Innehållsförteckning för September 2021 från Digital Camera Magazine

Opportunities for exotic wildlife photography may be out of reach for a little while longer, but there’s still plenty of skills to master close to home. This month’s cover feature (page 60) will show you how, with a host of hints, tips and insights from wildlife pro Graeme Green. You’ll also find plenty of other genres to immerse yourself in, courtesy of Photo Active (p16), Stay at Home (p43) and Camera College (p72), while inspiration awaits in Hotshots (p82), with the category winners of the Cewe Photo Award, the world’s biggest. We look forward to welcoming Digital Camera readers to The Photography Show & The Video Show next month – in the meantime, catch up with two of the stars of the Super Stage, Olivia Arthur (p10) and Mark Power…

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Exploring the Outer Hebrides has been on my travel and photography bucket list for years. With its Caribbean-esque waters, white sandy beaches and majestic mountains, plus an impressive range of wildlife and plants, these beautiful Scottish islands provide endless opportunities for amateur and professional photographers alike. With so much to see, do and photograph, I decided that the best way to get a flavour of the islands was to visit all of them. Following the official Hebridean Way route (www.visitouterhebrides.co.uk/hebrideanway), I started on Vatersay, walking and camping my way across 10 islands to my final stop at the Butt of Lewis Lighthouse. I’ve had my Sony Alpha 6000 for around three years, but I haven’t experimented across a range of different lights, landscapes or seascapes – all of which the…

1 Shoot from the start Don’t always wait until you reach your destination before you start taking shots. Create a story by capturing some during your journey, as I did on the ferry to Castlebay. 2 Direct contact I liked the regal pose of the sheep at Arnol on the Isle of Lewis, and had to capture it looking directly at me. Placing it centrally in the image gave it even more impact. 3 Capture the spirit Harris gin and its stunning bottle are both award-winners, and the bottle design perfectly reflects the island and its maritime connections. By capturing this locally made gin, I was able to showcase one of the many distinctive aspects of the island. 4 The wild side These Highland cattle, with their long shaggy coats and sturdy frames, are…

The brilliant glow of a sun-soaked sky can be the perfect cherry on top of your landscape photography sundae – but getting the right exposure for both land and sky can be tricky. Some photographers like to capture multiple exposures and blend them together – but a single raw image contains so much information that there’s actually a far simpler solution. Lightroom is equipped with the Adjustment Brush, found in the Develop Module. This tool enables you to selectively brush adjustments onto the image. So if you find yourself with a beautiful sunset that you just couldn’t expose for correctly in-camera, the Adjustment Brush can come in very handy. Whether you’re shooting a flat horizon (such as the beach scene above) or a complicated vista that includes trees, mountains and…

Here is a simple but effective technique to produce and photograph otherworldly images resembling the swirling surface of Jupiter, or unusual 3D shapes with flat, angular, surfaces. To prepare the bubble mixture, you need a ratio of around 1:3 of washing-up liquid to water. You may need to experiment to get the right consistency. I did not use glycerine, but it is supposed to hold the bubble shape for longer and improve colour and swirls. Add between a teaspoon to a tablespoon. I used a straw to generate the bubbles, but you can use a bubble wand. Initially I used a large, grey bowl full of bubbles, but then discovered that a small black saucer also worked perfectly well. Bubbles stand out on a dark background, and there are fewer…

In issue 244, I explained how I made a set of prints for a local display – it was a new body of work ‘upcycled’ from images I had previously taken. As I mentioned in that article, printing images is a key component of my photographic process. Creating a really decent print is extremely satisfying – the feeling you get when you hang a well-printed image on the wall is a very pleasing one. Having said that, getting repeatable consistent images is the hardest part of printing photos, so in this project I’m going to share my insights on how to design and build your own dedicated workflow for printing images. Start by keeping your workflow within the same colour space – for printing, Adobe RGB is preferable to sRGB.…

1 Set up the scene to light-paint First, prepare your room and work area – I put blackout film on the windows and draped a black cloth behind my subject, an old film camera on a stand. To do the light painting, I used a Mini Maglite LED torch, having adapted it slightly (I unscrewed the front element and added a few small translucent discs) to produce a more diffused light source. Set your camera on a tripod and shoot in raw. Focus on your subject, then make sure the autofocus is switched off. Set the camera to a low ISO – I used ISO 50. 2 Dial in exposure settings to suit the lighting To avoid any camera movement you’re best off using a cable release or an electronic trigger…

In the world’s great wildlife reserves and national parks, you can’t drive for more than a few minutes without seeing remarkable animals. Away from these areas, though, wildlife photography often requires more patience. It’s about getting out and enjoying the great outdoors, being open and aware of what’s around you, and seeking out interesting subjects. It may take more effort, but there are worse ways to spend time than wandering around the countryside near where you live. While the regularity of safari vehicles in African parks means that many animals, especially larger ones, aren’t too concerned about human presence, it’s not the same elsewhere. Many species of mammals and birds will move on if they feel threatened, so move quietly and slowly so you don’t scare away the creatures you’re…

One of the real pleasures of wildlife photography is getting to spend time in nature, observing how animals survive and spend time together. You learn something new every time you set out with your camera. Animals are intelligent, often highly emotional creatures, like elephants, who care for their young, mourn their dead and work together in groups. Some animals are shy and elusive; others are bold and sneaky. Learn as much as you can – especially talking to guides, scientists and local people – so you can find and photograph the compelling parts of animal behaviour and daily life, such as hunting, feeding, cleaning, breeding, play and shows of affection. PRO ADVICE LOOK CLOSELY Take time to find surprising details in a landscape or a situation, and think how best…

I don’t agree with the idea that photos shouldn’t have the subject at the centre – some of my favourite pictures feature animals, from frogs to crocodiles, centred and looking directly at the viewer. But there are many more options available to creative photographers, rather than just assuming that the default position of an animal should always be in the centre of the frame. SET TO ONE SIDE Think about where to place an animal in the frame and be creative with the use of ‘space’, whether open sky, sea or snow. Try setting an animal or bird to one side, opening up space and giving a more minimalist feel. USE THE CORNERS There’s no hard and fast rule about how much of a frame needs to be occupied with…

■ A circular polariser is a brilliant filter for beach photography, as it can cut through reflections on the surface of the sea. This gives colour saturation a boost, which can be beneficial when you’re shooting in a part of the world that has an aqua‑coloured ocean. To achieve the maximum benefit, you need to be shooting at 90 degrees to the sun; hold your thumb and index finger in a gun shape, aim your thumb at the sun, and shoot in the direction your index finger is pointing. A circular polariser is a two-part filter: rotate the front part while you look through the viewfinder to see the effect get stronger and weaker. Make sure you rotate it in the direction that you use to tighten the filter, so…

Let us spray Salt water and electronics don’t mix well. On windy days, your camera is going to get caked in salt spray, so consider attaching a clear protective or UV filter to the front of the lens to protect the front element from the worst of it. Zooms vs primes Zoom lenses give you more freedom than a bagful of prime lenses. More importantly, using a zoom means you won’t have to change lenses as often (if at all), then risk water and beach bits getting into the camera… Rub down Keep a set of microfibre cloths sealed in a Ziploc or similar bag so that you can dry off your camera between shots. If the camera has been soaked in salt water, use a cloth that’s been very…

How to install your Templates Template Collections for Luminar AI have an. ltc extension. Download the Dynamic Skylines pack and follow these steps to add them to your Luminar AI asset collection. For Windows: Launch Luminar AI. In the top bar menu, click Luminar AI > File > Add Luminar AI Template Collection. In the window that opens, navigate to the folder where the downloaded Template Collection file (.ltc) is located and select it. Done – the new templates will appear in the Templates tab > Purchased. For macOS: Launch Luminar AI. In the top bar menu, click File > Add Luminar AI Template Collection. In the window that opens, navigate to the folder where the downloaded Template Collection file (.ltc) is located and select it. Done – the new…

What is a raw file? A raw is the native file captured by a camera; it’s often referred to as a digital negative, harking back to how print film started as a negative before being developed as a print. Essentially, the raw holds all the data captured on the sensor, but the camera doesn’t do anything to it. If you capture a JPEG, the most common alternative, the camera processes the information for you. Raw sounds complicated. Is it? To process the file and turn it into an image that can be printed or shared, you will need to use raw processing software. However, mastering the basics of raw processing is relatively easy. Why bother with raw over JPEG? A raw file contains as much data as is possible, so…

Photographers and videographers looking to accelerate their workflows will find these latest additions to the Lexar family of interest. High-speed performance with transfer speeds of up to 1,000MB/s (read), and up to 600MB/s (write) will enable owners to shoot more high-quality images and 4K video. For added versatility, the CFexpress Silver is also backwards-compatible with selected cameras that use XQD cards. lexar.com; from £159/$TBC…

Looking like the perfect match for the new Pentax K-3 Mark III DSLR (issue 242, page 110), this new fast standard zoom is the APS-C equivalent of the 24-70mm f/2.8 lenses loved by pros on full-frame cameras. Construction features 16 elements in 10 groups and the lens uses one ED element, one anomalous dispersion element and two ED aspherical glass elements to deliver resolving power and contrast right to the edges of the frame and to control chromatic aberration. www.ricoh-imaging.eu; £1,499/$1,397…

Lack of competition can stifle innovation. Big brands tend to rest on their success, while smaller companies need to shake things up to get noticed. As a result, it’s often the challenger brands that will push limitations and deviate from the status quo, leading to paradigm shifts in technology. As cameras transitioned from film to digital, Canon and Nikon embraced the change and cornered the market. Leaving film giant Kodak in the dust, the two brands defined what a DSLR could and should be. Their dominance was unchallenged until the next major development, which saw the introduction of mirrorless cameras in the mid-noughties. Did you know that Epson, better known for its printers, was the first company to launch a mirrorless camera? 2004’s R-D1 was a niche interchangeable-lens camera, with…

www.nikon.co.uk It’s been a long wait for an own-brand Nikon Z-mount macro lens – and then, like buses, two come along at once. This one is less than half the physical length and weight of the more pro-grade Nikon Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S (reviewed last issue), and a shade under two thirds of the price. With a 50mm focal length and f/2.8 aperture rating, it makes a convenient standard prime for general shooting. But, unlike many 50mm macro lenses down the years, this lens delivers full 1.0x macro magnification rather than just a 0.5x magnification factor, therefore reproducing small objects at life size on the image sensor. Pop the lens on a DX-format Nikon Z-series camera like the Z 50 or the new Z fc, and the 1.5x…

HOW TO GET YOUR DIGITAL GIFTS STEP 1 ENTER THIS URL www.digitalcameraworld.com/dc246 Enter the URL above into the destination bar of your internet browser – we’re using Google Chrome, but other browsers work in a similar way. Please do not enter it in any search field or search bar (see the examples above). This will take you to a page on our website. STEP 2 START YOUR DOWNLOAD Just click the highlighted link Here you’ll find all the gifts and videos to accompany this issue of Digital Camera. Click on the link labelled Download the disc for Digital Camera 246 and your download will start, delivered from our own secure server. STEP 3 ACCESS YOUR FILES Open the. zip In your Downloads folder, or wherever you chose to download your…

The Outer Hebrides are off the western coast of Scotland. Made up of 70 islands, just 15 are inhabited. Their crystal-clear turquoise waters, white sandy beaches and rugged mountainous landscapes make them a dream destination for any photographer, especially if you’re into landscapes or wildlife. “The mixture of walking, camping and wild camping across the 156-mile Hebridean Way route certainly provided all the ingredients for a memorable adventure,” says Beverley. “While there is public transport on all of the islands, it’s worth checking the bus timetables before you need to travel, and booking your connecting local ferry tickets ahead of departure. The only traffic jams are in the form of sheep or cows relaxing in the middle of the road! “Summer in Scotland brings more daylight hours than in the…

While I enjoy various photographic genres, my passion is wildlife. There is nothing quite as exciting and so exhilarating as having a beautiful creature firmly in your viewfinder. I have invested in top-quality kit – my 500mm prime lens remains a joy – but there is so much more to getting a quality nature image than your gear. Stealthy fieldcraft and good reconnaissance play a huge part, as getting close to your subject is the most important aspect of getting detail into an image. Understanding and working with light is also critical. Wildlife is often more active at either end of the day, which can correspond with the beautiful soft light of these times. Many return visits to a location can be necessary to obtain that special image I am…

Benedict Brain www.benedictbrain.com Camera: Fujifilm GFX 50R Lens: 45mm f/2.8 Exposure: 1/350 sec at f/5.6, ISO 100 Much of what I talk about in this column is about ‘looking’ and ‘seeing’ – which is why we call it The Art of Seeing. This month, I’m sharing an image of a horse in a field. It was taken while I was on a walk, not far from where I live. It’s not an image that fits into a bigger, more meaningful project: it was just taken for the sheer delight of seeing an opportunity and seizing the moment. I was drawn to the idea that the horse, photographed from this angle and framed in this way, wasn’t obviously a horse at first glance. By eliminating the horse’s head, tail and underbelly…

As it was a branch of photography I hadn’t really explored before, I decided to buy a macro lens – Sigma’s 105mm f/2.8 Macro EX DG OS HSM. I used it exclusively for the first two weeks I owned it, so I could discover how best to use it and which settings were the most effective. Having experimented as much as possible, I thought I’d share the results. In this project, I’ll show you a range of subjects you could photograph with a macro lens – flowers, food, insects, raindrops, water movement, subjects from a distance, and indoor objects – plus some technique pointers. WHAT YOU’LL NEED ● Digital camera ● Macro lens (typically a prime lens with a focal length of 90mm, 100mm or 105mm) ● Tripod (I’m using…

1 Make a test print Understanding the differences between ink and light is important, and is something you should plan for. Use a properly calibrated monitor to get a feel for what you are intending to print. Make a test print or ‘hard proof’, and compare it to your computer screen – make sure that any automatic adjustments or screen dimming are disabled. 2 Check your printer profile Paper choice is important, so make sure your printing software has the correct printer profile or ICC profile installed. Together with a calibrated screen, the correct printer profile will give you the best chance of producing great prints. Paper manufacturers such as Fotospeed can provide a custom profile for your printer – this is definitely worth using. 3 Compare your hard and soft proofs…

1 Create your composite To composite the images taken into a final picture, you will need an editing application capable of creating layers and masks. For this project, I used Photoshop. Lightroom is a good tool for preparing, sorting and perhaps doing some minor editing to your images before selecting the best ones that will work well together. But from then on, it is more convenient to open the desired captures in Photoshop as one document, with individual layers for each image. To do this, select your shots in Lightroom, then right-click and select Edit In > Open As Layers In Photoshop. 2 Adjust the opacity of each layer Set the Blending Mode for all the layers above the base image to Lighten. Now you can work on each layer individually, switching…

BE PATIENT AND USE POSITIONAL SENSE 1 There’s more to wildlife reserves than hunting and killing, but the dramatic life-and-death struggle between predator and prey is part of the circle of life and can be fascinating to witness. To place yourself near interesting behaviour, think about what’s likely to happen, and where you need to be. CAPTURE CROSS-SPECIES INTERACTIONS 2 It’s always intriguing to see how different species interact with each other. In Africa, it’s common to see oxpeckers eating ticks from buffalos and giraffes. It’s less common to see a heron hitching a ride on the back of a hippo, but these interactions add a little wonder to the natural world. LOOK FOR BEHAVIOURAL ‘MOMENTS’ 3 In situations with large groups of animals and lots of activity, such as…

Imagine the scene… you’ve meticulously planned an outdoor shoot at a favourite location but when you’re in position on the day, one vital element doesn’t turn up – the weather. Flat, dull light means that you’re just not getting the best out of that pleasing perspective and careful composition, so it’s looking like you’ll have to come back on another day and try shooting it all over again. But it doesn’t have to be this way – not when adding a different and better sky to a photograph is easier than it has ever been. Skylum Luminar AI software features pioneering sky replacement technology that makes the process so simple it can take a matter of minutes, instead of much longer. Together with the other powerful features of the software,…

Far too often, our best photos live on storage drives these days, and only seem to get out for an airing on a Facebook or Instagram post. This virtual existence seems at odds with the real-world nature of photography. Turning your photos into real, physical prints is an absolute joy – especially if you haven’t done it for a while. Just letting an inkjet printer squirt your shot into the physical realm isn’t the way to do it, though. Sure, you’ll get a print-out – but you really want a considered print, carefully arranged and meticulously presented. For this reason, we’ve produced a set of Photoshop Actions. Not only do they resize your photo to the most convenient paper sizes at exhibition-quality resolution, they also add a neat white margin…

Black-and-white photography never fails to capture the imagination of the viewer. The absence of colour creates a more abstract view of the world that focuses more on light, texture and tones. With analogue photography, you can select films and papers specifically for their unique properties to create the desired effects – but for digital black-and-white photography, you have to take a different approach, because your starting point is most often a colour image. One way of creating different black-and-white looks comes down to the way in which colour images are converted to mono. There are many ways to convert images to black and white in Photoshop; while some are best avoided because they create dull images with muddy-looking tones, some conversion techniques can produce distinctive and eye-catching effects… 1 Grimy…

There’s something interesting about this tangle of branches that could make a cool fine-art print. Let’s start in Camera Raw with a crop to tighten the composition 1. To maintain full resolution for printing we’re going to use the Geometry Panel. Here we need about 120 on Scale and +9 on Offset X to reposition it correctly. Now we’re going to use a Profile to give us a more interesting look for the fine-art finish we want 2. Just above the Basic Panel is a Profile drop-down. Select this and, clicking on Browse, we’ll find lots of options. For this image, we are going to use Modern 01, because it adds extra contrast across the image. Back in the Basic Panel, we can boost both the Texture and Clarity sliders.…

Version 1.2 of this ‘super-raw’ software (review, page 130) can now process raw files from the Sony A1, Fujifilm GFX 100S and more. DxO has also added correction profiles for a whole series of new lenses, including telephoto lens and teleconverter combinations, which will get their own profiles. PureRaw allows you to ‘pre-process’ raw files to get much better results from your preferred image editor. It uses the little-known but widely compatible Linear DNG format to apply its own demosaicing, noise reduction and lens correction processes to produce Linear DNG files. See what PureRaw can do for you, by taking the free 30-day trial. www.dxo.com; free (upgrade from v1.1). £115/$129 (new)…

We’ve teamed up with Padi to offer Digital Camera readers the chance to win a bundle of items from the Padi X Mike Coots Signature Collection (see p16). Padi Ambassadiver Mike has provided imagery for the collection, which will help fund the localised protection of white sharks in Mike’s native Hawaii. Up for grabs is a bundle comprising one men’s T-shirt, one women’s T-shirt and one reusable Tyvek zip pouch featuring shark images captured by Mike himself. Three bundles are available; for a chance of winning one, enter at the competition page before 20 November 2021. www.bit.ly/dc246padi…

www.canon.co.uk This is the one we’ve been waiting for! Canon’s RF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM has been a hotly anticipated lens ever since the EOS R system was first announced in 2018. It’s the successor to the beloved EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro, one of the best macro lenses ever made, and a staple in the bags of professionals and amateurs alike. That lens was so good that the new version has a tough row to hoe to convince existing owners to upgrade – or even to sway newcomers to the system to buy the pricey new RF version, rather than the slightly cheaper EF option, which can be seamlessly used on EOS R cameras with Canon’s mount adapter. Canon is keen to point out that this lens…

Despite its distinctly ‘mid-range’ price tag, the Hähnel Modus 600RT Mk II is a really top-end flashgun with pro-grade handling and features to match. Available in Canon, Fujifilm, MFT, Nikon and Sony options, its lithium-ion power pack enables great stamina and super-fast recycling speeds. The similarly high-end, Canon-dedicated Phottix Juno TTL is a great buy for off-camera flash, when coupled with an optional Phottix Odin II radio frequency trigger. However, it only enables manual flash modes with Nikon cameras and, in this configuration, it’s incompatible with Z 6II and Z 7II bodies. For an own-brand Canon flashgun, the Canon 600EX II-RT is a pro-spec option, but the clever little 430EX III-RT is the better buy. Similarly, Nikon’s SB-700 is better value than the range-topping SB-5000, even though the latter has…

www.dxo.com PureRaw takes DxO’s existing image processing and lens correction technologies and employs them in an entirely new way. Usually, if you want to get the best-possible raw processing software, you then have to adopt it as your photo processing workflow. So until now, if you wanted to make the most of DxO’s raw processing expertise, you would have to adopt DxO PhotoLab as your photo editor. Not any more. DxO PureRaw will process your raw files as what DxO calls Linear DNGs, where the key stages of DxO’s processing tech – raw demosaicing, noise reduction and lens correction – are baked into a Linear DNG file, which your regular software will treat as a regular raw file. This means that Lightroom and Photoshop users, for example, still get to…

9 all-new tips cards Our collectable shooting tips cards give you on-demand settings and advice – keep ’em in your kit bag! This issue: help with summer insects, portrait-style wildlife shots, and livening up architecture with cheeky composites. 12 presentation Actions for Photoshop CC When you’re gearing up to print a photo, this gift helps you add the ideal finishing touch! With just a few clicks in Photoshop CC, add a fetching photo frame and label, in a choice of styles. Look for your Actions in the Gifts folder, and see page 94 for Jon Adams’ guide. 12 Photoshop Actions Photography Show guide Preview this September’s big event! See the Gifts folder in your download for a PDF guide; copies in some regions also include a printed booklet. PLUS SKIES…

10 things to inspire your next shoot, from macro bubbles and big cats to the beautiful Outer Hebrides Mike Coots is an avid surfer from Hawaii. He lost a leg in a shark attack as a teenager, but has since dedicated his life to protecting the species. Between lobbying law-makers in Hawaii and the US Congress on shark protection legislation, sharing compelling imagery on social media, and being a Padi Ambassadiver (see next page), Mike hopes to shift the stigma people have about sharks. You can also find him diving, or riding the waves on his custom surfing prosthetic leg. “While lobbying for stronger shark protections, I got invited to go shark diving, and I haven’t stopped since,” Mike explains. “I love sharing images of sharks that show their beauty, and…

With the sun at its strongest in the summer months, the light at this time of year can create great contrast in your shots. After a summer downpour at Saltburn-by-the-Sea, there were puddles lying on the beach, which contrasted well against the dark sand. The shapes of the puddles zig-zagging across the beach reminded me of the renowned war artist Paul Nash, and the simplicity of the shot, with the unusual structures on the horizon, adds to an interesting composition. Looking at the image and the strong contrast within it, I thought it was perfect for a black-and-white conversion. Here I will show you how you can create an artistic abstract very quickly – in minutes – that will be suitable for printing and framing. Sometimes we forget to save…

There’s nothing better in photography than when you plan a shot and everything comes together – the composition and the conditions that ultimately make the final image. I’ve always been keen on photography, starting by taking photos on my phone when I used to run in the countryside – but once I got a DSLR camera, my passion intensified! Being local to the Peak District gives me an opportunity to shoot a lot of different views in different seasons. I believe preparation is vital in landscape photography: knowing the location, an idea of the composition, the detail of weather, and understanding your camera are all vital factors. Landscape photography can be rewarding, and offers self-satisfaction. I try to take a phone video of the scene I’m photographing: it all helps…

FREE camera bag worth £70! (RRP) Get this great Vanguard camera bag by subscribing today at: www.magazinesdirect.com/dcm/range32 or call 0330 333 1113 and quote ‘BM24’ Make sure you use this URL or quote the code on the phone: other offers are available that do not include the camera bag gift * Offer closes 30 September 2021. Offer open to new UK subscribers only. Pricing is guaranteed for the first 12 months and we will notify you in advance of any price changes. Please allow up to six weeks for delivery of your first subscription issue (up to eight weeks overseas). Your gift will be delivered separately within 60 days after your first payment has cleared. Gifts only available to subscribers on the UK mainland. Gift not available with a digital subscription.…

Painting with light can produce beautiful still-life imagery. Light-painting requires you to work in a completely dark room, opening the camera shutter for an extended period of time, and ‘painting’ the light onto the subject. It requires patience and practice to produce the results you want to achieve, but it is a fascinating and creative way to work. There are two approaches: single-exposure, where you open the shutter for a period of time while you paint the subject with light from a torch; and multiple-exposure, where you paint different parts of the subject during each exposure and bring them together in Photoshop layers to make a composite image. For the pictures in this project, I used the multiple-exposure technique. The light source and how you use it has a big…

1 ‘Before Dusk’ by Ben Wootton “After a long day at the Seven Sisters in East Sussex, everybody heads off on their separate ways.” Digital Camera says: Having the ability to find a narrative in a scene that you might not initially have set out to capture is a strong skill to possess as a photographer. 2 ‘Watching the World Go By’ by Louise Harmston “My daughter looking into the street, using the soft light from the window and the blinds as leading lines.” Digital Camera says: Natural light, pleasing tones and a shallow depth of field – a perfect combination. 3 ‘Christchurch Priory’ by Gwilym Jones “This was taken in Christchurch Priory. There were no light beams, just the shadows on the floor, so your gift of lightbeam brushes in issue 243 has…

Wildlife parks and zoos aren’t places I spend much time in: I prefer to work in natural habitats. But visiting wildlife centres or forest locations with feeding stations offers an all-but-guaranteed chance of seeing wildlife, and is therefore a great way to get your hand in. You can spend time in these places watching and photographing animals, and thinking about your camera settings and creative angles to shoot from; then you’ll be better prepared when those fleeting moments appear in front of you in wild settings. One golden rule for photographing wildlife in any location is to be careful not to disturb any animals or birds. Be quiet and respectful, and don’t get too close or trample into places you shouldn’t go. Be particularly cautious around dens and nests, or…

Ethical photography is a term that’s being talked about more and more. Essentially, it comes down to not causing harm to the wildlife. As a photographer, aim to minimise the disturbance your presence causes. • Never harass animals, by pursuing them, making loud noises or forcing them to run or fly • Don’t disturb denning or nesting areas, which can impact on a species’ future survival • Baiting animals is generally a bad idea, as it can alter animals’ behaviour and bring them into closer, sometimes dangerous, contact with humans. • Avoid supporting any zoos, sanctuaries or photo safari parks where animals are kept in poor conditions or animals suffer harmful practices.…

SELECT FEWER FOCUS POINTS 1 If you’re tracking animals running or birds soaring across the sky, use a single point of focus or a small concentrated focus area. Letting your camera decide often means it will select focal points in the background, leaving the subject blurry, or focuses on a wingtip rather than an eye or face. CONSIDER SHOOTING IN BURST MODE 2 Although I don’t use it very often, burst mode can be handy for photographing birds in flight – use it in tandem with focus tracking to increase the chance of capturing the movement of fast-moving animals. Burst mode is referred to as continuous mode by some camera brands. USE FAST SHUTTER SPEEDS 3 Whether it’s a sprinting lion, a bolting antelope or a grey heron in flight,…

There are many ways you can photograph wildlife so that your pictures are unique to you, representing what you find interesting and showing your artistic side. There’s no need to stick with producing simple portraits or to be satisfied with just enclosing a standing animal within the frame. This is art, not scientific documentation, so you’re free to do what you want, whether it’s setting an animal as a tiny speck in a grand landscape, focusing right in on the eyes, or abstracting skin patterns. PRO ADVICE Use landscape features Features of the landscape can help give shape to a photo, as well as context. Elements, such as trees or rocks, can work as the background or setting for the animals you’re photographing, or as a foreground object to bring…

■ When you’re taking your first steps in landscape photography, the rule of thirds is a reliable way of creating well balanced compositions. It’s a tried-and-tested technique, where you imagine a noughts-and-crosses grid over the scene in front of you, then line up the horizon with either the bottom line or the top line in the grid. In fact, you don’t even need to imagine it, as today’s cameras can display a grid over the Live View image, either on the rear screen of a DSLR or in the electronic viewfinder of a mirrorless camera. There are essentially three elements to balance when you’re shooting a seaside scenic: the sea, the sky, and the shoreline. Which of these you give most prominence to depends on where the interest lies. If…

Winner, Travel & Culture ‘Turtle Watch’ Siegfried Claeys, Belgium Siegfried likes minimalist photography, and is always on the lookout for such motifs. He had been walking along this beach on Boa Vista, one of the Cape Verde islands, for several days in a row; suddenly he saw this view, which he liked because of the way the people were grouped and distributed. Winner, Aerial Photos ‘Soy Sauce Making’ Azim Khan Ronnie, Bangladesh The dedication with which the cooks make the sauce, according to a recipe that is over 400 years old, fascinated Azim. Winner, People ‘Rainy Season’ Hartmut Schwarzbach, Germany Tacloban in the Philippines was destroyed by a typhoon in 2013. The children belong to families who are still waiting for new houses in a safe, child-friendly environment. Winner, Sport…

How to install your Sky Pack Download the pack and unzip it. (On Windows, right-click the. zip file to select Extract All, and then follow the instructions. On macOS, simply double-click the zipped file.) To upload custom skies: Load a picture with the sky that you want to replace in Luminar. In the top-bar menu, select the Edit tab. In the right Tools panel, scroll down to the Creative section. Choose Sky AI > Sky Selection. In the window that opens select the upper menu with skies > find Custom in the drop-down list. In the Custom section, click the + button. A dialog window will open, where you’ll need to navigate to the folder with your skies, and choose the one you need. Confirm the selection and enjoy using…

The Shadows/Highlights command has long been one of the most useful tonal tools on offer in Photoshop – but to get the most out of it, you need to master a few simple settings. Initially the tool offers two simple sliders: one lets you lift the shadows, while the other darkens the highlights. However, hidden away are a wealth of other options that give you a fine degree of control over shadows and highlights in your scene. The command can be used on all kinds of photos, but it really comes into its own with landscapes. Like our Icelandic seascape here, landscapes will often be dominated by very bright and very dark tones, as skies tend to be lighter than the land below. This makes it tricky to achieve a…

Floral exposure Q I struggle with exposure in my flower shots. Why will a single session will give me images that are both too dark and too light?Sarah Franks A When it comes to floral photography, getting the exposure right consistently can be quite a battle. I’m not sure how you’re shooting but, if you are using an auto exposure mode, you are going to run into the problem you’ve described. Even on a perfect bright but overcast day, the colour range of flowers you are shooting, their position relative to the available light and how reflective they are, will all make a difference and cause some exposure issues. Work in either full manual or Aperture Priority; if you’re using a DSLR, use Live View on the rear screen for…

18-21 September 2021, The NEC Birmingham It’s show time again! The year’s must-visit photography event runs from 18-21 September at the NEC Organisers of The Photography Show & The Video Show, the UK’s largest photography and moving image co-located event, have confirmed its eagerly anticipated Super Stage line-up. Returning to Birmingham’s NEC for the first time since March 2019, The Photography Show welcomes both upcoming and established stars to the Super Stage from 18 to 21 September. These include the leading portrait photographer Rankin, documentary photographer Olivia Arthur, photographer and documenter Charlie “Smokey” Phillips, Magnum photographer Mark Power and conceptual fine-art photographer Brooke Shaden. Away from the Super Stage, there will be plenty of interesting talks and demos on the Behind the Lens, Photo Live and Video Live stages. And…

The first all-in-one zoom lens for the X-mount, boasting an impressive 27-450mm equivalent focal range in full-frame (35mm) terms, Tamron’s new optic will be available “sometime at the end of 2021”, and its pricing is still to be confirmed. Promising superb image quality, the new optic’s in-lens image stabilisation, denoted by the ‘VC’ in the model name, will be handy when shooting at the long end of the focal range. Other features include weather-sealing, autofocus delivered by linear motor, and a 67mm filter thread. www.tamron.eu; £TBC/$TBC…

The headline feature in this new update is the new Magic Brush tool, which lets you simply paint over areas you want to mask for quick and simple adjustments. Capture One says it will create a precise and refined mask as you brush. The masking tools in this software are already very powerful, and are used alongside Photoshop-style adjustment layers so that images can be edited and re-edited non-destructively. The new update also brings some important and long-awaited updates to the image browsing and organising experience. You can now opt to show images not just in the currently selected folder but in subfolders, too – this was one of the most-asked-for tweaks, says Capture One. Elsewhere, the Exporter window has been revamped to show all the export options in one…

wwww.sony.co.uk Sony has called its latest camera the ZV-E10, presumably to distinguish it from its long running series of Alpha 6000 cameras. It did the same with its pocket-sized Sony ZV-1, which is essentially a cheaper vlogging version of the rather pricey RX100 series cameras. This differentiation is a smart move on Sony’s part. We’ve (almost) lost count of all the A6000-series cameras the company has launched, each somewhat more expensive than the last, and culminating in the £1,399/$1,399 Sony Alpha 6600. This new model is more affordable than all of them – even the entry-level Alpha 6100 – and yet does everything a vlogger could ask for – which is a market Sony has been targeting all along. So let’s take a look at what the ZV-E10 has to…

www.olympus-europa.com Olympus’ 8?25mm f/4 Pro (16-50mm equivalent) is one of a rare breed of ultra-wide standard zooms. The only equivalents we can think of are the Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Summilux Asph 10-25mm f/1.7 (20-50mm equivalent) and the full-frame Panasonic Lumix S 20-60mm f/3.5-5.6. Neither covers the same angles of view as this lens. So who is it for? Well, if you’ve ever felt your standard zoom doesn’t go wide enough and goes a little longer than you usually need, this is the lens for you! Most standard zooms offer a 24mm equivalent angle of view, which is wide, but not that wide. The 8-25mm f/4.0 Pro zooms all the way out to 16mm equivalent, well into ultra-wide territory. It’s one of Olympus’s Pro lenses, which means it has a constant…