Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2020 i N-Photo: the Nikon magazine

Cowboy Blues BY BENIAMINO PISATI Each November the Festival of Abrivado is held in Camargue, France. More than 2000 ‘guardians’ (cowboys) and 1000 horses participate. As soon as the doors from the vans are opened and the bulls run out, the race starts. Camera: Nikon D850 Lens: 14-24mm f/2.8 Exposure: 1/1000 sec, f/6.3, ISO100 Snowy Peaks BY IGNACIO PALACIOS This photograph shows a gorgeous sunset in a beautiful frozen winter forest. These woodlands in Finnish Lapland look absolutely dreamy, with the trees completely caked in a delicious fluffy snow flurry. Camera: Nikon D810 Lens: 70-200mm f/2.8 Exposure: 1.3 secs, f/11, ISO125 Synchronized BY TED LAU Since the Mass Games (an art form in Pyongyang, North Korea, that involves aerobics, dance and more) resumed in 2018, all the school kids got…

You can capture a fascinating new world shooting frame-filling close-ups to highlight the beauty and intricate design of minuscule subjects. You’ll discover exquisite miniature details, lush textures and vibrant colours. Everyday things that we usually take for granted appear anew when magnified. Nature provides macro photographers with limitless subjects, and spring and summer are the very best times of year to be shooting close-ups. There is a wealth of insects, flowers, plants and creative opportunities to exploit, and you don’t necessarily need specialist optics or have to travel far. Local meadows, woodland and parks are full of picture potential. In fact, you may not have to travel any further than your own back garden, which should be music to the ears of anyone growing frustrated at home due to the worldwide restrictions…

Bokeh derives from the Japanese word ‘boke’, which means blur. It’s used in the photography industry to describe the out-offocus specular highlights you see time and time again in images, such as portraits or still life. Bokeh is often achieved by focusing on a subject that’s separated from a concentrated light source (like a string of LED lights). By shooting at a wide aperture to create a shallow depth of field, lights in the background blur into prominent blobs of bokeh. Narrower apertures are still capable of capturing bokeh, but the super-wide apertures of fast lenses are known for producing the creamy depths of field where these attractive specs of blur thrive. Not all bokeh is exactly the same shape though. You may notice images with spherical, hexagonal, or even…

Many of us will have old family photos and vintage prints tucked away at home, so now might be the perfect time to dig them out, brush them off and digitize them with a scanner or your camera. Once done, you can open the image in Affinity Photo to perform all kinds of impressive restoration work and breathe new life into these beloved old prints. Even the most well-cared-for prints will eventually show signs of age. Dust and grime will accumulate, creases and scratches will damage the surface, edges will become bent or torn. The good news is that this kind of damage can be improved with simple tools in Affinity Photo. Given a little time and attention, we can reverse the ravages of time and restore our prints to…

WORTH £ 80! Download and register by 4 September 2020 1 DOWNLOAD In your browser, go to https://www.skylum.com/np-aurora 2 YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS Enter your email address. You will be emailed an activation key, along with links for the macOS or Windows versions of the software. Click the link for your system. 3 ACTIVATE THE SOFTWARE Once the installer has downloaded, double-click the installer and follow the onscreen installation instructions. 4 REGISTER YOUR COPY When you initially run the software, it will be in 10-day trial mode. Click the Activate button and enter your email address and activation key to register your software. 5 GET STARTED This guide will help you get started, but Skylum Software also offers many helpful instructional videos if you need to know anything else about the…

Editing your images can transform them, bringing out the vivid colour and incredible detail you saw in person while you were taking the shot. But photo-editing skills take time to learn, meaning that more time is needed to get the best from each of your images. Photolemur takes a different approach, doing all the hard work for you. Just drag-and-drop a photo onto the Photolemur mini-window, then watch as it analyses your shot in a dozen different ways before producing a brilliant result. Go beyond initial results with Photolemur’s Styles, which let you choose different looks. Photolemur is being offered free of charge until 4 September 2020 by Skylum. Other great programs in the Skylum roster include: • Luminar, the powerful photo editor that gives you precise control over your…

• Color Recovery makes colours appear more vivid and lifelike in your shots• JPEG Fix corrects artefacts in compressed images• Foliage Enhancement adjusts the colour and sharpness of trees and leaves• Auto Color Temperature adjusts the white balance• Auto Lens Correction seeks out distortion, chromatic aberration and vignetting• Smart Dehaze finds and removes fog and mist• Sky Enhancement lifts white clouds and boosts blues• Exposure Compensation makes exposures more even• Natural Light Correction adjusts for the time of day• Noise Reduction targets digital noise in your image• Tint Perfection seeks the best overall tint for the shot…

Q I’d like to buy a cheap SLR for my children to learn photography. Any suggestions? Lynne Garner Matthew recommends… A One of Nikon’s entry-level SLRs would be ideal. I wouldn’t go back as far as the D3000, D3100 or D3000, as these aren’t compatible with AF-P lenses. The D3400 is ideal. Nikon D3400 THE D3400 GIVES THE MOST BANG PER BUCK RELEASED: 2016 PRICE NEW: £490/$650 (with lens) ‘Excellent’ £189/$235 (body only) ‘Good’ £169/$210 There’s not much difference in the secondhand price of the D3400 and the older D3300. They’re both fantastic cameras that’re beginner-friendly. As well as plentiful scene modes and effects, they have an interactive ‘Guide’ shooting mode that serves as a built-in photography tutor. The D3400 wins out, though, with better high-ISO performance, and a longer…

1. A Fox in Isolation PATRICK HENDERSON Lusciously minimalist, Patrick was fortunate to have the opportunity to photograph this cautious creature gently treading its way through the blanket of snow. A tiny twig poking through the surface is the only other element in the serene scene. 2. Bronze Suit Shopping KAI BERGMANN In this stylish portrait, Kai has worked with his model to shoot an image that offers bags of style and atmosphere. The colours are pleasingly muted and the model’s challenging expression is perfect for this shot. 3. Fuego Volcano DAVID ROJAS This powerful geyser of smoke and fire is from one of Guatemala’s three active volcanoes belonging to the Fire Belt. David says that he visits the volcano regularly, but it looks like he got extra lucky when…

£379/$347 This telephoto zoom is a popular purchase as part of the twin lens Z 50 kit, along with the Z DX 16-50mm VR zoom. They’re both compact and lightweight, featuring a retractable design and plastic mounting plate. Naturally, the Z DX 50-250mm is also available to buy separately and, either way, you’ll need to buy the HB-90A hood separately. The lens has the smallest telephoto reach of any in this test, equating to 375mm in full-frame terms. It’s not helped by the fact that the Z 50 has a 20.9Mp image sensor, so its megapixel count is a bit lower than in most of Nikon’s SLRs. Even so, you can crop images quite aggressively and still be able to print them at sizes of up to A4. Performance Like…

£649/$799 Pretty much the same size and weight as the competing Sigma 100-400mm, the Tamron was launched a little earlier, creating a new category of relatively compact, lightweight and affordable 100-400mm zooms. Handling feels more intuitive for Nikon shooters, as the zoom ring operates in the same direction as own-brand Nikon lenses, whereas it’s reversed in the Sigma. There aren’t as many switchable control options as in the Sigma lens, but they’re well implemented nonetheless. For example, the AF range limiter can operate at any focus distance, simply by switching it on at that point. Again, customization is available via Tamron’s optional TAP-in Console, but this time there’s no option to set up switchable custom modes. Performance Centre-sharpness is excellent throughout the entire zoom range, even when shooting wide-open, and…

£1199/$1397 There’s no denying that this lens lacks the 600mm max focal length offered by the competing Sigma and Tamron zooms but, in practice, you’ll notice little difference. A plus point is that the Nikon has a constant-aperture design, so f/5.6 remains available at the long end instead of dropping to f/6.3. It’s also more than half a kilogram lighter than the Sigma Sports lens. Speaking of which, the Nikon lens has a superior 4.5-stop stabilizer which comes with auto panning detection and a switchable Sport VR mode. As with a growing range of third-party lenses, including all of the Sigma and Tamron lenses on test, the Nikon has an electromagnetically controlled aperture diaphragm. The operational controls aren’t as exotic as in the Sigma lenses, but do include a range…

As I write this we’re starting to see the first tentative steps to ease the lockdown, enabling photographers to head out into the solitude of the countryside to pursue their passion. And this issue’s lead feature is on close-up photography of natural subjects that you shouldn’t have to stray too far to find – and may even be able to shoot from your very own garden. In a similar vein, this issue’s Big Test is on lenses for wildlife photography – garden birds, in particular. Also in our Gear section we review the Irix 45mm f/1.4 Dragonfly standard prime, and try six mics for those dabbling with their Nikon’s vlogging capabilities. We revisit four past Apprentices for a refresher on how to shoot family portraits. In our Nikon Skills sections…

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1 Black card Thick black paper will help prevent light leaks and is what you’ll need to create a DIY aperture disc. We’ve settled on a heart, but the aperture can be any shape you wish. When placed in front of your lens and used with a wide-open aperture, it’ll transform your bokeh into your chosen shape. 2 Craft utensils You’ll need a pencil to draw around your lens and mark out a template on the black card, which then needs to be cut out. We’d recommend using sticky tape to fix the card components together, so your aperture disc stays securely in one piece when you’re out and about shooting with it. 3 Tape measure It’s important that your aperture shape is placed directly in the centre of the…

This is a fun project to try out on a photo from your image library – you could pick an outdoor scene like this, or why not try a different genre of painting? Perhaps portraiture, still life or abstract? We’ll use the Mixer Brush to give the photo the look of an impressionist painting. If you’ve ever looked through the Photoshop Filter Gallery you’ll know that there are several filters within that can be used to create a painterly look. But they are all rather blunt and universal… The great thing about using the Mixer Brush instead is that it creates painterly strokes based on the details and colours within the image. Meaning you can tailor the effect to the image, rather than applying a generic filter. However, this involves…

01 ZOOM CONTROLS Use these controls to zoom in and out as you check the details in your image – especially useful when sharpening, or applying noise reduction. 02 BEFORE AND AFTER Split the screen vertically into a before-and-after display, so that you can check your progress against the original photograph. 03 HISTORY DROP-DOWN Work backwards through the adjustments you’ve made to your images – very handy if you need to retrace your steps. 04 PANEL DISPLAYS These little buttons control the visibility of the Tools panel on the right of the screen and the Preset Effects browser along the bottom. 05 PRESET EFFECTS These offer a quick and convenient way of applying creative HDR looks via a single mouse click – they’re organized into categories. 06 LAYERS Aurora HDR…

I lived in Cornwall for almost 10 years, and in that time was lucky enough to shoot in some beautiful places. When a friend of mine approached me and asked if I’d be interested in shooting in a newly refurbished manor house, I jumped at the chance. As a fashion photographer, getting access to locations can be tricky. I went to visit the house, and immediately felt captivated by its romance. It’s located in quite a secluded part of the county, the Lizard Peninsula, and it’s probably my favourite area because it’s so wild, rugged and was the chosen area for Daphne Du Maurier’s’ Frenchman’s Creek. While walking through the grand rooms, that definitely had a lot of story to tell, I imagined a young, glamorous woman, running away from…

£635/$695 The Irix 45mm f/1.4 Dragonfly is a full-frame compatible standard prime that gives a natural perspective, with a viewing angle of 51.4 degrees. That’s a little less restrictive than the 47 degrees (or thereabouts) of a 50mm lens on a full-frame DSLR. Unlike some manual-focus (MF) lenses, the Irix has built-in electronics that enable communication with the camera body. A useful addition, as the viewfinders of digital SLRs aren’t geared up for precise manual focusing, but the electronics enable illumination of focus assist and confirmation lamps in the viewfinder. They also allow the aperture to be set from the camera, so you can shoot in the PASM modes without restriction. Key features Typical of MF lenses, the focus ring has a long rotational travel – helpful for accurate focusing.…

£535/$597 If you have a DX format SLR, you might be tempted by Nikon’s Nikon AF-P DX 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED VR, which is a solid performer and good value at £329/$397. But if you can stretch the budget, this FX lens is superior. The latest in an acclaimed series of full-frame compatible 70-300mm Nikon zooms, it has stronger, weather-sealed build quality and a rapid, yet silent, stepping motor-based AF system. Further highlights include an upgraded 4.5-stop VR system with Nikon’s latest ‘Sport VR’ mode. This enables you to track erratically moving birds more easily in the viewfinder. Another bonus is that the electromagnetically controlled diaphragm enables greater exposure consistency in high-speed drive mode. Performance The AF and stabilization systems work well for bird photography and image quality is excellent in…

£749/$899 This Sigma ‘Contemporary’ lens is the most affordable of the three 150-600mm lenses in the group, while also undercutting Nikon’s 200-500mm VR for price. It’s the most lightweight of the big four, being almost a whole kilogram less weighty than Sigma’s 150-600mm Sports lens. Like in the Sports lens, the zoom lock switch can be engaged at any ‘marked’ focal length. Dual switchable custom modes can be set up via Sigma’s optional USB Dock. These can be useful if you want to change the distance setting of the AF limiter switch, or adjust how visible the effect of the optical stabilizer is in the viewfinder. Another difference is that this bigger lens is supplied complete with a removable tripod mounting ring. It has basic weather-seals and a fluorine coating…

£1249/$1699 Despite having an identical zoom range and aperture rating as Sigma’s 150-600mm Contemporary lens, the Sports edition is rather larger and nearly a full kilo heavier. Weighing in at nearly 3kg, it’s not a lens to be taken lightly, especially when it comes to long periods of handheld photography. The control layout has the same switchable options as the other Sigma lenses here, including dual-mode auto/manual override priority options for AF and dual-mode optical stabilization. Again, there are two switchable custom setups and an AF range limiter. Like the 150-600mm Contemporary lens, you can engage the zoom lock switch at any focal length that has a numerical marking on the zoom ring. Performance Making the most of its dual FLD (‘Fluorite’ Low Dispersion) elements, the Sports lens delivers greater…

With its super-fast autofocus system, a highly effective 4.5-stop stabilizer that includes a Sport VR mode, and excellent image quality in all respects, the Nikon 200-500mm VR is our top choice for photographing garden birds. For outright image quality and advanced controls, the Sigma 150-600mm Sports lens actually beats the Nikon, but it’s a comparative heavyweight that’s relatively big and unwieldy. Ultimately, the Sigma is more suited to being mounted on a tripod in a proper ‘hide’ setup, for shooting birds in the wild. Our next top choices are the Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary and Tamron 150-600mm G2 lenses, the Sigma winning out by virtue of its superior sharpness and high-end customizable controls. On the other hand, the Tamron has a more comprehensive set of weather-seals. Moving down to 100-400mm lenses,…

‘I feel like shooting the kids!’ is a phrase you might find yourself uttering more often than usual during these periods of enforced lockdown. But with limited options to get out and about with your camera, this is a great time to try and improve your skills at photographing your nearest and dearest for treasured portraits. Kids, of course, throw up their own special challenges for the photographer: attention spans are often limited, notorious show-offs can become uncharacteristically camera-shy, and babies can, well, just throw up… Let’s see how our four Apprentices from the archives got on… APPRENTICE #1 Ian Bowie When Glaswegian policeman Ian joined us as our Apprentice for the January 2014 edition of N-Photo, he was the proud new dad to a three-month-old newborn. His mentor was…

We live in a time where almost the entire photographic process can be performed through a screen. Images are composed on electronic viewfinders, edited on computer monitors and shared via smart devices. Some images are viewed by millions of people and never get printed. Yet, the resurgence of instant cameras and the popularity of online printing outlets are proof there’s still a huge appetite for physical prints. There’s something that’s undeniably magical about holding a photograph in your hands, or framing and hanging one on a wall. Prints are also a great way to analyse your work – they allow you to view your efforts with fresh eyes. You might notice things you missed on-screen and would do differently in the future, and you might find a photograph you’re not…

An ‘oldie but goodie’ is the perfect way to describe this tried-and-tested technique. By loading up the edge of a lens with petroleum jelly, you can create an ethereal effect in-camera. Photographers have been using this technique for decades, and even with the prevalence of today’s powerful editing software, it’s still worth trying this eye-catching DIY effect out in the field. Blurring the edges of the frame is a great way to hide bland surroundings, centre the viewer’s gaze, or simply create an edgy vintage vibe. There’s technically nothing stopping you from applying petroleum jelly to the front element of your lens, but we’d urge you to think twice before slathering your expensive glass with a sticky substance… A much more sensible workaround is to purchase a cheap UV filter.…

HDR (high dynamic range) photography can produce spectacular images. It’s a way of capturing scenes with a tonal range so wide that you can’t capture them with a single exposure. By merging a series of exposures together, however, it’s possible to bring out extreme shadow and highlight detail in sunsets, night shots, interiors and other situations where you’re wrestling around with wildly differing light levels in different areas of the scene. HDR image capture and processing can seem technically daunting, and it can be difficult to get satisfying images that don’t look over-processed – but Skylum Software changed all that with the introduction of Aurora HDR. Not only can it merge a series of exposures seamlessly, it can then apply a massive range of HDR ‘looks’ via its one-click presets…

Aurora HDR 2018’s preset effects are simply ready-made combinations of the filters and settings you can see in the Tools panel on the right. You can modify these existing presets, or you create your own looks from scratch. In both cases you can save the results as a new custom user preset. Note that presets are applied at 100% strength by default, but when you click on a preset to apply it, its thumbnail will show a percentage slider you can adjust to change the strength of the effect at your leisure.…

01 OPEN YOUR PHOTOS When Photolemur starts, you can drag one or more images into its mini-window to get started. While you’re editing your shots, click Open More to bring more photographs into the Photolemur interface. 02 CHOOSE A PHOTO You can open Raw images from most cameras, as well as JPEG files, in Photolemur. Simply click on any photo from the selection you’ve opened to bring it into the main editing window and start restyling. 03 BEFORE AND AFTER Watch while Photolemur analyses your photo, then view the result. The Before & After slider is a simple and fun way to compare your original with Photolemur’s enhanced version: move the slider to see the changes. 04 CHOOSE A STYLE You can select editing treatments with Photolemur Styles. Click the…

1. The Milky Way BY NICOLAI1988 This image was captured in the Dolomites – you’ll notice the distinctive peaks of Tre Cime di Lavaredo to the right of the frame. The viewer’s eye traces the curvature of the Milky Way and settles on the brightly lit lodge. To the left is a small figure, which amplifies the already immense sense of scale. The sprawling panorama allows for a powerful field of view and was stitched together in Adobe CC. Camera: Nikon D810 Lens: 14mm f/1.8 Exposure: 15 secs, f/1.8, ISO6400 2. Vita Nova BY MARK MCNEILL The key to a good astro image is to find an interesting subject for the foreground. Vita Nova is a grounded shipwreck that resides in the beautiful coastal town of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. We particularly…

Q In issue 110’s Big Test on macro lenses you showed how depth of field changes with aperture at 0.5x magnification, but how does it work out in full 1.0x macro mode? Mick Stevens A Let’s use the Sigma Macro 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM by way of example. It’s a great-value buy for any DX or FX format Nikon SLR, and also works really well with Z-mount cameras via an FTZ adapter. To achieve 0.5x magnification, you’d need a focus distance of 40cm, as measured from the image sensor or ‘focal plane’ of the camera. Sweeping through an aperture range of f/2.8 to f/22, the depth of field shrinks from 2mm, to 1.6cm respectively. At the shortest focus distance of 31cm, which gives full 1x magnification, the depth…

Instamic Pro £89/$169 www.instamic.io Transducer type: Condenser Form: Lavalier Polar pattern: Omnidirectional Frequency response: 40Hz-20KHz This tiny standalone mic can record audio to its internal 8GB memory or connect to an Android/iOS device, such as your phone. The internal memory can capture 16 hours of audio recorded at 48kHz/24 bits in mono, or seven hours at 48kHz/24 bits in dual mono. The Instamic plugs into the USB slot of your computer, enabling you to transfer WAV files and charge the device; the battery lasts up to three hours. The Instamic is also waterproof to a depth of one metre. Three LEDs indicate the sound level, and you can listen to the audio in real time via headphones connected to your smartphone. The Instamic may be useful when you’re using multiple…

When you’re staying at home as much as possible, you can very quickly start to run out of things to shoot. After all, there’s a limit to the number of family portraits, bowls of fruit and vases of flowers you can photograph, before your patience starts to wear incredibly thin. Step outside and, if you’re lucky enough to have a back yard or garden, you can join the growing number of domestic bird photographers. Naturally, these creatures of flight are rather small and you will likely need to shoot them from quite a distance, otherwise you’ll scare away these skittish little subjects before your finger has even made it as far as the shutter button. Powerful telephoto reach is the order of the day. However, extra-large lenses generally come with…

If you fancy trying your luck with an alternative setup, you could look into the slightly Heath Robinson world of ‘digiscoping’. This method of photographing birds came to the fore about 20 years ago, and involves mounting a digital camera on a spotting scope or telescope, via a specialist adapter. It’s possible to get decent results with a spotting scope costing around £150/$200 and a digiscoping kit with a Nikon mount adapter, which can cost as little as £35/$50 from companies like SRB-Photographic (www.srb-photographic.co.uk). However, digiscoping is a relatively fiddly and unwieldy pursuit, and lacks the advantage of autofocus. Serious telephoto power is available, but the resultant image quality is generally no match for even a low-budget telephoto camera lens.…

£649/$609 Filling the gap between conventional 70-300mm telephoto lenses and 150-600mm super-telephoto zooms, this Sigma goes into direct competition with the Tamron 100-400mm. As such, it weighs in at just over a kilogram, making it about half the weight of most super-tele zooms, but noticeably bigger and heavier than most 70-300mm lenses. There’s a big step up in switchable control options, compared with 70-300mm lenses. The fast, ring-type ultrasonic AF system can be switched to give priority to AF or manual override and comes complete with a focus range limiter that operates either side of six metres. There are also two switchable optical stabilization modes, for static and panning shots. Performance Helped by the deployment of four SLD (Special Low Dispersion) elements, the lens produces good sharpness and contrast with…

£1289/$1199 The original Tamron 150-600mm was a solid performer and a good buy at the price. The G2 edition is better built and boasts a variety of upgrades, making it more desirable. The tougher construction has a more comprehensive set of weather-seals and a new mix of conventional and nano-structure coatings, plus a fluorine coating on the front element, to repel moisture and grease. The uprated optical path boasts three LD (Low Dispersion) elements, the revamped AF system is faster and more accurate, and the effectiveness of VC (Vibration Compensation) is boosted to 4.5-stops. Three switchable stabilization modes are available, the third mode applying stabilization only during exposures, similar to Nikon’s ‘Sport VR’ mode. Cleverly, the zoom lock switch works at any focal length. Performance The fast AF and steady…

Assuming you’ve read my guide to home printing (page 42), it’s time I fessed up to being a bit of a charlatan; I rarely print photos anymore. And yet, delving back into the physical realm made me realize I’m missing out on an important part of being a photographer. It’s hard to think of another creative medium that’s changed as much as photography over the past 25 years, and that’s because the digital revolution rendered printing entirely avoidable. Fine-art masterworks that were destined to be framed now hang – ruthlessly compressed – on virtual walls. And hefty photo albums that once resided under the bed now float weightlessly in the cloud or occupy a wallet-sized external hard drive. Why printing is pivotal I know plenty of photographers still print their…