Table of contents for March 2016 in Digital Camera Magazine

FRESH from the streets of New York, this month’s lead feature showcases the striking shots of street photographer Michael Ernest Sweet. Michael’s street antics, tips and advice are sure to get you fired up: I guarantee you’ll look at street photography in a new light. If you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the streets for a more tranquil interaction with nature, we’ve got bags of great features for you too. Join me and readers Jasmine and Mark at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Slimbridge, as we try our hand at bird photography in this month’s Shootout. It’s not easy! We also catch up with wildlife photographer and presenter Chris Packham ahead of his appearance at The Photography Show in March. And finally, don’t forget to…

FREE! 223-page Elements ebook Learn how to make your photos even better with this free guide to Photoshop Elements. Discover layers, blending modes, selection tools and more, plus creative techniques such as combining images with Photomerge Compose and adding effects with filters. You can download your PDF ebook now by typing this link into your web browser: www.bit.ly/elements-ebook When you see this logo in the magazine, you can watch a related video via www.bit.ly/dc174video. See below for details of our videos. 9 ALL-NEW TIPS CARDS Our popular tips cards offer pocket-friendly advice for photographers on the go. Keep them in your camera bag, ready to refer to them wherever you are. This issue’s collection follows the magazine, with tips for portraits, landscapes, depth of field and more. 9 VIDEOS Our…

TO everyone’s amazement, shortly after revealing its flagship FX-format camera, the D5, Nikon used CES to announce a new DX- format camera, the D500. Chief among its features is the same 153-point AF system as the D5, with 99 cross-type sensors. With the Nikon D500, AF capability can also be extended down to -4 EV with the central point and -3 EV with all other points. The new Expeed 5 image-processing engine helps deliver high-quality images from a native sensitivity range of ISO 100 up to 51,200 (expandable to ISO 1,640,000 at the Hi 5 setting). The Nikon D500 can also record 4K UHD (3,840 × 2,160)/30p/25p/24p as well as 1080/60p video for up to 30 minutes, with simultaneous output via HDMI. It’s also possible to generate 4K UHD time-lapse…

PANASONIC has announced two new TZ-series travel cameras – small enough to slip into a trouser pocket but with big zoom ranges to make them very versatile. But these aren’t just routine updates. The TZ80 (ZS60 in the US) takes the established design of the TZ range but adds a new, higher-resolution sensor, while the TZ100 (ZS100) speeds off in a whole new direction with a larger 1-inch sensor and – we hope – a big hike in image quality. The TZ80 should appeal to traditional TZ travel camera fans looking for a compact, powerful and versatile camera with a wide zoom range, while the TZ100 is aimed more at enthusiast and experts who are willing to trade some of this zoom range for much better image quality. In fact,…

Nikon SB-5000 Speedlight This is the world’s first compact flash unit to feature an on-board cooling system. At just 420g, the SB-5000 offers a guide number of 34.5 (ISO 100, m) and a wide FX-format zoom range of 24-200mm. www.nikon.co.uk; £500/€659 Sony HDR-AS50 Sony’s new camera features an 11.1MP back-illuminated CMOS sensor and Zeiss Tessar lens offering up to 3x zoom, as well as two angle setting modes for field angle adjustment. www.sony.co.uk Panasonic telephoto zoom Panasonic’s Leica DG Vario-Elmar 100-400mm f/4.0-6.3 ASPH is small and durable, offering a 35mm-equivalent focal length of 200-800mm for a Micro Four Thirds camera. Using 20 elements in 13 groups, it’s weather-sealed and uses a 240fps AF Drive. http://eu.panasonic.com…

FANCY earning up to $100,000 working in a job once filled by the inimitable Ansel Adams? The US Department of the Interior is looking to hire a photographer to follow in the master’s footsteps. To celebrate its 100th year, the National Park Service is seeking a photographer to document its railroads, buildings and landscapes. The NPS requires applicants to be skilled in “the principles and techniques of large-format blackand-white photography”. The NPS wants images in both digital and film format, and the work will join Adams’ among the permanent collections at the US Library of Congress. www.nps.gov…

ADDING gels to your lights is a simple way of making portraits more interesting, as this Sean McCormack shot proves. “I’ve been adding gels since I started doing studio lighting almost 12 years ago,” he explains. “Recently I’ve been inspired by the work of Jake Hicks.” For this shot, Sean used gels to modify a lighting set-up he’d normally use for edgy portraits. The key light is from a gridded 95cm Octa with a blue gel on it. “It’s more noticeable on the background in this shot, but still glows on Sam’s skin. I chose Sam for the shoot as I felt the lighting would work well with both her skin and her hair. “Keeping with the ‘cool’ feel, I added two strip lights with grids to the side of…

EXASPERATED BY EXPOSURE SETTINGS? NONPLUSSED BY ND FILTERS? Send your question to digitalcamera@futurenet.com and let us provide you with a solution In a puddle Q I took photos of my hometown reflected in puddles. Should I show the reflections in the images the right way up or not? Steve Hart A THIS is really a decision only you can make, Steve: it depends entirely on what you think works best and is visually the most interesting composition. In so many areas of photography, there is no absolute right or wrong way of doing something; this is a mantra we are always trying to put across through the pages of Digital Camera! Having said that, when I had a look through my files at the numerous puddle reflection shots I’ve taken…

SOME of the most beautiful and dramatic landscape images are the result of pretty ugly weather. From long exposures that tame crashing waves and whipped-up clouds, to the snatches of sparkling light in between downpours, there are plenty of rich pickings on offer for the patient, parka-clad photographer. While many will head to the coast when there’s a storm on the horizon, don’t overlook the potential in rural and urban settings. Underexposing dark clouds and using flash to illuminate a foreground object will create a thrilling contrast, while the action of wind across fields and through forests can add an edge to familiar scenics. How to enter Visit www.photocrowd.com/a/current and look for the Digital Camera Perfect Storm contest. (You need to register, but it’s free to join.) Click Submit An…

THIS issue we’re returning to an old stomping ground: wedding shoots. Here’s an effective location lighting technique for when you’re taking a formal portrait of the bride. Part of the technique is done in-camera, the other part in Photoshop. We’re only going to use one simple hotshoe flash, and it’s an inexpensive one — the Yongnuo YN-560. It’s only £45, which is amazing for a decent unit. Then we’re going to use a collapsible softbox made for hotshoe flash — the 50-inch Recessed Mega JS Apollo from Westcott, for around £210. Anyone who came to my London seminar last summer will recognise this as the one I used during my live portrait shoot. www.scottkelby.com STEP 1 The softbox THERE are four great things about this softbox. First, it’s pretty huge…

SVELTE, stylish and sophisticated, these two supermodel cameras look eager to strut their stuff, with classic retro designs that are lean, luxurious and meticulously crafted. Indeed, the weather-sealed magnesium alloy bodies of these mirrorless compact system cameras put many a dull-looking plastic SLR to shame. The main difference between these cameras and an SLR is that there’s no reflex mirror inside. Instead, a live feed is taken direct from the image sensor and fed to an electronic viewfinder (EVF), placed fairly centrally at the top. This gives you the choice of composing shots on the rear screen or through the electronic viewfinder. If you’re used to an SLR viewfinder, you’re likely to feel both gain and loss when eyeing things up through an EVF. The gain is that a scene…

SEAN MCCORMACK Photographer and writer Sean McCormack is an experienced photographer and writer based in Galway. He is the author of The Indispensable Guide to Lightroom CC. seanmcfoto.com Use Lightroom to discover three straightforward ways to make your favourite photos look sharper and much more detailed... SOFTWARE Lightroom 6 GET IT FROM www.adobe.com/creativecloud GET START FILES FROM www.bit.ly/dc174files ANSEL Adams may have said “There’s nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept”, but sharpening can make or break a photo. Lightroom has three forms of sharpening: global sharpening, via the Detail panel; local sharpening, via the Brush/Grad Filter or the Radial Filter; and output sharpening in Export, Print and Web. Many modern cameras have an anti-aliasing filter that works to remove the stairstepping effect. This actually blurs the…

JAMES PATERSON Editor, Practical Photoshop With a decade as a working writer and photographer behind him, James knows which Photoshop and Lightroom tools and techniques matter the most to you. From making simple hue adjustments to adding detailed floral patterns, learn how to control and modify coloured objects in your images SOFTWARE Photoshop CC GET IT FROM www.adobe.com/creativecloud GET START FILES FROM www.bit.ly/dc174files WATCH VIDEO www.bit.ly/dc174video TARGETED HUE SHIFTS IN CAMERA RAW Right-click the start image in Bridge and choose Open in Camera Raw. One of the most useful tools for altering or boosting colour is found in the toolbar: the Targeted Adjustment Brush. Grab it, then right-click in the image and choose Hue. Drag left or right over the dress to alter the colours. Next, right-click and choose Luminance,…

MOODY OUTDOOR FLASH FOR YOUR FIRST SHOT, TRY... Exposure mode Manual Shutter speed 1/200 sec Aperture Varies ISO 100 TO IMPROVE YOUR SHOT … • Shoot from a low angle so that the person is framed against the sky. • With the flash off, adjust the aperture so that the scene is two stops underexposed (such as f/5.6 to f/11 in this example). • Set the flashgun to Manual mode, then take test shots while adjusting the flash power. TOP TIP: Use two flashguns: one behind the subject to act as an edge light, and the other lighting them from the front. TWILIGHT SEASCAPES FOR YOUR FIRST SHOT, TRY... Exposure mode Aperture Priority Aperture f/11-16 Shutter speed Auto ISO 100 TO IMPROVE YOUR SHOT … •Shoot before the sun has…

OLYMPUS has announced the M.Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:4.0 IS Pro, which it claims is the world’s most compact and lightweight telephoto lens. Weighing 1.27kg, the 300mm f/1.4 lens is a quarter of the weight of most SLR lenses with equivalent focal lengths, and is just 227mm long. Aimed at pros who shoot sport, wildlife or the performing arts, the Olympus 300mm f/1.4 boasts a 1.4m focusing distance from subject to camera, with a maximum 0.48x zoom. Along with its 600mm focal length (35mm equivalent), it offers an angle of view of 4.1° and a six-step image stabilisation system. What’s more, when used with Olympus cameras like the OM-D E-M1 or E-M5 Mark II, the new lens – released in spring – can achieve autofocus speeds of less than 300ms,…

PHASE One has announced the XF 100MP Camera System, which boasts a new full-frame, medium format 100-megapixel CMOS sensor. Developed in collaboration with Sony, the sensor packs in an amazing 101,082,464 active pixels, supporting a native ISO range from 50 up to 12,800 and exposure times up to 60 minutes. The camera also supports 16-bit colour, 15 f-stops of dynamic range and Live View capture with HDMI output. Phase One launched its XF Camera System series last year, incorporating features like Honeybee Auto Focus, Vibration Tracking and Electronic First Curtain Shutter. The $49,000 price tag includes a Schneider Kreuznach 80mm LS lens. The camera is on sale through Phase One partners worldwide. www.phaseone.com; $48,990…

THE X-Pro 1 was Fujifilm’s first compact camera. And now, after four years and a slew of siblings, we have the X-Pro 2. The sensor is a 24MP X-Trans CMOS III device, while the Dual Cortex A processor is dubbed X-processor Pro. Image processing is claimed to be four times faster. A new focal plane shutter enables a maximum shutter speed of 1/8,000 sec with a maximum flash sync speed of 1/250 sec. The new shutter is quieter and produces less vibration than the X-Pro 1’s. Sensitivity is set in the native range of ISO 200-12,800, with a JPEG-only expansion setting of ISO 100 and raw file expansion settings up to ISO 51,000. Look out for our hands-on review of the X-Pro 2 shortly. www.fujifilm.co.uk…

1 “When in doubt, ditch it” Many treasure troves of unpublished negatives have been found in the estates of master photographers. Some of these, which the photographer initially second-guessed, have become highly popular images. Furthermore, we have learned a great deal about already-famous photos by looking at the surrounding images on contact sheets. Ditching everything except your very best will leave little in your lifetime archive. It may also deprive posthumous study of your work, should it arouse such interest. Also, what you think is a bad photo today may change. Time almost always smiles favorably upon photographs. As Susan Sontag claimed in On Photography: “Time eventually positions most photographs, even the most amateurish, at the level of art.” 2 “Never, ever crop” Has anyone ever looked at the contact…

THE more advanced a camera is, the greater the number of AF points it offers. Take the Nikon SLR range: the beginner-level D3300 has 11 AF points, while the new professional D5 (see page 20) boasts 153 of them. The more AF points there are, the smoother the focus tracking – where the camera ‘hands off’ from one AF point to another to track a moving subject. A larger amount of AF points across the image provides greater flexibility when selecting individual points: with fewer AF points, none may align with a detail you want to focus on, and you’ll have to lock the focus before recomposing. Not all AF points are made equal. Standard AF points measure sharpness in one plane, while cross-type AF points can detect both horizontally…

WHILE Scott Kelby is perhaps best known for his work as a busy Photoshop training guru, he’s also an accomplished sports photographer, and covers NFL matches for a newswire service. This memorable shot packs in so much of what is great about the NFL, from the bruising tackle to the cheerleader. “It was a regular game in the 2015 season between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Carolina Panthers,” Scott explains. “The Carolina Panthers are the hottest team at the moment in the whole of the NFL, and this image shows a tackle to a touchdown pass to the Panthers’ Kelvin Benjamin. “As I shoot for the media, I can pretty much shoot from anywhere on the field except the bench area, where the players stand.” www.scottkelby.com Scott Kelby explains…

JAMES PATERSON Editor, Practical Photoshop With a decade as a working writer and photographer behind him, James knows exactly which Photoshop and Lightroom tools and techniques matter the most to you. Learn how to use one of Photoshop’s newest and most powerful warp tools, and change the perspective of objects and scenes so they match up with each other SOFTWARE Photoshop CC GET IT FROM www.adobe.com/creativecloud GET START FILES FROM www.bit.ly/dc174files WATCH VIDEOS www.bit.ly/dc174video STEP BY STEP ADD WARP GRIDS 1 PLOT PERSPECTIVE POINTS Open the start files cut_out_bus and bus_background. Copy over the bus and roughly position it. Select Edit > Perspective Warp. Click the bus to make a grid box, then drag the sides and corners until the box matches the bus side. 2 WARP THE BUS Click…

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THE BIG INTERVIEW CHRIS PACKHAM Get an insight into how the presenter’s approach to photography has evolved WORK EXPERIENCE WILL-BURRARD LUCAS Find out what the top wildlife pro wishes he’d known when starting out QUESTION MASTER ANDREW JAMES Andrew solves your photo problems, including a look at image resolution LIGHTING GURU SCOTT KELBY Discover how to make a softbox disappear for stunning results PORTFOLIO ANNE MANINGAS Anne combines her two passions: photography and the Tube PHOTOSHOP MAESTRO JAMES PATERSON James show how to create realistic composites with Perspective Warp…

NIKON ACTION CAM Nikon has marked its entry into the action camera market with the KeyMission 360, a wearable camera that records 4K UHD video around a full 360°. Nikon didn’t provide full specifications, but says the KeyMission 360 features an image sensor and lens combination on two opposite sides of the camera. Images from each are combined in-camera to create a single high-definition, 360° image. The camera is waterproof to depths of 30m and will be released this spring. www.nikon.co.uk NIKON LENSES The AF-P DX Nikkor 18–55mm f/3.5–5.6G VR (£199.99/€259.00) and the AF-P DX Nikkor 18–55mm f/3.5–5.6G (£149.99/€199.00) are the first Nikkor lenses to employ Nikon’s new Stepping Motor. The Stepping Motor promises to focus quietly and faster when zooming into a scene and shift focus from subject to…

That ISO range is meant for photography inside a black hole. Kenneth Ellseth I want a Nikon about as much as I want that price tag on my next camera. Which is about 0% right now. Justin Thiel In terms of the South African Rand, for R,140,000+ (excluding the new memory cards, spare battery etc) you could buy a car, or 100,000 trees, a swimming pool or a business franchise with that money and still have money left over for a decent DSLR and a lens or two. Blaize Pascall Canon will have to up its game. Chris Fox Maybe I will get this for my birthday... Dan Wong How many stops is that 3 million ISO? Dallin Tahere Join the conversation at www.facebook.com/digitalcameraworld…

ICONIC photographer David Bailey is among the top industry names confirmed to speak on the Super Stage at The Photography Show this March. Bailey will be joined by wildlife supremo Chris Packham, Dan Rubin, Nick Danziger, Peter Dench, Lara Jade and Alec Soth, plus many more to be confirmed. Run by the makers of Digital Camera, The Photography Show runs from 19th to 22nd March at the NEC in Birmingham. Make sure you book your tickets soon, as sessions are already selling out! www.photographyshow.com/TSPRtickets GO TO www.digital cameraworld.com FOR THE LATEST NEWS, REVIEWS &TECHNIQUES…

Canon PowerShot SX540 HS Boasting an incredible 50x optical zoom and an ultra-wide lens, the Canon PowerShot SX540 HS allows you to capture a wide range of scenes. Inside is a new 20.3-megapixel CMOS sensor and Canon’s latest Digic 6 processor. It can record full HD video in MP4 and uses five-axis Dynamic IS to keep footage steady. www.canon.co.uk; £300/€420 Samsung Portable SS D T3 Weighing just 50g, this palm-sized external hard drive offers multi-terabyte storage and write speeds of up to 450MB per second with a USB 3.1 interface. www.samsung.com/T3 Lexar 1800x microSD cards Lexar’s Professional 1800x microSDHC and microSDXC UHS-II cards offer read transfer speeds up to 270MB per second and are available in 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB capacities. Designed for high-speed capture, the new cards can store…

MICHAEL ERNEST SWEET Photographer, writer and teacher Michael is known for his close-up, gritty, black-and-white street photography, as well as his low-fi work with disposable and toy cameras. In 2012, he published his first book of photography, The Human Fragment, and followed it up with Michael Sweet’s Coney Island in 2015. www.michaelsweetphotography.com STREET photography is on fire, to say the least. But is any of it any good? More importantly, is it of any consequence? How can you make engaging, unique street images when everything has already been shot? Are workshops and endless rules of any value? I’ll attempt to candidly answer these questions, as well as get you started in meaningful street photography. We’ll take a whirlwind tour of how I developed my own style. It wasn’t easy and…

HOW determined are you to get a great wildlife shot? Few will be as determined as Alan McFadyen, who spent 4,200 hours and took 720,000 exposures to get this perfect shot of a kingfisher diving into water. “I took this image at Tarff Water, on the estuary of the River Dee in Galloway,” Alan explains. “I used to visit this site with my grandfather 40 years ago, and saw my first kingfisher there. I have been watching the site ever since.” As well as displaying Herculean levels of perseverance, Alan decided to help the kingfishers by building an artificial nesting area. “The birds’ habitat is on a tidal stretch, so their nests flood every year. I also supplement their food. Intervening in this way might seem unethical to some, but…

NAME: Anne Maningas LOCATION: London SUBJECT: ‘Travel’ photography EQUIPMENT: Canon EOS 5D Mark III with 35mm f/1.4L USM lens WEBSITE: www.version3point1.co.uk ONCE you get to grips with the basic principles of photography, it’s invariably time and access to a subject or a location that make the biggest difference to your pictures. But this is often at odds with the demands of a day job. One solution is to combine the two – something that London Underground driver Anne Maningas has managed with great success. “I’ve been working for the Underground for nearly nine years, but I’ve had an obsession with it ever since childhood,” Anne reveals. “I learnt a lot about lighting constraints as a teenager when I started to travel around on the Underground with one of my first…

1 Select a highlight tone In the Develop module, go to the Split Toning panel and click on the small rectangular box next to Highlights. This opens the colour picker for the highlights. Using the eyedropper, click on the yellows and move it left and right or up and down until you get the right amount of warmth in your shot. 2 Select a shadows tone Now open the colour picker for Shadows. I didn’t want to add any additional warmth to the darker areas of the wood in this shot, so I selected a subtle blue. Again, move the eyedropper around to see how it changes the look of the photo. You’ll see the area you selected for the highlights marked by a small square. 3 Tweak the overall…

Every issue, we challenge you to take the most creative and arresting shot around a theme, and share it at the online community at Photocrowd (www.photocrowd.com). Here, you’ll be able to browse the entries and vote for your favourites. The best entries receive a critique from our judging panel – and one winner receives a special prize! Your mission in issue 172 was to shoot theatre and dance. We suggested that anything could top the bill, be it an image taken during a live show or a portrait of a performer in the studio, and that any style of photography was fair game too. The submissions were packed with variety, with abstract blurs, candids and silhouettes being some of the most popular creative techniques on show. Here’s our top selection……

WHAT do the top professional photographers wish they had known when starting out their career? In this new series, we’ll meet leading photographers as they reflect on what they have learned through experience, and how changing technology has affected their work. Each month, a photographer will give a personal insight into his or her own specialism and the broader industry, offering an insider’s view on photography today for professionals, aspiring professionals and enthusiasts alike. This month, wildlife photographer Will Burrard-Lucas shares his thoughts... What do you know now about your job that you wish you knew starting out? The biggest thing I’ve learned is the importance of being focused. By this I don’t mean camera craft, but trying to cover a particular subject in depth and exploring every creative possibility,…

Reviews you can trust Digital Camera is brought to you by the UK’s most experienced team of photography journalists, which means you can trust everything you read, and compare kit with confidence. We believe the best way to test a product is to use it as it was intended. Our real-world testing involves taking equipment on a proper shoot – whether outdoors or in the studio – and using it exactly as you would, to let you know if it’s fit for purpose. Scientific data won’t tell you everything, but it’s a great way to make comparisons and sense-check our real-world conclusions. We have a series of controlled tests for cameras and lenses that deliver objective benchmarks. You can download the high-resolution test images and resolution charts we shoot from…

Have your say We’ve seen some amazing cameras, lenses and accessories over the last 12 months. Now it’s time to decide which one should become worthy winners of a Digital Camera Award. Over the page are our shortlists of gear across 18 award categories, from high-end cameras to phones for photographers, and from lenses to tripods. There will also be an award for the best overall camera, picked by the judges from the five winners of the individual camera categories. The winners of the DCAs will be chosen by a combination of this public poll and the votes of our judging panel. Visit www.bit.ly/dca2016 now to have your say - it’s quick and easy!…

GLYN DEWIS Photographer and author Glyn is a commercial photographer, retoucher and also an Adobe Community Professional trainer. He is the author of The Photoshop Workbook. www.glyndewis.com Discover a quick, easy and convenient way to make your portraits look more polished and professional. If you’re after smooth skin, give this a try... SOFTWARE Photoshop CC GET IT FROM www.adobe.com/creativecloud GET START FILES FROM www.bit.ly/dc174files WATCH VIDEO www.bit.ly/dc174video WHEN it comes to retouching techniques, the number of ways to smooth skin seems endless. From blurring through to third-party plug-ins, all will produce different results. But when it comes to portraits, the goal should be smooth skin that retains a level of texture and looks realistic. I want to show you a technique I turn to again and again because it does…

www.davidgriffen.co.uk which photographers (living or dead) would you like to have round for dinner? I don’t really follow the work of other photographers so much, but I do watch a lot of movies, so I’ll say… Alfred Hitchcock. What’s your favourite place? Asia. Give me anywhere in Asia and I’ll be as happy as a pig in ****. What’s on your memory card right now? Stock animation for a food brand – animated recipes. What’s at the very top of your bucket list? Nothing. I’m quite happy with everything I have done. Tell us a secret about your photography you haven’t told anyone before… I failed photography at high school – I got a D. How would you describe your photographic work? Vibrant and full of life. What kind of…