Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2015 i PhotoPlus : The Canon Magazine

Editor It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to our special 100th issue. Not only are we celebrating our 100th edition, we’re also very excited to introduce the all-new PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine. We’re now bigger and better than ever, and each month we’ll bring you 148 pages packed with more Canon DSLR techniques, tests and tips than any other mag. Even our page size has increased, giving us more room to show off brilliant Canon photography in its best light. We’ve also changed the name slightly to highlight that we’re the only Canoncentric photography magazine on the newsstands. The team and I have been working day and night and we can now proudly reveal lots of amazing new regular articles. You’ll find new Canon pro interviews, more in-depth…

01 TULIPA SILVESTRIS BY LEONARDO BATTISTA Here is an example of being in the right place at the right time: I was driving home when I noticed a field with numerous yellow tulips. The sun was about to disappear behind the hills so I decided to capture a backlit, wide view of the scene using a diagonal fifisheye lens. I used a couple of flashguns to throw light into shadowed areas in the foreground. Lens Sigma 15mm f/2.8 EX DG Diagonal Fisheye Exposure 1/60 sec, f/16, ISO200 02 HEAVEN’S GATE BY DAVE FIELDHOUSE I am not a religious man, however, when I arrived at this gate, the sun appeared at just the right point along the horizon and I couldn’t help but think to myself how heavenly the view looked.…

PRO TIPS Shoot long exposures Mark Bauer “I SHOT in Aperture Priority [01] and set a narrow aperture for a large depth of field [see p36]. A four-stop Neutral Density (ND) filter was used to extend the shutter speed and capture a sense of movement in the waves. I also used a softedged graduated filter, angled across the frame so as not to cut into the cliffs. This prevented the bright sky from blowing out.” Retain sky detail with an ND grad Chris Rutter “ONCE YOU’VE got your setup and skills right, you’ll be able to capture shots like this one [02] taken at Gullfoss in southwest Iceland. This viewpoint was the only spot close to the falls which wasn’t being constantly covered in spray. So I set my camera…

PRO TIPS Painting with light Michael Bosanko “FOR SHARP, clean light painting [79], shoot at night away from ambient light. Place your camera on a tripod, set to Bulb mode and manually focus on an area illuminated by a torch. Use an aperture of f/5.6-f/8, along with a low ISO, and experiment with shutter speeds – I used 252 secs here, keeping the shutter open with a remote release.” High-speed, off-camera flash Adam Duckworth “FIRING YOUR flash off-camera to highlight certain parts of a scene can add real drama to your photos. For this shot [80], two Canon 580EX Mark II flashguns were used to the left side of the frame. I used an exposure of 1/800 sec at f/3.2, ISO400, to freeze the action yet keep some of the…

In a new series, David Noton talks about the photographic decisions he makes as he shoots captivating subjects from around the world… DAVID NOTON Pro travel & landscape photographer David is an award-winning Canon photographer with more than 28 years’ professional experience. During his career David has travelled to just about every corner of the globe. In 2012, Canon invited David into its Ambassador Program by designating him an Official Canon Explorer. Info and photos at www.davidnoton.com I had a photography college lecturer whose advice has stuck with me through the decades. It was just three words... bend the knees. Sound advice, not just for skiing but more importantly for my photography ever since; getting down low can often open up a whole new world of photographic opportunities. Well I’m certainly bending…

Understanding how to exploit perspective in photography is key to capturing interesting compositions. But what does the term actually mean? In short, it’s the optical effect that makes distant objects appear much smaller than those that are closer to you. Artists and architects have an understanding of perspective and vanishing points as they have to draw realistic views of the world. However, as photographers we have so many other considerations to take into account before we create a picture that it’s easy to slip into the habit of shooting an interesting subject or scene right from the point where we’re standing when it first catches our eye. The end result? A series of pictures that have all been shot with the camera held at eye level, and which have a…

Lightroom has many useful tools for editing Raw files and keeping on top of your growing photo collection. But if you want to get up and running quickly, there are just a handful of things to grasp. The Lightroom experience begins with importing a set of images. This can seem a little confusing at first, why would you need to ‘import’ your photos? The explanation goes to the heart of the way Lightroom works. The program doesn’t actually alter the pixels in your images, so unlike programs like Photoshop there’s no need to ‘open’ files. Instead, Lightroom simply changes the way the images are displayed within its interface. All you’re really doing when you ‘Import’ images is telling Lightroom exactly where those images are located on your hard drive. Think…

NAME: Neil Gosling AGE: 56 LOCATION: Sognefjord, Norway MISSION: To document a road trip to Norway in 2014 KIT: Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM, EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM, Bilora tripod with three-way Manfrotto head www.photocrowd.com/neilgosling Our Norwegian road trip provided a great opportunity to indulge in my passion. Norway is one of those big-scale countries with mountains, lakes and other natural features that are far bigger than any kind of imaginable human scale. We stayed in a holiday let close to Smilden Bay, which we visited many times in the evening. It’s a beautifully peaceful location, and that is what I’ve tried to capture: solitude, peace and contentment as the sun sets over the Sognefjord. That’s counterbalanced by a…

Professional photographers reveal their top six tools of the trade they couldn’t shoot without WHAT DO I DO? Alex Hyde www.alexhyde.co.uk I work as a freelance natural history photographer, based in the Peak District, and also run photography workshops and tours. Whether in the rainforests of Borneo or my back garden, I am usually in search of insects, spiders and other creatures. When composing a scene through my macro lens, I am always struck with a sense of discovery. Many of my pictures involve moving subjects smaller than a grain of rice, requiring specialised macro equipment and a fair measure of patience! “Many of my macro pictures involve moving subjects smaller than a grain of rice ” Many of us suffer from over-filled bags, bursting with gadgets that rarely see…

On the top of your EOS (unless you own a 1D X) is the Mode dial. This circular wheel gives you access to all the camera’s exposure modes. The automatic exposure modes are found in the ‘Basic Zone’, and are represented by pictorial symbols – a mountain for Landscape mode, a face for Portrait mode and so on. But your only control is switching to each mode in the first place; after this the camera takes over, so what it decides is the ‘correct’ combination of aperture, shutter speed and ISO is what you get. Switch to Sports mode, for example, and the camera judges the lighting conditions and comes up with an ‘appropriate’ fast shutter speed for a moving subject, possibly pushing ISO higher to achieve it. It will…

When it comes to assessing an exposure, we’ve never had it so good. Not only do DSLRs give you the instant comfort of the LCD screen, they also have incredibly useful histogram graph. If you ignore histograms, then you’re not using the assessment powers of your camera enough. The brightness histogram is accessed by hitting the INFO button when you have an image displayed on the LCD. This graph is a representation of the combined red, green and blue tones that make up your image, running from 0 (pure black) on the left to 255 (pure white) on the right. The most important thing to avoid is ‘clipping’ the histogram, where the tones in the graph are bunched flat at the left (underexposed) or pushed flat to the right (overexposed).…

01 RATE A FILE You can add a rating or check mark to a selected thumbnail by clicking the icons at the base of the workspace. Alternatively, tap any of the number keys between 1-5 to add a star rating more quickly (or tap 0 for Unrated). 02 CREATE A COLLECTION Go to the Collections pane and click the Add Collection icon. Label your collection to make it easy to identify. Drag thumbnails to the collection to add them to it. Click on the collection label to display its contents in the workspace. 03 QUICK CHECK By clicking the Quick Check icon at the top of the workspace you can enlarge a thumbnail for a better look and easier access to all the rating and check markassigning icons. You can…

In the March issue (PhotoPlus 97) we explained a how to optimize depth of field in landscape shots. Reader Mike Urquhart from Essex wrote to ask for more advice about where is the best place to position the point of focus. Depth of field is the area that is acceptably sharp in front of and behind the point of focus. The saying goes that, to maximize sharpness, you should focus on a point roughly ‘one-third into’ the scene. This is due to the fact that depth of field approximates to two-thirds behind the point of focus and one-third in front. But finding the point that is one-third into the scene is a challenge in itself. There is another way to maximize the depth of field using the hyperfocal distance. The…

THERE’S only so much you can do to spice up your lighting when your flashgun is mounted to your camera. Freeing it has traditionally been the job of the good old off-camera flash cord, but with a range usually limited to about three metres, it’s not an ideal solution. Going wireless is a much better bet. Not only does a decent radio-frequency trigger offer at least 100 metres of range, you can often use a single transmitter to control multiple flashguns separated into several groups. It’s great for replicating a studio flash head setup, with separate key, fill and accent lights, although you may need to fork out for extra receivers or specific flashguns to create a multiple flash setup. Another thing to bear in mind is that unlike a…

You can expect wide-angle prime lenses to produce rather less barrel distortion than standard zoom lenses at their shortest focal length. This is borne out when comparing one of the 24mm prime lenses in this group with a 24-70mm or 24-105mm zoom. However, as you advance to about the 35mm mark in a standard zoom lens (24mm on an APS-C format 18-55mm standard zoom), the zoom lenses may even have slightly less distortion and some may switch to slight pincushion distortion at around this focal length.…

TERMS AND CONDITIONS: *Manfrotto Compact Advanced Monopod comes with print and print+digital subscriptions for UK customers only. Prices and savings quoted are compared to buying full-priced UK print and digital issues. You will receive 13 issues in a year. If you are dissatisfied in any way you can write to us or call us to cancel your subscription at any time and we will refund you for all unmailed issues. Prices correct at point of print and subject to change. Gift is subject to availability. Please allow up to 60 days for the delivery of your gift. In the event of stocks becoming exhausted, we reserve the right to replace with items of a similar value. For full terms and conditions please visit: myfavm.ag/magterms. Offer ends 15 June 2015. PRINT…

PRO TIPS Underwater photography Rob White “MANY UNDERWATER creatures tend to have some form of camouflage, making them difficult to distinguish from the seabed [14]. I use an underwater housing for my DSLR, get down to eye-level or below, and aim up towards the surface to increase the distance between the subject and its surroundings. The seawater then acts as a nice, plain green or blue background.” Long-lens landscapes David Noton “I RETURNED to Cordes-sur-Ciel in the Pyrénées four dawns in a row, determined to make the most of this misty French hilltop town [15]. Using a 70-200mm lens helps to give a long lens perspective that excludes clutter from the frame, striping the composition down to its simplest elements.” Stunning sports James Cheadle “THIS ACTION shot of World No.1…

PRO TIPS Water meter Roger Sharp “SHOOTING SURFERS in the water [53] is a hard business and getting manual settings right is tricky when the light is changing fast. Here’s a tip: for a quick ‘grey card’ reading, meter from the back of your hand. This gives you a ballpark exposure in the right range. It’s rarely 1/1000 sec at f/5.6 like in this shot, but the hand trick can be a lifesaver.” Do your homework Ben McRae “PEOPLE THINK that being a travelling photographer is all about capturing the moment as you see it, but you have to do your homework to put you in that moment. With this image of the Geisha [54] I had to spend time researching the street in Kyoto where I would actually get…

PRO TIPS Keep it simple Heather Buckley “LOOK AT your composition as a series of shapes dividing up the frame. Here, this shot of a girl in a caravan at Ballinasloe Horse Fair in Ireland [92] works even though she is at the edge of the frame because the series of rectangles are balanced. Simplicity will always work if you carefully consider the balance of positive and negative shapes.” A void burnout Bragi J Ingibergsson “THIS IMAGE [93] was taken close to my hometown Hafnarfjordur in Iceland; there was still a little snow on the ground, which acted as a reflector, so the lighting conditions were very good. When dealing with white wildlife subjects like this, I find it helpful to use a little underexpoure to prevent areas in bright…

ART WOLFE is not the sort of professional Canon photographer who’s content to look back nostalgically on a lifetime of achievement, sell prints of his iconic images and sedately rest on his laurels. Endlessly active, creative and articulate, he’s always moving on to the next project and expanding the boundaries of his work. His journey into photography began five decades ago and he’s been a Canon DSLR user for the past 12 years. I caught up with Art on one of the short breaks in his relentless schedule of international travel. I was keen to discover what drives him, and how, after four decades, he still shoots so many great pictures and remains at the top of his game. I found that the seeds of his love of the natural…

PROJECT INFO NAME: Drew Buckley AGE: 29 LOCATION: Lake Kerkini, Greece MISSION: Showcase these prehistoric looking birds and the place they call their winter home KIT: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, EOS 7D Mark II, Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM, EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM II, EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM, EF 100-400mm f/4-5.6L IS USM II, Lee Filters www.drewbuckleyphotography.com The location, Lake Kerkini. The target species, Dalmatian pelicans – and I can’t think of a better setting in which to photograph these amazing birds! Lake Kerkini is in northern Greece, about 20km from the Bulgarian border, and offers some of the most accessible opportunities for bird photography in Europe. The lake and the surrounding wetlands are nestled between the Kerkini and Marvovouni mountains. It hosts more than 300 species…

Your ultimate photographic reference guide to the complete Canon EOS DSLR system DIGITAL SLR ESSENTIALS The fundamentals to getting a great exposure We kick of a major new series on the essentials of photography, which will build up into the ultimate reference to your Canon DSLR. In part one, we look at the complete exposure journey – and the different roles that you and your equipment play in turning the world around you into the perfect picture. Photo Plus EXPERT ANDREW JAMES PHOTO EXPERT Andrew James has combined photography with writing for over 25 years. He uses a Canon 5D Mk III and 1D X, he teaches on photography holidays and workshops, and runs PhotoBuzz. SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS Learn to master Canon’s free suite of software Did you realise that one…

To take the next step with your Canon photography, it’s absolutely essential to understand the relationship between the three main elements that come together to make the exposure. One way of remembering the three key ingredients is the exposure triangle, with aperture, shutter speed and ISO on each of the three sides. Each decision you make in terms of aperture, shutter speed and ISO will have an affect on the look of your image. This is why it’s creative! We will be covering each one of them in much greater detail in the future but here is a run through the basics… Understanding exposure one stop at time The key to creative photography is understanding how changing one side of the triangle affects the others Aperture AT ITS MOST basic…

Backlit dog (active) Exposure details: 1/500 sec, f/4, ISO800 Conditions: Late evening, sun setting behind the subject. Subject considerations: The subject is very active and we need to ensure the dog is pin-sharp in relatively low light. Handholding is our only option, because the dog is moving. Settings: Switch to Tv, select a fast shutter speed of 1/500 sec and check the aperture chosen. But at f/4, our lens’s widest available aperture, the aperture number is blinking, indicating the exposure will not be correct. So we push ISO up from 100 until it stops blinking; this is three stops higher, at ISO800. To ensure accurate focusing we switch AF to AI Servo and Drive mode to High-speed Continuous. Landscape image (static) Exposure details: 1/30 sec, f/16, ISO100 Conditions: Early evening…

01 FOLDER Click on a folder to display thumbnails of its contents in DPP 4’s workspace. You can drag one folder into another to rearrange them. Folders of imported photos tend to be stored chronologically, but there’s lots you can do to find files faster… 02 FILTER SETTINGS You can filter the contents of a folder to display files that meet a specific criteria. For example, to only display Raw files that have been rated with 5 stars, or those displaying a particular check mark. Click the Filter fly-out icon to access the Thumbnail display filter settings window. 03 SORT To help you find files more easily you can change the way that thumbnails are displayed in DPP 4. You could choose to display the newest files at the top…

“Why do landscape photographers use apertures of f/11 or more to maximise DoF when diffraction creates softer shots? John Fithian-Franks via email” BRIAN SAYS… It is true that many landscape photographers advise stopping down the aperture to maximise depth of field, and it is also true that many lenses are at their sharpest at mid-range apertures. The key is that there’s a difference between depth of field and sharpness lost due to diffraction. A photograph has a single point of focus; depth of field allows a region of acceptable sharpness in front of and behind this point of focus. The narrower the aperture (greater the f-number), the further this area of sharpness extends. But if too narrow an aperture is chosen, the entire image becomes softer due to light rays…

A 100-400mm lens is a versatile option for shooting faraway sport or wildlife. It might not have the wider maximum f/2.8 aperture of a top-pro optic, but this zoom’s smaller, variable aperture makes it smaller, lighter and much more affordable. All this combined to make Canon’s original EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM a popular choice with bird, airshow and field-sport enthusiasts. However, the trombone-style (push-pull) zoom mechanism on this Mark I lens, first launched in 1998, was showing its age and many found it awkward to use. The new EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM has a more conventional design, with a deep, stepped zoom ring towards the front of the lens and a narrower focus ring towards the mount. A third ring, just in-front of the focus ring, travels…

To test real-world performance, we use lenses in all sorts of lighting conditions, both indoors and outdoors. We check for good build quality and handling, smooth and precise operation of all controls, and we test the speed and accuracy of autofocus. For this group, all full-frame compatible lenses were tested on both 5D Mk III and 70D bodies, while the APS-C format lenses were tested on the 70D. In-camera corrections for chromatic aberrations and peripheral illumination (where available) are disabled throughout all testing, to better reveal the true performance of each lens. We run a full 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 analysed for sharpness, distortion and chromatic aberrations…

APPRENTICE NAME: KYLE LYONS CAMERA: CANON EOS 5D MK III KYLE, 38, is a multimedia artist, specializing in stock video footage for the entertainment industry. Originally from Buffalo, New York State, USA, he has lived in Valencia, Spain, since 2003 after studying Spanish in the city. He invested in his Canon camera primarily to shoot time-lapse video for his work, but now wants to put his DSLR to the purpose it was originally intended. CANON PRO NAME: PAUL FORGHAM CAMERA: CANON EOS 5D MK III PAUL is a 56-year-old landscape and travel photographer, with a specialization in architectural photography. Based in Somerset, he travels regularly to shoot great European cities, and so was just the man to show Kyle the ropes of city break photography in Valencia’s architectural masterpiece, the…

BEST-EVER To celebrate the 100th issue of PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine in style we’ve provided 100 must-have tips and techniques to help you really take control of your Canon DSLR and push your photography further. We’ve also enlisted 24 of the world’s best Canon professional photographers to share their best techniques for capturing stunning shots. From landscapes to portraits, wildlife to gardens, macro to sports, every photographic subject is illustrated with inspirational Canon images. Inside this guide you’ll find all you need to know to become a better Canon photographer. We begin with basic setup to help you get to grips with your DSLR, before progressing to Canon’s shooting modes. We then move on to depth of field and focusing, explaining clearly how, using apertures, focusing and focal length, you…

PRO TIPS Blur your backgrounds Ben Hall “I PHOTOGRAP HED this brown bear [27] from a hide deep in the forests of the High Tatra mountains in Slovakia. Using my Canon EF 100-400mm lens (at 340mm) coupled with a wide aperture of f/5.6, I was able to capture a shallow depth of field and completely diffuse the foreground and background foliage.” Pre-focusing trick Drew Gibson “1/40 sec was a slow enough exposure to really convey the GT3 Aston Martin’s sense of speed [28]. I always use the back button focus system, which isolates the focusing from the shutter button. In this case, I pre-focused on the ‘jump’ part of the circuit and then left the focus alone as I panned smoothly with the car, pressing the shutter as it passed…

PhotoPlus issue 1 launched back in October 2007, and, after 99 more amazing issues, we wanted to do something special to celebrate our landmark 100th edition. We asked our friends in the photo industry to donate a few prizes for an amazing winner-takes-itall competition – and boy, have they delivered! Prizes include a Tamron superzoom, Elinchrom lighting kit, a Manfrotto backpack and tripod, a Canon DSLR, an Epson A3+ printer, Páramo wetweather clothing, a Sigma flashgun, a Photoshop CC sub – and even a weekend photo workshop for two, photographing bears in the Bavarian mountains! Better still, one of you lucky readers will walk away with the entire prize package, worth over £6,750! TURN THE PAGE FOR A FULL PRIZE BREAKDOWN AND HOW TO ENTER FULL PRIZE LIST! HOW TO…

Photo essays from PhotoPlus readers and up-and-coming pro photographers Shooting portraits on location can present challenges with the constant change in light and weather conditions. Despite this, one of the best things about shooting outside is the fact that you can shoot almost anywhere. I love to explore different locations and experiment with lighting. For the pet portrait I wanted to make the most of the bright sunlight. I don’t usually shoot with hard light as it is generally unflattering, but I felt that with a subject like a dog it may be a less of an issue. It was easy to capture this puppy as she moved about as she was quite slow and very curious about everything. I used a very shallow depth of field to blur the background…

Solar eclipse of the heart This shot of the partial solar eclipse was taken with my new Canon EOS 7D Mark II, with a Canon EF 70-300mm lens, shot at f/11, with a shutter speed of 1/200 sec. I also used a Pro ND 200 filter. This photo was taken at 9.26am on 20 March 2015. I live in Edinburgh and have lots of opportunities to photograph nature around me, but only one opportunity to get the perfect photo of the eclipse, so on the day I took over 100 photos, and feel this one showed the dramatic effect. John Watt, Edinburgh Every month we invite you to send in your best images, along with 50 words on the ‘story’ behind each shot (include Canon DSLR and lens used, plus…

Welcome to Canon School. In the first Digital SLR Essentials section we explain all you need to know about exposure To kick-start our new Canon School series, let’s look at the most fundamental aspect of owning a DSLR – making an exposure. After all, this is what we do as photographers time and again. We visualise an image in our mind’s eye, press the shutter button on our Canon DSLR, the shutter opens to expose the digital sensor to light, and the image is captured. It sounds so simple when put like this, but exposure can frequently trip us up, and the more creative we want to get, the more complicated it appears to be. The fact is, if you master a few simple factors with your camera then what…

01 Lomography Petzval A retro lens that performs like no other £459/$540 http://microsites.lomography.com/petzval-lens THE CROWD-FUNDED reinvention of the Victorian Petzval lens a joint venture between Lomography and Russian optical specialists Zenit. The distinctive image style of pin-sharp centres surrounded by swirling bokeh blur has been successfully reproduced and the 85mm focal length is ideal for portraiture. Available in brass or black finish, the wide (f/2.2) maximum aperture can be stopped down to f/16 with the aid of separate diaphragm inserts. The rack-and-pinion focusing mechanism, however, proves rather awkward to use when handholding a camera. 02 ProMediaGear Katana Solid support and freedom of movement with this heavyweight gimbal head £617/$750 www.cameraclean.co.uk GIMBAL HEADS may seem like specialist kit, but the simple design can make a massive difference to the quality of…

Wide-angle prime lenses are surprisingly versatile optics that cater to a variety of different needs. For those with full-frame cameras, like the 6D and 5D Mk III, the Canon EF 20mm offers a wider angle of view than a standard zoom lens, like a 24-70mm or 24-105mm. Meanwhile, 24mm, 28mm and 35mm lenses deliver some of the same angles of view that are served up by most standard zooms, but often with a ‘faster’ or wider available aperture. The lenses in this test group are equally attractive to those of us with APS-C format Canon DSLRs, like the 70D and 7D Mk II, with their physically smaller image sensors and 1.6x crop factor. On these cameras, a 28mm or 35mm prime lens will give an effective focal length of 44.8mm…

One optical facet shared by wide-angle lenses is that they aim to minimize barrel distortion. You can get a much wider angle of view if you switch to a fisheye lens, but you’ll also get extreme barrel distortion. Diagonal fisheye lenses project a frame-filling image with up to a 180-degree viewing angle measured diagonally. Circular fisheye lenses give an even wider viewing angle of up to 180 degrees horizontally and vertically. The unique Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye lens for full-frame bodies offer both diagonal and circular fisheye effects, as we’ve illustrated at opposite ends of the zoom range…