Photo 24 special supplement

On the year’s longest day, Advanced Photographer, in association with Nikon and Nikon School, invited readers to join them for a 24-hour shoot. Turn over to enjoy the best pictures & stories from the day In association with

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BEST OVERALL PHOTO |

Photographers set out One of the world’s greatest cities, London is a photographer’s paradise. And this year 250 photographers joined us in our capital city for Photo 24, which began at 6pm 20 June and finished 24 hours later. Staying up and shooting for 24 hours was optional but a great many photographers were determined to last the distance to get the most from the experience.

Shooting for 24 hours means choosing kit needs careful consideration. After all, there’s no point packing a full bag only to be exhausted just a couple of hours into the shoot. I narrowed my gear down to my Nikon Df, because I prefer to shoot FX-format and the Df is lighter than the D800 and with the D4 chip its high ISO performance is superior too. I threw in my 24-120mm f/4 and 70300mm f/4-5.6 NIKKOR zoom lenses and the 50mm f/1.4 G lens to cover most options. A tripod and a threaded cable release rounded off my outfit.

To add to the challenge, nine photographic prizes were up for grabs – hundreds of images were entered for the judges from Advanced Photographer, Nikon and Nikon School to consider. And with the difficult task of judging now over, you can see the winners here, plus the stories behind them.

We had a great run this year and look forward to seeing you in 2015.

OVERALL WINNER

CHRIS ANDREWS “I wanted images of the Shard that gave a sense of the scale and drama of the building. I looked for simple, uncluttered views that projected the stark modernness. Given the weather on the day, I added to those aspirations by challenging myself to make the most of the lighting and make it a feature of what I captured.

“The majority of photographs of the Shard seem to be in colour, I can’t criticise that because it looks great shot that way but I wanted to do something a bit different. I also felt the light captured in my shot had a great contrast that would be well suited to black & white, giving a more powerful image.”

THE JOY OF FX Nikon’s FX format or 35mm full-frame DSLRs are the choice of quality conscious photographers of all levels. The larger sensors have very high resolution – 24.3 megapixels on the D610 and 36.3 megapixels on the sensational new D810 – so are very capable of resolving fine detail, plus the bigger light sensitive area helps minimise digital noise at high ISO settings, a major benefit when shooting in low-light conditions like those encountered in street photography.

8.53am, 40mm, 1/30sec at f/4.5, ISO 100 NIKON PHOTO 24

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2.01pm, 12mm, 1/500sec at f/9, ISO 200

RUNNER-UP

TOM JEAVONS “This photo was taken in Devereux Court, opposite the Royal Courts of Justice. The colours reflected in the puddle and the placement of the blackboard and barrel within the narrow alleyway attracted me to take this shot.”

RUNNER-UP

KEVIN PERKINS “The Houses of Parliament is such an iconic location in London, especially at dusk. With this long exposure, pseudo HDR, I was able to catch a London bus as it whizzed across Westminster Bridge. Thanks for a hugely enjoyable experience!”

9.50pm, 27mm, 4secs at f/11, ISO 100 NIKON PHOTO 24

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BEST STREET PHOTO | ICONIC LONDON | SHOOT MONOPOLY

BEST STREET PHOTO

JODIE STEVENS “As we made our way towards the final meeting point, we came across a couple dancing in the street outside an Italian restaurant. The expression on their faces was captivating as they concentrated on the movement and forgot about the world.”

PHOTO 24

DX-FORMAT For great performance in a compact body form a DSLR from Nikon’s DX range would suit perfectly. The D7100 is the flagship of the DX range with 24.1 megapixels in its 23.5x15.6mm CMOS sensor and can shoot up to five frames-per-second in full Raw mode. Its image sensor does not have an optical low-pass filter to optimise image resolution and make the most of Nikon’s world-renowned lens system.

3.52pm, 34mm, 1/4000sec at f/2.8, ISO 200 NIKON PHOTO 24

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ISO 200

10.18pm, 11mm, 13secs at f/14, ISO 200

ICONIC LONDON DARRELL GODLIMAN

“This was one of those blue hour shots I knew I wanted to get during the 24 hours. I used an 11mm focal length and a very low viewpoint; I waited for a double-decker bus before pressing the shutter as I knew the light trails would add an extra dynamic element to this iconic view.”

SHOOT MONOPOLY

LAURA CAIELS

11.26pm, 45mm, 2.5secs at f/14, ISO 100

“I took this photo at Liverpool Street Station at 11.26pm. I wanted to capture the Friday night revellers and commuters on their way home after a long week. The photo demonstrates to me the 24-hour nature of London.”

NIKON PHOTO 24

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URBAN LIFE | THE SHARD | LONDON BY NIGHT | BRIDGE ACROSS THE THAMES | CREATIVE COLOUR PHOTO 24

PHOTO CRITIQUES

During the morning of Photo 24, the Nikon School, in central London, played host to a series of picture critique sessions held by the editorial team of Advanced Photographer for images shot during the previous evening. It was also a welcome chance for Photo 24 participants to enjoy a brief respite from the shoot with a hot drink and a snack.

Each reader was invited to choose a picture to be discussed by the magazine’s editor Will Cheung and editorial director Roger Payne.

With no time for post-processing, the discussion focused mostly on composition and how to make the most of the subject at the picturetaking stage.

URBAN LIFE CHRIS WHITE “I particularly wanted to visit the Southbank Skate Park. Fortunately there was a star performer there and I was able to get a shot of his last run. In postprocessing I was looking for the urban/grungy look and used Photomatix to create it.”

8.34pm, 24mm, 1/80sec at f/10, ISO 1000

THE SHARD MARK STIMPSON “This photograph was taken on the footpath on the More London development. I liked the zigzag pattern of the windows; they look like rows of dominoes that lead directly to the Shard. I wanted to make this the focus with the Shard being secondary. I twisted the camera to try to emphasise the pattern of the windows and also to tilt the Shard.”

NIKON PHOTO 24

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10.12pm, 27mm, 25secs at f/22, ISO 200

LONDON BY NIGHT

TONY JARVIS “I wanted to capture the speed and flow of London life in one image. I liked the way it all flows through the central ‘hub’ of the arches, symbolising the capital.”

BRIDGE ACROSS THE THAMES

SHARNE FAIRCHILD “The view of St Paul’s from the Millennium Bridge is always spectacular, combining old with new. Where better for wire-wool spinning? With tripods ready, as Will Cheung advised, we shot like snipers and moved quickly on.”

1.53am, 130mm, 20secs at f/13, ISO 200

CREATIVE COLOUR SUE SHARP 1.58pm, 32mm, 1/1000sec at f/4, ISO 1600

“I came across these buildings on St Giles High Street around 9am. Crisp and clear light and the sky a vivid blue – I immediately saw an ideal image with such bold colours. Photo 24 was an amazing experience where I learnt how to improve my photography; I’ll return in 2015.”

9.07am, 55mm, 1/1000sec at f/10, ISO 400

NIKON PHOTO 24

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WELCOME TO THE NIKON SCHOOL Having been innovators in imaging technology for as long as we can remember, Nikon opened the Nikon School to educate and inspire fellow photographers Nikon has a reputation for the inspirational and a habit of achieving the exceptional when it comes to imaging technology. Having long been facilitating photographers getting out there and taking amazing pictures, it was only a matter of time before Nikon decided to take the next step; enter the Nikon School. It enjoys a prime location in central London – and rightfully so – and is based in the Nikon Centre of Excellence where many of the intrepid Photo 24ers visited for a critique session.

Whether you’re a complete amateur or seasoned photography pro, the Nikon School has a course to whet your creative appetite.

All courses are run by the Nikon training team, all experts at the top of their game, who hold a variety of masterclasses, seminars and

workshops. To give you a taster of the kinds of genres and topics covered in courses at the Nikon School, there’s everything from getting to grips with DSLR photography to capturing candid street portraits, from making HD video films to wildlife photography.

Courses are all kept to a maximum of 12 delegates to ensure Nikon’s trainers can support everyone and the best news is that they are also run on a Saturday, making a course easy to fit into your week’s schedule. If you shoot on anything other than a Nikon, you’re welcome to come along to the courses too, but Nikon shooters will benefit most as they’ll get to test out the wide range of lenses and accessories on offer.

To find out more, go to www.nikon.co.uk/training.

Upcoming courses 5 SEPTEMBER 10:30-17:00 £99

NIKON DIGITAL DARKROOM – PHOTOSHOP

Covering everything from capture to post-processing and printing great images 12 SEPTEMBER 10:00-16:00 £109

THE ART OF HIGH-SPEED FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY

You’ll learn how to shoot moments you can’t even see with the naked eye 14 SEPTEMBER 11:00-16:00 £99

JOIN THE PROS: STREET PHOTOGRAPHY – BRICK LANE

Learn to capture real life moments in a buzzing London market with Nikon Ambassador Mark Seymour 16 SEPTEMBER 10:30-17:00 £109

GETTING CREATIVE WITH DSLR PHOTOGRAPHY

Expand your knowledge and learn how to visualise and shoot inspiring images 17-18 SEPTEMBER 09:30-16:00 £749

JOIN THE PROS: FASHION SHOOT WITH NIKON AMBASSADOR JOHN WRIGHT

A two-day workshop on location and with studio-based editing 25 SEPTEMBER 10:00-16:00 £169

FAST BIKES & FOCUSING

An amazing action photography workshop held at Brands Hatch

OPENING TIMES Tuesday to Saturday, 9.30am-6pm ADDRESS Nikon School London Centre of Excellence 63-64 Margaret Street London W1W 8SW

10% OFF

COURSES

FOR READERS VOUCHER CODE

ac8yeyj1fj Redeem at checkout when booking course online at www.nikon.co.uk/training. *Voucher valid until 31 December 2014.

Valid for use by over 16s only.

27 SEPTEMBER 06:30-16:00 £129

JOIN THE PROS: WILDLIFE – GREY SEALS

An on-location shoot in Lincolnshire with wildlife photographer Chris Gomersall NIKON PHOTO 24

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