Sigh!

It has been almost one whole year since my previous post. I think you will agree a lot has happened in the last 12 months as the world faces another paradigm shift.

But, this is a photography site so we’ll keep to that.

I have been a long time user of Olympus kit. I have a special fondness for Olympus gear, right from my Olympus E-1 back in the naughties through a number of models culminating with my Olympus OM-D E-M5iii.

I especially like the very small size, the very light footprint and the quality lenses.

I was most upset that Olympus decided to sell its camera division, I feel this is a mistake. You can make any business viable, you need to find a way of making it work. Selling is the easy way out.

Sorry to say, I do not have any confidence in the ‘new’ company. I have seen this before, and I think OMDS will go the same way as Pentax and maybe Samsung.

Therefore, in December 2022 I decided to sell all of my Olympus gear and, after very careful consideration, made the purchase of a Nikon Z6 together with a Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4 and the Nikkor Z 50mm f/1.8. Will the use of a full frame sensor make any difference to my photography? Come back next year for the follow-up post*.

*Just joking about that. Hopefully pictures and write-up to follow soon.

Do you get discouraged when you see those gloriously beautiful photos on such sites as 500px, fstoppers. flickr etc.?

You, like TMP probably don’t have the circumstances or finances to photograph the faroes, Iceland, the Dolomites, or whatever is currently in vogue. Neither does TMP want to sit in front of the computer manipulating like Hell in Photoshop – not that TMP actually uses Photoshop.

So TMP is stuck in his little corner of Wales with the occasional trip to Wales’s and England’s finest mountains a few times a year. Not that the “mountains” of Britain are mountains in the sense of European ones. Ours are much smaller and accessible. Special climbing skills are not really required per se.

Those contraints definitely impact TMP’s photos.

But, TMP likes what TMP does, TMP doesn’t take it too seriously. TMP enjoys using his OMD and sometimes the Leica M. TMP doesn’t care what people think of his kit, nor does TMP care what other people use or how they process.

If TMP comes back from a trip or a hike with a few pix with which he is happy, all the better. If other people like them, that is the proverbial icing on the cake.

TMP agrees with some that there is a lack of diversity in style. An awful lot of photos on various sites at which TMP views, especially in the landscape genre, are so similar in style that one would think that a sole photographer is responsible. That is not meant to be any form of criticism, these photos are expertly and beautifully crafted, the skill of execution is extraordinarilty high. TMP would really like to see what these artists would make of the subjects TMP shoots. Perhaps not worthy of consideration.

TMP thinks the most important aspect is to enjoy your photography, no matter what it is or what kit you use. Do not compete, do not feel discouraged. Find your joy and to Hell with trends, cliche’s and rules.

In a future post TMP will discuss, albeit briefly, the value finding your own photographic “voice” instead of copying the style of those aforementioned photos. Because TMP will tell you for sure there are millions of people doing that!

Some thoughtful, thoughtless, sarky, pithy and polemic comments to come. Sometimes with ideas on how to improve your photography and photography on a budget. How to get the best from your gear. TMP will save you money with gear advice and all the stuff you don’t need to buy.