Innholdsfortegnelse for 05-Dec-2015 i Amateur Photographer

During the summer I spend as much time as possible in the garden. I use any excuse to be out there, and I’m always surprised by the amount of wildlife in my humble suburban plot. There’s the occasional insect that I haven’t seen before, the robin that patrols the area, the flocks of blue tits on the hunt for food, the fox that jumps over the fence at night, the noisy parakeets that make me forget I’m in South London, not to mention the squirrels that dig up my lawn. With winter drawing in I’m missing the garden, so I’m getting ready for spring by building a few features to make it great to photograph wildlife. First is a bird bath that will look like a natural feature. There is…

AP READERS have a rare opportunity to meet renowned photographer Steve McCurry – and get a signed copy of his latest book – as he discusses his love affair with India on 8 December 2015. The award-winning photographer will talk about his long-standing love and commitment to recording India's wondrous diversity with AP Editor Nigel Atherton at the Barbican Theatre, London. McCurry has returned to India over 80 times since his first visit in1978. This is a rare chance to hear the internationally renowned National Geographic and Magnum photographer present his latest body of work. The event is being held in a tie-up with Nikon School and Phaidon Press. Entry will be from 6:15pm. Tickets cost £40, which includes a copy of Steve's book. Visit www.nikon.co.uk/training/booking.…

Richard Peters Richard is a professional wildlife photographer whose work has won him numerous awards. Most recently he was named winner of the Urban category of Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2015, and was also named the GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year. www.richardpeters.co.uk With so many photos of exotic wildlife from around the world filling websites and social media timelines every day, it’s easy to forget that beautiful wildlife photography can be taken anywhere. Our very own gardens are a perfect example of this, with a wealth of photographic opportunities happening right under our noses and all without us even realising it. Once you know it’s there, it just takes a bit of thought and a different approach to reignite your creativity. There are, of course, many ways…

You answered A Yes, the limitations of my camera or other equipment forced me to take certain shots in a particular way 33% B I have never really thought about it 22% C No, I have never been restricted by my equipment 21% D Yes, but I have always found a way of getting shot I want without compromise 10% E Sometimes particular products have hindered me, so I have changed them 7% F Yes, because of my camera I developed a particular style of photography 7% What you said ‘There have been times when the lenses I have chosen have made a shot difficult, but there’s always a way’ ‘Yes, although I think my 65mm macro lens has had more to do with it than any of my cameras’…

‘MY MAIN camera is a Nikon D800E as it’s got such great resolution, and is tough,’ Luke explains. ‘I keep my lens choice to a minimum as I prefer not to be weighed down by lots of gear. I favour Nikon’s 14-24mm, 45mm tilt-and-shift and 70-200mm f/4 optics. I ended up selling a lot of lenses, as I was supposed to be going on a backpacking trip to South America, but it never happened, which was annoying.’ When it comes to filters, in the past Luke used Lee ND graduated filters, but now prefers to manually blend exposures in Photoshop. ‘That said, I do use a Lee Big Stopper sometimes and a polariser for the 14-24mm, but generally I try to minimise the use of filters.’…

Helen Holt, Manchester Helen's background in photography began over 30 years ago when she took evening classes and learned the ever-important skill of darkroom printing. Once Helen retired she was able to dedicate her time to learning how to improve her skills, particularly in the field of macro photography. Here we see a selection of her impactful flower images. 1 Thistle Helen found this thistle specimen in a local meadow. She was particularly struck by the interesting markings and vibrant colour Canon EOS 60D, 60mm, 1/500sec at f/2.8, ISO 250 2 White dahlia By having found just the right angle, Helen has ensured focus spills out of the centre and leads our eye down the larger outer petals Canon EOS 50D, 60mm, 1/160sec at f/4, ISO 100 3 Cosmos This…

How to create an HDR merge TO CREATE this photograph, Chris Meaker shot three bracketed captures, presumably with the intention of merging them together using a High Dynamic Range (HDR) blending method. You can do this by using a third-party program like Photomatix Pro, Merge to HDR Pro in Photoshop or the Photo Merge HDR feature in Camera Raw and Lightroom. The best way to prepare your images is to shoot a bracketed sequence of three, five or seven shots, adjusting the exposure by 2-stop increments either side of the normal exposure setting. When bracketing the exposures the lens aperture must remain constant and you vary the time exposure as you shoot each capture. It's best to shoot in raw mode and it also helps if the camera is mounted…

Jeff Howlett is the director and producer of the acclaimed documentary A Band Called Death, about 1970s rock band Death and their new-found popularity decades after the group recorded their music. He has been photographing for many years, and has spent the last17 years focusing specifically on tintype photography. He and his friend, Chris Morgan, will gladly bring their mobile tintype studio to your next event or festival. 1986 Yashica Auto Focus Motor-D This was the first camera I owned and was given to me by my father for my 16th birthday. I was utterly clueless about how to use it and ended up taking a lot of really bad photographs, but I have to say it served me well. I used it often, and it was the piece of…

In AP 28 November, I discussed the remarkable similarity in optical formula between a lens released by Zeiss and a lens described in a patent from Tamron. This article is about the same patent but concentrates on AF and IS. There is a common misunderstanding of what it is that is ‘patented'. Some have said that Tamron has patented this ‘design', which isn't strictly possible in international patent law. Strictly, designs are protected by copyright, whereas inventions are protected by patent, although some countries such as the US do have ‘design patents', which provide a greater degree of protection than simple copyrights. Other countries call this a ‘registered design'. In patent law, an invention is defined by a series of claims, which define the essence of the invention. In the…

All By Myself by Adrian Clarke Canon EOS 7D, 150-600mm, 1/320sec at f/6.3, ISO 250 ‘This image was taken on a misty morning over Doxey Marshes, a local nature reserve managed by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust,' says Adrian. ‘I often ride through on my way to work to see what's around. I had hoped for a shot like this after taking a similar image of a tufted duck, but on this day I was lucky that all the conditions came together – the mist, the perched cormorant, the stillness of the lake and me being there! I wanted to capture the solitude and serenity of a misty morning on the marshes and show the wildlife in its environment rather than filling the frame.' You can visit Adrian's Flickr at www.flickr.com/photos/ 92460969@N05.…

While there have been several headline-grabbing stories of 2015 (phone hacking, the refugee crisis, Charlie Hebdo), perhaps the one that will come to dominate the annals of this year's history will be the terror attacks in Paris on Friday13 November. The horrific attacks left 129 people dead and hundreds injured. In the following days the world attempted to come to terms with not just the loss of life, but also with the reality that we're facing an enemy we still don't fully understand. On Monday 16 November the Eiffel Tower was illuminated in blue, white and red in honour of the victims, as shown in this image by Pierre Suu. Other countries followed suit in support of France by illuminating significant buildings in the colours, as well as observing a…

If I were blindfolded and asked to identify my very first camera among a variety of objects, I'd identify it instantly by its smell. And considering I had it back in1979, when I was15, that's not bad going. I've no idea what gave the Zenit EM its peculiar aroma, but I disliked it almost as much as the camera itself. Its talent for tearing up my films' sprocket holes was sadly not matched by its skill at providing accurate meter readings. Or perhaps it was me. Our relationship wasn't helped when I got a Saturday job at the local professional studio, which gave me unlimited access to its Canon F-1 system. It's very difficult to convey to younger generations the pervading fear we felt back in the 1970s about the…

FINDING the extent of your tonal range and placing your black, white and midtone points are some of the most important tasks in image capture. Follow the tips below to ensure you do so when using your set of grey, white and black cards free in this week's issue. Correct exposure Choosing the right part of a scene to meter from can be tricky. This is where the grey card becomes invaluable. However, there is slightly more to the process than simply holding the grey card in front of your subject and taking a reading. First, you need to fill the frame as much as possible. Go into your shooting menu and set the camera metering to Spot, then press the AEL or ‘*' button on the back of your…

The knot is a little larger than a starling. Breeding plumage is a striking coppery red, but by late summer the birds have moulted into a grey winter plumage. Location Knots can be found along large, muddy estuaries across the UK. For a world-class spectacle, head to Snettisham RSPB Reserve on the Wash in Norfolk. Size Approximately 23-26cm, with a wingspan of 47-53cm. Nests They roost on spits. Diet A mixture of shellfish and worms. Population In recent years the average annual peak population has been about 320,000 across the UK.…

Robert Canis Robert has been a professional nature photographer for more than 20 years. He is represented by several international agencies and regularly leads workshops and overseas tours. Visit www.robertcanis.com Unless I’m out hiking or looking for a specific subject, I very rarely walk great distances taking a shot here and another there. I much prefer to work a small area or subject and only leave when I am satisfied that all possibilities have been exhausted. I adopt the same approach with my workshops, forcing everyone to slow down and really look, even before they take their cameras out of their bags. My ethos has always been that the longer you work an area, the more images you’ll find and your pictures will be stronger for it. This image, which…

£819 www.gitzo.co.uk Dual-angle legs Standard and low-level positions are available via slightly fiddly sprung levers. Arca Swiss compatible The quick release adopts the now de facto standard dovetail pattern. Levelling line The ball head has a handy visual guide to see when it’s set level. Short centre column Supplied as standard, this short centre column allows low-level shooting. At a glance Five-section twist-lock legsMatched ball head included148.5cm maximum heightWeighs 1.42kg WHAT do you get the photographer who has everything? Well, perhaps one of the latest Gitzo Traveler tripods. The company pioneered both carbon-fibre construction and the now ubiquitous reverse-folding leg design, and its latest models to use these technologies are lightweight, tall and strong – but very expensive. Alongside the five-section GK1555T version, there are three four-section models in different…

Manfrotto Lumie Lights From £44.95 www.manfrotto.com MANFROTTO makes a range of great continuous LED panels that are ideal for lighting subjects. They can be used on or off-camera without needing to mess about with wireless flash triggers and changing flash power. You can use them for everything from adding light to macro subjects, to fill light for a portrait or even as a video light. The great thing about the Manfrotto Lumie design is that it's rechargeable, meaning you won't need to carry loads of AA batteries. There are three different sizes: the three LED light starts at £44.95, but there's also a brighter six LED version costing £69.95 and a top-end eight LED version costing £99.95. Freeloader CamCaddy 2 universal charger £20 www.solartechnology.co.uk IF YOU'RE anything like us at…

LAUNCHED 1991 PRICE $219.95 with 50mm f/1.8, Popular Photography (USA), March 1992 GUIDE PRICE TODAY Unknown THE CANON EF-M was Canon's attempt to provide traditionalists with a 35mm camera that could be used manually, but was compatible with Canon's then new EF range of lenses, albeit without autofocus. It was made solely for export to the non-Japanese market, and although a contemporary of EOS cameras it is not an EOS, since it does not have autofocus. At each end of the top-plate is a revolving dial. The left-hand one sets shutter speeds1sec-1/1000sec, and the right-hand dial sets the lens aperture. Each dial has an ‘A' setting, enabling the camera to provide aperture-priority automatic exposure if the aperture dial is set to ‘A', shutter-priority automatic exposure if the shutter-speed dial is…

Laura Majolino exhibited at the Arles festival in France in 2015. The pictures I saw were superb, and brought to mind the golden age of Hollywood, a by now semi-mythical era of black & white movies. When I got home, I went to her website and found that such pictures were only a small part of her oeuvre to date. So I decided to use a picture from this series instead. This illustrates the interdependence of exhibitions and websites. I’d never have discovered her website by chance, without the exhibition, but equally, without her website I’d never have found this. A daimon is not quite the same as a demon, although it comes from the same Greek root. Rather, it is more like a genius (in the original sense): a…

McCurry escapes Paris terror attacks Renowned photographer Steve McCurry has told how he feared for his life amid the attacks at the Stade de France in Paris on 13 November. McCurry was at France’s national stadium when explosions occurred outside. Speaking to CBS News, he said: ‘It was a stampede of people running and screaming and I thought I was going to die… I was getting pushed to the ground…’ Mexican crime photos ‘treasure trove’ A photographer who found a treasure trove of Mexican crime photos from the 1950s has published more than 100 in a book. Stefan Ruiz saw the photos in a market in Mexico City. Mexican Crime Photographs from the archive of Stefan Ruiz costs £25. Visit www.gostbooks.com. DxO update Image enhancement specialist DxO has announced a…

LETTER OF THE WEEK Competition composition I couldn't believe it when I opened the AP 7 November issue and looked at your feature on the Take a view Landscape Photographer of the Year competition, only to see what I thought was my very own entry to APOY's ‘Lie of the Land' round! It was a photo of South Gare, Teesside, by Paul Mitchell, the winner of Adult Urban view (see right). On closer inspection, however, there are some differences. Paul's image is in black & white (my submission was in colour, although I had taken some black & white versions) and his was a slightly different viewpoint that had some nice billowing smoke. I had thought my shot of South Gare stood a good chance in APOY, but the subtle…

Trying to make it in the world of landscape photography is not for the faint-hearted: competition is intense; there are a lot of amateurs with high-quality kit who will give images away for free; and even established names are struggling to make a living from stock sales. Luke Austin, a young Australian who was recently named International Landscape Photographer of the Year 2015, is a good example of how landscape photographers have to combine several income streams in order to pay the bills. He combines print sales and workshops with a separate business as a carpenter. ‘I don’t mind this, actually, as when I was trying to earn a living from photography full-time it took the enjoyment out of it,’ he explains from his base in Perth, Australia. ‘I ended…

I WOULD argue that close-up photography requires a greater degree of perfecting one’s technique than any other field of nature photography. When capturing images of animals (especially when they’re actively doing something), one can be excused for some minor imperfections. You’re recording a moment in time and the impact of the image can often outweigh composition. With close-up photography, however, every part of the frame plays an integral role in the success of the image. With such a limited depth of field, just a couple of millimetres off can result in it being consigned to the trash. Take your time. Use a tripod or beanbag, fire the camera using a remote release and, should your camera have one, mirror-lock. These things will increase your chances of producing consistently sharp images.…

Are they worth it? Q I have noticed a steep rise in the price of alternative-brand lenses, especially in the more specialist focal lengths and apertures. By alternative, I mean non-camera manufacturers' branded offerings. Have aftermarket brands improved enough to justify these new higher price points? Terry McDonald-Dorman A In short, the answer is yes. Sigma and Tamron were once best known for making inexpensive zooms as an alternative to the camera manufacturers’ own optics. However, they can no longer compete with the inexpensive kit lenses made in bulk by the likes of Canon and Nikon. Notably, Sigma still makes all its lenses at its factory in Japan, rather than in countries where labour costs are cheaper. As a result, Sigma started to move its lens line upmarket with the…