Photos from a very wet day by Michael Cawdrey

Photos from a very wet day

by Michael Cawdrey

 

My name is Michael Cawdrey, and I work full-time as an artist – painter – in Brisbane Australia.

I’m the proud owner of Olympus EM-5 and EM-1 cameras, and I rely on them to record my reference material.

Recently we experienced a very wet Sunday, and I thought it would be a great time to grab some wet city street scenes, so into Brisbane we went – my wife, our daughter and me.
I really put the splash-proof quality of the EM-1 to the test. Fitted with the 12-40mm Pro lens it got drenched! I really didn’t spare it. I have to say my wife took better care of my EM-5, although it got wet too. The EM-5 had the 12-50mm kit lens attached, so all cameras and lenses were allegedly splash-proof.

Albert Street Brisbane

Both cameras performed beautifully. At one stage the rear screen on my EM-1 shut down, making me think I had damaged it, although the camera continued to function, and the problem was traced to copious amounts of water sitting in the viewfinder!

I’ve possibly been a little underwhelmed by the image quality of the 12-40 Pro lens in the past [not that it’s bad] but in those conditions it was truly superb. Reviewing my 1000 or so photos from that day, I wonder why I didn’t love the lens all along. [The recent purchase of the wonderful Zuiko 17mm f1.8 has brought out the best the camera has to offer]] I love both the EM-5 and the EM-1, and after that crazy venture into the rain I love them even more.

Three photos attached, one of which is a photo of one of my finished paintings. The photo was taken with the ‘Grainy Film’ Art Filter on the EM-1. I love the effect. Now, if I can just emulate it in paint…

Thank you Steve, and best regards,

Michael Cawdrey

13 Comments

  1. Some nice photographs you got there .This morning I watched the news with an interview of the creator of Lucid app,when I saw your last picture I reminded myself the talk . You might find it useful ,it uses algorithms to show how a picture taken from you might look with the famous drawers styles . Here’s the article http://tvoite.technology/?p=6888. I can’t find an English review . Regards ,Filip !,

  2. I could hear more sounds of the street looking at your painting. Thanks for sharing. Keep shooting, keep painting.

    • Hi Safiyyah Thanks for your comment. No, the camera is not totally waterproof. It isn’t meant to be immersed in water, but it and the correct splashproof lens can definitely can withstand a lot of splash from rain falling directly onto them.
      In a promo I saw the salesman stand the camera in a shallow dish, then pour water from a jug all over it so that it was standing in a puddle as well, and it didn’t worry it at all. From what I’ve read, the EM-1 is more splash-tolerant than the EM-5.

    • Paul – thank you! The original painting is in full colour, and sharper than this photo suggests, but the Grainy Film filter has encouraged me to experiment with some monochrome works.

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