Innehållsförteckning för No. 376 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…

One of the first techniques we learn is the control of depth of field via the aperture setting. We quickly accept that, for landscape photography, this means stopping down to at least f/11 to produce a deep depth of field that will render the scene sharp from the near-foreground to the far background. This rapidly becomes our main goal when shooting any landscape image – capturing perfect sharpness in all areas of the frame. However, this in itself is not a guarantee of an engaging shot, as in many scenes interesting detail is not evenly distributed throughout the composition. A potent method to control where the viewer looks, and simultaneously introduce artistic character, is to invert our settings and use minimal focus to guide audience attention. By opening up the…

Landscape photography is a genre that rarely benefits from fast shutter speeds. While there are occasions when short exposures do find a use – when looking to freeze a cascade of water flowing over a waterfall, for example – in the majority of circumstances photographers choose extended exposure durations. A fast shutter speed will often produce an unnaturally static scene that lacks energy. In some ways this approach generates images that recreate the scene exactly as our eyes see it; however, this is far from inspiring, and a deficit of any visible motion can be unsettling. By lengthening the exposure to several seconds we can produce a blur of movement that’s beyond what we usually see, adding drama and dynamism. Shutter speed determines how realistic the blur effect is. Although…

1 UNDERSTAND IR LIGHT Infrared (IR) photography shows you an otherwise invisible world. If you could see with IR light, you’d see in black and white. Strikingly, blue sky and water would appear dark, while puffy clouds, grass and leafy trees would be bright. 2 CHECK CAMERA SENSITIVITY Your camera’s sensor is sensitive to IR light, but an IR block filter is present in front of it. Photograph the IR LED in a TV remote control while pressing a button. If the LED is bright, you can do IR photography. 3 LENS IR HOTSPOT Camera lenses are optimised for visible light. The inner coating of the lens can create a bright IR hotspot in the middle of the frame. This database will show you the IR performances of many lenses: kolarivision.com/articles/lens-hotspot-list.…

While cropping can be easily done in post-processing, changing the native aspect ratio in-camera can help to focus your mind and reveal overlooked composition options. In the menu select a 4:5 ratio, or even 1:1 for a square frame. If you don’t want to change the dimensions at the shooting stage, cut out a cardboard mask at a selected aspect and attach this over the LCD to approximately compose the shot in-camera.…

1 EXTEND DYNAMIC RANGE Since we’ll be experimenting with layer styles later in the editing process, it’s important to protect any delicate tones. In Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom, open a series of bracketed images, select all and choose Merge to HDR to create a file with greater tonal information. 2 MAKE TONAL ADJUSTMENTS Select the HDR file and reduce the dynamic range. Increase the Shadows and pull back the Highlights slider to compress range. This will make the file more forgiving of later contrast boosts applied by mono conversion and Overlay or Soft Light blending modes. 3 CONVERT TO MONOCHROME Open the image in Photoshop and add a Gradient Map adjustment layer, ensuring that the foreground and background colours are set to black and white respectively. Click on the gradient…

Photography Week has joined up with GuruShots, the “world’s greatest photography game”, to print the winning images from a series of photo challenges. These are the winners of the ‘City People’ challenge… LOUIS BENZELL, UNITED STATES Top Photographer http://bit.ly/2qFMyJ5 STAFFORD GARCIA, GIBRALTAR Top Photo http://bit.ly/2O9cgyy ALISON POOK, FRANCE Top Pick http://bit.ly/2OHbMyS ALEKSANDR MAKSIMOV, RUSSIA Honourable mention http://bit.ly/35u1UPM BRIGITTE MEUWISSEN, BELGIUM Honourable mention http://bit.ly/2KIPH1s AMER FARHAT, LEBANON Honourable mention http://bit.ly/2qsu8LV ANDERS GIMSE, NORWAY Honourable mention http://bit.ly/2O9TqYa JORGE DIONISIO, PORTUGAL Honourable mention http://bit.ly/2DdPsHr ALEX ARMANDO TORRES, UNITED STATES Honourable mention http://bit.ly/2KIxBgg STANLEY ZHENG, CANADA Honourable mention http://bit.ly/2OyVVSI TRAVELULU, GERMANY Honourable mention http://bit.ly/37r0O94 ANTONIO CIPOLLONE IEMMA, UNITED STATES Honourable mention http://bit.ly/2s9D2yf HOSSAM SADEK, UNITED STATES Honourable mention http://bit.ly/2OAkK0D JAVAD JU, TURKEY Honourable mention http://bit.ly/35pfLGJ Honourable mention D. SCOTT HUFFORD, UNITED STATES http://bit.ly/2OyTBeB VAKS…

Adobe is taking the Spot Healing Brush to its new Photoshop for iPad app, so to speak, announcing a list of incoming features that many users were hoping to see when it launched a few weeks ago. The app is currently a rather limited version of the desktop version, due to a paucity of tools and a lack of support for Adobe Camera Raw. But Adobe has now released a roadmap of new features, including Lightroom integration. By the end of this year the app will get a new AI-powered subject selection tool, which will be welcome improvement to the relatively basic Quick Selection tool already present. Also coming soon are improvements to cloud documents, which should ensure swifter upload and download speeds for documents saved between the app and…

The Brenizer method enables us to combine two effects. While longer lenses have a shallow depth off field, wider focal lengths render more of the scene in focus. By locking the focus position and stitching multiple shallow DOF shots, we can minimise background details and maintain a wide perspective. 1 CHOOSE YOUR LENS Select a zoom lens such as a 70-200mm f/2.8, or a mid-range prime like an 85mm f/1.4 to compress the scene and give you a telephoto perspective, complete with a shallow depth of field. Open up the aperture to near the lens’ maximum. 2 SET FOCUS Take an exposure reading and lock these settings by switching to Manual. Next, focus on the key area of the scene and turn off autofocus, or press and hold the focus…

1 FIND A SUITABLE SCENE Pick a landscape with good contrasts of colour that will blur together to form an attractive abstract palette. While a strong subject is not always critical for intentional camera movement images, ensure you have some detail for the viewer to focus on, even as abstract shapes. 2 CHANGE SHOOTING MODE Switch to shutter priority mode to take control over the exposure duration. This will enable you to fine-tune the balance of detail and blurring for the current lighting and environmental conditions, such as subject movement and cloud cover. 3 PERFECT YOUR STANCE While sharpness is not our goal in this case, adopting a standard handheld stance will give you maximum control over blur direction and strength. Keep your elbows close to your body as usual,…

In a two-dimensional image it’s challenging to convey depth and make the viewer feel as if they’re within the scene. In no other genre is this more necessary than in landscape photography. By lowering the camera to the height of foreground detail, and shooting through this to the scene beyond, we can bring the audience into the frame. Open your aperture to between f/2.8 and f/8, use a focal length of 70mm to 200mm, and overlap the foreground and background for your shot.…

Will Burrard-Lucas is part wildlife photographer and part inventor, having designed camera traps and remote-controlled cameras that enable him to capture remarkable close-up images of his subjects. For his latest project Will put his inventions to good use to photograph rhinos in Kenya, by day and by night. Will photographed black rhinos in Kenya’s Tsavo West National Park, “one of the most ruggedly wild and beautiful landscapes I have encountered in Africa”. He captured a number of images of the animals at night, including the colour image above, using his Camtraptions traps (http://tiny.cc/056vgz). He also photographed white rhinos at the Solio Game Reserve. Click the link to see more of Will’s captivating images, and read about the rhinos project, at his blog. You can also follow Will on Instagram @willbl,…

Landscapes are sometimes viewed as over-photographed subjects, with little room for true creative flare and individuality. While some photographers have become known for their images of other-worldly scenics, the majority of images we see produced tend to follow a standardised formula, so it’s understandable why many people believe the genre is quite static. A major reason for this is the functional approach photographers often apply to landscape photography. Scenic images sell well, especially to calendar and postcard publishers; however these clients tend to require mere record shots – literal representations of popular locations, framed to show maximum detail and colour. As any experienced photographer will recognise, these characteristics are not often catalysts for creativity, and the result is a global pool of similar images, few of which stand out. The…

Many new lenses come equipped with special optical coatings, designed to minimise internal reflections and flare when shooting strong light sources. In the majority of cases this is beneficial, but when looking to intentionally introduce special effects it can pose a challenge. If flare is something you want to use for creative effect, consider using an older generation of optic that lacks super spectral or nano crystal coatings, for a stronger effect.…

For landscape photography, the beginning and end of the day offer the best quality of light. The so-called golden hours, when the sun is low in the sky, provide a softness and richness of tone not seen during the rest of the day, so for many scenes sunrise and sunset are the times of choice. While this light is directional and so enhances texture and detail, the greater diffusion by the atmosphere reduces contrast for softer shadows and highlights. Retaining digital information in these tonal extremes is often seen as a cardinal rule, forcing photographers to employ hardware filters or exposure blending software techniques. When seeking creative ideas, however, ignoring established concepts can give us images with unusual lighting styles. Shooting under high contrast lighting allows us to play with…

One of the likely reasons why many landscape images appear standardised is that landscape photography is often used to demonstrate compositional technique. In the majority of books on composition, you’ll find landscape images illustrating the rule of thirds, golden ratio and leading lines, emphasising the formulaic approach many of us apply to scenic images. This conveys the impression that any image straying from these well-established conventions cannot be successful visually. We learn this misconception early in our development as photographers and it’s difficult to forget, even as experienced enthusiasts or seasoned pros. For example, it’s often said that every landscape shot requires a strong subject. While this is true, it’s vital not to ignore the rest of the frame, and the potential each zone may have photographically. In some circumstances…

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1 HOUR Back in the days of film you’d have to switch the roll in your camera between ‘daylight’ and ‘tungsten’, depending on whether you were shooting outdoors or inside. Nowadays, cameras can adapt to almost any conditions with a range of white balance (WB) settings. But what is white balance, and how does it work? Well, different light sources have a variety of colour temperatures. For example, tungsten (light bulb) lighting gives the lowest colour temperature that we’ll usually shoot under, at around 3000K (degrees Kelvin). Up the scale from this are sunrise or sunset, followed by clear daylight, electronic flash and cloudy conditions, while shady daylight tops the range at around 8000K. To keep your whites white, and your greys neutral, the white balance of your camera needs…

FIVE THINGS TO LOOK FOR… 1 We’re testing 100mm-wide rectangular ND grads, as they’re large enough to tailor to most compositions. 2 A good neutral-density filter shouldn’t introduce noticeable colour casts to the final image. 3 Too low a density and bright sections may still burn out, but restrict too much light and skies look heavy. 4 Some filters are now made from optical-grade plastic, making them lighter and more shatter-resistant. 5 Buying a filter system opens up possibilities for adding additional filters like polarisers or coloured grads. As brilliant as current cameras are, point even the best pro DSLR at a high-contrast landscape scene and you’ll often have to choose between a burnt-out sky or an underexposed foreground. A graduated neutral-density filter is an effective solution. An ND grad…