Thursday, March 31, 2022

OM SYSTEM Ambassadors

Tom and I are excited to share the news -- we have been invited to continue as OM SYSTEM Ambassadors! This is a continuation of our prior roles as Olympus Educators (note that now we are all known as OM SYSTEM Ambassadors). Tom and I are honored to be included in this group of amazingly talented photographers!


Tom and I are excited that we will be representing OM Digital Solutions (formerly Olympus cameras) as OM SYSTEM Ambassadors!

"Lisa and Tom are photographic artists and workshop leaders who love to share their passion with others. They love photographing almost every subject, but are especially drawn to night photography, light painting, urban exploration, nature photography, and creative photography. Their photography allows them to pay attention to the details, to be mindful, and to appreciate all of the beauty and nuances of our world."

Please note that while Tom and I are OMDS ambassadors 
and we occasionally offer a workshop specialized for OM SYSTEM users, that 
ANYONE is welcome on our workshops and we have people come on our workshops with smart phones, film cameras and every make and model of dSLR, point-n-shoot, large format, and mirrorless camera out there. 



Our Olympus/OMDS journey. I first was exposed to the amazing Live Composite feature while leading a night photography workshop in the Fall of 2016. One of our participants was able to SEE the night scene developing DURING the exposure. I immediately inquired about the EM1 Olympus camera features and was impressed with many features, but especially the computational technologies. I went home from the workshop and researched and saw that an EM1 mark ii was coming out and I ordered one. Tom and I were Canon for decades, and I tried Sony and Tom tried Fuji, but we both preferred our Canon dSLRs. Upon purchasing the EM1 mark ii the Canon was not making it out of the camera bag anymore. Tom tried mine and we switched to Olympus in 2016 too. 

Then Tom and I went to Cuba and we only brought our Olympus system, which really rocked with the image stabilization, live time, and much lesser weight and footprint. At that time we still thought that we would use the Olympus for macro, night, street, travel, landscape and that we might keep our Canon for birds (we each had a 500mm f4 lens). One month after going to Cuba we went to Florida, bringing our Canon and Olympus systems. We were going to use the Olympus the first day and then compare to using the Canon the next day and so forth. Well, the Canon never ever made it out of the hotel room, so we came home from Florida and sold all of our camera gear and purchased all Olympus. We have never looked back! The ability to easily handhold (and without teleconverter) fast 600mm FFE and now 1000mm FFE lenses is a big deal for our bird and wildlife photography!!

Serendipitously, I was presenting a program to a camera club in Pennsylvania and the leader of the Olympus camera club contacted me and asked me to give the same program for them (they had a lunchtime camera club at Olympus). The person who contacted me did not ask or know what camera we were using. At the end of the presentation he said "You should be an ambassador for Olympus" and introduced me to a couple of people. Now I should add to this that I was never one to get into the whole "Canon versus Nikon" debate, it was six of one and a half dozen of the other type of debate. But Tom and I found ourselves organically discussing all of the virtues of the Olympus system. The system can just do things, like focus stacking in-camera, pro-capture, LiveTim, LiveND, Live Composite, etc. that other cameras simply cannot do. and now we have the new OM1 camera and to say the new OM-1 and its computational photography features are incredible is an understatement! The new AI detection AF for birds, mammals, etc. is so much faster than the already outstanding Olympus OM-D E-M1x and this is due to the amazing processing power that was packed into this new body. 

We look forward to sharing what OM SYSTEM cameras can help us create thanks to their brilliant computational photography features and AI detection AF, among other things.  

Thank you to all of my followers (and to Get Olympus/OMDS). Stay tuned for future exciting content and announcements in 2022!

Below, please enjoy our favorite 21 from 2021. That is, our favorite 21 Birds in Flight, Birds, Flowers, Nature and Non-Nature photographs from 2021-- all taken with our Olympus/OM System cameras and lenses! 








Saturday, January 29, 2022

Peak Design Tripod

Tom and I are in love with our new tripod -- the peak design. https://bit.ly/2WUfJYU 

We first saw the prototype at Photo Expo in NYC Fall 2019. We purchased them as soon as they were available last year and just love them. Small but mighty. We have been using their camera straps and clips and wrist straps for a few years, but this tripod is a game-changer. It folds small but it is sturdy enough for night photography and big lenses. It is easy to use, does not weigh a lot, and comes with an articulating Acra swiss compatible ballhead (or you can purchase an adapter and use your own ballhead). 

We appreciate you using our affiliate links to make your purchases https://bit.ly/2WUfJYU 

https://www.peakdesign.com/?rfsn=6152920.325a62&utm_source=6152920&utm_medium=affiliate










I did purchase the universal head adapter, so when I want to use the Acratech head or my Flexshooter head I just easily pull out the Peak Design center column and slide in the universal head adapter with my other head attached. https://bit.ly/2WUfJYU 









Thursday, November 25, 2021

Nik and Pure RAW software on sale


Tom and I use the Nik plugin filters for creative editing. About half of our images are SOOC (straight out of camera) but the other half we enjoy creative editing. 
Nik is on sale for Black Friday. 


Tom and I also use the DxO PureRAW for noise reduction. I have done side by side comparisons with many noise reduction software (Topax AI clear replaced Topaz Denoise, but not PureRAW is superior to all other products. 

Purchase PureRAW here https://tidd.ly/32okP1W

FYI, Tom and I do not use the DxO Photolab as we like the control that Adobe ACR and Nik offers

You can compare the default ACR settings (sharpening = 40) in Adobe Camera RAW going into Photoshop (same as the lightroom develop module) here to the next version, where the noise was processed with DxO PureRAW. Images can actually look noisier in Adobe software than in the native software so we have changed the RAW defaults to sharpening = 0 for ORF RAW files)


PureRAW from DxO is a game-changer for high ISO images, like this one, and also for low ISO images where the image was underexposed (typically you want to expose to the right)








Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Topaz Black Friday Sale

Topaz Black Friday Promo Dates. Now through Monday, Nov 29th. Everything is on sale. Use our link https://web.topazlabs.com/ref/130 and enter promo code breaphotos for an additional 15% off

We just love, love, love their products. Our favorites? Topaz Glow, Topaz AI Clear, Topaz AI sharpen, Topaz Impression
  • Image Quality Bundle. Includes: DeNoise AI, Sharpen AI, and Gigapixel AI
    On sale for $99.99, more than 60% OFF the retail value of $259.97 
  • Everything Bundle. Includes: Image Quality Bundle + Video Enhance AI
  • On sale for $199.98, $359.98 OFF the retail value of $559.96 
  • Everything is on sale!. Get 25% off any individual app, as well as 25% off upgrades 

We just love, love, love their products. Our favorites? Topaz Glow, Topaz AI Clear, Topaz AI sharpen, Topaz Impression

Enter the discount use code breaphotos for 15% off Topaz products. https://web.topazlabs.com/ref/130



Sunday, September 5, 2021

Lisa Wins KelbyOne's Photoshop World Guru Creative Category Award

This week I received two emails from KelbyOne with wonderful news:

"It with great pleasure to let you know that you are one of the nominees for our Photoshop World Guru Awards!!
Congratulations"



Both nominations were in the creative category

Then last night the winners were announced and I won the Creative Category with Car Face!



Friday, September 3, 2021

Seascapes, Birds, Long Exposure, and More for PPA's Photography Workshops, September 11, 2021

I'm excited to be teaching a program on Seascapes, Birds, Long Exposure, and More for PPA's Photography Workshops, September 11, 2021 at 6:30am - 1:30pm!

Join me (Tom) for this great workshop.

Register by Sept 5th and save! Registration is open and $99 rate through September 5, 2021 ($120 after).

Register at (non-PPA members are welcome, note you will need to create a free PPA login).
https://www.ppa.com/events/seascapes-birds-long-exposure-and-more-9-11-2021?fbclid=IwAR1B6L8taOYIcuDNDho7uPUMYff3dc5UD45dPt-65t5zpqDlRnwCEqfFN7g
Come learn how to compose better seascapes, landscapes, and closeups. Seascapes can be wonderful and relaxing to create and popular to sell and compete. We will start at sunrise and get silhouettes and sunrise images, then progress to closeups, sand, seascapes, etc. Bring your ND filter and learn how to create silky ocean scenes. Bring your telephoto lens and I will also show you techniques to get better and sharper bird photographs. This area has a variety of birds like Osprey, Egrets, Clapper Rails, Great Blue Herons, Oyster Catchers, Willets, Terns, and other shorebirds. Come and learn about bird behavior and camera settings to get sharper and more dynamic bird images.



Friday, July 9, 2021

Best Of’ Olympus Passion Photography Magazine includes our article about night photography

The article on live composite that Tom and I wrote made it into this issue of the BEST of for Olympus Passion magazine

Best Of’ Olympus Passion Photography Magazine –  Summer 2021 https://shop.olympuspassion.com/product/best-of-olympus-passion-photography-magazine-summer-2021/

Composed by 391 pages with a selection of our most popular articles, all condensed into a single volume and ready to go with you on your smartphone, tablet, laptop, computer, notebook, iPAD, etc.


From interviews to tutorials, we present you a fine set of exclusive contents.

  • Just another occasional photographer Santtu Per Kiö
  • My adventure with Olympus Sylwia Ratajczyk
  • Capturing Star Trails using Live Composite Lisa & Tom Cuchara
  • Beautiful locked world Lívia Czank
  • The right tool for the job Ingo Urbig
  • User friendly Zachary Matenchuk
  • Time for a stable world Fernando Gainzarain
  • Fine Art Photography using Olympus Hatta Patria
  • Dog’s life through a lens Nina Kalkkinen
  • You can’t go wrong with Olympus Adam Dybowski
  • City landscape work using Olympus Toby Lehner
  • Olympus experience in Yangshuo, China John Salvino
  • Moments in time Drew Whitley
  • I usually do not photograph what I see, but instead, what I would really like to see Konstantinos Sahlos
  • It’s the little things Chris McGinnis
  • Lives captured in parts of a second Cliff Harvey
  • My ‘Olympus-feeling’ Szilveszter Nemeth
  • No one will see the world the way you see it Andreas Tornberg
  • Still life photography an obsession Ron Mayhen
  • Altering course John Pryke\