Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2015 i PhotoPlus : The Canon Magazine

This month I got to test the game-changing Canon 760D, a new entry-level EOS that offers high-end handling. It’s an interesting proposition for a beginner DSLR body, giving you a top-plate LCD and rear wheel dial normally only seen on larger enthusiast cameras like the 70D. I certainly enjoyed shooting with it, and the image quality is very impressive, especially at higher ISO settings. There’s also the new 750D. Apart from the improved controls, the 760D and 750D are hard to separate; both have 24Mp sensors, Digic 6 processors, 5fps, 63 AF points, and the same size bodies. So which is the best buy? Read our full tests, with lab results and final verdicts, on page 106. Proving there’s no such thing as bad weather for photography, just bad technique,…

CANON PRO NAME: AMANDA THOMAS CAMERA: CANON EOS 5D MK III FASHION and portrait photographer Amanda is based in Bristol and spends a lot of her time working throughout the southwest of England, as well as London. With over 15 years’ experience, Amanda delivers the whole package to her clients, from initial concept right the way through to the processed images. For more of Amanda’s work, see her website: www.amandathomasphotographer.co.uk APPRENTICE NAME: RYAN BEDINGFIELD CAMERAS: CANON EOS 70D & 6D RYAN, 47, runs his own business from Holmfirth, West Yorkshire but dreams of having his own photography business one day. After purchasing his first camera at the age of 11 (a Beirette BL from Boots) he was hooked. Having recently upgraded from a 60D to a 6D and 70D, and…

Snæfellsnes peninsula, Iceland. 20:25 local time. 30 March 2015. I can’t believe it; the sun on my face feels almost – whisper it – warm. Just hours ago we were being blasted by frigid northerly gales toppling tripods and plunging the wind chill factor to finger-freezing depths, now it feels positively springlike. I’m down to just three layers and I'm even managing to fit the fiddly filter ring on my 24-70mm lens without gloves. It’s difficult, now, to believe that we’re just a degree or so short of the Arctic Circle. Still, that’s Iceland for you; a land of extremes. Don’t like the weather? Wait five minutes and it will be bound to change. The sun is dipping virtually due west, give or take a few degrees; the spring equinox…

Over the years I’ve worked on PhotoPlus, the one area I find readers often need to work on with their photography is composition. Many enthusiast photographers I meet know most of their Canon DSLR’s modes and settings, and their exposures are pretty good, but a well-exposed yet badly composed shot is still a bad shot. Composition boils down to working hard to capture the best shot you can, rather than lazily standing and firing off a few shots with subjects smack-bang in the middle of the frame. This results in a boring ‘record’ shot of a scene, rather than one capturing the scene from a more interesting viewpoint. In contrast, the best photographers move around their subject, getting closer or moving back, kneeling down or getting higher; taking your time…

The key to successful tabletop home studio photography is the lighting, and how to use it to create a variety of effects without spending a fortune on professional equipment. So in this project we’re going to look at four simple setups that anyone can shoot, covering everything from making your eBay listings look more attractive to arty shots of fruit and flowers. We’ll use a variety of light sources – window light, a pocket torch and couple of lamps (we used LED lights, but anglepoise desk lamps will do). A macro lens is great for getting close to still-life subjects, but youcan use your kit lens to shoot all four setups. You’ll also benefit from a few inexpensive extras – such as some fabric and paper for the backdrops, a…

Once we download a memory card to edit our favourite shots, the really fun part of post-processing can begin. This is where, with a few simple changes, we can bring our Raw files to life. Lightroom’s Develop module is the ideal place to make changes like this. Unlike Photoshop, which has a whole host of features that appeal to a wide range of users and professions, Lightroom offers solely the kind of tools that photographers really need. So you’ll find things like colour controls, lens correction commands and sharpening sliders, alongside powerful tools for retouching, cropping and making selective adjustments. Not only does this make Lightroom’s Develop Module one of the best places to begin editing a set of fresh images, it also makes it much easier for beginners to…

It was a very cold, crisp autumnal morning below the Tetons, just outside Jackson Hole valley, Wyoming. When the sun first came up, it lit up the top of the mountain range, and cast a warm glow across the sage-covered ground that seemed to awaken the world. Sharing moments like is the reason I love photography. As the day went on I was blessed to photograph elk, moose, coyotes and bison. In the evening, a herd of 200 bison decided to cross Highway 191. All the traffic could do was stop and enjoy the show. It was a true, old-fashioned Wyoming traffic jam. They slowly disappeared into the trees below the Tetons where they would bed down for the night. I started walking back to my truck, camera in hand,…

“Canon’s 50mm f/1.2L is hard to get sharp, but with an f/2 sweet spot it can’t be beaten” Being a social photographer, covering weddings, portraits and editorial work, my kit list can be quite extensive and varied. But for most of my shoots I turn to my beloved Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III. Yes, I know it’s old, but while the saying goes “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” this camera has been through three shutters now, yet still remains my workhorse. Its rugged build quality and the tonal quality it produces simply cannot be matched by anything launched since. So what lens do I throw onto this body? Well it’s the Canon 50mm f/1.2L. This is my soulmate (along with my wife, of course…). I have used just about…

Canon has some superb full-frame ultra-wideangle zoom lenses, but until recently the only option shorter than 16mm was the EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM (£915/$1,249). Fisheyes are great fun, but because of the extreme distortion, they’re not first on many photographers’ shopping list. Rectilinear lenses, with distortion correction, tend to be more popular. At 5mm, the difference between the 16mm end of a EF 16-35mm lens the 11mm end of the 11-24mm may not sound very much, but even very small changes in focal length have a huge impact with ultra-wideangle optics. The diagonal angle of view at 11mm, for example, is 126º 05’, but at 16mm it’s 108º 10’. That’s a difference of almost 18º and it has significant effect upon composition. For comparison, the change in angle of…

01 BLUE DOOR BY SEOW SWEE MENG This blue door may look familiar to anyone who has see the Mamma Mia musical; it is part of the rotating stage prop. I was one of 18 winners to have a backstage tour in a contest organised by Canon EOS World, Singapore. The door is very iconic and I wanted to take a really interesting shot of it. To capture something a bit different I composed at an angle looking down at the door handle for an unusual view. Photocrowd All the images in this gallery were entrants to the PhotoPlus ‘Doors’ 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…

You don’t need lots of expensive lighting equipment to shoot beautifully lit portraits, just soft, directional light. Why soft? Because soft light is more flattering than hard light. Why directional? Because the direction helps to give the face depth by creating highlights and shadows. For these two qualities, we need look no further than the nearest window. The larger a light source is, the softer the light it creates. Because windows have a fairly large area, the light they offer is soft and flattering for portraits. Any window will do, as long as the sun isn’t shining directly through it. Of course, window light comes from one fixed position. But that doesn’t mean we’re restricted to one direction of light. By moving the camera position we can control how light…

One of the most effective ways to improve images straight out of the camera is to enhance the colour and tones. This might be because the colours recorded by your camera look slightly wrong, or it could be that you want to apply a specific visual effect. When we look at a scene with the naked eye, we tend to perceive the correct colours in most lighting conditions. A camera, however, needs help to capture a subject’s true colours. This is because different light sourceshave a different colour temperature. To your camera, daylight has a blue tint, while indoor light sources, such as tungsten bulbs, have an orange tint. Cameras try to avoid capturing tints by using Auto White Balance (AWB). But sometimes the AWB function doesn’t work effectively, so…

Tim Clayton’s career as a sports photographer has taken him on a lifelong international adventure, living in several countries, including Australia and the USA. He has built a successful career from shooting major events and sporting superstars, winning eight World Press Photo awards along the way. However, he reveals that this love of both sport and photography grew out of his need to escape the tragic events he experienced as a child in Leeds… How did you get into photography? My dad was a sports journalist. He worked for the Daily Express but had earlier worked for the Yorkshire Evening News. Unfortunately, he died at the age of 39, when I was six, and my mother died two years later. I was adopted by my aunt and uncle. When I…

In May 2014, I was fortunate enough to travel to California for a week-long photography tour. Two buddies and I flew into San Francisco on a Saturday afternoon, picked up the transport of choice – 6.5 litres of Chevy truck – and headed straight to our first location, the Golden Gate bridge. This was a trip that had been in the planning for months; everything from sunrise, tide and driving times, to where we were going to get fed and watered. From San Fran we headed north up the coastal road, taking in locations at Salt Point, Point Arena and Trinidad Beach. I picked up a hitch-hiker in the form of a tick, which was duly removed by the local doctor and sent in the mail to test for Lyme…

With three cameras in its entry-level range, Canon already had plenty to interest novices and enthusiast photographers on a budget. Now the company has added two new models, the EOS 750D and 760D. As the 700D continues in the lineup (for now, at least), there are five cameras in what Canon calls its beginners’ range. The 750D and 760D (Rebel T6i and T6s in the USA) sit at the top of this group, above the 700D, 100D and 1200D. While the 750D could be considered the more logical upgrade to the 700D, and is aimed at novices, the 760D is designed with more experienced photographers in mind and has a few features from Canon’s high-end cameras for improved handling – most obviously there’s a top-plate LCD showing vital shooting information…

We’re the instant generation. We want it all, and we want it now. Instant coffee, fast food, streaming movies – everything’s accessible on demand, no need to wait. Digital photography is no exception. Hit the shutter button and you can review the image a split-second later, right on the camera. There’s no wait while you finish the roll of film, have it developed and pick up your prints. Printing your images at home can be similarly speedy. Some desktop photo printers can output a six-by-four-inch print in as little as 20 seconds, which is great for the impatient among us. But hang on just a minute – faster isn’t always better. Think fine dining and, chances are, you’re not visualising a microwave dinner. And many would rather splash out on…

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 A limited number of back issues of our print editions are available at http://bit.ly/ppprint BUY A BINDER! Prefer a printed magazine? Keep your copies of PhotoPlus together with our binder, which neatly holds a year’s issues www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/photoplus-offers Issue 100 May 2015 THE 100 best-ever Canon pro techniques l Apprentice: travel architecture l Interview: Art Wolfe l Super Test: wide-angle prime lenses l Mini test: radio flash triggers l Canon School: exposure l My Kit: Alex Hyde l David Noton: Vietnam l Canon EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L…

21 CANON TIPS While we are all comfortable shooting landscapes when the weather is favourable, we should also be aware of the excellent opportunities that exist when it’s more challenging. It helps to develop an openminded approach to the potential for taking great photographs, irrespective of the weather. Adopting the right mental attitude is important. When you look out in the morning and see that it’s raining, don’t leave your Canon DSLR at home, instead it should be a time to celebrate some great photo ops. When you arrive at a location and discover that it is shrouded in thick mist, ponder your good fortune. While travelling to a location you had long planned to photograph, you notice the sky is beginning to fill-in, just think of the wonderful opportunities…

The sea: a monumental force of nature that is both powerful and serene; familiar yet mysterious. But how do you capture the essence of this ever-moving mass in a single, static frame? One way is to use a long exposure to blur the motion of the water for a tranquil effect. This technique is achieved with the use of longer shutter speeds, where the shutter is held open for several seconds – or minutes – at a time. Anything that moves during that time will be blended together. Rapidly moving waters, such as waterfalls, can blur in less than a second; still waters, such as a calm sea, require much longer. But even on an overcast day, and shooting at the narrowest available aperture, there will be far too much…

The term ‘camera drag’ may not sound like a particularly good idea, but don’t worry, we guarantee that your Canon EOS will come to no harm. Camera drag is actually a technique that adds motion blur to your images by moving the camera during an exposure to render the scene as an abstract palette of colours. Shoot in Tv (Shutter priority) or M (manual) mode as you’ll need to retain control over the shutter speed, which ideally should be a second or two. On bright days, you can reduce the light with an ND filter, or simply shoot faster – you can go up to 1/15 sec – but you’ll have to ‘drag’ the camera faster too, and this will be harder to keep accurate. The trick to a successful…

In traditional chemical processes, infrared film was sensitive to infrared light, rather than the visible spectrum, resulting in images with a glowing, dreamlike atmosphere. In particular, scenes that include trees or foliage take on an otherworldly quality, as the leaves are strongly reflective of infrared light so they glow very bright. We can achieve a similarly ethereal effect with a few simple Photoshop tools. Used in the right image, it can transform a scene into a work of analogue art. As with traditional infrared film, the effect works best on images that feature trees or plants, as the greens and yellows are made to glow. Sunny blue skies also work well, as the blues take on an intensely dark appearance, and sunlight makes the colour of the trees and foliage…

Get £50 for ever y photo stor y we publish! JOIN IN THE FUN! One of the great things about photography is being able to share your view of the world. This issue, Les Boyle combines two passions: his love of photography and Jaguar cars to create some stunning shots in Lacock. On the other side of the pond, Ryan Hoeft shows us what the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming has to offer, while Rob Lodge goes west side to give us a tour of California. We want your photos and stories! We’ll pay you £50 for every project we publish. Please send them to… Email photoplus@futurenet.com Online www.facebook.com/photoplusmag www.twitter.com/photoplusmag Post PhotoPlus: The Canon Mag Future The Ambury Bath BA1 1UA UK PROJECT INFO Name: Les Boyle AGE: 53…

SHOT OF THE MONTH Owl be back I had heard that barn owls were showing early morning at a nearby nature reserve at Cresswell, Northumberland. I arrived at 06:15am as the sun was rising, and the light was a fabulous warm gold. I got settled using an old stone wall to rest my Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS lens, staying out of sight of the birds. (I’m aware of the Section 1 restrictions on barn owls, and their welfare comes first.) I added my EF 1.4x Extender to get extra reach on my 7D for a combined focal length of 840mm – an effective focal length of 1344mm! I shot at f/5.6 and ISO640, for a shutter speed of 1/2500 sec to freeze the owl in flight. Mark Mowbray, Northumberland…

01 PERMAJET PROFESSIONAL INKJET MEDIA wwww.permajet.com PERMAJET officially produce the BEST INKJET MEDIA, as voted for by hundreds of photographers at The Societies Photographic Trade Awards. Their comprehensive range of inkjet media is incredibly good value with essentials like gloss, oyster and matt, fine art textured and smooth, traditional baryta and creative media available in sheet and roll formats. Technical expertise and understanding gathered over 30 years in the industry allow PermaJet to provide leading levels of support to all who are after an ideal media. PermaJet users are entitled to FREE generic and custom ICC Profiling, meaning you get perfect prints every time you hit ‘Print’. 02 TECCO PAPER www.colorconfidence.com/tecco TECCO produces a range of high-quality inkjet papers for all printed images. Matt, glossy and many more surface types…