Innholdsfortegnelse for 08-mar-2014 i Amateur Photographer

I WAS stopped in my tracks when I fi rst saw this week’s Photo Insight image (pages 18-19), depicting a disabled rock climber. As a reminder to stop whinging about the small things in life that bother me, this image is diffi cult to better. But it was a comment by the photographer, Tim Clayton, that forced me to refl ect upon my own photography and, I suspect, that of most amateurs. He lamented at how most sports photographers are only interested in the single image, rather than in producing essays that tell stories. Refl ecting on my own work, and the submissions that come into AP, I realise that most images are snatched moments, captured like butterfl ies in a net. Sure, there are themes that run through our…

SONY used the recent CP+ show in Japan to reveal two new ‘DSLR-style’ bridge cameras with long zooms. The Cyber-shot DSC-HX400V (pictured above) carries a 50x (24-1200mm) zoom, a 20.4-million-pixel imaging sensor and Bionz X processor. The lens is a 24-1200mm (35mm equivalent) Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* model. Features on the HX400V include a 3in (921,000-dot) LCD screen, 201,000-dot EVF and built-in Wi-Fi and GPS. Technology borrowed from the Alpha 7 includes detail-reproduction technology and area-specifi c noise reduction. The Cyber-shot DSC-HX400V is due out this month, priced ￡400. Also new is the 20.1-million-pixel Cyber-shot DSC-H400, which sports a 63x optical zoom. The lens on the ￡200 H400 is designed to deliver the 35mm viewing-angle equivalent of a 24.5-1550mm zoom. ● Enthusiasts are being given the chance to shoot views from…

WITH many camera makers forced to cut lower-end compacts as smartphones take over, Nikon has done just the opposite. Nikon launched no fewer than nine new Coolpix cameras into the smartphone/compact fray at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January. These included a budget-end ￡69.99 model called the Coolpix L29 (above in black). Last month it rolled out a further seven, including the ￡249.99 Coolpix S9600 (above in red). The move comes as smartphone-scarred camera brands, including Fujifi lm and Olympus, pare back their compact ranges, focusing instead on higher-end models and interchangeable-lens cameras. Hidehiko Tanaka, managing director of Nikon UK, said he still sees a demand for a full range of compacts as the smartphone boom triggers an interest among consumers in taking better photos using a dedicated camera.…

SINCE it was launched three years ago, the Canon EOS 1100D has become a popular DSLR with enthusiast photographers. Its success is mainly due to the combination of a competitive price and a specifi cation that is suitable for fi rst-time DSLR users. It’s hard to believe that Canon hasn’t replaced the EOS 1100D sooner, given the relatively fast turnaround of new models in other sectors of the EOS series, but now we have a replacement in the form of the EOS 1200D. The entry-level arena has already seen a number of new launches this year. Nikon was the fi rst to kick off proceedings with the launch of the D3300 at CES in January. Now, with the launch of the Canon EOS 1200D, those who are looking to advance…

LETTER OF THE WEEK Wins a great shockproof, waterproof and dustproof 5-Proof Technology 16GB Samsung SDHC Plus memory card offering up to 48MB/sec transfer speed. www.samsung.com/memorycard ONCE BITTEN, TWICE SHY In his editorial in AP 1 February, Group Editor Nigel Atherton pointed out the absurd need to have to sharpen digital images. The low-pass fi lter reduces the chances of moire pattern interference (or does it?), hence its effect on image sharpness and the need to sharpen in photo-editing software. Yet when I bought my fi rst digital compact camera, I just couldn’t grasp the idea of an image requiring sharpening at all. This was down to years of using pin-sharp Fujichrome Velvia slide fi lm and enjoying the sheer convenience of creating a fi nished image in-camera rather than…

Newmarket, the home of horse racing, is the ideal setting for our late-winter sports Masterclass, as Mark Pain shows six readers how to get stunning shots of these beautiful animals as they train on the gallops. Phil Hall reports WITH a history dating back many centuries, horse racing is the second largest spectator sport in Britain after football. Associated with royalty and famous races such as Royal Ascot and the Cheltenham Festival, it conjures up images of warm summer days, champagne, top hats and outrageous dresses. Behind all that glamour, and often overlooked, is the year-round training that these thoroughbreds receive, and there’s no better place to witness this than at the ‘headquarters’ of horse racing, Newmarket in Suffolk. Home of the Jockey Club and the largest racehorse training centre…

JOEL says this image was shot as part of a story about his home state of Nebraska. ‘I was trying to find something interesting for the story and this image made the cut,’ he says. ‘All is not what it seems here, as this is actually taken at a sporting goods store in a mall in Sidney, Nebraska. They have this huge artificial mountain with a bunch of stuffed taxidermy sheep on it, with the whole thing is lit by this large skylight over the top of the mountain, which is out of frame. ‘I had seen that mountain many times when I was shopping in this mall, so I called the manager and said, ‘What kind of maintenance do you do? Do you dust the sheep?’ He said yes,…

CHARLIE Waite has launched a new international photography competition that puts the spotlight on talented photographers from all over the world, celebrates the rural and urban landscape of the USA, and rewards photographic talent with a significant prize fund. USA Landscape Photographer of the Year offers more than $10,000-worth of prizes, including $5,000 cash to the USA Landscape Photographer of the Year overall winner, $1,000 cash to the Young (under 21) USA Landscape Photographer of the Year winner and cash prizes of $500 to the four category winners. Entries are open to photographers from anywhere in the world with images made in the USA during the past five years. Entries close on 17 April, 2014. The panel of judges includes Art Wolfe, David Muench, Christopher Burkett, Jim Patterson, Tim Fitzharris,…

In the next few weeks AP hopes to run the following equipment through the most rigorous testing procedures in the industry… Nikon D4S We take a fi rst look at Nikon’s new FX-format fl agship, with faster performance and enhanced autofocus. AP 15 March Fujifi lm X-T1 Marking an entirely new line of Fujifi lm’s X series, we test the 16.3-millionpixel, retrostyled X-T1. AP 15 March Olympus OM-D E-M10 More affordable than its two E-M siblings, we test the latest four thirds model from Olympus. AP 22 March Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 We fi nd out whether the TZ60 with 30x optical zoom is one of the best travel compact cameras on the market today. AP 22 March TESTBENCH: SIX OF THE BEST Six of the best hard cases that are…

RRP ￡499.99 body only or ￡599.99 with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II lens Sensor 24.2-million-effective-pixel CMOS sensor Output size 6000 x 4000 pixels Focal length mag 1.5x Lens mount Nikon F mount (with AF contacts) File format NEF (raw), JPEG, raw + JPEG simultaneously Compression 3-stage JPEG Colour space Adobe RGB, sRGB Shutter type Electronically controlled vertical-travel focal-plane shutter Shutter speeds 30-1/4000sec in 1⁄3EV steps plus bulb Max flash sync 1/200sec ISO ISO 100-12,800 (expandable to 25,600) Exposure modes Auto, program, aperture priority, shutter priority, manual, 6 scene modes, 13 special effects mode. Metering system 3D Color Matrix metering (evaluative), centreweighted (75% in centre of frame) and spot (2.5% on focus point) Exposure comp }5EV in 1⁄3EV steps White balance Auto, 6 presets (with fine-tuning), plus custom setting White balance bracket…

Error messages on a computer can be alarming, especially when there isn’t a ‘plain English’ explanation of what’s happened and why it might have occurred. A runtime error, as encountered by Gerald with Photoshop Elements (below), is a case in point. In this instance, ‘runtime’ tells you that the error was caused while a program was running (hence the name) rather than when it was loading, for example. It is effectively your computer telling you that it was trying to do something in a program, but encountered a problem that it couldn’t fix. Unfortunately, what it doesn’t necessarily tell you is the cause of the runtime error, which could be software or hardware-related. Some programs attach numeric runtime error codes to help identify the cause of the problem, but many…

ENHANCED autofocus, faster performance, plus better-quality still images and video are among the billed improvements on Nikon’s soonto-be-launched D4S DSLR. “It may be an idea [for chefs] to embrace it rather than being hostile...” Replacing the two-yearold D4, Nikon’s new fl agship professional model is due to go on sale on 6 March, priced ￡5,199.99 (body only). Boasting ‘a formidable fusion of speed and accuracy’, the D4S will carry a new 16.2-million-pixel imaging sensor and an Expeed 4 processor designed to deliver a 30% faster processing time. Nikon claims: ‘A true master of the dark as well as of the light, sophisticated localised noise reduction, edge sharpening and tone control ensure the D4S delivers outstanding results in the kind of “dirty” low-light conditions many sports and news photographers are confronted…

MAIDENHEAD CAMERA CLUB The Berkshire club is due to host a talk by wildlife photographer Paul Goldstein on 25 March at Norden Farm Centre for the Arts. Tickets cost £10, payable by credit card by calling 01628 788 997. Visit www.nordenfarm.org. SAMSUNG ANNOUNCES GETTY TIE-UP GETTY Images has struck a deal with Samsung that is designed to enable consumers to contribute to the famed picture library with photos shot using NXsystem cameras. As part of a pledge to create ‘bespoke content’, Getty has announced the Samsung Collection on gettyimages.com. The move will ‘drive forward connected photography for the benefi t of our customers’, said Getty. In a statement, the fi rm added: ‘The Samsung Collection is a selection of premium editorial content shot by Getty Images’ top photographers using the…

On sale Tuesday 11 March HANDS-ON NIKON D4S We take a fi rst look at Nikon’s new FX-format fl agship, with faster performance and enhanced autofocus FINE-ART PHOTOGRAPHY STYLE COUNSEL We talk to Richard Tuschman about his intricately crafted images inspired by the painter Edward Hopper PHOTO JOURNALISM HIGH CALIBRE Pete Muller on why he embarked on his photo essay that addresses gun ownership in the US CLASSICS TO USE LEICA ELMARIT-M 24MM F/2.8 ASPH Ian Burley fi nds out how this 20-year-old Leica M lens performs on modern-day digital cameras…

What is a Photograph? By Carol Squiers. Prestel, £35, hardback, 256 pages, ISBN 978-3-791-35351-7 WHAT is a photograph? That’s a good question. Given that the term can encompass something that has been produced in a cardboard box with a hole in it and a sequence of binary code that can be seen around the world without corporeally existing, even the most stubborn need admit that perhaps there’s a little fl uidity in the defi nition. Carol Squiers has assembled a formidable collection of artists who challenge and twist conventional notions of what a photograph is. Marco Breuer burns gelatin silver paper to create haunting abstracts. Floris Neususs produces inverted photograms that seem to belong in ghost stories. Mario Pascual melds large chromogenic prints with real-world objects. Some prints are smeared…

THE YEAR’S first big show in the USA brought the usual flurry of new camera launches to bedazzle eager fans. If you put aside glitz and glamour, many photographers might well ask how far camera makers can convince us about their ‘new developments’, when in reality some raise doubts from the start. It is a fair point that buying trends are changing, partly because of the increasing acceptance of a new generation of smaller cameras, such as CSCs, and partly because, based on evidence published in AP’s letters pages, many DSLRs are now seen as weighty choices and too bulky for everyday comfort. Technical advances always attract headlines, and brands like Sony have challenged thinking by creating breakthrough models. They are offering significant innovation to give tempted buyers something to…

Philippa Cole I’m an aspiring equestrian photographer,’ says Philippa. ‘I started taking photos of ponies for the Sports Pony Studbook Society and since then have travelled and had a number of my images published in magazines such as Horse & Hound.’ Michael Lawrence ‘I got my fi rst digital camera, a Nikon D50, back in 2006, but now shoot with a Nikon D3200,’ says Michael. ‘I’ve always wanted to improve my photography, which is why I have started going on courses like this one.’ John Robinson John enrolled on a Nikon course to try to increase the range of subjects he was photographing, and Newmarket is his third course after getting hooked. ‘Each has been an incredible learning experience,’ he says. Steve Wall Steve says he wants people to look…

Martin Vincent Gloucestershire Martin, 63, has been a keen photography enthusiast since the 1970s and has collected cameras from large-format models to the latest compact system cameras. His favourite photographic subject is landscape. ‘I love the ability to capture the light and create an image that was of the moment,’ he says. To see more of Martin’s photography, visit his website at www2.clikpic.com/martinatdreyhouse. Standing stones: night 1 Martin used a torch to light the stones during the exposure Nikon D800E, 14-24mm, 30secs at f/4, ISO 6400, tripod, cable release, torch Turner’s View 2 Martin was attempting to capture the feel of Turner’s painting of Dunstanburgh Castle in Northumberland Nikon D800E, 24-70mm, 1/5sec at f/16, ISO 100, polariser, ND fi lter, tripod, cable release Holy Island and boat 3 Martin has…

Granddaughter Adrian Johnson Fujifi lm X20, 41mm, 1/45sec at f/2.2, ISO 3200 TAKING ‘natural’ photographs of young children is rarely easy, so I have to take my hat off to Adrian for capturing this lovely naturallooking candid portrait. Everything about it is ‘right’. The exposure is perfectly set for the girl’s face, and camera shake has been ably avoided. An aperture of f/2.2 and a shutter speed of 1/45sec suggest Adrian was working at the limit in terms of getting a sharp result while handholding his camera, so I’ll certainly excuse the slightly noisy result delivered by the high ISO setting. Yes, it limits the maximum print size, but it’s far better to have a sharp and noisy image than one that is noise-free yet blurred beyond recognition. Where the…

IT CAN be hard for enthusiast photographers to get excited about entrylevel DSLRs. With slower shooting rates and smaller arrays of AF points, these cameras are often perceived as rather anaemic compared to their ‘gutsier’, more advanced counterparts. As a consequence, they tend to be disregarded as serious tools. But that’s a shame: let’s not forget that the technology we now fi nd in entry-level cameras was, just a few years ago, the preserve of the professional DSLR. One example of this is the four-year-old Nikon D3S. On its release, professionals fawned over its 24.5-million-pixel sensor, yet sensors of this resolution are now commonplace, even in entry-level models. The latest Nikon D3300 is one such camera. Although the D3300 may appear to house the same 24.2-million-pixel sensor as its predecessor,…

DATAFILE RRP ￡399 Power output 1,160 lumens Size 52.07cm Weight 580g Battery life 60mins at full power Battery charge time 2.5 hours Colour temperature 5200~5400K Flicker-free Yes IN RECENT years, the popularity of continuous lighting has soared due to the increasing availability of video recording on photographic cameras, as well as advances in LED and battery technology. For instance, far less power is now consumed in relation to the amount of light emitted than has been possible in the past, and better batteries allow longer use times. While most companies are now producing high-powered LED panels, Westcott has brought us something a bit different – the Ice Light. The brainchild of world-renowned wedding and beauty photographer Jerry Ghionis, this is a rechargeable continuous LED light source that can be used…

IN MY last article (AP 8 February), I discussed what a raw fi le is and the process of its development, or ‘raw conversion’. I also looked at whether processing from a raw fi le is any better than using in-camera JPEG processing. The answer to this is: ‘It is if you want to produce a different result from that produced by the camera’s processor.’ This second article looks at the different results that can be achieved from raw, and how to attain those differences. It will discuss the various steps and methods that can be used when processing raw fi les, the fi rst one being how to manage exposure. EXPOSING FOR RAW The objectives of exposure management are different if your intended end result is a raw fi…

The ‘cheapest refl ex camera on the market’, a rollfi lm model call the ‘Chic’, made its way onto AP’s news pages of the day. ‘The desire for really small and, at the same time, quite effi cient, but inexpensive, refl ex cameras has frequently been expressed, and in the “Chic” refl ex camera for rollfi lms the minimum in size certainly appears to have been attained…’ reported AP. Described as a ‘dainty little camera’, it accepted any standard fi lm for 2¼x2¾in frames. When closed, the camera measured 4¾x4½x3¼in. AP added: ‘Its weight with an R R lens is 16oz, and it is the only camera of its kind that permits rollfi lms being used and selfcontained in the body of the camera, which can thus be loaded for…

CHEFS should ‘embrace’ food photography and not follow a reported crackdown on diners taking pictures of their meals, says the UK founder of an international food photo contest. Last month, Gilles Goujon, who runs a Michelin-starred restaurant in southern France, reportedly said it was ‘poor etiquette’ to take photos of food and claimed it infringed his ‘intellectual property’ rights when they appear on social networks. However, Caroline Kenyon, director of the Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year – a competition that attracts thousands of entries from around the world – hit back. She told AP: ‘They [chefs] are being paid a compliment and are given publicity if the pictures are transmitted on social media. It may be an idea to embrace it rather than being hostile…’ Founded two years…

Joe Cornish, one of the world’s leading landscape photographers and author of First Light: A Landscape Photographer’s Art, talks about his experiences with the Sony Alpha 7R I CONFESS I am a ‘multi-format’ photographer, using the gear I need to suit the assignment of the moment. Currently, I am using the Sony Alpha 7R with Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 35mm f/2.8 ZA and Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA prime lenses to shoot a series of landscapes in Yorkshire, the Cairngorms and Iceland. I can also easily use lenses from my Nikon and other third-party systems via an adapter, when the camera is mounted on a tripod. The two Sony prime lenses really are amazing. They are bitingly sharp at virtually every aperture. In fact,…

● READ THIS IF YOU WANT TO TAKE GREAT PHOTOGRAPHS by Henry Carroll, £12.95 A newcomer to photography could, if so inclined, bury themselves to suffocation in the number of beginners’ guides. Henry Carroll’s straight-talking guide is enjoyably informal – and a ‘Bish, Bash, Bosh’ guide occurs more than once. Carroll makes a few assertions that could produce gasps from the cheap seats, most notably that shooting in manual is a ‘waste of time’. For those of you who are still here after that, it’s a great read. ● BRUCE GILDEN (PHOTOFILE) Introduction by Hans-Michael Koetzle, £9.95 One of the more divisive street photographers of the late 20th century, Bruce Gilden made his name with his up-close, fl ash-heavy images of New York City, Tokyo and other cities, that fl…

TIM CLAYTON Tim Clayton is an internationally recognised sports photographer. He trained at the Yorkshire Post newspaper in Leeds before moving to Australia to work as a sports photographer for The Sydney Morning Herald, a position he held for 18 years before going freelance in 2008. Highlights of his career have included winning eight World Press Photo Awards, including three first places in 1994, 2004 and 2007, and having four of his photographs featured in The Observer Sports Magazine’s 50 best sports images of all time. To see more of Tim’s images, visit timclayton. photoshelter.com I FIRST heard about Nick Morozoff when I was a full-time sports photographer on the The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia There were three sports photographers on the paper back then, and we were always…

MANY photographers choose to photograph nature and wildlife, and, on the face of it, Joel Sartore appears to be just another member of that group. However, take a closer look at his images and you will discover that Joel offers something different to his peers because a ‘simple wildlife photographer’ he is not. A contributor to National Geographic magazine for 20 years, Joel’s photographs are driven by an overwhelming desire to ‘document endangered species and landscapes in order to show a world worth saving’, rather than a desire to simply reflect the beauty or savagery of nature, an arguably more common mission in this field of photography. It is a guiding principle that seems to have worked, as Joel has risen to the top of his field and his images…

WITH all the will in the world, there is no landscape photographer, even one born and bred in the USA and continually photographing in this remarkable country, who could possibly manage to capture all the vast landscapes that America has to offer. Yes, all the national parks could be covered, but not in their entirety. There are many meccas for landscape photographs, with Yosemite National Park probably at the front of the queue. Other notable locations include Bryce and Zion Canyon National Parks, Arizona, and the slot canyons, Montana, and the Wild West towns, Yellowstone National Park, the Tetons in Wyoming and the Canyonlands National Park in Utah. There are 59 designated National Parks in the USA, so it’s little wonder that the landscape of the USA has for many…

Lightmeters Andrew Sydenham tests a selection of lightmeters to suit all budgets Sekonic L-478DR LiteMaster Pro Around ￡325 www.sekonic.com Sekonic’s LiteMaster Pro is a digital lightmeter with a difference, as it features a colour touchscreen that allows you to scroll through the menus, adjust settings and take readings for continuous and fl ash lighting through the whole range of still and moving image capture. Profi le settings specifi c to your camera can be fi ne-tuned using Sekonic’s Data Transfer Software, or the data can be entered manually. Compatibility with PocketWizard technology is built in, allowing you to control and trigger your fl ash devices from the meter. The feel and layout of the meter’s controls are very similar to other Sekonic models over the past few decades, but the…

AS STATED in Build and handling (above), Nikon has released a new retractable kit lens to partner the D3300. The AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II lens consists of 11 elements in eight groups, including one aspherical lens element, and has a minimum focus distance of 28cm in AF mode, or 25cm when manually focusing. It has seven rounded aperture blades, and a minimum aperture of f/22-36. The centre sharpness of the lens is surprisingly good, being on a par with the Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Macro lens that we use to photograph our resolution chart. At the edges there is some drop-off in sharpness, although it is acceptable and certainly not as bad as many of the kit lenses we have seen in the past. There are some signs…

NORTHERN EXPOSURE… 1 Q I am planning to visit Tromso in Norway to see the northern lights soon. Could you advise me how to get the best photographs of this spectacular phenomenon with my Canon PowerShot G1 X? This trip is to celebrate 40 years of marriage and is unlikely to be repeated. My G1 X has given me some delightful results, but I would like to go well prepared. Val Kressman A In a word: tripod! In this instance – as with all lowlight photography – keeping your camera steady is paramount. You can frame the perfect shot, have the most striking colours in the sky, and get your exposure and other camera settings spot on, but if it’s blurred beyond recognition you may well just be wasting space…

DURING last year’s fl im-fl am about the assassination of John F Kennedy some 50 years ago, I heard a truly chilling phrase from an eyewitness: ‘I was a history instructor.’ It is hard to imagine anything more redolent of Stalinism, Big Brother and Brave New World. Of all the subjects, there can be little if anything more terrifying than the very idea of a history instructor. Kennedy is said to have quoted George Santayana’s observation that unless we study history, we are doomed to repeat it. But ‘study’ and ‘instruction’ are, in a subject such as history, diametrically opposed. Study shows you how to look at something, how to examine it, how to explore it, how to apply it to life today. Instruction, by contrast, tells you how to…