Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2022 i PhotoPlus : The Canon Magazine

We’re often asked by PhotoPlus readers: “What’s the best Canon camera and lens for shooting landscapes?” or “What’s the best Canon gear for wildlife photos?” So this issue we’ve got our Canon expert Brian Worley to share five great Canon gear setups and photo skills to help you master your favourite genres. From landscapes, wildlife and macro, to motorsports and portrait photography, find out the best Canon EOS camera and Canon lenses to use, plus learn key techniques for better results. See page 28 to get started. Also inside, our lucky PhotoPlus Apprentice gets to spend a day with Canon pro Sean Weekly learning how to take striking shots of stags in Richmond Park, London. See the top shots they got from page In our Canon Skills section, from page…

APERTURE PRIORITY MODE TO BEGIN, Sean put Steve’s EOS R7 into its Aperture Priority (Av) mode so that Steve could set the aperture to its widest setting. The widest aperture on his Canon RF 70-200mm F2.8L lens was f/2.8, which floods the sensor with light, allowing faster shutter speeds even in low light early in the morning. Having a wide aperture also enables a shallow depth of field so that it’s easier to blur the background behind the deer so that the deer becomes the clear focal point. STARTING SETTINGS SEAN set Steve’s EOS R7 to its fastest burst mode, 15fps, so that Steve could fire a rapid burst of shots. This is handy for action scenes like deer rutting or when they are bellowing, as it will give you…

01 SLEEPING BEAUTY BY ANDY POLLARD ATTENTION TO DETAIL – GOLD “While most images of king penguins seem to be of striking adult birds, there is a definite cuteness to the chicks in their brown ‘teddy bear’ plumage. This chick was asleep at Volunteer Point in the Falkland Islands, and I took the opportunity to capture the details around the beak, eye and ear, the latter seldom seen,” explains Andy. Lens Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5–5.6L IS II USM Exposure 1/160 sec, f/8, ISO500 02 BEADS OF DIAMONDS BY SUE DOUGHERTY ATTENTION TO DETAIL – BRONZE “I spent some time in the Cariboo region of British Columbia photographing a very accommodating family of great northern divers. Using a boat with low sides and an electric motor, I was able to observe…

Canon EOS camera For shooting close-up and macro subjects you need a camera with good resolution, and for any work in the field a vari-angle LCD is most helpful. The EOS 90D features a 32MP APS-C size sensor, which gives a slightly increased working distance for the same image size as a full-frame camera. The camera has spot AF focus area for precise placement of the focus point when using the viewfinder, and the camera’s Live View focusing capabilities are amongst the best of all the DSLRs. The EOS 90D includes focus bracketing to automate capture of a series of images at slightly different focus distances, called focus stacking. Canon-fit lenses The best macro lens choice for a DSLR is the EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, as it captures…

One of the great joys of landscape photography is when you’re treated to a combination of enticing foreground details and elements in distant scenery. But composing this into a balanced frame can sometimes be a challenge. If we use a wide-angle lens to shoot the foreground details – due to the exaggerated perspective – the backdrop can become too small and insignificant. Here, for example, the blurred water in the foreground plays an important part but to capture it we needed to use a wide-angle lens. This left the focal point beyond, the Pontsticill Reservoir in Wales, too small. Focal length blending offers a way to get around this. By taking two frames at different focal lengths – one wide, one longer – then blending them, we can enlarge the…

01 COPY THE LAYER Rather than combining two shots, you could simply try enlarging parts of a single image using Photoshop. Of course, this means interpolating pixels or losing resolution, but if you have a high-resolution image, the results can be great. Begin by duplicating the layer with Cmd/Ctrl+J. 02 SELECT THE BACKDROP Grab the Quick Selection tool and paint over the part of the scene you want to enlarge. We’ve selected the mountains and tree line. Hold Alt and paint to subtract if the tool goes wrong. With the top layer highlighted, hold Alt and click the Add Layer Mask button to convert to mask. 03 ENLARGE THE LAYER Highlight the bottom layer and click the lock icon to unlock it. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+T to transform, then hold Alt and…

01 GET THE RIGHT GEAR For this project, you need a Canon EOS DSLR or mirrorless camera, ideally with a macro lens, plus a sturdy tripod as well as a large glass baking dish, some cooking oil and a tablet or computer screen that folds flat enough to go under the dish. 02 DIGITAL BACKGROUND Anything on your tablet or smartphone display can be used as a backdrop, but colourful images work a treat. You can make your own backgrounds easily in Photoshop with the Gradient tool and using the ready-made presets. 03 SET UP YOUR SHOT We set up our oven dish on four tin cans, leaving enough room to place the tablet beneath. Position your tripod so you’re shooting directly down at the dish. Add your water and…

CANON DSLRs come with a viewfinder blocker on the camera strap that you can attach to prevent light leaking in through the viewfinder during a long exposure. If you forget yours, simply cover the viewfinder with some duct tape or drape a lens cloth over it. WHEN composing on a tripod, it’s best to switch off any image stabilization because the tripod is totally stable anyway. Some image stabilization systems have been known to introduce blur when using a tripod, so switch it off to be safe. TIP 1 GET SET UP The first thing you need to do is set up on a tripod. Because you’ll be taking long exposures of several minutes, a tripod enables you to keep stationary parts of the scene, such as the windmill, sharp…

The Skin Smoothing Filter is part of Adobe’s new Neural Filters command: a range of filters that employ artificial intelligence to analyse images and determine which areas to affect. Skin Smoothing can recognize people and faces in your photos, isolate the skin and let you apply a softening effect. Spots, wrinkles, eye bags and rough skin can be deemphasized in a few clicks. Even a model with great skin like this can benefit. Skin Smoothing gives better results than many other techniques, as it lets you smooth out tones while retaining texture in the pores, which is essential for keeping a portrait looking natural. Neural Filters are part of a bold new direction for Photoshop. They won’t be perfect every time, but they usually get you most of the way…

01 SELECT A PIECE Open our image restore_before.jpg into Affinity Photo then grab the Selection Brush tool from the toolbar. Check ‘Snap to Edges’ in the options then paint over a piece to select it (hold Alt and paint to subtract areas if the tool picks up the wrong area). Hit Cmd/Ctrl+J to copy to a new layer, then Cmd/Ctrl+D to deselect. 02 POSITION THE PIECES Highlight the background layer and repeat with the Selection Brush to select and copy each piece to its own layer. Next hide the bottom layer and grab the Move tool. Click on pieces and use the bounding box to rotate and move them into position. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+’ to turn on the grid to aid in lining things up. 03 FILL THE GAPS Make a…

Over the past few years, when there were pandemic concerns over being in large crowds or confined spaces, taking road trips during the autumn months seemed like a great way to enjoy nature’s beauty and tranquillity. I went on road trips from Nova Scotia through Quebec province, and New York to Massachusetts. Brilliant crab apple, dogwood, black gum, sassafras, spicebush, redbud and red maple trees, among others, provided a fantastic kaleidoscope of colours. It’s important to plan your journey and I did plenty of research, so I went at the perfect time to catch autumn in full bloom, checking the temperature and forecasts. Altitude also plays a role but it’s not something I factor in. Then you go ahead, hoping Mother Nature agrees with your best-made plans. I always want…

Sharpening is a process applied to digital images to enhance the contrast of edge detail in a picture. Digital image sensors capture one specific colour, typically red, green or blue at each pixel, and pixel groups are combined to realise full colour for each pixel. This reduces sharpness, so digital sharpening is applied. Out of focus images lack the contrast at the edge of the subject so sharpening cannot recover an out of focus image. Canon image processing adds only a light level of sharpening which makes the images more suited to postproduction. It is beneficial to increase the amount of in-camera sharpening for JPG images that won’t be further processed. Older EOS cameras have a single sharpening amount as part of the picture style, and more recent models have…

A lot of photographers shoot JPG images, and so it is more important to configure the right camera settings so those JPGs look their best. First consideration is colour or monochrome, and then how do you like your colour to look; punchy and vibrant or softer with muted tones? All these are determined by the Picture Style, most cameras have an automatic style that switches between Standard, Portrait and Landscape styles depending on the picture. All three are different with Landscape having the most contrast and vibrant colours, portrait having the least. It is a good idea to test out the styles and see which you prefer, but don’t forget to consider the fine detail Picture Style, it looks better than the standard style. Within the Picture Style there are…

We download and installed the latest versions of drivers for each printer, then ran nozzle check routines and, if required, cleaning cycles. We carried out print head alignment procedures for optimum accuracy. Only printer manufacturers’ genuine, ownbrand inks and papers were used. We created test prints from a wide range of digital photos, including landscapes, portraits, and black & white images. Prints were made using standard colour modes and optional enhancement features. We also used our own test chart to reveal each printer’s accuracy in terms of colour reproduction, tonal range, and the ability to deliver smooth graduations. For speed, we measured the time taken to produce borderless 6x4-inch, A4, A3 and A3+ prints at various quality settings.…

Going literally one up on the PIXMA TS6350/6320 five-ink printer also on test, this up-market model features an additional dye-based ink in ‘photo blue’ flavour. The idea is to extend the colour space as well as enabling smoother graduations in the likes of blue skies within photo prints. The printer itself is available in black, white or racy red, going by the UK model numbers of TS8350, TS8351 and TS8352 respectively. Other enhancements over its more budget-friendly sibling include a 4.3-inch colour touchscreen instead of a small OLED screen, a higher-resolution 2400x4800dpi scanner, an SD/HC/XC memory card slot for standalone photo printing, and a tray for printing onto white-faced CD/DVD/Blu-ray discs. A similarity is that both printers have a motorized output tray which extends when printing is initiated. The TS8350/8320…

Ink for Canon MegaTank and Epson EcoTank printers is very much cheaper than for models that run on replaceable cartridges. The Canon G650 is comparatively inexpensive for a bottled ink printer, not so the Epson ET-8500 A4-sized counterpart. Moreover, while the Canon printer is replenished by 60ml bottles compared with the Epson’s 70ml bottles, it uses all six inks for photo printing rather than just five. The net result is that a full set of bottles is sufficient for 3,800 6x4 colour photo prints, compared with the Epson’s 2,300 prints. Ultimately, the Epson ET-8500 is very expensive next to the Canon TS6350. You’d need to create a huge quantity of prints to see any savings and have to pay much more for the Epson printer and its ink up front.…

For those who feel that an A4 print size is sufficient, Epson’s ET-8500 retails for around £630/$700. The A3+ ET-8550 doesn’t cost much more to buy and is better value, being fed by the same set of 70ml ink bottles. These comprise a pigment-based black ink for delivering crisp mono text, and five dye-based inks for photo output including CMYK plus a grey ink to enhance the colour space and provide better fidelity for black & white photo printing. A full set of bottles should be sufficient for printing 2,300 6x4-inch photos. As a printer that’s well suited to both document and photo printing, it features multiple input cassettes for different types and sizes of paper, auto duplex printing, and a large-format 8.5x14-inch scanner. Everything’s brought together by a 10.9cm…

The molecules of dye that make up the colour in dye-based inks are incredibly small, fully dissolved in the ink fluid and sink beneath the outer, protective layer of glossy photo paper. This makes them unbeatable for giving a smooth, uniform finish when printing on shiny, glossy photo paper. They’re also cheaper to produce than pigment-based inks. Pigment-based inks have larger molecules, the pigment being carried by the fluid ink rather than dissolved in it. More durable and with better archival quality than dye-based ink, it’s generally preferred for printing on matte and fine art media, especially when creating prints to go on display. However, pigment-based inks can be prone to ‘bronzing’ when used on glossy paper.…

For top-quality photo output with the utmost versatility, the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-300 is an Best on Test winner. It makes excellent use of its pigment-based inks to deliver spectacular quality on matte and fine art media, for both colour and mono photographic images, while its Chroma Optimizer enables impressively smooth output on glossy paper with minimal bronzing. That said, the Canon PIXMA PRO-200 dye-based printer wins out for an ultra-smooth finish on glossy paper. Going larger to an A2/17-inch printer, the pigment-based Epson SureColor P900 is excellent for both colour and mono prints on wide-ranging media. In the A4/8.5-inch camp, our favourite printer is the Canon PIXMA TS8350/8320, whereas the TS6350/6320 is a little less refined. The Canon PIXMA G650/G620 MegaTank printer is the Best Value option for high-volume photo…

Letter of the Month Recently, I suffered a severe injury to my left hand after a chop saw accident. Luckily I’m right-handed, but sadly I need both hands to use my Canon 90D. The first cast the doctors put on my hand let me use the tips of my fingers. So when I went to the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in Windsor, I managed to get some decent images. I shoot in Manual and for the funeral I used my faithful Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 telephoto zoom. Since then, I have been back to the hospital for a follow up. Now they have locked my hand into a cast for another four weeks. This time I cannot use any of my fingers – not even my thumb! So taking…

Canon EOS camera Landscapes are by nature, full of details and so it makes sense to capture all that detail with a high-resolution camera. The highest res Canon cameras are the 50MP EOS 5DS and EOS 5DS R, closely followed by the 45MP EOS R5. All these cameras are weather-sealed for typical outdoor use. The best light over the landscape may appear as the weather changes from dry to wet and vice versa. These cameras capture incredible detail, but can highlight any focusing shortcomings in your camera technique. Take a spare battery or two as Live View drains power even though it helps with focusing and framing. Canon-fit lenses Wide-angle lenses are the go to choice for their ability to get more of the landscape in the shot. For a…

Canon EOS camera Sports and action shots need a high-speed camera with outstanding AF, and the ideal candidate is the EOS R6, or if budget permits go for the flagship EOS R3. Professional models have an integrated battery grip that helps to balance the weight of longer lenses; for other models it’s worth adding a battery grip for balance and extra battery life. High-speed continuous shooting is important to capture the peak of the action, and electronic shutter modes allow up to 30fps on some cameras. You’ll mostly shoot with the viewfinder so choose a camera that you find comfortable and adjust the dioptre for your eyes. Canon-fit lenses Longer lenses such as the Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1L IS USM are good to bring distant action closer, though many professionals…

Dolomites, Northern Italy. 07:38am. 21 October 2021 The Dolomites are badass. The mountains are just so spiky and aggressive, and to this day, I’ve seen nothing like them. It’s difficult to imagine they were once a coral reef and, in basic geological terms, two plates (African and European) that pushed towards each other, lifting and creating photogenic folds that plaster daily Instagram feeds. It was autumn and I’d gone there for a recce with my good friend Martin, to see what the season’s colours were all about. The woodland was a mix of deciduous trees, with larch (a deciduous conifer) covering the mountain slopes. The air was fresh, the weather was stable, and it was a relief to be away, camera in hand. We centred our stay in two zones:…

01 COMPOSE THE SHOT The focal blending technique lets us emphasise backdrops by making them larger in the frame. It’s an ideal technique to try out when you have a combination of foreground interest and distant scenery. A tripod can be helpful as it keeps the camera position consistent throughout. 02 TAKE AN ULTRA WIDE SHOT Take a shot with a wide-angle lens – we shot at 10mm with a 10-24mm lens on an APS-C Canon EOS 90D. Frame to include foreground to lead towards the distant scenery – we used the trails of foam in the reservoir, shot using a 20 secs exposure in fading twilight to blur the moving water. 03 ZOOM IN AND SHOOT AGAIN Next switch focal lengths and take a closer shot of the distant…

IF YOU’RE struggling to include foreground details, distant scenery and sky in the same frame then as well as focal length blends you could also try shooting a vertical panorama. For this, use a tripod and take a series of horizontal frames. Start with the camera tilted down at your feet, then move it upwards incrementally while shooting until you’ve covered both foreground and distance. Overlap each by about half the frame, and refocus on the centre part of the image in each so that you record front-to-back sharpness. You can combine the frames using a panorama merging feature like the one in Lightroom/Camera Raw. Simply highlight the set of images, right-click them and choose Merge to Panorama.…

Shooting in strong sunlight can throw up some of the trickiest lighting problems when it comes to landscape photography. How do we capture such a bright light source? The trick is underexposing! Your Canon EOS camera works out the exposure based on its metering mode; these are different algorithms that assess the scene in different ways to prioritize which tones become mid-tones. You’ll likely be set to the Evaluative metering mode by default, which usually does a good job of assessing the whole scene for a balanced exposure. For scenes such as sunsets and sunrises, however, we’re going to go into Manual (or Bulb) mode, where the metering mode shows you whether it thinks an image will be under or overexposed, but ultimately you can override it to underexpose the…

Whether shooting portraits, arty still lifes or pack shots, a broad array of backgrounds is a must for any studio photographer. But for most of us, a permanent studio space isn’t possible, and even if we can take over the lounge for an occasional photo session, we don’t have the storage room for dozens of photo backdrops. The good news is that if you have the right image-editing skills and can make an accurate cut-out, you can place your subjects on any background. In this issue’s download (see link, bottom-left), there are 48 backdrops to choose from. As well as adding a creative new look to a subject, they’re easy to customize and fast to swap if you change your mind or want different looks from the same shot. THE…

01 MASK THE DETAILS After completing Skin Smoothing, you might find some details look softer than you’d like. Here the initial filter has blurred the nose slightly too much. Apply the filter, then add a Layer Mask (unless you’ve set Output to Smart Filter or Duplicate Layer Mask, in which case highlight the newly created mask). Grab the Brush tool and paint black over the details to reduce the effect in these areas. 02 NEURAL FILTERS Skin Smoothing is one of Photoshop’s Neural Filters (Filter>Neural Filters). These employ artificial intelligence to carry out image-editing tasks and effects. Skin Smoothing automatically detects skin in faces and applies a smoothing effect to the area. To begin, toggle the switch to enable the filter. If it’s your first time using it, you may…

HEY PREMJITH! Where are you in the world and what are you working on right now? I’m an engineer, currently based in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and I’m working for a multinational company here. However, I have always loved photography. I picked up a camera for the first time around 36 years ago, and I’ve never had a dull day since. I mainly photograph Formula 1 racing because I have the Bahrain International Circuit right on my doorstep. However, I equally love shooting landscape and travel photography, astrophotography and also other sports, including rallying, skiing, sailing and golf. Tell us more about your journey in photography. What made you start shooting professionally? When I decided to start taking photographs, I just captured whatever interested me. I used to paint and…

Unlike daytime shooting, you’ll often be faced with mixed lighting when taking pictures at night, especially if you’re shooting in an urban environment, where a mix of ambient and artificial light can be challenging to deal with. Leave the camera set to Auto White Balance, which will make a pretty good fist of it. More recent bodies let you choose Ambience priority or White priority – choose the former if you want to keep some of the warmth of a scene that’s lit predominantly by tungsten light. You’ll get ‘cleaner’ colours if you select White priority. You can introduce a colour cast to enhance the mood of your low-light shots. For example, the colours of dawn and dusk can be made to look more fiery if you set the Daylight,…

01 IN-CAMERA SHARPENING SETTINGS Picture Styles contain the sharpening parameter, and it’s important to understand that there is a base level of sharpening used as part of the style. Press the indicated button to access the detail settings of a Picture Style on your camera. Portrait applies less sharpening than Landscape, so even with the same sharpening value the result is different. 02 SIMPLE SHARPENING WITH DPP Find the sharpening settings at the foot of the tool palette, the type of sharpening control depends on the camera that captured the original Raw image. View the image at 100% and adjust the sharpening amount until the detail is clear. To aid understanding of what is happening, try setting minimum and then maximum sharpening and checking the image. 03 UNSHARP MASKING Select…

As with some Canon cameras, this printer has different model names in varying world regions. In the USA it’s the TS6320, whereas in the UK it’s the TS6350 or TS6351 finished in black or white respectively. Typical of Canon five-ink printers from down the years, it has an oversized pigment-based black cartridge for crisp, rich black text, while photo printing is based on cyan, magenta, yellow and black dye-based inks. There are some useful features shoehorned into the space-saving design. The built-in scanner enables simple photocopying, driven by onboard controls that include physical push-buttons clustered around a small 1.44-inch OLED display. However, there’s no memory card slot, nor a facility to print direct onto white-faced CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs. Neat touches include an LED status bar at the front,…

For creating prints on the move, there’s a range of pocket-sized and slightly larger mobile photo printers. The battery-powered Canon SELPHY Square QX10 is a good example, which outputs 2.7x2.7-inch square prints with a peelable, self-adhesive backing. Unlike inkjet printers, it uses dye-sublimation technology so there’s no liquid involved. For prints with a more regular aspect ratio, there’s also the Polaroid Hi·Print 2x3 Pocket Photo Printer, which again is dye-sub based and outputs 2x3-inch prints. Both these battery-powered printers have companion apps, making it easy to create prints from smart devices with wireless Bluetooth connectivity. For a range of print sizes up to 6x4-inch postcard size, there’s the larger Canon SELPHY CP1500 dye-sub printer, which supports Wi-Fi printing direct from smart devices and has a USB-C port to attach a…

Although it’s a pigment-based printer, the PRO-300 delivers superb output on glossy as well as matte and fine art media. Like the older PIXMA PRO-10S and larger, A2 format imagePROGRAF PRO-1000, it features a Chroma Optimizer cartridge. This smooths out the finish when printing on glossy photo paper, so that there’s no difference in the reflectivity of different colours and tones. The ink range is comprehensive, with ten separate cartridges. They are all from Canon’s latest LUCIA PRO line-up, giving the potential for a wide gamut (colour space) with rich, vivid colour rendition, as well as high-fidelity black & white. The 14ml cartridge capacity should prove sufficient for around 30 to 60 A3+ prints (depending on colour) although quantities naturally vary. Media handling is very good with a rear-mounted upright…

Many of us will be content with an A4/8.5-inch printer that can quickly and easily create 6x4-inch, 7x5-inch 10-8-inch and full A4/8.5x11-inch photo prints, along with borderless options. For others, the bigger A3 print is more appealing, and worth the extra cost and house room for a larger printer. A3 prints are the same size as two sheets of A4 paper, so A3 measures 16.5×11.7 inches (420×297mm). It’s a more impressive size, especially if you want to hang photo prints but the aspect ratio still isn’t ideal for the format of images from Canon’s interchangeable lens cameras. A3+ is a better fit, measuring 13x19 inches (329x483mm). A2 paper is two A3 sheets, measuring 16.5x23.4 inches (420x594mm).…

The Epson SureColor P700 A3+/13-inch printer (£679/$829) might seem an obvious fit for this group test, competing against the Canon PRO-200 and PRO-300 models. However, while the A2/17-inch P900 is more expensive to buy, it gives relatively supersized output from a printer that’s only about the same size and weight as the Canon A3+/13-inch models, and its 50ml cartridges have twice the capacity of the Epson P700’s cartridges, resulting in savings on ink costs. In previous large-format Epson printers, the photo black and matte black inks shared a common channel in the print head. You’d therefore need to purge and refill the ink in the channel every time you swapped media, wasting time and money. The P700 and P900 put that to rights, with dedicated channels for all ten inks.…

What to look for Canon EOS cameras Canon splits its EOS DSLR line-up 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 better 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 are full-frame EOS R mirrorless cameras, with the EOS R3 and R5 for more serious photographers, and the EOS R10 as an entry-level affordable APS-C option. Plus Canon’s smaller, older compact system, the APS-C EOS M mirrorless camera range. DSLR CAMERAS PRICES QUOTED ARE BODY-ONLY UNLESS STATED ENTRY-LEVEL…

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 appintheAppStore or at thenbrowsethroughourback issues or subscribe through the app. Kindle Fire or Nook HD? Simply search for onAmazons Newsstand or in B&N’s Nook store. Windows or Mac? Use Zinio to read onyourlaptopordesktop computer or via the app! Go to andsearchfor whereyoucanbuyback issues or subscribe. isalsoavailableonMagzter, PocketMags and PressReader. LAST MONTH Issue 197 November 2022 AUTUMN PHOTO SKILLS Ten evocative ways to convey the atmosphere of the year’s most spectacular season •…

Will we see a new Canon EOS R6 Mark II mirrorless camera launched this year? Canon could be about to drop another new full-frame mirrorless camera – here’s what we know so far… Learn more Canon news and rumours on our site DigitalCameraWorld.com via quick link bit.ly/dcw_r62 James Webb Space Telescope’s Pillars of Creation image better than Hubble NASA has compared the famous Pillars of Creation image from the James Webb space telescope to the famous Hubble telescope. Read more at DigitalCameraWorld.com via quick link bit.ly/dcw_spaced The best pet cameras buying guide: talk and play with your dog or cat remotely With the best pet cameras, you can check up on your furry friends when you’re away from home. Check out our buyers guides and more expert advice at DigitalCameraWorld.com…

CANON PRO NAME: SEAN WEEKLY CAMERA: CANON EOS-1D X MARK II SEAN turned to wildlife photography after being medically discharged from the Royal Marines. He’s been shooting professionally since 2010 and loves nothing more than photographing all types of wildlife from the red kites at his own ground hide at Gigrin Farm in central Wales to bison in Finland, Dalmatian pelicans in Greece and everything in between. We met up with him in Autumn to photograph the majestic red deer at London’s Richmond Park with PhotoPlus reader Steve. For more info about Sean’s workshops and photo holidays check out his website: www.seanweekly.com APPRENTICE NAME: STEVE GOOD CAMERA: CANON EOS R7 STEVE, 64, and based in West Sussex, is semi-retired, having spent many years in the world of Microscopy sales for…

STEVE’S COMMENT I wasn’t sure how lucky we were going to get with the light on the morning of our shoot as it looked a bit overcast, but the best light was definitely at sunrise when a break in the cloud created this fantastic golden lighting. Sean was able to shoot towards the sun to achieve a silhouette against the backlighting, and waited for this stag to let out a frosty breath to really capture the atmosphere. Thank you again PhotoPlus for the opportunity, I learned so much from Sean, particularly on how to achieve better compositions. Plus using the EOS R7 showed me new possibilities with the autofocus and image stabilisation – I think I’m overdue a Canon EOS camera upgrade! SEAN’S VERDICT Steve was a great sport and…

Canon EOS camera Wildlife photos require excellent fieldcraft and a fast, responsive camera. The EOS R7 is the ideal choice with highly advanced subject tracking AF and super-fast shooting rates at 15fps with a mechanical shutter. The EOS R7 includes custom buttons and shooting modes to simplify switching autofocus settings for static and moving wildlife subjects. The EOS R10 has similar performance and would be a great lower-cost alternative. Use large capacity high speed cards to maximise the number of frames you can capture in a sequence, which is especially important when using silent electronic shutter mode to maximise the continuous shooting speeds. “Use a lens hood in rainy conditions to stop rain landing on the front element” Canon-fit lenses There are several Canon RF lenses suited to wildlife, the…

Canon EOS camera When taking portraits at home almost any camera is suitable, as all that’s needed is accurate focus on the subject and good lighting. Superhigh resolution is not needed, as even large canvasses and smaller glossy prints look great on a wall from a 20MP camera. The 30MP 5D Mark IV full-frame DSLR is a good, affordable choice, offering great image quality. Using an EOS camera with Face/Eye detection AF frees up your brain to concentrate on composition and connecting with your subject, allowing the camera to focus accurately. Most portraits are taken with single shot or slow continuous modes. Canon-fit lenses Ideally a medium telephoto lens, 85mm to 100mm, is most flattering for portraits to produce slimmer features, while shooting at a comfortable distance. But at home…

01 PREPARE THE IMAGES Open your images in Adobe Photoshop (if toning in Lightroom first, ensure both images have identical adjustments). Analyze the scene in the wider of the two images and determine where the easiest join line will be. Here the dark banks of the lake are ideal. 02 COPY AND POSITION Go to the zoomed-in image then grab the Move tool. Drag it to the tab of the other image and then down and in to copy it over. Lower the layer opacity to around 50% then hit Cmd/Ctrl+T. Use the bounding box to transform, resize and position the image to fit. 03 PAINT A MASK Bring the layer opacity back to 100%. Click the Add Layer Mask icon in the Layers Panel then grab the Brush tool.…

If you paid attention in science class, you’ll remember that oil and water don’t mix. When you combine the two liquids, the insoluble oil rises to the surface and clumps together. This very often results in the formation of perfectly round droplets and they’re super-photogenic, which makes them fantastic abstract subjects for macro images. Oil and water photography is an ideal technique for beginners looking to embark on a dedicated project, because it doesn’t require expensive equipment to capture excellent results. We captured our images with a Canon EOS DSLR, a dedicated macro lens, a sturdy tripod and some household essentials you likely have in your store cupboard. While a dedicated macro lens is ideal, as they usually have high magnifications and 1:1 reproduction ratios – so your subject can…

01 TRIPOD Essential for landscapes, a tripod enables you to set up your camera and lock it off to eliminate camera-shake caused when hand-holding your Canon. Tripods also enable you to take long exposures which can blur moving elements, such as clouds. 02 CAMERA AND LENS Any Canon EOS mirrorless or DSLR will work for this technique. While a telephoto or wide-angle may be beneficial for certain landscape scenes, a kit lens still provides great results, too. You need a camera with manual modes and a shutter release port. 03 NEUTRAL DENSITY FILTER Neutral density filters, also called NDs for short, act a bit like sunglasses for your lens, blocking out light so that you can achieve long exposures. Neutral refers to the fact that they should be neutral in…

01 PICK BACKGROUND AND PASTE SUBJECT Download the Virtual Background Pack to your computer, then select the one you want to use. (You can change your mind later.) Right-click on the backdrop and select Open With>Photoshop CC. Now open your portrait (or use Loretta.jpg for practice); when it’s on screen, press Ctrl/Cmd+A to select it, then Ctrl/Cmd+C to copy it, then Ctrl/Cmd+W to close it. Back in the Background image, press Ctrl/Cmd+V to paste in your picture as a new layer. Now press Ctrl/Cmd+T and drag the corner handles to size your subject within the frame. Press Return when done. 02 SELECT YOUR SUBJECT Click on the Quick Selection tool; in the Options bar at the top, click Select Subject. Photoshop does its best to isolate the subject, but it’s…

There’s something deeply rewarding about restoring an old photo. It’s not just the chance to breathe new life into a damaged print, but also the joy of restoring an image that can be cherished for years to come. Affinity Photo offers an array of features for restoration work, from retouching tools like the Inpainting and Clone tools, to the excellent Dust and Scratches filter. Most restoration work won’t be as extreme as our very damaged restore_before.jpg image (download link bottom left) but even ravaged old prints can be restored to their former glory with a few simple editing skills. We can begin by selecting the ripped pieces of our image with the Selection Brush in Affinity Photo, which lets us easily lock onto the edges of each piece of print.…

In the 1980s, I started to photograph my friends and then attended college to study photography in Munich. After college, I worked for many years as a photojournalist and then in advertising all over the world, before focusing on making photography books using my trusty workhorse: a Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II. For my latest project, I visited 33 of the best pubs around England. With these pictures, I wanted to tell authentic stories of real people, because pubs are the heart and soul of the communities we live in. Shooting in pubs is quite challenging because some are cluttered with bric-a-brac, smoke alarms and CCTV cameras, which can be a distraction. However, the most burdensome work was to remove the Covid and social distancing signage to restore the pubs to their…

AS WELL as High ISO noise reduction, you can apply long exposure noise reduction to your night-time shots. You’ll find this option in the Shooting menu. It tackles the type of noise that’s generated by the heat of a long exposure – including ‘stuck’ pixels that show up as bright pinpricks of light in the same place in each shot. Activating it means that the camera essentially creates two exposures. The second one is made with the shutter closed so that the camera can map where the noise is and then remove it from the main image. The camera will be out of action during this second exposure, and the longer the exposure, the longer it takes. If you use Bulb mode to create exposures beyond 30 seconds, you can…

Like other Canon MegaTank inkjet printers, the G650 (G620 in the USA) is a cartridge-free machine with relatively high-volume ink tanks, topped up by 60ml bottles of ink, working out to about an eighth of the cost of most cartridge-based printers. The printer is refreshingly affordable for a MegaTank device. The photo-friendly six dye-based inks includes CMYK plus red and grey inks for a wide colour space and enhanced mono photo quality. The keyed, squeeze-free bottles ensure mess-free top-ups and make it impossible to fill the wrong tank. There are no internal paper feed cassettes, just an upright input tray at the rear, which makes it easy to swap between different sizes of plain or photo paper. There’s no colour touchscreen but the small mono LCD enables an intuitive push-button…

Ink cartridges are the headline cost of any printer but, of course, you need to add in the price of high-quality paper as well when creating photo prints. Some inkjet printers come with options for standard, XL and even XXL cartridges. Going for the higher-capacity option will generally reduce the cost, and you won’t have to replace cartridges so often, but they’re naturally more expensive to buy. Canon MegaTank and Epson EcoTank printers have larger ink tanks, which are replenished from bottles. This can work out much cheaper for ink but there’s a bigger up-front cost, which we will come to.…

Canon’s PIXMA PRO-100S had long been our favourite A3+/13-inch pro-grade printer for creating photo prints on glossy and lustre papers. Running on eight dye-based inks, including black, grey and light grey, it delivered sumptuously smooth glossy prints with immaculate colour rendition and very good tonal expression for black & white photographic images. The replacement PRO-200 brings a number of improvements and enhancements, similar to those of the imagePROGRAF PRO-300 compared with the older PIXMA PRO-10S pigment-based model. A headline upgrade is that the PRO-200 has a new and improved range of inks that deliver a greater colour space, superior vibrancy and deeper reds, blues and blacks. Paper handling is intuitive, as in the PRO-300 on test, with an upright rear feeder and a secondary manual feeder that enables custom print…

When you’re creating a prized photo print to last a lifetime, it may seem a bit inconsequential whether a printer takes a matter of seconds or a few minutes to complete the job. It’s even less of a concern when you consider that you’re creating the print right on your desktop, without the delay of uploading it to an online lab and then waiting days for it to arrive in the post. However, if you need to print several or even dozens of prints, the time soon adds up and, with slower print speeds, it can feel like you’re literally watching paint dry. As a rule, dye-based printers are a lot faster than pigment-based printers, and there’s an added advantage that prints tend to be touch-dry as soon as they…

If twice as big is twice as good, this Epson A3/11-inch photo printer beats smaller A4/8.5-inch models. It delivers double the maximum print area but remains reasonably compact, lightweight and easily manageable. All of the multi-function attractions of most smaller printers are retained but, when you see A3 and A4 photo prints side by side, bigger really is better. Like the Epson EcoTank ET-8550 on test, this more conventional cartridge-based printer packs a built-in scanner, SD card slot and a PictBridge port, all brought together by a 4.3-inch touchscreen. That said, the scanner is A4/8.5-inch rather than A3/11-inch, so you can’t scan or photocopy large-format prints. The printer runs on six Claria Photo HD dye-based inks, with a conventional ‘photo’ line-up of CMYK plus light cyan and light magenta. As…

A4 photo printers tend to have six inks at most, whereas the A3+ and A2 printers on test have eight or more. For example, the Epson SureColor P900 runs on no fewer than ten inks, including Photo Black, Matte Black, Grey, Light Grey, Cyan, Light Cyan, Yellow, Vivid Magenta, Vivid Light Magenta and Violet. This enables a very wide ‘gamut’ or colour space for colour printing, as well as an excellent tonal range for black & white photo printing, with the promise of superb neutrality without any unwanted colour casts. Photo Black and Matte Black are included for printing on glossy and matte media respectively. It’s only natural to think that a greater number of inks will result in higher running costs but the flip side is that you’ll tend…

FREE VIDEOS! In the next Canon Skills chapter… Christmas family portraits Big prime lenses for little birdie shots Light orbs in landscapes Adobe Photoshop CC and Serif Affinity Photo image-editing guides PLUS ALL THIS… Canon Profile: Exciting new wildlife Canon photographer Dani Connor The Apprentice: Boudoir portraits Great gear guide: Christmas gift ideas for you or loved ones from under £50 Canon School: Home studio macro Big news: New Canon gear revealed! ISSUE 199 ON SALE 13 DECEMBER 2022 * Content subject to change…