Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2015 - February 2016 i Photo Review

A close friend of mine is a very keen fisher. Very keen. A simple stroll along the beach invariably elicits a steady stream of observations about the current state of the tide, the wind and weather, the sea temperature, the presence or absence of gutters and rips, what the solunar tables indicate and, above all, where and what the bird life is up to at that moment. In a funny way, what he’s doing is not all that dissimilar to a photographer on a photo walk. We’re also looking at the world, watching the weather’s moment to moment changes, thinking about the way the light is now and speculating about what it will be later, looking for interesting angles and backgrounds and searching for the place and time where it…

Most people enjoy a fireworks display and photographers usually flock to venues where light shows like Sydney's Vivid Festival have been scheduled. It's not difficult for rank amateurs to take pictures at these events; even point-and-shoot cameras include 'Low Light' and 'Fireworks' modes to make it easy to obtain shots that can be shared via social media. Better results will be obtained when photographing light displays with more sophisticated cameras, particularly interchangeable-lens models with a full range of user-adjustable controls. Because you will be shooting at night, some specific conditions apply and you'll need the right equipment to obtain optimal results. Light installations often involve projections of moving images that change rapidly. Because their intensity is lower, high ISO settings are essential to provide short enough exposures to minimise blurring.…

Ever since the days of 35mm film photography, photographers have been looking for affordable ways to extend the capabilities of their cameras and lenses. Among the most popular products are teleconverters, or focal length extender lenses, which have been popular since the introduction of SLR cameras and continue to be used in the digital age. Wide-angle extenders and extension tubes for macro photography are other products that fit into the 'extender lenses' category. Both continue to be used, with Metabones (see box) providing some technological advances in the former category with its Speed Boosters. However, teleconverters still garner the largest number of actual sales, largely because they represent an affordable and handy way to obtain more 'length' from existing lenses without adding significant weight or cost. But they aren't necessarily…

As anyone who's ever tried to diet knows, food and our emotions are very tightly linked. For our winner, Susan Shanta, it's all about whimsey. A frequent participant in our challenges, Susan has a real talent for creating amusing dioramas to make her photographic point. And we thought ‘Too many cooks’; was a particularly artful response to our theme. Speaking of artful, Andy Parkee found an interesting angle on son Liam's chocolate cupcake-making escapades. In a Tarintino meets cuisine moment, Alex Russell exacts brutal revenge for all those tears inflicted on cooks in his aptly titled ‘The onion got it’. See www.photochallenge.com.au for all selected images. WINNER ‘Too many cooks’ by Susan Shanta FIRST RUNNER-UP Untitled by Andy Parkee HONOURABLE MENTION ‘The onion got it’ by Alex Russell…

Perhaps the best way to get some insight into your work as a freelance documentary photographer is to ask what you’ve been doing most recently. A lot of my work is about refugee and migration issues. I returned to Sydney from the Balkans a couple of days ago (in mid-September). I flew to Budapest, Hungary, and spent three weeks in Hungary, Austria, Germany, Serbia and Croatia – the tip of the spear with respect to the refugee crisis in Europe. It’s a huge, very dramatic situation with hundreds of thousands of people crossing into Europe, displaced by war, conflicts and famines in different regions. I didn’t have any assignments initially. I just decided to go and managed to pick up work while I was there. I shot for about a…

Most cities and towns put up displays of Christmas lights during the annual festive season and many householders also join in the fun. In recent years, many local councils have offered prizes for the best decorated houses and people often drive around in the evenings before Christmas to look at and photograph the lights. If you want to hand-hold the camera when it's dark, you'll need a fast lens, effective image stabilisation and a sensitivity of at least ISO 800. Steady the camera by leaning against a wall or building. Breathe in before taking the shot and hold your breath while pressing the shutter button slowly and steadily. Shooting at dusk is less demanding and may yield better pictures, particularly if you can contrast the vibrant colours of the lights…

Back in May 2013, Canon announced the EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4X lens with a built-in teleconverter. This lens remains unique as the only professional telephoto zoom lens with a built-in extender. Being large, heavy (3.5 kilograms) and very expensive (around $15,000 in Canon's online store when we went to press), it's mainly used by specialist sports and wildlife photographers. Its main advantage lies in being able to switch the extender in and out without taking the lens off the camera. This saves time and eliminates the risk of exposure of the camera's image sensor in environments with dust and high humidity. It also makes it possible to extend the focal length without changing the overall lens length. Interestingly, switching the extender group into the optical path reduces…

It’s only square Long before Instagram there was the Kodak Brownie box camera. Introduced in 1900, it was the first mass-market camera, and for the next six decades it was the first camera for generations of photographers. Because its negatives didn’t have a rectangular aspect ratio, Brownie shooters had to learn to think inside the square. And that’s our challenge to you. We want you to find a subject or subjects that work particularly well within a square frame; oh and just to add a little extra difficulty, there should be something square (object, pattern, etc) in the picture. In addition to sending entries via email, you’re also welcome to submit via Instagram, please use the hashtag #pra68challB. Please review the rules and email your entries to photochallenge@photoreview.com.au. Deadline for…

'I have no idea why, but I could make that camera work, whereas my father never could.' And from the very first roll of Kodak Gold he put through it, his approach was not that of a casual snapshooter, but of a photographer. When you ask photographers about their earliest picture-taking forays, the subjects are typically family, pets, friends and holidays. The photographic intentions are simple and immediate, and little thought is given to the final results – beyond a vague hope that the pictures will turn out more or less okay. The Scalone family lived on a busy suburban road in Sydney’s Abbotsford and Steve for his first picture-taking effort thought it would be interesting to see if he could photograph the cars at night. More particularly, he wanted…

Although almost any lens can be used for photographing landscapes, most photographers prefer wide-angle lenses because they better encompass scenic panoramas. Your choice of focal length will vary with the type of scene, how much of it you wish to record and the presence (or absence) of objects in the foreground. Timing can be critical to obtaining exciting shots. Make sure you're up by sunrise, even if it’s an overcast day. Late afternoon and early evening are also good times for attractive lighting. Low sun angles produce elongated shadows, which can add depth to scenes. Helicopters and hot air balloons can provide stable platforms for photographing landscapes and they provide a radically different angle from shots taken on the ground. Many destinations with striking landscapes have companies that offer rides…

OEM (original equipment manufacturer) partnerships come about when one manufacturer has expertise in an area another manufacturer lacks but needs in order to make certain products. It's been common practice for many years in automotive manufacturing, where companies can source key components for a single vehicle (for instance, gearboxes and lights) from multiple manufacturers. Similar arrangements have also existed among camera manufacturers since the days of film cameras, with Copal being the main manufacturer of leaf and focal plane shutters for Japanese cameras. The digital age has seen extensive outsourcing of image sensors since few photographic manufacturers have the resources to set up sensor foundries (Canon being the exception). Electronics manufacturers are better resourced, with Panasonic, Samsung and Sony taking the lead. Today, Sony is the leading manufacturer, producing roughly…