Innholdsfortegnelse for 05/06/2021 i Amateur Photographer

There can be few greater visual symbols of human ingenuity than architecture. It’s where art and engineering come together for ostensibly practical purposes – to provide shelter and places to gather for work or pleasure – but at its best it can inspire us and stir the soul like almost nothing else made by mankind. In short it’s a perfect subject for photography and most of us are surrounded by it every day. This issue is dedicated to the various creative ways of exploring the built environment in all its wondrous myriad forms, old and new, both inside and out, and even underground. We offer tips on lens and perspective corrections in camera and in post production; we round up a selection of tilt-shift lenses, and test the world’s widest-angle…

8 June 1996 GUEST Editors are common on some publications but only twice in the last 40 years has AP allowed someone else to sit in the big chair and decide what was going to be in the issue: our 110th anniversary issue, when Lord Snowdon was guest editor, and this one, AP’s 1996 Erotica Special, when the reins were handed over to the legendary Bob Carlos Clarke. In the 1990s AP phased out the cheesy, artless glamour photography of the ’70s and ’80s that had earned it the unwelcome nickname ‘Amateur Pornographer’ in favour of a more artistic approach to photographing the female form. By the mid ’90s this genre of photography was presented all in one hit, in an annual ‘Erotica’ special. But what did ‘Erotica’ actually mean?…

Stay safe ‘Travel with a friend, especially if you’re a woman, and do your research,’ advises Helen. ‘Know the dangers, whether that’s being a blonde, lone female in Dubai or avoid a base hotel in the risky part of Chicago. Knowing cultural restrictions is as important as what you want to photograph, as your safety is paramount.’ Access Avoid using a tripod whenever possible and ask permission from security staff before shooting indoors or around privately owned buildings. ‘I’ll often have a line prepared to explain what I’m doing, such as shooting specific architecture for a college project, and have a business card on me so I’m less threatening.’ Change your perspective ‘Look up, look down. Get on the floor. Look across from an opposite building. Look for reflections not…

Email the Editor at ap.ed@kelsey.co.uk and include your full postal address. Please don’t send letters in the post as there is no one in the office to receive them. Thanks for your understanding. Culture shock After reading recent letters, and heard the common debate about ‘back in the day’ I thought that I’d offer my relatively inexperienced opinion. Being relatively new to photography (about seven years in now) I came to it well into the digital age, as have a lot of other people. Because of this, many of us are used to digital post-processing and the ease with which it can be done. I think that it has made more recent photographers a bit more ‘spoiled’ because when shooting raw, as long as we have captured all the data,…

Round Three Home Although this category did once make an appearance in APOY in the dim and distant past, it was a new one to most entrants. Encouraging readers to get creative within their own four walls, the shortlist featured an enormous range of images, from still-life set-ups to portraits to composites and documentary-style shots. Those who challenged themselves saw their hard work rewarded. To see more images, including the commended shortlist, visit www.photocrowd.com/apoy. 1 Emma Phipps UK 100pts Nikon D780, 35mm, 1/250sec at f/1.4, ISO 1000 This is a beautifully conceived, visualised and controlled set-up. It’s evident that Emma had a very clear idea of what she wanted from the image, and she has achieved it to an exceptional standard. The young girl’s simple pose and pensive expression are…

Christine Johnson UK 10pts Nikon D4S, 15-30mm at 20mm, 1/250sec at f/6.3, ISO 100 As regular entrants to APOY will know, this year you can accumulate points for your camera club by selecting it from the dropdown menu when you upload your images. Whatever points your image is awarded, your camera club is awarded, too. The competition is certainly hotting up, as our leaderboard demonstrates. Christine Johnson’s excellent portrait of two collies was Commended in this round, and therefore receives 10 points – both for her and for Warrington Photographic Society, which currently sits in 16th place overall. At the end of APOY 2021, the camera club with the most points wins a £500 voucher to spend at www.mpb.com. The highest-placed entry from a camera club member in this round…

1 Dust spots I use the ‘dust’ layer in Lumenzia (an amazing luminosity masking extension) to highlight any potential dust spots. It highlights dust, much of which I cannot see. It is an intense high contrast layer that highlights dust and allows you to heal the spots on a separate layer. 2 Proof Setup The next step is to simulate the paper type, so you can see how the colours are going to look. Choose View>Proof Setup>Custom and tick the paper type in the list. You need to do this as papers have different ink absorbency, matt and gloss being two examples. 3 Gamut Warning Make sure you’ve unchecked Preserve RGB in the Proof Setup window. Gamut Warning can now be selected. Areas that are out of the range of…

Modern exteriors Dug Wilders Dug started specialising in architecture and interior photography eight years ago. He shoots mainly for architects, interior designers and building manufacturers in the UK and NZ. See him on Instagram @dug_wilders or www.dugwilders.co.uk. Low light Shooting when it’s dark or at dusk can create some fantastic effects. It shows off the lighting which the client may have spent thousands of pounds on. Shooting at night will nearly always require some post production work to create a professional finish. Often the difference in light levels need tweaking, and this takes time to get right but the effects are worth the effort. Bracketing your shots (taking various exposures) is something I do for all my shots, but for night photography you need to really extend that range to…

Many, but not all, lenses produce some kind of distortion, and most commonly this is barrel or pincushion distortion. This often simply comes down to cost: the more you pay for ‘pro’ lenses, the greater the chance that they’ll be optically brilliant. Conversely, the less you pay, the more likely the lens is to suffer from distortion, although there is the odd gem that performs beyond expectation. Another characteristic of lenses, and one that occurs regardless of cost, is vignetting. This is most prominent when shooting with the aperture wide open and can, in some situations, complement the image, but this alongside lens distortion can be easily fixed if desired. Pincushion Pincushion distortion is where the image appears to be sucked inwards towards the centre along each of the four…

1 Lens corrections Open your raw file in Affinity Photo and click on the Lens tab on the right to open the panel. Here, click on the Lens Correction checkbox, as well as Lens Profile if not automatically selected, Chromatic Aberration Reduction and Remove Lens Vignette. With the latter, a slider appears to control Intensity. You only need to use the Defringe option if colour fringing remains visible after applying Chromatic Aberration Reduction. 2 Perspective corrections We can now use the Horizontal, Vertical, Rotation and Scale sliders to remove perspective distortion. The Distortion slider at the top fixes barrel and pincushion distortion, which was previously corrected with the Lens Profile. For this image, the camera was tilted back slightly and the horizon isn’t quite straight, so Vertical was set to…

The winner of each round of APOY receives a £500 voucher to spend on anything at MPB. From top-of-the-range digital medium-format camera bodies, to entry-level DSLRs, telephoto zooms and wideangle lenses, MPB is a one-stop shop for used kit. And, of course, you can use your voucher towards your dream piece of kit, if it happens to cost more than £500. Ranging from £929 to £1,029, the Nikon PC-E 24mm f/3.5D ED is an example of a tilt-shift lens that will transform your architectural shots, as will the Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5 L II, at £1,369, helping minimise distortion and avoid converging verticals. Many architectural photographers like to work in low light for increased atmosphere, and a mirrorless camera like the Sony A7R produces high-quality images in challenging conditions. MPB…

● £189.99 ● www.leofoto.com PHOTOGRAPHERS who engage in serious architectural work often prefer to work with geared tripod heads. By driving the camera directly in each direction, these enable extremely precise control over composition, but in return, they tend to be large, heavy and expensive. Historically, this sector has been dominated by Manfrotto and Arca Swiss, but now some interlopers have started to find a way in. The device we’re looking at here, the Leofoto G2, bears a strong resemblance to the Arca Swiss Core Leveller 60, but at a third of the price. Compared to most other tripod heads, whose aim is to lock the camera at any angle of the user’s choice, this serves a different purpose. It’s all about setting the camera straight and level, which is…

‘Because mourners often remember little of what happens, Rachel’s photographs are a wonderful aide memoire’ In 2009 an old friend of mine, George, passed away. At the close of his funeral, one of the mourners stepped forward gently releasing a handful of white rose petals that cascaded down onto the coffin. Struck by the poignancy of the moment I quietly lifted my iPhone and made a picture. Later, at the wake, I was chatting to a small group of guests when I became aware of an elderly man approaching us. Catching my eye, he leaned in towards me and in a quiet but rather critical tone said, ‘There is a time and a place for taking photos dear.’ And without waiting for a response, he walked away. I must admit…

GWR Spring Clean by M McNeill Workmen prepare the King Edward VIII Great Western Railway engine for service. Originally built as King Stephen, this engine was renamed in May 1936 after the new king who had recently come to the throne. One of GWR 6000 Class (or King class) 4-6-0 steam locomotives, they were the largest locomotives routinely built by the company and were named after kings of the United Kingdom, starting with the reigning monarch at the time (George V) and going back through time. Following the abdication of Edward VIII later that same year, another engine – ‘King Henry II’ – was renamed as King George VI. The Getty Images Hulton Archive is one of the world’s great cultural resources. Tracing its origins to the founding of the…

TRIPOD maker 3 Legged Thing has worked with Canon to produce a dedicated L-bracket for the EOS R5 and R6. The Roxie is an Arca-Swiss compatible bracket, made from magnesium alloy, that’s engineered with a cut-out to allow use of the camera’s articulated LCD screen. It also features two threads for attaching lights or monitors. Available in copper and metallic slate grey for £89.99. See www.3leggedthing. com.…

Helen Trust An award-winning amateur photographer, Helen has a passion for architectural photography that takes her around the world. She is an ambassador for Formatt-Hitech filters with a penchant for long exposures and minimalism. See @Helen_Trust on Instagram or www.helentrustphotography.com. There’s no place busier than a city. No place more complex, cosmopolitan or contrasting in terms of people, culture and architecture. These architectural hubs are living history, remnants of past rulers and eras, as well as reflections of the most modern society. Most of us pass by the enormous masterpieces with just an appreciative glance, but amateur photographer Helen Trust has a unique talent for minimalising without diminishing the beauty of a city’s structure, lines and colour by using techniques to highlight the best parts for a clearer, detailed picture…

IT’S THIS image of Manhattan’s skyline that has provided Helen with much acclaim, multiple awards and the gateway to becoming an ambassador for Formatt-Hitech. For most people visiting New York wanting to see the city’s skyline, a ride on the Staten Island Ferry is the go-to move but Helen was smarter than that. ‘It’s impossible to get a decent image through all the crowds and movement of the ferry,’ she explains, ‘so we took the subway to the New Jersey shore instead in time for sunset.’ Knowing she wanted a long exposure to capture the quickly fading light of the blue hour, she set up her shot using a 3.0ND and then utterly mistimed the exposure, accidentally releasing the shutter too early. It’s a lesson to everyone who dares to…

I read the letters pages (Inbox, 3 April) with interest and surprised myself with my involvement in two of the subjects discussed. I served in the armed forces for a number of years as both soldier and photographer, in peacetime and in two periods of conflict. My experience in the conflicts created what is now known as PTSD. This, in common with most other sufferers, became a stone that grew heavier as the years passed. I also watched with growing sadness and frustration how this foul mental condition was responsible for taking more military veterans’ lives than any enemy had. Being someone who has always sought to understand what ails me and looked for my own solutions to life’s problems, I left the military and chose to study psychology and…

Emma Phipps’s charming portrait of her daughter has put her on the leaderboard for the first time, in fifth place, but it’s Pete Baker who jumps into first, with his still-life shot adding 70 points to his overall tally. Once again, Muhammad Hossain has walked away with top points in Young APOY, giving him a total of 200 points so far, and putting him into first place. Lucy Monckton in second has it all to play for, but as we know, everything can change from round to round. APOY 1 Pete Baker 130 2 Jayne Bond 120 3= IanBramham 110 3= Tuule Müürsepp 110 5 Emma Phipps 100 6= Jim Cumming 90 6= Juraj Bencik 90 6= Simon Tipping 90 9= Jenny Hibbert 80 9= June Fox 80 9= MikeMartin…

‘This impressive architecture photograph captivates viewers with its colours and the symmetrical designs. The colour contrasts really emphasise the wide view into the room. This colourful picture needs a statement frame, and I recommend our Original Photo Print under Acrylic Glass, in the Aluminium ArtBox in silver. The silver frame complements the colour of the floor very well. For extreme sharpness and the highest resolution, I would choose the WhiteWall ultraHD photo print.’ Jan-Ole Schmidt, Product Manager, WhiteWall.com…

1 Lens corrections With your image open, click on the Auto button in the Distortion panel and this will open a dialogue asking you to select the original raw file so that detailed EXIF data can be obtained by the software. Once this is selected, lens corrections will be applied to the image with an Intensity slider to control the overall strength. Alternatively, if a raw file isn’t available, click on the Manual icon next to the Auto button where you can apply Barrel, Pincushion and Fisheye distortion. 2 Perspective corrections On the Perspective panel, you can choose from one of five options including Auto. The other four options require guides to be set and are most often the best way to correct distortion. For this image, Force Vertical Parallel…

Round Five Architecture This round offers huge scope to create creative, dynamic images, whether you’re drawn to grand, traditional structures or sleek, contemporary works of art. While we fully expect you to explore the buildings and skylines of towns and cities, remember that architecture takes many forms. For example, a bridge can offer many framing and compositional opportunities. Don’t be afraid to explore abstracts too, as architecture is filled with curves, lines and other interesting details. Your guest judge Your guest judge for Round Five of APOY is David Clapp. A successful landscape, travel and architectural photographer, David describes himself as a jack of all trades. In January 2019, he received a direct Fellowship to the Royal Photographic Society, as recognition for his contribution to photography. He is also a…

Philippa Huber, UK About Philippa Philippa and her husband live on a narrowboat and travel the rivers and canals of the UK. Favourite subjects Nature and wildlife. Living on a narrowboat, I am fascinated by the natural world that surrounds me. How did you get into photography? I’ve always enjoyed photography as a way of documenting my travels. What do you love about photography? I see the world much more clearly through a lens, noticing details, behaviour and beauty that would otherwise pass me by. First camera A second-hand Minolta SLR back in the early 1990s. My first DSLR was a Nikon D90. Current kit Nikon D750 and a variety of lenses ranging from 20-35mm to 150-600mm; 3-legged Thing Punk Billy tripod; Sony RX100 III. Favourite lens The Sigma 150-600mm…

Is there a better way to switch between shooting orientations? Q With lockdowns limiting my ability to enjoy my other hobbies, I’ve finally done what I’ve long said I would, and started to develop my landscape photography skills while taking walks in the local area. One thing that always frustrates me though is the faff involved when switching between landscape and portrait shooting orientations on a tripod. Surely someone has thought of a solution that doesn’t involve readjusting the tripod each time? Colin Carter A You’ll be pleased to know that they have indeed Colin! An L-bracket is a quick release plate that wraps around the bottom and side of your camera in an L-shape, allowing it to be clamped onto a tripod at either of these angles. This makes…

Lee Miller: Fashion in Wartime Britain Until 8 August 2021, Farleys House and Gallery, Chiddingly, East Sussex.farleyshouseandgallery.co.uk Lee Miller is perhaps better known for her World War Two reportage. Arguably less known is her fashion work for Vogue during the same period. The work on display at Farleys House, where she lived, spans the period from when she joined Roland Penrose in London in 1939, until just after D-Day, when she left Britain to cover the Allies’ advance in Europe. Produced by the Lee Miller Archives following the archiving of 3,500 fashion negatives last year, many of the works on display have not been seen since they were published by British Vogue almost 80 years ago. Not only is the exhibition well worth a visit, but you can also see…

16-35mm ‘For almost everything, my Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III is my favourite lens,’ says Helen. Her love of big skies and minimalism call for such an exceptional, ultra wideangle lens as it enables her to utilise negative space. Its extensive depth of field and fast f/2.8 aperture helps with handholding, low-light photography and frame-filling cityscapes. 70-300mm It’s not the fastest telephoto zoom but Helen’s 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 IS II USM lens gives the reach and magnification she needs to isolate details and shapes. Its three-stop Image Stabilisation helps her to shoot handheld without incurring camera shake. The North Face backpack When travelling, Helen relies on her trusty Lowepro Trekker backpack to protect all her gear. For city shoots she transfers the essentials into a smaller and more discreet bag. The…

Berlin, Germany ‘The city is rugged with a rich history – you might call it a concrete “hell”– but it’s beautiful with a medley of architectural flavours,’ says Helen. Her favourite places include the Templodrom, the old parliamentary buildings and the modern architecture that’s full of geometric shapes and unusual windows. London, UK The contrast of heritage and modern architecture in the capital is hard to beat. Although there’s plenty of architecture to be inspired by, many photographers gravitate to the Southbank for buildings such as Tate Modern. ‘The light and shadows cast through the gallery’s Turbine Hall is incredible.’ Hamburg, Germany It’s not a city many people associate with tourism but it has everything, including a harbour. Colourful town buildings and a historic city centre with Romanic churches and…

Emma Phipps wins Round Three and takes away a £500 voucher to spend at MPB. Her beautifully composed portrait of her daughter was shot using a Sigma F1.4 DG HSM | Art lens. This superb wide-aperture prime features Hypersonic Motor focusing, exceptional sharpness, and produces gorgeous bokeh – ideal for a wide range of subjects. You can pick up a used example of this lens at MPB from between £479 and £559. Simon Tipping fitted his Canon EOS 80D with a Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/4-5.6 IS STM lens in order to create his engaging composite of his young daughter, which achieved third place. This versatile lens is lightweight and portable, and features four-stop Image Stabilisation. It can be found on MPB’s website for the bargain price of £72 for a…

1 Plan first Think about what you are printing! It is very important to think about the environment where the print is going to be displayed. Choose the right subject for the space. 2 Pick the right image Choose harmonious colours and pastel-shade architecture images with simple compositions – rather than shrieking attention-seeking images that demand you notice them. You will soon tire of them. 3 Take advice on papers Learn your papers. Although it is easy to return to the same formula, take advice from printing companies and photographers to expand your knowledge of the subject. 4 Think about inks Not all printer ink is the same. Make sure that you buy branded ink for the best results, or good-quality third-party ink manufacturers if you…

Modaser Based in the Netherlands, Modaser studied political science at Leiden University. His interest in photography started in 2010 with his Instagram account @meau. In 2018 he started using the account actively for architectural photography adopting a politically inspired minimalist approach. For Dutch photographer Modaser, it was a trip to Russia in 2011 that sparked an interest in photographing architecture. Soviet architecture, to be specific. ‘I mostly like to shoot architecture in Eastern Europe and the post-Soviet republics,’ explains Modaser. However, it’s not just the buildings that interest him, it’s also the relationship between former Soviet Union architecture and politics, another of his keen interests. ‘You can tell a lot about the period in which a building was constructed by reading its architectural style,’ he explains. He continues, ‘For example,…

1 Lens corrections In Lightroom, on the right-hand panel in the Develop Module, go down to Lens Corrections, and in ACR expand the Optics panel. Now simply click on Remove Chromatic Aberration and Enable Profile to remove any lens distortions. If the lens profile isn’t picked up automatically, select the lens manufacturer using the Make dropdown, and most often this will pull the correct profile through if one is available. Apply manual corrections if necessary. 2 Perspective corrections In Lightroom go down to the Transform panel below Lens Corrections, and in ACR expand the Geometry panel to open the perspective correction controls. At first, try the automated presets to see if these remove distortion effectively. Only Guided requires guides to be placed. Alternatively, or alongside one another, apply manual corrections…

1 Lens corrections With your image open go to Filter>Correct Camera Distortion and make sure that Show Grid is checked because this can help to identify distortion. Identifying small amounts of distortion can be tricky with some images. Go to the Remove Distortion slider where barrel or pincushion distortion can be corrected by moving it left to remove pincushion, and moving it right to remove barrel. In this image, +10.55 was set to remove a small amount of barrel distortion. 2 Remove vignette Vignette removal is also manual, but with just two sliders you can easily remove vignettes due to lens imperfections or add them for creative effect. The Amount slider darkens when dragged left, and lightens when dragged right. The Midpoint slider focuses the vignette on the centre of…

Stay level Everything has to be level. A hot-shoe spirit level or in-built electronic level are absolutely essential. Care and time should be spent making sure you are as accurate as possible. Use a geared head A sturdy tripod with a smooth geared head will be preferable. There is nothing worse than locking everything off and then finding the horizon is not level or a vertical is slightly out of true. Manual focus only There is no autofocus on a tilt-shift lens so allow time to manually focus on your subject. Use live view at 100% for accurate focusing. Once you’re happy, check the focus and check again. Meter first Meter through the lens before making any rise or fall adjustments. Taking a meter reading after any adjustments may affect…

The camera club award Do you belong to a camera club? You can accumulate points for your society when you enter APOY, and after all the ten rounds are complete, the one with the most points will win a voucher for £500 to spend at MPB. The club might want to spend it on gear for use by members, or even run its own in-house competition with the prize going to the most successful photographer. It’s entirely up to the winning group to decide. The Young POTY award This year, we are adding a Young Photographer of the Year category to APOY, in order to encourage our up-and-coming snappers. Entrants should be 21 years old or younger by the competition’s final closing date of 29 October 2021. All the categories…

Luminar is a fully featured photo editor for Mac and PC designed for photographers of all skill levels, blending pro-level tools with remarkable ease of use and an enjoyable experience. A new Library feature lets you organise, find and rate images easily, while over 100 editing features, plus a suite of fast AI-powered technologies under the hood, will make any image stand out. NOTE: PRIZE APPLIES TO UK AND EU RESIDENTS ONLY…

IN MANY respects, it’s difficult to rate a lens like the Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift. Its unique combination of an ultra-wide angle view and shift movement means that it’s capable of delivering images that no other lens can capture in quite the same way. If that’s something you can exploit either commercially or aesthetically, that might be all you need to justify its price tag. There really is nothing else like it, aside perhaps from the Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L which costs £1,000 more. Indeed the fact that this lens exists at all is pretty extraordinary, particularly when you consider that it comes from an optical company that’s only eight years old. Of course the asymmetric sharpness of my review sample has to raise some concerns, although I doubt…