Innholdsfortegnelse for 12/3/24 i Amateur Photographer

Diverse, eclectic content has kept AP going for 140 years and this issue continues a proud tradition. First up is a guide to adding interesting liquids like milk and ink to submerged flowers, with insight from internationally celebrated flower and macro photographer, Angi Wallace. Then we shine a deserved spotlight on an amazing project by Drew Gardner – Drew found the descendants of black US Civil War soldiers and freed slaves, dressed them in period costume and photographed them using 19th century techniques. Reviewswise, we take a deep dive into DxO PhotoLab 8 and if you think truly bad cameras don’t come out any more, think again. Technical editor Andy Westlake has found a stinker, so it makes you grateful for the gear you’ve got… Our cover photo is by…

Telling some unfortunate they look just like their father, mother, son, uncle, grandma or someone we’ve seen on Crime Watch seems to be a national pastime. Babies especially are sitting ducks for ‘Oh, look, he’s got his father’s nose’ or ‘she frowns just like aunty June’. Everyone has a different opinion, and everyone seems to think a family resemblance is a great thing – I suppose it makes us feel part of the family, and we like to have physical evidence to support what we’ve been told about parentage. It’s nice too when we can feel a connection with our past, and see a direct link to our ancestors. When Drew Gardner’s mother told him how much he looked like his grandfather he may well have had all of those…

● £114.99 ● instax.co.uk Fujifilm makes some of the best instant cameras, as well as a line of printers that use the same film. The Instax Mini Link 3 is the latest of these. It’s been slightly redesigned but is largely the same as the previous model, both physically and in terms of features, while remaining the same price. As before, the device allows you to print any photo from your phone’s camera roll, using the Mini Link app. You can also extract and print individual frames from video files, as well as use the printer as a remote shutter release and zoom controller. Physically, the biggest difference compared to the Mini Link 2 is a redesigned exterior. This is similar to the first model except in different colours, and…

IN ASSOCIATION WITH 1 Crop to tighten the composition and remove the messier parts of the foreground 2 The shot was underexposed to avoid losing any detail in the bright snow so the whole image needs brightening 3 Make selective adjustments to further brighten the stream and rock face without losing detail in already bright areas 4 Remove the edge of the bridge that is encroaching on the left and clone out any distracting items or dust spots Justin Minns Justin is a professional landscape photographer and workshop leader. He is best known for his images of East Anglia and he works with clients including the National Trust and English Heritage. www.justinminns.co.uk This image of the iconic Kirkjufell mountain in Iceland was taken a few years ago on a private…

Photo Critique The opening line of my piece for this edition must be this disclaimer… this image is by my husband, the well-known documentary photographer Ken Grant. I’ve avoided using his work in this column over the past 18 months despite many of his images from exhibitions and books being exactly what I usually write about. However, this time I have given in and hope, dear reader, you will forgive my mini conflict of interest. The picture I’ve chosen, Blaenavon Horses, is part of the large group show The Valleys, currently showing in National Museum Cardiff alongside other artists who have made work, in photography, film, painting and sculpture, in the south Welsh valleys since the 18th century. The photograph is 20 years old now, taken in 2004 when Grant,…

TRACY CALDER The AP regular speaks to Angi Wallace who shares her submerged flower technique DAMIEN DEMOLDER AP’s former editor talks to Drew Gardner about his historical project, the Descendants ANDY WESTLAKE Technical Editor Our resident chief reviewer tests the budget-priced Sonida DC202 camera ISABELLA RUFFATTI Online Writer Isabella tests the Motorola Edge 50 Neo, and Fujifilm’s Instax Mini Link 3 WILL CHEUNG Expert contributor Will reviews DxO Labs’ latest raw development software, PhotoLab 8 JUSTIN MINNS The pro landscape photographer shares his top tips for getting your image ready for printing…

A NEW travel tripod weighing a lightweight 1.15kg and folding down to 54cm has been released by Vanguard. The Alta Pro 3VLT eschews a central column in favour of a levelling system, which enables you to adjust the vertical tilt by 15°, making it easier to level your camera on any terrain, or rotate 360°. When locked in place, the 23mm diameter legs extend up to 148cm, with a load capacity of 5kg. Fixed to the top of the levelling system is a choice of a traditional ‘closed bridge’ VEO PV-10 video head, or a new ‘open bridge’ VEO PV-12 video head, both of which are Arca compatible. Available in aluminium or carbon-fibre versions, prices start from £269.99. See bit.ly/vanguardtripods…

Round ten Open A new category for 2024, this is where anything goes. You might have an image that doesn’t quite fit into one of our other categories, or you might simply want to save your absolute best shots for this one. Whether you make still-lifes or salt prints, create abstracts or fine art, shoot cars, cats, landscapes, people or architecture, there are no restrictions on subject matter here. Perhaps you had an image you wanted to enter into a previous round, but had already uploaded the limit of four? Whatever the content of your composition and whatever your reason for shooting it, all styles and subjects are welcome! Your guest judges Your guest judges for Round Ten, Open, are Maria Falconer and Ben Brain – both names that will…

Snowdrops are strongly associated with Imbolc, a festival celebrating the returning of light and the beginning of spring. From January onwards, woods, riverside banks, parks and gardens are awash with nodding white flowerheads, lifting the spirits and offering a reminder that winter is drawing to a close. Photographer and folklorist Angi Wallace is familiar with the symbolism of flowers and often uses this language in her work. Last year her interest in floriography took a leap forward when she stumbled across a series of flower portraits by Robert Peek, a conceptual photographer based in the Netherlands. ‘His social media account was full of flowers underwater with white fluid flowing over them in a magical, ethereal way,’ she says. ‘I was unfamiliar with the technique, and I was keen to explore…

7 daysA week in photography AP picture of the week Autumnal Slumber by Amy Compton Sony Alpha 7 IV, Sony 200-600mm F5.6-6.3, 1/50sec at f/6.3, ISO 500, 600mm ‘I was on an evening woodland walk in Lincolnshire, where I noticed this beautiful long-eared owl sleeping amongst the warm-toned leaves. After managing to find a small gap to focus the camera through and framed the subject nicely, I took a couple of photos and left the owl to continue its nap!’ Instagram: @amycomp123 #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…

7 daysA week in photography AN EXTREMELY rare Leica M prototype made between 1948 and 1949 recently sold for an eye-watering €2.04 million (£1,702,879) at the Leitz Photographica Auction 45 in Vienna. Constructed from machine-made and hand-crafted parts, the prototype easily beat the €600,000-700,000 auction estimate. In addition, ten prototype Leica M bodies, made between 1936 and 1953, sold for €432,000, and a grey Leica M2, one of only 20 produced in 1960 for the US Air Force in Europe, went for €900,000. The next Leitz Photographica Auction takes place in Wetzlar, home of Leica Camera AG, on 26 June 2025.…

IN ASSOCIATION WITH Our sample photo shows the Ponte Vecchio in the Italian City of Florence. The original raw file is rather dull and flat, and suffers from some colour fringing near the edges and converging verticals in the buildings on the bridge. However, a few standard adjustments in Adobe Lightroom can transform it completely. They can’t make the river Arno blue rather than brown, but maybe that’s a tutorial for another day… The point of these adjustments is that they’re not designed to apply a stylised, creative effect. They are just basic and necessary adjustments you can apply to just about any image to get a proper sense of its potential. If you then decide to apply a black & white style, a vintage look or any other, that’s…

LETTER OF THE WEEK Lives on the line Thank you for the article A Harsh Training Ground (AP 5 November) on the course about how press photographers and journalists can protect themselves. We are often told that journalists are not trusted by the public, yet we see them nightly, reporting live from the front line, in dangerous situations, with explosions that are loud and, for them, terrifying. We’ve never had more dependable news as we see it happening. With the advent of modern communication methods, we get to be there with them. They are often targeted by those they report on, and not just by arrest but by snipers. We can see the horror of war in a way we were shielded from in the past but now it’s immediate,…