Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2016 i N-Photo: the Nikon magazine

Get even more out of N-Photo Online Catch up with Nikon news, get inspired and learn new skills www.digitalcameraworld.com Facebook Join 285,000 Nikon nuts who ‘Like’ us on Facebook www.facebook.com/nphotomag Twitter Follow our tweets and keep up to date with all things #Nikon www.twitter.com/nphotomag About the cover Title Mesembryanthemum Photographer Jason Parnell-Brookes Camera Nikon D90 Lens Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.8G (reversed) Exposure 1/200 sec, ISO640 Description I spotted this beauty in the garden on a sunny day. With the lens reversed, I stood in front of the flower to block the direct sun overhead. By shooting centrally I was hoping to display its almost perfect symmetry. FREE EBOOK! THE FLASH FIELD GUIDE Turn to page 28 for details Ask most pros – or most pros who have to turn their…

One of the biggest problems with Speedlights is that the light they produce is very harsh. This is because the front of a Speedlight is only a couple of inches across, and light that comes from a small source is hard-edged. Bigger is better This hard edge is why pointing a Speedlight directly at your subject without any kind of diffusion is one of the worst things you can do with it. Frontal flash blasts the subject with harsh, flat light, resulting in hot spots (those ugly highlights on a person’s face) and destroying any sense of depth. If the subject is close to the background, they’ll also cast an ugly, hard-edged shadow. Only ever point your flash directly at your subject if you have a diffuser attached, or if…

If James Paterson’s fantastic feature on flash photography has got you all fired up about flash, then do yourself a favour and download your free copy of The Flash Photography Field Guide today, courtesy of Ilex Press. As James’s feature makes clear, shooting with any kind of flash – whether a simple light on your camera, a remotely-triggered unit, or a complete studio set-up – totally changes the photographic experience. No longer do you simply need to be aware of light, now you need to know how to shape it to meet your needs – which is where The Flash Photography Field Guide comes in. Written by regular N-Photo contributor Adam Duckworth, it takes you step by step through the skills you need to take control of your flash, whether…

THE PRO... NAME David Southern CAMERA Nikon D810 David has worked in the photographic industry for over 30 years, and has always been involved in wildlife. He has shot with a variety of equipment and camera brands over the years, but now shoots on Nikon. He founded Wild Arena in 2003, with the idea of sharing his knowledge with others and making use of his contacts in the photographic industry. www.wildarena.com THE APPRECENTE.. NAME Bailey Hurlow CAMERA Nikon D5300 Hailing from Corsham in Wiltshire, 21-year-old amateur photographer Bailey spends most of his free time shooting. His enthusiasm for photography has driven him to shoot cars, portraits, landscapes and lots of other subjects. He already has a good foundation of technical knowledge and a keen eye, but he wants to get…

Peter Sharpe favours a particularly tricky sort of subject, and asked our experts to scrutinise his shots… After talking with a wildlife photographer, I decided to start photographing butterflies as an alternative to birds during the summer. I wanted to capture more than just those that I saw regularly in my garden, such as the Meadow Brown, so I bought some books, joined British charity Butterfly Conservation, and began visiting likely sites such as Barnack Hills and Hollows, where I photographed species such as the Marbled White and Green Hairstreak. This led to photographing butterflies as part of my annual trip to the Alps, which is where I took the image of the Peak White [1]. The easiest part of shooting butterflies in the Alps was taking in the fantastic…

Kenko Auto Extension Tube Set DG for Nikon Mount Nikon AF Electronic comm unication Yes Autofocus enabled Yes TTL me tering enabled Yes Came ra-based aperture control Yes Im age stabiliser No Optical eleme nts None Diameter 62mm Le ngth 12mm, 20mm, 36mm Web www.kenkoglobal.com Price £100/$125 Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Macro EX DG OS HSM Mount Nikon AF Electronic comm unication Yes Autofocus enabled Yes TTL me tering enabled Yes Came ra-based aperture control Yes Im age stabiliser Yes Optical eleme nts 16 Diameter 78mm Le ngth 126mm Web www.sigma-global.com Price £330/$620 Background This versatile set comprises three separate tubes, measuring 12mm, 20mm and 36mm in length. It’s made by Japanese company Kenko, which has been making photographic accessories since 1957, and merged with lens manufacturer Tokina in 2011. The…

Ryan Engstrom PAGE 11 Ryan’s abstract shot from Utah’s Zion National Park is among the images in this issue’s Lightbox. You’re sure to find some extra inspiration in there! Kevin Cummins PAGE 93 Kevin reveals how his moody, atmospheric shots of a littleknown band – Joy Division – led to a career photographing some of the biggest names in rock. James Paterson PAGE 16 In this issue’s Ultimate Guide to Flash, James shows you how to get the best possible results from your Speedlight so you always have the light you need. Kirsty Mitchell PAGE 94 Kirsty’s project ‘Wonderland’ led to the most successful photo book Kickstarter ever. Discover how grief became art, and led to a new career, in our interview. David Southern PAGE 55 Take a closer look…

Speedlights come in all shapes and sizes, and many have useful features that go well beyond what’s covered here, but if you’re just getting started, there are three settings that matter most: manual mode, TTL metering and flash exposure compensation. You’ll find explanations for each of those settings here, as well as details of a few of the features found on most Speedlights. Manual mode Manual mode is the easiest mode both to use and to understand. You simply dial in the power setting you want. Full power (1/1) will give you the most light, and you can then dial down from there, usually to 1/128 power. On a shoot this means you can either use a light meter, or simply fire off a test shot or two and use…

Like a shackled bird, a Speedlight used solely on a Nikon’s hotshoe can never spread its wings and fly. It’s only when you start to take it off-camera and fire it remotely that you begin to realise the full potential of flash photography. On camera you have just two options for positioning your flashgun: you can point it straight at your subject (which we now know is rarely a good idea), or you can bounce the light off a nearby surface. Off-camera, you can place it anywhere you like: to the left or right, behind the subject, up a tree, on the ground, through a doorway – whatever works for your shot. The right direction The direction from which light hits your subject has a huge effect on the way…

The mission ● To capture better landscapes with ND grads Time ● 30 minutes Skill level ● Beginner ● Intermediate ● Advanced Kit needed ● Nikon D-SLR ● Graduated neutral density filters You have a beautiful landscape before you, but capturing both the bright sky and darker land, perfectly exposed, within a single frame is an impossible task – unless you have the right kit. What you need is a graduated neutral density filter, or ‘ND grad’. (See page 110 for our in-depth roundup of Nikon-fit ND grad systems.) With an ND grad attached to the front of your lens, you’ll instantly be able to retain the drama in very bright skies (that might otherwise have blown out), while exposing the landscape below correctly. Unlike circular filters, ND grads are…

Mission: To capture the beauty of Norwegian and Irish mountain ranges Photographer: Hubert Leszczynski Age: 34 Location: Swords, Dublin, Ireland Kit: Nikon D800, Nikon AF-S 16-35mm f/4G ED VR, Nikon AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II Website: www.hubertleszczynski.com My adventures in photography began in 2007 when I got my first D-SLR, a Nikon D80. Back then I tried to gain as much knowledge of photography as I possibly could, trying to practise at the same time. I was keen to learn more and more. Nikon cameras had been on my mind long before I bought my D80. A good friend of mine had one of them and I was absolutely amazed with it. I knew back then that when I got a camera like that it would be a Nikon.…

LETTER OF THE MONTH Tell the truth Many thanks for continuing to provide excellent resource material for us phrustrated [sic] photographers; The Outdoor Landscape & Nature Photography ebook being the latest example. However, being a facilitator for our local community photography group, I do get somewhat peeved when example photos are printed without providing the details of how the result was achieved. For example, the photo on page 10 has been shot using either HDR or a graduated ND filter, or has been enhanced during post-processing. If N-Photo’s mission is to provide amateur photographers with tips on how to take better pictures, then it needs to show them what the actual result was when trying to take a landscape photo when facing the rising sun with the camera set on…

Each generation thinks of him as their own.” So says photographer Kevin Cummins when referring to this portrait of Ian Curtis, lead singer of post-punk band Joy Division. Cummins took this portrait in January 1979 while photographing the band for the legendary music paper New Musical Express (NME). Less than 18 months later, Curtis took his own life. He was 23. This image of Curtis has since developed iconic status, but at the time Joy Division was barely known beyond Manchester, with a core of dedicated fans following the band to every gig. Kevin Cummins was one of those fans. He had photographed the band live and was less than two years into his working relationship with NME as a cash-strapped freelance photographer, counting each frame of film as though…

Nikon SB-500 Speedlight £199, $259 www.nikon.com Nikon’s latest Speedlight, the SB-500, is aimed at the enthusiast photographer and sits roughly in the middle of the company’s flash line-up for D-SLRs. It’s also compatible with some Coolpix models. The SB-500 packs in more power than the flash built into Nikon’s beginner and enthusiast D-SLRs, and has the added flexibility of tilt and swivel movements (90 degrees and 180 degrees respectively), so that you can bounce the light off nearby walls or ceilings to produce softer, more varied lighting effects (see page 22 for more on this). It’s powered by two AA batteries, and you should get around 140 shots from a pair of NiMH rechargeable cells. It is also is compatible with Nikon’s wireless Creative Lighting System, but unlike the Speedlight…

To get the most out of a Speedlight you need to know how it works in combination with your Nikon’s exposure settings. But before tackling this, a basic understanding of how shutter speed, aperture and ISO affect an exposure is vital. So if you’re a beginner, brush up on these fundamentals first. Once you know how these work, you’ll be well on your way. Two in one It can be useful to think of a flash-lit photograph as a combination of two exposures in one, the first being lit by the available light in the scene, the second by light from the flash. So, imagine taking a normal, non-flash shot first, to expose for ambient light in the scene. That’s your first exposure. Then, for the second, imagine that you’re…

Now you’ve got to grips with exposure, flash settings and positioning, it’s worth exploring ways in which you can manipulate the quality of the light, either by controlling the colour temperature with gels, changing the spread and softness with adapters, or learning how the flash duration changes with the power output. Colour control If you’ve ever experimented with your Nikon’s white balance controls, you’ll know that light comes in all kinds of colours. Most flashguns, including those made by Nikon, have a consistent colour temperature of around 5400 Kelvin, which is a similar-coloured light to that of the midday sun. Because of this, if you’re shooting indoors, it’s worth considering warming your Speedlight with gels to match the warmer artificial lighting, as a mismatch in colour temperature can look sloppy.…

From the small world of frogs and lizards, best captured with a macro lens, to stunning scenery that cries out for a wide-angle, our readers are covering all sorts of subjects this issue. We even tested your wedding photography abilities in this month’s competition – proof that whatever you love, you can capture it with your Nikon. So why not email or write to us and share your favourite subject? We always enjoy seeing what’s been inspiring you to take pictures N-Photo Magazine, Future Publishing, Quay House, The Ambury, Bath, UK, BA1 1UA mail@nphotomag.com…

Mission: To share the way I see the world Photographer: Luc-Andre Paquette Age: 39 Location: Kashihara, Japan Kit: Nikon D800, Nikon AF DX 10.5mm f/2.8D ED, Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED, Nikon AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II, Pocket-Wizards Website: www.lapart.ca I grew up on a dead-end dirt road, north of Ottawa, Canada, in the countryside of a city named Gatineau. There was not much to do where I lived and I had no means of transportation to go out and explore the area, so I was often left to my own active imagination. I usually spent my days daydreaming. One day, when I was five, my father introduced me to a little strange-looking black box with what looked like a glass eye in the front. He taught me to…

We’ve come to the end of this year’s N-Photo Photographer of the Year competition, and as every ending should be a happy one, we finished with the theme of ‘weddings’. That actually proved quite a tough subject, as real people, real places and real interactions don’t always make for ideal photography conditions, but you rose ably to the challenge. Turn the page to start browsing through the winners. You might be wondering who won the overall Photographer of the Year prize – well, we’ve saved the grand prize winner for next issue, so you’ll be able to feast your eyes on their images then. If you’re itching to join in the next competition yourself, keep an eye on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/nphoto, for announcements of each month’s theme, or check…

Quite the opposite from the visual intrigue of unexpected beauty is the kind of detail that makes a point. This is less about creating a graphic impact, and much more about facts. You might wonder why this should be a special feature of details; surely it applies across the board, at any scale? Well, one of the characteristics of visual detail is that it invites a slight delay in the viewer’s response. When you show a detail as an image, you’re inviting people to do what they don’t do very much – look into the scene and search. Here are two detail shots that deal in facts (right). In the case of the Khmer goddess on the walls of Angkor Wat, the detail within the detail is the bullet holes.…

Why are there so few DX-format prime lenses available, like a ‘standard’ 50mm? It seems like I’m being forced into getting an FX camera so I can get the focal length I want, without the 1.5x crop factor. Daryl Meredith, via email JASON SAYS... It’s really a case of supply and demand, as most DX camera users choose zoom lenses for most of the time. Things aren’t too bad, though, because you can use any FX lens on a DX body. There are actually advantages to this, as you’ll only be using the central area of the lens’s image circle, which means better image quality and less vignetting. Your lenses will also remain fully compatible if you do decide to upgrade to an FX body in the future. Just take…

Once you’ve built up a comprehensive camera kit, a camera backpack offers one of the most convenient ways to carry it all. Not only do they help spread the load better than shoulder bags, they tend to offer more space: most are able to accommodate a full-frame Nikon mounted to a sizeable telephoto lens, plus a complete complement of lenses and accessories. You can also expect at least one tripod mounting point, plus space for a full-size laptop. Even moderately-priced offerings have customisable interiors, and there can be just as much padding on the outside for your back, hips and shoulders. But what separates the best from the rest are extra features: some backpacks have clever openings that allow more convenient access, while others come with a separate rain cover…

WWW.JOEMCNALLY.COM You can’t see them. You can’t feel them, touch them, or taste them. But evidently, gravity waves are real. Which, once again, proves that Mr Einstein was quite a smart fellow indeed. Recent observations and conclusions made by a coalition of scientists, analysing data from large observatories, such as the one pictured here in Livingston, Louisiana, confirm the phenomenon of gravity waves. In terms of large-scale physics experiments, it doesn’t get any bigger than this. Physicists everywhere have been breathing heavily and rapturously over this data. Photographically speaking, I was breathing heavily when, years ago, I went to the LIGO observatory out in the boonies of Louisiana. Out of desperation. I was confronted with a grey, cement tunnel. And my editor at National Geographic told me to make an…