Advanced Photographer 36 by Bright Publishing

Lighting academy use ringflash for impact

the GO SHOOT Beamish: living museum

the magazine that Takes your images seriously

Photographer www.advancedphotographer.co.uk Issue 36

first look

Hands-on preview of the brand new OM-D

building advice

Grand designs Lay the foundations for your best-ever architecture images

autumn glory Get ready to explore nature’s most colourful season full test

fujifilm X-M1 Our verdict on Fuji’s £600 entry-level CSC

Lens test

GROUP TEST

Samyang wide zooms Mirrors Four ultra-wides from Canon

Budget 500mm and 800mm on trial

and Nikon. We pick a winner

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Welcome

will cheung FRPS, editor

Will has worked in photo mags for over 25 years and been taking pictures for even longer. His photographic interests are very broad, from nature to portraits.

Welcome to this month’s issue and thank you for your support. This time of year is brilliant for photography: the sun rises and sets at sociable times and stays at a good height all day long, you get interesting weather and the landscape starts turning a lovely colour. Despite all the attractions of nature and the short autumn season, perhaps ironically, we’ve picked two man-made subjects that are abundant and available all year long to shoot: buildings and cars. Being so common doesn’t automatically mean they’re easily photographed – at least not well. In fact, because our subjects are so common, taking them for granted is a simple mistake to make. To build up your inspiration, check out Darrell Godliman’s grand designs and Dave Mundy’s carscapes to see how these popular subjects can be capably and creatively handled. Autumn is simply a wonderful season to indulge your photography and you don’t even have to venture far to get great colours. If, however, you fancy an extra-special day out, put Westonbirt Arboretum on your list. It’s featured in our Top Spot piece and it’s a brilliant location for autumn. There are plenty of other gardens and arboreta around too, so it’s easy enough to stay local. Cameras dominate Photo Kit in this issue with the Fujifilm X-M1 taking centre stage but very ably supported by a preview of the Olympus OM-D E-M1, the second camera in the family to arrive. However, if you are in the market for a wide-angle zoom, we test four models in this issue too. We look forward to your company again next month. Happy shooting.

Will Cheung FRPS, Editor

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to Advanced Photographer

Contents

INSPIRE: Classic car shots

GO SHOOT: The living museum

The cover story... “This vibrant scene was photographed at Westonbirt Arboretum. The rich colours were helped by flat lighting, although this meant a slow shutter speed and the use of a Manfrotto carbon-fibre tripod for a sharp image.” Olympus OM-D E-M5, 12-50mm f/3.5-6.3 lens at 50mm, 1/10sec at f/6.7 in aperture-priority AE mode, ISO 200. Raw file processed in Adobe Lightroom 5.

www.williamcheung.co.uk

See PAGE 52 For details

Inspiration, technique, opinion 6 UPFRONT Want to know all about the latest kit? Then you’ve come to the right place: we launch news from all the big names, plus a world record attempt. 10 build up: INSPIRE

LIGHTING ACADEMY: Ringflash

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29 EXPOSED No stranger

to new technologies, fads and trends, editor Cheung’s head isn’t easily turned, but one CSC has done just that.

30 go shoot: Beamish Go back to

Things are certainly looking up for Darrell Godliman. He’s amassed a stunning property portfolio, won Photo 24 and is now appearing in AP for the second time!

the future with this issue’s recommended destination. The Living Museum of the North welcomes photographers through its doors – even with tripods!

18 concrete plans: CAPTURE Research and

34 Last tango in paris One lucky reader won

planning are essential if you’re going to shoot some super structures. So read on for all you need to know.

a weekend photo trip, and so partnered by Samsung memory cards, he waltzed around the city of light.

24 TOP SPOT: westonbirt Where

38 in the fast lane: INSPIRE Proving you don’t

better to splurge on gorgeous autumn colours than one of the country’s best-loved arboretums?

need all the gear to have a good idea, Dave Mundy shoots classic cars with almost classic kit.

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Contents

INSPIRE: Property portfolio

PREVIEW: Olympus OM-D E-M1

68 FULL TEST: Fujifilm X-M1 Photo Kit: the latest gear tested 48 drive time: CAPTURE Get your motor

running with our essential guide to the best techniques and tricks to turn your banger into a beauty.

52 SUBSCRIPTION OFFERS Bag yourself a

bargain and your regular dose of photo inspiration and advice with a subscription to your favourite mag.

54 LIGHTING academy

It’s a Marmite thing, but love ’em or hate ’em, ringflashes create some impressive effects for portraiture and fashion shots – and some quirky results too.

60 RAW MASTERCLASS

Shooting Raw isn’t just a quality thing; it also gives you plenty of flexibility in postprocessing, particularly when dealing with contrast.

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65 & 84 COMPETITION TIME Two lovely chances

to win! First, one superb scenic shot could net you a goody bag and a place on an exclusive UK location shoot. Second, a stunning street shot could land you a ticket to Brussels, plus a pocket full of Samsung memory cards.

114 NEXT issue It’s all in black & white: inspirational mono portfolios and mastering b&w landscapes. Plus, as always, ideas for places and subjects to train your camera on, as well as Canon’s latest DSLR and four superzooms on test.

68 fujifilm x-m1 Small and competitive, Fuji’s latest X-Trans sensor-toting CSC gets a full, hands-on, no holds barred review. 76 super wide-angle zooms We zoom in on

four marque lenses, two from Canon and two from Nikon.

85 LYTRO light field camera Focusing after the

fact – is this just fantasy?

86 olympus OM-D e-m1 Let us introduce the youngest member of the Olympus CSC family – with its all-new Micro Four Thirds sensor.

Want to read Advanced Photographer on your iPad? Save up to 35% by subscribing at the App Store today!

90 lowepro bags

Whether it’s a day in the hills or out on the town, you need a comfortable, secure bag to cart your kit around in. Maybe one of these two will fit the bill (and your back)…

92 samyang lenses

Using mirrors makes these optics super light – they’re pretty easy on the wallet too. Editor Cheung wonders if they deserve a spot in your lens line-up.

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inspiration

The beauty of buildings

Docklands, London “Looking up at Canary Wharf tower, I’ve deliberately used cross-polarisation to add interesting colouration to the facade.” Nikon D200, 11mm lens, 1/125sec at f/5, ISO 100

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inspiration

The beauty of buildings

Drawing influence from all genres of photography, architecture fan and Photo 24 winner Darrell Godliman has hand built a stunning portfolio of images that highlight the beauty to be found in the urban jungle WORDS charlotte griffiths PICTURES darrell godliman

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GO SHOOT

Beamish Museum

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13/9/13 11:00:43

GO SHOOT

Beamish Museum

Beamish Museum Photo opportunities abound at Beamish, the Living Museum of the North, and it’s open most of the year – so take advantage of a wonderful range of subjects Words & pictures Ade McFade

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inspiration

Car portraits

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inspiration

Car portraits

Classic car aficionado and photographer Dave Mundy explains why you don’t need top gear to capture stunning images like these – a blue sky, a zoom lens and a bit of patience will put your pictures at the front of the grid WORDS CHARLOTTE GRIFFITHS PICTURES dave mundy

“A curvaceous TVR bonnet on a cloudy day, with pearlescent paint that changes colour as you change viewpoint, must be one of the best subjects for this type of shot so I let the curves and paintwork do the talking.” Canon EOS 30D,

Canon 70-300mm IS at 135mm, 1/800sec at f/10, ISO 400

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Lighting 36 Part A c a d e m y

The ringflash is a specialised piece of kit, but the effects it achieves make it worth serious consideration for keen fashion and portrait photographers Words & pictures john denton

Ringflash lighting receives enormous love from its devotees, while others deride it as overdone and boring. Although originally designed for use in macro photography, it has now been firmly adopted by all manner of people photographers. My personal view is that it’s a great lighting style if shooting fashionstyled imagery, but just like a fisheye lens, should be used sparingly. If you are in the business of shooting contemporary portraits or model portfolios though, it is an essential tool in your armoury. If you’ve never used ringflash before, then the first thing to realise is that you need an extra hand. Holding it with your lens poking through the middle can be quite cumbersome. Some come with frames that mount the flash onto your camera, but I find that just adds weight. I tend to use them with one hand on the flash unit and one on the camera, with the flash supporting the weight of the lens. My unit of choice is the Elinchrom Quadra Ringflash ECO. This 400 watt unit plugs into a Ranger Quadra power pack and is triggered by the Skyport trigger sitting on the camera hotshoe. Currently, the ringflash head with a Ranger Quadra Hybrid power pack costs in the region of £1400 so it’s a serious investment. However, I haven’t always been in such a fortunate position. My first experimentation with ringflash involved modifiers for my speedlights and I used the Orbis to produce the look. See the panel below for more on these accessories. Ringflash is loved for its abilities as a key light. It produces a front-on light that wraps around your subject, giving flawless lighting and a tiny fringe of grey shadow around your model. When used in combination with other lights, it can fill shadows and add a crispness to the image.

Once you start recognising the look, you’ll see it time and time again in fashion magazines and websites. I recommend using a flash meter for flash photography, but I appreciate not everyone agrees with me. If you don’t have one, use the camera’s histogram to ensure you are neither burning out highlights nor blocking up shadows. If you are not sure about reading a histogram, try using a Lastolite Xpobalance which costs £35. This collapsible gadget features white, mid-grey and black panels. Take a close shot of it at the model’s position and check the histogram – an accurate exposure should have peaks in the middle and at each extreme. This leads to the next consideration when using ringflash in manual mode. It’s attached to us. Normally when I’m working in the studio if I take a step backwards or forwards, my softboxes and stands don’t come for a wander with me. But with a ringflash, you are a mobile human lighting stand. So the f/stop you’ve just carefully measured with your flashmeter only holds true so long as you don’t walk any closer to or further away from your subject. RIGHT Here I used the ringflash close to Nikki, using a Nikon D300 and 24-70mm lens at 70mm. The ringflash was fired at half power, which at that distance gave me an aperture of f/9 – my sync speed was 1/200sec. The light overexposed her skin, an effect enhanced in Photoshop to allow the red tones to dominate. Note the subtle shadowing around her head and torso. Make-up by Nikki.

Low-cost ringflash Turn your speedlight into a ringflash by investing in a RayFlash (pictured) or Orbis modifier, costing £155 and £175 respectively. A true ringflash has a circular flash tube; a ringflash modifier tries to simulate this with reflectors bouncing the light from the flashgun around the circular housing. Using a speedlight means you have the option of TTL flash mode, but you may find that using manual flash mode is more effective. TTL can get confused and end up giving you a dark looking image. Start by trying half manual power and check the exposure with the flashmeter or camera histogram and experiment from there.

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Lighting A c a d e m y

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Photo Kit Fujifilm X-M1

Fujifilm X-M1

Fujifilm’s X-series, featuring the innovative X-Trans sensor, has caught the eye of many a keen photographer. The X-M1 is the latest in the series and its big selling points are competitive price and small size, so does it have the performance of its bigger brothers?

WORDs & PICTURES ian fyfe

KEY FEATURES £599 body only, £680 with 16-50mm 16 megapixels X-Trans CMOS sensor technology Wireless Image Transfer www.fujifilm.eu/uk

One-handed control All the buttons and dials have been placed on the right-hand side of the tiny X-M1 body so that you can do everything with one hand. These easily reached controls include two command dials, a shooting mode dial, a customisable Fn button, direct-access buttons for many shooting functions and a quick menu for the rest. All in a very compact area and within easy reach of your thumb – literally.

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APS-C sensor To date, the X-series CSCs have featured an APS-C sized sensor, and the X-M1 is no different. This size sensor is the same as those found in consumer DSLRs, so you can expect similar (or better) performance in terms of noise control, resolution and dynamic range. The sensor features Fujifilm’s unique X-Trans technology, negating the need for a low-pass filter and so maximising image quality.

More modes As a smaller camera designed to appeal to a wider consumer audience, there are several modes you won’t find on the more advanced X-series CSCs. There are Auto and Scene Recognition modes for point-and-shoot photography, as well as scene modes and an Advanced mode that includes creative filters. These all sit on the shooting mode dial, waiting for you to give it a twist as the situation suits.

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Photo Kit

Fujifilm X-M1

It’s not how big it is, but what you can do with it. I’m talking about cameras, of course. With the rise of compact system cameras, it’s no longer the case that small means less powerful, and with the X-M1, Fujifilm has proved the point; the innards of the bigger and more expensive X-Pro1 and X-E1 are wrapped up in a smaller and lighter body that could be mistaken for a compact. Indeed, the X-M1 is smaller than some of Fujifilm’s own premium superzoom compacts, but offers the versatility of interchangeable lenses. Inside is the same 16-megapixel X-Trans CMOS sensor that’s found in the bigger X-series siblings, and it’s paired with the same EXR Processor II for equally impressive image quality. But the X-M1 has been designed to appeal to a wider audience, and this means a smaller and lighter body, monitor only, so no viewfinder, and more auto modes and creative filters. But does this mass-market appeal make it any less of a camera? For me, Fuji has got a bit carried away reducing the body size. It’s brilliant that it’s so light, and the size makes it great for tucking into any bag, but I found it quite awkward to hold. There’s not enough space on the back for the thumb grip to be well placed, and I found it was too low for a comfortable grip – instead, my thumb was often sitting higher up, and this meant it was mingling dangerously amongst the three dials. This frequently led to accidental addition of exposure compensation or the use of unintentional apertures. There’s a control lock that can be engaged by holding down the central Menu button, but this doesn’t lock the dial functions. This grip conundrum aside, control of the camera was great. While the top command dial isn’t marked as exposure compensation as on the X-Pro1 and X-E1, that’s still its function in shooting modes other than manual, when it becomes the shutter speed dial. The back dial is usually the main control though – slotted in vertically behind the thumb grip, it looks awkward, but I soon discovered that the same thumb movement you’d use to control the back dial on a DSLR is just as effective with this one. The buttons squeezed into the space below the thumb grip provide direct access to several functions, including drive mode, which incorporates autobracketing, and white-balance. For one extra direct access button, you can customise the Fn button on the top plate – I left it on the default of ISO, but there are 15 functions that can be assigned to it. Having mentioned white-balance, now seems a good time to bring up how impressed I was with the control of this. After selecting any white-balance preset, including Auto, you’re presented with a

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Anatomy of...

The Fujifilm X-M1 FROM THE TOP At a glance, the layout of the top plate is the same as the other X-series CSCs, but it’s not as it seems. On the X-M1, there’s a mode dial 1 where the others have a shutter speed dial, and a main command dial 2 in place of the exposure compensation dial on the corner. The shutter button 3 , which has the on/off switch around it, nestles between them, but there’s no thread on this model to attach a screw-in cable release. To the right is the Fn button 4 , which is the only button that can be customised – regardless of its shooting function, it doubles up for direct access to the Wi-Fi functions in playback mode. To the left of all the controls are the hotshoe 5 and built-in flash 6 .

FROM THE FRONT The finger grip 1 isn’t very substantial, and the ridge is quite close to the end of the body. There’s an AF assist lamp 2 , but no buttons on the front except for the lens release button 3 , which is on the handgrip side of the mount – this’ll be familiar to Fujifilm users, but may feel like it’s on the ‘wrong’ side for those used to other manufacturers. The APS-C sized sensor 4 is the same 16-megapixel X-Trans CMOS chip as in the other X-series cameras, with its innovative ‘random’ pixel array that means no optical low-pass filter is needed.

2 1 4

FROM THE BACK With the more compact X-M1 body, Fuji has had to rearrange the rear controls from the X-Pro1 and X-E1. There’s a subcommand dial 1 that sits behind the thumb grip 2 like a magazine in a rack, and the rest of the controls are tucked into the space beneath. The Q button 3 opens the quick menu, and in a first for the X-series, there’s a dedicated movie record button 4 . None of the buttons on the back can be customised, but several have a second function if you hold them down. Also a first for the series is a tiltable LCD screen 5 , which is three inches in size with 920k dots, but it’s not a touch screen.

2 4

5 3

AT A GLANCE SPECS Street price £599 body only Contact www.fujifilm.eu/uk Sensor 16-megapixel X-Trans CMOS with EXR Processor II Image dimensions 4896x3264 pixels ISO range 200-6400 (100-25,600 extended) Autofocus modes Multi, area, continuous, tracking, manual Exposure compensation +/-2EV in

0.3EV steps, autoexposure bracketing 3 frames in 0.3, 0.7 or 1EV steps Shutter 30secs-1/4000sec Metering patterns Multi, spot, average Shooting speeds Single, H5.6fps, L3fps Storage media SD, SDHC, SDXC, UHS-I compatible Dimensions (WxHxD) 116.9x66.5x39mm Weight (BODY ONLY) 330g including battery and memory card

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Advanced Photographer

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Editorial Team Editor Will Cheung FRPS  01223 499466 willcheung@bright-publishing.com Technical Writer Ian Fyfe  01223 499456 ianfyfe@bright-publishing.com Sub Editors Lisa Clatworthy, Hannah Bealey, Siobhan Godwood Contributors this issue Richard Hopkins, John Denton, Charlotte Griffiths, Darrel Godliman, Dave Mundy, Ade McFade Advertising Team Business Development Director Dave Stone  01223 499462 davestone@bright-publishing.com Sales Director Matt Snow  01223 499453 mattsnow@bright-publishing.com Key Accounts Maria Francis  01223 499457 mariafrancis@bright-publishing.com Key Accounts Mike Elliott  01223 499458 mikeelliott@bright-publishing.com

ISSUE

Design Team Design Director Andy Jennings Design Director Dean Usher Senior Designer Alan Gray Design & Production Manager Grant Gillard

shades of grey

Web Team Flash Developer Ashley Norton

Publishing Team Publishing Director Andy Brogden Publishing Director Matt Pluck Editorial Director Roger Payne Head of Circulation Chris Haslum

mono special

tell a story in pictures Documentary techniques explained

llyn gwynant

edinburgh

Canon EOS 70D big test Superzooms Four part 1

Our verdict on the latest Canon DSLR

18-200mm models on trial

black white scenes

Make the most of your mono landscapes

york minster

reader challenge

Issue 37 ON SALE 24 october 114 advanced photographer ISSUE 36

Contributing to Advanced Photographer Advanced Photographer is always looking for photographic talent so if you feel your pictures are worthy of being featured on the magazine we would love to hear from you. In particular we want creative pictures showing the use of popular and innovative camera techniques. By post: Send us a CD with 12 images or fewer, together with a contact print of images, and a brief covering letter outlining your ideas and photographic credentials. In terms of file size, please ensure that the image is at least A4-size (21x29.7cm) and 300ppi resolution. If you prefer, up to 12 unmounted A4 prints can be submitted. Please enclose a stamped SAE if you want the CD/prints returned. ☎ Advanced Photographer, Bright Publishing Ltd, Bright House, 82 High Street, Sawston, Cambridgeshire CB22 3HJ. By email: Please email us at info@advancedphotographer. co.uk. Attach no more than six low-resolution JPEGs (1000pixels on the longest dimension) and a brief, 100-word email outlining your ideas and key photographic credentials. We will contact you for high-resolution files if your images are chosen for publication.

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n Advanced Photographer is published on the third Thursday of every month by Bright Publishing Ltd, Bright House, 82 High Street, Sawston, Cambridge, CB22 3HJ. n No part of this magazine can be used without prior written permission of Bright Publishing Ltd. n ISSN number: 2045-3892 n Advanced Photographer is a registered trademark of Bright Publishing Ltd. n The advertisements published in Advanced Photographer that have been written, designed or produced by employees of Bright Publishing Ltd remain the copyright of Bright Publishing Ltd and may not be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. n The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher.