Innehållsförteckning för December 2016 från Digital Camera Magazine

With only 79 sets available worldwide and a price tag north of £12,000, the Leica M-P (Typ 240) ‘grip’ by Rolf Sachs is destined to occupy the display cabinets of well-heeled collectors. Each of the exclusive sets, designed by artist Rolf Sachs, features a camera and a Leica Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH lens, along with a Leica SD 40 flash unit, black cotton carrying strap and hard black outdoor case. You also get a couple of brushes to keep it all clean. Its vivid red ‘ping pong’ trim (made from the same rubber material found on table tennis bats) is matched by red engravings on the shutter speed dial, on/off switch and elsewhere. Each body is numbered on the hotshoe, too. http://uk.leica-camera.com FOCAL POINT Rounding up what’s new and exciting…

PROJECT 1 Reach for the stars As the light drops, capture the night sky as if you were in space Daniel Kordan has experienced space on earth “It was hard to believe our eyes and senses,” he says. “It seemed we floated in the open space. Our spaceship (car!) is parked in the distance, and the stars are twinkling blue, red and yellow. You stand in the deep dark night with stars above, beside and underneath you.” Daniel is referring to the magical image he shot on the flooded Salar de Uyuni (the world’s largest salt flat) on the massive Altiplano plateau in Bolivia. “We spent two weeks at the Altiplano. At this altitude you need five or six days to adjust, as it’s hard to move and breathe.”…

Shoot images that look good enough to eat Jason Bassett says his ongoing project ‘Tulips’ will never end! “Not even when I’m close to being dust,” he says. “The Tulips set is an exploration of the human mouth, an experience of microexpression. Through these photographs, I tell stories with a range of ideas.” For example, his image ‘Castle Black’ (above centre) is a reference to the TV show Game of Thrones, with the mouth representing a creature’s lips inside a frozen ice wall. From a technical perspective, there are a few considerations to take into account when you’re shooting a mouth close up. For starters, the depth of field is key. “It tends to be extremely shallow when you’re using a macro lens,” Jason says. When it comes to lighting,…

DEEP BLUE Name: Lauren Naylor Location: Los Angeles, United States KIT : Canon EOS 5D Mark II with EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens EXPOSURE: 1/320 sec at f/2.8, ISO 400 Website: www.lnaylor.com Exposing emotion Exposing emotion By controlling the natural window light, Lauren has focused on the feel of the frame, rather than her body. “I wanted a darker exposure to convey a sombre mood. I wanted the light to silhouette the outline of my body, just enough to make out the shape and still hide what’s really there.” Self-centre Lauren used the darker edges of the frame to bring the viewer’s eye toward the brighter main subject. “Where you position your subject contributes to the overall mood of the photo; for me, the centre is deadpan and pensive.” She…

Man Ray was an innovative and influential artist who made a significant contribution to painting, photography, sculpture and filmmaking in the 20th century. He was linked to the Dadaist and Surrealist movements and brought his wider artistic experience to photography to make new kinds of images. What was his background? Originally named Emmanuel Radnitzky, he was born in Philadelphia, USA, in 1890. His parents were Russian Jewish emigrants; his father was a tailor and his mother was a seamstress. The family later moved to Brooklyn, New York. After school, where he showed great interest in painting, he turned down a career as an architect to become an artist. How did he become a photographer? He was introduced to photography by Alfred Stieglitz and originally learned how to make photographs so…

Specifications Sensor Foveon X3 direct image CMOS sensor (23.4 x 15.5mm); 29.5MP on three layers, max image size 39.3MP Lens mount Sigma SA Memory SD/SDHC/SDXC Viewfinder Electronic viewfinder, 2,360,000 dots Max video resolution N/A ISO range 100-6,400 Autofocus points 9 Max burst rate 3.7fps Screen 3-inch TFT, 1,620,000 dots Shutter speeds 1/4,000 sec to 30 sec, Bulb Weight 625g Dimensions 147 x 95 x 91mm Power supply BP-61 lithium-ion battery (supplied) The sd Quattro’s fine detail rendition is exceptional. Sadly, its high-ISO performance is startling in a very different way Sigma’s Quattro sensor mimics traditional film, recording colour using different layers of silicon rather than with the mosaic or red, green and blue photosites used by regular sensors. The top layer records luminance and blue data at 19.6MP resolution, while…

Aurora HDR offers presets from HDR guru Trey Ratcliff, Photoshop and Lightroom integration, powerful tools and direct raw compatibility. www.aurorahdr.com Aurora HDR 2017 £78/$99 macOS Aurora HDR is produced in collaboration with HDR guru Trey Ratcliff, who provides a selection of HDR presets. It’s Mac-only, but we’re told a Windows version could be on the way soon. Version 2017 brings a host of improvements over previous releases, including batch processing, a new Polarise Filter and a Radial Masking tool, plus improved noise reduction and a 50% processing speed boost. Like other HDR tools, Aurora HDR can merge separate exposures, fixing ghosting, chromatic aberration and alignment at the same time. You can then choose an HDR effect preset or make manual adjustments using an array of powerful, if sometimes confusing, tools…

Sean McCormack Photographer and writer Sean McCormack is a photographer and writer based in Galway in the west of Ireland. He’s the author of The Indispensable Guide to Lightroom CC. seanmcfoto.com REMOVE unsightly SPOTS from your photographs Unwanted marks can easily appear in your images – but with Lightroom, it’s simple to make it look like they were never there SOFTWARE Lightroom CC/6 GET IT FROM www.adobe.com Get Start fi le from www.bit/ly/dc184files Dust is a pain for photographers, getting in the way of pristine skies. Even just swapping a lens risks getting some wandering pollen or skin cell onto our delicate sensors. When I was in Iceland recently, I found out the hard way just how easy it is to get dust on your sensor. It’s worth learning how…

Create Photoshop brushes from just about anything Adobe Brush enables you to make your own custom brushes from photos or sketches for use in Photoshop, Illustrator or the Sketch app. The most successful subjects are usually those that can be easily isolated, like a splash against white, or a leaf against the sky. You can capture objects for your brush tips using your device’s camera, choose from your camera roll, or use your Creative Cloud library. Once one is captured, you can then fine-tune the look of the tip and apply lots of fun brush settings such as scattering or spacing effects. Step by step: Make a Brush To start work on a new brush, tap the plus icon 1 . You can choose from your camera roll or you…

As the name suggests, this app enables you to paint freehand using a selection of brushes, colours and other tools. However, Sketch is more than just a painting app. It also enables you to connect with like-minded creatives, so you can follow artists and see their work updating. Once you’re done sketching the image on your iPad, you can upload to the Sketch community or continue working on the image in Photoshop CC. You can also bring in brushes made with Adobe Brush. For those who struggle to paint, there’s an option to overlay images so you can trace over a photo. Sketch is compatible with Adobe’s pen and ruler hardware, Ink and Slide, but you can get great results with your finger. ADOBE LIGHTROOM AVAILABLE FOR: IPHONE , IPAD,…

TOM BLACHFOR D AUSTRALIA Photographed using only the light of a midnight full moon, this 1957 Thunderbird sits in front of a stark white modernist home, with mountains looming behind. The image is part of Tom Blachford’s ‘Midnight Modern’ series, set exclusively in Palm Springs, California. Tom has returned to the desert design mecca seven times in three years, and the series remains ongoing. Kit Nikon D810 with 35mm f/1.4 lens Exposure 20 sec at f/5.6, ISO 800 THE RPS ROYAL PHOTOGRAPHY SOCIETY The RPS International Print Exhibition is the longest running exhibition of its kind in the world. www.rps.org/ipe159 SEND US YOUR SHOTS Your photograph could appear here! Send your best recent shot to digitalcamera@futurenet.com (subject line: Hotshots) GIOVANNA DEL SAR TO UK Through her ‘A Polaroid for a…

YOu wait ages for a new Sony flagship, and then two arrive at once. Following on from the launch of the A6500 comes the Cyber-shot RX100 V. The new head of the RX100 range boasts a trio of world-beating features, according to Sony: the world’s fastest AF speed (as little as 0.05 seconds), the world’s most AF points (315, covering 65% of the sensor) and the world’s fastest continuous shooting (up to 24fps with AF/AE tracking) for a compact camera. The new model introduces Sony’s Fast Hybrid AF system to the RX100 line, a system that combines phase-detection AF (for speed) and contrast-detection AF (for accuracy). As well as adding a new AF-A mode that allows the camera to automatically switch between continuous and singleshot AF modes, Sony has given…

Harrison is an ordinary boy, expect for one thing... he’s a tiny astronaut! Aaron Sheldon had the idea for his project ‘Small Steps Are Giant Leaps’ while riding the bus. He realised what was normal to him was extraordinary to his three-year-old son. Aaron and Harrison’s project has taken them to some amazing places.“My favourite shoot was on a trip to Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex in Florida,” says Aaron. “We were given full access, and even got to meet a real astronaut!” As for Harrison, he’s had a lot of fun. “Half the places we’ve taken pictures were his idea (including the polar bear shot above). After each shoot we sit and look at the pictures together, and discuss where we were and if we had fun. It’s been…

Late autumn might be the perfect time to photograph foliage, but don’t feel confined to clichéd shots of warm-coloured leaves. When our editor Ben Brain visited Padley Gorge in the Peak District, he wanted to capture the sway of these birch trees in the wind. A long exposure would have blurred the movement effectively, but Ben wanted to create a more distinctive, unusual effect. He used the Nikon D810’s multiple-exposure mode and set the camera to fire 10 shots of the scene. Combining more than one frame means adding several layers of density, so to avoid the composite being too underexposed, Ben also dialled in a positive exposure compensation. Want to try the technique yourself? Even if your camera doesn’t feature an in-built multiple exposure mode, you can achieve a…

1 Sensor size Cameras with APS-C-sized or smaller sensors make it easier to extend the depth of field at a given aperture than those cameras with full-frame sensors. 2 Hyperfocal focus Aperture affects both the extent of the depth of field and the position of the hyperfocal distance. In this example, we’re leaving the focus point where it is and just showing the effect of changing the aperture. 3 Compromise Setting a sharp mid-range aperture and then using a focus stacking technique – where you take a sequence of shots, shifting the focus each time and then combine them in software – is one way of getting a more extensive depth of field. 4 Soft details Despite the deep depth of field offered by the smallest apertures, details in the…

COASTAL PHOTOGRAPHY The distinctive scenery of this windswept stretch means that Dungeness rides high on the bucket lists of many landscape photographers. Ben Brain tasked two of them to show us what they could do on a two-day shoot… READER 1 Yoland Gladman Camera: Nikon D610 Location: St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex YO took early retirement from his printing job and now lives a short drive from Dungeness. Although he came with plenty of kit, he relied on his Nikon D610 and 24-120mm f/4G ED VR lens, plus a Giottos YTL 93 series tripod, a Manfrotto 494RC2 ball head and a Nikon MC-DC2 remote. For filters, Yo opted for a Heliopan polariser and a Formatt-Hitech soft-edge ND grad, with a Lee 100mm filter holder. flickr.com/photos/31412287@N07/ READER 2 Martin Havens Camera: Canon…

Whenever I come back to look at one of your pictures, I see something else. There are many layers and great depth. Yes, there are many layers. I’m intrigued by complexity, it’s not just a photographic thing. In the general sense, I’m intrigued by the complexity of the world. It’s almost as if the longer I live, the less I know about it. One of the things about embarking upon the kind of travels I did in the mid-1970s is that I learned a tremendous amount about cultures that were utterly different to my own. They were very different to suburban New England, where you were raised. I don’t think it was suburban, but in New England there’s a kind of grey-brown reticence to society. But you go to Mexico,…

Specifications Sensor 24.2MP DX-format CMOS (Expeed 4) Crop factor 1.5x Memory SD/SDHC/SDXC Viewfinder Eye-level pentamirror viewfinder, 95% coverage Video resolution Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) at 60, 50, 30, 25 or 24p ISO range 100-25,600 Autofocus points 11 (1 cross-type) Max burst rate 5fps (11 raw / 100 JPEG) LCD screen 3-inch, 921,000-dot LCD with 170-degree viewing angle Shutter speeds 1/4,000 to 30 sec, Bulb Weight 445g (body only) Dimensions 124 x 98 x 76mm Power supply EN-EL14a lithium-ion battery With Nikon continually expanding its SLR line-up, bringing a new entry-level model to market is harder than ever. If it’s filled with features, sales of mid-range cameras are threatened, but stand still and you risk being outgunned by the competition. A quick glance at the D3400 spec sheet reveals that…

For anyone who’s switching from a Canon SLR body to a mirrorless Sony like the Alpha 7 II, it can be a real heartache leaving all those prized EF lenses behind. The good news is that, with this adapter, you can take them with you. Build & handling More than just a physical converter for mounting Canon-fit lenses on a Sony body, the adapter includes all of the electronic contacts for communication between the lens and camera, as well as a 32-bit microprocessor to take care of translation. The later MB_EF-E-BT4 edition of the Mk IV adapter adds flocking material on its inner surfaces to eliminate internal reflections. The adapter enables contrastdetection autofocus, plus phase-detection autofocus on bodies like the A7 II, the A7R II and the A6300. In-lens stabilisation…

www.blackrapid.com BlackRapid Sport Breathe £79/$82 This updated Sport strap now has breathable foam to keep you cool, while an extra-wide pad and under-arm strap ensure top comfort. A super-smooth slide action seals the deal. www.cameraclean.co.uk Matin Neoprene Fast-Access Strap 5 £40/$47 There’s a lot to like here, with superbly supple padding and swivel joints that further up the ergonomics. Camera attachment is tool-free, and a secure clip links the strap to the mount. www.bgrip.com CP Tech B-Glider £32/$50 The B-Glider’s soft, supple strap feels great, and it’ll clip to a backpack. Camera attachment and release is easy, although the mounting plate is bulky and the slide action isn’t the smoothest. www.optechusa.com OpTech Utility Strap Sling £24/$30 This budget buy feels comfortable and secure, and it attaches to a camera strap…

FREE! 9 landscape photo tips cards! To tie in with our inspiring landscape lead feature (see page 40), our tips cards are fully dedicated to the landscape genre. Get top tips on how to shoot stars at night, capturing urban landscapes, photographing moody monochromes and taking a more abstract approach. We also help you get to grips with why and how to use an graduated ND filter and understand how hyperfocal distance works and when you might need to use it. The cards are at the end of the magazine. watch video www.bit.ly/dc184video Download the video www.bit.ly/dc184bonus Whenever you see this logo on a page in the magazine, you can find related content to watch online PHOTOSHOP ON THE GO EBOOK Get to grips with Adobe Creative Cloud and…

After revealing the A99 II last month, Sony has unveiled its new rangetopping APS-C mirrorless camera. Sharing much with the A3600, in terms of its AF system at least, the new camera sees the debut of Sony’s in-camera five-axis optical image stabilisation system in its APS-C range, as well as introducing touchscreen AF control. The rear screen also becomes a touchpad when the viewfinder is being used, allowing you to move your thumb across the screen to move the focus point – a useful feature when you’re recording movies and want to shift the focus smoothly between objects. The A3600 features an APS-C sized 24.2 million-pixel Exmor CMOS sensor and offers a standard sensitivity range of ISO 100-25,600, expandable to 51,200 for stills. It can record 4K video (3,840 x…

Despite our tonguein-cheek pun of a headline, we imagine the judges of this prestigious panoramic photo competition had their work cut out in selecting the winners. More than 1,000 photographers entered, and the standard of work appears to be exceptional. The overall Open Photographer of the Year prize goes to Alex Noriega of the United States for his trio of entries, including ‘Funnel Factory, Central Utah’ at the top of the page. For his efforts, Alex bags $3,000 cash, an Epson SureColor P-7070 printer, and more. The Major Amateur Winner prize was scooped by Nicholas Roemmelt of Austria (second image, above) for his selection of truly beautiful widescreen work, while nature pro Marsel van Oosten picked up $1,000 for his first place image in the 2016 Epson Digital Art…

Landscape photography is a waiting game. To get the shot you’re aiming for, you always have to wait for the right weather and light conditions. With a great location you’ve always wanted to shoot at sunset, there can be a tendency to get the shot and go – but by doing this you could be missing out on a second great photo opportunity. Twilight can transform a scene, so it’s worth waiting to see what it reveals. Whenever you’re shooting a sunset, make sure you’re on location and set up with a composed shot before it begins. By shooting in Aperture Priority mode, and with ND grads to hold sky detail, once you’ve set up your camera for the first shot, you won’t have to change a thing for the…

WHEN wedding and commercial photographer Andris Barbans needed a break, what did he do? That’s right: he went on a two-week adventure to Norway (with his camera and a bunch of friends)! For his travels Andris packed his Canon EOS 6D, a range of lenses covering 14 to 200mm, his Cokin filter system and a Manfrotto tripod. On his road trip Andris was lucky enough to encounter some amazing places. He says one of his favourites, and a poignant part of the trip, was at the Briksdal glacier. “Being there was humbling. The fact the glacier has melted so fast over the past decade makes you think hard about the global problems. We climbed nearer and only here can you see the true size of it and the extent of…

AS you’ll have gathered from this issue’s cover story on landscape photography (see page 40), understanding how to control the depth of field – or the amount of apparent front-to-back sharpness in a photograph – is vital if you want to wring every last drop of detail from a scene. Landscape photographers typically turn to the hyperfocal focusing technique to determine where the depth of field will fall and consequently eke out the maximum depth of sharpness from the foreground to the horizon. Hyperfocal focusing sounds a little sci-fi – and hard work – but the process is actually a lot more down to earth and easy to get to grips with. The old-school advice for photographing landscapes and general scenes where you want to extend the depth of…

Specifications Sensor 24MP full-frame CMOS sensor (23.9 x 35.8mm) Focal length conversion on lens 1x Memory SD/SDHC/SDXC card Viewfinder Direct vision with framing guides Max video resolution N/A ISO range 200-6,400 Autofocus Manual, via rangefinder Max burst rate 3fps Screen N/A Shutter speeds 60-1/4,000 sec, Bulb Weight 680g (body only, with battery) Dimensions 139 x 42 x 80mm Power supply BP-SCL2 lithium-ion battery (supplied) Yes, it’s true: the Leica M-D really doesn’t have a rear display. The back of the camera is taken up instead by a large ISO setting dial. The direct-vision optical viewfinder shows you nothing but the scene in front of the camera, a set of frame guides for your current lens and the bare minimum of exposure and status information. This camera has caused a great…

For many of the tripods on the market today, the centre column is a missed opportunity. To add versatility, the tripods featured here all have a pivoting centre column, which can be a real bonus in some shooting scenarios. The ability to turn a vertical centre column into an extending horizontal boom is great for macro photography, enabling you to get the camera close enough to what you’re shooting without the tripod legs holding you back. It’s also a big help if you want to photograph objects shooting directly down from above. Another advantage is that you can shoot with a really wide-angle lens, without the tripod feet creeping into the picture. Combined with the multi-angle legs featured on most modern tripods, a horizontally positioned centre column can enable ultralow…

Get in the mix and merge two images together Mix enables you to merge two photos together to create a composite image. It offers a simplified compositing process that makes it very easy for beginners to start combining an object from one image with a background from another. You can then send the composite to Photoshop for further edits. If you like, you can also use Mix to edit a single image. It offers a few simple tonal adjustments and more complex edits like Content-Aware Fill, which can be used to remove objects or people from your photos, or shake reduction to fix camera shake. Step by step: Combine photos with Mix Tap the plus button to start a new composition. You can choose your images from various locations, such…