Innholdsfortegnelse for 20-Aug-2016 i Amateur Photographer

Lightroom has become the go-to program for dealing with large numbers of raw files. It packs in a huge number of tools for organising, saving and presenting your images, along with fuss-free editing. Another benefit of Lightroom is the ease of adding presets – a saved series of edits and effects that you can apply with a single click (or automatically apply as you import images into the main Develop module). Say you want to convert 50 images to mono. Adding a saved Preset could turn a laborious, two-hour job into a 10-minute one. While you can find a lot of third-party presets, it’s often more efficient to make presets yourself. Heres how to do it. 1 Make the adjustments that will form the basis of your preset. For example,…

FUJIFILM Student Photographer of the Year 2016 has been awarded to Gemma Astbury, who inserted scratches to her nostalgia-infused image for added authenticity. Gemma used Fujifilm Fujichrome Velvia 100 transparency film to shoot her winning photo, called ‘Happisburgh Fences'. The Norwich University student said she cross-processed the film to create a ‘dreamlike haze with the rocks standing like a wall between the audience and the sea'. The theme of this year's contest was ‘Shoot from the Hip'. Gemma's entry had won the February round of the competition, which required entrants to submit images taken on Fujifilm Professional film. Steve Macleod, director of competition sponsor Metroprint, said of the winning shot: ‘At first glance, the image feels ephemeral, disposable and transient. However, when studying in more detail it evokes feelings of…

Twitter Julian Calverley @juliancalverley Julian, whose landscape images were featured in AP 26 July 2014, is also adept at creating engaging portraits, as seen here. Join the conversation at @AP_Magazine Facebook Rio 2016 The Rio Olympics are in full swing, so we’ll be seeing a glut of excellent action shots. In this image from Marcos de Paula we see the most iconic of Olympic scenes – the passing of the torch. Like us on www.facebook.com/amateurphotographermagazine Instagram Jodi Cobb @jodicobb In this magnificent, deceptively simple shot by Jodi Cobb, what appears to be a composite of two shots is in fact a tree reflected in the window of a Buddhist temple in Seoul, South Korea. Follow us at @amateurphotographermagazine…

The graceful shape and form of birds appear at their most spectacular when they are in full flight. Their movements can be fast and unpredictable, so it comes as no surprise that for most people, the ability to capture the beauty of flight is regarded as one of the prime benchmarks in wildlife photography. Thankfully, recent advances in technology such as faster and more accurate focusing systems have made the task easier, but to obtain a successful result still requires plentiful use of the skills of old – patience and perseverance! When it comes to choosing the right gear, fast lenses with wide apertures are the most suitable, as they tend to focus more quickly, and the greater light transmission allows faster shutter speeds. This is important if the objective…

‘Bailey can be quite a difficult character, but here he’s looking a little embattled’ For me, David Bailey is one of the ‘Holy Trinity’ of living British photographers, along with Don McCullin and Martin Parr. They’re very different in style, approach and subject matter, but are great photographers. Memorable portraits of great photographers are rare, and my favourite picture of the young Bailey was taken in the early 1960s by Terry O’Neill. It shows him striking a pose as he directs a model during a fashion shoot. In August 2011, I was commissioned to photograph a 73-year-old Bailey for The Sunday Times, which was publishing an interview with him by journalist Lynn Barber. Bailey was talking to her about an exhibition of his paintings that was being held at a…

Tested Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ100 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 IV Smartphones may have rendered the simplest point-and-shoot cameras redundant, but if you're willing to spend a little more for a better class of camera you have more options today than ever before. While classic enthusiast lines have continued, newer ranges have fast become just as respected, and this has helped the format to maintain itself as a credible alternative to interchangeable-lens systems. Although the shift in focus by manufacturers from lower-end models can partly explain the format's continued appeal, one of the most significant turning points was the widespread adoption of the1in CMOS sensor. More than twice as large as the1/1.7in sensors that were previously employed by many enthusiast cameras, these first surfaced in the Sony…

‘As sources of light, the white LED and the xenon flash tube have quite similar efficiency’ I am told that there is a worldwide decline in the market for flash tubes. My source is a large Chinese manufacturer of these components. For this company, the cause is the rise of the light-emitting diode (LED) light source, but the full story is more complex than that. As sources of light, the white LED and the xenon flash tube have quite similar efficiency, even though they work in different ways. The xenon flash tube is simply a glass tube filled with xenon gas at a low pressure. By passing an electric current through the gas, it is heated to a sufficient temperature to form a plasma – a mix of disassociated atomic…

When We Grow Up by Steve Boyle Canon EOS 700D, 24-85mm, 1/400sec at f/13, ISO 200 This image was uploaded to our Flickr page. ‘I shot this image at Les Rencontres d'Arles 2016, the biggest photography festival in Europe,' says Steve. ‘The portraits are by Parisian photographer Cyrille Robin. I've actually contacted him, and fortunately, he likes my image. ‘I was drawn by the similar textures of the wall and the skies in the portrait backgrounds. I'm also particularly fond of the shadow created by the unstuck image as it flaps in the breeze. As the two figures entered the scene, interacting with the portraits, they completed my image. It was shot with a Canon EOS 700D with a 24-85mm zoom set to the wide end.' Win! Each week we…

GETTY Images is set to ‘vigorously' defend a $1 billion copyright lawsuit lodged by photographer Carol Highsmith, who is suing the US picture library for ‘gross misuse' of 18,755 of her images. The renowned American photographer claims that Getty violated her rights for each of the 18,755 photographs displayed on the Getty website. The copyright action concerns photos that Highsmith donated to the Library of Congress in 1988. According to the lawsuit, the donation gave the public ‘the right to reproduce and display all the photographs at issue in this lawsuit, for free'. Highsmith claims Getty Images was purporting to sell licences for thousands of her photographs on commercial websites. The lawsuit, filed on 25 July at a United States District Court in New York, is seeking up to $1…

Real Life Family Photography By Amy Drucker, Ilex, £12.99, 144 pages, softback, ISBN 978-1-78157-297-9 NOW two books to lighten the mood. New York-based Amy Drucker is a photographer who has spent her career juggling the dual genres of documentary portraits and creative lifestyle photography. In this book, she has focused on what some would consider one of the most challenging genres of photography: documenting the family. We can all remember sifting through the photo albums of our youth, those cherished snapshots that inspire grimaces and fond memories. Precious as they are, we all of us have that experience of just wishing we could create something a little more enduring. With Christmas (sort of) around the corner, this is a fine time to start thinking about creating portraits that you'll feel…

‘There is the drama and theatre of the harsh mountain scene above the water, and the tranquil, surreal world beneath the surface’ Getting started Split-level photography (also known as a split shot or a half and half) is a great way to engage the viewer in two different worlds at once, and help explain the context of the action or subject you are photographing. You can take split images in almost any kind of water, whether deep, shallow, moving or still, so long as you have a main focal point. This technique is best approached with a wideangle lens or a fisheye. You can try it with other fixed lenses, but it is most effective when considering the image as a standard fisheye shot with a twist. Your focal point…

This image is taken from the series ‘Transparency of a Dream’, where I placed butterflies underwater and photographed them suspended in a dream-like state. When removed from the water they were unharmed. I was inspired to do this project when I was working in Moscow and found out that my estranged father had died and been buried for two years before I’d known about it. It was this knowledge that triggered the idea of photographing generations of butterflies and was a project that would take two years of my life to complete. Breeding butterflies In order to create this surreal sensation of butterfly descendants dancing with one another – something that never occurs in nature – I had the idea of layering generation upon generation of butterflies within a single…

Dials It’s now standard to find two or more physical dials on the top-plate to provide immediate access to exposure mode and exposure compensation, or to function as a command dial. Control ring Many enthusiast compacts sport rings around their lenses to regulate aperture, focal length or custom options. Viewfinder While not a universal feature, built-in electronic viewfinders are becoming increasingly common on such cameras. Short zoom lens Most enthusiast compacts incorporate relatively fast zoom lenses that start at a wideangle and finish at a moderate telephoto length. Magnesium-alloy body One advantage over cheaper compacts is the use of hardier materials, such as magnesium alloy, for the outer shell. THE VAST number of enthusiast compact cameras currently available makes it difficult to define a typical model in terms of its…

First camera QI don't own a camera, and never have, but I want to buy a start-up camera. I have a budget of £150, but I want something that I can take a great picture with. I don't mind if it's a second-hand model, and I don't need anything fancy, just something to get me going. The photos will mostly be of cars and pets, and I will be looking for something that I can upgrade in future with maybe a better lens. It's mostly for stills, but some video as well. By the sounds of it, I'd like a DSLR. I'm not too fussed about having the best of the best so long as it's a good piece of kit. Jack96 A You would be doing very well if…

The Landscape Photographer of the Year (LPOTY) competition, founded by Charlie Waite, is a well-known staple in the UK photography calendar, but what you may not be aware of is that an annual competition for US landscapes was introduced two years ago. The USA is known for some photogenic wildernesses, as we can see in this 2015 My USA category-winning image by Grant Ordelheide. Grant captured this awesome display of nature over the Grand Canyon. It's a perfectly timed shot and goes to show that patience and perseverance can give you images to cherish for a lifetime. There are a variety of prizes on offer for USA LPOTY, including a $15,000 top prize for the overall adult winner. Entries close on15 September 2015, and the winners will be announced in…

The Changing Faces of Wartime Britain Mixing It: The Changing Faces of Wartime Britain reveals the forgotten and lesser-told histories of service personnel and civilians who came to Britain during WWII, and highlights the changes that took place as the country’s ethnic diversity bloomed. Until 11 September, www.iwm.org.uk Punk If you’re a fan of music photography, an exhibition at Michael Hoppen Gallery in London is documenting the rise of punk culture in 1970s Britain. The prints themselves are a little worn and frayed around the edges, giving the images an even greater intensity. Until 26 August, www.michaelhoppengallery.com Spaghetti Junction Photo Walk Photo walks are a good way to shoot images and meet other photographers. This three-hour stroll in Birmingham explores the city’s Spaghetti Junction. The walk…

Lens to shoot birds My subject of interest is small garden birds, and I am considering the use of a polarising filter to possibly improve the end results. My equipment comprises two Olympus OM-D E-M10 bodies, one with a 100-300mm lens that is used for handheld work. The second body is used with a Leica ‘R' lens, manually focused and mounted on a tripod, and with this I have some control over light angles and avoid having to use filters. As the filters on the 67mm fit are not cheap, could I have your opinion about using them and would I gain an improvement on image quality? Dennis Gander, Hertfordshire It's not immediately clear to me how a polarising filter might help with photographing small birds. The usual problem is…

Dogs at Play winner Tom Lowe UK Don't forget to make the most of dramatic landscapes for effective dog portraits. The rugged scenery here also perfectly fits the dog's breed, a West Highland white terrier. Overall winner Anastasia Vetkovskaya Russia Here, in this winning image of an English springer spaniel, we see the real benefit of shooting in the early hours. The mist of the early morning has created a dreamy atmosphere with the low raking light that follows just after sunrise. Dogs at Work 2nd place Robert James Dray UK Make sure you get down to your dog's level. This dog works for West Midlands Fire Service, and the shoes protect its paws from the heat caused by fires. Dog Portrait winner Jamie Morgan UK Environmental context can do…

Back in 2006, Sony took over Konica Minolta's troubled camera business in a bid to become a major player in the market. Ten years on and its relentless experimentation and innovation have paid dividends, with the Alpha 7 full-frame mirrorless system rapidly establishing itself as a serious alternative to high-end DSLRs. There's no point having hugely ambitious cameras like the 42.4-million-pixel Alpha 7R II, though, without lenses to match. To this end, Sony has also been rapidly building up its full-frame FE range, which, from a standing start in 2013, now numbers17 lenses as well as various converters. Its latest is the premium Zeiss-branded Planar T* FE 50mm f/1.4 ZA. Sony's marketing tagline is ‘Tomorrow's lenses today', and by this it means that it is designing optics to satisfy the…

Gray Levett Gray is the founder of Grays of Westminster in London, one of the most famous Nikon camera shops in the world. The shop, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, has won numerous awards and distinctions, and is the first camera shop in the world to be granted its own coat of arms. As well as being a Nikon authority, Gray is a talented and highly experienced photographer in his own right. www.graysofwestminster.co.uk 1959 Kodak Brownie 127 The Kodak Brownie 127 was my first camera. I saw an advertisement for it in the Eagle comic and knew I had to have one. I was over the moon when my parents got one for me for my birthday. This started my fascination for photography, which has never diminished. 1967 Nikon…