Innholdsfortegnelse for 04-May-2019 i Amateur Photographer

Most great photos owe their success to the photographer being in the right place at the right time – ‘f/8 and be there’ as the saying goes. Often this is a matter of luck, but to a great extent we make our own luck. When it comes to landscape photography there are many tools to help us find the best spot to be, at the optimum time. Some, like map and compass, are old school, but there is now a host of technology around to apply more science to our searches. This week we investigate the various possibilities. Also this week, we look at the therapeutic power of photography, and talk to three people who have used it to overcome a range of physical and mental health issues. With reviews…

AS REPORTED recently in AP, Roger Hicks, who started writing for AP in 2000, died on 7 April from cancer. Born in Cornwall in 1950, he took up photography in 1966, becoming an advertising photographer after careers in teaching and the law. He had a wide range of interests, and penned a highly regarded biography of the Dalai Lama. Former AP editor Garry Coward-Williams brought Roger on board as a columnist. ‘When I first met Roger at an Ilford press event, he had a mane of thick white hair, a huge beard, what I thought was a Russian style-smock, and a monocle. I wondered if he was there to do a turn. Anyway we got talking about monochrome film and developer and I had met a kindred spirit. Anyone who…

I read with interest the discussion about the reader with 100,000 pictures and whether photos should be kept or deleted (Inbox, 9 March). I have taken pictures of what I have seen on my travels, and as long as a picture is well exposed and in focus, I will keep it. The thing is that you never know when someone will say ‘Do you have a picture of so and so?' and I'd like to think I have. A friend asked me if I had interior shots of a bus he was restoring. While I had never taken internal shots of the bus, in my archive was a picture of three of the managers sitting at the back of the bus. More importantly, you could see the colour scheme of…

Paper maps Even though many walkers and mountaineers now use digital mapping, a traditional paper map is essential in case of an emergency in more remote locations. Compass When using paper maps, you’ll also need to have a traditional compass to aid in pinpointing your exact location and help you stay on track. GPS device Digital mapping devices include smartwatches and standalone GPS devices; mapping phone apps make precise navigation a breeze. Photo guidebooks Photography location guidebooks are a great way to learn how to find both lesser-known and well-known locations in the UK and abroad.…

The Photographer’s Ephemeris This is an app that can be used to plan shoots using Google Maps and sunrise and sunset guides so you know exactly where the sun will be positioned in relation to any location on earth. PhotoPills is a similar app, but offers much more functionality and is slightly more complicated to use. Met Office The Met Office is one of many weather apps available to help you plan shoots according to weather conditions. The app provides an hourly breakdown of the weather on the day, with a five-day forecast available for advance planning. While no weather report is 100% reliable, it's always best to check. OS Maps Premium The OS Maps app can be used for free, but to use offline maps that can be accessed…

Hat Arctic terns are very aggressive when defending their nest or young, and will dive-bomb any intruders, jabbing them with the tip of their beak. This technique is used to repel predators such as polar bears in the Arctic. So take a hat when visiting an Arctic tern colony as they tend to go for the tops of people’s heads, and are very capable of drawing blood. Binoculars If I’m photographing wildlife, I never leave home without my binoculars. They are much lighter and clearer to look through than a camera, so make finding the wildlife so much easier. They’re also great for when you want to put the camera down and just watch.…

Show the habitat While animal portraits are undoubtedly striking, showing their environment can sometimes tell the story more effectively. In this case, the snow highlights the climate, while the closest swan adds to the impact. Pastoral scenes Don't assume you have to travel a long way to get eye-catching images. This sort of scene can be found almost anywhere – what makes it stand out is the mist and ethereal light, which lifts it out of the ordinary. In sharp focus When shooting with a shallow depth of field, accurate focusing is absolutely crucial. Be strict with yourself. If this cheeky red squirrel's eye was anything other than pin sharp, the photograph would have been rejected. Don’t forget pets Don't have access to wildlife? Photograph your (or your friends' or…

Resolution Our Image Engineering MTF tests indicate that the lens puts in a respectable performance for an ultra-wideangle zoom. The solid red line tells us it’s sharpest in the centre at its widest focal-length setting. When you push beyond 20mm centre sharpness drops off, so it’s worthwhile stopping down a stop or two when shooting at 30mm. Edge sharpness also improves by stopping down to f/8. Shading Use the lens wide open and you’ll notice that the edges appear darker than the centre of the frame. Vignetting occurs throughout the zoom range, but is most obvious at the 14mm position. Stopping down from f/4 to f/5.6 and f/8 sees a noticeable improvement in the amount of light fall-off. Curvilinear distortion Thanks to the embedded lens-correction profile that’s automatically applied to…

ON ITS own, the LEE 100 filter holder costs £83 and the LEE 100 Polariser is priced at £234. Three kits that include the LEE 100 filter holder will also be made available. First of these is the LEE 100 Landscape Kit (£168) that comprises a LEE 100 filter holder and LEE 0.6ND medium grad. There's also a LEE 100 Long Exposure Kit (£358) that includes a LEE 100 filter holder, Big Stopper, Little Stopper and LEE 0.6 ND hard grad. Finally there's the LEE 100 Deluxe Kit (£648) with which you get a LEE 100 filter holder, LEE 100 Polariser, Big Stopper, LEE 0.6 ND medium grad, LEE 0.9 ND hard grad, LEE 1.2 ND medium grad, 50ml ClearLEE filter wash and ClearLEE filter cloth. All kits are now…

• £50 for Avea 7; £62 for Avea 8 • www.billingham.co.uk WHILE Billingham's British-made camera bags are revered for their style and longevity, another attraction is the ability to expand many of them using add-on end pockets. This adds an extra level of flexibility, allowing you to carry additional kit as and when you need it. The Avea 7 and Avea 8 are new additions to the range, and further expand photographers' options. The new pockets join the existing Avea 3 and Avea 5, but feature an updated design. Compared to the boxy earlier models, the newcomers have a more stylised, curvaceous shape, being slightly wider at the top than at the base. Aesthetically, this is a much better match to the firm's popular Hadley bags, while practically it gives…

AF Nikon AF lenses driven from camera AF-S Nikon lenses with Silent Wave Motor AF-P Nikon lenses with stepper motors AL Pentax lenses with aspheric elements APD Fujifilm lenses with apodisation elements APO Sigma Apochromatic lenses ASPH Aspherical elements AT-X Tokina’s Advanced Technology Extra Pro AW Pentax all-weather lenses CS Samyang lenses for APS-C cropped sensors D Nikon lenses that communicate distance info DA Pentax lenses optimised for APS-C-sized sensors DC Nikon defocus-control portrait lenses DC Sigma’s lenses for APS-C digital DG Sigma’s designation for full-frame lenses Di Tamron lenses for full-frame sensors Di-II Tamron lenses designed for APS-C DSLRs Di-III Tamron lenses for mirrorless cameras DN Sigma’s lenses for mirrorless cameras DO Canon diffractive optical element lenses DT Sony lenses for APS-C-sized sensors DX Nikon’s lenses for DX-format digital…

This sunset scene was uploaded to our Twitter page using the hashtag #appicoftheweek. It was taken by photographer Emily Endean. She tells us, ‘Hengistbury Head (in Dorset) is very close to where I live so it's one of the beaches I visit for sunrise during the week. On this particular morning in the darkness I saw the sky was filled with cloud and I didn't hold out much hope for the sunrise. However on arrival at the beach, I noticed there was a break on the horizon. Just perfect to allow enough space for that colour to reflect up through and onto the clouds! I opted for a shutter speed of 0.8sec which was perfect to retain the movement in the water, yet smoothing it off just slightly. The position…

FRUSTRATED by your lack of recognition as a photographer and reckon everything would be better if you had a bigger social media following? Sony ambassador Victor Habchy had the kudos and legions of fans, but the 25-year-old prodigy has decided to give up photography completely. Habchy, who represents Sony in France, explains on his Facebook page that it was never his intention to become a photographer, and was overwhelmed when his shots of the Burning Man festival in the USA went viral and kick-started a successful career. He now reckons he wants to move on, after ‘so many shoots, so many trips, so many pictures', and plans to learn how to bake bread, among other goals. Go figure that one out. For the latest news visit www.amateurphotographer.co.uk…

When I see male photographers turn their hand to boudoir, semi-nude or even nude photography, as a way to learn a new skill or improve their portraiture, my heart sinks a little. I often ask myself, why? Boudoir as a genre is nothing new. The female form has been appreciated through the male gaze for centuries. A quick Google search of the term ‘male gaze in paintings' unearths a controversial history of men painting women as passive objects, whose sole purpose is to be looked at and desired. These days, boudoir is described by many photographers on their websites as ‘empowering', with phrases like ‘every woman deserves to see herself for the beautiful person she is'. As a woman, I find the undertones of these messages to be reductive. Does…

NOW HERE’S an opportunity you don’t get every day. Sigma has teamed up with AP to offer 10 lucky readers the chance to attend a workshop in London with top portrait and fashion photographer, Dave Kai Piper. On the workshop, you will get a once-in-a-lifetime chance to take portraits of a pair of traditional geisha, who have come over from Japan especially for the occasion. As fans of Japanese culture and history will know, geisha are women entertainers who are experts in dancing, singing, art and other traditional pursuits. Geisha have been a fixture of Japanese society for hundreds of years, and although their numbers greatly reduced as the country modernised, they can still be found practising their art in historic towns such as Kyoto and Aizu, home of the…

The Reader Portfolio  winner chosen every week will receive a Manfrotto PIXI EVO tripod worth £44.95. Visit www.manfrotto.co.uk Lightweight and portable, the Manfrotto PIXI EVO boasts two different leg angles with a sliding selector enabling you to shoot ground-level images. It’s adjustable, with two-section legs featuring five different steps that adapt the footprint to uneven surfaces. With a payload of 2.5kg, you can tilt the camera 90° to capture incredible images. NOTE: PRIZE APPLIES TO UK AND EU RESIDENTS ONLY…

Traditional paper maps are a fantastic way to discover locations that aren't well known, and they provide an excellent method of navigation when paired with a compass on location. Simply scour the map for your preferred landscape feature, such as a waterfall, and look for public rights of way to check access without trespassing. Pay attention to the contours of the landscape to be sure you're physically able to reach it, and that it's safe. Google Maps in satellite view is a great secondary method of assessment.…

The Reader Portfolio  winner chosen every week will receive a Manfrotto PIXI EVO tripod worth £44.95. Visit www.manfrotto.co.uk Lightweight and portable, the Manfrotto PIXI EVO boasts two different leg angles with a sliding selector enabling you to shoot ground-level images. It’s adjustable, with two-section legs featuring five different steps that adapt the footprint to uneven surfaces. With a payload of 2.5kg, you can tilt the camera 90° to capture incredible images. NOTE: PRIZE APPLIES TO UK AND EU RESIDENTS ONLY…

Locally known as sea swallows, Arctic terns have the longest migrations of any species on earth. They breed at seabird colonies across the UK. ● Location Arctic terns are summer visitors to the UK, where they breed on coasts and islands around northern England and Scotland. ● Size Length 33-365cm, wingspan 75-85cm. ● Nest They breed in colonies which sometimes include other tern species. The nest itself is a depression in the ground, into which they lay mottled eggs. ● Diet Mainly fish, but also crustaceans and insects. ● Population 53,000 breeding pairs (UK).…

Build quality It's important that your digital navigation device is designed for all-weather use and can survive a bit of rough and tumble in the great outdoors. Power Having a navigation device is useless if it runs out of power on location. Do your research and look for one with excellent battery stamina. GPX files This is a type of file that’s helpful to anyone who loves the outdoors, and is a popular way of saving and exchanging routes. Screen resolution A high-resolution screen that's easy to view in bright lighting conditions is a must when you're studying detailed maps out in the field. Smartwatch If you'd prefer to have your navigation device on your wrist, a smartwatch is an alternative option. We've reviewed two in this round-up. OS Maps…

THE NEW LEE 100 filter holder is fully compatible with all the LEE Filters 100mm filters, including the new LEE 100 Polariser filter. For those who already own an existing LEE 105mm polariser, there's a new 105mm polarising ring (£35), which when attached allows it to be clipped on to the new holder. An adapter ring is required to connect the holder to the lens you wish to use and the LEE 100 holder is compatible with all LEE Filters 100mm standard and wideangle rings – good news for those who may have spent money on a few and have built up a collection for their various lenses. The only other thing to note is that the LEE Filters 100mm universal hood and wideangle hood are not compatible with the…

Berenice Abbott was an American photographer best known for her exceptional portraits of 20th-century cultural figures taken between WWI and WWII, groundbreaking architectural and street photographs and urban design of the 1930s. She was a teacher for many years at the New School for Social Research in New York city, and worked with Lisette Model and taught, among others, Diane Arbus. She famously was an assistant to Man Ray and when in Paris met and befriended Eugène Atget. She ultimately brought all his glass plate negatives and work back to New York and preserved his legacy. In 1935 a writer for the New York Times Magazine talked about this picture, ‘Hoboken Ferry Terminal, 1935’, without naming the photographer nor titling the picture – but declared that it would be better…

If you’d like to see your work published in Amateur Photographer, here’s how to send us your images: Email Email a selection of low-res images (up to 5MB of attachments in total) to appicturedesk@ti-media.com.CD/DVD Send us a disc of high-resolution JPEG, TIFF or PSD images (at least 2480 pixels along its longest length), with a contact sheet, to the address on page 12. Via our online communities Post your pictures into our Flickr group, Facebook page, Twitter feed, or the gallery on our website. See details above.…

IMAGES of desperate migrants trying to get into the USA and the appalling suffering created by the famine in Yemen have received 2019 Pulitzer Prize photography awards. Reuters photography staff won the Breaking News Photography category for their ‘vivid and startling visual narrative of the urgency, desperation and sadness of migrants as they journeyed to the USA from Central and South America'. One of the most memorable shots was captured by Reuters staffer Kim Kyung Hoon and shows Maria Meza, a 40-year-old migrant from Honduras, running from tear gas with her young daughters near the US/Mexico border last November. Meanwhile, The Washington Post photographer Lorenzo Tugnoli originally entered the Breaking News Photography category for his images of the Yemen famine, but won the Feature Photography award. The Pulitzer judges praised…

The greatest lessons we have learned from history have resulted from those men and women brave enough to bear witness from the front line. The Sunday Times foreign affairs correspondent Marie Colvin lost her life while reporting in real time during the siege of Homs by Bashar al-Assad's Syrian forces. Journalist and travel writer Martha Gellhorn, lacking press credentials, hid in a hospital ship and impersonated a stretcher-bearer so she could witness and record the Normandy Landings. Stories like this are legend throughout history. Keep this in mind when navigating your way through this volume. Photography and war have moved hand in hand through years of political upheaval and technological advances. This book from Prestel narrows the focus and explores the lives of eight women photographers who have thrown themselves…

The love of Micro Four Thirds I read with interest your reply to a letter with regard to niche markets, Micro Four Thirds and full frame. I was reassured as a Micro Four Thirds user that some members of the AP team use, as I do, such kit. But over recent weeks, AP's editorial contributors have implied that 24MP is considered barely adequate for landscape photography and this seems to be the case given the high percentage of landscape photographs you publish that have been taken by photographers using full-frame, high-pixel-count cameras. Given that this type of photography is usually tripod based and thus only low ISO is likely to be required and that there is plenty of time to compose tightly, thus avoiding any significant post -production cropping, why…

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning one of the 10 places is to upload two of your best portraits to the Photocrowd website via the following link at amateur-photographer.co.uk/geisha . The geisha event will take place at the Ham Yard Hotel in central London on Thursday, 27 June, between 11am and 2pm. Dave will focus on everything involved in portrait photography, from posing and lighting to lens selection. Sigma will have a selection of products there for the 10 winners to try during the shoot. The images will be judged by AP staff and the 10 winners will be contacted by email. Before you enter, please note you must be free to attend the experience and portrait workshop on Thursday, 27 June, between…

There comes a time in every landscape photographer’s journey when they outgrow their local patch and feel the pull of more distant locations. While having local spots to visit is essential to take advantage of last-minute weather conditions, travelling further afield will take you to amazing places that expand both your portfolio and your creativity. The world is full of famous locations, and there are some that are so popular you’re unlikely to ever have them to yourself at the optimum shooting time. The lone tree at Llyn Padarn in Llanberis, Wales, is one such location, and on a typical sunrise you can expect anywhere between four and 20 photographers to be lined up along the lakeshore. One reason for this could be simply that it’s a truly iconic sunrise…

If you're a photographer facing mental or physical challenges, it can be isolating, so we're very lucky in the UK to have the Disabled Photographers' Society, or DPS. This registered charity, set up over 50 years ago, exists to support photographers with a range of disabilities and provides free technical support, including advice on camera modifications. Their exhibition secretary, Agi Ch, knows how therapeutic photography can be. ‘I used to do a lot of freelance commercial photography but I have a genetic kidney disease which has been getting worse recently. I got involved with the DPS by chance and I soon realised it was more than a camera club, as it was making a real change to people's lives. Becoming a member, and then exhibitions secretary, really helped me through…

Round Three Animal magic For this round we'd like you to train your lens on all creatures great and small. This is an open round, so we are happy to see shots of everything from garden birds and pet poodles to crabs in rock pools and lions prowling the scrublands. It's worth doing some research before embarking on your shoot, as pictures that show an aspect of animal behaviour tend to hold the viewer's attention for longer than a standard portrait. If your animal is moving, it's also a good idea to leave some space ahead of them to ‘travel' into. In these instances you might want to experiment with panning to add to the sense of speed. Plan your APOY 2019 year Below is a list of all this…

An advantage of choosing a wideangle zoom with a maximum aperture of f/4 as opposed to f/2.8 is that they're typically smaller, lighter and more portable. The Nikon Z 14-30mm f/4 S is an excellent example and its retractable design makes it one of the most compact of all the ultra-wide zooms we've ever tested. The size of the lens complements Nikon Z-series cameras superbly, and thanks to its detachable hood, it allows users to attach filters, adapter rings and filter holders simply and more cheaply than buying an expensive filter system that's specially made for ultra-wideangle lenses. If you regularly shoot in low light and know you'd benefit from a faster lens, you may want to hold out for the Nikkor Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S that's due to arrive…

THE LEE 100 filter holder works well and is an improvement on the original holder it replaces. If you regularly change filter-slot configurations in the field, want a polariser that clips on easily at the front and you like the sound of the new locking ring, it'll make a good buy. What it doesn't do though is reinvent the way filters are fundamentally used with it. If you'd like to work faster, have your filters protected within their own frame and take precise control of your filter positioning using a geared mechanism, there are some excellent alternatives worth exploring that you may wish to consider first.…

Big memory card for video Q I have recently invested in a Panasonic Lumix G9 and will be using it for video and stills photography. I plan on shooting a lot and will be spending lots of time out of the house with no access to somewhere I can back up my cards. Hence, I need some pretty hefty memory cards, but I'm not sure whether to go for several smaller cards or a couple of really big cards. Do you have any advice? Jasmine Shah A In this scenario you have a couple of options. The Panasonic Lumix G9 has a dual card slot, so you can run two SD memory cards at the same time. You could buy two reasonably large cards and use them consecutively for an…