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

FREE BOOK! CAMERA & LENS BUYER’S GUIDE Turn to page 119 for details Have you ever been asked to shoot a wedding for a friend or family member, purely on the basis that you own a ‘proper’ camera, and therefore must know everything there is to know about photography? If so, how did you react? With unbridled enthusiasm, or with a mounting sense of trepidation bordering on panic? If you’re anything like me, the latter will be nearer the mark, which is where this issue’s fantastic feature comes in: it takes you through the big day shot by shot, setting by setting. It won’t take away the nerves completely, but it will give you the confidence to capture the key moments. And if you think shooting a wedding is scary,…

With all of the pressure of capturing the couple’s big day, shooting a wedding can be one of the most stressful and daunting prospects for any photographer. But a bit of planning and some key settings and ideas will give you the confidence to get great shots, and maybe even enjoy the experience! The greatest stress for any wedding photographer is the prospect of having to capture a huge range of images throughout the day, so we’ve broken it down into ten bite-sized shoots. This means you can focus on photographing the big day in more manageable sections, from the bride getting ready before the ceremony to the final shots of the reception, rather than the wedding as a whole. Each section reveals the settings you need to use, the…

The mission • To learn how to get the most from a circular polariser Time • 10 minutes Skill level •Beginner • Intermediate • Advanced Kit needed • Nikon D-SLR • Circular polariser “Circular polarisers enable you to give skies extra punch, and help to reduce glare Circular polarisers are among the most important filters you can buy for your Nikon. They are pretty much essential for landscape photography as they enable you to give skies extra punch, and help to reduce glare and reflections on shiny surfaces. Polarisers work by filtering out so-called polarised light (ie light waves travelling in a single plane, rather than in all directions). When light reflects off a nonmetallic surface (such as water) it becomes partially polarised, and a polarising filter can be rotated…

The mission • To photograph a classic car with a single flashgun Time • Half a day Skill level • Beginner • Intermediate • Advanced Kit needed • Nikon D-SLR • Tripod • Monopod • Flashgun • Flash bracket mount • Wireless triggers • Softbox • Car or other vehicle You don’t need lots of specialist kit to shoot cars like the pros. By combining shooting techniques and a bit of Photoshopping, you can highlight the shoulder line of a classic sports car to create a photo with some real class. Your lone flashgun and softbox won’t give the coverage of a pro lighting set-up, so to get your finished image, you’ll need to take several shots of the car, lighting it from above, and, with each frame, moving the…

Mission: To capture Banhudi’s wall paintings, focusing on the children to add life to the images. Photographer: Sirsendu Gayen Age: 37 Location: Kolkata, West Bengal, India Kit: Nikon D610, Nikon AF-S 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR, Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.8G, Tokina 12-24mm f/4 AT-X Pro DX, Tamron SP 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC “The paintings are full of colour, but I chose to shoot in black and white, to put the emphasis on the children rather than the paintings Iam an assistant professor of chemistry at Vivekananda College in Kolkata, India, and have been a passionate amateur photographer since 2006. Photography is my way of freely sharing what I see through the lens. I do not aim to impress others, but to express life through my photography. I enjoy shooting many different…

TOP TIP JPEG Vs RAW Many of Capture NX-D’s editing tools will only work when you’re fixing RAW files, but you can happily recompose a JPEG using the Crop and Straighten tool. JARGON BUSTER ASPECT RATIO This term describes the ratio of the long and short edges of a rectangular image. All Nikon D-SLRs shoot in 3:2 format, while a widescreen television typically uses a slightly wider 16:9 format. When you’re out shooting unpredictable subjects, such as children, you won’t always have the time to compose every shot with care. To catch the action you may have to shoot first and recompose later. Fortunately Capture NX-D’s post-production tools enable you to turn a quick holiday snap into a carefully considered composition. The beauty of cropping is that you can remove…

DECEMBER, 1971 • NEAR CALCUTTA, INDIA • NIKON F Early in the 1970s the Daily Express had no fewer than 64 staff photographers, one of whom was the relatively inexperienced John Downing. He was well down the pecking order when it came to getting assignments. Fortunately, he’d been given one crucial piece of advice: to keep his injections up to date. In December 1971, this became the deciding factor when the paper needed a photographer to cover the cholera epidemic devastating the new nation of Bangladesh. “They didn’t have a single other photographer who was needled up with cholera, but I was, so I was sent out. I got my first taste of a major story.” John flew to Calcutta (now Kolkata) and travelled the short distance to a refugee…

Aaduki Multimedia With over ten years’ experience, Aaduki Multimedia is one of the leading insurance providers to amateur and professional photographers; from insuring a single camera to providing liability and indemnity insurance to insuring drones, we specifically tailor policies to the requirement of each customer, offering a wide scope of cover, and real value for money. Our friendly and knowledgeable team are on 01837 658880. Quotes and cover are also available at: www.aaduki.com/quote Glover & Howe Glover & Howe camera schemes have origins dating back to the early 1960s, making the company probably the longest-established camera scheme insurer in the UK. The company settles 90% of claims in-house, thus speeding up the whole process. Competitive premiums start from just £22 for amateurs, which allows up to 60 days of worldwide…

The mission • To capture a band playing live in a poorly-lit venue Time • One hour Skill level •Beginner • Intermediate • Advanced Kit needed •Nikon D-SLR •Fast, wide-angle lens “With so much to think about, shooting a gig is a real challenge, but it can also be a lot of fun Live music can be a challenge to photograph, especially indoors. There’s a lot of fast, erratic movement to contend with, and usually very low lighting. And to make matters worse, many venues don’t permit the use of flash. But that’s not to say it’s impossible: armed with the right settings, there’s no reason you can’t come away with shots that rock. The first thing to consider when shooting gigs is what you are and aren’t allowed to…

Keen birdwatcher – and now keen bird photographer – Simon Lewis swoops in for a review of his ornithological shots Most of these shots are of captive birds from a couple of bird sanctuaries near my home. I’m a keen birdwatcher and love nature in general, so I find all these animals exhilarating to see in action and up close. With a long lens you can see the details of their plumage, eyes and other features. I have a special fondness for eagles, as they’re such majestic creatures, and it’s a real privilege to get close to one. I hope to photograph some in the wild this year! I try not to just take documentary shots of wildlife. I prefer to capture my subjects doing something a little different and…

Upgrading your camera doesn’t need to cost a fortune. If you’re currently using something along the lines of, say, a D40 or D3100, there’s a lot to be said for trading up to a D5500. Making the most of the downsizing philosophy of the DX format, it goes further (or smaller) than most, with a compact monocoque body made from carbon fibre composite that weighs in at just 470g, which is barely more than half the weight of the new D500 – something which has obvious appeal to travel photographers. The design is undeniably simple, and lacks many of the control buttons featured on other cameras in on test. The D5500 fights back, however, with a touchscreen that makes for quick and easy menu navigation. Adjusting shooting parameters is therefore…

“The D610 feels solidly built, with its mix of magnesium alloy and polycarbonate body panels, and its generous weather sealing The biggest plus point of this camera is that it offers fullframe photography for just 􀂅1000/􀀇1500. Indeed, it’s considerably less expensive than the new DX-format D500. However, it’s also Nikon’s oldest D-SLR that’s still rolling off the production line, and some of its specifications now look a bit dated. Its image sensor, for example, has long since been superseded by that of the D750, and it’s the only camera on test with an older-generation EXPEED 3 processor. The 39-point autofocus system is adequate, although the AF points only cover a relatively central area of the image frame. The metering system is also a generation behind that of the newer D750.…

“The D500 boasts the same 153-point AF system as Nikon’s flagship D5, complete with no fewer than 99 cross-type AF points An upgrade for the D300S has been so long coming that some of us thought it might never arrive. Finally, though, pro-grade build quality and handling in a DX body are back, and it’s been worth the wait. As usual in this class of body, the shooting mode dial at the top left of the camera is replaced by a button array. Handling feels entirely natural for those upgrading from a D300S, or any of Nikon’s older pro-level cameras. The tilting touchscreen is an added bonus, although the implementation of touch features isn’t as intuitive as it is in the D5500. In keeping with the suitability of the DX…

The winner is... Nikon D750 £1390, $2000 What’s good: Slim, lightweight build for an FX-format camera, fabulous image quality. What’s bad: Labelled as pro-level in the UK, but it has more of a consumer-level design. Our verdict: Sensibly priced, yet with superb all-round performance, it’s the ultimate upgrade As an all-rounder, the D750 is the best camera in the group. It’s compact for an FX-format camera, yet boasts great handling and delivers sublime image quality even at very high-ISO settings. It’s more than worth the extra outlay over the older D610, but if you demand the ultimate in resolution at the expense of noisier images and less dynamic range at high ISOs, the D810 is the best choice. The D500 is undoubtedly Nikon’s best DX-format camera to date. It’s a…

Home to some of the most iconic creatures on the planet, Africa entrances wildlife photographers like no other continent. Feast your eyes on some of the very best Nikon-shot entries from 2016’s Nature’s Best Photography Africa competition, and feel the call of the wild… HIGHLY HONOURED, African Landscapes Elephants into the Field Federico Veronesi, Nairobi, Kenya At the heart of the Amboseli ecosystem is a series of lush swamps that provide a major source of food and water for wildlife from the surrounding areas. Late one afternoon I found these three families crossing the lake, while the sun was hiding behind the clouds in the west. It was such a surreal and eternal scene. I photographed them slightly from behind to convey the sense of space and movement, and to…

The mission • To photograph an illuminated landmark at dusk Time • One evening Skill level • Beginner • Intermediate •Advanced Kit needed • Nikon D-SLR • 50mm lens • Tripod • Cable release (optional) “What you’re after is that moment when the lights are all on, but there’s still a hint of blue in the sky. This is known as the ‘blue moment’ Light pollution is fast becoming a hindrance to photographers across the globe, but for this project we’re going to make it work for us. In the right setting, city lights can look great at dusk, and if those lights are illuminating an-already impressive landmark, they can give it a real lift. So with this in mind, we decided to try to photograph one of the UK’s…

The mission • To tweak tones precisely in specific areas of an image Time • Ten minutes Skill level •Beginner • Intermediate • Advanced Kit needed • Lightroom 5 or later “Use the Adjustment brush to make precise tonal arrangements to irregular shapes When it comes to exposure, most photos will benefit from a few slider tweaks in Lightroom’s Develop module to reveal more tonal detail. The Basic panel’s Exposure slider makes global adjustments that evenly lighten or darken tones across the whole photo. This works well if the entire image is under-or over-exposed, but if you use the Exposure slider to lighten under-exposed shadows in a high-contrast image, you may clip (blow out) correctly exposed highlights. Similarly, if you try to claw back highlight detail with the Exposure slider,…

“I had only five minutes to shoot Lizzie at the various outdoor locations while they were resetting the cameras, so there was a bit of pressure These images of Lizzie Armitstead, the reigning World, Commonwealth and National Road Race champion, were taken for a company called CyclePlan, which sells insurance for cyclists. Lizzie is an ambassador for the company, and was also making a TV ad. The images were shot on location in Castleton, North Yorkshire, and at a nearby hotel. We needed quite a big room, as there were half-a-dozen lights, a backdrop,make-up artists,wardrobe and so on. Once I’d met with the agency people and talked through the ideas, I pretty much had free rein. The production company who did the video chose the locations, however. There’s a lot…

“Like other ‘enthusiast’ bodies from Nikon, it features a wealth of controls, an upmarket pentaprism viewfinder, and a top-plate LCD Announced a couple of months after the D5500, back in March of last year, the 24Mp D7200 feels like much more of a genuine ‘upgrade’ to cameras like the D40 and D3100, with a more noticeable improvement in features and handling. Like other ‘enthusiast’ bodies from Nikon, it features a wealth of control buttons and dials for instant access to important shooting settings, an upmarket pentaprism viewfinder, and a top-plate LCD, all of which are lacking in the D5500. As a DX-format camera, it will obviously be compatible with any DX lenses you might already have in your collection. It’s undeniably chunkier and heavier than the D5500 body, but feels…

“The D750 is very beginner-friendly, though it also caters to enthusiast photographers, with its excellent range of direct controls The D750 has pretty much all of the same controls in all of the same places as the D610 and D7200 but, in the UK at least, it’s classed as a ‘professional’ rather than ‘enthusiast’ level camera. It’s a slimline affair based on a monocoque body, but unlike the similar ‘onepiece’ body of the D5500, the D750’s features a mix of magnesium alloy and carbon fibre, instead of just carbon fibre composite. The upshot is that it’s remarkably slim for an FX body, and you’ll notice that the top LCD is thinner as a result. Even so, it feels reassuringly solid in the hand, thanks to its deeply sculpted finger grip.…

“The D810’s main performance asset is that it can out-resolve any other camera in this test group Building on the success of the D800, the re-designed D810 completely omits an OLPF (Optical Low-Pass Filter), for the sake of maximising sharpness. It’s worth pointing out that all of the DX-format cameras on test are the same in this respect, while an OLPF is retained in the D610 and D750. OLPF aside, the 36.3Mp D810 rules the roost when it comes to megapixel count. Like both the D500 and D750, the D810 is classed as a professional-grade camera, and its design, handling and build quality make it a close match to the D500. Like the D500, it boasts the usual pro-level control layout, but it’s the only camera on test with a…