Fine Art America/Pixels now offers New York Magazine Wall Art
I have relied on the professional quality of Fine Art America / Pixels for many years as my primary production company for my photography wall art and decor items. Their servers also host my primary online gallery. They just announce this exciting news…
New York Magazine has selected Pixels to power their new e-commerce website and sell canvas prints, framed prints, metal prints, and wood prints of their iconic magazine covers!
Click the display below to shop 50+ covers from New York Magazine’s portfolio.
Which camera to keep and build into a better system?
I am in need of a quality macro lens but was unsure what to purchase – to add to which camera bag. Today I decided to evaluate my arsenal and did an A/B comparison between my Nikon DSLR and my Olympus Mirrorless Micro four-thirds cameras. I tried two different “kit” zoom lenses on each – varied the focal length (18-300mm) and ISO (200 and 3200). Below is one comparison – guess which one came out ahead – in all instances…
Both cameras were mounted on tripods on our front porch and targeted a neighbor’s front window for a variety of surfaces. Some of the more “distant” shots (wider angle) included sky and lawn for additional comparison textures. But the stone and window frame were good for comparison in the sample below and are indicative of all the shots.
Click the image for a larger version…
Both camera are 5+ years old and have been true workhorses for me. We cruise often and these have been in several foreign countries as well as all up and down the East Coast of the USA. Both still work perfectly.
The cameras are 1) Nikon D3200 compared with 2) Olympus OM-D E-M10 (original model – now up to model 4, which may be my next purchase.)
BTW, if you haven’t already guessed, the Nikon image is the one on the left. An old adage states, “The best camera to have is the one you have with you.” That may not always be the bigger, more expensive camera.
The caveat is that the Nikon can produce a large art photograph because the pixel size is 6012 by 4000. That is good for up to a 60″ print at my Fine Art America Gallery. The Olympus images are 4608×3456 pixels, good for up to a 48″ print.
The “fine print” so to speak…
A friend said if I didn’t do this in RAW I ain’t done. True, I ain’t quite done. However I tried to keep this as “real world” as I get. I stopped using RAW a good while back. Why? Everything in RAW has to be converted to JPEG in post processing and I found that the camera software engineers did as good a job as I would usually do – nearly every time (with a slight edge going to Olympus). Today I only save an image in RAW if is is majorly important and I may not have opportunity to re-shoot – but that is seldom the case. Keep in mind that both of these cameras are of a vintage going back over a half dozen years.
The sample image above was one of several comparisons I looked at and is representative of what I saw across the board. Nikon DX lens AFS Nikkor 55-300mm 1:4.5-5.6 G ED. Olumpus MFT lens M. Zuiko 40-150mm 1:4-5.6 R ED MSC.
Focal length for those samples was set to 100mm, using an aperture of f-8, shutter speed 1/160 and ISO set to 200. I chose that because I usually shoot Aperture-preferred and either wide open, fully stopped down or f~8. I also usually zoom to 100mm if I am in a tele frame of mind – or I’ll go quite wide in the 20mm range.
An old traditional Irish Coffee recipe from Mr. Joe.
I have received many requests for how I make my version of Irish Coffee. let me begin by saying there are many, many different ways in which Irish Coffee is presented – from the simplistic shot of Jameson (or other) Irish Whiskey in a cup of fresh brewed coffee – to a mixture of several liquors in coffee. My version uses six liquors – five in the coffee itself plus one on the top as a garnish or decor/flair finish. I was shown this recipe by a older (80+ years) Irish gentleman who owned an Irish Pub in South Baltimore.
The following is a response by email to a good friend who had asked. I’ve has so many requests recently that I thought I would replicate that response here…
Gail, you had asked about my recipe for Irish Coffee —> Irish Hot Chocolate on FB. But I would prefer not to share there. I tried the Irish Hot Chocolate last evening for our Happy Hour here at the house and Nancy said it was good. She is not much into the high octane drinks but does occasionally likes a Hot Chocolate with Fireball (we use Tennessee Fire by Jack Daniels because it is a much better whiskey than that used in Fireball). But I digress… So, anyway my Irish Coffee is a two full shot drink made with six liquors. Start by pre-heating (with hot water) an Irish coffee glass (or mug or whatever you like). Then empty the water and…
Pour one full jigger (the large size shot glass) of Irish Whiskey (Jameson or Tellamore Dew or ???) into the glass
Add one-half jigger of Kahlua
Add a healthy “splash” of Frangelica (or Amaretto) – for a “nutty flavor”
Add a healthy splash of Triple Sec for a bit of an “orange” flavor
Add a healthy splash of Licor 43 for a bit of a Cream sickle flavor
Note—those three “healthy splashes” should equal about another half shot in total – the combination of flavors adds more wonderful taste sensations than you’ve ever had in a bar-prepared Irish Coffee.
Add hot fresh made coffee – or Hot Chocolate – to with a half inch of the brim – stir gently with a spoon. You should end up with a drink that is about half coffee (or hot chocolate) and half liquor.
Top with real whipped cream (but we never make whipped cream – we use Ready Whip, which is cheating, but still tastes good).
