Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2021 i N-Photo: the Nikon magazine

Border Refuge JOSEPH DOMINIC ANTHONY Joseph formed the idea for this image in 2016 on a visit to Mai Po Nature Reserve in Hong Kong. He wanted to convey the story and mood of Mai Po in a single balanced shot, combining individuals and the behaviour of multiple species in the context of their wider environment, particularly to juxtapose the proximity of the ever-encroaching urban development. Camera: Nikon D800E Lens: 70-200mm f/2.8 Exposure: 1/125 sec, f/16, ISO320 Turtle Time Machine THOMAS PESCHAK During Christopher Columbus’s voyage of 1494, green sea turtles were said to be so numerous that ships almost ran aground on them. Today the species is classified as endangered. However, at locations like Little Farmer’s Cay in the Bahamas, green turtles can still be seen. Without a time…

When you witness a beautiful sprawling vista your first instinct might be to reach for a wide-angle lens. And while such focal lengths can produce stunning results, in the wrong situation they can also leave you feeling terribly underwhelmed. Super-wide lenses suffer from barrel distortion, which makes objects appear further away. This isn’t usually a problem when capturing immense objects, such as mountains, but if your subject has less impact or fails to prominently protrude from the horizon line, a wide focal length could leave you wanting. Thankfully, by shooting a panorama you can have the best of both worlds, a sprawling composition that’s free from barrel distortion. This works by panning the camera to shoot a sequence of images using a lens with a narrower field of view. Standard…

Our reliance on smart devices has revolutionized photo editing. Photographers are no longer confined to their desktops or forced to carry around cumbersome laptops. It’s never been easier or quicker to edit photographs on the go. Unsurprisingly, editing apps are a dime a dozen and Adobe itself offers a variety of options, which can make finding the right one for you a bit of a challenge. Adobe Photoshop Express isn’t to be confused with Adobe Photoshop for iPad. The latter is a portable version of the famous full-fat desktop software and requires a paid subscription once the free trial runs out, whereas many of Photoshop Express’s features can be used for free. It’s also available on both iOS and Android, and can be used on a variety of smart devices.…

Fashion and beauty is arguably the most visible and widespread form of photography around. Consider all the advertising imagery we see for beauty and fashion products online, as well as the huge displays of magazine cover models, the spring and autumn collection catwalk shows, cosmetic display boards, clothing catalogues and TV advertising campaigns. Fashion and beauty is a massive global business and it is the imagery of flawless faces and statuesque bodies that sells the product. In such a dynamic field, there are many photographers competing for the big brand commission and the celebrity recognition that can lead to. Some photographers have become as well known as the brands they shot: Avedon, Demarchelier, Testino, Lindbergh. With less than a decade as a working pro, Marie might not yet be a…

MISSION: Raise awareness of Down’s syndrome and the Sparkles charity and capture emotions only the closeness of a loved one can bring. PHOTOGRAPHER: Magdalena Sztechman LOCATION: Buckinghamshire, UK KIT USED: Nikon D750 and AF-S 85mm f/1.8G WEBSITE: www.downrightamazing.co.uk SOCIAL: www.facebook.com/DownRightAmazing My grandfather was a photojournalist in Poland. He documented events, sports and politicians, and in his spare time he photographed his grandchildren. Before I was born he photographed my elder sister, who happened to have Down’s syndrome. She was about one year old and sat on my mum’s lap at the kitchen table, while exploring a Polish cookbook. The black-and-white photo – genius in its simplicity – drew me into my sister’s almond-shaped eyes. When I photographed children myself, I didn’t think black-and-white photography was suitable. I thought children’s portraits…

Q I live by a lake and shoot lots of landscapes and bird life. What Nikon DSLR and lenses would you recommend for $500? Geraldine Williams A I’m afraid there are no Nikon DSLR with lenses at that price that will suit your needs. The best I could suggest would be a Nikon D3500 DSLR kit with an AF-P 18-55mm VR lens at £449/$497, plus an additional Nikon AF-P DX 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED VR telephoto zoom, at £339/$397. A twin-lens kit is available in the States, that includes a D3500 body with both an 18-55mm and 70-300mm lens at $597, but I’d avoid that because the telephoto zoom is the version that lacks VR (Vibration Reduction), which is an important feature for handheld shooting with a telephoto lens. You might…

The search for the world’s best Nikon photographer of 2020 is finally over! Each issue the monthly N-Photo POTY 2020 photo contest’s top 10 images have been selected by the N-Photo team – but this month we pick the best of the best and crown our winner of the N-Photo Photographer of the Year 2020 competition! OVERALL WINNER! 1. Gothic Bride BY PETE BRISTO This year’s many challenges haven’t stopped N-Photo readers from entering our monthly NPOTY competition, and the standards have never been higher. But it was this beautiful bridal portrait that really captured our attention. It took gold in our summer issue’s Weddings competition and the NPOTY community agreed, awarding it the crowd vote to boot. The composition, colour palette and subject matter combine to create a truly…

The best photo cards are a fantastic way to show a loved one that you’re thinking of them while adding the perfect personal touch. Whether you’re looking to send some (belated!) festive greetings, want to send out the invites to your wedding, or simply would like to wish a friend a happy birthday, creating your own bespoke photo cards is an amazing way to show someone that you care. Rather than purchasing a generic cookie-cutter greeting card, a unique and heartfelt photo card featuring one of your own snaps is much more personal. Play your cards right We tested five different photo card suppliers to see which offers the best service and end result. To ensure that the test was as fair as possible, we used the same image on…

£349/$499 A DX format lens with a performance boost Ascaled down version of the FX format Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens on test, this standard prime for DX cameras is less than two-thirds the physical length and barely more than half the weight. Even so, it’s twice as heavy as Nikon’s 35mm DX lens, partly due to the Sigma having a faster aperture rating. The optical path includes a double aspheric element, with the aim of optimizing image quality. The nine-blade diaphragm is well rounded and helps to maintain the quality of bokeh when narrowing the aperture. Being reasonably compact, there’s not a great deal of room for the ring-type ultrasonic autofocus system. Performance AF speed is a bit on the sluggish side and, despite only the rearward optical elements…

£439/$399 A stabilized standard prime to beat the shakes The Tamron 45mm gives a more generous viewing angle of 51 degrees on a full-frame body, compared with the more usual 46 degrees of a 50mm lens. Unique here, it features an optical image stabilizer, worth about four stops in beating camera-shake during handheld shooting. Physically, the lens is smaller than the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 and more lightweight at 540g. Even so, it’s still practically three times the weight of the competing Nikon 50mm f/1.8 F-mount lens. The high-grade construction features extensive weather-seals and a fluorine coating on its front element. Unlike some Tamron F-mount lenses, it’s compatible with Z-mount cameras via an FTZ mount adapter, but you may need to update the firmware to V2.0 or higher, which can be…

When it comes to landscape photography, there’s nothing quite like getting high into the hills. Craggy peaks, snow-capped summits and rugged ranges are dripping with drama, but if your attempts at scenic sierras have left you feeling flat, check our lead feature on shooting magnificent mountains. In an altogether more urban affair, pro Stu Meech shows his eager young Apprentice just what can be captured on your own doorstep with a photo walk through the streets of Bath. In this issue’s Big Test, we put ‘nifty fifty’ standard primes through their paces to find the best everyday lens for you, whether you shoot on an FX or DX body, DSLR or mirrorless Nikon. We give the pro-spec Nikon Z 14-24mm S wide zoom the review treatment, and try out a…

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It really doesn’t matter what your favourite genre is or whether you’re camp DSLR, mirrorless or bridge camera, all photographers are fascinated with mist. And it’s no surprise. A foggy haze can transform even the most generic location into a photo opportunity that’s dripping with atmosphere. The autumn and winter months are prime time for fog and mist photography. Weather resources such as the Met Office website (www.metoffice.gov.uk) are a great way to stay ahead of the curve, and if you’re an early riser we’d recommend keeping a kit bag locked and loaded so you can take advantage of the often fleeting phenomenon at a moment’s notice. But shooting in this attractive type of weather comes with its own set of challenges. Poor visibility can make foggy photographs lack depth…

This tutorial is inspired by the surreal, conceptual album covers of artist Storm Thorgerson, who crafted dozens of iconic sleeves for some of the world’s biggest bands. Like Thorgenson’s trademark surreal landscapes, we’ll make an otherworldly scene filled with unexplained objects. Our red orbs here are made using simple compositing tools and tonal tricks in Affinity Photo. We’ll begin by creating a sphere, which is simply a matter of making a circular shape, then adding a gradient and dodging and burning different parts to make it look 3D. Once done, we’ll duplicate our mysterious sphere around the scene, resizing and repositioning as we go to make our orbs recede into the distance. We’ve used an eerie desert landscape here (download for free from www.pixabay.com, search for image no. 1170031) for…

In 17th century Holland a trend emerged for larger-than-life still-life paintings of flowers. Galvanized by the fledgling disciplines of botany and horticulture at the time, Dutch artists like Jan Brueghel the Elder, Ambrosius Bosschaert and Roelandt Savery painted bulging bouquets brimming with allegory. Impossibly overblown arrangements full of tangling stems and masses of overlapping blooms were typical pieces of work for the time. These collections of luscious art would go on to influence both painting and flower arrangement for centuries to come. We’ll take inspiration from the Dutch masters in this project to craft our own impossible flower arrangement. By holding our flowers in various positions over a series of frames we can elevate the bouquet to a height that defies the laws of physics. Of course, this also means…

In spring 2020, the global pandemic brought me back home from spending winter in the Austrian Alps to Mitzpe Ramon in the Negev Desert in Southern Israel. It’s a small town with an exhilarating landscape and the largest natural erosion crater in the world. During this period, I decided to take up a project on freeriding around my hometown: if I wasn’t able to shoot winter sports on the snowy mountains, I’d shoot mountain biking on the desert ridges. It was my first independent photography and video project on mountain biking in the sandy topography of the desert terrain. My inspiration and narrative were to create freeride mountain biking images and videos to emphasize the beauty of the desert, while bestowing the viewer with a dramatic impression of the landscape.…

Q I’m after a good portrait lens for my D700 but want to keep the cost down. What’s a good used buy? Frank Reynolds A Matthew recommends I’d go for the Nikon AF-S 85mm f/1.8G. It’s still available to buy new but, as it was launched back in 2012, there are lots of used ones to choose from. Nikon AF-S 85mm f/1.8G A SHARP AND FAST PRIME LENS FOR DSLRS THAT’S REASONABLY SMALL AND LIGHTWEIGHT RELEASED: 2012 PRICE NEW: £427/$477 SECONDHAND PRICE: ‘Excellent’ £300/$325 ‘Good’ £275/$275 A focal length of 85mm is often considered ideal for portraiture, as it enables a comfortable working distance that’s neither too close nor too distant, perfect for head-and-shoulders or half-length portraits. It also works well for tight head shots on a DX format camera,…

Lab tests explained Sharpness A chart with multiple sharp boundaries is photographed, the extent of blur at the centre, mid and edges showing how many line widths per picture height the lens can resolve. Simply put, the bigger the numbers the sharper the lens. Fringing Chromatic aberration is visible as purple or green fringing around high-contrast boundaries, caused by different wavelengths being focused on different areas of the sensor. The larger the number, the worse the score. Distortion A lens that bulges towards the edges of the frame produces barrel distortion, shown as a negative score. Pincushion distortion produces a positive score. A score of zero indicates no distortion. Our awards in a nutshell The best performance, design and value A product that gives you more for your money The…

Most of us wanting a wide-angle zoom for a Z-mount Nikon mirrorless camera should look no further than the deeply impressive Nikon 14-30mm f/4 S, which delivers exceptional image quality and excellent all-round performance in a relatively compact and lightweight construction, all at an affordable price. There are those, however, that insist on a faster, more top-flight f/2.8 aperture rating. That’s the driving force behind the newer 14-24mm, which doesn’t go as far in terms of zoom range but gives you a whole extra f-stop to play with. Nikon’s DSLR-format Nikon AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED has achieved nigh-on legendary status over the years, but this new Z-mount lens aims even higher. And it needs to aim high, as its sibling 24-70mm and 70-200mm f/2.8 Z-mount lenses are both star performers.…

£159/$197 A basic but affordable DX lens As a DX lens, this Nikon only needs to produce a small image circle, for covering a downsized APS-C format sensor. That and its fairly modest f/1.8 aperture rating enables a small and lightweight build but, even so, it’s only marginally smaller and is actually a little heavier than the FX format Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.8 lens on test. The design is based on just eight elements in six groups but, again, that’s still one more element than is featured in the F-mount Nikon 50mm lens. Both have a seven-blade diaphragm for controlling the aperture, but the DX 35mm lens lacks a focus distance scale. The mounting plate is metal, which is good news considering the budget price tag, but the plate has…

£389/$447 Quite compact and lightweight for an f/1.4 lens Compared with the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 lens on test, the Nikon is only half the physical length and about a third of the weight. The flip side is that it’s a lot simpler than the Sigma, with eight rather than 13 optical elements, and feels rather less robust. A further sign of the downsizing is that the Nikon only has a 58mm filter thread. The straightforward optical path doesn’t contain an aspherical element (as featured in the Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.8G), there are no ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements and no Nano Crystal Coat. Indeed, it’s a very traditional lens that’s more than 20 years old. Performance Autofocus accuracy is more critical in very wide-aperture lenses and the Nikon does fairly well…

When Elvis Presley was asked his views on war protesters during a press conference at Madison Square Garden in 1972, he famously said: “I’m just an entertainer.” Had it been John Lennon in the hot seat, I think the reporter would have received a very different answer… Art doesn’t have to be political, but some of the world’s greatest works are. Bob Dylan, Don McCullin, Andy Warhol and George Orwell would be remembered very differently if they shied away from creating anything that was remotely political. Following issue 114’s interview with photojournalist Nina Berman, N-Photo received several emails suggesting the magazine had no place for politics. And that seemed like a very interesting topic to address in Parting Shot. Political gains Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I…

Some effects just can’t be replicated in Adobe Photoshop, and circular polarizing filters are one of those things. This essential landscape photography tool is used to reduce reflections and add more punch to blue skies. But these useful accessories can also be used to change the appearance of computer screens, since most laptops, tablets and even smartphones emit polarized light. In this project we’re going to transform a set of clear plastic forks into the vibrant – almost radioactive-looking – abstract you see above. The trick is to attach a circular polarizing filter onto your lens, which you then twist to change the filter’s intensity. When you find the accessory’s sweet spot the screen of your electronic device will appear entirely black, while the plastic cutlery will take on all…

One of the main challenges with landscapes is in balancing out bright skies with darker landscapes, especially if – like here – the foreground is in deep evening shade. Let’s be honest, when editing a landscape like this, where the contrast between land and sky is too great, many of us might simply lift the Shadows and drop the Highlights. It’s a quick fix that may help to pull detail out of the lightest and darkest portions of the frame, but can also lead to an image looking over-processed, almost HDR-like. Sometimes it’s better to take a targeted approach. By making local adjustments that are tailored to specific areas of the shot, the results can look more natural. Here, we’ll look at how to make a series of powerful local…

Most of us use a standard zoom for everyday shooting, but limiting yourself to this one type of lens will also limit your creativity. A standard prime enables you to see things differently. Sure, its fixed focal length will mean it lacks the versatility of a zoom lens in some respects, but there’s a lot to be said for ‘zooming with your feet’ to attain the ideal shooting position. Speaking of perspective, a standard prime gives you a natural viewing angle that equates to a lifelike perspective. A big advantage of a standard prime over a standard zoom is a faster aperture rating. Compared with a DX (APS-C) format f/3.5-5.6 standard zoom, an f/1.8 prime lens will be up to 3.33 f-stops faster, while a 50mm f/1.4 lens will be…

£199/$217 A classic nifty fifty for full-frame DSLRs There are several similarities between this FX format lens and the DX format Nikon 35mm. Despite this one needing to produce a larger image circle to cover a full-frame sensor, it has the same diameter and is only 2mm longer. However, it does have a noticeably larger filter thread of 58mm compared with the DX lens’s 52mm. Added luxuries that are lacking in the DX lens include a focus distance scale, positioned beneath a viewing window, and a weather-seal ring on the mounting plate. Both lenses are supplied with a hood and pouch. You can often get away without using the hood, as the front element is recessed quite deeply within the inner barrel. Performance Autofocus speed is a little pedestrian but…

£439/$497 This Z-mount lens delivers lovely sharpness Nikon’s Z-mount 50mm f/1.8 lens packs a much more sophisticated optical path than its DSLR-based lenses on test. As such, there are 12 elements in total, including two aspherical elements, two ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements and Nano Crystal Coat. As usual with S-line Z-mount optics, build quality is very good and includes a comprehensive set of weather-seals. The stepping motor-based AF system is silent yet fast for stills, while enabling smooth autofocus transitions when shooting movies. Other bonuses for movie capture is that focus breathing is almost nonexistent. Performance Levels of sharpness are in a different league to the F-mount Nikon lenses on test, from the centre of the frame to the extreme edges and corners. It’s the kind of step up in…

£599/$799 A real heavyweight of a standard prime Sigma’s previous 50mm lens was renowned as being a heavyweight but the replacement ‘Art’ edition really piles on the pounds. It gains 50 per cent in physical length and rises from 505g to 815g in weight. The main reason for the Art lens’s weight gain is that it has a much more complex and sophisticated optical path than its predecessor, based on 13 rather than eight elements. These include one complex aspherical element and three SLD (Special Low Dispersion) elements. Build quality feels superb, although there are no weather-seals and the focus ring doesn’t quite have the tactile fluidity of Nikon’s Z-mount lenses. When speed is of the essence, you can count on the Sigma’s autofocus system being fast and accurate. Performance…

£639/$697 A wide-angle lens that’s a standard stand-in major plus point of the Z 50 DX format mirrorless camera is that it has the same lens mount as its FX format mirrorless siblings. As with DX and FX format Nikon DSLRs, you can therefore use full-frame compatible lenses without any incompatibility issues. That’s just as well because, so far at least, Nikon has only released two DX-specific Z-mount lenses, and they’re both narrow-aperture zooms. This FX format Z-mount lens is currently the best option as a standard prime for the Z 50. It has a very ‘standard’ 52.5mm effective focal length, after applying the 1.5x crop factor, and a usefully fast f/1.8 aperture rating. Features, build quality, handling and performance attributes are exactly the same as those of the Z…

It’s not by chance that Z-mount lenses perform so superbly well… The removal of the reflex mirror assembly in mirrorless cameras enables a relatively close proximity of the lens mounting flange to the image sensor. This, coupled with a wider flange diameter, enables greater freedom at the lens design stage, and enhanced image quality as an end result. The Nikon Z 50mm f/1.8 S is simply the best standard prime that we have in this Big Test, with high-end handling characteristics, winning overall performance and spectacular image quality. Similarly, the Z 35mm f/1.8 S lens, despite being full-frame compatible, makes the best standard prime when mounted on the Z 50 DX format camera. But, of course, both these lenses are only options for owners of Nikon mirrorless Z cameras. In…