Innholdsfortegnelse for 26/07/2022 i Amateur Photographer

We have another varied mix this issue, starting with an in-depth feature on dog photography. Accomplished pro Rhian White goes into detail on how to get wonderful images of man’s best friend; as she reveals, the best dog photography is technically demanding, but also hugely rewarding. You’re bound to come away with plenty of tips and tricks to try with Buddy or Bella this weekend. Our lead review is Sony’s E 15mm F1.4 G lens, a compact lightweight prime that delivers great results, while for vintage fans, John Wade celebrates Nikon’s pre-SLR rangefinders. Other highlights include the winner of the EISA Maestro UK round, and a look at urban minimalism – as Connor Daly reveals, even a car park or bit of pavement can yield interesting imagery. Good photos are…

Nikon D5 DSLR Fourteen years ago I went into Jessops and they recommended the D70s. I am still happy with the Nikon system, so I see no reason to change – the AF and low-light performance are fine for my needs. I also prefer DSLR optical viewfinders, but might consider changing to mirrorless at some point in the future. Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 lens This wideangle lens is my fourth and I love the fact that it’s nice and fast at f/2.8. The wider end is very useful for getting the dog in context and I sometimes use it with flash. The only problem is, the lens is quite bulbous, so I can’t protect it with a filter. When working on beaches with dogs running around kicking up sand and stones,…

Though his images are generally devoid of human presence, Connor does frequently run into people while shooting. There must surely be a risk of someone driving into a parking space he’s spent 20 minutes framing up, or running him off a piazza with spurious claims of invaded privacy? ‘I usually find it amusing to engage with people about these pictures,’ he reveals, ‘and though I’ve had incidents when my presence wasn’t welcome, that’s been the minority. Most of the time people are either interested or mildly confused.’ Some situations have been quite comical, he says. ‘In a series called Surfaces, I shot a crazy golf course with the permission of the owners, but when I arrived there were about 30 people playing. So I just worked around their rounds.’ In…

TREASURES FROM THE HULTON ARCHIVE Dress Reform by Topical Press Agency An enthusiast for Men’s dress reform walking down the Strand in London. The MDRP (Men’s Dress Reform Party) was formed in the interwar years in Britain. Its main concerns surrounded clothing for men, including how garments affected health and hygiene, as well as a broader aim to increase variety and choice. The group’s founder, Alfred Jordan, was well known for wearing shorts in his professional life – something which was considered unusual enough at the time to cause quite the stir… as you can see from the onlookers in this picture of a follower of the trend. The Getty Images Hulton Archive is one of the world’s great cultural resources. Tracing its origins to the founding of the London…

We live in the age of the infinite scroll. Instagram alone contains so many photos that you could spend a lifetime swiping through them and still never get to the end, because it’s being added to at a rate many times faster than you can view them. In a world where an estimated 3.2 billion images are posted online every day, getting yours to stand out and be noticed seems an impossible task. Many older photographers will fondly recall the days when the secrets to taking great photos were known only to a select few who had learned how to manipulate the knobs and dials of their cameras, while the rest of the world had to be content with blurry photos of their relatives, minus their heads. Today, the younger…

Get your priorities right Always put the dog first, no matter what. People take far too long setting up for shooting or taking the shots. If the dog is sitting there for five minutes while you take the photo, it will get bored. You need to keep them motivated and engaged. Think like a dog Is this fun, is it interesting, is it too hot? Put yourself in the mind-set of the dog. The dog always comes first and I never get them to do anything they don’t want to do. Only after that, think about the light and the camera settings and so on. Manual labour When it comes to settings, it’s always better to shoot in manual mode. I’d only recommend using aperture or shutter priority if you…

Geared head Though he also shoots with a fluid head, Connor has used a geared tripod head for years in his work. These models, for example Manfrotto’s 410 Junior Geared Tripod Head (£409), allow very precise movement across individual axes. This means you can, for instance, adjust the tilt axis to correct converging lines, without affecting the pan or rotation. Focusing rail Something else Connor uses is a focusing rail. More commonly associated with macro work, a rail can have benefits in architectural or interior shots, too, allowing the camera to be moved forward, back or side to side from the same tripod position. This is a real benefit when looking for symmetry in shots. Take a look at the Leofoto MP-150 at around £100. High-res body Vital in achieving…

AP: Tell us about your photography background ES: My love of landscape photography started following a redundancy in 2017, when I was given an opportunity to retrain. I have always loved the outdoors and enjoyed photography, so it felt like a natural step to go on some landscape photography workshops. I went on the first with my trusty second-hand Canon EOS 550D and was instantly hooked. I soon upgraded my kit and travelled to Iceland and Croatia as well as a few workshops in the UK. As well as opening my eyes to a new passion, the escapism provided some much-needed therapy after what had been a stressful time. Upon my return from Iceland, I was very fortunate to win the Telegraph Travel Big Picture award with one of my…

Tech Talk In recent articles I have detailed the way in which mirrorless autofocus differs from SLR AF, being more dependent on computational processes for its functionality. This requires that the AF system be designed around a powerful image processor. This in turn gives the opportunity to add novel functions, foremost of which has been subject-recognition AF. These techniques depend on a set of computer vision techniques known as object recognition. These have been a focus of attention in academic circles, with an annual international competition for the best results. This approach has led to the work being done in a competitive but collaborative way, with the results available in open source form. It’s likely that the implementations in cameras have rested on this work, rather than being ground-up developments.…

I’ve been fired from or quit most regular jobs I’ve had, except for a stint at fashion retailer Top Man. I had a knack for convincing young men they looked great in a pair of high-waisted burgundy trousers. My boss couldn’t believe it when I said I was leaving to pursue photography. He told me I was mad and that if I stayed, I could make assistant manager within ten years. He advised me I could always come back if photography didn’t work out. Thirty-two years later, I’m tempted to see whether the offer still stands. I was fired from Asda for giving away free produce to the elderly and from Weymouth Joke Shop for making a disparaging remark to the proprietor’s wife. At Specialised Banking Furniture International Design and…

AP picture of the week Early to the Party by Geraldine Curtis Canon EOS 6D, 70-200mm, 1/400sec at f/5, ISO 200 ‘I live just outside Derby on the edge of the Peak District, Derbyshire. I love taking photos of people, but over the past two years I have concentrated mainly on nature photography. At this time of year my garden is full of beautiful blue self-seeded forget-me-nots and when the butterflies start to appear I spend hours trying to get the perfect shot. I love how this butterfly demonstrates the wonderful element of surprise in photography. I didn’t know until the image was on my screen that the butterfly had coiled his proboscis like a tiny party blower or that there were wisps of an early-morning cobweb still visible.’ Twitter:…

Write to 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. Replies are from the Editor unless otherwise stated LETTER OF THE WEEK Memories David Richards rightly reminds us (Inbox, AP 21 June) to ‘record the holiday’, and not be so busy capturing beautiful landscapes and fine buildings that we miss the personal images that speak of our own experience. Last winter, thanks to AP’s ‘How To Organise Your Photos with Lightroom’ feature, (AP 20 June 2020) I finally got to grips with my own archive. I’d always assumed that the ‘stars’ feature was for rating images from ‘not quite useless’ to ‘my best’. But what about the photos which are…

EISA MAESTRO PHOTO CONTEST 2022 This year, EISA Maestro entrants were asked to submit five to eight photographs on the theme of Joy. This broad choice of subject felt like a welcome relief after a difficult couple of years, and it’s not hard to see why we judged Caroline Allington’s to be the best. Caroline (pictured above) wins a one-year subscription to AP, £200 and goes forward to the international round of the contest. The winning entries from each of the 16 participating EISA countries were judged together at the Association’s Awards Meeting in June. The final results of the International Maestro contest will be revealed at the EISA Awards Gala on 2 September. The overall winner will take home a €1,500 prize and an EISA Maestro trophy. All the…

Stood in the midday sun, camera on tripod, and aiming squarely at the corner of a car park – if you stumbled across Connor Daly at work, what would you think? Even fellow photographers might be a little confused. But looking at his elegant minimalist work, maybe not. ‘The things I photograph can certainly seem odd to most people,’ he reflects. ‘And I think that actually speaks to my sort of work in general. I’m looking for what’s overlooked, uninteresting, and mundane to the average viewer. But I’m trying to find a way to make those things beautiful and interesting. That’s what I strive for most.’ Indeed, Connor makes movie stars of these empty, ignored places. With careful composition, precise framing and expert appreciation of colour and tone, the edge…

● £569 ● www.kingjoyuk.com We review tripods of all shapes and sizes, but rarely ones as large as this. Kingjoy is a new entrant to the UK market, with three ‘SolidRock’ carbon fibre models that are each sold either with or without a matching ball head. The C85 is the largest of the trio, and it’s a monster. This is a four-section carbon fibre tripod that does without a centre column for maximum stability. You might think this would limit its maximum height, but in fact, it reaches a massive 163cm. I’m about six feet tall, and this tripod places the camera’s viewfinder well above my eye level when it’s fully extended. The main penalty is a sizeable folded length, at 67cm. It’s also quite weighty, although perhaps not as…