Innehållsförteckning för No. 284 från Digital Photographer

“If you know where to look, you can find joy in creating inspiring images wherever you are in the world” A lot of our friends and relatives will be lamenting the passing of summer at the moment yet, if you’re anything like the Digital Photographer team, you’ll be excited at the prospect of autumn in the northern hemisphere – surely the most colourful season of all! While I seriously considered a tour to capture the famous fiery tones of New England this year, it occurred to me that I might glean far more satisfaction from finding new photo opportunities in my local area. Of course, if Massachusetts happens to be your backyard, you will have plenty of material but, as our cover feature this month demonstrates, thinking in unconventional ways…

Canon has announced its latest ImagePrograf Pro-1100 – an update to the nearly decade-old ImagePrograf Pro-1000 professional printer with deeper blacks, better bronzing, greater lifespan and 5G Wi-Fi. While it has the same physical dimensions (723 x 435 x 285mm) and weight (32.4kg) as the previous version and a similar external appearance, inside it’s brimming with exciting new tech. The Pro-1100 can print in sizes up to A2+ or 17-inches but, using paper roll, the Pro-1100 can now make prints well over twice as wide as the Pro-1000 could, at 3.27m. It uses 11 inks, each of which is 80ml, and has Chroma Optimizer to reduce the metallic finish on prints. Its pigment ink delivers better contrast for black-and-white prints, and also longevity. They also have more wettability for increased…

“When I used the EOS 6D, I could leave the ISO on auto but, with the EOS 1D Mark III, you really have to be able to change the ISO on the fly as the light changes. It keeps you sharp. When people ask me about settings, I often have to point out that they’re all in my head, it’s second nature. I’ve forced myself to keep learning. Some photographers have advised that I buy the EOS 1DX Mark III but my response is, ‘No, that’s £6,000!’ You’ve got to weigh up the benefits and while I might update my kit eventually – the camera is 18 years old after all – I know it well and that’s important. There’s no point jumping to the best mirrorless camera in the…

1 Stabilise the camera Even when shooting at higher shutter speeds, it can be beneficial to mount your camera on a tripod when using a heavy telephoto lens. This helps improve sharpness further while also being easier on the shoulders during extended shoots. 2 Use high-speed memory Make sureyou complement your camera’s high-speed burst rate with a memory card that can handle large volumes of data. Slower cards will cause a data build-up in the buffer, potentially causing missed shots. 3 Insert a fresh battery When heading out on long shoots, asMark often does throughout a whole day, insert a fully charged battery and have another spare in your camera bag. Continuous AF operation and burst shooting will quickly drain batteries. 4 Test shutter speed Mark tries to keep his…

One of the most attractive aspects of autumn as a season is the explosion of colour variance in each small area of the landscape. Along a riverbank or on a small stretch of woodland path, there can be a plethora of subtle colour shifts, creating a medley of hues that give the scene a painterly appearance. This opens up many opportunities to create abstract frames as much as picture postcard studies. Extended shutter speeds are especially useful in scenes where water is present or where there is already some movement within the landscape. A common challenge in woodland photography is that the subject matter is mostly stationary. Trees are a symbol of longevity and sturdiness, which can be a difficult characteristic to convey in a single still image. Long exposures,…

1 Image selection Shooting ICM, you will take a lot of shots as it is so much fun but this makes image selection difficult. Start by selecting and comparing images with different timings of the same scene. You will see they have different levels of movement. 2 How much blur? Too little movement can result in a blur that looks accidental. Too much and there may be no details at all. If that appeals, fine, if not, try to find an image where there is some detail but still enough abstraction to make the image interesting. 3 Developingwith colour With your selected image, play around with the temperature and colour balance until you come across a combination you like. You will find colours that are dominant and sometimes get a…

Mist is commonplace during autumn thanks to a combination of atmospheric conditions. This allows misty sunrises and sunsets to be far more frequent during these months, which can be a goldmine for landscape photographers, perfectly aligning a natural diffusion material with golden hour light. It’s not uncommon to find yourself out in the field watching a glowing dawn, filtered through a layer of mist or causing a bank of fog to seemingly light up from within and wondering if conditions could get any better. Naturally, as with most subjects in photography, the elements that make it attractive can also make diffused light or misty landscapes technically challenging. Most camera metering systems, even those in advanced recent mirrorless models, are confused by mist into underexposing when left to their own devices,…

I’ve always been a sucker for a dramatic sky – I love calm sunrises, vibrant sunsets, mid-day blue skies and stormy clouds all the same. Beautiful skies feed my soul and add life to my photographs. An interesting background gives you the opportunity to create some outstanding memorable frames. I’m sharing my top tips for photographing dramatic skies, including how to get the exposure right in-camera. The latter is a challenge as the sky often requires a different exposure than the foreground to underline its dramatic impact. One solution here is to transform the foreground scenery into a silhouette using ‘true black pixels’. Creating silhouettes is an art form, creating a different perspective and bringing in high-contrast elements that enhance the dramatic impact of the sky in the background. When…

When it comes to shooting frames with a creative touch, extending the exposure time opens up a world of possibilities for different ways to give your images a unique twist. By strategically employing a light source and incorporating it into the scene, we can produce captivating, distinctive light trails that not only add a new aesthetic dimension to the frame but also highlight the subject. While many photographic techniques are straightforward, this technique not only requires you to balance the exposure settings but also to develop a feeling for the shutter speed and the light and its movement. The speed of the movements and accuracy are key to making the object stand out so it is important to become accustomed to the impact of shutter speed and light movement. You…

Photographing scenes in low light can be a challenge, especially when lengthening the exposure time is inconvenient – you don’t have a tripod and there is nowhere to place the camera. To compensate for this, a common solution is to open the aperture and increase the ISO. However, pushing the ISO too high can increase the amount of noise in your image, so let’s correct this using Affinity Photo 2.0. What you’ll be using • Develop Persona • Luminance Noise Reduction • Color Noise Reduction • Zoom tool 1 Start the process Open your image in Affinity Photo 2.0 – if it’s a RAW file, the Develop Persona feature will open automatically but for a jpeg file, select the Develop Persona option on the left in the bar at the…

Name: Nublado (cloudy) Date: January 2022 Kit: Canon EOS 2000D Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM “Being able to slow down and visualise what’s in front of you allows you to live in a better place.” Mystical character The mist and clouds envelop the subjects in the frame, causing them to appear half-hidden. The carefully chosen colours also significantly enhance the ethereal and cinematic feel of the photograph. “I wanted to have the sense of the unknown in this image. Not knowing what is on the other side of the pylon really adds an extra element to this photo,” says Ben. “In post-processing, I added a cool blue effect to underline the frame’s mystic feel. I also worked to make the pylon stand out a little more by adding some texture and…

Wildlife Photographer of the Year Organised by the Natural History Museum, London, WPOTY is one of the most prestigious photographic competitions in the world. The aim of the contest is to find remarkable photographs that illustrate the precious beauty and diversity of our planet and reportage of our relationship with nature. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of WPOTY, a new book has been published that curates a collection of the best images from six decades of creative photography. To find out more about WPOTY and the collection, visit wildlifephotographeroftheyear.com…

Price: £4,500/$4,300 Website: canon.co.uk The Canon EOS R5 Mark II has an extremely tough act to follow. The original R5 was the best camera that Canon has ever made – in fact, it was so good that, despite being launched back in 2020, it’s still better than almost any camera on the market today. The Z 8 and Z 9 might be Nikon’s flagship models, but in terms of specs, they are on par with the original R5. Beating its older sibling is no mean feat, but the Canon EOS R5 Mark II manages more than just being an obligatory update – this is a truly transformative camera. The Neural network Image Processing uses AI algorithms and deep learning to enable features such as In-Camera Upscaling, which turns standard 45MP…

The Somerset Willow Farmers is a body of work that explores the day-to-day lives of the traditional willow farmers at Musgrove Willows, based in the village of Westonzoyland, near Bridgwater. With this project, photographer Josh Lomen aimed to capture the skills, character and expertise of presentday willow farmers working within a traditional landscape. “This subject came to light as I was researching some ideas for my final major project at university,” says Josh. “I was struggling with ideas for a while but I’d always wanted to focus on the landscapes of Somerset with my work. One day, I came across an article about the heritage crafts of the UK and how some are at risk of becoming extinct. So I started looking at what local crafts Somerset is known for…

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When capturing streams or rivers in your autumnal landscape scenes using a longer exposure, try lowering the camera and shooting with a wide focal length. This will exaggerate the movement of objects on the water’s surface, tracing their shapes through the frame. Compose your frame so that the lines and shapes drawn by the water while following the current act as leading lines that guide the viewer through the scene.…

1 Check the weather Misty mornings are caused by the weather conditions. Check the forecast for clear nights with little or no wind and falling temperatures. If your forecast shows the dew point, it should be within 2°C of the air temperature for mist to form. 2 Find a high viewpoint Although it isn’t essential, even a little elevation will help you to fully appreciate the blanket of mist over the landscape. Use an OS map to find a suitable vantage point or if the area is flat, a drone will have the same effect. 3 Take a telephoto lens While it’s tempting to use a wide-angle lens for landscapes, lenses in the range of 70-200mm or even 100-400mm compress the distance, which heightens the effect of the mist. Especially…

A vibrant sunset, a thunderstorm with spectacular flashes of lightning or even dynamic waves on a stormy day at the seaside – all these and many other natural phenomena can provide the perfect backdrop to creating photographs with dramatic impact. You don’t even have to travel far or be in the right place at the right time to capture these scenes – there are plenty of well-known photographic techniques that will help you to create spectacular images. The essential component here is light, and understanding it so you can handle it correctly is important, but perspective and the use of camera equipment are also key. Different lenses can transform the scene and create a visual distortion that enhances the dynamism and tension in the frame. Over the following pages, our…

I enjoy the challenge of creating dramatic images. I use many different techniques to achieve this, whether it’s playing with perspective, doing long exposures, creating low-key images or sometimes all three. A low-key image is defined by its largely dark tones, with nominal light and shadow contrast. Low-key photography gives you a clear focal point in the image and there are few to no visual distractions. It also lends itself to being even more dramatic when converted to black and white. Monochrome tones will naturally accentuate the contrast between light and dark and help bring more attention to your subject through the absence of colour. It is important to consider a wide contrast and tonal range as well as the subject and mood. A broad spectrum of tones from the…

Difficulty level: Intermediate Time taken: 2 hours Imagine a unique bokeh, with an appearance like soap bubbles and a watercolour finish for pictures that look like paintings. Now imagine you could create all of this with little or no post-processing. Don’t dream, it is possible! Indeed, some vintage lenses give your photographs an incomparable look. The Trioplan 100mm f/2.8 lens from Meyer Optik Görlitz is exactly the kind of lens that allows you to achieve photographic results that resemble impressionist paintings. In this photograph of a carpet of wild hyacinths, the flowers offer a range of colours but these are highly analogous – they are too close together on the spectrum to easily create separation – resulting in a dull photo, whereas the scene experienced at the moment was vibrant…

Unless your image relies on colour contrast to work visually, any photo is arguably equally effective in colour as it is in black and white. One advantage of black-and-white images is that you can push the contrast much higher than when working in colour, with more scope for blowing highlights. Combined with a diffuse glow, this can create luscious mono images. What you’ll be using • Black & White Adjustment Layer • Layer merging and copying • Gaussian Blur • Blending modes • Levels Adjustment Layer Meet the editing pro James Abbott is a respected professional photographer and photography journalist specialising in shooting and editing techniques. His book, The Digital Darkroom, covers a range of professional image editing skills in both Adobe Photoshop and Affinity Photo. @jamesaphoto jamesaphoto.co.uk 1 Convert…

SUBSCRIBE NOW AND GET DIGITAL ACCESS TO ALL AVAILABLE BACK ISSUES See page 22 for details The digital advantage Digital magazines can travel with you – even if you delete them, they are free to download again later. Subscribe today by visiting our official store, Magazines Direct: bit.ly/3NjZgnf Apple iOS devices Read us on your iPad, iPhone or Mac device from the Apple App Store: apps.apple.com or Apple News+ apple.com/apple-news. Simply search for Digital Photographer Android, PC or Mac Zinio: bit.ly/DPZinio Pocket Mags: pocketmags.com Other options Digital Photographer is available for Kindle, Nook and more (see right). It can also be found on the all-you-can-read Readly magazine app: gb.readly.com Printed back issues There’s nothing quite like a printed magazine. We also sell a limited selection of recent back copies –…

About the shot: As a pilot, I’m often treated to some spectacular views but this particular clear night travelling above Europe was one of the most incredible. We saw the Milky Way rise above the horizon in front of us and I knew I had to try and capture the beauty of the scene. Travelling at close to 600mph in relative darkness is a challenging environment, so I chose to shoot wide open with as slow a shutter speed as I dared and prayed for a moment of no turbulence. This shot was the result – it’s truly one of the most awesome captures of my life. Tag us @dphotographermag for a chance to feature here Every issue, we’ll be sharing the best images from our Instagram community. Tag us…

104 Canon EOS R5 Mark II The original R5 is still one of the best cameras on the market, so how can the new version improve on that? James Artaius finds out 106 Sony ZV-E10 II This latest version addresses the flaws of its predecessor, says Gareth Bevan, but is it an upgrade? Our ratings Our team of trusted and expert reviewers score gear thoroughly to help you make better buying choices. Don’t go there Could be better Solid performer Excellent bit of kit Best on the market Product awards Digital Photographer’s awards are given out when a product really catches our attention. Here are our three most used accolades. Lab testing Some of our product reviews also have in-depth lab data, graphs and scores. This means that the kit…

Price: £924/$998 Website: sony.co.uk With its ZV series of cameras, Sony ushered in something new. Call them what you will – vlogging cameras, travel cameras, YouTube cameras – but there is certainly a demand for smaller cameras with bigger capabilities, so much so that they apparently made up almost half of Sony’s camera sales last year. The first generation of ZV cameras offered a lot of potential but managed to trip over a few hurdles on their way to greatness. The ZV-E10 especially uses a sensor that probably should have been marked for retirement, but instead left the camera struggling with hefty crop factors on 4K footage and poor streaming performance. However, whether Sony had learned anything was a little unclear after the first ZV camera to get a follow-up,…

PRICE: £641/$699 FOCUS DISTANCE: 0.40m WEIGHT: 347g DOWNLOAD TEST DATA https://bit.ly/DPH284 Build and handling Thypoch is a new player in photography but has quickly made a name for itself with a focus on high-quality, manual lenses. The Simera 28mm features an all-metal body, lending a premium feel and durability. The lens is exquisitely designed, with lots of little touches that make it a pleasure to use. The lens’s compact size is well-suited to Fujifilm cameras and, using it on my X-T5, it is well-proportioned. Despite the metal build, it was balanced and didn’t feel front-heavy, although it does weigh 347g. The aperture ring clicks decisively into place between stops, providing tactile and audible feedback, and making it easy to adjust settings. There is also a switch on the bottom to…

Sigma’s second lens for the Canon RF mount is here and it’s the Sigma 10-18mm f/2.8 DC DN | C. Announced in October 2023 for Sony E, Fujifilm X and L-Mount, the 10-18mm f/2.8 is ‘the world’s smallest and lightest ultra-wide-angle zoom lens for APS-C cameras’ – and the perfect complement to Sigma’s first Canon RF lens, the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 DC DN | C. With a full-frame equivalent focal range of 16-28.8mm and constant f/2.8 aperture through the zoom range, the lens fills a much-needed gap for Canon EOS R7, R10, R50 and R100 owners. It retains the same core technical specs as previously seen, with 13 elements in 10 groups, seven aperture blades, a minimum focus distance of 11.6cm (at 10mm), weather-sealing and a 67mm filter thread. It…

When most people hear the term ‘wildlife photography’ they immediately think of spectacular remote locations, such as the rainforests of South America or the plains of Africa. This can, in turn, lead many to feel intimidated by the genre, assuming that international travel and the monstrous price tags of the long lenses and super-fast cameras that are closely associated with action wildlife photography are far beyond their budgets. What many photographers often forget to consider is that there is a wealth of potential wildlife subjects in their local area and that, with a little planning and patience, awe-inspiring shots can be found in and around most towns and cities, wherever in the world they happen to be. I have always been fascinated by urban wildlife shots and wondered how and…

Autumn is the favourite season for many landscape photographers. While there are plenty of image opportunities in spring and summer, the harsher lighting, longer days and more uniform colour palette mean we often have to work harder to find moments of refined beauty. Meanwhile, in winter, the lack of texture can be a challenge, calling on our skills in controlling negative space. Every year, during autumn, we look forward to the stunning transformation of colour and light as the sun sets early and the humid air introduces scenes bursting with atmosphere. There are more chances than ever to capture a postcard or calendar-worthy shot. However, it is easy to get carried away with colour saturation and carpets of dense forest detail. Even pro photographers have to show restraint when it…

Images of trees make up a large proportion of images taken at this time of the year but, without a little creativity, shots can appear static and passive. To introduce energy, capture leaves falling from trees using a longer exposure. For this type of shot, use a shutter speed of between 1/30sec and 1sec and use burst mode. This will increase the variety of leaf positions in your shots, convey some motion by tracing the leaf journey, and retain sufficient detail for the shape of the leaf to be recognisable.…

1 Remember that Trioplan is a manual lens, with no electronic contacts. So, there will be no EXIF on your exposure settings or the name of the lens. 2 Don’t hesitate to use your camera’smanual focusing assistance. 3 Be careful with backlit photos, which are harder to obtain than with a modern lens due to optical defects and lack of contrast. 4 Don’t hesitate to turn around your subjects to find the best angle with maximum colour contrast. 5 Why not use your subject as a secondary element in your photograph? You can then concentrate all your attention on your bokeh effect. 6 The Trioplan takes up little space and weighs less than 400g, so there’s plenty of room for it in your rucksack. So, you won’t miss a single…

Lightroom is constantly improving and apart from a handful of advanced techniques that can only be applied in Photoshop, it should be all you ever need in many situations. One type of landscape shot that can be fully processed in Lightroom is a misty autumnal woodland scene, where you can process a shot to stunning effect in just a few minutes using specific controls, including White Balance, Tone controls and Calibration. What you’ll be using • Lens Corrections • White Balance • Tone controls • Presence controls • Calibration 1 Basic adjustments Switch on Lens Corrections and adjust White Balance, if necessary – this scene was too cold and had a slight magenta cast. Next, increase Whites to between 40-60 to brighten and reduce Black to -10 before recovering Highlights.…

We’ve all heard about the importance of SEO, social media algorithms and Google search rankings. The general perception in recent years is that content creators are engaged in a constant arms race with Google, fighting against both the intelligent processes it employs and other artists for dominance. While this paints a gloomy picture, there are some essential steps you can take to optimise your online performance, allowing you to grow your reach organically. Here, Gordon Glenister explains how to build your following by working with social media platforms and search engines, using them as your tool for gaining global exposure. He says that growing an online audience as a photographer involves a mix of showcasing your work, engaging with your community and leveraging various digital platforms. Here are five tips…

So Siobhan, tell us a bit about yourself and what you do… I am a photographer based in Walton-on-Thames, near London. I cover all kinds of events (sports, corporate, private, weddings) as well as marketing and brand photography for a range of industries. Across genres, the common theme is ‘people connecting’. That’s what most of my clients want to see and what I consider to be my best skill. I am a people person, I love connecting with others and this shows in my work. What do you enjoy most about photographing sport and how did you break into this genre of photography? Sporting events are fast-paced with lots of high-pressure moments and I enjoy creating images that showcase the energy, emotion and sense of occasion. I thrive in that…

For our latest competition in association with Photocrowd, we challenged you to submit your best Travel Memories images. After working through all the entries, the winners have been selected. As a prize, the expert winners will receive a licence for Affinity Photo professional editing software. Congratulations to all of the winners – as usual, the standard of submitted images was extremely high and it was a difficult task to select the best ones. 1ST PLACE WINNER Impressions @Lijiang Photographer Jimmy This is one of those travel shots that continues to stay in your mind long after you have seen it. The bold rusty colour of the stone, the clouds of dust and the repetitive nature of the human figures all add up to a magazine-worthy image. It’s deceptively simple but…

PRICE: £2,579/$2,299 FOCUS DISTANCE: 0.25m WEIGHT: 570g Build and handling The Canon RF 10-20mm f/4L IS STM is the full-frame mirrorless successor to the Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM for DSLRs, which was launched back in 2015. Weighing just 570g, a reduction of over 50 per cent, it packs in new features, including a Control Ring, a custom button and all-new tech like Peripheral Control Image Stabilization. It’s also 35 per cent smaller in footprint, which is astonishing. The rear gelatine filter holder is a welcome addition, though it’s fairly basic and limited. Performance This is Canon’s first L-series lens to feature a stepping motor (STM), known for its smooth and quiet operation, making it ideal for recording video. It’s also the first to use an STM positioning sensor, meaning that…

Photography is both an art and a science and, as such, there are lots of confusing technical terms to get to grips with. Luckily, we don’t often need to think about this jargon, except perhaps when buying a new lens or investing in new tech. However, understanding how your camera works and what these terms mean can improve your appreciation of the medium, help you make better buying decisions and shoot better images as you progress. Here are some of the ones we wish we had known from the beginning. Acutance The subjective perception of the sharpness of a photographic image, as defined by the contrast between edges, independent of pixel resolution. Additive colour Colour created by mixing light from different light sources, starting with black, red, green and blue…