June 15, 2024 was North American Nature Photography Association’s (NANPA) Nature Photography Day. Out I went to partake. My location was Oak Creek in Sedona, AZ. Here are my results of enjoying nature and exploring features on my OM System OM1 camera.

ICM (a.k.a. Intentional Camera Movement)

Intentional camera movement can allow for creative interpretation of a scene. I lowered the shutter speed to purposely blur the scene. In this case, it was 1/6th of a sec. In order to get consistent blur throughout, I started moving the camera before pressing the shutter button. After a number of passes at different speeds of camera movement, I ended up working with these two in post using Photoshop. I applied some additional contrast, color adjustment, and dodging and burning.

Dodging and burning along with contrast and color adjustments were used for this image.
Color, a little closer to the original weeds, that were captured.

In-camera ND filter

Playing by the creek called for setting the camera into neutral density to allow the water to render a bit softer. The resulting image was still not quite as soft as I like because it was bright midday light. A little bit of processing in Photoshop allowed me to get closer to the vision I was trying for.

OM 1 system ND filter long exposure photo
Image following post-production in Adobe Photoshop.
Screenshot of above image Straight out of Camera.

Black and white conversion

Many nature images can benefit from the simplicity of black and white. This allows the shape, form and tones to stand out without the distraction of color. Here are a couple before and after versions. I really like NIK Filters Silver EFex Pro for conversions. After the conversion, I used the Soft Light Mode in Photoshop to dodge and burn. For the final touch, I added a sharping ing layer to help increase the sharp contrast where I want you to look.

Here’s another OM 1 System in-camera ND filter image at ND64. The OM 1 Mark II has an ND 128 available.
black and white ND filter photo OM 1 System
Image from above after processing in Photoshop to smooth water just a bit more and conversion to black & white with NIK 6 Silver EFex Pro.
I was attracted to these crossed logs and the pools of light falling on the scene.
The scene screamed at me to make the BW conversion to loose the distraction of color. NIK 6 Silver EFex Pro.

Gear for the Nature Photography Day

I wanted to stay lightweight while wandering the banks. That called for packing the Platypod gear. I used the Platypod eXtreme as the base. A Benro IN00 ball head offers plenty of support for the micro 4/3rds OM 1 camera (I linked to the OM1 Mark II cause it’s just a little more with deep features) with the M.Zukio 12-100mm f/4.0 Pro lens (24-200 full frame equivalent field of view). When I needed more height a velcro strap and a tree worked well.

Working without a tripod I was able to get some height using the Platypod eXtreme, Benro Ball head and the Platy velcro strap and a handy tree. The second image at the top of the post was captured with this setup.

Get out and shoot

No, don’t leave this article. I am encouraging you to spend time out in nature. Share your images and enjoy the world that we get to inhabit and explore through photography.

Yours in Creative Photography,

Bob