Table of contents for August 2020 in Digital Camera Magazine

10 things to shoot, edit or create this month, including outdoor events, exceptional equines and rooftop fashion A art and photography are two things I’ve always loved, but imagine morphing the two worlds together… Something like momentary art, lasting just a moment and never being that way again – but photographers are able to capture that moment, and making something beautiful from it. That’s what I like to do with water and paints. Create swirls, paint clouds, oil effects and anything else that looks mesmerising. You could go extremely big with these ideas, but for now let’s focus on small jars and baking trays: they’re compact and small, but some cool results can be made with them. All you really need are a few items, your camera and one light.…

There’s something so intrinsically appealing about the aesthetic of anime. The general anime style is very limited in the form of moving animation. Often it comes down to scenes of mouths moving with the occasional eye blink, sandwiched between brilliantly rendered and detailed backgrounds. Let’s take a look at how you can quickly and easily achieve a similar style with your photos. First, duplicate the street photo by pressing Ctrl/Cmd+J. Next, select Image > Mode > 8 Bits/Channel. Press D to set your foreground colour to black and your background colour to white. Select Filter > Filter Gallery. In the dialog box that opens, look in the Sketch pane and select Photocopy. How much detail you want is a matter of personal preference: I’ve opted for Detail at 12 here…

At the bottom of the Basic tab in Lightroom’s Develop Module, under Presence, you’ll find five useful sliders to add punch to your images. Like all editing techniques, how far you take it is up to you. A subtle use will allow your images to remain looking more natural, while taking things to the max may often produce an over-the-top finish. Here we’ll look at two of these sliders: Clarity and Vibrance. Together they offer an extremely powerful way to boost contrast and colour in an image, but with more finesse than the alternatives of Contrast and Saturation. 1 Boost Clarity Clarity is effectively a contrast tool. However, rather than boosting contrast across the entire tonal range of an image, it boosts only the midtones. Under the Basic tab, begin…

Get this great Vanguard shoulder bag by subscribing today at: myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/dcm/vra1 or call 0344 848 2852 and quote ‘VRA1’ * Terms and Conditions: This offer is only available for new UK subscribers. Gift is subject to availability (MSRP £89.99). Gift colour may vary. Please allow up to 60 days for the delivery of your gift. In the event of stocks being exhausted we reserve the right to replace with items of similar value. You will receive 13 issues in a subscription year. You can cancel your subscription within 14 days of purchase. Payment is non-refundable after the 14 day cancellation period unless exceptional circumstances apply. Your statutory rights are not affected. Prices correct at point of print and subject to change. Full details of the Direct Debit guarantee are available…

So far in this series we’ve looked at a variety of ways to get increased exposure for your images, by putting them in front of an online audience. And as we’ve seen, there is more than one way of doing this, including using a website-builder service, which we looked at last month. But for those happy with the idea of going behind the curtain and spending time noodling around with the back end of a website, there is an alternative: build your photography site using a content management system (CMS). A CMS is what holds the contents of a website, and is driven by a database. This is where your images, and the relevant information to accompany them, are stored; the CMS accepts requests from a remote computer and instructs…

Editing your photos can transform them, bringing out the vivid colour and incredible detail you saw in person while you were taking the shot. But photo-editing skills take time to learn, and more time is needed to get the best from each image. Photolemur takes a different approach, doing all the hard work for you. Just drag and drop a photo onto the Photolemur mini-window, then watch as it analyses your shot in a dozen different ways before producing a brilliant result. Use the software to pay special attention to face enhancement. Go beyond the initial results with Photolemur Styles, which enable you to choose different looks for your photo. Photolemur is being offered free of charge by Skylum until 20 September 2020. Other great programs in the Skylum roster…

Split-toning is a technique that dates back to the days of black-and-white film photography, when skilled developers learned how to add limited colour to their prints. They might treat a photo with a type of toner for a short time, then apply a distinct second toner. In this way, first the highlights and then the shadows would change colour. Lightroom is a digital darkroom at heart, so it’s no surprise that it offers controls that reproduce this technique. Split-toning gives a photo an old-fashioned feel by limiting the colour palette, and is very fashionable right now. So let’s give it a try! By splitting the shot into Highlights and Shadows, Lightroom Classic allows you to add a colour tint to bright areas and darker areas. This means you can add…

Cast your eyes to the right, and you’ll see a nature shot of a bee heading off from a flower on a nectar hunt. But think in terms of pure colour, and there’s a certain harmony going on: magenta flowers, green foliage and the yellow insect ‘popping’ out. The reason this shot’s colour palette is eye-catching is that it has a primary colour (green) and its opposing secondary colour (magenta) working together. The primary colours of light are red, green and blue (RGB). Cameras (and your eyes) mix these together to form all the colours you see. Opposing these are the secondary colours: cyan, magenta and yellow (CMY). They’re opposites: for example, cyan is a mixture of green and blue, and contains no red. Similarly, magenta is a mix of…

Colour temperature is a physical property of light, measured in degrees Kelvin (K). The colour temperature of natural light varies at different times of the day, and artificial lights also emit different temperatures. A white balance setting is a specific point on the colour temperature scale. When you set a specific white balance, you are either trying to correct an unnatural colour cast so the captured scene looks ‘normal’, or you are changing the temperature to make a scene appear cooler or warmer. AUTO WHITE BALANCE In Auto WB, your camera will make an ‘educated’ guess of what the colour temp should be. It’s a good choice in standard and mixed lighting, but in some scenarios, like this sunset portrait, it can lose too much of the natural atmosphere. DAYLIGHT…

WATCH the video on your disc! www.bit.ly/dc232disc Every scene you frame up presents you with a vast array of choices. From focal length to focus point, and from depth of field to motion, your brain will be busy filtering through all the different permutations to arrive at the desired result. Unlike these choices, we usually accept the colours presented to us as they stand. But it doesn’t have to be this way. There’s a certain purist streak that tells us if we manipulate colours, we’re no longer indulging in photography, but have taken a detour into the world of ‘digital art’. But if you’re happy to slot in different-coloured backdrops for a still-life or portrait, what’s wrong with changing any other colour to capture your idea? In Photoshop, manipulating colour…

It’s a three-day flat hike to Hull from Spurn Point, along the embankments of the busy shipping channel that is the Humber. These winter days are short, but the sun is beautiful. The container ships emit a low rumble as they pass, blacking out the lights of Grimsby on the far shore as they glide past. I wake up the next morning to find frost inside the tent; putting my feet into my icy boots certainly gets me moving. On reaching Hull it’s the first bed for a while. I unpack my depleted supplies to take stock: three empty camera batteries, four empty drone batteries, an empty food bag, an empty gas canister, two empty powerbanks, two empty water bottles… and eight full SD cards. At the bottom of my…

£4,699/$4,499 www.sony.co.uk Specifications Sensor: 24.2MP full frame Exmor RS CMOS sensor with integral memory Image processor: Bionz X AF points: Hybrid AF, 693 points phase detection, 425 contrast detection ISO range: 100-51,200 (exp. 50-204,800) Max image size: 6,000 x 4,000 Metering modes: Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot, spot standard/large, entire screen average, highlight Video: 4K at 30fps, 24fps; 1080p at 120 fps, 60fps, 30fps, 24fps Viewfinder: EVF, 3.69m dots, 0.78x magnification Memory card: Two SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) LCD: 3-inch tilting touchscreen, 1.44m dots Max burst: 20 fps electronic shutter, 10fps mechanical Connectivity: Wi-Fi (5GHz), USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 1) Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HDMI mini, Ethernet, NFC Size: 129 x 96 x 78mm Weight: 678g (body only, with battery and SD card) To understand the Sony Alpha 9 II, you need to understand that there’s…

£9,499/$9,499 www.nikon.co.uk Specifications Mount: F-mount Full-frame: Yes Lens construction: 25 elements in 19 groups Angle of view: 20° 20’–8° 10’ (FX format) / 13°20’–5° 20’ (DX format) Diaphragm blades: 9 Minimum aperture: f/22 Minimum focusing distance: 2m Maximum magnification ratio: 0.16x Filter size: 112mm Dimensions: 128 x 304mm Weight: 3,250g It’s no coincidence that the Nikkor 120-300mm f/2.8E AF-S FL ED SR VR was released in sync with both the Nikon D6 and the Olympics. Obviously Tokyo 2020 has been postponed, but the target audience is clear from both the timing and the price: this is a professional-grade optic tailor-made for pro sports photography. It has applications beyond this, of course. The 120-300mm focal length makes it one of the best portrait lenses, as well as one of the best…

£679/$899 Eminently suitable as a travel lens, the Fujinon 18-135mm is compact and light but sturdily built, with a comprehensive set of weather seals. Build quality feels excellent in all respects, with a physical aperture ring. The 7.5x zoom range is the smallest of this group, though, equating to 27-206mm in full-frame terms. The linear motor autofocus system is fast for stills and delivers smooth, virtually silent focus transitions in movies. Another bonus is a highly effective five-stop optical stabiliser. Performance Despite the relatively limited zoom range, sharpness is only good in the central region of the frame, and drops off at the long end. Sharpness towards the edges and corners are lacklustre at all zoom settings. Colour fringing and distortions are relatively low, thanks to in-camera firmware corrections. Sharpness…

£269/$399 vailable in a variety of mount options including Canon EF-S, Nikon F DX, Pentax K and Sony A, this APS-C superzoom is very compact. It’s only 430g too, despite a metal mounting plate and solid build quality. The lens features an ultrasonic motor to drive autofocus; the focus ring rotates during autofocus, so you need to be careful to keep your fingers clear, and there’s no full-time override. Four-stop stabilisation is on hand. The optical path includes three aspherical elements and three SLD (Special Low Dispersion) elements. Sigma’s Super Multi-layer Coating is applied. Performance This downsized lens loses out to Sigma’s larger 18-300mm superzoom for sharpness at most matching focal lengths, but it holds up pretty well out to the corners of the frame. Colour fringing and distortions are…

£599/$549 Tamron has a history of pushing the envelope in superzoom design. Its recent 16-300mm boasted a particularly wide maximum viewing angle, while this newer lens beats all competitors for telephoto reach. Available in Nikon F DX and Canon EF-S mount options, it gives an effective zoom range of 27-600mm and 28.9-640mm respectively. Autofocus is driven by an HLD (High/Low toque-modulated Drive) motor, which is quick and quiet. The focus ring rotates during autofocus and there’s no full-time manual override. Build quality is good, and features weather-seals. Performance The whopping 400mm focal length comes with a compromise in image quality. Long-end sharpness is less impressive than with any other lens on test. Optical stabilisation is only worth about 2.5 stops. Sharpness Long-zoom sharpness is a little lacking, and it’s fairly…

Is there a tried-and-tested time of day or a window of opportunity to go seeking a daytime landscape shot? Dan Rubin No, categorically not. Light is pivotal to the image-making process. More often than not, it will be light, and the nature of its illumination of the landscape, that will stimulate your visual and emotional response antennae. This will be followed by a desire to own that momentary lighting effect by making a photograph. Ideally, developing a deep understanding of light and its behaviour would be well worthwhile. Learning how certain surfaces absorb light and others reflect light would be of value. A visit to a favoured location and remaining there from sunrise to sunset would be an excellent way to observe how that landscape is graced by light. Watching…

Charlie Waite Landscape photographer One of the UK’s most popular landscape photographers takes part in an interview with a difference – because you ask the questions! See page 118. Jasmine Carey Oceanic photographer Jasmine specialises in shooting above and below the waves – and her expertise and eye for a great shot has nailed her a huge contest win! Find out more on page 80. Janet & Richard Burdon Landscape photographers This husband-and-wife team love a snowy landscape – but that doesn’t mean their summers are wasted. Find out why on page 16. Kimberley Lane Still-life photographer Kimberley has come a long way since she started with holiday snaps on her phone. Find out how she shoots still-lifes with a difference on page 14. Carys Jones Equine photographer Combining twin…

The creative properties of the camera intrigue Carys Jones – but this hasn’t always been the case. Despite being both a life-long horse lover and a amateur snapper, it was only a few years ago that she thought of combining her two passions to create limited-edition equine art. Even then, it was some time before she started to experiment with the slow shutter speeds, intentional camera movement and other techniques that have come to characterise her work. Despite juggling her photography business with a part-time corporate role, Carys now travels extensively in search of her subjects, seeking to work with horses in their native environments wherever possible. This has led to adventures in the Outer Hebrides, Iceland, the French Camargue, Austria and beyond. Carys enjoys spending time with herds of…

Event photography can come in many forms, but typically the way to capture the shots remains mostly the same. My first real experience of capturing events came in the form of wedding photography. As a photographer you just naturally become part of the day, blending into the crowds and making people feel comfortable with your presence. Giving yourself the best chance of being in the right place at the right time is all about doing a little research beforehand, so you know roughly when and where things will be happening throughout the day. Of course you should keep your eyes and ears open at all times to stay ahead of the game. Starting out your day For me, an event photography day starts as soon as I step outside the…

We may be allowed to get out and about more with our cameras now, but for many Digital Camera readers, home is still where the art is. So continuing our regular focus on photo housekeeping tasks and learning new skills, here are four new projects to get stuck into at home. This month’s project selections lean towards still-life photography, looking at practising portrait lighting and photographing products. Plus, for computer-savvy readers, we reveal how to build a bespoke photo website using a content management system. 38 Shoot a portrait without a model No family member on hand to help out? Then use a dressmaker’s mannequin head to hone your portrait and lighting skills PROJECT 1 PROJECT 2 42 How to build a photo website with WordPress This month, we’re looking…

Product photography may not seem like the most glamorous of tasks, but it’s a great way of learning how to introduce light sources into a still-life shoot. Plus, you’re bound to have a few unwanted bits and pieces lying around at home that are too good to throw away – and may have some residual value that’s worth trying to cash in on. But if you’d feel dubious about buying an item online that was accompanied by a poor-quality photograph, you should be wary of posting one yourself to attract a prospective purchaser. One of the challenges of shooting products is that you need to be close to the item so make it fill the frame, so that the image has plenty of detail a viewer can zoom in on…

Hand-crafted borders can give the ideal finish to an arty shot, but applying a border by painting it in with Photoshop brushes can be a time-consuming affair. On top of this, it can be difficult to create a truly natural, organic look unless you have a pressure-sensitive graphics tablet and a good selection of artistic brush types. The easiest way around both these problems is to use a set of pre-made templates created using real paint and brushes – and that’s what we have for you this issue. All the border templates have been painted by hand then photographed in high resolution, to bring you every nuance of the brushstrokes. Each border in the set of 20 has been sized to A4 to make printing convenient, but if you have…

It might be one of the trickier tools on offer in Photoshop, but the Pen Tool rewards those who persevere by granting you control over your images like no other image-editing control. It works by letting you plot a series of anchor points. Each anchor point spouts control handles that let you determine the curvature of the line. At first it might seem complicated and unwieldy to use, but with less practice than you think, the controls become second nature. In this tutorial we’ll use the Pen Tool to trace around the car, then use a Layer Mask to hide the original background and drop in an entirely new one. There are different selection tools for different tasks in Photoshop. If you want to make a rough selection, you might…

We often take the colour in the scenes we are photographing for granted. However, when it comes to shooting with a digital camera, there are several things you can do to ensure that the colour richness and interest that has attracted you to a scene in the first place is captured in all its glory, whether you’re shooting in JPEG or raw. By using certain simple accessories such as a circular polarising filter, a flashgun, or just making sure that the light direction on your subject is perfect for the picture you want to capture, you can improve our results with very little effort. All these tips will stand you in good stead when you venture out with your camera, and are worth keeping in mind next time you want…

Next time you raise your camera to your eye, think about why you’re attracted to capture the scene in front of you. It may be that the light, contrast, shapes and textures have a certain aesthetic appeal–but it’s just as likely that the colours have grabbed your attention. In the latter case, think about which colour is dominating and standing out. Being open to this way of looking at a scene will quickly inform you of a scene’s ‘accent’ colour. Once you identify which one dominates, you can enhance this visual idea in post-processing. The most dramatic way of showing an accent colour is to make that colour ‘pop’ out of a black-and-white background. This is illustrated above, where the red of the car has been picked as the accent…

Australian photographer Jasmine Carey won the world’s biggest photographic competition prize this year. Her touching underwater image of a mother humpback whale with its calf netted her a cool $120,000 in the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award. Now in their ninth year, the awards are known for their huge cash prizes, funded by the Crown Prince of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin RashidAl Maktoum. This year’s main competition was on the theme of ‘Water’. Jasmine Carey’s winning shot was taken in the Vava’u Islands in Tonga, using a Canon EOS 5D Mk IV in an underwater housing. Posting on her Instagram feed (@pxlexplorer), Jasmine said: “I am completely over the moon. I would like to thank His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed…

Go to www.digitalcameraworld.com for the latest news, reviews & techniques NEW LAUNCH Two full-frame mirrorless cameras from Canon Canon unveils EOS R6 Canon’s first launch during lockdown releases another fullframe mirrorless camera and four new lenses into the wild While the EOS R5 may have received all the headlines and attention ahead of going on sale at the end of July, the R6 has revealed itself as more interesting for stills shooters than its video-centric 8K sibling. And the fact that both cameras were officially unveiled alongside four new RF lenses, including an 800mm f/11, means that Canon’s mirrorless programme is running at full tilt. The EOS R6 has a 20MP full-frame sensor, a native ISO range of 100-102,400 (expandable to 100-204,800), a 12fps mechanical shutter/20fps electronic shutter, a 3.69…

Having photographed some of the best views on the planet for business and pleasure, and in his role as a Phase One ambassador, Paul hopes that the post-pandemic landscape will not carry on featuring the senseless spoiling of our natural world in the relentless pursuit of social media likes. Watch this video to see why Paul is so concerned: www.bit.ly/dc232paul The crowds that mob the world’s ‘honeypot’ locations aren’t showing humanity in a good light, are they? Sadly, no. We’re not looking too good at the moment, and the most frustrating thing is that we tend to see ‘other people’ as the problem. You have blogged about this, noting that it’s not just Instagrammers. Many landscape photographers are also behaving in the same way… I think one feeds the other.…

www.panasonic.co.uk £3,599/$3,999 Specifications Sensor: 24.2MP full frame CMOS Image processor: Venus Autofocus: 225-area DFD contrast AF ISO range: Dual Native ISO, 100-51,200 (exp 50-102,400) Max image size: 6,000 x 4,000 Metering modes: 1,728-zone, multi, centre-weighted, spot, highlight Video: 6K (5.9K) 3:2 24p, 5.9K 16:9 up to 30p, C4K/4K UHD up to 60p, unlimited recording time Viewfinder: OLED EVF, 5.76m dots, 100% coverage, 0.78x magnification Memory card: Two SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) Max burst: 9fps AFS/MF mode, 6fps AFC/Live View Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Size: 151 x 114 x 110mm Weight: 1,164g (including battery and memory card) The Panasonic Lumix S1H could easily look like a ‘video’ version of its 24-megapixel Lumix S1 mirrorless sibling: in the past it has been pretty difficult sometimes to unravel the different video credentials of Panasonic’s Lumix cameras.…

Whether you’re exploring city streets, trekking through the countryside or jetting off to the other side of the world, a bag full of lenses can feel like a real burden. A superzoom takes the weight off, delivering everything from generous wide-angle coverage to serious telephoto reach, all from a single and fairly compact lens. As well as being more travel-friendly, a superzoom enables you to react instantly to photo opportunities that demand wide-ranging focal lengths, with a simple flick of the wrist. Sticking to just one lens might seem counter-intuitive if you’ve bought a system camera that takes interchangeable lenses. Indeed, some superzooms can be a poor substitute for using the ‘right’ tool for the job. Inevitably, a massive zoom range comes with a compromise in outright image quality, while…

£429/$647 Like Canon, Nikon has designed a full-frame compatible superzoom lens for its latest mirrorless cameras. However, its delayed launch made it unavailable for this group test. In search of Nikon’s best existing superzoom, we’ve gone for the DX 18-200mm, which has a relatively compact and travel-friendly build but goes large on quality. Build quality and handling are very good. The lens feels sturdy and solid, despite being fairly light, and features a weather seal on its mounting plate. The switchable dual-mode optical VR (Vibration Reduction) system gives a useful 3.5-stop effectiveness. Performance Image stabilisation isn’t as good as in the newer Canon and Fujinon lenses on test but is still worth having. Image quality is very good, even without relying on in-camera corrections. Sharpness Sharpness is mostly very good,…

£349/$399 The larger of Sigma’s two lenses on test, this one is only 16mm longer at its minimum zoom setting. The physical length stretches rather more at the long end of the zoom range and it has more girth, with a 72mm filter thread. Like its smaller sibling, there’s a metal mounting plate but no weatherseal ring. As with other Global Vision lenses, it’s compatible with Sigma’s optional USB Dock. Upgraded glass sees the inclusion of four top-grade FLD (‘Fluorite’ Low Dispersion) elements along with one SLD element. Performance The motor-based ultrasonic system in this lens isn’t particularly speedy and is clearly audible, as well as lacking a manual override facility. The optical stabiliser gives a four-stop effectiveness, complete with auto panning detection. It beats Sigma’s smaller lens for image…

Going extra-large on zoom range while keeping the price budgetfriendly, Sigma’s 18-300mm Contemporary lens is the best buy for APS-C format Canon and Pentax DSLRs, as well as for Nikon and Sony A-mount cameras. Image quality is very impressive for a superzoom lens and it’s not overly big or heavy. The optical stabiliser works well in the Canon and Nikon versions, but is omitted in the Pentax and Sony editions. For Nikon DX format DSLRs, we prefer Nikon’s own 18-200mm VR, which delivers excellent performance and enhanced handling. Unlike in the Sigma and Tamron lenses on test, the focus ring doesn’t rotate during autofocus, and enables full-time manual override. For Canon EOS R-series full-frame mirrorless cameras, look no further than the RF 24-240mm. The five-stop optical stabiliser works a treat…

The digital advantage Your digital magazines can travel with you–even if you delete them, they’re free to re-download at any time. Subscribe today by visiting www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/photo Available on the following: Apple iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch Get the free Digital Camera app for your iPad or iPhone at www.bit.ly/app_DCM (UK) or www.bit.ly/app_DCW (the rest of the world), then browse through our back issues or buy a subscription using the app. Android, PC or Mac Zinio: www.bit.ly/DCW_Zinio Pocket Mags: www.pocketmags.com Other options Digital Camera is available for Kobo, Kindle, Nook and more. It can also be found on the all-you-can read Readly magazine app. Binders for your print issues Prefer print? Keep your mags together with our binder, which neatly holds a year’s worth of issues. We also sell back issues……

For us, simplicity is the key to a pleasing image, so we use the adverse conditions of winter to pare down the elements in a scene for us. Rows of trees look lovely in the summer, but it’s hard to get the subject separated from the background, so using the conditions we get in winter does the job for us. We use a Nikon D800 with a Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 lens and a Nikon D810 with a 24-120mm f/4 lens, plus sturdy Three Legged Thing carbon-fibre tripods. 1 Embrace bad weather Don’t be afraid to go out in adverse conditions. Some of the most dramatic light occurs in ‘bad’ weather. Be on-site sheltering and waiting for a storm to clear, and you could be rewarded with some amazing light. 2…

1 Understand your subject Spend time researching your subject. By observing groups of horses, you can soon see how they interact with one other, and which horse is in charge. Approach a local riding club to see if a member can guide you through key equine behaviour to watch for. 2 Get your model’s attention Sometimes a horse can be far more interested in eating grass than looking at the camera. If that’s the case, try rustling an empty crisp packet, or even gently shake a plastic bottle with sand or small stones in it. 3 Nail the regular shots first Before going for creative shots where the outcomes can be very variable, bag some traditional shots using a fast shutter speed (around 1/1,250 sec). Focus on the horse’s shoulders…

Instagram Inspiration Part 5 of 6 Engaging with your online audience isn’t just about posting regularly. Instagram offers a variety of tools for drawing attention to your work, including Stories and Highlights. Instagram describes Stories as a way to “share all the moments of your day, not just the ones you want to keep on your profile”. With a Story, people will see multiple photos and videos, appearing as a slideshow reel from the last 24 hours. To create a Story, access your camera, take a photo or record a video, and select Add To Story rather than your feed. After you’ve recorded content, there’s a range of filters, plus text and drawings that can be added. Highlights enable you to group old Stories together in a section that sits…

Whenever you take a photograph, you make a conscious decision about what to leave in and what to leave out of the frame. And what you leave in, where you choose to stand, and which angle you choose… all have an influence on the way an image will be seen and interpreted. This image was made in Glacier Bay in Alaska last summer. Most folks, including me, were jockeying for position against the railing to get ‘The Shot’ of the glacier in all its magnificent glory, maybe even capture it calving – it is a sight to behold. However, for me, the far more interesting image – and the one I’m pretty sure would have been overlooked by most – was revealed by taking a few steps back and making…

There are many things you can photograph at home, but you can really only practise portraiture with somebody to sit for you – and hiring and being in close proximity to a model isn’t the best idea right now. If you’re lucky, you might have a partner, family member or housemate willing to let you take some photos. But what if you don’t have someone under the same roof, or you don’t have someone willing to sit there for hours while you slowly perfect a range of different lighting setups? You could always try self-portraits. However, to really learn how to use your lights and to see how their placement affects your subject, you need to be on the other side of the camera. There is a solution, though –…

Over the last couple of months, we’ve been delighted to see some of our home-bound readers attempting the techniques we’ve been showcasing in the magazine – so it only seems fair to share more of these images with the wider Digital Camera community. Photography has always been a great diversion from the pressures of everyday life, and arguably never more so than during the conditions that were imposed during lockdown. Whatever kind of images you enjoy shooting, we’d like to see them. You could always try branching out into a new genre, using inspiration from Photo Active projects or our cover features. Share your images via social media or email and we’ll run our favourite shots in next month’s gallery. In the meantime, here’s the pick of your latest images……

1 Open your photos When Photolemur starts, you can drag one or more photos onto its mini-window to get started. While you’re editing your shots, click Open More to bring more images into the Photolemur interface. 2 Choose a photo You can open raw images from most cameras or JPEG files in Photolemur. Simply click on any shot from the selection you’ve opened to bring it into the main editing window and start restyling. 3 Before and after Watch while Photolemur analyses your photo, then view the result. The Before & After slider is a simple and fun way to compare your original with Photolemur’s enhanced version: just move the slider to see the change. 4 Choose a Style You can select different editing treatments with Photolemur Styles. Just click…

Adding vintage effects to digital photos is hugely popular at the moment. But if you want to take things beyond predictable one-click Instagram treatments, you need the right tools for the job. Affinity Photo offers an array of powerful image blending features that allow you to add a custom-made border, then apply textures and toning effects. The result is a vintage wet-plate effect from the days of film photography. Key to this technique is the ability that Affinity Photo allows you to combine images and effects on different layers. You can begin by dropping in a messy vintage border; I’ve supplied one with the project files (with a transparent centre so it’s easy to add in your own portraits). I’ve also included a couple of different textures. You’ll blend these…

Colour is such a natural part of our perception that most of us rarely think about it. As photographers, we simply react to subjects and scenes we find attractive or thought-provoking, and raise the camera to our shooting eye. We start weighing up the composition, the focus point and the way elements are balanced within the frame. We might think about the depth of field we’d ideally like, and how fast our shutter speed needs to be. But when it comes to colour, it’s just there: an integral, fixed part of the scene that’s as remote and immovable as a mountain in a landscape. Over the next dozen pages, we’re going on a journey that delves deeper into this core photographic element. We’re going to open the door on this…

Humans are hard-wired to react to, and be influenced by, colour. Sometimes our reaction to colour can be triggered by natural experiences or cultural references, but we see its influence in all manner of objects and situations as we go about our daily lives. You can easily see the psychology of colour at play in advertising. Companies use the colour green to persuade us that their product is fresh and ecologically friendly, for example, or the power of red to convince us that something is exciting and dynamic. In your photos, the predominant colour, whether it’s created by the subject in the scene or to a large extent by the temperature of light, has a large part to play in how the viewer perceives them. You can emphasise a different…

At the bottom of the Basic panel of Camera Raw (and Lightroom), there’s a Saturation control and a Vibrance slider. The difference between the two is often a source of confusion: they both have a similar effect of increasing or reducing the intensity of the colours when moved to the right or left. Their ‘global’ nature means their effects are applied across the entire scene, but there’s a key difference that separates them… SATURATION The Saturation slider in the Basic panel boosts or reduces all colours in the image, so it’s indiscriminate in the effect it gives. As a result, it can ruin an image by oversaturating bolder colours. VIBRANCE This is a ‘smart’ saturation control: it only increases the intensity of the leastsaturated colours, and leaves bolder colours alone.…

WINNER: CULTURE Mark 5:28 Antoine Veling When audience members were invited on stage to dance at an Iggy Pop concert at Sydney’s Opera House in 2019, it showed the warm welcome Aussies extend to overseas artists who travel long distances to reach them. A woman lunges to touch Iggy. He seems unaware of her approach as the crowd presses around him. One of Iggy’s assistants, Jos (in the grey checked shirt) tries to make some space around Iggy. The scene is quite reminiscent of a passage from the Bible: ‘Because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” ’ (Mark 5:25-34, line 28.) The image has been likened to religious paintings by Caravaggio, and his chiaroscuro technique. It went crazy on social media, making 40,000 people–including…

Fourth Cewe Photo Award open for entries The world’s largest photo competition is back, with the theme ‘Our World is Beautiful’. Amateurs and professionals have until 31 May 2021 to enter their best images in 10 different categories. cewephotoaward.com; free to enter Update available now for Luminar 4 The latest version of this image editor (see p62) is out now. Version 4.3 brings photo search, sharing through 500px, performance bumps, new crop tools and more. skylum.com; free upgrade from v4; £89/$89 (new) Nicole Elliott sling now available in the UK Designed specifically for women by the renowned US photographer Nicole Elliott, the eponymous product hugs the shoulders to distribute the load weight evenly. blackrapid.co.uk; £82/$74 NiSi NM-180 Macro Focusing Rail Get precision control over focusing in macro with this affordable…

£459/$399 www.canon.co.uk Specifications Mount: Canon RF Full frame: Yes Lens construction: 11 elements in 13 groups Diaphragm blades: 7 Minimum aperture: f/22 Minimum focusing distance: 20cm wide / 34cm tele (13cm wide in MF) Maximum magnification ratio: 0.21 wide (MF: 0.39) / 0.40 tele (MF: 0.5) Filter size: 67mm Dimensions: 77 x 89mm Weight: 395g The Canon RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 IS STM is a smaller, lighter and more affordable alternative to the Canon RF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM–the kit lens released with the Canon EOS R in October 2018. This lens’ primary features are represented by the differences to its big brother. It’s positively tiny compared with the form factor of the L-series version. It also features an STM (stepper) motor, rather than the USM (ultrasonic) of the L…

£829/$899 Most superzooms are designed for crop-sensor cameras; indeed, this is the only full-frame compatible lens in this test group. Canon does make an EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM for its full-frame DSLRs but it hardly qualifies as a travel lens, tipping the scales at 1,670g. By contrast, this RF-mount lens is 750g. Attractions include a fast and virtually silent Nano USM autofocus system, five-stop optical stabilisation and an electronically coupled control ring, which is switchable for manual focus or a range of other functions. Performance Levels of sharpness are very good, but uncorrected fringing and distortions are dire at some focal lengths. In-camera corrections and raw processing software will fix this very effectively, though, so image quality is ultimately impressive. Sharpness Sharpness is excellent apart from towards the corners…

£619/$598 The two main choices of superzooms for Micro Four Thirds cameras are this lens and the Olympus 14-150mm. They’re similarly priced but, on balance, we prefer the Panasonic. The 2x crop factor gives an effective zoom range of 28-280mm. It’s unfeasibly compact for a superzoom, weighing in at just 265g. Despite this, it packs in an optical image stabiliser. The lens features a virtually silent autofocus system based on a stepping motor. As with the Canon, Nikon and Fujifilm lenses, the focus ring remains stationary during autofocus but enables manual override. Performance Sharpness is good at both ends of the zoom range, but less impressive in the middle sector. Thanks to embedded corrections, distortions are minimal and colour fringing is negligible. Sharpness Mid-sector settings don’t deliver great sharpness, but…

A great-value contender £189/$199 When buying a lens for taking snapshots when you’re travelling or out and about, it makes sense to keep the price to a minimum, as well as the weight. This Tamron superzoom in Canon EF-S, Nikon F DX and Sony A mount options scores highly on both counts. It’s the least expensive lens in the test group and is particularly light, featuring a plastic rather than metal mounting plate. Representing a major redesign, this second edition of the lens adds VC (Vibration Compensation) and boasts an upgraded autofocus system. The focus ring rotates during autofocus and doesn’t enable full-time manual override. Performance The speed of the autofocus system is relatively sluggish, but the image stabiliser works well, with four-stop effectiveness. Image quality is respectable in all…

Billingham Hadley One www.billingham.co.uk Billingham makes a lot of camera bags, but the Hadley One’s standout feature is a 13in laptop slot behind the main compartment. It’s a practically sized bag without being unwieldy, although you only get a half-width padded insert included. The insert provided will swallow a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens, plus an ungripped full-frame body with a 50mm lens attached. The remaining space in the main compartment is great for personal effects, or you can add an optional second camera insert. Two large front pockets, meanwhile, are perfect for keeping lenses reachable during a shoot. These look pretty low-tech with a simple press-stud closure, but the gusseted sides mean they can expand to hold a lot more equipment than you might expect. But the real reasons you buy…