Innholdsfortegnelse for May 23, 2015 i Amateur Photographer

I love historic images, so I was thrilled when our colleagues at TV Times popped round to see me with a box of prints and negatives that had recently been returned to them from some basement storage, where they had languished for decades. Inside were amazing pictures of The Beatles and numerous other stars, past and present, taken in the 1960s, which had not been seen for nearly 50 years, plus a Helmut Newton fashion shoot. Even better were the contact sheets, marked up with chinagraph pencil, and it was fascinating to go through the TV Times archive to see how they ended up being used on the cover. It’s sobering to think how they could so easily have been thrown away, and I wonder what would have happened to…

CANON has unveiled a new 50mm f/1.8 prime lens, with an ‘improved' design and STM (stepping motor) drive. The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM is an updated EF 50mm f/1.8 II. Billed as ‘an ideal second lens for anyone looking to take their photography to the next level', the 50mm f/1.8 STM features Canon's super spectra lens coating, a seven-blade aperture and ‘near silent focusing'. Canon claims: ‘It's easy to capture superb portraits, or bold, artistic photos and movies with the new lens – the wide f/1.8 maximum aperture provides precise control over depth of field. ‘It gives you the creative freedom to pinpoint focus on your subject and let the rest of the frame blend into a smooth blur – instantly allowing you to draw the viewer's attention to…

Russ Barnes Russ is a dedicated British landscape photographer with a particular passion for trees. Here he shows us how to think differently and creatively using infrared filters to create contrast-rich landscapes from ordinary scenes. www.russbarnes.co.uk Standing out from the crowd is not an easy proposition for today’s landscape photographers. There’s a lot of exceptional work around, which makes it very difficult to feel that your contribution has any impact. I read an interesting article on this subject recently by travel photographer Steve Watkins, who talked about taking risks in landscape photography. The context wasn’t about putting yourself in any physical danger in order to capture a unique moment, but about the importance of taking risks with composition, trying a new technique and carving out niches. I completely connected with…

This year’s Sony World Photography Awards followed a similar path to previous years. While all eyes were on the winners of the Professional category, it was, once again, the amateurs in the Open category who produced the most impressive images. There were 79,264 entries for the Open category, and the judges (including AP Editor Nigel Atherton) faced the daunting task of whittling down the submissions to a list of ten category winners. The overall Open winner for 2015 is Armin Appel from Germany, with his stunning graphic image taken while paragliding (see page 20). This year also saw the introduction of a Mobile category. The winner is Turi Calafato from Italy, with his vivid beach image (see page 23). We’ll take a look at the Professional winners in a forthcoming…

About the little owl It may be small by name, but the little owl has possibly the biggest character of all the owl species. • Location Widespread across England and Wales, with limited numbers in southern Scotland • Size Both males and females are 21-23cm tall • Nest Farmland, open woodland, parkland and copses. Farm buildings and oak trees are especially favoured • Diet Mainly insects such as worms and beetles, but small mammals and birds are also on the menu • Population An estimated 5,700 breeding pairs Richard Peters Richard Peters is a UK-based wildlife photographer whose passion stems from watching natural history documentaries as a youngster. Now his photos and writing are published regularly, and his images have won numerous worldwide awards. www.richardpeters.co.uk LITTLE owls were originally introduced…

Delicate tone control GOOD image editing is often about making the final image as representative as possible of what you saw at the time the photograph was taken. For various reasons, your photographs won't always look quite how you expected. In this instance, the original image by Farid Sani was about 1 stop underexposed, so when adjusting the tones here you have a slightly trickier job with the shadow detail because there will be fewer levels to play with, and you will probably see more shadow noise. It also makes it harder to set the optimum clipping points and, at the same time, preserve a delicate balance in the shadow contrast. You will notice that in the initial step I chose to set the Contrast to -47, thus flattening the…

1 List of kit Olympus OM-D E-M5, Olympus HLD-6 grip, Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 45mm f/1.8, Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 75mm f/1.8, 2x Olympus batteries,Lensbaby Composer, Wanderlust Pinwide, Polaroid 440, Fujifilm FP-3000B instant film, SanDisk Ultra SD cards 1 Olympus OM-D E-M5 I love the Olympus OM-D range, as it offers fantastic quality and is fully backed up with some outstanding optics. The HLD-6 grip is a must for better handling of the small cameras, but the size and reduced weight of the camera have made such a difference when I’m lugging kit around. 2 Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 75mm f/1.8 This is my go-to lens when I’m shooting beauty. It’s a chunky piece of glass with remarkable light-gathering power thanks the maximum f/1.8 aperture, which also provides a lovely bokeh…

While working on a project I have underway, I was talking to a supplier of xenon flash tubes. This particular company manufactures the tubes used in one of the world's leading brands of studio flash equipment, but they were worried about declining business, the problem being the increasing popularity of LED (light-emitting diode) lighting. Both a xenon flash tube and an LED have the advantage of being very efficient converters of electrical energy into light. The problem with inefficient light sources is twofold. First, the energy not used to generate light appears as heat, so these sources tend to get very hot, which can be dangerous. The other problem occurs when we have a limited amount of energy available, such as when out and about, and are dependent on battery…

This image is part of a series of pictures that, at first sight, seem to have very little in common, except the same two models. The more you look at them, though, the more multi-layered they become, and the more blurred are the boundaries between what is found, what is constructed, what is perceived and what (if anything) is real. In the absence of computer-generated imagery we are entitled to assume that the camera recorded what was in front of it, even if Adobe Photoshop can combine disparate elements in ways that are not immediately apparent. It seems easier to accept that this strange tableau was created directly in front of the camera, without digital manipulation, rather than via electronic wizardry. Why not, after all? If you are prepared to…

Fujifilm settlement A US jury has ruled that Levonoowned mobile company Motorola has infringed on a Fujifilm patent and ordered a damages payment of $10.2 million (£6.7 million). The patent is related to the conversion of colour images to monochrome. A Motorola spokesman said the firm was ‘evaluating [its] options’ in relation to the ruling. Kickstarter drone A Kickstarter campaign from CyPhy Works for a ‘reinvented’ LVL 1 drone reached its $250,000 goal in just four days. On the campaign page, CyPhy Works claims that its new ‘Level-Up technology, which uses four motors, will eliminate mid-flight tilting and allow the drone to capture stable video and sharper images’.Visit www.kickstarter.com/projects/1719668770/cyphy-lvl-1-drone-reinvented-for-performance-and-c/updates. Olympus payout Olympus will pay more than £60 million to investors over the accounting scandal exposed by former CEO Michael Woodford.…

The proliferation of smartphones has introduced or reignited the love of photography with their owners, but I for one am not happy with the quality of images produced by them. Just to give you a little background, I became well known as a photographer in the late 1990s/early 2000s because I carried a compact film camera everywhere I went, and I shot a wide variety of subjects, which pretty much describes the majority of people's experiences with photography. For a while I was seduced by my iPhone 4's camera and the fact that it would let me post an image online as soon as I took it. Sometimes, if I really liked an iPhone image, I would shoot it again on a ‘real' camera so I had a higher-quality version,…

• £160 • www.manfrotto.co.uk Grub screw When tightened, this grub screw prevents the head from unscrewing. Strap lug This is for the attachment of Manfrotto’s carry strap. It can also be used to hang a camera bag for extra stability. 3/8in connector This connector is compatible with many heads, but those with 1/4in threads will need an adapter. At a glance • Maximum height 146cm • Folded length 45cm • Weight 1.67kg • Maximum load 7kg MANFROTTO'S190 tripods have a reputation for offering a decent working height without excess weight. The new190 Go! is a four-section aluminium model with a 90° tilting centre column, but in a first for Manfrotto it has twist-type leg locks rather than the lever type. This is the lightest and most compact tripod in the…

JUNE sees the debut of two new Olympus Micro Four Thirds lenses – the M Zuiko Digital ED 8mm f/1.8 Fisheye Pro and M Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm f/2.8 Pro. Touted as the world's brightest fisheye lens, the Olympus 8mm f/1.8 Fisheye Pro (priced £799.99) has a minimum focusing distance of 2.5cm and maximum magnification of 0.2x. According to Olympus, the f/1.8 fisheye ‘opens up a new world of creative photography, so is ideal for unique, quirky panoramas, sports action and close-ups taken from the widest of angles'. The 17-elements-in 15-groups lens measures 62 x 80mm (diameter x length) and weighs 315g. The 7-14mm f/2.8 Pro is the first wideangle zoom lens in the M Zuiko Pro series. Features include a manual-focus clutch so that users can switch from AF…

Are you concerned with losing your digital images? You answered A Yes 68% B No 24% C It’s never crossed my mind 3% D I don’t shoot digital 2% E None of the above 3% What you said ‘No, because I use a cloud back-up storage solution that ensures my files are stored in such a way that even if a single data centre goes down my photos aren’t lost’ ‘I have a mild obsession with saving files on memory sticks, removable storage and CDs, but I am very fearful of trusting cloud storage for fear of not only loss but pictures being obtained without permission and used for commercial purposes’ ‘Yes, I am concerned. I do have a back-up strategy, using an external hard disk, but no back-up strategy…

Omnidirectional Lavalier mics (also know as a lav lapel or clip mic) use this 360° polar pattern and can easily be placed on a presenter or interviewee. You can hear someone standing next to the speaker, as well as noise from the side, behind and below. Cardioid A cardioid microphone has the most sensitivity at the front and is least sensitive at the back. Cardioid microphones have more of a 300° polar pattern, which is useful for capturing audio from the front and sides of the microphone. Supercardioid These offer a narrower pickup than cardioids and a greater rejection of ambient sound. They also have some pickup directly at the rear, making it useful for interviews, as it saves time turning the microphone around every time a question is asked.…

Robert Schenck, Israel Robert first began taking photographs just a few years ago in order to get some good images of his son's bar mitzvah. From there, his fascination expanded and he began to use photography as a way of refining and sharing his interpretation of the beauty of nature. Here we see a selection of Robert's images of flowers. ‘I'm endlessly fascinated by their variety and many moods while I'm working at finding the perfect light or an undiscovered angle,' he says. To see more of Robert's work, visit www.veritasportraits.zenfolio.com. 1 Laconic Robert has selected a scene with strong backlighting and chosen a very narrow depth of field to create an organic and abstract image Canon EOS 6D, 35mm, 1/2500sec at f/1.6, ISO 100 2 Memory ‘I loved the…

LAUNCHED 1953 PRICE £35 19s 3d (£35.90) with 50mm f/3.5 Lumar (AP 25 September 1955) GUIDE PRICE TODAY £140-£200 DESIGNED BY Kenneth (now Sir Kenneth) Corfield, the first model of the all-British Periflex was manufactured in Wolverhampton, and launched with Leica thread mount and register, as an inexpensive second camera for Leica enthusiasts with Leica lenses. Focusing was by a reversed periscope that lowered a mirror into the light path between lens and shutter to provide a partial reflex image for focusing. A cloth focal-plane shutter provided speeds from1/30-1/1000sec. An optical viewfinder was mounted in the accessory shoe. The first 200 or so were covered in brown pigskin. Later, black enamel examples were covered in black leather cloth. Subsequently, a satin-chrome version was produced. What’s good The Periflex I was…