contents We encourage submissions to: The Editor edmail@photoreview.com.au T: (02) 9948 8600 Office 4 Clontarf Marina, Sandy Bay Road Clontarf NSW 2093
INSIDE
Cover image by Zorica Purlija. See page 12.
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Editorial A meditation on photographic creativity.
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Products & Trends We cast an eye over the local and international onal camera market, and tap into a chat about future directions. irections.
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Photo Challenge A fine spread of pictures within pictures from Challenge 46, and now we ask you to make like David Attenborough - but with the human species.
INSPIRATION 12
READING BETWEEN THE LINES: ZORICA PURLIJA Zorica Purlija says her portraiture is all about ‘beauty and truth and the human condition’.
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GRIST FOR PARADISE: PETER KOVACSY In Pemberton, Western Australia, Peter Kovacsy is documenting what he always knew was much more than a gritty little timber town for mill workers.
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PREVIEW: BIFB ‘11 This year’s Ballarat International is just around the corner and down the Midlands Highway. We feature some of the work on display through September.
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contents
Photo Review
A U S T R A L I A
BUYERS GUIDE B DSLR D 5 52 53 54
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Simple ways to begin using adjustment layers in an image editor.
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OUTPUT: SHOULD YOU BUY A PROFESSIONAL PRINTER? Factors to consider if you want to print your photos larger than A3+.
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DO YOU NEED A PRIME LENS? A guide to special-purpose prime lenses.
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LENS 58
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How to get the best out of the ‘golden hours’ around sunrise and sunset.
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TECHNIQUE 37
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PRINTERS 60
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A PHOTO POTPOURRI Why browse aimlessly across the vastness of the internet when you could simply check out these useful photographic sites instead?
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Inspiration
Readin ng between twe ee e tthe lines: ness:
Z Zorica or Purlija
A few years ago, Zorica Purlija began submitting entries to the Photo Review challenges. Her work had a certain intensity and as the submissions turned up each issue, it became apparent that there was a consistency of vision behind them. Often featuring her daughter Yumi, the pictures had an ineffable quality of belonging to a wider body of work. Something about them seemed to hint at deeper currents far below the surface.
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Seven years after her family had emigrated from Montenegro to Newcastle, NSW, Zorica Purlija encountered photography for the first time. She was in fourth form and ‘art was one of my school subjects and photography was an element of that. I tried it and found I really loved it.’ On finishing high school, Purlija decided to pursue a degree in architecture. However, after three years she dropped out of the course. ‘I was quite idealistic and I didn’t feel that I was going to be a really good architect. I thought graphic design would be a good thing to do instead.’ She enrolled in the Associate Diploma in Visual Arts at Nepean College of Advanced Education. There she majored in Design and Photography, where she was taught and mentored by Robyn Stacey and Dennis Del Favero. But when she completed the course in 1989 she was once again beset by doubts. ‘I didn’t think I was as good as the photographers I idealised; people like Brassai, Diane Arbus and Cindy Sherman,’ she said, adding, ‘I didn’t think I was technically proficient or competent. At college I hadn’t cared. The intuitive side was what I was into.’ The next four years of her life entailed working for various design agencies, but only rarely did she use a camera for work. So, in the middle of 1991 she left the world of design agencies behind and set off on an 18-month European trip to, as she said, explore life and absorb art. By 1992 she was back in Australia and a year later she gave birth to her first child. Thenceforward Photo Review AUSTRALIA A ISS ISSUE SSUE 4 48
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she devoted herself full time to mothering. Unfortunately, when she gave birth to her second child in 1999 she was stricken with severe postnatal depression. ‘After a year of sort of being in it and getting through it,’ she said, ‘I thought, “I finally know what I can do”.’ And what she could do, she decided, was photography, or more particularly, photographic portraiture. At first, she explained, ‘I couldn’t get how photography and I fitted together. How do you work as a photographer? Without meaning? Or with meaning? Finally it made sense and I thought: “Portraits”. ‘ ‘I thought, I have something I’m really passionate about... I could maybe do something that had meaning. So I gave myself a project called “shedding skin”. It was looking at post-natal depression and the myths of motherhood. ‘When I experienced post-natal depression it was very hard to articulate. I thought the photographs were the perfect way to say all these things without having to speak. I thought I could be helpful in some way to other sufferers — just to have that recognition of what they’ve been through.’ During this period she produced a series of pictures. These she subsequently exhibited in a small group show, along with other artists who’d also suffered postnatal depression. Sadly, the post-natal depression would return soon thereafter, when she gave birth to her daughter. Purlija’s second struggle with the illness took almost three years out of her life. But as she was recovering in
Inspiration
Left: Lisa Belden. I was captivated by her ethereal beauty, I wanted to capture that. Below Left: Ben Mellefont, a young Flautist, I loved his intense gaze.
2004, she got her first digital camera. Gradually she returned to photography. ‘In 2005 I entered my first photography competition, the Head On. I saw their exhibition in Woollhara and thought, “this looks really good, quite diverse, and there’s a range of abilities”. So I thought I could get in that group.’ It turned out that she was right. She entered a picture of her mother and her young daughter taken with her Canon Ixus 40 and to her great delight the image was accepted for the exhibition. Encouraged, she entered the Olive Cotton Award competition. Her black and white photograph of a pregnant friend was accepted and she had another success to add to the cv. With her confidence rebuilding, Purlija successfully entered more competitions and group shows over the next few years. By 2007 her portfolio was strong enough that Sydney’s Sara Roney Gallery added her to their stable of artists and began representing her work. Since 2007 she’s continued entering portraiture and other photographic competitions while also picking up the occasional commission job. Asked what she’d learned thus far in her career as a portraitist, Purlija confessed that she still struggled with some of the technical aspects of photography. ‘I don’t look at manuals. I start to, but then I get distracted and the technical side tends to go out the window.’ Whether it’s using a flash and an umbrella, or Photo Review AUSTRALIA ISSUE 48
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Do You Need a Prime Lens? A GUIDE TO SPECIAL-PURPOSE PRIME LENSES.
By Margaret Brown
PRIME LENSES FOR MACRO Most people buy an interchangeable-lens camera with a zoom lens - and for many people one or two kit lenses True macro photography means a 1:1 reproduction is all they’ll need. That said, serious photographers also (magnification) ratio - or slightly larger. It’s almost understand that zoom lenses are essentially compromises. impossible to obtain such reproduction ratios with They aren’t as fast as prime lenses (ie, their maximum zoom lenses, the best of which will seldom go larger apertures aren’t as wide) and their optical performance is than half life-size. seldom as good. The best way to select a macro Prime lenses provide the best lens is on the basis of working image quality and wider maximum distance (the distance between the apertures than zoom lenses, front of the lens and the subject when particularly at longer focal lengths. the lens is at its closest focus). The However, prime lenses are usually longer the focal length of the lens, heavier and more expensive, so you the greater the working distance it need to think carefully about the provides. improvements they will make to Most lens manufacturers don’t your photography before investing publish working distances but it’s in them. easy enough to calculate them. While zoom lenses can form the Simply subtract the length of the basis of a photographer’s kit, there lens and the distance between the are reasons to consider prime lenses rear element of the lens and sensor when you are interested in specific (around 44 mm for most DSLRs) photographic genres. We’ll outline from the published closest focusing some of them here. distance for the lens. The three main subject types The table on this page provides Sigma’s 105mm macro lens is available where buying prime lenses is easily typical working distances for some with mounts for all major DSLR brands and provides a useful working distance justified are macro, portraiture popular true macro lenses. of 121mm. and architectural photography. For non-moving subjects, such as Wildlife photographers can benefit from fast prime flowers or coins, a relatively short focal length will be fine. lenses, because it’s easier to focus on flighty subjects For subjects that are easily ‘spooked’, such as insects and when the viewfinder image is bright. A case can also be small animals, the longer the working distance the more made for using prime lenses for some kinds of landscape likely you are to get a usable shot. photography, although it’s not quite as compelling for With shorter focal lengths the lens may throw a shadow those other subject types. over the subject and it can be difficult to photograph Lens
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Sensor size
Working distance
subjects among grass or leaves. On the plus side, shorter focal lengths often add a sense of depth to the shot, whereas longer lenses tend to flatten the view.
PRIME LENSES FOR PORTRAITURE Photographers usually choose prime lenses for portraiture for the following reasons: 1. A longer focal length provides a comfortable working distance between the camera and the subject; 2. The lens provides a natural-looking perspective at the selected shooting distance; 3. The aperture is wide enough to provide depth-offield control and attractive bokeh. Although short zooms, such as 70-200mm, cover a popular range for portraiture, you’ll pay a lot for a fast f/2.8 maximum aperture and the lens will be large and bulky. Once you’ve determined the style of portraiture you prefer, a prime lens will provide better performance. Most portrait photographers prefer a working distance of three to five metres to their subjects. It’s close enough to support good communication without making the subject feel crowded and/or dominated. Consequently, the classic focal length range for portrait lenses on camera with a 36 x 24mm sensor is from around 80mm to 135mm. For cameras with APS-C sized sensors, it is 50mm to around 85mm and for Four Thirds system sensors it’s 40mm to 65mm. Shorter focal lengths can be used for portraits in which the subject fills less than a quarter of the frame (as in ‘environmental’ portraits). Longer lenses tend to ‘flatten’ the subject and, although they’re great for candid shots and street photography, in a studio situation you need
Diameter x length (mm)
Weight (grams)
Olympus 35mm f/3.5 Macro
Four Thirds
60mm
71 x 53
165
Sigma Macro 50mm f/2.8 EX DG
FF
78mm
71.5 x 64
320
Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro
APS-C
86mm
73 x 69.8
335
AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D
F
90mm
70 x 74.5
440
Tamron SP AF 60mm f/2 Di II
APS-C
100mm
73 x 80
390
Canon MP-E65 f/2.8 Macro Photo
FF
101mm
81 x 98
710
Sigma Macro 70mm f/2.8 EX DG
FF
112mm
76 x 95
525
AF-S DX Micro Nikkor 85mm f/3.5G ED VR
APS-C
115mm
73 x 98.5
355
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di
FF
149mm
55 x 97
400
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
FF
148mm
78.6 x 118.6
580
AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED
FF
148mm
83 x 116
790
Sigma Macro 105mm f/2.8 EX DG
FF
121mm
74 x 95
450
Sigma Macro 150mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM
FF
196mm
79.6 x 150
895
Canon 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM
FF
249mm
82.5 x 186.6
1090
Tamron SP AF 180mm f/3.5 Di
FF
260mm
84.8 x 165.7
920
AF Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4 IF-ED
FF
260mm
76 x 193
1190
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Will you notice the difference? There are a couple of areas where a fast prime lens will make a noticeable difference to your photography: 1. The viewfinder image will be brighter, making it easier to focus manually and/or ensure autofocused subjects are sharp. This can make a huge difference when shooting in low light. 2. There will be more scope for shooting with a shallow depth of field. Wider maximum apertures enable a greater degree of blurring in out-of-focus areas. Prime lenses also tend to have softer and more natural-looking bokeh (blurred out-of-focus areas) than zoom lenses. 3. Aberrations are generally fewer in prime lenses because it’s easier to design the optical system to eliminate them. You will probably see improved image sharpness (particularly edge-toedge sharpness) and contrast when making A3 or larger prints.
Among the third-party lens manufacturers, Sigma offers 300mm, 500mm and 800mm lenses with mounts for the leading DSLR brands. Tamron’s longest prime lens is its 300mm f/2.8 LD [IF] lens.
PRIME LENSES FOR OTHER APPLICATIONS
Architectural photography is another genre where specialist prime lenses can provide a quantifiable advantage. Regardless of whether the subject is interiors or exteriors, a tilt/shift (or perspective correction) lens will enable you to minimise the distortions that occur when photographing buildings with wide-angle lenses. Tilt/shift lenses have adjustment screws that can change the alignment of the lens plane to the image plane (‘tilt’) and move the lens elements parallel to the image plane (‘shift). The tilt control is used to control the plane of focus for a number of purposes: 1. to enable objects at different distances from the camera to be sharply focused; 2. to deliver a very narrow plane of focus (‘selective focusing’), leaving plenty of space to use them. objects in front of and behind it However, they can produce unsharp. interesting results and usually have The shift control is used to keep the attractive bokeh. image plane and focus parallel to the Interestingly, you can also subject and can be applied: use macro lenses for portraiture, 1. when photographing a tall building because they are fast and sharp to keep sides of the building parallel and provide a good working with the edges of the frame; distance for ‘head shots’. If the 2. in interior photography to avoid subject isn’t framed as you like it, having the camera and photographer ‘zooming with your feet’ can take reflected in a mirror or by a reflective you closer or further away in just a surface. few steps. One useful characteristic of tilt/ PRIME LENSES FOR shift lenses is their flatness of field, Tamron’s 60mm macro is one of a number WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY of macro lenses that can double as portrait which also makes them good copying lenses. Fitted to a camera with an APS-C lenses. They can also be used to Although some wildlife sized sensor, it provides an effective focal photographers can make do with length of around 90mm, which is ideal for minimise parallax errors when shooting panorama sequences and composites zoom lenses, if you’re serious head-and-shoulders shots. about photographing birds or animals in the wild, a long telephoto lens is a must. Recommended Portrait Lenses Expect to invest serious money if you want a fast lens with a focal length greater than 300mm. Most lenses in this category are professional-quality, The following lenses can be used on DSLRs with 36 which means they are built to be rugged and weatherproof. x 24mm sensors and smaller APS-C sized sensors. They are also VERY heavy and usually come with their They are competitively priced and good performers own carrying cases. for portraiture: Having a bright viewfinder image is vital when you’re Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM: Excellent value for shooting in conditions where light levels may be low and money at $719 (RRP) and usable with all Canon subjects are flighty. The faster the lens the easier it is to DSLRs. Focal length is equivalent to 135mm on focus. cameras with APS-C sized sensors. Factor in the additional cost of a sturdy monopod or Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D: Priced at less than tripod if you’re considering one of these lenses. Even lenses $600 this compact, lightweight lens provides a focal with optical stabilisation built-in can use some assistance length equivalent to 127.5mm on cameras with in many situations. APS-C sized sensors. Canon’s ‘super telephoto’ prime lens range is targeted Sigma 85mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM: A slightly more at sports and wildlife photographers and covers focal expensive (but faster) lens with mounts for all major lengths from 200mm to 800mm. Nikon’s range goes DSLR brands. For cameras with APS-C sensors, a from 200mm to 600mm, while Pentax has 200mm and dedicated hood adapter, which expands the length of 300mm primes and Sony has a 300mm f/2.8 prime. the lens hood, is supplied. Olympus offers a 300mm f/2.8 Super Telephoto lens that Zeiss Planar T* 85mm f/1.4: A fast, high-quality is also compatible with Panasonic’s G-series cameras, as lens available with mounts to suit Nikon F bayonet well as a 150mm f/2 telephoto lens. Photo Review AUSTRALIA ISSUE 43
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Canon’s 600mm ‘super tele’ lens is fast for its type and includes built-in image stabilisation plus a very fast and quiet ultrasonic AF motor, which makes it ideal for wildlife photography.
using several rows of overlapping shots. Canon and Nikon each include a couple of tilt/shift lenses in their ranges. Details can be found on each manufacturer’s website.
Nikon’s 45mm tilt/shift lens, showing the adjustments available for changing the alignment of the lens plane to the image plane.
Landscape purists often prefer prime lenses. The most popular focal length is 35mm on a 36 x 24mm sensor or 24mm for a camera with an APS-C sensor. This focal length will provide a wide enough angle of view to encompass a typical scene without adding noticeable distortion.
(ZF), Canon EF bayonet (ZE) and Pentax K bayonet (ZK) lens mounts. Usable with ‘full-frame’ and APS-C DSLR cameras. MACRO LENSES THAT CAN BE USED FOR PORTRAITURE INCLUDE: Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM: A dynamic, compact, fast-focusing lens that provides attractive bokeh for portraiture. Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D: Another macro lens that doubles as a compact portrait lens. Sigma Macro 70mm f/2.8 EX DG: Available with mounts for all major DSLR brands, this lens provides an effective focal length of around 105mm on cameras with APS-C sensors. Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro: A new version of a popular macro lens that is popular with portrait photographers. Available with mounts for all major DSLR brands.
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The EOS 60D gives you even more creative control of your photography. With its Vari-Angle LCD screen, you can experiment and take high quality images from creative angles you never thought possible.