CAPTURING FIREWORKS

“Keep your intervals to 1 second or lower, and wait for the slow moment to take the second shot during a Live Composite. When you do, you will get just the burst and leave all the trailing lines out of the sky.” 
– Mike Boening

“When photographing fireworks try to scout out a location in advance. Of course it is important to know where the fireworks will appear. Placing a stationary object into the scene helps the viewer to gain a sense of scale and place. Using a tripod is important. By using"Live Composite" mode, I was able to watch my preview screen and determine when I thought the image was completed.” 
– Frank Smith

Fireworks
Shot by Olympus Visionary Mike Boening. OM-D E-M5 Mark II, M.Zuiko 14-42 EZ F.3.5-5.6 II. F7.1, ISO 200.
Star Trails
Shot by Olympus Visionary Peter Baumgarten with the OM-D E-M1 Mark II and the M.Zuiko 8mm f1.8 Fisheye PRO. F1.8, 20 Sec, ISO 1600

REVOLUTIONIZE YOUR ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY

“Including a small amount of artificial light in your astrophotography can make for a great point of interest, and the Live Composite feature will prevent the highlights from being completely over-exposed.” 
– Peter Baumgarten

DID YOU KNOW THAT LIVE COMPOSITE ISN’T JUST FOR NIGHTTIME?

“Live Composite can be utilized during the daylight hours as long as you use a Neutral Density filter and a tripod. With this technique you can create a beautiful painterly effect when you have moving clouds.” 
– Frank Smith

Daytime Live comp
Shot by Olympus Visionary Frank T. Smith with an OM-D E-M1, M.Zuiko 12-40mm f2.8 PRO. F5.6, 1 Sec, ISO 800
Traffic
Shot by Olympus Visionary Mike Boening with an OM-D E-M1 Mark II, M.Zuiko 12-100mm f4.0 IS PRO. F10, 1.3 Sec, ISO 200

IN AN URBAN SETTING

“Getting low and shooting high with an iconic building from a large city make your Live Composite images much more interesting and if you can wait for a bus to go by even more so because of the large light streaks from it.”
– Mike Boening

IN A MORE RURAL SETTING

“One car can look amazing with Live Composite if you catch it on a curve or going up a bridge.”
– Mike Boening

TRY USING LONG EXPOSURES AS WELL!

“In order to a achieve the "milky" effect you need to utilize a long shutter exposure. This was shot at 8 seconds and requires a tripod. In order to accomplish this during daylight hours I had to use a 10 stop neutral density filter.”
– Frank Smith

Waterfall
Shot by Olympus Visionary Frank T. Smith with a PEN-F, M.Zuiko 12-40mm f2.8 PRO. F8.0, 10.0 Sec, ISO 200

SHOOTING THE SKY WITH LONG EXPOSURE

“When shooting the aurora borealis, longer exposures make for a foggy appearance and shorter exposures offer a more defined look.”
– Peter Baumgarten

Aurora
Shot by Olympus Visionary Peter Baumgarten with an OM-D E-M1, M.Zuiko 40-150mm f2.8 PRO. F2.8, 10 Sec, ISO 1000.

Learn more about Live Composite mode and how to activate this feature on your Olympus camera. You can find Live Composite Mode in most current OM-D, PEN and TOUGH Olympus cameras.