This site documents a modern RAW photography workflow built on open standards, file-based metadata and open-source tools – and the tech that makes them possible.
Reading time: irrelevant. Importance: high. Advertising, fake news, games, endless ads, if that constant stream doesn’t drive you slightly mad at times, then maybe you’ve simply gone numb to it. Every platform fires something at you. Upgrade prompts, banners, sponsored blocks, notifications. It never really stops. Take something mild, and I do mean mild, like... Continue Reading →
3 minute reading time I've said it before and I'll say it again: use AI for your IT stuff. Picking hardware, reinstalling a system, writing scripts, fixing weird problems. That advice stands. But there's something I need to add. AI is not an autopilot. I spent years as a sysadmin, though that title never really... Continue Reading →
5 minutes read time Yesterday the new ThinkPad arrived. A Lenovo ThinkPad P16s Gen 4, fresh out of the box, still carrying its default Windows 11 installation. And yes, it still feels slightly odd, knowing in advance that a brand new machine is about to be wiped, repartitioned, and turned into something completely different. You... Continue Reading →
7 minutes read time It started, as these things often do, with what should have been a simple purchase. A new machine, a Lenovo ThinkPad P16s Gen 4, carefully configured on the Lenovo.com official website. Not a random pick, but a deliberate build. Every component chosen with one goal in mind: a system that would... Continue Reading →
4 minutes read time This review is part of a broader project I’ve been working on, exploring simple, low-friction ways to handle backups in the field. In a previous article, I explored how an old phone can be repurposed into a compact backup tool, something small, always with you, and surprisingly capable when used with... Continue Reading →
4 minutes read time It starts with a perfectly normal machine. In my case, a Dell Inspiron 15 3520, nothing special, just a typical consumer laptop that does what it’s supposed to do. This is not about that laptop, and it’s not about chasing more power. It’s about what happens when you want a system... Continue Reading →
4 minutes read time There’s a certain line I’ve noticed over the years, sometimes spoken, often implied, about what you should and shouldn’t do to a photo. And lately that line has a new label attached to it, AI. Some people are firmly against it, others embrace it without thinking twice. I tend to sit... Continue Reading →
5 minutes read time Ubuntu 26.04 LTS - code name : Resolute Raccoon, Is Almost Here… and You Might Already Have the Perfect Computer for It Ubuntu 26.04 LTS is around the corner, expected somewhere in April, as usual with Canonical’s long term releases. New kernel, updated stack, more polish, more stability, and yes, once... Continue Reading →
At first glance, it looks like a joke, a raccoon in outdoor gear, quietly holding an OM System camera by the water. It feels out of place, almost deliberately so. But look a bit longer, and it starts to make sense. It is not about the raccoon, it is about the mindset, being out there,... Continue Reading →
10 minutes read time 1 intro2 Petr Bambousek3 Espen Helland4 Stephen Ingram5 table with settings6 observations7 conclusion Intro A few years ago, in 2023 and 2024, I wrote several pieces about wildlife settings for Olympus cameras, mostly around the E-M1 Mark II and Mark III. Back then the discussion revolved around those bodies, the lenses... Continue Reading →
Most people won’t need survival skills in the wild. But everyday life has its own way of going sideways. This is less about extreme scenarios, and more about staying functional when things don’t go as planned. https://thebushcraftfamily.wordpress.com/2026/03/21/not-about-the-jungle-more-about-real-life/
3 minutes read time I recently came across Emily’s latest video from Micro Four Nerds, where she revisits the Olympus PEN-F, and it made me pause for a moment and follow her line of thinking a bit further. What struck me most was how familiar her story felt. That cycle of buying, enjoying, getting frustrated,... Continue Reading →
4 minutes read time The title is technically correct, but probably not what you expect. This idea didn’t come out of nowhere. Earlier this year I helped someone with a familiar problem, Google Photos complaining about full storage, the usual suggestion to just buy more space, and a laptop filled with years of photos without... Continue Reading →
5 minute read time Many MFT photographers instinctively place the older Olympus E-M5 or the newer OM-5 series in the category of “small travel camera”. It is an understandable label. These cameras are compact, light, weather sealed, and technically very capable. On paper they look like the obvious choice for a second body, a backup... Continue Reading →
Following my earlier article about the OM System secret service menu pages, originally written in 2022 for Olympus cameras, it seemed only logical to cover another technical procedure that many users will eventually encounter sooner or later: updating the firmware on an OM System camera. Over the years I have occasionally received comments asking why... Continue Reading →
6 minutes read time The Recovery Tool That Came with Your Cornflakes Most SD cards come with a “free” recovery tool in the box, which sounds reassuring until you think about what that really means. These tools, things like RescuePRO or Image Rescue, are designed to solve the most common and simplest problems. Someone deletes... Continue Reading →
Accessing the hidden service menu A few days ago a reader contacted me with a question about the hidden service menu on OM System cameras. Back in 2022 I had already documented the procedure on Open Source Photography for accessing this menu on several Olympus bodies. Apparently someone had tried that same sequence on an... Continue Reading →
6 minutes read time Ok, I think the explanation of how wavelets work for denoising in the quick start was fairly clear. I mostly heard “thanks,” and no real questions. Still, it’s worth circling back for a moment, because that was the quick start. There is a bit more you can do with it. Those... Continue Reading →
“Think of it as the OSP version of RawPedia: smaller, sharper, and built from real editing experience.” Over time quite a few RawTherapee articles have appeared on Open Source Photography, covering everything from basic workflow to some of the more powerful tools like Wavelets, Retinex and noise reduction. To make things easier to navigate, the... Continue Reading →
5 minutes read time Every now and then an article travels further than expected. The method described in Extracting Looks – Part I & II has been quietly used by quite a few readers since it was published in 2025, mostly within open-source workflows. RawTherapee, ART, Darktable, and similar tools had no trouble with the... Continue Reading →
6 minute read time New reader just landing here ? - if not, skip this paragraph For those who just landed here and have not read the previous articles, what is this about? You probably know Adobe and Photoshop, and many other programs used for photo management. That category is usually called DAM software, Digital... Continue Reading →
On August 11, 2023, I processed a photograph I called “Yummy.” At the time I was satisfied. The tonal balance felt right, the contrast had shape, the sharpening did what it needed to do. It was built with what most of us would call the conventional tools, a film-like curve, careful global adjustments, and a... Continue Reading →
4 minutes reading time Back in June 2024 I wrote my first impressions about lens camouflage. At the time it was very much a “fresh out of the box, let’s see how this goes” kind of review. Now we’re almost two years further, which is usually the point where marketing promises quietly collide with reality.... Continue Reading →
“The camera is only one part of the story. The real work happens in the ecosystem that surrounds it.” You may have noticed that the articles here are gradually expanding beyond Micro Four Thirds and strictly open-source photography software. That isn’t a departure from those topics. I still intend to write clearer and more in-depth... Continue Reading →
4 minutes read time "Expansion is exciting. Refinement is quieter - and often smarter." This article could just as easily have been called "which lens should I buy?" or "do I actually need an upgrade?" But really, it's one story, about my own gear, my experiences, and that familiar, slightly irrational feeling every photographer runs... Continue Reading →
