Innholdsfortegnelse for 21-Apr-2018 i Amateur Photographer

This week is all about extremes. Most of us stick within a fairly middle-of-the-road selection of camera settings for the majority of our work, but this week we focus on what can be achieved when you push your kit to the limits of its settings range, whether that be wide apertures, fast or slow shutter speeds or high ISO settings. Analogue expert Mike Crawford compares the merits of uprating versus high-speed film (page 36), and AP’s Reviews Editor Michael Topham goes on a night shoot with the Sony A7R III: a camera that excels in extremely low light (page 40). We also shoot low-light street portraits using LED lights, and follow an extreme weather photographer. If you’re looking for something a little more sedate how about a visit to a…

‘Smaller sensors mean a loss for wideangle and low-light performance’ The fundamental physics of cameras hasn't changed. To quote clarkvision.com, ‘The lens collects light, the focal length spreads out the light and the pixel chops up the light in to small details'. As photographers, our raison d'être is to collect light, measure it, change how it looks, then show the end result to others. Our duty is to the expression and communication of ideas, but our currency is light. Ever since the invention of the camera, there has been a great deal of innovation around the way we capture light and then render it. However, in terms of camera design, the SLR has been one of the mainstays of photography – so much so that I not only take it…

LUMIX DC-G9 This compact system camera has a flip-out screen and is great for situations where you want to adopt a low angle to include strong lead-in lines. The sensor delivers plenty of detail too. Panasonic DMC-FZ1000EB With a large 1in sensor and a 25-400mm (35mm equivalent) zoom lens, this camera has all the flexibility you need for a mini photo project. Leica 8-18mm f/2.8-4 ASPH This Micro Four Thirds 8-18mm (16-36mm 35mm equiv.) wide zoom lens is perfect for making the most of low-level lead-in lines in your pictures. LUMIX G X Vario 12-35mm f/2.8 The versatile focal length of this fast zoom lens (24-70mm 35mm equiv.) is ideal for creating a frame within a frame and the f/2.8 aperture is useful for shallow depth of field.…

James Paterson's article ‘Break the rules' (AP 17 March) came as a breath of fresh air, addressing so many contentious issues – and taboos – in photography. Taboos such as ignoring the clipping of highlights and shadows, using high ISOs despite their effect on image quality, tilting horizons, making unconventional crops, shooting at midday rather than the ‘golden' hours, leaving white balance on auto, creating portraits in which the eyes are either out of focus or not visible at all, ignoring the rule of thirds... you name it! Of the 20 issues Paterson addressed, I am happy to admit that I routinely use 16. And there were memorable words from Paterson too. ‘Rules help us take better pictures, but blind devotion can result in clichéd pictures' - which chimes well…

This macro shot was uploaded to our Twitter page using the hashtag #appicoftheweek. It was taken by photographer Will Mallett. He tells us, ‘It was the last day of the Beast from the East (part 2), and I hadn't made the most of the snowy weather we had got, so I decided to head out with my Olympus camera. I looked around the garden for inspiration and hoped to find some potentially interesting details to photograph. The colour contrast between the bright reds, oranges and greens of the moss growing on a brick wall with the white of the snow behind it was something that really caught my eye.' Win! Each week we choose our favourite picture on Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, Twitter or the reader gallery using #appicoftheweek. PermaJet proudly…

SKYLUM'S Photoshop alternative, Luminar, has received a big update, bringing with it significant performance enhancements. Dubbed the ‘Jupiter' release, it's available as a free update, and offers improved raw conversion and parity with Mac and Windows to give both versions Batch processing, Free Transform and Flip and Rotate features. The speed of editing across all areas of the program has been dramatically increased. Images open faster, filters are applied quicker and the entire application is more responsive. Meanwhile, the improvements to raw-processing functionality include wider compatibility with more cameras, fewer halos, cleaner gradients, better exposure compensation and reduced chromatic aberration. Numerous interface and user-experience improvements have been made based on user feedback for an improved editing experience. Several ‘under-the-hood' enhancements have been made to add stability. The Skylum team has…

Angela Nicholson Former AP technical editor Angela Nicholson began reviewing camera gear in early 2004 and has used a wide range of kit in an array of conditions, often pushing it to extremes to test its limitations. Follow her on Twitter @AngeNicholson Most photographers shoot the majority of their photographs during daylight hours and in dry conditions at between 10-20°C. That’s to be expected. They are the type of conditions that are most conducive to going outside with a camera: you don’t need any special equipment or clothing, and you can just grab your camera and go – even your tripod and bag can be left at home if you mount your favourite lens and accept its limitations. As our eyes are our windows to the world, it’s only natural…

Spare batteries If you’re shooting in extreme/ persistent cold, take a few batteries for your camera (and flashgun if you’re using one), and keep them nice and warm in an inside pocket. Bin bag A bin bag weighs next to nothing and can be carried at all times, ready to cover your gear or provide a clean surface to kneel or sit on while shooting. Silica gel packets Before going inside from the cold, put a couple inside a ziplock bag with your camera to keep moisture away from your camera; condensation will form outside the bag. Raincover Even if your camera is weatherproof, a raincover gives it some extra protection and keeps critical areas like the memory-card port door dry, so you can change the card if necessary.…

Andrea Heribanova Having worked at Kew Gardens in London for nine years, it's no surprise to learn that Andrea Heribanova began her foray into photography with macro, before branching out to cover the wider landscape. These days, her favourite subjects are London and seaside piers, so whenever she has time she visits one or the other. ‘If I have a day or two, I'll drive over to Sussex, Kent, Dorset or the Somerset coast to capture the piers in different conditions,' she explains. ‘I prefer landscapes without people, which is why I mostly shoot on weekdays.' In the future, Andrea plans to get up earlier to shoot sunrises, rather than just sunsets, and improve her post-processing skills. Visit www.andreaheribanova.com. 1 The Shard The magical view from Sky Garden (a skyscraper…

Carry handle The generously sized handle has a leather backing underneath to provide a more comfortable grip. Clogballs Billingham’s signature brass ‘clogball’ closures allow the lid to be opened quickly and silently, and secured easily too. Removable strap The shoulder strap can be easily removed if you want to use the bag like a briefcase. Shoulder pad The well-padded SP40 is an optional extra, and costs £35. It’s available in tan, chocolate or black leather. Trolley strap On the back is a slim strap that will fit over the handle of a suitcase. • £200 • www.billingham.co.uk Billingham has long been the go-to brand for photographers in need of top-quality camera bags, and it's easy to see why. The firm has built up an enviable reputation for producing rugged, hard-wearing…

In the 1960s the iconic Kodachrome and other slide films were becoming affordable for the casual amateur photographer, but this brought its own challenges. Colour transparency film is unforgiving when it comes to exposure. With negative films, there is some scope for correcting for underexposure or overexposure at the printing stage, but with a slide, what comes out of the camera goes straight into the projector. Accurate exposure is the key to success. For the technically minded enthusiast, this was not too much of a problem, but for your average family snap shooter, who didn't want the bother of manually setting the camera, there was a definite market for automatic exposure cameras. Enter the Kodak Auto Colorsnap 35, an odd-looking camera which looks distinctly top heavy, a fact explained by…

Re-enactors are always fascinating. Well, if they’re any good, anyway. But in her book EUSA (published by Kehrer Verlag, 2018) Naomi Harris adds another dimension by concentrating on Europeans recreating American tropes, and Americans recreating European tropes. Here we see ‘Native Americans’ in the Czech Republic. From the other side of the Atlantic we see young ‘Dutch girls’ at a tulip festival or ‘Germans’ with sausages. In Sweden, there are buckskin-clad ‘American Frontiersmen’. Technical detail is irrelevant: they could have been shot with almost anything as long as the quality is good enough for reproduction. It is. More than good enough. Likewise, you need an eye for composition. Ms Harris has one. Again, that’s all that needs to be said. The sum of the parts The idea is what matters.…

INTERNATIONAL Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY) and ImageRights are launching a copyright partnership. The new partnership will see winning photographers in the annual competition receiving subscriptions to the ImageRights copyright infringement service. First, second and third place in each of the nine main IGPOTY categories will receive a graded ImageRights subscription plan. The one-year prize subscription plans to 1st and 2nd place winners are worth $588 and $348, respectively, and that for 3rd place is a custom plan made specifically for the partnership. ImageRights protects photographers and photo agencies worldwide from image theft and provides a full suite of copyright enforcement services. For details, and to enter the contest, see igpoty.com.…

THIS week, we go back to 17 April 1940 – a dark time in this country's history. There's something very powerful and moving about this issue of AP. If ever the editorial team and readers needed to keep calm and carry on, it was now: the seemingly unstoppable German war machine was pushing the Allied armies to the edge of France, necessitating the Dunkirk evacuation a month later, while the Battle of Britain had yet to start. But AP kept rolling. The bulldog spirit can be seen throughout the issue, and there was even a competition called ‘Carry On,' encouraging readers to keep taking pictures. ‘The war has been directly responsible for a considerable number of new recruits to our hobby,' noted the editor, with admirable positivity. Readers were, no…

Going long Long exposures allow you to blur movement, and extremely long exposures enable you to blur slow movement like the transition of clouds across the sky. It's a technique that works especially well with landscapes shot in less-than-perfect weather, often making the sky look more dramatic and stormy or creating leading lines that pull your eye in to the main vista. It's normally too bright during the day to shoot an exposure measured in whole seconds or minutes, but a neutral density filter can be used on the end of your lens to cut out some of the light. A ‘strong' filter that cuts out 10EV or stops of light, like the Lee Filters Big Stopper, is ideal as it turns a 1/60sec exposure into a 15sec exposure, but…

Justin Minns Justin is a landscape photographer and workshop leader who has been working with the National Trust for several years. His images have been widely recognised in photography competitions including Landscape Photographer of the Year. Visit www.justinminns.co.uk Frame the view Using a natural frame in an image, such as looking through an archway, is an effective compositional technique to focus attention on the main subject. Taking Waddesdon Manor as an example, the house and formal gardens are surrounded by a belt of woodland and by shooting from beneath the trees the branches could be used to frame views of the house. Framing has other benefits as well: the distance between frame and subject can create a sense of depth in the image and the frame can also be used…