Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2016 i PhotoPlus : The Canon Magazine

Editor Ah, the great open road. There’s nothing better than driving in exciting new places in search of new photographic opportunities. We were fortunate enough to go on a two-day road trip around the French Alps recently, exploring the Savoie Mont Blanc region that surrounds Chambéry. It was a very productive photographic adventure, with many memorable scenes to capture, from big mountains and lakes to pretty villages and vineyards. It also gave us a chance to polish our camera skills and photo techniques. See page 30 for some of our inspirational imagery and your 48-hour Canon masterclass. This issue we also head up to the hills of the Peak District to take some great landscape photos, see page 8 for some new pro tips and the Hot Shots our Apprentice…

01 FIELDS NEAR TELSCOMBE BY PHILIP BEDFORD This photograph was taken shortly before sunrise on an April morning. These fields sit just to the north of a small village outside Brighton, East Sussex, and look towards the Ouse Valley, where a blanket of mist has risen in the dawn hour over the river. I wanted to use the tracks as a leading line through the fields to the hills in the background, and I spent a while trying to get the positioning of the foreground tree just right. Lens Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Exposure 1 sec, f/22, ISO100 LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR COLLECTION 10 This stunning coffee table book showcases winning entries from the Landscape Photographer of the Year Awards 2016 and is out now (AA Publishing,…

Uncover better photo ops leaving the car in École, we pedalled up on electric mountain bikes to discover sweeping alpine scenery and valley views from up high. Hiring a bike is a great way to access unique places, and you’ll spot photo ops that are easily missed when driving. Capturing movement For normal, everyday photography, you only need your shutter speed to be fast enough to avoid camerashake – a good rule is to be ‘one over the focal length’ so at least 1/100 sec for a focal length of 100mm. However, when shooting fast-moving subjects, such as mountain bikers, shutter speed takes on a whole new role. The longer the shutter is open, the more your subject moves during the exposure, so even faster shutter speeds of around 1/250…

City lights at night The Castle of the Dukes of Savoie is lit up at night, making a great spectacle in the dark. Using a tripod, we composed in Live View to ensure everything fitted into our wide-angle shot, then took a long exposure in Av mode at 5 secs, f/8, ISO100. Converging verticals were unavoidable so we embraced them, exaggerating the angle of the imposing castle towering above us. Bit dull? Go B&W! We had a mixed bag of weather, but even when it was raining, Chambéry offered much to photograph. First up was the 16th century Franciscan cathedral. As it was raining and light was low, a black-and-white conversion captures a more evocative image, with the wet foreground actually enhancing the shot. We shot from a handy arch…

VIDEO ALSO ONLINE http://bit.ly/pp_120_1 THE MISSION Learn key skills for stunning boudoir photography, from lighting and posing to camera settings and gear Time needed 2 hours Skill level Intermediate Kit needed Monopod • Fast lens • LED constant lighting (optional) Boudoir photography is big business at the moment and if you’re into portraits, it’s a useful skill to master. You’ll find lots of technical advice over the next couple of pages but first off it’s worth thinking about the style. Page 3 glamour has its place, but it’s not here. It’s not just about hiding the rude bits – the odd nipple on show isn’t the issue. It’s more about a shooting style that celebrates the shape of the body without objectifying the subject. There’s an element of empowerment to…

VIDEO ALSO ONLINE http://bit.ly/pp_120_7 THE MISSION Get to grips with the Liquify filter and transform an animal photo into a unique caricature Time needed 30 minutes Skill level Intermediate Kit needed Photoshop CC DOWNLOAD PROJECT FILES TO YOUR COMPUTER FROM: http://downloads.photoplusmag.com/pp120.zip Among the most enticing tools in Photoshop’s box of tricks are those that give you the power to reshape objects, people or even animals. Chief among these pixelpushing tools is the Liquify command. It acts almost like a mini-app within Photoshop, coming complete with its own toolbar, menus and shortcuts. With Liquify, you can smoothly nudge a shape into something entirely new. The most common – and controversial – application of this technique is to reshape the bodies of models for fashion magazine photo shoots, but it can be…

Photo essays from PhotoPlus readers and professional photographers alike JOIN IN THE FUN! One of the great things about photography is being able to share your view of the world. This issue, why a swamp can be a thing of beauty, and photographing one of England’s most picturesque cities after dark… WE WANT YOUR PHOTOS AND STORIES! For your chance to show off your images in PhotoPlus, send three to five high-resolution JPEGs, along with a brief synopsis – explain why you took the shots, the location, whether they’re part of an ongoing project or a one-off shoot, and anything else unusual or interesting. Also include Canon DSLR, lens and exposure details. Email photoplus@futurenet.com Online www.facebook.com/photoplusmag www.twitter.com/photoplusmag Post PhotoPlus: The Canon Mag Future, The Ambury Bath BA1 1UA, UK PROJECT INFO…

Your camera will struggle to focus in the dead of night, but if you’re using a tripod you can take advantage of the bright Live View screen to assist with manual focusing of stationary subjects. If the monitor appears dark after you’ve activated Live View, try increasing the ISO, opening up the aperture or selecting a slower shutter speed until you get a usable image. Alternatively, if you don’t want to mess with the settings you’ve dialled in, briefly switch the camera to Bulb mode.…

TO KEEP image noise down it pays to keep the ISO as low as possible. But did you know that long exposures can lead to noisy pictures too? Your camera has a Long Exposure Noise Reduction function, which you’ll find in the red shooting menu. You can set it to Auto or On, both of which apply noise reduction to pictures that have exposures of one second or longer. It’s a setting that permanently affects a Raw file, however, and in some cases can actually make pictures appear grainier. Worse, it can take the same time to do its thing as it took to record the picture, and you won’t be able to take another shot until it’s finished. That adds up when you’re shooting for minutes at a time,…

The 1200D represented a major revamp of the previous 1100D camera, when it was launched back in early 2014. But despite being a more recent design than the 100D and 700D that are also on test, it’s already been replaced by the new 1300D. This time around, improvements are comparatively subtle, and the new model looks almost identical to its predecessor. At 18Mp, the megapixel count remains the same as in the 1200D. And while the other cameras on test have late-generation DIGIC 5 or DIGIC 6 processors, the 1300D only takes a small incremental step from DIGIC 4 to 4+. So what’s new? The headline attraction is that, along with only the 750D in this test group, the 1300D boasts built-in Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity. The LCD screen gets…

For sheer image resolution, the 750D kicks all the other cameras on test into touch, with its 24.2Mp image sensor. That’s a significant increase from the 18Mp sensors featured in the other cameras but, of course, megapixels aren’t everything. There’s usually a trade-off in that, while more megapixels give the potential to capture finer detail and texture, image noise is likely to be more noticeable, especially when using high ISO settings under low lighting conditions. We’ll come to how the 750D fares in these respects across the page. Along with its greater megapixel power, the 750D is the only camera in the group to sport a new-generation DIGIC 6 processor, and an ‘intelligent’ viewfinder that can warn you about flickering lighting, and gives the option of a superimposed grid pattern…

TAKING A road trip is a great way to visit beautiful new locations, and while you’ll naturally want to document your journey with suitably beautiful photographs, it also offers the perfect opportunity to improve your DSLR skills. Spending some quality time with your camera enables you to take the best possible photos of all the great scenery and sights on offer, in wildly varying conditions. Of course, things don’t always go entirely to plan, and on our trip we had bright blue sky on one day, followed by cloudy conditions and some driving rain the next. The trick is to be adaptable; there are great low-light shots to be had in cathedrals, and wet streets offer fantastic night-time reflections. We spent a full 48 hours in the stunning Savoie Mont…

Wide angle of view THE SUN was shining and the skies were blue when we arrived in Aix-les-Bains, situated next to a huge lake, Lac de Bourget, that’s filled with boats and surrounded by imposing mountains. It’s filled with photo ops – and nice cafés for lunch! It’s an ideal spot to shoot with the different lenses we packed in our carry-on luggage. One of the big benefits of DSLRs, over basic compact cameras, is the ability to switch lenses to suit whatever you’re shooting. Both editor Peter and operations editor Adam use Canon’s trusty EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM as their go-to standard zoom lenses, but switch to specialist wide-angle and telephoto zoom lenses as and when the situation demands it. For a shot of boats in the harbour…

A trek through the peaks of Bolivia leaves David Noton breathless for many reasons The boat drops us on the southern tip of the island with all our bags; now what? Eventually a young lad with a donkey arrives, and up the track to our lodge we trudge, wheezing in the thin air. Here on the Isla del Sol it feels like we’re at the seaside, but we are in fact 4000 metres above sea level. The visibility at this altitude is amazing. The views across Lake Titicaca to the Cordillera Real and Peru are incredible. And so, as dusk settles, I’m set up beside the tripod on a hilltop, taking advantage of light so clear I reckon those distant Andean peaks I’ve trained my long lens on are over…

THE MISSION Photograph young children outdoors – without the stress Time needed 45 minutes Skill level Easy Kit needed Telephoto zoom lens • Colourful woodlands • Funloving children Photographing the family is the reason many of us bought a Canon DSLR in the first place. But taking portraits of young children can be more trouble than it’s worth – especially when it comes your own kids who refuse to pose or smile as soon as you get your camera out. The key is to have fun outdoors – we headed to our local woods in early autumn just as the leaves were starting to fall – and, as children don’t like sitting still, you need to shoot fast before they run off or get bored. We’ll explain more top tips…

VIDEO ALSO ONLINE http://bit.ly/pp_120_8 THE MISSION To use masks to select areas for adjustment Time needed 10 minutes Skill level Intermediate Kit needed Lightroom DOWNLOAD PROJECT FILES TO YOUR COMPUTER FROM: http://downloads.photoplusmag.com/pp120.zip There are a whole host of controls to make global adjustments to your images but, more often than not, you may only want to target certain areas within a scene. For this you can use the Adjustment Brush. This tool enables you to selectively apply Exposure, Clarity, Brightness, and other adjustments to images by painting over the specific area in the photo that you want to adjust. In this image it’s ideal for dodging some dark standing stones, while burning more detail into the brighter sky. By altering the size, softness and flow of the Adjustment Brush, you…

PROJECT INFO Name: Matt Hayward Location: Canterbury, Kent, UK Mission: My goal was to capture all the detail and the incredible lighting of the city at night Kit: Canon EOS 760D, Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM, Slik 88 Black Diamond tripod, Benro Ranger Series 400N backpack, Zomei UV filter, Canon EOS RS-60E3 remote www.facebook.com/matmanphotography After returning home from work one day I grabbed my camera gear and jumped into the car to head to the wonderful and historic city of Canterbury. Living not too far away, I reached my first destination within 45 minutes. I began at the main medieval wall that circles the city. My eyes lit up when I noticed a monument on top of a steep hill, which gave me a fantastic view of the city,…

Flash YOU CAN use flash to blast a foreground object with light and leave the background dark, or opt for ‘slow-sync’ flash, which combines a burst of flash with a slower shutter speed to record background detail as well. Aperture Priority mode uses slow-sync by default, but this can lead to blurred photos if the shutter speed becomes too slow. To avoid this, you can restrict the shutter speeds available to the camera using the Custom Functions menu. ISO YOU CAN use a high ISO sensitivity to get faster shutter speeds, and in brightly lit areas of towns and cities this can make handheld photography at night possible – especially when twinned with an image-stabilized lens. But in order to reduce noise, achieve clean colours and exploit the dynamic range…

IF YOU’RE close enough to a person or object, you can use the AF-assist beam of either a built-in flash or an external Speedlite to illuminate them and enable the camera’s autofocus system to lock on. If you’re relying on the internal flash to help out then a short pulse of pre-flashes will be triggered. This can be distracting and it may cause people in the shot to think that you’ve taken the picture. A compatible external Speedlite will fire an infrared beam that’s much more discrete. You may find that the flashgun continues to fire while the camera focuses. If this is unwanted, you’ll need to dip into the camera’s Custom Function menu and set ‘AF-assist beam firing’ to ‘IR AF assist beam only’. If you find that the…

Now in its third incarnation, Canon’s fast, ultra-wide 16-35mm f/2.8L III USM is one of two upgraded lenses to be launched alongside the much vaunted 5D Mk IV. The other is the more general purpose EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM. The new ultra-wide lens is a proper whopper, gaining considerable size and weight compared with its predecessor. Canon has set out to create something rather special in this new lens. It’s a major revamp over the Mk II edition, in pretty much every area. A starring role is played by a new and highly complex large-diameter, double-surface GMo (Glass Moulded) aspherical element. This sits right at the front of the lens, and there’s also a ground aspherical element at the rear. Two UD (Ultra-low Dispersion) elements, inherited from the…

Dispelling the myth that SLR cameras are big and bulky by nature, the 100D is something of a downsized delight. It’s the outright smallest digital SLR that Canon has ever made, and shaves about 10mm off the height and depth of other cameras on test, and about 15mm off the width. Weighing in at just over 400g, it’s also only about two-thirds as heavy as the 700D, which was simultaneously launched back in early 2013. Like the 1300D, beginner-friendly scene modes include a ‘food’ setting, while other options are more far-reaching, with additional modes for candlelight, kids and HDR (High Dynamic Range), as also featured in the 750D. The HDR setting, available in all the cameras on test apart from the 1300D, is particularly useful. This enables automatic blending of…

COM PARISO N TABLE THE WINNER IS... CANON EOS 750D It’s a phenomenal beginners’ camera that can even satisfy seasoned enthusiasts A beginner’s camera should be easy to use so that novices can take it out of the box and start taking photos, rather than wading through the manual for days. The 750D accomplishes this with a helpful ‘feature guide’ option, like the other cameras on test, however, it’s also more able to grow with you as your skills increase, offering an excellent range of high-end features and custom functions. With its greater megapixel count, latergeneration processor, superior autofocus systems and revamped metering module, the 750D is Canon’s best ever beginners’ camera. The next option is the 700D, though its specs make it look like a bit of a poor…

Android devices I have been a subscriber to your magazine since 2009 and was wondering when the digital version will be available for the Android system. Penny Thomsen, Mount Louisa, Australia Digital editions are already available on Android devices via Google Play, Nook for Android or on Zinio. To see the full range of devices go to http://bit.ly/ppdigi Lens test graph mystery I am a monthly reader of your Canon magazine, although we are a few issues behind the times here in Australia as issue 116 just hit the newsagents last week. In the August issue you have a series of tests on Canon lenses and although you show graphs of sharpness you do not say what the units of sharpness are. Could you enlighten me? Frank Muscroft, Briar Hill,…

APPRENTICE NAME: TIM WARDLE CAMERA: CANON EOS 70D TIM IS a contracts manager for a Leicester-based timber frame specialist and has always enjoyed photography as a hobby. His first camera was a Kodak Ektar 400, which he used for holiday snaps and family photos. In the digital age, he moved from a 700D to a 70D as his skills progressed. With a passion for landscapes he needed a helping hand to help him improve his photography skills. CANON PRO NAME: DAVE FIELDHOUSE CAMERA: CANON EOS 5D MK III AWARD-WINNING landscape photographer Dave is a regular contributor to camera and outdoor pursuit magazines. As well as teaching outdoor techniques to amateur photographers, he has a vast knowledge of photo spots in the Peak District, making him just the man to lend…

Auto Exposure Bracketing IF YOU’RE unsure what the best exposure is, use your Canon camera’s Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) setting to take a sequence of three photos – a standard (or ‘correct’) exposure, an underexposed shot and an overexposed one. If you’re using Av mode (as we were, see right), the aperture will stay fixed for the three exposures, while the shutter speed will change for each different exposure. Start off with around +/– 1-stop and review your results. Note: you may need to increase your ISO if the slowest shutter speed is causing blurred shots when shooting handheld. Shoot in Av mode FOR OUR French Alpine road trip, we needed to work quickly and found that shooting in Av (Aperture value) mode was the best way to shoot. In…

Perfect panos ONE common mistake is trying to squeeze a sweeping vista into a single photo with a wide-angle lens; you’ll end up with oodles of sky and vast empty foregrounds, with the ‘impressive’ mountains reduced to an insignificant strip. The solution is to zoom in and take a series of overlapping shots, then merge them into a panorama. Use a tripod and ensure it’s level. Set an exposure for the most interesting part of the scene, then lock this in with Manual exposure as otherwise you’ll have a mishmash of differently exposed frames. Shoot at around 50mm focal length and overlap each image by 30 per cent. Then let Photoshop do all the really hard work by selecting File>Automate>Photomerge… Aim high THERE’S something special about being up in the…

Video also online http://bit.ly/pp_120_3 THE MISSION Extend your shutter speeds to minutes for minimalist seascape photos Time needed One hour Skill level Intermediate Kit needed Tripod • 10- or 13-stop ND filter • Cable release • Photoshop CC/CS or Elements • Stopwatch (or timer on a phone) We photographers often obsess about detail, sharpness and resolution. But simplicity can be just as powerful. By paring down our images to the barest elements we can create beautiful, minimalist artwork. In this project we’ll show you how to set up and shoot long exposures, then strip out colour for a gorgeous mono finish. Few things highlight the magic of photography more than a long exposure. When we stretch out our shutter speeds to several seconds, or even minutes, any motion in the…

VIDEO ALSO ONLINE http://bit.ly/pp_120_6 THE MISSION Learn how to use the Shake Reduction tool to reduce blur Time needed 10 minutes Skill level Easy Kit needed Photoshop Elements 14 Camera shake is one of the biggest bugbears for photographers. It happens when the camera moves during the exposure, so it’s closely tied to shutter speed. The slower the shutter speed, the greater the danger of shake. We’ve all experienced this frustrating problem after not keeping a close enough eye on our shutter speed in low light conditions, and there’s nothing worse than bagging what looks like a great shot and then, on closer inspection, realizing it’s not quite pin-sharp. We can also relate this issue to the focal length of the lens – telephoto lenses magnify any shake to make…

For people who love exploring the world and its diverse range of people and cultures, being a travel photographer has to be the ideal way to make a living. It’s certainly the one job Timothy Allen wanted to do more than anything else. Since leaving the world of news photography more than ten years ago, he has travelled widely around the globe, won numerous awards and created a portfolio brimming with stunning images. Yet Allen didn’t initially set out to become a travel photographer and, as he explains, his journey to this sought-after job was dependent on a dash of good fortune supplementing his natural enthusiasm and photographic skills… Travel’s a big part of your life. When did you start? I first went backpacking after I finished a degree in…

Professional photographers reveal their top six tools of the trade they couldn’t shoot without “I’m a huge champion of working around your local area where you can hone your photography” I know we wildlife photographers have been dreaming about Canon announcing a 10-600mm f/2.8L lens that weighs a kilo, but until then we will have to come up with other ways to reduce the weight in our camera bags. I’ve been honing my bag to reduce weight, partly down to a ‘dicky’ back, but also as it’s much more enjoyable to walk around without feeling like there’s a small hatchback on your shoulders. As a lucky consequence, I’ve found that carrying less gear concentrates the mind to the task at hand, rather than being in two minds when faced with…

THERE WILL be some situations where you’ll either want or need to shoot in the dead of night, but many scenes benefit from being shot during ‘the blue hour’ – the period of time after sunset of before dawn when the sky is a deep blue colour. Not only does it lead to more interesting pictures, it also makes it easier to come up with a balanced exposure. Time it right and the meter readings for the sky and a floodlit building will be closer together, enabling you to record detail in each in a single picture. Arrive early and get set up during daylight as this will allow you to compose and prefocus your pictures more easily, as well as getting those blue hour shots.…

01 Adobe Photoshop Elements 15 & Premiere Elements 15 Speedy and simple media editing £119/$150 www.adobe.com Adobe’s popular image and video editing programs are now even easier to use, with streamlined searching and touchscreen control of the Organizer and Quick Edit modules. Photoshop Elements 15 now offers 45 Guided Edits, which turn complex editing tasks into walkthrough tutorials, and there’s a fresh feature for transforming photos into visual text (see our full test next issue). While Premiere Elements 15 gets a new Haze Removal filter, along with a Video Collage mode and automatic music mixing to sync a music track to the length of your clip. 02 Manfrotto Windsor bags Camera bags with bags of style £100-£150/$120-$170 www.manfrotto.com Comprised of three shoulder bags and a backpack, the Windsor range sports…

THE CONTENDERS Buying your first Canon EOS SLR can be a daunting prospect when you’re making the step up from using a cheap compact camera (or relying on a basic smartphone camera) to take photos. How many magical moments have been lost forever, because a camera phone failed to autofocus in time, or there was too much lag between the shutter button being pressed and image capture? Performance is crucial. You need a camera that you can rely on, that has predictable handling and efficiency. And that’s exactly what you get with one of the latest entry-level Canon SLRs. To newbies, ‘proper’ cameras can appear frightfully complicated. Thankfully, Canon has made great strides in simplifying the whole process and user experience. All of the SLRs that we’ve chosen for this…

Although the 700D shares much of the 100D’s DNA, there are some notable differences between the two cameras. While both have a nine-point autofocus system, all of the AF points are cross-type in the 700D, instead of just the central point in the 100D. This boosts accuracy when using the peripheral AF points. Meanwhile, the image sensor-based Hybrid CMOS AF autofocus system for Live View and shooting movies is technically a generation older than that of the 100D, but performed equally well in our tests. The 700D lacks the ‘kids’ and ‘candlelight’ scene modes of the 100D, but does include the useful HDR mode. There’s also the same range of creative filters, for in-camera processing of previously captured images. These include grainy black & white, soft focus, fish-eye, toy camera,…

What to look for Canon EOS DSLRs Canon splits its EOS lineup into entry-level, enthusiast and professional ranges, and the fewer digits the more upmarket the camera; so the new 1300D is the most basic, the 750D/760D for intermediates, while the new 80D is for more advanced enthusiasts. Expect greater ease of use (with thumboperated scrollwheels replacing cumbersome cursor keys), more robust build quality (with weather-sealing and tough magnesiumalloy shells), more advanced functionality, and full-frame (rather than smaller APS-C) image sensors with more expensive EOS models. With over 150 lenses available for Canon DSLRs, picking the best for the job can be a minefield. Here’s the lowdown on all currently available EOS-fit glass Choosing lenses Key factors to watch out for The main factors to consider in a lens are…