Innholdsfortegnelse for 5/9/2023 i Amateur Photographer

For this issue’s landscape special we’ve tried to avoid the obvious, and present features that encourage us to think a little differently. We look at the merits of turning the camera on its side and shooting vertically, we find out the story behind some award-winning b&w aerial landscapes, and we head into town to showcase our readers’ best photos of the urban landscape. We ask three photographers to share their techniques for photographing the wildflowers which will soon be blooming, and we share some pro tips for landscape photography editing. Finally we take a second look at one of the best all-round cameras you can buy for everything from portraits to landscapes, the Sony A7 IV. Our cover image was taken by Paula Stopka, who shares her approach to shooting…

WOMEN Photograph is taking applications for its 2023 grant cycle for women and nonbinary photographers, sponsored by Nikon, Leica and MPB. There are five $5,000 grants and a $10,000 Women Photograph + Leica grant available to support projects from visual journalists and documentary photographers. The deadline for submissions is 15 May, and there is no entry fee. Photographers are encouraged to submit a story, rather than singles, as part of the grant application.…

10-14 May 2023, Stand G27, Somerset House, London See photolondon.org to book tickets Every year, the annual Photo London festival, taking place at London’s beautiful Somerset House venue, is a feast of delights for those interested in the contemporary photography scene. With a huge array of galleries and artists represented, you can easily fill at least one day just looking around at everything which is on offer. One particular highlight of this year’s show looks to be the 29 Arts in Progress Gallery, which is based in Milan and represents a number of internationally renowned photographers. In its Photo London display, we’ll see works from a range of acclaimed fashion photographers. Gian Paolo Barbieri is the winner of the 2018 Lucie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Fashion and will have…

Round Two Travel How do you distil the essence of a place into one single frame? It’s the ongoing challenge for the travel photographer. Because it’s not just about sight, it’s about sound, smell, atmosphere – the all-round sensory experience of visiting and imbuing our photography with the infinite qualities of a new place. The challenge can lie in not overwhelming the viewer by trying to include everything in the frame, as tempting as that might be. Instead, as with so much photography, it’s about stripping a scene back to its essentials – something that all our top ten entrants have managed admirably. 1 Kirsty Dolphin UK 100pts Nikon D750, 24-70mm at 26mm, 1/15sec at f/9, ISO 3200 This is a fabulously atmospheric shot from Kirsty. The peachy-blue early-morning…

Paulina Stopka Paulina is a London-based self-taught photographer and graphic designer originally from Kraków, Poland. She began her photography journey in 2016 and specialised in portrait, urban/architecture and landscape photography. She is particularly drawn to symmetry and aesthetics when composing her photos. See more at www.paulastopka.com and Instagram @shotsbypaula Growing up in the southern region of Poland, I was fortunate enough to live near the Tatra Mountains, renowned for their stunning alpine landscapes. Although I always enjoyed spending time in the outdoors, hiking was not my cup of tea for a long time. It wasn’t until 2016, when I developed an interest in landscape photography, that I became truly inspired and motivated to explore the trails to capture the breathtaking scenery around me. The thrill of not knowing what lay…

A few days ago an unexpected parcel dropped through our letterbox. Inside we discovered Autoportraits, a collection of photographs made by Rory Carnegie and published by Café Royal. Nestled among the pages lay this captivating portrait. Rory Carnegie’s Autoportraits project began in 1982 while he was studying history at London University. From his studies in Chinese communism and Brazilian fascism he became interested in the balance of power that underpins all human relationships, and he decided to experiment with this interplay using the medium of photography. For Rory, the portrait photograph is a metaphor for power; the way that authority ebbs and flows between the photographer, the sitter and then the viewer. He set out to disrupt this relationship by ‘getting as far away from the camera as possible’ and…

MARK BAUER Mark and two other top pros share techniques on incorporating nature’s bounty for great scenics PAULA STOPKA The London-based pro photographer on the benefits of a vertical format to stand out from the crowd JUSTIN MINNS The award-winning British landscape photographer shares his photo-editing skills for landscapes AILSA MCWHINNIE APOY coordinator Ailsa has the results of Round Two of our prestigious contest CALLUM MCINERNEYRILEY Callum discusses why he has found the Sony Alpha 7 IV so impressive ANDY WESTLAKE, Technical Editor Our chief tester assesses Sigma’s new fast prime for full-frame mirrorless…

7 days A week in photography AP picture of the week The Eye of the Beholder by Bill Daniels Fujifilm X-T5, 16-55mm at 55mm, 0.5sec at f/8, ISO 125 ‘I thought this sandstone at Spittal Beach on the Northumberland coast was amazing. I added a jet-black pebble from a nearby tide pool to provide a focal point. I didn’t realise it at the time, but it looks very much like a watchful eye. This is a focus-stack of several images.’ Instagram: @billdanielsphoto #appicoftheweek Win! The AP Pic of the Week winner currently wins an annual subscription to Skylum Luminar Neo, worth £99. Designed for photographers of all skill levels, Luminar Neo is an advanced but fun-to-use photo editor for Mac and PC, available also as a plug-in for Photoshop…

1 I took this photo at the full reach of my longest lens knowing I could crop in afterwards 2 A 16:9 aspect ratio removes unnecessary foreground and suits a powerful subject 3 The colours distract from the shape and power of the wave, so I chose to convert to black & white 4 My high-resolution sensor is sharp but noisy, so I often remove Lightroom’s default sharpening, and add texture locally Rachael Talibart Rachael specialises in seascapes. She owns f11 Workshops, providing location, classroom, and online training, including printing and book making. See www.rachaeltalibart.com, @rachaeltalibart I captured this photograph in Nazaré, Portugal, a location I know well. Famous for its mighty waves, Nazaré is a popular destination for surfers, tourists, and photographers alike. Millions of pixels are used every…

INTERVIEW In an age where aerial photography has become more accessible than ever thanks to the commercialisation of drones, there are some who still prefer to put in the hard work of being up in the sky themselves. For someone like Kacper Kowalski it’s about so much more than the final image, and, as such, there is a real need to shoot his images directly from above, rather than safely on terra firma. It’s an approach that seems to work – in the 25 years he’s been doing this, he’s won countless awards, been exhibited numerous times and is putting together a book charting all of his success. He’s fresh from taking home top prize in the Professional Landscape Photography category at the prestigious Sony World Photography Awards, where the…

● £499 ● www.vanguardworld.co.uk WITH many tripods now aiming to be as compact and travel-friendly as possible, it’s refreshing to come across one that’s a bit different. Vanguard’s VEO 3+ 303CBS is the largest and sturdiest model in the firm’s range of versatile tripods with tilting centre columns. It employs three-section carbon-fibre legs with twist locks to deliver an impressive maximum height of 1.77m, and comes in a kit with a well-matched BH-250S ball head. Unashamedly built with stability and versatility in mind, this tripod should be particularly interesting to landscape and macro photographers, who will often find themselves shooting on uneven ground and looking to fix their cameras in awkward positions to enable interesting compositions. To this end, the legs can be independently set to three different angles, including…

LANDSCAPE photographers take note – the Landscape Photographer of the Year competition, of which AP is a media partner, closes on 31 May. This year marks the 15th anniversary of the competition, which was set up by leading landscape photographer and workshop leader Charlie Waite. Entries are open for both experienced and amateur photographers, with a prize fund worth over £20,000, plus the chance to appear in a commemorative coffee-table book and a nationwide photography exhibition. The Young Landscape Photographer of the Year award is also open to entrants aged 16 and under. The winning photographers will be announced at an awards ceremony in October. Several new categories have been added for this year. Change in the Landscape: reflecting Britain’s changing environment; Bird’s Eye View: drone photography; Impressions of the…

THE MINIMALIST Photography Awards 2023 competition is now open for entries from photographers over 18, taken using traditional or digital methods. The overall winner gets a $2,000 prize, and participation in a ‘Best of Show’ exhibition. The closing date is 10 June, and AI-generated images are not eligible for submission. See minimalistphotographyawards.com…

DJI has introduced the Mavic 3 Pro, which it describes as the world’s first drone with three cameras. It includes a Hasselblad camera with a 20MP Four Thirds sensor and 24mm equivalent f/2.8 lens, which the firm says can shoot 12-bit raw images with up to 12.8 stops dynamic range. There are also two telephoto cameras, one with a 48MP sensor and 70mm lens, and the other with a 12MP sensor and 166mm lens. Other features include 5.1K video recording at up to 50fps, a 43-minute flight time, Omnidirectional Obstacle Sensing, and 15km HD Video Transmission. ‘The Mavic 3 Pro’s triple camera combination gives users the ability to switch between shot composition with just one tap,’ said DJI creative director Ferdinand Wolff. The DJI Mavic 3 Pro is available now…

Mark Bauer Mark is a full-time landscape photographer and author of eight photo books. A multi-award winner, his most recent success was winning the Wildflower Landscapes category of the International Garden Photographer of the Year. See www.markbauerphotography.com and @markbauerphotography on Facebook and Instagram. One of the joys of spring is watching the landscape come back to life as wildflowers begin to bloom: bluebells and wild garlic in woodlands, cow parsley on the verges, and swathes of pink thrift across cliff tops. As the season progresses and turns into summer, these sights are replaced by fields of red as poppies spring up on agricultural land, and later in the summer, carpets of purples across heathland as heather reaches its peak. All of these make great subjects for landscape photography. Head to…

LETTER OF THE WEEK Hi res and primes man In support of Sanjay Vijayanathan (Inbox, 25 April) I too have almost completely changed my photographic outlook. I’ve been a keen photographer for nearly 60 years during most of which I used three zooms. More recently I moved from a Canon EOS 5D to a Sony A7R IV with 16-35mm, 24-105mm and 100-400mm zooms and was astonished by the resolution. I soon found myself cropping much more than usual and occasionally even to something in frame that wasn’t my original subject. The reason I moved from the 5D to the A7R IV was to reduce total weight. In my advancing years it was easier to reduce my kit weight than my own weight, my late wife pointed out. So I’ve now…

For a professional photographer having a consistent workflow is essential. Following a simple series of steps – from capturing the images in camera to delivering the final prints or digital files – helps to keep things organised, improves efficiency, and brings consistency to your work. The first stage of a photography workflow starts in the field with the camera but here we are focusing on what happens next, at the computer. Designed specifically as a workflow tool for photographers, Adobe Lightroom has been at the heart of my workflow for many years and for organisation I think it is second to none. When it comes to processing, it obviously cannot compete with Photoshop in terms of the level of creativity possible, but it isn’t supposed to. They are designed to…