Innholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2017 i PhotoPlus : The Canon Magazine

Spring is such a wonderful time of year for photography, and to celebrate we’re going big on images of gardens and flowers this issue. First up we have the best Canon photo entrants in this year’s International Garden Photographer of the Year competition (page 22), we have two great projects for you to try on how to capture perfect colours and vibrant close-ups of flowers (from page 43), and we interview Britain’s best garden photographer, Clive Nichols, who reveals his life story and the secret to his success (page 62). Also inside this issue, our Apprentice spends a day at a wildlife centre with experienced Canon pro Chris Robbins, learning how to take fantastic shots of wildlife, from small mice to large owls and tame foxes, see page 8. We…

Lens Sigma APO Macro 180mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Exposure 1/200 sec, f/8, ISO100 TOP GEAR #3 Speedlite & infrared remote “Canon Speedlites can be used for high-speed flash or fill-in light – you can do so much with them, alongside a trigger such as the Canon LC-5 wireless remote,” says Chris. “It takes time to set up triggers and flashes, however, and even then you may still not get a shot. Patience is a virtue!” EXPERT INSIGHT Off-camera flas h “We started off shooting a few frames of the harvest mouse in natural light because the sun was quite strong,” Chris says. “I wanted to show Jayne how to use off-camera flash and a softbox, as she hadn’t used Speedlites much before. The advantage of using flash is…

First rays by Volker Michael When I reached the garden I saw this incredibly beautiful light. This moment was unique, and I realized that it would never again exist in this form – it just had to be photographed. Lens Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Exposure 1/13 sec, f/18, ISO400 02 The Ring by Rosanna Castr ini This last flower of a Victoria cruziana was still holding on to its beauty in early October and seemed naturally prepared for a classic photo. ens Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM Exposure 1/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO400 03 Thirsty Squirr el by Julian Rad Over the years I have paid a lot of attention to the behaviour of red squirrels, spending many hours lying in my hide to study and photograph…

tudio strobes and Speedlites are the lighting tools most used by photographers of all levels of expertize. Both fire a short burst of artificial light to illuminate a subject. But as similar as Speedlites and studio strobes may seem, they do have important differences that can make one type of light the most suitable choice for a specific project. Here are the key characteristics of each. S Speedlites Price: With prices ranging from about £100 to £550 ($150 to $500), there’s a flashgun for every photographer’s budget. Power: The average power of a Speedlite is normally more than enough for common usage, such as a portrait session in a studio or the park, but may prove a little restrictive for more ambitious projects. Usually powered by AA batteries, Speedlites are…

Cheddar Gorge, Somerset. 17:23 local time. 14 October 2011 I’ve shot a few Gorges in my time, from Western Australia to Argentina to the Grand Canyon to Cheddar, and encountered the same problem at all. Yes, I know that the Grand Canyon is 15 times deeper than Cheddar Gorge, but stand on the rim of either when the sun is low in the sky at the beginning or end of day and, while golden light bathes the landscape all around, the depths of the gorge below is plunged into dark shadow. By the time those deep regions receive any direct light the sun will be high in the sky delivering harsh, contrasty and unappealing illumination. While gorges may be the most incredibly dramatic landscapes to behold, they are damned tricky…

01 Bring a sturdy tripod Other than your camera, a good tripod is the most essential piece of kit for nighttime shooting. When near water like this, make sure the legs have a firm footing, and if your tripod has spiked feet then consider using them to anchor it in place. 02 Focus with a torch A head torch is vital for night-time shoots. Apart from the obvious benefit of being able to navigate rough terrain in the dark, you can shine the torch on foreground objects to aid focusing. And if you’re in a creative mood you could light paint with it. 03 Check light pollution Light pollution is common near built-up areas. The reflected tungsten glow in the clouds can sometimes be unsightly, but not always; here we…

01 The in-camera fix Turn on Long Exposure Noise Reduction in your Canon’s menu. With the feature enabled, your DSLR will automatically take a second shot that lasts exactly the same length as the first – without opening the shutter – then blends the two to reduce the amount of thermal noise. 02 Shoot a dark frame Similar to Long Exposure Noise Reduction, but instead you shoot a dark frame manually with the lens cap on, using the same settings as your main shot. Use Photoshop (CC or Elements) to blend the two: copy and paste in the dark frame then set the layer blending mode to Difference. 03 Reduce noise in post Shooting a dark frame means waiting for double the exposure length, which can be a drag. If…

01 Canon DSLR setup We set up a simple white backdrop, and used a Canon 5D Mark III and 24-70mm standard zoom lens. Shooting at 70mm and close-up, we set an aperture of f/11 for good depth of field for the little tart, shutter speed was 1/160 sec and ISO320. 02 Lighting setup We used an off-camera flashgun with a Lastolite softbox positioned from above on a stand, fired remotely by Hähnel Captur radio flash triggers. The flashgun was set to Manual and 1/16 power, and zoom set to 50mm to focus the light. 03 Photoshop it In Photoshop. Use the Quick Selection tool, with Feather 0.1, to select the tart. Go to Filter>Filter Gallery and, for a retro look, we choose Artistic>Cutout, setting Number of Levels to 5, Edge…

01 Subject This technique works for any subject, but it’s handy for rendering skin tones, still life and product shots accurately. The filter works by averaging the light that falls onto it, so the camera can calculate a mid-grey tone from the light transmitted through it. 02 camera setup Once your scene is set, your model or subject is in position and any lighting setup is arranged, you’re ready to take a reading. Attach or hold the filter in front of your lens – it doesn’t matter if it overlaps. We took our camera off the tripod for the reading. 03 position yourself Stand near your subject and point the camera (with the filter still in front of the lens) back to where the camera will be positioned when you…

The Mission To add a subtle vignette to a moody landscape image Time needed 5 minutes Skill level Easy Kit needed Lightroom 5 or later Our landscape image has already been partially edited with an interesting splittone effect and contrast boost. That being said, the sky lacks impact due to bland clouds, and there are a few extra tweaks we can make to create a more dynamic final scene. To help, we can add a vignette. O Vignettes occur naturally as less light enters the edge of a lens and causes the corners of the photo to look a little darker. You’ll often hear of photographers trying to edit out lens vignetting, but it can be used to subtly frame a photo. By deliberately darkening the edges in Lightroom we…

I have played or watched cricket for over 60 years, yet it was only four years ago, seeking a fresh photographic challenge, that I began seriously to try to make exciting and satisfying images from summer days spent at the ground of Worcester County Cricket Club. I Cricket and photography have much in common! Both are greatly influenced by the quality of light and climatic conditions in general, and both are highly dependent on decisive moments that determine success or failure. I also think that both place a premium on the choice of location, position and the manipulation of space. I often find that my most pleasing images are made late in the day’s play when shadows and the warmth of late-afternoon light transform what might otherwise be mere record…

01 Manfrotto National Geographic Australia Collection Bags inspired by a land down under £60-£160/$TBA www.manfrotto.co.uk This new five-bag range from Manfrotto is headed by a camera and laptop backpack that can pack a 5DS and attached 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, along with up to five extra optics, while also able to carry personal effects and a 15in laptop. If you can travel with two fewer lenses, the slightly smaller 3way camera backpack can convert to handle bag or shoulder bag. Small and Medium messenger bags cater for APS-C Canon DSLR setups, and a small EOS M kit can find a home in the compact Australia Camera Holster. 02 Hähnel Modus 600RT New flashgun, new power source £229/$TBA www.hahnel.ie Hähnel has combined its expertize with wireless flashgun trigger systems and increased capacity…

Most of the flashguns in this Super Test are powerful models, and they’re all fully dedicated to deliver seamless operation with Canon DSLRs, complete with E-TTL (Electronic Through The Lens) metering that automatically controls flash output without requiring taxing mental arithmetic or delving into arcane settings. M Further attractions include the ability to adjust flashgun settings from the camera’s Quick Control and shooting menus, although most flashguns also have comprehensive onboard controls and an LCD screen to display important parameters. Advanced flash modes typically include rear-curtain flash, slow-speed sync and high-speed sync. Rear-curtain flash is useful when panning, as the flash occurs at the end of the exposure rather than the beginning. Slow and high-speed sync enable the flashgun to be used with the camera at slow and fast shutter…

Lens Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM Exposure 1/2500 sec, f/5.6, ISO800 HIT THE DECK “After heavy rain, it was incredibly muddy in the enclosure. I wanted to make sure we got some low-angle shots of the foxes, so I laid out a waterproof camouflage tarpaulin,” Chris shares. “Getting down to the eye-level of any animal can immediately improve the impact of a frame. For these types of shots, it often works if you capture a moment of eye contact with the animal too,” he says. “This creates a connection between your subject and the viewer. When you get down to eye level, it also makes it much easier to get a blurred, out-of-focus background.” JAYNE’S COMMENT Wildlife photography is unpredictable. While in the fox enclosure, the animal handler…

Lens Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Exposure 1/250 sec, f/16, ISO100 EXPERT INSIGHT Use Speedlights creatively “Owls are nocturnal, so we tried to recreate the look of dusk by adding in two Speedlites to the setup," says Chris. “We wanted to give the shot a night-time look, as if it was the blue hour, to make the results more natural-looking. We started by switching to single shooting mode, took a reading of the outside of the enclosure, then used exposure compensation to underexpose by a few stops. We had to narrow the aperture a lot and set the ISO to its lowest point to get the background dark enough. The bright plumage detail of the owl was easy to overexpose and burn out. To compensate, we moved the flashguns…

Lighting people is an art that every photographer should master, and the following feature will give you an essential introduction to taking great portraits with lights. Using lights gives the photographer complete control over their shoot when inside the studio, and adds an additional layer of creative opportunity outside. We kick things off by discussing the three variables that up make an exposure in the first place – shutter speed, aperture and ISO – and how they interact with one another in a lighting setup. We then move on to the benefits and drawbacks of flashguns versus studio lighting kits. Next up, we show you how to start typical studio lighting setups, including using a key and fill light, high-key and low-key lighting, and hard versus soft lighting. Finally, we…

Whether shooting during the day or at night, one of the most useful compositional devices for landscapes is to include foreground interest, but is it always necessary? It can be too easy – almost a little lazy – to simply find a rock and frame it up in the front, with a mountain or similarly pretty scene behind. But if that’s the default, then our landscapes can all end up looking very similar. More importantly, it might actually hinder us from finding a stronger composition if we’re always on the lookout for the right rock. So ask yourself, what’s most important to your composition? There’s no right or wrong here, but rather a challenge that goes to the heart of all photography – to find something interesting, unusual and tru…

It makes sense to think that you need a specialist macro lens to shoot macro images, but this definitely isn’t the case. Macro lenses are expensive, so you’ll need to take a lot of macro images to justify forking out for one. Before you take the plunge and invest, discover how to get life-size reproductions of your subject using just your existing kit and an extra accessory. With the technique shown here, you can use some of the cheapest lenses I available – even decades old lenses – to achieve brilliant results. All you need to do is turn the lens around, and you can do this by attaching what’s called a reversing ring to your Canon camera body. When you reverse a lens, the minimum focusing distance suddenly becomes incredibly…

With your image open in ACR, select Auto from the White Balance drop-down menu. You can then fine-tune the white balance using the Temperature slider. Enhance the colours of the flower by dragging the vibrancy slider to the right. We took it to +30. To bring out macro details and the midtones of the image, drag the Clarity slider to the right. You don’t want to overdo it here, though. Zoom in to 100% magnification and play around with the amount to find a balance of a contrasting but natural-looking result.…

The Mission Build a composite by combining several images with layer masks Time needed 30 minutes Skill level Intermediate Kit needed Photoshop Elements Photoshop Elements may have a reputation for being a little lightweight in comparison to its big brother Photoshop CC, but its compositing tools are just as powerful. Like a mad professor with a welding torch, you can create all manner of mechanical mash-ups with a few simple skills. So why not fuse together a character like our lamp-robot here? In this tutorial, we’ll show you how it’s done. P Along the way you’ll learn essential Photoshop techniques, from making precise selections to painting layer masks – a key skill for many Photoshop tasks. We’ve provided several start images for you to use, but the real joy is…

When Clive Nichols first began shooting gardens back in the 1980s, he freely admits that he knew very little about them. Since then, he has acquired detailed horticultural knowledge, photographed many of the world’s most famous gardens and created a huge collection of over 75,000 images. He combines a natural eye for colour, shape, pattern and texture with a perfectionist’s dedication for the ideal image. His photographs include magical early morning garden scenes, intriguing abstracts and fine art close-up flower studies. As he explains, he may not have known much about gardens and plants when he started out, but he knew a beautiful subject when he saw it… When did you get started in photography? I started when I was at Reading University in the mid-1980s, studying Human Geography. I…

My aim is to create a story of my clients’ day that reflects each member of the family an authentic and real way I work with families shooting lifestyle images in their home and outdoors on location. My aim is to create a story of my clients’ day that reflects each member of the family in an authentic and real way. As I am photographing children, who most often don’t stay still, my kit needs to be light, quick to access and fast to focus. I I usually walk into a home where I’ve never shot before, so I need to ensure I have every focal length covered. My lenses range between 24mm and 200mm, and I tend to shoot at wider apertures to create the background separation I love.…

Many photographic magazines feature a readers’ gallery section, which can be a great place to start. These probably won’t offer the highest rewards, but they can be a good stepping stone to getting your images published elsewhere in the magazine, or even in other publications. If you have some great seasonal images of your local area you could also try submitting a small selection of images to a local interest magazine or publication, rather than starting out with a large national or international organization. M Most publications will be on the lookout for new and striking images. As long as your photos are up to scratch, for your initial submission try sending a small selection (up to ten) of low-resolution JPEG images, along with a link to your website if…

Ask Brian! Confused with your Canon DSLR? Email EOSSOS@ futurenet.com O ne of the regular questions I receive is about the difference between full-frame and crop cameras with the same lenses. A lens has a fixed optical configuration, putting it on a full-frame or a crop camera makes no difference to its physical characteristics. A full frame sensor is 36x24mm in size, so an EF lens needs to form a circular image at least 43.2mm in diameter to do this. APS-C sensors are 22.4x15mm in size. An attached EF lens still produces an image circle of 43.2mm, but only the central 27mm illuminates the sensor. This has the effect that smaller sensors appear to magnify the image, as if a longer focal length lens was used. What is really happening…

Lens Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM Exposure 1/2500 sec, f/5.6, ISO800 EXPERT INSIGHT Take a reading “As the light kept changing as we photographed the otters, I thought side lighting might work well, so we set up on one side of the pool,” explains Chris.“In this situation, I encouraged Jayne to switch to Manual mode and take a meter reading from a neutral area. This way we wouldn’t have to worry about changing the exposure so frequently. Grass can generally be relied on to produce the same tone as an 18% grey card, so this is what we used for our reading. Once we’d started shooting, we glanced at the histogram every so often, changing the exposure if needed. Aperture Priority mode could also have been used here,…

Jayne’s comment Chris spoke about getting really low so that we could photograph the fox at eye level – luckily he brought a large groundsheet as it was very wet and muddy in the enclosure. It was quite overgrown in places, so I set my camera to Av mode with an aperture of f/5.6 to give a shallow depth of field, eliminating any background clutter. We spent a bit of time discussing animal behaviour, so it was great to capture the fox looking so intensely while licking his lips. Lens Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM Exposure 1/1600 sec, f/5.6, ISO800 Chris’ verdict Jayne is clearly no beginner, having been on a few organized wildlife photography holidays since her retirement. She handled the camera very well and had already…

Changing the camera’s shutter speed affects the exposure of the overall image when shooting in ambient light. When you add flash to the mix, this additional light source is only powerful enough to light a relatively small area of the scene, namely the subject. C In this kind of dual-lighting scenario you decide how bright the background (only affected by ambient light) is going to be in the picture simply by changing the shutter speed, independently from the brightness of the subject (mainly affected by flash and much less influenced by shutter speed). So we can decide to minimize the brightness of the background (with a fast shutter speed) or enhance it (with a slow a shutter speed) relative to the subject. In the shade Over in the panel of…

When you’re shooting at a stunning location it’s easy to lose yourself in the moment and, before you know it, then light is fading. However, just because the sun goes down there’s no need to head home. If the moon is out and the skies are clear, you can continue shooting well into the night. To do so involves a fairly substantial long exposure. We’re not talking a few seconds here, more like a few minutes. Aside from the need for a tripod and cable release, we also have to be able to expose correctly for the moonlight. But how to do this with such long exposures? We could experiment, but that might cost us an hour. Instead, the solution is to take a rough test shot with a really…

Just like the sun, moonlight is more interesting when it’s directional. So compose with it off to one side, so that the scene is side-lit. Check the position of the moon throughout the night with apps like the Photographer’s Ephemeris or PhotoPils. Look for water, as the flowing motion will be blurred during the exposure for a smooth, velvety surface. A fairly still body of water is ideal for mountain scenes as you’ll get a mirror-like reflection. If it’s too choppy, like this, then the reflection will be lost.…

01 Choose your lens A standard lens tends to work best for this reversed lens technique. They boast a wide field of view, reducing the risk of vignetting, but more importantly they give greater magnification than a reversed telephoto lens would. We used a 50mm lens here. 02 Ta ke it off Mount your lens normally and set a narrow aperture of around f/8. Then press the DoF preview button and, while holding it in, remove the lens from the body. The lens should retain your chosen aperture setting. Repeat this if you want to change the aperture again. 03 Attach the ring Make sure your reversing ring matches the thread size of your lens. It’s possible to buy step-up or step-down rings to get round this, but they’re a…

The Mission Speed up your skin retouching skills with a variety of different methods Time needed 30 minutes Skill level Intermediate Kit needed Photoshop CC Retouching can be fairly monotonous, so anything that helps speed things up in the editing department is very welcome. In some genres of photography, you can get away with minimal edits, but most portrait photographers strive to achieve beautiful skin in their images. This can take some time, but the key is not to overdo it – aim for a result that’s realistic, that retains the natural skin texture of your willing model. R Getting the balance right is tricky but achievable. In this tutorial you’ll learn four slightly different approaches for softening skin tones and textures. We’ll go from a down-and-dirty simple technique in…

PHOTO STORIES 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 we document the life cycles of dragonflies to aid their conservation and capture the drama of a day at the cricket. of a day at the cricket. 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…

Thanks to our pals at Manfrotto, we have more than £700-worth of goodies to win, including a new pro backpack to carry your Canon DSLR, lenses and other gear, along with a great tripod-andhead combo for long exposures. T The Manfrotto 055 carbon fibre four-section tripod provides maximum rigidity from super-light components, to ensure your Canon camera is rocksteady for razor-sharp shots. It has a 90° column to shoot from new perspectives, a Quick Power Lock for fast, solid and effortless setup, the new Leg Angle Selector to enable a variety of shooting positions, and, of course, premium Italian styling dictated by function. The perfect complement to the 055 tripod is the Manfrotto magnesium XPRO ball head. It has a triple-locking system and polymer rings for precise positioning, levelling bubbles…

Canon’s original 70-300mm IS USM has become a bit of an embarrassment. As discussed in our Super Test (issue 123), it has an outdated image stabilizer, a sluggish and noisy autofocus motor, and handling is impaired by the focus ring and front element both rotating during autofocus. It wasn’t the sharpest tool in the box either. The Mk II puts all of that right, and more besides. C The standout new feature is a revolutionary Nano USM autofocus system. It’s like the best of ring-type ultrasonic and STM (Stepping Motor) systems rolled into one. You get super-fast performance for stills shooting, along with smooth and virtually silent autofocus transitions when shooting movies. The front element and focus ring both remain fixed during autofocus, while the latter enables manual override with…

Whether you’ve got an Apple iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch, or an Android, Kindle or Nook tablet, you can download PhotoPlus back issues. You can read them on your laptop or desktop computer as well. To see the full range of devices go to http://bit.ly/ppdigi W Limited back issues of our print editions are available at http://bit.ly/getphotoplus last month Issue 124 April 2017 celebrate the 30th anniversary of EOS cameras l Apprentice: tips and tricks for motorsports shots l Interview: Fernando Guerra l Super Test: full-frame cameras l Preview: Canon EOS 77D and 800D l Canon School: tidy up street shots l My Kit: Drew Buckley l David Noton: a pro in Paris l Projects on: capturing the Northern Lights, atmospheric portraits by candlelight, sparkly long exposures, abstract everyday objects…

It’s a man’s world? I would like to make a comment about something that was brought to my attention when I visited The Photography Show. I went with my Trade Visitor pass and had a fantastic day with my brother. At the end of the day, he asked whether I’d noticed that, when I was talking to people on the stands, most of the time they were replying to him and ignoring me. This got me thinking about women in general in the world of photography. Obviously there are a lot of exceptionally talented female photographers, but it seems most things are still geared towards men – although, to my great delight, I do have a Black Rapid strap that is designed for women. While reading your April issue, I…