Zeiss Touit 32mm f/1.8

All posts tagged Zeiss Touit 32mm f/1.8

Site Update: End of 2018 + New Photographer!

Posted by Matthew Durr on January 6, 2019
Posted in: Ramblings. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Wind-Driven
105mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/400, 2 images stitched

Now that the festivities of Christmas and New Years have wound down once more, many reading this are back to their normal lives. I hope everyone out there had a great time with friends and family the past couple weeks and didn’t do anything too crazy (but hey, I can’t tell you how to celebrate!). Especially with it being a great time for gifts and resolutions, I’m sure many are finding themselves learning a new camera or lens to shoot with. As long as you are mindful of Gear Acquisition Syndrome (G.A.S.), you should be fine. 😉

Oddly, WordPress didn’t put together an end-of-year analysis like it usually does for this site. A few clicks into my analytics still show great numbers despite my decline in post frequency (which, if you’ve been following previous updates, are due to a myriad causes). Over 110,000 views from 71,000 visitors, with the top three countries being U.S.A. (no surprise), the U.K., and Germany (Hallo!). I can’t thank you all enough for still supporting the site through my many life changes. Speaking of those life changes, 2018 definitely had its fair share. I moved from Japan back to the States in Chicago, got married, bought a car, and even managed a promotion at work. Keen readers may know what Mrs. Matthew Durr Photography looks like from a previous post or two, but just in case… Continue Reading

Site Update: February 2018!

Posted by Matthew Durr on February 28, 2018
Posted in: Ramblings. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

Mt. Bandai Scale
32mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/2500

The shortest and often coldest month of the year thankfully provides great conditions for hitting the slopes on some skis or a snowboard. Just like in December and January, I skied about as much as possible throughout February to hone my skills in and to get my last tastes of the beautiful Japanese mountains before I transfer back the States. In fact, I can confidently say this past month was the one where I crossed the threshold into running as an advanced skier! Okay, okay, so I still fall every now and then in deep powder, and I often have to make slow descents on walls for my own safety, but I find myself going down and enjoying expert courses (successfully!) more than intermediate runs. A win in my book, for sure. What also set February apart from the past couple months, however, was that I brought my a6500 along in my coat pocket for every trip to get much cleaner photos than my iPhone could manage. Continue Reading

Site Update: 2017 Year-in-Review!

Posted by Matthew Durr on January 31, 2018
Posted in: General Photography. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Kandatsu Mountains
iPhone 6s Plus

What a year 2017 turned out to be! Whether it be multiple and varied photowalks early on, three brand-new lens reviews, or even a first-shot at photoshop tutorials, I had a lot of photographs and accompanying edits to go through last year. In addition, the photographic world showed no signs of slowing down as company after company released new and exciting lenses and cameras to flesh out the industry. Sony E and FE mount continues to grow, Nikon is doing as well as ever with the d850, and Canon…well…they’re just doing their own thing. As I often write about in my monthly updates, I can’t imagine we are that far off from getting a full-frame sensor inside a NEX-7/a6500-style body. The technology is almost there, and if Sony can figure out the problem of heat dissipation in such a small product then I’ll finally take the full-frame plunge.

But what about stragglers? As I looked back on some of my previous catalogues from 2017 I found some photos I wanted to share that didn’t originally make the cut in their own posts. Continue Reading

Photoshop Tutorial: Image Splicing

Posted by Matthew Durr on December 19, 2017
Posted in: Tutorials. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

I knew it was just a matter of time before I had to start learning to use Photoshop. For years, the free and open-source GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) served my limited graphics-producing needs well. In fact I still remember some tricks to make that program perform at a much higher level than it was originally designed for (thank you plug-ins!). As Adobe started adding more and more features into their Lightroom/Photoshop suite–in addition to the slow but inevitable march towards a dastardly subscription model–I shifted back to see what I was missing. Over the past year, I slowly introduced myself to this powerful program, and am still taking baby steps to learn the ins and outs. Continue Reading

South Korea Pt. III: Seoul Continued (+Video!)

Posted by Matthew Durr on June 4, 2017
Posted in: Travel Photography. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Old with the New
32mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/200

After a full day of wandering around central Seoul, I was still pretty excited to get out and do it all over again the next day to see what else I could find. After all, in the megacity of Seoul you can just pick a direction to walk and eventually stumble across some cool sights! Being our last day, however, I headed out with a friend to hit as much as possible with the help of Seoul’s (incredibly cheap) metro. Continue Reading

South Korea Pt. II: Seoul

Posted by Matthew Durr on May 28, 2017
Posted in: Travel Photography. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Hyangwonjeong
32mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/1000, 5 images stitched

Now that all the pleasantries are out of the way from finally hitting 1,000,000 views on the site, it’s back to quickly catching up with my most recent international trip to South Korea! Part one of my travels saw me more in the countryside of South Korea, exploring some cool spots in Gyeryongsan National Park. Just a few days later, however, our group finished our performance with the Republic of Korea Navy Band and we had a whole two days to relax and see the sights of downtown Seoul! Last year, free time was essentially non-existent, so I pretty much didn’t know what to do with myself with so much opportunity to explore. Continue Reading

South Korea Pt. I: Gyeryongsan National Park

Posted by Matthew Durr on May 12, 2017
Posted in: Travel Photography. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Under the Mountain
32mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/2000, 40 images stitched

As a photographer, traveling to new places under pressure to do one’s best to capture all the unfamiliar surroundings can make for some exciting trips. Often, variables such as weather and free time available cannot be controlled, and these make it all the more challenging to photograph something that may not be seen again in a lifetime. Serving with the Navy, I have come across many of these opportunities in some of my international travels, with my most recent trip (second annual, actually) heading back to South Korea.

In a strange turn of events, my coworkers and I were given ample free time both during and after the days of work. As a result, I came back to Japan with many gigabytes of photos and videos, and am still working through them! For my first post, I will focus on the first couple days near Gyeryongsan National Park, a sizable protected area with a convenient entrance right next to our hotel! In spite of only about 5 hours of free time total to explore the area, I managed to get around a couple trails for some shots. Continue Reading

Control, and then some…

Posted by Matthew Durr on May 7, 2017
Posted in: Travel Photography. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Reflected Flows
16mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/1000

Photography competitions and workshops can be a great way for photographers to hone their craft in specific ways, given certain guidelines, rules, and themes. For those more competitively-oriented, the possibility of some top prize or internet recognition can be all the motivation one needs to join in. But, for the more “casual” like myself, I tend to avoid the stress of the competitive scene in an art I am not currently pursuing for profit. Thankfully, not all contests are geared to the competitive persona! Continue Reading

Sakura 2017 Part III: Past-Peak (+Video!)

Posted by Matthew Durr on April 22, 2017
Posted in: Travel Photography. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Koishikawa Korakuen Viewpoint
32mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/2000, 46 images stitched

Whew! I can definitely call this year’s Sakura coverage a success on my end. After scoping out locales in Yokohama and executing my photography plans at the right time, it was just a matter of a few more days before the area’s cherry blossoms would begin to fall to the ground, almost all at once! In an effort to get more of the “big-city” picture, I managed to catch time for one last trip for hanami-hunting, this time in everyone’s favorite megacity, Tokyo! Continue Reading

Sakura 2017 Part II: Full Bloom!

Posted by Matthew Durr on April 16, 2017
Posted in: Travel Photography. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Lit in Time
32mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/1000

What a difference just five days can make! Continuing after my last post along the Ooka River in Yokohama, I made sure to return for another walk at just the right time to catch almost the entire area in full bloom! Even though the festival itself was well-finished up at this point, I joined crowds of thousands to partake in the Japanese custom of hanami, simply known as “flower viewing”. The tradition almost always refers to Sakura viewing, however, and with it usually comes the appreciation of the transient beauty of the flowers and their relation to life itself. As such, this time of year usually invokes feelings of joy mixed with a bit of melancholy. Continue Reading