Innholdsfortegnelse for 25/09/2021 i Amateur Photographer

Street images are deeply embedded into the DNA of photography; some of the earliest-ever photographs were of urban life. So we are really pleased to present our street photography premium issue, which is packed full of ideas, inspiration, tips and techniques to help you get more from this intriguing, but also challenging, genre. We talk to some street photography masters past and present, including the redoubtable Bruce Gilden, and we celebrate the stunning work of more contemporary names such as Linda Wisdom. Seasoned street photographer and former AP editor Damien Demolder also reveals the best cameras to use for street photography, but we’ve got plenty of advice for smartphone users, too. Everything you need to hit the streets, in other words! If you’d like to see your words or pictures…

BACK in April, Canon revealed that it was working on a new professional full-frame mirrorless camera, the EOS R3, which would be capable of shooting at 30 frames per second. In June it teased more details, reinforcing the message that this will be the fastest and most capable camera the firm has ever made. So I was particularly excited to receive an invitation to Canon’s UK headquarters for a sneak preview prior to the R3’s official launch. With a body-only price of £5,879, the EOS R3 clearly isn’t aimed at the average enthusiast. Instead, it’s designed for professional sports and news photographers who demand speed and reliability along with rugged build and intuitive operation. But it’s always exciting to see the technology included in such high-end cameras, as it tends…

Parklife: A love letter to London’s green spaces by Sophia Spring Introduction by David Nicholls, £18.95, Hoxton Mini Press, hardback, ISBN: 9781910566992 The year 2020 will generally be remembered for all the wrong reasons, but there are some positives that could be taken from the terrible global situation. A re-energised love for London’s parks is one such highlight that has been explored by the photographer Sophia Spring. From first dates to family meet-ups, yoga classes to swimming parties, last year saw a lot of life’s familiar activities necessarily being forced to take place outdoors. London has a host of commons, heaths, marshes, waterways and woodlands, and despite these spaces occupying some of the most expensive real estate in the world, they remain free and communal to all. The book is…

Victoria Sheldon UK 100pts Canon EOS 2000D, 18-55mm at 28mm, 1/100sec at f/4.5, ISO 400 Victoria’s winning image is a masterclass in how to create balance in a photograph. Most noticeably, there’s the echo between the woman’s purple clothing and the solitary orchid on the nest of tables next to her. Then there’s the repetition of the many square shapes in the frame. And then we have the triangle, with our eye going from the woman’s face, to the orchid, to the painting on the wall, before resting back with the grey-haired woman. The natural light is subtle and soft, and all the judges found themselves wanting to know more about the subject’s story. A worthy winner indeed.…

I spent my first few years behind the lens shooting traditional landscape scenes and was lucky enough to gain recognition in several national photographic competitions. Having found it difficult to always find time to escape to the hills, I diversified into street photography and shooting the built environment, which fits more easily around my busy day job. I enjoy the variety I shoot, although I admit it often leaves my audience a little confused, wondering what’s coming next. One morning I could be shooting in a misty woodland, and later that day on top of a city centre rooftop waiting for the sun to go down. Currently I shoot with Fujifilm X-series cameras and lenses, favouring their intuitive control and compact size. Perfect for long hikes in the countryside or…

‘For this scenery with gloomy and artificial light I recommend a frame in bright contrasting colours. Our Pop Art Frame in neon orange creates a nice contrast to the image and gives the picture space. Also the colour harmonises with the eye-catchers in the picture. The Photo Print under glossy acrylic glass fits the best as it emphasises the shiny colours, and the Fuji Crystal Archive glossy paper is the best option to support this.’ Jan-Ole Schmidt, Product Manager, WhiteWall.com…

The winner of each round of APOY receives a £500 voucher to spend on anything at MPB. From top-end digital medium format cameras 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. The Fujifilm X-T1 was the first of the iconic models in this popular range, with 16.3MP, a 200-6400 ISO range and 11 film-simulation modes. It’s ideal for street photography, and is available at MPB for £299 in excellent condition. Any street photographer will tell you a single prime lens is better than any zoom, so why not combine the X-T1 with the Fujifilm XF 35mm f/2 R WR? It’s…

I don’t usually encourage people to take snaps, and I’m sure you twitch when anyone refers to your pictures using that word, but Snap Focus in the Ricoh GR series is a different kettle of fish. It is a very basic idea that allows us to set a focus distance manually for the camera to work to, so that we can reduce the delay between pressing the shutter and the camera taking the picture. A neat depth-of-field scale on-screen shows how the aperture we are using combines with the Snap Focus distance to show the range of distances that will appear sharp in the final image. With these parameters set we can shoot anything that falls within that range and know it will be focused. This makes off-centre subjects much…

Bomb Disposal Unit by Reg Speller Lieutenant R Davies of the Bomb Disposal Unit stands on a 1200-pound bomb (to keep the point from the ground) as members of his unit hoist it up from the grounds of the German Hospital in London. Established in 1845, the German Hospital in Dalston was set up to offer free treatment to the capital’s then-large German-speaking community which was particularly prominent in the East End. During the Second World War, its staff were interned and replaced with British staff. In 1948 the hospital became part of the NHS before becoming a psychiatric hospital in 1974. Eventually, the hospital closed in 1987, with some of its buildings now used for affordable housing. The Getty Images Hulton Archive is one of the world’s great cultural…

EVEN after a short time hands-on with the EOS R3, it’s clear this is an incredibly capable camera. It’s startlingly quick, handles brilliantly, and has a superb EVF. On paper it surpasses the EOS-1D X Mark III in almost every way, to the extent that it’s difficult to see why Canon hasn’t given it a 1-series designation. Presumably it’s paying homage to the EOS 3 – the last model to sport eye control focus – and I suspect Canon is also managing expectations for any pros who can’t believe that a mirrorless camera might match their 1D DSLRs. But any such scepticism is likely to be short-lived once they discover what this camera can really do. Make no mistake, the EOS R3 sounds the death knell for the professional sports…

DJI’s NEW smartphone gimbal, the OM 5, is designed to help you to keep your smartphone more stable when you’re recording video. Smaller and lighter than its predecessors, DJI’s latest smartphone stabiliser offers 3-axis stabilisation and built-in tracking, along with advanced shooting features that aim to help you create timelapse, motionlapse and hyperlapse content. It even has a built-in extending rod. The OM 5 is available now for £139.…

Paola Franqui Paola, also known as›Monaris, is a Puerto Rico-born photographer based in New Jersey, USA.›She is an Adobe Lightroom Partner and Sony Ambassador. Her first photobook, Momentos, was published this summer by Setanta Books. www.monaris.me. PAOLA Franqui’s photographs are a product of her environment in the best possible sense. Whether shooting a Parisian boulevard or a Tokyo subway, she manages to capture the spirit of each place via a series of telling moments that play out like stills from a long-lost 1970s film. Her most frequent subject is Manhattan, which she infuses with a timeless romance and the outsider perspective of a Puerto Rico-born photographer living an hour away in New Jersey. ‘I don’t think there’s any place like New York City. The characters, how it feels, the smell,…

Round Seven Portraits PORTRAITURE can be one of the trickiest genres to master, but its vast range makes it hugely satisfying to attempt. The possibilities for a portrait are almost endless. If you tend towards landscape photography, you can shoot an environmental portrait – either in a documentary style or something more creative and abstract. If you are more technically minded, you might find yourself drawn towards shooting flash in a studio environment. Our top ten entries span the entire range of portraiture, from naturalistic set-ups to stylised, studio-based compositions. While the overall winning image pushes the definition of portrait to its limit! 1 Nawfal Jirjees United Arab Emirates 100pts Sony A7R III, 400mm f/2.8, 1/1600sec at f/4, ISO 100 As can sometimes be the case with winning images, there…

There’s been another shift at the top of the leaderboard this round, with Mike Martin jumping from equal third to first place, thanks to the 40 points he was awarded for his eighth-placed image. However, with only 60 points separating the first and tenth-placed photographers, it could all still change. Lucy Monckton and Muhammad Hossain are fighting it out for the top spot in Young APOY, with both being 140 points ahead of third-placed Hugo Begg. Launceston Camera Club’s approach of encouraging as many members as possible to enter APOY this year is paying dividends, and they are currently 140 points ahead of their nearest rivals.…

1 Recover shadow details The raw image is obviously too dark, but this is a tricky scene that needs careful handling. Too dark and a lot of detail will be lost. Too bright and it will look unnatural. I also want to soften the overall feel of the image so push back the contrast and clarity, just a little. 2 Play with colours The image was way too rich in colour, especially those deep reds, so I have reduced the overall colour temperature and added some split toning. This has given the image a far more ‘earthy’ feel, which I think suits the scene far better. 3 Sharpen & deal with noise This was a particularly dark scene which needed a noise-inducing high ISO setting to allow me to hold…

Shoot wide open If it is our intention to create clean, crisp images we are going to need to allow a lot of light onto that sensor. Not a problem during the day, but at night a compromise needs to be made. This is where an understanding of the relationship between aperture, shutter speed and ISO becomes useful. As with all genres, the photographer needs to decide what kind of image they want upfront. For my street images I want frozen action, some sharp details around the focal point, and as little noise as possible. This means I tend to shoot in aperture priority at f/2, or wider if the lens allows, and I let the ISO creep up to about 2500. Be respectful When shooting in a public space…

Apple iPhone 12 Pro ● £999 ● apple.com With three different lenses to choose from, you get good scope to shoot street scenes from a variety of perspectives. Also particularly handy for street photography is the way the native camera app makes use of the additional lenses to show you what’s going on outside the frame – useful for spotting the decisive moment. With very little lag and a new ‘ProRAW’ mode, the iPhone 12 Pro is a fantastic creative tool, but it would be nice to have some more advanced shooting options within the native camera app. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra ● From £1,149 ● samsung.com Probably the best smartphone camera currently on the market, this high-end model from Samsung boasts four different focal lengths. The zoom lenses could…

In addition to its awards for best photographic products of the year, which AP featured in our 4 September issue, the Expert Imaging and Sound Association (EISA) runs its own pan-European photography competition open to both amateur and semiprofessional photographers. Called EISA Maestro, the annual contest revolves around a different theme each year. This year’s theme was Faces. The winning portfolios from each of the 16 participating EISA countries were judged together in June and the top three winners of the International contest have now been decided. This year’s overall winner was Willem Kuijpers from the Netherlands, who takes home €1,500 and the EISA Maestro 2021 Gold Trophy. Pauline Petit from France was second and wins €1,000 euros and a trophy, while third-placed Barbara Farkas from Hungary wins 750 euros…

The highlight of this camera for street photographers is the quality of the touchscreen and touch functions. Users can very quickly adjust the size and position of the AF area, and by touching the screen can focus and trigger the shutter at the same moment. This feature is becoming more common in other cameras, but few I’ve used can compete for the speed of reaction that this little camera manages when fitted with a good lens. The quality of this feature is one of the main reasons I still use the GX9 as my principal street camera – it allows me to get pictures that would otherwise be impossible.…

One of the highlights of the X100 series is the hybrid viewfinder that’s shared with the X-Pro series. This comprises what looks like a regular optical viewfinder that can be turned into an electronic viewfinder at the flick of a switch. I say ‘looks like a regular optical viewfinder’ because it actually isn’t – the optical viewfinder has an information display overlaid so we can see all the settings we’d get with an EVF, but dropped onto a real-life view. This means you can show the digital level, which is important in the street as we want to get buildings straight. The optical viewfinder is great, but when you want to preview your exposure, white balance, depth of field and film simulation the lever on the front of the camera…

Many photographers brought up on SLRs find it hard to shift away from that familiar body shape, and struggle to get to grips with compact cameras and smaller mirrorless models. The E-M10 IV offers a compromise, with a small and lightweight body but at the same time providing a traditional right-hand grip and a viewfinder in the ‘right’ place. With your eye to the finder, which is electronic rather than optical (you can’t have everything the old way), all the main controls can be accessed with the fingers and thumbs of the shooting hand. The gripped body makes working with longer lenses more comfortable if you are the sniping sort of street photographer, and the viewfinder makes seeing what is going on clearer for those who can’t get on with…

THE ORIGINAL 35mm F1.4 DG HSM Art is a great lens that has proved very popular with many photographers and the 35mm F1.4 DG DN Art is a worthy update. It’s smaller and lighter, yet its build quality is excellent, making it a pleasure to use. And of course, it also delivers superb image quality, especially if you close down to f/2 or smaller. It also gains an aperture ring, which is a great addition, speeding aperture adjustment and enabling you to take control before the camera is even powered up. On the downside, the new lens lacks the original’s focus and depth-of-field scale. This is tempered by the distance scale that is visible in the viewfinder in manual focus mode and the availability of a range of depth-of-field smartphone…

Even true Zeiss Ikon cognoscenti, and I don’t put myself in that category, can be confused by the array of cameras that bear the Ikonta name and its variants. Zeiss first used the name in 1929 for a range of fairly basic, but perfectly usable, folding roll film cameras. But as the name suggests, the Super Ikontas took things to the next level. The chief difference was that the Super Ikontas had built-in coupled rangefinders, which was something of an innovation at the time. There are a number of ways in which 120 rollfilm can be used in a camera. The three common formats are 4.5x6cm, 6x6cm, and 9x6cm which yield 16, 12 and 8 exposures respectively. Each Super Ikonta model was produced in each of these three formats and…

There may be some confusion over what creates a good street picture. I’ve found that often rather too much emphasis is placed on the things in the picture, along with a good deal of reliance on them alone to make the picture ‘good’. I’m sure you’ll agree it is a rare occurrence that a ‘good’ subject can make a picture of it ‘good’ purely by it gracing the frame. Funny signs, a nun walking past a bra advert, a man with big hair or a dog being wheeled down the high street in a pram do not automatically create a good picture without some further effort. These things can sometimes help a picture, but in fact a good street picture requires no assistance from any of the above, or similar.…

AP picture of the week Light and Shadows by Stephen Elliott Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 50mm f/1.8, 1/350sec at f/11, ISO 200 This image was taken at Barbican Estate in London, and Stephen says, ‘This was my first visit to the Barbican Estate on a gloriously sunny Saturday morning. I saw the bollards and shadows from a high walkway. Waiting until someone walked through the bollards to complete the scene, I took a burst of three images handheld. Processed minimally in Lightroom Classic.’ Instagram @steveelliottphotography. We also liked... Floral by Mandy Millyard Canon EOS M100, 15-45mm, 1/320sec at f/6.3, ISO 400 Mandy says, ‘I am a self-taught photographer (of many years standing!). I’m passionate about capturing urban and street scenes, and use both film and digital photography. This picture…

WHILE other camera makers have generally replicated their old DSLR lenses for mirrorless, Canon has been more innovative. Its latest telephoto zoom, the RF 100-400mm F5.6-8 IS STM, is a case in point. By employing a small maximum aperture, it’s the smallest, lightest and most affordable 100-400mm lens yet made for mirrorless cameras. At 165mm in length and 638g in weight, this lens should be easy to carry around all day. Optical stabilisation is included, rated to 5.5 stops, while a stepper motor promises rapid, silent autofocus. A maximum magnification of 0.41x should make it an interesting option for tele-macro shooting. However it lacks many of the more advanced features seen on high-end 100-400mm optics, with no focus limiter, IS mode switch, or weather-sealing. But this can be easily forgiven…

Your Portrait Special has got me thinking: when is a photograph of a person a portrait, and when is it not a portrait? It seems to me that the core purpose of portraiture is to evoke, for the viewer, the sense of an individual life and personality. It might be a formal portrait of a public figure or celebrity, or an informal snap of a family member, or a ‘street’ photograph of an unnamed fellow human whom the photographer has met and asked to collaborate. Either way, the photographer will be seeking to capture not simply a set of features, but that person’s unique character in that moment, as it has been shaped by their life. When the photographer uses a model – paid or unpaid – in order to…

Taking first place, Nawfal Jirjees shot his comical image using a Sony A7R Mark III. Described by AP as a ‘42.4MP, 10fps, mirrorless powerhouse’, this full-frame camera is a versatile all-rounder. In-body image stabilisation allows handheld shooting at shutter speeds 5.5 stops slower than would otherwise be possible, while the 3.69-million-dot OLED viewfinder gives superb detail. You can pick up one of these highly customisable cameras at MPB from between £1,259 and £1,889. A good standard zoom lens is an essential part of any photographer’s armoury, and second-placed Ian Smith used a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM for his atmospheric shot of his friend Eric. It’s robust, and four stops of image stabilisation mean it can be handheld in low light. And, of course, it maintains its f/4 aperture…

John Davey UK 10pts Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 50mm, 1/160sec at f/8, 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 to Photocrowd. Whatever points your image is awarded, your camera club is awarded, too. Launceston Camera Club have maintained their lead, jumping from 200 points last round to an impressive 330 points this round. It’s due in part to Ian Smith’s second-placed image, but also to those photographers who have scored ten points for their shortlisted images, of which John Davey is one, with his nicely executed portrait. He has directed the model well, and given the image a boudoir feel without it being tacky –…

1 Calibrate your monitor Not just once in a blue moon, every month. This can prevent any nasty surprises when receiving prints from the laboratory or even when producing your own prints. 2 Edit sensitively Don’t go crazy with the sliders. Use them to create an image that looks attractive but realistic. Often the saying ‘less is more’ is very true. 3 Careful contrast Contrast can make or break a shot but don’t go adding some that isn’t there or taking away what should be. Look to the conditions for guidance. Bright days will be naturally ‘contrasty’ with heavy shadows and bright highlights, whereas dull ones less so. Don’t fake it. 4 Edit twice I often edit an image two or three times, saving each version…

In preparation for my interview with Rich McCor, aka Paperboyo, I try to list the countries he’s visited. I give up. It’s a lot: Brazil, Spain, America, Dubai, Iceland... For our Zoom meeting, he’s in the less-than-exotic town of Luton. The move to be near Luton airport and relieve his former housemates of paper-clutter was meant to be short, lockdown lengthened it. A more permanent move to Brighton is imminent. Before the pandemic he was busy chasing deadlines: ‘It was nice to slow down. It was also a chance to find out if I still loved what I do for the sake of doing it, not for getting paid or the travel. I started replicating movie scenes around the apartment with paper cut-outs: Scarface with a pile of flour instead…

Editing the street pictures you take with your smartphone is as crucial as it is with pictures you shoot with any camera, so find an editing app you like that offers the controls you need. I tend to use Pixlr and Photoshop Express, as both provide detailed controls of contrast, colour, shadows, highlights and the ability to add ‘looks’ if you want to. Here’s a shot I took while waiting in the queue for Sainsburys. I liked the shadows of the late afternoon and the structure of the paving, along with the feet sticker and the actual feet. It’s called Social Distancing For Dummies. I didn’t have time to switch to Monochrome mode, so shot it in colour and tried to use the exposure controls to make the most of…

Willem Kuijpers began photography as a hobby in the early 1970s. After four years studying at the Fotovakschool in Amsterdam, he made photography his profession. For many years he had his own studio in Uden, while also making personal work. For the past two years Willem has been a pensioner, and photography has once again become a hobby. ‘This is the 24-hour procession I Misteri di Trapani in Sicily, held during Holy Week before Easter. It is a very intense and emotional event. During the course of 24 hours, 18 heavy sculptures depicting the Way of the Cross (the Passion of Christ) are carried through the old city of Trapani. The images in this series were all taken on the return to the church. For me the series is not…

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…

Leica claims the M10-P is the stealthiest M camera it has ever made, and indeed the shutter unit is 50% less noisy than the standard M10, and even that its click is half as audible as the cloth shutters in its film cameras. Not that Leica M cameras were particularly loud to start with, but this new shutter is actually a pleasure to listen (carefully) to and does certainly make it much less likely that anyone will hear it. This has been achieved through the use of a rubber-bearing suspension system at the points where the shutter unit is mounted to the body to reduce vibration. It isn’t so much the change in volume of the shutter that makes it less noticeable in the street but the pitch and resonance.…

● £89.99 ● www.3leggedthing.com AN L-BRACKET is a tripod quick-release plate. But it fits along the base and one side of the camera to enable it to be flipped from landscape to portrait orientation, without the need to move the tripod head or for the camera to be re-levelled. While it might seem like quite a simple device, for an L-bracket to function well, it needs to fit the camera snugly while still allowing access to all the ports and controls. In designing an L-bracket for the Canon EOS R5 and R6, 3 Legged Thing had a particularly tough challenge because both cameras have a vari-angle screen and the average L-bracket would block its use. I tested the Roxie on the Canon EOS R5 and although it’s possible to make…