Indice dei contenuti per June 2018 in Practical Photography: Lite

San Francisco storm by Michael Shainblum I’d been trying to get a shot like this for years, but each time I’d come away with wet gear and an empty memory card. At first, this night looked like it was going to be the same. Strong winds and rain made me consider packing up. However, I stuck around and was rewarded with one of the most beautiful storms ever. This is a stack made up of the 30 best shots I achieved from a three-hour timelapse. Canon 6D | 17mm | 4sec | f/4 | ISO 640 Michael Shainblum is a professional photographer based in San Francisco, California. His clients include Nike, Google and Apple. shainblumphoto.com Elephants in Botswana by Mike Dexter I was comfortably ensconced in an underground photographic hide…

LANDSCAPES #1 Seize the moment GETTING THE PERFECT SHOT OFTEN relies on several elements coming together in unison. In landscape photography that can mean a lot of waiting around for the right conditions. But the result is always worth it, as Polish photographer Marcin Sobas (500px.com/marcinsobas) knows very well. “I took this photo in the Beskid Mountains in Poland at the end of summer a few years ago. On this particular day I had perfect weather conditions – very good visibility and air transparency. Additionally, the level and height of the fog was perfect. If the mist is too little and too low then the sunbeam effect isn’t as visible. Conversely, when it’s too high the fog is above the forest and then you won’t see the long shadows between…

YOUR TOTAL GUIDE TO ACCURATELY PHOTOGRAPHING FAST-MOVING SUBJECTS STILLS PHOTOGRAPHY is a rather misleading name for this camera-based obsession of ours. It’s true that a single photograph is a literal snapshot in time, forever freezing a moment and locking it in the frame, but, depending on exactly how you take the shot, a stills camera is also very capable of transmitting the concept of motion – it just does it in a different way to movie cameras. Capturing movement Since the earliest days of photography, the camera has been trained on moving objects. Indeed, the long exposures required by primitive film emulsions meant that many of these early photographs contained blurred images caused by the subject moving while the shutter was open. These ‘mistakes’ led some practitioners to embrace the…

WHAT’S THE FASTEST SHUTTER SPEED on your camera? If it’s a recent DSLR or CSC model it’s quite likely to be measured in several thousandths of a second. Fast enough to freeze a droplet of water, fast enough to freeze the swing of a baseball bat and fast enough to freeze a plane in flight. But while your camera’s shutter is capable of some incredible party tricks, it’s not a setting that many of us use creatively. Indeed, whenever camera settings and creativity share a sentence, nine times out of ten it will be referring to aperture – the setting that lets you decide how much of your shot is in sharp focus. But shutter speed can be used in an artistic manner. We’ve already seen what it can do…

WITH YEARS OF EXPERIENCE TAKING great action shots from racing circuits all over the world, motorsports photographer Paul Horton knows a thing or two about capturing fast-moving subjects. How did you get started in motorsport photography? I’ve always had a passion for cars and motorsport – let’s say it must be in my blood. I first became a marshal at Donington Park, and then I joined a local motor club and have been lucky enough to navigate on some rallies and also drive some race circuits including Donington Park and Silverstone. Through these interests and my interest in photography, which started at the age of ten, my motorsport photography career began. Was it a hard industry to break into? In a word, yes! It was something I had always wanted…

THE GREATEST test of any editing software is usually its ability to handle RAW conversion. This is an area where Affinity Photo really shines, offering a massive amount of creative flexibility. This is evident in its unique Develop Persona, a system dedicated solely to converting your RAW files to the highest standard. Allowing you access to innovative features such as a full array of Lens Distortion tools, Gradient Overlays for selective editing and brilliant Tones tab, which is ideal for colour, Affinity Photo is the perfect companion for any serious photographer. As well as the advanced features, all of the basic tools are here, such as Exposure, Contrast and White Balance, instantly feeling familiar to anybody looking to jump ship. By following our quick tutorial, you’ll be able to make…

NOW THAT you’ve come up with your idea and made your props, it’s time to finally bring the magic to life. This is where your hours of planning and preparation finally pay off, so follow our tips on how to make the most of your work and, more importantly, enjoy the fruits of your labour. Shoot great portraits While there may be additional props and unusual costumes involved, taking a great fantasy image is essentially all about carefully honing your portraiture technique. As with all portraits, your model’s face is the most important aspect of the shot. This means that it should always be in sharp focus. In order to do this, use Single Point AF and the camera’s D-pad to place your focus point over the eye that’s closest…

IMPORTING IS THE first step you’ll take in Lightroom, as you’ll need to find the images on your hard drive or memory card to bring them into the Lightroom interface. This interface does a whole lot more than just locate your pictures though – you can save time by renaming the files here, adding copyright information or applying a creative preset to your images as they’re being imported. Here’s an in-depth look at the interface so you can start taking full advantage of this feature. SOURCE PANEL This is where you’ll start the import, as this panel lets you specify the folder of images that you want to import into Lightroom Classic CC. Any hard drives and storage media devices will be shown here – just click through them to…

TESNI WARD Tesni is a pro wildlife photographer based in the Peak District. While the majority of her work focuses on British wildlife, she also photographs projects around the world and aspires to promote conservation and education. She runs workshops and tours. tesniward.co.uk • You shoot all kinds of flora and fauna – what’s so special about ‘small world’ nature? It’s wonderful to observe and photograph the smaller details in nature that people would otherwise overlook. There are some things that simply can’t be seen or appreciated with the naked eye so photographing it and bringing it all to life can be very rewarding. • What are the key ingredients to successful close-up nature photography? Depth-of-field and good light are two of the main things to consider when it comes…

1 HEAVY METAL The solid build of the Inspire 2 utilises a magnesium aluminium composite shell and carbon fibre arms, weighing in at a hefty 3.4kg before you even add an additional gimbal. 2 SPEED FREAK The Inspire 2 manages up to 58mph in sport mode. It also has forward and downward vision systems which can sense obstacles at 30m distance, as well as upwards facing infrared, which detects obstacles at 5m. 3 ZENMUSE X7 A ground-breaking piece of kit, the X7 gimbal and camera features a Super 35mm sensor, capable of 24MP stills, 6K CinemaDNG video and amazing 14 stops of dynamic range. 4 Stay in control The controller features a number of function buttons, as well as a wheel to control the angle of the camera when flying…

IN RECENT YEARS, THE INCREASE IN mirrorless cameras hitting the market has worked to make prices very reasonable. The influx of new cameras has also gone quite some way to broadening the limited features that entry-level priced units traditionally offered. This selection of budget-friendly models offers up some truly exceptional capabilities, many of which put the more professional models to shame. As well as providing some extremely tasty continuous shooting speeds and advanced autofocus tracking algorithms, they also benefit from a smaller form factor, meaning a day at the races won’t leave you with a chiropractor’s bill and six months of physical therapy – a welcome break from the heftier options in some of the later categories. Without further ado, it’s time for us to look at the more affordable…

Take your camera skills even further! Join Practical Photography’s team of experts as they create mythical portraits, race around Donington Park, and pound the streets of Liverpool in search of memorable moments... • Greek mythology has proven a rich source of inspiration for generations of artists, and this month it’s Louise’s turn, using homemade costumes, a standard lens and natural light. • Richard joins experienced pro Paul Horton at Donington Park for an action masterclass. Choose the right gear, settings and locations, and improve your panning and pit lane skills. • Matt Hart is one of the UK’s best street photographers and was on-hand to walk Kirk through a lesson in patience, keeping a low profile and reacting to magical moments. Contact us if you have any problems with your…

COMPETITION Brit scoops global award Few competitions carry the weight of the Sony World Photography Awards, with the winner’s announcement being a hotly anticipated staple in many photographers’ calendars. Among this year’s category winners, we’re happy to announce that, for only the second time in the competition’s 11-year history, the top title of Photographer of the Year was won by a British photographer, Alys Tomlinson. Alys scooped the gold, and the $25,000 prize, wowing judges with her series, ‘Ex-Voto’, a personal project encompassing formal portraiture, large-format landscapes and still life images of religious offerings (featured in the August 2017 issue of Practical Photography). Alongside the category winners, another Brit, Tom Oldham, won the portraiture award for his body of work, named ‘Last of the Crooners’, which is described as a…

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FACING a photographer trying to capture a moving object lies in getting the right mix of a sharp, clear subject and the genuine impression that the subject is in motion. The incredibly high shutter speeds that modern cameras are capable of means that almost anything can be frozen in its tracks, but a purely static shot of a speeding car, bike or runner is going to be sorely lacking in dynamism and action. Pan for movement Happily, there is a technique that allows stills photographers to easily combine pin-sharp objects with blurred background in order to ably show that the subject is moving at speed. Imagine you’re sat in a chair, watching someone walk across the room in front of you. As they pass by you turn…

IF YOU THINK ABOUT ACTION OR sports photography images you probably won’t be expecting to see much in the way of unconventional creativity. The photographers who operate in these arenas are usually there to deliver crisp, clear images and their pay cheques rely on keeping things simple. But for us hobbyists, free from such constraints, moving objects can offer up a number of artistic opportunities. Break some rules A moving object rendered static by the camera’s shutter can be frozen in space or allowed to express its motion, depending on how the camera is set up. We have already seen how the panning technique can provide a blurred background while capturing a moving subject in perfect clarity, while a long exposure can result in a moving object ‘painting’ its motion…

Filled with mysterious beings and otherworldly scenes, fantasy photography is escapism at its very finest. The intricate detail and opulent costumes popular in the genre may make you feel as if creating similar images is beyond your reach, but with a little DIY and some savvy internet purchases you can easily create your own incredible fantasy photos. Follow our easy three-step tutorial to instantly inject mystery and intrigue into your next shoot. WE MADE OUR FANTASY SHOT FOR UNDER £100! Through some DIY and internet shopping, we made this shot on a tight budget. Plan your own fantasy shoot with our advice!…

CREATING successful fantasy photography relies on one key aspect – being able to make your viewer suspend their disbelief. This means that you have to be able to convince your audience (as much as possible) that what they’re seeing is real. Editing software is a powerful tool that can create incredible pieces of art, but the best way to create as realistic an image as possible is to step away from Photoshop and do as much in-camera as you can. Beg, borrow & steal Many fantasy photographers use opulent dresses and jewellery that give the illusion of being far outside the price range of the average photographer. However, given that these costumes will only be seen in a still image, you’ll often find that many will source them from affordable…

HELD EVERY FOUR YEARS, the Olympic Winter Games are the ultimate opportunity for the world’s best winter sports athletes to have their shining moment of glory. Panasonic is proud to partner with Team GB for the Winter Olympics, and this year the sheer passion and dedication of the athletes really paid off with Team GB’s most successful ever Games. Among the lucky fans who were able to attend the events were an even luckier select group of photographers who were there to capture every moment of the action on the Panasonic LUMIX G9. We caught up with Jan Kruger from Getty Images, who took along the G9 to see how it handled all the icy action. • Jan, how did you get to shoot PyeongChang 2018? When I was asked…

THE LIBRARY MODULE IS where you organise and choose the images that you want to work on. You can add metadata and keywords here, making it easy to search for images and identify groups of pictures with a specific theme. You can also rate and colour code your images, making it easier to shortlist a smaller group of pictures you want to work up and apply some quick edits to. Your in-depth image editing will be done in the Develop module which we’ll cover in the next issue. CATALOG A catalog is a database that tracks the location of your photos and information about them. Changes that you make to your images, such as edits, keywords and metadata are stored here in the catalog. Depending on your preferred working style…

Festival of lights By Shreenivas Yenni Shreenivas says: This image was taken at the Diwali Hindu light festival on the banks of the Ganges in Varanasi, India. To get a unique picture I tried out a low-angle perspective by positioning my camera close to the ground and aiming upwards. The idea was to achieve a more intimate picture of the people lighting the oil clay lamps. I also wanted to capture the energy of the thousands of people that attended, as well as the vibrant colours along the river bank. I kept the editing process fairly simple, only adjusting the highlights, shadows and saturation in Lightroom. Dan says: The low angle works brilliantly and Shreenivas has definitely achieved the intimacy he set out to capture. Shooting with a super-wide 15mm…

“OUR WORKSHOPS ARE DESIGNED TO INSPIRE, EDUCATE AND NURTURE...” WHETHER YOU’RE A NOVICE WITH a burning desire to be the next Annie Leibovitz, an amateur with a keen eye, or a pro looking to top up your skills, The Royal Photographic Society has a workshop that’s perfect for you. Perhaps you’d like to learn interesting new camera techniques that’ll dazzle your viewers? Or maybe you’d like to discover cutting edge photo editing technology in order to hone your own unique style? No matter what creative techniques you’re interested in, The RPS will be able to help. How about if you’re confident in your camera and editing skills, but you’re not sure how to profit from your work? If you’re interested in learning how to sell your images through picture libraries,…

How Camera School works Camera School is the free skills course for all photographers, created by the UK’s best-selling photography magazine, Practical Photography. Our aim is simple – to help you take your best ever photos. All you need to take part is a DSLR, mirrorless camera or creative compact, and a few spare hours a month. The course consists of six modules, each of which will introduce you to a new subject and a new set of camera skills. The modules are published in Practical Photography and will include jargon-free advice, simple step-by-steps and homework tasks. These homework tasks are where you put your new skills into practice. They’ll require you to get out and about and spend a bit of time refining your shots, and will challenge you…

CAMERA OLYMPUS OM-D E-M1 MKII With its 2x crop factor, this Micro Four Thirds marvel is perfect for capturing those close-up details. Its increased depth-of-field means that I don’t have to select a narrower aperture and sacrifice light and shutter speed. PRIME LENS OLYMPUS M.ZUIKO 300MM F/4 IS PRO This powerful telephoto gives a 35mm equivalent focal length of 600mm and has a minimum focusing distance of 1.4m. When paired with a 1.4x teleconverter, it’s perfect for getting intimate frame-filling images without causing any undue stress or disturbance to the subject. This lens is almost permanently fixed to my camera due to the flexibility of moving from faraway wildlife images to close-ups without the need to change my equipment. ZOOM LENS OLYMPUS M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 40-150MM F/2.8 PRO This lens…

THESE THREE stunning travel cameras are about to go toe-to-toe. There can be only one winner, so it’s time to find out how they fare in the photography arena. All three are touch-optimised and aimed at first-time users stepping up from phones or compact cameras, but they all pack a punch. The Olympus boasts a 121-point contrast detection AF system, which you can easily set by pressing on the screen. Despite lacking phase detection, it’s actually pretty accurate and nippy in good lighting conditions, but is prone to hunting when it gets darker. Fujifilm’s offering features a 91-point hybrid AF system, using phase detection in the central part of the frame, but relying on contrast detection on the outer part. In reality, this mix isn’t unusual and, in practice, it…

STILLS CAMERAS ARE capable of presenting the moving world in a way our eyes never could and there’s no better example of this than long exposure photography. This technique should be familiar to many of you, but it’s worth going over the basics. The rarely-used Bulb setting on your camera allows you to open the shutter for as long as you like, which means that any object that moves through the frame will be rendered as an artistic blur. Combining a long exposure with setting your camera up on a tripod will mean that the backdrop will be pin-sharp – effectively the opposite effect to that delivered by the panning technique we’ve already covered. Very long exposures are easiest to do at night where setting a low ISO and small…

EVERY TECHNIQUE WE’VE COVERED so far has relied on natural light for its illumination and action photographers can have just as many problems with the light as those who shoot landscapes or portraiture. An overcast day can make it very hard to separate a moving object from the background, while too much light can make long exposures difficult to achieve. But by injecting some flash into your action shots you suddenly have access to total control of your light and a useful new technique. Peak behind the curtains Before using flash at any event, whether it’s a sporting contest, a stage gig or a dance, check that it’s safe and permissible to do so. Once you’ve established that it’s ok to use a flash, you need to go into one…

AFFINITY PHOTO has been designed from the ground up to offer an unbeatably smooth and intuitive experience. It’s powerful enough to impress any professional looking for a fully-functioning editing suite, while also allowing first-time users to create fantastic results. It achieves this by dividing tasks into Personas. These tabs house various editing setups, and do an excellent job of keeping your workflow intuitive. With just a single click, you have access to a wealth of abilities, including powerful Tone Mapping to create HDR images, the most intuitive Liquify tool available and an excellent RAW conversion experience. When you start using these alongside the raft of industry standard tools and adjustments on offer, you’ll see why Affinity Photo has been winning awards and earning widespread acclaim since its initial release. Personas…

• If you can use a flash, consider the creative use of slow sync. Set your camera to ‘second curtain flash’ and dial in a shutter speed of around 1/4sec or more. The flash will fire at the end of the exposure to freeze the action while the ambient light will pick up any movement. • There’s more to theatre than the performance. Try to get access to backstage and shoot behind-the-scenes images for added atmosphere. Be aware that people may be changing in and out of clothes however, so respect their privacy! • If you are shooting dance, think about using a shutter speed that’s long enough to introduce a bit of blur. A setting of around 1/15-1/8sec should work well, and a small amount of camera shake can…

A shallow depth-of-field is what makes this floral still life project so beautiful. However, a wide aperture means that accurate focusing becomes even more important than usual. In fact, for very wide apertures of around f/1.8, the zone of sharpness may only be around a couple of centimetres. This means that not only do you need to focus precisely on your focal point, you also need to make sure that you don’t move around too much between focusing and taking your shot. To ensure that you’ve achieved a perfect focus, set your camera to its Single-Point AF mode. This means that you have just one AF point, which is perfect for this shallow depth-of-field technique. It’s really important that you don’t just use Auto-Area AF, as there will be so…

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Most photographic genres require you to amble along at a slow pace, consider your subject and plan for your composition. In that way, it’s one of the great civilised hobbies. But then there are action photographers… these adrenaline junkies are after split-second images and they demand cameras that can keep up with high shooting speeds and precise focusing to allow them to capture those fleeting moments that make the rest of us say ‘wow’. The great news is that these cameras are now available at very reasonable prices, as our list of the nine best high-speed cameras proves… IN THE TEST Canon EOS M50............................................... £539 .......P146 Olympus O-MD E-M10 MkIII ............................ £579 .......P147 Sony a 6300..................................................... £679.......P147 Canon EOS 7D MkII ......................................... £1349 .....P148 Nikon D500....................................................... £1799.....P149 Panasonic G9 ...................................................…

WE’VE ALREADY SEEN THE POWER on offer in the entry-level cameras, which is more than enough for most people, but if you want to find the perfect balance between high-end professional gear and the more casual side of the market, this is the perfect section for you. Many of these cameras have benefited from what we call the trickle-down effect, where the best tech of the last generation has found its way into these offerings, meaning you’ll be able to get top-flight performance at reasonable prices. In the case of the Panasonic G9, you’re actually getting the company’s flagship camera, and both the Canon and Nikon bring professional features, such as impressive burst speeds and next-level focus tracking abilities. If you want to take your action photography seriously, but don’t…

HAVE YOU EVER LOOKED INTO THE PIT at a professional sports event and started drooling at the masses of expensive kit on show? These cameras aren’t the cheapest, easiest to use or most portable, but they deliver in spades. Before the Sony α 9 made its way to the playground, Canon and Nikon’s big guns were the dream for anybody looking for precise AF and rapid shooting speeds, the kind of combo that professional sports shooters demand. However, with the release of the α 9 showing that mirrorless can take centre spot on the world stage, it’s making a big splash, demonstrating that you don’t need the biggest bodies to make the biggest impact. While you may not be in the market for a £5000 camera at the moment, it…

TRIPODS HAVE been around since before the advent of cameras, and are key to getting steady shots at slower shutter speeds. However, they can be impractical when you need to set up in a split-second and move on to your next shot with equal haste. Monopods are single, extendible columns, which are ideal for adding that much-needed additional level of support while also folding down in a matter of seconds, making them perfect for run-and-gun photographers. This versatility allows you to get that vital bit of extra speed in the field, which could mean the difference between a sharp shot and no shot at all. Here are our top five favourite monopods. Vanguard VEO AM-324 Aluminium £59 Vanguard is known for its smart mix of versatility and design, which it…