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9 FREE VIDEOs The definitive guide to SLR photography
Get serious!
SHOOT IT IN RAW Why shoot raw? Editing raw made simple Perfect your workflow Insider tricks
free! With this issue
Photoshop video lessons 8 free B&W TIPS cards to print portraits Ebook GEAR BUYING GUIDE
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E v e r y t h i n g y o u n e e d t o k n o w a b o u t p h o t o g r a p h y i n 1 4 8 pa g e s !
C O VER s t o r y
GET M O RE F R O M
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Learn how to get the very best out of your images using our essential guide to shooting and processing raw files
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reader shootout The jurassic coast
We join two readers on the Jurassic Coast, for a fun-filled day of creativity shooting Antony Gormley’s sculpture and the iconic ‘Washing Ledge’ at Kimmeridge Bay www.digitalcameraworld.com
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PHOTO PROJECTS 10 New ideas to try
Get your creative juices flowing with this round-up of cool techniques and projects, from photographing paper at home to recording a total lunar eclipse…
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POSH PRIMES 8 LENSES ON TEST
A tempting selection of the most popular full-frame, APS-C and Micro Four Thirds standard prime lenses on the market are put through their paces by our testing team OCTOber 2015
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SECTION HEAD
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Welcome to this special edition of Digital Camera
ThiS MONTH’S STAR CONTRIBUTORS…
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ithout a doubt, shooting raw will allow you to tease out maximum quality from your images – but the simple fact is they’ll need to be tweaked in the digital darkroom, on a computer. However, it doesn’t need to be a drag! In fact, it can be an utter joy, and using raw processors such as Lightroom, Adobe Camera Raw or Optics Pro can help you to make your pictures sing! This month’s cover story is dedicated to showing you all you need to know in our ultimate guide. Turn to page 42. But that’s not all: we’re also giving away a FREE, Teach Yourself Photoshop DVD this month, worth £19.99. It’s jam-packed with 50 no-nonsense jargon-free videos for you to watch. You’ll be up and running in no time. Thank you for all the positive feedback about our great new look. And if you’d like to take part in any of our new features or share your images, please drop us a line.
ThE BIG INTERVIEW
LIGHTING GURU
We talk to the world’s highest-earning landscape photographer
Scott explains how to balance flash and daylight for natural results
PETER LIK
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desert island d-slr peter hurley
The portrait specialist becomes the star in our new quickfire Q&A
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QUESTION MASTER ANDREW JAMES
Got a query, need advice, want your shots rated? Just ask Andrew
Ben Brain Editor, Digital Camera
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SCOTT KELBY
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portfolio Pekka Järventaus
Stunning fine-art wildlife images from the heart of Africa
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Photoshop maestro JAMES PATERSON
Our resident Photoshop expert on how to master the Pen Tool
About the cover photograph This stunning image was shot by Peter Lik. It’s titled ‘Eternal Beauty’ and was taken at Antelope Canyon, Arizona, USA. “The overhead sun was moving in fast, and I knew I had to get this frame in the next 15 minutes,” recalls Peter. “The rocks provided an incredible natural red reflector,
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highlighting this phenomenal piece of nature.” Peter also photographed his famous image ‘Phantom’ at Antelope Canyon. The picture is reputed to have sold for over six million dollars. This would make it the most expensive image sold in the history of photography, helping to establish Peter as one of the
most high-profile landscape photographers in the world. You can hear more about Peter’s fascinating life and work in this month’s interview, which starts on page 84.
Phase One IQ180 with 28mm lens; 1/60 sec at f/16, ISO 35 www.peterlik.com
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Photo projects
Christian Serrano
10 fresh and creative ideas to try, from light-painting cars to twisting milk…
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Project 1
How to put it all together
Make the car the star
Light-paint a car using just a single light for stunning and stylish results IGHT-painting can be used for lots of subjects. While it’s a popular technique for lamdscapes and buildings, it can also be employed to create stunning shots of cars and other vehicles. Light-painting specialist Cristian Serrano gets great results with just a single light, as he doesn’t want to spend a lot of money on strobes. As you can see from his shot of a beautifully lit VW Beetle, the results are impressive considering the limited kit he is using, and wouldn’t look out of place in a glossy car magazine or blog. “I start off by working out what I want the final image to look like,” he explains. “Once I have the concept in my mind, I will move the car
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around until I get the right angle on it. Then I simply wait for the sun to go down, until it’s dark enough that I can start to use light-painting.” Once the ambient lighting conditions are right, Cristian brings out a 22 x 28-inch 1,000 watt continuous softbox. “I’ll put my camera on a tripod with a timer and set an exposure of 5-10 seconds. This enables me to walk around the car with the softbox on, and light up the vehicle nicely. I do this a few times at various angles and heights, in order to get as many options as possible.” As well as showing off your beautiful-looking ride, this simple technique would also be a great way to create stand-out shots of any car you wanted to sell...
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During post-production, Cristian brings the images into Photoshop and selects a suitable assortment to start masking. “I use about three to six images for each final project, and stitching in the images reveals a perfectly lit car,” he explains. “I mask out the background to a solid black to hide the light trails and any other background objects.” Photoshop’s Lighten blend mode can be useful for combining frames in this way, as it reveals only those areas in a layer that are brighter in colour than the ones in the layer below.
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GET M O RE F R O M
All photos: James Paterson
There comes a time when every photographer has to decide: should I shoot in raw or JPEG? James Paterson explains why you should (almost always) chose the former....
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Cover story
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hotography requires dedication. Whether it’s learning techniques, waking up early for sunrise or buying new gear, we put so much time and effort into this art form that it makes sense to demand the most we can get out of our cameras. No matter what we choose to shoot – landscapes, portraits,
action, documentary – we’d be shooting ourselves in the foot if we didn’t squeeze the maximum amount of quality out of our digital SLRs or CSCs. There’s no doubt that a raw file gives you a better-quality image than a JPEG – but it does require slightly more work to realise that benefit. The first step is flicking the quality switch on your camera.
The next is learning what to do with these strange impenetrable files that your camera spits out. That’s where this guide comes in, as we cover the basics of raw processing. We’ll explain exactly why it’s a superior format, then take it further with considerably more advanced raw edits such as high-dynamic-range imaging and portrait retouching.
IN THIS Guide…
44 Why shoot raw?
46 Spot the difference
50 Camera Raw explained
www.digitalcameraworld.com
48 Processing raw files
52 Get creative with raw
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SPEhCoTtI o O NA cHtEiAvDe
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Portfolio Pekka Järventaus reveals his approach to photographing fine-art images of Africa
Name:
Pekka Järventaus
Location: Espoo, Finland Subject:
Fine-art wildlife
Equipment: Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II with Canon 300mm f/2.8L and Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L lenses
Pekka Järventaus
Website:
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www.prowlingwithlions.com
If you had to write a list of the most photographed wild animals on earth, chances are that the lions of the Masai Mara and the Serengeti would come close to the top. So if you’re lucky enough to get to pay a visit to Africa, how do you make your work stand out? “I have never been interested in documenting lions as a traditional wildlife photographer,” says videogame artist and photography enthusiast Pekka Järventaus. “There are lots of photographers that already do so. I’m interested in going beyond traditional wildlife photography and injecting my own artistic vision. I want to capture those majestic qualities that speak to me the most, and to create iconic portraits of lions.” Pre-visualising his work in this way has paid artistic dividends: Pekka’s ‘Lions Noire’ series has picked up a slew of international awards, including first prize and six honourable mentions at the Prix de la Photographie Paris (Px3), and has been exhibited from Moscow to Miami. In terms of kit, Pekka keeps things relatively unfussy with two second-hand Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II bodies: one fitted with D i g i t a l Ca m e r a
a 300mm lens, the other with a 70-200mm. As you might expect, patience is more important than equipment when it comes to taking shots of this calibre. “Lions sleep a lot,” says Pekka, “and a lot of my time is spent sat around waiting for the right opportunity to get the portrait that I’m looking for.” Of course, there are technical challenges, too. “Since I like photographing during rainy and stormy days, the lack of quality light means I may have to increase the ISO settings on my old cameras, exacerbating noise.” Similar to his choice of camera equipment, Pekka keeps things simple when it comes to digital workflow. “I shoot raw and convert to black and white in Lightroom. I then export the files to Photoshop for dodging, burning and additional editing.” Naturally, you need to start with a well-crafted image to create a beautiful black-andwhite conversion. Pekka has developed an eye for which scenes will work well in mono, and which ones won’t. “Lighting is crucial. My preference is to photograph during overcast days so I capture a wide tonal range. I find that ‘busy’ scenes, those that have lots of different elements of similar tone, work less well in black and white.”
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Kit Canon EOS-1Ds with 70-200mm f/2.8L at 70mm Exposure 1/1,600 sec at f/4.5, ISO 200 The King of Simbja Kopjes. Kopjes, islands of rock that rise above the Serengeti grasslands, afford lions the perfect vantage point.
Kit Canon EOS-1Ds with 300mm f/2.8 lens Exposure 1/400 sec at f/4, ISO 400 Blackie and lioness, photographed in the Masai Mara last year.
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NEXT MONTH The amazing aerial shots of MatjaĹž ÄŒater
Kit Canon EOS-1Ds with 300mm f/2.8 lens Exposure 1/800 sec at f/5.6, ISO 500 This relaxed-looking lioness was photographed in the Serengeti, Tanzania.
www.digitalcameraworld.com
Kit Canon EOS-1Ds with 300mm f/2.8 lens Exposure 1/1,000 sec at f/3.5, ISO 800 Pekka looks for well-lit scenes to ensure a high-quality conversion.
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Interview
P eter Lik Reputed to be the highest earning landscape photographer in the world, Peter Lik shares some secrets for success with Geoff Harris
Right Ghost Peter Lik says: “Taken at Antelope Canyon, Arizona. I knew the sun would pass directly overhead at midday. As the time approached, a narrow sliver of light beamed down on to the canyon floor below. At the moment I clicked the shutter, my Navajo guide threw a handful of dust into the shaft of light.”
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ou started taking pictures at 8, when your parents gave you a Box Brownie. What entranced you about photography at such a young age? The Kodak Brownie camera was my first experience with photography – an incredible birthday gift from my parents. I used it to capture my first shot of a spider web, glistening with dew in the family garden. It just called to me in an almost inexplicable way. At that age, I was too young to really grasp why the experience
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was so profound. It just felt right. I felt special, almost as if I had found my life’s purpose.
have to enjoy the struggle, though – it’s all part of the experience that makes better at your craft.
Did you become a photographer straight after leaving school? From about 18 onwards, I was constantly capturing the world around me as much as I could – and I still do, every single day of my life. My late 20s and early 30s are when I actually started to see some money from photography, but it was still an uphill battle to stay afloat for years to come. You
Why did you decide to go to the US in 1984? And how did you get into panoramic and medium-format photography? It was always a dream of mine to visit and shoot there. As beautiful as Australia is, I felt a connection to all the images and movies I had seen. Plus, the change of seasons isn’t something you really get in Australia. Encountering the panoramic
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format was something totally unexpected, but so important. I was comparing my images with a great American photographer I’d met on my visit to the USA. He dared me to “go big or go home”. I never looked back. When did you first realise that you could make a successful career as a landscape and panoramic photographer? That’s hard to say. I just kept my head down for many years, and focused on getting good shots. At some point, > OCTOBER 2015
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Standard Primes Matthew Richards picks out the best fixed-focal-length lens buys Tandard prime lenses come in all shapes and sizes nowadays, from teeny pancake optics to huge chunks of fast glass. Prices vary considerably too, ranging from super-cheap ‘nifty fifties’ to lenses like the Zeiss 55mm f/1.4 Otus at £2,700/$4,000. For this group test, we’ve chosen a selection of standard primes that aim for upmarket
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build and performance, without costing silly money. Despite the convenience of zoom lenses, a standard prime continues to be popular. Image quality is the main attraction, with the promise of minimal distortion or colour fringing, plus excellent sharpness at mid-range apertures. The widest available aperture is usually rather larger than with most zoom lenses, enabling a tight depth of field.
Sean Archer www.500px.com/seanarcher
the contenders 1 Canon EF 35mm f/2 IS USM £400/$600 2 Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM £245/$350 3 Fujifilm Fujinon XF35mm f/1.4 R £380/$600 4 Nikon AF-S DX 35mm f/1.8 £140/$200 5 Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.4G £275/$425 6 Panasonic 25mm f/1.4 Leica DG £430/$600 7 Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC HSM | A £370/$500 8 Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM | A £670/$950
standard primes
KIT Zone Kit Canon EOS 6D with Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens Exposure 1/200 sec at f/3.5, ISO 400
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