Innholdsfortegnelse for 25-Jan-2014 i Amateur Photographer

COLIN Roberts’ examination of the different camera formats in relation to landscape photography (pages 49-53) reminds me of how often I find myself discussing sensor sizes, whether explaining them to newcomers or arguing the merits of each type with more experienced photographers. When I started at AP it was the same, except the debate was mostly between 35mm and 120 rollfilm formats. Image quality aside, one of the most important factors in choosing one over the other is the aspect ratio of each format. Some photographers are drawn to a particular shape. Charlie Waite, for example, mostly sees the world through a square frame, while Jeremy Walker champions panoramas. I’ve always had my feet in multiple camps, regularly switching between different formats. I find merit in them all – I…

SIGMA used CES to showcase a revamped 18-200mm lens, a standard DSLR zoom designed to be smaller than its predecessor. Sigma says it has shrunk the lens diameter by 4.6mm and cut 11% off the volume compared to the previous model. The firm claims to have ‘solved the difficult problem of keeping the size and weight down without compromising optical performance and function’. It adds: ‘This new lens has been redeveloped as the standard zoom lens… which has higher performance, is even smaller and [has] a lighter weight…’ The Japan-made lens features claimed close-focus shooting down to 39cm and a maximum magnification ratio of 1:3. The f/3.5-6.3 newcomer (above right) is designed to deliver the 35mm viewingangle equivalent of a 27-300mm zoom. Optical Stabilization is included in the Canon, Nikon…

HANDS ON NIKON D3300 At CES we were given this new 24.2-million-pixel DSLR to try out. Read our initial thoughts AP GUIDE HOW TO USE POLARISERS Craig Roberts leads you through the ins and outs of using a polarising filter to best effect ETHEREAL CREATURES George Wheelhouse talks to Jade Lord about his fine-art wildlife images and the importance of shooting from a different perspective ENHANCED REALITIES The visually stunning work of Anthony Kurtz has garnered much admiration. Andrew James talks to a unique talent ON TEST NIK ANALOG EFEX PRO We test a plug-in filter that enables your imageediting package to simulate traditional film ‘looks’…

Scarti By Adam Broomberg and Oliver chanarin. Trolly Books, £45, hardback, 64 pages, ISBN 978-1-907-11246-1 BROOMBERG and Chanarin’s original project, called Ghetto and published ten years ago, was an intriguing incursion into contemporary closed-off communities, including a maximum-security prison in South Africa and a psychiatric hospital in Cuba. Now the pair revisit this collection, but do so in an intriguing, singular way. Scarti is the Italian word for scraps, and scarti di avviamento refers to paper that is fed through a printing press to clear the ink drums. Usually it is then disposed of, but this time it was preserved by the publisher, rediscovered in 2012 – and has been published as Scarti. Each of the prints has had two images from Ghetto laid over it, and often this gives…

WE HAVE all heard it and, from time to time, some of us may even have uttered the question. Why do we need camera sensors with huge numbers of pixels? Why do manufacturers continuously bombard us with new models in a seemingly endless pixel race? Of course, to be boringly pragmatic, we possibly don’t ‘need’ the kind of resolution that the latest generation of image technology provides. After all, it is not so very long since the front covers of glossy fashion magazines were being shot on digital cameras with 6-million-pixel sensors. Salon-quality prints of 20x16in can be produced from 12-million-pixel files and most camera club digital image competitions limit entries to 1400x1050 pixels, which, if I’m correct, amounts to a paltry 1.5 million pixels. Yet those considerations may be…

ALTHOUGH you might think Adrian and fellow sports photographers carry masses of kit wherever they go, you can make do with a few simple bits. ‘If I could take only one lens to an event, I, along with 90% of other sports photographers, would take a 400mm f/2.8,’ says Adrian. ‘However, my typical set-up for a sporting event includes two Canon EOS-1D X cameras and an EOS-1D Mark IV. I use the Mark IV as a remote camera, and trigger that with a PocketWizard triggering system. On this will be a 17-35mm wideangle lens. The camera around my neck will have a 70-200mm and the one next to me on the ground will have a 400mm lens attached. That confguration works for most events, although cricket might require a 500mm.’…

A LOT of successful people, in photography and elsewhere, would have you believe they did it all themselves. Nothing but hard graft and elbow grease, thank you very much. Of course, it’s almost always nonsense. No matter what their level of talent or diligence, there comes a point where everyone needs a helping a hand. The Joop Swart Masterclass, now in its 20th year, is all about giving a leg-up to young photojournalists by bringing them together with people who are long experienced in the feld. And, as Joop Swart master and professional documentary photographer Donald Weber explains, at the moment such help is more important than it has ever been. ‘A lot of people are struggling right now,’ Donald says. ‘If you’re a young photographer and you’re not quite…

September 11, 2001 Thomas Hoepker’s photograph is one of the most controversial images to emerge from the tragedy of 9/11, writes David Clark AT FIRST glance, the picture (left) almost looks like an everyday scene: a group of people sit chatting by the water’s edge on a sunny day. The atmosphere appears relaxed and two of them seem to be smiling. Then, in the distance, you notice the thick smoke billowing across the sky. When you realise that the city in the background is New York and that the date is 11 September 2001, the picture takes on a completely different signifcance. The smoke is coming from Lower Manhattan, where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center have just collapsed after being struck by passenger aircraft hijacked by Al-Qaeda…

CAMERAS have evolved signifcantly over the past decade, with high-quality, high-megapixel sensors now found in the current crop of digital SLRs. The pictures such cameras can produce are simply outstanding. These crisp, high-resolution images can produce huge prints or be used for publication at almost any size with perfect clarity. Landscape photographers now have the perfect tool for capturing our wonderful world in fne detail. So is the digital SLR the ultimate allpurpose image creator and is this the only camera for the job? Does it outclass everything else before it or are there other models that each have their own benefts and may be even more suitable in the right situation? If you want lighter, cheaper, classic or greater handling of dynamic range, there are many alternatives available that…

SWAPPING LENSES Q I have been learning photography with a Nikon D3100 and was recently given my uncle’s old Nikon F75. Will I be able to use the lenses from my D3100 on it (18-55mm and 55-200mm lenses) and will the F75’s 28-80mm lens work with my digital camera? Leon Taylor A Assuming your F75’s 28–80mm zoom is the popular f/3.3-5.6 G-series kit lens, it will work on your D3100 with the exception of autofocus. Neither the lens nor your camera has a built-in AF motor, so you will have to focus the lens manually. As the distance the (tiny) focus ring travels from minimum to maximum focus is very small on this lens, fine-tuning the focus will prove difficult. There’s no harm in giving it a go, but you…

“It is a CSC designed for a smartphone audience” NIKON UNVEILS D3300 DSLR AT CES NIKON unveiled the D3300 DSLR at the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, USA. The ‘entry-level’ DX-format D3300 features 11 ‘razor-sharp’ AF points (with a cross-type sensor at the centre), an Expeed 4 imaging processor and a default top ISO sensitivity of 12,800. Designed to be more compact than its D3200 sibling, the 24.2-million-pixel model measures 124x98x75.5mm with a carbon-fibre build to help reduce weight. Features include a 3in, 921,000-dot resolution LCD screen, a burst rate of 5fps and 13 in-camera effects. The camera’s imaging sensor has no optical low-pass filter, to help improve image resolution and sharpness – in line with a current trend among camera manufacturers. A sensitivity range of ISO…

THE FIRST Kodak-branded compact system camera, the PixPro S-1, is due for launch in April, carrying an expected kit price of under £500. The S-1 is a 16-million-pixel, micro four thirds camera, the development of which was first announced at CES a year ago. It will be ‘smartphone friendly’, with a case at the back allowing the direct attachment of a mobile device for wireless image transfer between camera and phone. ‘It is a CSC designed for a smartphone audience,’ said JK Imaging sales and marketing director Austin Kazami. ‘We need to be different from our competitors,’ admitted the US firm’s executive account manager Grégory Taude. JK Imaging is confident that the Kodak brand, tainted by years of financial trouble ahead of its emergence from bankruptcy protection last year, will…

OVER the last few months we have interviewed store managers at Sony Alpha Centres of Excellence up and down the country, from Southampton to Carlisle. Through the provision of regular training in the latest Sony cameras and technology, store staff are fully equipped with the knowledge to ensure customers have in-depth information and advice when choosing the right Sony camera for them. After-sales support means that this service does not stop once the customer is out of the door – whether you need a lens, an accessory, or just want someone to explain how a particular feature works, staff are on hand to make sure Sony users receive the assistance they require. If you want to visit a Sony Alpha Centre of Excellence, it is worth looking out for the…

● THE TRAVELING PHOTOGRAPHER by Sandra Petrowitz, £25.50 Travel photography can be a tricky beast – while on one hand part of the point of travel is to put yourself in front of incredible sights, on the other quite a few other people like to put themselves in front of these sights, so it can be hard to make an original photograph. Sandra Petrowitz offers up a platter of tips for getting fresh, creative travel pictures. ● ORCHARD BEACH: THE BRONX RIVIERA by Wayne Lawrence, £29.99 Wayne Lawrence made a six-year project of visiting Orchard Beach in the Bronx, known locally as ‘the worst beach in New York’. Day after day he would walk the beach, making friends, making connections and above all making photographs. The images that followed are…

THIS PHOTOGRAPH is a portrait of Jo Aylward, who is a painter based in Kent. She is really good friends with my wife, who is also a painter. We go on holiday with Jo and her family and they stay with us a couple of times a year. On this occasion, Jo was looking at a book on painting while sitting in our kitchen. The clothes she wears are of a very simple, classical style, and this is carried through into everything in her house. As she sat looking through the book, I saw her in this pose, sitting in a pool of light from the window. I knew straight away that I wanted to photograph her, and told her not to move. I used one of my favourite cameras,…

The winner of the Editor’s Choice picture of the week will receive a HelloCanvas 16x24in canvas print (including shipping) worth £36.95 The Editor’s Choice will be printed onto a high-quality canvas with UV-resistant inks and mounted onto a sturdy wooden frame 1.2in thick. For HelloCanvas ‘each happiness of yesterday is a memory for tomorrow’, and we think your best beloved pictures deserve the best service. Our dedicated team is renowned for its attention to detail. www.hellocanvas.co.uk How to submit your images Please see the ‘Send us your pictures’ section on page 3 for details or visit www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/spotlight Birmingham library 1 Birmingham’s new library looks spectacular at night. Ian has done a great job of capturing the colours Canon EOS 6D, 24-70mm, 20secs at f/16, ISO 400, tripod Eilean Donan 2…

ESTONIA is an up-and-coming destination for wildlife photography. The country boasts fantastic species such as European lynx, wolves, white-tailed eagles, wild boar and elk – all of which you may get the chance to photograph if you visit Estonia this winter. Visit Estonia, Estonian Nature Tours and Amateur Photographer are giving one lucky photographer the chance to visit Estonia this March to spend fve days alongside top wildlife photographer and AP contributor Luke Massey photographing white-tailed eagles. Spending two days in a specialist hide, you will have eagles feed in front of you throughout the day. Ravens, foxes and even wolves also visit the hide! When not in the hide, you’ll be exploring the local area hoping to find elk, beavers, owls and many other fantastic animals. HOW TO ENTER…

Studio backgrounds Andrew Sydenham looks at a selection of specialist backgrounds for the studio snapper Colorama paper backgrounds From around £35 (1.35x11m) www.colorama-photo.com/paper-backgrounds.php Seamless paper backgrounds defne the look of a photo studio as much as the lighting and cameras that adorn it. Colorama has one of the widest ranges of paper backgrounds available, with 55 colours and fve sizes from 1.35-3.55m in width and rolls running to 50m in length. The wider and longer rolls are limited to the most common colours, mainly black, white and grey. Colours with evocative names like larkspur and rose pink can be selected from the range to match or contrast with just about any product or garment, and their quality and consistency make them indispensable for all types of photography. I prefer paper…

Q When did you become interested in photography? A I have always been a happy holiday snapper, but at the beginning of 2013, when I returned to photography after a long lapse, I moved to digital imaging. I bought a DSLR and turned an occasional pastime into something more serious. I think I’ve always been aware of the importance of composition. At school, I was quite good at drawing and painting, and an appreciation of all things visual has stayed with me ever since. Q What do you enjoy most about photography? A While I love capturing people and places, I also relish experimentation. With a timed shot ready on a tripod, I took a shot of myself taking a shot with a second camera. I loaded that shot onto…

In his question regarding his EOS 100D (below left), Norman Black asked about white balance correction. As soon as white balance is mentioned, Kelvin is not far behind. Kelvin (K) is a standard unit of measurement of temperature, which you might also see referred to (incorrectly) as ‘degrees Kelvin’ or ‘°K’. In the case of digital photography, it refers specifically to the colour temperature of light, with 5,500K broadly considered to be the temperature of noon daylight (and electronic flash). Light sources with a lower colour temperature, such as tungsten and candle light, are warmer (more red), and higher temperatures, such as daylight on an overcast day and open shade, are cooler (more blue). Knowing the colour temperature of a light source is useful, as it is effectively how the…

It was not just photography on the agenda at the third annual ‘conversazione’ of the Dundee Amateur Photographic Association, when John Baxter occupied the chair. ‘An interesting programme of songs, readings etc was carried through,’ reported AP. ‘During the evening the Secretary, Mr Whitton, read an interesting and humorous paper on “The Curiosities of Photography”, after which a negative of the platform was secured by the aid of the flash-light, which caused much interest.’ Afterwards, it seems, club members had the chance to let their hair down a tad. AP’s writeup concluded: ‘At the completion of the programme, the hall being cleared, dancing was engaged in for an hour or two.’…

A SCHOOL has appealed for help in kitting out a second darkroom as teachers go back to basics, claiming that digital imaging has ‘deskilled’ photography. Demand among pupils for traditional methods has swelled since King Edward VI Aston School in Birmingham set up a photographic society and offered photography courses as an ‘enrichment’ option. Pupils have been able to experience using film alongside digital imaging after the school converted a basement room into its first darkroom three years ago. David Healey, photography tutor at the school, which educates boys aged 11-18, said: ‘The unique look and feel of film images, as well as the enjoyment of physically creating your own photos, has proved very popular with pupils. ‘High levels of automation in digital photography have, to an extent, deskilled photography,…

THE MOST important new feature of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 is undoubtedly the 0.2in, 200,000-dot EVF. Over the past few years, we have seen an increasing number of cameras fitted with electronic viewfinders, including Panasonic’s own Lumix DMC-LF1 that was released almost a year ago. Now the same viewfinder has been added to the TZ range, along with the welcome addition of raw shooting. Both these features, along with a 30x optical zoom and Wi-Fi connectivity, really improve what is already an excellent series of travel cameras, but I’m sure the Lumix DMC-TZ60 will also attract a few admiring glances from enthusiast photographers. I was lucky to spend a day out shooting with a pre-production version of the TZ60 in the bright sunshine of the Mojave Desert in California, following…

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 I TOOK YOUR PICTURE, YOU CAPTURED MY HEART AP Group Editor Nigel Atherton wondered how many people we photograph may one day be of huge signifi cance (AP 11 January). I can’t better Ian Berry’s early shots of a young Nelson Mandela, but I have a photo of someone who would later have a huge impact on my life. At the age of 14, I had a friend who lived in a council cul-de-sac. Whenever I visited him, two eight-year-old girls would run across and cheekily call me names. The one name that sticks most in my mind was ‘curly nut’. My hair’s not…

SPORTS photography is a genre that can seem out of reach to amateur photographers. Access to premier events is restricted and the kit needed, including huge telephoto-length lenses, can be costprohibitive for most. However, professional sports editorial photographer Adrian Dennis believes that any amateur can take a great action shot. ‘I prescribe to the thought that it doesn’t matter what the sport event is, you can get as good a sport picture at your local football club as you can at a Premier League game,’ says Adrian. ‘In fact, you can quite often make very different pictures at smaller clubs as you might get more access. If you go to a Champions League fnal, for instance, there will be hundreds of photographers there, so the chances of making a unique…

PRACTICALLY any photographer or photography lover will know the name Rankin, the alias of John Rankin Waddell. A portfolio of unique, instantly identifable portraiture has established Rankin as a master in the feld, but something you might not know is that Rankin is much more than just a photographer – music videos, television documentaries and a number of magazines are all strings to his bow. Rankin co-founded Dazed & Confused magazine with Jefferson Hack in 1992. Since then, he has gone on to launch other magazines, including AnOther, Rank and most recently The Hunger. His television work includes Seven Photographs that Changed Fashion and America in Pictures: The Story of Life Magazine, while his photographs have appeared in Vogue, Elle, Esquire, Playboy, Q and Vanity Fair, as well as on…

Magazine vendor Mark Pearce Olympus XZ-1, 65mm focal length equivalent, 1/80sec at f/2.2, ISO 100 ‘There are few complaints from a technical standpoint. Mark’s choice of focal length has ensured minimal distortion, the exposure is full and the colours are neutral’ MARK took this environmental portrait while he was in Paris, telling us that he ‘began taking a shot of the newsstand from a distance, when the vendor invited me over to take his portrait’. Finding such a compliant subject isn’t always easy, especially if there’s a potential language barrier in the way, but a willing subject will invariably lead to better images. The reason for this is because it allows a rapport to be established between the photographer and the subject, which has multiple benefits. In this instance, it…

In the next few weeks AP hopes to run the following equipment through the most rigorous testing procedures in the industry… Google Nik Analog Efex Pro We test a plugin flter that simulates the look achievable from traditional camera types, including ‘classic’ and ‘wet plate’. AP 1 February Nikon D3300 We take a frst look at the entry-level, 24.2-millionpixel, DXformat D3300 DSLR with no optical low-pass flter AP 1 February CES round-up All the latest product news from this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, USA. AP 8 February Fujiflm XQ1 Find out how Fujiflm’s stylish latest premium compact camera fares in our comprehensive test. AP 15 February TESTBENCH: SIX OF THE BEST Six of the best softboxes for flashguns are put through their paces in our two-page test.…

WHEN Fujifilm launched its first X-series model in the form of the X100, it was immediately sought-after by photographers who fell in love with its classic styling and elegant appearance. Before long, Fuji realised it had hit the design sweet spot with regards to what photographers were looking for and quickly set about creating an interchangeable-lens version with a similar APS-C-sized sensor to meet increasing demand. The X-E1 was a particularly successful model in this series, and Fuji has sensibly decided against a radical overhaul with the design of its successor, the X-E2. Instead, the X-E2 is marked out by 60 smaller improvements and refinements, including a newly designed X-Trans CMOS II sensor, built-in Wi-Fiand an improved EVF with a 50fps refresh rate. FEATURES Whereas the X-E1 inherited the X-Trans…

IN THE past few decades, the ‘standard of living’ for most people in the affluent West has greatly increased. We have more stuff: more televisions; more designer trainers; more personal computers; more mobile phones; and, yes, more cameras. The precise figures don’t matter, and are probably not measurable. Are we talking about 30 years, or 40 or 50? Has the standard of living doubled, or tripled? Does it matter? You’d need to be even more ‘Bah! Humbug!’ than I am if you want to deny the material improvement. Sticking with things that are unmeasurable, but still the subject of general agreement, people are, however, no happier now than they were 20, or 30, or 40 years ago. To be sure, you can’t measure happiness. Indeed, any attempt to do so…