Innholdsfortegnelse for 19-May-2018 i Amateur Photographer

‘People who need people are the luckiest people,’ sang Barbra Streisand, and it’s true that portrait photography can be hugely rewarding. No two people are alike, so making images of our fellows is never dull or predictable. However, some people aren’t always comfortable with having their portrait taken or don’t have the time to hang around, so you need to work quickly, accurately and consistently, especially when it comes to lighting and editing. This week’s issue is dedicated to the art of people shots: from the best portrait lenses and lighting accessories, to posing and editing tips. Our experts cover a range of subjects, from kids to fashion models, as the skills you need will change accordingly. I hope you find it useful, and do send us your best portraits.…

DESPITE DxO Labs's decision to file for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection, the company is confident that customers should not feel any ill effects. In a blogpost on the DxO Labs website, a statement read, ‘We are very confident that this procedure... should not last for more than a few weeks.' Furthermore, updates to DxO's flagship software, DxO PhotoLab, is promised for June (version 1.2), while a new version of the Nik Software Collection, which DxO acquired from Google at the end of 2017, is also anticipated for the same month. This first ‘by DxO' version focuses on fixing bugs and ensuring compatibility with the latest Mac OS and PC platforms. For the latest news visit www.amateurphotographer.co.uk…

Eric Lafforgue Eric Lafforgue has a passion for travel. He started taking pictures in 2006, and it wasn’t long before prestigious magazines including National Geographic and Lonely Planet were featuring his work. Eric spends most of his time travelling. He currently uses a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV with an 85mm lens. Visit www.ericlafforgue.com. 6 Choose the background carefully To obtain a good portrait you need to consider the background. Take the time to move your subject in front of a backdrop that can be blurred for a better effect, or perhaps move him/her in front of a bright colour that will make the head pop out of the picture. 7 Pay when asked, but not too much In many countries local people will ask for money in exchange for…

Peter Dench Peter Dench is a photojournalist, writer, presenter, curator and Olympus Visionary. He is best known for his work documenting Great Britain and British people. Peter’s go-to kit is an Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II with an M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro lens and Olympus Electronic Flash FL-900R. Visit www.peterdench.com. 21 Be true to yourself Unless instructed, don't stray too far from your style. You have been commissioned to take the portrait on the strength of your portfolio or archive, so be true to that. A portrait should be a collaboration. You should respect the person you are taking a portrait of and what they do, and they should respect your ideas and creative eye. 22 Scout the location If it's an environmental portrait, arrive early, scout the…

James Paterson James Paterson is an award-winning journalist and photographer. His work has appeared in countless magazines and books, and in 2014 he was appointed editor of Practical Photoshop magazine.His current go-to kit is the Nikon D850 and Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8E. Visit www.patersonphotos.com. 36 Get down low Shooting from a low camera angle gets you on eye level with young kids and babies, which is important for creating a connection. It also means the background is usually pushed further away so it's easier to throw it out of focus, which is handy when using a blanket for the background. 37 Posing families Kids will usually want to hog the limelight, while parents (and Dads, in particular) may not be totally into it. So try bringing the kids forward and have…

Top-notch service, equipment and prices ‘I have used MPB on several occasions to trade in and buy camera equipment. Their service and prices have always been excellent and I can't imagine ever buying a “new” camera again! Full marks to all concerned.' Gerard, via Trustpilot Always a 5-star experience ‘I have purchased camera gear on a few occasions from MPB. The service that they provide is second to none, in my opinion. I bought a Nikon 18-140mm VR lens online the other day. The rating for the used lens stated ‘excellent' – I received it yesterday and the condition of the lens, in my opinion, was like new. Every time I use MPB I am astounded by the quality and price of their pre-owned equipment, and I have not found…

Rembrandt lighting Named after the Dutch master, the aim with this technique is to create a triangular patch of light on one cheek, cast by the shadow of the nose. Ideally, the point of the triangle should aim towards the corner of the mouth. In this single-light set-up, we positioned the Rotolight AEOS above and to the left for this look. Rembrandt with fill Once our key light is positioned for Rembrandt lighting, we can build on the set-up to fill in the shadows with a fill light: a second AEOS positioned to the right of the camera and extra lights to pick out other details. Two NEO 2 lights are placed behind the subject: one angled on the hair and the other on the backdrop. Loop lighting With Loop…

This stunning sunset was uploaded to our Twitter page using the hashtag #appicoftheweek. It was taken by photographer Martin Dolan. He tells us, ‘A hazy Saturday evening showing all the signs of a decent sunset saw me venture to a high vantage point at Hengistbury Head, Dorset to capture the sunset while being able to get the coastline in the shot. ‘A fairly strong wind meant capturing this image would be a challenge, but seeing the light caught in the grass was too good to resist. With a higher ISO and wider aperture than I would normally use I was able to capture the grass with a very slight amount of movement. An extremely intense afterglow soon followed this image – a very memorable evening indeed!' Win!  Each week we…

AH, 1977, the year of the Queen's Silver Jubilee, punk, the death of Elvis.... and an AP cover model lying on sheepskin, surrounded by SLRs. This cover would make us a laughing stock nowadays, but there you go. Inside the issue was a big competition to photograph happiness, with a handsome purse of £1,500 and some unintentionally funny captions to accompany the ‘inspirational' images: ‘how happy this seal looks, languishing in his sunlit pool.' On a darker note, one of the judges was Rolf Harris, who seemed to crop up like a bad penny in AP back then. Other highlights included Victor Blackman photographing a ‘tennis girl with grit' (eh?) and a major guide to SLRs, which were clearly causing a lot of excitement. You'd never call AP back then…

When Nikon introduced its ground-breaking 35mm F system SLR in1959, it may not have expected the Nikon F to still be in production in the 1970s. Its successors – the F2, F3, F4 and F5 – were around for a much shorter time, about eight years apiece. Digital cameras have even shorter life cycles: Canon's online museum shows a new variant of the EOS 5D appearing nearly every three years. Continuous advances in digital technology make shorter product life cycles. And, of course, one of the marks of consumerism is innovation – we expect a ‘better' offer to turn up regularly. So we are used to frequently replacing all sorts of consumer products for many reasons, of which not all are good. Yet ‘new' does not always mean ‘better'. The…

Peter Searle Peter Searle makes portraits of people from all walks of life. He loves going to an unknown place with unknown conditions. He currently uses a Fujifilm GFX 50S with GF 32-64mm, 110mm and 63mm lenses and a Fujifilm X-Pro2 with Fujinon 18mm, 56mm, 35mm, 23mm and Samyang 12mm lenses. www.petersearle.com. 11 Shoot manually Without exception, I shoot manually – it is the best way to be in complete control. Decide how much available light to use and then set your controls accordingly. Introduce flash if it is to be your key light and set the correct power output. Adjust how much the ambient light fills the shadows by changing your shutter speed. 12 Establish a rapport If, like me, you don't like having your own picture taken, use…

Damien Lovegrove Damien Lovegrove has been a professional photographer for over 30 years. He started out shooting weddings but is best known for his beauty portraiture. Damien is a Fujifilm X-Photographer and his current go-to kit is his GFX 50S with Fujinon GF 110mm f/2 and 32-64mm f/4. Visit www.lovegrovephotography.com. 26 Use a narrative Have a reason for the shot or story you want to shoot. Share the mood and energy that you want to capture. I create moments and then capture them. These moments can be fun, sad, aggressive or playful. A bit of acting goes a long way. 27 Clear your mind Get the technical stuff – camera settings, lens choice, composition, framing and all other decisions – out of the way before you start to interact and…

Mark Pain Mark Pain is a multi-award winning sports photographer with over 25 years’ experience. He has covered major events worldwide from the Olympic Games to football and rugby World Cups. His go-to kit is a Nikon D5 with a 28-70mm f/2.8, 85mm f/1.4, 35mm f/1.4 and 70-200mm f/2.8. Visit www.markpain.com. 41 Keep your lighting simple I use one or two lights to keep the set-up simple. You will be surprised how dramatic an effect you can create with very few light sources. You need plenty of energy in the power pack for your lights so that you can fire shots off quickly to capture an expression. There is nothing worse than waiting for your power pack to recycle and missing a great moment or expression. 42 Use a stand-in…

The science bit S Cave's letter in Inbox (AP 5 May) revived memories of the many years I worked in the Ilford R&D function on paper product development. Ilford's Ilfobrom on traditional fibre base was launched in 1967 and proved successful. However in a few years, it was apparent that monochrome prints were threatened by the falling cost of neg/pos. colour. This had been made possible by a new base in which a thin layer of polythene was extruded on both sides of the paper. Kodak called this RC but we preferred polythene laminated. The main advantage of lamination was faster processing, particularly washing and drying. However there were two big problems associated with the new base. If the print was subjected to temperature cycling the face polythene could disintegrate…

One of the most obvious, and useful, benefits of using LED lighting is their ‘what-you-see-is-what-you-get’ quality. For portraits, this gives us a definite advantage. It means we can be very precise with the lighting – making fine adjustments until it hits our subject at the correct angle, height and distance, with the right spread and colour. We can see exactly what we’re going to get before we press the shutter button. A set of LED lights like the Rotolights we used for our portrait shoot here are ideal. We used two Rotolight AEOS lights, and two of the smaller NEOs (although not every light was used for every photograph you see). It does depend on the number of lights you wish to use and the style you’d like to recreate,…

Portrait retouching is a tricky topic, as it is so easy to mess up through over-lightening or over-smoothing the skin. Even if you think you’ve done a good job, people’s opinions of your work will always be subjective. The overuse of Photoshop retouching, which the press anachronistically refers to as ‘airbrushing’, remains a hot topic, especially with regard to how women are portrayed in fashion magazines. Photographers and retouchers do have a responsibility as well as an opportunity to influence how people are portrayed. Among the retouchers I know, I see a trend towards less manipulation, or at least, less obvious retouching, and ensuring their portrait subjects look natural. It is a question of knowing how to use the tools in Photoshop with restraint. One way to do this is…

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 Shoot a panorama Some landscapes refuse to be squeezed into a standard format. In such instances try a panorama. Make sure the tripod is level so that when you rotate the head and camera the horizon remains straight. Set the camera in portrait orientation to reduce distortion and level it vertically as well as horizontally. Wideangle lenses can cause distortion so I use a focal length of 35mm or more. To make sure the joins are seamless, set the exposure, white balance and focus in manual mode and avoid using a polariser…

Accessories under £100 Lastolite Fabric Grid for Ezybox Hotshoe • £65 • www.manfrotto.co.uk This optional accessory is for Lastolite's 2462 Ezybox Hotshoe 54cm – a portable pop-up softbox that converts harsh directional light from a flashgun into a much softer diffused light that's perfect for portraits. The fabric grid comes in its own carry bag and secures easily to the front of the Ezybox by Velcro. Once attached, the fabric grid prevents light spillage and helps direct the light onto your subject more effectively. It's an extra that is worth considering by those who already own or are looking at the Lastolite 54x54cm Ezybox Hotshoe. Lastolite Ezybox Speed-Lite 2 • £52 • www.manfrotto.co.uk Small, lightweight and featuring a near-flat profile when folded down, the Manfrotto Ezybox Speed-Lite 2 is designed…

• £207.60 • www.colorconfidence.com Quick-release connectors The system is modular, with booms, spigots or speedlight holders interchangeable via a simple quick-release system. Flexible The stands are just as much at home holding small flashguns as they are with studio strobes. Easy height adjustment Unlike the lever-locks found on other stands, Triad-Orbit uses strong twist locks with large, rubberised grips. Adjustable legs Each leg can be set individually to one of four angles, with the angle locks easily operated using your feet. WHILE we often cover lighting kit in AP, we've never contemplated reviewing a flash stand before. This is because they all follow almost exactly the same design, with the only real difference being between the cheap and nasty versus the pricey but well-made. Quite frankly they've always been utterly…

Trevor and Faye Yerbury Trevor and Faye have won awards for portraiture, classical nudes, wedding and avant-garde work. Faye uses a Fujifilm X-T1 with 16mm-55m and 56mm prime lenses. Trevor also enjoys shooting film with a Hasselblad and 150mm lens. www.yerburystudio.com. 1 Check model references Models can be found online via various model pages, but check their references for reliability and punctuality so you will not be disappointed on the day of the shoot. Models, whether male or female, should be made to feel comfortable and relaxed in your company. If you are a male photographer, having a wife, partner, hair/make-up artist on the shoot is helpful. 2 Don’t overdo it We see plenty of images where the post-production has been overdone. Often skin has been softened so much that…

Sharron Goodyear Sharron Goodyear has won multiple awards in portrait and wedding photography. She was also a 2017 MPA Photography Awards finalist in Wedding Classical. Sharron launched her beauty and boudoir business last year. She uses a Nikon D750 and her favourite Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 prime. Visit fabulousbysharrongoodyear.com. 16 Experiment with lighting I use a Nikon D750 as my camera body and mostly shoot with a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8, 85mm f/1.8 lens or a 24-120mm f/4. As an ambassador of Phottix Lighting I use a Mitros TTL Flash for Nikon (off-camera) and an Odin TTL Flash trigger that I combine with natural light. 17 Enjoy home comforts I live in a new-build property and have an attic bedroom that I have styled for high-end boudoir shoots. I have white walls…

Saraya Cortaville Saraya Cortaville is an established and award-winning portrait photographer based in Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. She specialises in beautiful images of children on location. Saraya is a Fujifilm X-Photographer and her go-to kit is a Fujifilm XT-2 with the Fujinon XF50-140mm f/2.8 lens. See www.sarayacortaville.co.uk. 31 Shoot in the morning When I photograph children I will advise the parents that the shoot will have a more successful outcome if taken in the morning. Not only will the children be fresh and full of energy (as would the photographer!), but the light will be more flattering and the locations generally quieter with fewer distractions. 32 Keep it simple Keep the camera set-up as simple as possible. I shoot in manual mode, more often with the lens wide open at f/2.8…

MPB.COM was founded because photographers and film-makers were being underserved. Unlike eBay, classified sites or your local camera store, MPB avoids the hassle that comes with traditional peer-to-peer marketplaces. We provide a trusted end-to-end customer experience in addition to offering the best prices on the market. We buy second-hand cameras, lenses and most other digital photography and cinema equipment, including DSLR, video, compact system, action, digital rangefinder and medium-format cameras. We also buy used accessories such as tripods, bags, cases, memory cards, lens filters, batteries and battery packs. For buyers, we offer next-day delivery with a seven-day return policy and a six-month warranty on all our used equipment. Transparency is very important to us. Our product listings include the shutter counts and a condition rating, which will be either: ‘heavily…

Can I reprogram my old Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 to shoot in black & white? When I got it in 2007, my first shooting job was a triathlon club bash – the club's second ‘go' at the annual Club Relays. I had competed in one in 2006! Not having a computer back then, I transcribed the memory to a disc in Boots and lent the disc to the club's magazine editor – 45 years' photo experience applied in one day. A later club meet exposed the camera's limitations: its 36mm (35mm equivalent) short end of the zoom and abysmally slow processing of images. I was shooting competitors in the club hill climb. Run as a time trial, the coach and his mate had a racing tandem and caught up with the…

AEOS This disc-like LED can be used in the studio or on location. It offers both powerful constant LED illumination and high-speed sync flash, with a battery pack that lasts for up to three hours’ use. NEO 2 The NEO 2 is the most portable light in the Rotolight range. Like the AEOS, it also offers a combination of bright, constant LED illumination and high-speed sync flash. Rotolight softbox A softbox diffuses and softens the light, which smooths out the shadows and evens out contrast. As such, it’s the ideal modifier for portraiture. The Rotolight softbox shown here fits over the AEOS LED. Reflector Useful for bouncing light back into shadows and to even out the contrast over faces, a reflector is an inexpensive and invaluable piece of kit for…

1 Frequency separation Photoshop frequency separation techniques are really useful to use when retouching skin tones. It's all about separating out the fine detail skin tones from the soft tone texture. If you convert the Colour Tone layer to a Smart Object before applying the Gaussian Blur filter you retain the ability to adjust the blur settings before you start editing on the layer above. 2 Add Gaussian Blur Open your image in Photoshop and choose Layer>New>Layer Via Copy. Rename the top layer ‘Detail Layer', hide this layer and rename the original layer ‘Colour Tone layer'. With the Colour Tone layer selected, go to Filter> Blur>Gaussian Blur and apply a low Radius setting of 2.0 pixels (or higher if necessary) to blur and essentially soften the skin tones. 3 Set…

Panasonic LUMIX DC-G9 The fast AF and generous continuous firing rate make the Lumix G9 the perfect camera for wildlife photography, ideal for photographing deer. Leica DG Vario-Elmar 100-400mm f/4-6.3 lens The focal length and fast aperture of this telephoto zoom lens (200-800mm: 35mm equiv.) is a great choice for photographing deer while keeping your distance. Panasonic LUMIX DC-GX9 This compact system camera is ideal for woodland photography, particularly using the tilt screen or angled viewfinder when you want to look up from a low angle. LUMIX G Vario 12-60mm f/3.5-5.6 lens Corner-to-corner sharpness and a versatile zoom range (24-120mm: 35mm equiv.) make this lens an ideal choice for shooting panoramic images. IN ASSOCIATION WITH…

Whenever I get a press release from Kehrer Verlag I scan it eagerly. At least half the books they publish are wonderful. As for the rest, well, there’s no arguing about taste. Except perhaps on the internet. Danakil was well into the wonderful half for me. It shows that there are parts of the world that are not only stranger than we imagine: in some ways, they are stranger than we can imagine. Various things got in the way between Kehrer kindly sending me the picture, and my writing this; and in the intervening few weeks, I had sort of forgotten about it. I remembered no details, just a strange yellow lump: definitely nothing as weird and wonderful as it is. In fact I was beginning to wonder why I…