Practical Photography - January 2016

PRACTICAL PHOTOGRAPHY JANUARY 2016

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Brilliant presents from £5 to £750+

DISCOVER HOT NEW

January 2016 £4.99

WINTER SKILLS n Break the rules with creative blur n Create epic HDR panoramics n Compose for visual impact

Shoot moody flash portraits Recycle your old cameras & lenses New Develop your skills with a personal project DISCOVER HOT NEW WINTER SKILLS

Plus Record a sharpening preset for Lightroom editing

10

easy landscape, portrait & still life ideas to fuel your passion

WIN!

ONE OF TWO MANFROTTO BUNDLES WORTH

£435

Cover image by Julia Kaptelova

The story behind the world’s greatest shots Mission impossible

by Roeselien Raimond l “finding a fox was a challenge in itself, but finding one in the snow, which is quite a rare weather phenomenon here in the Netherlands, felt like an impossible mission.

Eventually I found this gorgeous fox in a snow blizzard. Both my camera and my hands struggled to function, due to the freezing cold.

My autofocus system also found it difficult to focus with all of the falling snowflakes, but I managed to get some decent shots and made a long cherished dream come true.”

Canon 1D MkIV | 300mm | 1/500sec | f/5 | ISO 1000

Roeselien Raimond is an author, photographer and editor from Gouda in the Netherlands. Her favourite subjects to shoot are nature and portraits. roeselienraimond.com

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COMPLETE GUIDE

COMPOSE FOR BETTER

VISUAL BALANCE Discover the secrets behind composition and give your shots the professional polish they deserve.

Learn great new photo skills...

Get started

Create balance

Find out how to use compositional devices p34

Try more subtle composition techniques in your shots p36

Crop your images

Compose your shots using differential focus p40

Learn how cropping can be a powerful tool p44

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Tonnaja Anan Charoenkal

Use depth-of-field

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BLUR GET CREATIVE WITH

Take a fresh approach to focus, movement and depth-of-field for distinctive shots that break the traditional rules. Tim Berry presents four fun projects for the winter season...

M Tim Berry PP’s gear editor has been a professional photographer for several years and has a master’s degree in freelance photography. He’s also lectured at undergraduate level.

astering sharpness using fast shutter speeds and accurate focusing is the single most important photographic technique you can possess. In fact, it’s usually so critical to the success of an image that many of us can achieve sharp results on autopilot, a bit like riding a bike or driving a car.

But you might be surprised to know that with the right approach, blur can be an equally effective tool for achieving eye-catching shots. Maybe you’ll use a shallow depth-of-field for an out-of-focus foreground and background. Or perhaps you’ll combine a long exposure with a moving subject, or even a moving camera. Either way, the images will add valuable variety to your portfolio and help you master the relationship between movement and shutter speed. In these four creative projects, we’ll walk you through a range of techniques including panning, zoom bursts, focus pulls and light painting, and we even check out how to add ‘false’ blur with a Photoshop filter. So armed with a camera, a tripod and plenty of inspiration, let’s get started...

Take four show-stopping images...

Capture spark trails

Get arty landscapes

Sculpt light abstracts

Use Photoshop to fake a shallow depth-of-field. p58

Spin burning wire wool for fiery long exposures. p60

Master the art of panning for eye-catching wall art. p63

Craft colourful shapes using focus and focal length. p65

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Spinning burning wire wool during long exposures creates spectacular spark trails.

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Monthon Wa

Shoot tiny scenes

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Every issue is bursting with shooting & editing techniques, inspirational projects, the latest gear releases, and the very best images from around the world.

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Intermediate Skills

Editing Suite

Master sharpening for your punchiest shots yet Sharpening is one of the most important weapons in your editing arsenal. Tim Berry shows you how to create a sharpening preset for a quicker and simpler workflow... l whether you shoot landscapes, portraits, macro or

wildlife, knowing how to effectively sharpen your images is an essential editing skill. This is particularly important when working in RAW, as no processing at all is applied in-camera.

The Sharpening Tool in Lightroom is found in the Detail panel of the Develop module, and consists of four different sliders: Amount, Radius, Detail and Masking. Most Lightroom users simply adjust the Amount slider to blanketsharpen all of their shots. This is fine, but using a combination of all four sliders gives extra control and allows for more tailored sharpening to suit a particular type of image.

Also in the Detail panel, we’ll look at how to control digital noise, which can become a problem during sharpening. Finally, I’ll show how to save the changes you make to the sharpening and noise reduction sliders as a preset, allowing you to reapply precise settings with a single click. This will help speed up your workflow, especially if you make several presets to suit different types of shot.

What you’ll learn How to reduce noise How to increase sharpening How to set up a preset to apply sharpening to multiple images Software Lightroom Do it in 10 mins

Before

1

Import your image

Add your image to the Lightroom Catalog using File>Import Photos and Video. Once imported, enter the Develop module by pressing D on your keyboard. In the top-left corner of the screen, select a 1:1 ratio from the Navigator panel. This will zoom in to 100% so you can see the effect of the sharpening in more detail. You can zoom out and in at any time simply by clicking once on the image.

2

Make basic adjustments

Before you start sharpening, use the Basic panel on the right of the screen to make some simple adjustments to your image. This might include tweaks to exposure, contrast, white balance and vibrance.

You may also want to increase the Clarity slider to around +10, though not if you’re shooting portraits. Getting your image looking as you want it will help you know how much sharpening and noise reduction to apply.

Above Straight out of camera, images can appear slightly soft, especially when shot in RAW, so they can always benefit from some sharpening.

After

3

Apply noise reduction

One thing to be aware of when sharpening your shots is that any digital noise will be sharpened too. For this reason, it’s worth reducing noise first with Lightroom’s Noise Reduction tool. Simply scroll down from the Basic panel to the Detail panel, clicking the little arrow to open the box if it’s not visible. Adjust both the Luminance and Color sliders to the right, but only to about +15 or you risk losing fine detail.

5

Adjust Radius, Detail and Masking

S Froebe

Beneath the Amount slider are three more sharpening sliders.

Radius affects the size of the sharpening area at different colour boundaries, and should usually be left on 1. Detail increases definition in detailed areas, and should be set to around 20. Finally, using the Masking slider you can force Lightroom to ignore areas that you don’t think need sharpening. Again, try holding in the Option key as you adjust.

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4

Set the sharpening Amount

The Sharpening Tool is found right above the Noise Reduction sliders you used in Step 3. Start by moving the Amount slider to around 25, zooming in on the image (see Step 1) to check you’re not over-sharpening. You’ll be able to tell as the image will take on a ‘painterly’ effect. To see more easily what effect the Amount slider is having, simply hold in the Option key as you move the slider.

6

Create your sharpening preset

You can now save the position of your sliders as a preset. This means you can apply these settings to another image instantly.

Click the + icon in the Presets panel on the left of the screen. Give the preset a name and untick all boxes except Clarity, Sharpening and Noise Reduction. Click Create, and you’ll find your preset in User Presets within the Preset panel. You can now easily apply this to any image.

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Festive Gift Guide

STOCKING FILLERS

UNDER

Looking for those extra little gifts that won’t break the bank?

There’s something for everyone in this selection of goodies...

£15

GREAT VALUE OPTION

HOYA DIGITAL HMC UV(C) FILTER FROM £9

VANGUARD 2-IN-1 LENS CLEANING KIT £10

SANDISK EXTREME 16GB 90MB/S SD CARD £10

UV filters are designed to reduce haze and ghosting in images, but also provide excellent protection from scratches to the front of a lens. With an impressive light transmission rate of over 97%, you’ll forget this damage-saving filter is even in place. hoyafilter.com

Not only does well-maintained equipment last longer, but it also captures better quality images too. Comprising a compact lens cleaning brush and quality microfiber cloth, this kit will ensure your gear remains in optimum condition. vanguardworld.co.uk

As the (relatively) old photography saying goes, ‘You can never have too many memory cards’. For £10 this affordable SD offers write speeds of up to 40MB/s, and read speeds of up to 90MB/s. At 16GB, it’s large enough for over 2000 22MP JPEGs. sandisk.co.uk

PIXEL RC201 SHUTTER RELEASE CABLE £7.80

EXCLUSIVE READER OFFER

WHITEWALL HD METAL PRINT FROM £6.90 With brilliantly vivid colours and a range of stylish finishes, WhiteWall’s HD Metal Prints are the ultimate way to showcase your best images. Printed on lightweight aluminium in a range of custom sizes, they’re UV-, scratch- and water-resistant, making them ideal for hanging in any room. These distinctive prints don’t warp and are guaranteed to remain vibrant for far longer than many traditional reproductions.

What’s more, with our exclusive reader offer, you can now purchase yours at a steal of a price! Simply use the code HD_Metal_Print when you order from the web address below and you can save 20% on any HD Metal Print purchase made between 26 November 2015 and 31 January 2016. uk.whitewall.com/HDMP

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KINGSTON USB 3.0 MULTI-CARD READER £15

DIGIPADS SENSOR CLEANING STARTER KIT FROM £10.99

This versatile device supports Memory Stick, CompactFlash, SD and Micro SD cards, meaning you’ll never need hunt for the right cable again after a shoot. With USB 3.0 and 2.0 compatibility, download speeds of up to 5GB/s are possible. kingston.com

Dust spots can be the bane of a photographer’s life, but this precision kit makes sensor cleaning at home easier than ever. With step-by-step instructions, cleaning fluid and five soft-tip brushes, it includes everything needed to banish dust. digipad.co.uk

Remove unwanted camera shake caused by pressing the shutter and enable super-long exposures, with this remote release from Pixel.

Available in all major fits, this affordable device features a half-press setting and shutter lock for total control. It’s a kit bag essential for all landscape, astro and still life photographers. ukhighland.co.uk

ILEX PHOTOGRAPHER’S PUZZLE BOOK £7 Think you know photography? It’s time to think again! With over 150 camera-related conundrums, riddles and quizzes, this book is guaranteed to give even the most knowledgeable photographer a stimulating cerebral workout. Hardback and diary-sized, it’s chock-full of tricky teasers to tackle over your turkey. ilex-press.com

LASTOLITE 30CM SILVER/WHITE REFLECTOR £12.50 SRB PHOTOGRAPHIC THREE FILTER WALLET £4.95

SAAL DIGITAL MATTE PRINT PHOTOBOOK FROM £8.95

Top-end filters can carry heavy price-tags, but just a few scratches can render them useless. For only £5 this wallet will safely store three A or P size filters, protecting them from scrapes in the kit bag. It’s slim, lightweight and carefully designed. srb-photographic.co.uk

There’s nothing quite like seeing your best images in print, and Saal produces some of the highest quality photobooks we’ve seen. They’re really simple to create, so why not make some as more personalised gifts for friends and family this year? saal-digital.co.uk

Perfect for close-ups and product shots, this reflector is ideal for bouncing some extra light into your shots. It’s reversible, with a white side that retains natural colour and a silver side that adds a little contrast. When collapsed, it’s small enough to fit comfortably inside a jacket pocket, so it’s always close to hand. lastolite.co.uk

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