Sommaire pour January 2020 de Practical Photography: Lite

NEED TO RECHARGE your photographic batteries in time for the New Year? You’ve come to the right place. This amazing hobby of ours should be three things – challenging, rewarding and fun. And this issue’s cover feature is designed to make sure you get the most from whatever time you’re able to dedicate to it. Delve into our ten bite-sized chunks of pearly wisdom and we’ll have you shooting smarter, thinking differently and making your kit work harder for you. Turn to page 32 and consider yourself improved. This issue also marks the start of a new series dedicated to flash for beginners (page 84). Moving beyond the limitations of your camera’s pop-up bulb, Flash know-how will simplify this often misunderstood subject once and for all.…

I’M LAYING CONCEALED BEHIND A BOULDER, HIGH on the side of the Cairn Gorm mountain. In front of me two mountain hares, camouflaged by their white winter pelage, have paused briefly in a snowy field. I spotted the hares on the walk up into the Northern Corries – I came to this high place with the aim of photographing the ptarmigan and the hares are a most welcome bonus. I watch as the male follows the female in a large semi-circle across the mountain side around where I lay on the frozen ground. “WINTER CAN MAKE FOR GREAT PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES, BUT IT CAN ALSO BE HARD” I can feel the cold penetrating my clothes as the wind whips spindrift around me while I wait for the hares to move position…

A tripod is one of the most important purchases photographers make, after their camera. Landscape photography, in particular, demands the use of our three-legged friend, as shooting handheld at small apertures and the resulting slow shutter speeds is impossible. But as we’ve already noted, a tripod can limit your creativity if it can’t accommodate all the potential shooting angles. To avoid this, ensure that any tripod you think about buying can fully splay its legs for low down shooting, and ideally has a reversible centre column for shots at, or near to, ground level.…

This long exposure shot of a lighthouse was captured in both JPEG and RAW formats. The ‘before’ image above is the JPEG straight out of the camera. Despite being run through the camera’s built-in editing suite, it’s dull, lacking in impact and doesn’t make the most of the long exposure on the incoming tide. The light conditions at the time were very flat, and the camera’s edit has failed to make the most of the image. Just a few minutes’ work on the RAW file in Photoshop has revealed a much more striking shot (right).…

Your Saint Petersburg project is very different to your regular work – why such a contrast in styles? I was always fascinated by the idea of long exposure photography and was trying to use it as much as possible in my personal and commercial work. My current portfolio is indeed a bit different in style, but I do have one project which was shot ten years ago and was purely based on a mix of long and multiple exposures. This was shot on a Mamiya RZ67 and black & white film, and titled ‘32 exposures’. Since then I’ve been looking for ways to continue shooting abstract imagery with multiple exposures, but without having to carry around a heavy medium-format camera. Finally, I’ve found one, and it’s very lightweight and compact.…

BUILDINGS ARE OFTEN just considered to be part of the furniture when looking at city scenes. Unless there’s something to specifically draw the viewer’s eye, they can be easily distracted from the impact of the structures by other things in the scene. “BLUR OUT ANY DISTRACTING ELEMENTS THAT COMPETE FOR ATTENTION” Dramatic skies are a prime example of a distraction, drawing attention away from the building you are shooting. One way of keeping attention focused on key parts of a scene is to have only that element in sharp focus. Rendering the subject and background equally sharp won’t create a clear distinction between the two areas, and therefore the viewer’s attention will inevitably be split. Since buildings don’t move, we can keep the focus on them by using a slow…

Photoshop has a great noise reduction filter. Head up to Filter>Noise>Reduce Noise . In the dialogue window that appears there are some sliders. The first one is Strength – slide this to the right to reduce luminosity noise. You’ll need to zoom into the image to see clearly. The Preserve Details slider will bring back detail that has been softened by the Strength slider. Don’t push this slider too far or you’ll bring noise back. Next is the Colour Noise slider. Move it to the right until colour noise is evened out. Reducing noise will soften your image, so the Sharpen Details slider adds sharpness to counteract that, but use it sparingly to avoid creating a waxy finish.…

With long exposure photography, the limits of what can be achieved in camera can be pushed further in the editing process. Here, the blur in those clouds could be enhanced to make the image appear even more minimalistic. To do this, open the image in Photoshop and in the Layers palette (Window>Layers) hit Ctrl+J to create a duplicate layer. Go to Filter>Blur>Motion Blur and select an Angle of 35° and a Distance of 780 Pixels to give the sense of the clouds scudding upwards. Then click Add a mask and with a soft black Brush Tool paint over the foreground to remove the blur from this area.…

■ TTL TTL mode is the automatic mode on your flashgun. TTL stands for ‘through the lens’ and refers to how the camera assesses the light levels in a scene and the distance from the subject, so as to determine the required flash power for a particular shot. ■ SYNC SPEED This is the fastest shutter speed you can set with a normal flash. Most cameras have a sync speed of 1/200sec, 1/250sec or 1/320sec. If your speed exceeds this then the flash will fire when the shutter isn’t 100% open, and part of the sensor won’t be exposed to the flash light. ■ HSS HSS stands for ‘high-speed sync’ and is a feature of some flashguns. Instead of firing the light once, HSS pulses the flash throughout the exposure…

Combining your separate exposures in Photoshop can be as automated a process as you want, as there are lots of presets available. But, Photoshop’s HDR Pro tool also lets you take control over how the exposures are tone-mapped into the final image – that is, how light or dark the image is and how much micro contrast is applied. If you want to end up with an image where you’ve simply controlled the contrast, and kept things as realistic as possible, then it’s best to err on the side of subtlety. But if you want to make an image that has a more surreal finish, there are options for that too. Overall, the best approach is to consider the HDR blending as the starting point rather than the end of…

When you’re comfortable making this kind of brush, you’ll quickly build up a collection, so how else can they be used? One great way is to make simple textures to use on your images. To do it, go to File>New , then choose the size you want (A4 is good), set white as the colour and click OK. Next, with your cloud brush set to black at a low Opacity, paint over the new canvas again and again until you build up a texture. Vary the Size of the brush as you work for a less uniform look. When you’ve created a texture you’re happy with, go to File>Save As and save it into a folder for your own texture library.…

In this tutorial, we have covered both Path and Spin Blur, though the Blur Gallery also contains Field, Iris and Tilt-Shift. Each is considered to be a lens blur effect, and each has its own uses. Field Blur allows you to build a gradient of blurs by adding multiple points and dictating the amount of blur individually. Iris Blur can simulate depth-of-field in an image, allowing you to set the point you want to remain sharp, and fading everything else out of focus. Tilt-Shift, which is best known for creating a toy-town look in photos, gives you a single plane of sharpness, with everything else falling into blur.…

NIKON D3500 £389 Our favourite entry-level DSLR, this little Nikon packs a big punch. You’ll find a 24.2MP sensor, 5fps continuous shooting speed and handy ISO range of 100-25,600 to help in low light. There’s a pop-up flash, a 921k-dot 3in LCD with Live View and powerful AF system to nail sharp shots. It comes with an 18-55mm kit lens. nikon.co.uk FUJIFILM X-A7 WITH XC 15-45mm LENS £699 Ideal for anyone accustomed to using a smartphone, the X-A7 boasts a huge 180° flip-out 3.5in LCD, with intuitive touch controls, and a powerful 24.4MP APS-C sensor. The AF system is able to recognise and track faces, and the intelligent flash will help out when shooting in the dark. It can also shoot 4K video, and the Film Simulation colour…

SONY α7 III £1755 A previous Gear of the Year winner, the α 7 III is still top of its game. This full-frame mirrorless boasts a wide dynamic range, ISO of 100-51,200 and 5 stops of in-body image stabilisation. It comes with class-leading battery life, newly added time-lapse features and a wide range of high quality G Master lenses to please even the most exacting of landscape photographers. sony.co.uk MANFROTTO MT055XPRO3 £299 This rugged set of carbon fibre legs is perfectly designed for landscape photographers. It’s capable of working between 9cm and 170cm, includes a 90° tilting column and weighs only 2.1kg for portability. The flip-lock system is easily operable, even when wearing gloves, and the whole rig is sturdy for your kit. manfrotto.com ROHAN MEN’S FRONTIER JACKET…

EPSON SURECOLOR SC-P600 £499 Capable of producing stunning quality prints up to A3, the SureColor offers an output resolution of 5760dpi, includes a touchscreen and Wi-Fi, and takes nine inks. It’s our top pick for passionate home printers. epson.co.uk DATACOLOR SPYDERX PRO £158 At the pinnacle of colour calibration, the SpyderX guarantees true-to-life colours on screen and in print. datacolor.com FUJIFILM INSTAX SHARE SP-3 £161 For spontaneous photos on the go, this portable printer from Fujifilm uses the company’s square film sheets and allows you to transfer shots from Fujifilm cameras or smartphones for 6.2x6.2cm prints produced in 13 seconds. fujifilm.com WHITEWALL ULTRAHD PRINT FROM £5 Available in sizes from 10x10cm up to a mammoth 180x120cm, this print uses the high quality Fuji Crystal Archive Maxima…

FUJIFILM GFX100 £9999 If you’re shooting high-end commercial jobs, you’ll want a camera that delivers outstanding results, and this 102MP medium-format is that camera. It boasts in-body image stabilisation, 4K video at 30fps and a stunning BSI sensor that’s 1.7x larger than full-frame. It may be on the expensive side, but for a medium-format, this is quite budget. fujifilm.com CANON EOS 1D X MK II £4799 Canon’s flagship DSLR, the 1D X line has long been known as a prestige camera. Boasting a 20.2MP full-frame sensor and Dual Digic 6 processors, it’s armed with an advanced 61-point AF system and renowned tracking. You also get a blistering 14fps shooting speed, 100-51,200 ISO range and superb weather sealing for even the toughest conditions. canon.co.uk SAMSUNG T5 2TB £352…

LEARN FROM THE PROFESSIONALS Expert tuition is always on hand to help you get the most from your trip. 1 FIND MOTIVATION & INSPIRATION Finding the time to take great photos can be difficult, especially if you have to fit your image-making around a ‘normal’ family holiday. On a dedicated photography trip, that will be your primary goal each day, and with some of the world’s best locations laid out before your camera, you will never be short on motivation. 2 VISIT THE BEST PLACES TO SHOOT A planned photographic holiday will be a dedicated tour of the ‘honeypot’ sites that every photographer wants to capture, while also taking in those off-the-beaten-track locations that only the serious shooters know about. With no distractions you are guaranteed to come home with…

SHOOTING RAW files is an essential step when it comes to getting the most out of your images. It captures a comprehensive amount of data, and allows you the ultimate flexibility when it comes to editing your killer shots. However, shooting RAW only captures the information, you then need to find a great RAW conversion software to make full use of the data in the file – enter Luminar. With Luminar, not only can you complete essential RAW edits, such as drawing out details from the shadows and correcting any lens distortion, but you can also then seamlessly transition into the software’s wealth of main editing tools to use the AI Filters, B&W conversion tools and wide array of impressive Looks. The only real limit to creating a masterpiece in…

SKYLUM’S LUMINAR has made a name for itself as a powerful editing suite that’s known for being extremely intuitive and easy to use. Much of this is down to the refreshing, yet simple approach it takes to making a range of complex adjustments incredibly easy to perform. Thanks to a wide range of filters, which cover everything from advanced RAW developing to more complicated lighting effects, you can easily become an editing pro from day one. Of course, with such a wide range of powerful tools at your disposal, it can be hard to know where to start. That’s why we’re taking an in-depth look at some of our favourite filters, and showing you how to get the most from your shots with a few very simple adjustments. Artificial intelligence…

PRESETS ARE ONE-CLICK actions that apply a range of effects, styles and colours to your images, and Luminar includes these in the form of Looks. They can be used as a shortcut to add your favourite everyday filters to your shots, or to apply a complex series of edits in an instant. There’s a wide choice included, with a range of Looks for specific genres built into the software, as well as a store for you to access hundreds more Looks created by professional photographers, and even creative Signature Looks from some of Luminar’s ambassadors, including Max Rive and Ilya Nodia. This allows you to replicate their unique style in your own work in a few clicks. Customise your Look Luminar makes it very easy to create a series of…

Daniel Trim ■ OVERALL WINNER ■ BEST URBAN This heron was hunting under cover of a bridge. Presumably the fish were taking shelter among the fallen leaves and plastic bottles. The morning light shining through a grill gives the impression that the bird is trapped as it gazes out through the mesh. Canon 1D MkIV | 500mm | 1/500sec | f/4 | ISO 640 ■ Daniel Trim is a wildlife photographer based in Hertfordshire, fostering a love of the natural world from an early age. danieltrimphotography.co.uk Dave Fieldhouse ■ WILD WOODS WINNER While shooting landscapes in the Roaches, the visibility started to drop drastically, so I abandoned my shoot and headed into the woods below. What I saw simply took my breath away. It was as if I had stepped…

SEASCAPES #1 Adapt for success PLANNING WILL ONLY GET you so far in photography – sometimes the weather just has other ideas. Persevere, though, and you can still get remarkable results, as Shaun Hykel (shaunsphotos.com) showcases here. “I’ve always been interested in photography, but it wasn’t until about four years ago that I got my first DSLR. I soon found my passion was in seascapes – I find the process very therapeutic. Pin Mill in Suffolk is a great location, and a focal point for many photographers. It offers a selection of beached boats that have been left to decay. I’d visited Pin Mill previously, so I had an idea of what to expect. The tide was just right, with a forecast of middle-to-low clouds and a light wind –…

1 LEARN TO SEE LIGHT LIKE A CAMERA DOES THE FUNDAMENTAL building block of every photograph ever taken is light. Without light there is no photography, so learning about light is key before tackling any other aspect of the art form. As a photographer you should be constantly alert to the mood, effect and quality of the light. Do this whether or not you have a camera with you; look at every situation in terms of the light. Study the way it falls and plays on objects, people and scenes. And once this view of the world has become second nature it’s time to understand the way your camera sees, interprets and uses light. Seeing things differently Thanks to the incredible power of the human body, your eyes – working…

When a pro finishes a job they often hand over all of their images to the client, where a team of creatives decide which of them to use. The shots are whittled down through a process that will take several factors into account, and part of this method is a useful tool to use on your own shots as you develop as a photographer. It can be hard to objectively critique your own images at first, so start by looking at shots you see online or in print. Find five things you like and five you don’t like about each image, and once you’ve got the hang of the process, apply the approach to your own images.…

If buying a scanner isn’t your thing, you can always use your DSLR and a home-made jig, as PP reader Roy Fidler has done. Not happy with the results from an old scanner he had since consigned to the loft, he set about making this contraption (left). The idea is simple enough – a piece of white plastic from an ice cream tub, sanded to a matt finish and illuminated with a white LED light, was used to light each slide, while he mounted his camera and 100mm macro lens to an opaque black pipe attached to a wooden mount. Each slide is then placed in the mount and photographed while lit by the LED.…

MOST PHOTOGRAPHERS BEGIN BY using TTL mode. This generally does a good job of setting the correct brightness level for the flash by measuring the light in the scene against the camera’s aperture and ISO setting. If the flash impact isn’t to your liking, you can adjust it by using the flash compensation controls on the flashgun itself – usually +/-3EV. Alternatively, you can set the flash to manual mode and take complete control of the brightness. At 1/1 the flash fires at full power, and this can be decreased to 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32,1/64 and 1/128 to suit. REAL-WORLD CHALLENGES THREE WAYS TO IMPROVE INDOOR FLASH AVOID SUBJECT SHADOWS One of the challenges when shooting with flash indoors is controlling the shadows it casts. When first using…

Once you’ve completed your RAW edit, you can continue fine-tuning your shot until you’re completely satisfied with the results. To do this, take advantage of Luminar’s huge range of Filters, such as B&W Conversion, Polarizing Filter and Cross Processing. However, If you’re new to editing or short on time, Skylum’s brilliant AI Filters are just the ticket. The AI Accent Filter instantly boosts your entire image, while AI Sky Enhancer brings out the hidden depths of skies. To take advantage of these handy tools, simply choose them from the Add Filter button, and then use the sliders to adjust the effect to suit your image.…

AS THE OLD SAYING goes, we all have to start somewhere. It used to mean several days of intensive learning on some complicated software just to master the basics. However, Luminar’s approach takes an entirely different tack and even includes two smart AI filters, which can give you instant results by just using a single slider. Accent AI 2.0 will adjust your entire scene to give your shots an extra level of punch, while the aptly named Sky Enhancer cleverly selects only the sky in your scene and gives it a deep look to boost the impact. 1 Correct the overall image with Accent AI Make sure you have the Accent AI Filter 2.0 in your Edit sidebar with Add Filter>Accent AI Filter 2.0. Now simply move the slider to…

While Luminar includes a wealth of looks for different genres, it also has a store front where you can browse both premium and free looks. These range from Signature Looks, created by Luminar’s excellent team of ambassadors, as well as more everyday Looks to give your shots that extra boost. There’s everything from seasonal to genre-specific Looks, and each has a unique skill and style to bring to your shots. You can even see a breakdown of the individual steps taken to create these presets and then learn how to adapt the best bits into your own editing workflow.…

I use Luminar because it offers some unique filters that Adobe doesn’t. With these filters I can bring my processing to another level. I don’t necessarily consider it a full replacement for the range of Adobe tools, but instead, I see it as more of an essential supplement of every photographer’s processing workflow. It definitely helps me create my unique style, for which I’m so well known today, and I can’t see myself being without it.…

WE’VE COMBED LUMINAR’S LIBRARIES TO BRING you this definitive working guide. Thanks to these eight great tips and tricks, you’ll be able to get the most out of your library function, organise your shots in moments and even improve your workflow between the Library and Edit modules – an important step in mastering Luminar. 1 LET LUMINAR DO ALL THE HARD WORK When it comes to other library software, you’ll know that importing your shots can feel like a chore. With Luminar, the software automatically syncs with your system folders to give you instant access to your shots. It saves a lot of time, which leaves you more to spend where it matters – in the edit. 2 SYNC SETTINGS OVER MULTIPLE SHOTS If you’ve just made a great edit…

THIS IMAGE WAS taken during one of my photography workshops in Patagonia, which is an amazing place to photograph. It might seem as if the ocean is stormy and severe, but it’s actually Lake Pehoé in Patagonia, South America – bordering Chile and Argentina. Although we were expecting a sunrise early in the morning, my group and I were incredibly lucky to witness the flaming lenticular clouds. The swirly nature is ethereal and adds so much to the final shot – it’s beautiful. One of the biggest issues we came up against was the heavy spray. This made it impossible to use any ND filters to get a longer shutter speed, because of the strong waves and spray hitting the front element of my 14-24mm lens constantly. This is why…

I love to use Luminar because it saves me so much time with fast processing, and gives me the ability to construct my own signature looks to my specifications. I’m very lucky and privileged to be able to be photographing most days of my life, but this does mean that much of my time is spent traveling from workshop to workshop. What Luminar does best is it gives me the power to process my images at airports, in hotels or anywhere else I find myself, at my own pace during my limited down-time. It’s processing on the go, but it also packs in the power and features that mean I never have to compromise, and I can always achieve the quality that my work is known for.…

AS WE’VE SEEN OVER the course of our six-part guide, Luminar is an incredibly powerful all-in-one editing suite, with a raft of unique features that make complex adjustments a breeze. Whether it’s the wealth of artificial intelligence Filters, the one-click Looks or the handy Library, it’s as simple as it is intuitive. And, even better, Skylum has just announced the release of its latest update, Luminar 4. Coming hot on the heels of the summer updates, this brand new take includes over 60 tools, including the exciting newcomers to the artificial intelligence filters, such as AI Skin Enhancer, AI Structure and even the brilliant AI Sky Replacement filter for instant results. Where to start? With so much more on offer, we thought we’d bring you a first look at some…

WHITE SKIES ARE the bane of landscape photographers everywhere. While there’s no easy way to fight Mother Nature, Skylum has come up with the AI Sky Replacement filter. This ingenious tool makes the tedious process a thing of the past. Simply selecting the filter from the Creative workspace allows you to alter your sky at the push of a button, either using one of the included examples, or even loading up a custom shot. It’s an incredibly powerful tool, and we’re going to show you how to get the best out of every shot. 1 Open AI Sky Replacement and get started With your shot already in the Edit tab, click the Creative workspace icon and choose AI Sky Replacement. Select the sky to use from the drop-down menu and…

WINTER. THE WORD ALONE CAN FILL some people with gloom. I’m not one of those people. Winter holds some of my favourite cultural celebrations, such as Bonfire Night, Halloween and Christmas. These are times that I get to spend with people I love, enjoying warm beverages and good food, but they’re also an opportunity to explore with my camera. “WINTER CAN BE ONE OF THE MOST FRUITFUL TIMES FOR ME AS A PHOTOGRAPHER” Winter can be one of the most fruitful times for me as a photographer. From a logistical perspective, there is a lot less light around. This means later starts and earlier finishes as well as the potential to stay outdoors for the entire day until darkness descends. It also means the sun is much lower in the…

FLAT LIGHT When the sky is overcast it acts as a giant softbox, creating a scene that’s very low in contrast. Your camera will never struggle to give a good exposure in these conditions, but it won’t deliver much impact. This is ideal light for soft, flattering portraits. HIGH CONTRAST A bright sunny day will render a scene with deep black shadows and bright white highlights. If you expose for the highlights you should be able to recover shadow detail from RAW files in the edit, but you can also use this very binary effect to create scenes full of drama. BACKLIGHT When the light is behind your subject – a situation sometimes referred to as contre jour – a camera left in any auto mode will generally create a…

There are a number of settings that you can change on your camera, but arguably, none has a greater effect on the creative process than aperture (shutter speed only really comes into effect at the extreme settings). Altering the aperture affects the depth-of-field of an image, changing how much of the shot is in sharp focus. Photographers use a wide aperture and the resulting narrow depth-of-field to isolate their subject from the environment, and if you have a very fast lens (f/1.8 or wider) you can really control the focus depth. So, with aperture laying claim to being the setting you should aim to master to the point of obsession, a really good project is to find a subject – such as a fallen leaf – shoot it at every…

Finding a keen companion to go shooting with needn’t be difficult. Here are some ideas for places to get you started: ■ CAMERA CLUB The traditional place to find like-minded individuals is a camera club. Most regions have active clubs that put on talks and exhibitions, and you’re bound to find someone who shares an interest in the same genre of photography as you do. ■ PHOTO HOLIDAY Dedicated photo holidays neatly swerve the issue of long-suffering partners waiting on the sidelines while you shoot. Being surrounded by other photographers is bound to improve your shooting. ■ TAKE A COURSE If you have the time to spare then signing up to a course or workshop is a guaranteed way to find a photography friend. ■ SOCIAL MEDIA It’s the 21st…

REGULAR STREET scenes can appear transformed when they’re viewed as a reflection. All it takes is a conveniently placed body of water to give a whole new perspective and composition to dramatically alter the feel of the scene you’re shooting. It’s an approach that needs preparation, firstly to find the scene and then to ensure that there’s a reflective surface to incorporate. Heading out after a heavy rain shower is the best way to guarantee success, and then you’ll need to turn your usual compositional thinking on its head. Shooting puddles Unlike larger bodies of water, puddles are usually still, free from ripples and waves, offering up crystal clear reflections to work with. They can be found very close to all manner of iconic scenes and buildings. The key to…

Struggling to get your triptych shots to gel together? Try applying a gritty mono texture in Photoshop. ■ CONVERT TO BLACK & WHITE At the bottom of your Layers palette click Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer and choose Black & White. ■ ADJUST THE COLOUR SLIDERS In the Properties window that opens, you can control the tones in your image by dragging the sliders. Sliding left darkens that colour and right lightens it. ■ CREATE CONTRAST To maximise contrast, drag the Blue sliders to the left and the Red sliders to the right.…

Your HDR processing will only be as good as the exposures you put into it, so everything needs to start out the right way in-camera. What you need is a sequence of shots, each taken with a different shutter speed, so that the entire range of light in the scene is recorded without loss of detail in the highlights or shadows. In some cases, this might require only a few shots; in others, many. If in doubt, always shoot more than you need. The camera’s bracketing mode will take care of this for you, but the frames need to be consistently composed and focused, too. Best practice is to shoot from a tripod, especially if the bracketed sequence extends to exposures slower than 1/125sec. 1 Compose to lock focus and…

Most of the time when using Photoshop’s Brush Tool we stick to basic round shapes, either hard of soft edged, but there’s so much more it can do. You can turn any image or texture into a brush, which is then stored and can be used over and over again. But it’s not only the brush’s basic shape that can be modified – using the Brush Settings panel you can also change how it’s applied to the image, for instance turning it from a simple line into a more textured flow.…

Much like the Pen Tool, Path Blur allows you to create lines between two or more points. Each line applies a blur at a certain ‘speed’ in the direction of the arrow at the final point. You can use these to add multiple directions in a single image, as well as clicking and adding a point to your Path line to drag it into a curved shape. This makes it ideal for scenes where there’s a lot of action that’s not set against a linear background, or with lens distortion, such as with our example shot.…

FOTOVUE PHOTOGRAPHY BOOKS FROM £24 Gather some inspiration for the year ahead with this series of in-depth location guides. With books that cover the best of the UK, and even the Dolomites, each contains hundreds of pages of ideas and tips such as shooting times and viewing angles – just the ticket for kick-starting an impressive 2020 portfolio. fotovue.com LENSPEN ELITE £12 The LensPen is an 11cm tool designed to keep your optics spotless. It comes with retractable bristles to brush off debris and a non-liquid concave cleaning element that utilises LCF invisible carbon. It’s a whiz at cleaning oily fingerprints and grime for over 500 individual uses. lenspen.com EFRAME FROM £10 A good quality picture frame will complement and instantly lift any shot. eFrame offers a…

FUJIFILM X-T3 £1349 Proud winner of a Gear of the Year award, the X-T3 is a powerhouse APS-C. Oozing retro charm, and packed with a 26.1MP BSI sensor and excellent 425-point AF system, it’s a reliable workhorse. The 4K video features are outstanding, Eye AF works flawlessly and it can rattle off an impressive 30fps in the Sports Finder mode. fujifilm.com FUJIFILM 56mm F/1.2 R XF £849 The 85mm equivalent focal length gives this a short telephoto range that’s perfect for close-up portrait shots. It’s paired with a fast f/1.2 aperture to capture sharp subjects surrounded by buttery bokeh. It’s a must-have for the X system, and will take your portraits to the next level. fujifilm.com PIXAPRO CITI400 PRO £608 Lighting is the key to good portraits,…

FUJIFILM X-T30 £849 As a travel companion, the X-T30 offers a super-sharp 26.1MP APS-C sensor, up to 30fps shooting speed and brilliant 425-point phase detect AF system with face recognition. The low-light performance is brilliant, with an ISO range of 160-12,800, and the 4K 30fps video allows you to beautifully capture any scene. The wide range of excellent optics will suit every eventuality. This is the cream of the travel crop. fujifilm-x.com MOSHI IONSLIM 10K £95 If you don’t know when you might next be in the vicinity of a plug socket, a portable powerbank is a must. Offering a 10,000mAh capacity, this stylish aluminium bank comes in titanium grey and allows you to charge an iPhone 6 up to four times. It features a USB-C connection, and…

PORTRAITPRO 19 £35 A great entry to the world of portrait retouching, PortraitPro is there to give you handy tips every step of the way. Thanks to intuitive sliders, cleaning up skin, touching up make-up and even facial reshaping are made easy. anthropics.com BENQ PRO SW271 £969 This glorious 4K UHD monitor comes already calibrated. It covers 99% of Adobe RGB for ultimate accuracy, has a 10-bit colour display and features an advanced black & white mode. benq.eu SKYLUM LUMINAR 4 £126 Packed with a range of features, including sky replacement and incredible artificial intelligence-based sliders, Luminar is a powerful tool for newbies and pros alike. skylum.com MICROSOFT SURFACE PRO 6 I5 265GB £919 Built like a tablet, powered like a PC, this ultra-portable touchscreen device…

RODE VIDEOMIC GO £60 Great audio is vital for a quality video, and this compact shotgun mic delivers the goods. It weighs 73g, doesn’t require a battery and gives a maximum SPL of 120dB. If you’re working light, this is the choice for you. rode.com ATOMOS NINJA V £618 Atomos’ 4K external recorder captures up to 4K 60fps in 10-bit HDR, comes with a 1TB capacity and a high-resolution touchscreen. atomos.com DJI RONIN-SC £415 This 3-axis gimbal offers 11 hours of smooth stabilisation, maximum 2kg payload and ergonomically advanced controls. For experienced users, there’s a focus wheel and motor for precision focus, plus ActiveTrack 3.0 and Sport Mode for the ultimate in creative freedom. It’s a must for all serious shooters. dji.com SRB NEUTRAL DENSITY FADER FILTER…

OLYMPUS 0M-D E-M1X £2199 Olympus’ flagship delivers 18fps burst shooting, a 20.4MP Live MOS M43 sensor and 80MP tripod high-resolution mode. It also features a 121-point AF system, with advanced recognition algorithms for perfect shots, and outstanding weather sealing. olympus.com PANASONIC 200mm F/2.8 LEICA DG ELMARIT £2299 This Micro Four Thirds prime boasts a fast aperture, large 400mm equivalent focal length and rapid AF. It works with teleconverters to double up as an 800mm lens, and is a must for Olympus and Panasonic shooters. panasonic.com NIKON D500 £1499 Nikon’s renowned semi-pro DSLR features a 20.9MP APS-C sensor, Expeed 5 processor and advanced 153-point AF system. The ISO range of 100-51,200 allows you to push fast shutter speeds in low light, and the 10fps continuous shooting speed will…

THIS IS ONE OF MY favourite shots from a series with Simone Sherie from the Los Angeles wrestling school. She loved watching wrestling as a child, and at some point decided to devote her life to it, becoming an amazing performer. I took the shot on my Sony α 7R III, with a Zeiss 35mm f/2.8 lens. It was lit with two Godox AD600 flashes to freeze the action, with a large 140cm octabox and an orange gel to add some warmth. Ilya Nodia is a professional commercial, advertising and artistic photographer, as well as being a Skylum ambassador. His striking style is a superb mix of cinematic, compositing and storytelling. nodia.photo I always say that before anybody starts the editing process, they should have a clear vision of the…

AS ANY PRO photographer can attest, developing an eye-catching style is key to standing out from the crowd. Voted Landscape Photographer of the Year 2017, Max is known for his shots featuring mountains, but also for his unique editing style – he achieves this with the help of Luminar. Max started taking photos in 2008 to document a mountain trip he took between studies. Today, he travels around the world to capture unique scenes with mountains as the subject. maxrivephotography.com Since his photographic style is tied so closely to his editing, Max has developed a wide range of Looks, or presets, over the years, which give him instant results in a single click. You can purchase Max’s Dramatic Landscape Signature Looks pack as one of the many offerings in the…

WITH THE RELEASE of Luminar 3 came the powerful Library feature. This organisational module allows you to sort your images into folders, and then rate, tag and cull your shots to let you know which are keepers, and which just don’t quite make the cut. Thanks to a series of simple controls – on the Skylum ethos of powerful, yet easy to use – you can instantly review your day’s thumbnails, and assign ratings from one to five, as well as attach handy tags using a range of colours. You can even get pragmatic, rejecting any that don’t cut the mustard. The other great thing about this intuitive database is the fact that you don’t need to manually import anything. Luminar will automatically sync with your hard drive to create…

BY NOW YOU’LL BE familiar with the great range of powerful Filters, Looks and Tools present in Luminar’s editing software, designed to help unleash your creativity. Next, it’s time to see those capabilities in action by following the editing process of one of Luminar’s most prestigious ambassadors, famed pro landscape photographer Daniel Kordan. Through Daniel’s workflow, you’ll see the brilliant Filters in action, working with Adjustment Layers for selective editing. This is achieved by adding precise Layer Masks to specify exactly where the effects of a filter will be applied. Following Daniel’s approach, step by step, you’ll see why Luminar is his number one choice. GET £9 OFF ANY SKYLUM PRODUCT Simply enter the code PPMAG19 at the checkout when you visit skylum.com…