Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2018 i N-Photo: the Nikon magazine

Veteran nature photographer and high-speed flash pioneer Stephen Dalton speaks about his latest project See page 90 The nights are drawing in, the temperature is plummeting, it’s time to wrap up warm under the duvet with a nice cup of cocoa, right? We’re having none of it! See page 18 for why this is the perfect time of year to grab your camera and your coat, and head out into the great outdoors in our winter landscapes feature. Speaking of dark and chilly, this issue’s Apprentice shoot went well into the wee hours, as pro Ollie Taylor offers a masterclass in shooting the Milky Way (p52), and we show you how to capture a landscape lit only by the light of the moon (p44). With the New Year just around…

The mission • Capture landscapes under a full moon with a super-long exposure Time • One hour Skill level • Beginner • Intermediate • Advanced Kit needed • Tripod • Cable release • Stopwatch • Torch When you’re shooting at a stunning location it’s easy to lose yourself in the moment and, before you know it, the light starts fading. However, just because the sun goes down there’s no need to head home. As long as the moon is fairly full and the sky is clear, you can continue shooting well into the night. This involves a very long exposure. We’re not talking a few seconds here – more like a few minutes. Aside from the need for a tripod and remote release, we also have to be able to…

YOUR PROJECTS CRITIQUED Sean Goodhart submits his favourite architectural images after being inspired by the use of repetition and symmetry in the works of Santiago Calatrava From 2013 I began looking closely at the architecture of Santiago Calatrava, using photography to illustrate symmetry and repetition of form within his work. I began making images to compare each of the buildings I visited. The three shots selected are abstractions and often need explaining when I show them to people. All images were processed in Adobe Lightroom and Topaz Black & White Effects. The soft afternoon daylight at the fantastic Milwaukee Art Museum’s Quadracci Pavilion lights up the arches with a diffuse quality [1]. I took this photo to show the similarity of this part of the Milwaukee structure with a series…

When shooting a series of photographs in the same location using identical camera settings, you may capture a series of shots with similar problems. For example, when shooting in a sunny location the high-contrast lighting may cause underexposed shadows to lack detail. This could lead to time-consuming and repetitive processing tasks as you selectively lighten the underexposed shadows of each shot in Capture NX-D. Fortunately, Capture NX-D has a range of adjustment tools to help you speed up repetitive tasks. You can copy the adjustments you make to lighten the first photo’s shadows and then paste the adjustments to instantly lighten shadows in other shots taken at the same location. This type of copy-and-paste edit speeds up your workflow, but the adjustment settings that you copy are only stored temporarily…

Profile • In the 1970s, Stephen Dalton pioneered the original technique for photographing insects with pin-sharp clarity in free flight. • Since then, his photographs have been published in numerous titles including, Audubon, National Geographic, Geo and Country Life. • In 2015, Stephen was awarded the prestigious Fritz Steiniger Prize by the German Society of Nature Photographers. • He is the author of 15 books featuring his photography and is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society. www.stephendalton.co.uk • My Wood, by Stephen Dalton is published by Merlin Unwin Books. Out now. £14.99. www.merlinunwin.co.uk A ward-winning nature photographer Stephen Dalton and his wife bought a nine-acre woodland at auction, called Rookery Wood, in 1998, adjoining the Sussex farmland they had purchased 10 years earlier. Although the Daltons lived within…

MEGAPIXELS It’s easy to think that more is better. A bigger megapixel count undeniably gives more potential for capturing ultra-fine detail and texture, but high-ISO image noise is likely to be worse. SENSOR SIZE The DX (APS-C) format is ideal for extending telephoto reach and depth of field. FX (full-frame) wins out for getting a tight depth of field, and usually gives cleaner high-ISO performance. DRIVE RATE For nailing the definitive moment in sports and wildlife photography, a fast drive rate is important. Ideally, it’ll be backed up by a generous buffer capacity, for longer shooting sequences. FEATURES AND VALUE Think about the types of photography that you like to do, or that you might get into. There’s no point paying for high-end features that you’re never likely to need.…

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The mission • Shoot food with natural light Time • One hour Skill level • Beginner • Intermediate • Advanced Kit needed • Wide-aperture lens • Tripod Succulent strawberries, melt-in-the-mouth chocolate or a slap-up Sunday roast – food is an evocative subject to photograph. But in order to make it look as good as it tastes, you need to follow a few simple tips and tricks. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to use natural window light to backlight your fodder to create soft shadows, then bounce light back in with a makeshift reflector to bring out detail. We’ll also share a some basic food styling techniques and show you how to emphasize the edibles by opening up your aperture. So let’s cook up some scrumptious shots… “Food is…

The mission • Stitch a scene with Lightroom’s Merge Panorama tool Time • 15 minutes Skill level • Beginner • Intermediate • Advanced Kit needed • Lightroom 5 or later L ightroom’s Merge Panorama command stitches several horizontal or vertical frames together to create a panoramic Raw file – perfect for those times when your lens can’t fit the whole landscape into the frame, or if you want to pack in a little extra detail. The Merge Panorama command offers three Projection modes, and as you’d expect, these stitch the frames together in different ways. Spherical maps the frames as if on the inside of a sphere. It’s ideal for very wide panoramas, or ones that have several rows to them. Perspective maps the segments as if they were on…

LETTER OF THE MONTH Milking it Why is the photography community obsessed with shooting moving water with a long exposure to produce smooth, milky images? I find this frustrating as I believe the purpose of photography is to replicate what is seen by the human eye, which freezes the motion of water. I was initially heartened to read “Had enough of impossibly smooth, milkywater seascapes?” in the Big Project (N-Photo 72) thinking I was going to see images with the water movement not smoothed out, but was disappointed to find the usual milky images! In another article, the writer was photographing a stream and explained that the exposure length had to be balanced to produce the necessary blurring of the water but not so long as to produce too much…

Although hardly anyone ever talks about it, this is one of the most basic techniques in composition, especially when there’s a free flow of activity in front of the camera – being able to identify the important elements and make sure they’re all separated, each in its own little space within the frame. It’s a very simple and natural idea. When things overlap, they cover up parts of each other, and it tends to look messy. You might argue that life’s like that, so it’s true to life, but in photography that’s what a robot camera would do. Our job is to put our personal stamp on the image and bring some individually imagined order to the chaos. Yet this is easier said than done when there’s a lot going…

1 REDUCE LENS ARTEFACTS Browse to our supplied Preset_start01.NEF file. We’ll make some common edits to prepare the shot for print. Click on the Camera and Lens Corrections icon. Tick the Auto Distortion Control box and set its drop-down to On. Tick the Vignette Control box too. 2 ENHANCE COLOUR AND DETAIL Go to the Tone panel. Boost Saturation to 42 for more vibrant colours. To create a print with more punch, go to the Unsharp Mask panel. Set Intensity to 30 and Radius to 20. This helps bring out delicate detail on textures such as the castle’s brickwork. 3 REGISTER ADJUSTMENTS Click the Adjustment panel’s icon to open it. Click Register All Adjustments. In the Register Adjustments window click User Adjustments. Click Rename and type in a label such…

WORTH £300 Nikon School’s bespoke one-to-one sessions are the perfect way to learn about a specific area of photography. The whole session will be personalized to your needs as you discover the secrets of capturing creative low-light cityscapes in the great city of London. This practical and hands-on workshop is ideal for anyone who wants to try out this rewarding and accessible area of photography. Starting at Nikon School, this practical workshop will take you around the busy streets of London’s West End and finish up on the Thames Embankment. We will start by capturing the sunset (weather permitting), then shoot some twilight images and finally night shots. In each situation you’ll learn practical hints and tips on spotting great photo opportunities, as well as expert advice on how to…

This series of moments was created in Tuscany. I captured some very special moments between Vicky and Matt, who put their trust in me to deliver a story that celebrates them as a couple. We were shooting in Modenella, a place deep in the Tuscan countryside, wherein lies the beautiful Castello di Modanella. From the moment we all arrived (I travelled with the wedding party on this occasion), this magical destination wedding location hugged both the mind and soul. Before the trip I researched the area, (initially on Google Earth), because I wanted to become familiar with aspects of specific locations, and where the sun would be at a certain time. Destination weddings have usually been chosen by couples to ensure the weather will be as kind as possible on…

Sigma Specifications Full-frame compatible Yes Effective focal length (APS-C) 36-105mm Image Stabilizer Yes Minimum focus distance 0.37m Max magnification factor 0.21x Manual focus override Full-time Focus limit switches No Internal zoom No Internal focus Yes Filter size 82mm Iris blades 9 Weather seals Yes Supplied accessories Hood, soft case Dimensions (dia x length) 88x108mm Weight 1020g Price £1400/$1300 A standard zoom is the ‘go to’ lens for most people’s general photography, so it pays to step up from a ‘kit’ lens. A 24-70mm f/2.8 lens is a particularly appealing choice. It delivers everything from serious wide-angle coverage to a portrait-friendly short telephoto focal length, complete with a wide and constant aperture rating that enables a pretty tight depth of field. Nikon has two variants; the AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED, which…

ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR – CATEGORY WINNER Crepuscular Contentment Andrew Parkinson, Derbyshire, UK In 15 years of working with badgers I’ve never seen a badger sit out in the open to have a scratch. I was sitting concealed behind a tree and downwind, so it was especially nice that the badger had his back to me, demonstrating just how inconspicuous my presence was. Nikon D4S, 200-400mm f/4, 1/200 sec, f/4, ISO1600 ANIMAL PORTRAITS – HIGHLY COMMENDED Peeking Red Fox Cub Luke Wilkinson, London, UK Having located an active den I decided to spend as much time as possible trying to photograph the fox cubs. After several visits the cubs and vixen were becoming comfortable with my presence. One morning this tiny cub started emerging from the den, poking its head up to…

The mission • Convert a landscape to moody mono and blur the clouds to mimic a long exposure Time • 15 minutes Skill level • Beginner • Intermediate • Advanced Kit needed • Photoshop CC Stretch an exposure to several seconds or more and the movement of clouds is captured as a beautiful silky blur. It’s one of the landscape photographer’s most potent visual devices, but it requires a tripod and a strong neutral density filter. If you don’t have this gear to hand, you can recreate the look with simple Photoshop skills. The long-exposure, blurredclouds look goes well with a moody black-and-white treatment. So we’ll begin by converting our image to monochrome. There are many ways to remove colour in Photoshop, but one of the most powerful is found…

STREET PORTRAITS Mission: To overcome fears of approaching people and improving my portrait photography Photographer: Arnab Ghosal Age: 41 Location : London, UK Kit: Nikon D3100, Nikon D610, Nikon 35mm f/2.8, Nikon 85mm f/1.8 Website: arnabkghosal.com To help overcome my fear of approaching strangers for portraits, I started my 100 Strangers project in February 2013. This came as the result of a street photography tour in Buenos Aires six months earlier, where the organizer recommended that we not be afraid of asking people for portraits. I came across the project from a guest blog on Erik Kim’s street photography website. Through further research I found out about the 100 Strangers group on Flickr. This group was very welcoming and I could easily see the progress that could be made. It…

We’re delighted to announce our latest and greatest N-Photo Photographer of the Year competition, in our search to find the best Nikon-using photographer out there! Every month, we will set a theme, and want you to submit your very best images via our competition website partner Photocrowd – which enables the public (that’s you!) to vote on their favourite images and pits the winner against one chosen by a panel of expert judges (that’s us!). Each issue’s contest will have two winners – one selected by the ‘crowd’ vote, and another chosen by the N-Photo team. Both will receive a prize, full details to be revealed in the next issue of N-Photo! But that’s not all – once we have run 12 competitions, the best entries from the past year…

Separation also has a non-urgent role to play in the type of shooting that allows time and consideration. Here, however, the dynamics are different. Indeed, they have to be, because while keeping things neatly apart in chaotic situations deserves at least some admiration because it’s not easy, in areas of photography such as landscape and still life it’s more or less predictable. The phrase ‘too perfect’ comes to mind, and while that will always sound unfair to any of us who have put time and effort into clambering around to find the best possible viewpoint we can find – or laboured to make an arrangement of objects fit together without leaving ungainly gaps, the fact is that predictable neatness is kind of traditional, and not necessarily to everyone’s modern taste.…

Mark Seymour is one of the UK’s leading professional documentary wedding photographers. He has won numerous awards, and became Nikon UK’s first ambassador for wedding photography. His work has been exhibited at galleries in London and Windsor. www.markseymourphotography.co.uk May 23, 2008 • Tylney Hall, England • Nikon D2 Mark Seymour regards this as the image that has become synonymous with his style of wedding photography – just look at the home page of his website and you can’t miss this instant of absolute joy on the bride’s face. “That was a defining picture,” says Mark. “It’s stood the test of time Many girls who come into my viewing room point at it and say ‘That’s what I’m looking for, natural pictures’. They always point to that one. At the time,…

Benro HD Series 3-way heads From £72/$96 www.benro.eu The Benro HD series 3-way pan heads provide precise multiaxis camera placement and repositioning. Now Benro has updated its trio of 3-way heads, adding an Arca Swiss QR plate for enhanced compatibility with other platforms, along with three bubble levels positioned around the mounting plate. The bubble levels are particularly useful on a 3-way head, where horizontal and vertical tilt are separated into two individually adjustable axes, making it easier to make precise compositional adjustments than when using a conventional ball head. The HD head series consists of the HD1A; the more compact model at 95mm high and capable of supporting a 5kg Nikon setup. The midrange HD2A will support up to 8kg, while the £115 HD3A can handle a whopping 12kg…

The room for improvement is the biggest room in the world, or so it’s said. Since the D70 brought digital SLR photography to the masses, back in 2004, Nikon has been constantly upping the stakes, bringing a stream of SLRs to the market that have continually refined and redefined SLR photography. That gives you two big reasons to upgrade. Firstly, you might have started off with an entry-level camera like the D3000. The chances are that your skills as a photographer have grown, to the extent that you need a more sophisticated camera to cater to your creativity. Secondly, even if you want to stick with a camera that’s fairly simple and straightforward, the latest models will deliver superior image quality and all-round performance. The contenders DX FORMAT NIKON D5600…