Innholdsfortegnelse for 03-Jan-2015 i Amateur Photographer

THIS time last year I shared with you, perhaps unwisely, my New Year’s resolution for 2014. After more than a decade editing a purely digital photography magazine, I would shoot, process and print a roll of film for the first time since about 2005. How did I get on? Well, not so well. I did buy a roll of black & white film, and I did take a few pictures, but the film is still in the camera. I did visit a darkroom, though – at the superbly equipped facilities of The Camera Club in London’s Kennington (thecameraclub.co.uk), just a short stroll from the AP office – and I reacquainted my nostrils to the smell of fixer. This year I intend to complete my mission and make some prints. Hopefully,…

This powerful image from Getty photographer Scott Olson encapsulates the frightening tension building in many US cities as people reacted to what they felt was a miscarriage of justice. A police squad car was turned over by demonstrators during a protest on 25 November 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. Protesting turned into rioting following the grand jury announcement not to indict officer Darren Wilson in the Michael Brown case. Brown, an18-year-old black man, was killed by Wilson, a white Ferguson police officer, on 9 August. At least12 buildings were torched and more than 50 people were arrested during the night-long rioting. Words & numbers Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer – and often the supreme disappointment Ansel Adams American photographer (1902-1984) 8,000 The number of pieces of photographic…

FLASHGUN maker Metz may be rescued from insolvency after attracting ‘considerable interest’ from potential investors, AP has learned. A source close to Metz said the insolvency filing is expected to affect around 600 jobs, but added that ‘the administrator is in contact with potential investors’ and that there has been ‘considerable interest in the company’. Metz makes flash units for amateur and professional photographers worldwide, from compact flashes to handheld flashguns. It also makes TVs. The German office of insolvency administrator Joachim Exner had yet to comment. Metz was formed over 75 years ago by Paul Metz who, in1947, began making radio sets before expanding to other lines of business Today, the owner-led company focuses on three areas: entertainment electronics, photo electronics and plastics technology. Paul Metz died in1993, after…

I finally have my own darkroom. Well, technically I’ve had a darkroom since I was ten years old, but that was just my bedroom with a blanket draped over the curtains to help keep the street lights at bay. Now, though, I have a room dedicated to the art and science of photography – a room that can act as a focus for my endeavours and, more importantly, a room for all my junk (my wife’s word) that’s been spread around the house for most of my life. Why now? Surely, with everything so shiny and digital, I’d be better off putting the money into a decent photo printer and a pint or two of ink? I beg to differ, and here’s why. Digital photography is great, wonderful, invigorating. It…

Email amateurphotographer@timeinc.com and include your full postal address Write to Inbox, Amateur Photographer, Time Inc. (UK), Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU LETTER OF THE WEEK Tripod torment I was interested to read Bob Riach’s problems with private security staff while taking photographs (AP15November) as I recently had a similar experience on London’s South Bank nearWestminster Bridge, although the issue was using a tripod. I was taking some bracketed exposures for later HDR processing (see right) when two security guards informed me that the use of tripods was forbidden between the London Eye and Westminster Bridge by order of the private landowner. This prompted me to think about why the use of tripods should be banned. I could only think of two explanations: that I might suddenly…

Svetlana Volkova, from Riga in Latvia, is the winner of our Night Photography round of APOY 2014. Svetlana will receive an Olympus OM-D E-M10 with a 14-42mm EZ Pancake zoom, a 45mm f/1.8 portrait lens, a 40-150mm zoom, a 9mm fisheye lens, a macro adapter and a street case in which to carry it all. That’s a prize package with a retail price of £1,200. The E-M10 has a 16.1-millionpixel, four thirds-sized CMOS sensor and a TruePic VII image-processing system, while the 1.44-million-dot EVF displays a 100% field of view and has a 120fps refresh rate. The 14-42mm EZ Pancake zoom lens is a slim and compact optic that is equivalent to a 28-84mm lens in the 35mm format. The 45mm f/1.8 portrait optic is ideal for low-light people shots…

Lighting up an interior THERE is a lot of fantastic detail in this photograph from Asheque Ahsan, although the dark exposure setting does mean that some of this is somewhat lost in the shadows. It also doesn’t help that there is some mixed lighting to contend with because there are fluorescent electric light bulbs illuminating the interior mixed with the daylight. The approach I used here was to use Camera Raw to lighten the image and bring out more detail in the interior. I then introduced a darkening vignette to concentrate the eye more on the centre of the scene and give the photograph depth. It also helped to adjust the white balance so that the final version had more warmth. Submit your images Please see the ‘Send us your…

Ona Union Street ● £270 ● www.onabags.com Callum McInerney-Riley tries out a new stylish messenger bag from Ona At a glance ● Made from canvas and Italian leather ● Stylish and understated design ● Fits a DSLR kit with lenses and flash ● Room for a 15in laptop FORMED in 2010, manufacturer Ona hasn’t been around very long, and it is only in the past year that we have seen its upmarket range of bags rising to mainstream popularity. The Union Street is a very stylish messenger bag that comes in a choice of smoke grey, ranger tan and black colours. A more expensive all-leather version is also available. The bag is intended to take a DSLR kit or compact system camera kit along with a 15in laptop, accessories and…

Flash The maximum flash sync speed of the K-S1 is 1/180sec and the built-in pop-up flash has a power rating of 10m @ ISO 100. Wi-Fi The K-S1 doesn’t have built-in Wi-Fi, but instead relies on a Flucard to connect with a smartphone or tablet. Battery life The rechargeable D-LI109 lithium-ion battery is rated at 480 images, or 420 images when flash is used 50% of the time. Power switch As well as turning the camera on, this switch can also activate video capture. The button is illuminated green or red, depending on whether it is in photo or video mode. Function button Situated on the camera’s top-plate, the green function button can be assigned to activate a variety of features. Mode dial Rather than being placed on the camera’s…

At a glance ● Magic Fill content-aware feature ● Faster brushes ● Easier-to-use Text and Shape Cutter tools ● Enhanced colour selection tools ● Price £79.99 Ultimate edition (on offer for £63.99 at time of writing), £59.99 Standard edition (on offer for £47.99 at time of writing) ● A free trial is available at www.paintshoppro.com Corel has updated its Windows-only PaintShop Pro to X7. This version is a fully featured image-editing application that is capable of accomplishing most of the things that Photoshop offers, plus a number of extras. Here we take a look at X7’s new features. Palettes The Materials palette has had a major overhaul. You can select colours, textures or gradients by clicking on the icons, or clicking on the foreground colour swatch to launch the Materials…

Email your questions to: apanswers@timeinc.com, Twitter @AP_Magazine and #AskAP, or Facebook. Orwrite to Technical Support, Amateur Photographer Magazine, Time Inc. (UK), Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU ● EXPERT ADVICE ● TIPS ● TRICKS ● HACKS ● KNOW-HOW Small and discreet Q I am looking for a lightweight Canon camera I can carry around towns and cities that looks unobtrusive yet meets the image size requirements for a picture library. I have owned a Canon EOS 5D for many years and will continue to use it, but would also like something smaller. What would you recommend? June Morrissey A The most obvious choice would be to buy a high-end compact camera, June. The latest large-sensor models have excellent image quality, and can match or exceed many DSLRs…

Samsung has not been regarded as one of the great innovators in the world of photography, as it’s a business the company has been involved in for a relatively short time. Back in 2006, Samsung started selling copies of Pentax DSLRs - a relationship that developed with the electronics giant through developing imaging sensors for Pentax. This collaboration seemed to come to an end when Pentax was bought by Hoya, and Samsung went its own way by developing its own range of NX mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras. These have been competent cameras, perhaps without ‘standout’ features. Now Samsung has launched the flagship NX1 model, which certainly does have a standout feature - the 28.2-million-pixel, APS-C-sized sensor utilising backside illumination (BSI) technology. This is the first consumer BSI sensor of this size,…

Manfrotto colour splash Manfrotto has made some of its tripods available in different colours, including blue and pink, allowing photographers to personalise their kit bag. The Befree, Pixi, Pocket series and Compact Light range are now out in a variety of colours. For more details visit www.manfrotto.co.uk. Theft alert Photographers should be on the lookout for new cameras being sold at suspiciously low prices after thieves escaped with tens of thousands of pounds’ worth of gear from Castle Cameras. Contact 01202 526 606 for the Bournemouth branch and 01722 339 909 for the Salisbury one. Drone threat Drone users may fall foul of ‘harassment’, or even ‘voyeurism’ legislation. Chief Inspector Nick Aldworth, of the Metropolitan Police, told a House of Lords committee that, in the absence of privacy legislation in…

HISTORIC images plucked from the Royal Photographic Society’s famous collection have gone on show at the Science Museum in London, as organisers defend the £8 entry cost. Drawn by Light features more than 200 exhibits from the Royal Photographic Society Collection, which has been housed at the National Media Museum (NMM) in Bradford, West Yorkshire, since its move there 11 years ago. The RPS itself was founded in 1853. The show includes images dating back to the earliest days of photography, captured by pioneers such as Julia Margaret Cameron and British photography inventor William Henry Fox Talbot, whose experimental cameras are on display. It also showcases the work of modern-day photographers such as Don McCullin, Terry O’Neill and Martin Parr. The Science Museum says the show will allow the public…

A BRITISH artist is among those shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2015. UK-born Patrick Waterhouse collaborated with South African photographer Mikhael Subotzky for an ‘intimate and deeply evocative’ social portrait of a 1970s Johannesburg apartment block that reportedly became a centre of crime, prostitution and drug dealing, and a symbol of urban decay. The pair’s work, called ‘Ponte City’ 2008, also drew on architectural plans, plus archival and historical material about the building and community. The project appeared in the pair’s publication, Ponte City, earlier this year. Also shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2015 are Russian photographer Nikolai Bakharev, Zanele Muholi (South Africa) and Viviane Sassen (Netherlands). The winner/winners of the £30,000 cash prize will be announced at The Photographers’ Gallery in London on 28 May…

Josef Koudelka: Exiles Thames & Hudson, £39.95, hardback, 180 pages, ISBN 978-0-50054-441-9 HOW CAN it be that a photographer dealing with themes of desolation, waste, departure and alienation is able to produce such exceptionally beautiful images? The reason is simple: everything Czech photographer Josef Koudelka captures speaks deeply of the endurance of the human spirit. The photographs were taken during Koudelka’s years of wandering through Europe and the United States after leaving his native Czechoslovakia. The images communicate much about the world that Koudelka found on his travels, but perhaps say more about the photographer, indeed any photographer, who suffers from an insatiable desire to see. Typically, each and every frame is perfectly beautiful. Master photographer is a term that’s bandied around far too much, but here it is more…

The ocean is, in its own way, a region of the planet that is still utterly alien to us. Beneath the surface, creatures that seem almost beyond the scope of our imagination drift with the currents. We’ve all seen these creatures before, but images of them can still hold our attention and make us marvel at the complexity of our world. This is particularly true of the images taken by UK-born photographer, and recent winner of the Invertebrates category in Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014, Matty Smith. Matty’s project, called ‘Over/Under’, features a series of photographs that function on dual levels. The title of the series is to be taken literally. Each image is framed in such a way as to reveal the world above and the world below…

Just 13 points separate the top four on our leaderboard. Dan Deakin remains in first place, but Chris Wood has jumped up to second from fifth. Mark Helliwell, who was second last month, has dropped one place to third, while Angela Nelson, who was sixth last month, is now in fourth. 1 DanDeakin 193pts 2 ChrisWood 185pts 3 MarkHelliwell 184pts 4 AngelaNelson 180pts 5 JevgenijsScolokovs 151pts 5 Aaron Bennett 151pts 7 Bertrand Chombart 135pts 8 Farid Sani 127pts 9 Gerard Sexton 117pts 10 Richard Craze 110pts 1 Svetlana Volkova Latvia 50pts Canon EOS 5D, 135mm, 0.3sec at f/7.1, ISO 400 Night photography is perhaps one of the most challenging genres a photographer can attempt. There are a number of factors to consider, such as light, subject and the appropriate settings…

THE 550 was the first production bag Billingham made and it set the tone and style for all the others. It is still one of the largest in Billingham’s range, and probably the first choice of bag if you never want to worry about leaving something behind. Even without the two detachable end pockets, the 550 is still large enough to carry several camera bodies, lenses, flashguns and even some overnight essentials. Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year, the world’s leading awards recognising the art and diversity of food photography, is open for entries until 8 February 2015. Visit www.pinkladyfoodphotographeroftheyear.com. To be in with a chance of winning a Billingham 550 bag, visit www.amateurphototographer.co.uk/billinghamcomp and answer the simple question. The closing date for entries is 30 January 2015. The…

• ￡39 • mymiggo.com ONE OF the many products to come to fruition via the popular crowd-funding website Kickstarter is the Miggo Strap & Wrap. It hit its pledge goal four times over, receiving more than ￡50,000 to put the strap into production - clearly a lot of people thought it was a great idea. The concept is simple: it’s a strap that doubles as a protective case. It consists of a long piece of material with a zip down the middle, and when unzipped and unrolled the Miggo acts as a large camera strap that can be worn around the neck or over the shoulder. When it is zipped up, the material is wide enough to be rolled up around the camera. The zip doesn’t go all the way…

Amateur Photographer Our cameras and lenses are tested using the industrystandard Image Engineering IQ-Analyser software. Visit www.image-engineering.de for more details THE K-S1 behaves pretty well, giving the kind of results we would expect from a 20.12-million-pixel, APS-C-sized sensor. The camera’s JPEG processing seems to be quite aggressive in processing the image to remove aliasing and moiré artefacts, and this means you can pull visibly more detailed results from raw files – just at the risk of such things as mazing and false colour. In terms of ISO sensitivity and noise, the K-S1gives completely usable images up to at least ISO 800, with only a slight visible deterioration in quality at this setting. At ISO1600 they are still quite usable, but the image is starting to deteriorate if you look at…

A GOOD workspace for any image-editing application is crucial to productivity, as you need to be able to access the tools you want quickly and easily. PaintShop Pro X7 supports many shortcut keystrokes. For example, press the letter C to instantly select the Clone tool, B for the Brush tool, M for the Move tool, and so on. These keystrokes are worth learning, as they will help you work faster. You can also define your own custom keystrokes for often-used menu items. X7’s fully customisable interface means you can design it to your own preferred way of working. You can also create tool palettes for specific tasks, which is handy if you want to do some retouching or vector drawing perhaps. Once you have customised your palettes, you can save…

THE CROSS section of this camera is determined by the size of the 5x4 double dark slide, while the length is determined by the ‘focal length’ required. In this instance, since I was trying for a wideangle effect, a ‘focal length’ of100mm was chosen, corresponding to about 28mm in 35mm terms. Since 5x4 sheet film is rather costly, all the work on this design was performed with paper negs, using 8x10 glossy cut down to yield four ‘films’ per sheet and then developed in Harman Warmtone developer, the emulsion being rated at ISO 5. Since in my experimental camera the results can be unpredicatable, the ability to develop under a red safelight was most convenient and saves on engineering development costs. The shutter was placed on the outside of the…

‘Sue and Dale’s Airstream’ (2012) by Frank Hallam Day The trailer, or caravan, is an Airstream, a long-established, iconic and very expensive brand. The setting is Florida in the USA. The lighting is by light-painting with different torches during exposures of at least 10mins, at night (not twilight). The effect is… indescribable. Literally. You have to see the picture. Even in 10,000 words, I couldn’t describe this scene quite the way it has been photographed. You would inevitably end up with a different impression from that created by the picture – assuming, of course, that you did not give up from boredom before you got to the end. And yet, you can take in the image at a glance, faster than you can read this paragraph. Frank Hallam Day won…

As the colder weather starts to set in and winter takes hold, many of the plants in a forest will die down. However, until early January there is still the chance to see, and photograph, a number of woodland fungi, such as the one pictured right. In addition to the species of fungi, there are other interesting subjects to photograph in our woodlands, from evergreen plants to dying bracken and a variety of berries. Be sure to look on the ground, around fallen trees, on tree trunks and in dense areas of foliage to maximise your chances of finding the right subject. Taking a long walk around local woodland with a camera and a spare lens can be very enjoyable at this time of year – particularly if the weather…

SONY has confirmed that the Alpha 7 II will cost £1,500, body only, when it goes on sale in the UK in January. The Sony Alpha 7 II will also be available as a kit with a 28-70mm lens, priced £1,700. Unveiled in November, the Sony Alpha 7 II is claimed to offer ‘outstanding image quality in a compact size and light build’. The 24.3-million-pixel model features 5-axis image stabilisation and a 117-point, focal-planephase-detection AF system with an improved algorithm, allowing AF to be ‘30% faster’ than in previous Sony cameras.…

London’s New Years Day Parade Happy New Year! You may be reading this after the big calendar flip, but if you’re not, and you anticipate being able to stand on New Year’s Day, why not head out to photograph some of the celebratory parades that take place? 1 January. www.londonparade.co.uk People of India Three series of photographs document India, spanning the past 150 years. Anchoring the display is Jason Scott Tilley, who contributes his own street portraits and also shots taken by his great-grandfather. Until 11 January. www.theherbert.org Mobile Photography Eton’s Rhubarb and Custard gallery open exhibition focuses on photographs taken using mobile phones. If you’d like to see one of your mobile images mounted on their wall, head to the website for details. Until 28 February. www.rhubarbandcustard.com Shoot Winter…

1 Improve your image selection THERE’S nothing quite like the satisfaction of a successful shoot – that buzz of seeing a stack of potentially great images on your rear screen can be incredibly gratifying. However, once home and they’ve all been loaded onto your computer (and backed up!), it can be extremely difficult to nail down which shots to edit and which ones to leave out. The trouble is, we’re often too close to them, having invested so much time and energy in them, but being ruthless with your images will make you a better photographer. Coming away with one strong shot will be better than having a host of mediocre or almost-there pictures. A good starting point is to select a number of images, even processing them, before walking…

I was a stickler for steady footage when I started filming. I decided that my style of workwould be moreHollywood than vintage, as I felt the ‘vintage look’ made it easier to have slightly shaky footage, which was the essence of that look and feel at the time. I wanted something cinematic to sit alongside my photography. I was in love with well-lit, composed, meaningful scenes of classic and iconic films I had watched in the past. Items that help to stabilise a camera, such as tripods, monopods and sliders, are great, but just owning them doesn’t make your footage stable. You need to know how best to use them. Safety first Tripods are the safest way to ensure that your shot is stable. However, the downside is that tripods…

Digital is now the default technology for most amateur photographers and pros, so it’s easy to forget that there are people out there still making innovative photographic film. Brandon and Brian Wright are great examples. The Hollywoodbased twins have developed CineStill 800T – a stock that claims to be the only high-speed (ISO 800) colour film currently made that is compatible with incandescent/tungsten light. ‘This opens up a whole new world of possibilities for photographers,’ says Brandon. ‘You can shoot with the film cameras you love in limited available light, or in the studio with continuous hot lights, similar to those used on the set of a movie.’ Brandon and his brother started delving into photography about 15 years ago, after they found their dad’s Olympus OM-1. ‘We asked him…

James D Robinson, Co Durham James is an independent photographer, pencil artist and sometimes writer based in the North of England. He studied traditional black & white photo printing and photo portraiture at the Darlington College of Technology in the late 1980s, and is also a member of the Royal Photographic Society. James also had the honour of having one of his portraits of Dr Lucy Worsley added to the collection at the National Portrait Gallery. 1 Wartime Weekend Here we find a candid moment taken at a war re-enactment. It’s the eye-contact that really elevates this shot above the norm Sony Alpha 200, 55-200mm, 1/200sec at f/5, ISO 100 2 The Point is… James has captured a nice candid moment here between two war re-enactors. The inclusion of the…

At a glance ● 20.12-million-pixel, APS-C-sized sensor ● 77-segment metering ● ISO 100-51,200 sensitivity range ● 100% pentaprism viewfinder ● 11 AF points (9 cross-type) ● 3in, 921,000-dot LCD screen ● £440 (body only) For years, Pentax has been trying to bring the DSLR to a younger generation. It has done this by taking existing camera models and offering them in a variety of different colour combinations, even with the option to design your own. In Japan, few people would give more than a passing glance to a camera that was dusk gold, sunset orange, dawn purple or linen brown. In the UK, however, we are a more conservative bunch, and generally prefer our cameras to be black or silver. So the new Pentax K-S1 is a bold step. Not…

PUTTING the looks of the Pentax K-S1 to one side, as they are subjective, purely from a handling point of view a couple of areas could be improved on the rear control dial of the camera. However, the K-S1 handles a lot better than a quick glance at its design would suggest. All the buttons are nicely positioned, and the core features are easy to change and operate. This will certainly be a blessing for those photographers for whom the K-S1 is their first DSLR. AF speed and the viewfinder are both excellent for a camera at this low-to-mid-range level, and again the K-S1 can more than match its competitors from Canon and Nikon. Additionally, there is no end of features by which you can customise the camera to taste.…

COREL’S PaintShop Pro X7 is, without doubt, a very powerful application, with a large worldwide user base. Although X7 is not Photoshop, it is nevertheless an excellent image-editing application. I would not have any problems using X7 for any image-editing work, even though it does lack some of the finesse of Photoshop, especially in the colour-management sector. We reviewed the Ultimate edition of PaintShop Pro X7, which includes plenty of extra add-ons, brushes and filters that can be downloaded from the Corel website. The installation comes in either 32-bit or 64-bit versions, and if you have a 64-bit system then X7 flies – it really is very fast. Although X7 is an improvement over previous versions, it is not a major overhaul. Nevertheless, I have no reservations recommending this as…

LAUNCHED 1954 PRICE ￡21 17s 10d (￡21.89) with Pronto shutter (1956 AP) GUIDE PRICE TODAY ￡25-￡30 in full running order THERE was a considerable demand in the mid-1950s for a top-quality 35mm camera for the enthusiastic amateur photographer. Although it may seem odd now, the Vito B met that need, with a four-element 50mm f/3.5 coated Color Skopar lens and a choice of the four-speed Pronto shutter or the eight-speed Prontor SVS. Focusing was by estimation, as there was no rangefinder, and exposure was either educated guesswork or by handheld exposure meter. What’s good Great reliability, superb build quality, excellent Leica-like image quality. What’s bad After 60 years, many Vito B shutters have stopped working. The market value has not, and still does not, justify the cost of servicing, so…