Innholdsfortegnelse for 27-Aug-2016 i Amateur Photographer

Once upon a time, choosing a career as a professional photographer seemed like a safe choice. Ordinary folk didn’t understand things like f stops, so aside from a few Uncle Bobs with SLRs or even older kit, they had to pay a professional photographer for decent photos, and this would always be the case. Who knew? Nowadays, thanks to digital cameras and smartphones, and the democratisation of photography they’ve enabled, trying to make money with your camera is a much bigger challenge. Yet, lots of people manage to do it: some as a nice sideline to pay for their hobby or fund photographic trips, others as a full-time job. So this week, we talk to a selection of successful photographic moneymakers from a variety of photography genres and get their…

A NEW national body set to provide advice, knowledge and support on photographic collections has been awarded £55,000 in funding from Arts Council England. The soon-to-be launched Photographic Collections Network will comprise a steering group made up of representatives from the Royal Photographic Society, Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum, National Media Museum (pictured) and photography network Redeye, among others. Paul Herrmann, director of Redeye and chair of the new body, said: ‘It will include mapping of collections and research, exchanging knowledge about collections management, and hopefully build wider public knowledge and support for our photographic archives and collections.'…

Raphael Albert Miss Black and Beautiful From the late 1960s to the early 1990s, Albert organised and documented numerous black beauty pageants and cultural events in London, while building a portfolio of photographs of aspiring models. This is a fascinating cultural document being held at Autograph ABP, Rivington Place in London. Until 24 September, autograph-abp.co.uk/exhibitions/ miss-black-and-beautiful Béton Brut by Simon Phipps Intriguing photographs of brutalist architecture, screen-printed in monochrome onto brushed aluminium. Phipps’s careful selection of materials captures one of the properties of brutalism – ‘its not concerned with the material, but the quality of the material, what can [it] do?’ 1 September-31 October, http:// bit.ly/2aQ6dhm Look An MA documentary project on blindness by Sue MacPherson. It shows how, with courage and…

I knew it was a dream, but my mind decided to let the id indulge itself – it was a long panning shot across a remote Colorado plateau. There was a late afternoon sun, and bands of boulders and sparse vegetation pockmarked the landscape creating a visually compelling monochromatic vision of the vastness of the US mountain region. The shot slowly moved in, allowing me to pick out the shapes of a small cluster of buildings. The buildings cast unnaturally deformed shapes across the dusty tracks, overlapping and interweaving. Spindrift occasionally bounced across the frame drawing the eye down the line of buildings, with the overlap pine cladding blistered in parts. The wood grain was intensely weathered, forming grooves in the wooden planks. At the end of the street stood…

MANY of Keith's points are echoed by Keren Sachs, content director at global stock giant Shutterstock. ‘We have over 90 million pictures, and it tends to be the authentic images that perform well – real people doing real things,' she says. ‘We look for well-composed, well-lit images from photographers with a “point of view” that comes through. ‘There's also a strong market for images that show real families, capture regional and local flavour, and show people around the world living life. Food images are popular, too, as are our Olympic Games images and people interacting with new technology. ‘Our customers are very diverse: everyone from graphic designers to major advertisers and book publishers. There's a massive appetite for images in this age of social media, and bigger companies won't take…

Thanks for the news item ‘Photographers compete in TV show' (7 days, AP 23 July), about the new series Master of Photography on Sky Arts. I watched the first episode on Thursday, 21 July, and feel it is the best programme on TV at the moment. The format is very much that of MasterChef (for photographers). The last similar programme I remember watching was the BBC's outstanding offering The Genius of Photography, which I watched avidly and subsequently bought the DVD of. This got me thinking that there are probably many photography-related programmes across the many TV channels, and I wondered if AP could possibly list ‘recommended viewing' each week. I am sure many readers would appreciate this, and I expect the programme companies would welcome the added exposure. Thanks…

Brian May confesses to guests, ‘My head’s kind of spinning.’ These guests have gathered at Dolby’s plush offices in London’s Soho Square to learn about his latest adventures in the world of 3D. The Queen guitarist is in the throes of a 15-date European tour, and between gigs has flown back especially for the London launch of his OWL VR Smartphone Kit. He has stepped off stage in Barcelona, Spain, and has to jet off to Linz, Austria, first thing tomorrow morning. He may be weary from the travelling, but Brian’s passion for what Victorians called stereoscopy – ‘virtual reality’ in 21st century jargon – remains undiminished. This lifelong expert and fan of the third dimension began collecting stereo cards as a boy, starting with those given away for free…

How to blend two images ALAN Warriner has produced an accomplished blend of the two ‘before' images. I chose to take a different approach by processing each image separately in Camera Raw and saving these as Smart Objects, which could then be placed in a layer stack in Photoshop. The objective was to optimise the tones and colours in each so the final blend could look realistic. The final composite captures the action of the original scene and preserves the highlight detail that would otherwise have been missing, although merging the two photographs proved rather tricky. 1 Processing the main exposure I opened the main-exposure raw image and adjusted the tone sliders to achieve the best tone balance for the fire breather and the street scene behind. I also adjusted…

Austria FOTOobjektiv Editor: Klaus Lorbeer www.fotoobjektiv.at Belgium Shoot Editor: Erik Derycke www.shoot.be Czech Republic FotoVideo Editor: Rudolf Stáhlich www.ifotovideo.cz Finland Kamera-lehti Editor: Asko Vivolin kamera-lehti.fi France Chasseur d’Images Editor: Pascal Miele www.chassimages.com Germany FotoMagazin Editor: Thorsten Höge www.fotomagazin.de Greece PhotoNet Editor: Menelaos Meletzis/Konstantinos Floros www.nexusmedia.gr Hungary FotoVideo Magazin Editor: Sándor Benkõ www.fotovideo.hu Italy Tutti Fotografi Editor: Paolo Namias www.fotografia.it Netherlands Focus Editor: Dirk van der Spek focusmedia.nl Norway Fotografi Editor: Toralf Sandaker www.fotografi.no Poland Foto-Kurier Editor: Krzysztof Patrycy www.foto-kurier.pl Spain Super Foto Digital Editor: Jorge Coma www.grupov.es Sweden Fotosidan Magasin Editor: Magnus Fröderberg www.fotosidan.se Unidte Kingdom Amateur Photographer Editor: Nigel Atherton www.amateur photographer.co.uk…

LAUNCHED 1983 GUIDE PRICE TODAY £35-£40 with 50mm lens THE RICOH KR-5 Super was an improved version of the original Ricoh KR-5 that was on sale for £99.95, with an f/2.2 lens, in AP 3 November 1979. The KR-5 Super was offered with wider-aperture standard lens options. Mine, illustrated here, has a 50mm f/2 Rikenon. The KR-5 Super was marketed between 1983 and 1989. While essentially similar to the original KR-5, the KR-5 Super was equipped with several improvements, including faster f/1.7 and f/2 standard lens options. Although the multi-bladed metal Copal shutter was still limited to 1/8sec as the longest shutter speed (aside from B), the top speed was increased to 1/1000sec, and the maximum flash sync speed was increased to 1/125sec. While there was still no PC socket…

EFET is a private photo school in Paris. Every year it produces a superb catalogue of its students’ work, which is handed out at the Rencontres d’Arles photography festival. Of course, some of the work is forgettable, but equally, there are some brilliant new photographers featured. Visit www.lolaledoux.com and you’ll see just how good Lola Ledoux, the photographer of this image, is. Lola specialises in animal photography, especially pets. Quite honestly, I’d have been astonished if someone had told me this would be something that would interest me, which shows how wrong preconceptions can be. This is not strictly atypical, either, as it’s from her ‘Complicity’ series of people and animals together. It was a toss-up between me picking this image or the one with the ballet shoes and pet…

Rose by Andrew West Sony Alpha 7, 35mm, 1/1250sec at f/2.8, ISO 100 This picture was uploaded to our Flickr page. ‘The image you see here was taken in my front garden,' says Andrew. ‘The weather had been very nice over the previous few days so I thought I would pop out and see what was blooming. I saw the rose from a low angle, and it looked good against the blue sky so I took the shot. ‘There has been a fair bit of colour manipulation, which has resulted in the pink background. I was not 100% happy with the results so tried to add a texture in Photoshop. ‘I increased the brightness of the rose head and increased the yellows, which helped to make the flower pop. After…

‘Often I sensed a loneliness in the students I photographed’ Published by Dewi Lewis Price £30 96 pages hardback ISBN 978-1-90789-399-5 If the1960s were a time of British ‘boy-done-good' photographers exploding onto the glamorous international scene, then the 1970s seemed to move in a somewhat opposite direction. It was around this time that a series of photographers came to the fore who were undaunted by the idea of almost turning the camera inwards and creating a much more personal vision of the world around them. This is perhaps largely a response to the numerous photographers from the USA, who demonstrated that deep beauty could be found in the everyday. William Eggleston, for example, who, with just a simple image of a light bulb on a red ceiling, showed budding photographers…

Twitter Levon Biss @LevonBissPhoto Levon Biss showed us his stunning macro insect portraits in AP 23 July. Here we see another dimension of his work with his beautiful portrait of gymnast Beck Downie, as she reveals a secret technique to aid palm grip. Join the conversation @AP_Magazine Instagram Keith Ladzinski @ladzinski Despite the prevalence of landscape photography, some areas of the world still reveal genuine natural wonder. Here we see a golden shaft of autumn sunrise pouring through the Great Arch of Getu in China. It’s the kind of astonishing image you can gaze at for ages. Follow us at @amateurphotographermagazine Flickr FadeToBlackLP There’s something about the innocence of children that rubs off on an image, leading to lovely results. This is a perfect portrait, and one that makes good…

What is it? The Virtual Reality (VR) kit is based on the London Stereoscopy Company's existing OWL viewer, which is designed for viewing stereoscopic prints. To work as a VR viewer for smartphones, the kit has two more parts: a magnetic holder that stows into the viewer, and a steel plate that sticks directly to your phone using double-sided tape. With the device holder in place, the OWL can be used for viewing 3D photos on your phone. It can also be used as a VR viewer with appropriate apps. How it works The OWL viewer is a fairly simple device, with a pair of lenses at one end and a holder for your smartphone at the other. A sliding mechanism allows the distance between them to be varied for…

Alignment Translucent overlays allow left and right images to be easily aligned, first at the taking stage and then for correct viewing, as shown here. Output Stereo images can be saved to the camera roll, or shared via email or social media. This a left/right stereo pair: stare at the page cross-eyed and you may see the 3D effect. Viewing 3D images can be viewed directly on your phone, if you prefer. This is a colour anaglyph for viewing with 3D glasses that have red and cyan lenses. 3D Camera • £1.49 from Apple App store (‘Lite’ version is free) • www.juicybitssoftware.com Andy Westlake tries out a 3D camera app for iPhones IF YOU'RE intrigued by the idea of stereo photography and would like to give it a try, then…

Every year, the European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA) meets to assess the very best photographic, video, audio, home theatre, in-car electronic and mobile electronic products on the market. The editors of 48 special-interest magazines from across 23 European countries, all highly respected experts in their fields, choose which of the products released in the previous 12 months are the very best in their class. With the inexorable advances in technology year-on-year, this can be a difficult task. AP is a member of EISA’s Photo Panel, alongside 14 more of the best photographic magazines across Europe. Like us, all these publications employ thorough testing and evaluation processes and are well known and respected for the quality of their reviews. So when a camera or lens is considered good enough to…

Is f/1.4 really necessary? Q In the past few months I've noticed a trend by companies to introduce lenses with an f/1.4 maximum aperture. Is an aperture this large really necessary in this day and age of high ISO sensors? Most, if not all, lenses with such a large aperture are next to useless wide open, with poor edge sharpness and bad vignetting. Yes, they let more light through the lens and into the viewfinder, which was useful in the days of manual focus, especially in low light, but in the days of autofocus, this would appear to be no longer the case.OK, some manufacturers, such as Zeiss, produce manual-focus lenses for AF cameras, but one of the facilities of viewfinders in pre-AF days was the ground-glass screen/split-image rangefinder, which…

Following Andy Westlake's test of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ100 (AP 7 May), in which he suggested that it is the ‘best pocket travel camera money can buy right now, I invested in one. This camera uses a1in sensor with an active area of13.2x8.8mm, giving a crop factor of 2.7 with respect to 35mm ‘full frame.' This sensor is large enough to qualify the camera for some quite serious photographic work. Ultimately, image quality depends on the number of photons that are captured in an image. As sensor technology generally performs at about the same level within any given generation of devices, the amount of light that can be captured for a given shutter speed depends on two factors: the angle of view of the lens and the area of its…

Leica gong for Magnum ace Magnum photographer Ara Güler has won the Leica Hall of Fame Award. The Turkish photographer is renowned for his b&w images of Istanbul in the 1950s and 1960s. His work will be celebrated at the Leica Masters of Photography Gallery at the Photokina show in Cologne, Germany. New travel tripod and monopod Polaroid has unwrapped a new travel tripod – the Pro Series tripod (£74.99) – and two-in-one telescopic monopod – the Polaroid Varipod monopod (£39.99). The carbon-fibre tripod can extend to more than 55in, reducing down to 12.5in, while the monopod extends up to 65in and doubles up as a tripod. Drone the World Holidays designed to give a drone’s eye view of your travels – captured by photographers, cameramen and directors who have…

SALES OF Olympus and Nikon cameras fell in the weeks following the Kumamoto earthquake in April, according to statements released by both companies. The Japanese quake was partly blamed for quarterly falls in camera sales from April to June. Olympus reported a 25% drop in camera sales from April to June, causing its imaging business to slip into the red by 218 million yen (around £1.63m) – despite efforts to ‘squeeze' expenses. Last year, it made a 1.1 billion yen profit in the same period. The company said, ‘Sales and income down due to temporary mirrorless camera market stagnancy caused by the Kumamoto Earthquake and planned 2nd-half launches of new products.' According to Nikon, its decline in sales and profits was also partly due to the ‘shrinking digital camera market'.…

You answered… A Yes, and I’ve set up specific areas to do it 15% B Yes, I’ll try to photograph anything that shows up 34% C Yes, but only occasionally 41% D No, I’m not interested 4% E No, I don’t have a garden 6% What you said ‘I have discovered and learned much from shooting wildlife in my garden. Never had a new species in my garden... My favourite is probably still the spiky harvestman by my front door step in early summer. Really common but looks like something from another planet.’ ‘I’m lucky with a Snowdonian river flowing through the border, attracting all sorts of wildlife; just wish I had a longer micro lens.’ ‘Don’t actually have a garden as such, just patches of grass and the odd…

PROMPTED by Jim Casper, editor of contemporary photography website lensculture.com, René drew up an artist statement about his Antarctica project, which reads: ‘Thoughts of frozen ships trapped in ice-covered seas cross my mind, images of the photographers who joined these expeditions to report of the unexplored. Fascinated by their stories, I head for the same circumstances as those of the early 20th century. A journey of longing, to a time that once was. A heroic saga; filled with hardship and adventure, in an infinite, barren land.' Although the Antarctica series contains a reference to the past, René didn't want the photos to look as if they had been created with techniques available in the early1900s. ‘This is why I have deliberately chosen to work in colour, allowing the greyscale of…

EUROPEAN DSLR CAMERA 2016-2017 Canon EOS 80D The Canon EOS 80D is more than just another SLR. Canon has brought a camera to the market that incorporates many innovative functions for photo and video. The key feature is Canon’s Dual Pixel CMOS AF, which enables fast focussing during live view and video, and which is also supported by the new Power Zoom Adapter PZ-E1 which works together with the new EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM kit lens. The AF is also greatly improved and now sports 45 cross-type sensors, while the high-resolution vari-angle LCD allows touchscreen operation. Last but not least the EOS 80D has a class-leading image quality. EUROPEAN PROSUMER DSLR CAMERA 2016-2017 Nikon D500 The D500 is Nikon’s fastest and best DX-format DSLR to date. Capable of shooting…

HT Audio EUROPEAN HT SPEAKER SYSTEM DALI OPTICON 5.1 EUROPEAN HT RECEIVER DENON AVR-X2300W EUROPEAN SOUNDBASE CANTON DM 55 EUROPEAN SOUNDBAR YAMAHA YSP-5600 EUROPEAN HT HIGH END TRINNOV AUDIO ALTITUDE32 EUROPEAN BEST VALUE HT SPEAKER SYSTEM MONITOR AUDIO BRONZE 5.1 HT Audio/HT Video EUROPEAN ULTRA HD PLAYER PANASONIC DMP-UB900 HT Audio/HT Video/HiFi EUROPEAN AV ACCESSORY SPIN REMOTE HiFi EUROPEAN HIGH-END LOUDSPEAKER BOWERS & WILKINS 802 D3 EUROPEAN LOUDSPEAKER ELAC DEBUT F6 EUROPEAN COMPACT AUDIO SYSTEM NAIM AUDIO MU-SO QB EUROPEAN TURNTABLE PRO-JECT THE CLASSIC EUROPEAN STEREO SYSTEM MARANTZ CD6006 & PM6006 EUROPEAN NETWORK MEDIA PLAYER BLUESOUND NODE 2 EUROPEAN HIGH-END DAC HEGEL HD30 EUROPEAN HIGH-END HEADPHONES AKG N90Q EUROPEAN MULTIROOM SYSTEM SONOS PLAY:5 HiFi/Mobile EUROPEAN USB DAC/HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER CHORD MOJO Mobile EUROPEAN ADVANCED SMARTPHONE HTC 10 EUROPEAN CONSUMER SMARTPHONE HUAWEI…