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

Meet rising star Holly Wren, who’s made a name for herself as one of the UK’s most exciting lifestyle shooters See page 92 You just can’t beat mountains for breathtaking scenery; with imposing peaks, inviting lakes and raging waterfalls, a day in a National Park is a photographer’s dream. With that it mind, I headed to Snowdonia for a yomp in the hills – and scaled Wales’s loftiest peak for good measure. You can read all about my adventurous exploits in this issue’s lead feature. Our Apprentice gets close to nature as well, learning to capture action shots of ospreys as they pilfer fish from a trout farm. In our Big Test, meanwhile, we head to the city to put eight wide prime lenses for street photography through their paces.…

IT’S A SMALL WORLD – YOUNG DCPOTY – 2ND PLACE Gerbera Oliver Lamb Our Expert Review We love the graphic quality of this image. The geometric shapes of nature have been well photographed. It’s an arresting image that uses line, shape and colour to draw the viewer’s eye into the composition. Nikon COOLPIX S7000, 1/125 sec, f/3.4, ISO125 THE GREAT OUTDOORS – YOUNG DCPOTY – COMMENDED Mount Bromo Sunrise Josh Hinds Our Expert Review Stunning! Beautiful clarity, use of colour, and picking the right moment; all key elements to a successful photograph. A lot of the work and careful planning have gone into this shot and as a result it looks phenomenal. Nikon D750, 24-120mm f/4, 1/80 sec, f/6.3, ISO320 WILD WONDERS – YOUNG DCPOTY – 3RD PLACE Lonely Tree…

Welsh valleys Next up was Llyn Ogwen and the area known as the Devil’s Kitchen, which includes a smorgasbord of scenery, with towering mountains, plunging valleys and picturesque lakes in all directions. After a short hike we reached an elevation that enabled us to shoot down the length of Ogwen valley, the patchwork of fields crisscrossed by winding country roads. Although it was cloudy, we were blessed with shafts of sunlight kissing the valley floor below; if it wasn’t for the relentless 45mph gusts of wind, and the occasional military fighter jet roaring around the ‘Mach Loop’ overhead, it would’ve been incredibly peaceful! As we were so exposed to the elements, we hung a camera bag off our tripod for added stability. Increase the ISO It may seem counter-intuitive to…

WATCH THE VIDEO The mission • To crop in on, and level out, a portrait photograph Time • 30 minutes Skill level • Beginner • Intermediate • Advanced Kit needed • Lightroom CC 2018 We don’t always nail the shot perfectly every time. On occasion our images are underexposed, or perhaps they’re overly bright. The same can be true for our composition – sometimes it’s just a bit off. But shooting digitally has an advantage – you can easily crop later. But you should be aware that cropping your images removes pixels, and reduces the size at which you can view and print your photos because of the lower resolution. But if you want to fix a wonky horizon or remove clutter from the scene, cropping in Lightroom is an…

EXPOSURE 1/4000 sec, f/4, ISO800 LENS 180-400mm f/4 Our Apprentice says… This shot was part of a sequence that I captured just as the osprey was taking off after a dive. It takes a lot of power to become airborne after landing in water, so it’s no wonder it takes the bird some time. As Chris had advised me to shoot in Continuous High burst mode, opened the shutter release and let the Nikon track the focus for me in AF-C mode. I love the way the bird’s wings are up high in this shot, making a T-shape with its entire body. There’s still a splash at the bottom of the frame, which shows the power of the movement, and you can see the trout in the talons, while the…

Mission: Document the traditional fishing methods of Rodrigues Island, capturing sharp shots while being boat bound Photographer: Pascal Lagesse Location: Rodrigues Island Kit: Nikon D500, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6, Sigma 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 Website: www.pascallagessephoto.com Every year on 1 March in Rodrigues Island, the residents launch net fishing season. Groups of fishermen and women join forces and set nets in the lagoon to catch fish. In their wooden pirogues (long, narrow canoes made from a tree trunk) they drive the fish to the nets by banging on the sides of the boats. It’s an extraordinary event and is a fantastic opportunity for photographers to get some stellar shots, because there’s so much going on, with fish jumping in and out of the nets, and everyone shouting orders. The choice…

LETTER OF THE MONTH Flower power I recently took a group of enthusiastic pensioners to Ness Gardens for a photography outing. It was a glorious day and the gardens were looking their best in the summer sun. But that was the problem – we’re advised not to take flower photographs in strong sunlight because it creates harsh shadows. But do flower pictures have to be taken in the shade? The day after the visit to Ness Gardens I spent an hour taking pictures of various flowers, all in full sunlight. The equipment used was a Nikon D7200 with a Sigma 105mm macro lens. Here are a few examples. I rather like the effect. Keep up the good work. I look forward to my copy of N-Photo plopping through the letter…

WATCH THE VIDEO WHERE TO GET CAPTURE NX-D It’s made for Nikons, and it’s free! Capture NX-D is available as a free download from Nikon at http://nikonimglib.com/ncnxd As new Nikons are introduced, Capture NX-D should be the first software to support them. Despite being a free app, Capture NX-D is surprisingly powerful – especially when it comes to making colour adjustments. You can quickly produce a more colourful looking photograph by sliding the Tone panel’s Saturation slider to the right. However, if you boost all the colours in a shot equally then you may end up with oversaturated photos that bear little resemblance to what you saw on location. Some areas in the photo, such as a pale blue sky, will suit a particular boost in saturation to give them…

TRACKING ACTION NEXT MONTH: COMPACT TELEPHOTO ZOOMS VERDICT For general photography where you want to avoid movement of the camera, the Manfrotto XPRO ball head is ideal. It has great build quality and performance, and is superb value at the price. However, the Benro GH2 gives a practically gravity-defying balance even for large telephoto lenses, and is leagues ahead for tracking moving subjects. As gimbals go, it’s a great performer at a bargain price.…

The Path of the Panda reveals the story behind panda conservation in China. It demonstrates the Chinese knowledge of pandas and what their conservation work is like in the field. I wanted to bring viewers closer into what conservation of one of the world’s most incredible species was like. I wanted to show everything, from crashing through the bamboo forest to the nightly dinners. I was, and still am, very involved with funding environmental preservation and research at Anzihe. As a result it was one of the sites I spent the most time shooting for them. We were there on a nine-day expedition to help promote conservation and sustainable exploration. Storytelling and photography are attractive ways to draw people’s attention to the issues that matter and make conservation ‘sexy’. I…

NEW NIKON TIPS When it comes to spectacular scenery, you just can’t beat getting up into the mountains. Wherever there are imposing peaks, you’ll find picturesque lakes, rivers and waterfalls too. And the views from the mountaintops are easily as awe-inspiring as the views of them. Yes, a day in the hills is a photographer’s dream. So we set out on a day trip to Snowdonia National Park, in northwest Wales, to cram in a whole day’s landscape photography, shooting from sunrise to sunset in the truly stunning settings surrounding Wales’s tallest peak. The forecast was reasonable, but mountains create their own climate – and rain, wind and clouds can appear from nowhere. Indeed, while we were blessed with patches of sunlight for our Welsh odyssey, it was blowing a hooley,…

Correct colours Continuing to climb the stone path, we reached the picture-perfect Llyn Idwal. Auto White Balance (AWB) is fine in most situations, but your Nikon doesn’t always get it 100% right. To ensure our colours were accurate, we set our white balance according to the conditions – a mixture of the Daylight and Cloudy for our shoot. Also, by adjusting your white balance to a specific setting for a sequence of photos, they will have a consistent colour ‘temperature’, so you’ll spend less time in Photoshop warming up or cooling down images later on. Chasing waterfalls On the way down from Llyn Idwal, we couldn’t resist a slowed-down shot of this rocky waterfall, with a distant mountain peak in our background. Shooting vertically, we used a 10-stop ND filter…

The mission • Create vibrant abstract art by making reflections in oil and water Time • One hour Skill level • Beginner • Intermediate • Advanced Kit needed • Flash or strong lamp • Macro lens (optional) • Tripod (optional) Water and oil may not mix, but they can create unique photos. With a few household items, a flash (or powerful lamp) and the right camera settings, we can create bold, vibrant abstract pictures. The key here is in customizing our light source. By placing a colourful material in front of the light we can transform it into our own light box. This light will then be reflected into the oil and the water to create our abstract art. Every little bubble and drop of oil is highly reflective, so…

The mission • Create a new window scene in Photoshop CC Time • 15 minutes Skill level • Beginner • Intermediate • Advanced Kit needed • Photoshop CC One of the best things about Photoshop is how it gives you the opportunity to transport people or objects from one place to another. We can replace a background or specific part of a photo in order to come up with new scenes that could never exist in the real world. In this simple project we’ll show you how it’s done. The fundamental feature for this technique is layers. This cornerstone of Photoshop allows us to bring in different parts of photos and then combine them with complete control. Here we simply copy the New York city scene onto our original portrait,…

EXPOSURE 1/4000 sec, f/4, ISO800 LENS 180-400mm f/4 Introduction The forecast at River Gwash Trout Farm was for thunderstorms, but as Chris and Ed arrived, the clouds parted and they were met with a pleasant evening, perfect for shooting from the farm’s purpose-built hides. With ospreys in abundance, it was time for Chris to check that Ed was all set for a successful shooting session… Technique assessment APERTURE PRIORITY Chris says… I encouraged Ed to move away from the safety of Auto mode and try using the semi-automatic Aperture Priority mode instead. This is perfect for bird photography, as you usually want to shoot with your lens ‘wide open’ at it’s maximum aperture; this will give a shallow depth of field that separates the bird from the background, helping it…

Street photography can mean different things to different people. We never like to shoehorn photographic styles and genres into small boxes with constraining labels, but certain rules can apply, even if they’re meant to be broken. For example, street photography doesn’t have to be set in a street, but it’s typically based within urban surroundings. It also tends to feature people shot candidly as they go about their lives, not posed. It might sound like street photography is a bit like taking snapshots as you wander around town but it’s a highly demanding style of shooting that requires skill and practice. The most poignant images are those that capture people at an optimum moment, set against their surroundings. As such, you need a keen eye for composition, immaculate timing, and…

MANUAL FOCUS Non-autofocus lenses are generally better if you prefer focusing manually, as the focus ring tends to have greater rotational travel and offers better precision. AUTOFOCUS For autofocus lenses, ring-type ultrasonic systems are usually best, as they offer fast and whisper-quiet operation, complete with full-time manual override. FOCUS SCALE A focus distance scale can be helpful and is particularly useful if you want to set the hyperfocal distance for maximum depth of field. DOF MARKINGS Depth of field markings for numerous aperture settings enable zone focusing, so you can gauge the minimum and maximum ‘in focus’ distances. OPTICAL STABILIZATION The Tamron lens is the only one in the entire group to feature optical stabilization, which can be a big bonus in handheld street photography. APERTURE RATING Lenses with wider…

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Look for the light The night before the shoot we stayed in Llanberis, at the foot of Mount Snowdon. It’s home to two large lakes spanning northwest (Llyn Padarn) and southeast (Llyn Peris) from the village, ideally angled for sunset and sunrise photos during spring and summer. We got up before first light to get in position, and were hopeful for a colourful sunrise. We had our Nikon DSLR on a tripod and ready to go, but unfortunately the cloud cover spoiled our party. However, by zooming in with a 24-70mm lens we were still able to capture the first beams of sunlight filtering between the peaks. Panoramic fun Panoramas are great for including everything the eye can see – here we shot across Llynnau Mymbyr lake towards Capel Curig.…

The mission • Set up a tripod correctly in a safe and stable manner Time • 10 minutes Skill level • Beginner • Intermediate • Advanced Kit needed • Tripod What can go wrong when using a tripod? Well, there are lots of moving parts… but there are rules of thumb you can adhere to ensure your tripod remains steady. There are also a few shortcuts to help you get set up. There are rules of thumb you can adhere to ensure your tripod remains steady. There are also a few shortcuts to help you get set up Many of us start out by buying a camera body, kit lens and a tripod, and we look up f/stops, shutter speeds and ISOs in order to get to grips with our…

WATCH THE VIDEO CLASSIC CARS The mission • Shoot vintage cars in a variety of different settings Time • Half a day Skill level • Beginner • Intermediate • Advanced Kit needed • Standard or wide-angle zoom • Telephoto lens • Speedlight • Light stand This issue we’ve joined Nikon School UK at Bicester Heritage to learn how to shoot classic cars on the track, in the workshop and on location. Using a combination of natural light, flash light and the weather, we’ll be shooting three varied set-ups. In each set-up cars of varying degrees of readiness were being worked on and test driven, which gave us ample opportunity to get a multitude of photos. We’ll walk you through the settings you’ll need to make the most of shooting in…

EXPOSURE 1/4000 sec, f/4, ISO800 LENS 180-400mm f/4 Our Apprentice says… After waiting patiently for an hour or so I got my second view of an osprey as it swooped into the water. I had set an aperture of f/4 and ISO800 to ensure my shutter speed was as fast as possible, and this resulted 1/4000 sec, which froze the motion of the osprey in mid-flight. As it flew towards me I could see the trout in its talons and its eyes piercing through my lens. I selected this image, with the bent wings framing the action perfectly, from a sequence of shots taken in Continuous High drive mode. Expert insight Playback display options Chris says… To quickly check important shooting information when reviewing images, I recommend going into the…

EXPOSURE 1/4000 sec, f/4, ISO800 LENS 180-400mm f/4 Expert insight Tripod stabilization When it comes to mounting your Nikon inside a bird hide, there’s usually a shelf between you and the opening. Open your tripod legs and lean the front two against the shelf, extending the other leg slightly longer towards you. It will now sit safely against the shelf without any movement. Thanks to… Thanks goes to River Gwash Trout Farm www.rivergwashtroutfarm.co.uk/horn-mill-osprey-hide OSPREYS Our Apprentice says… This is my favourite shot of the evening. After waiting for it to fly from its perch, the osprey hurtled down, hit the water and powered its way into the air, trout-in-talon. Just as it gained some height its wings outstretched, and it appeared to glide through the air. I managed to get…

ONLY TAKES 5 MINS! EVERY issue, we do our best to create a magazine that you love to read, and we’re always looking for ways to make it even better. So, we’d like your help in improving N-Photo, and all you need to do is answer some quick questions about yourself, your favourite subjects, your camera kit and the magazine – we’re really looking forward to hearing back from you. Complete our new reader survey online at www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/nphoto85 Take part in our summer survey and enjoy an exclusive 10% reader discount on magazines (not subscriptions), books, DVDs and binders at www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk FILL IT OUT Spend five minutes filling out our survey – do it on your computer, tablet or smartphone YOUR OPINION Tell us a bit about yourself, your camera…

THE QUICK-FIX TRIANGLE A variation on multiple triangles is when they actually overlap, one on top of another, like layers. This isn’t as rare you might imagine because the layers can be made from different qualities, like light, shadow and shape. The scene here is an example. This is Koya-san, an ancient Buddhist mountain in Japan with a history going back more than 1200 years. This image was taken in a large area of Buddhist grave markers set in the forest surrounding one of the temples. The scene is highly atmospheric, not least because of the unique shape of these stones, which are five-tiered (the different shapes from bottom to top represent earth, water, fire, wind and space). In fact, like many things that are suggested, they are all the…

Profile • Holly Wren grew up in Cheshire and graduated from Leeds University with a degree in business management. • She began her photography career through the Prince’s Trust Enterprise scheme. • As well as the Prince’s Trust, her clients today include British Land, P&O, The Shard and Clarence House. • In 2016, Holly staged an acclaimed solo exhibition in London called Love. Lived. that featured portraits of elderly people alongside their love stories. www.hollywren.com She may have the perfect name for a nature photographer, but the preferred habitat of Holly Wren is on location with models and assistants; indoors or outdoors. She can be found working at speed to create colourful lifestyle portraits for major brands, charities and enterprises. It’s a sunny April morning when we meet in the…

from £200/$230 (250GB) www.wdc.com As its name suggests, the My Passport Wireless SSD is based on a fast SSD. We clocked it at a blazing 350MB/s-read and 285MB/s-write speeds during sustained video transfer, while folders of images shift at an equally impressive 290MB/s and 256MB/s. Features 01 Not only does the Passport’s Wi-Fi let you stream video footage to your smart device, you can also import it directly to video-editing apps like LumaFusion for iPhone and iPad. 02 Not using SD cards? Other card formats can be connected to the Passport via a separate card reader attached to a USB 2.0 input on the drive, and you can still use the handy one-touch copy feature. 03 The internal power bank can be used to charge a connected device while it…

£179/$150 www.europe-nikon.com Nikon’s Film Digitizing Adapter ES-2 kit harnesses the power of the D850’s 45.7MP resolving power to create exceptionally high-resolution digital scans of your old analogue film negatives and slides; whether they be colour or monochrome. You will also need one of three compatible Nikon macro lens in order to use the ES-2. The ES-2 kit is actually far simpler than its price tag suggests. In the box is the ES-2 adapter itself. This is similar to a lens hood, but can be extended/retracted to fine-tune focus; its front is covered by a translucent panel that illuminates your films evenly from behind. Into the adapter you can then slide either the FH-4 Strip Film Holder, or the FH-5 Slide Mount Holder – both included in the kit. The final…

Monochrome Monday Your best monochrome photos from the past month Dukut Tresnopati captures a wide-angle portrait of happy cyclists Andy Smith captures a striking portrait of a mountain lion Tutorial Tuesday This month we… learn what shutter speed is and learn what’s meant by working in ‘stops’, follow the link for your free cheat sheet: bit.ly/2s2GesJ Workshop Wednesday Wednesday is an opportunity to ask questions, share ideas and help others in the N-Photo community… What white balance should I use when undertaking infrared photography on my D850? Jasper Shadloo With infrared photography, the colours are so surreal that white balance becomes more about the ‘look’ you want to achieve. Cloudy will give warmer, yellower tones, while Incandescent will produce cooler, bluer tones. You may want to try Manual white balance,…