When I first got my OM-D E-M1, I looked at all the features that my previous and much loved Ruby PEN E-PM2 did not have. One of those was Photo Story – I was entranced by the way Olympus had progressed the Studio in the Field concept – as Liveview mirrorless cameras come of age. Freed from optical viewfinders, these cameras can carry out multiple aspect ratios, visual matting and composites dynamically as you aim.
What is a Photo Story? In essence, it is are live creation of Polyptch or Collage Storyboards. You’ve seen two or three photos occupying one white matted frame in homes and exhibitions. Photo Storys are the digital, virtual equivalent of those – with the immediacy and adrenaline of creation at the point you shoot.
Olympus Cameras that I know have this Photo Story feature are:
- OM-D E-M1
- OM-D E-M10
- OM-D E-M5 Mark 2
- PEN E-P5
- SH-1
- SH-2
- XZ-10
(if you know of any others, please comment).
On the E-M1, not only do you get the Photo Story image, you also get the individual image files – in case you want to create a the real thing – print out each photo and fix them to a physical frame.
Now, you might say, you normally don’t shoot like this, you prefer to be in full control – shoot your raw, process the JPEGs, run your favourite editor and paste the images onto a composite, high resolution composite image. If you do, please share what software you use and the procedure to create such composite images. For example, there could even be ready made Photoshop Actions scripted to do this.
If you do have one of these cameras, do have some fun, try making some image – have fun exercising your narrative, compositional and composite skills.
