Editing with Olympus cameras & WorkSpace - Part 5

Last Updated: 11th April 2021

EM5 II with 17mm f1.8 lens - ISO200, f7.1, 5Sec plus Tripod - Enhanced Raw converted in WS and edited in PS.

This article studies some of my images taken with Olympus OMD or PEN cameras. They are a random selection from my photo collection. My experience with the Color and Creative features from Olympus was not enough. For example, we had cloudy conditions when visiting Prague in 2015, and I decided to use the Olympus ART filters on my EM5 II. I never saw any value in these ART filters.

All the Enhanced Raw Files were Converted with Viewer 3 or WorkSpace.

WorkSpace was not available when I wrote the original article. The previous image editor from Olympus, Viewer 3, came with two separate editing menus, the JPEG photo editor and a separate RAW converter. I preferred the RAW converter because it best mirrored the camera settings. I re-edited these images from Prague in 2023 and removed the Pop Art Filter from these images. 

See this article.

EM5 II with 12-50mm EZ lens - ISO200, f6.3, 1/800, Tripod - Enhanced Raw edited with WS, + Color Creator, and Color Filters.

The above image is from our visit to Prague in December 2015. It was overcast with much rain and clouds. Prague is a lovely city and a photographer's dream. You can imagine our disappointment when we saw the poor weather. I decided to use the Olympus ART filters for Prague.

It worked well, but the Pop Art filter was too aggressive. One cannot apply ART filters and use the Color Creator simultaneously with the EM5 II. One can, however, use the curves (highlights/shadow) function to control the ART filter effect. I continued using the Pop Art filter in Prague because it looked good on the camera display, and I knew I could change the RAW file in Viewer 3.

EM5 II with 17mm f1.8 lens - ISO 100, f7.1, 25Sec plus Tripod - Enhanced Raw file converted in WS and edited in PS.

Taken with the O-MD EM-5 MKII and the 12-50mm EZ lens, Prague City

The above image was also taken in Prague. All my Prague images were re-edited in 2023. For example, I decided to remove the Pop ART from this image in Workspace. The pop ART filter can be a bit much. I prefer the look of the first image without the Pop ART filter.

Taken with the O-MD EM-5 II and the 12-50mm EZ lens, Prague City

The image below was taken with my first EM 5 in South Africa. When home I edited the RAW file in Photoshop. I used my standard post-processing routine. From the image, you can see my style is clear bright colors. I do use pastel colors in some of my images but prefer good colors and contrasts.

I use layers in PS to target specific parts of the image. As you know we cannot do this in WorkSpace. It will be great to see Olympus add layers in WorkSpace.

That said, Olympus cameras do have a type of in-camera "layers" function. The multiple exposure mode applies a layer like "Multiply" Blending Mode when combining images. This is interesting and it's worth practicing with the Multiply blending mode in Photoshop. This will help you understand and master the in-camera multiple exposures. 

Taken with the O-MD EM-5 and the 12-50mm EZ Lens, taken in South Africa

The image below was taken in Locarno, Switzerland. The adjustments I made in Viewer 3 were Soft Focus, the Star ART Filter, Noise was set to High, Exposure comp to -1, the Color Creator, Curves (see image), Contrast to -1, and Sharpness to +1. The image was handheld with IBIS.

Olympus O-MD EM-5 II with 17mm f1.8 lens, Locarno Switzerland

The image below was taken in Emmental, Switzerland. I set the RAW file WB in Viewer 3, then used the Color Profile and Curves functions (see image).

Olympus Pen-F with 12-50mm EZ lens, Emmental Switzerland

The image below is from Locarno, Switzerland. The image was handheld relying on IBIS. The adjustments were Color Creator, Curves (see image), no Art Filter, and Keystone. I set the RAW file White Balance in Viewer 3. The Color Creator was more than helpful with this image. The reason is, that nighttime images often have challenging color casts.

Olympus O-MD EM-5 II with 17mm f1.8 lens, Locarno Switzerland

The image below was taken in Emmental, Switzerland. To respect the lady's identities, I edited the image with this look. I adjusted Soft Focus, Color Creator & Curves. The Color Creator and Curves functions are great for fine-tuning the Soft Focus Art Filter.

Olympus EM-5 MKII with 12-50mm EZ lens, Emmental Switzerland

The image below was taken in Bern, Switzerland. The editing settings I used were Light Tone Art Filter, Color Profile plus Curves. The image was taken handheld with my Pen F.

Olympus Pen-F with 17mm f1.8 lens, Bern Switzerland

The image below was taken on the Island Mainau of Germany. Adjustments used, Diorama Art Filter, Color Profile, and Curves (see image). I reduced the overall saturation with the Color Profile. The reason is the Diorama Art Filter adds too much saturation. The exposure was corrected with Curves. Contrast -1 and Sharpening +1

Olympus Pen-F with 25mm f1.8 lens,  Insel Mainau Germany 

The image below was taken in Emmental, Switzerland. Adjustments were Bleach Art Filter, Color Profile, and Curves. The bleach filter is becoming one of my favorite Art filters.

Olympus Pen-F with 25mm f1.8 lens, Emmental Switzerland

The example below is a Hi-Res image taken with the Pen-F. Preparing for this article I was testing the Pen F color profiles. I had some ND filters with me because I was trying the color functions in video mode.

The Hi-Res mode is great for simulating a slow shutter speed type water effect, especially in bright conditions. When changing over to Hi-Res mode it is important to check the camera RAW selection. My camera is always in RAW JPEG mode. When switching to Hi-Res I found the camera will go back to JPEG only.

Olympus Pen-F with 7-14mm f4.0 lens,  Emmental Switzerland

The image below was created using the Monochrome Profile. I added the blue cast using the White Balance. The editing adjustments were the Monochrome Profile, Curves, Noise Filter set to High, Contrast to -1, and Sharpness to +1.

Olympus Pen-F with 12-50mm EZ lens, Emmental Switzerland

The picture below is another Hi-Res example. The High Res mode is great for product photography. In this example, I edited the RAW file in Photoshop CC. The resolution is enormous and the detail is impressive. When working with the EM-1 II it is possible to apply focus stacking in the camera. The complete image will then be in focus. Models like the EM-5 II and the previous EM-1 can also apply focus stacking in the camera.

 Olympus Pen-F with 30mm f3.5 Macro Lens

The E-PL7 is probably an all-time bargain. I bought one 2nd hand and was pleasantly surprised by its image quality and functionality. Time-lapse movies are easy with the E-PL7, set it up & walk away and when done, collect it again. To edit the Olympus E-PL7 files in WorkSpace select the jpeg files. This will enable you to use the Color Creator, Color Profile, and MonoChrome Profile.

Like with the O-MD and Pen-F, the E-PL7 has "Live Composite" and Live Time" (Bulb) modes. Live Composite is probably one of the best-kept Olympus secrets. It is absolutely worth taking the time to master these functions, they are powerful and fun to work with.

See this link for more information when taking images of fireworks and star trails.

Olympus E-PL7 with 7-14mm f4.0 lens

The image below was shot with the EM1. My goal was to get the starlight effect. I  then created the final image in Photoshop.

Olympus OMD EM1 with 17mm f1.8 ( I used f11 to get the star effect)

The image below was created with the Pen-F and the Monochrome Profile. I applied Curves to create additional contrast.

Olympus Pen-F with 25mm f1.8 lens, Insel Mainua Germany

I didn't discuss HDR photography in this series. The Olympus built-in HDR function is powerful and fun to work with.

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The Olympus Color Profile function - Part 4

Last Update:- 10th April 2021

Olympus EM1 with Lumix 14-140mm MKII - ISO200, f9, 1/800 - Enhanced Raw converted in WS, Soft ART filter, Color Creator, Curves, Clarity, Contrast...

We reviewed the Color and Creative Photography strategy from Olympus in the first 3 articles of this 6-Part series. We also learned more about the Olympus Pen F and EP-7 cameras. We discussed the basics of color and how to select color combinations. We also learned that the image conversion process includes adjustments from the Color Creator, Color Profiles, and Monochrome Profiles.

This article takes a closer look at the Olympus Color Profile function with the Pen-F, the EP-7, and Workspace. You will learn more about color profiles and why the Olympus Color Profile function is different. 

To better understand how Olympus applies the different color adjustments from the Color Profile function in the camera's Image Processor, study this article. Picture modes, saturation, contrast, WB shift, and sharpness sliders can be used with any camera to create "Color Profiles." The Pen-F and the EP-7 are unique because photographers have access to specific color adjustments with the Color Creator, Color Profile function, and Monochrome Profile function.

The image below shows the raw file on the left and the edited version on the right. The inserts show the adjustments to the image on the right. You can now save these adjustments in a Batch Processing file in WorkSpace. The batch processing file is really your new Color Profile. This example shows that the settings added to your Color Profile are all the adjustments made to the image. 

That means it's a good idea to plan your color profiles. You will now also appreciate why the Pen F profiles will in most cases be a smaller version of the profiles you can create for WorkSpace.

For more on how to save your image adjustments or batch-processing files in WorkSpace, see my how-to page  on WorkSpace (See Tip No. 5)

When you think about it, Olympus named the Color Profile function incorrectly. Color Profile is confusing as it lets one think, this is the tool I will use to create color profiles. 

With the examples below, you will see how to do basic adjustments with the Color Profile function. That said, the Color Profile tool adjusts only the selected color or colors and not the rest of the colors like the Color Creator. This is why we can use color templates and work with color groups like harmonious or complementary colors in the Color Profile tool.

When you work with any of the color functions like:- 

• The Color Creator, 
• The WB compensation sliders, 
• The individual Red, Green, and Blue (Tone Curve) colors, 
• Color filters, 

You will see your target and the corresponding opposite colors are your primary colors and the rest of the colors are the secondary colors. The main difference between these color functions and the Color Profile tool is how these functions change the primary versus secondary colors.

It's important to experiment with each of these color functions and to familiarize yourself with how they adjust the image. The real power of these different color functions is when using two to three of them at the same time when editing an image.

Olympus EP3 with 12mm f2.0 Lens - f6.3, 1/800, ISO200

I edited the above Olympus EP3 raw file in WorkSpace. I adjusted the WB, did a Keystone correction, and small corrections to the image brightness before saving it as a jpeg file. It is not possible to use the Color Profile function on EP-3 raw files in WorkSpace. It is only possible to use it on the jpeg files.

This is important because not all of the different Olympus raw files have access to the Color Profile function in WorkSpace. This is disappointing because now each photographer needs to establish which functions are available and which are not for his or her Olympus camera...

The Color Profile function in Viewer 3 and the Pen-F/EP-7 adjusts the saturation. WorkSpace adjusts the Hue, Saturation, and Luminance. This is big because it offers more creative control in editing.

Looking at the settings on the right and the above image, you will see I shifted the Hue 2 steps to the right and upped Luminance to create a unique look in the final step. I created the pastel look by desaturating the image in Workspace. 

One can save these adjustments as a "Light Pastel" profile. When you study the original image you see CYM colors are dominant. This will be a good place to start when creating different-looking profiles...

With this example, I targeted the "Secondary" CYM colors. Hue and luminance stayed as-is. One could also decide to focus on different colors. Study the image and list the colors you will target.

Always practice studying your images first and how to target selected colors. Practice with the different color templates and how to edit using color groups.

Before you start editing, list the changes you like to see in the hues, luminance, and saturation. You will also see creating your own profiles are different for B&W and color images. The key is to experiment with all the WorkSpace color adjustments until you find a technique or sequence that works for you.

When you study the image below you will see blue, yellow, brown, cyan, and magenta. Select the colors you like to target for your profile plus the harmony template that will work best for you. When making adjustments, start with small adjustments and monitor the effect before making the next adjustment. Building your own Color Profile takes time, practice, and patients.

With this image, I kept the hues and the luminance the same. I only increased saturation.

Nothing about working with the Color Profile function and color is really new. Anyone familiar with Photoshop has been doing this for years. What is new is WorkSpace now also has this functionality.

So what is the benefit of using WorkSpace and not Photoshop? Apart from no prescription costs, the biggest benefit is WorkSpace uses the same Olympus color processing engine as Olympus cameras.

WorkSpace is a great editing option for photographers with Olympus cameras. It's the perfect option when you are new to image editing. Photoshop is something completely different and more powerful.

Another advantage for Olympus photographers is the common feel between WorkSpace and Olympus cameras. Whether you using the SCP (Super Control Panel) on the camera, the Color Creator, or the Color Profile tool in the camera, they are all the same in WorkSpace.

See the example below of how I used the Color Profile and other adjustments in WorkSpace to edit the before/after image below. 

The different WorkSpace adjustments

The Color Wheel and Olympus Color - Part 3

Last Update:- 11th April 2021

Olympus EM1 II with 7-14mm f2.8 - ISO64, f8, 1/160 (Edited with Viewer 3)

Introduction to Olympus

Hobby photographers are typically forced to work on their portrait skills when asked to do a wedding or photo shoot. They consider portrait locations, colors, and the clothes they like to see for the photo shoot. This article reviews the different color features we have with Olympus.

The first article in this series hinted that photographers focus too much on camera specifications. For example, most digital photographers want more Dynamic Range, perfect IQ (details), perfect lenses, less image noise, and NO highlight clipping.

It is OK to ignore those "perfect" specifications and regard your camera as the ultimate 
creative tool. You should always experiment with your camera to develop your 
unique skillset. That said, it's no secret why younger photographers

 dominate social media with mostly their mobile phones.

Olympus OMD and PEN cameras offer a broad range of creative possibilities. They offer a collection of Creative features that help us create impressions of our daily experiences.

List of Olympus' Creative Features: (All of these are available with the Pen F & EP-7)

1. ART Filters (EP-7 has the latest features)
2. SCN Modes (Pen F, you need to assign SCN modes to C4)
3. Color Creator (Pen-F - Creative Dial, EP-7 - AP Button)
4. Color Profile (Pen-F - Creative Dial, EP-7 - Color/Mono Lever)
5. Monochrome Profile (Pen-F - Creative Dial, EP-7 - Color/Mono Lever)
6. Different White Balance options & fine-tuning
7. Shadows and Highlight adjustments (Tweaking the Tone Curve)
8. Several options to adapt SCN and ART filters
9. Various in-camera HDR Modes
10. Video and Time Lapse options & filters
11. Multiple images and the Image Overlay function
12. Several blue-hour options or long-exposure photography
13. High Res Imaging - (Pen F only - Functions also as a creative feature)
14. Standard image adjustments (Saturation, Sharpness, Contrast)
15. Gradation (High Key, Low Key, Normal, and Auto)
16. In-camera RAW editing (other editing options also available)
17. My Clips video mode (including slow motion)
18. Image storytelling with different image templates - Pen F
19. Standard PASM exposure modes
20. e-Portrait for softer skin tones
21. Various Bracketing options (HDR, Focus Stacking, and more)
22. Multiple Flash photography options

A quick introduction to Color with Olympus

Olympus selected a regular Color Wheel to enable functions like the Olympus Color Creator. That means we can access lots of experience from the existing Color Wheel. It was challenging to familiarize myself with most new concepts like Color Harmonies. The Enhanced Raw Format and Workspace helped me to experiment with the different color functions from Olympus. I use the Color Creator, Color Filters, and Adjust Color tools each week in my camera or Workspace...

For example, I thought it was only another feature when I first saw the Color Creator on my EM-5 MKII. Like any new function, I could not see the value of the Color Creator. Studying color and basic concepts like color harmonies was similar to always using Auto Exposure and changing to Manual Exposure. It's always a process of learning and trying new techniques and features.

This Color Wheel mimics the color wheel in Olympus cameras. The outside diameter shows different hues (colors) at 100% saturation. This color wheel is based on an Additive Model and is white in the center. This Color Wheel's primary colors are Red, Green, and Blue, and the secondary colors are Magenta, Cyan, and Yellow. You will find the monochrome colors market on the outside diameter. The top half of the Color Wheel shows warm colors and the lower half cold colors.

I also added the Olympus White Balance information on the Color Wheel. This enables us to visualize the effect of adjustments like CWB (Custom White Balance). I also added the WB compensation "sliders" to this Color Wheel. See the camera's SCP (Super Control Panel).

The Color Wheel helps us to create color harmonies. We can use the Color Wheel to find harmonious color combinations (further down) for our photo shoot. Most OMD and PEN cameras from Olympus have the Color Creator (Color Wheel) function.

I learned about color harmonies when I created my first website in 2007. Some designers claim that colors impact your views more than content. Golden sunrise or sunset photos create positive reactions, and pastel colors are more pleasing to younger viewers than bright colors. Do you only focus on your subject, or do you also consider the colors in the background of your photo?

Why do we have RGB, CYM, or RYB (Painter) Colors? Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) are the Primary Colors in the above Color Wheel, and Cyan, Yellow, and Magenta (CYM) are Secondary Colors. You will find a short summary of the Color Wheel in the video below.

An interesting video explaining the Color Wheel.

Opposite Colors are used with the color functions available in Olympus cameras. For example, the Color Creator and the White Balance function use Opposite Colors. For example, how do we identify color casts, and how do we correct them? We use opposite colors to correct color casts. A unique difference between photography and videography is photographers typically like to have neutral colors, and videographers are more inclined to use Color Profiles.

Photographers work with subtractive and additive colors. Electronic equipment (TVs) use RGB colors to create color. This is called an Additive System. CYM colors are reflected (Reflected Light) from paint or printed media when illuminated. This is called a Subtractive System. 

How do we apply these two color systems in digital photography? The image signal (Reflected Light) passes through the lens and consists of additive colors. The sensor captures the reflected light, and the image processor converts it into RGB colors. Your PC screen uses RGB colors to display color.

What happens if we mix RGB and CYM colors equally? The resulting RGB mix will be white, and the CYM mix black. See the above image. Also, see this article. Which other Color Combinations are available to Olympus photographers if the Color Creator and the White Balance function are based on opposite colors? See this website for more information on color pallets.

There are 6 handy Color Combinations in the above illustration. They are primary, analogous, secondary, complementary, intermediate, and split complementary color combinations. Photographers create color pallets to harmonize the color combinations for an image. Photographers use complementary or opposite colors for projects when they target two colors. For example, magenta with green or yellow with blue are complementary colors. Yellow with green or red with magenta are analogous colors. Study this "must-see" video.

Why would photographers create a color cast? Color helps photographers to create specific emotions or emphasize unique situations. For example, we can set our Olympus cameras to warm or neutral colors in artificial lighting. We can also correct warm color casts with the Color Creator.

Tiny color adjustments are more effective...

It's critical to apply tiny steps with functions like the Color Creator. Study the effect first before making another adjustment. The Pen-F gives us a choice between 4 or 6 adjustments. That means each step equates to an adjustment of 25% or 15%. These are NOT increments, especially 2 steps.

WorkSpace offers a great way to familiarize yourself with functions like the Color Creator, the Color Adjust (Profile), and the Monochrome Profile. The visual feedback with Workspace is also superior. It's simply impossible to effectively practice on a camera display...

Different Image manipulation options

I edited the above image in Photoshop. The yellow subject in the front was edited separately from the background. The final image style consists of a vivid subject against a desaturated background. This was a popular image style for Instagram. It's not possible to create similar results with Workspace.

Different Image effects for the Olympus Color Creator? 

You will see the Color Creator works best with opposite colors. One typically targets a dominant color in the image. A quick test is to decrease the targetted color's vividness with -4 steps. You will see both the targetted and opposite colors change.

Study the following examples with 2 colors:-

The above image has two dominant colors. Both can become targetted colors. I selected the color blue as my targetted color in this example. The Color Creator's effect is instantaneous. The vividness of the targetted color increases and the opposite color will be less vivid. These effects increase with each adjustment. Always check and evaluate your image after each adjustment.

I increased the vivid setting by one step in the above image. The targetted color is a mix between the colors blue and cyan. We can see the effect of this adjustment in the sky and the leaves. The opposite color is a mix between the colors yellow and orange. The colors green and brown are more when we decrease yellow and orange. One can see this effect in the above image...

I targeted the color yellow in the above example. That means the color blue was the opposite color. You can test your knowledge by explaining the effects in the above image. The changes will be the opposite of what we saw in the first image...

I increased the vivid setting of yellow/orange to +2. This lightened the cyan/blue (sky) while adding more yellow/orange to the leaves. The colors cyan and orange were the more dominant colors.

The above image is an interesting example. I increased the Color Creator setting with one step and used the WB compensation sliders to up the color blue. It's possible to explain the above effects as we did with the first three examples. Also, see the article I did on the Color Creator.

My next article will focus on Color Profiles and how to use Color Harmony Templates to create image profiles. Until the next time, have fun and have fun practicing.

Which color functions are available in WorkSpace and Olympus cameras? We can activate the used camera functions in WorkSpace. All the adjustments are available when we edit jpegs in Workspace. See the RAW file compatibility list below:

I haven't had an opportunity to test the EM5 III or the EM1 III, or the EM1X