Innholdsfortegnelse for 10-Aug-2019 i Amateur Photographer

As a student, my weapon of choice was a Mamiya RB67. I loved the rotating film back and bellows focusing. After art college I shot professionally with a Hasselblad 500CM for about 10 years, and bought a Mamiya 645 and then a Bronica ETRS kit – mostly because I couldn’t afford my own ‘Blad system’. John Wade’s guide to these medium-format classics has brought back some memories and inspired me to keep an eye out for one, though the renaissance of film photography means that demand – and prices – are rising. Perhaps I could economise elsewhere by trying some of this week’s ingenious money-saving DIY hacks? Also in this issue, we test some great new hardware from Tamron and Epson and offer tips for shooting in harsh summer light.…

BOOK I Only Have Eyes For You By Alice Harris, powerHouse Books, £25, 112 pages, hardback, ISBN 978-1-57687-819-4 FROM Man Ray's ‘Glass Tears' to William Wegman's ‘Eyewear', author Alice Harris has compiled a highly evocative series of images of human and animal eyes. Not purely about photography, the book also showcases art from the likes of Roy Lichtenstein, Da Vinci, Warhol, Picasso and Magritte. The imagery comes at the viewer in an unexpected way, and the combination of photography with painting and illustration gives the book a surreal feel. The choice of photographs is first class and demonstrates a deep understanding of classic eye images, including the work of Barry Lategan, Martin Schoeller, Guy Bourdin, Ralph Morse and Martine Franck. Despite a lack of explanatory text, this book is quirky,…

EISA Maestro competition winners The theme of the 2019 EISA Maestro competition was ‘Power'. The winning entries from each of the 16 participating EISA countries were judged together at the association's General Meeting in June and the final results will be revealed at the EISA Awards Gala in September. The overall winner will take home a cash prize of € 1,500 and the EISA Photo Maestro 2019 trophy. Third prize in the UK, as selected by the AP team, goes to Matt Emmett and we see his work here. The 1st and 2nd placed portfolios were featured in the 6 and 27 July issues of AP. Matt Emmett, Reading Although he's been taking pictures for some 28 years, it's only in the past seven that Matt has become really serious…

Use shadows creatively Shadows can often be distracting, but you can use them to your advantage. They can add depth to your photo and act as leading lines to direct the viewer through the photo, especially when using a wideangle lens. Slow it down An ND filter is great for getting rid of people from a busy beach as I did here in Carmel Bay, California. I used a 1-minute exposure to give the sunlit beach a softer look and the people walking along the beach disappeared. Striking silhouettes Shooting into the sun can produce graphic results. Select a definable subject and try not to merge different elements together. Place the sun behind your subject and have it peek out using a small aperture to create a sunburst. Make it…

MEVAGISSEY in Cornwall has for a long time been a magnet for tourists thanks to its picture-postcard narrow streets, wide selection of quaint shops, quality eateries and two (not just one) fishing harbours. It's exactly for these reasons that it works as a perfect location for you and your camera. You could shoot street-style images, architecture, abstract or landscape here without too much thought, and treat yourself to an ice cream or fish and chips while you're at it. My personal favourite spot is the inner harbour, where you'll find a good selection of colourful fishing and day-tripper boats that work well and make a pleasing photo. Try not to overcomplicate the scene by cramming too much in; it's much better for your composition to find a selection of boats…

What is 120 film? The 120 roll film size was introduced in 1901 with the launch of the Kodak No. 2 Brownie. Over the years many roll film sizes came and went, but the 120 size endured. Unlike 35mm film, which is contained in a cassette, 120 is wound onto a spindle, attached to light-proof backing paper with a leader and trailer at each end to prevent exposure to light during loading and unloading. The backing paper contains numbers observed through a red window in the camera back to indicate how far the film is wound between exposures. Some cameras dispense with the red window and use an auto mechanism that stops the film being wound when it has been advanced the right amount, the lock freeing itself ready for…

Until now, Sony full-frame mirrorless users looking for a compact wideangle zoom have had one obvious option: the Sony 16-35mm f/4. But with the 17-28mm f/2.8, Tamron has delivered an exceptionally strong alternative. Like its 28-75mm sibling, this is a very likeable lens that combines impressive sharpness with a fast maximum aperture in a compact, lightweight, weather-resistant design. Landscape photographers in particular should appreciate its combination of strengths. Indeed given the excellence of its optics, the only real question mark concerns its limited zoom range. This is a lens that really needs to be paired with a 24mm or 28mm zoom for everyday shooting, whereas some photographers might be happy carrying the Sony 16-35mm f/4 on its own. But in every other respect, the Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 is an excellent…

I was recently on a press trip to a prestigious horse-racing event on a minibus with 22 others. I was the second oldest. Two of the younger vibrant attendees whirled over. ‘Who are you working for?' they asked. I'm glad they asked as I was working for The Sunday Times Magazine. I told them proudly. They both tilted their heads. ‘Aah. In print' They said it with sympathetic looks. ‘And who are you?' I asked. ‘I'm Leather Lobster and of course, this, is Style Biscuit' Of course it was. ‘We are journalists and influencers and vloggers' said one as they wafted away. After the horses had run the last race, I checked on the efforts of Lobster and Style Biscuit. They seem to have spent most of the day in…

Cycling in the remote Shropshire countryside recently we stopped for a breather and there on the bench was a familiar-looking black pouch. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was a camera that someone had left behind. Switching it on and flicking through the images it became apparent that here was three years' worth of somebody's life via holidays, birds and concerts, and yet there was only one shot of a family member looking at the photographer. There was no identifying name, mobile number or address in the pouch or on the camera. It's easy to assume that if we lose a possession the finder won't bother trying to reunite it with the owner, and yet I really wanted to get the camera back to its owner. After…

I remember the days when Mr Kodak gave instructions with every roll of film to always place the sun at your back to produce correctly exposed images. While they may be correctly exposed, this would also produce flat and boring photos. It was suggested to never photograph into the sun because the strong light would be far too much for film to cope with. When handled correctly though, strong light can produce some amazing results. Photography has come a long way since then and digital sensors are capable of handling 14 stops of light as opposed to 5 stops in the days of transparency film. Whilst the principles are the same, we have so much more control now. The key is to understand how to handle harsh lighting situations to…

Photographing in harsh sunlight normally produces flat, boring images, but when I was in the Caribbean I shot this Divi Divi tree under the strong, midday sun. I had no idea it would turn out to be my bestselling image, appearing in magazines, cards, calendars, puzzles and in IKEA as a canvas print for five years. I actually photographed it at sunrise and sunset as well, but neither image produced the appeal this one has. I used a Fujifilm GX619 panoramic camera with Velvia to create deep, saturated colours. A polariser provided the finishing touch by removing the glare on the surface of the water allowing the turquoise colour to come through. It also darkened down the blue sky giving a contrast to the white clouds that seemingly emanate from…

Monopod This isn’t a location for a tripod. You will find yourself getting in the way of crowds and it'll restrict your flexibility when trying to find that perfect composition. If you do find handheld shots impossible for any reason, compromise with a monopod that will take the load instead. Polariser filter Consider using a polariser filter to reduce glare from the water’s surface and make the most of the colours from the hulls of the numerous fishing boats. Nifty fifty Take yourself out of your comfort zone and try using a prime. One of the cheapest lenses available, a 50mm prime lens will really help to improve your compositions.…

● Which image format works best for you? ● Traditional box shape camera or large 35mm SLR lookalike? ● Waist-level or eye-level viewfinder? ● Plain focusing screen or rangefinder equipped? ● Fully manual or metered? ● Are you prepared to use a tripod, or do you want to only use the camera handheld? If the latter, a waist-level viewfinder will suit you better. ● Can you buy 120 film easily? If not, run a search on Amazon: www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=120+roll+film. ● Can you get 120 film processed? If your local high street processors can't handle it, try www.digitalab.co.uk/film-processing. ● Although many roll film reflexes are relatively cheap to buy, their lenses and accessories remain expensive. Take this into account when making your choice.…

Auto-enhancements Can apply a variety of global auto-enhancements and corrections to the raw scan or a copy, in seconds. Speed Scan up to 45 pages per minute at 300dpi, 600dpi or 1200dpi and save to your hard drive, Dropbox or Google Drive, using USB 3.0 or Wi-Fi. Batch scan Batch scan up to 30 prints or documents at a time, up to 21x91cm (panoramic). Scans are auto rotated and straightened. Auto-detect Automatically detects if there’s anything on the backs of prints, and scans those at the same time too if there is. ● £499 ● www.epson.co.uk DO YOU have a box full of prints from pre-digital days that you really ought to digitise, if only you could face the tediousness of scanning them one by one, or two or three…

If you’d like to see your words or pictures published in Amateur Photographer, here’s how: Something to say? Write to us at ap@ti-media.com with your letters, opinion columns (max 500 words) or article suggestions. Pictures Send us a link to your website or gallery, or attach a set of low-res sample images (up to a total of 5MB) to appicturedesk@ti-media.com. Join our online communities Post your pictures into our Flickr, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram communities or the gallery on our website.…

Everything changed in the18th century. It was around this time that William Blake witnessed the countless factories spring up around the British landscape and spew great columns of black smoke into the air, arguably signalling the beginnings of global warming. Blake's reference to ‘dark, Satanic mills' speaks not just about the imposing nature of these structures but also of his fear of the impending exploitation that would result from the Industrial Revolution. It's a sentiment echoed by both Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in Das Kapital which appeared just a little while later. They could see that people would become trapped in the inescapable maze of menial work, reduced to cogs in a tireless machine. Capitalism had arrived and, despite Marx and Engels' best efforts, it remains with us to…

THIS week we go back to 13 August 1947 – a bleak time of rationing and general austerity, but this must have been a breeze compared to the nightmare of the war years. The upbeat cover has a lot of charm, though the clanking copy in the Ilford ad needs some polishing. ‘There's lots of good fish in the sea, and shoals of good pictures at the seaside to be caught…' The golden age of advertising we know from Mad Men was clearly some way off. Inside the issue, the editor discusses a novel US photography competition for women, and comes out with some real classics. ‘Marriage, apparently, is no obstacle to photography… women, it appears, like men, photograph what interests them the most.' There's also a curious feature on…

Tripod It’s essential to mount your camera on a sturdy tripod when using long exposures with ND filters, and when making multiple exposures for blending HDRs. It will also improve your photography overall. Filter holder A filter holder is needed to properly attach a Neutral Density filter for creating long exposures. The LEE holder will allow a polarising filter and an ND filter to be used together, which can be useful. ND filter A Neutral Density filter will allow long exposures in harsh lighting conditions by reducing the light that reaches the sensor. These filters come in various densities ranging from 1 to 15 stops. Polariser A polariser helps to reduce the glare that harsh light produces on subjects, and increase the saturation to make colours pop. It will also…

Mevagissey can be shot any time of the year and any time of day, but for me it works best early in the morning at high tide, before the tourists arrive and the sun gets too high. Food and lodging Opportunities for food and drink are literally everywhere and far too numerous for me to list here. Simply put, you won't go hungry, and it would be a crime to not sample the local Cornish crab washed down with some local cider. Accommodation is plentiful, made up of small boutique hotels, B&B's and self-catering cottages. Word of warning Obviously you're shooting near water, and at the edge of a harbour is a sheer drop into the water. Looking through your viewfinder alters your perspective which could make you misjudge your…

● The movement of large mirrors can create undue vibrations. For this reason, use a tripod when you can, or select a shutter speed of 1/250sec or higher when handholding. ● If you intend to handhold the camera with an eye-level viewfinder, consider adding a hand grip to help reduce movement during exposure. ● If you have been brought up on shooting in the 1:1.5 format of 35mm or most digital cameras, think carefully about changing your approach to picture composition when faced with a roll film square format. ● Large waist-level viewfinder screens are impressive, but because they are big, it's easy to only look at the centre of the screen when composing a picture. Keep the camera steady and ensure you look at all four corners as well.…

Resolution Our Image Engineering tests, shot on the 42.4MP Sony A7R III, reveal a lens that’s very sharp in the centre of the frame at all focal lengths, even at maximum aperture. It’s not quite so spectacular in the corners, but still very good. The odd behaviour at small apertures, with the corners appearing sharper than the centre, is probably an artefact of shooting a flat test chart at close distances. Shading At 17mm the lens shows fairly strong vignetting of almost two stops, which will be plainly visible in images with clear blue skies. This decreases to about 1 stop on closing down to f/5.6, but doesn’t reduce any further. Longer focal lengths show the same pattern, but lower levels of light fall-off. Curvilinear distortion At its wideangle setting,…

When I saw the name Tenax on this rather splendid old folding camera from my dad's collection, I assumed that it was made by Zeiss Ikon – after all they made a number of cameras with the Tenax name over a period of half a century. Closer examination shows that it was made by the Berlin firm, Goerz, which was one of five camera makers that were brought together to form Zeiss Ikon in1926. Some existing names were carried forward into the new company, and that explains my initial confusion about this one. This camera is substantially bigger than a familiar 120 folding camera, as it uses the long-obsolete 124 film, which made 3¼ x 4¼ inch negatives on a paper backed roll. Like most larger-format cameras from the period…

Ok… cards on the table time. I’ve always found the work of Cindy Sherman difficult, and so therefore I have not really spent much time looking at it. I have never considered myself to be an artist. Indeed have never wanted to consider myself one. Since a very early age I have considered myself to be a photographer and as such, a craftsman. Like a carpenter, capable of taking some very elemental and simple things and turning them into a thing of beauty. I’ve always had a problem with ‘artist’ photographers who use photography as a tool to make their images, seemingly without any of the skill that my photographic heroes used in their work. The seeming disregard for everything I have learned and studied about photography. The uncaring nature…