Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2017 i PhotoPlus : The Canon Magazine

DISTINCTIVE SPORTS SHOTS Learn how to develop an eye for unique sports shots, as we interview US-based Canon photographer Simon Bruty on page 68 Walking in a winter wonderland, you might be surprised how much wildlife is still active in your local area, or even simply searching for food in your back garden. This issue we’ll show you all the key camera settings, lens choices and photography techniques for capturing winning shots of winter wildlife. Turn to page 30 for some top tips and inspirational Canon imagery. This issue our Apprentice gets up close and personal with his macro lens and, under the guidance of top nature photographer Alex Hyde and his portable zoo of invertebrates, learns how to make tiny insects look like huge monsters for some amazing Hot…

APPRENTICE NAME: SIMON BUNKER CAMERA: CANON EO S 7D MK II FROM Milton Keynes, Simon’s a 48-year-old maintenance engineer. He’s been a keen amateur photographer since his late teens, when he had a Minolta 35mm film camera. More recently he bought a 600D, then a 7D Mk II, to photograph butterflies, crickets and grasshoppers, and he hasn’t looked back. He asked for our help to take his macro photography to the next level. CANON PRO NAME: ALEX HYDE CAMERA: CANON EO S 5D MK III BASED in the Peak District, 33-year-old Alex is a freelance natural history photographer. He’s had an interest in wildlife photography from an early age, getting his first Pentax SLR when he was 12. He went digital with an EOS 20D in 2005, and now uses…

When it comes to wildlife photography, no other season offers quite the same potential for creating dramatic, atmospheric, wonderfully lit images as winter does. On a clear day, the low sun provides a beautiful quality of lighting that’s a world away from the bare bulb of summer, but it’s when snow, frost and mist arrive that something magical happens. Some of nature’s most spectacular gatherings of birds happen at this time of year, and it’s easier to track and spot individual creatures in the bare landscape, as well as coax them closer with food. Many animals and birds look their most interesting too, with mammals boasting thicker coats and birds sporting their most striking seasonal plumage. Whether you’ve just picked up your first Canon or you’re a seasoned EOS user,…

Do your research If you’re going the extra mile(s) for your wildlife photography, you need to make sure you’re in the right place at the right time. Research is cheap – free, even – and it doesn’t take much effort to find out when a species is likely to be in a particular location, what time of day it will be active and how approachable it is. For instance, if snow monkeys are on your wildlife photography bucket list, a quick internet search brings up a host of tips – from lens recommendations to hotels to stay in, and even GPS co-ordinates to get you to the exact spot in Japan. Pack extra batteries As temperatures plummet, so does battery power. Factor in the use of AI Servo continuous autofocus…

Jurassic Coast, Dorset, England. 4:18pm local time. 1 November 2010 “I’m now seriously considering going for a pint while the shutter’s open for exposure” Low cloud sits over Dorset like a blanket: a smothering, uniform grey sky devoid of any tone, texture or interest. Looking out the window, it seems inconceivable it could clear before April, and yet my weather app is telling me the sun is due to make an appearance down around Wareham at 3pm, or thereabouts. With sunset due at 4:25pm, that could present the photo opportunity at Durdle Door I’ve been waiting for, and yet I’m not convinced; my gut feeling tells me any sun that does penetrate the gloom will be pathetically weak. The chances of a productive session look slim, and yet I know…

THE MISSION Use a fog machine to add artificial mist to an outdoor scene Time needed 1 hour Skill level Advanced Kit needed Tripod (optional) • Fog machine and fog liquid • Power inverter • Extension cable • Car Mist and fog offer potent opportunities for any landscape photographer. It’s a wonderful mood-setter, but the problem is, the conditions have to be just right. Natural mist occurs when moisture in the air cools suddenly – think of warm breath on a cold day. The rapid cooling transforms the invisible gas to visible droplets. It generally happens where the warmer air hanging above a body of water comes into contact with cold land, or when a cold night air falls over warmer wet ground, for instance. These kind of conditions happen…

THE MISSION Photograph a range of subjects on a frosty winter’s morning Time needed Half a day Skill level Intermediate Kit needed Standard zoom, wide-angle or macro lens • Lens hood • Tripod • Reflector Venturing out into sub-zero temperatures while Jack Frost is nipping at your nose might not sound all that appealing, but morning frost offers a myriad of opportunities for the photographer. Landscapes are transformed with a glistening sparkle, ice forms impossible abstract patterns, and a coating of ice crystals gives everyday objects an extraordinary look. Frost forms when overnight temperatures fall below zero. Moisture in the air freezes on cold surfaces, forming weird and wonderful shapes in the process. Get up early and head out while it’s still dark as the rising sun will melt ice…

THE MISSION Improve the look of a monochrome conversion Time needed 15 minutes Skill level Easy Kit needed Lightroom 5 or later DOWNLOAD PROJECT FILES TO YOUR COMPUTER FROM: http://downloads.photoplusmag.com/pp123.zip In the days of shooting with black-and-white film, photographers would place a coloured filter over the camera’s lens to produce more striking pictures. Different coloured filters lighten or darken the greyscale tones of specific objects in the scene. For example, a red filter makes blue skies appear dark grey in the monochrome print, so lighter clouds pop out in contrast. Your Canon’s Monochrome picture style setting enables you to produce a black-and-white photo in-camera. You can even set it to apply colour filters that help lighten or darken greyscale tones in particular areas, such as blue skies or green fields.…

Get critiqued! Email photos to EOSSOS@futurenet.com with the subject ‘Rate My Photo’ MELANIE SAYS… I’ve been taking pictures since I was a teenager, mostly pets and landscapes. I’m fortunate that I can see Lough Neagh from my kitchen window. If the sunset is good, as it was on this evening, I can be down by the lough in a few minutes. I took the photo with my EOS 550D and may even have used the Landscape mode, I can’t really remember. I think I was lucky that the lifeboat had just gone through the lough to create additional ripples in the water. BRIAN SAYS… It was the striking colours that made this picture stand out in my inbox. It really pops and could not be skimmed over. On closer inspection…

BE OUR NEXT APPRENTICE Do you need some help to take your Canon photography to the next level? Let us know what you’d like help with and we could pair you up with a top pro for the day! Send an email to photoplus@futurenet.com with ‘PhotoPlus Apprentice’ in the subject line, and include your telephone number and address. Lens Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro Photo Exposure 1/160 sec, f/9, ISO100 SIMON’S COMMENT “It’s amazing to think this baby praying mantis is only about 2-3cm tall from head to tail, but by using Alex’s unbelievable Canon MP-E 65mm Macro lens, at 2x life-size and an aperture of f/9, its microscopic power has made the miniature appear massive! To capture this super close-up, while Alex directed the flash, I had to…

Set up a feeding station You can coax birds within reach of your lens by setting up a feeding station and keeping it topped up throughout the winter months. Gradually move the feeders closer to where you’ll be shooting from – whether that’s a temporary hide, garden shed or the kitchen window – over a period of weeks, and consider how the light changes throughout the day before deciding on the final position for the feeder. Avoid getting mucky! Shooting from a low angle produces more intimate, eye-level portraits of ground-feeding birds and mammals. Looking through the viewfinder can be awkward or impossible at ground level, but if you have an EOS DSLR with a vari-angle LCD, you’re laughing. Or you could use Canon’s Camera Connect smartphone app to use…

Give it room One of the benefits of using a shorter focal length, or just shooting from further away, is that you’ll improve your chances of capturing unpredictable action. Get up close at sensor-filling distance and you might crop off the tips of wings, antlers or tails. Compose with care Your photo can still have an impact even when the animal is recorded smaller in the frame as an element in the wider landscape, but you’ll need to work a bit harder with the composition to ensure the creature is easy to pick out. Techniques to try include finding an uncluttered spot in the background, such as the gap between the trees in the image to the right, and using the rule of thirds together with leading lines and contrasting…

THE MISSION Capture city scenes at night using a combination of long exposures and narrow apertures Time needed Two hours Skill level Intermediate Kit needed Tripod • Remote release • Wide angle lens We love photographing cityscapes during the winter months. Whereas wintry landscapes can end up looking rather bare once the trees have shed their leaves, cities transform into beautiful scenes by late afternoon, with brightly lit buildings contrasting with atmospheric dark shadows. And after the shoot there’s always somewhere nearby to escape the cold for a warm cup of coffee… But capturing city night scenes in-camera requires a few essential techniques. First of all, to show the cityscape off in all its glory, you’ll need a wide-angle lens strapped to your Canon. Then, to capture the scene sharp…

THE MISSION Learn about the new smart tags and instant fix features in the Elements Organizer Time needed 15 minutes Skill level Easy Kit needed Photoshop Elements 15 DOWNLOAD PROJECT FILES TO YOUR COMPUTER FROM: http://downloads.photoplusmag.com/pp123.zip The Photoshop Elements Organizer has a grand ambition, a goal that many of us thought would be forever out of reach. It’s there to bring order out of chaos – that chaos being your image library. If, like many of us, your photos are scattered across numerous folders and drives, finding the image you want can often be a chore. But if you’re an Elements user who knows how to utilize the Organizer to the full, then things get a lot easier. If you’ve used previous versions of the Elements Organizer you’ll already know…

TRAVELLING around the world in style, watching major sporting events and meeting elite athletes is most sports fans’ dream job. Simon Bruty has lived that dream for over 30 years. The UK-born photographer has covered eight summer Olympics, several football and rugby World Cups and numerous major events in world tennis, skiing and golf. Working primarily for Sports Illustrated since 1998, Simon has garnered a reputation for finding new ways to shoot familiar sports, as well as having a keen eye for the crucial moment. He’s also developed a diverse portfolio which includes action, portraits of sports stars shot on location and in the studio, and behind-the-scenes documentary work. Simon has spent his working life photographing sport, but, as he explains, his first ambition was to be on the other…

Professional photographers reveal their top six tools of the trade they couldn’t shoot without “With the rapid advances in digital technology, I like to keep my gear up to date” Because I shoot both nature and landscapes I do tend to carry an awful lot of kit. My general philosophy is to carry as much as I possibly can. Even when I’m heading out to shoot a specific subject I still like to be prepared for any eventuality. I’ve used Canon equipment for the past 27 years and over that time have built up a collection of lenses from 8mm to 600mm. My main camera body for landscapes is the superb EOS 5DS R and for wildlife photography I use the EOS-1D X. With the rapid advances in digital technology…

Canon’s veteran 24-105mm constant-aperture lens is more than a decade old and has faced stiff competition from Sigma’s newer Art-line equivalent, and more recently from Canon’s own lightweight and relatively inexpensive IS STM variable-aperture counterpart. Indeed, the 24-105mm L-series optic didn’t make the grade when Canon drew up its list of approved lenses for use with the high-resolution EOS 5DS and 5DS R. The new Mk II edition has something to prove. Maintaining a constant aperture throughout its extended zoom range, the 24-105mm offers greater telephoto reach than Canon’s 24-70mm lenses, making it more ideal for reportage, travel and event photography. As you’d hope for in an L-series lens, weather-seals are fitted and the Mk II is redesigned to be more resistant to shock and vibration, along with muck-repellent fluorine…

IMAGE SEEN www.imageseen.co.uk IMAGE SEEN specializes in small group workshops in some of the most scenic regions of the UK, including the Lake District, Northumberland, the Cotswolds, Cornwall, and the North Yorkshire coast. With their expert guidance you will gain a greater understanding of your camera, improve your compositional skills, and refine your technique to produce more satisfying, creative images. Whatever your level of ability, their workshops will both challenge and inspire. WILDLIFE WORLDWIDE www.wildlifeworldwide.com WI LDLIFE WORLDWIDE’S collection of wildlife photography holidays has been designed to offer the perfect combination of outstanding wildlife viewing, exceptional photography opportunities and expert tuition. They offer a wide choice of photography trips and workshops around the world for those of all abilities, under the guidance of awardwinning photographers including Nick Garbutt and Alex…

01 NIGHT BLOW BY AUDUN RIKAR DSEN In the polar winter the sun was below the horizon, but there was just enough light to see that killer whales had come into the fjords outside Tromsø, Norway. Extreme cold and high humidity created a magical frost mist over the water but also ice crystals that froze to my face and camera. I hung over the side of the boat and pointed my camera in the direction of the sound of the whales’ blows or occasional glimpse of a fin. After six freezing hours, this was the shot that made it all worthwhile. 02 FLAMINGO VEIL BY THEO ALLOFS I took off in my powered paraglider at sunrise. Steering with one hand on the brake, the other holding a camera, I spotted…

Get kitted up Wear clothing that won’t rustle as you move, ideally with button/snap closures on the pockets as opposed to Velcrostyle fastenings. Gloves, hats and balaclavas will all help to reduce the amount of bare skin on show, and you should avoid spraying on the aftershave and deodorant if you’re trying to track mammals. Set up a hide There’s plenty of choice when it comes to temporary hides, with small, camouflaged dome hides easy to transport and set up. If you’re not going to use it on your own property, ask the landowner’s permission first; ideally you’ll need to set up a feeding station to bring birds and animals within range of your lens too. To get the animals used to the hide, set it up weeks before you’ll…

Go slow Pin-sharp portraits where you can count the hairs on an otter’s chin are all well and good, but there’s a lot to be said for using a slower shutter speed to add a touch of motion blur to pictures. In fact, it might be the only option when light levels are really low. Try panning the camera with a running or flying animal – the blur will enhance the sense of speed – or locking the camera on a tripod and allowing flocks of birds to draw lines across the frame. Capture birds in flight Winter is a time when birds typically form dense flocks – particularly wildfowl and waders – and these offer a great opportunity to hone your flightshooting skills. Make sure your EOS is set…

THE MISSION Age your images Time needed 30 minutes Skill level Intermediate Kit needed Photoshop CC STEP BY STEP AGEING YOUR PHOTOS Add textures, create a tatty border, and generally distress your pics with these four techniques 01 CREATE A TINTYPE EFFECT Duplicate the ‘Background’ layer with Ctrl+J, then go to Filter>Blur to apply a touch of Gaussian blur and motion blur. Next, add a Black & White adjustment layer. Drop in texture01 and 02 and drag them below the black and white layer. Set them both to the Overlay blending mode and lower the opacity slightly. Finally, add a Colour Balance layer at the top and dial in cyan, green and yellow. Adjust the layer’s opacity until you’re happy with the look of it. 02 BLEND A MESSY BORDER…

“Right at the end of the London 2012 Olympics, I went to photograph the weightlifting finals,” says Simon. “I remember getting there early and looking at the options available to me. I wanted a position looking head-on at the lifters and slightly elevated. “Matthias Steiner was a gold medal winner in weightlifting at the Beijing Olympics and he was one of the best around. But when he tried to lift 196kg at London, he made a mistake. He slipped, the bar came crashing down onto him and caught him across the neck. He walked away, but his Olympics ended there and he retired the following year. “Photographing weightlifting is usually really boring and repetitive. If something happens and you’re not paying attention, you’re going to miss the crucial moment. From…

DIGITAL SLR ESSENTIALS Get creative with your camera’s built-in multiple exposure mode – it’s easier than you think WITH PhotoPlusEXPERT MARCUS HAWKINS Photo expert Marcus has been passionate about photography for more than 25 years. A former editor of our sister publication Digital Camera, he has written about photography for Canon and Jessops, and uses a Canon EOS 5D Mk III. SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS Discover how the Crop tool in Canon’s Digital Photo Professional can help to improve almost any image WITH PhotoPlusEXPERT GEORGE CAIRNS Editing expert George Cairns has been writing image-editing tutorials for PhotoPlus since our first very issue, back in 2007. He uses a Canon EOS 650D and 70D, and writes for the Canon Professional Network newsletter. EOS S.O.S Bountiful Brian delves deep into his bottomless pool of…

Multiple exposures enable you to produce very different pictures of familiar subjects, and the often unpredictable results can help to keep your photography fresh. It’s a treatment that suits many subjects, from close-ups to landscapes to portraits – try combining the faces of your family members in a single photo for a one-of-a-kind group portrait. It’s a technique that requires experimentation, so you’ll need to be prepared to burn through frames – make sure you have plenty of room left on your memory card, particularly if you’re saving the original files in addition to the merged picture. Two frames Motion blur ANALTERNATIVE way to combine sharpness and blur in the same shot is to move the camera during a second, slower exposure rather than defocus it. The final image looks…

VIDEO ALSO ONLINE http://bit.ly/pp_123_8 01 CROP & ROTATE Our example image features a tilted horizon and distracting clutter at the sides of the frame. This type of shot will benefit from a bit of careful cropping. Click on this tab to access the crop and rotation tools 02 ASPECT RATIO Although you can crop the shot to any shape using the Free option from this drop-down menu, it’s often more useful to constrain the shape of the crop. You may want the cropped shot to fit into a specific picture frame, for example. To fill a widescreen TV use the 16:9 ratio. A 1:1 aspect ratio gives a square crop that’s ideal for sharing on social media, like Instagram. You can even choose the Custom option and type a ratio…

ALL EOS DSLR cameras have been able to capture images as either Raw or JPEG files. For some photographers the type of file they choose to shoot is almost like a badge of honour; ‘shoot Raw, it’s the best’. So what is the difference, why does each new camera need an updated Raw converter and do professionals shoot JPEG after all? In simple terms you can liken JPEG and Raw to cake. The JPEG cake is simply going to the store, choosing the one you like the look of and buying it. The Raw cake is different, you’re buying the ingredients, and when you return from the store there’s the additional step of combining the ingredients and baking the cake. Of course, with ingredients you can mix the cake a…

01 Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark II This updated compact is small but mighty £449/$530 www.canon.co.uk THE ORIGINAL G9 X grabbed headlines as the world’s smallest camera to feature a 1-inch sensor. This Mark II model retains these diminutive dimensions, measuring a mere 98.0x57.9x31.3mm, yet it manages to sport a 3-inch, 1040k-dot touch screen. Resolution remains at 20.2MP, and Canon has also carried over the bright f/2 10.2-30.6mm (28-84mm equivalent) lens. The addition of a new Digic 7 processor has boosted continuous raw capture speed, from around 1fps in the old G9 X to a far healthier 8.2fps. 02 Zhongyi Mitakon 20mm f/2 4.5x Super Macro Lens A lens that thinks it’s a microscope £199/$164 www.zyoptics.net THIS CHINESE lens manufacturer wants you to get a closer look at your subjects.…

With starting prices of only £100 ($140), telephoto zoom lenses don’t have to be expensive to buy. Most of the current options give a traditional 70-300mm zoom range, which was something of a favourite back in 35mm film photography days. Another similarity is that they’re full-frame compatible, so can be used on any Canon DSLR, while offering an extended 112-480mm ‘effective’ zoom range on bodies with smaller APS-C format sensors. Bucking the trend, the Canon EF-S 55-250mm is designed exclusively for APS-C format cameras, and can’t be used on fullframe bodies. As such, it’s relatively small and lightweight, while still giving powerful telephoto reach – equivalent to using an 88-400mm lens on a full-frame camera. Sigma and Tamron also used to make APS-C-format budget telephoto zoom lenses for Canon cameras,…

To search for past tests and articles, download our PhotoPlus index which dates all the way back to issue no.1. Get it at downloads.photoplusmag.com/photoplusindex.xls An Australian abroad I am undertaking a trip around the UK in April/May, and part of my research for locations to shoot has been your magazine. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet it’s so easy to get and read on my iPad. I am looking at spending roughly a week in Wales, The Lakes, and London then jumping over to Paris for the romantic stuff. What great locations can I get to easily using public transport and the like? I mostly shoot landscapes, wildlife and sport here in Australia, but I’m not planning on taking long, heavy glass with me. Haydn Davies, Perth, Australia Sounds…