Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2019 - February 2020 i Photo Review

If you’ve ever watched the figure skating, gymnastics, surfing or even competitive whitewater kayaking, you will have encountered the ‘degree of difficulty’ scoring metric. Determining if a player has made a catch or scored a goal is normally unambiguous, but deciding if a gymnast has completed a balance beam routine with exceptional grace and precision, or if a surfer has effortlessly maintained her speed and flow through a complex series of manoeuvres is, well, highly subjective. And yet, even a casual observer can see the difference between a superlative performance by a great sportsperson and the more pedestrian efforts of their slightly less talented competitor. So, slippery and subjective as qualitative judgements may be, they are nevertheless unavoidable in any holistic assessment of sporting ability. I would argue that photography…

Why visit Considered Australia’s toughest wilderness trek, the Arthur Range has been exciting the most adventurous of photographers worldwide for many years. The timeless landscape passes over numerous peaks, often looming through mist with prehistoric lakes nestled into craters. Unpredictable weather can deliver dramatic changes in light and challenges in this pristine wilderness. The 15 kilometre traverse in Tasmania’s Southwest will test your mental and physical strength, but will leave a long lasting impression in both yourself and your images. Having endured and been tested by nature you will have earned photographs that can only be identified as the Arthur Range; images few photographers will ever achieve. When to go The warmer months between December and March are the best time to visit southwest Tasmania because they will provide the…

While we normally advise readers to frame shots by 'cropping within the camera' there are times when cropping images at the editing stage is worthwhile. Sometimes you simply want to remove distracting elements in the background. At other times you might want a different aspect ratio to fit an image into a frame or onto a page or sheet of printing paper. There can also be times when your lens simply isn't long enough to frame the subject as you'd like it, as well as times when you can't get close enough to the subject due to intervening objects. Cropping the shot in post-production allows you to address all these issues and produce an image that satisfies your requirements. You need not retain the rectangular shape of the original; cropping…

How long has it taken you to establish your career in Top End landscape photography? I started getting into landscape photography when I arrived in Darwin from the United Kingdom in 2008. I’d loved photography since I was kid, but I was just backpacking with a pocket camera. I did casual jobs here and there for 12 months while waiting for a residency visa, and that gave me time to get into it. It was just a hobby, but I moved up from the pocket camera – I’m up to camera three or four by now – a 50-megapixel Canon 5DsR – and by 2011 I thought I’d have a go at selling some prints at Darwin’s Mindil Beach Sunset Market [Thursdays and Sundays]. I got so busy getting prints…

There's no formal definition of what makes a 'panoramic' photograph, although the consensus holds it must be at least three times as wide as it is high. Some people also insist that the horizontal field of view covered must be wider than 105 degrees. The most common method for producing panoramas is to take a series of overlapping pictures covering a scene and stitch them together to form a single, elongated image. There are two main types of panoramic photography: cylindrical and spherical. We'll look at each in turn. Cylindrical Panoramas are the most popular type with stills photographers because they are the easiest to create with a normal camera. They can be produced from as few as two photos or more than ten. The angle covered need not necessarily…

At the ripe old age of 55, the Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition is without question one of the world’s greatest showcases for nature photography. The 2019 competition attracted close to 50,000 entries from the best wildlife and nature photographers working in some 100 different countries. Reflecting the immense diversity of the natural world, the 100-image exhibition is divided into 19 categories – 16 for adult photographers and three for younger picture takers. (The Natural History Museum champions ethical wildlife photography and its submission guidelines are therefore reassuringly strict as to what photographers may or may not do to obtain an image.) Here are a few of our favourites from WPY 2019… Touching trust By Thomas P Peschak, Germany/South Africa Highly Commended 2019, Wildlife Photojournalism A…

In-camera Panoramas Back in March 2009, Sony introduced the Sweep Panorama mode in its Cyber-shot DSC-HX1 camera, the first to offer in-camera panoramic recording. This 9.1-megapixel camera could record a continuous burst of shots while the shutter button was held down as the photographer 'swept' the camera across the scene. It would then stitch them together to produce a single panoramic image. The results were a bit hit-and-miss; if you lifted your finger before the recording stopped, the end of your panorama was recorded as a black rectangle. Also, because the frames were captured as videos, the resolution in the shorter dimension was restricted to the FHD format that was the highest available at the time. Vertical resolution was restricted to 1080 pixels for the Standard image size or 1920…

Mirrorless cameras with mechanical and electronic shutters tend to leave the mechanical shutter closed when the camera is turned off. To use the electronic shutter, the mechanical shutter must be opened at the beginning of the 'session' and closed at its end, which represents one complete cycle. This will happen when you record movies or use the 'silent shutter' setting. When the shutter remains open for long periods of time the image sensor will often become quite warm. This will increase image noise in the resulting images and, with repeated prolonged exposures to light, the sensor can develop 'dud' pixels. Although the latest cameras are designed to reduce the buildup of heat, they can't eliminate it entirely. Many cameras still become warm to the touch following a few minutes of…

Busy Bee By Corinne Bramwell Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ110; 1/60s; f/2.8; ISO 320 Locally seen bee in my garden in Cairns North Queensland. Don’s response Probably Australia's best known native bee, the Blue Banded Bee is a solitary species which nests in shallow burrows and can be found in every state apart from Tasmania. Corinne Bramwell's beautiful study was captured with a relatively basic point and shoot camera, proving that you don't need fancy gear to come up with good quality macro shots like this one. Delightful. Home after surgery By Zorica Purlija Nikon D4s; Nikkor 24-70mm lens My daughter after stomach surgery… for me the eyes and direct gaze say it all. Don’s response Courage doesn't have to be dramatic to be obvious. There is a deep sense of self-possession…