Issue 32 : May 2014
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Great work!
Congratulations to Phil Scott for his winning Frozen Motion motocross image, great shot!
ABOUT Whether you’re an enthusiastic weekend snapper or a beginner who wants to learn more, NZ Photographer is the fun e-magazine for all Kiwi camera owners – and it’s free! EDITOR Hollie Wightman, hollie@nzphotographer.co.nz GROUP EDITOR Nick Harley ART DIRECTOR Jodi Olsson
ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES Phone Richard Liew on 09 522 7257 or email richardl@espiremedia.com WEBSITE www.nzphotographer.co.nz
NZ Photographer is an Espire Media publication
We are well into Autumn with its copper leaves, chillier air and the end of daylight savings. Did anyone have any success at photographing the Luna eclipse last month? There have been some great photo opportunities with the changing of the seasons and wild weather we’ve been having – Hopefully some inspiration you can use for this month’s competition theme; Nature. In this month’s issue, Paul Conroy from Paul Conroy Photography has shared some helpful tips for selecting the right metering mode and gives a great explanation on the main ones used in DSLR Photography. I also caught up with Tim Bond from Vicarious Photography who has shed some light on the world of Light Painting for us. Even if you’re not familiar with Light Painting you definitely should check out his work!
Hollie Wightman
Hollie Wightman Resident Judge NZ Photographer
PCL’S NEW IPHONE AND IPAD APP FREE WEEKLY TUTORIALS!
•Photographic Printing New Zealand’s premium photo lab, PCL IMAGING, has made its latest evolution •Custom Framing into the palm of your hand. They have launched this month the iphone and ipad app 30 Karaka Street, Eden Terrace, •Mounting which allows users to edit, enhance and order photographs directly from their phones. Auckland (09) 309 8090 •Scanning PCL has been a photographic industry leader for over 40 years and once again is enabling photographers with the latest technological contact@pcl.net.nz development. The app itself isPrinting a direct result of another technology PCL has been using for several years called ROES or remote order www.pcl.co.nz •Inkjet entry software. This software was made available for MAC or PC and has been used to by thousands of happy customers. •Canvas Prints PCL will be holding weekly tutorials for the new app for their customers and if you mention this article you can join them for a free cupcake, espresso photographic print. The relaxed tutorials will take place at PCL every Thursday at 11am.
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APP YOU FACE WEB 0800 ASK PCL STORE SITE BOOK TUBE
GET SHOOTING AND WIN!
Next Month's Competition:
Photographers - This is a great opportunity to improve your photography skills and get some feedback from professional photography judges in a safe and friendly environment. Here's what's up for grabs!
Nature
•
This month’s competition theme is Nature so grab your camera and head outdoors to the beach, the park or bush and show us your best Nature Photos!
• A high quality print of your image and cover to immortalise your achievement for your grandchildren, courtesy of PCL Imaging
Entries close May 15th – looking forward to seeing them!
•
Rules: Images submitted must be no older than 12 months from the date of publication of this issue. Entry to the competition is $5 and you can enter up to five images. Images must be no more than 100 dpi and no more than 1600px wide. Save them as jpgs in the prefered colour space of Adobe RGB (1998).
• And of course, bragging rights and the envy of your fellow NZ Photographer fans!
If you don't know what this means, don't worry, but do Google it...●
The winning image on the cover of the next issue
$50 cash
Check out next month’s theme and enter at www.nzphotographer.co.nz!
WIN!
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Spot On Metering A GUIDE TO COMMONLY USED DSLR METERING MODES By Paul Conroy www.paulconroyphotography.com Have you ever wondered why some of your pictures turn out over or under exposed, even when the camera claims the correct exposure? Most of the time, this will be a result of the metering mode being used. Metering is the camera’s means of calculating the correct exposure for any given shot.
Figure 1: View Finder on a Nikon Camera’
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Figure 2: 1/50sec, F8, ISO 200
The camera reports the exposure through the view finder or on the screen in live view mode (see figure 1). Typically the exposure is represented by a number of bars with a Plus (+) and Minus (-) sign at each end. When the exposure needle sits on zero, this is the camera telling you it has the correct exposure for the current composition. As clever as modern cameras are, they still need to be told which metering mode to use in order to get the best results. EVALUATIVE OR MATRIX METERING In Evaluative (Matrix) metering, the camera uses the entire frame to calculate the exposure which is great for landscape photography (see figure 2). Whenever there is a large volume of highlights or shadows in the frame, the camera over compensates as its averaging out the exposure from the entire frame. As you can see in the example, the large white background is forcing the camera to under expose the subject.
Figure 3: 1/8Sec, F8, ISO 200
Figure 4: 1/6Sec, F8, ISO 200
When using film cameras, photographers have to use a hand held light meter to determine the exposure of their subject. Thankfully modern DSLR cameras have negated the need for light meters as they have the metering function built in. The metering modes most commonly used in DSLR cameras are: • Evaluative (Canon), Matrix (Nikon) • Partial • Spot
PARTIAL METERING Partial metering uses approximately 6% of the frame when calculating the exposure thereby ignoring the majority of the background. Partial metering is great for portrait work, especially when the subject is being backlit by the sun, or standing in front of a large object that is bright or dark. In the example below you can see the lens is correctly exposed. In order to achieve this exposure the shutter speed has increased to 1/8 Sec which is too slow for handheld photography. (See figure 3). SPOT METERING Spot metering uses an even smaller portion of the frame to calculate the exposure, normally 2-3% from the center of the frame. Given the size used, it’s not uncommon that this metering mode also leaves the subject slightly under/over exposed. Spot metering is preferable when the subject is taking up significantly less space in the frame. (See figure 4). There are other metering modes such as center weighted and multi spot, depending on the camera you have. Once you get to grips with these metering modes, you will immediately see an improvement in the exposure of your images.● www.nzphotographer.co.nz 5
INTERVIEW
Light Painting with Tim Bond www.facebook.com/vicariousnzphotography www.flickr.com/photos/jaymzbond1/ www.500px.com/TimBondy
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I think Light painting is such a creative almost performance like genre of photography. Tim Bond was kind enough to share some of his work and experiences creating these awesome images! - Hollie NZP: ARE YOU ABLE TO GIVE US A BIT OF AN EXPLANATION AS TO WHAT EXACTLY ‘LIGHT PAINTING’ IS? TIM: Basically a light painting consists of a long exposure photograph while using hand held light tools to “draw/ paint” an image or light up certain areas in the frame. It’s pretty much using light as a source to create something that will only ever exist momentarily, while at the same time trying to capture it forever in the camera. HOW AND WHEN DID YOU DISCOVER LIGHT PAINTING? A couple of years ago I was watching a current affairs show on TV that featured a photographer (Denis Smith) creating these amazing images of glowing balls of light in some awesome locations. It was something completely different than what I was seeing around at the time so I decided to do some research and give it a go. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST LIGHT PAINTING IMAGE? My first serious attempt was using burning steel wool to create an orb in an old back country tunnel. I was pretty proud of it too, even though it had a few flaws.
WHAT GEAR DO YOU USE FOR LIGHT PAINTING? The first thing you need is a camera on a sturdy tripod, preferably with a timer/remote so you can set the exposure time or use bulb mode. Then all you need is darkness and anything you can think of that will give off light. I mostly use coloured LED glow sticks and torches for my work, although you can use anything from fireworks to cell phones. I even have a bicycle wheel covered in LED fairly lights that I use quite often to create domes - as long as it lights up you can use it.
The first thing you need is a camera on a sturdy tripod, preferably with a timer/remote so you can set the exposure time or use bulb mode. Then all you need is darkness and anything you can think of that will give off light. www.nzphotographer.co.nz 7
I would say get out there and give it a go, you may not nail it the first time (I know I certainly didn’t!) but with practice anything is possible. WHAT’S THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF LIGHT PAINTING? I guess the hardest part is trying to keep everything under control for the duration of the exposure. For example, when spinning the lights for an orb shot you have to keep the lights spinning in the same diameter circle while slowly turning yourself around - all in the dark - for up to two minutes, if it slips even 10mm, it can ruin the whole shot. Timing and weather plays an important role too if I’m shooting outside, I like to have a bit of moonlight around to help light the surroundings, so I try and time a shoot around the full moon. It’s certainly an art that teaches patience. 8 www.nzphotographer.co.nz
DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE PHOTOGRAPHER? There are several I admire for their boundary pushing techniques in Light Painting photography. Denis Smith is the master of the ball of light. Darren Pearson makes awesome, almost comical drawings using nothing more than a small LED light. Mart Barras can come up with some amazing geometric light images. JanLeonardo Wollert and Patrick Scherer really push the limits when it comes to tools and techniques, I could go on... WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE PEOPLE WANTING TO GIVE LIGHT PAINTING A GO? I would say get out there and give it a go, you may not nail it the first time (I know I certainly didn’t!) but with practice anything is possible. Also there is a pretty supportive community of light painters online to draw inspiration and advice from too, the Light-Painting International group on facebook is a good place to start. WHERE CAN WE SEE MORE OF YOUR WORK? I’m currently looking at getting my own website built, but in the meantime I am using the following pages to share my work. www.facebook.com/vicariousnzphotography www.flickr.com/photos/jaymzbond1/ www.500px.com/TimBondy ●
TAKE MORE cONTROL GET MORE cREATIVE NEW EOS 70D
An EOS first, Dual Pixel CMOS AF / 20.2 megapixel CMOS sensor / Built-in WiFi
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PRESS RELEASE
Introducing the New Olympus Stylus Tough TG-3 The Olympus Stylus Tough TG-3 sets a new standard featuring a super bright F2.0 wide-angle zoom lens for beautiful low light photos, advanced macro features enable extraordinary close up pictures and the most complete system accessories of any Tough Camera.
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The TG-3 has a range of special accessory options that extend its photographic capabilities considerably. Waterproof fisheye and telephoto lens converters widen and lengthen your shooting perspective, on land and underwater. For macro illumination, a new LED Light guide accessory channels the light from the camera’s built in white LED into a ring pattern for beautiful, evenly-lit pictures of very small objects. A new underwater housing lets you photograph underwater to a depth of 45m
The TG-3 is waterproof to 15m, drop proof to 2.1m, freeze proof to -10c and crushproof to 100kg
Experience the convenience of being able to use your smartphone to remotely control your camera. With the TG-3’s build in Wi-Fi and the Olympus OI.Share App (iOS/ Android) see the LiveView from your camera on your phone’s screen for perfect self-portraits, capturing shy wildlife and nature subjects with a simple touch on your phones screen from a distance.
GPS is now even more accurate with new GLONASS and QNSS support.
Then easily share your pictures and movies to social platforms with wireless transfer. The TG-3’s built in
The Olympus TG-3 is available in black and red from June 2014, RRP $599. ●
Befitting the Olympus flagship Tough’s status as one of the hardiest cameras in the world, the TG-3 is waterproof to 15m, drop proof to 2.1m, freeze proof to -10c and crushproof to 100kgf.
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Phil Scott Motocross TT Gisborne 1/2500 35mm f4 iso 200. I liked taking this shot as the bikes were traveling past at about 50km/hr about 1 meter away from me.
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Glenda Harris Sunrise ‘n’ Surf Murrays Bay Auckland Got the bug now, using manual settings to freeze action! Canon 600D 1/400, AV 8.0, ISO 400
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Lynn Clayton Ducks at Hamilton’s Lake Rotoroa First attempts using Sony SLT A37 of Ducks at Hamilton’s Lake Rotoroa either waiting for take off or has just left the ground. Settings: Focal length 85, f/4.5, iso 100, 1/3200s
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Victoria Arrowsmith Seal during feeding time at Auckland Zoo Panasonic Lumix DMC-3G. F-Stop: 5.6 Shutter Speed: 1/1000sec. ISO:3200 Focal Length: 135mm. I like this photo because it captures the water droplets as the seal breaks through the water. I was aiming to capture a moment like this to show the grace of moments that are often not seen, and I believe that I achieved this goal.
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“Photography,asweall know,isnotrealatall.Itis anillusionofrealitywith whichwecreateourown privateworld” - Arnold Newman
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PIXMA PRO-1. As dedicated as you are. As Travel Photographer Chris McLennan knows, a huge amount of effort goes into capturing the perfect shot. So when it comes to printing, you need a printer that makes all your hard work, sacrifice and risk worthwhile. The PIXMA PRO-1 is that printer. It’s the first* A3+ printer to utilise five distinctive monochrome inks in a 12-ink system, yielding the truest prints possible. Now from capture to output, you can maintain every nuance and colour with the utmost accuracy and precision. canon.co.nz/pixmapro1
bcg2 CAN0357PRO
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*As of October 26, 2011.