Innholdsfortegnelse for 25-Apr-2020 i Amateur Photographer

We have often extolled the virtues of seeking out photo opportunities on your doorstep, and showcased the work of photographers who have reaped the rewards of concentrating on the wildlife and flora in their neighbourhood. Now spring is here, and we have no choice but to stay local, there will never be a better opportunity to follow their lead and become experts on the nature within our own square mile. I hope this week’s guide inspires you. We also look back to the glory days of vinyl, and the role that album covers played in popular culture, with three legends who shot some of the most iconic covers of all time. Don’t forget that you can get AP delivered, and save money, by subscribing – if you don’t already. You’ll…

BOOK Robert Mapplethorpe By Mark Holborn, Dimitri Levas, Patti Smith, Andrew Sullivan and Arthur C Danto. £125, Phaidon, 384 pages, hardback. ISBN 9781838660208 THE MOST comprehensive collection of legendary photographer Robert Mapplethorpe's work, this updated edition from Phaidon brings together nudes, self-portraits, still-life florals, a selection of his colour photography and his controversial X Portfolio. First published in 1992 by Random House, this new edition has been redesigned and resequenced, including dozens of photographs not found in the original edition. The author Mark Holborn worked on the original volume, collaborating with the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, while Dimitri Levas is an art director who worked closely with Mapplethorpe. Writer, performer and visual artist Patti Smith has written the foreword, while there are also essays by Andrew Sullivan and Arthur C Danto.…

Backdrop When taking super-close-ups in the garden you may want to slot in a different background colour. This could simply be a piece of A4 card in any colour. Photoshop Experiment and edit your flower images for an abstract result in a program like Photoshop. There are cheaper options as well that will do just a good a job, such as Photoshop Elements and Affinity Photo. Scanner A flatbed scanner and flowers are a match made in heaven. Scan in flowers and experiment with the results.…

ON THE eve of Photokina 1963 the Editor speculates on what will be revealed. ‘One tendency is already visible; there will be many more cameras making negatives smaller than the 24x36mm of the standard miniature.' New half-frame models will be prominent, ‘especially on the stands of the Japanese makers, who take their small negatives very seriously.' But there's some disappointing news: ‘On unimpeachable authority we learn that the rumoured Leica single-lens reflex will not be on view at Photokina.' (Leica's debut SLR, the Leicaflex, was released the following year.) A somewhat creepy guide to taking candid snaps of courting couples begins with a warning: ‘Clearly the photographer… must be wholly sympathetic and understanding, for even the remotest suggestion of intrusion would thrust him outside the bounds of decency and good…

From 1968 until 1983 the trailblazing design group Hipgnosis – run by Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey ‘Po' Powell – carved out a huge reputation for designing innovative record covers, often based on imagery shot on Hasselblad square format cameras. Their clients included rock behemoths Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Yes and Genesis with the photographic pinnacle of Hipgnosis's work arguably coming on the cover of Floyd's 1975 LP Wish You Were Here (above). Shot on the Warner Brothers studio lot in Burbank the image of two men ‘doing a deal', with one literally being burned, is said to signify the cut-throat nature of the music business. Stuntman Ronnie Rondell Jr managed to withstand the heat for 15 frames before dropping to the ground. It is believed that the image used had…

1 Canon EOS R I like the way I get a view of what the exposure is like before taking the picture. Average used price £1,450 2 Canon RF 24-105mm f/4 My preferred lens for portrait work. It's sharp and a good all-round performer. Average used price £750 3 Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS II USM My other favourite lens. I love the background separation I get with it. Average used price £1,000 4 Canon BR-E1 Wireless Remote A simple-to-use wireless trigger and I always have it available in my bag. 5 Peak Design Slide Strap The way you can quickly adjust it or change it into a wrist strap is brilliant. 6 2x Canon 600EX-RT My two Speedlites are compact, reasonably powerful and the batteries last a decent amount…

FUJIFILM has had a good thing going with its X100-series ever since the original arrived ten years ago. We've seen it evolve a great deal in this time, while preserving the iconic design and classic styling that X100-series cameras have become known and loved for. With the X100V, Fujifilm hasn't updated it by simply adding their latest X-Trans CMOS 4 sensor and fastest processor. Instead it's advanced it to the nth degree, creating a better tool for photographers who like the simplicity that comes with working with a fixed lens compact and others who fancy a beautifully designed camera that fits a jacket pocket and can be pulled out at a moment's notice to capture truly stunning images. The X100V improves in many crucial areas, not least its lens, which…

Football Supporter by S.C.Smith/Topical Press Agency A WEST Bromwich Albion FC fan waves his rattle and cheers as he makes his way to Wembley Stadium for the FA Cup final between West Bromwich Albion and Sheffield Wednesday. The match reports suggest it was quite an exciting game. West Bromwich being the favourites before the game, the winner was Sheffield Wednesday, with a score of 4-2. Looking like extra time was very likely, Ellis Rimmer scored the final two of Wednesday's goals, both in the final five minutes of the match – he'd also scored in every round of that year's FA Cup. This photograph is just one of the many in the Hulton Archive from the Topical Press Agency. The archive acquired the bulk of Topical's collection after it went…

GRAYS of Westminster, the used Nikon specialist based in central London, has been named Retailer of the Year by long-established photographic trade journal, BPI News . The journal cited the retailer's commitment to customer care, which was also a key factor in it wining AP's coveted Platinum Good Service Award 2020. This year is also the 35th anniversary of the retail side of the business. Asked how Grays of Westminster has been able to attract and maintain such a loyal customer base over the years, owner Gray Levett quotes his business mantra: ‘The answer's yes, now what's the question,' BPI News reported. Grays of Westminster is also currently running a series of live streams on YouTube during the coronavirus lockdown. For the latest updates, see www.facebook.com/graysofwestminster. In addition, Grays publishes…

I knew what my old friend was going to say from the (slightly self-satisfied) smirk on his face. The photographic prowess of his new phone was so good, he didn't need a dedicated camera any more. His faithful Canon DSLR was now a relic gathering dust, all thanks to his shiny new Huawei P30 Pro. Photo-enthusiast owners of the latest flagship smartphones now seem to delight in telling me similar tales. They have a point. Smartphone manufacturers are whittling away at the traditional camera's advantages. The sheer processing power of phones, and their makers' willingness to let their cameras exploit it, means phones can often get shots your camera can't. In incredibly low light, multiple exposures are expertly and unobtrusively combined to compensate for camera shake, and HDR is available…

Long lens For garden wildlife you will want a lens with that extra reach. Anything from a 100mm to 200mm lens will do the job in this type of setting. Seeds To create a wild garden patch sprinkle some seeds this spring to start attracting lots of different insects. If you don’t have a garden look into a hanging basket or a window sill planter that will still attract creatures. Rug to lie on A lot of garden photography requires you to get down low so a rug or plastic bag to lie or kneel on will help protect your clothes!…

For many of those who were into music from the 1950s through to the late ’80s, the album cover was an important physical social totem. This 12-inch square cardboard sleeve became a symbol that identified you with a genre of music, a style and the attitude of the artist. They became badges of coolness and, conversely, shame. If you walked into school or college in 1969 carrying Led Zeppelin’s first album – which used a 1937 photograph by Sam Shere, of the Hindenberg airship catching fire – you were one of the cool kids. To the record companies, the cover was a visual advertising card designed to attract a specific segment of the market. In the 1950s classical and jazz music were considered highbrow and so they often presented the…

If I’m asked about the famous people I’ve photographed, the one that most people want to hear about, more than anyone else, is David Beckham. Although he has been in the public eye for 25 years, he remains an enigmatic figure for a lot of people. David, like most top Premier League players, isn’t academic and hasn’t had a conventional education. However, to be as successful as he’s been in football you need to be an alpha male and have an incredible animal intelligence. There’s a brightness in his eyes and an energy that you see in professional sportspeople. And, as he’s shown, he also has formidable business acumen and entrepreneurial skills. ‘There’s a brightness in his eyes and an energy that you see in professional sportspeople’ When I first…

One of the criticisms X100-series models received from users in the past was a lack of weather resistance. Fujifilm has acknowledged that many photographers want to have the option of shooting with the X100V when the weather takes a turn for the worse, and not succumb to stowing it away or swapping cameras to prevent unfavourable weather or demanding environments from affecting its performance. As well as adding weather resistance around the body and to the viewfinder to ensure the X100V is more durable, Fujifilm has released an optional weather-resistant kit that consists of an AR-X100 adapter ring and PRF-49 protection filter. By attaching the adapter ring and filter, the front element of the lens, which extends and retracts very slightly when focusing, becomes a sealed unit and fully resistant…

● From £129 (500GB) ● www.samsung.com EARLIER this year we rounded up six of the best portable hard drives on the market and came to the conclusion that Samsung's Portable SSD T5 is one of the best options if you're after an incredibly small, lightweight drive that's reliable and robust. Since then Samsung has released the Portable SSD T7 Touch – a solid state drive that fits in your pocket like the SSD T5, but updated in the way it offers faster read/write speeds and fingerprint recognition like you get on many smartphones. The drive's interface is USB 3.2 Gen 2 and it comes with USB-C and USB-A cables. Embedded PCIe NVMe technology facilitates impressive sequential read/write speeds of up to 1,050MB/s and 1,000MB/s respectively, which is twice as fast…

Kodak was probably the best-known brand in 20th century photography. Its low-cost, simple cameras led the way in the growth of popular photography, and there can be few people who haven't been on one side or the other of a Kodak camera. The Duaflex is in the ‘Pseudo TLR' style, that is it superficially mimics a twin lens reflex, but in fact the upper lens is merely a viewfinder, and plays no part in the focusing of the image, as would be the case with a proper TLR. It first appeared in the late 1940s, and was made, with various changes in style and specification, right up until 1960. Mine is the earliest version, and has a simple fixed focus f/15 75mm Kodet lens. The waist level viewfinder is big…

#appicoftheweek Benijo Bay by Lucy Buck Fujifilm X100T, 19mm, 1/900sec at f/16, ISO 800 Lucy works full-time shift work in a job that is great but leaves her with no creative outlet. In her spare time she likes to create travel and lifestyle content on Instagram (@lucylou528). As she says, ‘I travelled to the north of Tenerife to the famous Benijo Beach with its volcanic black sand and gorgeous sunsets. High tide meant that I was able to capture this wonderful angle, and I wanted an “almost complete” silhouette without losing the separation of the different rocks or the details in the sand.' Chosen by Nigel Atherton, Editor, as our #apppicofthe week Win!  Each week we choose our favourite picture on Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, Twitter or the reader gallery using…

Versatile lens A variable length lens will give you plenty of options. We recommend something like a 24-105mm range in a setting like a garden. Tripod A versatile tripod will be a valuable accessory out in the field. One that can remove the centre column will enable you to explore all angles and be more flexible. Small step ladder John Cambell always packs his small step ladder for a garden shoot, which gives him lots more options for shooting gardens and exploring different angles.…

In response to George Aldridge's question Why shoot film? ( Inbox 7 March) I can highly recommend it! Since the film camera was invented in the late 19th century and photography remained predominantly film based until the end of the 20th century there's the thick end of 100 years' back catalogue of iconic photographs – all created on film. Shooting film is about being part of something kinaesthetic, wonderful and addictive. You can pick up a great 1980s SLR for around £65 and start shooting. Until you've shot and developed 150-200 film rolls you won't have spent anywhere near the price of a new DSLR (£2,500) and you'll almost certainly have become a better photographer in the process. Shooting film forces you to understand the process, the variables in play,…

Disappointed with the cover of their first album, Please, Please Me, created by EMI's in-house art studio, The Beatles demanded control of their next. They commissioned Robert Freeman after seeing his moody images of jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. This reflected their desire to have their work viewed as art. The session wasn't done in a studio but in the dark corridor of a hotel in Bournemouth while the band were on their 1963 tour. The shoot took about an hour and the result was dark, stark and monochrome. No longer loveable ‘mop-tops', they were serious artists. EMI's top brass were appalled that the band weren't smiling but Parlophone's label manager, George Martin, supported the band's decision. They did though lose the battle to have the image run full-bleed off the…

Matthew Biggs, Cumbria Matthew first got into photography when his brother got a dog and he found he was constantly taking photos of it. He has found that as his kit develops, so do his skills. He has been fortunate to have had the chance to visit Switzerland a number of times and in 2017 he moved to the Lake District. He feels blessed to be surrounded by so much photographic potential and also takes great pride in being able to share his work with others. So it's really no surprise that landscapes and lakes are his favourite subjects. 1 North Face of the Eiger Matthew took this image of the world-famous moutain in a way that would really show its scale and power. Canon EOS 500D, 10-22mm, 1/1600sec at…

Sensor 26.1MP X-Trans 4, 23.5 x 15.6mm Output size 6240x4160 Focal length mag 1.5x Lens 23mm f/2 Shutter speeds 30-1/4000sec (mechanical) 1-1/32000sec (electronic) ISO 160-12,800 (80-51,200 extended) Exposure modes PASM Metering 256-segment TTL: Multi, spot, average, centre weighted Exposure comp +/-5EV in 0.3EV steps Drive mode 11fps (up to 30fps with 1.25x crop using electronic shutter) Screen 3in, 1.62-million-dot tilting LCD Viewfinder Optical 0.52x magnification / electronic 3.69m-dot OLED EVF AF points 117 or 425 Video 4K (30/25/24p), Full HD (120-24p) External mic 2.5mm stereo Memory card SD, SDHC, SDXC (UHS-II) Power NP-W126S Li-ion battery Battery life 250-420 shots per charge Dimensions 128x74.8x53.3mm Weight 478g (with battery and card)…

The X100V adopts the tried-and-tested 26.1-million-pixel X-Trans CMOS 4 APS-C sensor that's also used by the X-T4, X-T3, X-Pro3 and X-T30. It has a back-illuminated structure to enhance low-light performance and with no optical low-pass filter users will find extremely fine detail is preserved high into the ISO range. While the finest image quality is achieved by shooting in raw, the quality of JPEGs straight out of the camera is astonishingly impressive. JPEGs don't suffer from being too heavily processed, with colours remaining punchy and true-to-life. Resolution The level of detail recorded is comparable to the detail resolved by the X-T3, X-T30 and X-Pro3. It resolves a maximum of 3,400l/ph between ISO 80 and ISO 400, with resolution dropping ever so slightly at ISO 800. Pushing past ISO 800 sees…

Thumb rest A close study of the thumb rest shows that it features a new design. It protrudes further than the thumb rest on the EOS R. Rather than having the exposure lock and AF point selection/Magnify button arranged vertically, they are positioned side-by-side on the EOS R5 like they are on the EOS 5D Mark IV. Mode button The mode button is identical to that found on the Canon EOS R. We expect it to work in the same way, meaning video modes can be accessed by first pressing the mode button followed by info button. We also expect the EOS R5 to inherit Canon's Flexible-priority (Fv) mode too. Joystick Canon has added a joystick, or multi-controller as it's also known, where the criticised M-Fn bar is located on…

The data transfer speeds offered by the SSD T7 Touch are fast. In real-world use you can happily run a Lightroom catalogue from it with no slowdown in operation. Running a series of transfer tests against the stopwatch resulted in 20.4GB’s worth of data being written to the drive in 54secs from the desktop. Transferring 42GB’s worth of raw files to the drive from another SSD hard drive took just 1minute 52secs. It’s also worth noting Samsung’s Portable SSD software provides a visual indication of how much space is being used on the drive and how much remains available.…

Seeing Robert Mapplethorpe’s work for the first time is something you are unlikely to forget. I encountered his work at around the same period I encountered Joel-Peter Witkin. My college photography tutor allowed me to peruse his library of books and these two figures immediately jumped out. Of the two, Witkin spoke more to my fascinations, with his monochrome tableaus of the rich beauty found in disabled and/or gender fluid sitters. But while Witkin’s world was one I recognised from my own imagination, Mapplethorpe’s images, in particular his X Portfolio, was something other entirely. While there was undeniable exquisiteness to be found in the borderline-traditional portraits and flower work found in his other collections, the images in X Portfolio were the other side of the coin. I was assaulted by…