Digital Camera – February 2014

COMPOSE YOURSELFBeyond rule of thirds – fresh tips for creative compositions

TECHNIQUEAD-OCALYPSE NOW US ad photography legend Tim Tadder talks technique

INSPIRATIONSHOOT THE SUN Why shooting into the sun can be a great idea

CREATIVITY

EASY GUIDE TO STAR TRAILS Start taking amazing star shots tonight with our starter guide

MASTER RAWGET WITH

THE PROGRAM!

INSPIRING NEW YEAR

PHOTO IDEAS

10

Your ultimate guide to getting rich, detail-packed shots!

How the ‘easy’ P mode gives superb shots

Page 56

PLUS

Nikon D610 test inside!

See page102

The definitive guide to SLR photography

Tone Texture Detail

BARGAIN PORTRAIT LENSES BEST LENSES FOR PEOPLE SHOTS FROM UNDER £300

WITH FREE SUPPLEMENTS

Bigger & better than any

other photography

magazine!

177 PAGES

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WHO YOU LOOKING AT!

EDITOR’S WELCOME

Welcome to your new issue of

03

Every issue features the world’s best pros…

Ignore those January

hangovers – for our

first issue back in

2014, we’ve got

another great

package to put the

vim and fizz back into

your photos! Top

landscape pro David

Clapp has come down from the moors

for long enough to write a stellar cover

feature on raw editing, sharing his top

creative secrets and time-savers that

will make you wonder why you ever

bothered with JPEG. David focusses on

the tools you need to get great-looking

shots, explaining raw in a lively, hands-on

way. Other highlights of this issue include

a free mag on getting to know your new

camera (also a great refresher guide), a

full test of the powerful new Nikon D610,

a round-up of the best budget portrait

lenses, and more. Happy new year!

PLUS! You can now get a FREE sample of Digital Camera from the Apple Newsstand. For full details on this, and how to get our digital edition regularly, go to www.goo.gl/a83hD if you live in the UK or www.goo.gl/JcwLu if you live overseas. On Android or PC? Find us on www.zinio.com.

DON’T MISS OUR NEW-LOOK DIGITAL EDITION The digital edition of Digital Camera for the iPad and iPhone is now even better!

Geoff Harris, [email protected]

Tap the linksFinding your way around is easy. Tapping the cover lines on the front page or headlines on the contents pages takes you straight to the articles you want. Any web and email links in the text are clickable, too!

Play the videosSeveral of the articles have accompanying videos full of useful insight and additional information. Look for the play arrow buttons as you read, and tap on them to enjoy the video on your iPad or smartphone.

Bonus contentOur digital edition contains everything you get with the standard printed edition. Simply navigate to the end of the issue and you’ll find all the extras and free gifts, such as supplements and tips cards.

This ad photography maverick

follows in the family footsteps,

but has an approach that is quirky and totally

unique. Visit Tim’s crazy world on page 88.

Tim TadderAdvertising photographer Britain’s best-selling

photography magazine

PLUS! VISIT THE

PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW 2014!

SEE PAGE 80 FOR FULL DETAILS

Forget all those generic raw

features: David focuses on the

raw-editing processes and tools that he’s

found the most useful. See page 38.

David ClappLandscape/creative photographer

He may look mild-mannered,

but Ben isn’t afraid to mix it

up with hulking quarterbacks as the NFL’s

ofcial shooter. See page 30 for his story.

Ben LiebenbergAmerican football photographer


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Digital Camera June 2010

05

Digital Camera February 2014

BEHIND THE IMAGE

Story of the Cover

1 I expose to the right

of the histogram to

maximise image quality.

In Lightroom I reduced

the overall exposure of

the image and applied

a weak graduated filter

over the sky.

3 I cloned out any dust

spots in Photoshop

CS6 using the Spot

Healing Brush tool set to

Proximity Match. I do this

step last: other image

edits can make dust

spots more distinct.

Story of the Cover

“This was taken in close to the

Sava Spring in Slovenia’s Julian

Alps. I had to wade through

one-metre-deep snow to reach

these mounds, created by snow

falling upon tussocks of sedge on

the edge of a marsh. The shapes

made an interesting foreground,

enhanced by side-lighting.

“I used a polarising filter to

darken the sky a little and make

the clouds more prominent. I

shot from a low angle to provide

a feeling of depth in the image. I

focussed using Live View to

ensure front-to-back sharpness.”

Canon EOS 1DX with EF 16-35mm

f2.8L II; 1/30 sec at f/16; ISO 100

Sava SpringBy Guy Edwardes UK

2 Still in Lightroom,

I enhanced the

textural detail of the

foreground snow by

using 25% Clarity,

applied using a

reversed graduated

filter over that area.

Behind the image… How Guy’s Alpine shot hit the heights


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ContentsISSUE 147/FEBRUARY 2014

38 Master raw Forget all those generic raw features: leading landscape ace David Clapp reveals his editing secrets for getting stunning results

16 10 Things to Try Now Creative ideas to inspire you, with split-frame scenics, shooting frost and a stunning ultraviolet portrait

30 Postcards Top US sports pro Ben Liebenberg reveals what it takes to succeed as the NFL’s official photographer

122 Group Test Discover bargain glass for people shots, as we survey a selection of portrait-friendly prime lenses starting from under £300

SWIPE FOR MORE CONTENTS

After the magazine

Make the most of

your SLR

88 InterviewAward-winning US ad

photographer Tim Tadder explains how

lateral thinking and having fun can lead to

commercial success

102 Nikon D610 Does this full-frame model correct its predecessor’s technical issues, and what else does it add? Find out in our in-depth review

COVER FEATURE


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ContentsISSUE 147/FEBRUARY 2014

SWIPE TO DISCOVER WHAT’S ONLINE

95 US/Canada subs Save money and get every issue delivered automatically

136 Competition There’s £500 in framing vouchersto be won in this month’s contest

139 Next Month Easy guide to street photography

CAMERAS AND GEAR

100 What’s in store for cameras in 2014? How small can high-grade cameras go? Is the SLR dead? Discover the trends and talking points for the next 12 months

102 Nikon D610Its predecessor had some technical issues: find out how well the update fares in our tests

108 Sony Alpha 7 & 7R Full-frame power comes tocompact system cameras

116 Tried & Tested Latest accessories reviewed, with a mini-tripod and ring flash unit

120 Mini Test Money-saving close-up extenders: what’s the pick of our six?

134 Buyers’ Guide Check our verdicts before you buy

47 Shoot! Pro camera tips to help you perfect your photography, including composition advice

69 Photoshop School Expert advice on enhancing your photos, from getting the retro look in Photoshop Elements to fixing exposure in Lightroom

83 Photo Advisor All your SLR and Photoshop queries answered, including how to add depth to landscapes and a guide to memory cards

146 The Shot Chris Weston on why he loves a scary-looking shot of a caiman taken by another pro

ESSENTIALS

10 Hotshots Our pick of the best reader images, and why they took them

28 Your Mission Readers’ best bird photographs in the results of our latest challenge

34 ViewFinder Your views on camera presets and why high-street shops matter

64 Print subscription Delivered to your door

GIFT 2 MAKE CASHComplete mini-magazine – look for it after your copy of Digital Camera

GIFT 1 TIPS CARD SET Collection of wallet-sized cards for easy reference – look for them after your copy of Digital Camera

YOUR FREE GIFTSEXPERT PHOTO ADVICE

The best SLRs and CSCs: page 134

Buyers’ Guide


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Social networks Stay in touch via

@ DCamMag on

Twitter, meet

readers on our

Facebook page

and share photos

in our Flickr group

HomeIn a hurry? Click

on any of our three

top stories for

inspiration, ideas

and much more

MagazineClick here to learn

about our latest

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offers and more

ReviewsHere’s where you’ll find our in-depth

previews and reviews of every new SLR,

compact system camera and lens on the

market, as soon as we get hold of them

What’s HotClick here for

up-to-the-minute

news from Canon,

Nikon and all of the

other camera and

lens manufacturers

Tips & Tutorials Along the menu at the top of the page you’ll

find everything from technique articles and

Photoshop tips to a section that’s dedicated

to those just getting started

If you’re on Facebook already, why not ‘Like’

us to enjoy regular news, views and ideas,

plus spot-quizzes, competitions and the

occasional post on something so mad it’s

genius! We won’t bombard you with posts,

but we’ll do our best to entertain and inspire.

Follow us on Twitter and keep tabs on all the

latest developments in the world of digital

photography. Every day, we post a steady

stream of updates about all of the latest

cameras, industry developments, hot new

photographers, and much more.

This is the place to get your work seen, by

the team or by fellow readers. Visit our new

Flickr group and you can upload photos for

possible inclusion in the Hotshots section

of the magazine – we’re always on the look-

out for inspiring and original images.

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www.digitalcameraworld.com

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Join our online communities

Whether you’re a web addict, a Facebook fan or a Twitter disciple, here’s how to get up-to-the-minute updates from Digital Camera World...


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10

INSPIRING READER PHOTOGRAPHY

HotSHOTS


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HotSHOTSBe inspired by five pages of the very best reader photography from around the world

11


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1“This photo was taken in the Keoladeo Bird

Sanctuary in Rajastan. It look me an age to

find the right location to hide, and then another

hour for the birds to appear, but when I was able

to capture this image, the hassle of staying

stock-still with all my heavy kit was worth it!”

Nikon D7000 with Nikkor AFS 300mm f/4 IF Ed Lens

at 20mm; 1/250 sec at f/22; ISO 320

Previous page

Glorious BharatpurParvinder Anandwww.flickr.com/photos/91516164@N05New Delhi, India

2“I had this shot in my head for weeks before

Rob and I actually managed to meet at the

courts on Clapham Common. I lay flat on the

floor and shot up with the evening sun facing

me, and used both my Nikon SB-700s

speedlights on full power at f/14 and 1/250-

second exposure to balance the shot.”Nikon D7000 with Nikkor AF-S DX Zoom 17-55mm f/2.8 lens

at 17mm; 1/250 sec at f/14; ISO 200

Tall RobChris Evanswww.chrisevansphotography.netLondon

Devil’s PlaygroundEmma Goulderwww.egophotography.tkNottinghamshire, UK

Orange CrushSimon Boucher Harriswww.renegade-photography.co.ukGuernsey

3“I collected diferent-sized balls and

balloons to create the background for this

Japanese-inspired shot. I used clear sewing

thread attached to the ceiling to get the diferent

heights. I kept the lighting simple, using one

octagonal softbox to the camera’s right.”Canon EOS 40D with Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens

at 47mm; 1/125 sec at f/7.1; ISO 100

4“For this shot, I lit model Nikki using an

Elinchrom Quadra with an Octabox. The

camera was to her left and there was difused

window light from the right, giving a high-key,

silvery efect to the final shot.”Nikon D800 with Nikkor 85mm 1.4d AF lens at 85mm;

1/80 sec at f/1.8; ISO 400

12


HotSHOTS


2

3


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4


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6

“The sea was very rough on this day, so

I used an ND400 filter to smooth out the

water and put some movement into the clouds.

I had wanted to take a photo like this for ages,

and the harbour wall here provided the perfect

place for it. I had to be quick, though, as I risked

being engulfed by a stray wave!” Nikon D7000 with 12-24mm f/4.0 lens at 19mm; 13 secs

at f/18; ISO 100

Latheronwheel HarbourLewis Mackenziewww.facebook.com/lewismackenziephotographyInverness, Scotland

5“I took this shot on a beautiful sunny July

afternoon, in my back garden. I crouched low,

braced my arms and used a manual focal point

on the centre of the flower to get a sharp shot

with the wide aperture. I later adjusted the

contrast and cropped slightly to improve the

overall composition.”Canon EOS 600D with Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens at 50mm;

1/500 sec at f/2.8; ISO 100

Water LilyDavid Fowliewww.viewbug.com/member/davidfowlieUK

Would you like to see your own photos in Hotshots?

We’re always looking for your best new photo. Just email

the best shot you’ve taken recently to dcmag.hotshots@

futurenet.com. Please include a low-res attachment

(10MB or less): if your photo is selected for publication,

we’ll contact you to ask for a high-resolution, non-

watermarked version.

We’re also constantly our Flickr group and Facebook

pages for amazing photos taken by Digital Camera

readers – so if we see something we like, we’ll contact you

for more information. Visit our Flickr page at www.flickr.

com/groups/digitalcameraworld, or join us at www.

facebook.com/digitalcameraworld.

SEND US YOUR SHOTS!


14 HotSHOTSINSPIRING READER PHOTOGRAPHY

6

5


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10things……to try right now

16

PORTRAITS

01 Shoot in ultraviolet Show a subject in a whole new light

Pio

tr S

try

jew

ski/

Ge

tty

Also known as blacklights, ultraviolet

lights aren’t just the preserve of

school discos and weekend raves:

they can also be used to create glow-in-

the-dark portraits. You don’t need to add

any special filters to the lens to enhance

the effect, although you will need to

increase the ISO, as the output from

these lights is very low.

Manually set a sensitivity of ISO 1,600

to start with, then take a range of test

exposures, reviewing the results on the

rear screen and making adjustments as

necessary. It’s likely that you’ll still be

working at slow shutter speeds, so use a

tripod and ask your model to find a pose

that they can hold still.

You’ll need to experiment with the

choice of clothing for your model.

Different materials react differently under

UV light, but white man-made fibres are a

good starting point. For an added splash

of colour, try using neon paint that will

glow under a blacklight. Make sure that it’s

the non-toxic, water-based variety, and

ask your model to apply a small bit first to

ensure their skin doesn’t have an adverse

reaction. You tend to get what you pay for

with body paint: cheaper stuff requires

more applications to achieve a good

density of colour.

If you’re bitten by the UV bug, you

should consider buying a flashgun that

has been professionally modified to

become a UV source. (See www.advanced

cameraservices.co.uk for some

examples.) Although they’re more

expensive, a flashgun is more powerful

than a continuous UV lamp, enabling

you to use high-speed photography

techniques and capture more detail in

your subjects.

Get started today

* Fluorescent UV dark tube lights can be

picked up for approximately £20 from the

likes of Maplin (www.maplin.co.uk) and

Amazon. You can get hold of blacklight bulbs,

which can be fitted to an existing lamp, for

around £5.

* More than one lamp will give you flexibility.

* The closer you position the lamps to the

model, the greater the glow effect.

* Once everything is in place, you need to

switch off the room light to ensure complete

darkness, and make your test shots to find

the best exposure.

* Make sure you focus on the model’s eyes.

If your camera struggles to find focus, use a

small torch to gently illuminate the model’s

face. (Don’t aim it directly at their eyes!)

* Your UV photo session doesn’t have to

start and end with portraits. It’s great fun to

discover household objects that come alive

under UV light, such as soft drinks that

contain quinine.


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18


03 Plan your 2015 calendarPROJECT

Start a project that will last all year

Start thinking about the type of

pictures you can use to illustrate the

seasons, then challenge yourself to

‘shoot to brief’ rather than dipping into your

back catalogue. Doing it this way will help to

add focus to your photography over the

next 12 months. For us Northern

Hemisphere types, now is the time to get

those frozen winter scenes in the bag. Make

sure you carry a spare battery, use a tripod

and fit a lens hood to prevent sleet and

snow hitting the front element.

Get started today

* A3 calendars cost from £12 to print, with

the expensive options using premium paper.

* If you’re confident in the quality of your

images, why not approach calendar

publishers and see if they’d be interested in

licensing your photos?

Corrie White

Early-morning frost patterns on a backlit

window: it’s a classic winter shot to get

in the bag. But if you want to reveal the

structure of these icy structures in intimate

detail, there’s no substitute for a macro lens.

“I take most of my frost images with a 100mm

f/2.8 macro lens,” reveals close-up specialist

Corrie White. “You get a lot more detail by

using a true macro lens for this type of picture.

“I also use a tripod and a shutter release

cable. I have the camera set to mirror lock-up,

so there’s no chance of vibration robbing the

frost of its delicate detail. I like to have the

camera perpendicular to the pane of glass so

that as much of the frame will be in focus as

possible. Shoot at a slight angle, and some of

the edges will end up being out of focus.

“The biggest challenge with this type of

picture is encouraging the frost to form on the

window in the first place. I used to live in a

house where there was just a single pane of

glass on the window: I got the best results

shooting in a spare room, where I could turn off

the heat and allow the frost to form.

“Right now I’m in a house with double-glazed

windows, so there’s less chance of frost on the

glass. I’ve even tried leaving a piece of glass

outside overnight, but the frost formed on

both sides and I couldn’t get a clear image

without including the blurred frost on the other

side,” explains Corrie. “Even if you are

successful, there’s usually a lot of cleaning up

to do at the editing stage, because of all the

residue from past frost on the window. The

frost adheres best to glass that has a very thin

layer of dust.”

Get started today

* For the best frosty conditions, the colder

the better. Tune into TV and radio weather

forecasts religiously and make sure you set up

both your camera and tripod the night before,

so that you’re ready to shoot.

* Use Live View’s magnification feature for

pin-point manual focusing.

02 Photograph beautiful frostCLOSE-UPS

Use a macro lens to achieve spectactular, razor-sharp results

Marcus Hawkins


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20

…to try right now

10things…


Pictures that capture the landscape above

and below the surface of a lake or river in a

single frame can look striking at any time of

year, but the contrast between a frozen surface

and the green world below is particularly effective.

You’ll need to know what you’re doing though, both

photographically and dealing with the cold

temperatures. “I made ‘Tropical Winter’ in the

Saxon Switzerland National Park in Germany on a

February day when plenty of snow had fallen,” says

landscape pro Tobias Richter. “After I found an

interesting part of the river Kirnitzsch, I sealed my

camera in waterproof housing, slipped on waders

and neoprene gloves, and then went into the water

to look for a suitable foreground.

“I didn’t use a tripod for this shot, so I switched

the camera to its continuous shooting mode and

fired in bursts to improve my chances of getting a

sharp shot with a perfectly centred waterline. The

photo was taken under a cloudy sky in early-

afternoon light, so it was possible to capture detail

above and below the water in a single exposure.

Often you have to use a neutral-density filter or

take two exposures and blend them together in

software in order to realise the huge dynamic

range, because the area underwater is usually

much darker than the rest of the image.

“If the water is too murky, the flow is too strong

or the light is too frontal, it’s not worth the effort of

carrying the additional equipment to a remote

location. If you’re starting out, I’d recommend

trying a compact or mirrorless camera body, as

underwater housings for an SLR are expensive.”

Get started today

* If you’re attempting this in mid-winter,

take the necessary safety precautions.

* No underwater housing? Try this

technique by putting the camera in a fish

tank and half-submerging that.

* If you’re an absolute beginner, Tobias

recommends starting with a flat, calm lake in

summer “because there is enough technical

stuff to focus on in addition to concentrating on

swimming, water flow or cold temperatures”.

Create twice as much impact with your landscape photography

04 Shoot a split-frame scenic

LANDSCAPES

To

bia

s R

ich

ter

Get the Ansel Adams look in

your landscapesSee page 74


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22

…to try right now


10things…

05 Revisit your older shots

MANIPULATION

Sometimes it pays to experiment. Spending a rainy day

reprocessing images in bold new ways can produce

surprisingly good results. “Sometimes I am pleasantly

surprised when I am not expecting any particular outcome,”

says Toronto-based amateur photographer Roland Shainidze.

“With this particular photograph, partly I knew what I

wanted to achieve, but partly it was an experiment while I was

playing with contrast, saturation and exposure balance in

Photoshop CS5 and Silver Efex Pro 2.

“I was not really happy with the original photo: even though

the leading lines and curves created a strong composition,

other pieces of the image, such as the flat sky, the electric

wires and the trees, were distracting and taking the viewer’s

eye away from the lines.

“I saw the real potential in removing everything except four

lines – two white and two yellow – to direct the viewer to the

unknown, mysterious side of a dark, black empty space, and

connect it to the underlying message that the photo delivers:

‘A Road to Nowhere’. The best thing about your own photos is

that once you take them, they are yours and you can do

anything you want with them.”

Get started today

* Shoot in raw. No matter how many times you try a different

treatment, you’ll still have your original file.

* Save your original files and processed files onto different

hard drives – and always make sure that you keep a back-up

of your originals!Roland Shainidze

Add a fresh twist to pictures featuring familiar scenes

Getting sharp shots of wild animals can

be challenging. Throw in low-light levels

and a subject constantly on the move

to find food, and it can be a disappointment

when you review your shots. One option is to

purposely choose a slow shutter speed that

amplifies blur and creates an impressionistic

image – as wildlife pro Ben Hall has done for

this shot of black-headed gulls.

“Images that depict a sense of motion can

be difficult to capture successfully, and one of

the key aspects to getting it right is your choice

of shutter speed,” confirms Ben. “I took several

shots at various shutter speeds until I found

the desired setting. I then selected this shutter

speed manually in Shutter Priority mode, and

let the camera set the corresponding aperture.

Take as many images as possible: the results

vary even when using the same shutter speed!”

Get started today

* The most effective results are often those

that combine an element of sharpness with blur.

* When photographing an active animal,

choose your camera’s continuous autofocus

option and continuous drive setting.

06 Animals in actionWILDLIFE

Ben Hall

Choose slow exposures for winter wildlife


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24


Ma

gda

len

a B

ern

y

08 Shoot flowing white water

FILTERS

Capture the speed of rivers and waterfalls

Now is generally the time when river

systems are full to the brim, and

flow rapidly as a result. While you

can use high ISOs and large apertures to

freeze the motion of water tumbling down

rapids and crashing into rocks, it’s the

perfect opportunity to capture classic

milky-white water shots. Dial in small

apertures and use slow shutter speeds to

capture the movement as an intense blur.

If light levels are generous and the

water isn’t fast-moving, you’ll need to

resort to using a polarising or neutral-

density filter. These reduce the amount

of light that makes it through to sensor,

leading to extended shutter speeds. A

polariser has the added advantage of

removing glare from wet rocks and

saturating colours. A strong ND filter will

produce a more pronounced blur, but

don’t automatically reach for a 10-stop ND

filter: a weaker one can be just as effective

with fast-moving water, and exposure

times will be shorter.

Get started today

* Even though you’ll capture blurred water

with this technique, aim for sharpness in

the other areas of your composition. Use a

sturdy tripod, activate mirror lock-up and

trigger the shutter with a remote release.

The low angle of the sun at this time of

year creates a beautiful quality of light

that’s perfect for outdoor portraits. And

any snow that can be put to use as a giant

reflector is a bonus. Make sure you work

quickly, advises Magdalena Berny, especially if

you’re taking photos of kids: “The hardest part

of photographing children outdoors in winter is

the weather, so sessions should be short.

“When it comes to exposure, it’s easier to

shoot on a day when the sun is softened by

clouds. A combination of snow and bright

sunlight can be problematic when it comes to

selecting an appropriate exposure, which slows

things down. When I was taking these pictures,

the weather was foggy and the sun was

beautifully diffused through the fog.

“In my photographs I try to show different

emotions, not only joy and happiness. I often

show thoughtfulness, reflection and

detachment. Muted colours allow me to

07 Take a portraitPORTRAITS

Make the most of crisp winter light

Ala

n N

ove

lli

achieve a certain mood – dreamy, slightly

unreal and cool – and that’s what I focus on

when processing my images. I often change

the hue and saturation, and also correct

exposure, but I never manipulate the depth of

field; the blur in my photographs is achieved

in-camera, using fast prime lenses. My

favourites are an 85mm f/1.8 for outdoor

portraits and a 50mm f/1.4 for indoors.”

Get started today

* The wide apertures offered by affordable

standard or short telephoto prime, such as the

50mm and 85mm lenses Magdalena uses,

will give you the speed you need for sharp

handheld pictures, and silky-soft backgrounds.

* For the most intimate portraits, make the

effort to get down to a child’s eye level.

* Show your subjects the results on the back

of the camera, and make sure you build in

some time for just exploring and playing...


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You don’t have to live in Burano or

Jodhpur to be able to shoot

vibrantly coloured architecture

on a regular basis. Linda Wride manages

to make vivid abstract pictures

everywhere from the back streets of

Bristol to downtown Huddersfield.

“If I am visiting somewhere for the

first time, I like to research potential

photo locations before travelling,” Linda

reveals. “Doing an internet search for

modern or contemporary architecture

in a particular city often throws up

interesting buildings, many of which just

happen to be museums, galleries or art

and cultural centres. Such buildings are

often located at the heart of lively

regeneration areas, which can offer

unplanned photo opportunities once

you arrive and wander around.

“The yellow facade here is a sports

centre I stumbled upon when visiting

Bilbao to shoot the Guggenheim

Museum. The other image was taken at

the South Bank Centre in London.”

“I currently use a battered Nikon

D300,” says Linda. “My walkabout lens is

a wide-angle 16-85mm, and I usually

shoot handheld.”

Get started today * The correct White Balance setting is

important for accurate colours. Create

a custom white balance on your

camera if you shoot JPEG – or shoot

raw and deal with it later in software..

* To keep vertical lines straight and

reduce distortion, stand further away

from a building and zoom in rather than

standing close and zooming out wide.

09 Capture abstract colourURBAN

How to spot city shots with bags of impact

25

…to try right now

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ind

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…to try right now


10things…26

Your mission this month is to serve up

fresh views of food. Fill up on fresh

ingredients for a still-life; shoot a

steaming-hot Sunday roast; or capture a child’s

reaction when they’re being presented with a

birthday cake – there’s lots of scope for

interesting pictures with February’s Mission.

Don’t feel you need to have a macro lens to

be in with a shout of winning this competition.

Yes, if you want life-size images of the eyes on a

potato, then you’ll need a lens that offers 1:1

reproduction (or larger), but any close-focusing

lens can produce good results. Why not ditch

the close-ups altogether and tackle the theme

in a different way, such as showing a chef at

work or a fisherman catching the raw material?

Get started today

* For the professional food photo look, use

wide apertures and selective focusing to create

diffused backgrounds and foregrounds.

* Make the most of natural light, and use

reflectors to bounce light into shadows – a

piece of kitchen foil, crushed and flattened out

again, works well.

* Take the time to style the food: hide any

damaged or dented areas and use

complementary plates and cutlery.

* Gently heat a damp piece of cotton wool in

the microwave – this can be hidden in among

food to create a fresh-out-the-oven look.

* Use a spritzer bottle to add a layer of mist to

fruit and veg.

Create a feast for the eyes to be in with a chance of winning a brand new Lowepro rucksack worth £98...

10 Take our latest photo challenge

Your Mission

How to enter Visit our Flickr Pool at www.flickr.com/groups/digitalcameraworld. (If youÕre not

already a member, click the Join Group button Ð itÕs free to join.) After uploading your photo, click

Discussions and look for the official entry page, where you can add your image. The best shots

will be selected on 3 February and printed in issue 149, which goes on sale on 28 February 2014.

Win a Lowepro Transit 350 AWEach month we’re giving away this excellent Lowepro camera

backpack worth £98 to the lucky winner of our Your Mission

photo challenge. For your chance to win one, upload your best

low-light image to our Flickr Pool at www.flickr.com/groups/

digitalcameraworld. (See below for full details.)

For over 40 years Lowepro has been travelling the world

on the shoulders of the best photographers. Learning and

innovation are the key to its success.

The Transit Backpack 350 AW offers protection from the

elements for your gear, with a flexible layout and fast access.

Its innovative UltraFlex™ fit system gives you multiple

ways to organise your equipment. The Transit 350 AW

also includes the patented All-Weather Cover™ and

Hideaway Tripod Mount™ system. WWW.LOWEPRO.COM

Feed your photo habit

Plonking a couple of garlic bulbs on a

piece of slate in front of a kitchen

window is unlikely to make for the

most memorable shot. To create an image

with a longer shelf life, think about what

you’re trying to show about the food. What

aspects of the grub do you want to bring

out in the picture? It might be the shape or

texture, or perhaps the colour. Make sure

it’s lit well and you won’t go far wrong.

Experiment with staging your shots to get creative with this month’s Mission

Make every raw shot look

gorgeousSee page 38


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Feeling starved of ideas? Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing...

27

…to try right now


1 Try an abstract approach, filling the frame with a single detail that

demands a second look. Here, a close-up of the gills of a mushroom creates a pleasing study in repetition.

3 Make food a building block for a different type of shot. Try creating

‘foodscapes’, where fruit and vegetables are used to create rolling landscapes on a miniature scale .

2 Experiment with processing treatments – here the a blueberry

has been transformed using a Polaroid transfer, an effect that can also be emulated in Photoshop.

4 When all else fails, fill the frame with colour! Here, water drops on

a pane of glass positioned above a handful of Smarties provides a very different take on the theme.

Matt Hansen Photography

Be

n B

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Who won our last Mission? Turn the page to find out…


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28

3rd

Bokeh BirdBY LAWRENCE SIOW

No shooting information

2nd

Grey OwlBY JASPLEY1000

Fujifilm X10 at 28.4mm; 1/480 sec at f/2.8; ISO 200

1st

Fast DucksBY SCOTT WARNE

Canon EOS 5D Mk III with EF 24-105mm f/4LIS USM

at 24mm; 1/320 sec at f/14; ISO 400

Chris says While flying ducks do not

an original image make, this is shot

beautifully, proving that stellar

technique can transcend predictable subject

matter. The ducks are sharp and perfectly

placed, and the colours are just wonderful.

Chris says A great example of how

portrait technique can be applied to

shots of birds. The aperture choice is

perfect, the eyes and beak are sharp, and the

crop is sympathetic. This image reminds me

of Tim Flach’s work, which is praise indeed!

Geoff says The title would suggest

another rather predictable image

of an exotic bird against a blurred

background, but this is much more than a

dry exercise in diferential focus. I applaud

the creativity and sympathetic editing.

Your MissionWINNERS

Issue 145’s Mission was ‘Birds’.

Here are our top three shots…

32

1

Look out for our next Mission winners in issue 148, on sale 31 January 2014


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30


…FROM THE EDGE

POSTCARDS

All

Ima

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31

…FROM THE EDGE

POSTCARDS

MISSION FACTFILE

As the lead photographer for the

NFL, do you travel around the

league or mainly shoot games

on the West Coast?

It really depends on what the

story is, where we are in the season or where

the game is played. I also shoot all the major

events in the NFL like the Super Bowl, the

Hall of Fame induction ceremony, the draft,

even studio portraits of the players. We’re

based in LA and have four sound stages

where we do a lot of our creative stuf. We

have a whole TV network based out of here,

so I get to utilise the space in those studios.

What are the pros of following one team

versus shooting new teams every week?

I’m not on the road every week. When I’m

at a game, it’s to cover it from a neutral

perspective – looking for game action

from both teams, specific moments. I like

interaction between players. Because I work

for the league, I follow all 32 teams.

What’s your workflow during an NFL game?

Mine may vary from other photographers

because I have a diferent editing position. I

may have my laptop on the field. I’m looking

for specific images, and I know going into it

where it’s going to be placed on the website.

Say two of the league’s top quarterbacks, like

Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, are playing

each other: I’m looking for a handshake or

interaction between the two.

When I get that shot, I run to my laptop

and download my card, then FTP my images

back to our photo desk. They’re waiting for

it and do most of the editing, such as

cropping and captioning, then upload it to

the site. My challenge is to work faster than

every other photographer, because we want

to keep it as close to real time as possible.

We want to stay as relevant as we can.

How do you follow the action? Do you take

a wide-angle view and quickly zoom in?

Usually I’m kneeling on the ground, with my

400mm f/2.8 and my camera body on a

monopod. I keep the camera at eye level,

looking over at the sidelines and bench area

to get tight shots of people’s faces before the

action starts. Then I get a visual of the

formation and see where people are lined up.

Depending on where the wide receiver or

running back are placed, I can usually figure

out what play they’ll run. In short, I’m always

01

Top quality quarterbacksAs the NFL’s official photographer, Ben Liebenberg is under pressure to capture all of the action of American football

Who: Ben Liebenberg, pro sports photographer

What: Ben is the lead photographer for the NFL (National Football League) in the United States, and is responsible for photographing all of the league’s key games, players and events

Where: Ben is based in Los Angeles, but he travels all over the country to shoot games

Kit list: Canon EOS-1D X, Canon EOS-1D Mark IV and an EOS-1D Mark III body that he sometimes uses as a remote camera. Lenses include a 400mm f/2.8, 70-200mm f/2.8, 16-35mm f/2.8, as well as a 15mm wide-angle lens.

More info at: You can see more NFL photography by Ben at www.benliebenberg.com and follow him on Twitter via @benliebenberg


WorldMags.net




…FROM THE EDGE

POSTCARDS32

coach and be a student of the game. I study

the teams’ formations and try to anticipate

what plays they might run and where the ball

may go. For instance, if there are three wide

receivers lined up on the side you’re on, you

know they’re throwing the ball. But then

again, maybe it’s a decoy for a run to the

other side!

To be successful at this, you really need to

be familiar with the coaching, and even each

individual team’s coaching and ofensive

patterns. You need to study all 32 teams,

because each one does things diferently.

Where does their running back go when they

have the ball at the goal line? Does he prefer

to run up the middle or of to the side? Or is

their running game weak? Does a team get

desperate when they’re down by two

touchdowns and start throwing long passes?

Do you shoot raw or JPEG?

To be honest, JPEG suits most of my needs.

I only shoot raw because sometimes the

NFL will want to blow an image up for

commercial purposes – banners, street

signs, flags, etc. In these instances our

creative department will ask for a raw file. At

a game I’m only downloading JPEGs of my

cards, then archive the raws after a game.

What’s the most difficult part about

shooting a game?

Being in the right place at the right time.

An American football field is 100 yards. It’s

really difcult knowing where to set up. And

if you’re on the wrong part of the field from

the action, you may not get any shot.

I try to stay ahead of the action. To do

this you almost have to think like a head

“To be successful at this, you need to be familiar with the coaching, and even each individual team’s coaching and offensive patterns. You need to study all 32 teams”

scanning, trying to follow that action and

stay on the side where the quarterback is

open to me. I always want to shoot his face

when throwing, never his back.

Can you describe the ideal image you’re

looking to shoot for NFL.com?

The image I’m looking for is the one that

will be horizontal, tight, an impactful image.

Both teams should be represented, with

some of their key players included in the

composition. Ideally during one of the

game’s big catches or key plays.

How many images will you tend to shoot

during one game?

About 1,500 to 2,000, then I’ll edit that

down to 200 after the game. I shoot a lot of

stock stuf for the NFL, as well – mostly

celebrations but also isolated game action or

players lining up at the line of scrimmage.

This stuf is generic in a context that will

have longevity. My images are distributed

through AP, so I’m looking for stuf that will

continue to sell 20 years from now.

02

03 04 05

01 Playoff intensity (page 30) San Francisco 49ers Michael Crabtree and Colin Kaepernick celebrate a touchdown during an NFL Divisional playoff game against the Green Bay Packers at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, on 12 January 2013

02 Packers vs Chargers Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is hit during an NFL game against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego on 6 November 2011

03 Super Bowl XLVII Safety Ed Reed of the Baltimore Ravens clutches the Vince Lombardi trophy following their victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on 3 February 2013

04 Soup’s on The former NFL Most Valuable Player LaDainian Tomlinson shoots scenes for a popular series of Chunky soup ads in Los Angeles, California


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33

Do you get to set up on the sidelines? How

much freedom do you get to move around?

Photographers have pretty free reign from

the 20-yard line into the end zone, and then

throughout the back of the end zone. How

much access you have in the back depends

on the stadium design. In places like New

York, the press area is usually crowded.

It’s also a challenge to get set up in time,

regardless of how many other photographers

are there. NFL football is a fast-moving

game, and if you’re at the 15-yard line when

they throw a 40-yard pass, you’re sprinting

to get into position before the team does!

If there’s a long play, you could be sprinting

80 yards to get into your next position.

How much competition is there between

photographers on the sidelines?

There are lot of guys with cameras out there.

It can get fierce. Diferent wire services will

have three or four guys there, plus local

media. And you’re also dealing with all the

video camera guys. The most important

thing you can do as a sports photographer is

try to stray outside of the box and go for

diferent camera angles where no-one else is.

I’ll go up high and shoot overhead, or go back

and shoot behind the line; I may experiment

with diferent shutter speeds or apertures.

Would you still recommend professional

sports photography as a career?

I started shooting football with a manual-

focus lens. If you weren’t spot-on with your

focus, you didn’t get the shot. Sometimes I

feel like it’s now hard to miss. There’s always

05 NFL hopefuls Alabama offensive lineman DJ Fluker poses for a portrait at the 2013 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, on 22 February 2013

06 The photographer’s view A general view of game action between the Green Bay Packers and the San Diego Chargers during an NFL game at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego on 6 November 2011

07 Father and son New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees celebrates winning Super Bowl XLIV with his son at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens on 7 February 2010

08 Cardinals vs Steelers Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals during Super Bowl XLIII at Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL, on 1 February 2009

09 Saints vs 49ers San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith scores a touchdown during an NFL divisional playoff game against the New Orleans Saints at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on 14 January 2012

0706

08

09

someone bidding on a job for a lot less than

you, and there are other people who will do

it for free, which makes it harder to make a

living at sports photography. That said, if

you’re passionate, pursue it. If you’re good

and want to be good, you can find your niche

where you can make money doing it.

Whatever you want to do, if you have the

skills and drive, you’ll make money at it.


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BAN CAMERA PRESETS!I’ve recently taken up photography as a hobby. I’m enjoying it, but how do you know what kit you need at any given time?

I was recently in Malta shooting some landscapes with my kit lens, when I saw a little hummingbird. I quickly took my Canon EOS 700D of the tripod and tried to snap it, but it was so fast I really struggled. I ran back to the car and switched over to my rented 70-300mm L series lens. I spent ages trying to find this little bird again, then managed to rattle of a few quick snaps in Sport mode before the bird flew of.

Surely I can’t be the only photographer who plans for one subject when a completely diferent situation reveals itself? I was really disappointed by my soft and blurry shots. How would you have handled this diferently?Matt

This is a great example of why you can’t rely

on your camera’s presets (like Sport mode).

For such a fast-moving creature, you need

to shoot in Shutter Priority mode (Tv on your

Canon), and set a speed of at least 1/1,000 sec.

Don’t be afraid to set a higher ISO too.

When you’re faced with difficult-to-

photograph subjects, good camera and

focusing technique is crucial – never rely on

camera presets. If it was up to us, they’d be

banned on consumer cameras – they’re a

needless and unreliable crutch.

ViewFinder

STAR LETTER

The place to air your views on the magazine and share your photographic experiences

Get your views heard We’d love to hear your thoughts on the magazine and all things photographic!

So email us at [email protected] or visit us at www.facebook.com/digitalcameraworld

WIN AN ASPIRE PHOTO TRAINING VOUCHER

Our star letter wins a £50 voucher off training courses at Aspire

Photography Training (www.aspirephotographytraining.co.uk)

You missed the Pentax X-5, which would have fitted in perfectly with the other bridge cameras.Bas Quist

OK Antony, thanks for the clarification.

Bas, we set a minimum price point

for the bridge camera round-up, and

the Pentax came in under it, but you

can read TechRadar’s review at

www.techradar.com. For the record,

we treat Pentax in the same way as any

other manufacturer; indeed, our cover

image for issue 146 was taken with

a Pentax SLR.

SLR BIAS?Although you do tests on various cameras, like system cameras or bridge models, you hardly print any images that weren’t taken on SLRs. If you are only interested in people who use SLRs, why test and mark the other camera types?

I’m sure there are some great images that you can print and comment on from the people who use system and bridge cameras, as they don’t want to carry bulky SLRs around with them.Steve Reed

Interesting point, if not totally accurate.

Editor Geoff swears by his Olympus

OM-D system camera, and images technical or size advantage over the Pentax, other than its light weight. My Pentax system is compact but also powerful. I would like to challenge you to see if you can fit another maker’s SLR and lenses in a 12x14x15cm bag. Good luck! Antony Smith

I agree with Anthony Smith about your lack of coverage of Pentax, which you showed yet again in your recent round-up of bridge cameras.

Above Always keep your camera on P, A, S (Tv) or M and you won’t go far wrong. Auto and presets are best avoided by the serious photographer

Right Higher-end CSCs will mean more covers shot with them – we guarantee it!

PENTAX USERS WRITE...Regarding my recent letter (ViewFinder, issue 144), at no time did I suggest Digital Camera was unfair in its tests of Pentax cameras. Your review of the K-30 was indeed fair. The point I was trying to make was that I prefer the Pentax system, with its Ltd lenses, to compact system cameras.

My Pentax and Ltd lenses are more flexible than my Olympus PEN camera, which seems to ofer no

www.facebook.com/DigitalcameraworldJoin us on Twitter www.twitter.com/DCamMag or Facebook


WorldMags.net



35


ViewFinder

taken with system cameras regularly

feature in our Hotshots reader

gallery. We’ve featured quite a few

top photographers who’ve switched

to system cameras for the reasons

you outlined (Neil Buchan Grant, for

example). As for our covers and pro

interviews, it’s still the case that most

pros are using pro-spec SLRs, but

with more high-end system cameras

coming out, this is starting to change.

Remember that a great image is a

great image, regardless of the way it

was taken.

STITCH THAT!Steve Johnston (ViewFinder, issue 145) is asking for a cheap wide-angle lens: why not recommend to use the 50mm Canon prime lens and shoot a series of overlapping photos, then stitch them?

I have used this method on my own 60D and made some great shots. As you know, the price for this lens is a steal: it’s under £100 on Amazon.Jens Thillerup

Thanks Jens! It’s still probably a good

idea to try and save up for a dedicated

wide-angle lens if you can – these

come in very useful for other genres,

not just landscapes.

STORING UP TROUBLEReading Don Brody’s letter in issue 145, I would urge him to find a local photography shop with knowledgeable staf, and not to fall into the trap of buying camera equipment online. I see people in my local shop trying out this and that and not buying anything, and I

WHAT WORKED FOR YOU? OR NOT…

We’re not just photographers: we’re storytellers. Instead

of a pen, we’ve a camera – but irrespective of the tool our aim is the same: to amuse, emote, inform, educate and entertain. The skill is recognising a story when you see it.

For me, a photograph begins with writing captions for images I’m going to take. That may sound back-to-front, but really it isn’t. Would you build a house without architectural drawings? Where would you start? How would you know what materials you needed?

Nobody would approach house-building this way, yet the idea that fully formed photographs just happen seems to be accepted as the exception to the rule. It’s not. Crafting an image begins with having something to say.

Know your subject The better you know a subject, the more stories you have to tell. I became a wildlife photographer because I’m fascinated by nature, and I question how it all works. It’s by asking questions and finding answers that I’m able to hit upon new ideas for images and find ways of making interesting photographs of ordinary subjects.

Once I have a caption, I visualise the image, either on paper or in my mind. When looking through the viewfinder, I’m always asking: “How would I caption this image?” If the only answer I can conjure is the species name, I wait for a better shot.

This may seem like a long-winded process, but it’s this preparation that ensures I never return empty-handed.

www.chrisweston.uk.com

What can be done

to focus in on the

heron and fish and

have less of a distracting

background please?

Lynda Lingenfelser

Make sure you’re shooting

at a wide aperture. A lower

f number, say f/2.8, will help

blur the background. Set the

focus point on the eyes to

keep them sharp. Choose a

single AF point – preferably

the central one, as it’s the

most accurate.

Above There’s no compact system camera prejudice in this mag

assume they then go and buy online. They are the first to complain when the local shop closes due to lack of trade. Most shops nowadays will try to match the online price, and then when you have a problem, you have somewhere to go and discuss the matter in person.Andrew Wright

Well said. Although online dealers have

keen prices, it would indeed be a sad

day if there were no longer camera

shops in the high street. We’d like to see

all kinds of retailers prosper.

TICKED OFFI wonder if any sharp-eyed photographers noticed a very significant thing about the fox on the cover of issue 145. The poor chap has a tick above each eye (see the small dark spots in the inner corners). Ticks are nasty and often carry diseases. A good photo often has more to tell us than we think!George Clarke

Good lord, you’re sharp-sighted

George! Another good reason why it’s

wise to focus on the eyes...

A great photograph starts before you even take your camera and equipment out of your kit bag, says wildlife ace Chris Weston


WorldMags.net



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38

One of the first questions you may get asked at the beginning of your digital photographic journey is: do you shoot in raw? If not, then you should be. Raw

is the key to creative control, enabling subtle and seamless image editing. It provides the digital photographer with a myriad of secret weapons, as well as more conventional, creative tools. The decision to choose raw is based on your style of photography. Let’s first consider what output is required; from here, it becomes easy to understand why some people require JPEG (your camera’s default option) and others prefer raw.

Landscape photographers like me see no benefit to JPEG: our process is all about subtle alterations, coaxing detail from shadows, highlights and contrast. Now change tack to the fast-moving world of sports or press photography. These disciplines are always time-critical, so data transfer sets the criteria. JPEG is a far better choice here, providing an in-camera and often camera-processed image for immediate dispatch to newsdesks across the world. This compressed format, although often lower-quality, is ideal for this fast-turnaround industry.

So what is raw? A sensor converts light that falls onto its surface into an electrical signal. Your camera can read this by measuring the amount of light that hits each one of the sensor’s pixels. The

value of each pixel is recorded in red, green and blue colours, and it is these values that make up the colour information we see within our image.

So, a raw file is not an image. It’s easier to think of it as an image state, or data that is yet to be converted into an image. This raw data can be altered by using software, known as a raw converter, which is where the true power of raw becomes apparent. On the other hand, a JPEG image on your camera can be considered as a post-processed file, which has been converted from raw to JPEG inside the camera.

FROM CONFUSION TO CREATIVITYConfusingly, each camera maker has developed their own raw file structure, as well as software to work with their own cameras. Canon uses CR2 while Nikon uses NEF, and so on. Fortunately, the structures are similar, which means raw-editing software has been developed which can work across camera types, including Capture One, Adobe Camera Raw and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. These programs allow the values of recorded pixels to be changed, as though it was happening at the moment of capture. They ofer control over exposure, shadows, highlights, contrast and more complex variables like clarity, sharpness and noise reduction – creative tools that can help turn a good image into a great one.

Shooting raw can give you the best possible image, but editing raw files takes practice and patience. Top pro David Clapp shares some of the edits and shortcuts he uses to get rich, detail-packed shots every time!

Understanding

UNDERSTANDING RAW


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39

MORE ON RAW!

DxO Optics Pro 9 test on page 114 and Lightroom raw tips

on page 78

Raw editing is not about compensating for poor

camera technique, it’s about bringing out the maximum potential of

a digital photograph

UNDERSTANDING RAW


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40


UNDERSTANDING RAW

Editing a raw file is actually straightforward. Most editors are broadly the same, besides panels and modules

that may difer from application to application. Let’s take a look at some editing basics, using Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom as examples...

WHITE BALANCEYour camera may have unintentionally recorded the white balance of your image incorrectly, so at this stage, careful alteration can give your image a more accurate ‘colour temperature.’

Measured in Kelvin, it’s essential to set white balance correctly, as there is no easy opportunity to alter it once the raw file has been converted. It’s here that some artistic licence can also be added, to make images more enjoyable or evocative.

When dealing with scenic images, problems occur when elements like

blue sky (4,500k) or yellow sand (6,000k) are more dominant, containing a red or blue bias. Stronger colours like sunrises and sunsets (7,000k+) also tend to appear far too cool, as these are more unusual

conditions compared to the regular light a camera typically manages.

The white balance value is always the value the camera recorded. If a sun symbol was selected, the value will be around 5,100k. Start by moving the slider from left to right. Stare at the image with no regard for the value, and let your judgement guide the adjustment until harmony is achieved.

EXPOSURECorrectly setting the exposure will allow the shadows and highlights to fall into place. Set this incorrectly, and the image will feel unbalanced. Work the slider by staring at the image and finding a position where all seems correct. This is counter-intuitive, and will rely on a strong memory of the event photographed. This is why it’s so important to look around when

photographing, to take mental notes about how the light is perceived. If the image contains mostly shadows, the excessive lifting will do nothing but cause uncertainty. A well-processed image will validate an experience, not throw the audience of-course.

SHADOWS & HIGHLIGHTSContrast adjustments will push light tones and darken shadow depth at the same time, but this particular slider needs less use than you might think.Human eyes are extremely good at resolving detail within shadows – as much as 14 stops of light – so excessive use of shadow adjustments will cause the image to appear digitally modified. Nothing really appears jet-black to the eye – except at twilight or night-time, when shadows will appear without detail. With raw software like Camera Raw or Lightroom, there is also a Blacks slider. This sets the black point or darkest point of the image, but should again be used sparingly.

Highlights require the same respect. Rarely does anything appear pure white, so make sure that the Highlights or Whites sliders are not pushed too high. Highlight recovery is extremely useful: sometimes a shot may be overexposed unintentionally, often in a small localised area like the sun. The programming that has gone

It’s essential to set white balance correctly, as there is no easy way to alter it once the raw file has been saved out

In this image, Clarity has been overdone, leading to an overly ‘digital’ look

Make the most of the noise reduction tools in raw editors to ensure you get clean shots

Whatever raw editor you use, these standard tools take care of business...

NON NR

WITH NR

BEFORE AFTER

ESSENTIAL RAW TOOLS


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UNDERSTANDING RAW

BEFORE AFTER

Above Use the sliders to fix under or overexposure. Lightroom also lets you move the actual Histogram peaks

into this is exceptionally useful for

correcting mistakes, and it is

surprising how much detail can be

extracted from an overexposed area.

CLARITYClarity works by pushing contrast

into the midtones of the picture. This

can give an image extra bite and

contrast, without pushing the blacks

or the whites of the picture

excessively. The downside of this

slider is haloes when there are no

midtones to accentuate. Consider a

snow scene with a silhouetted tree.

All the tones are highlights and

shadows. As the Clarity slider tries to

push the non-existent midtones, it

targets the pixels where the silhouette

meets the bright snow, creating an

unsightly grey glow around the edges.

Push the Clarity slider no more than

15 to 20%. Retain a natural look to

the image, with just a hint of bite.

SHARPENINGBy increasing contrast on very fine

edges, an image can show the

appearance of sharpening. As the

slider is increased, so the edges

become more defined and the image

takes on an increase in sharpness.

There are three stages of

sharpening in post processing. The

first can be considered as capture

sharpening, and takes place in raw

software; the second is creative

sharpening; and finally there’s output

sharpening for print or web, which

takes place in Photoshop. Once again,

careful and considerate use of the

slider is the key, but it is here that

problems start to become apparent in

the areas that contain less detail.

NOISE REDUCTIONDigital images contain noise, which is

more noticeable in smooth areas like

sky and water. As the ISO of the

camera is increased, so noise increases.

By increasing the Noise Reduction

slider, it’s possible to remove the

excessive noise that occurs from

shooting higher ISOs. Noise occurs in

two ways: luminosity noise and colour

noise. Most raw converters set these

values to zero or a 25% value as

default. Careful control of this process

will stop areas of fine detail being

destroyed. One problem is a plasticky

look to grass and rocks, but this can

be avoided with considerate

application of processing.

As the slider is increased, so the edges become more defined and the image takes on an increase in sharpness

Be very careful when sharpening as

you can easily fix one problem but

create another...

To avoid a battle between sharpening and luminosity

noise reduction, here is a great little trick using the

much-overlooked Masking slider. The problem with

sharpening is that it affects the entire image, regardless

of edges or composition. By using the Masking slider, you

can stop Lightroom and Camera Raw from attempting

to sharpen smooth areas.

Start by pressing the Alt key and clicking on the

masking slider. Suddenly the image will appear to be

pure white, but as you push the slider to the right, it will

take on an embossed look. Push the slider until it

reaches around 80%. Only the white areas, which

displayed the edges, will be sharpened. The larger black

areas are now unaffected, responding far better to any

noise reduction applied. This means luminosity noise

reduction will not fight sharpening, and will be far more

effective in the smoother areas, without artifacts or

degradation. This works well for areas that have more sky

and clouds – or simple shapes, like this balloon image.

PRO TIP MASK SHARPENING FOR PROFESSIONAL-LOOKING NOISE REDUCTION

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UNDERSTANDING RAW

The Lens Correction palette works by loading algorithms that match the lens, focal length and even the camera A

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CREATIVE RAW PROCESSING

Above Be careful with vibrance and saturation as overdoing it can blow out details

Left Raw editors such as Lightroom also offer an array of handy lens-correction tools

Software always covers a

wide majority of uses and

applications, providing

one-stop shops for those

interested in quick processing, or

taking their images to a certain level.

The biggest problem is knowing

which alterations can be used as a

quick fix, and which can actually

inhibit the creative process.

TONE CURVEWe’ve already identified that Clarity

should be used with caution, but

would it surprise you to know that

the Tone Curve section can also leave

its digital mark? Tonal information

and colour information are all mixed

up on the same channels, so whenever

an alteration is made to adjust the

contrast, the tone curve will also alter

hues and saturation. After continuing

raw adjustments, the image is then

brought into Photoshop, for more

contrast adjustments.

Without understanding how this

program works, the same efect gets

compounded once more. Finally, as

part of a routine workflow, some

saturation gets added… All those

millions of dollars of research and

development to make your camera

sensor capture images with truth and

meaning, and it gets wrecked in five

minutes flat on your computer!

Use the Tone Curve when all image

processing can be done within your

raw editor. It’s very efective when

shooting daytime scenes or in images

that do not contain strong colours. In

this way, your raw processor is being

used as a full post processing suite.

VIBRANCE & SATURATIONVibrance is by far the more subtle way

of adjusting the intensity of colours

that are present within a picture. It

works by increasing the intensity of

colours, but only afects the colours

that are not close to clipping.

Saturation, on the other hand,

pushes all colours, regardless of their

value. This can work well in muted

pictures, but cause problems where

strong colours are present. Sunsets,

which contain high levels of reds and

oranges, will clip very quickly, so by

increasing Vibrance as an alternative,

blues, greens and other colours will

be the only ones afected by this

alteration. It’s a subtle, magical way

of altering pictures.

LENS CORRECTIONWhen lenses are shot at a wider

aperture, like f/4 in our example,

excessive darkening of the edges can

become visible, due to light fall-of as

it it’s turned through the glass. The

Lens Correction palette can be

switched on to reverse these efects,

but it’s far more clever than that. It

works by loading algorithms that

match the lens, focal length and

even the camera the photograph was

taken on.

It doesn’t stop there: the

correction can also eliminate the

efects of chromatic aberration, or

colour fringing. Sometimes colours

cannot focus in the same place: this

creates an unsightly coloured fringing

around edges, often found around

window frames, roofs or other areas

of high contrast. Simply click the tick

box, and the fringing disappears.

POST-CROP VIGNETTESThis is almost the reverse of the Lens

Correction palette. Vignetting can be

added with great creative efect by

focussing attention on your subject,

simply by darkening the very edges.

Take your command of raw tools to the next level

BEFOREAFTER


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UNDERSTANDING RAW

Many photographers omit this fabulous HSL (Hue,

Saturation, Luminance) palette when altering images in a

creative way. At first glance, it seems as though it is simply

a way of adjusting the hue, saturation and luminosity of

specific colours, but there is a secret weapon that can

make a huge difference: the Targeted Adjustment tool.

This remarkable tool allows colour and tone

adjustments to be made by simply clicking and dragging

the mouse. Let’s say the blues are too dark in this balloon

image. Simply click on the Luminance palette, then click

on the Targeted Adjustment tool, click on the blues in the

image and push the mouse upwards. Luminosity has now

been raised, but it can also be reduced by pulling the

mouse downwards.

This works very well for saturation – but the brilliance

of the slider is that it will adjust a multiple of sliders if the

colour is not truly one value. Let’s say our blue contains

aqua with a slight hint of purple. As the colour is lifted, all

three sliders will alter at once.

Remember, these adjustments have no regard for

composition and will adjust the colour regardless. In this

example, imagine the balloon was also blue – the targeted

adjustments would also adjust its colour.

PRO TIP THE POWER OF HSL

TECH INSIGHT LIGHTROOM’S BATCH-PROCESSING POWER

Lightroom’s Export panel is an extremely powerful tool. Criteria

can be set up to assist with image type, image size, metadata,

watermarking and specifying exactly where the image will go

after it is converted. If you like to make runs of low-res JPEGs

from entire folders of raws, this is the place to do it. Simply

highlight the raws for export, set a destination folder, set size

and DPI, and bingo – the images can be sharpened, resized

and even renamed into a folder of your choosing.

There are options to save presets in the Save Options dialog

box. It doesn’t contain exactly the same criteria, but you can

make similar automations that will speed up your workflow.

Below There are a lot of outputting options to explore before hitting the Export button

Above Vignetting, where you deliberately darken the edges to focus attention on the subject, is great, but handle with care...

Feathering, Roundness and Amount

are just a few of the interesting ways

that vignettes can be used. They pull

the viewer into the centre of the

image by creating a gentle lift in light

towards the subject matter, but it’s

important to use this feature with

subtlety and consideration.

It’s all to easy to pull the corners

of the image into excessive darkness,

especially if the Lens Correction

feature has not been enabled. This

CORRECTED VIGNETTEIN-CAMERA VIGNETTE

will compound the darkening efect. It

is best to correct the image first and

then add creative vignette.

CROP TOOLThe great thing about using the Crop

tool in Lightroom or Adobe Camera

Raw is the graphic way it operates. It’s

very easy to turn, trim and rotate the

picture so that access and unwanted

compositional space is removed for

the better. There is a downside to

using the Crop tool. Photoshop

contains a cool feature called Front

Image, which allows the crop to be

constrained, and interpolated back

out to its original size. If image

processing is size-critical, cropping in

your raw editor should be avoided and

is best handled in Photoshop.

GRADUATED & RADIALGraduated filters difer with each raw

editor. In Camera Raw, there’s a

dedicated tool on the toolbar, while

Lightroom has its own editing section.

It’s possible to align an array of

graduated filters to create unusual and

interesting efects. The Radial Filter

takes this to another level, making it

possible to increase and decrease light

in specific areas. Again, subtlety is the

key here, otherwise the efect will

look far too obvious and the image

will appear post-processed. Arrange

the filters, then play with sliders.

BEFORE AFTER


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Once you’re used to the

fundamentals of raw-

editing software, you will

obviously want to go a bit

further. Lightroom contains additional

modules, like the Library for arranging

images or the brilliant Map module,

which comes in very handy when

shooting cameras that have GPS.

OPEN AS LAYERSOne very useful feature when you’re

playing around with multiple

exposures, or alternatively processing

individual images and layers, is the

Open as Layers menu. Simply click on

three diferent images that you wish

to import, right click on a thumbnail

or image and select Edit In>Open as

Layers in Photoshop. All the images

selected will then be transferred to

Photoshop as a stack of layers within

a single image file: perfect for

blending exposures or trying out

individual techniques.

SOFT PROOFINGOne final technical consideration

when converting raws into image files,

like JPEG and TIFF, is to introduce

soft proofing into the workflow. This

is a technique that allows your raw

software to simulate the colour space

of ProPhoto, Adobe RGB or sRGB, all

from the touch of a button. It’s most

common to find photographers

converting to a colour space middle

ground, Adobe RGB, as huge colour

spaces like ProPhoto require specialist

equipment to see the true benefits.

The sRGB colour space is most

widely used as it is considered an

internet standard, but it contains far

fewer colours than Adobe RGB or the

larger ProPhoto. Soft proofing stops a

possible mismatch of colours by

simulating a chosen colour space.

Soft proofing allows your raw software to simulate the colour space of ProPhoto, Adobe RGB or sRGB

Above Working on layers in Photoshop can add another level of drama to your landscapes

GET CLEVER WITH RAWComplete your raw journey with advanced tips and tricks


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UNDERSTANDING RAW

If you are old enough to remember the days

of 16-colour computing, you will know how

important colour can be to imagery. In brief, a tip

often used is to convert your images to 16-bit.

As a raw file is converted into an image file

format like JPEG or TIFF, it is assigned a bit

depth, or available number of tones. It is often

considered that 8-bit is the minimum, which

gives a total of 256 tones. Cameras, on the other

hand, can record in 12-bit or 14-bit, giving 4,096

or 16,384 tones respectively. The problem is that

raw processors and image editors like Photoshop

only work in 8-, 16- or 32-bit modes, so these 12-

and 14-bit raws are best converted to 16-bit.

With such a wide array of tones, this means

more extensive editing can be made to the files

without degradation or artifacts starting to show.

This makes 16-bit a great choice, as it offers such

an increase in tonality without making the file size

excessive, like 32-bit editing.

16-bit raw images offer the best compromise between image quality and file size economy

After the raw image is processed, it

is converted to an image file and

assigned a colour space or a colour

range – a range that has limits. The

histogram that you see in Adobe

Camera Raw and Lightroom is not the

one chosen in Preferences, but the

lesser-known Melissa RGB, a large

colour space that has characteristics

similar to ProPhoto.

Images that contain strong colours,

like sunsets, poppies, bluebell woods

and oilseed rape fields, require a very

large colour space to attain separation

without clipping, so although they

may appear correct as Melissa RGB,

they’ll be ‘out of gamut’ in Adobe RGB.

If the colours do clip as a result of

your changes, a certain amount of

desaturation is required to bring them

within the parameters of the colour

space. When the image is converted,

the histogram will not change when

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Lightroom’s soft proofing is a useful but oft-overlooked tool that ensures accurate output

TECH INSIGHT A LITTLE BIT ABOUT BIT DEPTH


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THIS MONTH’S HIGHLIGHTS

48 Core SkillsCreative composition is much more than the rule of thirds, as top pro Mark Hamblin reveals here

52 Creative ZoneStuck for inspiration? Creative guru Ben Brain shows how to get started on a long-term project

56 Back to BasicsIt’s easy to dismiss P (Program) mode as just for beginners, but it actually has a lot to ofer

61 Photo RescueNothing looks worse than poor flash technique, so learn how to get well-lit shots with our guide

67 SLR DiscoveriesEver wondered how pros get those wonderful star trail shots? Here’s how to get them with your SLR

Your complete camera-skills improvement plan

OHS O T !

13 PAGES OF EXPERT

ADVICE FOR SLR USERS


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Break the rules to add variety and interest to your images. Mark Hamblin looks beyond the obvious

CREATIVE COMPOSITION

The old adage “Rules are there to

be broken” applies as much to

photographic composition as it

does to many other things in life. But you

need to fully understand the basic rules of

composition before you can intentionally

break them.

Whole books have been written about

the compositional ‘rules’ you should

follow to create a well-balanced picture.

Some of those most commonly practised

include the rule of thirds, lead-in lines,

natural frames, a sense of scale, use of

foreground interest and a single focal

point. Many successful images employ

one or several of these compositional

rules. However, there’s nothing to stop you

throwing the rule book out of the window

and creating equally powerful images.

One of the most-cited compositional

rules is to imagine the frame divided into

thirds, both horizontally and vertically, and

then place the subject or main focal point

on one of the intersections where the

imaginary lines cross. This is how a lot of

images are composed – but sometimes,

placing the subject centrally in the frame

can lead to a stronger image. This is

CORE SKILLS

Composition tips from top

pro Andy BeelSee page 52


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EXPERT ADVICEDon’t get stuck in a rut with composition

Change the perspectiveMost people shoot from a

standing position. To add interest

to your images, try shooting from

low perspectives to exaggerate

foregrounds and height.

Alternatively, shoot from an

elevated position, looking down

on the subject for a more

abstract approach.

Be creativeIt’s easy to revert to tried-and-

tested ways of composing a shot,

but sometimes it’s good to try

something different. Try shooting

the same subject using different

compositions, angles and lenses.

Don’t walk away until you’ve

explored every possibility.

Compose unconventionallyPlacing the subject in the centre

works well with subjects that have

some form of symmetry. Also,

ignore the rule of thirds and place

the main focal point in the

extremes of the frame, with lots

of empty space to add emphasis.


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21

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PHOTO SCIENCEWhy this shot works1 The symmetrical nature of the snowy mountain lends itself extremely well to a central composition.2 Breaking the conventional rule of thirds helps the shot stand out from the crowd.3 The wintery conditions have vastly reduced the colour range giving the image more impact.4 The flowing water in the foreground adds a real sense of movement and brings the picture to life.

Top tips…FOR TAKING MORE CREATIVE SHOTS

Must try harderPush yourself to try to produce an alternative shot to the (conventional) one you have just taken. Look for more creative or unusual compositions, and experiment to find out what works and what doesn’t.

Pre-visualise imagesBeing different for difference’s sake isn’t a recipe for successful images. You need to think very carefully about what you are trying to achieve, and then work towards creating that image. Having a clear idea of the final result in your mind will help determine your approach.

Go in closeOur first instinct is usually to include the whole subject or scene in our images. But the essence of a subject can sometimes be conveyed more powerfully by composing tightly where only part of the subject is shown, perhaps in an abstract way.

Off the levelConventionally a scene should be level, but an easy way to create something different is to turn the camera on an angle. Try tilting the camera at 45˚and shoot subjects with strong lines or patterns for a more eye-catching result.

BE CREATIVE WITH FOCUSINGEmphasise parts of the subject by using shallow depth of fieldIf you have 20/20 vision, most, if not all, of what you see is in sharp focus – but this is not the case for cameras, of course. At wide apertures, depth of field is shallow, which means the emphasis or focus of a picture can be placed on a specific part of the subject. This can be done by using a telephoto lens set at its maximum aperture to limit depth of field.

This works best when shooting close-up with longer focal-length lenses, to create narrow bands of focus and throw other parts of the subjects out of focus. It’s a technique that works well for shooting abstract macro shots with shallow depth of field. Again, set the lens to its maximum aperture and focus critically on the part of the subject that you want to highlight.

Above In this delicate reflection shot, the shoreline and trees in the top-right corner stop the viewer’s eyes from being led out of the composition

particularly true if the subject is symmetrical in some way, such as a person or animal looking down the barrel of the lens, or a landscape plus its reflection.

THE THIRD WAYAn alternative use of the rule of thirds is to apply it in a way that the viewer isn’t expecting. For example, rather than placing the subject on one of the lower thirds of the frame with space above, place it higher up in the frame on

one of the upper thirds. This creates an unusual balance to the picture and can add extra emphasis to the main subject. This can be further enhanced by using a technique of differential focus, where only the subject is sharp, with a large expanse of foreground as well as the background blurred out.

Similarly, try breaking the rule of thirds in landscape images by composing the scene with only a slither of sky at the top of the

frame rather than the usual third. This works well when there is little interest in the sky. You can also do the opposite by including just a thin strip of land at the bottom of the picture with a wide expanse of dramatic sky.

Done successfully, breaking with conventional composition has the ability to surprise the viewer and force us to look more closely at a picture.

GET DOWNAnother simple way to achieve this is to shoot from an unusual angle or perspective. One way is to shoot close-ups using a wide-angle lens. This distorts the appearance of the subject closest to the camera, causing it to appear to out of proportion.

An extension of this approach is to shoot from a low angle, looking up at your subject, as opposed to the more usual way of shooting square-on or at eye level. When shooting trees or tall buildings, for example, this approach exaggerates their height and converging lines, making the subject look far more imposing.


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An

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Be

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Ben Brain shows how even the sun can inspire a compelling long-term project

Come on my sun!

A great way to expand your

creative repertoire is to start a

project with a theme, creating

multiple pictures that are connected

with each other. This can really help

define your artistic vision and style. It

might all sound a bit ‘art school’, but

don’t let that put you off: it’ll help make

you a better photographer. Guaranteed.

You don’t need to embark on an

in-depth endeavour – start with a simple

idea and let it evolve. Here we’ve created

a project around some very basic

parameters. The subject is light and we

started by simply shooting directly into

the sun. We framed it so that the sun

was in the exact centre, with the

pre-visualised idea that the finished

image would be cropped square.

Using a compact system camera,

we were able to carry a camera all the

time for whenever the sun was out. The

examples here were all taken while going

about daily life, such as travelling on a

plane, commuting on a train and even on

a country walk with the family.

Eventually the project evolved

and we changed from a square to a

circular crop and added a cool red

tinted monochrome effect added in

Photoshop. So let’s see how to go about

starting a project.

CREATIVE ZONE

Where and why did you photograph this

cup of coffee?

“I took the shot at an outdoor café on

a cold, low-contrast day in Blackpool. I

had set myself a week’s project: to shoot

only using a 50mm Lensbaby, as a way of

pushing the boundaries of seeing capacity.

Composition is about arranging shapes

in a frame, and this picture is partly about

shape and the connection of the circles.

The coffee cup is linked to the plate beside

it by the knife resting on the plate. The line

of the cup handle and knife helps the eye

to move through the picture space.”

What kit and exposure settings did you

use to take this image?

“I used a Canon EOS 5D Mark II with a

Lensbaby Composer (single-glass lens).

I used this set-up to give minimum depth

of field, effectively f/2.0. Settings were 1/45

sec at ISO 200, using raw capture.

For me, digital photography with standard

equipment is often too clinical, too literal.

A Lensbaby offers great freedom to

interpret the subject and allows you to

suggest rather than define your subject.”

What post-capture work did you do?

“In Lightroom, the digital lith-contrast

effect has been created with a custom

curve. The table has been darkened to

black to increase contrast. I’ve applied

split toning to achieve warm tones in

the highlights and a cool blue in the few

remaining shadow tones around the rim of

the saucer and plate.”

To see more of Andy’s work, visit

www.andybeelfrps.co.uk

Shapes in a frame

FIVE-MINUTE MASTERCLASS

Having something to say that interprets your subject is vital for expressive images,

says pro photographer Andy Beel

Keep it simple and set

some basic parameters

to start with


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How to… Create a consistent-looking projectPlan your theme and use image-editing tools to help connect shots taken over time

Think of an ideaStart with something unambitious that

you can easily do on a daily basis without

having to pack huge amounts of kit and

travel for miles to areas of outstanding

natural beauty. We chose the sun, as it’s

always there – even in the UK!

01 02Be consistentIt’s important when working with a set of

images that they are consistent with one

another. To make the monochrome red tint

exactly the same in each image, we made a

preset gradient map in Photoshop, applying

it to each image.

Look for evolutionImage browsers such as Bridge or

Lightroom are ideal for building and evolving

your body of work, and editing out the ones

you want to use or get rid of. Use the star

rating system to make collections and see

how the images work together.

03


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Dallas-based photographer Noel Kerns reveals the ‘painting with light’ technique he used to create this eerily atmospheric night scene

PHOTO ANATOMY

NIGHT LIGHT

Exterior lighting“I highlighted the tree with an X2000

zooming flashlight from just outside the

right edge of the composition,” Noel says.

“Then I waited for the moonlight to burn in

the rest of the exposure.”

No

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s

Noel’s equipmentNoel used a Nikon D300 and a Tokina

12-24mm lens set at 12mm. The camera

was mounted on a Manfrotto tripod. He

avoided camera vibrations by using a

Pixel wireless remote shutter release.


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E X P E R T T I P

“To achieve a mixture of

artificial and ambient light,

shoot on a night with a full

moon, or when there’s still

a little light in the sky.

Choose an exposure that

allows you time to paint

the subject. Experiment

until you remove any

areas of under-exposure

and over-exposure.”

Geoff Harris, editor

Noel Kerns’ book Nightwatch: Painting

with Light is on sale now. See www.noelkerns photography.com

Long exposureNoel took one exposure of four minutes at

f/5.6. “In-camera long exposure noise

reduction was disabled, in favour of post-

processing noise reduction using Imagenomic

Noiseware Professional,” he says.

Red interior“The red lighting effect inside the

building was created using a handheld

late 1970s Vivitar 285 strobe with a

red gel over it, which was fired

manually from several concealed

spots,” explains Noel.

Film set“This building is an abandoned

movie set near El Mirage, California,”

says Noel. “The vivid paint job, classic

Joshua Tree and remote location all

made it an amazing subject.”


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How to select Program Shift mode

When to change aperture and shutter speed

What the drawbacks of Program Shift are

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN THIS MONTH

What is Program Shift mode?

Program Shift, also known as Flexible

Program, is an advanced semi-

automatic exposure mode – although

you won’t find it listed as an option

on your camera’s mode dial. What

you will find is the letter P, which

stands for Program mode. Select this,

and the camera will adjust both the

aperture and the shutter speed to

produce what it judges to be the best

exposure for the scene or subject

you’re photographing. However, you

can manually override the camera’s

Ma

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Get more creative results from this ‘easy’ mode by shifting the aperture and shutter speed, as Marcus Hawkins explains…

Understanding…

PROGRAM MODE

BACK TO BASICS

ESSENTIAL PHOTOGRAPHY

SKILLS STEP BY STEP

choice, ‘shifting’ to a diferent

combination of aperture and shutter

speed. It’s by doing this that you

efectively enter Program Shift mode.

So Program Shift is a bit like dialling

in exposure compensation?

Not really. Exposure compensation

enables you to override the camera’s

meter to make a picture brighter or

darker, but Program Shift doesn’t have

any efect on the brightness of an

image. The exposure suggested by the

camera remains the same: it’s just that

you can use a diferent combination

of aperture and shutter speed in order

to achieve it.

Why would I want to change to a

different combination of aperture

and shutter speed?

When it comes to exposure, Program

mode always plays it safe. The camera

takes the focal length of the lens into

account when it meters the scene

and sets the exposure, and it assumes

that you’re shooting handheld. As

a result, it will attempt to set a fast

enough shutter speed to produce

sharp pictures, free from the efects

of camera shake. This means that in

low light, it will choose the largest

available aperture on the lens to

ensure the fastest shutter speed

is used. Only when light levels are

bright enough will it select a smaller

aperture to increase the depth of field

and make more of a picture look sharp.

While this is good news for grab

shots, the combination of aperture

and shutter speed set by the camera

is unlikely to produce creative results.

Program mode recognises the lens in use and selects a

shutter speed that will give sharp results


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EXPLAINED WORKING IN PROGRAM SHIFTThe steps to follow for great results

Get in the modeTurn the mode dial to Program

and lightly tap the shutter release

button. You’ll see a combination of

aperture and shutter speed appear.

Move the camera around and you’ll

see either the aperture, shutter

speed or both change.

Shift the settingsTo activate Program Shift, rotate the

camera’s control dial in one

direction to select a wider aperture/

faster shutter speed or in the

opposite direction for a smaller

aperture/slower shutter speed. This

process can vary between models.

Change the ISOIf a combination of aperture and

shutter speed is unavailable, try

changing the ISO setting on the

camera. Increasing it will make the

sensor more sensitive to light, while

choosing a lower setting decreases

the sensor’s sensitivity.

fixed to a tripod. Program Shift gives you this creative control, but combines that with the ease of use you normally associate with a point-and-shoot.

It sounds a bit automated – so

why wouldn’t I just use my camera’s

Automatic mode?

Program Shift is what’s known as a semi-automatic mode: you can let the camera handle the whole picture-taking process, or you can roll your sleeves up and make some adjustments manually. For example, you can select an ISO sensitivity, tweak the white balance and picture style, and dial in exposure compensation. Your camera’s Automatic mode – the green icon on the mode dial – doesn’t give you this level of freedom. You may be able to choose a drive setting and decide whether to fire the flash or not, but that’s about your lot.

How do Aperture Priority or Shutter

Priority differ from Program Shift?

In both of those modes, you select one aspect of the exposure – the aperture (in Aperture Priority) or the shutter speed (in Shutter Priority) – and the camera automatically matches this with an appropriate shutter speed or aperture. When you’re

SHOOTING ADVICE APERTURE AND SHUTTER SPEEDTurn the camera’s control dial to get the correct balance for the conditions

The two key components in making an exposure

are aperture and shutter speed. As the

aperture gets larger, more light reaches the

camera’s imaging sensor. As a result, faster shutter

speeds are needed to reduce the amount of time

the sensor is exposed to the light – otherwise the

picture will be too bright. Similarly, as the aperture

gets smaller, slower shutter speeds are required to

increase the amount of time the sensor is exposed

to the light – otherwise the picture will be too dark.

It’s this balancing act that Program Shift is based on.

As you turn the camera’s control dial, the

combination of aperture and shutter speed

changes, but the overall exposure remains

consistent. See our example below: each of the

combinations shown here would give the equivalent

exposure, but the effect on the image at each end

of the scale would be very different.

Bear in mind that the actual combination shown

on your camera will vary according to the amount of

light available, the metering mode and the ISO

sensitivity set on the camera.

APERTURE f/2.8 f/4 f/5.6 f/8 f/11 f/16 f/22

SHUTTER 1/1,000 sec 1/500 sec 1/250 sec 1/125 sec 1/60 sec 1/30 sec 1/15 sec SPEED

Less depth of field; more

chance of freezing action

More depth of field; less

chance of freezing action

A good compromise

SMALL APERTURELARGE APERTURE

You might want to use a slower shutter speed than suggested in order to record any movement as a blur, for instance, or to be able to choose a smaller aperture in low-light conditions when the camera’s firmly

Program and Program Shift are good for everyday photography, enabling you to grab shots in good light


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SLR CAMERA SKILLS


working in a hurry, it can be easy to

just focus on the part that you’re

manually selecting and neglect to

check the setting that the camera has

chosen. Sometimes this can lead to

disappointing results. Take Aperture

Priority: as you change the aperture,

the shutter speed may drop too low

to give sharp handheld pictures.

Program Shift can be a better

option for grab shots where there’s

little time to think. You can press

the shutter release and be confident

that the camera will always opt for

a shutter speed that will give you

sharp results.

Are there any drawbacks of using

Program Shift?

If you know you want a particular

efect, such as a shallow depth of field

or a slow shutter speed, it can often

be quicker to work in the appropriate

mode mentioned above. Having to

scroll through a range of combinations

in Program Shift until you come to

the one that best matches the efect

you’re looking for takes a little longer.

On some cameras, any ‘shifted’

exposure combination in Program

Shift will only be available while the

camera’s meter is active. If you take

your finger of the shutter release

and the aperture and shutter speed

disappear from the viewfinder or the

LCD screen, the shifted exposure will

From blink-and-you-miss-it moments to exposures that stretch into minutes, master the art of creative shutter speeds.

NEXT MONTH… SHUTTER SPEED EFFECTS

Recognise when Program mode can get it wrong – and what you can do about it

Bright or dark scenesThe exposure generated by Program mode

is an automatic one, based on the metering

mode selected on the camera. As a result, it

can get things wrong: typically over-exposing

dark subjects and under-exposing bright

ones. Using Program Shift to select a

different combination of aperture and

shutter speed will have no effect on the

overall exposure, so use your camera’s

exposure compensation feature.

Flash exposuresProgram mode is not a good choice for

flash photography, because your choice of

aperture and shutter speed will be limited.

Program Shift won’t be available, and your

camera will default to a shutter speed that’s

between 1/60 sec and the maximum ‘sync

speed’ (the fastest shutter speed that can

be used with the flash). Consider using one

of the other semi-automatic or manual

shooting modes instead.

Low lightProgram mode is limited by the range of

apertures offered on the lens, and the

shutter speeds available as a result. In low

light you may not be able to select an

aperture that will give a fast enough shutter

speed for sharp pictures. If you’re already

working at the lens’s largest aperture, select

a higher ISO setting to increase the shutter

speed. Alternatively, use Auto ISO and let the

camera vary the ISO according to conditions.

SHOOTING ADVICE PROGRAM ALTERNATIVES

This flower was shot indoors in low light.

The camera, in Program mode, selected

the largest aperture on the lens to give the

fastest possible shutter speed. This is Program

mode’s default approach when light levels are

low. However, the shallow depth of field

created by the aperture of f/2.8 means that

only a fraction of the flower appears sharp.

A smaller aperture would increase the depth

of field, but that would require a much slower

shutter speed. In this instance, that wouldn’t

be a problem because the camera was on a

tripod, so we rotated the control dial to enter

Program Shift mode, and selected a small

aperture/slow shutter speed combination. Note

the overall exposure level stays the same.

SHOOTING ADVICE SHIFTING THE EXPOSURELearn how to alter the aperture and shutter speed to achieve different results

be lost. When you dab the shutter

release to activate the meter again

you’ll be back in Program mode, with

the initial combination of aperture

and shutter speed that’s been

suggested by the camera.

F/2.8, 1 SEC F/16, 30 SEC


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SLR CAMERA SKILLS


FIX YOUR FLASH SHOTSThree common flash problems – and how best to avoid them

Wrong sync speedAll cameras have a specified

sync speed for flash photography,

typically 1/125 or 1/250 sec. If a

shutter speed faster than the sync

speed is used, the shutter won’t

open long enough for the flashlight

to register. Make sure the correct

sync speed is set, although a

slower shutter speed can be used.

01

Over-flashed subjectIf the subject is too bright, it has

received too much flash. This can

happen when using flash in one

of your camera’s auto modes. To

reduce the amount of flash, use

the flash compensation and dial

in around -1. Take a shot, check

the results and make further

compensation if necessary.

02

PHOTO RESCUE

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Poorly flashed images stand out a mile. Mark Hamblin points out common errors so you don’t have a cow...

Flash lighting is a difficult thing to master,

and its poor use is only too obvious in

badly-flashed images. Either the subject is

much too bright, or the background is pitch black

– or both. Results can also be hugely variable

depending on how far away the subject is

positioned from the light. Often a flash is nowhere

near powerful enough to light the subject, so the

image comes out far too dark.

These problems are a result of a variety of

issues with flash photography – so if your flash-lit

images are leaving you disappointed and

frustrated, we have some useful advice to help

you see the light.

Take flash by the horns

Dark backgroundIf the background is a long way

behind the subject, it will receive

insufficient light from the flash.

Avoid this by placing the subject

much closer to the background.

Alternatively, balance flash and

natural light by setting a slower

shutter speed and using the flash

as a fill-in rather than a main light.

03

BEFORE


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63

SLR CAMERA SKILLS

1 Whitelee Wind FarmEaglesham, G76 0QQ

At 215 turbines strong, Whitelee is the UK’s largest onshore wind

farm, and there’s plenty of scope to explore the moorland

landscape the turbines occupy.

5 Chesterton WindmillLeamington Spa CV33 9LB

A stone mill that’s on the ‘to do’ list of many

landscape pros. Its hilltop location makes it

easy to create clean compositions.

2 Burbo BankMerseyside, Crosby L23 6SX

For a surreal scenic, head to Crosby Beach and

shoot Antony Gormley’s ‘Another Place’

sculptures with turbines in the background.

6 Pitstone WindmilllBuckinghamshire LU7 9ER

One of the oldest windmills in the UK, now under

the management of the National Trust. Make sure

you arrive early: parking is free, but limited.

7 Herringfleet WindmillSuffolk, NR32 5QT

The quintessential windmill-in-winter shot? This

‘smock mill’ provides a fitting focal point as the

sun rises on a frosty morning in the Broads.

3 Holgate WindmillYork, YO26 4TX

You’ll find this five-storey, recently restored

mill sitting on a roundabout at the end of a

residential street close to York city centre.

4 Ashton WindmillSomerset BS26 2PP

A beautiful, 25-foot-high mill situated on the

Somerset Levels. It’s open during the summer,

but the external views are worth shooting all year.

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Our pick of photogenic windmills and wind farms, with sat-nav friendly postcodes

Our favourite places to photograph…

Wind machines

Pa

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TOP TIPUse a strong ND filter to extend

exposures and blur moving clouds and

windmill blades


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64

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MM394 as a welcome gift.The MM394 is a compact but

reassuringly sturdy monopod that’s ideal for both photo and video applications.

Crafted from high-quality aluminium that ensures maximum stability and durability in use, this handy monopod also boasts impressively solid section clips; a stable camera platform with a fixed screw-thread attachment; and a foam grip for improved handling and a warmer feel when shooting in the cold.

Weighing in at just 330g, it’s only 48cm long when collapsed (making it easy to carry), but extends to a useful maximum height of 152.5cm – perfect for shooting from eye level when you’re standing up. It also has a load rating of 4.5kg, so it can easily support all but the biggest cameras and lenses.

This lightweight monopod will provide you with all the support you need when you can’t use a tripod. Simply attach your camera directly to the top platform and start shooting.

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67

SLR CAMERA SKILLS


Using Bulb modeBulb is best activated using a lockable

remote release so that the shutter can be

released and locked open for any length of

time. Set the shooting mode to Bulb, then

use the remote release to lock open the

shutter. Close the shutter by unlocking it.

Star trail prepTo shoot a successful star trail, choose

a clear, moonless night away from any light

pollution. Set the camera up on a tripod

while it’s still light. Compose your shot using

a wide-angle lens to include foreground

interest, such as a tree or unlit building.

Taking the shotFit a fresh battery: they drain quickly in

Bulb mode. Set a wide aperture and an ISO

of 800 to 1,600. Now you’ll need to wait for it

to get totally dark or come back later. Release

the shutter in Bulb mode and expose for

between 30 and 180 minutes to record trails.

How to… CAPTURE A STUNNING STAR TRAILUse Bulb mode to shoot the night sky

0201 03

Mark Hamblin demonstrates a great use for your camera’s Bulb mode – capturing a stunning star trail

Images written in the stars

Your camera’s Bulb

setting allows you to

hold the shutter open

for as long as you like, so that

you can make long exposures of

several minutes or even hours.

One area of photography

when the Bulb function comes

into its own is for shooting star

trails, where you need to keep

the shutter open for upwards

of 30 minutes. The simplest

technique for capturing star

trails is to keep the shutter open

long enough so the movement of

the stars is recorded as curved

lines across the picture.

The main obstacle for star

trail photography is other light

sources, mostly from built-up

areas, but also from the moon.

You need to find an area free of

light pollution, and choose a

night when there is a new moon

or a time when the moon is

below the horizon during the

exposure. Check the internet to

find your nearest dark sky area.

STELLAR ADVICEStar trails are possible with any

camera that has a Bulb mode. In

order for the star trails to appear

brightly in the final image, you’ll

need to use a lens with a wide

aperture of f/2.8 or f/4, so that

plenty of light reaches the sensor.

Wide-angle lenses are best, so

that lots of the star-filled sky

can be included in the shot.

“The main obstacle for star trail photography is other light sources, mostly from built-up areas or the moon”

SLR DISCOVERIES

Pa

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Above Focusing in the dark is difficult, so you want to make sure you get it right before you start. If you’re including foreground objects, try shining a light on them


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TRY IT

FREETODAY!

Learn Photoshop now with our expert tutorials, free video lessons and inspirational galleries

UK: http://goo.gl/dDvsS US: http://goo.gl/Wn0qs

ouT now for iPad & iPhone!


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69


presents…

Photoshop School

70 74 78

The Adobe® Photoshop® guide for photographers

®70 Retro effects in Elements

Forget cheesy Instagram conversions: here’s how to age photos in Elements

74 Get the Ansel Adams look Learn how to recreate those classic landscape tones with our inspirational CS tutorial

78 Fix exposure in Lightroom You can’t always get it right in camera, so use Lightroom for perfectly exposed shots

THIS MONTH…

Download our iPad app from the App Store

Plus! FULL TEST OF

HOT NEW RAW SOFTWARE

See page 114


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Digital Camera January 2014

70

PHOTOSHOP BASICS

PhotoshopSchool


Your digital camera is designed to capture a scene’s true colours and display a wide range of tones, while keeping artifacts such as noise to a minimum.

Because each shot is stored digitally, its colours and tones won’t fade over time, so the image will look as good as new for decades. So it seems ironic that it’s currently fashionable to distress pristine digital photographs and make them look like analogue prints that have been damaged by years of wear and tear.

The latest version of Photoshop Elements has a new collection of Efects that can evoke a range of analogue looks in a click. Don’t worry if you don’t own Elements 12: we’ll show you how to add character to your digital photos by mimicking retro film efects from scratch.

We’ll look at how to use a Gradient Fill adjustment layer to add light leakage efects to any shot. The advantage of this technique is that you can modify the adjustment layer at any time to change the position and strength of the light leakage efects so that it suits the composition of any photo. We’ll also reveal how to use filters to add realistic clumps of analogue film grain (rather than nasty points of digital noise).

GO RETROMost of our analogue artifacts can be applied as separate layers, which enables you to quickly and easily ‘retrofit’ other digital images in your collection. As well as adding artifacts produced by film cameras, we’ll mimic darkroom techniques such as cross-processing to create retro colours. We’ll also evoke the passing of time by using special efect brush tips to add wear and tear to the photograph’s surface.

George Cairns reveals how to use Photoshop Elements to mimic traditional film effects WHAT YOU’LL NEED Photoshop Elements 11 or later

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN How to use the Gradient Fill adjustment layer to add light leakage effects; mimic darkroom cross processed colours using the Hue/Saturation command; use filters and layers to fake film grain; and use special effect brush tips to add wear and tear

IT ONLY TAKES 20 minutes

Add retro film effects

AFTER

STEP BY STEP BEFORE

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PC & MAC FILES http://mos.futurenet.com/resources/dcm/dcm147-ps_basics.zip


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ADD RETRO EFFECTS

PhotoshopSchool

Learn the lingoLight leakage

When an analogue

camera’s film roll

becomes partially exposed

to light (due to a crack in

the casing, for example),

the resulting print can suffer

from light leakage effects.

These unwanted artifacts

tarnish parts of the print with

orange splashes of colour

and washed-out-looking

tones. You can add instant

light leakage effects to your

shots using the new Effects

panel in Elements 12’s Quick

editing workspace, although

you’ll see that the results are

a bit over the top.

Modify the gradient

2 In the Gradient Editor window, click to choose the

Foreground to Transparent preset. This should

create a black-to-transparent gradient. Click on the

colour stop at the bottom left of the preview. Click

on the Color swatch below it. In the Select Stop Color

window, click to sample an orange colour. Click OK.

Shift the colours

4Choose Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Hue/

Saturation. Label the new adjustment layer

‘Cross Process’. Click OK. Set the Hue/Saturation

command’s Channel drop-down to Blues. By dragging

Hue to -40, the sky will take on a greener tint that

evokes the retro colours of a cross-processed print.

Add a vignette

6Go to Filter>Correct Camera Distortion. This

command is designed to counteract vignetted

corners, but we can use it to add them. In the

Vignette section, set Amount to -55 to darken the

corners. Set Midpoint to +60 to push the darkened

areas out towards the corners. Click OK.

Go grey

5Choose Layer>New>Layer from the main menu

bar. Label the layer as ‘Vignette’. Click OK. Go to

Edit>Fill Layer. Set the Contents drop-down menu to

50% Gray. Click OK to fill the transparent layer with

grey. Drag the grey layer to the top of the stack in the

Layers palette.

“By using a Gradient Fill adjustment layer to add light leakage effects, you can modify this digitally created retro artifact to suit any shot. Simply double-click on the Gradient Fill adjustment layer to access its editable properties. You can then change the Angle value to make the light leakage effect complement any shot’s composition. You can also adjust the adjustment layer’s Opacity to produce a more subtle (or intense) light leakage effect if need be.”George Cairns, technique writer

E X P E R T T I P

Modify the angle

3You should now have an orange-to-transparent

Gradient Fill layer. To change the position of the

light leakage effect, set Angle to -160°. Increase Scale

to 130%. Leave Style set to Linear. Click OK to apply

the changes. Set the layer’s blending mode to Screen.

Reduce the layer’s Opacity to 70%.

Open the image

1Go to File>Open and browse to our retro effects_

before.jpg tutorial file. Click Open. In the Layers

palette, click Create new adjustment layer. Choose

the Gradient option from the list (not Gradient Map).

A Gradient Fill adjustment layer will appear. In the

Gradient Fill window, click on the Gradient Editor.


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PHOTOSHOP BASICS

PhotoshopSchool

“Due to more primitive manufacturing techniques, the amount of light entering a film camera’s lens could vary quite dramatically. This meant that the exposure would vary between the centre and edges of the negative, leading to lighter or darker (vignetted) corners. The plastic lenses of cheap toy cameras were also more prone to producing vignetted edges. There’s a Toy Camera preset in Elements 12’s new Effects collection.”George Cairns, technique writer

E X P E R T T I P

Learn the lingoAdjustment layers

In Step 6, you could try

adding a soft focus

vignette effect using the

Blur tool instead of using our

more advanced filter and

layer masking technique.

You’ll find the brush-based

Blur tool in the Enhance

section of the Tools palette.

Choose a soft round tip

from the brush Preset

picker in the Options bar

and push the Strength slider

up to 100%. Spray over the

edges of the duplicate layer

to add a soft focus effect.

Change blending mode

7Set the Vignette layer’s blending mode to Overlay.

This hides any pixels with a 50% grey value,

revealing the photo from the layer below. Only the

layer’s darker vignetted corners will be visible. You

could reduce the Opacity of the Vignette layer for

a more subtle vignette effect.

Apply lens blur

8The plastic lens of a retro toy camera could cause

the edge of the frame to lose focus. To recreate

this analogue artifact, click on the Background

layer and press Ctrl/Cmd+J to duplicate it. Go to

Filter>Blur>Lens Blur. Tick Faster. Set Radius to 64. Set

Brightness to 21 and Threshold to 255. Click OK.

Set up a soft brush

9Choose Layer>Layer Mask>Hide All. A black

mask will attach itself to the blurred layer. Grab

the Brush tool from the Tools palette. In the Options

bar, click on the Brush Preset picker and choose a

soft round tip. Increase Size to 500 pixels. Set the

foreground colour swatch to white by pressing X.

Selective blur

10Click on the black layer mask to target it. Spray

the soft white brush tip around the edges of

the frame. This reveals some of the blurred pixels

from the top layer and makes them blend with the

sharper pixels on the original background layer below.

You now have blurred and vignetted edges.

Make some noise

11Repeat the technique covered in step 5 to fill a

new layer with 50% grey. Go to Filter>Noise>Add

Noise. Set Amount to 80%. Set Distribution to

Gaussian. Tick the Monochromatic box and click OK.

At this stage the noise looks too digital, so we’ll need

to soften it up.

Soften the grain

12 Choose Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Set Radius to

4.0. This softens the digital noise into clumps of

film grain. Click OK. Set the film grain layer’s blending

mode to Overlay to blend the clumps with the

colours and tones on the layers below. Reduce the

Opacity of the layer to 65% for a more subtle effect.


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ADD RETRO EFFECTS

“Photoshop Elements 12 has a new collection of effects that can add a range of retro filmic look to your shots in a click. To access these old-school effects, go to the Quick editing workspace. Click on the new Effects (fx) icon at the bottom right. The Effects panel will then render up 10 retro analogue versions of your shot. Some of these new film effects (such as Cross Process) are a bit over-cooked, while others (such as Toy Camera) produce prettier and more subtle results. Click on a thumbnail to add the effect to your image.”George Cairns, technique writer

E X P E R T T I P

Fill layer

15Go to Layer>New>Layer. Click OK. Label the

layer as ‘Texture’. Grab the Color Picker tool.

Click to sample the yellow border. Go to Edit>Fill

Layer. Set the Contents drop-down to Foreground

Color. Click OK to fill the layer with yellow. Drag the

Texture layer below the Stamp Visible layer.

Import new tips

16Click on the Stamp Visible layer’s thumbnail

and choose Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal All. Grab

the Brush tool. Click on the Brush Preset picker in the

Tool Options bar. Click on the picker’s drop-down

menu and choose Special Effect Brushes. Click to

choose the Drippy Watercolor preset. Set Size to 250.

Erode the top layer

17Click on the Stamp Visible layer’s white mask.

Press X until the Tools palette’s foreground

colour swatch is set to black. Spray the black special

effects brush around the edge of the frame to reveal

some of the yellow Texture layer below. This helps

add wear and tear.

Enhance the damage

18Click on the Effects (fx) icon. Click on the

Styles palette. Set the drop-down to Bevels.

Drag the Simple Inner icon onto the photo. Click the

cog-shaped settings symbol. Set Angle to 90 degrees.

Drop Size to 9 and set Direction to Up. This gives the

brush tip’s eroded surface a little depth.

Resize the canvas

13 Go to Image>Resize>Canvas Size. Set the New

Size drop-down menu options to Percent. Type

in a Width and Height of 5. Set the Canvas Extension

drop-down menu to Other and choose a delicate

yellow. Click OK. This will add a yellowing border to our

retro print.

Create a stamp layer

14 Click on the top layer in the Layers palette.

Press Shift+Ctrl+Alt+E (or Shift+Cmd+Alt+E

on a Mac). This performs a Stamp Visible command,

creating a flattened version of the scene as a new

layer (Layer 1). You need to label this merged layer

as ‘Stamp Visible’.

PhotoshopSchool

Learn the lingoStamp Visible

When you choose

Layer>Merge Visible,

you’ll combine the

document’s multiple layers

into a single layer that you

can then continue editing.

However, this command

flattens the handy vignette

and grain layers together, so

you can’t fine-tune them or

apply them to other images.

By performing the Stamp

Visible keyboard command

(see Step 14), you can

create a flattened version of

the file while preserving the

useful layers.


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74

NEXT STEPS

PhotoshopSchool


STEP BY STEP

AFTER

BEFORE

When we talk about great landscape photographers, Ansel Adams has to be the first name on the list. His starkly beautiful images of the American wilderness displayed

flawless technique and a uniquely crafted vision. Most of his work made use of monochrome film; lens-mounted filters (usually yellow or red) to emphasise skies; and darkroom techniques that added contrast and controlled detail.

All of these great efects are simple to recreate. The first step is to convert our image to mono. Some methods for this are better than others. The best tools give you control over the brightness of individual colour ranges in the image during the

Give landscapes a classic feel by applying stylish mono effects. James Paterson shows you how

WHAT YOU’LL NEEDPhotoshop CS5 or later

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN How to convert to mono with Camera Raw’s HSL panel; use the Temperature and Tint settings to fine-tune the conversion; dodge and burn with the Adjustment brush; fix banding in skies; and apply sharpening with the High Pass filter


Get the Ansel Adams look

mono conversion. One such tool is the HSL panel in Camera Raw. Just as Adams used filters, we can use HSL to control colour brightness for a dramatic sky. Our technique difers slightly from the normal approach to Camera Raw mono, in that we’ll use HSL’s saturation sliders for greater control.

IN THE ZONEAdams’ prints were painstakingly crafted using his Zone System to ensure the best gradation of tones. Similarly, we can use Photoshop tonal tools to ensure we have rich shadows and delicately detailed highlights. Adams wasn’t adverse to a little dodging and burning, despite his emphasis on ‘pure’ photography, so we’ll follow suit.

Jam

es

Pa

ters

on

PC & MAC FILES http://mos.futurenet.com/resources/dcm/dcm147-ps_nextsteps.zip


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ANSEL ADAMS STYLING

75PhotoshopSchool

Remove the colour

2Click on the HSL Panel, then go to the Saturation

tab. Drag all eight sliders back to -100. The reason

we’re removing colour like this rather than ticking

Convert to Grayscale is that this way we can use the

Temp, Tint, Saturation and Vibrance sliders to fine-

tune the look of the black and white later.

Darken the blues

3Click the Luminance tab, then use the sliders to

change the brightness. We want to darken the sky

and lighten the foliage, so set Oranges to +84, Yellows

to +65, Greens to +54, Aquas to -65, Blues to -58 and

Purples to -58. Use the Targeted Adjustment tool to

drag over the image to change colours.

Play with temperature

6Now we can use the Temperature and Tint

sliders to fine-tune the black and white

conversion. By dragging the Temperature slider to the

left, we can shift the colours, which results in a different

black-and-white look. Next, set Temperature to 5900

and Tint to +22.

Set white and black

5Click the Basic panel. Set Contrast to +18, Shadows

to +24 and Clarity to +18. Hold Alt and drag the

Whites slider right until you see areas appear in the

image. Set the Whites to a point just before the areas

appear, at about +17. Do the same for the Black slider

by dragging until the areas disappear at about +10.

Add a grad

4Grab the Graduated Filter tool from the Toolbar,

then click and drag down from near the top of the

image towards the middle. Hold Shift as you drag to

keep the line vertical. Next, go to the Graduated Filter

sliders on the right and set Exposure to -2.30. Make

sure all the other sliders are set to their default values.

Learn the lingoHSL panel

Camera Raw’s HSL panel

offers eight sliders that

let you adjust different

colour ranges. The name

stands for Hue, Saturation

and Luminosity, the three

parameters to choose from

when adjusting the colours.

For example, if you have an

image with a blue sky, the

Hue tab will let you change

the blue to another colour;

the Saturation tab allows

you to make the blue more

or less intense; and the

Luminosity tab lets you

change the brightness of

the blue tones.

“You may be used to using Camera Raw’s black-and-white setting, but the method here shows a slightly different way to convert to mono with the HSL panel. We can knock back saturation on each colour then use the luminosity sliders to change the brightness. This allows us to fine tune the conversion by leaving the Vibrance and Saturation sliders open for use.”James Paterson, technique writer

E X P E R T T I P

Fix the fringing

1Navigate to our tutorial image in Bridge, right-click

and choose Open in Camera Raw. We’ll start by

quickly fixing the fringing you find in areas of high

contrast, such as where the mountain meets the sky.

Click the Lens Correction panel on the right, then go to

the Colour tab and tick Remove Chromatic Aberration.


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76

NEXT STEPS


PhotoshopSchool

Increase the saturation

7 We can also use the Saturation and Vibrance

sliders to vary the contrast and intensity of the

mono effect. Set Vibrance to +18 and Saturation to

+58. The changes are quite subtle, but add to the

control you have over the look and punch of the black-

and-white effect.

Add more punch

8Click the Tone Curve panel and go to the Point

tab. Click to add one point near the top right of

the diagonal curve line, and drag up to lighten the

image. Add a second point near the bottom left of

the line and drag it down to darken the shadow tones,

increasing contrast.

Paint an adjustment

9Grab the Adjustment brush from the Toolbar.

Paint roughly over the mountains and the

foreground. Use ] and [ to resize your brush as you

paint and press Y to toggle the mask overlay on and off.

Set Exposure to +25 and Clarity to +42 to change the

area covered by the mask.

Lighten the water

10Click New in the Adjustment Brush settings to

the top-right, then click to set a second pin in

the patch of water at the front. We can use another

adjustment to lighten the reflection. Paint over the

water, reset the previous settings, then set Exposure to

+1.45, Contrast to +18 and Clarity to +33.

Burn the rocks

11The rocks look a little too bright. Set a new pin

on them then paint over the area. Try ticking

Auto-Mask to snap onto the edges of the rocks as you

paint. Set Exposure to -1.25. Next, set a fourth pin and

paint over the right side of the mountain, then set

Exposure to +0.80 and Contrast to +25.

Add a vignette

12Press N for one more pin and set it in the

bottom-left corner. Paint over the lower left

and right sides left then set Exposure to -0.50 to

darken down the areas. This kind of subtle vignette

helps to draw the eye into the image. Paint over the

clouds on the left too.

Learn the lingoGroup f/64

Ansel Adams formed

Group f/64 in 1932, with

10 other photographers

including Edward Weston

and Imogen Cunningham.

The group was devoted to a

pure style of photography

characterised by precisely

framed and super-sharp

images, as a reaction to the

pictoralist style of ‘created’

imagery that photographers

like Man Ray had made

popular. The name referred

to the smallest aperture

available in the large-format

cameras used by Adams

and his colleagues. The

huge depth of field on offer

at f/64 epitomised the

group’s core values.

“Ansel Adams’ use of narrow apertures like f/64 meant that his landscapes were always perfectly sharp from front to back. We’ve applied High Pass Sharpening to crisp up our landscape here. It’s simple to do: copy a layer and apply the High Pass filter at a fairly low setting, then set the layer’s Blend Mode to Overlay. High Pass sharpening is great for landscapes, because it seeks out and defines edges in the image without emphasising noise.”James Paterson, technique writer

E X P E R T T I P


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77PhotoshopSchoolANSEL ADAMS STYLING

Fix the noise

13Go to the Detail panel and double-click the Zoom

tool for 100% view. Tackle grainy noise by setting

the Luminance slider to 45. Next, apply sharpening. Set

Amount to 48 and Radius to 0.8. Double-click the

Hand tool to zoom out, then hold Alt and drag the

Masking slider to 31 to mask the sharpening.

Open in Photoshop

14Click the blue text below the image window to

access the workflow options. Set Depth to 16

Bits/Channel for the highest possible quality, then click

OK. Next, click the Open Image button to the bottom-

right to render the changes made in Camera Raw and

open the image into Photoshop.

Make a ‘dodge-burn’ layer

15Hold Alt and click the New Layer icon to access

the New Layer box. Name it ‘Dodge Burn’. Set

the blending mode to Overlay, tick ‘Fill with Overlay-

neutral colour’ and click OK. Grab the Brush tool, press

D then X to set to white. Press 1 for 10% Opacity, then

paint over the smaller clouds to lighten them slightly.

Merge a copy

16Press X to flip the colour to black, then paint to

burn in any areas that look a little too bright,

such as the small patch of grass at centre bottom.

When you’re happy, press Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+Alt+E to

merge a copy of both layers, then right-click the layer

and choose Convert to Smart Object.

Apply High Pass sharpening

17Go to Filter>Other>High Pass. Set Radius to 2.3

and click OK, then go to the blending mode

drop-down at the top of the Layers panel and choose

Overlay. This creates a nice sharpening effect. If you

think the sharpening is too strong or weak, double-click

the smart filter and tweak.

Correct the banding

18The gradient applied to the sky has led to some

noticeable banding. To fix this, press Ctrl/

Cmd+Shift+Alt+E again, then go to Filter>Noise>Add

Noise. Set Amount to 2 and Distribution to Gaussian,

and tick Monochromatic. Don’t worry if the grain looks

strong: it’s less so when printed.

Learn the lingo‘Dodge-burn’ layer

Most landscapes will

benefit from selective

lightening and darkening to

balance land and sky, and

draw the eye towards the

subject. This becomes even

more important with black

and white images, as the

absence of colour

emphasises the play of light

across a scene. A layer filled

with neutral grey and the

blending mode set to

Overlay lets you dodge and

burn non-destructively by

painting with black or white.

“The advantage to using Camera Raw’s Adjustment Brush for dodging and burning as we’ve done here is that the changes you make to an image aren’t accumulative: instead they’re simply rendered all at once when you choose to open the image into Photoshop or save it in another file format. This means there’s none of the gradual loss of quality you get in Photoshop when applying a series of tonal tweaks that directly alter pixels.”James Paterson, technique writer

E X P E R T T I P


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LEARN LIGHTROOM

78 PhotoshopSchool

AFTER

BEFORE

Jam

es

Pa

ters

on

As anyone who shoots in raw and JPEG

image formats knows, raw files can

often be 10 times the file size of their

JPEG counterparts. All that extra data

means that things like white balance

can be adjusted after taking the shot.

Take this image. Straight out of camera, the

background looks washed out and the subject is

slightly under-exposed. The contrast between

the shady foreground and the bright, sunny

background has led to an unbalanced exposure,

where neither the background nor the subject

looks good. To further unbalance things, the

shady foreground light is cooler than the warm,

sunny area behind, which has led to a slight but

noticeable diference in colour temperature.

ENTER LIGHTROOMLightroom has a powerful range of tonal tools

that lets you lift shadows, rein in highlights and

selectively shift white balance. In this tutorial we’ll

show you how to do this, first with the Develop

Module’s Basic panel controls, then with the

powerful Adjustment brush.

We’ll also use the Adjustment brush to perform

a quick retouch to improve eyes and skin. It’s

simple stuf, but useful for any image that looks

unbalanced or lacking in detail.

Balance exposures in LightroomMaster shadow and highlight controls and selectively fix white balance with James Paterson

STEP BY STEPWHAT YOU’LL NEED Lightroom 4 or later

WHAT YOU’LL LEARNHow to recover detail and improve tones in shadows and highlights; selectively fix white balance in different areas; perform a quick retouch to improve eyes and skin


PC & MAC FILES http://mos.futurenet.com/resources/dcm/dcm147-ps_lightroom.zip


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79


CONTROL SHADOWS AND HIGHLIGHTS

PhotoshopSchool

Lift the skin

2Scroll down to the HSL panel. Click HSL then

Luminance, then click the little target icon to the

top-left of the box. Click over the cheek, then drag up

to lighten the orange tones to about +24. Next, grab

the Adjustment brush from the Toolbar and tick Show

Selected Mask Overlay below the image window.

Paint over the background

3Click on the background to set a pin. Paint roughly

over the background to cover the entire area. Use

] and [ to resize the brush as you paint, and hold Alt if

you need to erase. Untick Show Selected Mask Overlay,

then go to the Adjustment Brush settings on the right

and set to Exposure -0.60 and Saturation to +21.

Control with curves

6Go to the Tone Curve panel and click the Point

Curve option. The left half of the line controls

the shadows, the right half the highlights. Drag the

curve line up to lighten and down to darken. Plot three

points to make a shallow S-shaped line to darken the

shadows and lighten the highlights.

Soften the skin

5Click New, then paint a mask over the skin. Set

Clarity to -52 to soften the skin. Next, set another

new pin over the iris, then paint precisely over both. Set

Exposure to +0.30, Clarity to +18 and Saturation to +30

to lift the eyes. Grab the Spot Removal tool and paint

to tidy any spots and blemishes.

Warm the subject

4Click New at the top of the Adjustment Brush

settings on the right. This time, paint a mask over

the subject, then set Temp to +16 to warm the area

so that the white balance matches the background.

Set Exposure to +0.15 to lift it slightly, and Clarity to +15

to add punch.

“Look out for the target tools at the top left corner of the Tone Curve and HSL panels. Toggle the tools on, then drag up or down over different areas of the image for interactive control over tones and colours. The Tone Curve Target tool lets you lighten or darken parts of the tonal range, while the HSL tool lets you adjust the hue, saturation or luminance of different colours, depending on which of the three themed tabs you have selected.”James Paterson, technique writer

E X P E R T T I P

Learn the lingoDynamic range

Dynamic range is the

difference between the

lightest and darkest part of

an image. If a high-contrast

scene contains too great

a difference between the

lightest and darkest areas,

a camera may struggle

to record the full range,

and anything outside the

dynamic range gets clipped

to pure black or white. Digital

SLRs vary in the amount

of dynamic range they can

capture, but a raw file will

typically accommodate

around 12 EV.

Highlights to -40, Shadows to +28, Contrast to +37 and

Saturation to +15. Hold Alt and drag the whites to -43

until the blown-out pixels disappear. Set Blacks to -38.

Import and adjust

1Go to Lightroom’s Library module then drag in our

char_before.dng image and click Import. Go to the

Develop module. In the Basic panel, set Temp to 4500,

Highlights to -40, Shadows to +28, Contrast to +37 and

Saturation to +15. Hold Alt and drag the whites to -43

until the blown-out pixels disappear. Set Blacks to -38.


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10reasons not to miss

Hot news! Our exciting new live photography event is happening at the NEC, Birmingham, from 1-4 March. Use this guide to plan your perfect visit...

01 Try out new gearGet hands-on with the hottest kit from the world’s

leading makers. Canon, Olympus, Epson, Fujifilm, Manfrotto,

Nikon and Panasonic are just some of the big names there,

enabling you to evaluate the latest digital SLRs, compact system

cameras, lenses and accessories at close quarters. See our

website at www.photographyshow.com for a full list of exhibitors.

02 Master macro Fans of close-up and nature shots will love the

International Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY) Flower

Garden. Experts will be on hand to teach new skills for capturing

floral scenes with flair. We’ve even got a wind machine!

06 Learn how to mount photosShow your photography at its best by attending a

workshop with the UK School of Framing. Sessions include

cutting quality mounts, double-mounting, black-and-white

framing and the art of framing. £20 per workshop.

05 Get super-inspiredA stellar cast of top pros will be giving talks and

interviews at the Super Stage, including iconic portrait specialist

Rankin, the globally acclaimed Steve McCurry of ‘Afghan Girl’

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per speaker – again, book now to avoid disappointment.

07 Get some retail therapyPhoto shows are great for shopping, too. So whether

you’ve been eyeing up a particular lens for some time or are

hoping to snaffle a special show deal on a new camera upgrade,

you’ll want to make plenty of time to visit the retail exhibitors.

08 Get your work critiquedHow good is your photography really? If you’re brave

enough to find out, come along to the Digital Camera stand and

put your top shots in front of our panel of experts. We guarantee

you’ll receive constructive input and get plenty of tips for taking

your photographic talents to the next level.

09 Capture the catwalkGet your camera at the ready for some classic runway

action on our Catwalk Stage. It’s a fabulous opportunity to try

your hand at fashion, portrait and wedding photography, while

receiving expert tuition from leading pros.

10 Meet the teamThe whole Digital Camera team is looking forward to

meeting readers at The Photography Show. We’ll be there on all

four days, so drop in at our stand for a friendly chat about the

magazine, the show, photography or just life in general. You

might even want to treat yourself to a discounted subscription

to the mag while you’re at it!

03 Shoot stormtroopersHead to our Live Stage and we’ll reveal how to shoot

a range of unusual and colourful subjects, ranging from classic

cars to Star Wars stormtroopers! See the site for details.

04 Build your own SLR Join Lomography’s Konstruktor Workshop and build a

fully functional 35mm SLR (analogue) from scratch! For just £35,

you’ll discover the inner workings of a camera, build your own,

learn about shooting with film – and take home the camera

you’ve built. Book tickets online; spaces are strictly limited.

All in

form

ation

correct at th

e time o

f pu

blicatio

n. A

ll sho

w co

nten

t sub

ject to ch

ang

e.


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Geoff Harris, Editor , Digital Camera

Rankin (above, 1 & 2 March) and portrait legend

Steve McCurry (below, 3 March) are among the

big names speaking on the Super Stage

There’s so much to see and do at the Photography Show that you’d be mad to miss it! Digital Camera will be there, as will some of the biggest names in photography, so make sure you are too!

photographyshow.com

The Photography Show takes place from 1-4 March 2014 at the NEC, Birmingham. Book your ticket today at


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Photo Advisor

83

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

PhotoAdvisor


Geoff says Ultra-wide lenses

are great for shoehorning big

vistas into shots, but scenes

can end up lacking perspective or

a sense of scale. One trick is to

include some standout foreground

objects within the overall scene to

enhance perspective. However, this

can be counter-productive with

wide-angle lenses, as they tend

to exaggerate perspective.

A popular technique is

to include pathways, rivers

and hedges that start in the

foreground and recede into the

distance, leading the eye into

the composition. Another good

option is to include buildings

and other structures in the

middle distance. They have an

immediately recognisable size, so

can give a true impression of the

scale of the surrounding scene.

From a practical point of

view, when you’re trying to keep

fairly close objects and distant

horizons simultaneously sharp

in landscape images, it’s best

to use a fairly narrow aperture

of around f/11 to f/16. This will

enable a large depth of field,

especially if you focus on a point

that’s about a third of the way

into the scene.

Narrower apertures of

around f/22 to f/32 may reduce

sharpness in the image, due

to difraction of light passing

through the diaphragm.

GET A REAL SENSE OF SCALEQ I’ve bought a 10-20mm wide-angle lens for

shooting landscapes, but my shots lack a sense of scale. Can I improve this? Julian Caslake

Where the experts help you perfect your photography

CAMERA SKILLS

THE PHOTO ADVISOR TEAM

Geoff Harris, editorGeoff’s a keen portrait shooter, and loves solving a knotty reader query

Angela Nicholson, head of testingAngela’s got an unrivalled knowledge of camera tech

Chris Rutter, writerPro-level photographer Chris has a particular talent for explaining jargon

George Cairns, writer George is here to unravel the mysteries of Photoshop and Photoshop Elements

Car parks and buildings aren’t the most obvious things to include, but they help

to convey the enormity of the peaks

Got a photographic problem? Send the details to [email protected] and let us provide you with a solution


WorldMags.net



84


PhotoAdvisor


Chris says In macro

photography, the depth

of field is tiny. For

example, when using a 100mm

macro lens at its closest focus

distance, to enable maximum

magnification, the overall depth

of field will only be a single

millimetre at f/5.6. Reducing the

aperture to f/16 will still only

give a depth of field of 3mm.

It’s often better to focus

manually, and better still to use

Live View if available. In Live

View mode, use maximum

preview magnification on the

point where you want to focus,

then use manual focus. Use a

tripod to avoid camera shake and

keep the camera still between

focusing and taking the shot.

Mirror lockup is also useful, to

avoid mirror-bounce in SLRs.

Ultimately, if you need to

increase the depth of field in

macro shots, it’s best to shoot

from slightly further away. This

enables a larger and more usable

depth of field, even if you have

to crop the image after shooting.

Q Most of my extreme close-up shots are only sharp in a tiny area, if at all.

Where am I going wrong? Jon Hancock

HOW CAN I MAKE MY MACRO SHOTS LOOK SHARPER?

A LAYMAN’S GUIDE TO…

CAMERA SKILLS

MEMORY CARDSWhat types are there?

The vast majority of digital cameras use

either CompactFlash or SecureDigital

memory cards. Older cameras may have

a maximum capacity for CompactFlash

cards of, say, 32GB. The same holds true

with SecureDigital. However, even fairly

old cameras that take SD cards are usually

compatible with SDHC (SD High Capacity)

cards, which boosts the maximum available

capacity from 4GB to 32GB. Newer

cameras can usually accept SDXC (SD

eXtended Capacity) cards, which have a

theoretical 2TB maximum capacity limit.

(256GB is the highest capacity available.)

What capacity do I need?

Larger capacities naturally enable more

shots to be captured without the need to

swap the card in the camera. They

are particularly useful if you shoot in

raw+JPEG quality mode, or for shooting

video. Currently, cards of between 16GB

and 64GB in capacity offer the best value

for money.

How fast are they?

Faster cards are most useful for clearing

the camera’s memory buffer as quickly

as possible, especially when shooting

sequences of images in continuous drive

mode, with raw or raw+JPEG quality

settings. The latest CF UDMA cards or

SDHC/XC UHS-1 cards offer the fastest

write speeds with relatively new cameras

that can take full advantage of their

high-speed data buses. With SDHC/XC

cards, you’ll also need at least Class 6 or

preferably Class 10 cards to ensure the

sustained write speed is fast enough for

continuous HD video capture.

What about read speeds?

Read speeds are often faster than write

speeds, which can be helpful if you have

a large number of high-capacity image

or video files to download to a computer.

However, in order to take full advantage of

the latest high-speed cards, you’ll need

to use a USB 3.0-enabled computer and

card reader.

Above and left Shoot from slightly further away to increase the depth of field. If it proves necessary, crop the resulting image to retain the effect of the greater magnification

Left You’ll pay a

premium for the

very fastest

cards, and you

might find that

the write speed

of your camera

is significantly

slower than the

speed of the

card itself

Left SDXC cards are now available in

enormous capacities but, for the lowest

price per gigabyte, it’s best to stick to

around 32GB to 64GB


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85


PhotoAdvisor


How to… REIN IN HIGHLIGHTS WITH CAMERA SETTINGSBlown highlights are often lost forever, so it pays to get things right in-camera

HOW CAN I PROTECT MY HIGHLIGHTS?

CAMERA SKILLS

1 Auto Lighting OptimizerIncreasing the strength of the ALO can help

to preserve highlights while also boosting shadow detail. Similar systems include Nikon’s Active D-Lighting and Sony’s Dynamic Range Optimizer.

3 Raw processingThere’s generally more scope for reclaiming

highlights if you shoot in raw quality mode. You’ll have better control over selectively reducing the brightness of highlights during the editing process.

2 Exposure compensationThe Auto Lighting Optimizer fights against any

exposure compensation you apply when shooting, so Canon says to turn it off first. You can then apply negative exposure bias to preserve bright highlights.

Below and rightThe Highlight Tone Priority custom function expands dynamic range for areas brighter than 18 per cent grey, so more detail is retained in very light areas of images

Q I have recently upgraded my camera to a Canon 700D, but the highlights

seem to have a tendency to wash out to white in some of my images. Am I doing something wrong? Josie Parish

George says For all of Canon’s current SLRs, think about how the

iFCL (intelligent Focus Colour Luminance) metering system works. In Evaluative mode, metering is biased to the active focus point or points. This works well in backlit portraits. If you’re using a single AF point directed on the person’s face, you’ll get a good exposure that all but ignores the bright background. However, if the

focus point falls on a dark part of a landscape scene, you may end up with an over-exposed image, where highlights are washed out. Here the centre-weighted option can give better results.

For reining in highlights, Canons usually have Highlight Tone Priority. This devotes more of the dynamic range to highlights. The trade-of is the Auto Lighting Optimizer is disabled and the minimum sensitivity is raised from ISO 100 to 200.

BEFORE

AFTER


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86


PhotoAdvisor


3 Mirror upNikon’s mirror up function works in the

same way as in Canon cameras, but is available from the drive mode and cannot be used with a self-timer delay.

4 Exposure delayFor those without a remote controller, the

exposure delay mode applies a one-second delay after the mirror flips up. Some bodies give options for longer periods of delay.

Q I’m struggling to get sharp shots with my

super-telephoto lens, especially when I use a tripod. Why is this? Andy Kellett

Chris says As with macro photography,

stillness of the camera is vital when using

long lenses. A rigid tripod is a big help, but

mirror-bounce can be a problem with SLR

cameras. This is because the action of the reflex

mirror flipping up immediately prior to the

exposure can blur the results.

Most SLRs have a mirror lockup feature,

available via shooting menus, custom functions,

or as a dedicated drive mode. If you use this with

a remote controller, the initial full press of the

remote shutter button will only raise the reflex

mirror. You can then wait a couple of seconds or

so before pressing the button again to release

the shutter.

BEAT MIRROR BOUNCE

1Mirror lockupIn most entry-level Canon SLRs, mirror

lockup is available as a custom function. On more advanced bodies, it’s available via one of the shooting menus.

2 Self-timerIf you don’t have a remote controller,

Canon’s two-second self-timer drive mode works very well in conjunction with the mirror lockup function.

CAMERA SETTINGS

SHARPEN UP NIGHT SHOOTINGCAMERA SKILLS

“It’s good to keep shutter speeds slower than a second, if possible, as this will have a smoothing effect on the surface of the water. Review your shots in magnified view on the camera’s LCD, and check for sharpness in the boats.” Geoff Harris, editor

E X P E R T T I P

Q I’ve been suffering from motion blur in boats on the

water in night shots. You talked about this recently– could you give more details? David Mitchell

Angela says Long exposures often make for

great night shots but, when you’re trying to

freeze the motion of boats on choppy water,

compromises need to be made. A wider aperture

will enable a faster shutter speed, but this is at the

expense of a reduced depth of field, which may be

a problem if you’re trying to keep foreground and

background areas sharp.

A better solution is to increase your camera’s

sensitivity value, to enable a shorter exposure time.

For example, where a base setting of ISO 100

would require a long exposure of 30 seconds, a

sensitivity of ISO 1,600 would enable a much

shorter exposure of just two seconds. Even so, you

may still need to seize a moment of relative calm,

when boats aren’t bobbing about too much

If you push the ISO setting even higher, you’ll

need correspondingly shorter shutter speeds, but

image noise may become more of a problem.

Above Increasing the sensitivity and reducing the exposure time from 30 seconds to two seconds has kept the boats in the foreground much sharper, with no apparent motion blur


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87


PhotoAdvisor


Angela says When using a camera’s pop-up flash or a flashgun mounted on

the camera, the bright burst of light is likely to bounce straight back of shiny or reflective objects, directly into the lens.

You can sufer from the same problem even when using a flashgun remotely, of-camera, if you’re triggering it wirelessly from the pop-up flash. Even when it has been turned down to its minimum power for triggering, the pop-up flash still emits a pulse of light during the exposure.

A better solution is to invest in a remote flash cable. Those that are dedicated to specific brands of camera enable full dedicated TTL (Through The Lens) flash metering, while also giving you the option of placing the flash for best efect. Moving

the flash to the side, or bouncing its light of a white card, will minimise glare and reflections.

If you find that you’re photographing a lot of small, shiny things on a regular basis, it’s well worth investing in a light tent. These are available in various diferent sizes, with prices starting at a very reasonable level.

For example, Interfit makes a 60cm pop-up light tent which costs around £45. These tents or cubes have translucent sides, so you can place the object to be photographed inside the tent, and light it from the outside, using either flash or just regular table lamps.

Light tents often have a small hole through which you can direct your camera’s lens, minimising reflections from the outside world.

Follow us on Twitter (@DCamMag)

and Facebook (/digitalcameraworld),

or visit www.digitalcameraworld.com

From our wall

Do you want to keep up with the latest Digital Camera news,

views and gossip? Then visit our Facebook page, Like us,

and tell us what you think about the magazine or anything

photography-related. We post tips, stories, photos and links to

some of the best sites, gear reviews and camera deals.

Here’s how you responded to one of our regular Friday

afternoon fun challenges...

Steve Taylor

That digital photography still requires the need to understand the basics of depth of field, aperture and shutter speed, and that the most sophisticated camera does not produce a better picture. It is still reliant on the person who is pressing the button.

Elise DeGrace

My fiancé and I recently started doing urban exploration, and I learned to use the display instead of the viewfinder for some areas, because you are able to stay aware of your surroundings. Had some wildlife visitors, some security guards, some unstable footing... but it was all fun!

Brian Sanderson

What’s the point of packing the tripod into the car, then leaving it in there on shoots? Use the flipping thing!

Janice Ballard

I learned to watch where I was stepping and never fall on my camera lens again!

Bob Phillips

That there is no substitute for going full-frame.

Daniel Bristow

Thinking that I can make that ‘small’ gap on rocky marks. I’ve

got many cuts and bruises as a result!

Byron Guinanzaca

Checking you are buying the right film!

Mark Bradshaw

That you should not try to clean the sensor yourself.

Fran Inman

I have learned that a Sigma lens is just as good as a Canon, but much cheaper...

Ulrike Steiner

I learned to not trust any camera repair shop...

Stephen Douglas

I say screw all the technical stuf: good photography is about the people.

Gemma De Gouvela

I have learned not to showcase my photography on Facebook. There is the loss of metadata, and poor-quality images... I just find that I don’t get much response on Facebook, whereas the size of the communities and the reach of my photos on Google+ is far superior (as well as the quality).

Charlie Cropp

Select Save for Web when editing in Photoshop Elements. It’s good for Facebook posting.

Digital Camera says

As we start 2014, what’s the biggest lesson you have all

learned about photography in the last 12 months? For example,

the rule of thirds sucks, how to avoid blown out highlights...

HOW DO I SHOOT SHINY THINGS?

CAMERA SKILLS

Q I need to shoot some watches and other small reflective objects to

advertise them on eBay. How can I avoid glare from my flash? Jerry Ogborne

READER OPINIONS

from our online community

Left and below Simply moving the flashgun off-camera and connecting it via a remote cord is often sufficient to avoid glare when you are shooting shiny objects


WorldMags.net



THE Digital Camera INTER


88

For 2XU, 2012“This was taken for an ad campaign for a company that make specialist sports wear. I’ve got a lot of experience taking and editing such shots”


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89


* Tim Tadder is a celebrated, award-winning commercial photographer based in Los Angeles* He originally trained as a photojournalist, but started specialising in commercial work around 2005* Tim is also a photographic pioneer, shooting water bombs hitting people’s heads* High-profile clients include Budweiser, McDonalds, Pepsi and Microsoft* View Tim’s latest work at www.timtadder.com

This top US ad photographer tells Geof Harris about developing a unique visual style – and not

being afraid of fun personal projects

TadderTim


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90


THE Digital Camera INTERVIEW

“My father was a commercial photographer who mostly did portraits. I learned a lot from him”

IN THE BAG

Tim uses a range of camera gear,

including a Phase One IQ260 digital back on Phase 645 AFD with Schneider optics. “I also use a Nikon D800 SLR with Nikkor G style lens and a couple of Canon EOS 5Ds (pictured) with EOS L series lenses. Then I use Profoto and Paul C Biuff lights. All my editing is done with Photoshop and Nik Software on Macs.”

I learned a lot from him and how he

manipulated people in front of the camera.”

Tim didn’t actually start to pursue

photography until he was in his late 20: “So

when I picked it up, I started there. I am a

people person, so naturally I chose people as

my primary subjects, and my background

from time with my father really helped out...”

Tim didn’t have any formal training in

photography technique, again, having picked

up lot of essentials from his dad. “He gave

me a lot of amazing books that really gave me

a technical foundation. I have a degree in

math, so learning the numbers, ratios and

As fans of Mad Men will know,

advertising artists and

photographers have always

been at the cutting edge of

what’s possible with imaging

technology. US advertising specialist Tim

Tadder is a great example of this restless

creativity. His work has the power to stop

you in your tracks.

Tim is a self-confessed geek, who cut

his teeth as a photojournalist in Baltimore,

Colorado and San Diego, before specialising

in commercial work and portraits. He’s

worked for big brands like McDonalds,

Budweiser and Coca-Cola, while George

W Bush and Bill Gates are among the

high-profile names he’s shot.

Tim’s interest in photography came from

his parents. “My father was a commercial

photographer and he mostly did portraits.


WorldMags.net




“It was about falling in love with tonal rich images like Galen Rowell’s work and applying those concepts”

technical concepts was very simple for me. I then later earned a masters degree in visual communication, which really taught me the power of the image and how to create a storytelling image with impact!”

CLIMBING CREATIVE HEIGHTSTim’s biggest influence at the beginning was mountain photographer Galen Rowell. “At the time, I was shooting lots of mountain landscapes in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. He was a true pioneer, capturing those scenes with the use of vivid colour chromes. He used grad ND filters to

create these full-tonal-range, almost HDR, landscapes with slide film. That really showed me what was possible exposure-wise. I started there, and then when digital came I saw a way to really create some amazing tonal-rich images.”

As mentioned, Tim regards himself as a people person, and this, along with his fascination in the tonal possibilities of photography, steered him towards his current career as a commercial photographer. “I think it was really about falling in love with tonal-rich images like Galen Rowell’s work and applying those concepts to people.

“With digital, this meant multiple-exposure background blends with compositing well-lit people into scenes. So I worked on that, and at the time (around 2005-2006) there was nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, out there like that.

For Tyr Swimwear, 2010(Far left top) “This is actually a composite shot, taken from a shoot involving a team of athletes. The composite work took about 20 hours in Photoshop”

Pharmaceutical campaign, 2012(Far left bottom) “Again, a fairly straightforward action shot that this time shows Kerron Clement, who represents the US in the 400-metre hurdles and 400-metre sprint”

Personal project, 2012(Above) “This is an example of the very conceptual work that I like to do. It was taken and edited for a project on the future of sports. It’s important to try new things”


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92 THE Digital Camera INTERVIEW


BEHIND THE IMAGE

“I SAW SOUND TRIGGERS COULD CAPTURE EXPLODING WATER, SO I COMBINED IT WITH PEOPLE!”

Composition “So this was one of my

‘water wig’ shots, taken for

a mouthwash brand called

Dentyne. It was taken on a

sound stage in Hollywood,

and it took a few goes to get

right . We later combined

the subject with the

background.”

Technique “Basically we use sound

triggers to control the flash

and thereby capture the

moment that the water

balloon explodes on the

model’s head . This is a

commercial application of

my water wigs idea, which

began as an experiment.”

Equipment “This image was taken with

a Phase One P65+ digital

back, plus a Schneider

Kreuznach LS 80mm lens

at f/8, 1/250 sec and studio

lights. The post-production

editing took about six hours,

mainly cleaning the skin and

tweaking the contrast.”

I just think I was kind of lucky because I

know what I like in photography, and applied

it in a way no-one else had done before.

“I think that is really key to any type of

success in life. You need to be true to your

vision, and apply it in a unique way. That’s

something I have been following throughout

my career so far.”

Tim’s big break came in 2007, when he

was asked to do a commercial campaign for

Gatorade. “I had previously done a series of

smaller campaigns that were cool, but this

piece really took my style to a global level and

“I try to communicate with them on a unique subject and get them speaking about their point of view”

For Activate Water, 2011(Opposite top) “This shows NFL star Philip Rivers. It’s another composite: half of it was taken in the studio, and half of it was taken at a match. Then it was just a question of blending the two images together”

For Pepsi, 2012(Opposite bottom left) “Readers may recognise Ice Cube, rapper turned movie star, who’s a big fan of the Oakland Raiders. He’s shown here with star player Darren McFadden”

For Gatorade 2008(Opposite bottom right) “This shows NFL quarterback Peyton Manning. Again, it was an on-field and off-field message”

opened the door for major advertising

campaigns. It was really being in the right

place at the right time.

PORTRAIT TIPSAs well as his pioneering advertising work,

Tim has photographed some big names,

such as George W Bush and Bill Gates. How,

we wondered, did Tim put them at their ease

and come up with something diferent from

the usual polite celebrity portrait?

“I take the same approach with everyone.

Be myself, try to communicate with them on

a unique subject and get them speaking

about their point of view. I let them speak

and share, and I do my job while they are

communicating with me.

“If they are very stand of-ish, I usually

try to lighten the mood, even if it means


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93


making fun of myself – just anything to get an engagement in the process. These people have been shot a million times, so they know the drill and are usually able to give you exactly what you want right away. It’s pretty painless, really.”

Needless to say, Tim’s had his run-ins with more difcult clients and subjects, but he’s ever the diplomat. “I never kiss and tell. Let’s just say sometimes people are just not in a good mood, me included, and things are rough. You just have to roll with it and realise that every day you need to move a little bit closer to your goal, and eventually you will arrive. Bad shoots and difcult subjects happen. Learn and move on.”

While he’s driven and hard-working, Tim is great at generating good images from personal side-projects. One of these involves

throwing water bombs at bald people (predominantly men) and then recording the moment of impact with exquisitely timed flash efects, as seen on the opposite page. “I’m always thinking about unique projects that I want to do. The challenge is finding the time to do them all.”

CLEAN IS THE FUTUREWhen it comes to Photoshop, Tim is surprisingly modest about his eye-popping abilities. “I am the most un-Action-oriented Photoshop dude out there, in the sense that I don’t set up automated edits for my images. Rather, I go into each image in a unique way and try to see what that image needs, rather than trying to stuf an image into a process.

“I do have common processes or approaches, which are normally built around

PRO INSIGHT

1 Make more pictures No matter what you

do in order to move forward, you need to always be creating.

2 Stay strong Don’t let failure get

you down. Sometimes things don’t work. Put it behind you and keep moving forward.

3 Plan, plan, plan Make sure you know

what you want to shoot, how you want to shoot it and properly prepare. Great images rarely happen by accident, so stack the cards in your favour with proper prep.

4 Think different Take a risk, see

where it takes you. It might be what you need for a creative spark.

5 Never, ever give up Keep fighting for

great images, and you will find they will come in clumps of greatness!

Tim Tadder’s tips for taking great ad photography


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THE


fast as it came on – the quicker it’s here,

the faster it goes. Personally I want to be

someone that drives visual trends, not

follows them. Looking into the future, I think

super-clean, natural imagery will be next.

We have done the grunge thing, we have

seen the hipsters take over; I think we are

entering a kind of cultural ‘Apple’ styling in

all design sets. It seems all our stuf is

getting smaller, cleaner and sleeker, and I

think images will go that way as well...”

You can see more of Tim’s work at

www.timtadder.com

layer-masked adjustment layers with all the

options there, from curves to levels to hue

and saturation and so on. I use colour

blending modes to apply these adjustments

for various efects. I always use some form of

output sharpening to make sure the images

look detailed and textured. Lately I have been

using a lot of the Nik filters sets, which I find

seem to have been built for me!”

Of all the diferent photographic genres,

commercial photography seems subject to

trends and fashions. Does Tim worry about

keeping on top of trends, and what does he

think the next popular ‘look’ for advertising

photography will be?

“I don’t worry about those trends,” he

shrugs. “I am obviously aware of what’s ‘hot’,

but to be honest by the time I change my

look to be ‘hot’ again, everything will be

diferent. Right now the Instagram hipster

thing is huge in the US, but that will fade as

“I think we are entering a kind of cultural ‘Apple’ styling in all design sets – smaller, cleaner and sleeker”

For Yamaha, 2007(Above left) “A moody shot for the motorcycle maker, which was launching a range of new bikes. The guy in the image is one of their top riders”

For Cordura, 2008(Above middle) “Cordura produces durable clothing for extreme weather conditions. The background was added later, and we’d worked up the main guy in Photoshop”

Personal project, 2007(Above right) “I try new things all the time and this was part of a test shoot I was doing in fashion. The image was taken in Hollywood”

For Gatorade, 2008“Another shot of top quarterback Peyton Manning, this time walking down the tunnel to a game”


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95

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97

Get the latest product news and reviews at TechRadar.com/cameras

KIT ZONENew gear Expert tests Buying advice

63products reviewed

& rated

100 What’s in store? Head of testing Angela Nicholson shares her predictions for camera technology and trends in 2014

102 Nikon D610 Its predecessor was a well-received full-frame SLR, but issues with mystery dust rather spoiled the party. We see how this relatively recent upgrade shapes up.

108 Sony Alpha 7 & 7R Another full-frame contender in a compact and stylish body. Should Canon and Nikon be worried?

114 DxO Optics Pro 9 The latest version of this raw processing tool has many virtues, as software expert Rod Lawton reveals

116 Tried & Tested Latest accessories, books and apps for the serious photographer

122 Group test We find the best keenly priced portrait lenses for your SLR

134 Buyer’s guideHandy guide to all the SLR and system cameras we’ve reviewed


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98


SHOTS

Digital Camera September 2013

98


KITZONEOUR TESTS EXPLAINED

accurate and explaining why

Rigorous Accurate Independent Fair

Digital Camera is

brought to you

by the UK’s most

experienced team

of photography

journalists, which means you can

trust everything you read on our

pages and can buy your next piece

of photography equipment with

total confidence. In case you need

any further convincing, here’s why

our tests are the best:

DepthAt Digital Camera, we take great

pride in the rigorous nature of our

testing process. Every product and

service is tested in appropriate

circumstances and a combination

of real world and objective tests

are performed to ensure all

products and services are credibly

graded. Take a look at the opposite

page for more details.

PassionWe believe the best way to test

a product is to use it as it was

intended, so our real world testing

involves taking equipment on a

proper shoot – whether outdoors

or in the studio – and testing it

exactly as you would use it in real

life to let you know whether it’s fit

for purpose.

ObjectivityAlthough scientific data won’t tell

you everything about a product,

it’s a great way to draw direct

comparisons and sense-check

our real world conclusions, so

we’ve devised a series of

controlled tests for cameras and

lenses that supplement our real

world testing with benchmarks.

IndependenceDigital Camera is 100%

independent and never swayed

by the influence of advertisers

or PR firms. The tests you read

in the magazine are our genuine

unbiased opinions and Future

Publishing, the company behind

Digital Camera, has a strict code

of conduct on testing.

TransparencyThe test images and resolution

charts we shoot can be

downloaded from TechRadar

(www.techradar.com/cameras).

This means you can check the

quality for yourself and even run

your own tests if you wish.

HOW WE TESTDigital Camera’s test policy is the

most strict and rigorous of any

photography magazine. We

believe the only way to bring you

a genuine and reliable verdict on

a product is to test it in both the

field and in the lab, so we use two

sets of criteria to test SLRs and

lenses – real-world testing and

objective testing.

Real-world testingThe first and most important pillar

of our process is real-world

testing. We firmly believe that the

best measure of a product is how

it performs in the field (or studio),

doing the job for which it was

intended. The majority of our

testing time is therefore spent

using products in this way, so we

can report back on how they cope

under a number of different

lighting scenarios and conditions.

The first part of our real-world

testing involves telling you how

a product handles and our

impressions of its performance;

the second is about examining the

image quality produced, so we

take a number of photographs

under different conditions with

every camera and lens we test,

which means you can see the

results achieved for yourself.

BenchmarkingThe second pillar of our testing

policy involves testing the output

OUR SCORES AND AWARDS EXPLAINED

Two philosophies

underpin our scoring

system: transparency

and flexibility. Transparency

involves keeping our scoring

we reach a verdict. Flexibility

enables us to change our

scoring criteria to ensure that

each product and service is

scored on appropriate criteria

– a tripod, for instance, needs to

be judged on different qualities

to a digital SLR, and a flashgun

needs to be judged on different

The UK’s most in-depth reviews

Trusted TestsImaging lab manager, Ali Jennings, benchmarks cameras and lenses in our controlled test environment


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99


KITZONEOUR TESTS EXPLAINED

Lens tests

of cameras and lenses under

controlled conditions. We shoot

a series of test charts that are

specifically designed to test

different performance aspects of

a camera or lens. Further details

about the tests we perform can

be found in the panel to the right.

To minimise the variables when

testing SLRs, we use Sigma’s

50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM prime

lens, which is available for every

camera system.

Next, we perform an analysis of

the test images using Imatest’s

Imatest Master (www.imatest.com)

and DxO Analyzer (www.dxo.com/

intl/image_quality/dxo_analyzer)

to generate benchmark figures for

each test. These can then be

plotted against the results from

rival products to enable us to

qualities to a lens. Each of our

tests scores out of five in one or

more sub-categories, and then

applies an overall mark out of

five, enabling you to tell the

wheat from the chaff.

Five scores, five meanings:

Forget it

Below average

Good for the money

Very good in all areas

A truly exceptional,

best-in-class product

make a direct comparison and

determine which performs better

under different criteria.

Copies of the resolution test

chart images are downloadable

from www.techradar.com/

cameras. Choose the camera

you’re interested in and browse

the review for full details of all the

tests. Benchmarks shouldn’t be

seen as a replacement for

real-world testing, though – they

won’t tell you which camera

handles best in the field

or which is easiest to use, but they

do enable us to sense-check our

real-world image test results and

make accurate comparisons of

different products’ capabilities.

No other magazine goes this

far to deliver equipment test

results you can really trust.

Awarded to any product that comes top in a group test

Awarded to products that offer exceptional value for money

Awarded to any product that receives five stars in a test

Particularly innovative or breakthrough products receive this special award

A discretionary award given to products that merit special attention

Our head of testing, Angela Nicholson, puts equipment through its paces

THE APPLIANCE OF SCIENCEDigital Camera runs tests

under controlled conditions on

both camera bodies and lenses.

Lenses are assessed using an

Imatest analysis of photos of

three charts. We use both

Imatest Master and DxO

Analyzer to measure camera

performance in four tests.

Here’s more about each test…

RESOLUTION

4 We use a resolution chart

based on ISO-12233 from

Applied Image Inc to indicate the

limit of the camera’s vertical

resolution at the centre of the

frame. The higher the value, the

better the detail resolution.

DISTORTION: IMATEST

1This test measures the

distortion caused by the lens.

We shoot the simple, lined chart

pictured above and then output

an accuracy percentage in

Imatest. The most accurate

result (ie, the best) would be 0%.

DYNAMIC RANGE: DXO ANALYZER

1This is a measure of a

camera’s ability to capture

detail in the highlights and

shadows. We use DxO’s

transmissive chart, which

enables us to test a dynamic

range of 13.3 stops.

FRINGING: IMATEST

2 This test measures the

occurrence of chromatic

aberration. We shoot the chart

pictured above, then analyse the

photos using Imatest. The results

are expressed in pixels, with

lower numbers being better.

COLOUR ERROR: IMATEST

2 This measures colour

reproduction. We shoot

the X-Rite ColorChecker chart

pictured above and output an

accuracy percentage from

Imatest, with 100% being the

most accurate result possible.

SHARPNESS: IMATEST

3Here we measure sharpness

at different apertures from

the centre to the outer edge. We

shoot the chart pictured and

Imatest outputs a figure based

on line width divided by picture

height – high numbers are better.

NOISE: DXO ANALYZER

3We use the dynamic range

transmissive chart to

analyse the signal-to-noise ratio

for raw and JPEG files at every

sensitivity setting using DxO

Analyzer. A higher value means

the signal is cleaner.

Camera tests


WorldMags.net



CAMERA PREDICTIONS

100 KITZONE

We’ve been talking about the rise of the compact system camera for a while now, but 2013 has been a

pivotal year for the genre with more CSCs being announced than SLRs. We haven’t just seen cameras to entice new photographers towards interchangeable-lens models: there are also now more options for serious enthusiasts and pros who want to use a smaller, lighter camera.

The prevalence of camera phones has also been a hot topic of conversation over recent years. It is really biting into the camera market, especially at the lower end. This fierce competition is forcing manufacturers to rethink what they do. Some have responded by concentrating on cameras that ofer something that the cameras on phones generally don’t – extensive zoom ranges, waterproof construction, traditional controls, larger sensors and high-end features.

Others have introduced cameras that are designed to complement a phone, ofering Wi-Fi connectivity for quick and easy image upload to the handset and subsequent sharing on social media. It’s an interesting

What’s in store for cameras in 2014?Cameras are evolving, so it’s an exciting time for photographers. Angela Nicholson takes a look at what 2014 may bring...

time for photographers of all levels, and our thoughts are naturally turning to what 2014 might hold. Here are five key trends to watch out for...

1 SMALLER CAMERASWe saw a lot of downsizing

towards the end of 2013. I think this trend is set to continue during 2014. The Panasonic GM1, for example, is a tiny Micro Four Thirds model that the company is pitching into the market among compacts, not making a big deal of the fact that it can accept interchangeable lenses.

The most impressive feat of downsizing was seen with the introduction of the Sony Alpha 7 and 7R. (See review, page 108.) These full-frame cameras are about the same size as the Olympus OM-D E-M1 (£1,299, body only) – which achieves its size because it has a smaller sensor than the APS-C sized devices in most SLRs and some compact cameras.

What’s more, this shrinkage doesn’t come at a hugely inflated cost, as their price tags (A7 £1,299 and A7R £1,699, both body only) sit comfortably around those for the Canon EOS 6D (£1,399, body only) and Nikon D610 (£1,249, body only).

TECHNOLOGY New gear for 2014

As well as providing a smaller, lighter alternative to an SLR for full-frame photography, the 24MP A7 and the 36MP A7R raise expectations about what should be possible for cameras with APS-C and Four Thirds sensors.

2 NEW FEATURESSo far, only Canon has put a

touchscreen on an SLR. We hope that Nikon will follow suit in 2014. It’s much quicker to make some setting changes and select your AF point via a tap of the screen than via button and dial controls. Touchscreen control and Wi-Fi connectivity are more prevalent in compact system cameras. We anticipate seeing manufacturers

Below The mini Lumix GM1 is a Micro Four Thirds camera

THE MAKER’S VIEW Barney Sykes, Lumix G-system product manager, Panasonic UK

“While 2013 has been a tough year, the heavy promotion of cameras

in 2012 makes it look worse, and SLR sales are down more than CSC

sales. In fact, according to GFK figures for the last three months,

CSCs sales are starting to outstrip SLR sales. Our GX7 has a had

huge impact on the market, and we’re expecting the Olympus OM-D

E-M1 and the Sony A7 and A7R to give it a boost as well.

“Our challenge in 2014 is to get customers to understand that

there is an alternative to SLRs, and that in many cases it’s a better

option for them. Our data indicates that those who do some

research are more likely to buy a CSC than an SLR.

“EVFs are getting better with each generation, and they’re

gaining acceptance because they offer some great benefits.

Touchscreens are also now seen as the norm for many devices. It’s

clear that a good lens range is important to buyers and there need to

be lenses to complement each camera; it needs to be balanced.

That’s why Panasonic developed the 12-32mm lens for the GM1.”



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101KITZONECAMERA PREDICTIONS

THE DEALER’S VIEW Tony Stent, director, Camera World

spread this technology throughout their range in the coming year.

I’d like to see more manufacturers develop iOS and Android apps that allow remote control over the camera – not just triggering the shutter, but enabling exposure adjustment, AF point selection and white balance changes, for example. It would be nice if a camera’s entire menu could be accessed via a smartphone. A phone’s screen also makes a good stand-in for a vari-angle screen on a camera.

We’ve been asking manufacturers for a smarter levelling system in cameras for a while, and we have high hopes that this might appear in 2014. Many cameras have the ability to detect when they’re not level and can display the level of correction required on-screen, but these indicators aren’t always easy to see and sometimes you have to shoot ‘in the moment’. I’d like the level information to be stored with the image EXIF data and to be given the option to correct wonky horizons automatically using this information when processing the file.

3 LIGHT LEAKS & FRAMES

Retro efects were big in 2013. This looks set to continue in 2014, so we can expect to see more square images, dark corners and grain efects. Olympus leads the way, with filter efects ofering an extensive array with the ability to customise with the addition of borders and alternative styles. Crucially for enthusiast photographers, Olympus Micro Four Thirds cameras also allow raw files to be recorded whenever an Art Filter is applied to a JPEG shot, so there’s always a ‘clean’ file for post-processing.

Some are predicting that flare efects will be big in 2014, so we can probably expect to see a new set of filter efects appearing in cameras.

4 LOVELY LENSES

Over the last couple of years or so, there have been lots of lens announcements and upgrades made to bring optics up to the standard of the cameras that they are used on. As pixel counts climb, lens resolving power needs to be improved.

We’ve also started to see a renewed appreciation of prime lenses, especially those with large maximum apertures. They ofer the optimum in image quality (when closed down a stop or two) and complement the raft of retro-styled cameras nicely.

5 THE DEATH OF THE SLR

While there’s still some life left in the SLR, there’ll be fewer reasons to buy one, as electronic viewfinders (EVFs) continue to improve and CSC AF system performance carries on getting better. As photographers start to realise some of the benefits, such as the ability to see the impact of

“2013 has been a year of ups and

downs. On the positive side, there have

been some very exciting camera

launches, with most innovation coming

from compact system cameras. I think

the Sony Alpha 7 and 7R will be the

most remembered camera of the year.

“On the negative side, camera sales

are down. There are many reasons for

this, but the rapid reduction in high-

street camera shops means potential customers are not

encouraged to start the hobby, and enthusiasts are not enticed

by the latest products in the window.

“The big growth area is at the top end of the CSC market,

models with an EVF. However, SLRs are still the camera class that

many photographers aspire to. I would like to see the same

thought given to their design as is given to the CSC models.

Although SLR movie photography hasn’t been embraced by

enthusiast photographers yet, I feel 2014 is the year it will take

off. There is so much potential, and people don’t realise what can

be achieved.

“I am optimistic for the coming year. Retro design has a long

way to go yet, and the current camera systems are due to be

extended with more exciting lenses. We could be on the edge of a

camera evolution now that EVFs are so good. And with Photokina,

the huge international photography fair in Cologne, coming in

Autumn, who knows what’s on the way?”

Above Olympus is leading the way in the retro revival with its range of Art Filters

Below As electronic viewfinders grow in popularity, are the SLR’s days numbered?

settings changes, EVFs will get greater acceptance. The AF system in most CSCs is already fast enough for most users in daylight conditions. It’s only in low light that they start to struggle, or when the subject moves quickly around the frame away from the active AF point. However, it can’t be long before this particular nut is cracked.

Canon and Nikon may lead the market with SLRs, but they don’t yet seem serious about compact system cameras. As enthusiasts and pros move towards CSCs, they will have to get more involved. Could 2014 be the year that we see high-end CSCs from these two manufacturers? It may not be in 2014, but we think SLRs will become like rangefinders are now: available, but serving a niche market.

10 PREDICTIONS FOR 2014!

1 Small cameras will be big in 2014

2 Self-levelling images

3 CSC AF will match SLR

4 More pros will switch to using a CSC

5 Nikon to put a touchscreen in an SLR

6 Canon to introduce a high-end CSC

7 Wi-Fi connectivity to become the norm

8 Better remote control apps

9 Widespread in-camera frame, light-leak

and flare effects

10 Small CSCs increasingly used instead of compact cameras

Kuzma/Alamy


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SLR Nikon D610 > £1,249 (body only) > www.nikon.co.uk

Clean machine

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SLR REVIEW

KITZONE

By and large, the Nikon D600 was warmly welcomed when it was announced in September 2012. It was

designed to be the natural progression for DX-format users wanting to dip their toes into FX (full-frame) photography. As well as having a control layout that sits comfortably within Nikon’s enthusiast SLR range, it was the company’s most afordable FX camera.

All was well until reports started to come in that the camera’s sensor was prone to getting dirty. The dirt was suspected to be lubricant, and the finger was pointed at the shutter mechanism as the likely source. Nikon ofcially acknowledged in February 2013 that there was an issue, but referred to the dirt as ‘dust’ and advised users to return their camera to a service centre for cleaning if they were unable to do the job themselves. Tests indicated that the problem resolved itself after the camera had been used for around 3,000 shots, presumably after all the loose material had been shed and the sensor cleaned.

While nobody was surprised to learn that the Nikon D610 has a new shutter mechanism, Nikon hasn’t said that it is to resolve the issues with the D600. What it has said, however, is that the new shutter allows a faster continuous shooting rate – 6fps instead of 5.5fps – and a new Continuous Quiet mode (also known as Quiet Release burst mode).

The only other significant change made with the D610 is that the

automatic white balance system has been improved to give better results in artificial light, especially with skin tones. In other respects, the D610 is the same as the D600 – but don’t worry, we don’t expect you to remember all the details...

FEATURESInside the Nikon D610 is a 24.3-million pixel FX-format CMOS sensor, coupled with the Expeed 3 processing engine rather than the newer Expeed 4 unit. This allows the sensitivity to be set in the native range of ISO 100-6,400, with expansion settings taking this to ISO 50-25,600. As in the D600, there’s a 2,016-pixel RGB sensor, which gathers information to inform the Automatic Scene Recognition system used by the metering and white balance systems.

Nikon has also employed the same Multi-Cam 4800 autofocus module with 39 points (9 cross-type) that is

in the D600. The centre 33 AF points operate at efective maximum apertures slower than f/5.6 and faster than f/8, while the centre seven are capable of operating at f/8. This is useful when using telephoto and teleconverter combinations that produce an efective maximum aperture of f/8.

There’s also a contrast detection AF system for use in Live View mode. However, many will find that manual focus is the best choice, as it’s possible to zoom into the scene to set the focus precisely. Using Live View mode reveals another diference introduced with the D610: the digital level can display a rectangle that indicates whether the camera is tipped forwards or backwards.

As usual, there’s an in-camera HDR (high dynamic range) mode in which the camera can take two images with diferent exposures and combine them into one. Alternatively, it can take one image and process it to bring

> THE SPECS

Sensor 24.3MP FX-format

(full-frame) CMOS

(35.9x24mm)

Focal length conversion 1x

Memory SD/SDHC/SDXC

Viewfinder Optical with approximately

100% coverage

Video resolution Full HD (1,920x1,080) at

30,25 or 24fps

ISO range ISO 100 to 6,400

(expandable to 50 to

25,600)

Autofocus Multi-Cam 4800 module

with 39 points (9

cross-type)

Max burst rate 6fps

LCD screen size 3.2-inch, 921,000-dot LCD

Shutter speeds 1/4,000 to 30 sec

and Bulb

Weight 760g (body only)

Dimensions 141x113x82mm

Power supply Rechargeable EN-EL15

battery supplied

Above The Nikon

D610 looks a lot like

the D600...

Nikon’s new full-frame SLR is like a D600 without its reported dirty sensor problem. Angela Nicholson investigates


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103


Stick or twist? Upgrade advice

Nikon uses FX to denote full-frame. Its FX cameras have a sensor that’s the same size as a 35mm film frame, and its FX lenses produce an image circle large enough to cover an FX sensor. Nikon DX cameras have APS-C sized sensors.

Jargon BusterFXD600 owners are liable to have

worked their way through the dirty sensor problem and are unlikely to be tempted by the D610. Those looking for their first Nikon full-frame (FX) camera, however, will find the D610 is a great choice. It may not be able

to resolve more detail than the D7100, but thanks to its larger photosites, it has greater dynamic range and a higher signal-to-noise ratio. The FX sensor means that depth of field can be more easily restricted, and FX-format lenses show their full width.

Gets the detailThe fine details are captured by the 24.3-million-pixel sensor.

Full-frame sensorGoing in close with a 20mm lens allows lots of background to be included for context, yet blurred by the wide aperture.

REAL-WORLD PERFORMANCE

OUR BEST SHOTWhat we love about the D610

Perfect exposureNikon’s Matrix metering system does a really good job in a wide variety of lighting situations.


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SLR REVIEW

KITZONE


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out more detail in the shadows and

highlights. Disappointingly, this

hasn’t been upgraded and it’s still

a JPEG-only option.

Another aspect of the D610’s

feature set that may disappoint is that

it doesn’t have Wi-Fi connectivity

built-in. Instead Nikon ofers the

optional WU-1b Mobile Adaptor,

which enables remote control over the

camera and images to be downloaded

to a smartphone or tablet.

As well as enabling Full HD videos

to be recorded at 25 or 24fps and at

1,280x720 at 60, 50, 30 or 25fps,

there’s an intervalometer built into

simplify shooting time-lapse

sequences and movies. There are

also ports to connect a pair of

headphones and an external mic.

BUILD AND HANDLINGThe Nikon D610 looks and feels

exactly the same as the D600. While

it’s smaller and less tank-like than

the Nikon D4, and doesn’t have the

monocoque construction of the

D5300, it has a part-magnesium alloy

body and feels pretty tough. There are

also seals that keep moisture out, so

you can continue to use it if the

weather turns bad.

A rubber-like coating on the

chunky finger-grip on the front of the

camera and the thumb-ridge on the

back ensures a comfortable, secure

hold. The comparatively small size of

the camera means even those with

averagely proportioned hands will find

their little finger slipping under the

body rather than onto the grip.

Nikon has now built up some

experience in creating video-enabled

digital SLRs and the control

arrangement of the D610 generally

makes good sense. Nikon users will

find the D610’s menu familiar, and it’s

sensibly arranged. We especially like

the fact that there’s a My Menu

screen, to which all the most

commonly used menu features can

be assigned for quicker access.

It would be nice if the adjustable

options in the Information display,

which are accessed by pressing

the Info button twice, could be

customised. As they stand, they seem

Quiet Continuous mode allows slightly quieter shooting at 3fps.

A full-frame sensor gives you the full benefit of FX wide angle lenses.

The Info screen options seem a little odd and could be more useful.

Wi-Fi connectivity is not built-in, but you can connect an adaptor.

Meet the rivals…See how the Nikon D610 stands up against the competition

“There’s a My Menu screen, to which the most commonly used menu features can be assigned”

Zooming in on the… Nikon D610A quick tour of the camera’s key features

While Matrix metering performs well, centreweighted and spot metering are available via this button.

This lever enables you to switch between stills and video Live View mode. Pressing the central button activates the LCD screen.

It’s helpful to assign the menu options you use most to the My Menu screen.

This lock button must be pressed before the drive mode dial rotates.

Nikon D800£1,962The D800’s 36MP full-frame sensor means that this SLR is hard to beat when it comes to detail resolution.Issue reviewed: 125Our score: 5/5

Sony Alpha 99£1,999This 24.3MP camera is an SLT rather than an SLR, which means it has an electronic viewfinder.Issue reviewed: 136Our score: 4/5

Canon EOS 6D£1,399 (body only)An excellent enthusiast’s 20.2MP full-frame SLR with superb handling and Wi-Fi connectivity built-in.Issue reviewed: 135Our score: 4/5


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105KITZONE


NIKON D610

like an unusual collection, giving a quick route to some features you aren’t likely to want to access often.

The 3.2-inch, 921,000-dot LCD screen on the D610 provides a nice, clear view and doesn’t sufer excessively from reflections. However, because it’s fixed, you’ll have to get down on the ground if you want to shoot from a low angle, so you may as well use the bright, clear viewfinder.

We also found that the magnified view on the screen becomes quite noisy in low light, with considerable coloured speckling visible. This doesn’t prevent you from achieving sharp focus, but it is a bit distracting.

PERFORMANCEOne of the key questions that needs to be answered about the D610 is whether it sufers from its predecessor’s problem of dirt being generated from inside the camera and depositing itself on the sensor. To address this, we shot over 4,000

images on each of two D610 bodies and checked images throughout the sequences for dirt marks. Neither sensor showed any problems, so the natural conclusion is that the new shutter mechanism in the D610 resolves the problems of the D600’s.

The Nikon D600 is a great performer and the Nikon D610 is no diferent. Not surprisingly, given that it has the same processor and (we think) the same 24.MP sensor as the D600, it produces similar images to the camera it replaces. On the whole, images are well exposed and the colours are good.

Noise is well controlled. When viewed at 100% on a computer screen, there’s little speckling visible in images taken at ISO 3,200. Even with shots taken at the highest sensitivity setting, ISO 25,600, the chroma noise isn’t excessive and the luminance noise isn’t intrusive. However, it’s wise to reserve the high expansion settings for situations

where you’re happy to keep any prints below A4 in size. Although high-sensitivity images are softer than low-sensitivity shots, detail is generally maintained well. There’s no obvious smearing to hide noise.

Nikon claims to have improved the automatic white balance system’s performance in artificial light. While it’s difcult to prove this conclusively (because even small changes to the framing and AF point location can

50

30

40

10

20

TIFF NOISE Highest values are best

SIG

NA

L-T

O-N

OIS

E R

AT

IO (

DB

)

SENSITIVITY

NOISE RESULT: As sensitivity rises, you can see that the D610’s signal-to-noise ratio drops a little below that of the D600.

Nikon D800

Nikon D610

Sony Alpha 99

Canon EOS 6D

KE

Y

OVERALL BENCHMARK RESULTComparing our sensitivity-range images on the D610 with those from the D600 reveals that the D610’s high-sensitivity raw files (after conversion to TIFF) look a little sharper. There’s a bit more noise visible, but the details look better on-screen at 100%. This is backed up by our signal-to-noise ratio tests, and suggests a change to the D610’s in-camera processing.

SLR BENCHMARKSHow the Nikon D610 fared against others

Nikon D610

Nikon D800

Canon EOS 6D

Sony Alpha 99

COLOUR ERROR Closest to zero is best

COLOUR ERROR RESULT: The D610 scores very well for colour accuracy, with natural colours and good saturation levels.

6.3

-1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

HIGHEST VALUES ARE BEST

14

5

RAW DYNAMIC RANGE Highest values are best

DY

NA

MIC

RA

NG

E (

EV

)

SENSITIVITY

8

7

6

12

13

10

9

11

DYNAMIC RESULT: At the high-sensitivity settings, the D610 has a lower dynamic range than the D600.


200 400 800 1600 64003200

200 400 800 1600 64003200

2.3

3.3

5.5

Above left Noise is controlled well in this image, taken at ISO 6,400

WHAT’S THIS?

Find out how we test on

page 98


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KITZONE


106

checked the images on the computer we found the AWB (Auto 1) images were better than those shot with the Daylight white balance setting, with the latter looking a little too warm.

Nikon has a good record with autofocus systems. The D610’s is every bit as we’d expect (and exactly the same as the D600’s). The subject is acquired very quickly and accurately in a range of conditions – even low light that would cause trouble for some lesser systems.

One downside of the D610’s AF system, however, is that the 39 points are grouped fairly tightly around the centre of the image frame. This means that when shooting landscape-format images, you can’t set an AF point that is exactly on the intersection of thirds, and subjects towards the edges of the frame are beyond reach.

Consequently, you have to use the ‘focus and recompose’ technique more often than you might expect with a camera that has 39 AF points, and certainly more often than you may be used to if you’re stepping up from a DX-format (APS-C) camera like the Nikon D7100.

We found the D610’s matrix metering system to be very good. As you might imagine, it’s not 100% foolproof, but it didn’t throw up any unwelcome surprises during our

testing. It behaved consistently, and didn’t regularly under-expose under cloudy skies, as the D7100 is prone to do, to take one example.

VERDICT So few are the changes made with the D610 that we have to wonder if it would exist if the D600 hadn’t had its sensor problem.

Putting the matter of the new shutter mechanism and what it is designed to achieve aside, the D610 is a very good camera that ofers a superb introduction to full-frame photography. It has a wealth of features, and produces excellent images with wide tonal range. Noise is controlled well even at the higher sensitivity settings.

Tech BriefingQuiet mode

The D610 has two Quiet modes: the standard option (Q on the drive mode

dial) and Quiet Continuous (Qc) mode. Standard Quiet mode allows you to take a single shot and keep the mirror up after the exposure for as long as your finger is on the shutter release. The idea is that you let it fall later (by lifting your finger) to reduce the amount of noise at the time of taking the shot.

Quiet Continuous mode reduces the maximum frame rate to 3fps and is supposed to dampen the sound, but it doesn’t have a dramatic impact. It seems unlikely that switching to Quiet Continuous mode would make a big difference when shooting near nervous wildlife.

WE SAY: The D610 is an excellent full-frame SLR with an enthusiast-friendly control arrangement, but it doesn’t introduce any significant upgrades on the D600, other than an end to the dirty sensor issue.

Overall

FEATURES

IMAGE QUALITY

BUILD/HANDLING

VALUE

FOR TEST IMAGES AND RESOLUTION

CHARTS, VISIT

WWW.TECH RADAR.COM/

CAMERAS

make a significant diference), we think it’s better than before.

We also found that the automatic white balance system works well in shady and overcast conditions, but the camera’s screen often indicated that the results looked too cold. Consequently, when shooting in a woodland on a cloudy day, we switched to the Daylight white balance setting, which produced images that looked good on the camera screen. However, when we

Above The D610’s matrix metering system has done well in this shot

Below The deep grip gives a secure hold for your hand


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108


CSC REVIEW

KITZONE

Sony is well-known for innovating in the camera sphere, basically because it can. Not content to launch the

Alpha 7, the world’s first compact system camera with a full-frame sensor, the company has launched two versions. Both have full-frame sensors, but the A7 has a 24.3-million pixel device, while the A7R features a 36.4-million pixel device. The A7R has also had the anti-aliasing filter removed, for better detail.

Aside from the sensor resolution, one of the other key diferences between the A7 and the A7R is its focusing system, with the A7R using a contrast-detection system only, compared with the hybrid phase- and contrast-detection autofocusing system of the A7. It’s worth noting that for both cameras, AF sensitivity only goes down to 0EV, compared with the Nikon D610’s -1EV and the Canon EOS 6D’s -3EV, which could have an impact on the camera’s performance in low light.

FEATURESThere are some other interesting specifications for the A7 and A7R too. They’re both the same shape, but the A7R is marginally lighter thanks to its magnesium alloy front plate. (It’s plastic on the A7.)

Sony’s new Bionz X processing engine promises speeds up to three times faster than its predecessor, and facilitates a host of features including

a quick autofocus algorithm, which Sony claims to be faster than digital SLR equivalents.

On the back of the camera is a three-inch tilting screen, which is joined by a half-inch EVF. Sony hasn’t made the screen touch-sensitive.

The A7 will be available to buy either body-only or with a 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens, while the A7R will be available body-only. The cameras use Sony’s E-mount, with five new FE-mount lenses announced at the camera’s launch. As of now, only two of those are actually available to buy, with more available soon. An adaptor for Sony’s A-mount lenses is available separately, as is a third-party adaptor for Canon and Nikon lenses.

BUILD AND HANDLINGBoth the A7 and the A7R feature exactly the same body layout and size, while operation is almost identical.Although the cameras are larger than

Sony’s other E-mount (NEX) cameras which feature an APS-C sized sensor, probably the first thing that will strike you about the A7 and the A7R are their small size – especially for cameras with a full-frame sensor.

That said, there’s a reasonably chunky grip which makes the body comfortable to hold for long periods of time. The design of the camera is a little boxy, which will be appreciated by some, but perhaps not by others. While it doesn’t have the retro gorgeousness of a Fujifilm model, there’s a certain simplistic appeal.

There’s a satisfying number of dials and buttons on the camera, which will be appreciated by the enthusiasts that the camera is aiming itself at. The majority of the buttons are grouped on the right, making them easy to reach with the thumb.

On top of the camera is a mode dial for switching between the various exposure modes on ofer, including

> THE SPECS

Sensor A7, 24.3-million pixel

full-frame sensor

(35.8x23.9mm); A7R,

36.4-million pixel full-frame

sensor (35.9x24mm)

Focal length conversion 0x

Memory SD/SDHC/SDXC

Viewfinder 0.5 inch 2.4 million dot

electronic viewfinder<

Video resolution Full HD (1,920 x 1,080)

ISO range 100-25,600 (expandable

down to 50)

Autofocus points A7, hybrid autofocusing

system: 117-point phase-

detection, 25-point

contrast-detection; A7R,

25-point contrast-

detection system

Max burst rate A7, 5fps or 2.5fps with AF;

A7R, 4fps or 1.5fps with AF

LCD screen size Tilting three-inch 921,600

LCD screen

Shutter speeds 1/8,000 - 30 seconds

and Bulb

Weight A7, 416g; A7R, 407g

(body only)

Dimensions 126.9x94.4x48.2mm

Power supply NP-FW50 Li-ion battery

CSC A7 > £1,299; A7R > £1,699 (body only) > www.sony.co.uk

Perfectly formed

Above It’s not

without its flaws,

but the Alpha 7 is

a watershed in the

evolution of CSCs

The A7 and the A7R offer a full-frame sensor in a small body. But how does image quality stand up? Amy Davies finds out


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109


Stick or twist? Upgrade adviceA full-frame camera has a sensor that’s the same size as a frame of 35mm film. They offer over 2.5x the surface area of an APS-C camera, which generally makes for better image quality. It also means any lens will shoot at its stated focal length.

Full-frame ExplainedFor those looking for their first full-frame interchangeable-lens camera, the Alpha 7 is a tempting option. It’s affordable by full-frame standards, and while the lens range isn’t huge, you can buy adaptors for other brands. Anybody moving up from

APS-C sized cameras like Sony’s NEX-6 (pictured) will be impressed with the A7’s image quality. Although the A7 can be bought with a kit lens, consider going body-only and buying a 35mm f/2.8 lens for a back-to-basics approach.

REAL-WORLD PERFORMANCE

OUR BEST SHOTWhat we love about the Alpha 7

Depth of fieldBoth cameras offer plenty of options to restrict the depth of field because of their large sensors.

ColourThe image processor renders colour in a pleasing and natural way.

DetailBoth cameras deliver an impressive amount of detail, although the A7R’s 36MP is the stand-out feature.


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KITZONE


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aperture priority and shutter priority.

There’s also space here for up to two

groups of customisable settings –

useful if you often find yourself

shooting in a particular type of

condition, such as low light.

Just above the handgrip is a

scrolling dial, which can be used for

making changes to settings such as

aperture or shutter speed, depending

on the mode you’re shooting in. On

the back of the camera where your

thumb would naturally sit is a second

scrolling dial, which can also be used

to change these settings. If you’re

shooting in fully manual mode, you

use the front dial for aperture, and the

rear one for shutter speed.

One of the best things about

Sony cameras is the amount of

customisation on ofer. The A7 and

A7R are no diferent in this respect,

with three buttons labelled as ‘c’ for

customisable. It doesn’t stop there,

though: you can also change the

function of almost every other button

on the camera if you like. A quick

menu, reached by tapping the

function button and useful for

accessing commonly used settings,

is also fully customisable to the way

you like to work.

The A7 ofers a tilting LCD screen.

While it’s not fully articulated, the A7

and Sony’s Alpha 99 SLT are the

only interchangeable full-frame lens

cameras to ofer any kind of screen

movement at all. Unfortunately, Sony

has opted not to make the screen

touch-sensitive, making changing the

AF point awkward: by default you

need to tap the c1 button on the top

plate, then use the arrow keys to scroll

round the screen to the right point.

PERFORMANCEThe A7 and the A7R are two of

the most exciting cameras to be

announced recently, representing a

genuine step forward in mirrorless

technology. We had high hopes for

both cameras, particularly the

higher-resolution A7R. We have not

been disappointed by the images that

either camera is capable of producing.

Both of the cameras fare pretty

similarly in terms of colour, metering

The image quality from that full-frame sensor is fantastic.

Wi-Fi and NFC make this an excellent camera for social sharers.

Sony has decided not to make the tilting screen touch-sensitive.

Poor battery life means that you’ll need to invest in a spare.

Meet the rivals…See how the Sony Alpha 7 stands up against the competition

“The Alpha 7 and Alpha 7R are two of the most exciting cameras to be announced recently”

Zooming in on the… Sony Alpha 7A quick tour of the camera’s key features

Use this to access commonly used settings, or the Wi-Fi options when in playback mode.

This dial is handily reached by the thumb for making speedy changes to exposure compensation.

Most of the buttons on the camera can be customised to suit your working needs, which is very flexible.

The 3-inch screen tilts upwards and downwards for shooting from awkward angles.

Canon EOS 6D£1,300 (body only)The finely-tuned 6D represents an excellent choice for the enthusiast looking for a full-frame SLR.Our score: 4/5Issue reviewed: 135

Nikon D800£1,750 (body only)The D800 delivers images that compare well with pricier and larger-format rival cameras. Our score: 5/5Issue reviewed: 125

Nikon D610£1,249 (body only)The D610 is an excellent full-frame SLR with an enthusiast-friendly control arrangementOur score: 4/5Reviewed: page 102


WorldMags.net



111KITZONE


SONY A7 & A7R

and white balance. Colours from both cameras are bright and punchy, without displaying too much saturation. You can use Creative Styles to alter colours in-camera – particularly useful for black-and-white shots or if you want to up the vibrance for any reason.

Using Creative Styles means you can shoot in raw format and keep a ‘clean’ version of the image for working on later. Conversely, shooting with Picture Efects, a range of digital filters, is available in JPEG only, which is a shame.

Generally speaking, the A7 series’ metering system does a good job when left on Multi (all-purpose). You may need to dial in some exposure compensation when shooting in areas of high contrast, or if shooting somewhere very dark. Similarly, the automatic white balance option copes reasonably well in most situations, albeit erring towards incorrect colour casts when shooting under artificial

lights. In these cases, it makes sense to switch to a more appropriate white balance setting.

The A7 can be bought as a package with the 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 FE lens. While it’s a decent enough optic to start with, it’s not the lens that either of the full-frame sensors deserves.

As we might expect, the major diference between the two cameras comes from detail resolution, with the A7R putting in the better performance. The amount of detail resolved is seriously impressive, and will likely appeal to those who want the best possible image quality, such as landscape photographers. That’s not to say that the 24.3MP A7 isn’t also impressive. Even if you choose to buy the A7, it’s worth considering buying it body-only, then investing in the 35mm f/2.8 Zeiss FE lens, which really showcases what these sensors are capable of.

Another diference is AF speed, with the A7R being slightly slower

thanks to its contrast-detection only system. Sony claimed that the A7 boasts faster autofocusing speeds than other full-frame cameras such as the Nikon D610 and the Canon 6D. While that is possibly true (there doesn’t seem to be much in it) in good light, as light levels drop the autofocus hunts a lot more, and on occasion brings up a false positive.

In terms of image noise, both cameras also perform well. Noise

50

30

40

10

20

TIFF NOISE Highest values are best

SIG

NA

L-T

O-N

OIS

E R

AT

IO (

DB

)

SENSITIVITY

NOISE RESULT: The A7 puts in a slightly better performance than the A7R. That’s not surprising considering the difference in resolution.

Sony Alpha 7R

Sony Alpha 7

Canon EOS 6D

Nikon D800E

KE

Y

OVERALL BENCHMARK RESULTAlthough the A7R hasn’t performed as well for signal-to-noise ratio when looking at JPEG files, it’s understandable when you consider the sensor resolution. That said, the Nikon D800E, which has a similarly high resolution and lack of an anti-aliasing filter, strikes a better balance in terms of noise control and detail kept. For raw files, the performance is more consistent.

CSC BENCHMARKSHow does the Sony Alpha 7R fare?

Sony Alpha 7

Sony Alpha 7R

Nikon D800E

Canon EOS 6D

COLOUR ERROR Closest to zero is best

COLOUR ERROR RESULT: Both the A7 and the A7R produce images with vibrant colours, although the D800E is slightly more accurate.

3.1

-4-6 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10


14

5

RAW DYNAMIC RANGE Highest values are best

DY

NA

MIC

RA

NG

E (

EV

)

SENSITIVITY

8

7

6

12

13

10

9

11

DYNAMIC RESULT: Both Alpha 7s compete well with the other cameras on test for dynamic range, especially at lower sensitivities.


200 400 800 1,600 6,4003,200

200 400 800 1600 64003200

6.3

-5.3

8.8

Above left The image processor produces an impressive amount of detail

WHAT’S THIS?

Find out how we test on

page 98


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CSC REVIEW

KITZONE112

much a given that you will need to purchase at least one additional battery if you intend to use the camera for more than, say, half a day’s shooting at a time.

VERDICTSony is keen to portray itself as a serious contender in the imaging market. Currently, it is doing this through experimentation and innovation, of which both cameras are prime examples.

What we have here is an extremely exciting development, especially for the compact system camera market. It’s fair to say that traditional SLR manufacturers may be starting to get worried by this kind of evolution, especially given the relatively good value that the A7 and A7R ofer (compared to full-frame SLR cameras).

The image quality is top-class, especially in terms of detail resolution

from the A7R. Colours are beautifully vibrant,

while the scope to customise colour output in camera

is very much appreciated. It’s also clear that Sony has

thought about how photographers like

to work: the breadth of customisation options is fantastic.

Yet this camera isn’t without its flaws, some of them major. Battery life is poor, to say the least: if you’re looking to spend a day with the camera, it simply won’t last that long. That makes additional batteries pretty much an essential purchase. It’s also a shame that Sony has chosen to omit a touchscreen. When setting the AF point is as tricky as it is here, it would make things a lot simpler and quicker.

It’s also true that this is an immature system for now: there are just a couple of proprietary lenses available for the system. However, any owners of Sony (A mount), Canon or Nikon lenses can fit these with a suitable adaptor.

Tech BriefingVIEWFINDERS

Both the A7 and the A7R feature an electronic viewfinder, which offers an

incredible 2.4 million dots in its half-inch size. Although EVFs have suffered from a bad reputation, in recent years the technology has improved significantly. The device here is one of the best we’ve used.

In use, it’s easy to forget you’re not using an optical device. There are real benefits to an EVF, like the ability to preview what you’re about to shoot and instant feedback of whether you’ve captured the shot. They can look noisy in low light, though. EVFs can be customised to show different displays; particularly useful is an electronic horizon level to help you get straight shots.

WE SAY: This is an exciting development for the camera market. While image quality is absolutely superb, other elements aren’t quite there yet. We can’t wait to see the system grow into something even better.

Overall

FEATURES

IMAGE QUALITY

BUILD/HANDLING

VALUE

FOR TEST IMAGES AND RESOLUTION

CHARTS, VISIT

WWW.TECH RADAR.COM/

CAMERAS

doesn’t really start to show until around ISO 1,600, while it doesn’t become problematic until ISO 6,400 – and even then only when you’re examining images at 100% to look for issues. Images are more than acceptable when shared or printed at A4 or smaller sizes.

The biggest problem with both cameras is battery life. It’s pretty

Above The A7 series produces vibrant colour

Below The mode dial accommodates two custom settings


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SOFTWARE REVIEW

KITZONE


114

on with other jobs while it runs in the background. The results are impressive, although most high-ISO shots have issues other than noise.

DxO’s High noise-reduction process, improved in version 9, is efective too, and almost instant by comparison. If you put the two side by side, the Prime version is certainly smoother, but doesn’t look as sharp. The High version has a little more noise, but looks a fraction crisper.

DXO SMART LIGHTINGDxO says its Smart Lighting technology is improved too, claiming improved highlight and shadow

IMAGE CONVERTER DxO Optics Pro 9 > £79 > www.dxo.com

This program could make your camera and lenses perform better than you thought possible, as Rod Lawton reveals

DxO Optics Pro 9

Above The Prime noise reduction gives really smooth tones, but doesn’t deliver any more detail than the regular High mode

Below The new Smart Lighting system can be amazingly effective at recovering shadow detail

centre around raw conversion and image-processing tools. Its tools are also quite complex, even intimidating, so when you take all these factors into account, it’s clear that DxO Optics Pro is designed for enthusiasts and experts rather than beginners.

NOISE REMOVALOne of the headline features in Optics Pro 9 is DxO’s Prime noise reduction option, which analyses over 1,000 surrounding pixels for each pixel in the image. It sounds processor-intensive, and it is. It can take several minutes to apply the Prime process to a single image, although you can get

DxO Labs specialises in lens testing, image assessment and optical corrections. DxO Optics Pro is the

fruit of all this work. It uses unique correction profiles, created for specific camera and lens combinations, to correct a whole range of optical bugbears, including distortion, edge softness, chromatic aberration and corner shading (vignetting).

These optical defects are a fact of life for most of us: it’s next to impossible for lens manufacturers to produce lenses that don’t have at least some of these flaws and yet provide the zoom ranges we want.

But DxO Optics Pro doesn’t just correct lens defects. It also converts raw files, and has some tricks up its sleeve here, too, using DxO’s Smart Lighting technology to open up shadow details and recover the maximum possible dynamic range from your images.

There are some restrictions to be aware of, though. First, Optics Pro can only work with your original files straight from the camera. Second, if you use a high-end or pro SLR, you will need the more expensive Elite edition. The DxO website lists the cameras supported by each version.

DxO is constantly releasing profiles for new lenses and cameras, so the new features in version 9

> THE SPECSPrice Standard, £79

Elite, £159

Web www.dxo.com

Windows Vista, 7 or 8

(64-bit edition

recommended); Intel Core

2 Duo, AMD Athlon 64 X2

or later processor; 2GB

hard disk space (6GB

recommended); 2GB RAM

(8GB recommended)

Mac OS X 10.6 or later; Intel

processor; hard disk space

and RAM, as Windows

System requirements PC

System requirements Mac

AFTERBEFORE


WorldMags.net



115KITZONEDXO OPTICS PRO 9


WE SAY… DxO Optics Pro 9 excels at lens corrections, clean and sharp raw conversions and especially shadow recovery. But we’d like to see more adjustment tools so you don’t have to turn to other applications for further work.

Overall

FEATURES

RESULTS

EASE OF USE

VALUE

“It’s an exceptionally good raw converter, producing crisper detail than Adobe Camera Raw”

recovery with fewer colour errors. It’s certainly among the best for highlight recovery – although there are limits to what any raw converter can do with overexposed areas, so the advances here are subtle rather than obvious.

It can also recover an extraordinary level of shadow detail without badly afecting midtones and highlights. This kind of heavy tonal compression can leave some shots looking a little flat, but the results are impressive in most instances.

VISUAL PRESETSThe other main changes relate to the interface and the workflow. DxO Optics Pro 9 can now display preset previews, allowing you to see the efect a preset will have on your image before you apply it. The interface is both simpler and more efcient, and DxO has reorganised

the tools palettes in the right sidebar. If you’re familiar with previous versions, you’ll notice there’s no longer an Export tab. Instead, you export images via a button in the bottom-right corner. This does feel more intuitive, but if you are used to the older versions, you might feel as if it’s change for change’s sake.

Finally, DxO says Optics Pro 9 has been made faster, and it certainly does seem a little more responsive than previous versions.

SHOCK FACTORYou’re in for a shock the first time you use DxO Optics Pro. You’ll find

out just how much distortion and corner shading your lenses produce, and you’ll see how much better your pictures look without chromatic aberration, which often ‘colours’ fine details more than you think. And it’s all completely automatic. The software identifies your camera and lens from the embedded shooting (Exif) data and selects and applies the correct correction profile automatically. It also happens to be an exceptionally good raw converter, producing noticeably crisper detail and less noise than Adobe Camera Raw, for example.

But Optics Pro is quite inflexible. It will only work on your original images straight from the camera, and you’ll still need Photoshop, Elements or some other image-editor for jobs such as cloning, special efects, localised adjustments and other image manipulation tasks.

A closer look at the interface and features

The Customise tab is where you make all your image adjustments in Optics Pro.

Optics Pro comes with a range of preset looks, now with visual previews.

Meet the rivals…How does Optics Pro compare?

Photoshop CCPrice: £18 per monthPhotoshop CC comes with the Adobe Camera Raw plug-in: this has correction profiles for many lenses, though Optics Pro has the edge for quality and scope.

Photoshop Lightroom 5Price: £72Lightroom is based around Camera Raw, and can correct distortion, chromatic aberration and corner shading in most mainstream lenses – and automatically too.

Phase One Capture One 7 ProPrice: €229Capture One is a serious option for raw conversions and lens corrections. It doesn’t support all lenses yet, but its raw conversion quality is second to none.

DXO OPTICS PRO 9

Zooming in on...

DxO Optics Pro’s tools have been reorganised into a simpler and more efficient layout.

Image adjustments are stored internally by Optics Pro, leaving the original files unaltered.


WorldMags.net



KITZONEPHOTO GEAR O

116

Another new Nissin flashgun, but dig a bit deeper and it turns out there’s not much new on offer

Nissin Di600

Photography gear reviewed and ratedFLASHGUN £145.50 > www.kenro.co.uk

Just two months have passed since we tested Nissin’s

new Di700 flashgun, yet already the Di600 is joining

it in the midrange market. While the Di700 brought

features like an external power socket and a colour LCD monitor

to a lower price point, this new model seems far more

conventional. That said, a guide number of 44 is attractive,

especially considering the relatively low power on offer from the

premium brands for this money.

Recycle times are quoted at five seconds. While this sounds

sluggish, it is a worst-case scenario of completely recycling after

a full-power discharge. Dial things down a stop and we found

recycle times reduced to around one second.

Nissin offers the Di600 in Canon, Nikon and Sony variants,

with each boasting full TTL metering as well as a 24-105mm

zoom head for optimal lighting at common focal lengths. Flash

coverage in our testing maintained good uniformity across this

focal length range, with only negligible falloff at 24mm. Simple

buttons and LEDs control the +/- 1.5 stops of flash power

compensation and switch between the Di600’s manual, TTL and

slave flash modes. Still, apart from a slightly redesigned front

sensor cover, it’s identical in every way to Nissin’s existing Di622

Mark II. While the old model is still a fine flashgun, we’d have liked

its replacement to have something more than just a new name.


WorldMags.net



PHOTO GEAR ON TEST

KITZONE


117

Honey, I shrunk the tripod – beat camera shake without having to lug heavy legs

Effortlessly back up your photo collection and access it online

Photo FerretWant to take landscapes as good

as Tom Mackie’s? His new app

features some of his best shots,

accompanied by some useful

background info, including the

best time to capture the same

shot, GPS coordinates and a

Google Maps link. Although the

images span the length and

breadth of Britain, it’s a shame

there aren’t more locations.

£9.99, www.tommackie.com/

photoferret

NETWORK ATTACHED STORAGE £134 > www.wdc.com

POCKET TRIPOD £24.95, $28 > www.manfrotto.co.uk

Who says tripods have to weigh you down and get caught

up in subway turnstiles? The Pixi is so small it’ll fit in a

jacket pocket, yet it still supports a compact camera,

CSC, or even a lightweight SLR with kit lens.

Of course it’s not much use in a crowd unless you’re after

shots of people’s feet, but sit the Pixi atop a reasonably flat

surface and you’ll have some useful support that lets you shoot

from the angle you want. Close the legs and it also doubles as a

convenient handle for video shooting.

Non-slip rubber feet aid grip, whilst the red Manfrotto logo

marks the ball head release button. The head itself is pretty basic

with no friction clutch to balance varying camera weights and

capturing a level panorama takes plenty of patience and a

steady hand. However the lack of features pays dividends

when you’re on the move, as the Pixi has a closed length of

just 18.5cm and weighs in at only 230g. For the price of a

takeaway, you getting a lot of neatly designed stability

Storing your photos in ‘the cloud’ - aka

online - can be great for mobile access

and backup. Trouble is, upload more

than a few gigabytes of images and most online

storage providers will charge.

The My Cloud is different. It’s basically a

normal external hard drive with an Ethernet

port, creating a simple network attached

storage device. The result is two terabytes of

personal storage that’s accessible over your

home network or the internet via your router.

Setup is as easy as connecting the Ethernet

and power cables, although you may need to

tweak your computer’s firewall to allow access.

Then you’ll be able to enjoy the speedy

70+MB/s upload and 90+MB/s download

speeds via the gigabit Ethernet or USB 3.0

connections. Companion apps also enable

access from Android and iOS mobile devices.

This is a great value way to back up your

photos or access them on the go.

No it’s not one of those squeezers designed to strengthen your grip – meet the Pixi

It may look like an old Xbox but this is a great-value storage device

Manfrotto Pixi Mini Tripod

Western Digital My Cloud 2TB

APP OF THE MONTH


WorldMags.net



118 KITZONEPHOTO GEAR ON TEST


CONTINUOUS LIGHTING KIT £290 > www.rotolight.com

FLATBED SCANNER £179.99 > www.epson.co.uk

Super-soft continuous lighting in a portable package, at a good price

This pair of mini ring lights is just the

ticket for close range illumination of still

photography and video. Each light

incorporates 48 LEDs, emitting a wide 110°

beam of beautifully diffused, virtually

shadowless light.

Set-up is a breeze thanks to simple push-fit

stands, which can clamp to your camera’s

hotshoe mount, a tripod or light stand. Power is

similarly straightforward, with each light running

on three AA batteries for up to four hours.

In order to retain a consistent colour

temperature, you don’t get conventional

electronic dimming. Instead, each light includes

a set of colour-correction and neutral-density

gels by Lee Filters. The latter reduces light

transmission by as much as 1.5 stops without

altering its temperature.

The kit’s rounded off by a set of coloured

filters for added creativity, plus a handy carry

case. It’s a great, reasonably priced solution for

anyone seeking more creative lighting.

Rotolight RL48 Interview Kit V2

Canon SX280 HS Canon’s SX280 is an appealing

proposition for anybody looking for

a decent travel compact camera

that offers a lot of control over

different settings, as well as a high

zoom ratio and pocket-friendly

proportions. Its pictures display a

good range of colour and plenty of

detail, while low-light performance

is admirable.

There are some downsides,

such as the lack of a touchscreen

or the ability to shoot in raw format

or change the autofocus point.

Built-in Wi-Fi is a bonus, but you

can’t remotely control the camera

from a smartphone or tablet.

£200, www.canon.co.uk

The Unforgettable PhotographThis is a curious book. At first

glance, it feels a bit of a let-down

after its grandiloquent title, but

persevere and you find some

interesting ideas for quirky family

shots. The emphasis is firmly on

portraits, and it’s pretty sketchy on

technique, though photography

essentials are explained. Some

images hardly seem worth the

effort, while others are really

cool – you’ll love it or hate it!

£9.99, Workman Publishing

COMPACT OF THE MONTH

BOOK OF THE MONTH

Epson Perfection v550Bring your film and slide images into the digital age with Epson

We don’t feature dedicated flatbed

scanners that often, mainly as

all-in-one printers have stolen much of

their thunder. However these jack-of-all-trades

devices won’t really cut it if you want to scan

negatives as well as prints. This is where the

Epson v550 excels, as it’s equipped with a

built-in transparency unit and comes with

holders for 35mm and medium-format

negatives plus 35mm slides. Up to a dozen

35mm negatives can be scanned at once and

are automatically saved as individual frames. A

maximum 6,400dpi scanning resolution is more

than enough to extract every detail from even

the densest film grains.

Epson’s Digital ICE technology automatically

removes dust, scratches and all but the most

severe imperfections from prints or negatives

without a trace. Activating this feature will

roughly double the scanning time, but the

results save you hours of Photoshop time. Don’t diss the humble scanner. It’s still handy in our digital age, and this new Epson is a cracking example

No, it’s not a portable 70s disco unit: it’s actually a very handy and flexible creative lighting solution from Rotolight


WorldMags.net




WorldMags.net



120

MINI-TEST

KITZONE


1 Cokin Close-up P103 Price: £25

Web: www.cokin.co.uk

The only lens among this selection that doesn’t

screw into a filter attachment, this square affair

is from Cokin’s P series, so requires a holder

and adaptor ring. These cost an additional

£20 or so, unless you’re already using any of

the 140-or-so choices in the P series, including

Cokin’s popular ND grad filters.

The high-quality +3 dioptres lens uses a

glass element that offers very good image

quality, and comes in its own protective case.

As you’d expect, it’s a reassuringly firm and

snug fit in the P-series holder, which can be

used with lenses that have filter threads of

up to 82mm.

3 Hoya Close-Up +3 Price: £20 (58mm)

Web: www.hoyafilter.com

Hoya doesn’t offer a close-up kit with a

selection of lenses, but you can buy +1, +2,

+3, and +4 dioptres lenses individually, in a

helpfully wide range of thread sizes between 43

and 77mm. The 58mm lenses cost about £20

for each of these magnifications, and there’s

also a Macro Close Up lens of +10 dioptres, at a

considerably more pricey £60; we tried out the

+3 dioptres lens.

As you’d expect from Hoya, build quality is

very good for the price, and image quality is

impressive. The lenses feature multi-coatings

to help reduce reflections and boost light

transmission. (Hoya claims an average of 97%.)

2 Hama Macro Lens Set Price: £65 (58mm)

Web: www.hama.com

Available in a choice of popular filter thread

sizes – 52mm, 58mm or 67mm – Hama’s

kit comprises three lenses at +1, +2 and +4

dioptres magnifications. They’re made from

high-quality glass, and are double-coated on

each side for improved optical performance.

The lenses work well individually, and

as with similar kits, you can stack them for

magnifications of up to +7 dioptres, although

image contrast can suffer a bit. The same filter

threads that enable this allow you to fit lens

caps, hoods and other accessories. The lenses

come in a carrying case and you have to screw

them together for stowage.

1

2

3

VERDICT VERDICT VERDICT

What’s good: Ideal if you’re already using

Cokin P series filters

What’s bad: Bulky compared with

screw-in filters

Our verdict: A good choice if you don’t

mind the bulk of the adaptor ring

What’s good: A versatile kit that’s well

made and gives good image quality

What’s bad: Slight degradation in picture

quality when stacking lenses

Our verdict: Good results from this high-

quality lens set

What’s good: Good build and image

quality – and at a reasonable price

What’s bad: Pricier than some sets if you

buy two or more lenses

Our verdict: Impressive lenses, but the

cost can quickly stack up

Like fitting a magnifying glass to your lens, these attachments make small subjects big…

Close-up lensesMINI-TEST

KITZONE


WorldMags.net

http://www.cokin.co.uk

http://www.hoyafilter.com

http://www.hama.com



121

CLOSE-UP LENS EXTENDERS

KITZONE


5 SRB-Griturn 10x Close Up Lens

Price: £30

Web: www.srb-griturn.com

A chunkier option than the +10 dioptres lens

supplied in SRB-Griturn’s Close Up Lens Set,

this optic has a longer barrel that incorporates

two separate elements. It’s only available for

a 58mm filter thread, which suits Canon’s

18-55mm kit lens, but step-up and step-down

rings are available for use with other thread

sizes if you need that facility.

The image quality from this lens is great in

all respects; it performs marginally better than

the +10 dioptres lens in SRB-Griturn’s Close

Up Lens Set, although you lose out in terms

of versatility.

4 SRB-Griturn Close Up Lens Set

Price: £20

Web: www.srb-griturn.com

SRB-Griturn is a British company that

specialises in quality filters and adaptors.

This set contains four lenses at +1, +2, +4 and

a mighty +10 dioptres, presented in a soft

carrying pouch. Fitment sizes range from

52mm to 77mm and, unusually, the highly

competitive price stays the same regardless of

which size you buy.

Image quality among this set is impressive

when using each lens individually, and remains

so even when stacking all four lenses, giving

a whopping +17 dioptres magnification. An

absolute steal at the price.

6 Tiffen Close Up Set Price: £80 (58mm)

Web: www.tiffen.com

Tiffen’s Close Up Set is available in a broad

range of thread sizes between 37 and 77mm,

and contains three lenses at +1, +2 and +3

dioptres. Stacking all three filters therefore

gives +6 dioptres of magnification, which is

slightly less than the Hama kit, and substantially

less than the SRB-Griturn kit.

Sharpness and contrast in the filters from

this set are very good, and the build quality

is reassuringly high. However, there’s nothing

to make this kit really stand out from the

competition, other than the breadth of thread

sizes, so it struggles to justify its comparatively

high asking price.

6

4

5

VERDICT VERDICT VERDICT

What’s good: Impressive quality and great

versatility at a bargain price

What’s bad: Lens surfaces a little more

reflective than some options

Our verdict: Slightly beaten for quality by

some others, but a genuine bargain

What’s good: Excellent image quality and

mighty magnification; good value

What’s bad: Lacks the versatility of

multi-lens kits

Our verdict: Great for big magnification,

but we’d like more thread sizes

What’s good: Well engineered; delivers

very good image quality

What’s bad: Much more expensive than

competing kits

Our verdict: A good-quality choice, but

you can get good options for less


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http://www.srb-griturn.com


http://www.tiffen.com



Ready

close-up?for your

LENS GROUP TEST

KITZONE122

A standard kit zoom lens can work well for portraiture, but a fixed length lens is more versatile, as Matthew Richards discovers

1

2


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KITZONEPORTRAIT LENSES TESTED

123

3

7

5

8

6

4

To make this test as relevant as possible, we’ve created a special award to tell you which lens is best

for each camera system

SPECIAL AWARDS

See which lens is available for your camera with this handy key. C: Canon mount; N: Nikon; 4/3: Four Thirds; P: Pentax; S: Sony; Sg: Sigma; NX: Samsung NX

MOUNT KEY

NXN PC S Sg

THE CONTENDERS1 Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM, £305

2 Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM, £305

3 Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.4G, £290

4 Nikon AF-S 85mm f/1.8G, £380

5 Samyang 85mm f/1.4 IF MC, £320

6 Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM, £380

7 Sigma 70mm f/2.8 Macro EX DG, £370

8 Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro, £370

KITZONE


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124 KITZONE


LENS GROUP TEST

Kit anatomy Blades of glory

The roundness of the

diaphragm is a key

element in retaining good

bokeh when stopping down a

little from the widest available

aperture. It’s an important

consideration because depth

of field may be too small at the

widest aperture when, for

example, you want to keep the

portrait subject’s nose and

ears simultaneously sharp.

Another factor is that the

camera may not be able to

deliver a sufficiently fast

shutter speed for a correct

exposure, when using the

widest aperture in bright

lighting conditions. At least

you can get around this

problem by using a neutral-

density filter. All the lenses in

this test group have curved

diaphragm blades to help

enable a rounded aperture.

Even so, a greater number of

diaphragm blades gives the

potential for a more circular

aperture. (See ‘Features to

look for’, opposite.)

lens on an APS-C body can be

ideal for tight head-and-shoulders

compositions. Either way, the 85mm

lenses in this group are tempting yet

afordable propositions if you already

own a full-frame camera, or are

thinking of upgrading to one.

A particular problem with kit

zoom lenses is that they tend to have

a variable aperture range that shrinks

from around f/4 to f/5.6 as you

extend through the zoom range. So,

while a typical 18-55mm lens might

give an ideal focal length for APS-C

based portraiture at its long end, the

widest available aperture of f/5.6 is

counter-productive, because real-

world backgrounds are often detailed

and fussy. Unless you’re shooting in

a studio with backdrops, you’ll often

want to blur the background. This

focuses the attention on the person

being photographed, lessening the

emphasis on their surroundings.

Wider available apertures of

between f/1.4 and f/2.8 enable you

to do this, so that the person really

stands out in the shot. In the

versatility stakes, it’s a major plus

point for prime lenses.

Some of the most attractive

portraits are taken in soft, dull, shady

or downright gloomy lighting

conditions. A relatively wide aperture

comes to your aid here as well, as

you’ll be able to retain a sufciently

fast aperture to avoid camera-shake

during handheld, without having to

bump up the camera’s sensitivity

setting. This is always a good thing for

Our lens tests are based on

a two-stage procedure.

Firstly, lab tests are carried

out, shooting two test charts

under controlled lighting

conditions. The results are

processed using Imatest

Master, so that we can

quantify optical performance

in terms of sharpness,

chromatic aberrations and

distortion. Overall quality is

assessed at the centre, edge

and corners of the images. For

this class of prime lens, we pay

particular attention to the

image quality of shots at the

widest available apertures, as

this is a key benefit of prime

‘portrait’ lenses.

For real-world testing, we

use each of the lenses under

widely varying indoor and

outdoor lighting conditions.

Overall handling is checked,

along with smoothness and

precision of control rings and

switches. We also test the

speed and accuracy of

autofocus systems, complete

with operation of full-time

manual override where

available. Ratings are finally

given for features, build

quality, image quality and

value for money.

How we test lenses Advice you can trust

Zoom lenses are versatile,

but being able to instantly

select anything from

wide-angle to telephoto

focal lengths is largely

irrelevant for portraiture. Here, the

main concern is that the image of the

person you’re photographing looks

like they do in real life, so a fairly

standard focal length generally works

best. It’s all a matter of perspective.

If you photograph somebody from

very close-up with a wide-angle lens,

the closest part of the face looks

disproportionately large. You can end

up giving somebody an enormous

nose and tiny ears, which they’re

unlikely to feel pleased about. What’s

more, a distance of about two metres

between the photographer and the

subject is often ideal. People seldom

feel comfortable with a wide-angle

lens stuck in their face.

Telephoto lenses have the opposite

efect, tending to flatten the face. It’s

not as objectionable as the wide-angle

efect, but people can end up looking

a bit two-dimensional. A long

telephoto lens also tends to put too

much distance between you and the

subject, making things impersonal.

Given that a focal length of around

50mm enables natural portrait shots

on SLRs with APS-C format image

sensors, and a focal length of about

85mm is practically perfect for

full-frame cameras, a zoom lens’s

main claim to versatility is nullified.

And with typically much less barrel or

pincushion distortion than a zoom

lens, prime lenses have the advantage.

FOCAL LENGTHSIt’s not completely an ‘either or’

choice when picking focal lengths.

As it turns out, a 50mm lens on a

full-frame body is convenient for

full-length portraits, while an 85mm

“For natural portraiture, a distance of about two metres between photographer and subject is ideal”

A quality portrait lens will offer quality ‘bokeh,’

or background blur


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125KITZONE


PORTRAIT LENSES TESTED

EQUIPMENT KNOW-HOW

FEATURES TO LOOK FORAdd convenience and success to portraiture

retaining optimum image quality. It

also helps to minimise any motion

blur on the part of the person being

photographed, without needing them

to remain absolutely still.

Naturally, some high-end standard

zoom lenses for both APS-C and

full-frame cameras have a constant-

aperture design that delivers a fairly

wide f/2.8 aperture throughout the

zoom range. However, they tend to be

big, bulky and heavy compared to a

50mm or 85mm prime lens. And

while all of the prime lenses in this

test group cost less than £400, a

top-quality f/2.8 standard zoom can

cost anything up to £1,800.

HOW WIDE?Lenses that ofer an extra-wide

aperture of around f/1.4 often give

a pleasant softness at their widest

aperture settings. This can be handy

for smoothing over wrinkles and

blemishes, as well as giving portraits

a soft and subtle dreamy look.

However, it’s not ideal if you’re a

fan of super-sharp eyes in portraits.

There’s a lot to be said for lenses

that are able to capture sharp

images when you need them, even

at their widest apertures. You can

always soften images or selected

parts of them at the editing stage.

There’s an additional bonus in

both of the f/2.8 lenses featured: the

Sigma 70mm and Tamron 90mm are

both full macro lenses. This means

they give a 1.0x magnification ratio at

their closest focus distance, and are

well suited to shooting close-ups of

small objects. The downside is that

their widest available aperture is

either two-thirds of an f/stop or two

full f/stops slower than f/1.8 and f/1.4

lenses respectively.

Regardless of any dual-purpose

advantage, a more crucial aspect of

portrait lenses is their bokeh, or the

quality of defocused areas. The ideal

is that defocused areas look as

smooth as possible, and that

highlights are represented as smooth

discs rather than having noticeable

geometric shapes. This can be

difcult to achieve when narrowing

the lens’s aperture from its fully open

setting, as the diaphragm blades come

into efect. Fast autofocus is also

preferable: even though you’re not

trying to track sporting action, it’s

still frustrating to miss fleeting

expressions because your camera and

lens are dawdling over autofocus.

Closest focus distanceMinimum focus distance is typically around 45cm or 85cm for 50mm and 85mm lenses, respectively. Macro lenses enable you to focus much closer on the subject, for far greater maximum magnification.

Ring-type ultrasonic autofocus is preferable

for portraiture of toddlers and children at

play, and for action portraits. The Canon 50mm

f/1.4 lens uses an ultrasonic motor, which is a

little slower and louder yet, unusually, still

enables full-time manual override.

The Tamron 90mm and Sigma 70mm macro

lenses both use electric motors. The latter only

has an internal motor in its Canon-fit edition, so

only manual focus is available in Nikon bodies

like the D3200 and D5300, which don’t have a

built-in autofocus motor.

Autofocus Explained

Widest apertureUnless you’re going to spend silly money, you can expect a widest available aperture of f/1.4 in 50mm lenses, and usually f/1.8 in 85mm lenses. Macro lenses are generally narrower, at f/2.8.

Diaphragm bladesThe Nikon 85mm lens has a seven-blade diaphragm, both of the Canon lenses and the Samyang have an eight-blade diaphragm, and all other lenses in this group test boast a nine-blade diaphragm.

AutofocusBoth Nikon lenses, the Canon 85mm and the Sigma 50mm feature whisper-quiet, ring-type ultrasonic motors. The Samyang has no autofocus facility, relying solely on manual focus.

Focus overrideFull-time manual focus override can be handy when you want to tweak the focus setting, for example to make sure that the eyes in a portrait are as sharp as possible.

Focus distance scaleThis can be very useful and serves as a guide for setting flashgun power manually, especially when you’re fine-tuning the balance between flash and ambient lighting.


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LENS GROUP TEST

KITZONE


126

CANON EF 50MM F/1.4 USM £305

A step up from the Canon 50mmA compact and lightweight lens

CANON EF 85MM F/1.8 USM £305

With a longer focal length than the 50mm f/1.4 lenses on test, this one enables a tighter depth of field at close focusing distances, despite its

widest available aperture being a little narrower. Apart from the step up in focal length, this lens also delivers greater autofocus prowess than the Canon 50mm, with ring-type ultrasonic autofocus that’s amazingly fast and near-silent. However, there are plenty of similarities between the two Canon lenses, including an eight-blade diaphragm, a close match in build quality, Super Spectra coatings, a 58mm filter thread, and an identical price.

Handling is refined, with excellent smoothness in the focus ring and the advantage that the focus ring doesn’t rotate during autofocus. The latter attribute is shared by all other lenses here apart from the Sigma 70mm and the manual-only focusing Samyang 85mm.

PERFORMANCEDespite being only two thirds of a stop slower than the Canon 50mm f/1.4, the 85mm lens delivers very diferent characteristics in image quality. Surprisingly, given the same filter thread of 58mm, the longer lens shows less vignetting at its widest aperture. More noticeably, while the 50mm f/1.4 is soft at its widest aperture, the 85mm lens is super-sharp with great contrast, even when shooting wide open.

Better still, bokeh is wonderfully smooth, and even transitional areas at the edges of the depth of field are handled remarkably well. Overall, it’s a fabulous lens that’s also unbeatable value for money at the price.

Canon’s mid-range 50mm prime lens sits between the low-budget f/1.8 and the expensive f/1.2 L-series models. The latter costs four times

the price of the sensibly priced f/1.4, making it unafordable to most. With a decent set of specifications for a mid-range 50mm lens, this one features an eight-blade diaphragm, ultrasonic autofocus and a focus distance scale positioned under a viewing window. Canon’s Super Spectra coatings are applied to help combat ghosting and flare under harsh lighting.

Rather than ring-type ultrasonic autofocus, the lens employs Micro-USM, based on a motor. Autofocus is a little sluggish and clearly audible but, unusually for its breed, still boasts full-time manual override in the host camera’s One Shot AF mode. Overall build quality is pretty good at the price, and the manual focus ring is smooth and precise. At 74x51mm in size and 290g in weight, it’s one of the smallest and most lightweight lenses in the group, along with the competing Nikon 50mm f/1.4.

PERFORMANCEMaking the most of its rounded aperture, the Canon gives a pleasantly smooth and creamy bokeh. However, like many lenses that have such a wide available aperture, sharpness and contrast are lacking at f/1.4. Compared with other lenses in this test group, the Canon takes longer to get into its stride as you narrow the aperture, only delivering excellent sharpness as you hit f/8. Vignetting (darkened image corners) are also quite noticeable at f/1.4, even on cameras that use an APS-C image sensor.

OVERALLOVERALL

FEATURES

BUILD QUALITY

IMAGE QUALITY

VALUE

FEATURES

BUILD QUALITY

IMAGE QUALITY

VALUE

21

Tech focus…7 elements in 6 groups, 8 diaphragm blades, closest focus distance 45cm, 58mm filter thread, ultrasonic motor autofocus, physical dimensions 74x51mm, weight 290g

Tech focus…9 elements in 7 groups, 8 diaphragm blades, closest focus distance 85cm, 58mm filter thread, ring-type ultrasonic autofocus, physical dimensions 75x72mm, weight 425g

C C


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KITZONE


127


More refined, yet cheaper to buy

NIKON AF-S 50MM F/1.4G £290

A slight reversal of fortunes at 85mm

NIKON AF-S 85MM F/1.8G £380

The Nikon 50mm f/1.4 is the outright cheapest lens in the group, even if it’s only £15 less than the Canon 50mm and 85mm lenses. It scores

higher for features than the directly competing Canon 50mm, with ring-type ultrasonic autofocus rather than an ultrasonic motor, and also boasts a weather seal on its mounting plate. Other aspects of build quality are pretty similar. Both lenses are an identical width and take 58mm filters, while the Nikon is just 3mm longer and 10g lighter in weight.

The Nikon beats the Canon by having an extra blade in its diaphragm, boosting the total count to nine. It also comes complete with a hood and pouch, both of which are sold as optional extras with the Canon. The Nikon doesn’t have fully internal focusing, as the front element creeps closer to the forward edge of the lens barrel at closer focusing distances, but attached filters don’t rotate during focusing. SIC (Super Integrated Coating) is applied to combat ghosting and flare.

PERFORMANCERing-type ultrasonic autofocus isn’t a guarantee of speed. In practice, autofocus is a little pedestrian in this lens, on a par with the Canon 50mm, and vignetting isn’t too apparent. A more major plus point of the Nikon compared with the Canon is that sharpness and contrast are vastly superior at the widest aperture of f/1.4. At narrower apertures of between f/2.8 and f/5.6, the Nikon stays well ahead in terms of sharpness, making the most of sparkly eyes in portraiture.

Nikon takes the lead in the 50mm f/1.4 stakes, but it somewhat loses ground at 85mm. While the Nikon 50mm lens features a nine-blade diaphragm,

the 85mm has only seven blades, more akin to Nikon’s low-budget 50mm f/1.8 lens. It’s a little larger than the directly competing Canon 85mm f/1.8 lens, and has a bigger 67mm rather than 58mm filter thread, but doesn’t feel quite as robust in the hand, with a lighter weight of 350g compared with the Canon’s 425g. Both lenses feature ring-type ultrasonic autofocus. One benefit of the Nikon is that it features a weather-seal ring on its mounting plate, as per most of the company’s recent lenses.

Like the Nikon 50mm, this lens comes complete with hood and pouch, both of which are absent with the equivalent Canon oferings. Nikon’s Super Integrated Coating is featured for enhanced resistance against ghosting and flare. The typical M/A autofocus mode enables full-time manual focus override, which works well in practice, thanks to the smooth and precise action of the manual focus ring.

PERFORMANCEA benefit of this lens’s fully internal focusing system is that autofocus is much more rapid than in the Nikon 50mm, and is similar in performance to the Canon 85mm. Despite only featuring a seven-blade aperture, bokeh is extremely good, and defocused highlights remain reasonably well rounded when narrowing the aperture a little. Even so, the Canon 85mm has the edge in this respect, and retains marginally more sharpness at f/1.8.

OVERALLOVERALL

FEATURES

BUILD QUALITY

IMAGE QUALITY

VALUE

FEATURES

BUILD QUALITY

IMAGE QUALITY

VALUE

43


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128

LENS GROUP TEST

Samyang goes for a hands-on approach

SIGMA 50MM F/1.4 EX DG HSM £380

SAMYANG 85MM F/1.4 IF MC £320

There are noticeable similarities

between this Sigma and the Nikon

50mm that’s also on test. Both have

ring-type ultrasonic autofocus, a

nine-blade diaphragm, and the same widest

available aperture of f/1.4. The diferences,

however, are even more striking. The Sigma is

much bigger and heavier, weighing in at 505g

compared with the Nikon’s 280g, and the filter

thread is an oversized 77mm instead of 58mm.

The Sigma lacks a weather-seal on its mounting

ring but does have fully internal focusing.

Typical of Sigma’s EX lenses, the 50mm

has a smart textured black finish, and comes

complete with petal-shaped hood and a

high-quality lens pouch. It’s equally refined in

the handling stakes, with precise manual focus

in fully manual mode or when applying

full-time manual override to autofocus.

PERFORMANCEAutofocus is a fair bit speedier than in either

of the Canon or Nikon 50mm lenses, more in

keeping with the other two companies’ 85mm

oferings. However, the Sigma is more like the

Canon 50mm in its inability to retain sharpness

and contrast at wide apertures. It’s only

marginally ahead of the Canon between f/1.4

and f/2.8, but improves better at f/4 and

onwards, where it’s a close match to the sharper

Nikon lens.

A plus point of the oversized front element

is that vignetting is minimal. Bokeh is smooth,

and colour fringing is particularly well

controlled. Image quality is very good overall,

apart from softness at wide apertures.

For an 85mm prime lens with a

relatively fast, f/1.4 widest aperture,

the Korean-made Samyang looks

incredibly good value for money.

This is further reinforced by a particularly

robust feel to its build quality, and a sturdy

construction that weighs in at 539g, making it

the heaviest lens in the group. The manual

focus ring is smooth as silk, while ofering

excellent precision in fine adjustments. It

matches the Canon 85mm lens and beats the

Nikon by having an eight-blade diaphragm.

That’s the good news.

The main drawback is that the Samyang

lacks an autofocus facility in any of its mount

options. On the plus side, at least the Nikon-fit

edition has electronics that enable the focus

confirmation lamp in the viewfinder, as well as

setting the aperture via the camera.

In other mount options, these are

unavailable. For example, mounted to a Canon

camera, you have to set the aperture via the ring

at the rear of the lens, which also reduces the

brightness of the viewfinder image as you

narrow the shooting aperture.

PERFORMANCEIf you can live with manual operation, the

Samyang still has plenty to ofer. Colour

fringing and distortion are well controlled, and

sharpness is respectable throughout most of the

aperture range. Even so, sharpness does drop of

noticeably at f/1.4, where the usually pleasing

bokeh sufers from green halos around

defocused highlights. Overall, the Samyang is

most worth considering for Nikon bodies.

OVERALL

FEATURES

BUILD QUALITY

VALUE

OVERALL

FEATURES

BUILD QUALITY

IMAGE QUALITY

VALUE

5 6

IMAGE QUALITY

A big and beefy 50mm lens

Tech focus…9 elements in 7 groups, 8 diaphragm blades, closest focus distance 100cm, 72mm filter thread, manual focus only, physical dimensions 78x75mm, weight 539g


N PC S SgN PC NXS


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129


SIGMA 70MM F/2.8 MACRO EX DG £370

TAMRON SP 90MM F/2.8 DI MACRO £370

The 90mm focal length of this lens, a favourite budget macro choice, makes it an ideal option for portraiture. Like the competing

Sigma 70mm lens, the Tamron’s front element extends at shorter focus settings, practically doubling the length of the lens at its shortest focus distance. The front element doesn’t rotate in either lens. Autofocus is similarly sluggish, but the Tamron matches the Sigma for having a focus limiter switch. A refined touch is that the focus ring doesn’t rotate during autofocus, and also features a push-pull clutch mechanism, for quickly and easily switching between auto and manual focus.

Despite its longer focal length, the Tamron has a relatively small filter thread of 55mm, compared with 62mm for the Sigma lens, and both lenses feature a nine-blade diaphragm. A soft pouch and hood are supplied, but the latter is largely superfluous, as the front element is deeply recessed within the inner lens barrel.

Tamron also makes a newer, redesigned 90mm macro lens that features VC (Vibration Compensation) and USD (UltraSonic Drive), but its £500 selling price is too steep for this test.

PERFORMANCESome have said that the Tamron is a little too sharp for portraiture. However, while it’s razor-sharp at apertures of f/8 and narrower, the lens softens more than the Sigma at its widest aperture of f/2.8. Bokeh is good and, it’s a better option for portraiture. Nikon-fit editions of the lens made after February 2008 include a built-in autofocus motor.

O fering a compromise to those who can’t decide on whether to go for a 50mm or 85mm portrait lens, this Sigma splits the diference. It loses

out a little in terms of widest available aperture but, like the Tamron here, full 1.0x macro magnification adds an extra string to its bow.

Some of Sigma’s latest designs are real high-tech treats, but this lens looks and feels more dated. There’s no ultrasonic autofocus; indeed, only the Canon-fit edition of the lens features an internal electric motor. In other mount options, autofocus needs to be driven from a motor within the camera body. The upshot is that there’s no autofocus facility at all in cameras like the Nikon D3200 and D5300, or previous Nikon bodies in these classes.

In all mount options, autofocus tends to be rather slow and ponderous, as well as being quite noisy. Speed in real terms is improved by a focus limiter switch, which cuts travel to either 25.7-48cm, or 55cm to infinity. At least the entire macro range can be avoided in portraiture, which is a bonus in tricky conditions where autofocus struggles to lock on.

PERFORMANCEHandling is slightly impaired by the fact that the manual focusing ring rotates during autofocus, but performance in terms of image quality is respectable. Sharpness and contrast are impressive, even at the widest aperture of f/2.8. This still gives reasonable scope for blurring the background, where the Sigma delivers nicely smooth bokeh, helped by its nine-blade diaphragm.

OVERALL

FEATURES

BUILD QUALITY

IMAGE QUALITY

OVERALL

87

BUILD QUALITY

IMAGE QUALITY

VALUE

FEATURES

VALUE

Billed as a ‘portrait macro’ lens

Tech focus…10 elements in 9 groups, 9 diaphragm blades, closest focus distance 26cm, 62mm filter thread, electric motor autofocus (Canon only), physical dimensions 76x95mm, weight 525g

Tech focus…10 elements in 9 groups, 9 diaphragm blades, closest focus distance 29cm, 55mm filter thread, electric motor autofocus, physical dimensions 72x97mm, weight 405g

It’s midway between two camps

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130 KITZONELENS GROUP TEST


28 26 26 32ISO 200 ISO 200 ISO 200 ISO 200

DIS

TO

RT

ION

TE

ST

FR

ING

ING

TE

ST

SH

AR

PN

ES

S T

ES

T

There’s a little barrel distortion, but it’s not enough to be noticeable in

portraiture, or almost any other photographic subject.

There’s only the merest suggestion of barrel distortion, which will go

unnoticed in pretty much any real-world shooting scenario.

As with fringing, there’s almost nothing to choose between the

Nikon and Canon 50mm lenses in terms of barrel distortion.

Pincushion distortion is so minimal that it’s all but impossible to spot.

It’s another area in which this Nikon lens does well.

The colour fringing scores are similar to that of the Nikon 50mm

lens on test, and are no cause for concern.

It’s marginally more noticeable than in competing lenses at its widest aperture, but quickly reduces at

narrower aperture settings.

Performance for fringing through the aperture range closely follows

that of the Canon 50mm lens, although it’s slightly worse at f/1.4.

When it comes to colour fringing, the Nikon is more impressive than the Canon 85mm lens, returning

good lab scores.

Outright sharpness is rather disappointing at f/1.4, and only creeps up fairly slowly as you

narrow the aperture.

This lens delivers the greatest sharpness and contrast of any lens

in the test group at its widest available aperture.

Significantly superior to the competing Canon 50mm lens, the Nikon does much better to retain

sharpness at wide aperture settings.

There’s more of a drop in sharpness at the widest available aperture

than in the Canon 85mm lens, or Nikon’s own 50mm.

IMAGE TEST VERDICTThe lack of sharpness at wide apertures can be something of a disappointment, but it does make for rather soft, dreamy-looking portraits.

IMAGE QUALITY IN FOCUS

IMAGE TEST VERDICTThe Canon not only delivers exceptional image quality, but remains remarkably consistent throughout wide-to-medium apertures.

IMAGE TEST VERDICTThe Nikon wins the 50mm contest, with the best sharpness and contrast at wide apertures, along with lovely bokeh.

IMAGE TEST VERDICTBokeh is slightly hampered by the seven-blade aperture but, overall, the Nikon is almost as good as the competing Canon 85mm lens.

CANON EF 50MM

F/1.4 USM

CANON EF 85MM

F/1.8 USM

NIKON AF-S 50MM

F/1.4G

NIKON AF-S 85MM

F/1.8G


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131KITZONE



32 30 30 28ISO 200 ISO 200 ISO 200 ISO 200

IMAGE TEST VERDICTThe all-round image quality of the Samyang lens is pleasing, although sharpness is dependent on your manual focusing skills.

IMAGE TEST VERDICTWhile sharpness could be better at the widest available aperture, the Sigma lens delivers very good overall image quality indeed.

IMAGE TEST VERDICTIt’s not a particularly refined lens in terms of features or handling, but this Sigma lens redeems itself when it comes to image quality.

IMAGE TEST VERDICTSharpness at f/2.8 is a little below average but it still delivers good image quality overall, for portraiture and macro shooting alike.

The low degree of barrel distortion here is exactly the same as

in the Canon 85mm lens, and equally impressive.

Barrel distortion is marginally higher than in the other 50mm lenses in

this group test, but it’s not enough to worry about.

Like the Nikon 85mm and Tamron 90mm lenses, there’s marginal

pincushioning, but not enough to be noticeable.

Negligible pincushion distortion adds to the merits of this lens for technical macro shooting, and is

good for portraiture.

Lateral chromatic aberration is well controlled, but there’s a little

more bokeh fringing than is usually seen at f/1.4.

Remarkably low in colour fringing, the Sigma 50mm turns in some of the most impressive scores of any

lens in the test group.

There’s a little more fringing apparent at f/2.8 than at narrower

apertures but, even so, it’s well restrained.

Lab scores aren’t impressive for colour fringing, but it’s still only occasionally noticeable, mostly

towards the corners of the frame.

Sharpness is good throughout most of the aperture range but, like the

Canon and Sigma 50mm lenses, it’s a bit lacking at f/1.4.

Wide-open sharpness is similarly disappointing as in the Canon

50mm lens, but the Sigma gets into its stride quicker at f/4 to f/5.6.

Sharpness is excellent even at the widest f/2.8 aperture, and it

remains consistent throughout the aperture range.

Sharpness is immense at medium apertures, but drops off more than

the competing Sigma macro lens at f/2.8.

SAMYANG 85MM

F/1.4 IF MC

SIGMA 50MM

F/1.4 EX DG HSM

SIGMA 70MM

F/2.8 MACRO EX DG

TAMRON SP 90MM

F/2.8 DI MACRO


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LENS GROUP TEST

KITZONE


132

700 800 900 1000 2000

27

07

22

36

25

22

175

4

Benchmarks never tell the whole story, but there are some

interesting conclusions to be drawn. Sharpness at the widest

available aperture of each lens is a moveable feast. The Canon

50mm, Sigma 50mm and Samyang 85mm lenses drop in sharpness

more than the competition. To some extent, this is to be expected:

the widest aperture in each case is relatively large at f/1.4. On the

other hand, it reinforces how well the Nikon 50mm f/1.4 lens does to

retain sharpness when it’s wide-open.

The Nikon 85mm, Samyang 85mm and Sigma 50mm lenses put

in the most impressive performance for minimising colour fringing,

while the Sigma 70mm is also particularly good in this respect, apart

from at its widest f/2.8 aperture. Small amounts of distortion are

generally negligible, although it’s slightly more visible with the 50mm

lenses on test. Distortion in lenses with longer focal lengths is closer

to zero, with either minimal barrel or pincushion.

LENS BENCHMARKSSee how each lens performed in our lab tests

0.51 0.98 0.7

1.11 0.67 0.62

0.64 0.98 0.76

0.39 0.34 0.22

0.34 0.41 0.18

0.34 0.25 0.12

N/A 0.59 0.23

N/A 1.44 1.13

Wide f/8 f/16

FRINGING Low scores are better

Sigma 50mm f1.4

Sigma 70mm f2.8

Tamron 90mm

Samyang 85mm

Nikon 85mm f1.8

Nikon 50mm f1.4

Canon 85mm f1.8

Canon 50mm f1.4

In most cases, colour fringing is worst at or near the widest available aperture. However, it’s rarely noticeable, even towards the extreme corners of images.

HOW THE LENSES COMPARE

Nikon AF-S 50mm

f/1.4G

Nikon AF-S 85mm

f/1.8G

Samyang 85mm f/1.4

AS IF MCSigma 50mm f/1.4 EX

DG HSMSigma 70mm f/2.8

Macro EX DG

Tamron SP 90mm

f/2.8 Di Macro

Contact www.canon.co.uk www.canon.co.uk www.nikon.co.uk www.nikon.co.uk www.samyang.co.uk sigma-imaging-uk.com sigma-imaging-uk.com www.tamron.eu

Street price £305 £305 £290 £380 £320 £380 £370 £370

Mount options

Aperture range f/1.4 to f/22 f/1.8 to f/22 f/1.4 to f/16 f/1.8 to f/16 f/1.4 to f/22 f/1.4 to f/16 f/2.8 to f/22 f/2.8 to f/32

Autofocus type Ultrasonic (motor) Ultrasonic (ring-type) Ultrasonic (ring-type) Ultrasonic (ring-type) None Ultrasonic (ring-type) Electric motor* Electric motor

Minimum focus distance 45cm 85cm 45cm 80cm 100cm 45cm 26cm 29cm

Maximum magnification 0.15x 0.13x 0.15x 0.12x 0.11x 0.14x 1.0x 1.0x

Diaphragm blades 8 blades 8 blades 9 blades 7 blades 8 blades 9 blades 9 blades 9 blades

Dimensions (DxL) 74x51mm 74x51mm 74x51mm 80x73mm 78x75mm 85x68mm 85x68mm 72x97mm

Weight 290g 425g 280g 350g 539g 505g 525g 405g

FEATURES

BUILD QUALITY

IMAGE QUALITY

VALUE

OVERALL

Canon EF 50mm

f/1.4 USM

Canon EF 85mm

f/1.8 USM

SHARPNESS High scores are better

The Canon 85mm f/1.8 gives the best sharpness at apertures wider than f/2.8, and has excellent consistency throughout the aperture range.

600 3000

Sigma 50mm f1.4

Sigma 70mm f2.8

Tamron 90mm

Samyang 85mm

Nikon 85mm f1.8

Nikon 50mm f1.4

Canon 85mm f1.8

Canon 50mm f1.4

KEY Wide f/2.8 f/5.6

27

27

DISTORTION Closer to 0 is better

The 50mm lenses give most distortion, but the restrained barrel effect is minimal. Distortion is a non-issue with lenses that have longer focal lengths.

-1 -0.5 0.5 1

Sigma 50mm f1.4

Sigma 70mm f2.8

Samyang 85mm

Nikon 85mm f1.8

Nikon 50mm f1.4

Canon 85mm f1.8

Canon 50mm f1.4

Tamron 90mm

24

61

22

01

173

1

127

1

95

19

09

28

64

1517

106

9

28

03

26

06

20

06

23

96

163

7

26

66

179

2

28

00

-0.6

9-0

.78

-0.8

50

N NC C N N NN P P PP C C CC NX S S SS Sg Sg

-0.13

-0.13

0.0

80

.120

.1

*Canon only


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http://www.samyang.co.uk

http://www.tamron.eu



KITZONE


133


The Canon 85mm f/1.8 combines

superb sharpness and contrast

even at its widest available

aperture, with smooth and

creamy bokeh for defocused areas. Autofocus

is amazingly fast and accurate, build quality

is reassuringly rugged, and it’s reasonably

compact and lightweight. That Canon has

achieved all this in such an inexpensive lens

is astonishing. Indeed, it’s exactly the same

price as the company’s own 50mm f/1.4 lens,

which is a little lacklustre by comparison.

The Nikon 85mm f/1.8 doesn’t have as

much bite at f/1.4 and, while the bokeh is

impressive, it’s let down by the more modest

number of seven blades in its diaphragm. For

general portraiture on APS-C based cameras,

a 50mm lens is most convenient. Here, it’s

Nikon that comes to the fore with its AF-S

50mm f/1.4G. It’s sharp and is great value at

the price. The Sigma 50mm f/1.4 is

appealing but sharpness is less than

inspiring at wide apertures.

The Samyang 85mm lens is capable of

pleasing results. However, manual-only

focusing is a chore and, apart from the

Nikon-fit edition, it lacks any electronic

communication with camera bodies. Of the

two macro lenses, the Tamron 90mm has

the edge over the Sigma 70mm.

THE DIGITAL CAMERA VERDICT

CANON OUTGUNS THE COMPETITION

NIKON AF-S 50MM F/1.4G £290What’s good: Proves that f/1.4 lenses can have

superb sharpness and contrast wide-open.

What’s bad: Sluggish autofocus, despite using

a ring-type ultrasonic system.

Our verdict: The best choice for Nikon,

especially APS-C format bodies; great value.

TAMRON SP 90MM F/2.8 DI MACRO £370What’s good: Bonus 1.0x macro magnification;

particularly good for Sony full-frame bodies.

What’s bad: Widest aperture of f/2.8 can

ultimately be a little limiting.

Our verdict: A good budget buy for a

dual-purpose portrait and macro lens.

OUR TEST RESULTSThe best budget portrait lenses for your camera revealed

SIGMA 50MM F/1.4 EX DG HSM £380What’s good: Fast autofocus; good sharpness

at f/4 and narrower apertures.

What’s bad: Relatively big and heavy; lacks

sharpness and contrast at wide apertures.

Our verdict: It’s a good lens if you don’t mind

a bit of softness between f/1.4 and f/1.8.

For portrait perfection, the super-sharp Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM has extremely fast autofocus and is the best budget lens on the market

CANON EF 85MM F/1.8 USM £305What’s good: Super-sharp even at its widest

aperture; fast autofocus; great bokeh.

What’s bad: No weather-seal on the mounting

plate, as featured on many Nikon lenses.

Our verdict: It’s simply the best budget

portrait lens on the market.

NIKON AF-S 85MM F/1.8G £380What’s good: Refined handling; good overall

image quality; fast autofocus..

What’s bad: Seven-blade diaphragm;

sharpness could be better at f/1.8.

Our verdict: Not quite as good as the Canon

85mm, and rather pricier to buy.


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136 CompetitionPICTURE-FRAMING.COM VOUCHERS


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ISSUE 148 ON SALE 31 JANUARY 2014*All contents subject to change

You can get our print edition delivered to your door

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New year, new photo resolutions! Discover

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HotSHOTS

Digital Camera June 2010

146

NEXT ISSUE ON SALE FRIDAY 31 JANUARY

PARTING SHOT


THE SHOT I wish I’d taken…Top pros select photos that have inspired them. This issue, Chris Weston praises ‘Into the Mouth of the Caiman’ by Luciano Candisani

Chris Weston says You know how it is: you have a list of

things you want to do, but you have to prioritise. The urgent

and important things come first, followed by the urgent,

followed by the important. I always have a list of important

images I want to create. They’re not urgent because there is

no editor pushing towards a deadline. They’re important to

me because they are stories I want to tell.

For a long time I’ve had a fascination with crocodiles. They

are the most amazing creatures, surviving almost unchanged

for million of years, artists of their craft. On my list of ‘Images

I’m going to take’, I had visualised a photograph of a crocodile

in its true environment: underwater, lurking in the murk –

threatening yet captivating.

Of course, such an image would require being there, getting

close enough to use a wide-angle lens. I had worked out the

logistics, even found the location. All I had to do was find the

time to make it happen. The problem with procrastination is:

sometimes someone gets there first.

View work by Luciano Candisani at www.lucianocandisani.

com. This photo won the Behaviour: Cold Blooded Animals

award in 2012’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest. See

www.nhm.ac.uk/wildphoto for 2013’s winners and details of

the 2014 competition. See a portfolio of images that Chris did

get time to take at www.chrisweston.uk.com, and join him on

safari at www.magicis.com


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MINIMALIST SEASCAPES PET PHOTOS

CAPTURE PERFECT SEASONAL LANDSCAPES

HOW TO GET PERFECT PET PORTRAITS

USE FLASH TO FREEZE WATER DROPS

SHOOT SIMPLE SHORELINE IMAGES

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SNOW SCENESWATER DROPLETS

WALLET CARDS

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Exposure mode Aperture priority

Focus mode Single or one-shot

Shutter speed 1/30 sec or faster

Aperture f/8

ISO 200

Lens 50 to 105mm macro

Drive mode Single-shot

White balance Daylight

TOP TIP If the sky is overcast, set the white balance to the Cloudy preset to get the colour of the scene correct, and maintain the white of the snow.

You’ll need to take care with the exposure to capture the bright whites of a snow scene. If there’s a good covering of snow, set the exposure compensation to +1 to keep the snow white rather than a dull, murky grey.

SNOW SCENESKey settings for

Exposure mode Manual

Focus mode Manual

Shutter speed 15 sec or longer

Aperture f/16

ISO 100

Lens 35 to 105mm


White balance Daylight

TOP TIP Use the camera’s black-and-white picture style to see how the scene will look in mono. If you shoot in raw, you can still produce colour or mono images.

SIMPLE SEASCAPESKeep the composition simple and use a long exposure to blur any movement. You’ll often find it easier to get a simple, uncluttered composition by using a longer-focal-length lens than is normally suggested for landscapes.

Key settings for

Exposure mode Shutter priority

Focus mode Servo or Continuous


Aperture f/5.6

ISO 200

Lens 50 to 200mm

Drive mode Continuous

White balance Auto

TOP TIP Always try to use a focus point positioned on the head (or eyes if you are shooting a close-up) to ensure that this is the sharpest area of your shot.

PETSIf there’s any movement, getting sharp results is one of the trickiest aspects shooting most pets. Use a fast shutter speed, and use continuous or Servo AF mode to capture the best results. Then try to track any movement of your pet.

Key settings for

Exposure mode Manual

Focus mode Manual


Aperture f/5.6

ISO 200

Lens 50 to 105mm macro


White balance Flash

WATER DROPLETSYou’ll need to use an off-camera flash to freeze the movement of water drops, and patience to get the timing right. Use a syringe or eye-dropper to create the droplets, and fire the camera just as it strikes the water.

Key settings for

TOP TIP Use a coloured background. Try pointing the flash at the background rather than the water to avoid burned-out highlights and get more even lighting.

FREE!WALLET CARDS KEY SETTINGS FOR

CREATIVE SHOTS TO TREASURE FOREVER


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Got a new camera for Christmas? Here’s how to use it!

PRESENTS

UPDATED FOR 2014

� How to set up your camera properly

� Key settings and controls explained

� Guarantee sharp, well-exposed shots!

MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR NEW SLR

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03Free with issue 147 of

WHAT’S WHERE?

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edition offer!

Geoff Harris, [email protected]

10

13 09

12

04

If you got a

new camera

for Christmas,

this is the

guide for you.

Whether you

are new to

photography, or just need

to refresh your existing skills,

the following pages have been

written to help you master all

of the basic techniques you

need to shoot better pictures.

You’ll learn all about your

camera’s key controls – from

setting up and how to control

exposure by adjusting the

shutter speed and aperture,

to how the different focus

modes work. Along the way

you’ll also discover how these

settings can help you to

achieve impressive creative

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It doesn’t matter what type

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I hope you enjoy this guide

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please remember to share any

great photographs that it has

helped you to capture!

WelcomeContents

04Set up your SLR Get up to speed

quickly with our easy guide

06Explore your SLR Get to grips with your

camera’s creative controls

08Better exposures How to get your shots

right first time in-camera

10Aperture Understand the role

aperture plays in exposure

12 Shutter speed Control the way motion

is captured in your pictures

14Focus modes Find out which focusing

mode you should use for any subject or shooting situation


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04 Free with issue 147 of

YOUR CAMERA

Congratulations on getting a new

camera! It’s only natural that you

can’t wait to start using it, but it’s

worth spending a few minutes configuring

it correctly first. Not only will this save you

time and effort in the long run, but it’s a

good way of familiarising yourself with your

camera’s layout, features and functions.

With the help of our quick-start camera

set-up guide, it will only take a few minutes…

Hit the ground running with our guide to setting up your new camera

Quickly set up your camera

1When it comes to file format, shoot in raw

rather than JPEG. The extra data that’s

captured in the uncompressed raw format gives

you more flexibility to adjust your shots post-shoot

if necessary (see page 7 for more on the raw file

format). Try to keep the ISO as low as possible,

ideally between ISO 100 and 400, because digital

‘noise’ can be a problem at high ISO settings. As

for white balance, set it to auto for now – as you

progress you’ll become more confident at knowing

when to switch to a specific setting, such as Cloudy.

2SLRs offer a range of exposure modes,

from fully automatic – like a point-and-shoot

camera – to fully manual. In between these

two extremes are the two popular ‘semi auto’

modes – Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority –

which provide lots of creative control. In Aperture

Priority mode, you set an aperture and the camera

automatically works out what shutter speed you

need for a correct exposure, while in Shutter Priority

mode, you set the shutter speed and the camera

works out the correct aperture. Simple!

CHOOSE THE EXPOSURE MODE

“If you want a blurred background, you need a wide aperture, such as f/2.8”

SELECT HIGH-QUALITY PICTURES

Mastering the basic settings is the key to getting the most from your camera


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GET STARTED...

3Metering options depend on the camera,

but the three most common are Multi-

zone (also known as Evaluative or Matrix),

Centre-weighted, and Spot. Multi-zone mode takes

a reading from the entire scene and then sets the

exposure accordingly. It’s pretty accurate, and is

suitable for most conditions. Centre-weighted

mode takes a reading that concentrates on the

central 60% of the frame, making it ideal for

portraits, and Spot takes a reading from a tiny area

and is therefore potentially the most accurate.

5To ensure your shots are razor-sharp, SLRs

offer a number of focus modes. The two

main settings are single-shot, mainly for

stationary subjects, and continuous or servo, for

moving subjects. All SLRs feature multiple focus

points that can be selected manually. The drive

modes enable you to select whether a single shot

is captured each time you press the shutter

release, whether a sequence of shots are taken

in rapid succession, or whether the shutter is

fired after a delay of two or ten seconds.

6Now you’ve set up your SLR, it’s time to

ensure you’re using its LCD properly. By this

we mean using the zoom buttons to zoom

in on parts of the image on the rear screen, so you

can check for sharpness or excessive noise. And

you should also try to get into the habit of checking

your image’s exposure by calling up the histogram,

or tone chart. A histogram bunched up at the left

can indicate under-exposure; a histogram at the

right suggests over-exposure. If you’re unsure,

adjust your settings and try taking another test shot.

4Aperture and shutter speed affect not just

the amount of light you let into the lens, but

also the way images look. The aperture is

used to determine the depth of field, which is the

amount of the scene that’s in focus. If you want

a blurred background, you need a wide aperture,

such as f/2.8; and if you want everything in focus

from front to back, you need a narrow aperture,

such as f/22. The shutter speed controls whether a

moving subject is frozen or blurred; the slower the

shutter speed, the more motion blur there will be.

CHOOSE THE METERING MODE

SET THE FOCUS AND DRIVE MODES USE REVIEW TO CHECK YOUR SHOT

APERTURE AND SHUTTER SPEED


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YOUR CAMERA

1

2

3

45

With your camera’s basic settings

taken care of, you’re ready to start

snapping away, but you’ll soon

want to know how to take advantage of all the

other features your SLR has. Read on to find

out how to take your camera craft up a notch.

“To produce noise-free images, it’s best to use your camera’s lowest ISO”

Stick to your camera’s auto settings and all your shots will look the same, and you might not always get the results you’re after. Here’s how to take control…

Explore your camera in depth

TOP TIP WHITE BALANCE

Shooting sunrise

or sunset shots on

automatic white

balance (AWB) can

give poor results,

because the camera

tries to neutralise

what it thinks is a colour cast. To restore the

vibrancy, switch to one of the presets designed

to ‘warm up’ a cool scene, such as Cloudy.

1 Auto This is the basic beginner mode, with minimal manual control. The SLR effectively becomes a point-and-shoot compact, with all the exposure settings taken care of.

2 Program (P)Here, aperture and shutter speed are set automatically for you. However, you can control ISO, Exposure Compensation and other settings,

enabling you to override the suggested settings if you wish.

3 Shutter Priority (S/Tv)This mode is similar to Aperture Priority, but you select the shutter speed and the camera sets the aperture. This mode is perfect for freezing high-speed action or for creating motion blur.

4 Aperture Priority (A/Av)This semi-automatic

mode enables you to choose an aperture value that gives you your desired effect (blurred backgrounds, for example), and the camera then selects the shutter speed that’s needed for a correct exposure.

5 Manual (M) In Manual mode, you set both the aperture and shutter speed for any given scene, which places you in total creative control. It gives you access to all

of the available aperture values and shutter speeds, and an exposure level indicator in the viewfinder (or on the LCD screen) tells you whether your shot is correctly, under- or over-exposed. The Bulb mode enables you to shoot exposures for as long as the shutter button is held down, making it ideal for night photography, when exposures of 30 secs or more are required.

Choosing an exposure mode gives you the

freedom to stop worrying about settings

and start concentrating on taking great

shots. Your camera will offer a number of

automatic settings, including modes that help

you to shoot action, close-ups and portraits,

but these modes can be restricting and should

generally be ignored. Get to grips with your

camera’s semi-auto and manual settings (below),

and you’ll soon see an improvement in the results.

EXPOSURE MODES EXPLAINED


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USEFUL FEATURES

As mentioned on page 4, there are two main

options here – JPEG or raw. The JPEG

format was created for digital photography,

and is now a universal standard that’s viewable on

any suitable device. In contrast, raw files are

specific to individual makes and models, and

specialist photo-editing programs are required to

open or edit them. The big advantage of shooting in

raw is that the image contains more information,

which can be used to get the highest quality images.

JPEGs compress the image slightly, losing quality.

You can rely on the auto white balance (AWB)

setting in most shooting situations, but there

are some occasions where it can’t be relied

upon. If you’re shooting in artificial light or in dark

shade, for example, your camera’s auto white

balance setting may produce images with a

so-called ‘colour cast’. To eliminate this cast, switch

to the preset closest to the type of light you’re

shooting in. When it’s important to get the white

balance exactly right, shoot in raw, because the

white balance in a raw file can be fine-tuned later.

Scroll through your custom function menu

for the first time and you’ll be amazed at the

volume and complexity of the changes you

can make to the way your SLR operates. Don’t be

daunted, though – configuring some of these to

suit your preferences will enable you to work

much faster than sticking with the defaults. Some

cameras enable you to save the most commonly

used functions in a quick-access menu, or to assign

custom function settings to different shooting

situations. See your SLR’s manual for your options.

Your SLR’s sensitivity to light is determined

by the ISO setting. To produce noise-free

images, it’s best to use your camera’s lowest

ISO, but this isn’t always possible. In low light, for

example, a slow shutter speed is often needed to

expose the image correctly, and this can result in

motion blur caused by camera shake. If you’re

already using your lens’s widest aperture, the only

way to get a faster shutter speed – and therefore

avoid camera shake – is to increase the ISO. And

the higher the ISO, the more noisy the image.

FILE FORMAT

WHITE BALANCE CUSTOM FUNCTIONS

ISO SENSITIVITY


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YOUR CAMERA

“Aperture and shutter speed work in unison to expose the image correctly”

Getting your head around exposure

can be daunting, so let’s start with

the basics. When taking photographs,

an image is recorded by light reaching your

camera’s sensor; too little and the image will

be too dark, or under-exposed; too much and

it will be too bright, or over-exposed. The

amount of light reaching your sensor is

controlled by three key components: aperture,

shutter speed and ISO.

The aperture controls how much light is

allowed through the lens – a wide aperture

lets in more light, a narrow aperture less. The

shutter speed determines the length of time

the shutter remains open. Aperture and

shutter speed work in unison, and if you

adjust one you have to adjust the other: if,

for example, you increase the shutter speed,

then you have to use a wider aperture.

The other variable that affects exposure

is ISO. The ISO setting affects the sensor’s

sensitivity to light. The lower the ISO, the

more light is required to expose the image.

Exposure Compensation The easy way to correct exposure in-camera is

to use the +/- Exposure Compensation button.

Reduce the time you spend trying to rescue under- and over-exposed images in Photoshop by getting the shots right first time in-camera

Get better exposures

To determine the aperture and shutter speed

required to expose a shot correctly at a given ISO,

your camera measures the amount of light

reflected back from the scene using a built-in light

meter. The key word here is ‘reflected’. Camera

meters assume that the scene you want to

photograph contains a full range of tones, and

tries to expose it accordingly. This means that

certain lighting conditions can confuse them

– dark scenes can be over-exposed and bright

scenes under-exposed – because the meter will

try to expose the light or dark areas as midtones.

A built-in light meter will try to

produce an exposure made up

of average midtones. A dark

scene that’s been exposed so

it’s dominated by midtones will

therefore look over-exposed.

Scenes containing a relatively

even mix of shadows, midtones

and highlights, such as in the

photo above, won’t give your

camera’s metering system too

many problems.

As with dark scenes, because

the built-in light meter will try to

render any scene as an average

midtone, very bright subjects

like snow will end up looking a

bit grey, rather than pure white.

UNDERSTANDING EXPOSURE

DARK SCENES MIDTONE SCENES BRIGHT SCENES


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MASTER EXPOSURE

UNDER-EXPOSED

HOW TO READ

HISTOGRAMS

You can call up the histogram on your camera’s

LCD to judge the tonal distribution in a photo.

The horizontal axis shows pixel brightness,

ranging from pure black on the left to pure white

on the right. The vertical axis shows the number

of pixels at a particular brightness level.

Too much light has

reached the sensor.

Notice how the

histogram is pushed all

the way to the right, and

that the highlights are

clipped. In the printed

photo, the brightest

areas of the scene will

appear as pure white,

with no detail.

OVER-EXPOSED

A correctly exposed

image will be have an

even distribution across

the whole graph. The

exact shape will depend

on the tone in the scene;

a dark scene will have a

histogram with a bell

shape on the left, or a

bell shape on the right

for a light scene.

This under-exposed shot

has a histogram that

is pushed all the way to

the left, with a gap on

the right, a situation

known as ‘shadow

clipping’. If printed,

the clipped areas will

appear completely

black, and all shadow

detail will be lost.

If you have taken a shot and it is under-

exposed, you need to apply positive

compensation to the camera to correct

this, and over-exposed shots require some

negative compensation.

Using AE-LockIf your subject is off-centre and has a very

bright or very dark background, metering

from the whole frame may fail to provide

the correct exposure. Your camera’s Auto

Exposure Lock (AE-L) facility can help here.

First, compose your shot so that

your subject fills the frame, zooming

in if necessary. Then use the AE-L button to

lock the exposure as you meter directly from

the subject. Now recompose and shoot (but be

aware that the default setting in your camera

may require you to keep the button half-

pressed throughout).

This technique is very effective for evenly

lit subjects, but may need further adjustment.

AE-L can also create difficulties if linked to

focus lock – check your manual to find out

how to separate them.

Exposure bracketingEven when you think you’ve nailed a decent

exposure, with important shots it’s good

practice to bracket your exposures. This

means taking at least three shots of the same

scene, at different exposures. You can either

do this using Exposure Compensation,

using Manual mode, or using the Automatic

Exposure Bracketing facility on your camera.

Try bracketing shots at +/- 0.3EV, 0.7EV

and 1EV (equivalent to +/- 1/3, 2/3 and one

stop) each side of the metered exposure.

Bracketing basically provides peace of mind

(especially if you’re taking a one-chance

shot), and it’s essential when faced with a

high-contrast scene that you plan to ‘fix’

later by merging exposures in Photoshop.

However, it takes longer and uses up more

space on your memory card.

CORRECTLY EXPOSED


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YOUR CAMERA

An aperture is simply a hole in the

lens – a variable diaphragm that can

be made larger or smaller to control

how much light reaches the sensor. You can

control the aperture size using the dial on your

SLR (or it can be set for you by the camera).

The aperture size is measured on the f-stop

scale, divided into so-called stops – f/4, f/5.6,

f/8, f/11, f/16, f/22, and so on – with each

stop effectively halving the amount of light

reaching the sensor. As mentioned earlier, this

can be compensated for by doubling the

exposure time. The apertures available will

vary depending on the lens you use, but it

will generally range from a widest setting of

around f/4 to a narrowest of around f/22.

The relationship between the numbers on

the f/stop scale can be hard to grasp. The

aperture value is expressed as a fraction, and

the smaller the number, the larger the size of

the aperture.

“The relationship between the numbers on the f-stop scale can be hard to grasp”

Set the right combination of aperture and shutter speed and you’ll notice animmediate difference in your photography. Here’s the role that aperture plays

Aperture explained

Using wide aperture reduces the depth of field, which helps to isolate the subject


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CONTROL BLUR

WHY USE A NARROW APERTURE?

NARROW APERTURE

WIDE APERTURE

WHAT DOES ‘DEPTH OF FIELD’ MEAN?In addition to helping control exposure,

your choice of aperture also affects what’s

known as ‘depth of field’ (or DoF). The

depth of field is a measure of how much of

your photo is in focus, both in front of, and

behind, the point you’ve actually focused

on. Depth of field is more apparent when

your image contains elements at varying

distances from the camera, and is

particularly noticeable in the background.

Whether your background is sharp or out

of focus depends on your aperture choice.

To blur or not to blur?A wide aperture of f/2.8 will produce an

image with a very shallow depth of field,

meaning that everything behind or in front

of your focal point will be blurred, which is

great for portraits. On the other hand, a

narrow aperture – f/22, for example – will

maximise the depth of field, which is ideal

for landscapes. Depth of field also varies

depending on the focal length of your lens,

and how close you are to your subject. The

longer the lens and the closer you are to

your subject, the shallower the depth of

field at a given aperture.

1 Increases the depth of field to ensure the whole

scene is in focus, from front to back.

2 Captures the maximum degree of fine detail

– ideal for close-ups and landscapes.

3 Enables you to use slower shutter speeds for

creative motion-blur effects.

1 Reduces the depth of field to focus attention on

your subject while keeping the background blurred.

2 Allows you to create arty abstract shots with only

a few millimetres of the subject in focus.

3 Enables you to choose faster shutter speeds to

freeze motion or stop camera shake ruining shots.

WHY USE A WIDE APERTURE?

Using a small aperture such as f/16 allows you to keep the whole scene in focus


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YOUR CAMERA

“Slow shutter speeds tend to blur movement, and so can be used for creative efects”

Like the aperture setting, the shutter

speed you choose isn’t simply a way of

controlling the overall exposure. It also

has a visible effect on your shots, enabling you

to control the appearance of a moving subject.

Fast shutter speeds freeze movement,

ensuring pin-sharp pictures no matter how

unsteady your grip on the camera, or how fast

the subject is moving. Slow shutter speeds

tend to blur movement, and so can be used

for creative effects. Generally speaking,

the slower the shutter speed, the greater the

degree of motion blur in the image you take.

The shutter speed is the length of time that

the shutter is left open. The scale used is

easier to understand than the aperture system,

because speeds are measured in fractions of

a second. However, the numbers are often

simplified – so 1/125 sec is shown as 125,

1/15 sec as 15 and so on. Speeds of a second

or longer are shown as 1”, 2”, and so on.

You can control the way that movement is captured in your pictures by getting to grips with your camera’s full range of shutter speeds

Shutter speed explained

Using a long shutter speed allows you to shoot in low light and blur movement


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CAPTURE MOTION

f/4 f/5.6 f/8 f/11 f/16 f/22f/2.8

KEEP UP TO SPEED

WORKING IN STOPS

If you’re shooting handheld (without a

tripod) you’ll need a fast enough shutter

speed to make sure camera shake

doesn’t cause blurred shots. A good rule

of thumb is to use a shutter speed

that’s faster than the focal length on

your lens; so with a focal length of

200mm, make sure you shoot at

around 1/250 sec or faster. The more

you zoom in, the faster the shutter

speed will need to be. Keep an eye on

the shutter speed in the viewfinder and

widen the aperture if necessary. In low

light, you may need to increase the ISO,

or use a tripod, which will allow you to

shoot at very slow shutter speeds.

As we’ve established, your aperture and shutter

speed work together to capture an exposure. This

means that there is no one single combination

that will give you the correct exposure. You can

pair a slow shutter speed with a narrow aperture,

or a fast shutter speed with a wide aperture, and

get a shot that is equally as bright. In the following

sequence, 1/125 sec at f/5.6, 1/60 sec at f/8 and

1/30 sec at f/11 will all let in the same amount of

light to produce an identical exposure.

Each f-stop number is ‘half’ the size of the one

before it, and so lets in half as much light. The

difference between two sequential f-stop

numbers is often referred to as an f-stop, or

simply a ‘stop’. If you reduce the aperture by

one stop (letting less light in), to set the same

exposure you need to compensate by slowing

the shutter speed by one stop, to allow that light

to hit the sensor for twice as long. Unless you’re in

manual mode, your SLR will work this out for you.

Shutter Priority mode (S/Tv) gives control over the shutter speed

To freeze the motion of a fast-moving subject,

choose a fast shutter speed

Ap

ert

ure

Sh

utt

er

sp

ee

d

1/250 sec 1/125 sec 1/60 sec 1/30 sec 1/15 sec 1/8 sec1/500 sec


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YOUR CAMERA

When you look through your

SLR’s viewfinder and half-press

the shutter button, you’ll see the

multiple autofocus points flash when they’ve

achieved focus, and you may also hear a beep

– depending on the make and model of your

camera. These cues are designed to help you

take sharp photos. However, if you shoot

using basic shooting modes (such as portrait,

landscape, sports, and so on), most SLRs will

automatically select the AF point, and will

then use this AF point to focus on what it

thinks you want to focus on – usually the

thing closest to you, which might not be what

you want to be in focus at all!

Points of interestHowever, one of the many advantages of using

an SLR is that you can control what your

camera focuses on by selecting your AF point

manually. This means – when shooting

portraits, for example – that you can focus

on one of your subject’s eyes, even if it’s

off-centre in the frame. The number of

focusing points you have varies from camera

to camera. The Canon EOS 1100D, for

example, has nine AF points, the Nikon

D3200 has 11, the Nikon D5200 has 39,

and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III has 61.

One final point worth mentioning is that

in Live View, autofocus slows considerably,

so you’ll need to anticipate subject movement.

Focus and drive settings are often overlooked, but they are essential for coping with challenging situations

Take control of focus modes

CONTROL THE FOCUS

FOCUS POINTS

To manually select individual AF points,

press the AF Point Selection button on

your camera and then look through the

viewfinder. Use the top dial, crosshair buttons or

joystick to cycle through each AF point until the

one over your chosen subject is highlighted.

Half-press the shutter button to lock the focus,

then fully press it to take the picture.

If you do move the focus point off-centre,

remember to move it back to the centre later or

you may wonder why your camera’s focusing

unpredictably. The alternative to moving the

focus point is to line up your subject in the

centre of the frame, half-press the shutter

button to lock the focus, then reframe the shot

how you want it and press the shutter fully.

“You’ll see the multiple autofocus points flash when they’ve achieved focus”

Single Point AF This mode is best

used when shooting

a portrait, say, or any

subject that stays

relatively still. It

enables you to select

a focus point

manually. By default,

the centre focus spot

(which is the most

accurate) is used for

focusing in single

point autofocus.

Dynamic/Servo AFThis mode is perfect

for shooting fast or

erratically moving

subjects. Some SLRs

have up to 50

autofocus points –

you choose one, but

if the subject moves

away from that point,

the camera continues

to focus using an

adjacent point.


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NAIL FOCUS

1

2 3

This is the most commonly used

autofocus mode. All you need to

do is point the camera at the

target, half press the shutter-release

button and the lens will focus.

Crucially, the focus point will remain locked

for as long as you maintain the half press on the

shutter-release button, enabling you to recompose

the shot while keeping the selected point in sharp

focus. You can only shoot once the focus is locked,

but you can usually override this with a setting in

the camera menus, should you wish to.

In this ‘intelligent’ autofocus mode,

often referred to as ‘auto-select’ or

AI Focus, the camera’s autofocus

system automatically senses whether

an object is stationary or moving, and then switches

between one-shot and continuous modes.

Low-light conditions, subjects

with fine detail, and shooting

through glass are all situations

where even the most costly lenses

will struggle to focus. If autofocus fails to lock on to

an edge, simply switch to manual focus and turn

the focus ring until your subject is sharp.

This is more suited to moving

targets, such as sports or wildlife

subjects. The main difference

between this and one-shot autofocus

is that the lens continuously focuses on your

subject. The autofocus system tracks the subject

to ensure that it’s sharp in the captured image.

By default, continuous mode enables you to

take a shot whether focus is achieved or not. There

are limitations, such as in motor sport, where a car

comes towards you at a higher speed than the

autofocus can keep up with. In situations like this,

it’s best to pre-focus in one-shot mode.

Single-Servo/One shot

Auto-Select/AI Focus

Manual

Continuous/AI Servo

TOP TIP FOCUS ON EYES

For portraiture, it’s

best to assign a focus

point that coincides

most closely with one

of your subject’s eyes.

If your subject’s face is

angled away from the

camera, it’s best to

focus on the closer of

the two eyes.

DRIVE MODES

Continuous shooting and continuous focusing

are easy to confuse, but both are set separately.

Continuous shooting is a drive mode setting

that enables you to shoot a burst of frames

rather than a single shot.

FOCUS MODES EXPLAINED

1 Single-frame shootingThe camera exposes a single frame each time

you press the shutter release. This is best used

for still subjects such as landscapes and

portraits, where you don’t need a burst of

frames to catch a fleeting moment.

2 Continuous shootingIn this mode, your camera will fire off shots at its maximum frame rate for as long as the shutter button is held down. It’s ideal for sports, but the length of the burst will depend on your camera and the memory card speed.

3 Self-timerWith typical options of two- or ten-second

delays, the self-timer mode can be used to fire

the shutter remotely when, say, your SLR is

mounted on a tripod. This enables you to press

the shutter before positioning yourself in the

shot, or to reduce camera shake.


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CA$HFROM YOUR CAMERA!

FROM THE MAKERS OF

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Welcome to this special PDF

collection of Make Cash From

Your Camera, your compact

guide to earning money with

your photography skills.

Whether you just want a bit of

extra cash or you’re looking to change your

career, our practical tips and insights from

working photographers take the first steps.

With online facilities like stock libraries

available and so easy to use, you could even

make your first sale today!

Make Cash From Your Camera shows you

the inside track on four common ways to

earn money through your photos. If you’re

often on call for wedding snaps, discover

how to change your hobby into a profession.

If you’ve ever wanted to see your work in

print, find out how to sell your images to

magazines. And go online to offer your work

as print or via stock libraries.

I hope you enjoy this special guide. If

there is anything you’d like to see us cover in

our PDF collections, please get in touch!

WELCOMEContents

04Sell prints online and in galleries

Offer your best photos direct to the public with our tips

06Take professional wedding photos

Practical advice to help them celebrate their big day

08Get your images into magazines

How to approach titles on the hunt for editorial photos

10Sell your photos to stock libraries

You never know who’s going to buy your images next!Geoff Harris, Editor

[email protected]

08

0410

06

From the makers of | 3


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4 | From the makers of

Selling prints often seems the

simplest way to start making money

from your images, but it needs a bit

of planning. You need to consider how the

prints are made, mounted and framed; and

then you have to find a venue for the sales.

There are two options for making the

prints: you can do it yourself or pay

someone else to do it. Printing at home

means you can offer a quick turnaround,

but using a professional lab means you can

produce larger prints on a greater range of

media. WhiteWall and Loxley Colour, for

example, offer a huge range of media for

prints, including all the usual papers as well

as canvas and acrylic, and prints can also

be mounted on aluminium so they don’t

need to be framed; you can have cards and

calendars made too. If you are planning to

Making money from photo artPRESENTATION

If you have shoddy

presentation your

photos will look shoddy

too. Shop around for a

good deal on printing and

framing; many printing

companies will provide

you with samples so that

you can see how your

work will look.

DO IT YOURSELF

Fancy making the

prints yourself?

Invest in top-quality kit,

including a photo printer

capable of producing

archival prints to at least

A3 size. A printer that can

use a variety of media

will broaden the range

you can offer for sale.

GALLERY SALES

Approach local art

galleries to see if

they’ll display your prints.

Venues like cafés, hotels

and gift shops can be

good places to try too.

Galleries usually ask for

a commission, so check

it’s cost-effective to have

them sell your work.

CRAFT FAIRS

Small local craft

fairs can be a good

way of finding out if

people are interested in

your work without you

making a huge outlay.

A selection of 20 images

produced as mounted

prints and cards is a good

starting point.

DON’T STOP

TAKING PHOTOS

Maximising your

sales is important,

but don’t spend all your

time hawking your prints.

Make sure you keep

updating your portfolio

with new work, and look

for seasonal additions to

add to your collection.

10 TOP TIPS FOR…

frame your prints, look at a range of styles

and select something simple and neutral;

you want something that will fit into the

average person’s house, and you don’t

want anything too ornate that distracts

from your image.

Where to sell

When it comes to finding the right venue

there are lots of places to consider, from a

local gallery to the town library, village hall

or a popular tea shop or restaurant. Pop

into your local gallery, and take a look at

the type of work it normally sells. Find out

if there are any resident photographers

selling work there and consider whether

your photographs complement, clash with

or effectively duplicate theirs. If a resident

photographer regularly displays black and

white landscapes of the local area, for

example, your monochrome landscapes

may not be welcome; a series of toned still

life images, however, will add a bit of variety

and may draw in a wider audience.

Ask about how the gallery works and

makes its money. Do you have to pay for

the display space, or does the gallery take a

cut from any sales? Some galleries require

that frames are fixed on the wall rather

than hung, so ask whether you’re required

to supply fixings or hang the work.

Cafés, restaurants and tea shops are

also popular places for selling prints, cards

and calendars. In some cases the owners

will let you display your pictures and sell

them for free because they are happy to

have something interesting on their walls,

but others may expect some form of

payment, perhaps a cut of your sales.

Whereas a gallery is likely to take

payment on your behalf and then pass the

money on to you, a café owner is more

likely to want to refer the potential buyer to

It’s a good idea to offer both colour

and mono versions of your pictures

Printing online will cut your printing costs,

and many sites now offer pro services

Xxxxxx

xxxx

xxxxxxxxxx

1 SELLING PRINTS Sell your best shots to the public as artwork

Make Cash With Your Camera


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Pete Bridgwood started

taking photographs while

he was still at school, and

learned how to make his

own black and white prints

in a traditional darkroom. He didn’t really

get serious about photography until the

advent of the digital revolution, in around

2004. After a few years of becoming

increasingly obsessed with landscape

photography he had a chance meeting

with the man who ran a local framing

shop. As a result he started to sell prints

from a rack in the shop, on a sale-or-

return basis – and they proved popular,

spurring Pete on to greater things.

Pete now spends half of his time working

as a doctor and the other half running

his photography business. He makes

and frames his own prints, and sells

them at exhibitions and through his

website, www.petebridgwood.com.

Pete also curates Masters of Vision,

a biennial landscape photography

exhibition at Southwell Minster. The

most recent event was in 2013.

PETE BRIDGWOODWWW.PETEBRIDGWOOD.COM

GET ONLINESet up a website for

your print business,

with an option for buyers

to purchase via PayPal.

Template-based sites

such as Clikpic (www.

clikpic.com) are really

useful for advertising

your business and

increasing sales, but

don’t expect to make a

fortune overnight.

FOLLOW THE SEASONS

Make sure you’re

selling prints that

are appropriate for your

audience. In a tourist

town, for example, local

landmark shots will

always sell well. Don’t

underestimate the power

of Christmas, either –

prints make easy and

attractive presents.

DON’T JUST STICK TO PRINTS

Be as varied with

what you offer as

possible. Greetings cards

will sell more readily in

gift shops, galleries, post

offices and bookshops,

while calendars can do

very well at Christmas.

Try novelty items too,

such as paperweights

and table mats.

VARY THE PRICESOffer items at a

range of prices.

Give customers a choice

between framed prints

and mounted ones they

can frame themselves.

Postcards let customers

buy your photos without

the expense of a framed

print, and firms like Moo.

com let you print these

via their website.

HOLD A LAUNCH EVENING

If you’ve managed

to get your prints

featured in a local art

gallery, make an event

of it. Organise a viewing

evening, send out a

press release to local

newspapers and

magazines, and use

Facebook and Twitter

to generate interest.

you. If they donÕt offer you a contract, draw

one up that you both sign. The contract

should stipulate how many prints are

being hung and for how long, as well as

any payment arrangements.

Internet sales

Unless you have a huge following youÕre

probably not going to get rich selling prints

via the internet, but it is a very convenient

method. If you intend to market your prints

from your own website make it clear

exactly what you are offering, detailing the

size and type of prints available, what

theyÕre printed on, whether theyÕre

mounted or framed and how theyÕll be

delivered. Some website hosts offer an

ordering service template for you to add

to your website, or you can ask visitors to

email with their requirements. Online labs

such as Photobox Pro Galleries (www.

photoboxgallery.com) and Loxley Colour

(www.loxleycolour.com) offer a service

that allows photographers to upload

images that can then be displayed ready

for clients to order prints directly.

Pete shoots

mainly

landscapes and

architecture.

This shot is

of Brathay

Church in

Clappersgate,

Cumbria

Pro tips


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http://www.petebridgwood.com

http://www.petebridgwood.com



http://Moo.com

http://Moo.com

http://www.photoboxgallery.com

http://www.photoboxgallery.com

http://www.loxleycolour.com




Making money from weddingsSHADOW A PRO

A great way to get

started is to find a

wedding photographer

who’ll let you shadow

them as a ‘second

shooter’ at a few events.

You’ll be able to build

up a portfolio of photos

without the risk and

stress of shooting solo.

PORTFOLIO

Build up an online

portfolio. Your

website should be clean,

clear of distractions, and

contain no more than

50-80 of your best

photos. Your website is

your shop front: it’s how

you show clients what

you do, and get bookings.

GET COVERED

Ready to shoot

your first wedding?

Make sure you have

insurance. It’s essential

to protect your business,

your kit and the venue,

and it gives your clients

confidence that you take

your work seriously. Try

www.photoguard.co.uk.

MAKE IT PAY

You might be

tempted to keep

your prices low when

you’re starting out, but

don’t put yourself out of

pocket. Factor in the time

spent on pre-wedding

consultations, editing,

and the cost of travel,

gear rental and prints.

TRY RENTING

When you’re

starting out, look

at renting equipment for

more professional results

without the huge outlay.

Try www.lensesforhire.

co.uk – prices start from

around £40 per day for

bodies and £15 per day

for lenses.

2 WEDDINGS!

10 TOP TIPS FOR…

Once your friends and family know

you’re a photographer, sooner or

later you’ll be asked to shoot a

wedding – and while it can be great fun, it’s

not something you should take on lightly.

Many pros consider wedding photography

one of the hardest ways to earn a living

with a camera: the client’s expectations

are huge, the stakes are high and the

responsibility is all yours. However, if

you’re competent with your camera and

image editing software, have high-quality

reliable kit and enjoy working with people,

then it is possible to earn money by

photographing a wedding.

Even if you don’t fancy taking on the

main photographer duties at a friend’s

wedding, you could offer to take on the

second photographer duties, shooting

from alternative angles and getting

background shots – it’s all good

experience. If you decide to get serious

about shooting weddings, the Society of

Wedding and Portrait Photographers

(www.swpp.co.uk) and the Guild of

Photographers (www.photoguild.co.uk)

have lots of information to offer, and it’s

worth considering joining.

Get the kit

You only have one chance to shoot a

wedding, so you can’t afford to miss any

opportunities because of gear failure.

Make sure your kit is in perfect working

order, with backed-up batteries and plenty

of freshly formatted memory cards. If

possible, have at least two camera bodies

(with spotless sensors) and if you only

have one camera, consider hiring or

borrowing a second so that if one camera

fails you can switch to the other. The same

goes for lenses – make sure you have

plenty of overlap in focal length so that if

your standard zoom lens stops focusing

you can swap to another, or perhaps to a

50mm or 85mm prime.

If the worst happens and you drop a

lens, or a piece of kit fails, you have to take

it in your stride and carry on; the bride and

groom won’t be happy about you crying

over broken glass. With two camera bodies

you can also mount different focal length

lenses on each, and switch seamlessly

between shooting wide scene-setting

images and tightly framed details.

Brett Harkness regularly uses portable

lights on the big day to capture bright

yet atmospheric wedding photos

Make her big day your pay day…



WorldMags.net

http://www.photoguard.co.uk

http://www.lensesforhire.co.uk

http://www.lensesforhire.co.uk

http://www.swpp.co.uk

http://www.photoguild.co.uk




PLAN AHEAD

Prepare a shot list

including classic

shots like the rings, the

bride getting ready, the

kiss, the first dance and

the cutting of the cake as

well as candid shots. Get

the couple to set aside

half an hour on the day

for some portrait shots

which won’t be captured

by family and guests.

COPYRIGHT

Couples often think

they have copyright

to images, but copyright

always stays with the

photographer, so make

this clear from the outset.

Couples can buy copies

of photos, but the right

to reproduce them stays

with you; you can supply

prints, or send out discs

with reproduction rights.

GET A DIARY

Timetabling is key.

You may have a

wedding every Saturday

of the summer, but don’t

forget to leave time for

pre-event meetings and

editing. Couples will look

to book a photographer

up to a year in advance,

so pencil in those dates

and have a consultation

after six months or so.

STOCK IMAGES

Once you’ve shot

ten or so weddings

you’ll have hundreds of

images of table settings,

flowers and other

accessories. Anything

that doesn’t need a

model or a property

release is ideal to sell as

stock, which is a nice way

to make money in the

wedding-free winters.

BE BUSINESSLIKE

Get some business

knowledge if you

want to take wedding

photography seriously.

Find local business

courses, and join

networking groups for

wedding photographers;

they’re invaluable

contacts for referrals,

training opportunities

and a bit of support.

“Approximately 300,000

people get married each

year in the UK, and there

are roughly 50,000

professional photographers

currently registered as businesses in the

UK. So let’s say for argument’s sake that

60% of people who get married employ

a photographer, which makes 180,000

weddings that will need a photographer:

that would only work out to 3.5

weddings per photographer, and that’s

not taking into account all the amateur

photographers doing weddings. So

it’s pretty obvious that you have to do

something different to stand out from

the crowd.

“Apart from being the ultimate

marketeer and networker, it’s vital that

you create a style that’s different. You

can then identify a section of the market

that wants what you do, not just the

average wedding

photography. As

well as excellent

customer service

and product, it’s

our style that

draws in clients.

The day I started

to shoot how I

wanted to was

the day our

business

changed forever.

Take a chance...”

BRETT HARKNESSWWW.BRETTHARKNESSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

Brett Harkness advises aspiring wedding

photographers to create their own style

Visit the wedding venue before the big day,

but at the same time of day as the wedding.

This will enable you to assess the light, and

find good backdrops for the posed portrait

shots – it’s no good finding a great

background if the sun is shining directly in

the bride and groom’s eyes and they’re

squinting in every shot. Remember to look

for good and bad weather locations, so

you’re prepared if it’s raining on the day.

Flash isn’t usually allowed inside the

church, and the low light will mean using

high sensitivity settings, so a more recent

digital SLR with a good focusing system

and noise control could be the difference

between beautiful, atmospheric images

and soft shots that are ruined by noise.

Make a planBefore the wedding, speak to the bride

and groom about the type of images they

want, and show them examples of your

work to be sure they like your style; get

a list of guests, and who they want to be

photographed. You also need to agree a

price, and draw up a contract the specifies

exactly what you’ll provide for that fee.

It’s a good idea to mention that you retain

the copyright of the images, and that you

will only store the images that you show

them, and any others will be deleted.

Visit the venue before the big day to assess the light and find good backdrops

Pro tips


WorldMags.net

http://www.brettharknessphotography.com




Making money from magazinesSTART FOR FREE

A good way of

getting your work

published initially is by

submitting images for

readers’ pages and letter

sections. You may not

get paid, but it’ll get your

name known and will help

you build relationships

with editors.

STICK TO

DEADLINES

Be 100% reliable

and on time with

submissions. Journalists

are always pushed for

time, and they’ll favour

photographers who are

consistently professional

in their manner and easy

to work with.

BE EXCLUSIVE

Don’t send images

to more than one

publication at once. You

may think you’re more

likely to get accepted

somewhere, but if two

publications both print

the same shot in their

next issue, neither will

want to use you again.

PLUG YOURSELF

It’s fine, however, to

mention and link to

your previously published

work when pitching other

photos to a new title.

Editors read other

magazines, and if you’ve

been published a few

times it shows you know

what you’re doing.

TRY ONLINE

PUBLICATIONS

Most popular print

magazines also

have a digital presence

these days, which will

often feature different

content to the printed

version, so consider

approaching publications

via this angle too.

Magazines use a phenomenal

number of images in every issue,

so they’re a natural opportunity

for photographers looking to make money.

And with specialist magazines covering

all manner of subjects, combining your

photography with your hobby – be it scuba

diving, stitching or steam trains – can

provide art editors with an invaluable

source of images that they simply won’t

be able to find in generic stock libraries.

However, with their tight deadlines and a

busy schedule it can be hard to get their

attention – at least in a way that you want.

Very few art editors will appreciate you

calling them to give your big sales pitch if

they’re busy sending the magazine to

press, but a quick phone call won’t hurt.

However, don’t simply email the art editor

with lots of large images attached, or even

worse, a massive list of Flickr links – it

looks amateurish. The best approach is to

send a web page link that shows a carefully

selected portfolio of images.

Be selectiveBy ‘carefully selected’ we mean just one

or two (at most) versions of the same

subject; art editors don’t want to see a

whole sequence of shots taken at different

apertures because you couldn’t decide

how much depth of field works best. You

need to show enough images to give them

a sense of the quality of your photography

and the range of subjects you like to shoot.

It can help to theme the images by subject,

style or technique, and explain briefly what

you’ve done in your email.

All magazines work on a seasonal cycle, so

in the winter you’ll tend to see shots of

frost and snow and in the summer bright

blue skies and sandcastles. However,

most magazines are put together at least

a month ahead of their publishing date,

and the planning starts months earlier

than that. August is the traditional time for

many magazines to start thinking about

Christmas, for example, so it’s no good

sending in shots from your summer

holidays then. If your pictures are really

memorable, you might be lucky and find

that they get used the following summer,

but the picture editor is going to be looking

for autumn, Christmas and winter images

during the summer months.

It’s all about timingBefore you contact a magazine, spend

some time researching it and finding out

the types of features it runs, and be honest

about whether your images are really good

enough to feature in it. Also check which

subjects have been covered recently, to

avoid repetition. Finally, be realistic: you’re

unlikely to sell a major feature with images

if you haven’t been published before.

This is a stunning winter landscape,

but you need to submit such images to

magazines well before the snow arrives!

3 SHOTS IN MAGAZINES

10 TOP TIPS FOR…

PAU

L GRO

GA

N

Discover how to get your pictures published in print

Make Cash With Your Canon


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UPDATE EDITORS

Send out regular

contact sheets,

which are PDFs with lots

of small images. These

are easy for editors to

refer to quickly if they’re

looking for a particular

colour or subject matter

to fill a space. Don’t bug

editors, but send a brief

email once a month with

examples of new work.

TRY YOUR

LOCAL MEDIA

Another way of

getting your photos

published when you’re

starting out is to contact

local titles. They won’t

pay a fortune, but local

magazines, newspapers

and websites will often

need reportage shots of

events, or photos of

nearby landscapes.

PITCH IT RIGHT

The best way to

submit photos is by

sending an email with a

small selection of low-res

versions of the images

you want considered,

plus a link to your website

and a description of

when, where and how

the photos were taken.

And a pro-looking online

portfolio is essential.

SELL YOUR

HOBBY

If, for example,

you’re a cycling nut

who loves photography,

why not combine your

passions and pitch your

photos of sports events

to bike magazines? Read

all the specialist mags

you can get your hands

on to give you a feel of

what they’re looking for.

CONTRACTS

Check what

contract a

magazine wants you to

sign. When we use stock

images in Digital Camera,

for example, contributors

sign a One Time Use

contract that allows the

photos to be published

in a single magazine

issue and associated

digital editions.

DAVID CLAPPWWW.DAVIDCLAPP.CO.UK

Using a wide aperture and blurring the background

leaves a magazine designer room for text, or even the magazine logo if it’s a cover

A colourful element leading you into the picture is always

popular with magazine designers. If you can add seasonal interest,

even better

Lifestyle magazines will like this image

because of the lady’s great eye contact,

nice smile and she’s sharply in focus

Pro tips

“I made a choice early on

in my career to target

publications alongside

other areas like stock

photography, but this isn’t

something that other photographers

who follow my work would know. My

portfolio extends to simple images,

with saturated colour, but again it’s not

something that others are aware of; the

key is to realise that shooting brooding,

evocative landscapes may well impress

other photographers, but it’s not the

key to successful media sales.

“Most magazines require a diversity

of subject matter, but often they require

daytime images of well-known places,

the complete opposite of what we try to

achieve as photographic artists, and

they also require these locations to be

photographed with different aesthetics.

For me, shooting cities in infrared

has been very

successful, in

other words (and

I penned this

myself) ‘originality

within familiarity.’

Stay fixated on

dark mountains

or science fiction

skies and you’ll

join the ranks of

the financially

disappointed.”

Simple, brightly coloured shots will

often be of more interest to magazines

than fine art-type images


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http://www.davidclapp.co.uk




The purpose of image libraries is to

form a link between photographers

and the people, companies and

organisations that buy photographs.

They store vast numbers of images, which

are categorised and key-worded so that

anyone looking for an image can browse

through a collection of suitable shots and

select the ones they want.

Because they have so many images

available, these libraries are often the first

port of call for someone who’s looking for

a photograph, and there’s a constant

demand for new images of all manner of

subjects. The first step in submitting stock

images to a library or agency is to identify

the one that works best for you. Libraries

such as Alamy, iStock and Getty have

images depending on the intended use, or

the size at which they’ll be reproduced.

Whichever agency you decide to submit

to, your images need to pass their strict

quality control criteria before they’ll be

accepted. When you upload images to a

library they’ll be carefully inspected, and

if they pass the library’s quality checks

they’ll be made available for key-wording

by the photographer. Key-wording is an art

form in itself, and it’s a good idea to think

laterally about each shot; as well as adding

the subject matter, include words that

explain any emotions, seasons or events

that could be linked to the image.

Making money from stock imagesDON’T BANK

ON IT

Make sure stock

photography is just

one of the eggs in your

basket. With micro stock

agencies making prices

drop by selling images in

bulk, even top pros can

struggle to make a good

return from stock sales.

THINK STOCK

Take your camera

everywhere, and

even if you’re shooting

for fun consider the

stock potential of what

you’re shooting. Always

take the same shot in

portrait and landscape

orientation, and with

different proportions.

MIX IT UP

It’s surprising how

often images that

you might think are a

little bland, such as an

anonymous landscape

or a simple abstract

shot, will sell well; but

don’t be afraid to try

something a bit different

too, to catch the eye.

EDITING IMAGES

It may seem like a

tedious job, but it’s

vital that you edit your

shots before you submit

them. Strong, bright

colours work well – and

get rid of dust spots.

Make sure you include

metadata, too, and add

relevant keywords.

THE SMALL PRINT

Read the info for

contributors on

stock websites, to check

how to submit images.

Often there’s a minimum

number of photos they’ll

accept from a new

photographer, and there

will usually be some

forms to fill out.

4 SHOOT FOR STOCK

A good place to start when reviewing your shots is to look at what’s already on stock sites

Leave space for copy and your shots

will be more useful to designers…

5 TOP TIPS FOR…

How to sell shots to commercial image libraries

massive collections of images, but there

are also smaller agencies that concentrate

on specific topics. If, for example, you

shoot lots of macro images of flowers,

you might want to look for an agency that

mainly deals with botanical images.

Quality controlTake a look at a variety of library websites,

and read their submission guidelines and

terms and conditions carefully. Libraries

sell or license the use of images, with some

selling shots ‘royalty-free’, which means

the buyer can use them as many times as

they like for any purpose. Others will price



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http://www.photoplusmag.com




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Documents

Digital Camera – February 2014