Innholdsfortegnelse for 10/24/2023 i Amateur Photographer

The nights are drawing in, but on the positive side, it’s an ideal opportunity to get some stunning low-light shots, which is the theme of this packed Premium issue. As well as plenty of low-light tips from the pros, covering a wide range of genres, we consider the pros and cons of using higher ISOs or slow shutter speeds (via image stabilisation), and also reveal the amazing images that won through in this year’s Astrononomy Photographer of the Year. Don’t miss our editing tips for maximising low-light shots, too. Hardware highlights include the best smartphones for low light and a full review of the new Nikon Z 70-180mm f/2.8 lens. The cover picture was taken by Verity Milligan. See page 36. Inset pic top ©Louis Leroux-Gere; bottom ©Christophe Jacrot. Pull-out…

Round Eight Wildlife Almost without fail, wildlife is the most popular round in APOY. Competition is fierce and the standard is exceptionally high. We see entries that feature everything from the tiniest insect to the most majestic of the big cats, and whether they were shot in the back garden, a zoo or on safari, all are considered. This makes it an extremely tricky category to judge, and it can also be a very subjective category, possibly more so than any other: one judge’s first-placed image might not even be commended by another. It’s also important for the judges not to be swept away by the drama of a subject simply because it might be more ‘exotic’. Our top ten images this round are united by their superb execution, observation…

LETTER OF THE WEEK Filter find I recently purchased a job lot of photographic odds and ends, chiefly for the Paterson System 4 Developing tank it included. Imagine my delight when I found an Amateur Photographer-branded Cokin filter within the package! I can only assume this was a free gift from the magazine back in the days when it resembled a telephone directory – also sadly now demised. I enclose a photo of the filter, together with a still life of flowers taken with it. As the results testify, the filter will not be taking pride of place in my kit bag alongside my AP lens cleaning cloth and AP torch! I wonder if other readers have memories of other AP free gifts they would like to share? Andy…

HOLLIE LATHAM HUCKER Technique Editor Hollie shares tips from three pros who shoot in low-light conditions ROD LAWTON Leading pro Rod Lawton shares 20 tips for editing low-light shots to make them the best they can be PETER DENCH The AP regular talks to a photographer who relishes taking shots in inclement weather AMY DAVIES, Features Editor Our resident phones expert suggests the best camera phones for low light AILSA MCWHINNIE Ailsa presents the winners of the latest APOY round and launches the Low Light round PRAVIN TAMANG The Leica user and low-light specialist reveals his favourite kit for his ongoing projects…

Adobe used the recent Adobe MAX conference to announce several key updates. Photoshop on the web is now available to all subscribers with the Generative Fill tool for generating AI imagery, while Lightroom gets a Lens Blur feature for adding bokeh effects. The new Point Color tool also enables Lightroom users to make more precise adjustments when working with the existing colour-editing tools. See the bigger article on our website: bit.ly/moreadobeupdates.…

7 days A week in photography AP picture of the week A Moment Above The Crashing by Jessica Perry Canon EOS RP, Canon 500mm f/4L IS USM, 1/1600sec at f/5, ISO 320 ‘Whilst at Bempton Cliffs, I noticed a northern gannet chick and adult sat on the edge of a cliff, with the crashing waves below them. I watched the adult delicately preen the chick, when suddenly another adult arrived back from sea. Happy to see one another, the two adults exhibited their mating dance and the chick sat patiently waiting to be fed. This made for a beautiful moment to capture, just before the other adult returned back to the sea.’ Instagram: @jessp_photography_Facebook: Jess Perry Photography #appicoftheweek Win! The AP Pic of the Week winner currently wins a…

Round Ten Low light This round is always popular. Cities are almost the perfect low-light subject, especially in the blue hour. You could also shoot indoors, using the light of a woodburning stove or in an atmospheric café. It’s great for landscapes, too; when the sun is low and raking across the scene, it gives images an added dimension. Or why not try a low-key studio portrait, with careful use of artificial light? Whatever your subject, this is the category for creating a sense of depth and mystery. Your guest judge Your guest judge for Round Ten, Low Light, is Niall McDiarmid. Niall is a Scottish photographer based in London whose work is primarily about documenting the people and landscape of Britain. He has exhibited at the Museum of…

Verity Milligan Verity is a professional urban/landscape photographer based in Birmingham. She has worked on campaigns for international organisations, leads workshops for Light & Land and is an ambassador for LEE Filters. She’s happiest when outdoors at dawn. www.veritymilliganphotography.com Supportive kit Shooting in low light can be tricky, especially if you’re new to the process, but the rewards are often worth the early starts or late evenings. For more considered landscape images, I recommend using a tripod if possible. If that’s not an option, I used to adapt by using a bag of rice on static objects such as railings to steady the camera and ensure there is no camera shake. Using a tripod will mean you have more time to set up and consider the shot and will allow…

Wildlife photography often conjures up ideals of a warm glowing sunrise or sunsets, with perfect light illuminating the subject. The reality is far from this. It is often the case that you find yourself photographing in dull, grey or just generally low-light conditions. These situations command a little more composure and control over how you set your camera to capture the moment in the best possible way. Low light brings challenges that can be fun to overcome and also very rewarding. They key is knowing what types of images you can take in those lighting scenarios and the best ways to approach them. The more lighting scenarios you know how to make the most of, the more opportunity you will have to take a good shot in any given situation.…

IN ASSOCIATION WITH Olympus Tough TG-6 ● £399 ● www.olympus.co.uk Olympus’s Tough compacts have habitually won our underwater camera group tests, and this latest model is still the best of its type. It’s waterproof to 15m, shockproof against a 2.4m drop, crushproof and freezeproof. The 25-100mm equivalent lens is paired with a 12MP sensor, and viewing is via a 3in LCD. This is also one of the few rugged cameras that can record raw files. Reviewed Dec 2022 Ricoh GR III ● £949 ● ricohgr.eu/en-gb A favourite of street photographers, the GR III combines a 24MP APS-C sensor and a sharp 28mm equivalent f/2.8 lens in a slim, pocketable body. It offers sensitivities up to ISO 102,400 and 4fps shooting, while in-body image stabilisation helps keeps image sharp. Viewing is…

Rotolight has announced the Rotolight Anova Pro 3 light. Described as an ‘all-weather powerhouse’ that is ideal for a variety of scenarios from controlled studios to unpredictable outdoor settings, it features an IP65 rating and 22,000 lux at 3ft. The new light also comes with a new ‘Magic Eye’ optical light sensor that can automatically measure and match to any Kelvin or HSI Colour, enabling content creators and filmmakers to balance lights on set without a light meter. It’s available from March for £1,679, with early bird discounts on Kickstarter: rotolight.com/kickstarter.…

Andromeda, Unexpected Marcel Drechsler (Germany), Xavier Strottner (France) and Yann Sainty (France) Astronomy Photographer of the Year, Winners and Galaxies, Winners A team of amateur astronomers led by Marcel Drechsler, Xavier Strottner and Yann Sainty made a surprising discovery, a huge plasma arc next to the Andromeda Galaxy. Scientists are now investigating the newly discovered giant in a transnational collaboration. It could be the largest such structure in the nearby environment in the universe. The Andromeda Galaxy is the closest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way. It is undoubtedly one of the most photographed deep-sky objects ever. The new discovery of such a large structure in the immediate vicinity of the galaxy was all the more surprising. Judge and astrophotographer László Francsics says, ‘What does a discovery image look like?…

Kristy Eighteen, Stockport About Kristy You can see more of Kristy’s work at Instagram.com/kristy18.photography. She is a member of SheClicks. Favourite subjects Landscapes and nature as I love hiking, but at the moment, live music photography. I love the challenge with the lighting, finding the right angles, and experimenting with settings. How did you get into photography? I studied photography at Nelson & Colne College in 1997. I learnt using film. It’s only in the last ten years or so that I’ve got back into photography. What do you love about photography? That you can capture a moment frozen in time. Dramatic clouds; colours and shapes in architecture; people doing their thing on stage – what is captured happened at that moment only. How do you find inspiration? I follow…

As all photographers know, portrait situations where available light is low can cause problems. You could be shooting in poorly illuminated streets after sundown, or dimly lit interiors, day or night, but the principal challenges remain the same. The lack of light means you are battling limited shutter speeds, the need to use the widest apertures and the spectre of pushing the camera’s ISO settings higher than you’d like. These factors can make low-light work risky. Without care, images can be unsharp due to camera shake or subject movement, blurred due to inaccurate focus, and speckled with noise that disrupts detail and colour. But with modern cameras there are fewer and fewer reasons to fear low light. Image stabilisation neatly offsets camera shake, and while it can’t affect subject movement,…

Pravin Tamang has been a photographer for 18 years and lives in Darjeeling, India. To view more of his work visit www.pravintamang.com. He can also be followed on Instagram @pravin_tamang, where he currently has 10.6k followers AP: Tell us a little about your photography background. PT: I started taking pictures 18 years ago with a gap of four years when I didn’t shoot at all. I started off with a used Vivitar film camera and I’m completely self-taught, learning from reading and looking at great photographers’ works from the past. I tend to shoot all sorts of images and do not like to be boxed into any genres. Saying that, I love the streets and have an undying passion for the ordinary and shooting in bad weather. I am inspired…

Tech Talk Hybrid glass-plastic lenses are tipped to be the next big thing in phone cameras. The iPhone 15 generation has moved from all-plastic to the hybrid design. The question that this article addresses is ‘will this produce better pictures?’ On looking around easily available web sources as to the possible advantages of these lenses, I found that the most obviously cited reason is that glass gives better light transmission, which results in better colour in low light. Even were it the case that a plastic lens has significantly lower transmission than a glass one, the proposal that replacing just one plastic element with glass would appreciably increase the lens’s overall transmission is, fairly clearly, false. The reason for including glass elements in a design lies elsewhere, but it does…

Photo Critique There are moments in life that are hard to forget. Bullets of emotion that randomly and mercilessly penetrate the consciousness and don’t seem to fade over time. You’ll have yours, I have mine. The sound of British au pair Louise Woodward breaking down in tears after a US jury found the 19-year-old guilty of second-degree murder of baby Matthew Eappen which carried a mandatory life sentence is bone-shakingly haunting (after appeal, she was subsequently convicted of involuntary manslaughter). Guo Bing Long On the evening of 5 February 2004, at least 21 Chinese illegal immigrants were drowned by an incoming tide at Morecambe Bay in North West England, while harvesting cockles off the Lancashire coast. Fifteen other labourers from the same group managed to return safely to shore. The…