Innholdsfortegnelse for 08-Aug-2020 i Amateur Photographer

The sky plays a vital but often overlooked role in the success of a landscape image, and nowhere in photography is the struggle between what the human eye sees, and what the camera sensor can record, more valiantly fought than in the heavens above. The sky is often so much brighter than the world below it, that it simply isn’t possible to capture all the subtle details in both without intervention. Luckily there are cures for a wishy-washy sky, both in camera and on your PC, and this week we explore them. Also this week we share some sublime street photos from a true master, and test the latest incarnation of the camera that pretty much invented the genre – the exquisite Leica M10-R. Don’t forget that you can avoid…

Bathroom by Nina Sherman Sony DSC-RX100M4, 1/100sec at f/1.8, ISO 400 London-based Nina was on the hunt for an alternative to her usual photographic style. As she tells us, ‘As an amateur street photographer, taking candid photos of people is something I really missed during lockdown. Even as an introvert, I was longing for events and celebrations so I could start taking photographs of people again. Still life and landscape just wasn’t really doing it for me until I came across a weekly photography challenge by the one-and-only Martin Parr, during an online search for “photography at home” ideas. I took this one for the theme “Bathroom”. I soon discovered taking photos of still life could be fun!’ Nina uploaded this picture to Instagram @ninasherman1 with the hashtag #appicoftheweek. Chosen…

THE PHOTOGRAPHY Show and Video Show is online only this year owing to the ongoing effects of Covid-19 but you can book a free ‘digital seat’. The event, which is a mainstay of the UK photographic calendar, takes place on 20-21 September 2020. ‘Visitors will be able to navigate over 120 stands from exhibitors including Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, Sony, Fujifilm and Olympus, where they can chat to industry experts, watch kit demonstrations and take advantage of exclusive show discounts – all from the comfort of their own home,’ said a spokesperson. You can also listen to the full program of speakers via pre-recorded sessions and live-streamed Q&As. All entry tickets and passes booked or confirmed for the physical March 2020 event will be valid for the new 2021 dates (more…

SKYLUM has released the latest update to its Luminar editing package,›version 4.3. Available as a free update for Luminar 4 users, the update adds the ability to search photos (right), integration with the 500px online gallery, a new crop interface, and several performance improvements.› ‘With the 4.3 update, raw files now open faster than ever before in Luminar, meaning photographers can start working on their images more quickly,’ a spokesperson said. ‘Luminar tools also use less of the computer’s memory, resulting in quicker and more responsive›sliders. What results is a smoother and snappier experience... Those using older or less powerful computers should also see speed boosts to help them enhance their editing and management workflows.’ Other claimed improvements include faster ‘Looks’ (presets) processing for raw files, the ability to flip…

I wanted to acknowledge the fantastic effort made by the Olympus UK Team in providing a regular stream of tutorials and support during the recent lockdown. They have really demonstrated what excellent customer service looks like and deserve every credit. Following the recent announcement about the Olympus Imaging division I truly hope the tireless work of the Olympus UK Team is recognised and that Olympus customers will still get the great levels of service the team provides. With so much terrible customer service in the world I’m delighted to highlight the great work being done by the hard-working and much-loved Olympus UK team, who are among the very best in the industry.…

PRESSING a catch at one end of the body enables the entire back to be removed and, in Models 33 and 55, film loading is made easier by having spools that swing in and out of the body. The camera takes a film size called E10 which is obviously no longer made. Surprisingly, however, E10 film can still be found occasionally on eBay, although the expiry date is likely to be sometime in the 1940s or 1950s at best. The film is, however, the same width as 35mm. So for those of a dexterous nature, and with access to a darkroom or changing bag, small rolls can be made by attaching normal 35mm film to cut-down backing paper from a roll of 120. You can even load raw 35mm into…

A PICTURE of a ‘Spud getting a haircut’ taken by Ray Spence has been named winner of the Potato Photographer of the Year 2020 competition. It was co-organised by regular AP contributor, Ben Brain. ‘Many thanks to everyone who took part and to Fujifilm UK and the RPS for donating some great prizes and to PhotoCrowd for providing the competition platform and support. We didn’t quite raise the $1m I was hoping for The Trussell Trust but the few grand we did raise will help support some much needed food banks.’ See https://bit.ly/potatopoty.…

COKIN has expanded its Nuances range of glass filters with the addition of the Nuances Infrared 720 and Extreme ND8. The infrared filter absorbs light in the visible spectrum and transmits it between 720nm and 950nm, while the Extreme ND8 neutral density filter reduces the amount of light passed by three stops. It sits alongside the existing ND64 (6 stops) and ND1024 (10 stops) models, allowing the use of longer shutter speeds and wider apertures during daylight. The company is also bringing out a new Extreme Full ND kit, which contains all three of these filters. For the Cokin Nuances Extreme ND8, the P-Series (M) costs £89.99, the Z-Pro (L) costs £119.99 and the X-Pro (XL) costs £129.99. For the Cokin Nuances Infrared 720, the P-Series costs £169.99, the Z-Pro…

In my opinion, it’s usually the experience of time spent taking pictures that’s the real delight of photography. A good example is an unforgettable experience I had in the middle of a starling murmuration. Murmurations are a regular feature in Autumn/Winter Watch, but I can’t recall Chris Packham reporting from within one. I have however, experienced such a phenomenon. On a walk I initially saw a promising set of waterfalls, unusually swelled with more water than when the ark was needed, and I made a mental note to return. Soon after moving on I noticed a dark, frightening sky looming ahead with bright sun behind and a double rainbow quickly appeared. I realised that waterfalls blurring nicely, ominous clouds and rainbows might make a good picture and visions of the…

Upon opening your landscapes into Photoshop or importing into Lightroom, the best place to begin enhancing skies is in the Basic Panel. The Profile Browser is a good starting point. The Adobe Landscape Profile (only available for raw files) has been optimised to boost skies and pull out details in rocks and foliage. Once a profile is chosen, move on to the sliders below. The Highlights and Whites sliders can be useful if your sky is blown out, as they let you claw back detail in bright areas. The Dehaze slider can also boost skies by helping to cut through atmospheric haziness, and the Clarity slider can crisp up cloud details. These should all be used sparingly, as an over-processed sky will ruin a landscape.…

● £235 ● kasefilters.com SOMETIMES it’s the naming that annoys me. Call your product after a notoriously ferocious predator, as filter maker Kase has done with its Wolverine range, and it just seems like you’re trying too hard. My natural, perhaps overly cynical instinct is to dismiss them on the spot, as likely to be sheep in wolves’ clothing. Thankfully, though, I gave these filters the benefit of the doubt, and agreed to try them out. Because it turns out they’re the real deal. Indeed as high quality, easy-to-use filters go, they’re absolute monsters. The concept is deceptively simple. Screw an adapter ring into the front of your lens, to which the super-slim filters snap firmly into place magnetically. The circular polariser can be rotated freely on this magnetic mount,…

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 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 DS Canon’s Defocus Smoothing technology E…

FUJIFILM has rolled out a compact flashgun, the EF-60. It supports radio-controlled wireless remote triggering when combined with the EF-W1 Wireless Commander, which is also new to the company’s line-up. ‘The shoe mount flash has a maximum Guide Number of 60 (ISO100m and flash coverage setting at 200mm equivalent) despite its compact form factor,’ said the company. The flash coverage ranges from 24mm to 200mm and can be extended to approximately 16mm when the built-in diffuser is used. It also features an Auto Zoom function. The EF-60 flash is available now priced at £389, whilst the EF-W1 Wireless Commander costs £199.…

Viewfinder The 9.44m-dot EVF offers QXGA (2048 x 1536) resolution – the world’s highest by some margin – and a huge 0.9x magnification Screen This is the first Alpha 7 to employ a side-hinged fully articulated LCD, which is a very welcome advance for both stills and video Touch Sony has designed a completely new touch-sensitive menu system, which is a massive improvement over its previous cameras Storage The camera’s twin card slots will both accept either UHS-II SD cards, or CFexpress Type A cards (used on a digital camera for the first time here) SONY’S Alpha 7S line has always occupied a niche position within its full-frame mirrorless range. With a 12MP sensor capable of shooting at a staggering ISO 409,600, it was originally conceived as a high-sensitivity option…

1 Always have your camera with you, and go out a lot with it. You never know what will happen. 2 Live photography with passion – without restrictions and stay focused on each image you are making. 3 Look once and then go back to look again. Revisit the same places and try to discover new opportunities. 4 Patience is the key. To form your own photographic voice takes a long time. Without denying all the influences that you may have – be genuine. Try to be original. 5 Find inspiration by frequently looking at the books and exhibitions of great photographers.…

One of the topics plagued by misinformation is ‘ISO’. If you look around common photographic information sources on the topic it’s hard to find one that is correct, and many are grossly misleading. The gold standard for what ‘ISO’ means is, of course, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Its standard, which defines ‘Photography – Digital still cameras – Determination of exposure index, ISO speed ratings, standard output sensitivity, and recommended exposure index’ is international standard number 12232. This standard was first published in 1998, at the inception of digital still photography. It represented what the standards committee thought were likely to be the concerns of people using digital still cameras. In 2006 the second edition was published. It introduced the ways by which ISO is determined today, the ‘Standard…

You know how some pictures just appeal to you immediately and you can’t work out why? This is one of those pictures for me. The reason it caught my eye is pretty obvious, and is probably the same reason it caught yours too. That’s a very nice camera! I more-than suspect I was drawn to this image as it embodies everything that my children think about me as a photographer. I’m afraid you are all bundled into that profile as well: one united caricature of middle-aged nerdiness – whether you are male or female. Or, indeed, other than middle-aged. I found this picture in the Kirn Vintage Stock collection section of the Corbis Historical archive. The archivist has titled the picture ‘Semi-nude man and his Camera, ca. 1930’. A single…