Photography News 56

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Issue 56 18 June – 15 July

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Your FREE newspaper packed with the latest news, views and stories from the world of photography

Nikon D850

First tests

Camera school

How we feel about this awardwinning DSLR 10,000 frames later See page 32

A veritable feast of top photo kit for your credit card to consider Page 36

Get creative and deliberately move the camera during an exposure Page 47

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A Samsung 128GB memory card Enter the competition on page 48 © Stuart McCann

Fujifilm’s stylish ace

GET YOUR

The sleek X-T100 is Fujifilm’s latest addition to its range of popular X-series mirrorless cameras and comes at an attractive price

As far as camera naming goes, the general rule is that models with more numbers are more consumer focused and singledigit cameras are more pro-oriented.

On that simple basis you know that the Fujifilm X-T100 is an entry-level X-series camera and that’s confirmed by its price; £619 with the new EC 1545mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS PZ lens.

Its entry-level price, however, buys you an impressive features set and certainly looks a great option for would-be Fujifilm X-series owners, or existing users wanting a back-up camera body. The X-T100’s sleek, compact bodyform has an

ergonomic layout including three large mode dials on the top-plate and an innovative monitor.

The body houses an extensive collection of features that includes a 24.2-megapixel APS-C format sensor, a 91-point AF system with an algorithm designed for the flagship X-series cameras and Bluetooth connectivity.

The sensor uses a conventional Bayer array – so it’s not an X-Trans model as found on more advanced cameras – with a native ISO range of 200 to 12,800 with expansion up to 51,200 possible.

The Fujifilm X-T100 is available in store from late June.

Fujifilm.eu

Eastwood PS wins After an epic contest and final shoot-out, Glasgow’s Eastwood Photographic Society emerges triumphant in our Camera Club of the Year 2017-18. For the full story behind the final, see page 12.

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News

Fujifilm’s stylish ace The Fujifilm X-T100 is a compact X-series model and – typical for the X-T family – has a pentaprism bulge that houses the high resolution EVF. An integral, manual popup flashgun is also secreted away here with a guide number of 7 (ISO 200/metres).

Key physical highlights include three large dials across the top for mode selection, exposure compensation and, on the far left, a function dial which can have 20 different features assigned to it.

The rear monitor sees an innovation too. The X-T100’s can be set for waist-level or above-head shooting but it also swivels out to face forward for selfie shooting or for use at any angle in between.

Delivering high image quality is the Bayer array 23.5x15.7mm APS-C sensor with a resolution of 24.2 megapixels. It also offers video recording, with 1920x1080 Full HD available at 59.94p, 50p, 24p and 23.98p and 3840x2160 4k at 15p.

The Intelligent Hybrid AF system features a 13x7 array (91 zones) that offers single point AF with five size options, Zone AF (3x3, 5x5, 7x7) and Wide/Tracking (up to 18 areas).

Fujifilm’s new algorithm, designed for flagship X cameras, gives responsive and accurate AF in a wide range of lighting conditions. The system and how it works is very similar to other X-series cameras and its 91 AF point array should give spot-on results time after time.

Low energy Bluetooth is fitted for quick, easy and automatic image transfer to your phone or tablet via Fujifilm’s free app, Camera Remote.

With 17 Advanced filters and 11 Fujifilm Film Simulation modes, the X-T100 has plenty of in-camera creative potential.

The Film Simulation modes can be engaged very quickly via the touch monitor while Art Filters

are engaged via the top-plate function dial.

Fujifilm’s extensive lens range, with 26 lenses and converters on offer, is compatible with the X-T100

so you are buying into a system that can keep pace with you as your skills develop.

The Fujifilm X-T100 is available in black, champagne and dark silver

and is priced £619 with the EC 1545mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS PZ lens, and is in the shops from late June.

Fujifilm.eu

Hands on with Will Cheung: Fujifilm X-T100 I had a short time with the X-T100 with the EC 15-45mm f/3.5-5.6.

Size-wise, a quick side-by-side comparison with the X-E3 shows they are similar length and depth and it is only in height that there is any significant difference.

That’s because the X-T100 has a pentaprism-style housing, in the same vein as the X-T2 and X-T20, that houses the EVF. The EVF’s image is crisp and highly detailed.

The touch monitor is an innovative development from the X-T2. It pulls out and can be

angled for waist-level or overhead shooting, but the neat thing is that it also swivels out, making it ideal for selfie shooting or very sneaky candid shooting. Having the option of shooting subjects to one side while you face away is awesome, and that is only enhanced with touch AF/release and silent electronic shutter.

The menu structure is just like other X-series cameras so this is great to use and I found what I needed pretty quickly.

There is a more-than-decent level of user-selectable options.

In the function menu there are six options, four of which concern the monitor and the direction in which it’s swiped. In each of the four swipe directions (up, down, left and right), 28 functions including ‘none’ can also be set.

With the FN button itself you have 32 choices while on the

large unmarked dial on the left side of the body this can be set to 20 different features.

The unmarked dial on the far right of the top-plate is the clickstopped exposure compensation dial. While you can’t tell from the top plate whether compensation is set, the scale on the monitor/ EVF does tell you as will the light/ darker viewing image.

Autofocus I found to be typically swift and responsive. In single or zone AF point shooting to navigate the AF area around the frame means using the AF option of the four pad control on the camera back and then using the other pads to move the AF spot around. In single AF point mode changing AF point size is done by the rear input dial. There is no focus lever.

The rear input dial is interesting in that it is positioned vertically not horizontally so it may take a little while to get used to.

We’ll be testing the X-T100 very soon, but so far my first impressions are positive and there is certainly a great deal to explore and enjoy.

Latest news just in Fujifilm has launched firmware updates for its X-T2 and X-H1.

You may be aware that firmware updates were introduced a month or so back, but gremlins were found. These latest

firmwares have resolved any issues, so X-T2 and X-H1 owners can now update.

For X-T2: bit.ly/2l5f6oT For X-H1: bit.ly/2l7Q096

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Photography News | Issue 56 | photographynews.co.uk

News

and Duncan Wilson, CEO of Historic England. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony to be held in November.

Entries will be judged on originality, composition and technical proficiency alongside the story behind the submission and its historical impact. By taking part, photographers will get the chance to win a first prize of £1000 and have their winning image showcased across the media. triphistoric.com

Hahnel Modus 600RT

level of performance. This lens gives accurate, fast and very quiet autofocus too, with a minimum focusing distance of just 24cm.

Perhaps most impressive of all is the lens’s price. It has a guide price of £279.99, and will be available in the shops from July.

Intro2020.co.uk

Originally available for Canon, Fujifilm, Nikon and Sony the potent Hähnel Modus 600RT speedlight is now available for Micro Four Thirds camera owners.

With its rechargeable li-ion battery you can get up to 600 fullpower flash bursts with a 1.5sec recycling time. It is fully featured too with TTL flash and high-speed sync correctly working at shutter speeds up to 1/8000sec.

The Modus 600RT kit for MFT sells for £269.99.

Sigma’s new arrival in its Art family, the 105mm f/1.4 DG HSM, will retail at £1499.99 and for Canon, Nikon and Sigma mounts, availability will be from this June.

Price for the Sony FE version is to be confirmed.

This lens features a 17 element in 12 groups construction. All that glass explains why this lens weighs in at 1645g and comes with a removable Arca Swiss mount tripod collar. Among all those pieces of glass are three FLD, two SLD and one aspheric elements. The result is a highperforming lens with high sharpness and lovely bokeh in out-of-focus highlight areas. Its design also counters light drop off at wider apertures so you get minimal vignetting yet still have that lovely bokeh effect.

Add dust and splash proofing, the latest lens coatings and typically slick Sigma AF, and you have a superb lens ideal for general use and could potentially excel with portraits sigma-imaging-uk.com

Hähnel.ie

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If you need help selling yourself we have 21 essential marketing tips; if you like studio photography then we have advice on making the most from one light; and if you want to get your creative juices flowing, check out the interview with expert food photographer Tom Parker. All this and much more, guaranteed to enhance your earning potential.

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Samyang has introduced its AF 24mm f/2.8 lens for full frame Sony E-mount cameras.

With a seven element in seven groups construction, this lens weighs a mere 93g and measures just 37mm long (without the hood) so this is a very compact, lightweight lens. Three aspheric and two high refractive lenses along with Ultra Multi Coating help to deliver a high

© Jenna Johnston

© Pamela Jones

Light and wide from Samyang

Sigma has a tele

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The second Historic Photographer of the Year Awards is open to all amateur and professional photographers.

The Awards celebrate the very best historic places and cultural sites across the globe, from the most famous national treasures to the most obscure hidden gems. They are run by Trip Historic, the leading online travel guide to the world’s historic sites, and judging the entries will be a panel of experts including broadcaster Dan Snow of History Hit TV, CEO of Trip Historic Mike Lewis

© Matt Emmett

Enter now

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News

Rotolight’s great summer offer

Leica’s flash system The SF 60 flashgun and SF C1 remote control are available for the Leica S, SL and M systems.

The SF 60 flash costs £450, boasts a guide number of 60 (ISO 100/metres), high speed flash sync up to 1/8000sec and zoom head with tilt-and-swivel functionality.

The SF C1 remote radio trigger costs £250 and offers seven channels and three groups. It has a micro SD slot to enable easy firmware updates.

Buy a Sony A9, A7R II, A7R III or A7S II from 20 June for a limited period only and you will receive a free Rotolight NEO2, a light that usually sells for £299.99.

This portable, innovative light is a powerful versatile continuous light source but it is also a flash with instant recharge, huge shooting capacity from one charge and high speed sync up to 1/8000sec, and can be camera-mounted too. So whether you shoot movies or stills, the NEO2 will suit your needs.

This offer is available through an exclusive selection of UK photographic retailers so please see the website for full details.

leica.co.uk

Rotolight.com/sony

DxO doubles up DxO has announced two editing softwares, Dx0 PhotoLab 1.2 and Nik Collection 2018.

Nik Collection was hugely popular because it was free but also excellent and it was bought

by DxO last year.

In the intervening months Dx0 has been working on the package and it has been relaunched as the Nik Collection 2018.

The Collection is on offer for £39.99 until 1 July when the price reverts to £59. Dx0 Photolab 1.2 Above Manfrotto's Befree tripod range offers great stability in compact form, and now there’s the carbon fibre option.

Three up from Manfrotto Manfrotto’s Befree travel tripod family offers excellent stability in portable forms, and its three latest introductions follow this philosophy. The three models are Befree Advanced Carbon, Befree Live Carbon and the Befree GT. The Advanced Carbon sells for £319.95 and comes complete with the Advanced 494 aluminium head. The combination weighs in at just 1.25kg.

The Live Carbon model is aimed for video shooting, whether you are using a CSC,

DSLR or camcorder. This model sells at £349.99 and includes the Befree Live Fluid head.

Sitting at the top of the Befree tree is the GT model, available in aluminium and carbon fibre versions, selling at £239.95 and £399.95 respectively. These tripods come with the Advanced 496 ball head.

Finally, the £119.95 Befree Backpack has also been announced.

Manfrotto.co.uk

is a Raw and JPEG processing solution and features Nik Software’s U Point technology that enables local image control in a non-destructive manner. It also has Prime noise reduction technology and Smart Lighting which provides intelligent exposure optimization.

Photolab 1.2 is available in Essential and Elite editions, priced at £99 and £159 respectively.

Dxo.com

Olympus goes blue For the fashion conscious, imagemaker Olympus has introduced a blue version of its PEN E-PL9. This lightweight, compact camera is highly featured including a Micro Four Thirds sensor with a resolution of 16.1 megapixels, contrast detect AF and Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity for quick image transfer to your smart device.

The PEN E-PL5 Blue sells at £649.99 with the 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 EZ Pancake lens and is available now.

Olympus.co.uk

Panasonic firmware updates Panasonic has firmware updates for its GH5 (v2.3), GH5S (v1.1) and G9 (v1.10).

A range of performance benefits is available including improved AF, live view boost and the option of monochrome and grain effects.

To download the updates and instructions, please visit the website. panasonic.com/global/ consumer/lumix/

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Photography News | Issue 56 | photographynews.co.uk

Tell us your club’s latest news, email: clubnews@photography-news.co.uk

Clubs

Camera club news If your club has any news that you want to share with the rest of the world, this is the page for it. Your story might be about your club’s success in a contest, or a member’s personal achievements; it could be about a group outing you had recently or when the annual exhibition is on show. Any news is eligible for inclusion, so club publicity officers please take note of the submission guidelines and get your stories in

How to submit

Deadline for the next issue: 5 July 2018

We need words and pictures by 5 July 2018 for the next issue of Photography News, which will be available from 16 July 2018. Write your story in a Word document (400 words max). Please include contact details of the club, exhibition or event: website, meeting times, opening times, whatever is relevant. Images should be JPEGs, 2000 pixels on the longest dimension, any colour space, and image credits should be included. If the story is an exhibition or event, please send a picture from the exhibition (not the publicity poster) or one from the event. If it includes people, please identify them.

Attach the Word document and JPEGs to an email and send to clubnews@photography-news.co.uk

Helping out Peterborough’s Photography in Focus group runs two events to raise funds for the local hospice, Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall. “Our Day of Photography event is held at Thorpe Hall because its gardens are ideal for photography,” says Nigel Thompson, chairman of the group. “The day attracts many photographers, including quite a few youngsters, and also lots of visitors come for the day out, just to meet people and chat photography. We have models to shoot plus demonstrations like martial arts, birds of prey, dancers of any kind, and many more.”

in photography. We started two years ago and now we meet a once a fortnight. When we can we run studio shoots – models or still-life – but we also go out and shoot on location. We offer members as much advice and help as we can.”

The Photography in Focus group meets in the back hall of The Lime Tree Pub, Paston Lane, Peterborough PE4 6HA. “We have eight members in our group and we accept anyone who wants to learn and participate

For more details contact Nigel on chairman. photographyinfocus@gmail.com

On the Border The Border Monochrome Camera Club (BMCC) is holding its annual summer exhibition at the Burton Hotel in Kington, Herts, where the club also usually meets.

Formed in 1976, the BMCC is the UK’s oldest camera club dedicated to monochrome.

This year’s exhibition is The Countryside at Work, highlighting the varied aspects of the rural economy.

Please go along and vote on the work for a chance to win your own mounted print from the exhibition. It is open till the beginning of September and entry is free. bordermonochrome.co.uk

Washington CC presents An Evening with Joe Cornish, an event to celebrate the club’s 50th anniversary.

Joe Cornish, renowned landscape photographer, will present his work to members and guests.

The venue is the Arts Centre, Washington, Biddick Lane, Fatfield, Washington, Tyne & Wear NE38 8AB. Phone 0191 561 3455 or visit artscentrewashington.co.uk/ for tickets

Summer learning at Chingford Chingford Photographic Society (CPS) will be once again running its summer school between 16 July and 20 August from 8pm to 10pm. The school suits all skills and abilities from those who want to learn a new skill to those who want to use it as a stepping stone to more professional skills.

Geraldine Dent who joined the summer school in 2017 says about Chingford workshop: “It was well organised and covered a wide variety of topics. I received a friendly welcome and the leaders obviously knew their stuff and communicated well. It was good to have members on hand to help during sessions; the

outing was useful to practice and I found I learnt quite a lot. I have since become a full CPS member.”

The cost of the workshops is £50 for all six evenings, which also includes six months club membership. chingfordphotographic.com

© David Barker

© Joe Cornish

© Antony Williams

Joe Cornish at Washington CC

Sevenoaks CC’s annual show Sevenoaks CC’s annual exhibition will be held in The Sevenoaks Kaleidoscope Gallery, Buckhurst Lane, Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 1LQ from 13 June to midday 30 June, during normal Sevenoaks Library opening times. Admission is free.

Prints will be on display every day of the show. On Saturdays there will also be a display of digital photos on a TV screen and members of the club will be in attendance to answer questions.

Club meetings usually take place on three Mondays a month between September and May. sevenoakscameraclub.org. uk

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Photography News | Issue 56 | photographynews.co.uk

Tell us your club’s latest news, email: clubnews@photography-news.co.uk

Clubs

© Peter Duthie FRPS

© Fiona Adamson

© Sue Lambert LRPS

Potters Bar PS win Image Roger Baker

Horsham PS

Image Pride on Parade

by Sue Lambert LRPS was awarded top marks in the South Downs Trophy competition.

Success at Steyning CC

we did not gain as many maximum scores as some of the other clubs we offered a more consistent quality of image and that helped us to first place”.

The Society meets at Wyllyotts Centre, Darkes Lane, Potters Bar on most Monday evenings from 7:30pm.

Caister PC

Accrington CC’s annual exhibition is open until 15 July at the Haworth Art Gallery, Accrington.

The show is open Tuesday to Sunday afternoons from noon. Entrance to the gallery is free and there is a tearoom and licensed bar.

The exhibition comprises 119 prints and two TV screens where the projected images can be viewed. accringtoncameraclub. org.uk

Caister’s annual exhibition runs 17-21 July at the Minster Church of St Nicholas, Great Yarmouth NR30 1NE. The show is open 10am, 5pm daily.

There is limited free parking close by and ample public parking on

the nearby market place. Admission to the exhibition and Minster is free, so if you are on holiday in Great Yarmouth please drop by.

Heady days at Bromsgrove PS Bromsgrove PS has enjoyed great individual and club success in recent months. The club won the Midland Bank Trophy, a competition between Redditch, Studley and Bromsgrove.

At the recent Midland counties competition where 60 clubs were involved, Bromsgrove’s members got 27 acceptances. The icing on the cake was a Midland Counties Photographic Federation Ribbon going to Colin Close and the Best Mammal Print award going to Jenny Webster.

Bromsgrove’s Colin Close achieved his BPE Five Crowns distinction and Jenny Webster got her BPE Two Crowns distinction;

© Adrian Butt

steyningcc.org.uk

Accrington CC

horshamphotographicsociety. co.uk

pottersbarphotosoc.org.uk

© Tony Bushkes

Steyning CC enjoyed a clean sweep in all of the external photographic competitions it has entered this season.

Last October, it won the cup for the top scoring club in the Sussex Photographic Federation PDI competition.

Then in November, it won the Regnum Shield in the Regnum Crouch Group’s Print competition, a battle between eight local camera clubs. Also with the Regnum Crouch Group, in March Steyning retained the Crouch Shield in their projected image competition.

Finally, in April Steyning took the South Downs Trophy for the third year running. Well done from PN to all Steyning CC members.

Potters Bar and District PS won the Jubilee Cup in a four-way competition against Barnet, Enfield and Southgate clubs.

The competition requires a mix of projected images and prints and each club had to present six of each type of image. Three of Potters Bar’s pictures won the maximum of 20 points. A society spokesman said “although

Horsham PS had its inaugural meeting in 1949. Longest serving member Roger Baker joined in 1953 so this year he celebrates his 65th year at the club. He is now the club president and lifetime honorary member.

To honour Roger’s contribution to the club, at its meeting on 2 May, the club’s members gave him an inscribed photographic history of English cathedrals. The presentation was made by the club’s guest speaker on the evening, Walter Benzie FRPS.

Above, from left Colin Close, BPS president Barry Green and Jenny Webster. she has gone from a nonphotographer to award winner in two years at Bromsgrove PS. bromsgroveps.com

caisterphotographyclub.co.uk

Guisborough PG hits 65 On 14 April 2018, Guisborough Photo Group celebrated its 65th season in style with an exhibition of over 120 prints, put together by Rick and Babs Singleton and Bill Hepple.

Guisborough PG meets in the Methodist Church Hall, Westgate, Guisborough. guisboroughphotogroup.org.uk

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Photography News | Issue 56 | photographynews.co.uk

Advertisement feature

Canon Ambassador Samo Vidic’s powerful action portraits

Defying the odds Sports photographer Samo Vidic talks about photographing high-achieving disabled athletes, including Paralympic swimmer Darko Duric

IMAGE Samo photographed double world champion Slovenian swimmer Darko Duric from under the surface of the water, using the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. Working as a professional sports photographer, Canon Ambassador Samo Vidic shoots the world’s top athletes for world-leading brands and publications, showcasing the physical feats and prowess of the sporting elite. But in his latest project, Samo wanted to shine a light on a sometimes-overlooked group of sporting heroes – disabled athletes who’ve overcome the odds

to achieve great things in the sports they love.

“Disabled athletes are rarely seen in the media in comparison with the coverage given to nondisabled ones,” Samo says. “The Paralympic Games gets relatively little attention – probably 5% of what the Olympic Games gets. I wanted to show different kinds of sports people, to highlight them

and tell their often amazing life stories.”

Slovenian photographer Samo has focused on sport throughout a busy career, which began in 1999.

A keen sportsman in his youth who enjoyed ski-jumping, football and tennis, he initially qualified as a mechanical engineer before discovering a fascination for photography.

He considered a career in reportage before attending a sports photography workshop and realising he could combine his two passions. “I loved photography and everything connected with sports and the outdoors, so I was immediately hooked,” Samo says.

“I’m self-taught, so learning the best techniques for different sports was challenging but, at the

same time, it was really enjoyable.

I worked hard and would have done anything to become a sports photographer. I started with an ambition to shoot sport for a local newspaper and went on from there. I was always pushing the bar higher, which I still do.”

For his latest personal project, he arranged to photograph several disabled athletes. He wanted to

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Advertisement feature

emphasise both their sporting prowess and the considerable obstacles they have had to overcome.

His two camera bodies for these shoots were the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV and the Canon EOS 6D Mark II, fitted with Canon's EF 50mm f/1.2L USM lens, the EF 2470mm f/2.8L II USM lens, the EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens, and the EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM lens. The combination of bodies and lenses enabled Samo to explore a range of creative approaches – each shoot allowing him to execute a different challenging technical approach, from light trails to underwater action shots.

To achieve his creative vision, Samo photographed his subjects in two contrasting ways. One image was a portrait, revealing their personalities and showing the physical challenges they faced, while the other was a dynamic action shot that put the focus on their courage, determination and

IMAGES Samo photographed sprinter Libby Clegg (top), climber Anoushé Husain (above) and skateboarder Felipe Nunes (right). achievements. The two resulting images of each athlete are presented as diptychs, which show both sides of their lives.

Slovenian swimmer Darko Duric, who was born with only

To see videos and read more about how Samo Vidic created the in-camera effects in his Defying the Odds series, visit www.canon.co.uk/pro/stories

one arm and no legs, features alongside Felipe Nunes, a Brazilian skateboarder who lost his legs in a train accident when he was a child. The other two athletes Samo photographed were

British climber Anoushé Husain, born without her right arm below her elbow, and visually impaired sprinter and British Paralympic gold medallist Libby Clegg.

ABOVE In this image, Samo creates a wing-like effect with the splashes of water to capture a sense of Darko’s power and majesty in the water.

in the frame, and I don't like to do that with portraits,” Samo continues.

“Besides, the white walls were about two metres from Darko, so they would have featured a lot more in a wide-angle shot and it would have been impossible to achieve the effect of the dark background while standing so close to him.”

He did, however, use his Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III USM wideangle lens for the second photo: an underwater shot of Darko swimming in the pool.

For the action shot, Samo set up two studio flashes beside the pool, lighting the subject from above, and one behind a porthole in the pool, pointing at the subject from below the water's surface. Then he went underwater in his scuba diving gear to photograph Darko in action, swimming across the

Samo’s remarkable series of dynamic, creative and striking images of high-achieving disabled athletes celebrates the personalities, skills and determination of some truly inspirational people.

Case study: photographing Darko Disabled swimmer Darko Duric has pushed himself to become a Paralympian, a double world champion and to break the world record in the 50m Butterfly S4 class.

When shooting Darko’s portrait and action shot, Samo wanted to convey his story immediately. “Darko only has one arm, but the water gives him wings, somehow. That’s what I wanted to show,” says Samo.

The sports shoot took place at a pool in Ljubljana, Slovenia. With Darko posing on a diving board for the portrait, Samo got two assistants to throw buckets of water at him from left and right, creating wing-like shapes with the water before it hit the ground. Samo froze the movement of the water with his studio flashes, having placed the main light three metres in front of the swimmer and a backlight five metres above him.

“I had planned on shooting the portrait from the water, but then I would have had to stand a metre and a half from the subject and use a wide-angle lens to get the subject

pool. The Canon EOS 5D Mark IV communicated with the lights via cables connected to a transmitter set up beside the pool.

Samo used the camera’s AI Servo setting to get pin-sharp images, and he made use of the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV’s fast, continuous shooting mode to get 6.5 frames-per-second.

“If you photograph a swimmer with two arms, you have more chances of a good shot, but because Darko only has one arm, I needed to make sure I maximised my opportunities to capture him in a striking position [with his right arm reaching forwards and face visible],” he explains.

“It was my first time shooting with the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV underwater, and everything worked perfectly. The autofocus was great, and all the images are sharp, which is the most important thing.”

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Camera Club of the Year

in association with

Camera Club of the Year 2017-18: the final Five of the UK’s leading camera clubs made it to our final showdown and after a day shooting five challenges with Fujifilm cameras, we had a winner… Eastwood Photographic Society

IMAGES Editor Will Cheung presents the members of Eastwood PS with their trophy.

Words by Will Cheung

There is no camera club competition quite like the Photography News Camera Club of the Year, which climaxes in a live final shoot-out where entries have to be produced in a set time using cameras that most members have never used before.

Qualifying for the final is a challenge in itself and our five finalists deserve huge congratulations for getting that far, beating off over 40 of the country’s leading clubs to win their respective rounds. That is no mean feat so well done to them all. Indeed, well done and thanks to every club that supported the competition during the year.

Our five finalists were invited to spend a relaxing evening with the Fujifilm and Photography News teams the night prior to the

final. This was a good thing to do for several reasons. Everyone got the chance to meet informally and it took away the stress in the morning of getting to the venue on time for an early start. And very importantly, it meant that the club members could spend some time with the cameras they would be using the following day with the Fujifilm technical team answering questions and explaining key features.

We devised five different scenarios (see the accompanying panel, below) that each club had to shoot in turn, with an hour allowed for each club to produce their entry with each member submitting an image each.

Each club entry was judged as individual images, not as a set. The judging panel was: Liz Bray, fields account manager, Fujifilm; Tris Dawson, Natural Light Spaces; and Ian Farrell and Adam Duckworth, expert photographers representing Photography News. Every image was scored out of 20

and all scores totted up with highest scoring club declared the winner.

After a close judging session Eastwood PS from Glasgow emerged triumphant. You can enjoy some of their pictures and some from our other finalists over the next few pages.

Aside from the glory of being the Photography News Camera Club of the year, Eastwood PS also wins free lectures by three Fujifilm X-photographers of their choice so that the entire club membership benefits from the team’s hard work. Well done to Eastwood PS.

So that ends our search for the best UK camera club for this year. For most clubs the new season kicks off in September. Like all camera clubs and photographic societies, our five finalist clubs always welcome new members so if you are interested please check the relevant website for the latest programme details and meeting venues before dropping in, or better still contact the membership secretary in the first instance.

Look out for the launch of the new competition this autumn.

The shooting scenarios Each team had one hour to shoot in each of the five scenarios, and also in that time to select and edit their entry with one image per team member required. In four scenarios, downloading and editing could not begin until a certain time (30 or 40 minutes) had elapsed and in Shoot 1, entries had to be taken using Fujifilm Film Simulation modes. At the end of each shoot the scene

(obviously not Shoots 2 and 4) was reset for the next club so the start point was the same for each club.

Shoot 1: Pip the gentleman Aim of the shoot: Pip’s unique look has huge potential. Members had to the make most of him, with lighting, posing and styling.

Kit to be used: Fujifilm GFX with 32-64mm and 110mm lenses

Shoot 2: The canal Aim of the shoot: Shots had to be taken in and around the area of the canal so reflections, detail and any wildlife was eligible. Minimum shooting time was 40 minutes.

Kit to be used: Fujifilm X-T2 with 50-140mm and 100-400mm lenses Shoot 3: Prom Queen Aim of the shoot: Model Em had a

selection of dresses for members to choose from. With flash, props and a wind machine there was plenty of photo potential.

Kit to be used: Fujifilm X-H1 with 56mm and 90mm lenses Shoot 4: Still life Aim of the shoot: To fashion great still-life/macro shots from supplied props using continuous light.

Kit to be used: Fujifilm X-T20 with 60mm and 80mm macro lenses Shoot 5: The Depot Aim of the shoot: The Depot dates back to 1803 and the historic site offers interesting photo opportunities.

Kit to be used: Fujifilm X-E3 with 10-24mm and 18-55mm lenses

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13 in association with

Camera Club of the Year The gear used GFX

X-T2

X-E3

X-H1

X-T20

The final venue The Camera Club of the Year final shoot-out took place at Natural Light Spaces (NLS) in Weedon Bec, Northampton. NLS offers the space and the variety we need on one site, so is almost ideal for a photographic challenge designed to test the technical nous, technique and creative mettle of our five finalist clubs.

NLS has two large studios, the Natural Light Studio and The White Room. The Natural Light Studio is 2500 square feet with nine huge windows for gorgeous daylight all day long. It has an aerial rig and is equipped with LED and flash lighting kit, and this was where Shoot 1 took place. For our final a section of this studio was fenced off for the still-life shooting area for Shoot 4.

The White Room is the same size and has the same number of large windows. This area also has an aerial rig and at one end of the studio is an 8m wide, 5m high and 5m deep infinity curve. For the purposes of Shoot 3, the Prom Queen, we asked that flash lighting be used.

NLS is based in a former ordnance depot and the grounds offers more picture opportunities so we choose outdoor two themes for the finalists to shoot. The Depot was for Shoot 5, where a barge, old fire engine and several cars awaiting renovation

XF50-140mm

XF100-400mm

IMAGES The canal provided the location for Shoot 2 during our final. provided interesting subject matter, as well as the building exteriors. Just outside the studio and running almost the whole length of the Depot is a canal complete with reeds, fish and birds. The canal was the location for Shoot 2.

NLS offers studio days with experienced models, special events, photo workshops and location shoots as well as studio hire, so check out its website for latest offerings. naturallightspaces.co.uk

XF56mm

GF32-64mm

XF80mm

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15

Camera Club of the Year

in association with

Winners: Eastwood Photographic Society many ways it was a little tougher than we expected, with the time constraints and the limited editing time proving a real challenge, especially if you see what we have created since the shoot with many of the images.

“Using the kit was a challenge too, but that’s what it was supposed to be. The three non-Fujifilm users have been working with either Canon or Nikon for over 30 years so using the Fujifilm cameras was a tough nut to crack but no one can argue about the image quality; that was impressive.”

© Colin McLatchie

Eastwood PS’s digital competition secretary is Colin McLatchie ARPS and he was also team leader at the final. He was delighted with winning the title Camera Club of the Year 2017-18. “Our president is still on cloud nine,” says Colin. “We have arranged some local media coverage and it’s going down a storm, so maybe you’ll get more entries next year from north of the border. The club members are ecstatic and looking forward to the Fujifilm speakers.

“Actually, we thought we had bombed, especially in the Round 4, still life. None of us had a clue, especially due to the limited and non-inspirational subject matter, so it was hard to get creative. We all hated our stilllife images, but we had to submit something.

The actual shoot was not hard, it was just the choice of what to actually shoot. It turned out not too shabby. On the other hand, Pip was a fantastic model and photography subject.

“Overall, I thought the day was excellent and the organisation was first class. In

Contact Eastwood PS meets on Thursdays at Albertslund Hall, Westacres Road, Newton Mearns, Glasgow G77 6WW. eastwoodps.co.uk

© Stuart McCann

© Peter De Marco © Stuart McCann

© Peter De Marco

© Ken Lindsay

IMAGE Left to right: Colin McLatchie, Peter De Marco, Stuart McCann, Ken Lindsay (seated)

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Camera Club of the Year

in association with

© Natasha Spalding

Joint 2nd: Great Notley Photographic Club © John Buckley

© John Buckley

© Shaun Spalding

IMAGE Left to right: Dave Greenwood, John Buckley, Shaun Spalding, Natasha Spalding (seated) © Dave Greenwood

Contact Meetings are held on Thursdays from 7:45pm-9:45pm at The Church in Great Notley, Bridge End Lane, Great Notley, Essex CM77 7GN. gnpc.co.uk

© Jim Monk

Joint 2nd: Leicester Forest Photographic Society © Jim Monk

© David Turnbull

IMAGE Left to right: Andrew Kirkby, Catherine Knee, David Turnbull, Jim Monk (seated)

lfps.org.uk

© Catherine Knee

Leicester Forest PS usually meets on Thursday evenings at the Braunstone Civic Centre, Kingsway off Narborough Road South, Leicester LE3 2PP.

© Andrew Kirkby

Contact

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Photography News | Issue 56 | photographynews.co.uk

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Camera Club of the Year

in association with

4th: Eastbourne 5th: Caister Photographic Photographic Society Society © David Towers

© David Towers

© Philip Westwood

© Maurilio Teso

© Tony Bushkes

© Alison Morris © Alan Field

© Philip Westwood

IMAGE Left to right: David Towers, Tony Bushkes, Gillian Denny, Alan Field (seated)

© Gillian Denny

Contact Caister PS meets on Wednesday evenings from 7.30pm-10pm, (7pm-10pm on a competition night) at Scratby All Saints Village Hall, Beach Rd, Norfolk NR29 3AJ.

© Roy Morris

IMAGE Left to right: Maurilio Teso, Roy Morris, Alison Morris, Philip Westwood (seated)

caisterphotographyclub.co.uk

Our thanks Contact Eastbourne PS meets on Fridays at at Bridgemere Community Centre, 100 Bridgemere Rd, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN22 8TY. epscameraclub.co.uk

An event like the Camera Club of the Year needs a lot of work to make it happen so our sincere thanks go to: The Fujifilm team Liz, Steph, Carl, John The Natural Light Spaces team Tris, Karl, Paul, Robert and Jim

Pip the gentleman facebook.com/philip.atkins.39 Em Theresa emtheresamodel.com The Depot the-depot.uk

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Photography News | Issue 56 | photographynews.co.uk

Advertisement feature

World-class images with Olympus

Out of Africa Tommy Reynolds is a successful and very busy portrait photographer and music video director based in Kent. A couple of times a year he takes time out from his usual schedule to pursue his own projects and document other cultures. This is the story of his latest trip, to the Omo Valley in Ethiopia, in the company of an Olympus OM-D system

IMAGE “This was the first image we took on the trip and it is one of my favourites,” says Tommy. “We met 18-year-old Woinshet as we were driving towards the Omo Valley. She walks 5km every day to fetch water and wood for her family. She was in a rush so we only had a few minutes to get the shot with the sun setting in the background. Thanks to the OM-D E-M1 Mark II’s five axis image stabilisation system I was able to shoot at 1/13sec on the 17mm lens with no problem but even at that shutter speed I needed ISO 1000.”

Every year, I plan one or two big photography trips. I’ve done a couple of landscape trips, but for me, they’re never quite as satisfying as travelling to another country to photograph its culture. My trip to the Omo Valley in Ethiopia was my biggest and most ambitious project yet even though it lasted just eight days. It was a very intense shoot with a lot of preparation going into the trip beforehand.

That included thinking about my camera outfit. I have a fullframe outfit, but with the usual headaches of weight and space, I picked out the OM-D EM-1 Mark II for its great features set and rugged construction. Being dust and splash proof I figured would be key attributes to have on this trip, so I borrowed one to check out its image quality and quite honestly, the camera’s 20.4-megapixel

Micro Four Thirds sensor really impressed me with its resolution and sharpness. For lenses I packed the 7-14mm f/2.8, 17mm f/1.2, 25mm f/1.2 and the 40-150mm f/2.8. The 17mm and 25mm lenses I picked because they give the full-frame equivalent views to the 35mm and 50mm which are my favourite focal lengths.

I’m even more impressed now that I have thrown the camera

Contact You can keep up with Tommy Reynolds’ imaging adventures on his website, social media networks and his rapidly growing You Tube channel which features video blogs and cinematic behind the scenes movies. Search ‘Tommy Reynolds Ethiopia’ for his movie on this trip.

He also offers photography training so check out the shop section of this website for his latest offerings. tommyreynolds.co.uk facebook.com/TommyReynolds89 youtube.com/TommyReynolds89

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Advertisement feature

IMAGE “When we arrived at the Hamer tribe village I scoped out potential backgrounds and found this house just being kissed by a low sun. I knew I wanted a shot in that spot with the family that lives in that house for added context. I wanted some separation and depth too, so got them to stand away from the house. The women were very natural in front of the camera. All I said to them was either look at the camera or face away. Perhaps the small camera was less intimidating which helped their natural-looking poses.”

system into a challenging real world situation, complete with sandstorms and often really tricky, contrasty lighting.

If you’re going to take portraits in Ethiopia, my advice is to hire a guide. Without a guide, I wouldn’t have been able to get 90% of my pictures. Also, take enough money to tip your subjects, especially inside the villages. I spent around £50 in tips for all the portraits I shot.

I shoot in manual exposure mode in available light and with flash. I know that once settings are dialled in for a particular scenario, images won’t differ slightly as I move around. With flash, I get the background exposure right, then set the flash to fill to give a balance between the foreground and the background. On occasion I thought there would be no way of recovering deep shadows but the

Raw files surprised me by what was possible without noise issues.

One of the main reasons I go on these shoots is to take myself out of my photography comfort zone.

The best art is the art you make when your head is just above water and when the pressure is on.

My next trip is to Asia and I can’t wait. I’ll definitely be taking the Olympus system: it’s the perfect travel camera.”

About the kit For his trip, Tommy Reynolds took Olympus’s flagship camera, the OM-D E-M1 Mark II. This innovative and remarkable camera rewrote the rules of what was possible when it was launched. The ability to shoot full resolution 20.4-megapixel Raw at 60fps in single AF mode and 18fps with full AF and autoexposure is incredible and opens up boundless opportunities.

But there’s even more. In Pro Capture mode, the OM-D E-M1 Mark II lets you go back in time thanks to its large buffer that has the capacity to

record up to 35 shots. Partially depress the shutter release in this mode and the camera starts capturing images and storing them in the buffer but without actually recording them.

It is only when you fully depress the shutter release that the images – up to 35 – already in the buffer are written to the SD card as well as the shots you took in real time. Speed is just one aspect

of the OM-D E-M1. Among a long list of features, there’s a fully featured exposure system, autofocusing with a 121 point system and five-axis image stabilisation in a portable, robust weather-proofed body that accepts Olympus’s range of dedicated M.Zuiko lenses.

For more on the Olympus OM-D E-Mark II and its system, please see the website. itsnotyouitsme.co.uk

IMAGE “Balancing contrasty light with flash can be very awkward.

This shot was very tricky. I had to be accurate because the boy was much closer to the flash than his dad. My first few tests had a well-lit boy and an adult in darkness, or vice versa. We spent ten minutes on the set-up until I was satisfied, then I just needed to wait for the boy to look towards the flash, not his dad, as his face would have been in darkness. After a patient wait for the right moment I got a shot I was really happy with.”

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Technique On the road

Travel Adapter Follow this month’s handy travel tips and change the way you shoot on holidays and city breaks. We put these five travel techniques through their paces on a lightning trip to Berlin – give them a try and you’ll get better shots and enjoy your photography more than ever Words and pictures by Kingsley Singleton

Bigger scenes need a bigger format

1

Ever struggled to fit every part of an exciting view into the frame?

Sometimes a scene is just too big for a one shot, especially when travelling means you’re restricted in lens choices. It’s then that you need to turn to a panoramic treatment. Stitching multiple frames into one, panoramas not only give you a much wider – or taller – view, but they can also increase the amount of information in your travel images, allowing you to capture more fine detail, and print larger.

To start off though, try to get away from the idea that simply creating a panorama will make a better image. It won’t. You should only use a panorama if the scene naturally presents itself as one. It’s not an excuse to get slack on your technique either – for the best results, you still need to shoot at the most photogenic times of day if you can, like sunrise, sunset and blue hour.

Above If a scene naturally reads in a way that’s wider than a normal frame, take the time to record it as panorama. But remember, shooting a panorama doesn’t in itself mean the picture will be better, so still concentrate on shooting at the most photogenic times of day if you can.

Only use a panorama if the scene naturally presents itself as one

There are some other things you can do to make your panos more successful, too.

Firstly expose and focus manually, so that the sharpness and lighting is consistent. And shoot from tripod if possible, rotating the camera

as though its lens was the axle of a wheel if you can – this will make stitching in software more successful.

Work out where the panoramic framing naturally begins and ends, then set the far

edge of your composition in the middle of the first shot and fire the shutter. While keeping the camera position level, rotate slightly to take the next shot, making sure you get lots of overlap between the pictures.

Get a safety net for your exposures

2

On your travels, time can be at a premium and you may not be able to shoot in the best light.

Likewise, you may not have the time or the gear with you to control the light in the way you would normally do.

For that reason it’s usually best to shoot in Raw image quality mode.

Raw files give you greater latitude in your adjustments than regular files, so you can shoot with some reassurance that you can fix an exposure in editing Left If you don’t have your usual filters with you, or time and conditions don’t allow them, you can achieve greater control by shooting Raw files. Here, it’s mainly the Highlights and Shadows sliders that have improved matters.

if required; JPEG files offer no such safety net.

The image on the left of Berlin’s Fernsehturm tower was taken in early evening with the tower lit by the setting sun, but the street in shadow. The camera can’t cope with this in a single exposure, leading to the tower and sky being too bright and losing detail.

Thanks to processing the Raw file in Photoshop’s Camera Raw interface I could correct it. I set the Exposure to a negative value of -1.20, darkened the highlights by moving the Highlights slider to the left, and brightened the shadows by moving the Shadows slider to the right. A small increase in Vibrance returns the colour to overexposed areas, and I straightened up the framing using the Transform and Crop tools.

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Technique Get some local flavour

3

Good travel pictures often have a strong sense of place; clear and simple visual clues about where they were taken that’ll put the viewer in your shoes. This can come from many things including iconic buildings and monuments, famous landmarks, local dress... and also language, in the form of signs. Try to include one or more of these elements and you’ll instantly add local flavour to your images.

The shot below of the Berlin underground is a good example; imagine it without the signs in German, and it could be anywhere; but with them it’s immediately clear where you are. Taken handheld, in shutter-priority mode (S

Get creative with crowds

Good travel pictures often have a strong sense of place: clear visual clues about where they were taken or Tv on the mode dial), I used a shutter speed of 1/10sec, meaning I could rely on holding the camera still enough to keep the majority of the scene sharp while the moving train became a blur.

Above Multiple shots from the same position were combined to achieve this ghosting effect.

4

Above In this picture of the Berlin underground, the station name and the information signs in German provide immediate orientation for the viewer.

Depending on your photographic outlook, crowds can either be a blessing or a curse. Most of the time, it has to be said, they do get in the way of a beauty spot, or pleasing architecture. But treated in the right way, crowds can also make a scene more interesting, or even be a good subject in themselves. For example, all you need to do is combine a crowded scene with multiple exposures and Photoshop.

Here, at one of Berlin’s busiest stations, I noticed the passenger wearing red was engrossed in her phone. She wasn’t moving as much as the other passengers either, so I

decided to contrast her static pose with them.

I didn’t have time to set up a tripod, so instead shot four images, handheld, each one a few seconds apart.

Loading these into Photoshop, I used File>Scripts>Load files into Stack, taking the four pictures and placing them in a new file as layers. Next, I used Edit>Auto Align Layers to sync the four, removing slight differences in framing. Finally, in the Layers palette, I lowered the Opacity on the top three layers, letting most of the figures ghost out, while the static subject remained sharp. Any minor shifts in her movement, I removed on the individual layers with the Eraser tool.

Start a travel project in

Above Even simple scenes can take on a greater level of interest when shot in a similar style and grouped as part of a series.

5

One of the most rewarding things to do while you’re away with your camera is to follow a project. It doesn’t need to be huge undertaking, and can last as long as you like. All you need to do is set a theme or subject, and stick to it, creating a series of similar images. They

don’t even have to be great on their own; the sum being greater than the parts.

Wandering around Berlin, I began to notice, as in many European cities, the number of buildings that had tunnels under them leading to courtyards or garages; each one a leading to the light.

I decided to shoot them as I found them,

stopping for a moment at each gate and trying to shoot them in a consistent way.

Consistency really helps with a series of images like this; for instance, each time I found an example, I switched to a square framing on the camera, shot in aperturepriority (A or Av on the mode dial) at f/5.6 focused on the end of the tunnel.

All you need to do is set a theme or subject and stick to it, creating a series of images

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Advertisement feature

Workshops and courses

Live and Learn

If you’re in a photo-rut, pick up new skills and find inspiration with one of this month’s featured photographic holidays, tours, experiences, studio time or training days. You won’t regret it take yourself on a dedicated photo holiday, studio day or training course this year? The guided trips, courses and events here are run by specialists who’ll show you the best spots to shoot and pass on valuable tuition.

aspect2i landscape photography workshops © aspect2i Landscape Photography Workshops

Summer is upon us, but who wants a regular holiday? Trips with the family are great, but can lead to photographic frustration as you won’t have all the time you want or need for shooting. But there is a better way – why not

Chris Simmons’ Cornish Seascape Workshops

c-simmonsworkshops.co.uk

© aspect2i Landscape Photography Workshops

© Chris Simmons’ Cornish Seascape Workshops

Cornwall boasts some of the most spectacular coastline in the world, so if seascapes are your thing, then make a beeline for Chris Simmons’ workshops in the craggy south west. Passionate ‘seascaper’ Chris runs unique one-to-one, residential workshops all year round, hosting photographers of all levels and ages, and thanks to Cornwall’s coastal geography, sunrise and sunset shoots are only a few miles apart. Over the last five years, Chris has built an international reputation as he guides guests to stunning locations, provides shooting tuition and

Established in 2010, aspect2i specialises in landscape photography courses and workshops that take you from capture to print.

Workshops are available in the UK, including locations throughout Scotland, the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and Norfolk. Internationally, aspect2i offers workshops and tours in Norway, Iceland, Italy, Faroe Islands, Japan, China and the USA. Specialist workshops and master classes are also offered. All aspect2i workshops are led by professional photographers who are there to help you with your photography and not simply take you to locations and leave you to it. Groups are small, so you get plenty of one-to-one guidance, making you more confident about your work and improving your skills.

explores landscape processing techniques based on his award-winning approach. Crucially, either down on the tideline or in Chris’s state-of-the-art studio, there’s no group to dilute the first-class tuition.

chris@c-simmonsphoto.co.uk

01637 831251

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Lakeland Photographic Holidays

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017687 78459

© Lakeland Photographic Holidays

© Lakeland Photographic Holidays

lakelandphotohols.com

1999, and courses are run by John Gravett, a professional photographer and photographic tutor with over 30 years’ experience and multiple tutorials published in leading photographic magazines. There’s a range of courses to suit all skill levels and how long you want to stay, with a range of residential workshops in Lakeland’s full board, licensed accommodation. During summer, Lakeland is offering £50 off its short fully escorted landscape workshops; staying four nights you’ll get three full days and evenings of photographic tuition and full board for just £575. Other upcoming workshops include Photoshop on the 29 July and Creative Photography on 2 September.

© Lakeland Photographic Holidays

From its base near Keswick, Lakeland Photographic Holidays offers courses and workshops slap bang in the middle of one of the UK’s most beautiful landscapes. LPH has been in the photo holidays business since

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Advertisement feature Light & Imagination Photography

Photo Holidays UK

with Photo Holidays UK will leave you with new camera skills in your repertoire, and a selection of great images to treasure.

© Photo Holidays UK

© Light & Imagination Photography

Light & Imagination Photography offers fully tutored and guided, small-group photography holidays in China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, led by UK-based professional photographers, Matt and Andreea, and supported by local guides with intimate knowledge of the best locations.

So, if you’ve always wanted to experience and photograph the magic of South East Asia, this is the perfect way. Photographers of any skill level will find plenty to love and Light & Imagination offers unlimited tuition and coaching; best of all though, you’ll be traveling with like-minded people in maximum groups of ten, and prices start

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Photo Holidays UK specialises in guided photographic trips to some of the UK’s most captivating locations, including the Scottish Highlands, Yorkshire and the historic city of Lincoln. Opportunities at those locations include sunrise and sunset landscape shoots, the chance to capture some of Britain’s most iconic wildlife and shooting architectural marvels such as Lincoln’s stunning ancient cathedral and quaint villages and farms on the Yorkshire Moors, not touched since the mid 19th Century. Operated

by Grahame Dunkin, a pro photographer with 30 years’ shooting experience, trips are tailored around you and your camera, so whatever your photographic experience or outlook, an excursion

from only £1100 with single accommodation as standard. Plus for 2019 there are special offers such as buy-one-get-one-half-price when sharing a room.

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Cambridge UAV Academy

info@lincsphoto.co.uk

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Paul’s Events & Paul’s Studio © Cambridge UAV Academy

Whether you want to learn all about fine-art and glamour portraiture, or simply practise the art, Paul’s Studio and Paul’s Events provide two great options. With Paul’s Events you can shoot on location in one of the UK’s most idyllic locations, Glynhir Mansion in beautiful rural Carmarthenshire at the foot of the Black Mountains, with professional models and lighting set-ups in the walled gardens, woods rooms in the manor house itself.

These weekend shoots include all-inclusive accommodation on-site and wonderful homecooked food. Alternatively go down the studio route with bespoke photography and lighting courses in glamour, adult, nude and boudoir photography one-to-one tuition at Paul’s Studio in Reading, where you can also hire the studio or book an hour’s slot on a Model Studio Day for a one-to-one with one of Paul’s selected models. © Paul’s Events & Paul’s Studio

© Paul’s Events & Paul’s Studio

© Cambridge UAV Academy

Drone photography is more popular than ever and you can see why – the aerial perspective is a way to get unique and amazing images, even at well-known locations. But how do you know where you’re allowed to fly your drone? And what laws might you be breaking? All drone flight is regulated legally, and new laws later this year will mean there’s even tighter control. Using drones as part of your cuava.co.uk

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work needs a Permission for Commercial Operation (PFCO), too. Fortunately, Cambridge UAV Academy (CUAVA) has all the answers. CUAVA operates as part of the HFS Group and is a full National Qualified Entity under the UK Civil Aviation Authority. Sign up and you’ll get specialised training, with courses from basic to advanced level, and you’ll soon qualify to use drones commercially.

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Beckenham PS

Hands across the Channel

Entente cordiale

Two camera clubs separated by language and the English Channel but with a shared love of great food, friendship and photography have developed a successful twinning relationship.

Photography News caught up with Beckenham Photographic Society and Image’in Périgny over cream teas during a recent visit to London

© Sheree Dodd

Words by Sheree Dodd “Photography, gastronomy and fraternity are the three keys to a successful twinning relationship between two photographic societies, Beckenham Photographic Society and Image’in Périgny,” says Sheree Dodd, president of Beckenham PS, “and that is deepening the mutual understanding of how we approach our images.”

The growing friendship and shared love of photography culminated in a three-day trip to London in May. This successful relationship is due to the enthusiasm of two Beckenham members – Angela and Roger Ford – who are also members of the Périgny Club. Image’in Périgny invited the then Beckenham president

For the London visit, 17 Image’in Périgny members flew over and enjoyed a busy programme of shooting opportunities Above Members of the two photography clubs saying their goodbyes after three days of great photography and friendship.

Polina Plotnikova to France to discuss an exchange and this led to a swap of images on the theme of ‘blue’ to get a taste of the different styles, subjects and techniques enjoyed by the two clubs.

Members of both clubs caught the Fords’ enthusiasm and the first twinning visit saw ten Beckenham photographers enjoying three days exploring picturesque sites, both coastal and inland, including a glorious poppy field around La Rochelle.

A return visit and further image swaps were arranged. Image’in Périgny invited Beckenham members to show 15 images at its 40th anniversary exhibition in October 2017 and a group of Beckenham photographers judged a series of images sent to them

by Périgny.

For the London visit, 17 Image’in Périgny members flew over and enjoyed a busy programme of shooting opportunities around the capital.

“In planning the London programme we wanted to give our visitors some experiences and photo shoots they would not necessarily enjoy on a typical trip to London,” says Sheree Dodd. “We started around Beckenham with traditional English scenes: a beautiful landscaped park with heronry (Kelsey Park) and village style churchyard at St George’s on Beckenham Green as well as lawn bowlers in full kit. The next day we enjoyed the street art and people of Brick Lane and the South Bank between Tower and London Bridges.

“For the final day we took in some of Westminster’s lesser known sights including

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29

Beckenham PS © Roger Ford

the newly-installed statue of Millicent Fawcett – the only woman celebrated on Parliament Square – before a boat trip to Greenwich.

Alongside the familiar highlights of the Cutty Sark and the Royal Naval College we shot the Brunel Foot Tunnel under the Thames and the Tulip Staircase in the Queen’s House.”

Exchange coordinator Angela Ford says: “The visit from our fellow photographers at Image’in Périgny was a great success and they really enjoyed discovering photo opportunities with us in and around London.”

Perigny president Michel Boucheret says that the truly interesting element of the relationship between the two clubs is the opportunities it provides for meeting each other. “This allows us to know each other better and promotes friendship. The exchange of images between us allows us to see differences in the way that we approach photography. It is just a feeling, but it seems to us that Beckenham has a stronger focus on selecting images with impact for competition.

Périgny is more about the image of the author.”

Above Members of both clubs enjoying London’s Brick Lane. Right PN Editor Will Cheung meets Sheree Dodd (left) of Beckenham PS and Estelle Ducept of Image’in Périgny.

French organiser Estelle Ducept offers her thoughts on what has made this a successful relationship. “Previously Périgny had approached other clubs to create a twinning relationship but these had not succeeded. What has made the difference with Beckenham is that it has combined enthusiasm with opportunities to meet up and build friendships, rather than base the relationship on contests. It is also important

that we have two clubs which share similar high standards of photography,” she said.

“All in all, it was a tiring but exhilarating three days,” said Sheree Dodd, “during which those with limited French/English skills found that could be overcome through the language of photography. When the new club season starts in September we will be looking carefully at future activities to keep our friendship alive.”

© Roger Ford

© Fred Barrington

The visit from our fellow photographers was a huge success

Contact beckenhamphotosoc.org.uk imageinperigny.fr A special thanks to Sheree Dodd, president of Beckenham Photographic Society, for writing this feature and to Angela Ford for contacting Photography News with the story.

If your camera club has a special relationship with an overseas club, Photography News would love to hear about it especially if you have get togethers such as Beckenham’s.

In the first instance, please email the editor: willcheung@bright-publishing.com

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Photography News | Issue 56 | photographynews.co.uk

Advertisement feature

Shoot people pictures to win

Take the Profoto Portrait Challenge With a superb Profofo A1, the world’s smallest studio light, to be won and four monthly prizes of a Profoto reflector, this free-to-enter contest is not to be missed. For Round 1 we asked for your best beauty portrait and we had a great response so thanks to all those who entered. The judges from Photography News and Profoto did their work and here we have the results.

Congratulations to Brian McCombe – your Profoto Collapsible reflector prize is on its way WINNER

Brian McCombe With such great images and such different approaches, judging was a challenge but the judges picked Brian’s image as the best beauty shot received for Round 1.

“I’m really chuffed,” he said. “I love street and candid photography and work hard at it, so I am pleased – really pleased. I saw the contest announced on Twitter so I thought I’d give it a go.”

Brian is a member of Workington and District Camera Club and his winning picture was taken at the Whitby Goth Festival. “A friend and I went and we ended up shooting up at the Abbey. It was very busy with photographers, but we got some great shots. I enjoy Whitby but my favourite event is the Edinburgh Festival and I’ve been going there for over 20 years.”

Many congratulations to Brian on his welldeserved success. His image goes through to the final where the four monthly winners will be judged and the overall winner of the Profoto Portrait Challenge chosen.

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Photography News | Issue 56 | photographynews.co.uk

Advertisement feature Runner-up: Steve Buesden

Runner-up: Peter Howard

Runner-up: Andrada Nistor

The big prize: Profoto A1 The Profoto A1, the world’s smallest studio light, is a professional quality lighting solution designed for the modern image creator who wants to sculpt and shape with light.

The A1’s innovative round flash head with its unique design fresnel pattern diffuser, powerful 76Ws output and the ability to use magnet-fit light modifiers means this light has huge creative potential.

Add a li-ion rechargeable battery with the capacity for 350 full power manual flashes, TTL or manual flash control and an integral LED modelling light, and you have a unique lighting tool that can be used on or off-camera.

Finally, the A1 meshes totally with Profoto’s lighting system whether that is with mains-based units such as the D2 or the brand’s Off Camera Flash system, with the B1X and B2 perfect partners for the A1. With AirTTL Remote built in you have wireless connectivity and with the A1 as the master unit, four groups of Profoto lights in TTL or manual mode can be controlled.

Win this contest and you will receive a Profoto A1 and you’ll get to enjoy its creative delights for yourself. profoto.com

Enter now

Round 2 is open for entries

For Round 2, we want your best character shots. You can enter up to three images (images will be judged as individual shots, not as a set) and the subject can be male or female, shot indoors or out, with or without flash.

Each round winner will receive a Profoto Collapsible Reflector Large and once we have our four round winners, an overall winner will be selected from those winners and awarded the Profoto A1.

The closing date for Round 2 is 11.59pm, 5 July 2018 and results will appear on Photography News issue 57 due out from 16 July 2018. Judging will be done by experts from PN and Profoto.

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Photography News | Issue 56 | photographynews.co.uk

Long-term test

Nikon D850 It took a while but an ultra-high-resolution Nikon DSLR was announced last July. So, was the wait worth it? It certainly got great reviews at the time, but how about after 10,000 shots?

Words and images by Will Cheung 10,000 pictures for an enthusiast photographer is a lot in six months but in that time I have done a couple of trips abroad and a fair few miles around England and Wales, so I have had plenty of chances to shoot.

To be honest, I think I have only scratched the camera’s potential.

For example, apart from when I was testing the camera, I haven’t tried any focus stacking nor have I shot fast action at seven frames-per-second or any 4K movies. But the camera has been sand-blasted and covered by sea spray several times, rained on (also several times) and endured sub-zero temperatures in Norway for hours at a time, and (touch wood) it is living up to its promise – mostly.

To make the most of a highresolution sensor you need suitably high-spec lenses and if you flick through the camera’s brochure the Nikon lenses used, as you’d expect, are top-end primes and zooms.

There did seem to be an initial lack of clarity from Nikon about which lenses were needed to make the most of the camera’s 45.4 megapixels.

Nikon’s global website currently lists 40 recommended lenses which does not include the 50mm f/1.4G or 70300mm f/4.5-5.6E ED VR, both of which I own and know perform well on the D800/D810. The odd thing is the recommended list includes optics like the 16-35mm f/4 G ED VR and personally I wouldn’t recommend that lens for anything unless it is stopped down to f/8.

Just to cloud the lens issue, on page 285 of the instruction manual there is the mention of the possibility of fog with some VR Nikon lenses at high ISO settings or during long exposures, and they are not recommended for such shots. This list includes some lenses also on the list of those recommended for the D850. For example, my favoured travel zoom the 24-120mm f/4G ED VR is on both lists.

The long and the short of it is that I used lenses that I normally use, which by pure coincidence happen to be the four lenses I’ve mentioned, plus the 14-24mm f/2.8G ED for some aurora shots and my old 24-70mm f/2.8G ED. So, I did shoot with the 70-300mm f/4-5.6 and tried the 24120mm f/4 (with VR off, of course) at exposures up to eight minutes long, in daylight and at night. Any problems?

Not really, I had no fogging issues with the last-named but I did manage some blurry shots with the telezoom

Where I did use some noise reduction with some ISO 1600 shots the result was very pleasing

but that was me using shutter speeds where I knew shake was going to be a risk, so this was user error.

Typically, whenever I used the D850, I tried to keep handheld shutter speeds at 1/125sec or higher and often used Gitzo or Nova carbonfibre full-size tripods. I did buy an Arca-Swiss D850 compatible L-plate for this purpose.

All in all, I was pleased with the results I got. I processed Raws (14bit, lossless compressed) through Lightroom and with either default or no sharpening at all. Noise reduction was generally set to zero too. Where I did use some noise reduction with some ISO 1600 shots the result was very pleasing.

Pulling in highlights and recovering shadows from Raws worked really well. Strong highlights could be recovered without any of the grey veiling or strange contrast you get with some Raw formats while deep shadows came back without any noise being added.

I do exposure bracket in high contrast situations – with suitable subjects of course – so I can HDR merge the files in software later and I

think I will still do that when, say, the sun is in the frame, but the D850’s Raws generally have great editing flexibility.

With full file sizes measuring 8256x5504pixels, prints at 300ppi measure 69.8x46.5cm (27.5x18.3in)

Above No signs of fogging in this Venetian night shot taken with an exposure of 8secs at f/8 and ISO 200 taken with Nikon’s 24-120mm f/4. Highlight and shadow control was done in Lightroom.

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Long-term test

Images Shot with the D850 and 24-70mm f/2.8 at 70mm and an ISO of 800 with an exposure of 1/160sec at f/3.2. processed in Lightroom with no sharpening or noise reduction. As you can see, fine detail is very well recorded.

My A2 prints from D850 Raws looked superb. Great detail, sharpness, low noise and that is without any software interpolation, so my maximum print size of A2 59.4x42cm is within easy reach. Of course, this assumes no cropping but the truth is I crop, so some image resizing was needed to get files of the required size.

Whatever the case, my A2 prints from D850 Raws, made using an Epson SC-P800 on a variety of paper surfaces, looked superb. Great detail, sharpness, low noise, lifelike colours and excellent tonality – the full house.

In terms of handling, I was generally happy too. I have plenty of SD cards but did buy a 64GB XQD card as a backup. Usually I would reformat the XQD card for the next day once files were backed up from the SD Before

card. Given my needs, a dual slot SD card option would have been ideal.

Battery life of the supplied ENEL15a cell was impressive. I was shooting all day – and into the night – in sub-zero temperatures in Norway, getting 600 plus normal shots and still the battery showed half power at day’s end. I had a spare and did need it a couple of times when I had been doing a lot of extreme long exposures.

I loved the tiltable touch monitor as I like low-level shooting and it did make life so much more comfortable.

I used it a great deal, even when tripod shooting at standing height for composing and for live view AF too. One thing I did learn about the D850’s live AF was to double check

what it was doing. Live AF did search and even when the focus zone showed green, it wasn’t spot on. Magnifying the image and manually tweaking the focus sorted that but I thought live view AF could have been more accurate and consistent.

By contrast, viewfinder focusing was very good, fast and accurate, even in very flat or low lighting.

The focus lever speeds up AF point navigation although it is the case that the AF area – compared with what mirrorless cameras give – is still on the small side.

Strangely, I found that more consistency on the exposure system would be nice too. I used my default settings of aperture-priority and Matrix metering and usually factor in compensation based on my experience of what Matrix measurement delivers. It works for me on my other Nikons but less so on the D850. I’ll just have to recalibrate myself and get used to what the D850 delivers.

After

Summary The Nikon D850 is a £3499 body only camera so it is a seriously priced, top-end camera. But it does offer a highly capable performance and a worthwhile uplift for existing D800/810 users.

Above Shoot Raws and you would expect the ability to tweak highlights and shadows, and you certainly get that with the 14-bit files from the Nikon D850. You still have to be careful with extreme highlights to avoid veiling.

Pros Image quality, tiltable touch monitor, build quality, quiet shutter, battery life, focus stacking feature Cons Live view AF could be more better and more consistent

Photography News | Issue 56 | photographynews.co.uk

Photography News | Issue 56 | photographynews.co.uk

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First tests Imaging kit

First tests

We get our hands on the latest kit and share our first impressions – so you know whether or not to add it to your wish list Reviews by Will Cheung and Kingsley Singleton

Specs Prices 250GB £198.88, 500GB £259.99, 1TB £429.99, 2TB £667.99 In the box My Wireless unit, drop protection bumper, USB cable, USB power adapter Interface SD USB 3.0 slot, Wi-Fi 802.11ac/n, USB 3.0, USB 2.0 for importing Compatibility Windows 10, 8.1 or 7.

Mac OS X 10.7 and higher Requires DLNA/UPnP or Plex enabled devices for streaming Battery capacity 6400mAh Dimensions (wxlxh) 126x126x24mm Weight 440g Contact wdc.com

Below The unit has a USB 2.0 port, a USB 3.0 port and an SD card slot (not visible in this this shot).

SD card download starts with a push of the far right button, and this doubles as the battery check button. Four blue LEDS indicate state of battery charge as well as download status.

WD My Passport Wireless SSD From £198.88 You probably know how important image back up is and having a strategy – any strategy – to prevent image loss is a very good thing.

Camera storage cards are very reliable but they can still crash, physically break, get lost or stolen.

I usually take a laptop often with an external hard drive when I go away to back up cards each day. That is all well and good, but it is an effort and takes up space so a portable storage drive like WD’s My Passport Wireless SSD is a great idea.

Current My Passport Wireless devices have traditional hard drives and these are available in capacities from 1TB to 4TB. But now there is the SSD (solid state drive) option too, in sizes from 250GB to 2TB, but they do come at a cost. As a price comparison the 1TB conventional HD unit is £139.99, against £429.99 for the SSD version. That is a significant premium but the upside is that you get the durability and reliability of SSD. This version also comes with a protective bumper and together the unit is said to be able of withstanding a 1m drop on a carpeted concrete floor.

I didn’t try that particular test, but I did take my test unit on several trips, home and abroad, in both hand and hold baggage. So far, it has proved to be thoroughly reliable.

The My Passport has an SD card slot, a USB 2.0 port compatible with a range of card readers and USB storage devices and a USB 3.0 port. The unit is a powerbank too so you can recharge your smartphone or tablet too.

Backing up cards is one thing but it is always good to see that they are successfully backed up. You can do that with the My Passport thanks to the built-in Wi-Fi so you can access and view your downloaded shots or stream video to your smartphone or tablet using the free WD My Cloud app. The unit can also show Raws from most cameras. I had no problem previewing Raws from the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, the Nikon D850 and the Fujifilm X-T2, although it takes around 20 seconds per image in the case of the D850.

I had no issues connecting up with my devices. In fact, once paired, they connected with the WD drive automatically taking over from the existing network as soon it was powered up which was around 20 seconds to start up, with a pair of blue LEDs on the front telling you what’s happening.

Insert a card, push a button and download begins with four LEDS at

the top left corner indicating state of download – four glowing blue LEDs confirm download complete. These four LEDs double up to indicate how much charge is left.

To assess battery capacity, with a fully charged unit I used a full 64GB SD card from a Nikon D850 and downloaded it as many times as I could until the battery fell over. I got ten full downloads with each taking around 20mins – that is over 10,000 Raws, so a significant number of shots. By the way, in this instance I downloaded the same content over and over again, but the WD app lets you alter the unit’s settings so when you download an SD card only new files are imported. Given the huge capacity of SD and Micro SD cards, this is useful so you can back up as you go without doubling up files.

A full recharge from flat using the supplied USB mains charger took three hours, and it can be used for image viewing during that time. WC

Above The My Passport SSD comes with a protective bumper – a rubber slipover jacket.

Verdict The WD My Passport Wireless SSD is a capable, reliable and versatile device. Loading SD cards onto it and downloading files from it to the computer went without a hitch while its Wi-Fi proved very stable. I used it to watch films, enjoy tunes as well as checking out my snaps with it. Yes, it is pricey but it is potentially an excellent long term investment.

Pros Good battery life, reliable, versatile, stable Wi-Fi Cons Price when compared with the non-SSD version

Photography News | Issue 56 | photographynews.co.uk

Photography News | Issue 56 | photographynews.co.uk

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First tests

Gitzo Adventury 30L and 45L backpacks £219/£299 Specs Prices 30L £219, 45L £299 Material RipStop Nylon and synthetic fabric Tripod holder Yes Sternum strap Yes, adjustable with whistle Laptop pocket 13in/15in Waist belt Yes (removable on 45L) Dimensions (WxHxD) 30L: Exterior 48x31x19cm; insert 38x23x16cm 45L: Exterior 55x35x22cm; insert 52x30x18cm Weight 30L: 2.05kg 45L: 3.1kg Contact manfrotto.com/gitzo

Rightly heralded for its excellent tripods, Gitzo has recently been making eyes at the camera bag market, too. First there was the Gitzo Century range, and now two backpacks under the Adventury banner. The Adventury range was immediately more attractive to me; less bling, and more spec’d and styled for the outdoors with plenty of storage. I tested both over the course of a couple of weeks, hiking, camping and shooting with them.

The Adventury comes in an understated olive green and in two versions, the 30L at £219 and the larger 45L at £299; those capacities are expanded by the bags’ roll-top sections, side pockets, and lots of webbing to attach tripods or other gear.

The 45L version is pretty huge, and designed to swallow a pro-sized DSLR with up to a 600mm f/4 lens fitted; I easily stowed a Nikon D850 with grip and 180-400mm f/4E TC1.4 FL ED. Along with that there was space for another body, and loads more lenses, filters, flashes, converters, and so on.

To fit the large lens and camera combo centrally, the inner dividers are pre-shaped, but can be realigned if required. There’s also an internal pocket for a 15in laptop.

So with the bag weighing 3.1kg alone, it’s understandably very heavy when fully laden.

The 30L accepts less kit, but it’s still a medium/large pack by regular standards, taking a large DSLR body, six or so lenses and/or accessories, plus a 13in laptop. I fitted a DSLR with a 70-200mm f/2.8 mounted, so like the 45L you can go from bag to shooting pretty quickly. The 30L weighs 2.05kg, and when fully laden obviously feels a lot more manageable than the 45L, especially on a serious hike. The 30L is less likely to raise eyebrows if you’re getting on a plane, too, though I’ve seen bigger bags than the 45L carried on. In both cases the contact areas are well padded, as are the straps. If you don the bags properly they’re a comfortable carry despite the weight.

Perhaps the Adventury’s most distinctive feature is the rucksack style roll-top section. These can be filled with non-photo bits if you want, and using the 45L, together with the webbing, allowed me to pack everything I needed for an extended trip, and even a night on location; food and drink, a waterproof jacket, sleeping bag, tent and roll mat.

The outer is waterrepellent rip-stop nylon which is very hardy

Images Both Adventury bags offer impressive protection and have plenty of room to stow the most substantial camera outfits.

Handling is generally good too, although the zip of the inner scrim (image left) is tricky to get at.

Build and protection is excellent throughout; the same on both models.

The modular inner padding is thick and strong, and the 45L has some extra padding for larger lenses. The bags’ inners are also accessed from the body side, so you get the benefit of security and also that you can put them down in wet or muddy conditions and not transfer the muck to your back. The inner is also protected by a zippedin scrim; this offers some extra protection against dust and debris.

The only handling problems I encountered were that the scrim zip is difficult to operate as it runs behind the outer zip; for that reason I mostly left it unzipped which still afforded some protection. Also, the shoulder straps can get in the way of opening the main zip, and needed to be folded back on themselves, out of the way. Finally, there are no small inner pockets for memory cards, valuables and so on; it feels like a weird omission.

Overall, the zips, which have large pulls for gloved use, operated very smoothly and all the outer opening ones have rubber lips as storm protection.

The outer is water-repellent rip-stop nylon which is very hardy.

There’s also a rubber-matted base, and an all-weather cover, which is pegged rather than stitched in; these cover the roll-top section, even fully loaded. KS

Verdict These two versatile and really well produced backpacks are of exceptional quality, and although a significant investment, they’re not far off similar top-end rivals.

Both have features to suit more intrepid wildlife and landscape photographers, and features like the removable camera insert make them good for daily use too.

Pros Exceptional build and protection, lots of space and comfortable to carry Cons Minor handling issues, no internal pockets for cards, pricey

Photography News | Issue 56 | photographynews.co.uk

38

First tests Specs Prices ET-7750 £699.99 Replacement inks: 105 black 140ml £17.99, EcoTank 106 cyan, magenta, yellow, photo black 70ml £11.99. Maintenance tank £8.99 In the box ET-7750, manual, CD, power cord, two bottles 105 black 140ml, two 70ml bottles each 106 cyan, magenta, yellow, photo black.

Maintenance tank supplied fitted and one spare included Ink technology Pigment black and four dye colour inks Paper formats Up to A4 in paper tray, A3 in rear tray feed CD/DVD printing Yes Accepted paper weights 64 to 300gsm Scanner resolution 1200x2400dpi (hxv) Printing method Epson Micro Piezo print head – 360 nozzles black, 180 per colour Minimum droplet size 1.5picolitre with variable-sized droplet technology Printing resolution 5760x1440dpi LCD screen 6.8cm colour Card format SD Operating systems Windows 10, 8 ,7, Vista, Server Mac OS X 10.6 to 10.12 Interfaces Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, USB, Ethernet, USB host Dimensions (WxDxH) 52.6x41.5x16.8cm Weight 10.5kg Contact Epson.co.uk

Below Comparing the image featuring the X-Rite ColorChecker with the card itself revealed that the two were impressively similar.

Epson EcoTank ET-7750 £699.99 For me and many fellow photographers, photography is a linear process, from pre-visualisation and capture, through to editing and ultimately ending in something tangible, namely a print.

There is nothing more satisfying than enjoying a pile of prints after a shoot or trip, and producing those prints at home only intensifies the experience.

It is stating the obvious, but if you just want to enjoy your creativity on-screen that’s essentially free, while making prints costs money. The printer itself is a significant initial investment but over time it is the cost of consumables that’s irksome; and that is why brands like Fotospeed and PermaJet among others offer continuous ink flow systems and more recently refillable cartridges to keep running costs down.

The Epson EcoTank ET-7750 is an all in one A3 printer/copier/scanner unit offering cartridge-free printing with its easy-to-refill, five-colour inks selling for £699.99. The ET-7750 is one of several models in the EcoTank family and it offers up to A3 output.

Set-up takes a few minutes and is perfectly painless. All you have to is fill each cartridge from the supplied ink. It is easy and mostly mess-free – although I did manage to spill a few drops of ink so it is worth having some kitchen towel handy and perhaps some newspaper under the ink tank area to preserve your Chippendale tabletop.

The printer comes with two bottles of each colour ink and there is a spare maintenance tank too (one is supplied already fitted).

Once the tanks are filled, it is then a matter of initialisation (which gives you time for a cuppa) and connecting to your network. There are Ethernet and USB interfaces available if you prefer hardwiring but I had no problem getting the unit working wirelessly and I was soon ready for my proper print.

I had an assortment of A3 media to test the printer’s mettle. This included Epson Photo Paper Glossy and several gloss, lustre and textured finishes including papers heavier than the claimed 300gsm maximum, but I first I had to sort out the profiles to use for printing via Photoshop.

Generic ICC profiles for this printer were not available so I had several options: let the printer manage colours,

try sRGB or Adobe RGB through Photoshop or make my own using an X-rite i1Studio kit. In the end, I tried all three with a good level of success notably with colour images.

Perhaps not surprisingly prints via my homemade profile usually looked the best but the same files outputted via Photoshop and sRGB looked very good too and on occasion looked superior. In fact, the Photoshop/sRGB combination worked very well on the papers where I didn’t bother to make a custom profile.

My monochromes, while acceptable, were a little short of what I’d like, but

then my usual Epson printer, the SCP800, has several black inks. Deep shadows and blacks looked fine but it was mid-tones that lacked depth and tonal smoothness and I had several monochromes that came out with delicate colour casts (image below).

In use, the printer was quiet and fast.

An A3 print took about two minutes and out of 30 prints I made I had two misfeeds where the paper wasn’t taken into the printer. Also, checking the ink tanks showed they were 75% full, which I topped up to full just to check that the process was simple – it was. WC

Images Set-up is quick and easy, and filling the cartridges with the supplied inks is relatively mess free.

Verdict The Epson EcoTank ET-7750 is a perfectly capable photo printer and the proposition it offers, ie. photo-quality output with low running costs, is very tempting.

The fact that it also scans and copies is an added bonus.

At £699.99 the ET-7750’s initial investment is higher than Epson’s dedicated A3+ printers – the SC-P600 sells at £549 while the SC-P400 is £454 – but start producing prints in good numbers and the extra cost will soon be recouped. If running costs has deterred you from home printing until now, Epson’s ET-7750 could be the answer.

Pros Easy to use, good quality output, low running cost, fast and quiet Cons No generic profile support, mono prints less impressive

Photography News | Issue 56 | photographynews.co.uk

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First tests Specs Price £499 In the box Speedlite 470EX-AI, mini stand, SBA-E4 bounce adapter, soft case and manual Guide number 47m (metres/ISO 100) AI Bounce Fully auto and semi auto modes Flash head movement Up 0°-120°, left and right 0°-180° Autoexposure control E-TTLII/E-TTL/TTL High speed sync Yes Manual control Yes, full power to 1/128th in 0.3EV Focal length coverage 24-105mm standard, 14mm with integral diffuser. Auto zoom for sensor size. Clip on bounce diffuser supplied Wireless control No transmitter, infrared receiver with 10m indoor range/6m outdoors Groups Three Channels Four AF assist beam Yes, infrared beam. Supports 1-19 AF points Recycling 5.5secs in full manual Power Four AAs Custom functions 10 (24 options), nine personal functions PC terminal No Dimensions (wxhxl) 74.65x130.4x105.1mm Weight 385g (no batteries) Contact Canon.co.uk

Canon Speedlite 470EX-AI £499 If further proof that the machines are indeed taking over was needed, then take a look at the innovative Canon Speedlite 470EX-AI flashgun. The 470EX-AI joins Canon’s Speedlite family which includes the 600EX IIRT, a high powered unit with radio wireless control, and while the new unit doesn’t have radio control it is the first flashgun with an automatically controlled bounce head. This uses Canon’s AI (Auto Intelligent) technology to give auto or semi auto bounce flash.

We’ll delve into that feature very soon but let’s cover off its other headline features first. With a guide number of 47 (ISO 100/metres) it is a mid-powered unit with the option of Canon ETTL I and II mode compatibility as well as full manual and the zoomhead covers a range from 24mm to 105mm. A large dot matrix LCD display gives you all the information you would expect from a modern flashgun – mode, working range, focal length and so on.

While the 470EX-AI does not have any radio wireless control it does have optical triggering so with EOS cameras such as the 7D, 6D Mark I and II and 600D which have an integral Speedlite Transmitter, the flash can be fired from up to 10m indoors without any extra kit. Optical triggering can be less reliable especially outdoors in bright light where the range is about 6m.

Power is supplied by four AA cells, not a rechargeable li-ion cell which offers greater shooting capacity and faster recycling.

Now let’s get back to the AI Bounce (AI.B) feature. This is selected from the three-position AI.B switch on the flashgun’s rear panel, off, S (semi) and F (fully auto). There is nothing extra that has to be set on the camera although AI.B is not available on all Canon EOS DSLRs; or it might be available but with limitations.

Before going any further, perhaps it is worth just explaining what bounce flash is and why it is useful. Fit a flashgun on a camera and shooting away usually gives okay results but the light is harsh with heavy shadows.

For a more flattering light, many flashguns have an adjustable or tilting bounce head so all you do is angle the flash head upwards at a white ceiling (or white wall or a bounce flash modifier) and now softer light reaches the subject via a large surface for better-looking results.

But it is not quite as simple as that. A white surface is needed so that no colour cast is introduced and bouncing flash means light has to travel further to reach the subject.

That means there’s a significant power drop off. The inverse square law says that if you double the flash to subject distance output drops off by a factor of four, so while using a low white ceiling might be okay, a higher ceiling to bounce flash is an issue and even potent flashguns can mean using wide apertures.

Canon’s AI.B can’t solve these issues, but it can help with what angle you set the flashgun’s head at to give the best bounce effect. An experienced flash user will quickly assess the situation and set the flashhead angle they think will deliver a good result, do a test shot and go from there.

Less experienced flash users might struggle and this is where AI.B comes in useful.

In AI-B auto mode, press the AI.B button on the flashgun or the camera’s depth-of-field button (depends on the camera) and the flashgun fires a preflash at the subject to assess its distance, then the head quickly realigns upwards before firing another preflash up at the ceiling, again to assess distance. AI then sets the head to the determined optimum bounce angle and it does all this in less than a second.

Change the camera from horizontal to vertical format shooting, a quick double partial press of the shutter button and the flashhead will reset the head to an angle similar to that before you adjusted camera position.

I tested the AI.B function on an EOS 6D Mark II shooting various subjects between 1 and 3m from the camera.

On the 470EX-AI, at 2-3m, the consistently preferred flashhead position as determined by the AI.B auto F mode seemed to be the furthest tilt position so that the head was pointing overhead and slightly backward. This was the case in small rooms where light can bounce off the back wall but also in bigger rooms

Top left The flashgun’s control layout is very clean. Above The switch at the top of the flashgun has two AI-B options, semi auto and full, plus off. where this couldn’t happen. The result: even in smaller rooms not quite enough light reached the subject to give the scene any sparkle and eyes lacked catchlights.

Moving in closer to the subject did change this and AI.B did set a slightly more forward-facing head which gave a better result.

I think we all have our preferences for bounce flash and at 2-3m I tend to go for the head angle at about 45°, or slightly steeper when closer in, so the flash is directed upwards and onto the subject but you can also get some light going forward too.

So for me the results from the semi-auto AI.B option were preferable. Here, you set the head angle you prefer – determined by test shots or based on experience – and then pushing in the Angle Set button on the side of the flash registers that angle into the unit’s memory.

So for me I set the head angle at around 45° to give the sort of bounce light I like.

Above Push the AI/B button (or depth-of-field or shutter button twice) and the 470EX-AI goes into action, firing a flash burst forwards to assess subject distance (left), then above to assess ceiling height (centre) and then the flashhead sets to the determined best head position for bounce – and all in under a second.

Now when you change camera orientation, a double press of the shutter button means the flashhead will automatically set to give a similar angle to your registered setting before you switched camera position. Whether that saves any time in practice is a point of debate; an experienced user will quickly adjust the flashhead as they change camera position.

If you prefer taking charge, use manual bounce flash or if you want to use a modifier that is possible by setting a personal function (P.Fn-09-1) and the AI.B switch set, so all bounce options are covered.

Finally, if you buy a 470EX-AI do read the instructions on head care and handling and if you are considering making the investment, check Canon’s website to check your camera’s compatibility. WC

Verdict The Canon 470EX-AI is a fascinating innovation and seeing the flashhead move of its own accord is novel and AI.B can be useful for bounce flash newbies.

Of course the 470EX-AI is not just all about AI.B but it is true that £499 for a mid-powered flashgun seems pricey. However, it is a fully featured and very capable flashgun for Canon owners.

Pros High-quality versatile flashgun, AI.B semi auto Cons AI.B fully auto mostly goes to one position

Photography News | Issue 56 | photographynews.co.uk

40

First tests

Tamron 70-210mm f/4 Di VC USD £700 Fast aperture lenses have their upsides as well as their downsides and if you want to travel light, the extra glass that such lenses need means that bulk is certainly a negative.

This is why lens makers give you options. In Tamron’s range, if you want a fast aperture telezoom, then go for the 70200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2 currently on sale for £1349, but if you prefer to keep your weight down this new Tamron 70210mm f/4 Di VC USD looks to be a fine option. For a start, it is 650g lighter and perhaps more importantly, at £700 it is close to half the price of the f/2.8; so while having a f/2.8 zoom is nice, there is a significant saving to be had. It is also full-frame and APS-C format compatible and sold in Canon and Nikon fittings currently.

Tamron has really upped its game in recent years and this new lens shares the good looks, smooth mechanics and cosmetics of the current range.

So, there is the champagne coloured rear ring with a lens mount that has a rubber seal to keep moisture out, the lens’s finish is a smooth, lustrous matt black and a 4EV benefit VC (Vibration Compensation) system is fitted to combat camera shake.

70mm

F/4

100mm

F/4

I tested the lens on a Nikon D850 and on this full-frame DSLR it balances very nicely. The combination’s centre of gravity is close to the camera body so the combination sits very nicely in the hands. You get a very stable combination so handholding at relatively slow shutter speeds, even without VC, is perfectly feasible.

Assuming that 1/250sec is the slowest shutter speed for shooting at 210mm without any camera shake defeating technology, the 4EV benefit claimed benefit of Tamron’s VC system means in theory that a shutter speed of 1/15sec is possible for sharp, handheld shooting. To test this I took sets of five handheld shots at 210mm with VC on and off using shutter speeds of 1/10sec, 1/15sec, 1/20sec and 1/40sec, and a control shot at 1/250sec.

Images were processed with default unsharp mask and viewed at 100% on screen. At 1/10sec, only a couple of the VC-ed shots were acceptably sharp and good enough for use at small sizes, but none of the non-VC were much use, which is no surprise. Moving up to 1/15sec and 1/20sec proved more successful with three out of five VC shots looking good. At 1/40sec four out of five VC shots were sharp, with only one non-VC shot looking okay. It is worth bearing in mind that we are all different with our handholding 210mm

F/4

F/5.6

F/5.6

F/5.6

F/8

F/8

F/8

F/11

F/11

F/11

F/16

F/16

F/16

F/22

F/22

F/22

F/32

F/32

F/32

skills (and what we call acceptably sharp) and 210mm is quite a long telephoto, but that said this lens’s VC system performed well and shows a clear benefit.

Autofocus is swift, accurate and barely audible thanks to Tamron’s USD motor and the use of Dual MPU (Micro Processing Unit) technology.

Used on the D850, focusing proved accurate in a wide range of lighting types from flat lighting to high contrast situations, with no searching or uncertainty. The lens’s internal AF system means the lens’s overall size remains constant.

A sound performance is what you can expect optically too. Actually it’s more than sound and the lens is capable across the focal length range and at most apertures. It is only at the two smallest apertures that diffraction results in softer images, notably at 70mm and 100mm in our test shots, but as a general rule telephoto users concentrate on using apertures at the wider end.

At 70mm, sharpness is good from f/4 and while improvement is gained by stopping down it was an impressive start with crisp, contrasty images produced at the centre and towards the edges. For best overall edge to edge sharpness, f/8 is the aperture to use and here you get well resolved, very detailed images. F/16 is capable of decent images too but stopping down further does mean softer images so best avoided.

Zooming to 100mm delivers another capable performance especially one or two f/stops down.

F/4 gives a decent showing but stopping to f/5.6 brings a significant benefit in sharpness and this is probably the best overall aperture value at this focal length. Further stopping to f/8 and f/11 still gives a decent performance with good sharpness and detail resolution so if you want more depth-of-field that is no problem, but for best sharpness f/5.6 is the value to go for.

Of the three focal lengths tested I thought 210mm did best overall.

It starts well at a high level at f/4.

Fine detail looks good and a little unsharp mask improves the already lovely looking images. Stop down to f/5.6 and the picture, literally, looks even better and that level of quality is maintained at f/8 and f/11 before gradually falling away. It is worth saying that the drop off in image sharpness at f/22 and f/32 was not as significant as with the shorter focal lengths. It’s atypical for longer focal length to outperform shorter ones but that was the case here.

Finally, the lens’s coating does a fine job keeping flare and ghosting minimal and even shots with the sun in frame were flare-free and contrast remained at a high level. WC Images Test pictures were shot on a Nikon D850 with Raws processed through Lightroom with default sharpening. The camera was mounted on a Novo Explora T20 carbon fibre tripod and the shutter fired with a cable remote release.

Specs Price £700 Format Full-frame, APS-C Mount Canon EF, Nikon F Construction 20 elements in 14 groups Special lens elements Three low dispersion elements Coatings Fluorine protective coating on front element Filter size 67mm Aperture range F/4-32 Diaphragm Nine blades Internal focus Yes Focusing Autofocus with USD (Ultrasonic Silent Drive). Full-time manual override Minimum focus 95cm Focus limiter No Maximum magnification 1:3.2 Distance scale Yes, metres and feet Depth-of-field scale No Image stabiliser Vibration compensation Tripod collar Optional collar with Arca Swiss foot Lens hood Supplied Weather-sealed Moisture-resistant construction Dimensions 174x76mm Weight 850g Contact Intro2020.co.uk

Verdict Tamron’s latest 70-210mm f/4 telezoom has a great deal going for it and if you want a highquality, compact telezoom at a tempting price, it is a clear contender for your shortlist.

It delivers a capable optical performance with the highlight being the 200mm setting which was impressive and handling rates highly, with the smooth AF and VC systems combining well together to deliver quality results.

Pros Price, handling, AF Cons No tripod collar supplied

Photography News | Issue 56 | photographynews.co.uk

Photography News | Issue 56 | photographynews.co.uk

Photography News | Issue 56 | photographynews.co.uk

43

First tests Specs Prices £1550. A single fixed colour version of this light is available for £1500, and a 50° model available at £1550 Accessory prices Barn doors £189.99; Rotolight 95Wh V-mount lithium battery £289.99; D-Tap travel charger £59.99; Honeycomb louver grid £131.99; Snap grid £347.99; Rotolight HSS transmitter £228.39; Pro Master kit £444.99 (includes barn doors and flight case) In the box Anova Pro 2 light with yoke, gel filter holder, power adaptor and mains cable and six-piece gel filter pack – full diffuser (1EV), medium/ half white diffuser (0.75EV), cosmetic peach diffusion and minus green Output 10,700 lux at 3ft Cinesfx mode Special effects include gunshot, paparazzi, police etc for filmmakers Colour temperature 3150-6300K Colour accuracy CRI>96, TLCI 91 Flash duration Adjustable from 1/50sec to 1/2500sec Flash recycling time Instant, 150,000 bursts from a full battery High speed flash sync Up to 1/8000sec Wireless control Elinchrom Skyport built-in so available with optional Rotolight HSS transmitter. Brightness and colour temperature can be controlled from up to 200m range Contact Rotolight.com

Below left High speed sync with the camera set to 1/8000sec gives an action-stopping effect. Below right The light set to 1/2000sec with a flash sync speed of 1/125sec is not so good at stopping movement.

High speed sync 1/8000sec

Rotolight Anova Pro 2 Bi-Colour 110° £1550 The Rotolight Anova Pro 2 is an innovative LED professional quality light source that offers high output levels and great versatility. With the use of LEDs of two colours, it is possible to vary the colour temperature of the output within the range of 3150 to 6300K (daylight is around 5600K).

Power output is impressive with an output of 10,700 lux at three feet and that is 70% more than its predecessor, and it can be battery or mains powered.

Build quality is solid and it is designed to withstand serious use, indoors and out. The standard light comes with a mains adapter and yoke mount so it can be fitted to any lighting stand and large locking nuts allow easy angle adjustment. If you want barn doors or modifiers to control light you need to factor in extra budget, and if you want to fully exploit the Pro 2 with its potential of wireless control and flash including instant recycling and high speed flash sync up to 1/8000sec you need to add the Rotolight HSS transmitter priced at £228.

Two large red knobs on the unit’s rear handle power and colour temperature adjustment and pushing the two knobs in simultaneously brings up the unit’s menu and access to more features. The menu has the flash option and has features like Cinesfx mode where for movie shooting you can simulate lightning or a flashing police light.

Adjusting colour temperature can be done within a range of 3150 to 6300K in 10K steps up to 5100K and at 20K steps above this – and 100K steps too. This feature is made possible by the unit’s mix of white and orange LEDs so does make mixing light from the unit and ambient light very easy – and this adjustability applies to flash as well continuous output.

To check accuracy of colour temperature I did a set of pictures – using a Nikon D810 in manual whitebalance mode – with the Kelvin value set on the light to match (as close as possible) what was set on the camera.

There was some variance but generally performance was good.

To assess continuous light output, I used a Gossen Digipro F light meter set to ISO 200 taking incident light readings with the Anova at a range of power settings at distances of 1m and 2m. At 100% output (with the light

Verdict The Rotolight Anova Pro 2 Bi-Colour is a professional quality lighting unit with a matching robust build and performance – and price. It is without doubt a first-rate continuous light source for video and stills photography.

It is very controllable with decent levels of output so ideal for those who focus on video with the occasional foray into flash for stills shooting.

On the other hand, for those who are predominantly still photographers who are looking at the Anova Pro 2 Bi-Colour as a dual purpose light, its potential as a flash is more limited. There is huge capacity and instant recycling but if you want actionstopping flash and output – in normal and HSS modes – you might be better off buying a good dedicated flash system and run it alongside the Anova Pro 2, so you have both lighting options covered.

Pros Wireless control potential, colour temperature control, powerful continuous light Cons Limited flash potential

Above left The chart was shot with the test camera (a Nikon D810) and the Anova set to 3230K – the result is on the slightly cool side. Above right The same again but this time to 5880K – here the result was marginally warm. set to 4100K) I got a meter reading of f/2.8.8 at 2m and f/4.0.4 at 1m while at 50% output this fell to f/2.0.8 and f/2.8.6 respectively, so nothing wrong here with the accuracy of power control.

To give the flash effect, power is delivered in a very short burst to the LEDs. Flash duration can be set from 1/50sec to 1/2500sec and high speed sync up to shutter speed of 1/8000sec.

I had a Nikon compatible trigger on a Nikon D810 and used the same Gossen meter to measure output.

At 2m and ISO 200, the output was measured at f/5.6.5 at 1/50sec and 1/60sec (as set on the lighting unit) and setting 1/125sec, 1/250sec and 1/500sec caused a drop to f/4, f/2.0.7 and f/2.0.5 respectively. At 1/1000sec

and faster the meter could not give a reading, so I moved the light to within one metre of the lightmeter. Now at 1/1000sec I got a reading of f/2.8.9 and f/2.8.7 at 1/2000sec.

So you get decent levels of output at the longer flash durations and if you want more depth-of-field, with modern cameras setting ISO speeds up to ISO 800 can give great image quality so there is that option.

I then took some shots at the various flash duration settings (1/50sec to 1/2500sec) with a domestic fan switched on to its lowest setting to look at the unit’s action-stopping potential.

The camera’s shutter speed was set to 1/160sec and ambient was too low to be recorded at that speed. You can see from the test shot below with the unit

Light set to 1/2000sec

set to 1/2000sec that action-stopping ability is not its forte.

Finally on the unit’s flash skills, I tried HSS with the light 2m from the test scene with the D810 (fitted with a 85mm f/1.8 lens) at shutter speeds from 1/500sec up to 1/8000sec. At 1/2000sec at ISO 200, an aperture of f/2 gave a good exposure and at 1/4000sec, ISO needed to be set to 400 for same aperture value. The same amount of ISO increase was needed to give enough light for f/1.8 at 1/8000sec.

So, the Anova as a flash unit is usable but within limits and you may have to juggle with ISO and shoot fairly close to the subject to get practical apertures. It all depends on your needs and expectations. WC

Photography News | Issue 56 | photographynews.co.uk

44

First tests

Canson Infinity Baryta Prestige Gloss 340gsm From £40.18 Specs Price 25 sheets A4 £40.18 Availability Packs of 25 sheets A4, A3, A3+, A2. Roll sizes 17inx50ft, 24inx50ft, 36inx50ft, 44inx50ft, 50inx50ft Weight 340gsm Thickness 370um Compatibility Optimised for pigment inks, compatible with dye inks Generic ICC profiles Yes, from website Surface Extra smooth gloss Composition Alpha-cellulose and cotton Acid free Yes OBA content Very low Drying time Immediate Water resistance High Contact Canson-infinity.com

The surface finish is very smooth and a sheen rather than an outright gloss

Below Nothing wrong at all with the paper’s colour reproduction skills. It has a relatively subtle approach but accuracy is spot on.

Canson’s pedigree as a paper maker stretches back nearly 500 years and nearly 150 years in photographic papers. Its Infinity range, aimed at digital fine art workers, appeared in 2008 and this is where Baryta Prestige Gloss 340gsm sits alongside an extensive collection of finishes to suit all tastes and is one of two baryta papers; the other is Photographique 310gsm Satin.

A lot of hype surrounds baryta in inkjet papers and how they have the look and smooth tonality of fibre-based wet darkroom papers.

But the fact is that a great many photographers, regardless of age, have never set foot inside a darkroom let alone used fibre papers so the comparison means little. Are baryta papers better at delivering first class prints than non-baryta papers? No, they are just different but not in a day/ night way. However, baryta does help give a smooth tonal transition and suits monochrome output really well, so worth trying if you haven’t tried a baryta paper.

With the baryta element out of the way, let’s concentrate on the other specifics of this Canson material. At 340gsm it is a heavyweight inkjet paper and it does have a lovely heft and lies very flat out of the box, so there should be no issues with headstrike.

The material does feature optical brightening agents (OBAs) but the specifications claims these are at a very low level, which means that if archival quality is a consideration then this material should not give any major concerns on that front. That of course assumes the rest of your workflow (ink, storage, mounting etc) is up to scratch. The low OBA content does mean the white base is very subtly warm or creamy white.

The surface finish is very smooth and a sheen rather than an outright gloss and for you darkroom people out there, it is like an air-dried fibre glossy paper but perhaps with marginally less sheen. It is a lovely, luxurious finish. When printed, the inked areas are marginally more glossy than the unprinted areas but there are no reflection issues when viewing unframed prints from front on.

Free ICC generic profiles are available for a wide range of Canon, Epson and HP printers. I used an Epson Sure Color SC-P800 with Epson inks for my test and I tried the generic profile but also made my own using an X-Rite i1 Studio.

The prints shown here were made with my profile and the recommended media setting of Premium Luster.

I printed a bunch of my usual test files and viewed them under daylight LED lamps.

I was really happy with the results. Colour reproduction is accurate but vibrancy is turned down a couple of notches so the approach is less in your face than some papers. That is not a negative thing because a strident approach does not suit everyone – or every picture.

As I said, though, comparing the print with the X-Rite test chart (image left) showed good accuracy so no issues here.

I was pleased enough with the colour shots but the monochrome results were even better. This Canson material gives impressive tonality and smooth mid-tones (that

Images Prestige Baryta 340 does a great job of scenes rich in mid-tones where good tonal separation is important. Left This Canson’s paper has a lovely, lustrous sheen.

baryta thing again) and the creamy base helps tame strong highlights so that they do not glare at you.

At the other end of the tonal range, blacks had an impressive D-Max and while I have seen more intense blacks, those delivered by this paper are plenty solid enough and as with the highlights, the deep shadows also did not dominate. The result was a very pleasing tonal balance where blacks, whites and greys looked in harmony with each other with no particular tonal area being more prominent than others.

It is not an easy characteristic to explain but perhaps another way of putting it is that the paper lets the picture come across without imposing its own character on the result. Whatever, the end result is very nice indeed. WC

Verdict For proofing or snapshots you’re not going to reach out for a sheet of Canson Infinity Baryta Prestige Gloss 340gsm because at (roughly) £1.60 a sheet of A4, the price is higher than its closest rivals. But for your portfolio, exhibition and any situations where prime quality is needed, this is a lovely paper and ideal when you need the best possible prints, in either colour or black & white.

Pros Overall performance especially with black & white images, feel Cons Price is towards the top end of the scale

Photography News | Issue 56 | photographynews.co.uk

Photography News | Issue 56 | photographynews.co.uk

Photography News | Issue 56 | photographynews.co.uk

47

Technique

Camera School Here we lift the lid on all things camera related, showing how to get better results from your CSC or DSLR, and providing all the info you don’t find in the manual. So, stick with us and you’ll soon be wielding your camera like a pro. This month, what is intentional camera movement and how does it work?

Words & pictures by Kingsley Singleton Intentional camera movement (ICM) simply describes the process of deliberately moving the camera during an exposure. At an appropriate shutter speed, this movement will show as motion blur in the frame. But though the concept is simple, the technique and use of ICM is endlessly expressive; every picture is different, depending on the subject, the shutter speed, the amount of movement, the type of movement, whether you combine movement with other techniques and so on.

Types of ICM include panning shots where you track the subject at a slow shutter speed keeping it sharp while the background blurs, zoom blur, where you extend the focal length during the exposure, and random blur which, as you’d imagine, is more freeform. In any case, the advantage of ICM is that it adds blur, either highlighting the subject, or clouding everything and giving impressionistic results.

It’s a lot to take in, but once you’ve mastered the basics of ICM, the most important thing to grasp is a sense of experimentation.

THE BASICS OF ICM So what are the basics? Really it’s all about setting an exposure that’s long enough to record the kind of movement you want. You can see the slowest shutter speed that the available light will allow by selecting aperture priority mode (A or Av), setting the smallest aperture (the highest f/number), and the lowest ISO sensitivity. If it’s not as slow as you need, which will probably be the case unless you’re shooting around dawn or dusk, you’ll most likely need to use a strong neutral density (ND) filter to cut out enough light for an extended shutter speed.

If you want to practise without worrying about setting the exposure, try using a phone app like ProCam 5 (procamapp.com) on iOS, or Camera FV-5 (camerafv5.com) on Android; these let you create long exposures whatever the lighting conditions.

WHAT SHUTTER SPEED DO YOU NEED? But how long an exposure do you need? Some movement will be picked up even at faster speeds, but will likely be too little to notice.

And while panning shots are generally made

Images Intentional camera movement is fun, not always predictable and you can get some startlingly impressive results.

Many photographers use ICM as their signature technique and do very well out of it commercially. at speeds from 1/125sec down to 1/30sec, if you want lots of impressionist blur you’ll need to think in seconds rather than fractions of them.

Images Your camera movement can be simple like up and down (left) or more freestyle (above). Just experiment.

The amount of motion blur also depends on how fast you’re moving the camera; at identical speeds, greater motion blur will be created the faster you move.

It all depends on your technique, but shooting handheld and trying to keep the camera as still as possible, you might be able to keep the image perceptibly sharp at 1/20sec, but start to lose fine detail at 1/4sec.

At 2secs you’ll get perceptible movement, even if you’re trying to keep still, and at 8secs or 10secs its surprising how much movement will creep into a frame even though you think you’re holding it stock still. On some Olympus cameras and the aforementioned phone apps you can see the blur being added to the image; in the former case using Live Bulb mode.

TAKING IT FURTHER As mentioned above, with ICM patience and experimentation are key. The fun is in the

discovery, so keep what you like and delete what you don’t. For instance to keep the subject clearer, keep the camera still on it for a greater part of the exposure. So for example, say you have an 8secs exposure; if you point the camera at the subject for 4secs, and move it around for the rest, the subject will be clearer than if you had a 1sec/7secs split. Or you could try using ICM as one part of a multiple exposure, thereby combining the blurred frame with more static elements.

NEXT MONTH WHY AND HOW YOU SHOULD USE GRADUATE FILTERS AT THE TIME OF SHOOTING TO IMPROVE YOUR IMAGE

Photography News | Issue 56 | photographynews.co.uk

48

Competition

Editor’s letter

The ins and outs of a photo project © Andrew Moss © Will Cheung

After months of competition, planning and great photography, we have a camera club of the year, Eastwood Photographic Society. It was a well-deserved win for the Glasgow club but it was hard-fought too, as you will have read in this issue.

For me, though, it was a great occasion and meeting and working with the five clubs was a pleasure and everything (mostly) went smoothly. It was very different from last year where I wasn’t sure how (or if) a multi-club, real-time shoot-out would work, so I was much more confident this time round because of the experience gained. The key thing is having photographers who embrace the challenge, and they did, so thanks to everyone who came along and made the final such a memorable occasion.

I’m already thinking about next year’s Camera Club of the Year event so look out for news this autumn.

Autumn? Gosh, I’m already looking forward to days of mists and mellow fruitfulness and it’s only early summer. There is so much happening before then – Photo 24 and the football World Cup to name but two events.

Photo 24 takes place from 29–30 June, between the group and knockout stages of the World Cup, so the 300 readers attending our event won’t be distracted by the football.

I have an ongoing project which only gets supplemented every two years, during the World Cup or the UEFA European Championships: my fun with flags project. I shoot the flags of the competing teams hanging out of windows, draped across cars and so on.

Inevitably, most shots are of the George Cross, but this project has no borders and I’ll snap relevant flags wherever I find them.

For this year, I have a screenshot on my tablet to help me identify flags and my challenge is to get shots of the flags of all 32 competing nations.

As with most of my photo projects, the fun with flags project is purely for personal amusement and there is no end date as such.

I often get asked about what happens with my projects and if I set end dates for them.

Of course, while these considerations are important to some, many of my projects get no further than a Lightroom catalogue and they end when I get bored, but my flag project will have its aforementioned two year break.

There are exceptions, but my projects are simply incentives to get me taking pictures in a gently structured manner. I do appreciate that some people can’t work in a free-form,

WIN!

A Samsung memory card!

Capture life’s magical moments across all devices with the Samsung EVO Plus 128GB microSDXC memory card with SD adapter offering read speeds up to 100MB/s and write speeds of up to 90MB/s. Samsung’s latest cards are also ultra reliable and are water, temperature, X-ray and magnet proof, so shooting in the most challenging conditions isn’t an issue. We have one 128GB Samsung EVO Plus microSDXC card with SD adapter worth £78.99 for the eagle-eyed winner. Complete the word search below, and you’ll find one word in the list that’s not in the grid. Email us on puzzle@photographynews.co.uk with that word in the subject box by 15 July 2018 and the winner will be randomly drawn from all correct entries received. The correct answer to PN53’s word search was Comics and the Samsung 128GB PRO+ card was won by Rosemary Mitchell from Aberdeenshire. samsung.com/uk/memory-cards

scattergun way like this, but shooting projects (perhaps ‘series' is a less pretentious description) helps control my randomness so it works for me. If you prefer a more targeted or regimented approach, then go for it – just make it work for you, whatever that takes.

The only rules are the ones that you set. For example, for my figure/fine art nude project I started with my usual digital camera but I wasn’t happy with the shots, so now I’m going to try it with a pinhole camera. I am a huge fan of Bill Brandt’s work – his wide-angle pinhole nude images are incredible – so my idea stems from those images, except I will be using digital, not film. Oh, and that’s another thing, projects do not have to be original.

I was speaking to a photographer a while ago and she said that she couldn't decide on what to shoot as a project. My response was that projects do not have to last long or change the world and can involve nothing more than rooting about in the kitchen. They can be as simple as pictures of coloured pasta, a square area of garden or a white napkin – just take a napkin, throw it on the floor and shoot ten pictures of it.

Projects like this are fun, inexpensive, timefriendly and not only improve your seeing eye but also help you enjoy your photography even more. Ultimately, that can only be a good thing.

We’ll meet again next month.

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