Innholdsfortegnelse for 17-Dec-2016 i Amateur Photographer

It is a privilege, as Editor, to oversee the creation of a new issue of AP every week, and ensure that each one contains enough of the magic fairy dust that makes it the best photography magazine in the world (I’m biased, I know). But the Christmas issue is always my favourite to put together, because it gives us the opportunity to select our highlights from the previous year, whether it’s the most interesting cameras and accessories we have used, the most arresting images we have seen, or the most useful tips we have been given. And what a year 2016 has been! Our Christmas front cover shot, which as usual is chosen from an open competition, is a real cracker this year, and it sets a standard that continues…

‘I ONLY bought my first DSLR, a Nikon D5200, two and a half years ago,' says Elena. ‘I am completely self-taught. I initially started with landscapes, but soon realised that I wanted to put the stories and ideas I had in my head to use, so I started focusing on portraiture and editorial fashion photography. This picture was one of my very early ones, so it was shot with the Nikon D5200. I now shoot with the Nikon D810. I use various lenses including the Nikkor 16-35mm, Sigma Art 35mm f/1.4, Nikkor 85mm f/1.4G and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G. For this image I used the 50mm f/1.4G. ‘This girl's mother wanted to create a Christmas card for her family, so she invited me to her house in the mountains to take…

You answered A Yes, it’s the first thing I do out of the box 57% B Yes, but I just assign custom buttons and dials 25% CYes, but I just tweak AF options 4% DNo, as I don’t want to foul up the camera 4% E No, as I don’t see the point – it works fine as it is 10% What you said ‘I get the impression that a lot of the stuff on modern digital cameras is there to appeal to computer geeks, and I don’t regard myself as being one of them.’ ‘It’s the first thing I do after charging the battery.’ ‘I always customise the camera. I turn off the bleep. I set the date. I set it to record raw. I’ll set a default AF…

1 Midground is the new foreground Craig Roberts www.craigrobertsphotography.co.uk A typical foreground composition is made up of three main elements: foreground, midground and background. They provide the beginning, middle and end of the viewer's journey through the picture. The foreground feature is often used to help create a sense of depth, but midground elements can prove effective enough to replace a foreground feature. With a strong midground, a picture doesn't always need a complementary foreground feature to balance the image. The build-up of the three elements can vary in size within the frame to create an image of balance and harmony. 2 Get to know your local patch Sarah Brooks www.moonfruitphotography.co.uk It's handy to have some local spots in mind for occasions when there isn't time to travel far. Getting…

19 Control the background Martin Bedall www.mcbweddings.com If you don't pay attention to the background, it can affect the entire picture. With reportage wedding photography, you can't manipulate what happens and where, so you have to deal with the likes of parked cars, fire exits and advertising hoardings. Sometimes these elements can be included – why hide the scaffolding; it's part of their day. If I want to reduce the distractions, however, I change my shooting angle, aperture, lens, or all three. 20 Beat the competition Kevin Mullins www.kevinmullinsphotography.co.uk At almost every wedding there will be guests with camera gear to rival you and your set-up. And even if this isn't the case, nearly everyone will have a mobile phone with a camera or a small point-and-shoot. Try to make…

28 Shoot from low angles Craig Roberts www.craigrobertsphotography.co.uk Like many photographers, I shoot most of my images from standing height, but there's a whole new perspective to be had from crouching down and shooting low. It's amazing how different things look from down there. Use a wideangle lens to make the most of these exciting new angles, filling the foreground with any interesting feature you can find. Include drainage gratings, cobbled streets, road markings, reflections in puddles after rain and even people's legs to fill the foreground. Use a small aperture to make the most of depth of field, and focus around a third of the way into the view to maximise this. Use your LCD screen to frame your shots, or, if your camera has Wi-Fi, connect it to…

Since 2007 Charlie Waite’s Take a view Landscape Photographer of the Year competition has become a cherished means for landscape photographers to display their best images, and stand a chance of catching the attention of Charlie Waite and being awarded the coveted title. The competition has also helped to launch the careers of a variety of photographers, even those not declared the overall winner, and now nearly ten years on the competition is as strong as it ever has been. LPOTY is celebrating its 10th birthday and there will be a special edition book available next April, so to gear us up for that we take a look back at all the images Charlie Waite selected as his own Judge’s Choice. Visit: www.take-a-view.co.uk. Icy abstract, Calderdale, West Yorkshire Robert Birkby…

‘I was stunned to find my first print to be an almost perfect representation’ Canon Pixma Pro-10S In the first issue of 2016, I shared my New Year's resolution to do more printing. Too many of my favourite images lay unseen in the dark recesses of my hard drive. I do own an A4 printer/scanner but, as a family device, my kids use it more than I do, for printing their homework – when it has ink in it. I quickly decided that what I needed was a dedicated photo printer of my own that would be off limits for printing essays about Henry VIII. What's more, if I was going to take the trouble to make prints of my best images, I may as well print them at a…

TWENTY QUESTIONS 1 Was the Minotar a mythical beast or a 35mm f/2.8 lens? 2 What is the link between haze, senility and the quality of out-of-focus images? 3 What famous Leica lens is named after a dog? 4 True or false: Santorini was an Italian manufacturer of half-frame cameras. 5 Were unexplained variations in the speed of George Eastman’s films caused by (i) cows eating mustard or (ii) switching to vegetarian gelatin? 6 For which achievement is Steven Sasson is best known? (i) making martial arts movies (ii) inventing digital photography? 7 What is the current name of the Britannia Works Company? 8 With what kind of photographic equipment are Welsh gnomes especially associated? 9 Which is the odd one out – Elmar, Sonnar, Nectar, Culminar, Planar? 10 Which…

January • Reuters news agency confirms it has banned freelance photographers from sending in shots as raw files. Separately, Don McCullin speaks out against digital photography, saying ‘it can be a totally lying kind of experience’. • Nikon unveils its new DSLR flagship, the D5, capable of ‘extreme low light’ images via a max ISO of 3,280,000. March • AP’s late Chris Cheesman teams up with BBC consumer rights show Fake Britain tocapturepeople’s experiences of buying fake camera gear. • Canon unveils a new entry-level DSLR, the EOS 1300D, featuring an 18MP APS-C sensor for just £289.99 (body only). May • Camera production by the big Japanese makers hits a speed bump after Kumamoto Prefecture, a key manufacturing hub, is hit by an earthquake. • The first Polaroid-format camera in…

REMEMBER the monkey selfie, an amusing image that ended up sparking a copyright storm? Back at the beginning of the year, the British photographer who set up the shoot welcomed a US ruling that a monkey cannot own copyright. The lawsuit, launched in 2015 by animal rights charity People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), challenged photographer David Slater's rights over the image in a San Francisco federal court. But US District Judge William Orrick said that ‘while Congress and the President can extend the protection of law to animals as well as humans, there is no indication they did so in the Copyright Act.' Slater told AP: ‘I have always owned the copyright… I chose the lens, the exposure settings, even put a flashgun on the camera and…

Some love it, others hate it: Black Friday seems fine for those with planned target buys in sight, but for many there are tempting traps. Buying something because it's on offer at a cheaper price than usual is a questionable step, unless money is not an issue. Having learned the hard way about the difference between want and need, I'm always wary about reacting to the dazzle of ‘bargain-offer' tags. It's not so much about knowing where to start but knowing where to stop. A close relative is a good example – he now has eight decent digital compact cameras with three still unboxed. ‘They were too good to miss', he says. Sounds like temptation won, again. Pity his photography didn't. Tim Arnold, via email Win! For high-quality photos and…

7 Paint with light Wayne Johns www.waynejohns.com I like to think of my light shapers in the same way as an artist would their paintbrushes. For example, a large light shaper, such as a softbox or an Octobox, is like a big paintbrush that allows you to flood a scene, whereas a small reflector, such as a snoot or 7in reflector with a grid, is akin to a small paintbrush – it allows you to paint in the details of your scene. 8 Use a reflector Phil Hall www.philhallphotos.com Whether you need to lighten your subject or simply lift the shadows in your shot, reflectors can be a useful accessory to keep in your kit bag. They come in a variety of surface colours, but the three most popular are…

22 Try wild camping Anita Nicholson www.anitanicholsonphotography.com When deciding where to wild camp, it pays to do some research. The Photographer's Ephemeris is as invaluable for choosing your wild-camp location as it is for planning any landscape photography. If you can find a fell that will give you a great view of sunset, sunrise, moonset or moonrise, then all the better. There are also some great hiking websites. My favourite is www.wainwrightroutes.co.uk, as each route map is accompanied by lots of photographs, which helps to make sure you don't miss great features and viewpoints during your trip. Thanks to this website, I've found many beautiful trees, waterfalls, tarns and less well-known views to photograph. For planning ahead and for navigation on the trip, a waterproof version of the OS Explorer…

31 Pay your subject a compliment Gavin Mills www.gavinmillsphotography.com Asking a complete stranger if you can take their picture can be pretty scary. There's a fear of rejection, and we imagine all the terrible things they might say. In reality, however, the fear is usually worse than the reaction itself. If someone refuses, it's usually with a polite, ‘No thanks'. I've never encountered anybody who was angry or annoyed by me asking. I still feel nervous sometimes, but the more you do, the easier it gets. A surprising number of people will actually say yes (about 90 per cent). Approach subjects with a big, friendly smile and be polite and confident. When I ask someone if I can take their picture, I often pick out the thing that drew me…

Steve Baker, Kent Like most of us, Steve always owned cameras as a child. It was in 2004 that he got his hands on a DSLR and it was then that he really began to hone his skills. He quickly developed the ability to see the picture straight away and respond to what was right and wrong on the camera's screen. In the following years he developed a real love of portraits and landscapes, and here we see some fine examples of the latter taken in Iceland. Visit stevewlb.wordpress.com. 1 The Black Falls Steve found this scene of the Black Falls in Svartifoss, Iceland. He has used a wideangle lens to give us a sense of the journey of the water Sony A7II, 17mm, 1.5secs, ISO 6400, ND110 filter 2…

‘For me, the TZ100 is the closest thing yet to the ideal compact camera’ Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ100 If there's one camera that I really enjoyed using this year, it's the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ100. It achieves something that hasn't been done before, combining a useful 25-250mm-equivalent zoom lens and a 20MP,1in sensor in a design that will slip into a jacket pocket. This makes it the first ‘travel zoom' compact to offer the kind of image quality demanded by serious photographers. To me, that's a pretty big deal. Let me explain. My first ‘proper' camera, 25 years ago, was a very basic Canon EOS 1000 35mm SLR, which I bought with 35-80mm and 80-200mm zooms. However, I quickly found that 35mm wasn't wide enough, so added a second-hand Sigma 24mm f/2.8.…

‘It isn’t just about image quality – it’s about how much enjoyment I get from using it’ Fujifilm X-T2 Without meaning to sound like an advertisement for a dating website, I've been waiting for my dream camera to come into my life for a long time. So long, in fact, that I had almost given up hope of ever meeting it. The last digital camera I bought was a Canon EOS 40D (in 2008) – a perfectly capable DSLR but, I think you'll agree, a little long in the tooth. In my line of work, I have been lucky enough to try out countless makes and models of camera in the intervening years, and this privileged access has enabled me to keep an eye on the market to see if…

Sooner or later, most children work out that there is no Santa Claus. At least, not in the sense of a single person who delivers presents to every child in a single night. My uncharitable suspicion is that most suss it out quite quickly, but keep quiet in case it in some way interferes with the flow of presents. To those readers who have not yet worked out that there is no Santa Claus, I apologise for shattering their illusions. It may, however, be in the interest of parents to keep alive an illusion of Father Christmas, whether their children’s or their own – the latter qualifying, perhaps, as an illusion of an illusion, or meta-illusion. It is not always good for everyone (or perhaps anyone) to understand everything, but…

Producing a weekly magazine means creating 51 covers a year (don’t worry, we haven’t drunk all the sherry – the festive issue is available for a fortnight). In 2016, landscapes, models, birds, buildings and even a tent earned their place on the cover, but for the Christmas issue we handed that responsibility over to you, the readers. When we choose a cover shot, we generally look for a portrait-format picture – although if the quality is high enough we’re not opposed to cropping. If the image features a model, we look for eye contact (although this year’s winner is an exception). It’s also imperative that there is enough space for the magazine ‘furniture’ – masthead, cover lines and graphic devices we use to describe what’s in the issue. Busy images…

CHRIS CHEESMAN was AP’s news editor for 17 years, during which time he made an immeasurable contribution to the magazine. He secured more scoops and broke bigger stories than any other journalist in the industry, and gained a worldwide reputation for his tenacity and determination. But he was also a man of honesty and integrity, and a journalist who, in his pursuit of the truth, never forgot he was on the side of the reader. No other journalist in the UK worried the industry’s spokespeople as much as Chris. One PR told us that whenever they saw a call coming in from him, they were terrified. This makes him sound like a tyrant. He wasn’t. Instead, Chris was quiet, modest and very well liked by all who were privileged to…

Invercone to dome While visiting the AP website (www.amateurphotographer.co.uk), I came across a round-up of six of the best light meters. The word ‘Invercone' occurs three times in respect of three different meters on this page, referring to objects that are neither conical nor inverted, but approximately hemispherical. An actual Invercone is a very different, very sophisticated design, that exists only for use with Weston Master or Euro Master models, and is a trade name registered by Weston. I can understand not using the word ‘photosphere' or ‘lumisphere' as they don't have the necessary cachet, but what is wrong with ‘dome'? Peter Davidson, via email Well spotted and a very accurate observation, Peter. The reason for calling the diffuser dome an ‘Invercone' is that Weston Meters are iconic and in…

13 Focusing on moving subjects Ben Hall www.benhallphotography.com When shooting moving subjects, I switch to predictive focus mode (on my Canon EOS-1D X) and use either the AF point expansion to create a larger focusing area, or the auto selection using all 61 AF points. For a moving subject against a relatively clean background, I opt for the auto-selection mode. I can compose the image as I pan, and my DSLR automatically tracks the subject. 14 Shooting a series Chris Weston www.chrisweston.photography When you are shooting a series, each image must relate to a central thread that holds the story together. Think about the structure of a book, which has a title and is separated into chapters. Every chapter relates to what came before and what comes after in a…

Rouge by Michael Kenna £45, Prestel BETWEEN 1917 and 1928, the Ford River Rouge complex in Dearborn, Michigan, USA, was the largest integrated factory the world had ever seen. These days the area is a shadow of its former self, and is now a place where nature and industry are engaged in a battle of wills. This is where Michael Kenna comes in. In1927, Charles Sheeler was commissioned to take images that exalted the Rouge complex, and Kenna uses these as his starting point. Rouge is Kenna's most conceptually fascinating project to date. Its clear narrative is haunting and humbling, and – living as we do in such uncertain times – entirely prescient. Exodus by Sebastião Salgado £44.99, Taschen THE MORE things change, the more they stay the same. That's…

‘I can confidently say it’s the most capable crop-sensor DSLR I have used’ Nikon D500 At the beginning of the year, while reporting from the CES expo in Las Vegas in the USA, I was invited to get hands-on with pre-production samples of two DSLRs that would go on to be hugely popular with enthusiast and professional photographers. I am, of course, referring to the Nikon D500 and D5. In the case of the latter, it wasn't a great surprise to see Nikon unveiling a brand-new flagship DSLR in the same year as professional photographers geared up for the Olympic Games in Rio. As impressed as I was by the D5's sensational spec and tank-like build quality, it was the D500 that received my full attention. Having waited seven years…

‘It’s one of the best, and best-looking, mirrorless cameras you can buy’ Olympus Pen-F There's been a lot of excitement about the Fujifilm X-T2 this year but I'm still a big fan of Olympus mirrorless cameras. I use the original OM-D E-M5, one of the first ‘serious' mirrorless models. I love how compact the Olympus OM-D and Pen-series cameras and lenses are, and I can easily fit my entire Olympus system, including a flashgun, into a light shoulder bag. I have been using the Pen-F, released at the beginning of this year, for several months. It has now replaced the battle-scarred E-M5 as my main mirrorless device. If the best camera is the one you have with you, then you want to have the Pen-F with you all the time.…