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Publishing team Chief Executive Officer Marcus Rich Group Managing Director Adrian Hughes Managing Director Kirsty Setchell Printed by Walstead UK Limited Distributed by Marketforce 5 Churchill Place, London E14 Telephone 0203 787 9001 Editorial Complaints We work hard to achieve the highest standards of editorial content, and we are committed to complying with the Editors’ Code of Practice (www.ipso.co.uk/ IPSO/cop.html) as enforced by IPSO. If you have a complaint about our editorial content, you can email us at complaints@ti media.com or write to Complaints Manager, TI Media Limited Legal Department, 161 Marsh Wall, London E14 9AP. Please provide details of the material you are complaining about and explain your complaint by reference to the Editors’ Code. We will endeavour to acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days, and we aim to correct substantial errors as soon as possible. All contributions to Amateur Photographer must be original, not copies or duplicated to other publications. The editor reserves the right to shorten or modify any letter or material submitted. TI Media Limited or its associated companies reserves the right to re use any submission sent to the letters column of Amateur Photographer magazine, in any format or medium, WHETHER PRINTED, ELECTRONIC OR OTHERWISE Amateur Photographer® is a registered trademark of TI Media Limited © TI Media Limited 2020 Amateur Photographer (incorporating Photo Technique, Camera Weekly & What Digital Camera) Email: amateurphotographer@ ti media.com Website: www.amateurphotographer.co.uk. TI Media Limited switchboard tel: 0203 148 5000 Amateur Photographer is published weekly (51 issues per year) on the Tuesday preceding the cover date by TI Media Limited, 161 Marsh Wall, London E14 9AP. Distributed by Marketforce (UK) Ltd, 5 Churchill Place, London E14. ISSN 0002 6840. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval or transmitted in any format or medium, whether printed, electronic or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher or the editor. This is considered a breach of copyright and action will be taken where this occurs. This magazine must not be lent, sold, hired or otherwise disposed of in a mutilated condition or in any authorised cover by way, or by trade, or annexed to any publication or advertising matter without first obtaining written permission from the publisher. TI Media Limited does not accept responsibility for loss or damage to unsolicited photographs and manuscripts, and product samples. TI Media Limited reserves the right to use any submissions sent to Amateur Photographer Magazine in any format or medium, including electronic. One year subscription (51 issues) £155.50 (UK), e259 (Europe), $338.99 (USA), £221.99 (rest of world). The 2015 US annual DEU subscription price is $338.99, airfreight and mailing in the USA by named Air Business Ltd, c/o Worldnet Shipping Inc, 156 15, 146th Avenue, 2nd floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Periodicals postage paid at Jamaica NY 11431. US Postmaster: Send address changes to Amateur Photographer, Air Business Ltd, c/o Worldnet Shipping Inc, 156 15, 146th Avenue, 2nd floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Subscriptions records are maintained at TI Media Limited, 161 Marsh Wall, London E14 9AP. Air Business Ltd is acting as our mailing agent.
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LETTER OF THE WEEK WINS A SAMSUNG EVO PLUS M CROSD CARD NOTE: PR ZE APPL ES TO UK AND EU RES DENTS ONLY
Email samuel.shaw@ti-media.com Inserts Call Mona Amarasakera, Canopy Media, on 0203 148 3710
Wild about Harry
I’ve been a subscriber for many years and look forward to each issue. I enjoy reading all the articles, but often one stands out as something special and among those When Harry Met... is always among the best. When Harry Met the Spice Girls (AP 15 February) was extra special. A bit of history, a good description of the girls themselves that showed their characters, an insight into
the working life of the photographer, lessons in how to set up a shoot and get the best out of the subjects. And at the end a great description of how all the elements of composition and lighting came together to make a really special image. It’s an article I’m sure no one could fail to enjoy and learn something from. Simon Warren
Win!
A Samsung 64GB EVO Plus microSDXC with SD adapter Class 10 UHS-1 Grade U3 memory card supports 4K UHD. Offering R/W speeds of up to 100MB/s /60MB/s and a 10-year limited warranty. www.samsung.com/uk/memory-cards.
Who’s the ‘sparkling character’? I believe that the gentleman in the straw hat pictured on the front cover of the February 1959 issue of Amateur Photographer (Back in the day, 8 February) is Walt Disney, creator of the legendary cartoon character Mickey Mouse. Douglas Thomson That’s a great suggestion Douglas, but having studied a few pictures of Walt we don’t think it is him. You did, however inspire us to try to find his real identity and our resident super-sleuth Amanda has, I believe, solved the mystery. He appears to be the actor Alan Dudley, who starred in a string of West End musicals including The Boyfriend and My Fair Lady (where he was Stanley Holloway’s understudy).
Among his many film and TV credits was a part in Chariots of Fire. He passed away in 2013.
Open windows
Flickr pricing
Few people seem to have a good word for Windows 10, and everyone seems to praise iOS. But Microsoft bends over backwards to accommodate older software. I know someone who recently upgraded to Windows 10, and was delighted to find that he was able to install and run
Pentax hits the spot
Around two years ago I sold my Pentax Spotmatic F, which I regretted as the quality of the SMC Takumar lens was excellent. I’d given up hope of finding another one but while visiting a charity shop recently I was thrilled to discover not only a Spotmatic F but also 35mm f/2 and 135mm SMC Takumar lenses, plus minor accessories, for £75. I purchased the lot, and I gave a cash donation. I’ve sourced an M9 adapter from the Small Battery Company, to replace the obsolete 625 cell. The Spotmatic is a joy to use and I’m delighted to own one again. Pat Whelen
Affecting image his paid-for copy of Photoshop 6. My copy of Lightroom 5 also runs well on the current version of Windows 10. If you can’t run your favourite version of Lightroom/Photoshop on iOS, then perhaps Microsoft could be your saviour?Although in all honesty, I now rarely use my aging copy of Lightroom, because I have upgraded to ON1’s Photo Raw, and I have never had any reason to regret doing so. David Price
We reckon we’ve worked out who this cover star was
previous two-year periods. How can SmugMug, which owns Flickr, justify this? Ian Pratt
I have over 30,00 photos on Flickr Pro. I see that Flickr intends to raise the subscription to £55.88 per year (News, 8 February). I have been on Flickr Pro since 2007 and I only paid £36.04 for a two-year subscription in 2018. Prior to that it was £27.53 for the two
The most affecting picture I have ever seen. Across pages 26 and 27 in your interview with Tom Stoddart (Golden Era, 15 February), as the caption puts it ‘a well-nourished man takes maize from a starving child’. I won’t be able to sleep tonight, that image will fill the darkness. Well done Tom Stoddart. I just wish the situation hadn’t been there for the taking. Bill Winward
Ticking all the boxes
I much enjoyed Adrian Gray’s article on box cameras (Boxing Clever, 22 February). Perhaps I could add a couple of points: First, up to about the 1930s, cameras with meniscus or doublet (i.e. non-colour corrected) lenses were focused on the UV image, as that is what black & white films were sensitive to. Today that means they are focused further away than they should be. Secondly, the very common Kodak 620 Brownie cameras take
21 March 2020 I www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113
