Innholdsfortegnelse for 19-Aug-2017 i Amateur Photographer

There are many benefits to the digital photography revolution, but the decline in photographic printing is one unforeseen (and regrettable) consequence of the march of technology. Think about how many strong images are languishing on your hard drive or cloud storage that would have been printed as a matter of course only a few years ago. As Charlie Waite said, the print is the photograph’s rightful inheritance. So, turn to page 12 for our complete troubleshooting guide to home printing that’s full of practical advice to ensure your prints look as good as possible. Pride of place in this issue’s review section goes to the Canon EOS 6D Mark II, an affordable but powerful full-frame SLR, and don’t miss our exclusive supplement dedicated to pro speakers from Park Cameras’ recent…

Theatrical and Creative Dance Lighting Workshop Book in advance for this workshop in Leigh, Surrey, where you will learn how to create theatrical-style images in a studio setting. Using theatrical and creative lighting, Jon Gray shows you how to add mood and atmosphere to your images. 2 September, www.rps.org/events World Press Photo This worldwide touring exhibition of award-winning photos is on show at the Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh. There were 5,034 entries from 125 countries. Images range from hard-hitting and challenging, to moving and inspiring, that tell contemporary stories from nature, daily life, news and sport. Until 26 August, www.parliament.scot Printing with Lightroom Learn how to get the best results from your printer and Adobe Lightroom. Suitable for beginners, the course teaches the essentials of colour management…

PROFESSIONAL photographer and AP contributor David Noton has been coping with the mother of all IT headaches recently, after his main website was subjected to a ransomware attack. Although David had moved his site to a dedicated server a year ago because he'd been the victim of hacker attacks before, his website-hosting company's back-up procedure ending up exacerbating the crisis. ‘They were backing up the site every day, but they overwrote the site with the hacked, corrupted version,' said David. The hackers demanded payment, which David refused. Fortunately, David has been able to make a new site without too much loss of business, and his f11 members' site at www.f11photographymagazine.com was unaffected. See David's new site at www.davidnoton.com.…

Inbox matters What's going on? In Inbox, 22 July, in response to a reader who laments the reduction in size of the said feature, Geoff Harris boasts that ‘we've never had so many contributions, particularly via our Facebook page, which is why we've shifted the emphasis to that'. Sad. I buy Amateur Photographer weekly because I value the existence of an excellent print magazine about my hobby, photography, at a time when many magazines and newspapers are migrating to the internet, and/or going out of business. (Just like I buy magazines about my other love, jazz.) We live in a world where folk expect all information (and music, films etc) to be free, gratis and for nothing. Just sit on a train and observe how many passengers are reading a…

When I’m commissioned, to shoot a portrait, I’m usually given a free hand to photograph the subject in the way I choose. Editors know the kind of images I’m going to produce, so I simply shoot as wide a range of portraits as I can in the time available. However, sometimes I’m given a more detailed brief and have to work within certain constraints. When I was asked to photograph the actor Peter Capaldi for the Sunday Times Magazine a few months ago, I was specifically asked for an upright portrait, quite simple and stark, against a white background. The editor also wanted images that referenced Irving Penn’s famous ‘Corner Portraits’, made in the late 1940s. In this series of images, Penn photographed major figures of the day in a…

1 Tell the story of the building. So as well as your safe wide shots, capture details or interesting elements either up close on a wide lens, or far away and zoom in to flatten them out. 2 Think about where you're shooting from. Don't just stand and shoot from where your head height is. Get up high or lie down. The more you move around, the more you'll see. 3 I like simplicity – don't make an image too busy. Viewers need breathing space, too. 4 Really think about the light. It's crucial to understand how it translates two-dimensionally. Some buildings suit bright, harsh light and others a grey, flat sky. Try different approaches, and when you're happy with the result remember it and use the technique again. In…

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mk II A mirrorless camera that opens up wildlife and sports photography to MFT users? Sounds too good to be true. However, it's hugely popular with Park Cameras' customers, and is the perfect complement to the Olympus 300mm PRO lens. Nikon D500 With its powerful autofocus system, EXPEED 5 image-processing engine, 4K video capability and incredibly high ISO range, the Nikon D500 combines power with performance to guarantee stunning image quality across all applications. Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Elmar 100-400mm f/4.0-6.3 ASPH This lens is a welcome addition to the Micro Four Thirds lens world, offering a 200-800mm equivalent focal length. Fast, silent AF and strong optical quality make this a perfect partner to Panasonic's 4K-capable Lumix G cameras. Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art The 85mm lens…

BR-E1 remote As well as having the option to trigger the camera from the Canon Connect app, the EOS 6D Mark II is Bluetooth-compatible, allowing it to be used with Canon’s BR-E1 remote controller. This triggers the camera from up to 5m away and is ideal for the likes of selfies, group shots and certain wildlife set-ups. AF system 27 of the 45 AF points are f/8 compatible, the centre point is sensitive down to f/2.8 and you get the usual selection of One Shot AF, AI Servo AF and AI Focus AF modes to choose from. Picture styles The ‘Fine Detail’ picture style adjusts sharpening and noise reduction to improve the rendition of fine textures in JPEG files. It’s found grouped with the other picture styles in the main…

Resolution Our test results matched what we identified in our real-world shots. Centre sharpness peaks at f/5.6 at all focal lengths, with slightly sharper results being recorded towards the edge at f/8. Dial in an aperture value of f/5.6 or f/8 and you’ll be close to producing the sharpest results you can. I’d advise not shooting too far beyond f/11, at which point diffraction starts to take its toll on sharpness. Shading At maximum aperture, the edges of images appear darker than the centre of the frame. Light fall-off is noticeable wide open at all focal lengths, but is strongest at 11mm. Vignetting can be minimised by stopping down to f/8. Alternatively, there’s a quick, one-click fix in the lens corrections tab. Curvilinear distortion Barrel distortion appears at the widest…

‘I chose this picture because, like so many others in the book, it is immediately evocative’ Nick Meyer’s book Either Limits or Contradiction s (Daylight Books, 2017) is far more than the sum of its parts. At first sight, the parts (of which this is one) are mere disconnected snapshots. Much as I liked the book, I had some difficulty in choosing just one picture – not because so many were so good, but because so many were so ordinary. This, paradoxically, was what made them good. We can easily relate to them – we could very easily have taken them ourselves. This all came to me as soon as I started to ruminate on why I should find any of it of interest. Most of the pictures fall into…

If I were on first-name terms with Doctor Who – friendly enough, say, to borrow his Tardis at weekends – one of the fun things I'd like to do is bring people back from the past to show them what the world looks like now. Imagine taking the Wright brothers to modern-day Heathrow Airport, or taking Galileo around Cape Canaveral. Slightly less dramatically, I'd love to fetch some AP readers from the 1970s and show them the cameras of today. They would marvel at the speed, quality, convenience and variety of today's digital cameras, from DSLRs and action cameras to drones, and think we're a thoroughly spoiled generation. Mirrorless cameras would be a particular source of envy for our bell-bottom-wearing time travellers, and I'd have a fun game lined up…

You answered… A Yes, I am often up at sunrise and shooting at dusk 12% B As much as possible but I’m not obsessive about it 34% C Not really, I make the best of whatever light is available 47% D I try to capture nice light but I am not afraid of ‘improving’ light in software 7% What you said Most of my photos are taken in daylight. Sometimes the light is good for my purposes and sometimes it’s not so good. I just try to work with the prevailing light conditions.’ ‘Not really, though I do like a decent sunset which are rarer than you might wish – all too often the sky promises then fails to deliver. I make the best of what light there is and…

Roberto Pavic, Croatia As you can see from this selection, Roberto's favoured genre to shoot is landscape photography, particularly when those areas lie close to water. Many of his subjects are nearby rivers, lakes and the ocean. Reflections in the water, he says, give the landscapes another dimension. Roberto's favourite time to shoot is early in the morning where he can be all alone in a location and experiment with long exposures. His next aim is to tackle Iceland, where he hopes the area will challenge him and hone his skills.www.facebook.com/robertopavicphotography 1 Misurina, Italy A great example of Roberto’s ability to draw out an extra dimension using the reflection of Lake Misurina Canon EOS 6D, 24-105mm, 0.6secs at f/22, ISO 50, tripod, Lee 0.9 soft-edge grad filter 2 Hallstatt, Austria…

Wayne Johns Fashion, beauty and advertising photographer Wayne Johns has been working in the industry for 25 years. An ambassador for Fujifilm, he’s worked with the likes of Coca-Cola, Marie Claire and L’Oréal. www.waynejohns.com THIS image was shot with a prototype of the new Fujifilm GFX 50S medium-format camera, and was one of the first shoots to take place in the UK with that camera. At the time, it was far from complete in many ways. It lacked several functions and the focusing had a mind of its own but even so, it was beautiful to shoot with. The concept for this image was the story of Sleeping Beauty, with a modern edge. We shot it on location in a country house but what you can't tell is that there…

Foam rubber grip A comfortable foam grip is always useful when working in cold conditions. 20° tilt in all directions The head allows the user to move the monopod from its base stand up to a 20° angle. Stand Spider Made of aluminium, the Stand Spider keeps the monopod steady on the ground. The legs then fold up to the body and lock in securely. At a glance • Lightweight at 1.3kg • Sturdy eight-layer carbon construction • Wrist strap included • Option for additional head SIRUI'S PS range comprises six monopods that vary in weight, build, material and size. At the top of the range is the six-section P-426S, which is made from 10-layer carbon. This monopod holds the most weight (10kg) and it commands the highest price of…

ONLINE photographic community EyeEm has revealed its pick of the top 100 entries in its 2017 Photography Awards, which saw more than 88,000 photographers submit over 590,000 images. The jury – which included representatives from the BBC, National Geographic, VII Photo Agency and Refinery29 – judged entries across five different categories: The Architect, The Portraitist, The Photojournalist, The Street Photographer, and The Great Outdoors. The winning shots will be revealed at the EyeEm Festival on 16 September, with the grand prizewinner netting themselves a trip to the Festival and Awards in Berlin, Germany, personal mentorship from a renowned photographer, and state-of-the-art camera equipment. You can see the full list of 100 photographs at eyeem.com/awards/finalists. For the latest news visit www.amateurphotographer.co.uk…

Fuji lens test In Michael Topham's review (5 August), he states: ‘Another part of its spec is its 46mm thread' so, another set of filters just for this lens. ‘it doesn't have any switches on the barrel' would be a detrimental point in any other lens review. ‘This lens is noticeably quieter. It's not entirely silent' but a big improvement! ‘Examination .... revealed visible levels of corner shading .... vignette from the lens isn't distasteful. It's tolerable for most applications'. ‘X series users aren't short of choice when it comes to fast mid telephoto primes' – this one brings it up to three! ‘Factor in that it can be bought with the 35mm f/2 for less than the cost ....' both Canon and Nikon have lenses cheaper than this one.…

Tim Daly Tim Daly is a photographer, teacher and author who has contributed to most UK photography magazines over the past 15 years. He has written numerous books on digital production, printing and the creation of photobooks, and currently teaches photography at the University of Chester, and for the RPS in Bath. To find out more, visit www.timdaly.com. 1 How can I reduce ink costs? Third-party, refillable or remanufactured cartridges use mostly dye-based inks that are unstable in daylight. Pigment inks, on the other hand, such as Epson UltraChrome and Canon Lucia, are more lightfast and better for making prints for sale or display. Although the cost of a set of professional printer inks can be as as 30% of the original hardware price, you can minimise wastage by using…

Diana Mini With its beautifully soft lens and amazing light leaks, this is the only half-frame camera I’ve owned, and while using it my film-processing costs were incredibly low. But it jammed far too often to enjoy shooting with it. Lomo Cosmic Symbol My first love may have gone but it’s never been forgotten. Some cameras I have let go because someone else could use them better than I could, and this is one such example. The Cosmic Symbol is a great fully manual compact to learn on, but it was time to pass it on to someone who wouldn’t just keep it on a shelf. FED-3 rangefinder This one started my Leica thread-mount obsession, but with a Leica on the shelf there was no room for it. I wasn’t…

The Praktica Nova has a special place in my affections, as this was my first ‘proper' camera I was13, and my enthusiasm for photography convinced my parents to subsidise me in buying a second-hand SLR. I spotted it in the local Dixons after school one day, and I had to get a note from school to be allowed out in the lunch hour to walk across town and buy it. I think it cost about £15. I still have the camera, but the shutter has seized up and it has lost its viewfinder eyepiece, so when I spotted one for a few pounds on eBay I justified the purchase on grounds of nostalgia. Mechanically, the Nova is derived from the pre-war Praktiflex, out of which evolved the Praktica line in…