images, I had always brought it alongside my normal DSLR kit that I was using for jobs. However, things may have just shifted.

I just received the Samsung NX30 and everything I was missing from the DSLR on the NX300, well, those all exist, including, but definitely not limited to, a viewfinder and a comfortable, familiar SLR design and feel. The things missing, I didn’t miss – namely, the weight and bulk of a DSLR. As soon as I put it in my hands, unfamiliar neurons in my neuroplastic brain started firing that led me to a thought…this camera might actually lead me to finally “Ditch The DSLR.” But, well, I still needed to actually use it. So I jumped at the opportunity to go whale watching with a couple friends this past weekend in the waters between Southern California’s coast and the Channel Islands, and not only that, but perhaps more importantly, I actually left behind the Nikon kit for the first time, perhaps, since I’ve had one!

As soon as I was out there and in the ‘zone,’ all thoughts of what I left behind immediately melted away, replaced with thoughts of what I had in front of me – the excitement and energy and possibilities innate in learning a new tool. And being able to see what I was capturing as dictated by the settings I was using, directly in the viewfinder, was quite the ‘aha’ moment for me. It took me a few minutes to get used to the settings and controls – my muscle memories kept reaching for the positioning and layout of my Nikon – but as the minutes went by and I missed the first several whale sightings, my comfort level grew exponentially and by the end, it felt like second nature. I truly felt like this changed the game a bit for me…like I was literally experiencing the evolutionary process. And that rapid machine-gun fire burst mode!?? Woah Nelly!

Anyhow, I must say, if I was just now getting into the photography game, I may very well completely skip over the DSLR and any camera with a mirror in favor of these new systems, and the Samsung NX30 is an EXTREMELY solid choice. More to come in the following months, but wanted to share the first proper set of images I got out of this little beast. Thanks for sending this one out Samsung, and thanks so much for the perfect time Channel Islands Whale Watching – your cast & crew couldn’t have been better! We’ll be back…

For more of my madness: Instagram: @wasimofnazareth Twitter: @wasimofnazareth Google+: www.Google.com/+WasimMuklashy Facebook: www.Facebook.com/WasimOfNazareth

March 18, 2014
The Samsung NX30 – The One Time Less Zeros Puts A Smile On My Face.

A lot of you already know that I’ve been playing with the mirrorless cameras lately as one of Samsung’s Official Imageloggers. They started out by sending me the gorgeous brown leather skinned NX300 and a myriad of lenses to play with and I’ve had a lot of fun with those buggers for sure. Well, in this next stage of the program, they’ve sent out the brand new NX30, and I couldn’t be more excited! As much as I love the NX300, the one thing that my old-fashioned mind couldn’t quite get past was not having a viewfinder, so, well, that alone sold me. This one might actually get me to finally Ditch The DSLR after all! Can’t wait to share some images from this fine feller, can’t imaging it’s going to take me too long…but in the meantime, check after the break, I’ve thrown together a quick gallery of some of my favorites from the NX300 over the past few months. I have a feeling the Samsung NX30 is going to prompt a post like this soon as well. Enjoy.

March 12, 2014
Ok Mirrorless, Here I Come! I’m Officially A Samsung Imagelogger!

So I’ve been curious about them for at least a year, and have been hearing more and more about them especially in the last several months, and now I finally get to experiment with the new mirrorless camera systems myself…in a very unexpected way. Samsung reached out to me to see if I was interested in joining their Samsung Imagelogger program. Basically I’d get to be one of 50 lucky buggers who are getting cameras and gear from Samsung over the next half year or so to experiment and play with and report back on and post images from.
Uhhh…YEAH!!

Needless to say, I’m pretty hyped on the opportunity to get intimate with the latest mirrorless systems and see what these things can do.

So as of Wednesday afternoon, I’ve got the first camera they’ve sent out to us in my hands, the NX300, and we just had our training session, so I preemptively apologize if my posts hit a slight overdrive. Since this is the first new camera system I’ll be using in about 2 years, as well as my first foray away from Nikon DSLRs, and, of course, my first adventure into the mirrorless space, it should be interesting to see where and what brain circuits this experience might fry or invigorate.

Anyhow, the header image above is one of the first images taken with this mini-beast, and the camera itself? Well, I must say, the brown leather color scheme is pretty shnazzy! It took me a few minutes to get acquainted with this thing (the biggest adjustment being not using a viewfinder), but once I got the hang of it, I had a blast. Anyway, only got to use it for a few hours between gigs today, but there will be much more to come soon.

If you want to follow along to all the images taken by myself and the other Imageloggers (trust me, you’ll want to follow along…The Candid Frames‘ Ibarionex Perello, The Giving Lens‘ Colby Brown, renown pro photographer Valerie Jardin, and the most unique father blogger you might ever run across, 8BitDad‘s Zach Rosenberg, are amongst the shutterbugs that’ll be contributing), check out www.DitchTheDSLR.com, where they’ve set up a crazy interactive map of the country as a home for the photos taken by the Imageloggers. It’s fresh now, but it’s gonna start filling up with eye-candy in a hurry!

Below are a selection from the first batch of images that came out of the NX300 in my hands.

Ok…let’s do this thing!

December 6, 2013