Digital Photo - July 2016

DIGITAL PHOTO JULY 2016 ISSUE 209

Improve every shot you take

21 PAGES OF

PHOTOSHOP SKILLS

56PHOTO SUMMER IDEAS INSPIRATIONAL

56 SUMMER PHOTO IDEAS SEE MACRO IN A NEW LIGHT

TO TRY NOW

SEE MACRO IN A NEW LIGHT Fresh & exciting projects

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS

Three best filters for quality landscapes Pentax K-1 tested

MASTER REPLACING SKIES

Meet the full-frame DSLR primed to take on Canon & Nikon!

Street photography

Swap the backdrop, boost the impact

Easy guide to reportage portraits

INSPIRING TECHNIQUES FOR STUNNING IMAGES!

WWW.PHOTOANSWERS.CO.UK

JULY 2016 ISSUE 209 £4.99

Add glow to landscapes

Boost colours from RAW

Ice-cool still-life shots

Get creative with artistic portraits!

PLANET PHOTO Your fresh fix of inspiration from the world’s best photographers

A combination of excellent technical knowledge and expert climbing skills were needed for this stunning pic.

8 DIGITAL PHOTO

ADVENTURES

Planned to perfection

Camera Canon 1D X & 14-24mm lens Exposure Various Software Photoshop Visit www.venture.photography

GET THIS SHOT Capturing Milky Way images requires a clear sky and low light pollution. What’s more, the exposure time must stay below 25secs to avoid the stars blurring.

DIGITAL PHOTO 9

NICHOLAS ROEMMELT

How long would you wait for the perfect image? Nicholas Roemmelt planned for a whole year to capture this amazing view of the Milky Way above the Lehner Wasserfall route in Oetztal, Austria. Nicholas had to use his expert mountaineering skills to reach his shooting position, securing the tripod with ropes to keep it steady. To photograph the Milky Way at the optimum time, Nicholas braved the climb at 3am, shooting multiple images before stitching them together in Photoshop once back on flat ground.

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WHY WE

LOVE MACRO ...and you will too!

Think close-up photography is too scientific? Think again! The DP team are all passionate about macro and we’re serving up four great projects to show the benefits of this magic genre

M

acro photography is your opportunity to take a closer look at beautiful subjects. Put simply, you can capture frame-filling shots that reveal texture and shape that would otherwise be missed if photographed with an alternative lens.

Everyone at Digital Photo loves macro, and we’re proving it by sharing four exciting techniques that’ll not only help you bag amazing images, but will also showcase the benefits of what a macro lens can really do.

Come and join us on this close-up journey to jaw-dropping pictures and we’ll equip you with all the knowledge needed to become a macro expert….

DIGITAL PHOTO 23

VINCENT XERIDAT

“M ACRO ALLOWS YOU TO CAPTURE DETAIL AND TEXTURE THAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE MISSED”

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WELCOME TO…

#Share Your Shots UK Digital Photo is going to find and share the best landscape locations in the UK and we want your help...

T

here’s no better feeling than discovering a fantastic new landscape location with your camera. Somewhere new to line up in front of the lens. And, with the internet at your fingertips, sharing your images of these new-found views has never been easier, making it simple to help other photographers get out there and discover new locations too! #ShareYourShotsUK is our new campaign and we want to create a huge online gallery to showcase all the jaw-dropping locations the UK has to offer. Building a community of like-minded photographers will not only help capture views

from Aviemore to Zoar (yes, that’s a real village in Cornwall), but it will also help encourage us all to pull on our boots and get out there with memory cards formatted, batteries charged and inspiration burning in our bellies.

As a home for #ShareYourShotsUK, you’ll find a special page on our website, where you can sign up, watch videos and get tips on how to take your best-ever shots. We’ve got competitions, newsletters and, what’s more, the best images we receive from you will take pride of place in a special collector’s edition supplement so you can even get your best shot published!

How to take part Head over to www.photoanswers.co.uk/shareyourshotsuk and sign up •G et out there and find brilliant new locations to capture with your camera • Upload

the images to social media, telling us where the location is and remember to add the special hashtag... #ShareYourShotsUK

•O nce you’ve uploaded your image, visit the website to get inspiration for your next adventure from other readers!

JOIN US AT...

1 TYPE IN YOUR SHOT’S LOCATION

2 ADD IN THE HASHTAG (#) NAME

3 UPLOAD TO SHARE YOUR SHOT

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READER CHALLENGE

www.photoanswers.co.uk/shareyourshotsuk

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PHOTOSHOP GENIUS

After Replacing a washedout sky with a new one will give your images an entirely new look.

64 DIGITAL PHOTO

ADD A NEW SKY

VIDEO LESSON ON THE CD

TRANSFORM SHOTS WITH A BRAND NEW SKY Enhance an outdoor portrait by boosting colours and replacing washedout backgrounds with dramatic skies TECHNIQUE BY ANDY HEATHER

• Software Photoshop CS6/CC • Image type Find or shoot an outdoor portrait in which the sky is overexposed or white

I

n the digital age, the possibilities for enhancing the images you shoot goes beyond simple colour and contrast corrections. Thanks to the power of Photoshop, it’s now quick and easy to replace a plain sky with something more dynamic and powerful.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with serene pale skies – they can often

complement the tone you’re striving for. However, if you feel your shot could benefit from something bluer, cloudier or even stormier, the following tutorial will show you how easy it is to drop a new sky into your image. This technique can take a pic with potential and transform it into one you love, so have a read and apply it to one of your shots.

FEDERICO PENTA

Before The sky is serene and fits the tone, but we wondered how the image could change if we replaced it and boosted the colours.

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BEST BUDGET MACRO LENSES

Feeling inspired by this month’s macro shooting tips? We roundup the market’s five best macro optics available for under £330...

TEST BY MATT HIGGS

F

rom gigantic sci-fi looking insects to the unique and delicate structure of an individual snowflake, macro lenses open up a realm of creative opportunities that just aren’t possible with any other optic.

Revealing a level of detail that normally goes unseen by the human eye, they’re a fantastic way of viewing the world we inhabit in a new light. But despite being a specialist piece of equipment, they’re also surprisingly versatile. The short telephoto focal lengths and wide apertures of many of these lenses make them just as well suited for portraiture and low-light shooting, as they do for 104 DIGITAL PHOTO

close-up pictures. Add in the fact that unlike the kind of super telephoto primes favoured by sports and wildlife photographers, they don’t cost the earth, and a macro lens should be towards the top of every photographer’s wish list.

We pulled together five of the market’s most competitive macro optics for this roundup, all of which are available for less than £330 and offer great image quality.

Over the next few pages we’ll give you the information needed to select the lens model that’s right for you and the subjects that you enjoy shooting...

How we did the test All of the lenses featured in the roundup were used to shoot a variety of macro subjects on location. This allowed us to assess their handling and performance in a real-life situation. The lenses were then taken into our studio and fully tested at all available apertures using charts that help to highlight any sharpness, distortion and chromatic aberration issues. Both sets of shots were then compared in Lightroom, with all correction and sharpening options turned off to show the quality they produce straight out of the camera.

MACRO LENS ROUNDUP

WHAT TO LOOK FOR Internal focusing

With an inner focusing system a lens’ length does not change as focus is adjusted. Not only can this make use easier, but it reduces the chance of dust being sucked into the barrel.

Vibration reduction

Some of the lenses have systems that can help to eliminate the presence of blur in images, caused by movement during the exposure.

Compatibility

Lenses are available in different mounts. Ensure your choose the one to match your DSLR’s fitting.

Focal Length

All these lenses offer a top magnification ratio of 1:1.

By choosing one of the lenses with a longer focal length, you can capture subjects from further away.

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VIAN VIANZ

With a magnification ratio of at least 1:1, macro lenses reveal a level of detail unseen by the naked eye.