Innholdsfortegnelse for 04-jul-15 i Amateur Photographer

You may have seen Apple’s latest ‘Shot on iPhone 6’ ads, featuring impressive iPhone 6 photos blown up to poster size. The casual observer could be forgiven for thinking that phone cameras have become as good as they need to be and there’s no longer any need for cameras. I wonder what they’d make of the new DxO One, which came into the office this week (see pages 8-9). The latest attempt to bridge the gap between phones and ‘proper’ photography, it follows in the footsteps of Sony’s QX series but is more pocket-friendly and connects directly to an iPhone rather than relying on laggy Wi-Fi. But I question whether a large sensor and prime lens is what people want, rather than a decent optical zoom? How long will we…

Wildlife photography translates into any language and is one of the most popular genres. Many organisations are throwing their hat into the ring by setting up their own competitions. One you may not necessarily know is the GDT European Nature Photographer of the Year, open to professional and amateur photographers from all over Europe. The competition aims to illustrate the high quality and specific style of European wildlife photography through excellent pictures from Europe and all over the world. It also seeks to promote nature conservation awareness through the means of photography. This year’s winner was Klaus Tamm, but shown here is a fabulous image fromHeinrich van den Berg. For more information visit www.gdtfoto.de. Words & numbers It takes a lot of imagination to be a good photographer. You need…

At a glance • 20.2-million-pixel, 1in BSI CMOS sensor • 32mm equivalent f/1.8 lens (f/11 minimum) • ISO 100-51,200 • PASM, scene and selfie modes • Records 1080p video at 30fps • Connects to iPhone or iPad via the Lightning connector • Price £499 SMARTPHONES are by far the most popular way of taking and sharing photographs. Yet while they can give impressive results under favourable conditions, their small sensors and lenses mean that their image quality isn’t a match for a ‘proper’ camera. Various approaches have therefore been taken to make cameras that are able to take advantage of smartphones’ connectivity. Almost all new cameras come with built-in Wi-Fi for easy image sharing, and Sony pioneered smaller ‘lens-style’ cameras that go a step further, using the phone as viewfinder…

Debates about how to get the best out of your landscape photography can often revolve around the best DSLR. However, this seems a little redundant given the number of quality images coming out of cameras, both big and small. How long will it be before we see a Landscape Photographer of the Year winning image taken with a smartphone? Yet discussions about landscape photography sometimes neglect to mention another side of the photography kit: accessories. A wealth of items exists to assist a photographer in his or her pursuit of the perfect image, and some of them, dare we say, are almost as important as the camera. Entries for 2015’s Landscape Photographer of the Year close on 12 July. If you’re looking for inspiration, read on as six previous winners…

Rankin got his first taste for photography at the age of 17, when a hairdresser took a photograph of him and his crazy haircut, but it would only be four years later, at 21, that Rankin really began to take pictures. He dropped out of his accountancy degree to study A-level photography and ended up at, what was then, the London College of Printing. It was here that he met his long-time collaborator Jefferson Hack. Rebelling against the teaching style at the time, the two wanted to do something more commercial that would reach a wider audience. This, and the fact that they both found it hard to get work, led them to set up the monthly British style magazine Dazed & Confused. Photographing bands and musical artists for both…

Low-key tone editing I SEE that this photograph by Adam Crudge was shot with the 36.4MP Sony Alpha 7R. As one might expect, the detail is amazingly sharp. Adam has obviously composed this image very carefully, because it has been photographed from an angle where the sun is mostly masked by the street lamp. At the same time, I notice he chose to adjust the automatic exposure by setting it to a -3-stop bias in order to photograph a low-key exposure that captures all the highlight detail in the reflections on the wet street and pavement. I liked the dark feel to this image, but felt it was necessary to preserve more detail in the darkest shadows. I didn’t want to kill the drama in the image, but at the…

Connectors The G7 sports a 3.5mm microphone port on one side of the camera and a 2.5mm remote port, micro HDMI (Type D) port and AV out/digital port on the other. Wi-Fi/NFC functionality The G7’s Wi-Fi connectivity can be enabled through the main menu or via the Fn6 touchscreen icon that’s located from the fly-out Fn menu on the bottom right of the screen in the camera’s shooting mode. Battery The rechargeable Li-ion battery pack is rated for approximately 360 shots on a single charge when the G7 is used with the 14-42mm kit lens. This figure drops to 350 shots when it’s paired with the 14-140mm and 45-150mm lenses. Drive mode dial On the opposite side of the mode dial is the drive mode dial. From here you’re given…

Redesigned camera body The HX90V has had a complete structural overhaul, making it smaller and more compact than its predecessor. Built-in GPS This allows users to geotag their images so they know where they were taken. The HX90 is the same camera without GPS for £30 less. 18.2MP Exmor R sensor The HX90V features an 18.2MP, 1/2.3in Exmor R BSI-CMOS sensor. Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 4.1-123mm T* f/3.5-6.4 lens The Zeiss 30x optical zoom has an equivalent focal length of 24-720mm. Round-lens controller The round-lens control lets users change settings such as aperture and shutter speed. Pop-up flash While there’s no hotshoe for an external flash, there is a pop-up flash that has a range of 0.3-5.4m. Micro USB charging port The HX90V is charged via Micro USB, so it can be…

David Gibson David Gibson is one of the UK’s best-known street photographers. He is the author of The Street Photographer’s Manual (2014), published by Thames & Hudson, and was a founder member of the iN-PUBLiC photography collective. He also runs regular street photography workshops. For more information, see www.facebook.com/DavidGibsonStreetPhotographyWorkshops and www.gibsonstreet.com. 1973 Praktica Nova When I was17, my father bought me a Praktica Nova from a small camera shop in Manor Park, east London. I used it on and off for years. In the early ’80s I lived and travelled in Australia and New Zealand, and used the camera to shoot travel pictures, mainly on Kodachrome transparency film. However, it was many years before I started to take photography seriously. The Praktica was a preliminary camera for me. 1988 Nikkormat…

As an established commercial and fashion photographer, Martin Evening knows first-hand what photographers need for an efficient workflow. An expert in Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, he has worked with Lightroom since its inception, monitoring its development and providing valued feedback to Adobe. Inducted into the NAPP Photoshop Hall of Fame in 2008, and having written many books on these subjects, Martin knows the software inside out. That’s why he was the ideal person to write the What’s New? section on pages 8-9 of this supplement, and has provided expert tips throughout. If you want an in-depth guide to Lightroom, you can now read Martin’s Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC/Lightroom 6 Book: The Complete Guide for Photographers at the special discounted price of $38.99 (£24.80*, see panel below right). In this updated…

1 Build Previews There are a few different Build Preview options and each has its benefits and downsides. Depending on which you pick, it can affect the size of your Lightroom Catalog file, the time it takes to import, the quality of the Preview and the time it takes to view an image at 100%. Using Minimal Preview creates the thumbnails you see when the images are tiled on screen. This means that images are imported quickly, but you may lose time once you start working on them as the larger previews will still have to be created. Embedded & Sidecar use the JPEG preview image embedded in the raw file. This is the same as the image you see on the rear of your camera and, again, can save…

FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS, Lightroom really can take care of your entire workflow, especially when it comes to print. The Print module lets you specify the page layout and print options for printing photos and contact sheets on your printer. This makes it easy to create a page layout, whether you’d like to print hundreds of images, a single print, a contact sheet or everything in between. Similarly, why not create a book, slideshow or Web gallery? However you want to present your images, Lightroom can help. 1 Template browser In practice, most photographers’ print runs will consist of single images. However, if you do wish to make a more advanced type of print, there are many options in the Template browser. One of the most useful templates is the option to…

The week in brief, edited by Chris Cheesman Sony firmware update Sony has issued a firmware update for its Alpha 7, Alpha 7R, Alpha 7S and Alpha 6000 E-mount cameras that is designed to boost start-up speed by 30% and enable high bit-rate movie recording. It applies to models with software version 1.21 or earlier. All newly shipped models will include the firmware. Visit www.sony.co.uk/support. Adobe to sell pics Adobe has built a stockimage service into Adobe Creative Cloud called Adobe Stock, with contributors promised 33% of the sale price. The service is incorporated into Adobe desktop apps such as Photoshop CC, Illustrator CC and InDesign CC. Pricing for customers of Adobe Creative Cloud is £7.19 (inc VAT) for one image. To contribute, register as a contributor to the Fotolia…

AN INDEPENDENT camera store, the last in a chain set up by a man recruited as a British spy before the Second World War, has shut down. London-based store RG Lewis was the sole survivor of a former chain of eight camera stores that took their name from a chemist shop first set up three years before AP was first published in 1884. RG Lewis specialised in Leica cameras. Owner Len Lyons, 72, explained that the store’s roots can be traced back to a chemist shop called RG Lewis, which first opened in Enfield, north London, in 1881. The chemist shop was run by Richard Lewis, whose son, Norman, opened a photographic business above the shop and took the trading name of his father’s business. Norman Lewis was a travel…

A professional car photographer friend surprised me the other day. He’d bought a Sony Alpha 7 II to replace some of his existing kit. Not the Alpa with the Phase One back and Schneider lenses; they would still be invaluable on those lucrative shoots where every one of the 80 megapixels counts. The Sony was instead supplanting the Canon EOS-1D X he uses for less detail-critical work. The extra portability, delightful EVF and handy video capabilities were key factors in the decision. He’s delighted with his new acquisition and plans to buy more Sony cameras very soon. Feel-good factor I can see the appeal. The neat design, the built-in Wi-Fi, NFC and 5-axis image stabilisation, and the quiet shutter all make the Alpha 7 range feel impressively futuristic. Then there’s…

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 The right view With the summer holidays looming, The Ten Commandments of Travel Photography (AP 13 June) was a timely reminder for me of some of the key techniques to bear in mind on my next trip (which, as always, I’ve chosen primarily for its photographic potential). However, tip number eight, ‘Look for a different perspective, especially with popular subjects’, is one I’ve learned from experience. On a trip to Cambodia I found myself surrounded by dozens of tourists with their lenses trained across the lake at the main temple of Angkor Wat, all taking the same shot. I think I was…

Many of these shots are brand new, but you could be forgiven for finding them hauntingly familiar. Vincent Laforet’s AIR series – cityscapes shot from unprecedented altitudes – have a tendency to go viral every time he releases a new set, and it’s likely that a few have graced your Facebook feed or Twitter stream. From New York to Chicago, by way of Las Vegas and San Francisco, Vincent has flown over and photographed some of the world’s most distinctive cities, and his images have been viewed and shared by millions. What originally started as a commission for a piece on psychology in Men’s Heath magazine has since become a photographic phenomenon. Now Vincent is embarking on a tour sponsored by G-Technology that will bring his distinctive style to the…

Vanguard BBH-200 ball head ? £149.99 ? www.vanguardworld.co.uk Phil Hall takes a look at Vanguard’s top-of-the-line BBH-series ball head At a glance ? Rapid Level System ? 360° panning ? Two bubble levels ? Weight 530g ? Load capacity 20kg SITTING in themiddle of Vanguard’s top-ofthe-line range of BBH ball heads is the BBH-200, which offers an impressive load capacity of 20kg despite being a good compact size and tipping the scales at only 530g. This relatively lightweight design has been achieved by stripping down the body to reveal more of the single-piecemagnesiumball. The look of the BBH-200 is very pleasing thanks to thematt-black finish complemented by touches of orange, while themagnesium construction provides a quality feel. The oversized levers deliver a good level of grip even if you’re wearing…

IF YOU include the extended ISO 100 setting, there are nine sensitivity settings to choose from on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G7. Unlike the Lumix G6 that limited the sensitivity range to ISO 160-1600 when the electronic shutter was deployed, this is no longer the case on the G7. This is good news, because not only does it mean you can shoot silently when you’re forced to push up to higher ISOs in low-light, but G7 users now also have the full range of ISO settings available to them at any shutter speed. At the time of testing, the G7’s raw files weren’t supported by an Adobe Camera Raw update, so to convert our sample image and lab results before analysing them alongside the G7’s JPEGs we downloaded and installed Panasonic’s…

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 Is two years too old? Q I’m in the market for a quality ‘carry-all’ camera and wondered what your thoughts are on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7? It seems to fulfil almost all my requirements, but I’m concerned that as it is now close to two years old, the technology may well be improved with the launch of the (speculated?) GX8. When compared to more recent offerings from other manufacturers, though, the GX7 still seems to hold its own remarkably well. Was it so far ahead of its time at launch that the likes of Canon and Nikon (and others) are…

At the beginning of the 20th century, Horace Warner (1871-1939) was the supervisor at a Sunday school in Spitalfields, one of the most deprived areas of London, now part of Tower Hamlets. He was a self-taught photographer, and he took more than 200 pictures of the so-called Spitalfields Nippers. They lived, it seems, in a parallel society to adults, organising their own lives and earning their own incomes, because there were no adults able or willing to do it for them. Indigent single mothers and child poverty are nothing new. As social documentary, these pictures are in the first rank. The Religious Society of Friends, better known as the Quakers, ran the Sunday school, and in 1913 they paid £2 15 6d to use 25 of these pictures for fundraising.…

With such a huge array of screens and tools, Adobe Lightroom can, at first glance, seem pretty daunting. However, initial impressions can be deceptive, because with a basic understanding of what the software can do and how it works, you’ll find Lightroom is extremely user friendly. Later in this supplement we’ll look at the various elements of the software, but first it’s important to cover some of the basics. If you aren’t familiar with Lightroom this should prove useful, and even if you’ve been using Lightroom for a while it won’t do any harm to have a refresher course. Image management At its core, Adobe Lightroom has three main functions. First, it’s an image library tool, a place where you can go to manage all your photographs. Second, it’s a…

1 Catalog The Catalog is where all your images in Lightroom are stored, but you can have more than one. While most people have just one Catalog file, you may want to have two. In this way, you can ensure that you find your images with ease by having a range of Catalogs for, say, personal images and work images. You’ll just need to remember to load the correct Catalog when you start Lightroom. This can be done by selecting File>Open Catalog. Keep in mind that the Catalog file also allows you to quickly access the last images you imported, and it is also where you can access the Quick Collection – a temporary method of grouping your photographs. 2 Publish Services If you keep an active presence or portfolio…

1 Export To… The first decision to make is where you’re going to save your exported image. Images can be exported to a specific folder, to the same folder as the original raw file or you can choose the export location later, as the final stage in the process. The ‘Choose folder later…’ option is probably the best to use in most instances, as it allows you to decide where to save images on a case-by-case basis. This is especially true if you plan to use a lot of Preset export options. For example, you may require the same file-size settings for numerous projects you’re working on, but want the images to be saved to different locations. You can apply your Preset export settings to a batch of images at…

The America’s Cup World Series is a premier racing circuit that features the best sailors in the world competing on large and fast 45ft catamarans known as AC45s – it’s the Formula 1 of the sailing world. The circuit will travel to a number of locations around the world, and from 23-26 July Portsmouth in Hampshire will host the event. The official race village will be based on Southsea Common, with support hubs within the naval base and the historic dockyard. As well as a host of events taking place within the village, there’s also the opportunity to watch some of the racing from the free-to-view areas, as well as buy tickets for other viewpoints. With this in mind, let’s see what you will need. 1 You don’t have to…

Horrible Histories: Blitzed Brits Based on the popular children’s books, also adapted into a BBC series, this exhibition offers a fun day out for families with plenty of interesting photography from the Second World War era. From 11 July, www.iwm.org.uk Philip Rhys Matthews: Critical Mass Philip Rhys Matthews’ images are full of resplendent costumes evoking old paintings, even though many are informed by current events and issues. 30 June-18 July www.gxgallery.com Photography: A Victorian Sensation The National Museum of Scotland takes an in-depth look at the Victorian craze for the photograph. See an early daguerreotype camera owned by WilliamHenry Fox Talbot. Until 22 November www.nms.ac.uk/photography Eden Project Competition Planning a visit to the Eden Project this summer? Tweet your best photo and you could be in with a chance of…

Soldiers and Suff ragettes: The Photography of Christina Broom by Anna Sparham, IB Tauris, £20, paperback, 235 pages, ISBN 978-1-78130-020-6 IF YOU were forced to name a large selection of press photographers, there’s a good chance that most, if not all, would be male. That’s not a matter of ignorance, it’s simply a good indication of the serious gender inequality that is prevalent within the world of photography. As a result, it’s always heartening to find the work of a previously undiscovered woman photographer hitting the headlines, and it’s particularly heartening to find that the work puts a good portion of her contemporaries to shame. Christina Broom (1862-1939) is widely regarded to be the UK’s first female press photographer. Her lens was voracious and ranged from such subjects as the…

If you’re a street photographer, or simply interested in the genre, think about how you define it. This may be a question you’ve often asked yourself already. While street photography isn’t necessarily a young genre (although its increasing popularity over the past five years would suggest that it is), it appears to have only recently found itself subject to a variety of camps expounding how it should be defined. Back in AP 28 June 2014 we spoke to Jerry Webb, who pointed out that while he had often enjoyed calling himself a street photographer, he had received messages from photographers saying that his work, due to its post-processing, didn’t qualify as true street photography. Just a few weeks later we spoke to Nick Turpin (AP 19 July 2014), a member…

£10,000 IN PRIZES TO BE WON HOW TO ENTER To enter via email, follow the link at the bottom of this page. We need to know where and how you took your image, plus the camera and lens used with the aperture and focal-length details. Remember to include a telephone number and your postal address so we can contact you if you win. To enter by post, send a covering letter with your image, including the information mentioned above, letting us know if you would like your entry returned to you after judging (please enclose an SAE). Entries should be sent to APOY, Amateur Photographer, 9th floor, Time Inc (UK), Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU. Plan your APOY 2015 year Below is a list of this…

For and against + 4K video and 4K photo modes + Electronic shutter enables silent operation and use of shutter speeds up to 1/16,000sec + Superb 2.36-million-dot electronic viewfinder - Processing speed in 4K photo modes could be made faster - Top-plate, dials and buttons have a plasticky feel - Low-resolution previews in 4K photo mode via the EVF Where in the range Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF7 Price £400 (with 12-32mm lens) The GF7 is a stylish CSC that features a 16-million-pixel sensor, 5.8fps continuous shooting and a 3in tilting selfie screen. Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH4 Price £1,050 (body only) The GH4 has a durable, weather-sealed magnesium-alloy body, 12fps burst shooting and 4K video. Data file Sensor 16-million-pixel LiveMOS Output size 4592x3448 pixels Focal lengthmag 2x Lensmount Micro Four Thirdsmount File format…

With the rise in popularity of smartphones, sales of compact cameras have steadily declined. However, there are a few types, such as tough cameras and travel zooms, that still thrive, as they provide something that smartphones cannot. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V falls into the travel-zoom category, with its seriously impressive optical zoom range of 24-270mm (35mm equivalent) inside a newly designed body that takes inspiration from Sony’s Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 III. The HX90V is smaller than its HX60V predecessor, and it promises better image quality and extra functionality, such as a tilting LCD screen and handy pop-up electronic viewfinder. Features The Sony HX90V has an 18.2-million-pixel, 1/2.3in Exmor R back-illuminated sensor. That’s a lot of pixels to pack into a small area, but those who wish to make large prints will…

LAUNCHED August 2003 PRICE WHEN NEW £999 with 18-55mm kit lens GUIDE PRICE TODAY £50 (body only) CANON smashed through the $1,000 and £1,000 DSLR price barriers for the first time with its EOS 300D. It was also the first Canon DSLR body to feature the EF-S mount for Canon’s new range of more affordable lenses optimised for the smaller APS-C sensor. The 300D also sacrificed little in the way of functionality compared to some more expensive DSLR models. What’s good The EOS 300D was a smaller and lighter version of the more expensive EOS 10D, with a very good 6-million-pixel CMOS sensor and DIGIC image processor that combined to produce very low-noise images. Raw files were an option, while the EF-S lens mount enabled Canon to optimise lenses for…

Getting to grips with new soft ware isn’t easy. When I used Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for the first time, having been used to working with raw files in Adobe Camera Raw, it seemed over-complicated and I wasn’t sure I’d use it to its full potential. However, I stuck with it and now Lightroom is the soft ware that I really can’t do without. Over the years Lightroom has changed so dramatically that most photographers now do not need to leave the confines of editing in this soft ware. The latest version, Lightroom 6 or CC (Creative Cloud) brings with it even more features, including HDR Photomerge, Panorama Merge and Face Recognition. In this supplement we’ll talk you through the basics of Adobe Lightroom. We’ll show you what each of the…

AS WITH every new release of Adobe Lightroom, the latest version aims to speed up the editing process for photographers. There are actually two new versions of Lightroom: Lightroom 6 and Lightroom CC. Both are identical, the only difference being that Lightroom 6 is a standalone product, while Lightroom CC is a Creative Cloud, subscription-based version. As usual, Adobe has utilised some of the features of its existing Photoshop software, so photographers now have to spend even less time jumping between Lightroom and Photoshop. Panorama The Panorama Photomerge is similar to the HDR Photomerge. This allows you to combine raw photographs to create a DNG panorama-stitch image. This has long been a request of Lightroom users who, until now, have had to perform this task in the full version of…

1 Histogram The Histogram is fairly self-explanatory. As well as showing the tonal range, it shows the range of each different colour, which is helpful in that it allows you to make a quick visual assessment of the colour balance, or to see if any particular colours are blown out. Clicking on the arrows at the top left and top right of the Histogram show the areas that are in total shadow or completely blown out. By default, these are shown in blue and red. This makes it easy when setting the Black and White points. Generally, you’ll always want some black in an image, and just a few specks that are completely white. While there are sliders for the various Black, White, Highlight and Shadow adjustments in the Basic…

One way of using Lightroom to catalogue, edit and export images on the move is to download it to a laptop. This is great if you own a lightweight notebook, but lugging a heavy and bulky laptop around isn’t any fun – not to mention the hassle you can encounter when trying to find mains power to charge it. Adobe’s answer is Lightroom Mobile – a free app developed on the success of the Lightroom interface. Designed to allow Creative Cloud users to synchronise a desktop library with a smartphone or tablet, it syncs all your adjustments with the desktop Lightroom Library via the Cloud. It’s an essential app for photographers who rely on Lightroom and want to speed up their workflow when out in the field or on the…