Innholdsfortegnelse for 1/30/2024 i Amateur Photographer

Imagine a world without Leica – as well as reminding the world of Europe’s noble camera and lens heritage, the big L gives financially challenged photographers, myself included, something to lust after. Leica gear is not just for channelling your inner Henri Cartier-Bresson out on the street, however; as Jeremy Walker reveals this issue, it can be transformative for landscape photography. Meanwhile we also review the more realistically priced new 70-200mm f/2.8 lens from Sigma, and show you how to get cool lens blur effects with Lightroom. And if you’re wondering what to photograph this winter, don’t miss our experts’ guide to creative railway photography too. Enjoy the issue. Our cover photo this week was taken in Iceland by top pro Jeremy Walker, with the Leica M11. See page 38…

VOIGTLÄNDER has released the Color-Skopar 18mm F2.8 Aspherical manual-focus pancake lens for Fujifilm X-mount. Featuring a double-sided aspheric lens and atypical partial-dispersion glass to maximise optical performance, the Color-Skopar also has a lever on the focus ring for precise control. The approximate focus point, set by the lever’s rotation, can be determined without looking at the distance scale to help with quick zone-focusing. Other features include a 10-blade iris diaphragm for attractive bokeh, all-metal barrel construction, manual helix for accurate focusing and a short shooting distance of 0.17m. The price is £469 and you can order from Robert White – visit bit.ly/rwhiteskopar…

AP picture of the week Morning Frost by Kieran Morgan Canon EOS 77D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM + extension tube, 1/200sec at f/8, ISO 1600 ‘My usual subjects are insects, which become very scarce in the winter months, so I took advantage of the morning frost in my garden. I was aiming to photograph the delicate ice crystals formed on this spider’s web. Picking a moment to fire the shutter when the wind was calm enough.’ Instagram: @kdm_macro #appicoftheweek Win! The AP Pic of the Week winner* will receive a beautifully framed print of their winning image worth up to £100. If you Love it, Frame it! ThisPicture.com is an experienced, high-quality framing company with a unique, easy-to-use website. Build single or multi-image frames with a few clicks…

The name is Spangle, Robert Spangle. It was Spangler on the German side of his father’s family, who emigrated in the late 1800s when names that were too foreign were being Americanised. Spangle was definitely more American. Perhaps it was the German heritage that had Spangle signing up for the US Marine Corps in 2007, aged 17 and a half. More likely it was the earlier attacks of 9/11 on the impressionable boy. The name didn’t help him blend into the military. You go by your last name. He found himself presenting his star Spangle manners in front of every formation and meeting high-ranking officials. While serving in the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion (2nd Recon), training and working in South America, North Africa, the Middle East, with multiple deployments to Afghanistan,…

Tech Talk The term ‘bokeh’ refers to the character of the out-of-focus blur rather than the blur itself. It was coined in 1997 by Mike Johnson, a photographic journalist. He concluded, ‘It’s true that some photographers seldom or never take pictures in which anything is not sharp. For them, bokeh is not much of an issue when they’re working, although it’s still pertinent when they’re looking at other people’s pictures. For the rest of us, well, there’s nothing to be scared of. It’s just another arrow in the creative quiver.’ Now that smartphones are the most-used cameras, the phone manufacturers have needed to cater for ‘the rest of us’. As has been discussed in this column before, the extent of out-of-focus blur depends on the size of the entrance pupil…

HOLLIE LATHAM HUCKER Technique Editor Hollie gathers shooting tips from seasoned railway photographers PETER DENCH The AP regular interviews former marine Robert Spangle about his illuminating book, Afghan Style JEREMY WALKER The pro landscape shooter shares his thoughts after a year working with Leica’s rangefinder camera, the M11 JAMES ABBOTT James investigates Lightroom’s Lens Blur to find out how effective it really is for creating bokeh DAMIEN DEMOLDER Former AP editor Damien puts the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 DG DN OS through its paces ANGELA NICHOLSON Expert reviewer Angela tests the impressive 3 Legged Thing Taylor 2.0 monopod…

The Photo North Festival is returning to Leeds for a fifth year, with AP as a media partner. The programme includes exhibitions from Martin Parr, plus AP contributors Aneesa Dawoojee, Harry Borden, Carolyn Mendelsohn and Tracy Marshall-Grant, who is curating a show about women in documentary photography. Co-founder and curator Peter Dench explains: ‘Alongside a sensational display of exhibitions, from celebrated and emerging artists, is a stimulating Live Lounge of talks and screenings. In our Market Area you can browse book, zine and print stalls, and students are also a key part of our mission. Festival Friday is Education Day with teaching organisations and students UK-wide, who can benefit from free portfolio reviews and career advice.’ Photo North runs from 12-14 April at Carriageworks Theatre, Millennium Square, Leeds. See www.photonorthfestival.co.uk…

THE World Photography Organisation has announced the Student and Youth competition shortlists in the Sony World Photography Awards 2024. The themes were Home (Student) and Through your Eyes (Youth). The portfolios making the cut in the Student category, included Frederik Rüegger’s project on the customs of English and Irish traveller communities, and Kazi Arifujjaman’s images of communal rice processing sites in Bangladesh. The Youth shortlist included Daniel Murray’s evocative image of a lone surfer on an empty beach, and River Lewis-Gosch’s project on severe wildfires in the US. The overall winners in the Student, Youth, Open and Professional competitions of the Sony World Photography Awards will be revealed on 18 April. See worldphoto.org…

NOTE: PRIZE APPLIES TO UK AND EU RESIDENTS ONLY Reader Portfolio winners receive a one-year subscription to a Gold Portfolio Series website worth £300. UK domain name included. Amazing Internet designs, builds and hosts amazing websites for creative people and companies. It has specialised in creating websites for photographers since 1999 and has services to suit all budgets. Whether you need a simple template-based site for £60 per year or a fully bespoke site, they’ve got you covered. www.amazinginternet.com Judy Hancock Holland, Vancouver Island, Canada About Judy Judy is a retired health educator who lives in Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, Canada. Photography is, for her, a way to communicate her sense of wonder and awe at the world. See more at www.jhhphotography.com How and why did you get into photography?…

ALMOST all serious photographers prefer to use cameras with interchangeable lenses, as this gives the greatest degree of creative flexibility. At one time, this meant digital single-lens-reflex (DSLR) cameras, but these have now been joined by mirrorless cameras that use electronic viewfinders. The latest models are true alternatives to DSLRs, offering the same image quality and creative options. Camera manufacturers offer a range of options, from simple, relatively inexpensive beginner-friendly designs, to sophisticated professional models. In the middle of the range you’ll find enthusiast cameras with more-advanced control layouts. Meanwhile the term ‘compact’ refers to cameras with built-in lenses, regardless of their size. Many offer excellent image quality and full manual control. Cameras Cameras come in three types: DSLRs with optical viewfinders, mirrorless models with electronic viewing, and compact cameras…

Drone goliath DJI has announced its latest portable wireless mic system, the DJI Mic 2. It has AI noise-cancellation and 32-bit float internal recording in a smaller body with improved battery life, compared to the original DJI Mic, plus a Safety Track which lets you record a second audio track alongside the primary one in case of unexpected audio-level spikes. The mic system also supports Bluetooth pairing with smartphones and DJI’s Osmo Pocket 3 and Osmo Action 4. The kit costs £309 from store.dji.com/uk and other retailers.…

7 days A week in photography £80 (RRP), Insight Editions, hardback, 352 pages, ISBN: 978-1683830832 Art Wolfe has been at the forefront of nature photography for most of his 40-year career. He has produced more than 60 books including landmark collections such as Migrations (1994) and The Living Wild (2000) and has presented the long-running US TV series Art Wolfe’s Travels to the Edge. During that time, the world’s wildlife has been under increasing pressure from climate breakdown, the large-scale destruction of natural habitats and poaching. As popular nature documentaries such as Planet Earth III increasingly acknowledge, it’s no longer enough to simply show pristine environments and amazing species and ignore the fact that large-scale change to the natural world is now happening. Accordingly, Wolfe’s new book, as he…

Michael Topham Michael is a full-time cricket groundsman and freelance wedding photographer from Tonbridge, Kent. In his spare time, he enjoys the challenge of capturing striking railway images. His photographs can often be found gracing the pages of steam railway magazines and railway touring company brochures. He’s online at www.michaeltopham.co.uk or on Instagram @michaeltophamphotography Railway photography is a pastime passed down from my father, and one I took up from a very young age. We’d spend hours travelling to railways the length and breadth of the country in search of the winning combination of steam and sunshine. I still fondly remember capturing my first respectable image of a freight steam loco emerging through the mist on a glorious sunny winter morning in Hampshire. Since then, my passion for attempting to…

● £79.99● www.3leggedthing.com The 3 Legged Thing Taylor 2.0 is a 5-section monopod that collapses down to 44.1cm yet extends to 158cm, making it a great choice for travel. Fully extended, it’s significantly shorter than the 2-metre-tall 3 Legged Thing Trent 2.0, but it’s still well-sized for photographers of up to around 6ft 2in in height, as the camera’s viewfinder should align with your eye rather than the top of your head. Crafted from magnesium alloy, the Taylor 2.0 weighs 677g and has the usual rugged build quality of the firm’s Punks 2.0 tripod series, with four sturdy leg-section locks that feature metal knurling and substantial rubber grips. It also has a robust rubber-like grip at the top along with a wrist strap, both adding to the comfort and security…

Photo Critique I was watching Strictly Come Dancingrecently when the 1980s star Rick Astley popped up, and my mind was transported to Bill Stephenson’s recently published Streets in the Sky book I’d just been reading. I probably hadn’t seen Astley on TV or in print for over 30 years, and there he was, looking just like the poster on this bedroom wall in Sheffield taken in 1988. What’s he on? I thought. What makes the best photographic portraits memorable is that they ‘say’ something rather than just being a likeness. We can detect from this image that the girls wanted to be close to their idol and the next best thing was to be connected through a photo of him. But the picture portrays more than pre-pubescent idolatry because Bill…