Innholdsfortegnelse for 02/10/2021 i Amateur Photographer

Before pixels came along and made photography an instant process, there was Polaroid. The company’s products were equally beloved by amateurs and pros, but when digital came along its collapse was swift and catastrophic. Now the iconic brand is enjoying success once again with a new generation of consumers. This week we tell the story of Polaroid’s rise and fall and rise. Wildlife lovers get a double treat this week as we begin a new column by the incomparable Marsel van Oosten, and Ben Hall shares his techniques for capturing great images of one of the most photogenic events that British wildlife has to offer: the red deer rut. If you’re inspired by our feature why not join Ben on an AP workshop on photographing red deer – just one…

Giant Claw by Alan Rees Canon EOS 4000D, Tamron 18-200mm Di ll VC at 18mm, 1/1000sec at f/5.6, ISO 100 ‘I bought my first DSLR just before lockdown last year, the entry-level Canon EOS 4000D. I have always had a camera but mainly only used it on holidays and special occasions, and then only point and shoot. I’ve really enjoyed learning the basics of photography and still have a lot to learn – AP magazine has helped a lot,’ says Alan, a postman from Cardiff. ‘This was taken in Porthcawl in early August. I was walking past the funfair when this huge giant claw swung right over my head. I took a few photos but was very pleased with this one. The two bottom arms look like they have clenched…

Telephoto lenses Even for park deer, a long focal length will be necessary for frame-filling shots, as well as achieving soft backgrounds. A tele-zoom will offer more versatility when it comes to framing options. monopod Tripod or For lenses of 500mm upwards, a tripod will be required, but for shorter lenses in the range of 100mm to 400mm, a monopod is my preferred choice of support. walking Waterproof boots When photographing the red deer rut you may find yourself covering long distances on foot, often over uneven and wet ground. It’s important that you remain comfortable at all times, so sturdy, waterproof footwear is essential. Gimbal head When shooting on a tripod with a long lens, a gimbal head will allow quick movements to be made, whilst remaining completely solid.…

1 Seek out a suitable location and think about your shooting position. Look for an area that will allow you to shoot upwards towards the sky. 2 Watch the weather closely and pick a day when there is some interest and colour in the sky. I prefer a sky with at least some clouds as they add interest and can be used to convey mood and atmosphere. 3 I usually opt for a slightly shorter lens than usual when photographing silhouettes because I like plenty of space around my subject. A tele-zoom in the range of 100-400mm is ideal. 4 Use single-point autofocus and move the focus point towards the bottom of the frame. I often place the subject on one of the bottom intersecting thirds, leaving at least two-thirds…

1948 The Polaroid Land Model 95 camera was launched with two separate rolls (a positive/ developing agent and a negative) that enabled the image to be developed inside the camera. The film sold out in one day. 1963 The Model 100 folding rangefinder camera was introduced. It featured folding bellows, automatic exposure and took 100-series 72x95mm pack film. 1972 The historic SX-70 folding camera was launched, which didn’t require a peel-apart film. It took a 77x77mm square image with an ISO value of around 160. SX-70 cameras were produced between 1972 and 1981. 1976 The first Polaroid 20x24 cameras were built. Only six models were ever produced. The idea was to demonstrate the quality of Polacolor 2 film, which was about to be launched in the 8x10 format. 1981 The…

THE CHOICE of a 40mm focal length lens is an unusual one, but it is one that I personally like, as I often find that 50mm is just a little too narrow. Whilst I enjoy using a 35mm focal length, 40mm sits in the middle as a nice compromise between the two more common options. Of course, a slightly larger aperture than f/2.5 would be nice, but then that would increase the size. In comparison, the Zeiss Batis 40mm F2 CF is twice the length and weight. For the type of users who are going to be interested in this kind of compact prime, a large aperture isn’t always going to be an essential. It’s one for occasional portraits, street photography, or landscape work; in short it’s a lens just…

Q My son has just finished his college education and really excelled in his media production course. Previously he was able to borrow equipment for both his course projects and personal shoots, but not any more. With that in mind, I’m keen to help him buy his own first camera. He’s still very much deciding on which areas to specialise in, and is enjoying trying his hand at both media at the moment. Any suggestions for the best camera to buy with a budget in the £1,700 region? Emma Stairs A Modern cameras have increasingly become hybrid shooters, as comfortable capturing video as they are stills. Key things to consider, alongside the sensor sizes and video formats on offer, include in-body stabilisation for shake-free handheld shooting and autofocus tracking in…

‘The objects in his images of working men’s clubs are affectionate and familiar’ Clickety Click, 66. Droopy Draws, 44. Legs 11, Phuuwweet-Pheeew! I used to know all of the bingo terms, picked up from my youth spent in the amusement arcades along Weymouth promenade. I also used to know most of the fruit machine reels – cherry, melon, plum, orange, Jackpot. Bingo is thought to have originated in Italy in the early 16th century from their traditional lottery game, Il Giuoco del Lotto d’Italia, later spreading to France and becoming a favourite of the aristocracy. There was nothing courtly about the bingo players I witnessed hunched over their 90-number board in Alexandra Gardens and FunZone, a sea of blue rinse, fading eyes focusing for a win. Knock at the Door,…

King in London by J Wilds Sixty years ago, American civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King Junior arrived in London. He was in England to be the chief speaker at a public meeting about colour prejudice and to appear on the BBC television programme, Face to Face. During the interview, which took place two years before King’s famous ‘I have a dream’ speech, he discusses his childhood experiences and the incidents that led to the Montgomery bus boycott, events which shaped his life to become a national figurehead. The interview is available to watch on BBC iPlayer (see bit.ly/martinlkftf) The Getty Images Hulton Archive is one of the world’s great cultural resources. Tracing its origins to the founding of the London Stereoscopic Company in 1854, today it houses over 80…

NIKON has announced the Nikkor Z 40mm f/2, an affordable full-frame prime lens for its mirrorless Z-system cameras. Designed to give a natural angle of view, its compact design is said to make subjects feel and act more naturally compared to when they have a big lens ‘in their face’. Nikon said the lens is ideal for both stills photography and vlogging. When used on APS-C cameras, such as the Nikon Z fc, it gives a 60mm equivalent angle of view. Optically the lens is made up of 6 elements in 4 groups, including 2 aspherical elements. Its 9 aperture blades are rounded to give pleasing background blur. An ultra-quiet stepper motor is employed for autofocus, with an internal focus design and a minimum focus distance of 29cm. The lens…

8 October 1941 A TEENAGE boy makes model aeroplanes out of balsa wood while his father looks on approvingly, smoking his pipe. Two years into the Second World War this would have been a common scene in living rooms across the land, but this fine example was brought to you courtesy of Kodak papers, whose ad graced this week’s cover. The war was of course a common topic for discussion during this period. Popular columnist Lancelot Vining reported on his recent brush with the military in his weekly Miniature Camera Gossip feature. ‘Hearing that on a recent Sunday afternoon sergeants of the Guards were going to give girls between the ages of 14 and 18 their first taste of drill (in the preparation they are to receive before they join…

Include the foreground Use the foreground to add depth to your composition and lead the eye through the frame to your subject. Select a wide aperture to create a shallow depth of field, as this will help to blow the foreground out of focus and eliminate any distracting elements. Eyes are key Always focus on the eye. Choose single-focus point and move the point around the frame so that it is always on the eye of your subject when you fire the shutter. If your camera has face detection or even better, Eye AF mode, the hard work is done for you. Experiment with panning During the rut, stags are often chasing hinds, so why not experiment with movement by selecting a slow shutter speed and panning? Set your camera…

JUST from looking at its specs, it might be difficult to work out why you’d buy the Olympus 8-25mm f/4. It’s not the small, lightweight, affordable wide zoom that some users were hoping for, akin to last year’s 12-45mm f/4 Pro. Instead, it’s the same size and price as the excellent Panasonic 8-18mm f/2.8-4, but heavier. Most users will already have the extra range covered with a standard zoom, so what’s the point? The answer becomes apparent when you head out and start taking pictures, because this turns out to be a uniquely versatile lens. Thanks to its extended long end and very impressive close-up capability, it’s not like using a conventional wideangle zoom at all. It’s almost better seen as an everyday lens that can zoom out to ultra-wide.…

● £260 ● www.benroeu.com OVER the past year, Benro has updated its tripod line-up with new ranges named after animals. Previously we’ve been impressed by the compact yet sturdy Rhino and the super-flexible Bat designs. The oddly named Tortoise models differ in not having centre columns, with the 14C we’re looking at here being a four-section carbon-fibre affair that extends to 1.3m and is slated to support up to 10kg. So why make tripods without centre columns? Firstly, it allows them to fold down unusually slim, which makes them easier to slip into a suitcase or strap onto a backpack. Secondly, it reduces weight, not only by omitting the column, but also by allowing the central spider to be smaller and simpler. It also makes low-angle shooting much easier, as…

Sony Alpha 7 III Well-rounded and highly capable, the A7 III will excel at any task. Its 4D autofocus with 693 phase-detection AF points plus 425 contrast-detection AF points and a range of brilliant tracking options, means that no matter how skittish your subject or how fleeting the moment, this camera will capture it sharply. As well as recording stunning 4K movies through 2.4-times higher oversampling, the camera features a HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma) picture profile and super-slow-motion recording for creative movie making. £1,699 ● 24.2MP full-frame sensor ● UHD 4K at 30fps, Full HD at 120fps ● Five-axis 5-stop in-body image stabilisation Nikon Z 6 With 273 highly accurate AF points covering 90% of its full-frame sensor, a stunning 3.6m-dot viewfinder and 5 stops of in-body stabilisation, composing images and…

Lavender at Dusk by Danielle Needham Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, Canon 100mm Macro F/2.8 at f/2.8, 1/500sec, ISO 100 ‘I mainly focus on wildlife photography but I love everything nature. This photo was taken with my newly bought Canon 5D Mark IV in my garden just before dusk. I was intending on getting a backlit shot of a bee in amongst the lavender. But I thought the backlit lavender and sun rays made a pretty photograph in itself,’ says Danielle, a young photographer from Yorkshire. Danielle can be found on Instagram at @danielleneedhamphotography.…

APPLE has announced two new smartphones, the iPhone 13 and 13 Pro. Each comes with two different screen sizes and has an updated camera system. The Pro employs ultra-wide, wideangle and telephoto cameras for a combined 6x optical zoom. There’s a night mode including night portraits, Apple ProRAW, and portrait mode with advanced bokeh and depth control. Video recording is available at 4K and 60fps, along with a new Full HD Cinematic mode that allows depth of field to be manipulated later. Meanwhile the iPhone 13 comes with a simplified dual-camera system. Prices start at £679 for the iPhone 13 and £949 for the Pro.…

I’d like to respond to some of the comments made by John Vahgatsi in AP 24 July. In particular, his views on camera club judges gave a rather distorted view of this much-maligned group of fellow photographers. Indeed that’s what camera club judges are – women and men who share the love of photography and who first and foremost are photographers. I don’t know any fellow judge who describes her/himself as a judge. They think of themselves as photographers. Many of my friends are superb photographers, who also will give their views on other people’s work when invited to do so by a camera club. This can be an arduous task, being required to comment on members’ images – perhaps well over 100 in the space of an hour or…

I have long been interested in having a go at astrophotography and found the comments made by Tom Ormerod (AP 7 August) very informative. However, his statement that it can be really tricky to focus manually on the stars completely threw me. Wouldn’t it just be a case of focusing on infinity, or am I missing something here? David Richards Technical Editor Andy Westlake replies: Yes, it’s just a case of focusing on infinity. But the question is how do you accurately focus on infinity, especially in the dark? It isn’t remotely easy, because barely any lenses have a hard stop at the end of their focus travel any more, let alone an accurate one. Then if you do focus on infinity, how do you make sure the lens stays…

At one time Polaroid was the epitome of cool in the photography and art worlds. Andy Warhol produced Polaroid pop art, David Hockney shot stunning composites and photographers such as Walker Evans, Helmut Newton, Ansel Adams and William Wegman embraced the creative possibilities offered by the instant analogue imaging system. What began in 1937 as the Polaroid Corporation (as a company that produced polarised sunglasses), hit a revenue peak of $3 billion by 1991 but was declared bankrupt just ten years later, in October 2001. That early 21st century company crash was a far cry from the 1960s and ’70s when generations of photo enthusiasts flocked to buy the stylish Polaroid cameras that spewed out instant film results. Initially the film was a peel-apart product and then, from 1972 onwards,…

Is there a way to carry two cameras for fast use? Q I’m an event photographer who regularly has to switch between multiple lenses in order to get a wide variety of compositions and shots. As I’m often responding to situations that are unfolding, I frequently find that I have the wrong lens attached for a specific moment. I remember seeing a wedding photographer with a super-stylish-looking strap that let her carry two cameras at once, so that she always had two lenses she could use. What was it? A What you’re looking for is a dual camera strap or harness, popular with those who cover weddings, live events and sports. They allow you to carry multiple cameras at once so that different set-ups can be hung at your sides…