Table of contents for January 2024 in Digital Camera Magazine

With his series of atmospheric landscape shots having piqued our attention on Instagram, and with an intriguing ‘mist hunter’ soubriquet, we were keen to find out more about Sam Binding and his photography. Binding is based in Bristol and sells prints of images captured in a range of photographic haunts in southwest England and beyond. While weather conditions often feature in landscape photos, they’re not always the star. But Binding has chosen to make mist a key component of his photography and, in doing so, has carved out a niche for himself in a crowded field of scenics shooters. Wanting to discover more about how he approaches his craft – and why he started hunting misty conditions – we arrange to meet Binding early one morning at the Clifton Observatory…

I am a travel photographer from Alexandria in Egypt and would like to share with Digital Camera readers how I photographed the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Center is a 57,500 msq building complex designed by Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid and is noted for its distinctive architecture and flowing, curved style that eschews sharp angles. Instagram: @yasseralaamobarak 1 Do some research Research is important in my travel photography. For this shot, I spent a lot of time looking through thousands of photos of this building to learn how other photographers captured it. I wanted to be able to create something fresh, with a different interpretation of it. 2 Visit and repeat I visited the Center daily for 10 days at different times so I would be able to…

The latest theme of our monthly Photo Challenge is ‘Light’ – the word photography means ‘drawing with light’, so let’s celebrate the essential element of the medium. However you choose to meet this open-ended brief, we’re looking forward to seeing your best shot! Enter via email or Facebook Email your entry to digitalcamera@futurenet.com with ‘Light challenge’ as the subject, including a brief description of the image. Or look for the ‘Light challenge’ post at www.facebook.com/digitalcameraworld and upload your entry into the feed. Enter by 4 January 2024 (only one image per reader, please). The winner will be announced in issue 278 (March), on sale 2 February. (Please note that this competition is only open to readers based in the UK.) WIN A £50 CEWE WALL ART VOUCHER! Submit your best…

OVERALL WINNER & WINNER, PORTFOLIO AWARD ‘The Golden Horseshoe’ Laurent Ballesta (France) A tri-spine horseshoe crab moves slowly over the seabed, its golden protective carapace hiding the 12 appendages of its body. Above the horseshoe crab, a trio of juvenile golden trevallies are poised to dart down for any edible morsels ploughed up by its passage. The tri-spine horseshoe crab has survived for more than 300 million years but now faces habitat destruction and overfishing for food – and for its blood, which is used in the development of vaccines. However, in the protected waters off Pangatalan Island in The Philippines, there is hope for its survival. Marine biologist and photographer Laurent Ballesta has dedicated his life to exploring the oceans and revealing their wonder through art, leading a series…

07 BRING SPRING INDOORS When the first signs of spring start to emerge, we all seem to breathe a sigh of relief… however, we are also aware that April showers can go on way beyond April, so on those rainy days, bring the spring indoors. A flat lay is a great way to do this and can be achieved in a few easy steps. 1 SET UP THE BACKGROUND Lay down a piece of coloured card on a table and place it next to a large window. As you want to make your image bright and vibrant, coloured card will work best. 2 BOUNCE THE LIGHT To reduce the shadows, place a reflector on the opposite side to your main light source. This lifts the image and removes the stronger shadows for…

1 ‘Aurora’ by Tanya Maria “Taken at the base of the Great Orme, Llandudno, in north Wales. The combination of the aurora dancing in the night sky created a truly memorable experience for me, and capturing this on my camera gave me a real sense of achievement. I wanted to record a unique and visually stunning moment that showcases the beauty of nature and our night skies.” Instagram: @tanya_captured momentimages Digital Camera says: This fantastic capture by Tanya is enhanced by the detailed foreground and the inclusion of stars behind the magnificent colours of the aurora. It’s out of this world, Tanya! 2 ‘Beach Huts Out to Sea’ by Jo Griffiths “The coast around Margate lends itself to lots of photo opportunities. During a slow walk along Westbrook, the sun was…

COLOUR NOISE Colour or chrominance noise manifests itself as blotchy, random fluctuations of colour (usually red and green) caused by using high ISO speeds. It is noticeable in areas of even tone in low-light scenes. High levels of digital noise degrade image quality and impact on saturation, contrast and D-max, the depth of blacks. Fixed pattern noise is caused by ‘hot’ or ‘stuck’ pixels. These show up as bright dots, as heat builds up on the sensor during long exposures. LUMINANCE NOISE Luminance noise is random and colourless and shows up as fluctuations in brightness. Every digital image has some noise; the amount depends on the ISO speed – the higher it is, the greater the noise. Older cameras are noisier than newer models and this is also influenced by…

Most cameras have a noise reduction (NR) feature to minimise the grainy look of high ISO photos. Often high ISO NR can be used for all speeds but is most effective at higher speeds. Long exposure NR takes a ‘dark frame’ to get rid of fixed pattern noise. In-camera NR usually only benefits jpegs so with raws, you’ll have to build in time for noise reduction in the workflow. In the images below, we included raws treated with Adobe Lightroom’s Denoise, but DxO PureRAW and Topaz Denoise AI all work in similar ways. Raw is the most versatile format for editing, while jpeg is better for shots to use straight out of the camera. Jpegs are compressed and most of the image data is discarded so there’s only so much…

ISO invariance means deliberately underexposing at a particular ISO and then correcting for that underexposure in editing, giving the effect of shooting at the higher ISO in the first place. A camera with good ISO invariance will exhibit little difference between the underexposed shot and the one exposed at the ‘correct’ ISO. To explain, let’s say you set ISO 100, underexposed by one stop, then brightened that image in editing by one stop; in effect, you have an ISO 200 photo. In Photoshop or Lightroom, the limit for exposure correction is +/-five stops, so if you took a shot at ISO 100 and repeated the process by five stops, that is effectively an ISO 3200 image (-1 ISO 200, -2 ISO 400, -3 ISO 800, -4 ISO 1600 and -5…

How ISO is adjusted varies from camera to camera. It might be tucked away in the camera menu, available with a button press or in plain sight on the camera top plate. Now that we’ve got you thinking a little more deeply about ISO and its potential, knowing how to access and adjust the feature quickly is the next step. For speed, it pays to have ISO dedicated to one of the camera’s most accessible buttons so it can be varied even with the eye at the viewfinder eyepiece. In the menu shown above, changing the ISO value has been assigned to the camera’s depth-of-field preview button, which is located on the front of the camera. SEND US YOUR PHOTOS! Now you know how to use ISO like a pro,…

Blur filters have been around since the early days of Photoshop, but despite being relatively easy to blur pixels, it is tricky to mimic the effects of real optical lens blur. The challenge is to create a realistic fall-off around the point of focus, so the blur gradually becomes stronger the further away in front or behind the point of focus, just like optical blur. With the introduction of the new Lens Blur tool, depth-of-field effects have become a whole lot easier. Available in Lightroom and Photoshop’s Camera Raw, the Lens Blur tool employs AI to create a depth map that mimics in-camera lens blur. Essentially, it identifies which parts of the scene are closer to the camera and which are further away. It determines the subject of the photo…

What is cross-processing? The term cross-processing dates back to the days of film and refers to a technique where you deliberately process a roll of exposed film in the wrong chemicals. Why would you want to do that – and what was the result? That depended on which film you put in which chemicals. For example, cross-processing C41 colour negative film in the chemicals for E6 slide film created a blueish, tonally subdued result. It wasn’t particularly natural looking, but it became extremely popular as a creative effect, especially for portraiture. Do I need to use film to achieve this creative effect today? No, it’s easy to recreate the cross-processed look with digital post-processing in software such as Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom Classic. What’s the quickest way? There are…

Showcasing the latest killer camera tech ahead of the summer Olympics in Paris, the Sony A9 III offers sports and action professionals 24.6MP of resolution, captured via a full-frame global shutter. A ‘transformative’ new development, a global shutter exposes every frame on the sensor at the same time and banishes the distortion, flicker and banding produced by conventional sensors when images are shot at high speed. Other top tech in the A9 III includes a maximum shutter speed of 1/80,000 sec, the ability to rattle off 120fps images at full 24.6MP resolution, in 14-bit jpeg and raw formats, up to eight stops of IBIS and phase-detection AF with 759/627 points (stills/video). www.sony.co.uk; £6,099/$5,998 (body only) Go to www.digitalcameraworld.com for the latest news, reviews & techniques…

www.duckettphotographer.com An editorial and commercial photographer, Duckett has worked for many leading newspapers and businesses, but his main passion is street photography. The principal and course tutor at Streetsnappers, a specialist in street photography workshops and tutorials in London and cities across Europe, Duckett has just published his second 52 Assignments book for Ammonite Press. What first attracted you to photography, and which photographers inspired you when you were starting out? I was lucky to have a great art teacher who inspired me from an early age. At school, I convinced myself that the guy with the camera around his neck would be more attractive to girls (not so, sadly). The people I really looked up to were the likes of David Bailey, Lord Snowdon, Norman Parkinson and Patrick Lichfield…

www.omsystem.com Yeah, that picture on the following spread? That’s the OM System Tough TG-7 sitting in a glass of water, with a cat taking a drink for good measure. Why? Well, why not? After all, the camera is waterproof – and I mean, seriously waterproof. Not waterproof like an iPhone, where you’re scared to take it into water because it can get damaged by anything from the pressure in a shower head to the salt in seawater. No, the OM System Tough TG-7 is properly waterproof. So, there it is – just chilling in a glass of water while I write this review. The OM System Tough TG-7 is a compact camera with a difference: it’s waterproof, shockproof and freezeproof. It has a GPS as part of a full Field…

DSLR & MIRRORLESS CAMERAS PLUS: Our best-buy accessories DSLRs Sensor sizes at a glance Three formats dominate DSLR and mirrorless cameras… Full-frame (36 x 24mm) These imaging sensors have similar proportions to a frame of 35mm film. APS-C (≈ 25.1 x 16.7mm) Based on the Advanced Photo System film format from the 1990s. Micro Four Thirds (17.3 x 13mm) The 4:3 aspect ratio allows smaller and lighter lenses to be used. Wise buys Landscape lenses Good, better and best… three optics for shooting scenics Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG HSM Price: £1,269/$1,299 Verdict: Well-made and optically excellent, this lens for Canon and Nikon DSLRs is a real bargain. Sharpness is impressively consistent. Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8L IS USM Price: £2,389/$2,399 Verdict: Its 35mm reach offers extra flexibility for shooting landscapes, and it…

While the majority of interchangeable lenses are designed to fill the proportions of a full-frame sensor, plenty of digital cameras use sensors that are smaller than full-frame (see page 107). As they are exposed to a smaller part of the picture projected by a lens, smaller sensors produce a magnification effect, with the ‘cropped’ image looking as though it has been taken with a longer lens. The focal length of the lens hasn’t increased – a 50mm lens is a 50mm lens, regardless of the camera it’s attached to – but the ‘crop factor’ of the sensor makes it appear that it has. Other differences that the sensor size makes include the larger pixels gathering light more efficiently so you’ll get cleaner, better-quality images at high ISO settings. Plus, it’s…

Christophe Jacrot Climate photographer A native of France, Jacrot has just published his sixth book – we hear what draws him to the bad weather he likes to photograph and why he does it, from page 120 Will Cheung Photographer and writer A fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and the former editor of many photography titles, Cheung is the man behind Camera Clinic, which continues on page 68 Claire Gillo Photographer and writer Digital Camera’s former technique editor now specialises in creative and fine-art photography – you can find her latest photo project contributions from page 16 Steve McCurry Photographer The Magnum Photos legend has published a collection of images on the theme of ‘devotion’. We go behind the scenes of one of his images on page 76 Jon…

1 “Take time to get the composition right – you can’t go back to fix it afterwards – and always shoot with a grid overlay.” 2 “Try to reduce clutter in an image – you don’t want the viewer to ask ‘What’s going on here?’” 3 “Use the electronic horizon line to level the camera – there’s no way of rescuing a wonky image that has been taken on a telephoto lens.” 4 “Know the camera’s limitations and maximise what it can do – how it handles digital noise.” 5 “Get to know the sweet spot of all your lenses, so you can shoot at the aperture that gives you sharpness across the image frame.” 6 “Shoot in manual exposure mode and use Live View.”…

Winter offers a great opportunity to experiment with high-key lighting, a style commonly seen in black and white portraiture. It means making the white parts of the frame brighter, so the high-key approach works well with photos of buildings captured against white snow. It also enables you to get more detail in your shots by shooting at lower ISO settings. 1 Keep the ISO low Due to lower levels of daylight in the winter months, there’s a temptation to use higher ISO settings. But we want to capture as much detail as possible, not image noise, so are setting the ISO no higher than 400, ideally at 100 or 200. Now you’re ready to take your shots, but the snowy whites need a boost so it’s time to brighten them…

1 Stabilise the camera I always shoot this technique with a Manfrotto Pixi mini tripod. It’s small and extremely strong but most importantly it allows me to achieve the low angle that makes these shots stand out. Due to the required shutter speeds, it’s also impossible to shoot long exposures without some sort of camera support. 2 Prepare the wire wool Steel wool is readily available from most hardware shops and is extremely cheap to buy. To house the wool, I place it inside an ordinary kitchen whisk – I’ve found that it’s best to pull the wool apart before doing this, as this allows more air to get to the wool and create better sparks. 3 Dial in the shutter speed The shutter speed is the most crucial setting…

It’s time to bid farewell to 2023 and say hello to 2024! The new year is always a great time to start afresh and to reassess your ambitions and aims for the year. As well as thinking of the personal changes you want to make, you can also think about what you want to achieve from your photography – and at Digital Camera, we are here to help you do just that. To get you started, we’ve curated 24 fabulous photo projects for you to try throughout the year. The aim is to tackle one project every fortnight so you can explore different genres and use different skills that will help you grow as a photographer. To make it easier to follow, we’ve themed the projects into seasonal categories, starting…

13 SPLASH & SHOOT Jumping into the sea or a large body of water is great fun to do and you can get some eye-catching photographic results at the same time. To make sure your shots are sharp, set your camera to fire in the fastest burst mode you have and ensure your AF setting is set to the tracking feature, so you can follow your subject. You may need to get your model to do a few jumps to get the perfect shot. 3 TOP TIPS • It’s all about communication. Speak to your model first to tell them where they need to jump so you can be ready to get the action shot. • Shoot a sequence of images and either pick the best of the bunch or…

Of the three exposure musketeers, ISO is the most recent. That’s not because film speed hasn’t been around for a long time – because it has – but with film, it isn’t possible to change speed with the same joyous alacrity that we can on our digital cameras. Essentially, you are limited to the film’s quoted speed. Of course, you can always underexpose for richer colours or push-process, or shoot half the roll at one speed and the other at a different speed and then clip test during processing, but ultimately, your options are limited. Furthermore, the fastest film you can buy is ISO 3200. That’s nothing when most digital cameras have a native range that tops out at ISO 12,800 or 25,600 – and many go way beyond if…

AVOID HIGH ISOs Avoid using high ISOs – set a wider aperture, slower shutter or fix the camera on a tripod. Of course, much depends on the subject and the situation – if you’re shooting birds in flight, you have no choice. Learn how your camera performs at high ISO speeds so you can avoid using speeds where the quality isn’t great. Use a tripod and shoot a low-light scene using every ISO. Check the results at 100% on screen and you’ll see noise increasing with speed. EXPOSE TO THE RIGHT Noise is more obvious in underexposed shots and areas of shadow. When correcting images in software, there are fewer levels in shadows so when we lighten them, the noise is more obvious. Expose to the right, using the camera’s…

How you control ISO is important. There is much to be said for using Auto ISO with a limited range of ISO 400 to 6400 rather than the full range, but another way of controlling ISO is to go manual, adjusting the ISO as you go from one scenario to another. It’s not a method that will suit everyone but it is a great way to learn more about light and how ISO combines with aperture and shutter speed. ✓ Noise reduction For cleaner jpegs, use the camera’s noise reduction settings. Different levels are available, so start with standard or normal and experiment from there. ✓ Upgrade your camera If you own an older digital camera and are unhappy with its high ISO performance, the quickest remedy is to invest…

Most digital cameras have an Auto ISO setting and this incredibly useful feature automatically adjusts speed as you go from bright light to darker situations. As a default, the camera will be set to work with its full native ISO range. In principle, there’s nothing wrong with that but the highest speeds can be disappointing with poor detail rendition, weak colour saturation and a strong grainy look, so you may prefer to cap the working range. For instance, if your camera’s top ISO speed is 25,600, setting a ceiling of 3200 or 6400 would make sense. Do this in the ISO speed settings menu, where you can also often set the slowest shutter speed when you want auto ISO to kick into action. Control your depth For this picture of…

We spend a lot of money on lenses that are designed to minimise flare – those nasty internal reflections that occur between the elements in your lens and that can degrade your photo. Plus, lens flare also looks unprofessional. So, to reduce the chances of this, we opt for lenses with special coatings and buy expensive filters. But then we look at a lot of modern landscape images and see that there’s subtle flare being used to enhance them. So should we abandon all hope and just go for the cheaper option, saving ourselves some money in the process? No, not at all. It’s far wiser to start with a better photo and enhance it ourselves. Indeed, creating a repeatable and recognisable look could become your style. You might think…

There is a stark and moody landscape shot hiding in this fairly bland raw file image, so let’s try and bring it out. Using Adobe Camera Raw, we’ll start by changing the composition. In the Transform Panel, let’s scale the image up so that the foreground rock becomes more dominant and acts as an anchor 1. Next, in the Masking panel, we’ll choose the Select Sky option and then darken the whole of the sky area, moving the Exposure slider to -50 and boosting the Clarity to +20 2. We also want to select the land area to make a few adjustments here. We can do this by selecting another Sky Mask and inverting it. Now, we can increase the Clarity and desaturate it a little to make the whole…

Regular readers may recall that we reviewed the AI-based image editor Radiant Photo in issue 262 (December 2022). Now the team is back with a mobile-first version of the software: Radiant: AI Photo & Video Editor. This new app for Android and iOS offers the convenience and power of the desktop-based software in the comfort of your hand. The Radiant Photo app uses scene detection, smart presets, AI enhancement, tone, colour and details, plus optional portrait tools and colour grading, to transform the images in your phone’s camera roll and sync with your computer. It will free you up to spend more time taking photos.  radiantimaginglabs.com; free (Radiant Photo Mobile); $4/m (Radiant Photo Mobile Pro)…

www.nikon.co.uk The Nikon Z f isn’t the manufacturer’s first attempt at reviving the style of film cameras for the digital age. The Nikon D f arrived in 2013 but failed to garner any sequels. Nikon dipped its toe in the water again in 2021, with the Nikon Z fc and got a different reaction. Nikon claimed that demand for the Z fc far exceeded its expectations, showing that there was a serious appetite for cameras with a vintage aesthetic. The Nikon Z fc was universally well received; we gave it a near-perfect score, enamoured with its vintage looks but criticising its build quality and ergonomics. However, after the release of the Z fc, users demanded a full-frame version with the same classic styling, so it was inevitable that Nikon would…

www.nikon.co.uk The Nikkor Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena has a tough act to follow. We were impressed when we reviewed the Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.2 S, but the Plena sets out to take everything to a whole new level. Naturally, it doesn’t have such a fast aperture rating (which would be impractical) but the longer focal length still enables a tight depth of field. We love the way the Plena is perfectly suited to tight head-and-shoulders portraiture but also for still-life photography and any time you want to compress perspective with a medium telephoto focal length while isolating the main subject within a scene by blurring its surroundings. Key features The performance of the Plena is top-drawer, thanks to an impeccable design that puts its glass at the top of…

Lens release To remove the lens, press the button and twist the lens anti-clockwise. Use the protective body cap, so you don’t leave the sensor exposed to dust. Shutter release To shoot, press the shutter release button. To focus and meter the scene, half press the shutter release. Lens A DSLR is far more versatile than a camera with a fixed lens because you can change lenses and alter the angle of view. Sensor This is where your images are recorded before being processed and stored on your memory card. Mode dial The mode dial is where you access the camera’s shooting modes. For first-time users, the fully Auto mode selects all the camera settings for you. Hotshoe To attach a flashgun, slot it into place and tighten the catch on the…

Entry-level DSLRs have around seven to nine AF points, whereas a high-end mirrorless, such as the Canon EOS R3, has 4,779. Cameras that offer a densely populated array of AF points across the viewfinder make it easier to focus on subjects that aren’t in the centre of the picture. A large number of AF points also makes for smoother focus tracking, as the camera can ‘hand off’ autofocus from one point to the next and more accurately follow a subject moving across the picture. AF point array AF points are clustered towards the centre of a DSLR viewfinder. An AF point array typically contains standard AF sensors that measure sharpness in one plane and ‘cross-type’ AF sensors that are more precise. Types of AF point Beginner cameras may have one cross-type…

Having a social media presence has helped Binding develop his photography practice. It has connected him with like-minded people who go out together to take photos, pool information about promising weather conditions before shoots, as well as share technical insights and general advice. Social media is also a great way of sharing portfolios of images and helping generate print sales. “I’d be out at the crack of dawn walking around Bristol harbour and another photographer would be there,” says Binding. “We’d get chatting and would connect on Instagram. Now, I have a large friendship group of people who I’ve met through my photography. “The Igers Bristol group gets everyone together – it’s a real community and is supportive of many different types of photography.” (@igersbristol) Instagram: @sambinding…

10 things you can shoot, edit or create this month, from the moon to wire wool sparks and architecture The sea is such an amazing subject to photograph and its movement is one that many photographers like to capture, whatever the time of day. During the winter months, the sea can be photographed in many different states – from pancake flat to ferociously stormy – and also, surprisingly, in pitch darkness. First, though, a word of warning. Take care! It’s easy to get caught out, become cut off from the tide or get that bit too close to the edge and suddenly be out of your depth. It isn’t worth the risk to your kit or, more importantly, yourself. Always do your research and visit each location in the daytime…

How do you trick your brain into having creative breakthroughs? The answer is not what you think. For 624 weeks, I have been participating in (and running) a free weekly photography project www.52frames.com, where a community of photographers submit a single photo according to a different weekly challenge. If I’m being honest, most weeks, I’m tired. Uninspired. This is my ‘default brain’. But as the Sunday night deadline approaches, nervous excitement sets in as I think about what photo to take and I’ll find myself taping a cardboard cutout I made onto a small LED panel in my basement. (Week 40 Challenge: ‘Use a Cucoloris’) ‘Forced creativity’ sounds counterintuitive, but when you intentionally limit yourself to a window of time, the inspiration to start the task becomes stronger and it…

LOW ISO/SLOW SHUTTER SPEED West Burton Falls in the Yorkshire Dales was in full flow and to achieve a milky water result, it required a slow shutter speed. With the camera and 70-200mm lens on a tripod, I took my first test shot at a speed of 1.2 secs at f/22 and ISO 400 and, although that produced a nice blur in the flowing water, I decided to go even slower. The first consideration was the tree branches, which I preferred not to blur. Thankfully, it was a still day so there was no problem here. To get a longer shutter, I dropped down from ISO 400 to ISO 100 to give an extra two f/stops of blur and the final exposure was 5 secs at f/22. MEDIUM ISO/FAST SHUTTER…

At their widest apertures, fast prime lenses give wonderful shots with background blur but in bright light or if you want to use flash, you might run out of shutter speeds. You can get round it if your camera has an electronic shutter, but these suffer from rolling shutter and banding in artificial light plus most do not sync with flash. Another option is to use an ND filter. The simplest solution is to use a slow ISO. Depending on the camera, you may have ISO 50 or 80 (often denoted by L in the ISO dialog box) and using that will avoid overexposure. This portrait was a daylight shot with flash providing some fill-in. I wanted model Hazel’s eyes sharp, but not much else, so I had an 85mm…

FILE & VIDEO www.digitalcameraworld.com/dc276 VIDEO TRAINING The issue 276 download includes video lessons that build on our tutorials, plus bonus videos with extra tips! www.digitalcameraworld.com/dc276  BONUS SOFTWARE EXTRAS: Actions for Photoshop and two sets of presets for Lightroom Page 84 LIGHTROOM Recreate lens flare effects PHOTOSHOP Transform foliage with Hue/Saturation PHOTOSHOP Make a Christmas collage LIGHTROOM Give your shots a simple retro makeover PHOTOSHOP Time blending your landscape shots CAMERA RAW & LIGHTROOM Explore the Lens Blur panel PHOTOSHOP Actions and what they do PHOTOSHOP Work with background layers Download 68 minutes of video training for Lightroom and Photoshop FILE & VIDEO www.digitalcameraworld.com/dc276…

WATCH THE VIDEO! Now that summer has come to an end and the colder months are upon us, getting out to shoot can be a battle with the weather. When the days are good, they can be amazing. But when it’s grey and wet outside, getting down to some photo editing can be the perfect way to keep the creative juices flowing. And what better images to work on than those lush green spring and summer landscapes you shot a few months ago? We’re going to play with the Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer to completely change the way that greens appear in the landscape. But contrary to expectation, it’s the yellow rather than the green colour channel that plays the biggest role in adjusting foliage. From deepened natural colours to warmer…

Photo by Fujifilm hits UK high streets Fujifilm has refreshed its photo printing services across 150 independent UK retail partners. Fresh new exteriors will be rolled out, while inside, the latest tech will offer customers a selection of personalised photo gifts. www.fujifilm.com/uk The Photography & Video Show 2024 Tickets are on sale now for this leading event, which returns to the NEC Birmingham on 16-19 March 2024. For more information, and to buy tickets, go to: bit.ly/dcm274tps2024 DxO updates PureRAW to version 3.7 While this noise reduction and lens correction software already works as an export plug-in for Lightroom Classic, PureRAW 3.7 allows processed images to be placed into any Lightroom Collection or within any Collection Set. www.dxo.com; £/$ free (for PureRAW 3 users)…

Canon EOS R6 Mark II £2,779/$3,599 A hybrid camera that packs some firepower, with 24.2MP stills at 40fps and up to 6K video, plus AF detection for trains, planes and horses. Reviewed: issue 264 Fujifilm X-T5 £1,699/$1,699 Takes the X-T4 further in terms of resolution but is ideal for those who want a lightweight camera with traditional controls and a 40.2MP resolution. Reviewed: issue 263 Nikon Z fc £899/$957 This DX-format Z camera is a pleasure to operate and captures quality images to boot. Matching ‘SE’ lenses complement its good looks. Reviewed: issue 247…

www.sigma-global.com The Sigma 60-600mm F4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports for Sony and L-mount cameras has some history behind it. In 2001, the so-called ‘Bigma’ was born – a unique lens for SLRs with a 50-500mm zoom range and an updated version, weighing 1,840g, was launched in 2010. It was eclipsed in 2018 by the Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports, weighing 2.7kg. Sigma chose not to add Sony E and Leica L mount options for mirrorless cameras, instead redesigning the ‘DN’ mirrorless version, which is still a hefty 2,485g. A similar contender for Sony shooters is the Tamron 50-400mm F4.5-6.3 Di III VXD. This one kicks off with the natural perspective of a 50mm focal length but doesn’t stretch as far into super-telephoto territory, topping out at 400mm. On…

When you push the ISO higher on a camera, colours become muddier, and dynamic range (the amount of detail captured from shadows to highlights) drops off. But the most obvious side effect is an increase in the ‘noise’ – this is the digital equivalent of film grain but even less palatable, with the image covered in ugly coloured speckles. ISOs in the region of 100 to 400 produce cleaner, richer and more detailed images; however, they require more light to make an exposure. This can be achieved by shooting with either a larger aperture or a slower shutter speed – or both. You can take a picture at low ISOs without making these adjustments, but it will take longer to make the exposure and that could result in a blurred…

Before starting to record video, the fundamental decision to make is which movie-recording size to use. This is largely determined by three functions: the image size or resolution, the frame rate (how many images are recorded each second) and the level of compression. The choice of resolution is key, as this determines how much detail can be recorded, with 4K being offered by the majority of current cameras. There are, in fact, two 4K standards: TV-friendly 4K UHD (3,840 x 2,160 pixels) and a wider, more cinematic 4K ‘DCI’ (4,096 x 2,160). If you have space available on your memory card or external recorder, it pays to shoot at the highest resolution your camera allows, as you can always reduce this later. That said, shooting at a lower resolution usually…

There’s no such thing as bad weather, so the saying goes – only the wrong clothing. While most of us would be happy to put up with some discomfort en route to capturing a scintillating scenic view, going outdoors specifically to take photos of appalling weather conditions is surely not a major motivation. However, this was the raison d’etre of the French photographer Christophe Jacrot for his latest book, Lost in the Beauty of Bad Weather. So what motivates Jacrot to document “the rain, the snow, the wind [and] the cinematic emotions they conceal”, as he expresses it in the book’s introduction? We sat down with him to find out more about him and his project… What first attracted you to photography, and what has been your photographic journey since…

The digital advantage Digital magazines can travel with you – even if you delete them, they are free to download again later. Subscribe today by visiting: www.magazinesdirect.com/categories/photography-and-design Available on Available on the following: Apple iOS devices Get the free Digital Camera app for your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch at: www.bit.ly/app_DCM (UK) or www.bit.ly/app_DCW (outside UK) Then browse through our back issues or buy a subscription (see page 40 for offers) 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 (see above). It can also be found on the all-you-can-read Readly magazine app: https://gb.readly.com/ Printed back issues Prefer print? We also sell a limited selection of recent back issues – issues 268-275 are currently available.…