FREE GIFT! THE Flash Photography Field Guide worth £4.99 Issue 58 • May 2016 • £5.49 www.digitalcameraworld.com
On Test
Filter systems & Backpacks
New Nikon skills
Get set for spring
ND GRADS Step-by-step guide The photo that took 4000 hrs
See the result of six years of dedication
Fabulous flower photos Amazing minibeasts Extreme close-ups
Macro lenses vs extension tubes
We explore the options
Make it rain!
Get creative with a hose and a flash p38
Flash made easy
I was pregnant at the time, and feeling terrified. I hit the launch button on Kickstarter, and it reached £20,000 in five minutes Kirsty Mitchell, Fine Art Photographer p94
Afraid of your flashgun? It’s easier to master than you think
Wedding belles
Joe McNally
Your best photos of the big day revealed p73
Behind the scenes of a Nat Geo shoot p130
May 2016
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About the cover
Title Mesembryanthemum Photographer Jason Parnell-Brookes Camera Nikon D90 Lens Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.8G (reversed) Exposure 1/200 sec, ISO640 Description I spotted this beauty in the garden on a sunny day. With the lens reversed, I stood in front of the flower to block the direct sun overhead. By shooting centrally I was hoping to display its almost perfect symmetry.
Ask most pros – or most pros who have to turn their hand to a bit of everything in their day-to-to-day work – and they’ll tell you that the one thing that took their photography to a whole new level is flash; not camera features, not this lens or that lens, but flash. Some photographers, of course, will avoid flash like the plague, partly because done badly it can ruin a photo, and partly because it’s just one more thing to think about. Done well though, it can provide everything from a subtle, barely noticeable pop of fill-flash, to a dramatic burst of light that can completely transform a photo. And as with most things in photography it really isn’t as daunting as it seems. In fact, as James Paterson’s superb feature on flash explains, using it couldn’t be easier, if you know where to start – namely, page 16 of this issue. If flash really isn’t your thing though, don’t despair: we’ve also got a brilliant Big Project on capturing extreme closeups of flowers (p46); a step-by-step guide to using ND grads for beautifully balanced landscapes (p34); and an in-depth round-up of the best filter systems on the market (p110). All that, plus the inspirational story behind the photo that was 4,000 hours in the making (p102), and the fantastic – and fantastical – work of fine-art portrait photographer Kirsty Mitchell (p94), which has to be seen to be believed. Enjoy!
Paul Grogan, Editor paul.grogan@futurenet.com
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May 2016
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Contents 94
Cover feature
Step inside Kirsty Mitchell’s Wonderland
16
Cover feature
The ultimate guide to flash We show you how to get the most from your Speedlight in every situation, for your best-ever flash photography
Nikon Skills
Nikopedia
Strike a balance 34 37 Get on your bike! Make it rain 38 40 Shoot the big bang 42 Reveal midtone detail 44 Fix flat skies Master budget macro 46
80 Freeman on… 86 Nikon software 88 Ask Jason Head to head 90
Cover feature
Discover how to use ND grad filters to ensure perfectly-balanced landscape exposures
Strap your camera to your chest to capture the world as you see it while riding
Cover feature
Get out the garden hose and a flashgun to create a sparkling portrait with backlit ‘rain’
Use smart triggers to capture a critical moment: a water balloon as it explodes
Tease extra detail out of murky photographs using Lightroom’s Clarity slider
Use Photoshop’s smart selection tools to boost sky detail, no matter how uneven the horizon
Cover feature
Don’t splash out on a macro lens just yet – we can help you achieve the effect for less
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May 2016
Michael Freeman explores capturing details; fragments of a scene that say so much more
Get to grips with two of Capture NX-D’s powerful tone-editing tools, Levels and Curves From choosing a printer to using a teleconverter, Jason solves your photo problems
Cover feature
Costly macro lens or lower-priced extension tubes? We pit the two against each other
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Our readers share the stories behind their best images
Essentials
08 Lightbox Over to you 53 93 My big break Interview 94 On assignment 102 The final word 130
Be inspired by the latest great photos from Nikon-using photographers around the world
Cover feature
Your letters, photo stories, expert portfolio review and our latest photo competition results Kevin Cummins on the photos that led to a career shooting the biggest bands in rock music
Cover feature
Cover feature Get a masterclass in capturing minibeasts with a macro lens
Discover Kirsty Mitchell’s Wonderland photos – and the sad story behind the art
Cover feature
Alan McFadyen reveals the thousands of hours it took to capture one perfect frame…
Cover feature
To evoke gravity waves, Joe creates a double-exposure light painting… on film!
www.digitalcameraworld.com
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May 2016
Sev en p age s of t he be s tN iko n ima ge s
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01 Dewy Morning
Peter Bijsterveld, Netherlands This picture was taken in a natural park called Veluwe in the middle of the Netherlands. With its small heath-covered hills it’s very different to a typical Dutch landscape. Photographers from all over the country come here to capture wide-angle pictures, but I tried to be different and looked for details in the landscape. The result is this multi-layered image, with something happening in every layer. www.peterbijsterveldphotography.com Nikon D7100, Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD, 1/13 sec, f/16, ISO100
May 2016
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feature t h e
16
ultimate guide to flash
May 2016
www.digitalcameraworld.com
the ultimate guide to flash
The ultimate guide to flash Think flash photography is all a bit daunting? It doesn’t have to be, says James Paterson
O
ne of the biggest steps we can take as photographers is to learn how to use a flash. It can be a difficult skill to master, not least because the burst of light is almost instantaneous and impossible to judge by eye. However, the benefits it delivers are huge. At its most basic, a flash can be a provider of light when there just isn’t enough elsewhere, but it offers so much more. Consider that when we take a shot in ambient light, there’s only ever one ‘correct’ exposure, and limited scope for changing the look of the scene. However, when we start adding in our own light we can create a huge variety of looks. In this feature, we’re not talking about the pop-up flash you may have on your camera. Chances are you’ve already discovered that the results of using this are almost always disappointing. It’s fine for snapshots, but it destroys any sense of depth because the light
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comes from right next to the lens. A separate Speedlight offers so much more control. Although it fits on your camera’s hotshoe, however, don’t make the mistake of thinking that that’s always the best place for it, as this isn’t much different to using the pop-up flash. The real difference comes when you control the direction and quality of the light, either by turning the head to bounce it off walls, using attachments to make it softer, or taking it off the camera and firing it remotely. This way, the light becomes diffused and directional (the two big D’s at the forefront of any experienced photographer’s mind). Over the next few pages we’ll show you how to get the most out of your flash. We’ll look at the most important features and settings, cover essential skills like bouncing and off-camera flash, and, most importantly, we’ll explain what – and what not – to do to achieve beautiful light, every time.
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TECHNIQUES ig
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Nikon Skills C A M E R A
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Watch on your disc or online
Project one / camera techniques
Strike the right balance Tom Welsh explains how to get to grips with ND grads for better landscapes
Y
ou have a beautiful landscape before you, but capturing both the bright sky and darker land, perfectly exposed, within a single frame is an impossible task – unless you have the right kit. What you need is a graduated neutral density filter, or ‘ND grad’. (See page 110 for our in-depth roundup of Nikon-fit ND grad systems.) With an ND grad attached to the front of your lens, you’ll instantly be able to retain the drama in very bright skies (that might otherwise have blown out), while exposing the landscape below correctly. Unlike circular filters, ND grads are rectangular or square, and attach to the lens via a dedicated holder. The holder features slots for the filters, which can then be slid up and down as needed.
The mission
● To capture better
landscapes with ND grads
Time ●3 0 minutes Skill level
● Beginner ● Intermediate ● Advanced
Kit needed
● Nikon D-SLR ● Graduated neutral
density filters
The top half of an ND grad is tinted a neutral grey, graduating to clear at the bottom. With the help of the holder, you basically position the top to cover the sky, while the clear section leaves the darker land area unaffected. You then set your exposure for the land, and let the top of the ND grad take care of the sky. Editing software can help you to reclaim blown-out detail, but capturing a balanced exposure of a landscape in-camera can’t be beaten. Here’s how it’s done...
la
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o dt
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You’ll instantly be able to retain the drama in very bright skies
STEP BY STEP / Graduate with honours
1 Stop right there
ND grads come in different strengths, and a set of grads usually has one-, two- and three-stop filters (labelled 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9, or ND2, 4 or 8, depending on the manufacturer). These enable you to pick the right filter for the brightness difference in your scene.
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May 2016
2 Learn your lines
ND grads have ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ graduations from dark to clear. Hard ND grads are ideal for straight and uncluttered horizons, such as seascapes. Soft ND grads are better when the horizon’s more irregular, such as typical landscapes with trees and hills.
Watch the video online at bit.ly/NPhoto58
U SING ND GRADS
Exposing for the land and attaching an ND grad to darken the sky has result in a perfectly balanced exposure
OVER TO YOU T h e
A p p r e nt i c e
Introduction Bailey got a brand-new D5300 last Christmas and wanted to try macro photography, so we teamed him up with David for a one-on-one masterclass. David lives and breathes wildlife photography and has a fantastic collection of minibeasts at his studio in Knowsley Sarafi Park, near Liverpool, which he wasted no time in introducing Bailey to...
Technique assessment
HOT SHOT #1
EXPOSURE 1/200 sec , f/36, ISO100 lENS Nikon AF-S 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED VR
manual EXPOSURE David says… I asked Bailey to shoot how he would normally, to get an idea of his technique. With a light tent all set up (see The Apprentice Says, below) he crouched down and started to shoot on auto, but the aperture varied with every shot, and the exposures were inaccurate. I recommended switching to manual mode and setting 1/160 sec at f/16 and ISO200 as a starting point. PRECISE FOCUSING David says… When I asked Bailey to focus on the subject his first instinct was to autofocus in Live View, but because of the low light levels in the room, the AF system began to hunt for a focus point. Using Live View is fine (although I normally use the viewfinder), but I recommended Bailey switch to manual focusing so he could turn the focusing ring back and forth until his subject was pin-sharp at 100% on his rear LCD. WHITE WHITES David says… I noticed that Bailey’s early shots were slightly yellow. This was because his white balance had been left on Daylight from when he was shooting outside, so I put a grey pebble down and we switched to Flash white balance to cool his images down and keep the background white. We could see how the grey stone’s colour had altered so that it was now grey rather than brown, and the background was now white rather than off-white or yellow.
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Our Apprentice says… For my first shot, David placed a Leopard Gecko in a light tent (see right). Because the Gecko was quite long, David suggested setting an aperture of f/36, to maximise the depth of field, and a shutter speed of 1/200 sec, as this was the maximum sync speed of his lights. I then adjusted the power of the lights until the exposure looked right, and – following David’s advice – manually focused on the gecko’s eye. The challenge was getting the Gecko in position, but with the help of David’s expert wrangling I eventually got the shot I wanted.
Ma cr o ma st er cl as s
In-tents lighting
Curtain call
The lights are the most important element to a light tent. To provide even lighting, the tent has lots of white diffusion panels, but none of that would be of any use without sufficient light coming through to illuminate the panels – which is where powerful flashguns or studio lights come in. David used a pair of Elinchrom BRX 500s studio lights, one for the top and one for the bottom, to keep light levels consistent, but off-camera flash would work just as well.
It’s important, even in a light tent, to bounce light in from the front of the subject. The first few shots were a little dark on the Leopard Gecko’s face, so instead of turning up the lights (because the light was perfect on his back and tail) David pulled the front curtain down behind Bailey to bounce light back towards the gecko’s face.
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May 2016
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HOW TO ENTER When the competition returns next issue, here’s how it will work: n A theme is set each month by the N-Photo team. n Visit www.photocrowd. com/challenges/ to enter. n Images are judged by the N-Photo team. Your fellow N-Photo readers are also able to vote for their favourite image over on Photocrowd.
W
e’ve come to the end of this year’s N-Photo Photographer of the Year competition, and as every ending should be a happy one, we finished with the theme of ‘weddings’. That actually proved quite a tough subject, as real people, real places and real interactions don’t always make for ideal photography conditions, but you rose ably to the challenge. Turn the page to start browsing through the winners. You might be wondering who won the overall Photographer of the Year prize – well, we’ve saved the grand prize winner for next issue, so you’ll be able to feast your eyes on their images then. If you’re itching to join in the next competition yourself, keep an eye on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/ nphoto, for announcements of each month’s theme, or check www.photocrowd.com/challenges. You’ll have lots of opportunities to show us what you can do.
n This issue, the Judges’ Vote Winner wins a Manfrotto 3N1-25 Pro Lite camera bag. We’ll have an equally great prize each month in next year’s competition.
worth
£200!
All published images will be entered into the overall competition.
April’s THEME WAS...
Weddings From traditional to informal, and from all round the world, you treated us to beautiful images of the happiest day of people’s lives. Turn over the page to enjoy our pick of the entries – and perhaps get pointers for the next time you take pictures at a wedding.
www.digitalcameraworld.com
May 2016
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1
Judges’ vote winner
01 Mirror
02 Tradition
03 Bridesmaids
The temptation with wedding photography is to aim your camera squarely at the bride, groom and guests for every shot – but as this image by Mihail proves, something a little more creative can have even more impact. A puddle is usually the last thing a bride and groom want to see on their wedding day, but the water and drifting leaves give a sense of the time of year, with the couple’s clothes signalling the occasion.
Henna decorations feature in many wedding traditions, but usually photographers concentrate on the bride’s hands. Here her feet are the focus of attention. The depth of field is beautifully managed, so everything beyond the front foot is softly blurred but still recognisable, giving the viewer a real sense of the beautiful setting beyond the frame.
Lighting sets a good wedding photographer apart from the average ones. In this photo, everything has been arranged so that the bride is the brightest thing in the scene, so your eye goes straight to her. The arms of the bridesmaids also catch the light, and lead the viewer’s eye towards the bride, and help to frame her face.
Mihail Kopychko
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Joel Tellis
May 2016
Nikon D3100, Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.8G, 1/100 sec, f/2.2, ISO200
Cornel Mosneag
Nikon D750, Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM | A, 1/100 sec, f/1.4, ISO800
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