Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2022 i PhotoPlus : The Canon Magazine

Hello and welcome to PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine, the No.1 title for every Canon EOS camera user. Whether you use a Canon EOS DSLR or EOS R mirrorless camera, and Canon EF, RF or EF-S lenses, we’ll help you master your kit to improve your photography. Inside this issue, we’ll help you take better photos of it all this spring season – from flowery fields and vibrant landscapes, to wildlife that’s coming out of hiding to feed, to close-ups of plants, butterflies and bugs. Springtime offers a wealth photo ops, and you’ll find something interesting to photograph from your garden to local woodlands, you don’t have to travel far to take great photos. We’ll inspire and help you set up your Canon gear for the best results possible. Get started…

APERTURE PRIORITY TO GET started Paul setup Neil’s Canon EOS R5 in the Aperture Priority mode, which is a semi-automatic mode where you can set the aperture and the camera will then work out the required shutter speed for you, based on your current metering mode. He started with an aperture of f/7.1 (at 500mm) for decent sharpness in the squirrels and set the ISO to 3200, this was so they could achieve a shutter speed of around 1/200-1/400 sec, fast enough to catch sharp squirrel shots handheld when they were sitting fairly still. FAST BURST MODE PAUL SET his and Neil’s cameras to their High Speed Continuous shooting setting, so that they could shoot at rapid frame rates of 14fps on Paul’s EOS-1D X Mark II and 20fps on…

01 WINNER ABYSS BY DOMINIC BEAVEN Dominic’s incredible underwater image takes the top spot in our Mellow Yellow photo contest this month. This shot is dark, moody and atmospheric – lovely! The use of a yellow dress on the model makes for a visually arresting focal point surrounded by deep blues. The frame is kept minimal and the model’s pose is captivating too. Great job! Lens Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Exposure 1/200 sec, f/8, ISO320 All the images in this gallery were entrants to the PhotoPlus ‘Mellow Yellow’ competition hosted on Photocrowd – a website where a public vote on the best-liked images is pitted against expert opinion. To enter our current contest, and vote on your favourite photos, simply visit www.photocrowd.com 02 DRAG THE FISH NET ON THE…

Spring is known for showers or changeable weather. But rather than shelter when forecasts predicts a downpour, grab your waterproofs, pop a rain sleeve over your EOS camera, and head outdoors – you may be surprised at the photo ops wet weather can provide. We don’t suggest shooting during heavy rainfall for prolonged periods, but most higher-spec Canon cameras are well weather sealed and can deal with light rain showers. Stormy skies can look dark and menacing and give images a sense of wilderness, particularly when you’re shooting coastlines, moorlands or mountain peaks. All you need is one small break in the cloud to allow a ray or two of light to bring it to life. During spring, study clouds and look for gaps where the sun is likely to…

Top reasons to subscribe now! ✓ Great savings Get a rolling annual subscription at the discounted prices listed below – you just pay every six months. Choose from these three options: ✓ Free Lowepro camera bag The Lowepro Passport Duo is ideal for day trips to carry your Canon kit. Option 1 – SAVE 28%! Print Subscription every 6 months from £28 13 issues of PhotoPlus print edition Delivery to your door included in the price Free Lowepro Passport Duo bag worth £53! Option 2 – SAVE 39%! Digital Subscription every 6 months from £27.50 • 13 issues of PhotoPlus digital edition for your device • Instant digital access • Available on iOS or Android • Gift not included with Digital Subscription Option 3 – SAVE 57%! Premium Subscription every…

We’re all used to seeing portraits with lovely background bokeh, but what about a different kind of blur? Motion blur can add a dynamic sense of speed to your portraits, by blurring the surroundings into gorgeous silky streaks. In this project we’ll look at how it’s done. First we’ll explain how to shoot subjects in moving cars to capture both stunning blurred trails of light and a sharp subject in a single frame, then we’ll explore a few other methods for capturing beautiful motion-blurred backgrounds. This can be something of a balancing act in terms of our camera settings, as we need to slow our shutter speed down to a length that will allow for the moving parts of the scene to become blurred, while at the same time keeping…

01 SELECT THE SUBJECT Open your image in Photoshop, then go to Select>Subject. Grab the Quick Selection brush and paint to add any areas in to the selection, or hold Alt and paint to subtract. Go to Select>Select and Mask. Increase the Radius to improve the edge, then pick Output: New Layer with Layer Mask. 02 FILL THE BACKGROUND Go to the Layers panel, hold Cmd/Ctrl and click the thumbnail of the layer mask to load a selection. Highlight and reveal the bottom layer then go to Select>Modify> Expand and expand by 5 pixels. Next, go to Edit>Fill, set Contents: Content-Aware and hit OK. 03 BLUR AND TINT Go to Filter>Blur Gallery>Path Blur. Drag a curved line through the image to create motion blur in the direction of your choice,…

01 CAMERA & LENS Any Canon EOS camera is fine for polarizer scenic shots. We used a Canon 5D Mk IV. It’s the lens that’s key, you want a focal length of 24mm (or 18mm on APS-C cameras) or longer as polarizer filter effects have trouble with wider angle focal lengths. 02 FILTER SIZE You’ll need a polarizing filter that’s the same size diameter as your lens; our Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM lens requires a 77mm filter. The diameter is marked on the lens in millimetres and is usually prefixed with a Ø symbol. 03 SHOOT AT RIGHT-ANGLES The polarizing effect is most pronounced when the sun light is at 90 degrees to the scene – it has little impact when shooting with the sun behind you.…

Whenever you take a shot, the image you capture in-camera can be regarded in two different ways. The first is to treat it as an accurate rendition of the scene or subject – a ‘record’ of whatever was presented to you at the time. The second is to see the recorded picture as a starting point for further creative exploration. In a sense, you’ve already put your ‘stamp’ on the picture with your choice of focal length, composition, depth of field, point of focus and timing, but there may be more you want to convey. This might be a mood or atmosphere that perhaps isn’t apparent or obvious in the capture, or it might be a visual style you want to apply so that the scene is presented as you…

01 PAINT WITH BLENDING MODES When the Brush Tool is selected, you’ll find a Blending Mode dropdown in the tool options. This applies the Blending Mode to your individual brush strokes, so it affects how the brush colours interact with what is being painted over. Here, by setting the brush Blending Mode to Color, we can paint anywhere we like to colourize the different smoke layers. 02 LAYER BLENDING MODES There are 27 Blending Modes in the list at the top of the Layers panel. To get started, open two or more images then use the Move Tool to drag one image to the other to copy it over. It’s not always clear which Blending Mode will work best for your image, so try hovering over each in the list…

WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY is changing. Today, a greater number of photographers are devoting time to covering environmental issues rather than joining the throng of morning commuters on safari game drives. Although wildlife remains their focus, some no longer call themselves wildlife photographers – now they prefer to be known as conservation photographers. For Neil Aldridge, this shift in direction is a long-awaited validation of the lonely path he first trod in 2009. That was the year he established his brand by registering the name ‘conservation photojournalism’ with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. “In fact, it probably had its roots back in 2005 when I did my wildlife guide training in Africa, taking a lot of photos, doing a lot of wildlife photography,” he recalls. Back then, the young South African was…

I am a premier sports journalist specializing in long-distance events, often in hard-to-reach locations, particularly in the mountains. I’ve captured some of the world’s most challenging races and extraordinary humans. I have a huge passion for the Barkley Marathons, the 100-mile run known as the hardest in the world. I shot the images for the book The Finishers to document this legendary run and also produced a film with my friend Aurélien Delfosse. In March, every year since 1986, the Barkley 100-mile run takes place in Frozen Head State Park, Tennessee, USA. It’s a special place, a park with a slightly gloomy atmosphere in winter, with steep slopes and old mines. Since 2017, I have come back every year to photograph the Barkley. To me, it’s truly a unique event…

As a little boy I had access to the entomology laboratory of the S.N. from Venice and this was where I discovered my passion for nature photography. When I was getting into super macro photography I asked myself, how I could relive that emotion I felt as a child seeing tiny insects under a microscope which left me awestruck. In my Microcosmo project, which now contains more than 80 images, I’ve been creating highly-detailed images of tiny insects using a specialist setup and my Canon EOS 5DS. I merge multiple images, like a mosaic, and I focus stack each ‘tile’ to ensure total sharpness. I use Zerene Stacker software to merge the pictures together. I’ve turned an insect just 2cm in size into a canvas print measuring 3x170m which is…

Not all EOS cameras have dedicated AF point selection controls. At the more affordable end, you have to use the camera’s standard dials and buttons. For example, you can move the AF point using the dials on the body (one will move the point horizontally, the other will move it vertically). Or you can press the arrow keys around the SET button to shift the point around. For each, you’ll have to first press the AF point selection button to activate the AF point array. If you shoot with a mirrorless, then you may also be able to use the rear screen as a touchpad while you look at the scene through the viewfinder. You’ll be able to adjust the control settings in the main menu, such as toggling the…

Direct select IF YOU’RE using an EOS camera that’s equipped with a multi-controller, such as the EOS 90D or EOS R6, then you can customize the joystick so that it gives you direct control over the AF point rather than having to press the AF point selection button first. You’ll find this option in the camera’s Custom Controls menu, which you can access through the main menu or the Quick Control screen. You may also be able to add this function to the four-way arrow keys on the back of a camera, again, via the Custom Controls menu. Orientation SOME EOS cameras allow you to assign different AF points or Zone AF frames to different camera orientations. For example, the default setting on the EOS R6 is that the same…

The latest and greatest camera kit may do all kinds of magic to get great photos for a range of difficult subjects. There’s also one thing that can make your camera work even better, and that’s the camera operator – yes, you! Time and again I have seen people tell me they’ve watched amazing online tutorials from great professional photographers who have explained their perfect camera settings for the photos they take. I’ve seen photographers go out and buy the exact same kit, use the exact same settings and still not get the same result. The only thing different being the camera operator’s eye and skill. During a recent photo tutorial session the photographer was getting less in focus shots than I was with the same camera. The claim was…

01 Canon RF 800mm F5.6L IS USM and RF 1200mm F8L IS USM Top dollar super-telephotos for serious pro sports and wildlife photographers £19,099 / $16,999 and £22,449 / $20,000 www.canon.co.uk CANON’S RF 800mm F5.6L IS USM and Canon RF 1200mm F8L IS USM lenses are two new “big whites” and come with big price tags to match. Canon is keen to point out the Canon RF 1200mm F8L IS USM is “the world’s longest AF focal length lens for mirrorless cameras” and “the longest focal length on the market that isn’t a telescope.” It’s also “the smallest lens of its size ever released”, being 13kgs lighter and 30cm shorter than the Canon EF 1200mm f/5.6L USM, and a comparatively light 3.34kg. It boasts up to four-stops of image stabilization,…

The zoom range of Canon’s 18-135mm looks a bit meagre compared with most superzooms, but it still equates to a useful 28.8-216mm stretch, in fullframe terms. The 18-135mm has been redesigned and boasts an upgrade from a basic electric AF motor to a more advanced stepping motor. This enables quick autofocus when shooting stills, along with smooth autofocus transitions for video. A handling enhancement is that the focus ring no longer rotates during autofocus, so you don’t need to keep your fingers clear in handheld shooting. Further bonuses are that AF is near silent, and manual override has become available via a ‘fly by wire’ electronic coupling. The optical path includes precision moulded aspherical and UD (Ultra-low Dispersion) elements, and Super Spectra coatings to reduce ghosting and flare. Considering the…

Despite their zoom range, the two Canon 18-135mm lenses here don’t give noticeably less barrel distortion at the short end, or pincushion at the long end, compared with the Sigma 18-300mm or the Tamron 18-200mm and 18-400mm lens. The Tamron 18-200mm has slightly worse barrel distortion at the short end. In recent and current Canon cameras, automatic corrections are available for all of the Canon lenses and the Sigma lens on test. Typical of many recent lenses for mirrorless cameras, the Canon RF 24-240mm’s distortion makes it virtually unusable without auto correction.…

Canon’s only superzoom lens for full-frame format DSLRs, the EF 28-300mm is a real heavyweight. It’s about three times heavier than most other lenses in the group, weighing in at 1670g. As such, it looks and feels much more like a chunky telephoto lens and comes with Canon’s trademark off-white paint job and a tripod mounting ring. Launched back in 2004, it’s similar to the first edition of the EF 100-400mm IS USM in having a trombone-style push-pull zoom mechanism. With a design ethos that concentrates on quality, this lens is from Canon’s up-market L-series line-up. It’s typically robust, with weather-sealed, pro-grade build quality and a high-end optical layout to match. This features two aspherical elements and three UD elements. Switches are on hand for AF/MF focusing, an AF range…

At their shortest zooms, most of the APS-C lenses here give roughly the same amount of colour fringing in the corners of frames. It’s pretty much the same at the long end of the zoom range, although the Tamron 18-400mm is worse than any other lens here. By contrast, the Sigma 18-300mm has little colour fringing at the long end, and it’s minimal in all of the lenses at mid-zooms. As with distortion, the RF 24-240mm relies on auto corrections.…

Whereas Tamron’s now obsolete 16-300mm lens went ultra-wide, the latest addition to its superzoom stable goes extra-long. Stretching to 400mm, it beats every other APS-C superzoom on the planet, delivering a maximum ‘effective’ reach of 640mm. And, even though it’s the heaviest APS-C format lens in the group at 710g, it’s still a lighter than the Canon RF 24-240mm full-frame lens. The optical design includes two moulded glass aspherical elements and one hybrid aspherical element, along with three low-dispersion elements. AF is driven by an HLD (High/Low toque-modulated Drive) motor, which is quick and quiet. But like the other Sigma and Tamron superzooms on test, the focus ring rotates during AF and there’s no full-time manual override. Build quality is good overall and the construction features various weather-seals, including one…

Spring is the season of new life and new photography opportunities and, with two years of the worst of the pandemic hopefully behind us, and healthier times ahead, it’s time to enjoy the freedom of being outside with our Canon gear. Just getting outdoors with your camera, enjoying the space and reconnecting with nature is great for our wellbeing. After photo trips and holidays had been put on hold, it’s now time to put the spring back into your shots! The days are longer and the temperature is rising, and our local countryside, forest and gardens are looking vibrant and resplendent. Spring has officially sprung! Regardless of whether you plan to travel, or prefer to stay closer to home, there are endless photo opportunities at this time of year. Woodland,…

Spring is synonymous with fresh and colourful blossom, and there’s no better season to photograph wildflowers. While you shouldn’t overlook the cultivated varieties popping up in your garden, there is an abundance of wild blooms adorning hedgerows, woodland, meadows, coastal clifftops and even churchyards, and they all provide fantastic photographic opportunities to capture with your Canon kit. Bluebells are the flower we think of when conjuring up visions of spring. The UK is home to roughly half the world’s bluebell population and there are few sights more captivating than a carpet of blue. Early May is peak time for bluebells, when ancient, deciduous woodland is the perfect place to visit. “A worm’s eye perspective will often produce the most natural, intimate result, so be prepared to get down low” Carry…

Death Valley, California, USA, North America. 23:57pm. 5 November 2011 Like every young boy, I always wanted to go to the moon. Now, at 50 years old, I still find its craters and oceans a source of optical fascination, but I never thought I would find something so close to the lunar surface here on earth. The year is 2011 and I have decided to take a chance by visiting Death Valley with some like minded American photography friends. I met them over breakfast in a mountain lodge in on a frozen Alberta lakeside. I am still in touch with Brian and Mac to this day and the experience we shared on this epic two week road trip was a highlight in those early days. We’re at Teakettle Junction, staring…

01 SUCTION STAND A suction stand enables us to attach the camera to the car window. This small arm with a tripod-like head sticks to the window to create a firm bond capable of holding a heavy camera. Ensure that the stand will hold the camera before setting off, and hang the strap around the wing mirror. 02 CAMERA SETTINGS Our camera is in Manual mode here with shutter speed at 4 seconds, an aperture of f/18 and at ISO1600. The 4-second exposure transforms the surrounding lights and details into motion blur. The narrow aperture ensures plenty of depth of field in the car and subject. 03 PREPARE THE CAR For the face to be sharp we need to keep the car as dark as possible, so that the only…

MOTION BLUR can lend our portraits a feeling of speed and dynamism – like the car shot – but it can equally be used to convey a sense of calm and of time passing by. Here we’ve used a tripod and a 10-stop neutral density filter. This lets us shoot super-long exposures in bright daylight. When using a 10-stop filter it’s best to work out a normal exposure and also compose and focus before attaching the filter to the lens. Then set up a bulb exposure and use an exposure calculator (like the Photopills app) to work out the 10-stop difference in shutter speed, before using a wireless shutter release to open the shutter for the required time. Your subject will need to stay as still as possible during the…

Freezing a precise moment of action can be one of the most difficult things we attempt as photographers. While it gets easier with every new generation of Canon cameras that are capable of increasingly impressive burst rates, we reveal our favourite way to guarantee you get the exact moment with a method that works on even our entry-level full-frame mirrorless Canon EOS R. In this project I’m going to show you how to capture the exact moment that a sugar cube splashes into a cup of coffee, using 4K video to record the whole sequence in stunning detail, then pulling an image from the video. Most modern Canon’s have the ability to record 4K video, and we’re going to utilize this feature to enable us to record all of the…

If you want to make composite images by combining photos, or bring in graphics and text, one of the biggest challenges is making it look like the separate elements belong together. Affinity Photo’s Displace filter can be useful in this regard. It allows you to distort the shape of an image or detail so that it conforms to the shapes on the image underneath. So it lets us replicate the texture or surface undulations of one image onto another. Here this allows us to add a pattern to our subject’s dress. The filter skews the pattern so that the leaves look as if they’re curving around the folds in the fabric, rather than just added on top. You can use the same technique to combine all sorts of images in…

They were sharing the same roost as some grey long-eared bats in a barn on a farm in Devon, but you don’t know when they’re coming out and it’s all shot with red light filters. You hear the camera go, but you don’t know if the bat’s in frame because it’s flying so fast. This is the ‘prey-eye view’, what a moth sitting on some grass would see as this bat hunts. The shot was taken with an EF 16-35mm at f/2.8L. It needed to be wide enough to get that rim of grass. I bought some camera traps specifically because they were fast enough to trigger when the bats fly through. You put the camera on 30 seconds rolling exposure, lock it with a cable release and let it…

THERE ARE many situations where manually selecting an AF point, or group, makes more sense than leaving it up to the camera. If there’s an object between the camera and the subject, for example, then it may end up focusing on the closer object. So, letting the camera know which feature you want to focus on will usually give you better results. Still, the EOS R3’s combo of eye controlled focusing and intelligent subject detection has changed things. Looking at an object that you want to be in focus is quicker than nudging an AF point across a screen. You don’t even have to keep staring at the subject, or even look at the part that you want to be in focus. With People selected as the AF priority, for…

It isn’t just the number of AF points – and the speed at which you can select them – that makes a difference to the autofocus accuracy, it’s their precision and sensitivity too. Not all AF points are made equal. Standard AF points have sensors that are arranged either vertically or horizontally, and they are only able to detect details that cross the orientation of the sensor. The horizon in a landscape will trigger a vertical sensor, for example, while horizontal sensors are sensitive to vertical lines – such as the upright edges of a building. Cross-type AF points are potentially quicker and more precise than standard AF points, because they use both a horizontal and a vertical sensor to detect the subject. Dual cross-type sensors have an ‘x’ arrangement…

YOU CAN LEARN A LOT FROM BAD PHOTOS While it’s tempting to only pay attention to successful shots, you may find that you learn a lot from those that don’t make the grade. You might be able to see when a specific white balance was ideal, or when an AF case really helped to get a sharp shot. So turn detective and discover the real reason for your good and bad shots. 01 DISPLAY IMAGE PROPERTIES Open an image in the edit image window, and display the image properties as an overlay in the top left corner of the shot. Go to Preview>Properties to enable this, head to DPP preferences if you don’t see them. Open DPP preferences, choose properties display settings and then under properties to display select Display…

PHOTO BOOKS are a great way to give your loved ones a sentimental and personal gift without breaking the bank. Whether you want to create a wonderful round-up of your friend’s or family’s favourite memories, celebrate a specific event, or show a loved one how much you care, these photo books make excellent gifts. With all of the customizable features and stylish templates, you can make your photo book truly unique to the recipient. We enjoy it when the service enables you to create your own custom front cover, which adds extra polish, and a personal touch to the final product. To help you find the best service for you, we’ve reviewed and rated each of the products in this guide. We’ve tested each service based on the quality of…

To test real-world performance, we use lenses in all sorts of lighting conditions, indoors and outdoors. We check for build quality and handling, smooth and precise operation of all controls, the speed and accuracy of AF, and the effectiveness of IS, where fitted. We typically test full-frame compatible lenses on a range of full-frame and APS-C format bodies, whereas lenses that are designed specifically for APS-C bodies are only tested on the latter. In-camera corrections for chromatic aberrations and peripheral illumination are disabled throughout testing, to better reveal the performance of each lens. We also run a range of lab tests under controlled conditions, using the Imatest Master and DxO Analyser suites. Photos of test charts are taken across the range of apertures and zoom settings, then analyzed for sharpness,…

For a compact and lightweight outfit, there’s a lot to be said for sticking with the tiny, retractable EF-M 15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM and adding the small ultra-wide EF-M 11-22mm and telephoto EF-M 55-200mm if you need to bolster your range. However, if you’re in the market for a single lens to cover the bases, the EF-M 18-150mm is the only candidate. Measuring 61x87mm and weighing just 300g, it’s the smallest, most lightweight lens here, undercutting the Tamron 18-200mm. Even so, there’s a lot packed in, including no fewer than 17 optical elements in 13 groups, a stepping motor-based AF system and a 4-stop optical IS. Build quality is good and the lens is nicely finished in the usual graphite or silver colour options. A plastic, rather than metal, mounting…

With the recent but relentless mirrorless march, Canon has ceased production of a few DSLR lenses. The EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS is still on the market in some regions but, whereas Canon’s 18-135mm lens has effectively undergone two revamps, the 18-200mm remains unchanged. Some 14 years old, it’s really showing its age with a relatively slow and noisy AF system, based on a basic electric motor rather than a stepping-motor or Nano USM system. It’s also bulky compared with recent Sigma and Tamron 18-200mm lenses, which match the Canon for zoom range but are smaller and about half the weight. That said, the Sigma lens is now obsolete. The Canon’s image quality is fairly lacklustre and it’s relatively poor value at around £569/$699, where still available.…

For the sake of quality, most of us use standard zoom or prime lenses most of the time. If you’re going to splash out on a superzoom for casual snaps, it makes sense to keep the price down. The Tamron 18-200mm is the most inexpensive lens in the group, by quite a margin, and it’s also compact and light for a DSLR-format lens. It’s the second edition of Tamron’s 18-200mm lens, adding VC (Vibration Compensation) and an upgraded AF system. It’s still based on an electric motor but with an integrated gear train that runs more quietly than in the original. As with the Sigma, the focus ring rotates during AF and can’t be used for full-time manual override. The new lens is also 30g lighter in weight than its…

Canon’s 18-135mm lenses on test use either linear STM (Stepping Motor) or Nano USM AF systems. The latter edges ahead for smooth AF transitions when shooting movies, as well as giving faster performance for stills. Both have an electronically coupled focus ring, which remains stationery during AF but can be used for manual override. A stepping motor is also used in the EF-M 18-150mm, whereas Nano USM is featured in the RF 24-240mm. Most Sigma and Tamron superzooms rely on ultrasonic motors. Unlike ‘ring-type’ ultrasonic systems, they use a motor and gearwheels. Operation tends to be slower and more audible but the space-saving element is a bonus for lightweight travel lenses.…

What to look for Canon EOS cameras Canon splits its EOS DSLR lineup into entry-level, enthusiast and pro ranges; the EOS 4000D is the most basic, the 850D and 77D for intermediates, the 90D and full-frame 6D Mk II for more advanced enthusiasts, while the 7D, full-frame 5D and 1D lines have pro-level features. With more expensive models, expect greater handling, more robust build quality (weather-sealing and magnesium-alloy shells), more advanced features, and full-frame rather than APS-C image sensors. Over the page, we also have the full-frame EOS R mirrorless cameras, the EOS RP as an ‘entry-level’ affordable option, the EOS R3 and R5 for more serious photographers. Plus not forgetting Canon’s smaller compact system (also mirrorless) APS-C EOS M camera range. DSLR CAMERAS PRICES QUOTED ARE BODY-ONLY UNLESS STATED…

Letter of the Month We’ve all experienced some of the strangest and most stressful times of our lives over the past two years dealing with Covid and the pandemic. Thankfully there’s light at the end of the tunnel now, as we try and get our lives back on track, to some sort of new normality. During these past years I’ve really taken solace in my photography, and thanks to my regular delivery of PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine through my letter box, I’ve not been short of ideas, help or inspiration. I’m a keen outdoorsy girl and will shoot everything from big landscapes to small insects. Continuing during lockdowns to take close-ups of nice flowers, for example, now means I feel much more confident when I’m out in my local forests…

Canon’s 19 years at the top and still no.1 for interchangeable lens cameras Canon’s interchangeable-lens digital cameras have maintained their place at the top of the global market for the 19th year in a row. Learn more via quick link bit.ly/canon_no1 plus more Canon news at DigitalCameraWorld.com This is why I repurchased the 13-year-old Canon EOS 5D Mark II The Canon EOS 5D Mark II was the first camera I ever bought back in 2009 – and I just bought it again. Here’s why… Learn more via quick link bit.ly/dcw_5d2 plus more Canon news at DigitalCameraWorld.com The best Canon camera in 2022: Canon’s DSLR, mirrorless and compact cameras Whether the best Canon camera for you is a compact point-and-shoot, an EOS DSLR or mirrorless, we’ll help you decide. More information…

APPRENTICE NAME: NEIL HENDERSON CAMERA: CANON EOS R5 NEIL’S HAD an interest in photography from a young age, buying his first ‘proper’ camera, a Canon AE-1, in his twenties and has since upgraded through the Canon EOS range, now shooting on his most recent upgrade – a Canon EOS R5. He’s written to us asking for help photographing red squirrels. He lives in Yorkshire where they can be seen, but would like some advice with camera settings and insight to get better photos. CANON PRO NAME: PAUL FOWLIE CAMERA: CANON EOS-1D X Mk II PAUL HAS been a pro wildlife and landscape photographer since 2010. Based in Yorkshire, he runs photography workshops in the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales, Scotland and Scandinavia. We met up with him at his woodland…

ON GUARD IT TOOK 12 hours to drive to the Cairngorms during the beast from the east a few years back, so getting this image made up for it. I used my Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM at 1/3200 sec. This image went on to win many awards all around the world. STAG BELLOWING I LOVE my trips to the Highlands every October when the Stag Rut takes place, this image shows a stag in his habitat. It’s not all about a closer frame-filling shot, showing the environment he’s in creates a better image in this instance. CLASH OF THE TITANS TO SHOOT a wild Golden Eagle 20m away is breathtaking, but to see two clash is a moment that I will treasure forever. Light was low so…

What is the key ingredient to all successful landscape images? Composition, creativity, timing and exposure are all vital, but mood is the thing that will ultimately make your shots stand out. But how do you create a genuine feeling of awe? Well, a variety of things can produce mood, but Mother Nature is often the biggest contributor. The light and weather can be the difference between a good and great photograph. For example, rays of golden light, a crimson sky, or wisps of mist are practically guaranteed to add atmosphere to your landscapes. Thankfully, spring is a season that delivers changeable and photogenic weather conditions. Study the forecast First, maximize your chances of being in the right place at the right time by forward planning. Throughout spring, regularly monitor the…

Gardens are a rich habitat, and an essential gateway for all sorts of animals. Even if you only have a modest backyard, it will be home to a variety of creatures. Foxes, hedgehogs, a host of garden birds, frogs, ladybirds, butterflies and bees are among the nature you might find within a stone’s throw of your back door. The restrictions on travel over the past two years or so have also reminded us that we don’t have to travel further to take great nature shots in spring. As long as your garden provides food, water and shelter, nature will be abundant. The surest way to entice subjects close to your camera is by using food. A bird table with seed or nut feeders are very effective. Or simply buy mealworms,…

BRING FILTERS At night using a slow shutter speed is easy as light levels are low, but during the day it can be more tricky. We need to set up our camera to reduce the flow of light reaching the sensor by using a low ISO and narrow aperture. Try using Shutter Priority (Tv mode on your Canon camera’s dial) and at ISO100 to see how slow you can go. Lens-mounted filters like a 3-stop neutral density or a circular polarizer (which can cut 1-2 stops) can also help to slow your shutter by reducing the flow of light into the lens. More on polarizers on page 48. 01 TIME IT RIGHT Your shutter speed needs to be slow enough to blur the motion of surroundings. At 1/10 sec there’s…

In this project learn how a circular polarizer can be one of the best lens filters you can buy as its unique effects are near-impossible to replicate in Photoshop. With your polarizer screwed onto the front of your lens, it has the power to make contrast and colours in your landscape shots look much more intense, and to cut out unwanted reflections. These filters are very useful for landscape photography with scenes that include blue sky with white clouds and water. The filter removes or reduces the amount of polarized light that’s reflected from the sky, water or other surface. You simply twist the front rotating element of the filter until you can see the maximum effect through the viewfinder or on screen. It’s best to rotate the outer ring…

01 CANON EOS 4K CAMERA You’ll need a camera that can shoot at least 4K video, as this will allow you to extract high-resolution 8Mp still images. Cameras like the EOS R5 can shoot 4K at higher frame rates and the EOS R5 C can even shoot 8K for incredible 33Mp stills! 02 LENS CHOICE A general purpose kit lens will work well for most types of shots like our coffee splash still life here, yet you could experiment with other optics like a macro, wide angle or telephoto depending on the subject matter you want to capture at high speed. 03 TRIPOD A sturdy tripod helps us lock the camera’s composition and lock the focus in place, so that we have our hand free and can then concentrate on…

Photoshop’s Blending Modes have long been one of its most useful features. Each Blending Mode uses a distinct algorithm to blend a selected layer with the layers below. If this sounds complicated, in practice using Blending Modes is simple. All you need to do is copy one image on top of another, then experiment. Blending Modes can be used for all kinds of projects, and allow you to create a near-limitless range of effects. Here we’ll look at how to give a car a vibrant psychedelic treatment by blending images of colours and smoke. This involves two of the most useful Blending Modes: Screen and Multiply. We’ll also make use of brush Blending Modes to colour our smoke. Beyond this, Blending Modes can be used for lots of creative projects…

01 REMOVE THE RED Open the portrait and grab the Selection Brush from the toolbar. Check ‘Snap to Edges’ in the options then paint to select the dress (hold Alt and paint if it goes wrong). Click the Adjustment icon in the Layers panel and choose Black and White. This will convert the selection to a mask. 02 PASTE THE PATTERN Check the mask and paint white to reveal, or black to hide, until it’s perfect. Next, open the texture image (we used a pixabay.com – search image no.6471792). Hit Cmd/Ctrl+C to copy, then paste (Cmd/Ctrl+V) it in. Get the Move tool then drag the corner of the bounding box to resize the pattern to fit over the dress. 03 MASK AND BLEND Hold Cmd/Ctrl and click on the mask…

Neil Aldridge is a conservationist, photographer and film-maker, as well as a professional wildlife guide, speaker and author. His work has been published by National Geographic, BBC Wildlife magazine, Geo and other leading platforms. Major projects include documenting efforts to save Africa’s wild dogs, pangolins and rhinos, as well as stories from the British countryside about the controversial badger cull, pheasant shooting and our relationship with foxes. In 2019, Neil was commissioned by Wildscreen to create 21 films for the innovative Back from the Brink project about England’s most threatened wildlife. He has contributed to several collaborative projects, including the influential Photographers Against Wildlife Crime books. In 2021, his image was used on the cover of Remembering African Wild Dogs, which raised funds for frontline conservation efforts. A former South…

I started experimenting with intentional camera movement, (also known as ICM), about four years ago, but I wasn’t really inspired by simple vertical or horizontal movements, or grand sweeping gestures creating Turneresque scenes of abstract colour and light. But I do still enjoy others’ work using these techniques. I have developed a different approach using the camera’s moving eye to create a painterly style that reduces, rather than removes detail. My main subject is my home town of Wells in Somerset where I like using ICM to paint impressions of life. Long exposure times will burn out any highlights and there are two ways to address this – you can either use an ND filter to compensate, or you can create high-key images. I prefer the latter and focus on colour,…

When you look through the viewfinder of an entry-level Canon DSLR, such as the EOS 4000D, you’ll see a standard set-up of nine AF points arranged in a diamond pattern in the middle of the screen. Step up to an enthusiast-level DSLR and you get a notable upgrade in the number, and spread, of these points. The EOS 90D has a block of 45 AF points clustered at the centre, for instance, while the professional EOS-1D X Mark III has an even more densely packed array of 191 AF points. While it’s relatively easy to spin around the display when you have fewer than ten AF points to choose from, navigating to the right spot when you’re faced with 50-200 points is a different matter altogether. It’s even more daunting…

Advanced EOS bodies also allow you to select groups of points. This can make it easier to locate a small active subject against a detailed background – the sort of situation where it can be hard to keep a single AF point on the subject, but where having all the AF points active can lead to the wrong part of the scene being in focus. There are several AF point selection methods available, which vary according to whether you’re using a DSLR’s optical viewfinder or Live View mode, or shooting with a mirrorless camera. You can change the method by dipping into the main menu or by pressing the ‘Q’ button to access the Quick Control screen. You can also cycle between the options by pressing the AF point selection…

THE CENTRE AF point offers the greatest precision, and you can jump to it by tapping the SET button on a camera with four-way cross keys, or by pressing the multi-controller in, if your camera has one. Press the joystick again to jump back to the previous selected AF point. You can also register a different AF point to jump to instead of the centre one when you press the joystick. To do this, tap the AF point selection button and choose an AF point. Then hold the AF point selection button down and press the LCD illumination button on top of the camera. Go to the Custom Controls screen, select the multi-controller icon and press SET, then press INFO to choose either the centre AF point or the registered…

“Why are the edits I made to Raw shots using DPP v3 not carried to DPP v4?” Carl Poinder, Gloucestershire BRIAN SAYS… When you edit an image with Digital Photo Professional (DPP), the changes you make are stored in a recipe container within the image file itself. There are separate containers for DPP v3 and DPP v4 recipes. DPP v4 does not read the DPP v3 recipe and vice versa. DPP v4 has improved image quality and more editing possibilities, so they cannot be interchanged. DPPv4 fully supports all the Raw images from any EOS camera, plus works on the latest computer operating systems. I suggest using DPP v4 primarily, with DPP v3 only for images already processed. Once you’ve processed a file with DPP v3, save it as a…

BOB JONES, NEW ZEALAND SAYS… I’m a keen amateur photographer and have been making photos for almost 60 years, and really enjoy the possibilities that digital cameras offer. For work I visit Cologne every two years, and always take an extra day to spend take photos, mainly in and around the Cologne cathedral square, where there is plenty to shoot, almost 24/7. I saw these four guys and just as I was about to take the shot, this little boy wandered up to them and stood there looking. It wouldn’t have the impact without the boy and his expression, plus the black bag nicely balances him. BRIAN SAYS… I really enjoy this picture, you have captured the sense of wonder of the child, and the monochrome treatment suits the subject…

Four years on from the launch of the 18-135mm IS STM, Canon announced this ‘USM’ edition in 2016. However, the AF system isn’t based on the usual ring-type or motor-based ultrasonic mechanisms. Indeed, whereas the previous edition was the first Canon lens to feature stepping-motor AF, this is the first to have ‘Nano USM’, subsequently utilized in a number of other Canon lenses. Nano USM enables superfast AF for stills, along with smooth and near silent AF tracking during movie capture. It’s based on an ‘elastic metal’ body with a ceramic voltage element and drive unit. The direction and speed of AF can be controlled in a linear fashion, without noticeable start and stop steps. For similarly smooth zoom transitions, there’s an optional PZ-E1 Power Zoom Adaptor which costs around…

We’ve seen some chunky RF lenses for Canon’s full-frame mirrorless cameras, but this isn’t one of them. It’s about 60mm shorter than the EF-28-300mm and less than half the weight, making it more viable for walkabout shooting. Even so, it’s rather larger and heavier than the APS-C superzooms here, apart from the Tamron 18-400mm. Without an APS-C format crop factor to take into account, the 240mm maximum telephoto focal length is modest, but there’s good wide-angle coverage at the short end. This lens has a super-fast and virtually silent Nano USM AF system. Handling is excellent, with a 5-stop optical IS and customizable control ring. The latter is switchable between manual focus or focus override, and a range of alternative functions including control over aperture, ISO and exposure compensation. It’s…

Sigma marketed two Canon-fit superzooms in its ‘Contemporary’ line-up, including this 18-300mm and a smaller, more lightweight 18-200mm, both for ASP-C DSLRs. The latter has now been discontinued, leaving the 18-300mm as the only Sigma option. The long end of the zoom range stretches into super-telephoto territory, equivalent to 480mm in full-frame terms. The build employs Sigma’s TSC (Thermally Stable Composite) material that’s resistant to size fluctuations during temperature changes. There’s a sturdy metal mounting plate but no weather-seals. As with other Global Vision lenses, it’s compatible with Sigma’s USB Dock for applying customization, fine-tuning and firmware updates. Typical of lenses that have a motor-based AF system, the focus ring rotates during AF. At least it’s positioned right at the front of the lens and is easily avoided during handheld…

Every lens in this group features optical IS, which is great for shooting stills, especially towards the long end of zooms. However, there’s less of a benefit during movie capture. Help is at hand in some of Canon’s latest up-market cameras, in the shape of 5-axis ‘Movie digital IS.’ Available from the movie shooting menu, it works by cropping the area of the image sensor that’s used and shifting that area as necessary to offset any vibrations. It therefore enables a much more stable moving image. Movie digital IS is featured in the EOS 250D, 800D, 77D, 90D, 6D Mark II, all EOS R-series cameras and the EOS M50, M50 Mark II, M5 and M6, but not the 4000D, 2000D, 80D and 7D Mark II, nor the 5D Mark IV,…

The RF 24-240mm delivers ace sharpness across the frame, rivalling that of high-quality standard and tele zooms. AF is super-fast, the 5-stop image stabilizer works brilliantly and handling is superb. In the APS-C DLSR camp, our favourite superzoom is the Sigma 18-300mm, which has a generous zoom range and great image quality. For a small, light and budget lens, the Tamron 18-200mm is top value, while the newer Tamron 18-400mm is the lens to go for if you want max tele reach. If long telephoto reach is less important, both of Canon’s EF-S 18-135mm APS-C lenses on test are great. Although optically identical, the newer edition’s revamped Nano USM AF system is more appealing. For an EOS M-series mirrorless camera, the EF-M 18-150mm is fittingly compact and light, and the…

Limited back issues of PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine print editions are available on our new MagazinesDirect.com secure store at www.magazinesdirect.com/photoplus-magazine-single-issue 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 or iPhone? 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. • Windows or Mac? Use Zinio to read PhotoPlus on your laptop or desktop computer or via the app! Go to www.zinio.com and search for PhotoPlus where you can buy back…