Innholdsfortegnelse for 21-mar-15 i Amateur Photographer

WHEN Martin Le-May set off for a trip to a local park with his camera he could have had no inkling that he was about to shoot one of the most remarkable wildlife photos ever taken – an image that would go viral around the world and even be featured on the BBC’s News at Ten (see pages 4-5). Had he not managed to get a photo, few would have believed him if he had returned home and told people that he’d seen a weasel riding on the back of a flying woodpecker. It may not be pin-sharp and technically perfect, but it’s certainly a better shot than most of us would have managed if we’d been in Martin’s shoes. The lesson, of course, is to always carry a camera…

If ever there was a decisive moment, amateur photographer Martin Le-May captured it using his Canon EOS 70D. Martin’s astonishing image of a weasel riding on the back of a green woodpecker has been viewed many millions of times online since 2 March. Although not sharp, it was attention-grabbing. Martin didn’t have much time to seize the moment during a walk with his wife Ann. With his camera set to program mode, Martin used a 300mm f/2.8 lens to record the shot at 1/640sec at f/4.5 and ISO 100. He says the only Photoshop involved was to crop the image. Martin told AP how he had posted it on a Facebook page accessible only to a ‘closed group’ of Essex birdwatchers. It may not have become famous at all had…

Slinkachu: Miniaturesque Slinkachu’s photo project places miniature plastic people in fantastical tableaux on the streets of London, where they are then abandoned. The waste and refuse from the urban sprawl comes to resemble natural glades and pastures in a sharply ironic twist. www.andipa.com. Until 11 April In Evidence In Evidence, a collaborative group show by members of the FORMAT Photoforum, is a great chance to support some amateur photographers as part of the ongoing FORMAT Photo Festival. Until 12 April. www.formatfestival.com/events Enter APOY Round 1 You’ve one week left to enter the first round of this year’s Amateur Photographer of the Year, sponsored by Sigma. Get your low-light shot in by midnight 29 March to win a Sigma prize worth more than £1,000. Until 29 March. www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/apoywww.amateurphotographer.co.uk/apoy Only in England…

Mark Bauer Mark Bauer has been a full-time landscape photographer for more than ten years. He is based in Dorset and takes his inspiration from the beauty of the surrounding landscapes. He is the author of four books and has won numerous awards. www.markbauerphotography.com 1 Use flowers for foreground interest Most wideangle landscapes benefit from having some foreground interest, and with flowers coming into bloom at this time of year there’s plenty of choice. Get in close and fill the bottom of the frame with flowers. It’s important to keep everything sharp from foreground to background, so choose a small aperture such as f/11 or f/16 and focus about a third of the way into the scene. For greater accuracy, set the hyperfocal distance for the focal length/aperture combination you’re…

WANT to bring your photographic talent to a nationwide audience when they are out shopping, travelling or socialising in the city? Amateur Photographer has teamed up with beframeus, the editorial brand behind digital screens, to offer readers a unique opportunity to showcase the very best in cutting-edge urban photography across billboards UK-wide. The winning entries will be displayed from Monday 4 May-Sunday 31 May 2015 on digital screens in train stations, shopping centres and on roadsides in the UK, creating a powerful outdoor photographic gallery that celebrates the vibrancy of life in the city. The judging panel will pick 80 images (40 landscape-orientation pictures and 40 portrait orientation) from the four categories titled ‘The People’, ‘The Views’, ‘The Animals’ and ‘The Details’. To enter, send your images to apcompetitions_timeinc.com by…

For many years during the 18th and 19th centuries, the Paris Salon at the Academy of Fine Arts was a hotbed of emerging talent within the world of academic art. A medal from the Salon carried the power of the Midas touch, and guaranteed a lifetime of success for the lucky artist. But perhaps the most interesting story around this event occurred in 1863, when the Salon refused around two-thirds of the paintings submitted. Upon hearing of the uproar among the artistic community, Emperor Napoleon III declared that the rejected works should be displayed in a separate exhibition. With that, the Salon des Refusés was born. Today, the photography world has its own versions of the Paris Salon. Check the photographic calendar and you can see a number of high-profile…

THE E-M5 Mark II’s headline feature is undoubtedly its 40-million-pixel composite High Res Shot mode. This works by taking eight images, using the camera’s in-body stabilisation system to move the sensor fractionally between them in order to sample the scene in higher detail. The camera has to be fixed solidly to a tripod for this to work, and because it’s a multiple-exposure process, anything that moves shows ghosting artefacts. The mode first has to be turned on in the camera’s menu. It is then accessed as a drive mode, rather than as a resolution setting where you might expect to find it. You can decide whether or not to record raw files, independently of your choice in 16MP mode. The eight-shot composite raw file is vast – 100MB or more…

FIRST, a disclaimer: I own and use an Olympus OM-D E-M5, so I’m naturally inclined to like the E-M5 Mark II. But what struck me most, comparing the two side by side, is just how much work Olympus has done to improve the camera’s design and usability. All the little tweaks to the control layout really add up, and once set up to my liking, I found the E-M5 Mark II to be a really excellent little camera to shoot with. Indeed, where the original E-M5 was a trailblazer for its type, the E-M5 Mark II sees the concept of the small DSLR-like CSC refined to being a really serious photographic tool. The superb electronic viewfinder, fully articulated screen, wonderfully quiet shutter and extremely effective in-body imagestabilisation system combine to…

I AMONE of the most useful tools a photographer has and I can be just as effective setting up a scene as post-processing an image. A vague recollection from school maths may paint a picture of a bar chart and boring statistics, but for photographers a histogram is far from mundane. At a glance, an exposure histogram shows you the balance of the scene’s brightness and when the picture might have overly dark or overly bright or burned-out areas. Yes, a histogram is a graph. The x axis from left to right starts at complete darkness and finishes at a total white-out. The vertical y axis refers to the amount of the brightness corresponding to the position along the x axis, usually between 0 and 255. The brightness of every…

There are at least five ways to analyse pictures: emotionally, intellectually, historically, compositionally and technically. Overall, in most cases, the list above is in rough order of importance. Let’s look at each in turn for this picture. Emotionally, the enormous, be-finned American cars dwarf the tiny figure, and their modernity (for the period) contrasts perfectly with the ancient inn. Even the textures speak for themselves, with shiny metal and chrome, cobbles and flags, the rectitude of the buildings and the bulging self-indulgence of the cars. But already we have slipped into intellectual considerations – we need to know our history, marshal our aesthetic sensibilities. A Martian looking at this picture might never catch those references, taking them all at face value. Then we think: the word Wirtschaftswunder (economic miracle) was…

New MFT lenses Panasonic has unveiled a new 30mm macro lens and a 42.5 portrait optic for Micro Four Thirds cameras. The Lumix G Macro 30mm f/2.8 Asph Mega OIS is designed for close-ups o insects, food or flowers, for example. The Lumix G 42.5mm f/1.7 Asph Power OIS aims to achieve a ‘beautiful bokeh effect’ in portrait shots. They are out in May at prices yet to be announced. B&w wins day A record number of students entered the Ilford Photo and Harman technology student photography competition. The contest sought images on the theme ‘Motion’ and pulled in more than 1,000 entries. The Ilford Photo Student Photographer of the Year 2014 – Darkroom title went to Leeds College of Art student Elliott Jagger with an entry entitled ‘Light in…

IMAGES that pre-date the invention of photography as we know it are set to go on display in the UK. Amateur French scientist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (right) captured the first surviving photograph from nature in around1826. Niépce – who later worked with French pioneer Louis Daguerre – created permanent images by exposing chemicals on metal plates to light, a process known as heliography. Now, three of his glass plates – of which there are believed to be only 16 in existence – are set to go on show at the National Media Museum (NMM) in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Niépce was not only able to develop his images, but he was also able to fix them, having first experimented by copying drawings through the action of light, subsequently applying the technique…

If I had £1 for each time I’ve seen a camera described as ‘the poor man’s Leica’, I could buy nearly three issues of Amateur Photographer! The phrase has been bandied about to encompass all sorts of models, often with very little in common with each other, let alone the Leica range. Sometimes, as in the Voigtländer Bessa series, the expression alludes to the quality of build and range of features, while with this cheap and nasty lump from Hong Kong it refers to the camera’s shape and appearance. Haking, the manufacturer, even had the cheek to include a red dot in the design, but the company isn’t fooling anyone. The base is stamped ‘Empire Made’, which apparently was often a euphemism for ‘Made in Hong Kong’, and at that…

With each Sony α7-series camera having its own particular set of features, any photographer, regardless of genre, will be able to find the right camera for them. Of the four Sony α7 cameras, it is the Sony α7R that has the highest resolution. It’s 36.4-million-pixel, full-frame sensor is unique in its class. It is the highest-resolution compact system camera currently available, and when this high resolution is combined with the properties of the full-frame sensor, the α7R becomes a must for anyone wanting to capture the greatest amount fo detail possible. Any photographer will benefit from using the high resolution of the α7R, but landscape and portrait photographers especially. The α7R is able to capture every blade of grass or hair on a person’s head, allowing for extremely large prints…

The World Press Photo contest frequently whips up debate, and this year was no exception. The winning image was awarded to Danish photographer Mads Nissen, from Panos Pictures, for his image of a gay couple, Jon and Alex, in St Petersburg, Russia (see page 26). It is an intimate image, softly lit, that reveals a moment of tenderness between two lovers. But more than this, it is a photograph that tells a wider story about the difficulties for LGBT people in Russia, where sexual minorities face discrimination and harassment. It is, as the judges have said, a multi-layered image that sheds light on a much wider contemporary issue by focusing on a very personal scene. ‘It’s a historic time for the image,’ says this year’s jury chair, Michele McNally. ‘The…

Solar Technology CamCaddy 2 ● £19.99 ● www.solartechnology.co.uk Callum McInerney-Riley considers a reinvented universal charger for block-style batteries At a glance ● Universal charger for block-style batteries ● Can be powered by Micro USB ● On-screen display ● Automatic voltage detection SOLAR Technology makes a variety of different battery-based products, one of which is the CamCaddy 2. This battery charger works with almost all block-style batteries, making it an ideal travel companion for photographers using multiple cameras. The CamCaddy 2 was designed to work in conjunction with the company’s Freeloader iSIS solar-charging power bank (£64.99), which can be plugged into the Micro USB port to power the charger. With its Micro USB power input, the CamCaddy 2 is incredibly convenient. Using a USB cable, users can charge batteries from their…

Battery The BLN-1 battery is rated for just 310 shots per charge, so you’ll need a spare or two. Alternatively, quick sleep mode extends battery life considerably. PC socket A small, easily losable cover on the front of the camera unscrews to reveal a standard coaxial sync socket for use with studio flash systems. Customisable controls Almost every control can be reconfigured to your liking, including the twin top-plate dials and most of the buttons. However, Olympus’s menus take a while to figure out. Hotshoe Accepts Four Thirds-dedicated Olympus, Panasonic and third-party flash units, as well as the small yet versatile FL-LM3 unit that comes in the box. Connectors Microphone, HDMI and remote-release sockets lie underneath a rubberised door on the left. Using any one of them will compromise the…

When it comes to choosing a wide angle lens, photographers using a Canon full-frame DSLR have one of the best ranges available. For those working to a strict budget there’s the very respectable EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM, while for those who can justify the cost there’s the superb EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM, which benefits from having a built-in optical image stabiliser – a feature Canon’s similarly excellent, but even more expensive EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM doesn’t have. If these zooms aren’t wide enough, there’s also the EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM and the EF14mm f/2.8L II USM to consider, not forgetting Canon’s wideangle tilt-and-shift TS-E lenses, plus third-party options from the likes of Sigma, Tamron and Tokina. Although it’s hard to fault this range of wideangle zooms available for…

LAUNCHED August 2007 PRICE AT LAUNCH £3,999.99 GUIDE PRICE TODAY (body only) £895 AFTER playing second fiddle to Canon in the professional DSLR stakes for too long, Nikon finally delivered its first full-frame DSLR and gave the faithful pros what they’d been waiting for in the form of the D3. This rugged, fast-shooting FX DSLR would satisfy paparazzi, sports, wildlife and press photographers alike – at a competitive price. What’s good The D3 features nine frames per second shooting and as fast as 11 frames per second in DX mode. Being a full-frame camera you have a large and bright reflex viewfinder. You also get dual Compact Flash card slots. The 12MP full-frame sensor was very good at the time, and remains highly rated if you don’t require a super-high…

Street photography is more popular than ever before, with many photographers shooting their own specific style of street imagery. Much of the work of many famous street photographers relies upon a certain technique or subject matter to define their style, from capturing a definitive moment in a street scene to a very specific type of lighting. The idea of this project is to achieve simple but brilliant minimalist street images. The great thing about this type of photography is that it requires very little preparation – all you need is a camera, a few buildings or structures, a couple of people and sharp eyes to find the right place to shoot. 1 Look for strong shapes. Buildings, roads, columns, railings and steps are all perfect examples of this. Once you’ve…

A £17,800 Leica M-P, produced in collaboration with musician Lenny Kravitz, has been ‘intentionally aged’ to recreate a look reminiscent of a well-used Leicaflex given to the musician by his father. The special-edition Leica M-P ‘Correspondent’ by Lenny Kravitz for Kravitz Design has been limited to125 sets worldwide. It is not yet known howmany of the limited-edition kits will reach the UK. ‘The collaboration with Lenny Kravitz was born out of the artist’s passion for photography,’ said Leica. Kravitz was given his father's leicaflex as a gift when he was 21, and it was the first camera Kravitz had ever used. To mimic the look of the vintage Leicaflex in the new Leica M-P, the German manufacturer set about deliberately ageing it artifically. ‘For instance, the glossy black enamel of…

Resort 2 by Anna Fox and David Chandler, Schilt Publishing, £38, hardback,104 pages, ISBN 978-9-05330-840-0 IF YOU picked up a copy of Anna Fox’s Resort 1, the first part of her two-year journey into the heart of British leisure culture, then you’ll have some idea of what to expect from this continuation. In part one, Anna focused exclusively on families visiting the iconic Butlin’s resort in Bognor Regis, West Sussex. In this current volume – still within the confines of Butlin’s – Anna explores their adult themed weekend parties. The book finds an interesting companion in Dougie Wallace’s latest volume Stags, Hens & Bunnies. Yet where that collection indulged in decadent garishness, Anna’s images seem somehow softer and more human. Even when faced with a 5ft inflatable phallus, what comes…

Email amateurphotographer@timeinc.comand 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 Honesty the best policy? I have some sympathy with Michael Cheesman (Letters AP 31 January). I agree that Sjoerd Stellingwerf’s image of the girl with the bubblegum (AP 29 November 2014) is not a photograph, but the fact that it is obviously a fabrication (and I’m not meaning this in a derogatory way) surely means that it simply steps sideways to slot into the category of artistic photography, whether the viewer likes the image or not. No sane viewer could possibly believe that the image is of a real event and therefore no deception is involved. So perhaps what we have here…

Line-out Chris Reynolds Nikon D700, 28-300mm, 1/500sec at f/5.6, ISO 3200 TO CELEBRATE the 2015 Six Nations tournament, I thought I’d use a rugby shot to illustrate a common problem. In this case, the issue is that the subject doesn’t fit into the picture frame provided. Chris has captured a great moment, but the space on the right-hand side of the frame is distracting. To my mind, the action here is upright, and had Chris turned his camera on its side he would have been able to fill the frame with that action, cut out all the spare space and emphasise the height of the jump. I’ve made a crop that shows this. It is a shame to lose the two chaps looking up at the catcher, but that is…

At a glance ● 16.1-millon-pixel, Four Thirds sensor ● 40-million-pixel, high-resolution composite mode ● ISO 100-25,600 (extended) ● 3in, 1.04-million-dot LCD ● 2.36-million-dot EVF, 0.74x (equivalent) magnification ● 1/8000sec maximum shutter speed ● £900 body only For and against + Excellent JPEG image quality + Fast, responsive operation + Robust, weather resistant body + Almost all controls can be customised to suit the user - Complex menus are difficult to master - Connectors interfere with articulated screen - Raw image quality can’t quite match larger-sensor cameras Where in the range Olympus OM-D E-M10 Price £482 body only Designed to compete with entry-level DSLRs, the E-M10 is a simpler model with a less-robust build and a built-in flash. Olympus OM-D E-M1 Price £900 body only The flagship E-M1 has a large…

The Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II uses a 16.1-million-pixel, Four Thirds sensor, which is basically the same as that used in the E-M5 three years ago. This means that it can’t technically match its APS-C competitors, particularly for noise at any given ISO. It gives good results up to ISO 1600, but ISO 3200 is marginal, and the higher settings are best avoided unless there’s no other choice. In its standard mode the sensor resolves plenty of detail – our tests suggest its optical low pass filter is very weak, if it has one at all. Photographers who shoot JPEGs will appreciate Olympus’s attractive colour rendition and auto white balance. The new 40-million-pixel High Res Shot mode is very impressive indeed, giving both excellent resolution and low noise. However, it’s…

● EXPERT ADVICE ● TIPS ● TRICKS ● HACKS ● KNOW-HOW 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 Solar charging Q I am going on a cruise around the Inner Hebrides on a small fishing boat and have been told that 240-volt power will not be available. I’m concerned that my camera batteries (Nikon EN-EL15) will not last the whole trip, so is there a solar-type device that would enable me to charge while at sea? I’ve searched online without luck. If there are such devices, are they cost-effective? Or do I bite the bullet and buy extra batteries – at around £40 each? Gerald Peppiatt A…

OFTEN the simplest solutions are the best ones, and this is definitely a simple solution. All you need are some DIY clamps, which can be bought from most ￡1stores, and some 1⁄4-20 UNC nuts, bolts and rubber washers. By making a hole in the clamp handle, a bolt can be threaded through, which provides a very simple support for a camera. Adding a small ball head makes the support articulated, or by adding a tripod-mount hotshoe you can use the clamp to hold a wireless flash. You could even combine two clamps to hold a phone or a reflector in place. When finished, the clamp should hold a small camera, and using a self-timer you should be able to shoot with a longer exposure than handheld. It’s a useful device…