Innholdsfortegnelse for 24-may-2014 i Amateur Photographer

I HAD THE pleasure of attending the Sony World Photography Awards evening recently, where the winners of the Professional Competition were announced. Sony and the WPO must be applauded for investing so much in trying to make this the Oscars of photography. Hosting it at the Park Lane Hilton in London, flying the winners from all over the world to attend, taking over Somerset House for the exhibition – it’s a symbol that photography is worth taking seriously, and the fact that139,000 people entered this year shows that the WPO’s efforts are paying off. The Sony Awards are a ray of light in a world where photography is being devalued by its sheer ubiquity, the ease with which pictures can be created (and deleted) at the prod of a virtual…

A CAMPAIGN to bring out a new, 4x5in, peel-apart black & white positive-negative film, New55, has raised the $400,000 needed to get it off the ground. The plans follow the disappearance of Polaroid’s Type 55 film more than five years ago. Organisers of the US-led project say they have raised $415,025, via a Kickstarter campaign that won support from almost 2,500 backers. Among the photographers who called on others to back the project was Mark Mann, who said: ‘I’ma supporter of New55 because old 55 was my favourite. The opportunity to bring it back is too good to pass up. Don’t let this opportunity slip away.’ News of the campaign to raise cash was shared more than17,000 times on Facebook. Shipment of New55 is planned for early next year. OLYMPUS…

Memory City Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb. Thames & Hudson, £39.95, hardback, 172pages, ISBN978-0-500-54432-7 ARE THESE the last days of film? Alex and Rebecca Norris Webb consider this question in Memory City - an exploration of Rochester, NY, shot (mostly) on film. Every choice made for the book seems elegiac: the decision to photograph Rochester, home of Eastman Kodak until its bankruptcy in 2012; Alex’s use of his ‘last rolls’ of Kodachrome, which can now only be processed in black & white; Rebecca’s shots of ownerless formal dresses, and her seemingly endless supply of melancholy young women; and even the title. Whatever your opinions – and the debate has long been obfuscated by people who confuse film’s genuine merits with poorly defined notions of ‘pure’ or ‘proper’ photography –…

IT CAME as a real shock that something so familiar, so ingrained in our daily lives, could disappear so quickly. I’d noticed that the street lights were being worked on across the town, but I didn’t realise until I went for a latenight walk the extent of the changes that were happening. The old sodium vapour lamps with their friendly yellow glow are suddenly an endangered species – rapidly being thrown into the skip of history to make way for shiny new LED panels. You can understand the reasoning: sodium lamps are old technology and hugely inefficient. They have cast their soft, almost monochromatic light across the UK for generations, but nowyou getmuchmore light perwatt of energy from light-emitting diodes and other new technologies. OK, they will save the local…

AP publishesmore reader photographs than any other photography magazine Kathryn Younger Bath When Kathryn started her school’s photography club with a friend in 2009, she soon found shewanted to learnmore. ‘Interesting faces intrigue me a lot,’ she says. ‘I also love shadows, reflections and golden light.’ Kathryn plans to pick up a few more photographic techniques at university while continuing to explore photography in her ownway. To seemore of her images, visit www.kathrynyounger.co.uk. On the Borders 1 The strong silhouettes work beautifully in this storybook image. It’s so simple, with just two real colours, but so effective Canon EOS 500D, 18-200mm, 1/200sec at f/9, ISO 100, polariser Filipino fishermen 2 The cool colours of this scene accentuate its tranquillity, as does the sparse composition filled with empty, lapping sea Canon…

Shelter from the storm Tristan Morphew CanonEOS7D, 17-55mm, 1/60sec at f/2.8, ISO1250 NIGHT photography is difficult enough, but working in an area where there are numerous street lights and illuminated shop windows ventures into areas in which camera metering systems are not designed to go. And when that is complicated further by reflections on a rainy pavement, getting a good exposure can become very tricky. In a scene such as this, which Tristan has chosen to photograph, we have to determine what the subject is and how we want to show it, before guessing how the camera will interpret what we are pointing it at. With all those bright lights and reflections, Tristan’s Canon EOS 7D has decided that this is a bright scene that needs a short exposure –…

BY OFFERING superior video performance in the compact system camera sector, Panasonic has attracted a lot of admirers among hybrid photographers and filmmakers with its GH-series cameras. The addition of ultra-high-definition (UHD) 4K video recording will only bolster Panasonic’s position in this class. Inside the LumixDMC-GH4, Panasonic has included technology and features from its professional video camera division, such as focusing peaking, master pedestal adjustment, zebra patterning and a raft of bit rate, resolution and codec options, including cinema-grade 4K video (4096x2160 pixels) at 24p with a bit rate of 100Mbps. It’s also capable of recording1080p full HD video with a maximumbit rate of 200Mbps, which is a big step up from the GH3’s 73Mbps and significantly more impressive than the Canon EOS 5D Mark III’s 91Mbps. The higher bit…

DAM DAM, or Digital Asset Management, is a relatively recent addition to the photographer’s lexicon, and one driven by the computer industry’s love of acronyms. Essentially, DAM software is any program, or part of a program, that enables you to organise your digital images, as opposed to editing them. This is where you would add keywords and captions, give images star ratings (or some other rating system), create albums, possibly batch rename them and perform other ‘housekeeping’ tasks. Although dedicated DAM programs are available, many image-editing programs (including Photoshop Elements and Lightroom) also incorporate management tools. METADATA Whenever you take a photograph with a digital camera, a lot of additional information is recorded alongside the 0s and1s that make up the image. All this extra info falls under the heading…

NIKON’S advanced offering from its system camera range hasn’t really hit the mark. The V1didn’t offer the level of control expected of an enthusiast camera, and while the V2 addressed some of these issues, it was far from perfect. The question is, then, is it third time lucky for Nikon with the V3? FEATURES Nikon’s1systemis based around a1in (13.2x8.8mm) sensor, with the V3 featuring a new chip with a18.4-million-pixel resolution. The V3’s sensor does away with an optical-low pass filter for greater resolving power, and while moiré patterning is a concern with this absent, we’ve seen in the past that Nikon has some clever processing algorithms to combat this. The ISO range has been improved as well, with an effective range from160-12,800, while the V3 also utilises Nikon’s Expeed 4A…

“The NX3000 blends retro design, excellent performance and easy connectivity” • Online store wins patent • Should UK photographers worry? OUTCRYOVERAMAZON’S STUDIO LIGHTINGPATENT PHOTOGRAPHERS have reacted with disbelief to news that online retailer Amazon has won a controversial patent for various studio lighting set-ups. The patent, granted on18 March, relates to ‘various embodiments of a studio arrangement’ and a ‘method of capturing images and/or video’. The claims each concern a ‘background comprising a white cyclorama’, image capture position and the placement of light sources. One details the use of an 85mm lens and an image captured using an aperture of around f/5.6. SHOULDWE BE FEARFUL? As the patent has been filed in the US, it is principally directed to those in the US, says patent attorney Peter Thorniley of London-based…

THE SEARCH is on to find the Take a View Landscape Photographer of the Year 2014. Photographers have until11July to enter the contest for the chance of bagging the £10,000 top prize. The UK-wide competition climaxes in November with an exhibition in London of the best photos. Organisers say the weather is again forecast to shape this year’s entries, having rarely been out of the news. ‘Stormy coastal scenes are expected, but the warm and gentle start to spring has provided opportunities for photographers and visitors alike,’ said a competition spokesperson. ‘With categories for urban and conceptual landscapes, as well as for more classical views, this year’s competition has plenty to fire your imagination.’ For details, visit www.take-a-view.co.uk. CANON MAKES 100 MILLIONTH LENS CANON has rolled out its100 millionth EF-series…

● THEWAYWEWERE by Julian Wasser, £39 The cavalcade of famous faces and important moments that unfolds throughout this book does make you wonder why we don’t see more books from Julian Wasser. Marilyn Monroe, Robert F Kennedy (taken five minutes prior to his assassination), Marlon Brando, Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Luther King, the Beatles – the Los Angeles scene of the mid to late 20th century, equal parts glitter and debauchery, is laid out through the pages. It’s impressively candid, and offers tantalising glimpses of well-known stars in contexts you’ve never seen before. ● OLYMPIC FAVELA by Marc Ohrem-Leclef, £30 As a part of its effort to reshape the city for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, Rio de Janeiro’s housing authority has been systematically evicting people from…

I HAVEalways been fascinated with nature and started out shooting wildlife. I wanted to capture something that represented the environment that the wildlife existed in, rather than just another record shot of a bird or animal, so I never tended to carry a massive telephoto lens with me. Instead, I tried to get something of the wildlife’s surroundings in the shot to tell me a story and in the end the photograph became more about the interaction that was taking place. Eventually, though, I got tired of waiting around for hours for elusive wildlife that sometimes didn’t turn up at all. It was miserable, really – I don’t know how some of those wildlife photographers do it. Inevitably, because there was no wildlife to shoot, I started to take shots…

A PASSION for exotic wildlife often begins at an early age, and, for 30-year-old Will Burrard-Lucas, it began earlier than most. ‘When I was very young, my family lived in Tanzania in East Africa formore than three years,’ he says. ‘My earliest memories come from the times I was out on safari.’ When he took up photography in his late teens, while studying physics at university, Will mainly shot wildlife while travelling abroad. Likemost people, he often photographed from a four-wheeldrive vehicle using long lenses. However, even during these early stages, Will was interested in the more unusual approach of photographing animals from close range using wideangle lenses. ‘I started using this approach when shooting animals such as penguins, which I could crawl up close to with my camera,’ he…

Power banks Callum McInerney-Riley reviews six of the best power banks to suit a variety of budgets Solar Technology Freeloader iSIS £64.99 www.solartechnology.co.uk By the time you read this, the Freeloader iSIS by Solar Technology will have been released. Although it has a modest 4,000mAh battery capacity, it triumphs in terms of features. Like the other power banks on test here, the battery can be replenished using a Micro-USB charger, but it can also be recharged using its own in-built highdensity solar cell so it’s great for travelling photographers. Along the side of the iSIS are two connector arms that tuck away into the metal body. One is a Micro-USB cable and the other is an Apple Lightning connector. In addition, users can also charge a second device from the…

RRP £1,299 (body only), £1,749with 14-140mmf/3.5-5.6 lens Sensor 16.05-million-effective-pixel X-Trans APS-C CMOS Output size 4608 x 3456 pixels LensMount Micro four thirdsmount File format JPEG, RAF (raw), MOV Compression 2-stage JPEG Colour space Adobe RGB, sRGB Shutter type Focal-plane shutter Shutter speeds 1/8000-60secs, plus bulb (max 60mins) ISO 100 (extended) / 200-25,600 (native) Exposuremodes Program, aperture priority, shutter priority,manual Metering system 1,728-zone multi-pattern sensing system, spot, centre Exposure comp 1/3 EV step±5EV (±3EV duringmotionpicture) White balance Auto, 5 presets, 4 custom,manual,WBshift White balance bracket 3 exposures in blue/amber axis or inmagenta/green axis Drivemode 12fps continuous burst (AF-S), 7.5fpswithAF-C Monitor 3in, 1,036,000-dot articulated OLED Viewfinder type OLEDelectronic viewfinder (EVF) with 2.359-million-dot resolution Field of view 100%through EVF Dioptre adjustment Yes -4mto +4m Focusing modes Single, continuous, flexible,manual AF points 49-point system(contrast-detection-based)…

ON TEST CANON POWERSHOTG1XII Canon’s next generation premium compact boasts a number of improvements over its predecessor, including a faster lens and processor APOY In association with OLYMPUS OM-D ROUND 2 RESULTS We reveal the top 30 entries from the Animal Planet round of APOY 2014 ON TEST SAMSUNG NX MINI Meet the world’s smallest and lightest interchangeable-lens camera, with 20.5 million pixels IR IMAGERY INFRARED LANDSCAPES We explain how to use infrared photography to create amazing landscapes DOCUMENTARY STREET LIFE Rupert Vandervell discusses his atmospheric take on street photography…

THANKS to the internet, we can all be entrepreneurs now. We can all ‘compete’ in the ‘global economy’. ‘Aspiration’ should be the watchword of us all. Well, no. This is complete rubbish. We are breeding a nation in which we are encouraged to be jacks of all trades, and masters of none. There is no need to be an entrepreneur in order to do a good, useful, well-paying job. A photographer, for example, is first and foremost a photographer. Yes, he (or she) needs to sell his (or her) skills, but this is not the same as being an entrepreneur. Nor is it the same as maintaining a processing laboratory – and if you don’t think that a computer running Adobe Photoshop or the like is a processing lab, I…

Thisweek in 1905, AP reported the launch of the No 3 folding Kodak ‘Brownie’, a camera accepting quarter-plate negatives. The news came five years after Kodak released the original Brownie which, priced $1, put photographywithin reach of the masses. Filmsold for 15 cents a roll on its release in 1900. The No 3 version had a hinged back, allowing the user to load a filmspool, the bellows drawing forward to lock automatically at a given focal length. The Everset shutter allowed for time, bulb or ‘instantaneous’ exposure. The lens had an f/1.28 aperture. ‘It also has a reversible viewfinder, and is excellently finished in every respect. The price of this attractivelooking little instrument is £1 17s 6d.’…

THE WINNERS of a photography competition urging people to explore the Northumberland countryside have been revealed. Martin Ellis, 52, from Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, won the event, which was organised by wildlife photographer Cain Scrimgeour and The Sill, a joint partnership between Northumberland National Park Authority and the YHA. Martin won a one-to-one photography workshop with Cain as his prize. He said about his image (above): ‘Seeing Batailshiel Haugh and Usway Burn bathed in the late evening sun was something special.’ Philip Whittaker took second place, with Anita Nicholson taking third with ‘Little Tree on Hadrian’s Wall’ (below). OLYMPUS CAMERA SALES DISAPPOINT OLYMPUS narrowed the operating loss at its imaging division, but sales of interchangeable-lens cameras failed to meet target levels over the past year. Olympus recorded an imaging loss…

LETTER OF THE WEEK Wins a great shockproof, waterproof and dustproof 5-Proo Technology 16GB Samsung SDHC Plus memory card offering up to 48MB/sec transfer speed. www.samsung.com/memorycard JOIN THE BAND OF BLIPPERS I felt moved to respond to Barbara Elliot’s letter (The power of photography, AP 3 May), a letter that is brave but so very true. I think we are all aware how a dog can help you make friends–my spinster sister-in-law had her dog when she was in her 60s and it has utterly transformed her life – but we are all surprised to learn how easily photography can help us make friends. Might I suggest Barbara looks at the site Blipfoto (www.blipfoto.com)? Many readers will know about it, but here Barbara could become Blip-friends with people all over…

BACK in AP19 April, we took a look at the category winners in the Open Competition of the Sony World Photography Awards, which celebrated amateur photographers from around the world. However, that is just one side of the competition. Here we delve into the professional side of the event and see what’s on offer in categories such as current affairs, conceptual and portraiture (the winner of that one may take you by surprise). The winners of theOpen and Professional Competitions will be featured in a book showcasing the best images from this year’s competition and features comments from all of this year’s judges (see page 23 for details). STILL LIFE Amanda Harman UK Taken around the glasshouses, potting sheds and scullery of a country house, Amanda’s images reveal the quiet…

Philip Jones Griffiths 1936-2008 Philip Jones Griffiths’ powerfulworkwas inspired by his belief that photography could be a force for good in the world, writes David Clark WHEN Philip Jones Griffiths went to cover the VietnamWar in1966, he formed a link with the country that lasted for the rest of his life. His war work, fired by his personal opposition to the conflict, was followed by his extensive photographic exploration of its consequences. Documenting Vietnam in war and peace became the most important work of his distinguished career. Although Griffiths became best known as an anti-war photographer, his career encompassed a wide range of assignments, both in the UK and internationally. Throughout his career he showed bravery and determination to get to the heart of a subject, an instinctive eye for…

Jon Devo Technical writer THE PANASONIC Lumix DMC-GH3, the predecessor of the Lumix DMC-GH4, was a popularmicro four thirds camera among videographers and bloggers in particular, thanks to its class-leading video-recording capabilities; it was even the camera of choice for AP’s own videographer for some time. However, the GH3’s photographic credentials, while good, didn’t quite match the impressive standard of its video capabilities. The GH4 has addressed this but faces some very stiff competition in the form of the Sony Alpha 6000, Olympus’sOM-D E-M1and the FujifilmX-T1. All are very good compact system cameras with strong feature sets that give DSLRs with larger sensors a fair run for theirmoney. Although it carries the same resolution as the camera it replaces, Panasonic has completely revisited its16.05-million-pixel LiveMOS sensor for the GH4, as…

USING FLASH WITH EVF QI have an Olympus Pen E-P2, but the problem is that I use a lot of flash formacro photography and have to remove the E-P2’s high-definition VF-2 electronic viewfinder to use the hotshoe.What I want to know is whether, electronically, the VF-2 and hotshoe flash could be used at the same time? The VF-2 does not make use of the flash contacts on the hotshoe, but it does block them, so I must rely on the highly reflective rear screen, which is unsuitable for critical focusing for macro work. The VF-2 works off a USB-type socket, so if the VF-2 could be connected by a suitable extension lead (to be specified) and the eyecup was glued to a spare pair of spectacles, for example, could hotshoe…

Join us at Pinewood Studios, the home of British film, for a one-day DSLR video tuition seminar with leading filmmaker Victoria Grech, in association with Tiffen. The session is essential for amateur photographers wanting to learn the basics of film-making with a DSLR or compact system camera, and will cover everything you need to know to get more out of that red button on your camera. We will provide you with the technical and practical skills needed to start shooting high-quality video including: O Setting up your camera for optimum results O Essential shooting skills O The importance of good audio O Understanding the jargon O Putting your newskills into practicewith a live shoot In addition, you’ll get the chance to try a Steadicam, sample video accessories and see the…