Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2018 i PhotoPlus : The Canon Magazine

Everybody knows that autumn is an epic time for photography: as the greens of nature transform into beautiful oranges and reds. However not everybody knows how to capture the best aspects of autumn with their Canon gear. In this month’s main Canon DSLR technique guide, we show you how to capture great photos of autumnal subjects, like colourful trees, landscapes, remarkable reflections in water, foraging wildlife as well as creative close-ups of vibrant leaves. Turn to page 28 now to get started. We take our Apprentice out to a photostudio with a talented Canon pro photographer this month to learn how to take amazing portraits of newborn babies, see page 8. We also talk to enigmatic Dutch landscape and seascape photographer about his deep bond with the sea and all…

APPRENTICE NAME: HEATHER BROADHURST CAMERA: CANON EOS 6D PHYSICS teacher Heather, from Surrey, took a keen interest in photography two years ago. Her husband had been shooting for over 30 years, so she decided to get involved and take a photography course. Starting with a Powershot G5X, she moved to her husband’s 5D and progressed to an improver’s and creative photography course. Hubby bought Heather a 6D of her own, and she has enrolled in an online photography diploma course. CANON PRO NAME: KAREN WILTSHIRE CAMERA: CANON EOS 5D MK IV AFTER 23 years at one of the country’s premier magazine printers, Karen established her Dorset studio in 2011. Her work has featured in magazines and newspapers around the world. She was the first to receive Craftsman status in Studio…

BUNDLE OF JOY A LOT of times, baby portraiture is as much about the items of secondary interest as it is about the subject itself. Floral flourishes can add a hint of colour, while furs create some extra texture. LATE NIGHT LULLABY JUST because you’re shooting babies doesn’t mean you can’t inject a bit of style and edge! This mono treatment creates a different mood, with a fine art look that would make a beautiful print. SMILING SLUMBER HERE’S a great tip: usually when sleeping babies roll their eyes, you’ll get a smile. When they dream is when their face moves. So once their eyes move, their mouths often follow!…

We Canon DSLR photographers, know that autumn is the most photogenic of all the seasons. Long, hot summer days and green trees make way for shades of red, brown and yellow; cool nights and warm morning sun create misty mornings to make landscapes appear otherworldly; plus nature is at its most captivating as animals prepare for hibernation. But knowing how to capture autumn at its very best can prove tricky. So, over the following pages, along with some of the best Canon pro photographs, we’re providing you with essential camera and photographic skills to take your best-ever shots.…

ANIMAL MAGIC From small squirrels and owls to deer and ducks, autumn wildlife is abundant 10 DURING A SPELL of cold weather, pro wildlife photographer Ben Hall spent several mornings photographing local fallow deer. The frost coupled with the autumn colours provided the perfect scene for this lone deer as it paused in the dawn light. Ben had positioned himself so that he was shooting into the sun to make the make the most of the rim lighting around the animal. The backlighting has also made the breath visible against the rays of light. He composed fairly wide to show the deer in its environment and used the hanging branches of the tree to act as a natural frame. 11 SQUIRREL! Whether it’s red squirrels still found in parts of…

Light painting is a great way to get into long-exposure photography and offers up a world where we can control light and shape it to suit our needs. Most of the time we use a powerful torch in low light or at night to visually paint a scene, with results often fantastical. However, in this project we’re going to place gelled torches in plastic tubes covered in translucent paper to create a light wand that features heavily in the creation of our ’80s inspired final photograph. The torch we’re using also has a stroboscopic effect built-in so we’re using this to our advantage to mimic a style reminiscent of 1980s film posters. Think of films like Tron and The Terminator where the sleek, neon colours are both retro and contemporary…

While many users gravitate towards Photoshop to create complex effects built up of layers and textures, Elements is just as capable when you know what you’re doing. This ink brush tutorial is one you’d usually find for Adobe’s more prominent program, but as you’ll see, you can achieve equally impressive results with Elements’ powerful toolset. The keys to this effect are twofold: carefully combining textures, and making creative use of layers and blend modes. We’ve supplied a number of textures on our disc (or at the link below), but you can find some fantastic files with a bit of online searching. In fact, we’re using a couple of free textures created by DeviantArt user Loadus – visit http://bit.ly/Loadus1 and http://bit.ly/Loadus2 in your browser to get them. The secret to achieving…

On the Isle of Lewis in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, Theo spotted this colourful cluster of detached fronds of egg wrack and bladder wrack forming an abstract pattern against white sand in a shallow tidal pool. The air-filled bladders of these marine algae keep their fronds floating and exposed to light so they can photosynthesize. Using a polarizing filter to avoid reflections and to reveal details beneath the surface, Theo experimented with focal lengths on his 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom while waiting for the wind to stop causing ripples and moving the seaweed. Once settled on his composition, at 125mm, he stopped down to f/14, resulting in a shutter speed of a quarter of a second. With his EOS 5DS R firmly secured on a Gitzo tripod, Theo captured what he describes…

My first arts project, Elements of Nature, began as an essay on our relationship with the environment. To my mind, the best way to illustrate this was to visually demonstrate our joint vulnerability to global warming. I decided the female form best represents how delicate a species we are, and the landscape would speak for itself. For my first shot, Elements of Nature, I found the remains of a ship, beached in the sand with its hull eaten away by the elements. Once a testament to our ability to mould metal, it was now succumbing to the powers of nature. Posing the model beside the massive hulk, looking so tiny that a gust of wind would blow her back into the waves, I hoped to convey how fragile we are.…

What do Ext. A and Ext. M modes on the Speedlite 600EX II-RT flash? Nathalie Morel, Preston BRIAN SAYS… When the flash is set to Ext. A (auto) mode it gets the current aperture and ISO settings from the camera automatically via the hotshoe, or a radio transmitter on the camera. If Ext. M (manual) mode is chosen, you must input the aperture and ISO on the flash itself. I sometimes use Ext. A mode for off-camera flashes that are lighting a background. Once set, the background brightness stays the same even if the aperture value changes Ext. M can be used for light painting with long exposures, you set the aperture and ISO to ensure that each flash is the correct brightness. Why don’t EF-S lenses from my EOS…

Lens Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Exposure 10 secs, f/9, ISO100 The Falls in Winter GRAHAM DUNCAN, UK SAYS… I’d hiked for some distance to reach this waterfall, and hoped that with the snow on the ground and a chill wind there would be plenty of ice surrounding the water. The clear blue skies and sunshine don’t tell the real story of how cold it was. I set my EOS 100D up on a tripod right at the edge of the water, which was somewhat precarious, but necessary for the composition I was after. I used Lightroom to lighten the shadows and pull back the highlights in the photo, I also added quite a lot of clarity to enhance the details. BRIAN SAYS… I’m not sure how far you…

GO MANUAL “BECAUSE we were using supplemental lighting, I told Heather to put her camera into Manual mode. The sync speed on my camera is 1/160 sec, so that’s how fast our shutter was going to be, and we kept the aperture at f/4 because I don’t want too much of the image falling out of focus. The ISO was at 100.” SINGLE POINT AF “I USE SINGLE AF point focusing. Nailing the autofocus is easier shooting at f/4 than at f/1.8, which some newborn photographers go down to, but using a single point AF gives you the most control. Always make sure to focus on the eyes.”…

Lens Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM Exposure 1/160 sec, f/4, ISO100 HEATHER’S COMMENT “It all clicked for me on this shoot. We were using the big lighting setups because the bigger the softbox, the softer the light. And the closer the light, the softer it’s going to be, because the shadows are less. It wouldn’t have made sense before Karen explained it like this, but now it does – and controlling the shadows creates shape in the image.” KAREN’S VERDICT “This is a lovely image that mum and dad would be really pleased with. Ella is posed beautifully and you can tell that Heather has understood the lighting principles. The bowl is a smidge too close to the bottom of the frame, but otherwise the composition is good and the…

SUNNY SCENES Make the most of the autumn light for exquisite scenic photographs 01 THE GOLDEN HOUR is directly after sunrise or just before sunset, and is a favourite time for photographers as light is blessed with a wonderful soft, warm quality as it’s filtered by particles in the atmosphere. The great thing about autumn is that sunrise isn’t at an ungodly hour, particularly when the clocks go back at the end of October – getting out of bed isn’t as much of a chore as it is in summer. The sun stays lower in the sky for longer too, meaning the ‘hour’ lasts a little longer. This makes it ideal for capturing creative scenes in autumn woods when shooting into the diffused light filtering through colourful tree leaves. 02…

Introducing light is the best way to add depth and dimension to your pictures. There are two complementary portrait lighting setups that can sculpt a subject’s face and body: broad lighting and short lighting. Broad lighting is where the side of the face turned towards the camera receives the most light. This area comprises the closest eye and cheek, the nose, the lips, and the jaw running up to the ear, making it the broadest side of the face (top image, opposite). Short lighting is where the side of the face turned away from the camera receives the most light. Since this area encompasses the farthest eye, cheek and jawline, it is the shortest side of the face (bottom image, opposite). The easiest way to remember it is that broad…

Ever wondered what the offspring of a hippo and a hamster might look like? Or a poodle and a gorilla? With a few simple Photoshop skills you can unleash your inner Dr Moreau and find out. Using a combination of selection and layer skills we can create all manner of creature combos. We’ve supplied the starting images for our zebra/cockerel hybrid (a ‘Zockera’?) but why not try the technique out on your own macabre creations? However, keep in mind that the success of an effect like this – or any composite – begins with the choice of images. There needs to be some consistency in the lighting, camera angle and the subject’s pose for the composite to work. If for example, you have one shot that’s lit with the hard…

All these images were taken using a Canon EOS 500D, which I love to shoot with as it’s a good quality camera that’s still affordable. As a sculptor predominantly, photography has three purposes in my art: I use it to research, to document the process and finished work, but also as a sketchbook and way to think through ideas. Often with the latter this is a way of creating interesting abstract images from sculptures I’ve made, and they become artworks in their own right. As an artist I create sculptures, photography and installations that explore how I perceive geometry, light and materials as I move through urban spaces. I aim to draw the viewer’s attention towards form and materials, emphasizing the way that structures control or are changed by light…

A couple of months ago we reviewed the new and improved Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS II USM, with its wealth of enhancements and upgrades that include a completely redesigned optical path and class-leading 5-stop image stabilizer. By contrast, the only obvious difference in the new 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III USM is that, in the UK, it’s 34 per cent more expensive than the previous edition. You could argue that, with the Mk II lens having been such a favourite of professional photographers across the world, there was little room for improvement. Indeed, the Mk III inherits the same blend of top-notch fluorite and Super UD (Ultra-low Dispersion) elements, and the same robust, weather-sealed build quality. The new lens also looks almost identical, except that it’s painted a slightly paler shade…

Limited back issues of PhotoPlus print editions are available on our MyFavouriteMagazines secure store at http://bit.ly/getphotoplus. But if you’ve got an iPad, Android, Kindle or Nook tablet, or iPhone or Android smartphone, you can download PhotoPlus back issues from the following digital edition options: • Got an Apple iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch? Get the free PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine app in the App Store or at bit.ly/photoplus_app then browse through our back issues or subscribe through the app. • Kindle Fire or Nook HD? Simply search for PhotoPlus on Amazon’s Newsstand or in B&N’s Nook store. • Android/Google Play? Go to bit.ly/photoplus_googleplay to subscribe to PhotoPlus on your Android device. LAST MONTH Issue 144 October 2018 CANON CAMERA CRAFT Go from beginner to experienced enthusiast • An interview with an…

01 RIGEL AND THE WITCH HEAD NEBULA BY MARIO COGO Captured in Namibia, the dark African sky was ideal to photograph the Witch Head Nebula and Rigel (a molecular gas cloud illuminated by Orion’s brightest star). Shot using the powerful Takahashi FSQ-106ED 530mm lens and the Astro-Physics 1200GTO German Equatorial Mount, the image was recorded using an Astro 6D – a cooling modified Canon EOS 6D. Lens Takahashi FSQ-106ED Super Apochromat Petzval Quadruplet Refractor Exposure 5 hours (multiple 1, 3 and 6 mins), f/3.6, ISO1600 02 MAGIC BY JINGYI ZHANG Shot in the middle of February this year on a Canon 5D Mark III, the magical Aurora Borealis erupts from the clouds and looms over the mountains in Stokknes on the south coast of Iceland. The snow has melted and…

REFLECTIONS IN AUTUMN Learn to improve your autumn landscape compositions by looking for lakes and rivers to bring shots to life 06 MAKE THE MOST of the abundant autumn colour in the landscape by including a lake and its reflection. A higher vantage point helps so you can shoot down on a lake to reflect as much of the scene as possible. Aim for calm windless days, so the surface of the water is as still as possible for a mirror-like reflection. Shoot with your back to the sun so that the landscape is illuminated to maximize the reflected colour. Set a mid-range aperture, around f/8, to give plenty of depth of field to your glassy, scenic landscape shot. 07 IF THE SKY is grey and boring – which can…

There’s something quite magical about rays of light. Whether seen on a misty morning walk as the sun breaks through gaps in the trees, or inside a dusty room pierced by shafts of light from the window, light rays can create a wonderful atmosphere. We can make use of this beautifully serene atmosphere to enliven our portraits with the technique explained over the page. Although we think of them as ‘light rays’, it’s not really possible to photograph a ray of light. What we’re actually seeing is the light illuminating particles in the air. So the key to creating the rays is to fill the air with particles, whether it be steam, mist, dust or smoke. Here, we’ve made use of an inexpensive smoke machine. The other main consideration is…

For a certain kind of photographer, nothing beats the tactility and precision of manually focusing a lens. Some come from a traditional background of analogue film cameras, some are a new generation discovering vintage lenses for the first time, others are interested in shooting video or vlogs – it takes all kinds. But, they all agree that nothing feels better than turning a ring to manually focus their image… but nothing feels worse than missing critical sharpness because they were just a hair out of focus! It’s a sad fact that, for many photographers (especially those of us who already wear glasses), failing eyesight means that it’s not always possible to get things tack-sharp manually. Even those with perfect eyesight aren’t immune to manual focus mishaps; even using the back…

The Effects and Detail panels are two features of Lightroom CC that, although not new, work together seamlessly to powerfully bring out new details and depth to shots. They combine a lot of useful but incremental adjustments that include changing contrast, sharpness and noise for a drastically different photograph. You might find these areas useful when working on a photo like ours here – something hazy, distant, lacking contrast or definition. Sometimes haze can enhance an image, but in this case we have two people towards the right of the frame we want to highlight. The mountains behind the subjects are covered with cloud, which makes them somewhat less impressive. So we’re going to give this shot a boost of sharpness for a more striking and appealing result. STEP BY…

THEO Bosboom has every reason to feel excited when we speak. He is off to the printers tomorrow where his new book, Shaped by the Sea, will roll off the presses, and already one of his images from the book has been highly commended in the Creative Visions category of this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. To round it all off nicely, he’s flying to Iceland three days after this interview to lead a photo tour. Talk about reasons to be cheerful: one, two, Theo! Congratulations on your new book. How do you feel about the publication of this work? I’m pleased! It’s probably the project I worked on with the most passion and the most pleasure up until now. It’s something that’s very close to my heart…

Using Canon’s EOS software Get more from your camera with these free software downloads from Canon One of the appealing aspects of buying into the EOS system – in addition to the refined ergonomics of the cameras, vast range of lenses and excellent image quality – is the free software that you can tap into. What used to be supplied on a disc in the camera box is now available to download from Canon’s site (go to http://bit.ly/get_dpp) with a suite of tools available as part of the initial software setup. Even if you intend to stick with the likes of Lightroom or Photoshop, there are four key pieces of Canon software that are worth trying out. First up is the flagship Digital Photo Professional (DPP). Designed for viewing, processing…

As cameras have advanced, more AF points have been introduced to improve the chance of getting a subject in focus. With 45 points being commonplace, more in some cameras, the choice of focus point and area, depends on the subject being photographed and the photographer using that specific camera. If you can keep a single AF point on the desired part of your subject as it moves, then you’re highly skilled, or your subject doesn’t move erratically. Grouping several AF points in to a block or zone increases the area of the frame that is examined to focus on the subject. With more AF points active, the camera may select a close subject in an unexpected part of the frame. For portraits, I select a single AF point and position…

01 Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS III USM Slimmed down on size, but not function £12,000/$12,000 www.canon.co.uk NOT CONTENT with dropping the EOS R bombshell (see page 100), Canon has also revealed two new EF super telephoto optics. The third incarnation of its EF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM lens is now the world’s lightest of its kind at just 2840g: that’s 1050g lighter than the Mark II. Canon doesn’t go into much detail to explain how this has been achieved, only stating that it’s the result of new cutting-edge optical formulas. Thankfully this weight reduction hasn’t compromised functionality. Inside is a five-stop Image Stabilizer system, which combined with the lens’ crash diet makes it even easier to shoot handheld. All-weather performance is ensured by full weather sealing, along with a…

PRICING The EOS R is available now • EOS R body and EF mount adapter - £2350/$2730 • EOS R body, mount adapter and RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens - £3270/ $3820 • EOS R and RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens - $3399 The prices for the new lenses and lens adaptors will be: • RF 50mm f/1.2L USM lens - £2350/$2730 • RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens - £1120/$1320 • Mount adapter EF-EOS R - £100/$120 • Control mount ring adapter EF-EOS R - £200/$240 How does the EOS R fare as Canon’s first full-frame mirrorless body? Should you replace your Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, or your 6D Mark II? Let’s see… We got to play with a production sample of the Canon EOS R,…

THE FOUR initial RF lenses for the EOS R are drool-worthy. The RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM is an all-purpose optic and kit lens with a large focal range and constant f/4 aperture. It pairs well with the EOS R body in size and weight, coming in at 84x107mm and 700g, plus its autofocus is snappy and produces great image quality even wide open. The RF 28-70mm f/2L USM is the EOS R’s workhorse lens. It’s fairly hefty at 1430g and 104x140mm, and does threaten to imbalance a mirrorless body that’s more svelte than its DSLR counterparts. You’ll definitely want to pair the camera with the Battery Grip BG-E22 for this lens. Although we were shooting on a pre-production lens, we got some truly crisp and impressive results. Canon also…

THE CONTENDERS For most photographers, the perfect tripod should offer solid support with a lofty maximum operating height, yet fold down reasonably small for stowing away, and it shouldn’t be overly heavy. After all, nobody wants to lug around more weight than they need to. Big, heavy tripods are often left at home when we go out on a shoot, making them completely useless. The flipside is that small, lightweight tripods that are easy to carry can have a disappointingly short operating height, as well as being comparatively flimsy and prone to vibration. When it comes to the choice of material for tripod legs and, in many case the centre column as well, carbon fibre has distinct advantages over aluminium. It’s impressively rigid yet lighter in weight to the extent…