50 Lux Magazine Issue 3 2013

50 Lux Callum Broom ____________________________ Heavy sounds Ayden Amamze ____________________________ Look out!

Morganna Magee ____________________________ In conversation DARKROOM ___________________________ Developing your film CANON 70D __________________________ The next gen enthusiast SLR NIKON FM/FE __________________________ Buying a film camera

Issue #3 | Spring 2013 Carlos Santana. Copyright Callum Broom

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Welcome Hi everyone.

Issue 3 | Spring 2013

Welcome to our third issue.

50 Lux Magazine PO Box 319 Croydon Victoria Australia 3136

In this issue we talk to two young photographers from Melbourne’s Acadamy of Design.

Callum Broom has the job that many young photographers dream of.

He photographs some of the major bands on the local and international scene. His photograph of rock guitar legend Carlos Santana features on the cover.

Along side Callum is Ayden Anamaz. Ayden has taken a different approach and is showcasing a range of more artistic work, including collages and infrared techniques. His images of stunt drivers at work are well and truly in the Don’t Try This At Home category.

The Ballarat International Foto Biennale has come and gone for 2013.

I was quite involved with the festival this year with my own exhibition, and attendance at the inaugral symposium run by the Photography Studies College. However, it was my involvement with the Education Programme that was perhaps the most rewarding. One group of Phoenix College students did the narrative workshop with Morganna Magee, a photojournalist who also features in this issue. The students impressed us with their creativity and originality carrying out the task of story telling with photography.

In our Past Master for this edition was to be Polixeni Papapetrou.

However her ongoing illness has delayed matters. Therefore we have brought forward the equally important conversation with former News Limited photographer Morganna Magee.

In our practical pages we look at how a camera works, plus the basic camera operations.

Our equipment review is Canon’s 70D. This update to the ‘enthusiast’ level camera has brought some interesting technical inovations. We also kick off an ongoing series on film cameras with the Nikon FM/FE series.

The darkroom series continues. Here we look at processing black and white film. You don’t need a darkroom to do this, and anything other than the cheapest scanners do a good job at scanning film. So you can edit and print your film via your computer.

Remember too that all the issues from issue two will always be available for download for free. This is our final edition for the year, we’ll be back in February 2014.

Andrew Renaut Editor

Published by: Andrew Renaut editor@50lux.org To advertise contact: sales@50lux.org Web site and layout: Andrew Renaut Graphic Elements: Meg Armstrong Animation: Victoria Gridley Marketing: Meg Sceri

Notice To Readers and Advertisers: The publishers of 50 Lux Magazine take every care in the production of each issue of this publication but we are not liable for any editorial error, omission, mistake or typographical error. In the case of advertising material supplied, we as the publishers, make no representation and provide no warranty as to the accuracy of descriptions or offers within said advertising.

As publishers we accept no liability for any loss, which any person may incur while relying on the accuracy or description of any statement, image or photograph herein. The views expressed by all contributors are not necessarily those of the publisher.

50 Lux Magazine reserves the right to decline any advertising for any reason.

Copyright 50 Lux Magazine 2013: ALL of the content published in this magazine is subject to copyright held either by the publisher in the whole or in part by the contributing photographers, their agents, or estates.

Any infringement may incur legal action. No part of this magazine may be used in part or in full in any way without the express written permission of the publisher.

editor@50lux.org 50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

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Featuring Callum Broom Callum Broom photographs bands, mostly heavy metal, both live in concert and for promotional work.

Ayden Aramze Ayden Amamze currently does event photography at Crown in Melbourne, but here we showcase some of his fashion and stunt images.

His work with modified infrared cameras is something quite different too.

Morganna Magee Morganna Magee is a documentary photographer, who has worked for News Limited, and many major brands

Cover

The cover of this issue features Callum Broom’s image of legendary guitarist Carlos Santana at one of his recent concerts in Melbourne.

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Contents Welcome

2

Student Showcase

5

Callum Broom

7

Ayden Amaze

16

Morganna Magee

25

SLR Camera Basics

36

Introduction to film processing

39

Review - Nikon FM/FE

44

Review - Canon 70D

47

Parting Shots

48

50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

Student Showcase

Phoenix College Ballarat

At a recent two day Ballarat International Foto Biennale workshop for secondary students was run by Morganna Magee at the Ballarat Art Gallery. Attendees came from Pheonix College in Sebastapole, and were set an overnight assignment to document their environment.

Part of the day two exercises was to learn some basic Photoshop to tidy-up images and create monochrome finals.

The results of the assignment varied widely from pictures of parents to favourite pets.

Our showcase image by year 10 student Shannon is of a goat that wasn’t exactly a pet, but the goat obviously thought it was. It followed Shannon around the farm in a somewhat menacing way as she found other parts of her life to photograph. This was made all the more haunting with the use of high levels of contrast.

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Anglea

Jess

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April

Bianca

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The Graduate Callum Broom Callum is a graduate of the Acadamy of Design in Port Melbourne. His current interest is in the heavier end of the music scene. Although based in Melbourne his photographic work takes him on the road across Australia with bands.

I spoke to Callum at seven:am Cafe in Port Melbourne.

How did you get into photography as it were?

Back in 2009 – I didn’t have any interest in photography before then – I had a choice of either Studio Art or Biology for Year 12. I didn’t want to do Biology, so I figured I’d do Studio Art and choose the photography side of it. I started by playing with an old Olympus digital SLR, and got it into it from there. It was more a means to pass Year 12 than a potential career.

From the Olympus, I bought a Nikon D60. I took it everywhere. It was always on the Auto setting then. I just took lots of pictures of random things that I saw and built a general folio.

Although I liked photography, I wasn’t really sure I wanted to do it as a career, so I went to PIC in Hawthorn here in Victoria. That’s where I really got into photography and learnt to use the camera more.

What was your experience applying for Uni? I got one of those so called Snap offers through VTAC for the RMIT photography Bachelor course. But as I hadn’t really done much photography before, I didn’t want to commit to three years until I was sure of what I wanted to do.

So I enrolled in the Certificate 4 and Diploma course at PIC and did the first year before taking up the offer at the Academy of Design in Port Melbourne.

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TONIC. Copyright Callum Broom 50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

What advice would you give to students applying for e-mailing and Facebook messaging me. So I turned myself into a business and started charging people! courses?

Look carefully at all the prerequisites as early as possible.

If they require a folio, don’t focus it on just one thing.

Make it as wide as possible. They want to see different types of photography and different skills. They don’t want to see all portraits or all the same lighting. Try different approaches to depth-of-field, some with single lighting sources and some with multiple sources. All different stuff really.

How would you recommend students present their folios at interviews?

Some students have started presenting with iPads, whilst others are creating photo books. Others just took in loose photos. If the school has a poor printer, it’s worth having some of the shots taken to a professional lab. You need to stand out from the others, so anything that is different so they remember you.

I only do free jobs now if it’s something I really want to do. I get a gig list from the promoters saying what you can do, but they won’t pay, so I’m really picky about the work I take and the work I don’t. Sometimes though I go to a band that I don’t necessarily like if I know someone important is going to be there. I go to quite a few gigs each week even though I don’t necessarily like the music. These days it’s all about networking through Facebook etc.

What’s it like dealing with the bands, the managers, and the record labels?

The bands are usually pretty nice to deal with. They pay you straight away as they are struggling for money too.

So they know what it’s like. Promoters on the other hand can be terrible. Communication can be bad and they can take months to pay you. They will pay you in the end, but they hold on to it as long as they can. As They understand that not everyone is technically good, with anything, the more you get to know people the or has access to great equipment, so they really look faster they respond. at the pictures themselves. They understand you are in Year 12. When you get into a course they teach you I work with the local labels that bring over the big names from the bottom, so the technical aspects are not so in heavy music. I work for Artery Foundation out of important at that stage.

Sydney, who are one of the biggest promoters in the world. I met them by accident at a gig.

What was the attitude to paid assignments while you were at Uni? What was your first paid job?

Because of the type of work I was doing, I sometimes tried to double up on my paid and Uni work. Sometimes I would take extra shots to cover my Uni brief. The tutors were always good at giving feedback on the paid work.

They might suggest I change this or change that. They were always willing to help out in that way, but you can’t always use the paid shots for the Uni folio as the briefs can be different.

You also have to be careful because the Uni often owns 50% on the copyright. They make you sign a waiver so they use the images for web sites and other publicity.

My first major paid job was for Melodic Music here in Melbourne. They didn’t have a photographer, so a mate who worked there said come in. They gave me three jobs straight away. I’ve done quite a few shoots for them now.

I hadn’t done any promo shoots before, just live bands.

I said I knew what I was doing… . It worked out and I’m still there.

With the promo shoots do you do many studio jobs?

How do you approach working with stylists, make-up artists etc.?

How did you go about finding those first paid They are mainly location shoots in laneways etc. We sort assignments? out the locations before the hand, usually it’s just near A bit by accident really. I first started at Uni because the promoters offices or their hotel. I don’t usually use I was thinking of becoming a photography teacher, but stylists, MUA’s etc. for the groups. With the solo artists, the photography has become a job along the way. I’ve especially the females, we use them, and I just put a call always liked going to gigs, and then I met someone at out on Facebook. The same if I need an assistant, I’ll just Atticus and they got me a media pass to the Lost Profits make a Facebook post and I’ll get about 10 replies. who are a Welsh band. Then I used that experience to get into a few more bands, and then people started Usually with Melodic Music, the owner comes along.

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Above Taylor Swift, following spread Carlos Santana. Copyright Callum Broom 50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

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He knows exactly what the people who are selling the artist want. What styles they want to look like, clothes, locations, and so on.

Do you think you were prepared for the life of a photographer at Uni? No not really. If I had continued at PIC I might have been, but at Uni it is so much theory based. It not that the tutors are not good at what they do, it more that because it is a Bachelor Degree there is are so many government requirements. The courses are become so generalised that all the visual arts students seem to be doing the same thing, and I felt that some of the art history related to painters for example, just wasn’t relevant to what I was interested in.

I felt that I could have been learning more practical things and more things related to running a business.

Everybody does the same set of units each semester, and then a couple of electives. I thought there could have been a greater number of electives.

Did you learn about the business side of running a photography practice?

Yes, we did a few classes on the business side of things.

We did a couple of practical ones that taught about working with a photographer, doing business plans, and a feasibility plan, which is useful. Then we had a class called something like Photomedia – Business, that taught us a lot about how to market yourself, taxes, GST, etc. which is always good to know. I was good for me, because if you wanted to start your own business it’s good to know at the basics of running it. I think I had to do two or three business plans each year, so it was good practice.

Do you spend most of your time in Melbourne?

Yes, most of the time, but last week I spent traveling across the country following a band. Tomorrow I go to 18

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Alesana. Copyright Callum Broom.

50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

Mackay to film a music video. It’s August, and I’ve done five tours with bands this year. Some I’m on the road every month and a half or so.

I’ll probably end up leaving Australia at some point.

Most of the big Australian guys, tend to end up overseas for at least some of their career. It depends a bit on the company, label, band you get associated with. It’s who you get to know at the companies, they are more likely to hire people they know rather than someone they don’t know. So again it’s about making connections.

What do you like when it comes to equipment?

I beat my cameras up a lot, but I’ve only broken one.

That was the original 5D. I hit it against the stage once to many times, and the mirror came off. It sucked, because it happened during the support band for the first of two bands I had to shoot that day. So that was the worst timing.

I started off with the Nikon D60, but after a year of so, I had to get a full frame camera. The D700 was new and too expensive, so I bought a second hand 5D. Now, I tend to buy what I need. There are five main lenses I use. A range of zooms and a couple of primes.

Then I have five other more specialised lenses like ultra wide angles that I hate using, but if you are squeezed behind a drum kit in a small venue they are useful. I try not to buy gear all the time now, because I just wouldn’t make any money! I do want to buy a tilt-shift, but I don’t know that I really need it!

What is your approach to lighting?

When I’m shooting live bands, you are pretty much stuck with what’s there at the time. That could mean great lighting of a big band or artist, or terrible lighting in a small venue. That where the new cameras are great, because they shoot good images at really high ISO. I do most of my other shoots on location, so I’ve got a few 580EX’s and a few Pocket Wizards to control them. I’ve also got a big bag of umbrellas, scrims, and reflectors.

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Alesana. Copyright Callum Broom.

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Bleeding Through. Copyright Callum Broom.

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I like to have a strong backlight, sometimes natural light, sometimes a flash. Then I usually use a bit of flash to fill in the front. That way I can get some pretty cool shadows coming out in front of the band or artist.

How do you go about planning a shoot? Do you get involved with pre-production?

I’ll always ask if they have locations in mind, if they don’t I’ll get them to send through photo’s of the bands, other bands, and the shorts of locations they like, then I’ll go out and try find locations that are similar. I usually use places that are in the city or close to it. We always agree on a location before hand so they know what it is going to look like.

A couple of weeks back I did an unpaid shoot with a band I like. I just gave them a time and location. The band didn’t even know they were getting the shoot. I said I needed 5 minutes to setup, and we had the shots finished in half an hour.

Usually though, there is a lot of communication through e-mail and Facebook before hand.

Do you do much post-production work with your images?

Yes I do it all in Lightroom, Lightroom can do pretty much any thing I need these days. All the photos I take go through it. Imported, edited and exported through it. I do all my exposure and contrast adjustments in Lightroom, and for promo shoots I might do a few things in Photoshop. Remove a few details, do some enhancements around the eyes, that sort of thing, because the bands are not wearing makeup.

Most of though is just small adjustments to exposure and colour, and sharpening in Lightroom. Everything is shot in RAW of course, except the club stuff with the patrons. I shoot about 300 of those a week, and no one really cares about them after a few days, so it’s not worth the effort if it’s just going on a Facebook page.

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Linkin Park. Copyright Callum Broom.

50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

Who are some of your influences today?

Kane Hibberd (http://www.theartofcapture.com/main. html#/home). He’s Melbourne based, and shoots for Soundwave. He’s done a bit of work for Rolling Stone Magazine. He did a series of photographs called the getaway plan, which sort of got me into this type of photography. It’s weird, I see him at all the big gigs, and I talk to him. I’ve seen him on a few other shoots. I’ve been in contact with a bit, and now he pushing off some jobs to me now so that’s good.

Danny North (http://www.dannynorth.co.uk/portfolio/) does a lot of great live stuff, all the big festivals etc.

Do you think photography is dead as a career?

On the one hand everybody can go out and buy a 600D for $600. But for me there are so many more platforms for images with all the digital media on line. So, yes and no, there will always be a way to make money from photography. Just because you can get a great camera cheaply doesn’t mean that everyone can sell their work.

And there are so many avenues opening up, App’s for example, that’s a whole new market that is opening up where they need to hire photographers.

Finally, your dream assignment…

More tours, bigger tours with bigger bands. I’ve been thinking of getting on Warp next with a few bands.

That’s a big tour of America, so that could be fun.

Glastonbury… Any big tours and festivals really.

So what is your final piece of advice to people just starting out?

Shoot everything that comes along really, no matter what it is. Find out what you enjoy and peruse that. I really liked music and found a way of making that pay.

Thanks for being a part of 50 Lux Callum.

Great to be here.

Callum’s Web site is www.chasinglight.com.au 26

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Dream On Dreamer. Copyright Callum Broom.

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Mayday Parade. Copyright Callum Broom.

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Attila. Copyright Callum Broom.

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The Graduate Ayden Aramze Like Callum, Ayden is also a graduate of the Acadamy of Design in Port Melbourne. While he currently does regular event photography, it is his work with modified cameras that work in the invisible infrared part of the light spectrum that caught our attention.

I spoke to Ayden at the beautiful Bakery Cafe in Mernda just north of Melbourne.

When did you get your first camera?

I didn’t actually get my own camera until the first year of Uni. It was a Canon 500D with a kit lens. However I started doing photography in Year 9 through an elective where we shot on film and developed our images in a dark room. We learnt about the chemicals and the processes needed to develop our own film and photos.

Unfortunately this was just an elective in Year 9, and I didn’t continue on with Media until Year 11, and 12.

Was there much opportunity to do photography in VCE Media?

Yes there was.

Our teacher was fantastic and encouraged us to choose whichever media we liked (the class was pretty much split in half doing either video or photography). I focused on photography through my year 11 & 12 subjects and didn’t really move into video until my time at the Academy.

How did you go about finding out about photography courses?

Well I was doing mostly maths and business classes in year 11 & 12 which I loathed, and didn’t see myself being able to enjoy pursuing for the rest of my life. Media was the stand out subject that I was really enjoying at high school, so I decided to follow on with photography.

The courses I looked at were chosen mainly through the VTAC guide. The careers adviser wasn’t much help at all in differentiating between courses. I did a search for photography through the VTAC Website and book, and 32

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Infrared, Brad. Copyright: Ayden Amamze.

50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

stumbled across the Academy’s course.

before starting your second year. The course layout was great for me, because in High School I didn’t do Studio Arts, so I found classes like Art History and Visual Arts very interesting.

The course looked really good, and it seemed to fit what I wanted to do, so I attended what I believe was their folio appraisal day. This was where you could bring in your work/folio and have them talk about it and through Where did you begin your photographic journey? the process of applying.

I started off like a lot of people, shooting local bands and gigs. Most of my friends played in bands when I started Who are some of your influences? my course so I went along to pretty much all of their An early influence was Rob Sheridan; he is the art gigs, shooting them live, and then doing promo shots director for Nine Inch Nails – pretty much doing all of etc. their photography, music videos, and graphics.

Sometime early into my course I changed my focus I don’t really have specific influence at the moment. I towards a more interpretive style. For Visual Arts we like to take bits and pieces that I see and like from all over had a project where we could do whatever we wanted the place (paintings, videos, photography, graphics). – any medium, related or not related to our major. I However to name a few would have to be the works of decided to make an installation project of a “found” the Chapman Brothers and their offence art, and Inez & object. This was a combination of two suitcases that Vinoodh and their fashion film projects. opened up to reveal three masks, a bunch of printed photos, a videotape, and random documents. These items appeared to be connected to a group of people How did you go about preparing your folio given that who had killed and disposed of a body, and recorded it you only had a colour laser printer at school, and that all on the videotape. Now the main idea of this was to Media students are required to print their work at their make the viewers basically ask themselves what they’d school? just witnessed and take their own interpretation of the I believe that they looked more into your personality and events they’ve just seen. The whole project was made to attitude towards your work rather than the aesthetics make you feel uncomfortable. I had a bit of a fascination of the actual photographs. I remember being asked with masks and how creepy they could be whilst hiding questions about why I chose to shoot specific things ones identity. and the meanings behind them, planning processes etc.

Therefore, the quality of printing wasn’t paramount. From there I started to explore the technical side of Not to say that it was fine printing a bunch of 6 x 4s photography – specifically Infrared photography. This and handing them a pile of unorganised photos. I did technique is achieved in camera by modifying the present the images in a folio, cleanly mounted on a sensor to allow the infrared light wave in. The reaction white background. is quite different to what our eyes see. Skin and other If you’re interested in a course just go for it and apply! living things such as trees come out in a strong orange You can always move into another course if it’s not right colour where most other objects come out in a strong for you and there is no point regretting it later. blue colour. I focused mainly shooting street style photography while using infrared.

What were your experiences as a new student starting As of late I have taken an interest to fashion photography, at the Academy? combining my photo media skills to broadcast fashion through not only imagery but video too. There is so During the weekday we had an orientation program and much to explore with fashion, the ability to collaborate we joined groups of people who weren’t necessarily with many people to capture not only the garments, but in your class. At the Academy we all do the same core also a story within the images. courses and then split into different majors, such as graphic design, photo media, visual arts etc., so during Through all this I’ve also shot a bit of event photography. the orientation we had different classes around each Currently I shoot every Saturday night at Club 23, which study and learnt a little about each major. In first year is located on Level three at Crown Casino’s Crown everyone does the core program and then in second/ Towers. third you specialise, so after the first year if your major isn’t right for you, you can swap into another major 34

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Infrared, Composite. Copyright: Ayden Amamze.

50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

What were you first paid jobs?

My first paid work was as a camera assistant on a number of training and educational videos that I completed as a part of my compulsory 70 professional placement hours in third year.

is expected that you know how to act professionally at the very least.

Were you prepared from a business point of view?

We got taught some very basic stuff, had a class where we had to develop a business plan, and how to get During that time I assisted with moving gear, setting an ABN and issue an invoice. However, I found that up lighting, operating an additional unit and running it wasn’t really enough, but then again it was a photo audio. Before that I had completed 70 hours in second media course and not accounting. I’ve had to teach year volunteering on a short film and music video clip. myself a lot of things and even found myself re-hashing Since then I have assisted on numerous shorts and information that I learnt in my business and accounting independent sets, as well as shot video at several classes back in high school! runway shows. Photography wise apart from the Crown work, I have shot production stills, done a bit of What sort of equipment are you currently using? I’m architectural work for a windows and doors company guessing you’ve moved on from the 500D. (which is something completely different to what I’m Well and truly, not that is was a bad camera – but used to shooting) and some fashion photography for an definitely not a professional kit. I have a few cameras, each with their own purpose. online magazine.

My photography/videography setup currently is a Canon What is your approach to a commercial assignment? 5D Mark II, with a 24-70mm f 2.8. I use a Canon 600EX Most of the commercial fashion shoots I’ve done RT when needed. have been pretty much organised before I’ve become Infrared wise I run a modified Sony NEX-5 & 18-55mm involved. So the producer and the client will organise as well as an Olympus E-P1 fitted with a 12mm prime. everyone and you just rock up on the day, have a Recently I purchased a Fujifilm X100 as a pocket camera quick chat and start. I guess the secret to those shoots for an overseas holiday. However I’m actually not a fan is working with good people. When everything is of it. Anything above 400 ISO looks really grainy, which organised the shoot will run smoothly and hardworking was really disappointing because in other ways it’s a models just top it off. Working like that is good, the great camera. collaboration that comes into it means that great ideas come out; having somebody else’s view is always a How do you go about lighting on location?

Really depends, but usually I’ll bring along a number great thing to have.

When the work is for my own folio I always work out of speedlights and set them up on stands in various sketches of shots I want and a number of inspiration positions needed in order to balance out the daylight images. I’ll always have some sort of checklist, model and shoot through softboxes/scrims. Depending on the X in outfit Z to tick off as we go so that we don’t miss scenario, I’ll also have a reflector on hand to bounce the anything. My sister is a makeup artist so that comes in sun’s rays. handy, but if I’m looking for an external MUA or stylist for a shoot I usually use the Facebook group Melbourne What are some tips for planning a location shoot?

Creative Network, which always nets a number of Go and scout out the area before hand and take a few replies. Facebook is great for networking. I’ve tried pictures to study the angles. Try to go at the same time Model Mayhem, but it’s quite cumbersome and you of day as when the shoot is scheduled so the lighting will be similar. Work out whether you’ll need extra lighting often don’t get a reply. and where to place it.

Did you feel prepared for the real world when you I usually look around and see if there is going to be any problems, for example if it’s a busy place - where are the finished Uni? Yes. I felt quite prepared because of the time I had spent people moving? Do any shop signs stand out? I’ll also on placement dealing with real clients. I believe I learnt check to see if I need permission from building owners how to act professionally, as I was taught first hand on or permits from local councils etc. There’s no point in a set the do’s and don’ts. I found that volunteering as bringing the whole crew to a site only to find out that part of my placement meant that I was treated a bit you are being escorted off the premises three minutes differently. The crew know you are still studying and after firing the first shot. just learning, and that you aren’t expected to know everything. I feel that if you’re working on a paid job it 36

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Both images, Fashion. Copyright: Ayden Amamze.

50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

Have you ever had problems with over zealous security guards or police?

No, but I’ve heard of many people who have. Last year I wanted to do a shoot on the top floor of a car park. I called up and spoke to the head of security at the parking lot and explained him that I was a student and wanted to use the top floor as a location. He was completely fine with it and so I scheduled it in for a day and time that was their least busy. We rocked up on the Saturday morning with the expectation of one parking bay or a small corner only to find that the whole top level was blocked off for us. It definitely never hurts to ask!

What is your approach to post production?

I import everything through Lightroom to index and rename the shots. I try to make light work and get everything as good as possible in camera. Once in Lightroom I make necessary adjustments to the exposure, highlights, shadows, contrast and saturation.

If retouching is needed then I will export them as TIFFs through Lightroom and then move from my Macbook across to my Windows PC. Using a mouse and big screen is paramount when retouching. It doesn’t matter to me which OS I work on, all of the Adobe products all run the same way.

Following Pages: Taken on the set of Reel Action Design’s first promotional video, Flip features stunt-man Kanga in a Pipe Ramp Stunt. Reel Action Design (RAD) is an Australian based stunt and special effects production house. The stunt required a significant amount of pre-production and careful calculation in order to determine the exact trajectory and landing of the vehicle.

I was able to frame up the image by positioning myself in the direct course of the oncoming vehicle where I carefully timed myself to capture car for the exact moment of flight.

Ayden 38

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Infrared. Copyright: Ayden Amamze.

Infrared, Elizabeth Street.

Copyright: Ayden Amamze.

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Production still. Copyright: Ayden Amamze.

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Production still. Copyright: Ayden Amamze.

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Where do you see professional photography heading over the next decade?

People say that professional photography is dying, and I think that is true to a certain degree. There are a lot of people who might have hired a photographer for things like family events, but instead today they just go out and buy a $600 DSLR shoot it themselves.

You don’t necessarily need three years of training to be a good photographer, but there are lots of people who are calling themselves professionals when they have no skills or any ideas on the fundamentals of photography. There will always be hobbyist or people who are learning/just starting out and that is fine. What annoys me is when people call themselves a professional and expect payment just because they can afford an expensive camera. You can’t expect to net great quality photos by setting the camera to full auto and letting it do all the work. Understanding fundamentals such as composition, lighting exposure etc. are a must. It’s degrading the art, and it’s degrading our careers giving the industry a bad name.

A need for high-end photography will always be around and have a small branch of people capable of doing it. I hope I don’t see to many fashion advertising spots shot on iPhones. That’s just a gimmick, and does nothing for the real photographers in the industry.

Finally, describe your dream photo assignment, and where you see yourself in the future.

A high-end fashion shoot! Lots of assistants, perfect lighting, perfect models, and perfect clothes. It would be for some crazy high-end magazine in an exotic location. I hope in a few years I’ll be able to start doing something like that. It’s such an edgy industry, there’s always room for new ideas. I don’t see myself doing baby shots/family portraits/weddings, not to say there is anything wrong with that however that side of the industry just doesn’t interest me. People say you need the bread and butter stuff to keep you going, but I don’t want to be distracted by that. I just want to go all in. At this stage in life I’ve got nothing to lose. Perhaps I’ll be doing some more film work. With the way cameras are going I’ll be combining to two in some new way. Who knows, I certainly don’t ha.

Ayden’s Web site is www.ayden.aramze.com

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Fashion. Copyright: Ayden Amamze.

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Infrared, Sydney Airport. Copyright: Ayden Amamze.

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In Conversation With...

Morganna Magee Morgana is a documentary photographer. To quote her Website: Her images have appeared in the New York Times, the Age, the Big Issue, the Weekend Australian Magazine, Art and Australia magazine, Wooden Toy Quarterly, Lostateminor, and Black and White magazine. She has been a regular News Limited photographer since 2006.

Her awards include: Finalist in the 2013 National Portrait Prize, Finalist 2012 headon portrait prize, Second Place - Children’s Portrait Category, International Portrait Awards, Official Selection; 2011 Prix de la Photographie, Paris, Commendation, Sony World Photography Awards, New York. She has been a member of the MAP Group (Many Australian Photographers) since 2009.

Her commisions include work for Wintringham Specialist Aged Care and the Mission to Seafarers in Wunundjeri Way. Her commercial clients have included Levi’s Kids, Freshbaked, Champion, Lelluu, Coca-Cola, Ikea, Scienceworks, BP, Kraft Foods, Hushpuppies, Ben and Jerry’s icecream, and many others.

In this conversation we talked about her beginings in photography, through to life as a photojournalist for the worlds largest media organisation. You can read more about her current long term project with Katie and Jaylen on her blog.

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Welcome to 50lux Morganna, thanks for stepping in at bright’. Everything is shot with a long (telephoto) lens, the last minute and sharing your work with our readers. and very heavily lit. When I was there it was before the Shall we begin by talking about your early influences? big waves of redundancies, so I was working with maybe 30-40 photographers. The least amount of time any of When do you get your first camera? them had been there was maybe 10 years. They had My first camera was a Polaroid in Year 9. I climbed up on an incredible amount of knowledge. It was like I was the roof and took a picture of the sky. That was the first a sponge. I just sat there and soaked it all up. It was conscious picture I ever took. I entered the Polaroid in fantastic. With press photography, unlike any other type a competition at school and won. It wasn’t the Moran of photography, it’s a great way to start your training Prize but it was a start. because you can’t control anything. If you have to a shot Then in Year 10, I decided I wanted to become a on the beach at 12 mid day, in the middle of summer, photographer. Mum bought me a Pentax K1000. I did under horrible light, with crowd of people around you, photography that year at school, but it wasn’t a stand- you just have to do it. You can’t complain, you can’t wait alone subject. I took it up again in Art and Studio Arts for sunset for perfect light; you just have to work out in years 11 and 12. I was quite lucky because the school how to do it. It made me quite resilient in my shooting, was quite progressive and let me do photography to the and learnt to just get stuff done. point where even the English teachers would let me go to the dark room during their classes!

What was the experience of Uni like?

After a bit of a false start, I went to NMIT. NMIT was a fantastic place to study. I was 19 and had just come back from overseas and thought I knew everything! It was quite a relaxed environment in that it made me work hard. They don’t spoon feed you, and you have your own freedom of expression.

It was a two-year course and during the second semester of the second year we had to do 120 hours of work experience. I applied for News Limited and worked there for a week. That led to my first job on the MX free newspaper.

What was your first major paid assignment? How did you feel on the day?

When I began at News I was assigned to MX, and on the first day I was sent out to photograph a band. Typically on press jobs you get 10 minutes, and I was there for an hour and half. I think I took about 500 photos. I absolutely panicked. I went back to the office and tried to Photoshop them. I remember the editor yelling at me that I had to get them in as the edition closed at 12 o’clock. It was already past 11:30. So it was a very steep learning curve. From Uni where you have all the time in the world to put all the love into your work, to going to a newspaper with the perhaps the tightest deadlines in the world was a hard transition to make.

It was really interesting working for News Limited.

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There is still something of a stereotype view that people who work for the press are hard drinking men.

Had that culture gone by the time you were started working for News?

When I started working there I was in my early 20s, and that culture had more or less gone. I think it’s like anything, if you walk in with an arrogant attitude, especially photography because it is so competitive, no-one is going to give you this time of day. No one wants to hear from a twenty year old who thinks they know everything. So my attitude was that I was there to learn and get as much as could from industry professionals. So I found everyone was really warm and helpful. Nonetheless, there is an element to the job that is quite a bit more male friendly, just because of the nature of the work. Quite a number of the top Herald/Sun photographers, if they get sent off to cover say a bushfire, then they could be away from home for potentially a month if you get locked into a fire zone. If you’ve got kids, it’s perhaps a bit harder for a mum to do it than for a dad to do it.

However, I did find that News Limited managed that quite well. I worked with a single mother, and she would only be given ‘9-5’ jobs, which was really a nice thing for them to do as an organisation, rather than simply getting rid of her. They catered to your lifestyle, so I can’t fault them on that. The hard drinking culture had definitely changed. The people I was working with had come up through the ranks, but there was already a sense that journalism and photojournalism was so competitive and so hard that people don’t take it lightly when they are given a position. So you don’t find photographers turning up drunk like they did in the glory days, people

Coney Island - Copyright Morganna Magee 50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

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Zahrah and Noah. Copyright: Morganna Magee 50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

would work as hard as they could. There was the sense that your job might be on the line, because newspapers were already starting to change. The culture of the boys club was already gone, which I was grateful for, because I wouldn’t have thrived in that culture at all.

These days some of the top press photographers are women. People like Tamara Dean whose work is phenomenal – she’s a powerhouse; and Melanie Faith Dove, who’s fantastic – she was an Age photographer for years, and Meredith O’Shea – also from the Age… I think it has shifted the power paradigm quite a bit. So it’s not seen as just a guy’s job anymore, and that’s really good.

When you started where there any darkrooms left?

No. When I started, News had moved from Flinders Street to South Bank. If I hadn’t become a photographer I would have become a darkroom technician because I love printing so much. I was quite good at it. However, when I started Digital was taking over. Cameras were still $40,000, when I was at Uni were scanning film on $20,000 scanners, and by the time I was on the Herald/ Sun everyone was using digital cameras and there was no room for film anymore. That was very sad because I would have loved to have worked in a darkroom professionally.

I guess newspapers are all about speed…

I was talking to my friend Helga last night about this. She worked at the Age, and was saying that she remembers heating up the developer to such a degree that she worried that it was going to just cook the film they had to get things done so quickly.

winter ranges. That was three big shoots a year, and then I found that the work just kept rolling in from there.

How easy was it to transition into that short of work from photojournalism? Was it hard to work with people such as MUAs and Stylists?

It was a really big transition. Because the documentary work I do is so solitary, it was quite a big learning curve.

When you are working commercially the image is no longer yours. You’ve always got to remember that. You are there to shoot a product. You can’t go in there with a big ego, you have to realise that people are going to tell you what to do. That was hard because I’d gone straight from Uni to a newspaper. You are used to the work being your own. However, it was a good thing to learn, otherwise I wouldn’t be working now.

Did you feel prepared for the work at News by your tutors at Uni? I must say that I did. The tutors at NMIT knew that I was interested in documentary and photojournalism and they really let me run wild with it. My lecturers would specifically bring me books on great photojournalists.

There was one who brought me the World Press Book every year to have a look at. So I did feel, as much as it’s possible at that age, that I knew what I was getting into.

What sort of business training where you given? It wasn’t part of my training all those years ago, but more colleges are including it in their courses now.

It’s interesting that when I speak to my friends who went to other photography schools, that NMIT was in many ways superior. We had to write a business plan and we had to do all these things that got us thinking about That’s what happened with Robert Capa and his D-day earning money as a photographer. That wasn’t very landing photographs. In order to meet the deadline romantic at the time because we all wanted to think that they over cooked the film and only a few images were we would be making incredible artwork and that would recoverable. be it. I actually got the business plan out a few days ago.

It was very good to learn how to structure a business, Yes, we are lucky that they saved the ones they did. how to go about getting a loan, how to support your Today it’s failed memory cards... business. It was fantastic in that way. Really practical How did you transition from working at News Limited in that way. I guess that’s the TAFE system versus the Uni Degree. There was a real emphasis on working as a to what you are doing today? photographer at NMIT. I left there about five years ago, and was lucky in that I was put on a casual contract. However, just as I was Before I started at NMIT I had a great lecturer, Colin finding my feet as a freelancer, I found I didn’t really Wiseman. Even though I was only 17. He encouraged me to find my own style and creativity. That, mixed in need the work anymore. with business side of NMIT, has enabled me to grow as Soon after leaving News I picked up my first big a professional. commercial client. They were an apparel company, and I worked with them seasonally for their summer and 56

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Angelique and Luis. Copyright: Morganna Magee 50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

Are you a ‘boys with toys’ type of photographer with lots of gear or do you keep it simple? Tell us about the equipment you use? Do you hire equipment and studios?

Professionally, I use a Nikon D3. Two flashes and commander. I have a 70-200mm f2.8 that I rarely use, but when I need it, I need it. A 24-70mm f2.8, and a 50mm f1.4that I use for weddings and portraits. A 24mm f2.8, which is my favourite lens. It’s a little manual focus fixed lens that I use for all my documentary work.

That’s partly why I use Nikon, you can pick up their old lenses for $200, and they are faultless.

What is your approach to lighting?

I don’t have a studio, so I have portable lighting. My car is always packed full of gear because I never know what I’ll need. I was very fortunate when I was at News Limited that there was a guy named Andrew McColl who is a brilliant commercial photographer. I think he works in Sydney now doing a lot of fashion. He taught me a lot about lighting. At Uni I simply wanted to be a photojournalist, but in the real world I realised that not how the world works. So I keep my lighting very simple.

45O angle as high as possible, with a silver umbrella.

When it’s bounced back in it gives a beautiful glow.

On location if I’m not using natural light, I’ll use strobes.

I’ll do the same setup to give a studio look outside. A lot of clients want that now, it’s become a bit of a standard technique, and its what they expect.

Describe the day of the press photographer.

A lot of the work I do is still is still “press photography” because I do a lot of events for PR companies. So it’s like I’ve been sent out from the Herald-Sun to shoot for them. The difference is I need 15 photos for different types of publications, so it quite challenging in a lot of ways. On one day I might have to shoot for News, Fairfax, and any internal magazines they might have, and Facebook. So I always have to give them a wide variety of images. Usually the jobs are always disgustingly early in the morning. I’ll go out and photograph for 1-2 hours.

If it is a big client they might sit with me and edit the photos. That can be quite daunting. It’s back to that idea of ownership of your images. I shoot RAW and I have to very quickly tidy them up, perhaps some basic colour correction and bump up the saturation a little bit, convert them to JPEGs and then send them off within half an hour of finishing the actual shoot.

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minutes of the half hour editing time is actual editing, the other 20 minutes is uploading to Dropbox. I actually prefer it that way, apart from tethering my laptop to my phone then running around trying to find a wireless signal. Glamorous!

Is there ever a need to for you to send work off to be, say, retouched?

There is if I’m doing a wedding. I don’t do any of the postproduction on any of my weddings, which is really nice as the post-production is a really huge time consuming part of the process. I tell my re-toucher what I want, and she is so fantastic that she will do it.

We often hear that professional photography is a career that is dying because cameras are so good that anybody can take a professional photograph. The Chicago case of photographers being sacked and journo’s being taught iPhone photography is perhaps an exaggeration.

Photographers being replaced by non photographers is a reality though, why do you think that this is the case?

Well the Fairfax Melbourne and Sydney Magazines have gone; Fairfax uses Media Gang agency for it’s photographers, and has the paper is assembled by Page Masters in New Zealand. Soon there will be no more Fairfax papers. You and I will be writing all the news and taking the pictures on our iPhones. It’ll all be Tweets…

There is a huge and definite shift in what people value in photographers. I was told the other day about an exhibition in New York where there was professional press photographer photographs and Instagram photographs side by side of the same events. It was hard tell the difference between them. I’m sure we could tell the difference as experienced photographers, but the general public can’t. It’s a very interesting shift and it’s interesting to think of how photographers are going to make a living… Even with weddings people are Instagraming them now. That Instagram look is what people are looking for at the moment. Maybe it’s a trend and it will go a way, but it certainly going to be an interesting couple of years.

So where do you think that leaves professional photography in 5, 10, 50 years?

I hope there will be a return to an emphasis on quality photography. Isn’t there something like 15 million photographs uploaded every day to Flickr? So much it is the same. So much of that is about the photo itself. It’s not about the story, or the narrative, or the content. It’s just about ‘I took a photo of a flower’. I think that when there is a realisiation of the difference between people

Mexican best friends. Copyright. Morganna Magee 50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

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Manuel in class, Oaxaca 2013 Copyright. Morganna Magee 50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

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Manuel, Casa Hogar de Las Luna, Oaxaca 2013. Copyright. Morganna Magee 50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

are doing on Flickr, and what people like Diane Arbus or Eugene Richards did, there will be questions, and hopefully that will lead back to an emphasis on thought, story telling, and quality. Nonetheless, there are a lot of people out there like Christopher Andersen. He is someone who embraces technology and his work is phenomenal. He brings all his training to his Instagram and everything else he does. I think that will be where it will start to change. Photographers adapting, photographers keeping that level of quality, versus what the amateurs are doing. Selling ourselves and marketing ourselves, which is something that photographers haven’t had to do quite as much they need to now. I’ve had to embrace Facebook and do the humble bragging.

I feel like a bit of a jerk, but it’s the only way to get things out there now. There are just so many photographers on Facebook and they buy 4,000 ‘likes’. There are so many people who buy a digital camera start a Web page and call themselves professionals. So now it’s about translating the technology into your own work and creating a momentum. It’s about deciding whether you want to make 20,000 ‘likes’ on Facebook, or whether you want to make quality work a bit more quietly.

knew about it until it was found in a storage locker that was auctioned when she was no longer able to pay her fees. The collection runs to nearly 150, 000 negatives and hundred of undeveloped rolls of film of street and other photography taken over 40 years when she was a nanny in Chicago.

Really? Perhaps it’s because I have three separate businesses. I have my events and PR business that I don’t actually advertise – it’s all word of mouth, and I have about all the clients I can handle. With the wedding side of things Facebook is paramount because you are dealing with people who are on Facebook all the time.

Documentary work I find I get a lot of attention through my blog, rather than Facebook. So it’s interesting that people still go to the Web site over everything else.

However, I do get a lot of people asking for help or saying hi on Facebook, which is really nice. I sometimes wonder how photographers coped with the loneliness of the job before social media!

Who are your current favourite photographers and artists?

What I find interesting now is that we need that instant gratification. If you don’t get enough hits, you feel like you haven’t done a good enough job. However, that’s not really what it’s all about. It’s that measure of success, I’m half way between the pre-Internet generation, and the emerging generation. I sometimes wonder if I am getting enough hits on social media, and then I think do I care about the number of hits on social media? The way of measuring success has changed since I started.

As your career has grown, who are you current influences? Has your style been influenced by anyone in particular?

My current biggest influence would be Mary-Ellen Mark. (A New York based an photographer known for her photojournalism, portraiture, and advertising photography.) I’ve studied with her three times now Do you see Facebook as a good marketing tool? I’ve and she is the ultimate mentor, she is something of spoken to a number of emerging photographers and a legend. I not only like her work, but her method of they say that is how they are getting most of their work. teaching has helped me to grow as a photographer.

I like Tamara Dean’s work. Two of her images have just been chosen for the Moran prize. Her images are incredible, so I’ve always adored her work.

There’s also Meredith O’Shea whose work at the Ballarat Foto Biennale was also very strong. There’s a Melbourne based photographer Jessica Tremp. None these are documentary photographers, they are art photographers, but it’s work that I really like. These are the photographers I’m following at the moment, their work is very different to mine… ‘O and there’s a Sydney based documentary photographer George I guess we used to lock ourselves away in the darkroom Voulgaropoulos, whose work is outstanding… And with a radio at 5 o’clock in the afternoon, then suddenly Tom Williams who is also a documentary photographer realise it’s 2 o’clock in the morning and we had another based in Sydney. day of work ahead of us…

Is street photography dead?

Yes. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the sense of instant gratification. You are the bee’s knees for a couple No. It’s not dead at all! I think street photography is of weeks, and one of your images can go viral. Previous perhaps one of the easiest genre’s to shoot, although not generations of photographer could be brilliant and no- that easy to excel at. I’m a terrible street photographer; one ever saw their work. For example Vivian Maier. She I’m not very aggressive. You need to just get the shot amassed a huge body of work, equal to if not better when you are a street photographer. With than many of the photographers of her time. Nobody 64

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Tyler. Copyright. Morganna Magee 50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

the proliferation of digital cameras, unless you’ve got someone who really hates being photographed… There are some things like shooting at the beach. I have some older male friends and they really struggle at the beach now. That has definitely changed. I think that general street photography, as long as it is not of children, people aren’t fussed. Everyone has a phone now with a camera and you just don’t get noticed.

pictures were more important than the professional crew. Their reply was I have to get this up on my Flickr page. So I think a lot of amateur photographers don’t have the same hang-ups about being aggressive as we do. I don’t think they think of photography in the same terms as we do. So as professionals we can use this to our advantage sometimes. There’s more of them than there are of us, so we can just blend in with them if we have the same equipment.

Do you think pointing your D3 with a 70-200mm at someone in the street would work in the same way as When I did weddings, we would set-up a couple of a smartphone? shots, for the Uncles and friends, and then tell them to go away. It was about protecting your income, people I don’t think it work as well as a valid piece of art, but I didn’t buy those shots if they were duplicated by Uncle don’t think you would get into trouble for doing it. I think Joe. the fear that people had of being photographed has melted away again. If there is a big event in Melbourne It was interesting because Mary Ellen Mark was shooting today the Age and Herald-Sun will have iPhone photos. with a Mamiya 7 and a flash. People could tell she was It’s not about their own photographers work, it’s about a professional. She had the film crew, and 3 assistants, being able to upload it instantly. None of us have SLR people changing film, and everything. People still cameras that can do that yet, nor would you want to. thought they could stand over her with their iPhone.

You still want to have control over your work. Street I guess it gets back to that thing of people not valuing photography is then perhaps the fastest growing form photography in the same way we do. To them it’s ‘a of photography, because it is so accessible to everybody. picture of a dog in an outfit’, so what. For her it was a image for a book and an exhibition in a museum. I guess That’s quite interesting and contradicts some of the it’s different set of values, which I really do think you can things I’ve been reading. use to your advantage. Especially street photography now.

But I’m right, right?

Yes and no… Once upon a time there was the Leica and it was quiet and discreet, now there’s the smartphone, but there are restrictions in places such as the beach, shopping centres, and the huge restrictions on photographing children - permits etc. Many people are still concerned about their privacy.

If someone was over there, for instance, shooting us with their digital camera…

I’d be over there asking them to stop.

Fair point, I hate being photographed too. However, if I’m shooting events and people see me with a camera, they just don’t seem to take any notice. It doesn’t have that same element of fear and mistrust that it used to.

Describe your involvement with Katie and Jaylen.

What is your relationship with the hospital?

(Katie is a young single mother with a son who was born with a genetic defect. He has spent all of his life in and out of hospital.)

I met Katie and Jaylen through I job I did for Ronald McDonald House. I was working on a series that was exhibited based around mothers. At the time I went to the then executive officer of Ronald McDonald House and asked her to put me in contact with any mother that she though would be an interesting or unique take on motherhood. I called Katie and our first conversation went for about two and half hours, so I knew we were going to hit it off. I photographed her for that project, and I’ve then photographed her on a regular basis for the past two and half years. I see them about once every two weeks.

Once when I was in New York, I was assisting Mary Ellen Mark at the Halloween Dog Parade in the East Village. People dress up their dogs in bizarre costumes.

People were getting in her setup shots with their digital This is going to contradict what I said about street cameras, and there was a film crew making a film of her. photography, but when you are in an institution like a I remember asking some people why they thought their hospital and people see a professional camera, they 66

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freak out. I find that interesting, because everyone has a camera on them on their smart phone. The hospital itself has not been overly supportive of me being there.

Some staff are very supportive about me being there, but most are not. However, I have Katie’s express permission, and she wants me to take the photos, so I place that higher than the hospitals’ lack of support.

Do you think the hospital sees it at as privacy issue?

everyone’s smiling. That’s fantastic in most situations, then you can talk to client and say, remember when we were talking about this, this, and this…? What about if I photograph this, this, and this…? We can tell that story without words.

That’s how I get my commissions. The one I did for Winteringham was hung in Footscray. I also got two other photographers involved because it was a big job.

I had photographed one of their clients for a newspaper.

It was a conventional photograph, but he was such a fantastic guy. He must have been in his 70s then and he has this really interesting story. I was speaking with his carer, and she was passionate about telling his story. So I said what if do tell his story? Here is my card, here is my website, have a look at it and contact me. That night she contacted me, and it went from there. You have to be very proactive as a documentary photographer.

Work will not come to you. You have to put yourself out there, and you have to attack it with boundless enthusiasm.

No. I think it is more about the hospital having control of their image. They have a marketing department, they have a public relations department, they have someone that needs to approve everything that is done. So all the photographs taken in major hospitals are for the media - newspapers, magazines – and they are taken for stories that they might not have total control over, but they will certainly be able to manipulate. As a press photographer, if you were sent to one of the majors they would tell you which family or person you were going to photograph for the story. That is fine because they know what is going on much better than a photographer It’s much like everything these days. You cannot sit back, who has just walked in off the street. you cannot complain. It depends on what you want to With Katie and Jaylen, they have such a long-term do to an extent, but if you think press photography is association with the hospital, and she makes no bones competitive, then fashion photography is cut throat. It’s about being disheartened by some of her experiences, a war zone. So you need to be as proactive as possible, there is perhaps a fear by the administrators that I you need to be out there, get your work out there, and might do something that makes the hospital look bad. keep shooting.

However, I never say which hospital she is in, and the hospital staff are never identified. So I cover myself that As a press photographer how do you maintain a way, partly because I don’t want to be sued. Yet it is still distance from the ‘action’? a public building, still a public place…

I don’t.

Do you do commissions? What form do they take?

You don’t?

Describe the process.

I just lined up a big one. I approach an organisation that I’m interested in with a proposal. They are usually my commercial clients, and then I’ll gently introduce them to my documentary work, which is so different to my commercial work. It’s back to that notion of the value of photography. I find my commercial clients can be really supportive and embracing of my documentary work, to the point where they will apologise for making me do the commercial work as they know that’s not what I’m passionate about.

Well if it is a press job, then I’m out there for an hour, and I really don’t get that involved. However with my documentary work I have absolutely no sense of distance what so ever. I think that’s fine, it just the sort of person that I am.

Are you a member of a professional association? What does this mean to you?

I am a member of MAP group – Many Australian Photographers. It is a group dedicated solely to documentary photography. It has some of the top I have really lovely clients, but you do need to educate Australian documentary photographers as members. them sometimes about what documentary photography So I’m very grateful to be a member because it is by can really be. So people think a “nice” photo is one where invitation. We work on projects as groups, which is everyone is looking at the camera, it’s brightly lit, and interesting, because with photographers it’s a bit like 50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

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Tyler sees his pet budgie Elvis. Copyright. Morganna Magee 50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

herding cats. We work on both long and short-term projects.

We’ve just finished one where we all descended on the town of Wonthaggie over two weekends. Everybody photographs what ever they like. So we ended up with a great exhibition and a book. It’s a great, varied response to just one place.

Being a member of MAP gets me documentary work because of the field I am in. It’s not a camera club.

An independent curator curates our work. Before I joined, they did a very long term project called Beyond Reasonable Drought. It’s now a part of the permanent collection at the National Library of Australia in Canberra. So it is more than just a group of like minded photographers, it’s a group of like minded photographers who believe that photography can still be a catalyst for social change.

It’s phenomenal being a part of that group, because it means being mentored by people who have worked for major international magazines like Time, and the New York Times. So these photographers with a wealth of knowledge can help me out. We often share ideas and techniques.

Describe your worst day as a photojournalist.

Anything where the people don’t want to be photographed, but you still have to do it. Sometimes you just have to take the photo. That can be quite unpleasant sometimes, but that’s often the nature of press photography. That’s a part of me that would never have fitted into News or Fairfax long term, because that is not a part of me. Anything where someone has just died or something terrible has just happened and I don’t feel it’s appropriate for me to be there, but I just have to be there. That’s not why I became a photographer.

Funerals…?

Funerals and door knocks… Fortunately, I only didn’t do many door knocks, that’s because I spent a lot of my time at MX. At MX you didn’t have to do much of that sort of thing, luckily. The one that I did for the MX was when the 14 year old boy was shot by the police in the Northcote Skate park. The parents were just glorious, we had to go to the house early in the morning to photograph the funeral booklet. We didn’t want to do it. The journalist I went with is a really kind person, so we knocked on the door with all the apologies in the world. The parents were really nice and we did what we had to do.

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Often though, I think it was worse when people let you into their house. Sometimes I’d wish they just said no.

Then at least you could say you tried even if you didn’t get what was required. You know it is the worst day of someone’s life, and you are there with a camera… It’s not a nice feeling.

That’s perhaps the biggest difference between photojournalism and other types of photography. I can’t think of a fashion photographer ever having to deal with that sort of thing. It’s interesting with the merging of Leader staff into the daily’s such as the Herald-Sun. Those photographers who have always done things like fairs and local sports, now have to do the death knocks.

But it sometimes has it’s good points. A friend of mine was Instagraming pictures of the press gang at the recent raids by the police of the bikie gangs. There were all these photographers and news crews from Fairfax and News, and the TV crews, standing around chatting to each other. So there is quite a bit of camaraderie that goes on and support of each other.

I got sent out to do the stake-out of that 14 year old Corie – who had that out of control party a few years ago. I was there at 6.30AM three days in a row. We all sat around asking ourselves was this really why we became journalists! So the bottom line is it’s about what has been deemed to be newsworthy. It might not be to your taste, but you still have to do it.

Describe your dream photo assignment.

My absolute dream assignment is when I’m given a little bit of time. Even if I get two or three days to photograph someone I get quite excited. When you go into something initially there is perhaps one of aspect of the person you cover. But when you have that little bit more time you pick up things you might not have noticed on the first day. So perhaps my dream assignment was when I was in Oaxaca, Mexico photographing children in an orphanage. Most of the children have single mothers who are prostitutes. Most of them are there because they have been surrendered or they are there while the mother is away working. The woman who runs it is an angel, and I got to photograph there for a full four days.

That was fun and lively, and I got to practice my Spanish.

I had a great time with the kids, as well as getting to see a great deal of human kindness.

So anything that allows me to spend a bit of time with anyone who is remarkable, but a I guess everyone is remarkable in their own way if you get to know them.

That’s my dream.

Finally, what advice would you give to young readers who are thinking of studying photography and taking it up as a career?

Morganna’s Web presence includes:

Go for it. Don’t be disheartened by the competitive nature of it. It doesn’t mean you can’t do well. If you are going to study at tertiary level just be aware of the costs involved. Photography is always going to be expensive. Equipment and materials are expensive. You don’t want to start and have to stop half way through simply because you can’t afford it.

a flame in your heart

www.mnmphotography.com.au

If you don’t get into a course straight out of secondary school, don’t be disappointed. Call photographers and get a bit of real world experience. Keep shooting for yourself; don’t just think that the course is the be all and end all. It’s just the start. Keep on photographing what you love, work out what you love about it, and always try to make photographs that excite you.

A big thank your for your time…

Tyler. Copyright. Morganna Magee.

50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

Using your camera In this series of articles we look at the basic operations of using a camera. Having a Single Lens Reflex (SLR), film or digital, is the best option, but there are now many options in the Compact System Camera style that are good alternatives if they have an eye-level viewfinder. We’ll have a very brief look at some the camera types and how they work.

The main thing is that the camera you select is capable of being operated in full manual mode, that is you are able to manually change the Aperture, Shutter speed, and ISO. You should also be able to adjust the focus manually as well.

It is desirable, although not essential, if you are using a digital camera, that you are able to set the camera to capture your images in RAW format. JPEG files are lossy (meaning information is constantly thrown away on each save to keep the file size small. JPEGs also have limited colour and tonal range. It’s better to edit a copy of your RAW image and then reduce the file size latter if it is going to be used on a Web site.

The first question you are probably asking is why do I need to learn how to use a camera, let alone learn how my camera works. Today, and for the past 40 or more years cameras have had increasing amounts of electronics.

This attitude to making everything automatic goes back to Kodak’s slogan ‘You press the button, we do the rest’ from the late 1800’s. However, a camera can only make decisions for you up to certain point. While cameras can detect whether a face is smiling before letting you take a picture, cameras haven’t quite got as far as knowing that you want to freeze the action of a moving train, or let it show its motion through blur. Do you want to isolate a flower from its background, or show the whole garden in sharp focus. These are creative decisions that you as a photographer must make. So this article, that follows on from our article in issue two on choosing a SLR camera, explain what your camera actually is, and the basic ways of controlling it.

to focus the light on. A film holder replaces the ground glass at the end to record the light. In modern variations, an electronic sensor and screen may replace the glass and film holder. More sophisticated versions allow the front and rear ‘boards’ to be moved in various directions to allow for correction of perspective.

The next most sophisticated camera type is the rangefinder and its modern variation the Compact System Camera (CSC) that have interchangeable lenses. The rangefinder has a viewfinder that allows you to compose your picture in an approximate way.

As you are not actually looking through the lens there varying amount of difference between what your eye sees and what is recorded on the film/sensor. This is known as parallax error. The closer the subject is to the camera the greater the parallax error becomes. More sophisticated cameras like the Leica M series have ways of compensating for this. The Fujifilm X-Pro 1 can be switched to use either an electronic viewfinder, or an Types of Camera All cameras are a box that has a whole at one end and optical finder that overlays electronic information to aid film or a sensor at the other. The most simple of these composition and focus. Both the Leica and the Fujifilm is a pinhole camera. These can be easily made using have interchangeable lenses and have the image quality a piece of cardboard, some sticky-tape and a piece of of the best SLR cameras in a smaller body. tinfoil. The next step up in camera design is a view camera. This replaces the small hole in the tinfoil with Less sophisticated versions of the rangefinder concept, a lens to focus the light, and a piece of glass at the back are the fast disappearing point and shoot – or compact 72

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Above is the main control area of the Pentax K1000 - esentially an update of the Pentax Spotmatic. On the left is the film winder with the frame counter. The shutter release button, with cable release hole is forward-centre. The dial on the right adjusts the shutter speed. The film speed is set by lifting the dial. ASA is equivelent ti the current standsard ISO. 50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

– cameras that have a fixed lens, through to more recent CSC cameras. Digital point and shoot, or compact, cameras usually rely on the rear screen for composition.

This means the cameras are often held at arms length.

This has all sorts of problems as it not only makes it impossible to compose in bright sunlight, any movement in your body will be magnified many times meaning you cannot get sharp images. This was not a problem when cameras had small sensors with low pixel counts as the image wasn’t ever going to be sharp. However, with very sharp lens’s and high pixel counts having the camera absolutely still is essential. This is why camera makers have optional optical or electronic viewfinders for their more sophisticated compact and CSC cameras (which kind of defeats the purpose).

The final main category of camera is the Single Lens Reflex (SLR). SLR’s have been around since the 1940s.

All modern SLR have interchangeable lenses. They have a mirror that flips up. When the mirror is down, the light from the lens is reflected up through a piece of ground glass (focusing screen) and through a five sided glass prism that makes the view the right side up and the right way around. Some cheaper SLRs use mirrors to achieve the effect. When the shutter is released the mirror flips up, the shutter is opened and closed, and the film/sensor is exposed. The main advantage of an SLR is that what you see through the viewfinder is what is going to be recorded on the film/sensor.

How a camera works Aperture A camera is just like your eye. It has a lens at the front and a way of recording light at the back. Your eye has an iris that expands and contracts to control the amount of light that reaches the retina at the back of your eye.

On a camera we call the iris the aperture. The aperture on a camera is a series of blades, usually 5, 7, or 9, that are rotated to form a larger or smaller round hole. This mechanism is inside the lens. If you can find an old manual lens such as on a Pentax K1000, you can rotate the aperture ring or collar and see the blades opening and closing.

Shutter Unlike our eyes, a camera needs to control how long the film/sensor receives light. This device is called a shutter.

The shutter is like your eyelid. It blocks the light from the film/sensor. There are quite a number of different types of shutter. Some are located inside the lens, these 74

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are referred to as leaf shutters. Some types are places just in front of the film/sensor and are pieces of cloth (hence you might hear the term curtain), whilst others are thin pieces of metal. As there are the physics of moving something at high speed involved, leaf shutters are usually found in larger medium and large format cameras. Focal plane shutters are what you find in SLR cameras.

By combining the aperture and the shutter we can control the exposure. The shutter is perhaps the easiest to understand. A slow shutter speed will allow movement to be seen, a fast shutter speed will freeze action. What is a slow/fast shutter speed? On an old fully manual camera you will see a shutter speed dial.

It will probably be marked as follows B 1 2 4 8 15 30 60 125 250 500 and maybe 1000. B stands for bulb and was for the old flash bulbs, if the shutter button is held down the shutter will stay open – you can use a cable release for this. 1 stands for 1 second. The remaining numbers are fractions of a second ½ ¼ etc. Each number will halve or double the amount of light that reaches the film/sensor. The shorter the time the shutter is open the less time a object has to move and beyond about 1/60th of a second the subject will most likely be ‘frozen’. 1/60th is also about the point that most people can hold a camera without their movement blurring the image. Current digital SLR camera may a have a top shutter speed of 1/8000th of a second. This is useful for sports photography.

The aperture is a slighter harder concept to grasp.

Again looking at an old manual camera helps. On the lens you will see a series of numbers on a ring. These are probably marked something like 2 2.8 4 5.6 8 11 16 22, although the first number might be 1.4, 1.7, or 1.8.

These numbers are known as the f-stop. Again, each position will double or halve the amount of light that the film/sensor receives. Thus, at f4 the film/sensor will receive twice as much light as f8, and four times the amount of light as f11.

Open and closing the aperture has an effect on what is known as the depth of focus. Depth of focus (or Depth of Field) ISO The final piece in the jigsaw is ISO. ISO stands for International Organization for Standardisation. In photography terms, all you need to know is that ISO is the sensitivity of a particular film or how the sensor sensitivity is set. If you are using an old film camera made after about 1962, the marking may be ASA or DIN.

Each circle below represents the lens aperture at each of the full f stop settings (modern cameras offer half and one third positions between). Each full f stop is lets in either half or double the position on either side, For example, the f 8 position allows half the amount of light as f 5.6. F 4 lets in double the amount of light as f 5.6.

The number system is algorithmic, and is also related to the focal length of the particular lens.

Above is a typical older stylre lens on a SLR camera. The lower set of numbers 22~1.7 indicate the aperture setting. The top numbers ∞ ~ 3 metres indicate the disatnce at which the lens is focused. The midddle numbers give an indication of the depth of focus. If the aperture were set to f22 then objects from 3metres to infinity would be in focus. At f4 only the most distant objects (beyond about 20 metres) would be in focus. If this camera has the lens set to it’s widest aperture - smallest f number - it is difficult to judge depth of focus, but it could only be 3 or 4 centimetres. Less basic SLR cameras have a lever or button to close the aperture to give a guide to depth of focus.

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ASA and ISO are basically the same; DIN is a German standard that is no longer used. (100 ASA/ISO = 21 DIN; 400 ASA/ISO = 27). The higher the number the more sensitive the film/sensor is to light. 200 ISO is twice the sensitivity as 100 ISO and 400 ISO is double the sensitivity as 200 ISO. In film sensitivity is increased by using larger grains of silver on the film, this results in a ‘grainer’ look to the image and loss of sharpness/detail. With a sensor in a digital camera you are amplifying, turning up the volume, of an analogue device (the sensor). This at some point results in distortion, like turning up a radio to loud. This results in ‘noise’ or coloured speckles and loss of detail.

A quick note on film cartridges/cassettes. From early 1983 Kodak introduced a system of a barcode and contact points on the metal cassette, and a barcode on the film edge. The barcodes are used by the film processing labs to identify the films, and we don’t need to worry about them. The large squares are more of an issue with later cameras. The squares identify the film ISO, the length, and the exposure latitude of the film.

If you are using the black plastic film cassettes that are bulk loaded with DX enabled cameras, you will need to manually set the ISO on the camera or you will never be able to get a correct exposure. Cameras that use this system began being introduced from 1984. They can be identified by 6 or 12 small gold nipples in the area where the film cassette is loaded.

125 160 200 250 320 etc.

Step 2. How much depth of focus would you like? If you are taking sports images, you probably want to isolate the player from the background. To do this you use a large aperture, this is the smallest f-number your exposure will allow. This could be f2 on a non-zoom lens or f 5.6 on a kit lens supplied with a digital SLR. If you are taking landscapes you may want the maximum depth of focus. This might be from the foreground just in front of the camera through to the farthest distance – infinity. To achieve this you will need to set your f-stop to a small aperture. This could be f16 or f22. Modern SLR and CSC cameras will let you set the f-stop in 1/3stop increments for fine adjustment.

Step 3. ISO judge how much light there is. If you are using film you may have a selection of films available.

Common films are Kodak T-max 100 and 400, and Tri-X 320; Ilford, Pan F: 50, FP4: 125, HP5: 400, Delta 100, 400. Ilford Delta 3200 and Kodak T-max 3200 are 1000 ISO. If you become more advanced with film, there are ways increasing the effective ISO by underexposing and over developing. This is known as push processing.

On a “digital” camera you should be able to set the ISO manually. New cameras may have an Auto setting that allows you to let the camera vary the ISO depending on the set aperture and/or shutter speed. Auto ISO needs some experimentation, if the upper limit is not set, you could end up with unexpectedly noisy images. A general rule of thumb is to set the ISO at the lowest setting for the situation.

Putting the three together.

For a given amount of light you will need to set the camera to correct expose the scene. This means deciding A good way to start with these concepts is set the camera to Aperture priority – marked Av or a Canon on settings for Aperture, ISO, and Shutter speed. camera - where the camera will adjust the shutter speed Step 1. Is the subject moving, perhaps sport or athletics? as you change the aperture or Shutter priority – marked If yes, how fast is it likely to move, do you want to freeze Tv (Time value) on a Canon – where the camera sets the the action. For this situation you will want to use a fast aperture as you change the shutter speed. shutter speed. Shutter speeds of 1/125th of a second Holding the camera. and faster are required.

A tripod is an essential part of your photographic kit.

Is the subject stationary, perhaps a portrait or landscape? If your exposure situation means your shutter speed is You can use a slower shutter speed. With portraits below 1/30th of a second, then you should consider a you can safely go as slow as 1/60th of a second, with a tripod. landscape or cityscape you could be using exposures as All modern SLR cameras have a design that has some long as many minutes. form of grip for the right hand. That is straightforward.

Modern SLR and CSC cameras will let you set your Where people go wrong is with the left hand. The left shutter speed in finer increments with extra positions hand should cradle the camera below the lens. Thus between the older speeds. Thus you may have 60 80 the weight of the camera should be fully supported by 76

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the left hand. If the weight of the camera is in the right hand, when the shutter is pressed you are likely to push the camera down slightly causing image blur.

Summing up Going beyond the fully auto setting on you camera or using a older fully manual film camera can be a bit daunting at first, but it is essential to understand the relationships. Things to remember: Shutter speed – the amount of time that the film/sensor receives light. A slow shutter speed allows the subject to move across the frame and may result in blur. A fast shutter speed freezes the movement of your subject.

Aperture – controls the amount of light that passes through the lens. The aperture value is expressed as an f-number. A small f-number will let a large amount of light through the lens and result in shallow depth of focus. A big f-number will result in a small aperture hole in the lens and greater depth-of-focus.

ISO – a measure of the sensitivity of the film/sensor.

With a “digital” camera the ISO can be set for the situation. The camera sensor is an analogue device, so increasing the ISO will result in distortion in the form of extra “noise”.

In future articles we’ll look at the relationship of sensor size, focal length of the lens, pixel densities, and exposure compensation.

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In the Darkroom Developing Film

In the second of our series on darkroom photography we look at processing your films.

Film processing isn’t difficult, but requires a few bits and pieces - see breakout below. You will also need a good clean water supply, and perhaps a tray to stablise chemical temperatures if the weather is particularly hot or cold.

Everything that is needed for film processing is shown right.

Chemicals - developer, fixer, and weting agent. Tanks and measuring beakers. Shown is an electronic thermometer, glass tube or dial ones maybe less expensive but don’t work instantly. The darkbag (under the thermometer) is only needed if you don’t have totally dark place for loading the film. The bottle opener is required for commercial metal 35mm film cassettes. You could use your phone instead of this timer, and you can use your fingers instead of the film squeegee.

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Always handle poisonous and corrosive chemicals with care. Always follow the manufacturers instructions. Make certain that chemicals are stored in a safe place that cannot be accessed by young children. Keep the chemicals in the original containers and store mixed chemicals in clearly marked non-food containers.

Working with photogrpahic chemicals is safe if you take senisible precausions. These include mixing chemicals in a very well ventilated space, using plastic examination gloves that can be obtained from the chemist- never use latex/rubber gloves such as the disposible gloves from the supermarket as some chemicals can burn through rapidly. Safety glasses and a lab coat or plastic apron are also highly recomended during mixing raw chemicals.

ALWAYS wash your hands thoroughly after handling chemicals.

All the information, statements, and advice in this article are believed to be true and accurate. However, the author and copyright holder, accepts no legal liability for omissions or misconstruing any information given herein.

If you are a student ASK your parents, guardians, or teacher BEFORE you start.

50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

A developing tank – Paterson System 4 tank are recommended – the standard tank will process two 35mm film or one 120/220 film. Paterson tanks are pretty much de-rigour these days, but second-hand processing tanks turn-up everywhere. Check for cracks, make sure all the parts are there, and that the reel/s are in good condition. Many reels have a small ball bearing at the entry-point, if this is very rusted your film will jam. If the balls don’t move freely, soak the reel in hot water. Ensure the reel is perfectly dry before use or the There is one word that sums up black and white film will stick. All tank lids leak to some degree, even chemical based photography. Consistency. Almost all the new Paterson lids leak when the room is cold, so digital cameras will record the aperture, ISO, and shutter warming the lid in warm water helps make the plastic speed, and if the camera’s clock is correctly set, the more pliable and seems to lessen leaks. Even so, invert date and time the image was recorded. This is known tanks over a sink, as developer will stain, fixer is acidic, as exif data and can be viewed in Photoshop by going and finally you don’t want to slip over! to the File menu and selecting File info. This was one way I checked the authenticity of student work as a A thermometer – these range from the glass tube variety, teacher and reviewer. If you are using your own digital to dials, or electronic. Make sure that you choose one camera you should be able to set copyright details that that is suitable for photographic chemicals. include your name etc. Using the exif data is a useful way to ensure that you are being consistent with your A timer – your phone/tablet almost certainly has one. exposures, and learn what works for your style of Make sure if using your phone/tablet in a darkroom that photography. Back in the days of film, no such data was there is no paper being processed. recorded, the best you could hope for was the date and time, and that was mostly physically burnt onto the film. Bottle opener – if you are using commercially loaded film That left the date and time in the picture area of your in metal canisters you will need to prise the lids off. You can buy these in the utensils section of the supermarket. negative and required heavy cropping to remove.

In the previous issue of 50 Lux we looked at setting up a darkroom. That’s a big step to take in photography these days, and one that takes a fair bit of dedication. It could cost a little to a lot of money depending on whether your darkroom is a temporary space in the laundry or bathroom or a permanent space. However, you don’t actually need a full scale darkroom to enjoy your film camera. This is especially true if you have access to a high quality scanner.

Most serious photographers carried notebooks and a pencil, and wrote down the exposure details. This is a great practice to get into the habit of doing, and will help greatly with the processing of your films. There is a basic table on the 50lux.org Web site that I use with students for recording these details. You will notice that there is a column for the focal length of the lens, if using a zoom lens the scale can generally be seen on the lens barrel, there is also a column for exposure compensation to record back lighting etc. Don’t forget to write your film number on the film canister with a piece of masking tape!

What’s needed to process your film?

In theory a mixing bowl, the chemicals, running water, and a totally dark space are all that are needed. There are stories of photographers processing their films in metal battle helmets during the Second World War. However, you will probably want a few more things.

These include:

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Measuring jugs and beakers – initially these can be bought at any $2 shop. Ultimately though, you will probably need the accuracy of the specialised photographic beakers, especially if using high concentrate developers.

Funnels, eye-droppers, and the syringes used for feeding baby’s and young animals are also useful.

Somewhere to hang your film. At work we use a clothes airer rack, but 36 frame films dragged on the floor, 24 frames were OK. At home I use the shower door frame to hang the wet film with metal clips. Wooden pegs will go mouldy over time, plastic pegs are a better long term option. Buying some plastic film preservers is a good idea too.

Optional equipment.

Dark bag - a dark bag is a light proof double lined bag with two elastic armholes. I started off by loading the film under the blankets of my bed! Any totally dark place is OK, but if you don’t have access to a darkroom the dark bags are great. They are also useful for when a film jams in the camera.

Old and new Patterson System 4 tanks. The new (disassembled) tank holds two 35mm films or one 120/220 film. The old tank holds three 35mm or two 120/220 films. Ensure reels are correctly put together.

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Scissors – a clean cut to remove the film tongue (the narrow cut piece for loading the camera at the start of a 35mm film) helps with loading the reel. Cut between the sprocket holes. Cutting across the holes will leave a ‘dag’ that will catch on the reel entry.

emulsion doesn’t crack or bubble. Keep notes.

Develop your film for the recommended time.

Times for the different film/developer/temperature combinations can be found on manufacturers Web sites. Development times below 5 minutes will result Hose – Patterson makes a hose that fits over the end of in uneven development, so temperature adjustments most taps. The other end fits tightly into the entry hole may be necessary. Be consistent. As you get more in the tank. This will ensure that your film is properly experienced you can vary and experiment. Keep notes. washed and save water.

Rinse your film. Stop bath can be used, but is fairly Storage containers – as you do more darkroom work expensive, and a 3 minute water rinses works just as you can collect the original bottles. When beginning, well. Ilford and Kodak make an indicator stop bath that the use of plastic PET bottle is OK for the short term, but changes colour as it expires. (Don’t open the tank until the small cap means it is hard to pour chemicals back the film has been fixed though!) into the bottle even with funnels. Stop bath (if used) has a reasonably long life once mixed and fixer will Fix the film. The fixers commonly available in Australia last for many many films if the bottle is sealed. Most have high ammonia content. Use this in a well-ventilated developers are ‘one shot’, that is they are not re-used. place. If you don’t have a well-ventilated place go It is often a good idea to decant large containers of outside for this step. Fixer can be used again so don’t unmixed chemicals such as 1 litre bottles of developer pour this away. Follow the directions for times. into smaller 250ml brown glass medicine bottles. If all the air is removed, that is they are fulled to the brim, and Wash your film. This is critical for the life span of you stored in cool dark place, they will last a very long time. film. Failure to thoroughly wash the film will leave Concertina bottles that can be squeezed to remove air chemical residue in the gelatin emulsion layer. This will work, but I find they let air in over time. They are good lead to staining and rapid deterioration of the negatives. for short term storage of things like mixed stop-bath and Archival grade film is washed for very long periods in fixer though. filtered water. If you are using the Paterson tank and hose, water is forced through the film, and thorough Developing your film - step-by-step. washing can be achieved in 15-20 minutes. Melbourne water is very clean and has very low lime content. Check Detailed steps for film processing are available on the your kettle, if there are stains and lime, a water filter is 50lux.org Web site. However, the basics are as follows: a good idea.

Arrange your equipment in a logical order and double check that you have everything. Once you have opened At very end, once washing is complete, it is a good idea the cassette or poured in the developer it is pretty much to add one or two drops of wetting agent to a half tank of water and give the tank a good shake. The wetting agent no going back. will disperse the water from the surface of the film and Load the film into the tank. Paterson tanks can be used reduce water spots and rings. Although fairly expensive, in daylight. Loading is the only stage that needs total a bottle will last many years if properly sealed. darkness.

Lightly squeegee the film. These days I tend to run the Mix your chemicals at the recommended temperature. film between my fore and middle fingers once or twice This is usually 20O C or 68O F, but may need adjustment to remove excess water, but purpose made squeegees during the summer months. (In Melbourne the summer work better if you have many films. Store in a jug of water temperature can reach 25O C and be as low as water with a few drops of wetting agent to prevent the 8OC in early spring.) Placing your mixed chemicals in a blades drying out. Hang the film to dry in a dust free basin of water at the correct temperature will keep the place. chemicals at the right temperature until use. Developer won’t work well, if at all, below 16OC and using developer above 25OC is hard to control. Try to keep rinse water at much the same temperature as chemicals so that the 82

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Chemicals in liquid and powder form. Read the instuctions carefully. These maybe on the manufacturers web sites - ask the retailer. Keep bottles for mixed chemicals. Fixers lasts for weeks and can be used over and over.

Developer is generally one-shot, i.e. used once and thrown away. Take extra care when mixing powders.

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That’s it. Once you have done a few films, the whole old. It is a good film to use in dark theatre situations and process should take less than an hour from loading the fast action indoor sport. film and mixing the chemicals, to hanging them up to Also worth trying are some of the Eastern European dry in a dust free space. brands. These include; Rollei, Efke, Foma. From Japan, Choosing film and chemicals. of course there is FujiFilm.

Again, there is a more detailed article on the 50lux.org Web site, this is summary. Although there are far fewer Chemicals films available than there were ten years ago, (and my favourite films from Agfa have long gone) there is still a All chemicals MUST be kept in a safe place, if you are good range of materials out there. setting up a school/college darkroom chemicals must go on the chemicals register. Ensure pets and children The first thing to check is that you are not buying film don’t have access, and they are kept in a cool place away that is designed for processing in colour film chemicals from direct sunlight. Powered chemicals must be kept in a mini-lab. This will have C41 process on the box. dry.

Kodak film has the 400CN prefix and the Ilford version is XP2. You will not be able to process or print these films At the time of updating this article for 50 Lux magazine in the normal black and white process later.

Ilford was the largest supplier of photographic chemicals in Australia as there is still a reasonably healthy school Now consider what you are going to use the film for. market. Ilford seem able to supply all of the developers Remember that the higher the ISO number the more on their data sheets to the Australian market. Kodak sensitive the film is to light, but the compromise is that T-Max and D-76, and Agfa Rodinal (now supplied by a the film, and your prints, will look grainier. There are couple of companies) developers were also still freely four groups of film. available. Tetenal and other developers are available from more specialised suppliers such as VanBar. Other Slow – ISO 25-50 such as Ilford Pan F, these require lots developers may be listed on company web sites, of light or very long exposure times, but the grain is however you will not be able to import these into the almost invisible. country yourself, and there is most likely an equivalent by another manufacturer. For example Ilford’s Ilfotech Medium – ISO 100-125, such as Ilford FP-4 and Delta HC is equivalent to, but not the same as Kodak HC 110.

100, and Kodak Plus-X and T-Max 100. These were once the mainstay of the general film business and are a good Choosing a developer is really a matter of trail and error compromise between usability and grain. and in the end personal choice. Some developers give better detail overall, some give more contrast at the Fast – ISO 320-400, for example Kodak Tri-X, Ilford HP5, expense of shadow detail etc. Some developers such Delta 400, and Kodak T-Max. These good for lower as Ilfotec HC are great developers, but are designed for light levels – such as indoors with reasonable light, for machine use. So whilst they may process a large amount sport where a fast shutter speed is needed, or where of films (over 100) you need to consider how long it will a lot of depth of focus is needed. Tri-X and HP5 were take to use that much film as Ilfotec HC goes off fairly the mainstay of the newspaper industry and were quickly once opened. It could be more economical to often pushed to ISO 1600 by under exposing and over buy 250ml bottle of Rodinal which has a long shelf life. developing. These days the graininess of ISO 400 films is quite controlled, but is more noticeable compared to Fixer, unlike developer, has a narrow choice. Again, Ilford has the market. Ilford Rapid fixer comes in 500ml ISO 100-125 films. and 1 litre bottles and has a low fume level than their Finally, there are the ultra fast films, or is that film standard fixer in the 5 litre containers. It is not clear singular. Kodak discontinued T-Max 3200 in late 2012. if Kodak’s fixers are still available in Australia. Vanbar Now Ilford Delta 3200 remains as the only ultrafast film. still has Tetenal low fume fixer listed on it web site. The This doesn’t actually seem to be a full ISO 3200 film – it’s bottom line with fixer is that all brands have a similar rated at ISO 1000, but has a wide exposure range and formulation and you will end up with a fixed film/print. can actually be “pushed” to ISO 12, 800. This film has high levels of grain, but is around the same as Tri-X of Optional chemicals are stop-bath and wetting agent.

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Scanners New dedicated film scanners come in two varieties ultra-cheap ($100) and ultra-expensive ($3000 +). Suffice to say you get what you pay for. The inexpensive ones are pretty terrible, whilst you would need to be processing (or have) a lot of film to justify a good one. Unfortunately, the well priced ones from Nikon and Minolta are nolonger made. If you find a used one you will need to make sure that you have the right interface (many are SCSI or ultra slow USB 1.1 not USB 2 or 3) and may not work at all on new operating systems such as Mac OS X or Windows Vista/7/8.

So what can I do? Well Canon and Epson make some fairly good flat bed scanners that have facilities for scanning film. The best of the consumer/semi-pro models is the Epson V700/V750 often seen for about $650. Whilst not as good as the best of the older Minolta or Nikon dedicated film scanners it is at least 90% there. It has holders for 35mm film strips, 35mm slides, 120/220 roll film, 4x5 and 8x10 sheet film. So is perhaps the best compromise.

If you get really serious, then you will want to go beyond the basic scanning software that comes with your computer operating system and purchase VueScan software. ( http://www.hamrick.com ) Once calibrated you should excellent results into Lightroom or Photoshop that rival a high end digital camera. 50 Lux will look at scanning in more detail in future issues.

Once upon a time there was a huge range of film available. This random selection, from a picture taken by one of my students a decade ago, features Fujifilm 35mm colour negative and transperency, Kodak 35mm monochrome Plus-X and T-Max stock. Ilford FP4 Plus in 35mm and 120 sizes, Fujifilm 220 800 ISO transperency and my old favourite Kodak Vericolor in 120 size. Only the FP4 and T-Max remain in production.

50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

Stop-bath is useful in that it stops development almost instantly. Developer is a base or caustic chemical and fixer is an acid, so to prevent the fixer becoming neutral a middle chemical is needed. If instant cessation of development is required - such as for very short development times then an indicator stop-bath is a good idea. However, with longer times where a very small amount of over development is OK then water works just as will. Ilford’s stop bath is the most easily available. It changes colour from a urine yellow to an ink blue as it gets exhausted.

Finally, there is nothing more frustrating than water marks on your dried film. So I always use wetting agent.

A 1 litre bottle lasted two years in fairly busy school darkroom. At home a bottle lasts about 5 years, and i use it as part of my record cleaning mixture as well!

developers. These are generally good starting points – although I tend to add 30 seconds to a minute to Ilford’s recommended development times to increase contrast a little.

Stop bath, fixer, and wetting agent are constants, although fixer times increase as the fixer ages.

You will, over time discover a combination of film, chemicals and times that work for you. Learning to meter you camera, and thus get correct exposures is the first step, the chemical processing, once settled on, should be consistent. If you document the whole process, from camera to fixing, your knowledge will be rewarded with years of beautiful photography. The adventure begins when you are getting consistent results and begin to experiment.

Next issue we look at the basic steps to printing your images.

Where to start your journey Although, we settled on Ilford film and chemicals as we can get these through a local supplier in bulk, a great place to start is with Kodak T-Max 400 and T-Max developer (mixed 1 part developer to 4 parts water to make 300ml per film), or Ilford HP5 and Ilfosol S developer (mixed 1 part developer to 9 parts water).

Develop for 7 minutes. Any fixer will do the trick.

Remember to set your camera ISO to 400, ensure your aperture and shutter speed are correctly set for every exposure and shoot a couple of rolls. Process each film separately at 20OC and see what happens!

Remember the meters in older cameras may not be accurate, so it may take a few films to get things right.

Remember that development starts as soon as you pour in the chemicals and doesn’t stop until water or stop-bath are poured in. So pour out the developer 15-20 seconds before the time is up. Take notes as you go.

The combination of film and developer is where your adventure into black and white film begins; there is an infinity of combinations of films and developers.

Consistency and record keeping is the key. Consider what the end purpose of your negatives is going to be too. If they are to be scanned then you want the widest range of tones, condenser enlargers behave differently to diffuser enlargers and so forth. See break out.

There is a wealth of information on the manufacturers Web sites about recommended times and strengths of 86

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Enlargers The enlarger (or more technically correct - projection printer) you use will have an effect on the contrast your final prints. If you have a condenser enlarger light is focused from the light source through the negative and then the lens. A diffusion enlarger replaces the lenses with a piece of semi-transparent or cloudy glass that scatters the light. Some enlargers use a combination of both. The later most modern enlargers used a mirror system that effectively resulted in a condenser/diffuser effect.

Why is this important to know? Well there is a difference in 1 paper contrast grade, with the condenser type giving 1 grade more contrast than a diffuser type. The combination/mirror types are about half way or a half grade between th two. Depending on the enlarger you use, you will want to adjust your negative processing to suit your enlarger.

Which is better? A good condenser enlarger, such as the Leica Focomat 1C, will produce the sharpest images from a given negative, but the downside is any imperfections such as dust and scratches will be highlighted. A good diffuser enlarger will mask a lot of the imperfections on the negative, but may not give as sharp an image. Therefore, a diffusion-condenser or mirror type may be the best compromise.

50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

Buying a Film Camera Nikon FM/FE

In this, our first of a series on buying SLR film cameras we look at the Nikon FM/FE series. It is possible to still buy a film SLR new. A Nikon F6 can still be had on special order, variations on the Cosina CT-1 are still around as the Nikon FM10, and you can have the Kenko KF-1 if you are brave. There are of course rangefinders from Cosina as the Voitlander and the Lecia ‘M’, as well as the cheap and cheerful Lomo’s. However, for a good SLR camera at a reasonable price, second-hand is the way to go.

Here we look at my original workhorse 35mm film cameras the FM/FE. First introduced in 1977, the FM lived on selling in good numbers until 2006, when digital reached a usable point and European laws prevented the sale of products containing lead.

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When Nikon introduced the FM in 1977 it was a replacement for the Nikkormat line that stretched back to the mid 1960s. Nikkormats, although relatively expensive, were aimed at the amateur market who couldn’t justify the professional F or later F2, but had system capability with their professional counterparts.

At the time the FM competed with the equally small Olympus OM, Pentax MX/ME, and a couple of smaller FT mount Canons. The Pentax was the least expensive, but still more expensive than some of the cheaper brands from Japan, and certainly more expensive than the Eastern European brands such as Practica and Zenit.

Above the FM/FE was the Nikon F2-F6, and Canon’s F1 (FT mount) and later EOS1 series. The Nikkormat line continued for a number of years as Nikon’s entry level cameras and were eventually replaced by the unloved EM in the mid 1980s.

The FM (F-mount Mechanical) and it sister FE (F-mount Electronic) are much more rugged than the Olympus and Pentax equivalents, although both were used by professionals. Production of the FM lasted until 2006, almost 30 years. The FM introduced the A-i (Aperture or Automatic Indexing) lenses that used a collar around the lens mount, as opposed to a pin linkage - the bracket that sticks up from the aperture scale on older Nikkor’s. A-i mount lenses have a duplicate set of aperture numbers, and these are visible through the viewfinder along with the shutter speed. There were many variations to the FM and FE along the way. The FE was introduced in 1978 and added an electronic shutter and aperturepriory mode, i.e. you set the aperture, the camera calculated the shutter speed. It has a match needle metering system carried over from the Nikkormat, while the FM has a 3 led plus/minus system. Both systems in my cameras have remained accurate over 36 years for my FM and 28 years for my FE2.

The first change was from the original FM to FM2 spec after about 5 years. This took the shutter speed to 1/4000 second, which is fast even by todays standards.

The FM flash synchronises at 1/125, the FM2 1/200 of a second, while the FE2 and FM2/N synch at 1/250 of a second. All but the later models such as the FM3 had titanium shutter blades. Early FM/FE’s have a smooth blade surface, FM2/FE2s can be identified by a honeycomb pattern embossed on the surface that strengthened the blades for the 1/4000 second shutter speed. However, as strong as they are in use, they are

easily prone to thumb damage when the film is being loaded. Camera’s from about mid 1989 have thicker aluminum blades (again with a smooth surface) that are less prone to accidental damage.

The FE2 has an early form of linkage between the dedicated flash units of the time and the camera body.

I have a SB-E that was used as a remote studio lighting trigger - well before the days of Pocket Wizards! This gives reasonably good fill light, and surprisingly accurate exposures.

There was also a change to the shutter release. The original FM has a two position collar that locks the shutter button, it must be in the locked position to use the motor-drive. If the motor drive is used in the wrong position the whole mechanism jams and can lead to serious internal damage. The FE, and the FM2 and later variations have a simpler non locking collar and don’t need to be switched when fitting the motor.

The multiple exposure release is a small slider on the FM, whereas on FE, FM2 and later models the release is around the manual film advance leaver.

The aforementioned motor-drive can move the film through at 3.5 frames per-second, thats a roll of 36 in 10 seconds, and there was a 250 shot back. A remote switch and radio remotes were available too. There are a couple of things to note with the drives, the original MD11 did not have an automatic shut off for the meter.

This led to the fast flattening of the, expensive for the time, LR44/D76 button batteries. New batteries will go flat overnight if the motor-drive is not switched off. This was a big problem with the FE as the shutter relied on the batteries, although the FE does have a mechanical 1/250 second override. The MD12 solved the problem by turning off the meter after 30 seconds.

However, there are bigger longterm issues with the MD11/MD12, the battery unit slides in from the side and is made of fairly soft plastic. The whole battery holder eventually warps under the pressure of holding eight batteries against the contacts. Sooner or later the contact is lost. My FM and FE2 got many a thump to regain contact, but eventually neither worked reliably, and I remove the drives when using the cameras. On the note of batteries, ensure that you fit the correct batteries to the bodies. Most used the LR44/D76 that is still available in supermarkets. Some used a dedicated 50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

3 volt battery that is harder to obtain. Don’t do as a friend did, and fit the wrong battery and force the whole compartment into the camera when tightening the cover! His was repaired - expensively! Yours might become totally useless as Nikon dumped all their spare parts for most film cameras back in 2006.

2 and later series bodies have a plastic ring without the tab lock up, that assumes you will use the A-i lenses or have modified the older lenses.

Thats about it. Whilst these are film camera’s they were pretty well specified for the time, and of course had compatibility with almost all the Nikor F mount lenses at the time. Older lenses could even be simply modified to work with the new A-i metering system. Not that it matters these days, but the original FM has a metal A-i ring with a tab that can be locked out of the way for pre A-i lenses - stop-down manual metering is required. The

What to look for when buying. There were so many of these cameras sold that it shouldn’t be hard to find one in excellent condition - especially the FM2/T with titanium top and bottom plates, and the FM3, FM3/N. Given that my original FM from 1977 was a workhorse and my go everywhere camera for 30 years, it has worn very well, and apart from the motor-drive, works as well today as it did when I worked for the local newspaper.

The FM/FE series didn’t remain in production for almost three decades for nothing. These cameras were built to the same high standards as their big brother the F These cameras - especially the FM were used by to F6 series. The FM was particularly popular because professional photographers as back-ups, and as a lighter it was a fully mechanical camera (apart from the meter alternative to the fairly heavy F series. The FM/FE didn’t and motor-drive of course) and could be used in subzero have interchangeable viewfinders like the F2 and F3, but and very high temperatures without worrying about there was a range of interchangeable focusing screens. batteries misbehaving. Inside, especially in the early However, the standard split focus screen is bright and models there are real metal cogs, not plastic bits that very accurate for focusing even in low light. can snap or be stripped. Although, Nikon dumped all the spare parts, there are enough of these cameras There is a self timer, and importantly a depth of focus about that it would be possible to find bodies that could preview lever. Something that is missing on the Pentax’s. be stripped for parts should such a situation arise.

Top views of the Nikon F showing the main control the ASA (ISO) scale within The shutterspeed range is as the release is held) to the locking collar around must be in the red positi Note the missing eyepiece Changes on the “2” serie the locking collar and mo release and film box end back. The FE’s electonics c Automatic (Aperture prior 1/4000th second shutter s battery mode’. The ISO c rewind, and includes expo three small contacts on th signs of automatic flash co

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Black bodies show more wear than the silver alloy, and you can expect to see the brass showing though on wear points such as above the strap lugs. Ensure that the eyepiece is present. They are a screw in type. I lost a lot of them over the years despite a drop of super-glue. At markets, and on the Internet, I have seen silver bodies with black winder leavers. These are obviously cameras that have been cobbled together from multiple bodies and probably should be avoided. As mentioned earlier, early FM’s had a locking shutter release collar, ensure that the mechanism hasn’t be forced at some stage.

The catches (a collar around the film rewind knob) that prevent the film rewind knob being pulled up to open the back have also been forced on some examples, so ensure the back stays locked. Remove the lens and ensure that the A-i ring runs smoothly and springs back quickly. I have come across examples were the ring doesn’t move smoothly and gets stuck. This could result in false meter readings. Again, this is repairable, but may need another body for a fully tensioned spring.

is pushed in or the motor won’t work. There are a surprising number of MD11 drives out there, but the MD12 is the better bet given that it will have the autoshutoff function.

The shutters, as mentioned, are quite susceptible to damage while loading, so look for bent blades. The later aluminum blades are less susceptible, but still need careful checking. Check in both the wound and fired positions.

More general things to look for on any 35mm film camera, are that the shutter functions properly. Run through each shutter speed, you should hear the difference in times. Remember, the FE’s need two LR44/ D76 1.5 volt batteries for the shutter to fire at speeds other than 1/90 second - this is marked M90 on the dial.

Check the foam seals on the camera back, these are easily replaced and are probably worth replacing anyway. Faulty seals will result in fogged film. Check the If the camera has a motor-drive (it takes 8 AA batteries battery compartment on the bottom of the camera and that need to be fairly fresh), check that it engages and see if there is evidence of leaked batteries. The seller both the S (single) and C (continuous) modes work. A may truthfully say the camera hasn’t been used for red LED near the power switch will light when the motor years, but if the batteries haven’t been removed leaking is moving. Ensure that the manual advance leaver batteries may have caused internal damage. All FM/FE’s

FM, left, and FE2, right, differences. The FM has n the shutter speed dial. s B (Bulb - open as long 1/1000th second. Note the shutter release that tion for motor drive use. e. es included the removal ore use of plastic - back d holder on the camera come into play with the rity) mode, 8 seconds to speeds, and M90 for ‘flat collar surounds the film osure compensation. The he flash shoe show early ontrol.

50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

need batteries for the light-meter, so this is an important Check lenses for fungus. This is especially important consideration. Buy a couple from the supermarket and if the lens has lived in places like Sydney and Brisbane take them along. that have high humidity for long periods of time. A lens affected by fungus is more or less useless, and unless Bottom plates on camera’s get scratched, but check that a very specialised model, is unlikely to be economic to the tripod screw mount hasn’t been forced out from repair. Check the front and rear elements for scratches over tightening or bending. Stripped thread examples and blemishes. From the late 1960s better lenses can be easily replaced, but again need a second body for had various anti-reflective coatings. Scratches and parts. The tripod mount on the MD11/12 doesn’t line blemishes, especially on the front elements, are not up with the lens (quite common on motor-drives and repairable and may severely affect your results. A power-winders of the era), but the body mount does, bashed or heavily worn lens can be replaced by another, so remove the motor, if you have one, for critical tripod but does it indicate that the body has had a hard life work. When buying any camera of this era with a motor- too? Check that the focus and aperture rings move drive winder, remove the motor-drive, if fitted, and wind smoothly, and are not unduly loose. Nikkor lenses were the film advance leaver a few times. Listen closely, it always nicely made, and mine have remained that way. should be smooth and not “gritty” .

The FM2 and later models are probably the best bet

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these days, although an original FM is still an excellent camera that could last your lifetime. The FE has the slight disadvantage of the electronic shutter. My FE2 from 1983 still works perfectly despite it heavy use as a newspaper camera. So there is nothing to say that the FE’s are not reliable if serviced and cared for. It’s just that when the shutter solenoid goes it’s unlikely to be replaced. The motor-drives can be troublesome, but I wouldn’t turn down a good body simply because it has the MD11 attached. If it plays up, simply take it off.

Today this would be considered a semi-professional camera. It would be the Nikon D800 or Canon 5D mkIII in the lineup. For personal use they are possibly the best film cameras after the F series in the Nikon lineup, and the F1 and the EOS 1 in the Canon lineup. At markets they are beginning to attract higher prices than

most other 35mm cameras of this type, and for good reasons. There is still a good supply of A-i primes that haven’t been modified for use on video cameras, and almost all but the most recent auto-focus lenses that have a manual aperture ring will work too. There are a huge number of other branded lenses that can be used manually with adapters too.

Finally, Nikon started on a high with the original F of 1959 and worked their way down from there. The EM was a purely consumer market camera, and is best avoided unless you are given one by a family member. Equally, the lenses for the EM - the E series were fairly average in quality and are not really worth buying. Towards the end there was the FM10/FE10. These are not a true FM/FE, but in fact made by Cosina. The basic chassis started life as a Cosina CT-1 and has been around for many decades. It has had numerous ‘skins’ from Cosina, Canon, Richoh, and Yashica, and perhaps others. Cosina make some fabulous products, and many of the current kit lenses. However, a good condition ‘real’ FM or FE is a far better long term bet. I have come across many Cosina and other branded CT-1’s with stripped winder gears. They cost more to repair than they do to replace new. The FM10 is pictured, but no-longer listed on the Nikon Web site, but seems to be available via places like Vanbar if you really want one. It will cost about the same as a very good FM with standard lens, so why settle for plastic?

While not quite as tough as a Pentax K1000, the FM is a far more refined camera, that has those little extras like the depth-of-focus preview leaver. Find a good FM, and you are set for life with a huge range of fabulous lenses at your disposal.

Just as I do the final edit on this issue, Nikon has announced what amounts to a digital version of the FM/FE. We’ll discuss the Df (below) in more detail when we get our hands on it. But from what I can gather it has the internals from the flagship D4, meaning a 16 megapixel full frame (35mm film size) sensor. Se the Web site for more details.

Nikon FE2, left, and FM, right, fitted with MD12 motor drives. The SB-E flash unit was designed for the entry level (and best avoided) EM body, and reflects the cheeper build quality of the EM. However, it’s then small size and low power made it great for firing remote flash units with remote sensors.

50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

Tech Test Canon 70D

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In our last issue we looked at the Canon 700D, the latest in a long line of consumer cameras. This issue we look at the next step up the Canon range the 70D. The 70D also has a long lineage going back to the 6.3 Megapixel 10D in early 2003. The 10D was effectively the replacement for the D60 that in itself went back a few generations.

Until the 50D, all the body’s were a magnesium-alloy construction that featured in professional bodies. From the 50D this line changed position slightly as the Canon range expanded and the 7D became the Canon APS-C flagship. So today the 70D has a stainless-steel chasis and is aimed solely at advanced amateurs, where as the 40D and to a lesser extent the 50D were often used as back-up cameras by professionals. I still have two 40Ds that I use for workshops and they can still produce great images.

So where does that leave the 70D? Despite shrinking ever so slightly compared to it predecessors, the 70D is a much chunkier camera compared to the 700D and 100D. This extra size and weight means it is somewhat better to hold and balance when held to the eye. With a large lens such as the 70-200mm f2.8 IS L series, there is noticeably less body flex than it’s little sibling. With the optional EB-14 grip the camera is a delight to hold, slightly less tiring than the full framers such as the 5D and 1D, but still large enough to hold with stability.

The big news with the 70D is of course the new sensor.

There were rumours that the 70D would have a 40 megapixel sensor to compete with the 36 megapixel Nikon’s. What in fact was released is a 20.4 megapixel sensor that has dual pixel layer that is used for autofocus in the movie and live-view modes. There are a number of ways to autofocus a camera, the new sensor uses an on chip “phase detection system” that first appeared on some Fujifilm cameras a few years ago. However, Canon has gone one step further and used almost the whole sensor area. This means that every pixel acts as a autofocus point. We don’thave space to go into technical details here on how the system works, suffice to say that it takes the light coming from one direction at a particular point and compares it to the light coming from the same point from a slightly different angle. If the two don’t match then the focus is changed until the light from the two directions match. Canon has split each pixel so that every pixel can match the two light directions. In practice only eighty percent of the sensor area can be used for technical reasons, but that is still a lot of autofocus points.

So does this system work? My test was very limited.

However, in live-view mode the camera was as fast as in normal optical mode with the 19 point autofocus system. I tried it on face detection mode and it was able to lock onto faces and track the people accurately as they walked towards me. It was quite a dark day with low cloud, and the system seemed to be unfazed by the low light.

So what else would compel you to buy this camera over the 700D? The 70D has a top-deck screen that gives all the main operational information such as shutter-speed, aperture, ISO, exposure level, frame count, battery level, and the white balance mode. This is standard information on all professional cameras.

However, most of this information is available in the viewfinder, and on the excellent rotating touch screen.

Perhaps more compelling is better standard autofocus - 9 points on the 700D, 19 points on the 70D. Those extra points improve the accuracy of the focus. There is a proper glass penta-prism (compared to penta-mirror in the 700D), that covers 98% of the viewing area, and is far brighter than the lower model. The overall speed of the camera is noticeably faster than the 700D and it can rattle off 7 frames per second for 65 frames in JPEG mode and 16 frames in RAW mode.

WiFi has been introduced to the 70D and seems to be the same unit as used in the 6D entry level full frame body. This means that you can control these cameras remotely with your iPhone or iPad, and get preview images. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to support the new substantially faster a/c WiFi standards, so the WiFi transfer can be slow.

Canon claims that the 70D has the same weather sealing as the EOS1-N. I find that claim a little bizarre because the 1-N was a mid 1990s professional film camera. Nevertheless, it should mean that the 70D will be fairly weather proof, but not as good as say the 7D, the 5D mkII or mkIII or the 1D series. In overall toughness terms the 700D and 70D are probably on equal footing, the slightly more expensive, but aging, 7D certainly feels tougher overall, and uses the more professional CF card format, but the image quality of the 70D will probably have the edge.

At the time of writing the in October 2013 the 700D was selling for just under $900, and the 70D was available for $1579.

50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org

Parting Shots It’s that time of year again. As I write this Year 12 students are having their final classes in preparation for their final exams. They will have already put in their VTAC choices and be looking forward not only for the long summer break, but hopefully a great step forward in life.

I recently attended the Spring Fair at my old primary school. The “new” toilet block that we fought so hard for has recently be replaced by a large patio deck and a cafe.

Afterwards, I wandered down to my old high school. Things we fought for have gone.

Change is of course a big part of life. Leaving the familiar for the unknown is also a big part of life, you may not get it right the first time, and there is no longer the expectation of a job for life. Photography is a highly completive field. The people I interview for this magazine all agree that there is constant pressure to produce better work. Of course you will always want to do the best work you can. What I’m talking about is the constant competition from other photographers who can market themselves on social media, those who buy an entry level SLR stick it on ‘P’ and call themselves professional. You don’t necessarily need three years at Uni to be a professional photographer, but you do need skills. Skills in the art of photography, and skills in business to survive. This, to quote a old shampoo ad, ‘may not happen overnight, but it will happen’, if you work long and hard. So good luck getting into your first preference. If you don’t keep going with your photography and keep on trying.

When you get back from Schoolies, I hope you have some spare cash. Treat yourself to some accessories for Christmas. A good solid tripod, a great print from CPL in Port Melbourne, a fast prime lens. Perhaps more realistically some of those new filters from Manfrotto. The circular polariser looks rather useful.

We’ll be back early in 2014. We’ve already got some great folios and interviews lined up for issues 4 & 5. Have a great Christmas and a fabulous new year.

Andrew Renaut Managing Editor

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Call for Content

Have you enjoyed viewing 50 Lux magazine in 2013? Then read on....

We are seeking feature articles, study-guides, essays, and practical classroom / workshop materials from practicing and former professional photographers, Arts and Media teachers, and feature writers. You must have a background in professional imaging, photography, and video production.

Your writing must be of a professional standard suitable for students, teachers, and other photographic educators.

We are also seeking high quality photographs and photographic media from students, and emerging professionals. This usually takes the form of 1-3 images from secondary students and a folio of 10 plus images from tertiary students and graduates. If we are interested in your work we may arrange a feature interview.

We regularly feature current working commercial and artistic photographers, and photojournalists. We can accommodate suitable work from video and hybrid artists.

Photography covers a wide range of topics and 50 Lux has so far covered, buying film and digital SLR cameras, setting up a darkroom, processing film, and printing negatives. We also cover photography related events, gallery exhibitions, and have preservation and display features ready for publication.

With the introduction of the National Arts Curriculum from years F to 10, we are particularly interested in Lesson Plan’s and Unit’s of work aimed at younger primary and middle years photography students.

We are also interested in submissions for feature articles for tertiary students that include the setting up and running of a photographic business, selfmarketing and promotion, and developing an on-line presence.

If you have suggestions for other photography related topics please contact us with a sample or links to your writing.

Interested? The first thing to do is read our style guide and terms and conditions. Remember we are a not for profit organisation. Images must be 300DPI TIFF, PNG, or PSD (flattened) and be at least 5-10 megabytes. Very large JPEGs maybe considered, but tend to pixelate on newer high resoultion screens. Please do not watermark your images. Written submissions must be 1500, 2000, or 2500 words in length and be submitted in .DOCX, .DOC, .TXT, or Pages format. The submission deadline for issue 4 is Friday 17 January 2014.

Contact us: editor@50lux.org 50 lux for students and teachers of photography | 50lux.org