Innholdsfortegnelse for 15-nov-2014 i Amateur Photographer

HOW WOULD you like to own a signed print by one of the photographic greats? It sounds expensive, and usually it would be, but we’ve persuaded some of the biggest names in the business to donate prints of their most stunning images to give away to AP readers. To be in with a chance of winning one, we would like you to make a donation to the NSPCC, then fill in the form on our website. For as little as a fiver you could own an original print by Rankin, Art Wolfe, Charlie Waite, or many others, some of which are worth hundreds of pounds. How about Barry Lategan’s classic portrait of Twiggy, or an iconic David Hurn picture of The Beatles? This really is an opportunity not to be…

Letter montage If you fancy a change from shooting the same old landscapes and portraits, why not try this rather unusual, but very creative, photo project. The idea is to take individual images of letters and shapes taken from a variety of everyday street signs, billboards and the like, then merge them together in Photoshop to spell out your name. It is deceptively challenging, as you must scout out and record each of the letters you’ll need from your local area. In turn, it will change the way you view your surroundings. Once you get started, you’ll look at every street sign and advertisement board in an entirely new light, as you start to piece together the letters needed to create your name.…

A HOMELESS woman who won a fundraising calendar photography competition did not live to hear of her achievement. Alex Davies won the Judges’ Choice award (see above) in the My London calendar competition, which involved more than100 people affected by homelessness taking pictures using single-use cameras. The contest was run by Café Art, an organisation that aims to connect homeless people with the wider community through art. Alex died a few weeks before the calendar was published. The contest was judged by a panel that included AP. The My London calendar costs £9.99. To order, visit www.cafeart.org.uk.…

Lesser Known Architecture Theo Simpson explores the lesser-known but extraordinary, paying tribute to the architects and engineers that made them possible. The National Centre for Craft & Design will also be hosting a learning and events programme to complement the exhibition. 22 November-20 March 2015, www.nationalcraftanddesign.org.uk Winter Wonderland Is it that time already? Apparently so, because Winter Wonderland is getting into gear, which means we’ll all be decking the halls before you know it. There is, as ever, a ton of festive fun to see and photograph, including a ‘Magical Ice Kingdom’. 21 November-4 January 2015 www.hydeparkwinterwonderland.com Terry O’Neill Award Honour, prestige and sweet cash prizes are all on the table for entrants to the Terry O’Neill Award, which closes at the end of the month. Submit between three and…

You may not realise it, but your local Sony Alpha Centre of Excellence is much more than just a camera store. Each store hosts events throughout the year to help you get more from your Sony camera. I recently went along to one such day at Park Cameras in London. Renowned street photographer Michael Wayne Plant was on hand to talk about how he shoots with his Sony Alpha 7S. But the day wasn’t all about technique Michael also went through the key features of the camera, including exposure and image settings, and he even took the time to go round and help those who had brought along their own Sony cameras. It was great getting hands-on advice from a pro. There was a full range of Sony equipment on…

Light levels It really is as simple as that, although there are some variables, such as just how bright the sky is. A clear-blue sky is going to require a different exposure from hazy cloud, which will be yet a different exposure to cloud that is backlit by the sun. To counter these variables, ND grads come in different strengths measured in whole or half stops, from 1EV through to at least 4EV, and can also be used with other filters. Working out the exposure difference between the sky and foreground is very easy: just point your meter at one and take a reading, then point the meter at the other and take another reading, then look at the difference in shutter speed or aperture. A more difficult decision is…

There are two types of polariser: linear and circular. We are interested in the circular polariser, but just to make your life complicated, did you know you can have a square circular polariser, too? The term circular polariser does not refer to its physical shape, but to the way in which the light is polarised – in a circular motion. Linear polarisers have a habit of messing up autofocus and metering, so you should stick to the circular type. Do you need a polariser? A polariser has a couple of very important functions. First, it reduces reflections on surfaces such as water, metal, glass and even foliage, and second, it increases colour saturation and contrast – particularly noticeable when you have blue skies and fluffy white clouds in an image.…

This Photochrom image, made in around 1900, shows Mulberry Street in Manhattan. The streets were lined with market stalls and the overcrowded buildings were mainly occupied by the Italian immigrant community. It’s at the centre of the district still known as ‘Little Italy’ today. This Photochrom, made from an 8x10in glass negative, is full of fascinating details and would have been one of the more challenging images for chromists to work on. Great trouble has been taken to add individual colours to details such as people’s clothing, baskets, street signs, horse-drawn carts and the vegetables on the market stalls. Even the complexions of individual faces among the crowd of curious onlookers have different colours, while the use of paler shades of colour in more distant buildings helps give the feeling…

IF EVER there were a sport popular for the wrong reasons it is women’s beach volleyball! Ivan has made a cracking attempt at capturing the action of the sport here, though, and I love the basic premise of the image – golden tans stretching up against a cool blue sky. The two players are coming together for the clash, and we are left guessing who will come out on top. It’s a good moment. What isn’t quite so good is that the basic ideas of the image are somewhat undone by the collision between the girl on the left and the lighting pole in the background. The interaction with the pole renders her outline, shape and actions less clear. And it seems strange to allow the ball to be cut…

For and against + Electronic viewfinder helps when shooting in bright light + Good build quality and attractive retro styling + Good image quality for its size from large four thirds sensor − Small and cramped controls can be fiddly to use − Short battery life compared to similar larger cameras − No NFC slows down the Wi-Fiset-up Where in the range Panasonic Lumix DMC-GM1 Price £529 The GM1 is similar in specification to the GM5, but is smaller and has no electronic viewfinder. Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 Price £599 The GX7 is a larger, more enthusiast focused camera with a built-in tilting electronic viewfinder and in-body image stabilisation. Data file Price £750 (with 12-32mm kit lens) Sensor 16-million-pixel Live MOS sensor Output size 4592 x 3448 pixels Focal length mag…

When the full-frame Alpha 7 and Alpha 7R were introduced last year, one of the concerns voiced by many photographers related to how well the cameras would cope with wideangle lenses. Both Alpha 7 cameras, along with the more recent Alpha 7S, use the Sony E mount – the same mount used in the company’s APS-C-format compact system cameras. When Sony’s original NEX range of CSCs was released, there was some criticism of the image quality when using wideangle lenses, with distortion and a loss of definition at the edges. This was due to the very short flange-focus distance of E-mount lenses. Alpha 7 cameras feature the same E mount, but their larger full-frame sensors make the problem more difficult to overcome. Wideangle lenses need to have an image circle…

Built-in flash According to Canon, the small pop-up unit has a range up to 5.5m at wideangle and 3m at telephoto. Hotshoe This can accept more powerful Canon-compatible flashguns for more creative lighting. Stereo microphones Built-in stereo mics provide sound for moving recording, and there’s a 3.5mm socket for an external unit, too. Framing assist buttons Two buttons on the side of the lens barrel help with framing when shooting at the long end of the lens. Wi-Fi button The SX60 HS has a dedicated button to initiate a Wi-Fi connection to a smartphone or tablet. Remote release socket Hidden under a flap on the handgrip is a socket for Canon’s RS-60E3 electronic cable release.…

USM Macro is a more modern design, but it costs another £150 or so. As for an extended zoom, the 70-300mm you already own is about as far as you’ll get without having to spend a lot more money on a big, heavy lens. Meanwhile, a fisheye can be fun, but once the novelty wears off, chances are that it will end up as a paperweight. For movie recording, a Steadicam device is probably the single most useful accessory. Add-on microphones can be useful, too, and for users on a budget we recommend the £60 Opteka VM-100. Andy Westlake Understanding giclée Q I keep seeing the term giclée used for certain prints, but do not know exactly what it means? Am I correct in thinking that it is just a…

Challenger explosion (1986) by NASA Natraj – also Nataraj, Nataraja – is an aspect of the Lord Shiva. Shiva is held by many to be the principal deity of the Hindu pantheon. The dance of Natraj is the eternal destruction and recreation of the universe. ‘The universe’ is our perception. We cannot know others’ perceptions. The loss of the Challenger was at once one of the greatest losses of the 20th century, and one of its greatest hopes: destruction and recreation. It was an enormous loss because seven very great human beings lost their lives: five men and two women. They truly were among the brightest and the best. They gave us enormous hope because sooner or later, from one cause or another, our planet must die. Humanity will survive…

Silo by Dave Horton Canon EOS 6D, 24-70mm, 1/50sec at f/11, ISO100 THIS photograph by Dave Horton was taken in the Wynyard Quarter of Auckland, New Zealand. ‘Until a few years ago, Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter was land used as a bulk-storage facility by the Ports of Auckland,’ says Dave. ‘It is now being gradually redeveloped with a mix of office and residential buildings, plus restaurants and bars in a waterfront precinct. ‘I went there with the intention of photographing some of the new buildings, but the group of tall concrete silos – relics of the area’s past – really grabbed my attention. The whole structure was interesting, but it was the smaller-scale details that I particularly liked and chose to isolate – the blue-painted ladder contrasted against the warm tone…

This astonishing image from Getty photographer Gokhan Sahin shows an explosion rocking the Syrian city of Kobani during a reported suicide car-bomb attack by the militants of Islamic State (ISIS) group on a People’s Protection Unit (YPG) position in the city centre of Kobani. Sahin was positioned on the outskirts of Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border, in the Sanliurfa district of Turkey. According to Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey will reportedly allow Iraqi Kurdish fighters to cross the Syrian border to fight Islamic State (IS) militants in the Syrian city of Kobani. In addition, the United States has sent planes to drop weapons, ammunition and medical supplies to Syrian Kurdish fighters around Kobani. 1 Although it’s tempting, don’t just stick to shooting letters on street signs. Try to…

A PHOTOGRAPHER’S notebook that was used on Captain Scott’s last expedition more than 100 years ago has been revealed by melting snow in the Antarctic. The notebook belonged to George Murray Levick, a surgeon, zoologist and photographer, who used it to record dates, subjects and exposure details. Levick was part of Captain Scott’s 1910-1913 expedition. He died in 1956. Writing in pencil, Levick used it for photos taken at Cape Adare in 1911, before he spent a harsh winter in an ice cave, according to the Antarctic Heritage Trust, which discovered the notebook and has now conserved it. ‘It’s an exciting find. The notebook is a missing part of the official expedition record,’ said the Trust’s executive director Nigel Watson. ‘After spending seven years conserving Scott’s last expedition building and…

When you look at a photograph, do you expect to be supplied with information about the equipment used to create it? Most photographic magazines supply details of the camera, lens, shutter speed, aperture and ISO settings, and possibly references to lighting and image-editing techniques. However, once you step into the world of the photo gallery, and the more self-consciously artistic photo magazine for that matter, photographs are almost always presented without these particulars. I guess the argument is that you’re supposed to be concentrating on the art of the picture and what it communicates rather than hardware. Often I would like to know more, though. I recently attended an exhibition called Don’t Stop Now: Fashion Photography Next at the Foam gallery in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and felt that thirst…

Technique ESSENTIAL FILTERS Jeremy Walker Jeremy Walker is an award-winning professional photographer with many years’ experience, specialising in high-quality landscape and location photography from around the world for use by advertising, design and corporate clients. A belief in ‘quality is everything’, a meticulous approach, and a far-reaching vision and style serve Jeremy and his clients well. www.jeremywalker.co.uk So it’s the 21st century and we are still putting pieces of plastic in front of cameras and lenses that cost millions of pounds to design and develop. Really? Surely it’s possible to do everything in-camera or in post-production and there’s absolutely no need for filters whatsoever? Yeah, right! There is a time and a place for modern electronic wizardry, either in-camera or in programs such as Photoshop, but I am a firm…

Neutral density (ND) filters are often easily confused with ND grads, but the difference is very simple. A neutral density graduated filter has a clear area that gradates into a darker tone in the upper portion of the filter and exposure is only affected where the dark tone is. A neutral density filter has the dark tone covering the entire filter and will affect the whole image. Graduated filters tend to be rectangular and neutral density filters are usually square, so if you can tell the difference between a square and an oblong, you will know what type of filter you have in your hand So why shoot with a neutral density filter? Neutral density filters are used to increase the length of exposure for creative or artistic effect, to…

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 The eye of the beholder As ever, I appreciated the insightful Final Analysis by Roger Hicks (AP 11 October), this time on ‘Polyphemus’ by Charlie Lemay. This led me to the thought that the title of a photograph can influence the opinion of the person seeing it, whether another photographer, a non-photographer or, perhaps more significantly, a judge. For instance, when this image is rotated three times through 90°, three different images are obtained that could be entitled ‘Rhinoceros’, ‘Mask’ or ‘Shark’. But what if each different image were left untitled or given a number? With some photographs, it is essential…

The biggest fear stopping photographers from moving into the video world is audio. If it weren’t scary enough to learn how to film on a DSLR, understanding audio is the last roadblock – it can often look quite daunting and trip people up. However, armed with the right knowledge, you will be recording audio like a pro in no time! The average DSLR has what I call a pin-sized speaker fixed into the front of the camera. While we get excited about having audio on-camera, I am going to explain why I do not use ‘on-camera audio’ for most of my productions. The audio on older DSLR models often means you do not have any way to monitor the sound levels while you’re recording. Why would you need this? Even…

Lomography Petzval Art lens ● £459 (Brass) ● shop.lomography.com Lomography and Zenit have combined to resurrect an 85mm art lens from 1840. Jon Devo tests out its unique properties At a glance ● Classically styled with brass metal construction based on 1840 lens design ● Canon EF and Nikon F mounts available, compatible with film and digital cameras ● Unique swirly bokeh effect Portrait The 85mm focal length, minimum focusing distance of 1m and swirling background effects make the lens ideal for taking portraits. CONSTRUCTED from brass and glass, the special properties of the Petzval Art lens enable photographers and filmmakers to capture images with a truly unique look. Subjects or focal points in the centre of the lens appear in focus, while the out-of-focus areas have a dreamlike, swirling…

Electronic and mechanical shutter The GM5 features both an electronic and a mechanical shutter, which allow a maximum shutter speed of 1/16,000sec. Micro four thirds mount Twenty-three Lumix G lenses are currently available, and there are also plenty of alternative micro four thirds-mount lenses from the likes of Olympus and Sigma. Highlight/shadow Inside the menus of the GM5 is a highlight/shadow option, which allows users to set a tone curve, thus lightening or darkening the shadows or highlights of an image. Battery The GM5 takes a Li-Ion battery with 680mAh power capacity. This is rated to 210 shots in CIPA testing, which is quite low. Focus peaking Focus peaking highlights the edges of areas that are in focus, allowing photographers to better achieve precise manual focusing.…

Superzoom bridge cameras tend to be overlooked by enthusiast photographers; with their SLR-like design but small-sensor image quality, they’re often seen as sheep in wolves’ clothing. But the Canon PowerShot SX60 HS has a few features that make it stand out from the crowd, most notably raw-format image recording. It also has a frankly staggering 65x zoom range, which is as notable for its 21mm-equivalent wideangle setting as it is for its 1,365mm-equivalent telephoto. At £449, though, it’s more expensive than many of its competitors, and not far off entry-level DSLRs. But, of course, there’s no practical way of coming close to matching its zoom range with interchangeable lenses. Clearly there are going to be compromises with the superzoom camera, but is it still worthy of attention as a serious…

● EXPERT ADVICE ● TIPS ● TRICKS ● HACKS ● Email your questions to: apanswers@timeinc.com, via Twitter @AP_Magazine and #AskAP, or Facebook. Or write to Technical Support, Amateur Photographer Magazine, Time Inc (UK), Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU Realistic skin tones Q I regularly cut out and keep pages from Martin Evening’s Evening Class feature in AP. I often sit down and go through four or five in a morning to try to brush up on my Photoshop skills. One of the tips was dodging and burning in Photoshop, which I have started using on my portrait images. However, I am having great trouble maintaining a realistic skin tone. Sometimes the skin tone appears very orange or grey when I lighten the shadow areas. I am…

What you will need ● Clean food tub ● Old mouse mat ● Scissors ● Aluminium foil THERE are any number of DIY light modifiers that you can make to use with a flashgun, and the vast majority aim to soften the harsh, direct light that a flashgun creates. Of all the modifiers that you can make, though, this softbox, made from a plastic takeaway container or an ice-cream tub, is one of the simplest. It can also be customised in a number of ways to make it suitable for your style of photography. If you want a nicer-looking finish, you can even paint the outside of the product black. Best of all, so long as you have a semiopaque container, you should have all the other items needed to…

Pentax 16-85mm lens Ricoh Imaging has unveiled the HD Pentax-DA 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6ED DC WR K-mount lens, which delivers the 35mm equivalent of a 24.5-130mm focal range. The ‘weather-resistant’ 16-elements-in-12-groups optic features one ED and three aspherical elements to help minimise distortion. A Quick-Shift Focus system allows the user to instantly switch to manual focus. The lens is due this month, priced £599.99. Jazzman dies aged 78 Jazz photographer David Redfern has died at the age of 78. Redfern, who was described by drummer Buddy Rich as ‘the greatest jazz photographer in the world’, had been battling pancreatic cancer. Redfern photographed stars such as Frank Sinatra and Jimi Hendrix, and founded picture library Redferns. Maier DVD If you missed Finding Vivian Maier in the cinema this summer, the DVD is due…

PHOTOGRAPHERS can expect to be quizzed by private security even if they take photographs while standing on public land, warns a shopping mall at the centre of a rights storm. The alert came after AP asked the Princes Quay shopping centre in Hull to elaborate on a statement it made in the wake of a controversial stop of a photographer last month, amid terrorism fears. Photo enthusiast Bob Riach was stopped by a private security guard outside Princes Quay shopping centre on 23 October. He had been taking night shots from a paved area outside the building – land the centre said it owned. Speaking shortly after he was stopped, Riach said the guard told him: ‘You are not allowed to take photographs of this building. We are on “security…

THE LED Light Cube – a portable, battery-powered device designed to provide photographers and videographers with an LED flash and constant light source – has been released in the UK for the first time. Announced last year, the £516 LED Light Cube features an adjustable flash speed and continuous high-speed flash at full power. Manufacturer IC12 claims the LED Light Cube can deliver more than 10,000 flashes, at 1/60sec duration (from a single battery charge) at full power. It can also be used as a video light. Visit www.LEDlightcube.co.uk. For the latest news visit www.amateurphotographer.co.uk…

Hackney Photographs 1985-1987 By Berris Conolly, Dewi Lewis, £30, hardback, 96 pages, ISBN 978-1-907893-56-8 HACKNEY is an area of London steeped in history. In fact, you can look back as far as Tudor times to trace its development. The region we see now, while not exactly a glowing cosmopolis, is seen by many as an up-and-coming and fashionable place to live and work. What’s fascinating about these images taken by Berris Conolly during two years in the second half of the 1980s is how the area has moved from decline into desirability and, recently, into the controversial realms of gentrification. Conolly only photographed the places that were familiar to him, utilising an ever-present and well-thumbed A-Z to help him on his way. In the end, Conolly amassed an archive of…

If I could only travel the world with one filter this would be it: a 2-stop, hard-edge neutral density graduated filter – or, as they are more commonly known, an ND grad. An ND grad is a filter that is clear in the lower half and fades or gradates into a darker tone nearer the top. The dark tone of the filter is neutral (or at least, it is in the better-quality filters) and should not affect the colour of the final image. The gradation can be varied so the fade from light to dark can be either very subtle or quite strong, known as a soft or hardedge grads respectively. The ND grad is used for controlling the exposure difference between foreground and sky, with the sky usually being…

1 Compose If you’re using a Big Stopper, set the white balance manually to 10,000K. Frame and compose your image, as well as taking a meter reading. At this point, focus your shot as well, making sure that autofocus is turned off afterwards. 2 Set exposure If you need a graduated filter to control the exposure between foreground and sky, insert the appropriate filter. Then work out the difference between your readings and an increase of 10 stops. For instance, 1/60sec becomes 16secs. There is a guide to exposures supplied and there are plenty of apps available. 3 Shoot You’re ready to shoot. Insert the Big Stopper in the slot nearest to the lens with the foam seal towards the holder. Cover the eyepiece to stop extraneous light entering the…

Photographs taken a century or more ago can make that period seem strange and remote to modern eyes. Photography’s technical limitations put restrictions on what could be recorded, and the resulting black & white or sepia prints, often taken using long exposures with people posed in a stiff and formal way, all help to distance us from the subjects. However, a collection of rediscovered photographs, dating from 1888-1924, brings that time vividly to life and makes it seem much more accessible. The pictures record America’s cities, landscapes and people in sharp detail. Uniquely, many of them are in colour, which gives them a freshness and immediacy that is lacking in faded black & white prints. A selection of these photographs has been published by Taschen in a new book, An…

What makes a true icon of photography? Perhaps there’s no one simple answer, but for some it can be the fact that their images become a part of public consciousness. While the name René Burri may not be a household one, produce a print of his famous Che Guevara portrait, or his striking image of four suited figures on top of a São Paulo skyscraper in Brazil, and you will immediately see just how familiar these images are, even to people with the most cursory knowledge of photographic history. Magnum photographer Burri, who lived between Zurich and Paris, died in mid-October after battling a long illness. He was aged 81. While the loss is a devastating blow to those who loved his work, it’s difficult not to feel comforted looking…

Tom Bihn Empire Builder Briefcase and Camera I-O ● $300 (around £187) ● www.tombihn.com SEATTLE-based Tom Bihn has been making high-quality bags since 1972, using a mix of heavyweight and superstrong fabrics such as denier ballistic nylon and Japanese Dyneema nylon, along with water-repellent zippers. The Empire Builder Briefcase ($190/around £118) is a perfect carrier for photographers who work on the go. This bag is multifunctional and durable, and is designed to be used with a number of optional straps and compartments, including the Camera I-O ($110/around £69). This is an insert that will hold a standard DSLR without battery grip attached or a compact system camera, as well as two to three lenses. When carrying only my laptop, I found that the Vertical Brain Cell insert ($65/around £40), also…

THE GM5 gives very acceptable results from its four thirds sensor. It records detail levels that are commensurate with its 16-millionpixel sensor, which should be plenty for prints up to A3+ (12 x 16in) size. Its shutter always uses an electronic first curtain, which effectively eliminates any possibility of detail loss from shutter-induced vibrations. Dynamic range is very respectable at low ISOs, and Panasonic’s iDynamic mode can help exploit this to the full, by pulling up shadow detail in JPEG processing without sacrificing the highlights. But dynamic range drops substantially above ISO 1600, reflecting a lack of ability to distinguish shadow detail from noise at higher settings. Noise is kept well under control at sensitivities up to ISO 800, after which it starts to increase visibly. ISO 1600 should still…

Resolution At ISO 100, the SX60 delivers around 2400l/ph, which is quite low, given its 16.1-million-pixel sensor, and a direct consequence of its small imaging area. Resolution falls quickly as the sensitivity is increased, to around 2000l/ph at ISO 400, and as low as 1600l/ph at ISO 3200. This is well short of larger sensors with similar pixel counts. Dynamic range Base ISO dynamic range is a perfectly reasonable 11.2EV, but in practice you need to keep an eye on the exposure to avoid blowing highlights irretrievably. The small sensor quickly starts to struggle as the sensitivity is increased, and while 9.5EV at ISO 400 is still quite usable, the low dynamic range values at higher settings indicate distinctly limited shadow detail. Noise In terms of noise performance, the SX60…

Ian Burley looks at a compact, lightweight DSLR from 2009 LAUNCHED February 2009 PRICE AT LAUNCH £650 GUIDE PRICE TODAY £195 THE OLYMPUS E-620 is perhaps the camera that best personified the goals of the four thirds system before micro four thirds arrived. It was a compact and lightweight DSLR with an effective sensor-shift image stabilisation system and live view that was a big step up from its Olympus E-system predecessors. What’s good Weighing under 700g with its 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Zuiko Digital kit lens, the E-620 is compact and lightweight, despite having a side-hinged swing-out LCD display. The sensor-shift image-stabilisation system works well. An optional battery grip can be fitted and some controls are backlit for use in dark conditions. Colour rendition is notably good. What’s bad At a time…

1 Create a hole for the flashgun Take the empty takeaway container or ice-cream tub and find the centre. You do this by drawing two lines from opposite diagonal corners. Place your flashgun in the centre of the tub and draw around the face of the flash. Cut out an area that is the same shape, but slightly larger than the one that has just been marked. 2 Cut a foam strip To help hold the softbox in place, cut a strip of foam, from a mouse mat or similar, that is about 2cm wide and the circumference of the hole that has been cut. When you put the flashgun head in the hole, the foam should hold the softbox in position. 3 Test it out Now simply put the…