Innholdsfortegnelse for 9/5/2023 i Amateur Photographer

Sony has also announced an updated version of its premium large-aperture wideangle zoom. Compared to its six-year-old predecessor, the new FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM II promises improved optics and additional controls in a smaller and lighter design. At £2,400 it’ll cost £400 more than the older model’s current price. Optically the lens employs 15 elements in 12 groups, with a whole host of special elements to suppress aberrations. An 11-blade diaphragm provides settings down to f/22, controlled by an aperture ring that clicks in one-third stop steps. Alternatively, the ring can be switched to clickless operation. There’s also an A position that passes control to a dial on the camera body. Four XD linear motors promise fast, silent focusing, with a minimum object distance of 22cm. Two AF stop buttons…

7 daysA week in photography MAKE sure you make the most of misty early mornings, a particular highlight of late summer/early autumn. Sam Binding, a category winner in Historic Photographer of the Year and other big contests, took this atmospheric image near Glastonbury Tor in Somerset. ‘I’ve started using a new iOS and Android app called Ventusky,’ said Sam. ‘It’s brilliant, with many features including a fog map, letting you select a variety of satellite models.’ Visit sambinding.co.uk…

THE WINNERS of the Black and White Photo Awards 2023 have been announced, with seasoned French wildlife photographer Patrice Quillard announced as overall winner for his image of a gelada baboon staring directly into his lens. The image beat over 3,000 monochrome images submitted across five categories, and wins Patrick €1,000. ‘For a brief moment, (the baboon) turned towards me, looked at me intensely and I understood the full force of his dominance over his troops,’ Patrice explained. The category winners were Gareth Jones (Architecture) Joy Saha (Street), Arturo de Frias Marques (Fauna and Flora), Michael Potts (Portrait) and Edoardo Frenquelli (Landscape). The 2023 competition, which ran from January to June, saw over 1,700 photographers from 922 countries submitting their work, a significant year-on-year increase. All the finalists’ work is…

CALIFORNIA DREAMERS Portrait photography is often an exercise in revealing the character and personality of the sitter. When you can include them in their home, surrounded by their own possessions, the things which make them who they are, and the place where they feel the most themselves, then you get a super-special insight. The second in what may well end up being a trilogy, Sally Davies’ California Dreamers follows on from the success of New Yorkers, which we featured in the magazine in 2021 (AP 15 May 2021). In New Yorkers, we saw a diverse set of people, along with their stories. It’s a formula that worked, so it was hardly surprising to see that Sally has stuck with the exact same approach for the new book, which is available…

Jonny Gios, Cumbria About Jonny Jonny is a minister of religion, and used to work in marketing. You can see more of his photography at jgios.com or at Facebook.com/JonnyGiosPhotos How did you get into photography? I used to work for the Manchester Evening News (marketing assistant) in 1995-1998 and we had a picture library and I’d always be chatting to the photographers, especially after the Manchester bomb attack. After leaving the MEN, I did photography as part of my graphic design qualifications at college in Manchester. I got some great grades but didn’t take it further. Favourite subjects Landscapes because we live in the Lake District and it’s such a great place filled with so many areas to capture in different light. Getting out helps me to gain perspective and…

I think it’s important to start by stressing that I never use long exposures just for the sake of it! I always consider whether a long exposure is appropriate, as well as how long it should be. There are certainly times when a longer exposure can be beneficial, but also times when it could be detrimental. My incentive for using longer exposures is to help inject life and a sense of movement into otherwise still images of the landscape. The exact length of exposure required for this will vary and may depend upon several factors. I always work in manual exposure mode when shooting long exposures. This allows me to choose the perfect aperture, ISO and exposure time, and to then use neutral density filters to control the brightness of…

Non-destructive editing has been one of the biggest advances in photo editing in recent years. It means that you can change your mind about the settings and tools you use to edit your photo, long after you’ve applied them and moved on to the next. The term non-destructive means your original photo is not permanently altered at any stage. Instead, it’s always there in its original form to return to if you need to. All your non-destructive editing adjustments are simply added on top and only change the appearance of the photo when you’re ready to export a finished version. At the heart of Affinity Photo’s nondestructive approach are its Adjustments. These apply a whole range of adjustment and enhancement options on layers above the image, not directly to the…

● £134.99 ● Instax.com Before testing the Instax SQ40, I had mostly used 35mm disposable cameras and Fujifilm’s Instax Mini cameras, and had never shot using the square format (other than for my first ever Instagram posts). While the Instax Mini cameras’ toy-like design and pastel range screams ‘fun’, there’s something rather more serious about the SQ40. The body is slightly larger and boxier than Instax Mini cameras and only comes in one colour: black. I enjoy the Mini’s pastel range but the Square 40’s design gives it a more professional look. With its leather-like texture, silver accents and a prominent flash, it reminds me of those vintage cameras journalists in old movies are always using. Much as with the Instax Mini 12, using the SQ40 is a fun and…

Sony’s new full-frame twins offer a choice of sensor resolutions in a compact body. Andy Westlake gives his initial assessment Sony has always been obsessed with making small cameras; indeed, that was one of the main motivations behind its original full-frame mirrorless Alpha A7 and A7R twins a decade ago. But while those cameras were strikingly smaller than their DSLR contemporaries, their current successors have put on plenty of bulk. So now, the firm has revisited its compact-bodied A7C line with two new models: the 33MP A7C II and the 61MP A7CR. If these resolutions sound familiar, that’s because they’re shared with the current SLR-shaped Alpha A7 IV and A7R V, respectively. Both new cameras share the same design, which is evolved from the original A7C. So it’s a compact,…

THE SHORTLIST for the Northern Photography Prize, which aims to capture the essence of the North East of England, has been revealed. Founded by bestselling author L J Ross and sponsored by her publishing imprint, Dark Skies Publishing, the contest attracted a record number of entries from amateur photographers. There were two categories – landscape (Spirit of the North East) and portrait (Heart of the North East); the category winners will each win £1,000. The 16 shortlisted images will be showcased in a free exhibition (from 16 September to 15 October) at Newcastle’s prestigious art gallery The Biscuit Factory. Visit ljrossauthor. com/philanthropy/northern-photography-prize…

TAMRON says it’s developing the 17-50mm F/4 Di III VXD (Model A068) lens for Sony E-mount, the world’s first such wideangle zoom for full-frame mirrorless cameras. The new lens has a constant f/4 aperture that covers the ultra-wideangle to standard focal length range, and the length of the lens also stays constant while zooming. In addition it incorporates Tamron’s VXD (Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive) linear motor focusing mechanism for fast and quiet autofocus, and has a minimum object distance of 0.19m at the wide end and 0.3m at the telephoto end for extra versatility. Other features include moisture-resistant construction and fluorine coating for outdoor shooting, a 67mm filter size, and compatibility with the Tamron Lens Utility app. The Tamron 17-50mm F/4 Di III VXD (A068) lens for Sony E-mount full-frame cameras…

Iconic New York – Revised Edition By Christopher Bliss £45, teNeues, hardcover, 192 pages, ISBN: 9783961715190 A new edition of this book comes complete with previously unpublished images of a city which is quite probably the most photographed in the world. Bliss is himself a New Yorker, so he brings an authenticity others might struggle to recreate. While we get all the classic tourist hotspots and world-famous landmarks such as the Empire State Building, Times Square and the Statue of Liberty, we also see the hidden squares and buildings in the boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn or Queens that truly reflect the city’s real culture and everyday life. This book is larger than previous editions, with approximately 200 black & white and colour photographs to show off the city’s depth and…

IAN BERRY Gee Street is an unremarkable street in the London constituency of Islington South and Finsbury, a short walk from Smithfield Market and Barbican. On the south side are drab 12-storey residential tower blocks, on the north side a courthouse, Flexiform office furniture shop and Design Hub. The National Smoking Cessation Institute has permanently closed. However, if you’re a photojournalist, Gee Street is a remarkable street. At the east end behind a heavy wooden door is the London headquarters of the world-renowned Magnum Photos agency. After serving as photojournalists in the Second World War, Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and David ‘Chim’ Seymour set up Magnum Photos in New York in 1947. Membership is a minimum four-year process and considered the highest accolade of a photojournalist’s career. After…

206 lenses listed & rated DSLR Lenses Interchangeable lenses come in a huge array of types for shooting different kinds of subjects IN GENERAL, the easiest way to expand the kinds of pictures you can take is by buying different types of lenses. For example, telephoto lenses let you zoom in on distant subjects, while macro lenses enable close-ups of small objects. Large-aperture lenses allow you to isolate subjects against blurred backgrounds, or shoot in low light without having to raise the ISO too high. Meanwhile, all-in-one superzooms cover a wide range of subjects, but usually with rather lower optical quality. Lens mounts Each manufacturer has its own lens mount and most aren’t compatible with one another. For example, a Canon DSLR can’t use Nikon lenses, although you can…