Inhaltsverzeichnis für September 2018 in Practical Photography: Lite

STUDYING THE GREATS is a rite of passage. Henri Cartier-Bresson, Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams... I imagine more essays have been written about this trailblazing trio than all other photographers combined. But they’re by no means the beginning and the end – unsung heroes like Robert Cornelius and Edwin Land may not attract the same column inches, but their impact has been truly seismic nonetheless, particularly if you’re a fan of selfies. Inspired by photography’s fascinating history, this month we’re taking you on a journey through three definitive techniques from three very different eras and giving them a thoroughly modern refresh. It’s a brilliant way to get excited all over again, so turn to page 32 and step back into the future.…

Camera Buying Guide Unsure about which camera is best for your needs? Want to compare features? Our up-to-date ebook includes reviews, spec and prices for every interchangeable lens camera available right now. Video editing software Download CyberLink PowerDirector 15 and ColorDirector 5 software, worth £90. See p96 for your quick-start user guide. Photoshop video lessons Enhance colour and contrast in Lightroom, process JPEGs faster with the new Camera Raw filter, and shoot and edit a tasty food still life. DOWNLOAD THE DISC CONTENT AT bit.ly/ppdisc1810…

Canon EOS M5 MkII Canon’s mirrorless range is set to expand with the announcement of the M5’s sequel, the company’s most advanced EOS M body. It will be expected to boast a higher resolution 28MP sensor, 4K video and the latest Digic 8 processor, minus the 2x crop factor of the M50. Although no official details have been issued yet, we expect to hear more at Photokina in September. canon.co.uk DJI Mavic Pro II Continuing with their aerial assault on the drone market, tech innovator DJI is said to be close to releasing the Mavic Pro II. The camera is believed to feature a larger 1in sensor, compared to the original’s 1/2.3in sensor, which will provide the same amazing quality as the Phantom 4 Pro. It’s also rumoured to include…

THERE ARE MANY BEAUTIFUL PLACES IN the world for landscape photographers, but one of those which captures my heart over and over again is the Lake District. As a child I visited with my family, and I have vivid memories of walking on the fells and enjoying the scenery (if not the weather). For some, the Lake District is the definition of a honey pot, where it’s nigh on impossible to take a bad shot, and conversely, it’s extremely difficult to capture something original. However, there is a purity in enjoying the same landscape that inspired the likes of Wordsworth, Coleridge and even the delightful vignettes of Beatrix Potter. Standing on the precipice, experiencing every passing moment reveals something new as the light sweeps over, creating high drama. There are…

• Exposure times could run to several minutes for a Daguerreotype so make sure that your shutter is open for several seconds to introduce some blur. • Old lenses were very slow, so don’t open up any wider than f/8. Use a smaller aperture to extend your exposure times. • Daguerreotypes were ‘direct’ prints straight on to a metal plate. So for absolute authenticity you should flip your final image on the horizontal plane. • Metal plates tarnish and scratch easily, so you need to use textured overlays to get the final image.…

1 Shoot something timeless Before you get into creating your digital emulsion lift, you are going to need a suitable image to apply a retro makeover. You can use anything you’ve shot for this project, but it’s best to choose a subject with a ‘timeless’ appeal, so try to avoid any modern settings or things that will make it obvious to the viewer that the shot was taken now. We opted to use an image of an old railway wagon that was sitting in a wild flower meadow. Once you’ve chosen your photo, it’s time to start the ‘Polaroid’ treatment process. 2 Crop and tone it The classic Polaroid format is square, so the starting point for our shot is applying a square crop using the Crop Tool, setting the…

“THE REAL MAGIC HAPPENS IN POST-PROCESSING, WHERE YOU ADD FINISHING TOUCHES” STARS – POSSIBLY the greatest inspiration the human race has ever known. Whether you gaze up in amazement on a dark, clear night, or you purposely study the outer reaches of our galaxy with a powerful telescope, chances are you’re blown away by what you see. Of course, the beauty of astrophotography is that what you see is only an infinitely small portion of what’s to be found, and your camera can help to uncover these mysteries. Shooting long exposures allows far more light to hit the sensor than the human eye can perceive, revealing a myriad of amazing details. With a little bit of luck, a tripod and some jiggery pokery with your settings, you can easily wind…

STAR TRAILS ARE one of the most creative avenues of astrophotography, blurring the lines between fact and fiction to create a shot with a massive amount of visual impact. The great news is that they are actually incredibly simple to shoot, and even easier to create in Affinity Photo. To craft your shots, you’ll need to set your shutter speed to at least 30 seconds, and take a series of continuous shots over the course of 20 to 30 minutes. The individual shots will have a slight trail to them, but with a little Affinity magic, you can blend them all together seamlessly to create one mega star trail. You’ll learn how to use Layer Stacks, bringing multiple photos into a single document as a series of Layers. You’ll also…

No matter what location you’re exploring, you can be sure that there are some fantastic photographic opportunities just above your normal eye-line. Gain a whole new perspective by simply aiming your camera skywards and seeing what interesting compositions you can create. One of the difficulties with shooting upwards is that you’ll likely be composing against the sky. This can make it tricky to expose the photo correctly, as harsh contrast can lead to either your shadows being too dark or your highlights being too bright. To avoid this, one of the best things you can do is make sure that the sun is positioned behind you. This will minimise the amount of shadows in your image. However, if this isn’t possible, then shoot in RAW and expose for the highlights…

1 Set the default contrast of your Tone Curve Curves is a fantastic adjustment that many retouchers use in Photoshop to control contrast, brightness and colours, and the good news is you have very similar functionality with the Tone Curve panel in Lightroom, too. But the benefit here is that you’re working on the RAW file and all of its extra data. Click on the Tone Curve panel in the Develop module, then click on the Edit Point Curve icon. You’ll now see that the Point Curve is set to Linear by default. This means the curve is not ‘curved’ – it’s a straight diagonal line from the bottom left of the shadows to the top right of the highlights. You can change this to Medium Contrast or Strong Contrast…

Hue (Colour) Go over to the Develop module and click on the HSL panel, which stands for Hue, Saturation and Luminance. Click the Hue subheading and you’ll see the different colour channels appear. Here you can shift specific colours. In our example picture we experimented with the Blue channel. The sky is blue at 0, but becomes more aqua when dragged left and more purple when dragged to the right. Saturation (Intensity) Saturation is a term you’ll no doubt be familiar with and by clicking on this subheading you can control the saturation, or intensity, of specific colours. On our example picture once again we used the Blue channel. Dragging it to the left removes colour from the sky, while dragging it to the right will give it a boost.…

BACK IN THE DAYS OF FILM, dodging and burning was a manual affair. Darkroom photographers used pieces of card (or whatever was close to hand) to lighten or darken certain parts of the image as it was being exposed from the negative onto the light-sensitive paper. Photoshop’s Dodge and Burn Tools are the modern-day equivalent, and can be used to work up the localised exposure of your images digitally. We’ll show you how to use them effectively, along with the Sponge Tool which is grouped with them, too. The Dodge & Burn Tool Options bar explained BRUSH PRESET PICKER You can apply your dodging or burning with the same brushes available when using the Brush Tool. Natural results can be had with a soft round brush, but it’s worth experimenting…

AS YOU CAN SEE, we’ve just broken almost every law in modern physics, with our mind-bending shot looking as if the waiter has tripped while bringing the food to the table. Luckily, you won’t have to rely on split timing, and no burgers will be tossed in the making of this shot. Instead, you’ll learn how to arrange each piece to look natural, as well as how to light your scene to make it pop, and finally, how to cut out and organise the individual components into one amazing levitating burger. Don’t follow the trend Food photography, done well, is a true art, although it can sometimes seem as though everyone’s attempting to be a budding food photographer these days. The current trend is very much inspired by Instagram, which…

1 THE INGREDIENTS ARE DYNAMIC You want everything to look like it’s captured in motion, which means the ingredients should appear to be rotating or jostling with each other for maximum impact. 2 YOUR BACKGROUND IS COMPLEMENTARY Adding a background can really elevate your shot, but you don’t want to take away from your beefy hero, so stay away from contrasting colours and try to complement your hero shot. 3 YOUR MOUTH WON’T STOP WATERING Because the whole point is to make people crave a juicy burger, your shot should be screaming ‘eat me’. Vibrant colours and crisp contrast all help here. a…

HOME MOVIES HAVE NEVER BEEN easier to create, with any camera and even most smartphones packing the capability to record video clips at Full HD. And so this month we’re giving you two incredibly powerful tools to edit your footage – CyberLink’s PowerDirector 15 LE for editing, organising and trimming your clips, and ColorDirector 5 LE, which allows you to adjust parameters such as exposure, white balance and also colour grade your clips. It’s a package worth a total of £90, and the brilliant news is you can download it for free! You’ll need to download and install both programs onto a Windows PC with the minimum spec stated, then follow the tutorial below to get started. There are absolutely loads of features to be found within the program, but…

Richard Collins PP’s deputy editor is a hugely experienced journalist, tutor and pro fashion photographer. Dan Mold PP’s Photoshop editor is an Adobe Certified Associate (ACA) with encyclopedic photo knowledge. Louise Carey PP’s features editor is an award-winning fine art and documentary photographer. How can I stay inspired in my photography? Q After a few years really enjoying this hobby I have to admit that my interest is waning a bit. Can you suggest any ways in which I can rediscover my previous love for photography and stay inspired in the future? Robert McGrath, Southwark Louise says: Falling out of love with photography can sometimes happen once the initial flame of passion has dimmed to a spark. Luckily, PP is on hand to act as a relationship counsellor and offer…

Crafting a powerful composition that’s able to grab your viewers’ attention is the key to this technique. By framing up your subject with careful consideration, you’ll be able to capture a unique moment in time in all of its glory. To take your very own powerful street portrait, just follow our tips. Find your background While some forms of street photography involve getting up close to your subject, this technique means that the person in your shot will never even realise that you’re there. This is because you’ll simply be selecting your background, framing up your shot and then waiting for someone to walk through the frame. A vital aspect of this technique is sourcing the perfect backdrop for your image. To do this, we recommend having a casual amble…

Fujifilm has built a reputation for its colour rendition, which is greatly enhanced by its Film Simulation modes. To showcase this, the image to the left is a straight-out-of-camera JPEG, shot in the Classic Chrome colour profile, with no additional editing. You can see the muted tones of Chrome working beautifully with darker backgrounds to give a slightly vintage feel, and the optics inside the new 15-45mm lens do a very respectable job when it comes to creating sharp images. Of course, there are other Film Simulations to choose from, such as Velvia, for a more saturated look, or the Monochrome profiles, to easily capture moments in black & white. This makes the X-T100 ideal for beginners.…

I’VE ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTED IN EVERYTHING related to visual art, whether it was painting as a child or photography later on. I started to get more passionate about my camera at 15, first as a hobby and then as a professional. My BA in Photography at the University of Huddersfield was crucial for developing my practice and directing my attention towards documentary photography. My project ‘Valid for travel’ came to life after having a few enlightening discussions with a Syrian friend. When I first began the project, I was trying to understand the situation in Syria. The information from the press was very confusing, so I soon realised that the best way to learn about it was through actually meeting the people who had experienced it. I wanted to learn…

Louise Carey Turning a summer’s day out into a series of images that any photographer would be proud of, features editor Louise shows that variety is the key to success on p56 Iza Łyson With a loyal army of 100,000 fans and a portfolio of beautiful canine portraits, Iza has announced her arrival in some style. Read her advice and insight on p110 Alex Beldea Inspired by the plight of Syrian refugees, PhD student Alex set about documenting the story behind the headlines. Take a closer look on p162…

Mount St Helens by Max Foster I took this shot at the Johnston Ridge area that overlooks the beautiful Mount St Helens volcano in Washington State. The area was devastated by the 1980 eruption, but has slowly recovered each year. In summer flowers bloom in abundance along the ridge, so I wanted to create a photo that contrasts the fresh growth against the desolate mountain. This was a challenging shot to get, as I used focus stacking with multiple exposures to get the extreme depth-of-field seen here. Nikon D600 | 16mm | 1/5sec | f/8 | ISO 100 Max Foster is a travel and landscape photographer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He’s shot in locations from Canada to Italy. 500px.com/maxfoster Snappy snaps by Alex Mustard I work as an underwater photographer,…

1 Set up for shooting Camera lenses were still quite ‘slow’ in the 1920s so don’t use the wider settings on your camera. Shooting around f/8 to f/16 will have you recreating the feel of this era. We shot our portrait in the studio, with strobe lighting, purely for the convenience, but many contemporary portraits would have been shot with daylight. If you take your portrait session outdoors, use an old sheet to provide a backdrop and invest in a proper reflector as it will let you control the direction of the light and soften shadows when shooting in harsh, sunlit, conditions. 2 Control your lighting The intensity of the final Sabattier effect will very much depend on how you light your subject. The more contrast between light and dark…

YOU’VE GOT YOUR TIMELESS RETRO shot and you’ve given it the basic ‘Polaroid’ treatment, so now it’s time to create a digital version of an emulsion lift. On this month’s LPN disc/download you will find a handy template that provides the frayed, distorted and distressed look of a film lift, but if you’re a more advanced editor you could make your own – search online for emulsion lift images to inspire you. It’s worth taking a bit of time over this edit as the more work you do, particularly that in the final panel, the more convincing the result will be. 1 Open up your free template Go to File>Open and then load up the Emulsion Lift Template.jpg from the Free Gifts folder. Now use File>Open again to find the image…

CLARITY This handy filter increases the local contrast, which can often be incredibly overpowering. However, in small doses, you’ll find your stars really pop against the blackness of the sky. BLENDING MODES One of the most underutilised features of image editing, Blending Modes allow you to alter the behaviour of a Layer in relation to the Layers below, which makes adding colour pops amazingly simple. DEVELOP PERSONA With so much of the information hiding in plain sight, the ability to convert a RAW file is essential. The Develop Persona’s powerful tools will allow you to increase the brightness of the stars, while retaining the darkness of your sky. Exposure Merging Exposure Merging can be used on Image Stacks to take an average metering of the individual Layers and create the…

SOFT LIGHT The Soft Light Blending Mode changes the values of the current Layer based on its relation to 50% grey. Anything which is lighter becomes brighter, and anything which is less bright becomes darker. It’s great for adding subtle contrast to your image. SCREEN Screen is an essential Blending Mode, and one you simply must know for creating composites. It makes blacks turn invisible, which is incredibly useful if you have an image with a subject you want to use, and a black background, such as fireworks or stars. EXCLUSION Add a new Layer and use the Paint Bucket tool to fill the Layer with a navy blue. Now set the Blending Mode to Exclusion and you’ll notice the shadows are blue, and the highlights are yellow. Reduce the…

There’s a Targeted Adjustment Tool available in the HSL panel that you can use to adjust the Hue, Saturation or Luminance of specific colours, depending on which sub-heading is active. You just click the tool from the panel (it looks like a target) to make it active and then click on the specific colour in your picture to edit it. Dragging upwards will increase its channel value, boosting the Hue, Saturation or Luminance, while clicking and dragging down will lower it.…

THE BEST PHOTOSHOP effects are those that are simple to achieve but pack a huge amount of impact. Our low polygon treatment is – and does – just that! It’s deceivingly straightforward to pull off – once you’ve mastered the art of creating triangular selections and filling these areas with an appropriate colour, it’s just a matter of putting in a bit of time to build up the effect. You’ll need to keep adding triangles until the whole portrait is full, with no gaps, so that you can’t see the original image underneath. The end result has a graphic quality sure to grab the viewer’s attention. Tight head and shoulders portraits with a single subject will work best for this technique, as they have a great amount of detail and…

GO THE EXTRA MILE To really sell the concept, you need to make the food look appealing. This means paying attention to the little details, such as toasting your buns, and preparing it as you’d expect to find it on your plate. CONTROL THE LIGHT WITH CARDS On-camera flash is very even, but to define the edges, or add a little extra light, you can use flags and reflectors respectively. White card bounces light back in, whereas black card doesn’t, meaning it will give a darker edge. INJECT DYNAMIC MOVEMENT Your burger is supposed to be reassembling itself mid-air... it won’t be pretty. We’ve used clear blocks, which allow us to drape ingredients, such as cheese slices or lettuce, giving a more dynamic look.…

KNOWN AS GENERAL IMAGE Manipulation Program, or GNU Image Manipulation Program, the head-turning GIMP software has been a free open-source image editor since the mid-nineties. It shares many familiar tools and features with the market leader Photoshop, but it’s created purely by open-source users, so it’s a little less bullet-proof, with slower load times, less reliability and no customer support. However, if you like the idea of editing your images for free, here are four steps to help you get started. Simply download the latest version, 2.10.2 for Windows or 2.8.22 for Mac from www.gimp.org and follow this tutorial. 1 Clone out distractions Open up GIMP when you’ve installed it. By default you’ll see the different panels dotted around the screen, though you may prefer to go to Windows>Single-Window Mode…

Effect 1 Add extra clouds Clouds can give your landscapes extra texture and help balance your frame. But if you shoot on a cloud-free day, don’t worry, you can add some back at your computer. Open your landscape into Photoshop and then open up an image of a sky with some clouds in it. Hit Ctrl+A to select it, Ctrl+C to copy it, Ctrl+W to close it down and then Ctrl+V to paste it into your landscape image. Resize it with Ctrl+T until it covers the whole sky area and hit Return to set it down. Now go to the Layers panel (Window>Layers) and change the Blending Mode from Normal to Overlay and then reduce the Layer Opacity until it looks natural. You’ll need to remove any overlapping areas, so…

THERE'S TRULY NOTHING LIKE the bond between man and dog. Developed over tens of thousands of years, we're highly attuned to each other's needs and equally as loyal. A dog is often the heart of a family, which is why it’s little wonder that there's such a demand for Iza Łysoń's beautiful pet portraits. While she's only 20 years old, her creative eye and keen instincts have resulted in a stunning portfolio and scores of devoted clients. How did you first become interested in photography? I began my adventure with photography by simply taking snapshots of my dogs. My lovely golden retriever, Luna, came into my life nine years ago. As puppies grow up so fast I wanted to have a reminder of her childhood, so I took lots of…

\\ MODULE 1 ARTISTIC NATURE Issue: June 2018 CLOSED On sale: 10 May 2018 Homework deadline: 6 June Marks announced: 20 June \\ MODULE 2 MINIMALIST LANDSCAPES Issue: July 2018 CLOSED On sale: 7 June 2018 Homework deadline: 4 July Marks announced: 18 July \\ MODULE 3 ABSTRACT ARCHITECTURE Issue: August 2018 On sale CLOSED : 5 July 2018 Homework deadline: 1 August Marks announced: 15 August \\ MODULE 4 MONO STREET Issue: September 2018 On sale: 2 August 2018 Homework deadline: 29 August Marks announced: 12 September \\ MODULE 5 MOVEMENT Issue: October 2018 On sale: 30 August 2018 Homework deadline: 26 September Marks announced: 10 October \\ MODULE 6 PORTRAITS AT HOME Issue: November 2018 On sale: 27 September 2018 Homework deadline: 25 October Marks announced:…

As you’ll be capturing a moving subject, getting an accurate focus is absolutely essential for this technique. Unfortunately, the shallow depth-of-field you’re likely to be working with is less forgiving than a larger depth-of-field. This is because the zone of sharpness (the amount of your photo that’ll be rendered crisp) has been reduced. In order to set a totally accurate focus, you’ll need to make sure that your camera is in Single-Point AF mode. This means that there’s just one AF point that you can manipulate around your viewfinder. As you have a clear single subject it’s far better to use this mode rather than one with multiple AF points, as you’ll have greater control over where you want the focus to be set. You’ll also want to ensure that…

We’re always talking about video featuring 24, 60 or 120fps, but what does that mean? Simply put, it refers to the amount of exposures taken every second, in much the same way as a camera’s burst mode. Lower frame rates can introduce blur, whereas higher frame rates, such as 120fps, keep everything looking sharp. 24fps is recognised as the bare minimum, and is the go-to for Hollywood, because it’s enough to keep stationary or slow moving objects sharp, but introduces natural blur in fast-moving action scenes. If you shoot at 120fps, you can then slow this down to match a 24fps time-line, but it will be 5x longer, which also results in it playing 5x slower and allowing you to capture things the human eye misses.…

IMAGE QUALITY First and foremost, we wanted to ensure these cameras could take a good photo. So we relied on our test charts for the traditional cameras, and used ‘real-world’ results for the tough cams. FUNCTIONALITY AND USE We also wanted to see how they operated, with each camera gaining points for being easy and intuitive to use. In the case of the tough cams, we put them into situations where they would normally be used and judged the results based on all of the above.…

It’s no secret that we love the Fujifilm GFX-50S, and the new 250mm f/4 is a hotly-anticipated lens that adds some much-needed length to the system. This wide aperture telephoto prime is as solid as lenses come and features a bulky, yet robust, body. It has switches for image stabilisation, focus limiting and AF modes. There are also a whopping four front-mounted focus control buttons, which can be used to initiate, lock or recall previously set focus positions, adding to the speed and ease of shooting. After using it out in the field, we can confirm that the sharpness is outstanding. The 5 stops of image stabilisation allow for handholding at slower shutter speeds, and the bokeh from throwing your background out-of-focus is absolutely stunning. It may be out of…

IF YOU WANT TO GET YOUR SHOTS PUBLISHED IN magazines, or for them to be successful in competitions, then try to capture moments rather than just pictures. Dramatic images of common creatures will often transcend simple portraits of more exotic species. Animal behaviour may be totally organic – sleeping, grooming, fighting – or it might be contrived by the photographer, like a squirrel jumping to reach inaccessible food. Investing time with a subject will increase your chances of being in the right place at the right time, and the more at ease an animal is, the more likely it is to behave in a natural way. Action photography often requires greater technical skill but produces more dynamic and desirable images. Many commercially successful wildlife pictures show animals interacting with man-made…

1 Dial in your camera settings In the 19th century, photography wasn’t a rapid process, and depending on the available light conditions, Daguerreotype exposures could last up to 15 minutes. That’s clearly not going to be possible with modern equipment, but for some of that authentic blurring you should aim for an exposure of several seconds. Very old cameras rarely shot wider than f/8, so dial in your narrowest aperture, take the ISO down to its minimum setting and, if you’re using window light for your shot, try reducing the intensity with gauze. This should give you enough time to introduce a bit of blur. 2 Pick your location You don’t want too much light for this technique, so indoors with window illumination is ideal. Early photographs were shot in…

WHETHER YOU’VE TAKEN A SHOT specifically for this project, raided your back catalogue or downloaded a stock image, it’s time to get creative and turn your regular photo into some Surrealist fine art. This is an incredibly simple technique to achieve in post-editing but the degree of success in the final image will depend on how carefully you manipulate your control over highlights, shadows and the crucial midtones. Remember, we’re looking to create an image that looks subtly organic in nature and not a one-click over-digitised pastiche. 1 Work up your base image Before we start to create our Sabattier masterpiece we need to ensure that the base image is as good as it can be. Open up your portrait and crop it nice and tight, keeping the composition simple.…

• The 1960s saw a lot of ‘fast’ glass hit the market, so don’t be afraid to shoot at wide apertures. But older lenses were often uncoated, so simulate the lack of contrast by reducing it in post-editing. • Old colour film was rarely true to life, so play around with the colour balance for a retro look (overleaf). • Black & white was a popular medium, but the film was very grainy. Simulate it with Monochromatic Noise. • Instant cameras were very popular but they rarely gave sharp images. Use a bit of blur for simulation.…

If you’re lucky, some nature reserves or manor houses can either be home to, or near, a deer park. If you’re able to, it’s well worth grabbing a quick snap of these beautiful creatures. You’ll likely need a long lens, even if you can get relatively close to them. We used a 70-200mm f/2.8, which allowed us to capture up-close shots and use a wide aperture to blur out a messy background. As with all wildlife, you’ll need to move slowly and quietly so as not to spook them. As prey animals, deer tend to be very skittish, so it won’t take much for them to move away. However, you’ll also find that deer residing in parks tend to be pretty tolerant of the public. This means that so long…

LIGHTROOM CLASSIC CC gives you all the tools you need to apply advanced contrast and colour edits. Here, we’re going to take a look at the Tone Curve panel, which works in a similar way to Photoshop’s popular Curves, for absolute freedom when tweaking the contrast of your image. It can be used to control how much red, green and blue is in your shot, too. We’ll also be putting the HSL (Hue, Saturation and Luminance) panel under the microscope, to show you how you can use it to take ultimate control over your colours. You can use it to boost or desaturate specific colours, and even change the colour completely. If you’ve been following this series from the start you’ll have imported your image and applied a simple RAW…

YOU HAVE A HUGE AMOUNT OF flexibility when editing your RAW files – you can tweak the exposure, white balance and colours after the point of capture with the user-friendly sliders in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR). This is the RAW editor built into Photoshop CC, and RAWs are brought here automatically when you open them. But when you’ve made your edit, the image will then be taken into Photoshop and you’ll seemingly lose features such as Dehaze, the Adjustment Brush Tool and global edits in the Basic panel that can only be found in ACR. The good news is you can still access the ACR interface by using one of Photoshop’s newest filters. 1 Open your image and apply the ACR Filter Open up Photoshop CC and head over to…

• When using flash, your shutter speed is limited by the sync speed of your camera, usually 1/250sec. If you exceed this shutter speed, it may cause a large black band to display across your image. If this happens, just make sure your shutter speed is set to 1/160sec. • If your test shots look excessively bright on the back of the camera, check your flash to ensure you aren’t at maximum power. You’ll want to dial the power back down, with 1/1 being the most powerful and 1/32 – 1/128 being the least. Try your shot again, but make sure you’re bright and punchy, but retain the food’s original colours and details.…

1 BE CONSIDERATE The safety and comfort of the dog has to be your top priority. To ensure this, choose the right location and allow lots of time. Working in a rush will affect your model, so keep a stress-free environment. Shoots should be great fun for both you and your model, so don’t over-plan. 2 PROVIDE MOTIVATION Dogs won’t pose for ‘free’, so you have to have something that will motivate them. This could be his favourite treats, a squeezy toy or perhaps even making silly noises to get his attention. Try asking the owner what will work best. 3 SWITCH IT UP Make sure that your model doesn’t have to stay in one position for too long, as this is unnatural and exhausting for animals. You must remember…

You don’t need a jaw-droppingly good landscape, a stunning model or majestic architecture to capture a great photo. In fact, all you need to take a fantastic shot is the humble setting of your local high street. Shooting street portraits is one of the most accessible forms of photography, and can teach you invaluable lessons about how to wield your camera. In the fourth module of Camera School, we’re going to be talking about the value of both finding a great location, and then waiting for the opportune moment to press your shutter button. By stepping into the shoes of a street photographer, you’ll be able to see a busy crowd of people in a brand new way, creating show-stopping portraits of people you’ll only meet for a split-second. Use…

CRAIG REILLY London-based street photographer Craig is co-founder of the Street Photography International Collective (SPi), which has over 500,000 Instagram followers. His work has been featured in Time Out , Creative Boom and MirrorLessons . craigreillyphotography.com • You specialise in street photography – what do you find so interesting about people and places? I’m fascinated by human interactions and love to people watch, so capturing these fleeting moments really appeals to me. Trying to find the interesting in the mundane, and to create artistic images from everyday life, is very exciting as well as challenging. In regards to places, I’m interested in the geometry of the urban landscape. The shapes, the lead-in lines and the sharp edges – these are things I use when composing a scene. • What are…

This compact mirrorless from Canon features a 24.1MP sensor, Digic 8 processor and 5-axis image stabilisation. It’s packed with the excellent Dual Pixel AF system, a 10fps continuous shooting speed and 3in 1040k-dot 180 ° tilting touchscreen. It’s also the first Canon non-prosumer camera to feature 4K video functionality. canon.co.uk Panasonic’s latest offering, the GX9, packs a 20.3MP Micro Four Thirds sensor, an innovative tilting LVF view finder and 5-axis in-body image stabilisation. As well as a 180 ° tilting 3in 1240k-dot touchscreen and 49-point contrast detection DFD AF system, you also get access to impressive 4K video, capable of 30fps. panasonic.com…

This hybrid pole is crafted from 70% carbon and 30% glass fibre, and features five sections and a ¼in camera attachment at the top end. It extends from 1.6-6.6m and weighs 1.22kg, with a payload capacity of 2kg. The construction is of the highest quality, and the section clamps are very secure and easy to use, even when wearing gloves. This may sound like a niche solution, but in the absence of a drone, being able to elevate your camera above crowds can lead to an amazing shot, especially when used with your camera’s in-built Wi-Fi options. compositepoles.co.uk…