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ASTRO GUIDE WORTH
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Issue 230
PRO GUIDE TO
URBAN PHOTOGRAPHY Find locations Master exposure Frame with impact Control light
CAMERA SKILLS
CANON EOS R5
Is it Canon’s best camera ever?
POWERFUL LANDSCAPES Shoot views with maximum depth
CAREER ADVICE
SELL MORE SHOTS NOW
How to create work that clients will love
Macro masterclass
GROUP TEST
BOKEH LENSES
Telephotos for dreamy effects
Capture amazing close-ups with in-depth tutorials and expert tips PANASONIC LUMIX G100 SHOOT & EDIT SELFPORTRAITS BUILD A PHOTO COMMUNITY
Contents Your Images 10 The Gallery More fantastic reader images on display
18 Photocrowd Top entries from the latest online competition with the theme of Summer Landscapes
In Focus 16 Story Behind the Still Petr Polách tells us more about his magical underwater shot in a Mexican caving system
20 News The latest insider announcements from the industry: new releases, contests and more
Features Discover how to tackle the most challenging aspects of this niche genre, and capture your best close-up images of flora and fauna ever
52 Pro guide to cityscapes
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Macro masterclass
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Interview Onyi Moss
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© Serge Ramelli
© Onyi Moss
Essential advice to help you light, frame, expose and edit urban landscape scenes
© George Hauxwell
32 Macro masterclass
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Pro guide to cityscapes
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Go Pro 22 Interview: Onyi Moss The lifestyle, fashion and editorial photographer is self-taught and ready to share her knowledge and inspirations
74 Print & share
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©Peter Fenech
Moderate a thriving photo community
Landscapes with depth
76 Supercharge sales Ensure your photos meet the client’s needs
98 Pro Column Verity Milligan on shoots not going to plan
Shooting Skills 46 Handheld focus-stacking Geraint Radford shows us an easy method for focus-stacking and editing bug shots
Cinematic self-portraits
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Group test: bokeh lenses
Use creative lighting setups to produce your own painterly, theatrical portraits ©Peter Fenech
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66 Cinematic self-portraits 72 Landscapes with depth Use repeating features to maximise the feeling of depth and continuity in a scene
Reviews 82 G roup test: bokeh lenses We compare four legendary lenses that will give you blurred vision and dreamy effects
90 Canon EOS R5 Does this 8K, 45MP beast live up to the hype? Our first impressions are revealed
94 P anasonic LUMIX G100 There’s no dumbing down with this camera for vloggers and social media creatives
96 Accessories Books hot off the press, mini hard drives with mega storage, and bags to hold all…
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INTERVIEW
22
ONYI MOSS
Left
Creative collaboration
Onyi captures self-portraits with the help of her husband. She uses a Canon 5D MK III and the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens All images © Onyi Moss
Lifestyle photographer Onyi Moss shares her creative journey, influences from nature, and how one bold move kick-started her professional career
T
ell us about your journey. You’re a self-taught photographer, so what made you start shooting photography professionally? It’s a bit of a funny story. I was unemployed for quite some time, and I found myself binge-watching all the reality TV shows I could get my hands on. Most of them were quite entertaining, but then I stumbled upon Fashion Bloggers on E!, which was very different from everything else I’d seen. It showcased a group of creative women who happened to all be self-taught photographers, taking editorial portraits of themselves and blogging about it at the same time. They had been successful at their craft – so much so that their work had gone on to be featured in Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. I was inspired! Rather than pay the rent that month (I was in charge of the
Luxury stay in London “It’s no secret we love most things vintage, which was why we stopped by the London Transport Museum for a good old photoshoot”
household finances, since my background is in accounting), I opted to buy a camera with the rent money.* This was something my husband only found out about after the landlord began chasing him for the rent. When he checked in with me to see what had happened, I told him I had ordered a camera instead. His exact words were “F it! We have a new camera, we’ll sort the rent out later”. Since I was mostly the reason why we were behind on the rent, I took it upon myself to learn how to shoot with my new camera. Then began my long hours on YouTube watching photography and editing tutorials, all of which I soon started to put into practice with my self-portraits. When I started getting better, my husband also took an interest in it, and so I taught him what I knew. *We eventually caught up on our rent!
One from the archives Onyi shared her wedding guest look with followers, and the Instagram post also subtly highlighted brands in the image, such as Pandora and Chloe
Onyi Moss is a self-taught photographer based in Manchester, UK. Originally from Nigeria, she moved to the UK to advance her career as a chartered accountant. She later discovered her passion for photography, and this led to the creation of her blog, which she now runs alongside her husband Craig. Together they create fashion, lifestyle and travel content. @mossonyi mossonyi.com
Knowledge is power “As much as I take in knowledge, I strive to give it back, and do so in my latest ‘Coffee Diaries’ episode, which went live on my YouTube channel”
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TECHNIQUES
MACRO MASTERCLASS 32
Small world, big impact Due to the shallow depth of field that’s characteristic of macro imaging, there is great opportunity for experimentation with light, colour and detail, which can be blended in various ways for different effects
M
acro photography has to be one of the most engaging genres of photography. While landscapes have the power to be awe-inspiring, and portraits stir up core emotions, macro brings about surprise, intrigue and wonder. High-magnification images take us into a world that we all have access to but seldom see. Close-up shots of insects, flower petals and textured surfaces create the sense of glimpsing an alternative dimension, made all the more exciting by the knowledge that many
of these frames can be found without leaving our own garden. As with any niche subject, there are key challenges and techniques that are specific to the genre. When working with such high magnifications and close working distances, achieving correct focus becomes increasingly difficult, compared to other types of scene. The correct use of macro lenses also requires some practice and patience, as does the use of lighting equipment, accessories and even unwieldy tripods.
Rather than trying to adapt your existing photo skills to the world of macro imaging, it’s generally far more effective to start from scratch. While the rules of exposure, composition and focus are the same, the actual shooting technique you need to succeed can be completely inverted. With that in mind, here’s a complete macro photography masterclass. Learn how best to approach individual subject types, get more from specialist macro gear, and overcome the most challenging technical adjustments. 33
© Gettyimages
Discover how to tackle the most challenging aspects of this niche genre and capture your best close-up images yet
SHOOTING SKILLS
Handheld macro Geraint Radford shows us his pro method for focus-stacking and editing shots of bugs Difficulty level: Intermediate/advanced Time taken: More than 2 hours
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Through macro photography, we can explore an amazing world full of beautiful plants and epic mini beasts. For me, bugs are the coolest subjects, but their small size and unpredictable behaviour presents challenges. It’s always best to capture insects in the wild, so that you cause minimal harm. Aside from finding subjects, one of the trickiest aspects of macro photography is
achieving sufficient depth of field, especially while working at high magnifications. Small apertures of f/16 or more can reduce image quality (due to diffraction), but more importantly we lose the valuable light needed to achieve the correct shutter speeds for sharp images. To overcome these specific challenges, I use a combination of diffused flash and focus-stacking. This setup is a bit like
focus-stacking having a handheld studio to control the lighting outdoors. For those new to focus-stacking, it’s a technique in which we capture a sequence of images at different focus distances and then blend them together using software. This results in a single image with increased depth of field. It all sounds trickier than it is, though. Believe me: if I can figure it out, you’ll be fine!
What you’ll need igital camera D Macro lens Flash, ideally with a diffuser Extension tubes for smaller subjects Adobe Photoshop/Lightroom Strong, hot drink (for the stacking stage)
It’s a bug’s life Capturing photos of tiny creatures at a macro distance is fascinating but challenging. Geraint overcomes the issues of limited light and shallow depth of field by using flash, and shooting multiple frames of a subject to blend together All images © Geraint Radford
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TECHNIQUES
Pro guide to
CITYSCAPES
Shoot incredible images of urban landscapes with our essential advice from the masters Urban spirit Pro cityscapes go beyond just capturing the physical buildings of a location; they explore the interaction of human life and the natural environment through beautiful light and colour Š Gettyimages
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PRO GUIDE TO CITYSCAPES
C
ities represent some of the most energetic, exciting, dynamic and varied environments for photography. When captured well, cityscapes have a unique ability to hold our attention and spark an insatiable wanderlust. Whether it is brightly coloured buildings, stunning architectural feats, mesmerising neon signage, or the motion of traffic and the people who inhabit the city, urban images possess so much potential subject matter that it can be difficult to know where to begin. It is this characteristic that actually forms the greatest challenge for the cityscape photographer. It is the job of image-makers to find the perfect subject in a chaotic world, reducing a scene down to its fundamental elements, and constructing a
narrative from those that remain. In a busy location it can be somewhat overwhelming, with hundreds of potential frames surrounding you in continuous flux. For beginners this is where most of the mistakes are made, and the resulting images feature too much information, with no real substance and focal point. In order to capture your best shots you have to be able to simultaneously identify the dominant colour balance, exposure challenges and ideal framing approach. We spoke to two of the leading photographers in the industry to put together a guide to creative thinking in the cityscape arena. Ultra-popular online photographic educator Serge Ramelli and cityscape expert Anton Alymov team up to take you on a shoot and provide insider pro advice.
Serge Ramelli is a pro photographer and photographic educator with decades of experience in the industry. His YouTube channel has over 609,000 subscribers, and his workshops and online courses attract thousands of photographers. @photoserge
Website: www.photoserge.com
Anton Alymov is an internationally published, awardwinning cityscape photographer with a background in filmmaking. His shooting and processing style has garnered him a loyal following online, and he regularly writes tutorials on photographic techniques. @ alymov_art
Website: www.antonalymov.com
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GO PRO
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SUPERCHARGED SALES
SUPERCHARGED
SALES © Gettyimages
Rethink how you craft your images and ensure that your creative intent matches client needs
W
hen it comes to selling your images, one of the main challenges is how very subjective photography is. What makes a good picture? Apart from technical aspects like resolution, sharpness and signal-to-noise ratio, which are numerical characteristics, the perception of how successful a shot is will obviously vary depending on the tastes of the viewer. This can be tricky when you want to sell your work to publishers or stock agencies, where your files will encounter the scrutiny of picture editors based on predetermined quality guidelines, but also be subject to individual differences in the tastes of the people in the screening process.
When creating images for stock or commercial use, there is almost always a disparity between the artistic intent of the photographer and the requirements of the end user. And while you as the person behind the camera have your own set of ideas and preferences, you can’t be always be certain that the images you shoot will then meet a publisher’s needs. When selling images to an agency, remember that you need to meet their standards as a third party, but you also need to think ahead to how someone buying your stock might wish to use the files in the future. So what’s the solution? How can you ensure that your work is general enough
to cater for an unlimited number of potential functions, but also specific enough to stand out from the competition and appeal to people seeking imagery for niche products? A key skill is being able to identify whether your shots have all of the aspects required by people other than yourself, and this might mean contradicting your own creative aspirations from time to time. We’ve done some digging, and here we’ve gathered some revealing insight from three professionals – all with different perspectives on the process of selling your images. Turn over to learn from photographers and picture editors on a range of publications.
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PRICE: £2,599 / $2,699
Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L USM It’s bigger and better in every way, but Canon’s new RF lens comes with an extra-large price tag While Canon’s new R-series mirrorless full-frame cameras are remarkably slim and lightweight, the companion RFmount lenses are mostly big and heavy. This 85mm f/1.2 is a prime example. Compared with the older EF counterpart for conventional DSLRs, the mirrorless lens is larger and heavier, based on 13 optical elements rather than just eight. It’s also the most expensive lens in this test group, by a big margin. The modern design includes aspherical and UD (ultra-low dispersion) elements, along with high-tech Air Sphere coating and BR (Blue Spectrum Refractive) optics. Build quality is excellent, with a high-precision yet very robust feel and a complete set of weather-seals, plus fluorine coatings on the front and rear elements. Both Canon lenses on test feature ring-type ultrasonic autofocus, but autofocus speed is much faster in the RF edition. Pin-point accuracy demanded by the tight depth of field tends to be more consistent with mirrorless cameras than with DSLRs. The new lens retains an electronically coupled manual focus ring that, again, enables very fine and precise adjustments. A ‘DS’ version of the lens is also available, featuring a Defocus Smoothing coating – not that it really needs it. Sharpness in the central region of the frame is streets ahead of every other lens on test when shooting wide open. Compared with the EF lens, bokeh is even smoother wide open and lovelier when stopping down a little, helped by the better-rounded nineblade diaphragm. The BR optics do an excellent job of keeping axial chromatic aberration to an absolute minimum, virtually eliminating coloured fringes around objects in front of and behind the point of focus. All in all, this lens is a bokeh dream.
Typical RF attractions Handling is enhanced by the customisable control ring for the likes of aperture, shutter speed and ISO, but there’s no focus-distance scale
Sharpness Sharpness is exceptional in the central region of the frame, even when shooting wide open, but it’s more average towards the edges and corners
Colour fringing This lens beats all of the others on test for control of both lateral and axial chromatic aberration
Distortion It’s practically a distortion-free lens, with just the slightest touch of barrel that’s virtually impossible to spot
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REVIEWS
THIS ARTICLE IS A HANDS-ON LOOK AT THE CANON EOS R5 AT ITS LAUNCH, RATHER THAN A FULL REVIEW (THAT’S WHY YOU WON’T SEE OUR USUAL STAR RATINGS). While we still need to put the camera through a full battery of lab tests and long-term usage, we’re overwhelmingly impressed by what we’ve seen so far…
Price: £4,199 / $3,899
Canon EOS R5 The Canon EOS R5 is the most anticipated camera in a decade. Does the 8K, 45MP beast live up to the hype? James Artaius shares his first impressions Obviously the headline attraction here is The Canon EOS R5 is finally here after months of waiting and masterful the remarkable video capability. The R5 can capture full-width (uncropped) RAW 8K video teases by the canny manufacturer. using the entire readout of the 35mm sensor The Canon EOS R5 is a powerhouse – and it does so internally at up to 29.97fps performer in every possible respect: its 8K in 4:2:2 12-bit Canon Log, or HDR PQ (both video outclasses many of the best cinema H.265) in both UHD and DCI. cameras; its shooting speed puts it on par Its 4K capture is every bit as ferocious, with the best cameras for sport; its 45MP recording at up to 119.88fps (in the same 4:2:2 sensor outmuscles all but a few of the best Canon Log or HDR PQ, in UHD or DCI) with mirrorless cameras; and its 8-stop in-body external HDMI recording up to 59.94fps. image stabilisation is the new IBIS champion. However, the R5 is much more than just a In short, the R5 has all the ingredients to be video behemoth. Since the 8K DCI video has the best Canon camera we’ve ever seen – and a resolution of 8,192 x 4,320, the camera has we’ve had the chance to go hands-on with it. a Frame Grab function that enables you to take high-resolution 35.4MP stills (as either Key features JPEGs or HEIF files) from your footage – which Such are the lofty specs of the Canon EOS is 5.1MP greater resolution than the Canon R5 that virtually every feature is a key feature. EOS R. Canon claims that the R5 is “the highest resolution EOS camera ever”,
The R5 has all the ingredients to be the best Canon camera we’ve seen 90
supposedly resolving even greater detail than the 50.6MP Canon EOS 5DS/R. This is thanks to the new low-pass filter design, which was introduced in the flagship Canon EOS-1D X Mark III. Traditional low-pass filters (employed to get rid of moiré) employ dual-layer, four-point subsampling and introduce a layer of softness to images. Canon’s new tech features quadlayer, 16-point subsampling and combines it with a Gaussian distribution technique to deliver sharpness rivalling the 5DS/R. The flagship 1D X has served as a donor for much of the tech in the EOS R5. The AIpowered Deep Learning AF system has been transplanted, enabling the new camera to perform spookily accurate eye, face and head tracking. However, the R5 has a trick that the Mark III doesn’t; it is also capable of Animal AF. Underpinning the autofocus is the brand new Dual Pixel CMOS AF II – the latest generation of Canon’s much-lauded AF system. And best of all, all these autofocus
9000
FEATURES AUTOFOCUS SYSTEM The AF system is programmed using deep-learning AI to recognise bodies, faces and eyes. The system also tracks dogs, cats and birds – even in flight.
TOUGH MAGNESIUM BODY Designed to withstand pro shooting conditions, the camera features a magnesium-alloy body and protective seals to guard against dust and moisture.
DUAL CARD SLOTS The Canon EOS R5 can capture JPEG, HEIF or RAW files, and the two card slots let you save different files to different locations. One slot accepts fast CFexpress cards while the other supports SD cards.
ELECTRONIC VIEWFINDER The EVF has a 5.76 million-dot resolution, 100% coverage and a 120fps refresh rate. It displays a myriad of information in real-time as you shoot.
EXTENDED BATTERY LIFE The EOS R5’s new LP-E6NH battery extends the battery life by 14% compared to the LP-E6N. This amounts to a maximum of 490 shots per charge.
technologies are available in stills as well as all video resolutions and frame rates – with a staggering 5,940 AF points for photography and 4,500 for filming. The continuous shooting speed is also on par with the 1D X Mark III, as the R5 matches the flagship’s top speed of 20fps via the electronic shutter (and 12fps using the mechanical shutter). Backed up by dual card slots, including lightning-fast CFexpress support, the Canon EOS R5 can stand toe to toe with sports cameras, video cameras and medium-format cameras alike.
Most excitingly for long-suffering Canon users, the EOS R5 features the company’s agonisingly overdue implementation of 5-axis in-body stabilisation. The wait, however, has been worth it, as Canon is now officially the king of IBIS – the R5 (and the Canon EOS R6) boasts up to 8 stops of CIPA-rated stabilisation, depending on the lens.
LENS COMPATIBILITY If you’re switching over from a Canon DSLR to the EOS R mirrorless system, you can still use your existing Canon EF lenses – invest in a mount adapter such as the Canon Mount Adapter EF-EOS R.
Build and handling In the hand, the EOS R5 feels like a slightly beefier EOS R. It’s almost imperceptibly thicker (just 3.6mm), but it has notably more heft, weighing about 70g more. This extra
SENSOR
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