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canon EOS 70D d-slr preview!
canon’s best d-slr EVER?
full photo software! Photodirector 3
10 new video tutorials! d-slr & photoshop
August 2013 Issue 77 £4.99
TRAVEL SPECIAL!
Master your Canon D-SLR Take sharper shots this summer with our D-SLR skills and Photoshop tips
raw s kills New tutorials
Superzooms test!
The best do-it-all holiday lenses!
RAW TO HDR!
to improve your images!
100% Canon canon pro tips!
Learn how to take great travel shots Our reader and pro in Spain!
seascapes!
New Escape photo series
Part 2: Long exposure skills for striking shots
Capture ‘on the job’ documentary portraits! Find out how to shoot and enhance creative portrait shots
monster lens!
New Canon zoom
200-400mm inc. 1.4 Extender! August 2013
PRINTED IN THE UK
£4.99
Issue #77 August 2013
The Apprentice................ 8
Canon pro David Clapp delivers a landscape photography masterclass in Spain’s hot spots
Subscribe today! ...........20
Subscribe to PhotoPlus and get two free gifts!
Your Letters ...................22 The latest from the PhotoPlus mailbag
Inspirations ....................24 Amazing images from Canon photographers
Shoot sharper shots! .....30 Get pin-sharp images every time with our invaluable shooting tips and techniques
PhotoPlus Skills ............... 41 D-SLR shooting and image-editing tutorials
Canon EOS 70D.................55 Get a sneak preview of Canon’s brand-new 20-megapixel D-SLR with our 8-page pullout
PhotoPlus Workshop.... 74
“HAVE CAMERA, WILL TRAVEL…”
Our Apprentice learns to capture scenic travel shots in Spain with a top Canon pro
Page 8
Learn how to banish camera shake with the right camera setup and shooting settings
Dream Team ..................78 Canon queries? The team is on hand to help!
Your Photos ...................82 Our experts critique and enhance your shots
Next issue.......................87
See what’s in store in next month’s PhotoPlus
EF 200-400mm f/4L.......90 Canon’s new super-telephoto, with a built-in extender and a price tag to match its reach
Help Me Buy ..................92 We help a PhotoPlus reader test and buy a radio trigger for firing off-camera flash
Super Test.......................98 If you only take one lens on holiday, make it a superzoom. We put six through their paces
8-PAGE PREVIEW! THE NEW EOS 70D
Page 55
MASTERCLASS! CAPTURE CANDID ‘ON THE JOB’ SHOTS
Page 64
My Favourite Shot ...... 114 Canon wildlife pro Dave Stevenson tells the tall tale behind his striking shot of giraffes
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED…
What’s the best telephoto zoom? p78
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78
Are you a subscriber? There’s stuff just for you in Subs Club! Page 20
Improve your Canon D-SLR skills and say goodbye to soft photos with our jargonfree guide to getting pin-sharp images
Page 28
STEP-BY-STEP GUIDES! Improve your Canon D-SLR skills and images with our photo projects! Turn to page 41 now for our Skills section
SUPER TEST SUPERZOOM LENSES Page 98
PLUS Enhance your shots with our easy-to-follow Photoshop tutorials
HELP ME BUY A RADIO FLASH TRIGGER Page 92
How can I back up shots? p80
Do I need a light meter? p81
Why is my Canon D-SLR always busy? p81 PhotoPlus August 2013 | 5
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The PhotoPlus Apprentice
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Your chance to shoot with a pro
“Have camera, will travel…” Discover how to take great scenic travel photos as talented pro photographer David Clapp guides our Apprentice on a grand tour of Andalusia in Spain Words Peter Travers Location pictures Joby Sessions
THE PRO... THE APPRENTICE… Name: Pepita Bos Camera: Canon EOS 6D Pepita, 47, is a successful small-business marketing mentor. Originally from Holland, she now lives in a pretty mountain village near Malaga in southern Spain. She’s been a keen amateur photographer for around 30 years, but with her recently purchased Canon EOS 6D she asked for our help to improve her travel and scenic shots. We were only too happy to fly to Spain and oblige!
Name: David Clapp Camera: Canon EOS 6D Based in South Devon, but rarely home, 42-year-old David Clapp will usually be found travelling around the globe. He has visited and photographed in dozens of countries in the pursuit of great landscape and travel photographs. A regular contributor to PhotoPlus, David runs regular photography workshops and talks, and has also presented EOS technique DVDs for Canon Europe on landscape photography and the new EOS 6D. For his stunning portfolio and details of his workshops, go to www.davidclapp.co.uk
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The PhotoPlus Apprentice
DAVID’S TIP
Compose yourself
“When we arrived at the Palacio de Carlos V in Alhambra, Granada, which has a wonderfully designed circular column-lined patio, we were greeted with the sight of scaffolding up one side, and half a stage in the middle!” laughs David. “Undeterred, instead of going for a classic wide shot (which would’ve included lots of early-bird tourists anyway), Pepita and I got creative; we got low, and shot up to capture the shape of the architecture against the blue sky.”
PhotoPlus Technique assessment
Is Pepita ready to shoot in the sun? David helped PhotoPlus Apprentice Pepita to get the best out of her new Canon D-SLR and lenses…
Manual mode “Although it may seem faster or easier to use Aperture Priority (Av) mode, when you’re shooting in a mixture of lighting, with bright sunshine and shadowy scenes, or bright skies and darker land areas, you will find Av mode gives varied or inaccurate metering,” says David. ”I told Pepita it’s far better to use Manual, set an aperture of f/8, and then adjust your shutter speed (and ISO if the light levels are low) so you get the exposure you want, using the Exposure Level Indicator as a guide.”
Mid-range apertures “Although I enjoy shooting wide open at an aperture of f/2.8 or really narrow at f/22, it’s far better to shoot at around f/8 or f/11,” reveals David. “This will not only be the optimum aperture on your lens for the best sharpness across the frame, it will also capture enough depth of field to capture your whole scene or building in focus when using a standard zoom lens like a 24-70mm. At f/8 you’ll also obtain more usable shutter speeds for shooting handheld and on the move.”
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Your chance to shoot with a pro
Exposure: 1/250 sec at f/11; ISO200 Lens: Canon EF 24-70mm f/4L IS USM
EXPERT INSIGHT Map out your trip
9000
To get the most of out your holiday locations, plan ahead and schedule your days so you know what time of each day you’ll be taking pictures/lying by the pool/pottering around shops with your partner. As always, early morning (before breakfast) and evening (after dinner) provide the best, soft light for atmospheric travel shots, but midday sunshine can provide good results too, as we’ll prove. Buy entry tickets in advance to avoid disappointment – if we hadn’t booked our Alhambra tickets we’d never have got in!
Pepita’s comment
“I’m really happy with this first Hot Shot. It goes to show what you can get if you look for a different composition – and avoid builders and tourists in the frame! At a wide-angle of 24mm on my full-frame 6D I’ve been able to capture the curvature of the circular patio and its columns. While my aperture of f/11 (and shutter speed of 1/250 sec) has ensured it’s sharp across the frame. I boosted the shadows on the architecture and added a slight graduated filter on the sky in Photoshop.”
KILLER KIT OF THE PROS #1
Full-frame D-SLR and standard zoom!
David and Pepita were both using Canon’s smaller (and more affordable) full-frame EOS 6D, along with the new, compact and excellent Canon EF 24-70mm f/4L IS USM standard zoom ‘kit’ lens. “This is quite possibly the best lightweight full-frame D-SLR/lens travel combo available today, offering the best of both worlds: big, full-frame photos from a fast and sharp zoom lens that captures excellent colours in a compact-ish package,” says David.
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