Innholdsfortegnelse for 01-Jun-2019 i Amateur Photographer

Some people say photography gets in the way of appreciating the real world, but I’d argue that photographers see the world more clearly and notice things that mere mortals do not. For example, few people would ever register the tiny details that we present in our feature on close-up photography, unless they were looking with a photographer’s eyes. These stunning pictures are the winners of the inaugural Close-Up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY), set up and run by AP’s very own Tracy Calder. I hope they inspire you to look for subjects to shoot and enter for next year’s CUPOTY. Also this week we have a retrospective about one of my favourite photographers, fashion legend Norman Parkinson. I hope you love these classic images as much as I do.…

SEVERAL improvements have been announced for the popular photo-editing software, Adobe Lightroom. Designed to help either accentuate or smooth medium-sized details, a new ‘Texture' slider has been added. It promises to smooth skin without affecting pore details for a natural effect, while details such as bark and hair are accentuated without introducing noise. The slider can be used in conjunction with other tools such as Clarity and Dehaze, and is also being added to Adobe Camera Raw. Another new addition, only available for Lightroom for Mac or Windows, is ‘Defringe', which can be used to remove purple or green fringes caused by lens chromatic aberrations. Meanwhile, in Lightroom for iOS and Android, there's a new ‘Home' view that contains your most recent photographs, as well as new interactive tutorials and…

Getting our son Ben, aged 12, off his computer for a family day out is a nightmare. ‘What's in it for me?' is his general type of reply. ‘Err, fresh air, time with your mum and dad' is my normal go-to reply, and he grudgingly accompanies us. Last weekend I tried a bribe: ‘I'll let you use my Nikon.' His eyes lit up. ‘Really? I can carry it and use it and you won't touch it?' With trepidation I agreed as long as the strap went round his neck and he didn't run around. We drove to Calke Abbey in Derbyshire and enjoyed a couple of hours talking photography, which I hadn't really done before with him... (my wife's eyes glazed over as she had heard it all before.) I…

The Reader Portfolio winner chosen every week will receive a copy of Skylum Luminar 3, worth £65. See www.skylum.com Luminar is a fully featured photo editor for Mac and PC designed for photographers of all skill levels, blending pro-level tools with remarkable ease of use and an enjoyable experience. A new Library feature lets you organise, find and rate images easily, while over 100 editing features, plus a suite of fast AI-powered technologies under the hood, will make any image stand out. NOTE: PRIZE APPLIES TO UK AND EU RESIDENTS ONLY…

Easy to identify, barn owls are one of the UK’s most-loved birds. They are great to photograph too, but they are protected as a Schedule 1 species so be careful not to cause any disturbance during the breeding season. ● Location Found over much of the UK, except some upland areas like the Scottish Highlands. ● Size Length: 33-39cm; wingspan: 80-95cm. ● Nest Usually located in holes in trees or undisturbed buildings. Less often found in mines, cliffs and quarries. They will also use nestboxes. ● Diet Small mammals such as rodents and shrews, as well as occasionally some larger mammals and birds.…

Manfrotto 190 Go! MT190GOC4 ● £229 ● www.manfrotto.co.uk MANFROTTO is best known for making sturdy, reliable tripods, and this carbon-fibre model hits the sweet spot for enthusiast photographers. The leg-set provides a maximum height of 147cm and is rated for a 7kg load, while folding down to 45cm and weighing 1,350g. It's sold either on its own or in kits with 3-way or ball heads, and a cheaper but heavier aluminium model is available, too. The design features 4-section legs with twist locks, each of which can be set to four different angles, including completely flat for low-angle shooting. But its standout feature is an ingenious mechanism that enables the centre column to swing into a horizontal position, allowing easy overhead macro shots. Andy Westlake, reviewed AP 7 April 2018…

This mono interior scene was uploaded to our Twitter page using the hashtag #appicoftheweek. It was taken by photographer Stu Meech. He tells us, ‘I've recently started taking architectural photos to fill lulls in landscaping owing to a lack of decent weather conditions. This was taken on my first trip out at the Tate Modern in London. I've always wanted to photograph this iconic staircase and I opted to work from above to make use of the mix of curved lines from the staircase and straight lines from the walls. I then went for a heavy black & white conversion when I processed it later.'…

THE WINNER of this year's Black & White Photo Project, as part of International Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY), is Petar Sabol, a professional photographer from Croatia. His image, ‘Night Butterfly', was originally shot in colour. Petar says of his image, ‘I realised that the shapes, textures and backgrounds were much more suited to black & white. After the conversion, the transformation of the image was quite profound.' For his image, Petar receives £500, and it will be published in the new IGPOTY 13 book, as well as feature in the flagship exhibition at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in February 2020. IGPOTY runs four projects per year, which are smaller standalone competitions that give photographers the chance to explore specific themes and skills. See more at igpoty.com.…

OPEN to photographers shooting with any brand of camera, the Fujiholics Photographer of the Year contest is now open. This year, the prize pool is the biggest ever, with £9,000 worth of prizes up for grabs. Prizes include cameras and lenses from Fujifilm, filter kits from LEE Filters and Formatt Hitech, and tripods, camera bags and lighting from Manfrotto; the winners of each category will have their images printed by Digitalab. The categories are: Fujiholics Photographer of the Year, Fujiholics Young Photographer of the Year, Fujiholics Street Photographer of the Year, Fujiholics Landscape Photographer of the Year, and Fujiholics Black and White Photographer of the Year. All the winning images will be displayed at this year's HIPFest – Hull International Photography Festival – in October. The judges are award-winning wedding…

Throughout history, photography has been considered a medium of truth-telling. Originally photography was expected to be technically perfect in order to be considered truthful. But, in1958, Robert Frank's seminal work, The Americans , broke away from this tradition. Documenting the darker side of life in the USA in the1950s, he captured the uglier parts of American society from an outsider's perspective. His pictures were often overly grainy, blurry and sometimes wonky. His work was heavily criticised at the time, not only for his lack of regard for perfect exposure, but for how he imbued his images with questions and emotion. Frank's subjective photographs challenged his viewers and some argued that his aesthetic approach was at the detriment of representing the truth. Arguments concerning the ethics of subjectivity and aesthetics still…

THE COVER model of this issue from the mid-'80s looks like she has come straight from a very hot night at Stringfellows; either that or a raunchy remake of Flash Gordon [that is quite enough about your dodgy VHS collection – Ed]. This being 1986, glamour photography was one of AP's most popular subjects, and the lucky reader who won the chance to shoot this issue's cover probably still has the image hanging on their wall. Do get back in touch if you read this… The shoe is on the other foot elsewhere in this issue, as there is also a rather random (and eye-bleedingly colourful) feature on shooting a footwear ad for Bally. There are some great quotes therein: ‘A campaign like this needs some underlying theme,' mused ad…

One of the joys of close-up photography is the way that it enables you to see the world anew. When viewed up close, dandelion seeds can take on the appearance of ballerinas and walls can be transformed into expressionist paintings. ‘The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes,’ to summarise a Marcel Proust quote. As co-founder of Close-up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY), I am inclined to agree. Many wonderful pictures were taken in back gardens, the result of keen observation and a willingness to explore familiar surroundings with what Zen Buddhists call a Beginner’s Mind. Choosing a shortlist was harder than I anticipated (I have included a selection of my favourite pictures here), but with the help of the expert judges…

Portable hide To minimise disturbance, you could think about using a portable hide if you have access to land where it is permitted. Once you have identified the owl’s preferred feeding areas, get in position early and conceal yourself, either in a pop-up hide or in a more portable bag hide. 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 great for scouting locations before going back with your camera.…

1 What are Profiles? Designed to be applied at the beginning of your editing workflow, Profiles are useful starting points for editing your photos. The range of Profiles on offer give your image a specific ‘look' by processing the data from your camera in different ways. Each Profile results in a particular mix of contrast and colour. 2 How to apply a Profile The Profile Browser is found within the Develop Module's Basic Panel (and also in Photoshop's Camera Raw Basic Panel). Expand the browser by clicking the grid icon, then hover over the presets to see a preview of the effect. Once you decide on the one you want, a double-click will simultaneously select the preset and close the browser. The browser can be viewed as either a grid,…

The winner of Round Four – Perfect Portraits can choose products of up to £1,000 in value (based on Sigma's RRP) as their prize. If the winner's choice of lens is above this amount, they can choose to pay the difference. If portraits are your thing, then Sigma has a number of lenses to suit your needs. These include the 50mm F1.4 DG HSM Art (£749.99, above left), which – with its outstanding, natural bokeh and minimal optical aberrations – sets a new standard for 50mm lenses. The 85mm F1.4 DG HSM Art (RRP £1,199.99, above right) has 14 elements in 12 groups, achieves an exceptional optical performance, and received a well-deserved five stars and a gold award when reviewed last year in Amateur Photographer.…

Which stabilisation options for hiking through wilderness? Q I go hiking a lot through wilderness all over the world, and since the mirrorless revolution, I have been accompanied by a camera. I travel very light, with only one lens, but I really need some form of stabilisation to improve some of my shots. A conventional tripod is too large for my needs, so can you make some suggestions? Thomas Godinho A Small methods of stabilisation have recently become more readily available and so there are many different options. For your needs I would suggest a miniature tripod, such as a Manfrotto Pixi EVO Mini Tripod or a bean bag. Bean bags are normally heavier but are extremely versatile, because they can be used for balancing your camera in harsher environments…

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…

A body covered with a sheet is enough to indicate that someone has died, but in this shot we are being told a whole lot more than that simple fact. The picture is from a story Philip Montgomery shot for The New Yorker on the misuse of opioids. The photographer travelled to Montgomery County in Ohio, USA, where the local coroner had described the rate of deaths from opioids a ‘mass casualty event’. Shockingly, at the time, and more than likely still, opioid overdoses were the biggest killer of the under-50s in America. On a basic level this picture shows the body of Brian Malmsbury being taken away on a trolley. Brian was 33 when he was found dead in the basement of his parents’ home, having gone missing the…

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.…

IN A BID to remove the hassle of traditional ‘cashback' offers, Nikon has announced that its latest summer promotion will offer customers instant savings on selected Nikon cameras and Nikkor lenses. The promotion runs until 15 August (inclusive) and means that there is no need to redeem cashback following a purchase, with the reduction in price applied at the point of sale. Included in the promotion is the entire range of Z mirrorless cameras and lenses, including the Z 7 and Z 6, as well as a number of popular DSLRs, such as the D850, D7500 and D3500. A range of DSLR lenses are also included, such as the AF-P Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E ED VR and the AF-S Micro Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF ED VR lenses. A saving of up…

Andy Reid, Cornwall Andy was first encouraged to pick up a camera by his father (who, he says, is still taking good pictures at the age of 82). He spends a lot of time shooting flower macros, and is as passionate about producing prints as he is about taking the photos themselves. He also appreciates some of the features we've recently published in AP. ‘As a long-term sufferer of depression, I can relate to the letters I've read in your publication from others so afflicted. Photography has proven to be hugely therapeutic and a great mood lifter.' Submit your images Please see the ‘Send us your pictures’ section on page 3 for details or visit www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/portfolio…

● £99.95 ● www.manfrotto.co.uk/gitzo GITZO is best known for its tripods, which offer peerless quality at premium prices, but recently it's branched out to making other accessories. As the name suggests, its Century collection of straps and bags was released to celebrate the firm's 100th year. It includes four straps, styled to complement two messenger bags and a backpack. Alongside the sling strap that's the subject of this review, there's also a neck-strap, wrist-strap, and hand-strap. The range's signature look is provided by leather that's been embossed with a carbon-fibre weave pattern, in a nod to Gitzo's tripods. Another key design element is that the straps are all detachable and interchangeable, using a shared system of sturdy plastic clip connectors. This approach makes it easy to change straps, for example,…