Innehållsförteckning för No. 487 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://bit.ly/39py9lg TWITTER…

For enthusiast photographers, or even professionals who are based in a fixed studio location, it’s possible to break up a shooting schedule to allow time for battery charging, data management and equipment maintenance. There will probably be a few days during which your kit can be unpacked, checked, charged and re-packed, ready for the next shoot. In this time, we can also clear memory cards and back up files. These are all critical steps in planning for upcoming shoots, as it allows us to avoid running into trouble out in the field – for example realising we don’t have any fully charged batteries or fresh memory cards to hand. When on the move, however, while spending extended periods away from our home base, it’s not uncommon to have to move…

If you’re travelling overseas, or even taking a train or plane journey within the same country, hiring kit at the destination of the shoot can be hugely advantageous. This is especially true if you know that you’ll only need a certain item of kit for a short time, making it a hindrance to pack for your entire trip. Search for hire outlets close to your shoot location, and arrange for pick-up and collection around your session dates. This can also cut down on insurance costs, which can be higher when you’re travelling with expensive items.…

Many photographers swear by the use of natural lighting as the main source of light for their images. There are portrait and fashion photographers who actually refuse to use artificial lights, such as speedlights or studio strobes, unless these are absolutely necessary, as they believe that the quality of natural, ambient illumination is superior in softness, colour and direction. It’s also generally easier to work with, since the complexity is reduced compared to a multi-flash setup. That said, when you’re forced to use natural light only, due to the circumstances of your workflow, the location in which you’re shooting, or some other factor that means you don’t have a choice, you can feel restricted. While it’s often soft and beautiful, natural light can actually be harsh, depending on the time…

Built-in wireless capability is now standard in most cameras. By downloading your brand’s dedicated smartphone app, it’s possible to remotely control the camera and even transfer images. When moving from place to place you might not be carrying a laptop, so using your phone or tablet to remotely review the images on your cards gives you a head start in sorting out your best shots and rejecting failed images. You can use your phone as a remote release and then transfer files to your device, as a backup location. Just be sure to password-protect your kit when using an open network.…

ND filters can take up valuable bag space when you’re travelling light, while bracketing every shot you take is heavy on data storage. When you’re shooting city scenes or landscapes, a good strategy is to replace the sky in final images. If you know that you intend to do this, it can make life easier at the processing stage if you allow the sky to burn out to white; this makes selections more accurate and speeds up the compositing process. Unless there’s an interesting sky already present, where bracketing is useful, intentionally overexposing the sky is a handy pro solution.…

GuruShots is billed as the world’s leading photo game. It’s an online photography platform conceived to give global exposure to people who love taking photographs. GuruShots members start out as Newbies and compete with other photographers to win challenges, increase their ranking on the site and eventually progress to coveted ‘Guru’ status. Challenges are voted on by Gurus and the wider GuruShots community, and there’s a fresh competition brief – such as this Perfect Portraits challenge – every day. Challenge winners receive prizes from GuruShots’ sponsors, including Lowepro, Kodak and Lensbaby. https://bit.ly/3eWPqH0 GURUSHOTS ‘PERFECT PORTRAITS’ CHALLENGE https://bit.ly/3eWPqH0 https://bit.ly/3eWPqH0 https://bit.ly/3eWPqH0…

1 TRIPOD Whether you’re light-painting a person or any other object, you need to capture an exposure that lasts at least a few seconds in order to give you time to move the torch through the scene. As such, a tripod is vital for keeping the camera still throughout the exposure. 2 SELF TIMER Keep in mind that any stray light from the fibre-optic brush will show up in your exposure, so be in position with the brush on the face before you press the shutter. If you’re shooting this alone, use the camera’s self timer or a wireless release to trigger the shutter. 3 FIBRE-OPTIC BRUSH You can use any kind of torch for light painting, but a fibre-optic brush lets you create a wonderful array of glowing dots and lines…

Consumer electronics brand Elite Brands has launched the Minolta Instapix MNCP10 hybrid instant camera, a potential rival to the likes of Fujifilm’s Instax range. The company makes a range of waterproof cameras, bridge cameras, camcorders and dashcams carrying the famous Minolta name under licence. The Instapix MNCP10 is a compact hybrid camera that combines digital shooting capabilities with the ability to produce instant prints. It features a 10MP sensor and built-in 3.75mm f/2.2 lens, and employs intelligent auto-exposure and autofocus for accurate results. As well as being about to print and take photos using the Instapix’s own camera, you can also print photos from your smartphone if you connect it to the device via Bluetooth. The free Minolta Instapix app enables you to edit and send photos, add fun filters,…

1 LENS-MOUNTED CAMERA You don’t want to have to change lenses on the go, so keep a second camera with another lens mounted 2 MESSENGER BAG To maximise speed of access, pack your gear in a top-loading messenger bag, so you can act fast when opportunities arise 3 PRIME LENS 1 If you know the subject, you can anticipate focal lengths. Take a wide aperture prime at the most appropriate range 4 PRIME LENS 2 To cover your bases, pack another fast prime at the inverse of first lens’s range. If prime 1 was a telephoto, for example, then also take a wide-angle…

The type of camera bag you choose for storing your gear can also have an impact on your ability to shoot on the move. Not all bag designs are adapted to working quickly. While high-capacity bags are great for indoor-based shoots, with little requirement for mobility, these may not allow direct access to kit while still over the photographer’s shoulder, for example. Backpacks offer maximum balance, which is perfect for when lots of hiking is expected, reducing strain on one shoulder. Since all of your gear is stored on your back, however, it can take a few seconds to set the whole assembly on the ground and unzip the main section in order to access your camera. Messenger bags on the other hand often feature top-loaders – inserts that can…

1 SET ISO (at max you’re comfortable with) This is where knowing your camera well comes into play. Set your ISO at the maximum value at which your body is capable of producing workable images. In many cases, this will produce less noise than brightening images later. 2 SWITCH TO CONTINUOUS SHOOTING Using high-speed burst mode will increase your chances of capturing a sharp image by shooting frames close together over a short period. Even if your shutter speed falls below the value of the focal length, at least one frame will likely be blur-free. 3 SET CORRECT STABILISATION MODE IS modes (or VR, OIS, VC) are not all the same. If your lens has multiple modes, ensure that you choose the appropriate option for the current shooting setup. Unless…

Most enthusiast and pro cameras these days feature two memory card slots. These can be used to double capacity, to separate video and stills, or to create a backup of images as they’re created. We recommend the latter option when you’re on the move and unable to archive your work at your desk. While you will use twice as many cards, it’s a reliable strategy that means you won’t expose your cards to more opportunities to be corrupted or damaged. Once backed up, store each copy card in different carriers for added security.…

1 IMPORT YOUR IMAGES Import images directly from your mobile device to make your files available locally. Once in your Library, organise them into albums. Click on an image’s thumbnail to open the image in the editing window. 2 SET BLACK AND WHITE POINTS Tap the three dots icon in the top-right of the screen and move the Show Histogram slider to the right. Go to the Light tab at the bottom and move the Blacks and Whites until the tones almost touch the graph edges. 3 CURVE CONTROL Click on the Curve icon or button to access a fully editable tone curve, and use this as you would the desktop version. It can be tricky to correctly place points, so we recommend tapping once to add a point and then…

In 2020 Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum produced a highly-detailed 44.8-gigapixel image of Rembrandt’s The Night Watch, enabling art lovers to zoom in to see every brush stroke of the Dutch artist’s masterpiece. Now the museum has gone one better – 672.2 megapixels better to be precise – by creating a new image of the painting with a resolution of an incredible 717 gigapixels, enabling you to see the most minute cracks and even individual pigment particles. One of the foremost works of the Dutch Golden Age, the Night Watch was painted by Rembrandt in 1642, using oil on canvas, and depicts a military group portrait. The complete composite image of The Night Watch is made up of 8,439 individual photographs taken with a 100-megapixel Hasselblad H6D 400 MS camera, each measuring 5.5cm…

1 TWEAK COLOURS You might find that your light-painted images have a heavy colour cast. It’s best to shoot in raw so that you can change the white balance and other settings in post-production. You can also target and adjust the hue of individual colours using the Color Mixer panel in Camera Raw/Lightroom. 2 BLEND FRAMES Light painting can be tricky to judge, so you might want to combine the best parts from several photos into one. This isn’t hard, as long as the frames are in alignment. Select an area, copy (Cmd/Ctrl+C) and paste in place (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+V). If you want just the light trails to show, set the layer’s blending mode to Lighten or Screen. 3 INCREASE CLARITY If the trails initially look like they’re a bit weak then you can…

N-PHOTO N-Photo is a monthly magazine for Nikon photographers, and is packed with technique and Photoshop video lessons every month. http://bit.ly/3atHLfO https://apple.co/2TNE26T PHOTOPLUS PhotoPlus is a monthly magazine for Canon photographers that features expert advice, tips and video tutorials on all things Canon. http://bit.ly/30FoOlQ https://apple.co/2vaIdzw DIGITAL CAMERA WORLD A monthly magazine that aims to improve your photography with an inspirational mix of amazing images and how-to articles. http://bit.ly/2RER7g6 https://apple.co/2RBrZqG  DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHER The monthly kitbag essential for enthusiast and pro photographers, packed with tutorials, exclusive interviews and the latest reviews. https://bit.ly/3lH4ucX https://apple.co/2SJf6ff…

We live in a highly mobile world in 2022. No longer do most working photogaphers live and work in a single town or city, serving a restricted local market. The advent of online marketing tools means we can gain new clients from an unlimited number of places, on a truly worldwide scale. Despite recent events across the globe, there’s still a requirement – perhaps even an expectation – that we should be willing to travel long distances to carry out assignments; and if we don’t, we could be missing out on opportunities. As photographers, our work can take us to different continents, especially if our target market is highly specialised, with key hubs of activity spread across multiple cities. If you’re a commercial, architectural, wildlife or press photographer, you might…

1 CAMERA BODIES Removing lenses allows for easier storage of multiple cameras and optics, maximising capacity in a backpack. Align bodies with compatible optics to aid muscle memory 2 SPEEDLIGHT Since zooms may have slower max apertures, taking a small flashgun will widen your creative possibilities in unexpected challenging light conditions 3 CARBON FIBRE TRIPOD Backpacks often feature tripod carriers, enabling mounting of a lightweight camera support. This may be required with slower lenses, when subjects can’t be anticipated 4 ZOOM LENS Multiple focal lengths in a single lens will cover more images in less bag space. A 24-70 f/2.8 is a solid option…

1 OBSERVE THE SCENE It might sound pretty obvious, but taking a moment to see what the subject and surroundings look like is an important step. Shoot a test image, and check the frame edges for extraneous detail or distractions that aren’t immediately noticeable. 2 START INVERTED If you feel that you have the incorrect focal length, try starting with a less-common framing option. If the lens isn’t long enough, for example, aim for a wider composition. Trying to capture impossible shots will only lead to frustration. 3 ALTER YOUR DISTANCE Where possible, move closer to or further away from your subject instead of changing focal length. Note the effect this has on distortions, such as converging verticals and background presence, before making decisions about the next steps. 4 CHANGE…

Moving files and organising your image database is tricky to do while on the move. If you’re only on a short trip, then often this part of the photographic process can wait until you get home, but if you’re moving for a lengthy period, or if your images are required immediately, when shooting a sports event for example, then you must figure out a way of integrating file management into your mobile workflow. Image transfer, data backup and raw file editing must all be conducted without the use of a desktop computer and your fixed storage solutions, such as RAID drives and wireless studio network. You must ensure the safety of all your images until you can move them into your normal backup and archiving system. The good news is…

To find out how you can get Photography Week delivered straight to your device every week for just a few pennies, simply search for Photography Week on any of the platforms below AVAILABLE ON YOUR DEVICE NOW! https://apple.co/2RjoI0a http://bit.ly/2txbB2B http://bit.ly/36kQ7TC *Available for a limited time only. Standard subscription offer varies across platforms/devices – please refer to specific store for the most up-to-date offer…

30 MINS Light painting isn’t a technique you’d normally associate with portraiture, but with a few simple skills you can create fantastically surreal people photos. You don’t need lots of gear for this either, just a tripod, a dark room, a willing subject, and a torch or other light-emitting device that you can use to ‘paint’ with. When it comes to choosing a light source for your painting there are all sorts of torches, light wands and dedicated tools out there for you to choose from, but one of the most interesting is a fibre-optic brush. This is a technique inspired by the portraits of Gunnar Heilmann, who uses a fibre-optic light brush to incredible effect. The fibres split the beam from a normal torch into lots of tiny points…

The recently introduced Color Grading panel is available in both Photoshop’s Camera Raw plugin and Lightroom – and it’s one of the most powerful toning tools on offer. Several of the other colour tools in Camera Raw are geared towards correcting unwanted colour shifts, but Color Grading is different. Rather than correcting, it instead invites you to add creative colour shifts of your own in order to give an image a certain look or mood. As such, Color Grading is one of the best tools to use for boosting the atmosphere of a scene, as you’ll discover in this video tutorial. The Color Grading panel replaces the Split Toning panel. Like its predecessor, it lets you add individual tints to different parts of the tonal range of your image, based…