Photo Life March 2016 - Sample

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YOUR GUIDE TO EVERYTHING PHOTO

THE BEST SMARTPHONE EXTRAS TO BOOST YOUR RESULTS

EMERGING PHOTOGRAPHERS TO WATCH

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5 CANADIAN INSTAGRAMMERS YOU SHOULD EVEN IF YOU’RE FOLLOW NOT ON INSTAGRAM! TIPS TO TRANSCEND THE SNAPSHOT CAPTURE THE BEAUTY IN THE ORDINARY INSIDE INSTAGRAM

A Brief History of the Top Photo-Sharing Platform

THE 2016 CANADIAN PHOTOGRAPHY PROGRAM DIRECTORY

WI-FI THE REIGN

HAS BEGUN… OR HAS IT?

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CONTENTS February/March 2016, Volume 41, Number 2

4 6 10 66 Cover photo by Jena LaRoy

Contributors Editorial Exposure Close-up

VISION 21 5 Canadian Instagrammers You Should Follow

by Jenny Montgomery Even if you don’t have an Instagram account or one of those newfangled smartphones, Instagram is an incredibly easy—and fun—way to discover great photographers.

28 Emerging Photographers Competition This year’s portfolio features the work of 25 emerging photographers, including the 2016 Photo Life Student Award winner.

34 Canadian Photography Program Directory

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The 2016 Canadian Photography Program Directory contains the most up-to-date information on leading Canadian colleges and universities offering photography programs.

40 Without the Frame Venice in Motion

by David duChemin Venice occupies my mind and heart in a way that other places do not. Maybe it was too many stories about Marco Polo as a kid, or too many James Bond movies, but there’s something dreamlike, romantic and adventurous about the city on water.

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42 Showtime Patterns

TECHNIQUE 44 Beyond the Snapshot In Search of Stolen Moments

by Patrick La Roque Instead of dismissing our everyday lives with quick, haphazard, possibly stilted snapshots, why not challenge ourselves and instead explore daily life as documentarians hunting for stolen moments?

48 FAQ Wi-Fi, or the Art of Communication

40 PHOTO LIFE

by Jean-François Landry The USB flash drive is passé, almost obsolete. The reign of Wi-Fi has begun… or has it? Between promises and reality, there is often a gap, nay, a gulf that seems impossible to cross.

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2016

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PHOTO LIFE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2016 Volume 41, Number 2 171 St. Paul Street, Suite 102, Quebec, QC Canada G1K 3W2 418-692-2110 1-800-905-7468 info@photolife.com facebook.com/photolifemag

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@photolifemag

SUBSCRIPTIONS 1-800-461-7468 subscription@photolife.com

50 iPhone Accessories

by Scott Linstead Let’s have a look at some of the popular and well-regarded offerings among the veritable ocean of iPhone camera accessories that can help boost your results.

54 Digital World Inside Instagram

by David Tanaka It’s taken less than a decade for smartphone cameras to leave an indelible mark on photography, and Instagram is the social-media platform for people who want to communicate with photographic images.

58 Gadget Guide

by Jean-François Landry

60 Imaging Products Review

EDITORIAL Editorial Department editor@photolife.com Editorial Director Valérie Racine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vracine@photolife.com Administrative and Editorial Assistants Jenny Montgomery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .info@photolife.com Gabrielle Germain Contributing Editors David Tanaka Peter K. Burian Art Director Guy Langevin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .glangevin@photolife.com ADMINISTRATION Publisher & Media Sales Director Guy J. Poirier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .gpoirier@photolife.com 418-692-2110 or 1-800-905-7468 Ext. 101 Advertising Consultant Stephen Stelmach . . . . . . . . . .advertising@photolife.com 416-996-1822 Accounting Emmanuelle Champagne . . . . .accounting@photolife.com

by Peter K. Burian PHOTO LIFE (ISSN 0700-3021) is published six times a year (December/January, February/March, April/May, June/July, August/September, October/November) by Apex Publications Inc., a Canadian-owned company. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not, under any circumstances, including Cancopy, be reproduced or used in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher.

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PHOTO LIFE is indexed in Canadian Magazine by Micromedia Limited. Back issues of PHOTO LIFE are available in microform from Micromedia Limited, 20 Victoria St., Toronto, Ontario M5C 2N8.

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage.

CONTRIBUTORS AND EDITORIAL STAFF is a technology writer and freelance stock photographer. He is the author of several Magic Lantern Guide books on DSLR systems. He is also a digital photography course instructor with betterphoto.com. peterkburian.com

Occasionally, we make our subscriber list available to carefully screened companies whose products and services might be of interest to our subscribers. If you prefer to have your name removed from this list and not receive these mailings, let us know by telephone, fax, regular mail or email.

David duChemin is a Vancouver-based photographer and adventurer. His bestselling books on the art of photography have been translated into a dozen languages. davidduchemin.com

Member of CCAB, CITA and TIPA.

Peter K. Burian

Patrick La Roque is a speaker and professional photographer from Montreal, Canada.

He is an official Fujifilm X-Photographer and founder of the KAGE COLLECTIVE, an international group specializing in visual storytelling and documentary work. www.laroquephoto.com, www.kagecollective.com

Jean-François Landry

has been providing advice to photographic equipment buyers in Quebec City since 1989. He also shares his passion with amateur photographers through courses and magazine articles. cylidd.com

Guy Langevin has worked as a graphic designer in the photo industry for many years. You don’t collaborate with and befriend some of the best photographers in the country without learning a few tricks of the trade, so he became a photographic designer.

Jenny Montgomery is a theatre director and writer who first learned her way around a darkroom in 1998. Photography runs in her family, so it was probably inevitable that it would be a part of her life.

Valérie Racine began working for Apex Publications in 2002. She currently serves as Editorial Director for both Photo Life and Photo Solution magazines. Her background includes studies in art, art history and communications, and she is passionate about photography.

David Tanaka

is a technology writer based in Lethbridge, Alta. His work as a photographer includes magazine assignments, fine-art printmaking and stock. He also teaches multimedia communication at Lethbridge College.

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REGULAR PRICES $35.70 (1 year - 6 issues) $71.40 (2 years - 12 issues) $107.10 (3 years - 18 issues) Prices exclude applicable Canadian sales taxes. Make cheque payable to PHOTO LIFE. US residents pay in US funds and add US$10.00 per year for postage. Foreign residents pay in US funds and add US$90.00 per year for postage. Single copy: CAN/US$5.95 SUBMISSIONS PHOTO LIFE welcomes portfolio and article submissions for possible publication. Article submissions must pertain to the subject of photography and include images supporting the submitted text. All submissions must respect the publisher’s submission guidelines. Complete submission guidelines are available at www.photolife.com, from the publisher at write@photolife.com, or by calling 1-800-905-7468.

COPYRIGHT © 2016 APEX PUBLICATIONS INC. No material from the magazine may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Despite the care taken in reviewing editorial content, Apex Publications Inc. cannot guarantee that all written information is complete and accurate. Consequently, Apex Publications Inc. assumes no responsibility concerning any error and/or omission.

Publications Mail - Agreement No.: 40010196 171 St. Paul Street, Suite 102, Quebec, QC Canada G1K 3W2 PRINTED IN CANADA

PHOTO LIFE

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EXPOSURE [what’s on]

GARRY WINOGRAND, RICHARD NIXON, CENTURY PLAZA HOTEL, LOS ANGELES, 1969/PRINTED CA. 1983, GELATIN SILVER PRINT 12-3/8 X 18-3/8 INCHES © ESTATE OF GARRY WINOGRAND, COURTESY FRAENKEL GALLERY, SAN FRANCISCO, 2015

UNKNOWN PHOTOGRAPHER, CASA SUSANNA, 1960S, CHROMOGENIC PRINT, 9 X 12.6 CM, ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO, PURCHASE, 2015

UNKNOWN PHOTOGRAPHER, CASA SUSANNA, 1960S, GELATIN SILVER PRINT, 8.3 × 11 CM, ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO, PURCHASE, 2015

GARRY WINOGRAND, CENTRAL PARK ZOO, NEW YORK CITY, 1967, GELATIN SILVER PRINT, 22.9 X 34 CM © ESTATE OF GARRY WINOGRAND, COURTESY FRAENKEL GALLERY, SAN FRANCISCO 2015

OUTSIDERS Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto continues its Year of Photography with the exhibition Outsiders: American Photography and Film, 1950s-1980s. On view from March 12 to May 29, this exhibition focuses on U.S. photographers and filmmakers who were working to illuminate the social realities and complexities of the time. In addition to photographs

by Diane Arbus, Garry Winogrand, Danny Lyon and others, the exhibition features films by Kenneth Anger, D. A. Pennebaker, Marie Menken, Robert Frank, Shirley Clarke, and Albert and David Maysles. ago.net

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EXPOSURE PHOTO LIFE

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VISION

© MIKE PALMER

© JOANN PAI

CANADIAN INSTAGRAMMERS YOU SHOULD FOLLOW

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(EVEN IF YOU AREN’T ON INSTAGRAM)

BY JENNY MONTGOMERY Even if you don’t have an Instagram account or one of those newfangled smartphones, Instagram is an excellent resource for photographers of all levels.

Anyone can view Instagram user profiles through an online interface that doesn’t require logging in. It’s an incredibly easy—and fun—way to discover great photographers. You can study their work from the comfort of your home or seek inspiration while waiting in line at the grocery store. To pique your curiosity, we’d like to introduce you to five Canadian Instagrammers whose work we love. They took some time to share their approach and advice with us.

OUR “INSTAGRAM 101” ON P. 54

Disclaimer: As you start exploring Instagram, you might discover you want to get more involved by opening an account, following certain Instagrammers whose work you enjoy, and sharing your own images. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!

y

y

me.

© JOHN TRAN

PHOTO LIFE VISION

© DOUG DORSETT

© JANY TREMBLAY

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EMERGING PHOTOGRAPHERS

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The Photo Life Emerging Photographers competition is a tribute to the next generation of Canadian photographers, and this year’s portfolio features the work of 25 emerging photographers. The winner of the second annual Photo Life Student Award was selected by David duChemin and our editorial staff as the strongest submission by participants enrolled at recognized Canadian photography programs. Visit photolife.com to see the portfolio of the 2016 Photo Life Student Award winner, Chris Forsyth!

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1. 11:11 Agnes Wong, Toronto, Ont., cargocollective.com/agnesdoubleu 2. Aunty Lil Marni Burbela, Montreal, Que., Dawson College

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VISION PHOTO LIFE

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TECHNIQUE

BEYOND THE SNAPSHOT

IN SEARCH OF STOLEN MOMENTS

BY PATRICK LA ROQUE

You wake up one morning as you do every single day; the kids are getting ready for school or your spouse is dressing for work...perhaps you’re on your own, making coffee. The banal mechanics of existence. But for the first time in years, you realize the light in this particular room is beautiful—maybe it’s the sun streaming in at a certain angle or the shadows cast by a bedside lamp. Nothing has changed since yesterday, but you’re somehow noticing. You pick up the camera and start shooting, really shooting—the way you’d capture an amazing autumn scene, an eclipse or a gothic cathedral in Spain. You move around; you find the angle. A few instants in the midst of your daily grind. Reality, suddenly revealed.

e rarely do this. Most of all because—let’s face it—we find our lives uninteresting. Boring even. Certainly not interesting enough for any serious, deliberate visual exploration.

And when we do point the camera toward our loved ones and ourselves, it’s often to capture something that strays from the so-called “ordinary”: a birthday, a recital, a football game—something special. Maybe the occasional portrait.

Breakfast on a weekday? Not so much.

The unassuming movements of our lives are either forgotten or confined to that ugly stepchild of photography: the snapshot.

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FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET Okay, there’s nothing wrong with the snapshot: it’s a tried and true tradition, filling shoeboxes and Facebook streams with memories. But we tend not to put much thought into it.

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The Oxford Dictionary defines the term as “an informal photograph; usually made with a small handheld camera.” And the etymology of the word is interesting: it originally referred to “a quick shot with a gun, without aim, at a fast-moving target.”

(Fun fact: “snapshot” only became a photographic term in the 1900s after the introduction of the Kodak Brownie.)

On the surface this sounds fine, but we all know that definition carries a subtext.

“Informal” implies amateurish; “small handheld” means cheap. In today’s world of performance-driven smartphones and envelope-pushing compact-system cameras, this no longer reflects the actual scope of the work being created. Great photography isn’t bound by those rules anymore. In reality, an “informal photograph” can be the key to intimacy, and a “small handheld camera” can mean access that would otherwise be denied, without compromising the quality. What

truly matters is intent—that’s the dividing line. Vision. It’s not about location, subject, big cameras or small cameras; it all comes down to the way we shoot and how we engage.

How do we transcend the snapshot? Well, the word’s gun-nomenclature origins tell us: by taking aim.

THIEVERY Photographers are moment thieves—it’s the very definition of what we do, regardless of the subject. But we don’t always apply our skills to everything we shoot, and that’s a pity. We should; it’s what taking aim is all about. Instead of dismissing our everyday lives with quick, haphazard, possibly stilted snapshots, why not challenge ourselves and instead explore daily life as documentarians hunting for stolen moments? It’s a subtle shift in perspective, but it can potentially transform our entire approach.

TECHNIQUE PHOTO LIFE

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iPHONE ACCESSORIES THE MUST-HAVES FOR SERIOUS IPHONEOGRAPHERS

BY SCOTT LINSTEAD When the history books document the digital-photography revolution, a single chapter will not suffice when they come to the part about smartphone photography. Entire books will be written on how the visual documentation of the world around us changed forever once practically all humans carried a camera at all times. And to deny Apple’s trailblazing in the areas of tiny cameras and the smartphones that house them would just be silly.

ure, there are equally competent offerings from other smartphone manufacturers whose products sometimes exceed Apple’s, at least on an individual-feature basis. Nonetheless, the heavyweight title for smartphone dominance remains in California, with Apple, for style, marketing genius and brand recognition.

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iPRO LENS SYSTEM For a more traditional, SLR-like approach to the aftermarket iPhone lens, Schneider offers the iPro Lens System. The Schneider kit is a case-based solution, which means that you must place the case provided in the kit on your phone before you can mount any of the lenses. Once the tightfitting case is on, the lenses attach and detach themselves to the case with a simple twist, not unlike a real SLR mount. The included lenses are a wide angle, a dedicated macro and a 2x telephoto. Not to be outdone by Olloclip in terms of clever design nuance, the unused lenses mate with the handle, which effectively contains and protects the lenses that are not in use. The top of this knurled, anodized black handle threads into either side of the phone as a handy support. The strong point of the Schneider kit is the higherthan-average quality of its optics, which is reflected—or refracted, in this case—in its premium price.

Unsurprisingly, developing accessories that can somehow hitch their wagons to Apple’s star is big business. And as powerful and ever improving as the iPhone camera is, practical considerations dictate that it will always fall short of DSLR standards. This tiny lens is limited to a fixed focal length, and the “flash” understandably has power and lighting limitations. Even support and stabilization issues are a fact of life when a product is ultimately designed to be handheld. Let’s have a look at some of the popular and well-regarded offerings among the veritable ocean of iPhone camera accessories that can help boost your results.

OLLOCLIP 4-IN-1 When Olloclip designers were pondering how to attach a lens to the virtually protuberance-free surfaces of the iPhone, they must’ve had a truly Eureka moment when they devised the 4-in-1. Arguably one of the most popular aftermarket lens choices, the Olloclip’s form, function and sheer design brilliance are on par with the iPhone itself. The “clip” straddles the top of a “naked” (caseless) iPhone, effectively placing a lens mount over both the forward-facing and rearward-facing camera lenses at the same time. The two lens fittings, a wide-angle and a fisheye, can screw onto either side, doubling either of the cameras’ fields of view (in the case of the wide-angle) and expanding them to 180 degrees (in the case of the fisheye). Removing the lens fittings on either side of the clip does not simply leave behind a hole. Optical elements remain embedded in the clip, and the removal of the fitting on one side transforms that side’s optical formula into a 10x magnification macro lens. The same action on the opposite side produces a 15x magnification result.

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DIGITAL WORLD

INSIDE INSTAGRAM

THE SOCIAL-MEDIA PLATFORM FOR PHOTOS AND BEYOND

BY DAVID TANAKA

Although the square format is still the default, the platform now supports nonsquare images. Video posting (of clips of up to 15 seconds) was added in 2013, and photo captions of up to 2000 characters are also supported. This latter feature has allowed Instagrammers to explore mixedmedia storytelling with text as an integral partner to the images.

It’s taken less than a decade for smartphone cameras to leave an indelible mark on photography. The first iPhone, launched in 2007, quickened the pace of change, but social media provided the matrix to Although Instagram was initially a showmake the garden really blossom. Just as LinkedIn is the social-media platform for those on a career track, Instagram is the platform for people case for smartphone photography, that’s no longer the case. This became an issue who want to communicate with photographic images.

RISING STAR Instagram launched in October 2010 and took off like a bullet. Within two months it gained a million users, and within a year the user base grew to 10 million. Less than two years out, founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger sold Instagram to Facebook for a billion dollars in cash and stock. In September 2015, an Instagram blog post titled “Celebrating a Community of 400 Million” noted that Instagram was a global platform with three-quarters of its users residing outside the U.S.A.

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Instagram was first and foremost about sharing photographs taken with smartphones. The square format of Instagram helped create the iconic Instagram look, not unlike the equally iconic square Polaroid SX-70 instant prints of the 1970s.

Filters add the other dimension to the Instagram look. Many emulate earlier photographic processes, be they tintypes, sepia tones, instant prints or early colour film emulsions. Some manipulate saturation or contrast or remap colour and tone distributions to novel effect.

for discussion a couple of years back, the question being: shouldn’t Instagram be reserved for smart-device photos? That reflects a purist sentiment that the true spirit of Instagram is revealed in the name—instant, spontaneous. You can still find some discussion around this topic, but the number of photos with hashtags identifying Canon, Nikon and all the other camera brands shows the reality of Instagram. There are more than 50 hashtags that contain Canon as part of the description and a like number containing Nikon, for example.

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GADGET GUIDE WHAT YOU NEVER KNEW YOU NEEDED

BY JEAN-FRANÇOIS LANDRY I have always wondered what the ultimate gadget would look like—the type of gadget that brings total satisfaction and unbridled joy. I’d like to believe that there’s even a divine light of sorts that appears upon its acquisition and that this feeling of happiness last and lasts...at least a good 25 minutes. (Until they announce the deluxe version...)

THE QUICKRELEASEONE BY EDELKRONE THREE FOR ONE

“We’re off to take photos? Wait, I’ll bring my tripod.” Screw it on. The baseplate is sitting on another camera? Unscrew it, screw it on. New tripod, new plate. Unscrew it, screw it on. “Only my monopod? Okay, I’m coming.” Unscrew it, screw it on. Do you like this plate dance? Edelkrone has targeted this problem. Their idea was to create a clip that firmly grips the 1/4”-20 screw on any plate on any tripod, without having to move, screw on or unscrew anything.

And it works! It took getting an engineer involved. Made of aluminum and stainless steel, the 125-g accessory screws onto (yes, I know, but it’s one last time) your camera and, with the help of a pivoting latch, causes three screws come out and firmly grip the one on the tripod when you release the pressure. That’s it. The result enables any camera/lens combination of 3 kg (6.6 lbs.) and under to remain firmly in place. It’s US$140, and, honestly, it’s worth that. edelkrone.com

THE ENDEAVOR BELT BY COTTON CARRIER CARRY YOUR CAMERA LIKE JOHN WAYNE

I truly believe that the hip is the best place to carry a camera during a photo trip. The Endeavor Belt keeps your camera in reach and immediately accessible. (A cowboy would never have agreed to keep his Smith & Wesson in a backpack!) The camera’s weight is perfectly distributed around your waist, held in place with an anodized aluminum baseplate that’s screwed into your camera’s tripod thread. The baseplate fits into the Lexan (read “indestructible polycarbonate”) camera receptacle located on the belt. The Endeavor Belt includes a security strap that the camera slides on and a belt pocket for accessories. Order the “small” for waist sizes up to 112 cm (44 in.)—thanks, that’s so nice!—and “large” for sizes up to 155 cm (61 in.). It’s $120...and several more bucks for taxes and shipping. cottoncarrier.ca 58

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PHANTOM GLASS

GHOSTLY PROTECTION Gorilla Glass by Corning has proven to be highly scratch- and impactresistant, despite its 0.2-mm thickness. The Phantom Glass version is also oleophobic (resistant to fingerprints) and completely transparent. Its silicone nanoadhesion layer enables it to stick to a glass or plastic surface in 30 seconds without forming bubbles, all while remaining a temporary fusion, should you wish to remove it. Available for ACL screens on numerous cameras, including Canon, Leica, Nikon and Sony. And yes, I almost forgot: $35 plus all the regular additions. phantom.glass

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IMAGING PRODUCTS REVIEW THE LOWDOWN ON WHAT’S NEW

BY PETER K. BURIAN Since our last issue, quite a few new photo accessories have been announced, as well as some lenses and cameras, including one that is incorporated into a semi-professional drone. The new Epson all-in-one printer, one of several new Epson EcoTank models, is particularly noteworthy. It received a great deal of media attention at its unveiling in New York because it’s equipped with refillable ink tanks instead of sealed cartridges. More importantly, the first set of ink bottles (included in the purchase price) should be enough for thousands of black-and-white and colour prints. Granted, the machine is more expensive than other comparable Epson models, but the user’s long-term ink cost can be dramatically reduced because a set of four ink bottles—the equivalent of 20 sets of cartridges—is amazingly affordable.

CANON POWERSHOT G7 X Armed with a relatively large 1.0-inch, 20.2-MP sensor and a Digic 6 processor for 6.5-fps continuous shooting, the G7 X is equipped with a stabilized 24-100 mm equivalent f/1.8-2.8 lens. Analogue controls include a control dial around the lens, an exposure compensation dial on top, and a rear dial. The 3” touchscreen LCD can be flipped up by 180 degrees.

Autofocus should be very fast and reliable with the 31point AF system. Movie mode allows for using manual controls for videos up to 1080/60p.

• • • • • • • •

Enthusiast-level feature set Circular aperture diaphragm Macro focus to 5 cm Multilayer lens coatings Built-in ND filter ISO to 12,800 Raw and JPEG capture modes Wi-Fi with NFC

• • • • • • •

Compatible with many mounts Auto Low Light mode Remote control with app and Wi-Fi Very rugged construction Submersible to 40 m Free Go Pro Studio software Weight: 113.4 g

• • • • • • • •

App for camera operation Video to 2.7K (2704 x 1520) Built-in GPS 3-, 5- and 7-shot stills burst mode Exposure bracketing function Vision sensor for indoor flight Four Electronic Speed Controllers Up to 23 minutes of flight time

$670 (street) canon.ca

GOPRO HERO+ WI-FI In terms of feature set, this 8-MP wearable action cam is above the HERO but below the HERO+ LCD. It’s quite well-equipped with 1080/60p and 720/60p Movie options, a built-in mic, time-lapse and 5-fps burst modes for stills, and QuikCapture for powering the camera on and starting video recording with the press of a single button. In addition to Wi-Fi, this model features Bluetooth connectivity.

$260 (street) gopro.com

DJI PHANTOM 3 ADVANCED The Phantom 3 series includes three quadcopters with a camera: the Standard kit ($1100), a top-of-the line 4K video Professional kit ($1700) and this semiprofessional Full HD Advanced kit. The Advanced model has many functions, including 12-MP JPEG and DNG Raw photo modes as well as video up to 2.7K. It’s radio-controlled via a transmitter and employs a 3-axis gimbal for stabilization. The gimbal provides pan and tilt control and keeps the horizon line level, even when the drone banks during flight.

$1350 (street) dji.com

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