Innehållsförteckning för No. 369 från Photography Week

Welcome to the world’s No.1 weekly digital photography magazine. If you’re already a reader, thanks for your continued support and involvement; if you’re new to Photography Week, you’ve come to the right place! In addition to expert advice, brilliant tips and step-by-step tutorials, every issue features interactive galleries of the best new photos, how-to videos on essential shooting and editing techniques, and in-depth reviews of the latest camera kit. But that’s not the whole story. Photography Week is more than a magazine – it’s a community of like-minded people who are passionate about photography. To get involved, just follow any of the links below and share your shots and comments – your photo might even appear on our cover! JOIN THE PHOTOGRAPHY WEEK COMMUNITY AND START SHARING! FACEBOOK http://tiny.cc/7s2zgy TWITTER…

If you’re looking to improve your bird photography, there’s a good chance that you’ve already got an interest in the genre. Although you don’t need to be a dedicated twitcher to succeed here, it’s important to find out a little about the habitat and behaviours of each species you want to photograph: this will teach you where to find them, what times of the year and day they’re most active, and what they eat, for example. If you’re new to bird photography, it makes sense to start shooting in your local area or back garden. Bird knowledge can be picked up by reading specialist guides, but also by talking to naturalists and other photographers. Scouring bird forums is a great approach when hunting for locations, as you’ll often find up-to-date…

Don’t put your camera away in dull or cloudy conditions. A bird’s colourful features will appear more vivid in overcast light, and there’s less chance of clipping highlights in their feathers. During the golden hours, a low sun can add warmth to the scene for a more atmospheric result, and sunlight behind the bird suits take-off shots, filtering through the wings for a beautiful backlit effect. If you’re close enough to add fill-in flash from your camera or a flashgun, use TTL (through-the-lens) metering.…

With bird photography, a key aim is to capture action or behaviour – something dynamic in the shot that creates interest, and makes it more engaging to a viewer. Living subjects tend to appear more dramatic when they’re in motion – when they’re ‘doing something’ – but you need to predict the behaviour of your feathered friends in order to be able to fire the shutter at the right moment. By spending time observing your chosen bird species, you’ll find it much easier to capture their little habits and tricks, spotting patterns in their behaviour and anticipating what they’ll do next – for example, you’ll notice that some birds will stretch out their wings just before taking off. Sean Weekly says there are patterns of behaviour to learn in every…

“Creativity is something that challenges every photographer, and something that is often difficult to teach,” says Sean Weekly, whose own wildlife images reflect an array of unique approaches. “Before I head off to a subject, I have a vision in my head of capturing something different. Once I’ve arrived at a specific location, I think about where best to position myself for the best light – whether I want a backlit, side-lit or front-lit shot.” Then comes the consideration of composition. You won’t always have time to ponder your bird shots, but when you do, consider what it is you want to include. Will it be an environmental image with a wide-angle lens, or a tight portrait with a telephoto? Resist the temptation to fill the frame with your subject…

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FIVE THINGS TO LOOK FOR… 1 Most hard cases weigh upwards of 4kg, even without gear. Go for a rolling hard case: your back will thank you. 2 Watertight cases are also air tight, so they should always have a pressure equalisation valve fitted. 3 The padding of choice for most hard cases is a simple block of foam, perforated into small cubes you can remove. 4 Hollowed-out foam is almost impossible to reconfigure. Before you buy, lay out the exact kit you’ll be carrying. 5 To keep your kit secure, padlock points are a must. Two-stage lid latches guard against accidental opening. Calumet WT1905 Water Tight Rolling Hard Case £189/$237 www.wexphotovideo.com Calumet’s hard case range includes numerous size options, but the WT1905’s 55 x 35 x 25cm exterior dimensions…

Just over a year after launching its Z6 and Z7 full-frame mirrorless cameras, Nikon has unveiled the Z50, its first mirrorless model with an APS-C sensor. Pitched as a smaller and more affordable version of those highly regarded cameras, the Z50 uses the same mount as its older and bigger siblings. Prior to launch, speculation had been rife that Nikon would try to appeal to a different audience with its next Z-series camera, and with a smaller sensor and more affordable price point, the strategy seems to suggest that mirrorless is very much the future for the company. Nikon places the Z50 alongside its mid-level DSLRs the D7500 and D500, giving an indication of who it expects to buy the camera. Aimed slightly above the beginner market, the Z50 is…

Your own garden can be a fruitful place to find a wide variety of birds, particularly if you’re short on time. If you don’t have a green space, head to a local park or nature reserve; if you want to capture exotic or migratory bird species (or those with a niche habitat, such as seabirds) you’ll need to travel further afield.…

“Sometimes, birds in action photos can appear frozen, lacking the drama and speed that was so compelling when you took the shot,” says professional wildlife photographer Sean Weekly (seanweekly.com). “One technique to bring back the excitement is panning, using slower shutter speeds combined with a sweeping motion of the camera to follow your subject.” A successfully panned shot will keep your subject nice and sharp, while the background is blurred. Aside from being used to create a deliberately aesthetic blur, panning can also be a useful option when the light is low and you have no other option but to set a longer exposure. For handheld panning of the camera, your stance needs to be rock-solid. Rather than twisting at the shoulders, lock your elbows down, then turn at the…

Many nature reserves are equipped with specialist wooden hides, which make it easy to shoot inaccessible birds such as waders. You can create your own hide, too, using a pop-up dome or tent that blends into the environment. If you’re able, leave hides in position for several days before shooting, so that the birds become accustomed to its presence.…

1 CONTINUOUS SHOOTING When you use a high-speed drive mode, it improves your chances of getting the perfect shot of a speedy bird. The camera will keep firing while the shutter button is pressed, giving you several frames to choose from. 2 CONTINUOUS FOCUS AI Servo, or continuous focus on some models, suits most bird photography. On this setting, the camera continues to focus on your subject as you move, and holds focus for as long as the focus button is pressed. 3 BACK-BUTTON FOCUS On Canon and Nikon DSLRs, you can set the camera to focus by using a button on the back of the camera. Focus is controlled with your thumb, and the shutter button is then kept purely for taking the picture. 4 SET UP YOUR LENS…

30 MINS Photographers who make a living from their images often shoot in both landscape and portrait orientation for one reason: it doubles their chances of sales. This is because people buying shots for use in print are often looking for a photo that will fill a single page, which demands that it’s longer on the vertical edge, or to go across two pages, in which case it needs to be longer on the horizontal. Tripods are primarily designed for shooting horizontally. Once you’ve set up the legs so that your tripod is level, you screw the base plate into the camera and it sits on top, with the camera’s centre of gravity directly above the tripod. To shoot vertically, ball heads have an indent which the attachment to the…

Birds are a majestic and wondrous group of species, capable of inciting awe and emotion wherever they’re seen. They can be notoriously tricky to capture on camera, though, because of their high speed and their small size. Many birds also have seasonal migratory patterns, so you’ll need to know your stuff if you want a chance of sighting them. That said, there’s great potential for capturing bird images wherever you live. Your own garden or local park is a likely haven for bird life, providing a variety of feathered subjects on which to hone your skills. In this feature we’re going to provide some general tips for capturing birds big and small, in a range of habitats, while hopefully inspiring you to get out in the field yourself. We’ll start…

Many birds you’ll encounter are tiny, far away or both, and photographing them requires long telephoto lenses that can fill the frame with the subject. A 70-200mm lens is too wide for most species (unless you extend the focal length with a teleconverter), so a 300mm or 100-400mm lens is generally a more sensible choice. If you can’t afford to splash out on high-end glass from the likes of Canon or Nikon, turn to the highly capable alternatives from Sigma and Tamron. In terms of camera, a crop-sensor model (such as APS-C or Four Thirds) will increase the apparent magnification of your telephoto lens. It’s also wise to prioritise a camera with a fast frame rate, and a high performing autofocus system with a large number of AF points. Camera…

1 SHOOTING MODE If you aren’t comfortable shooting fully manual then set the mode dial on your camera to shutter priority mode (S or Tv). This will enable you to control over the all important shutter speed 2 FAST BURSTS Set the shooting mode to Continuous. As well as having a better chance of capturing the important moment, you’ll minimise camera shake caused by pressing the shutter button. 3 AUTO FOCUS MODE It’s easier to track the unpredictable movements of birds using a continuous autofocus mode, and by using back-button focusing to lock on to them as they move. 4 SHUTTER SPEED Try different shutter speeds until you get an effect you like. The shutter speed can also depend on your subject – for example, a puffin in flight will…

A few issues ago we featured some of the shortlisted images for the 2019 Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition, and the winners have now been announced. The overall winner was Hungarian photographer László Francsics for his image Into the Shadow, a composite showing the total lunar eclipse over Budapest in January. Francsics combined 35 exposures to show the phases of the eclipse as the moon moved into the Earth’s shadow. Francsics also won the Robotic Scope category for an infrared image of Saturn. One of the contest judges, photographer and director Ed Robinson, said: “For a single multiple exposure image to capture this event with such positional precision, creative innovation and beauty is nothing short of masterful.” Click the link to see more images, and to watch…

While Lightroom, Camera Raw and other raw editors have seen huge improvements over the past few years, they still can’t compete with Photoshop in terms of selection tools. Photoshop blows away the competition with an array of hugely powerful tools and options that make it easy to cut out complicated subjects, like our model here. Imagine trying to remove her original background by hand – it would take hours to get rid of all the bits of background showing through her curly hair, but, as you’ll discover in this video tutorial, it takes just minutes using Photoshop’s advanced selection tools. We’ll begin by employing a bit of machine learning. Photoshop’s Select Subject command uses artificial intelligence to analyse image content and ascertain what your subject is, then attempts to select…