Practical Photography - December 2015

PRACTICAL PHOTOGRAPHY DECEMBER 2015

Budget kits Bargain DSLR and CSC bundles under £650 go head-to-head

GO TELEPHOTO FOR

Tamron’s fast primes First standard duo with image stabilisation Plus Sigma’s fixed lens compact rated

December 2015 £4.99

AMAZING IMAGES n Discover new ways to shoot wildlife n Add a sense of depth to landscapes n Control blur for flattering portraits

Find your perfect telephoto from £98 Bring your RAWs to life with new Photoshop skills GO TELEPHOTO FOR AMAZING IMAGES

Turn bubbles and bokeh into dramatic abstract art Plus Focus on reflections

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cool camera and editing projects to inspire your winter

Cover image by Nicolas Le Boulanger

The story behind the world’s greatest shots

Fire and ice

by Annie Mitova l “inspired by hans christian andersen’s

fairy-tale The Snow Queen, I decided to focus on the villain. My initial idea was to shoot outdoors in the snow, but on the day of the shoot there was no snow at all. Instead we shot in my studio and used fake snow to create a blizzard. Due to the limited space I ended up creating a composite, and asked my son and his friends to assist by stretching the cape and throwing some of the fake snow.”

Nikon D7100 | 35mm | 1/40sec | f/1.4 | ISO 100

Annie Mitova is a photographer based in the US. She specialises in fine art child portraiture and has had her photos featured in a variety of magazines. anniemitova.com

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COMPLETE GUIDE

UNLEASH THE POWER OF

TELEPHOTO LENSES Discover an exciting new world of possibilities when you push beyond the reach of your kit lens.

Learn great new photo skills...

Try new subjects

Maximise depth

Isolate subjects

Discover the best telephoto lenses from just ÂŁ98 p32

Explore the characteristics of these versatile lenses p34

Shoot landscapes in a completely new way p36

Use blur to create clean and striking wildlife images p40

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Red deer stag photographed in The Forest of Rambouillet in France with a Sigma 120-300mm lens.

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Nicolas Le Boulanger

Get closer

Shoot incredible abstract

art

Convey a sense of style and drama with images that rely solely on colour, light and shapes. Tim Berry presents three creative abstract projects to try at home...

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.

I

n most of the images we shoot, our subjects are presented in very realistic ways because we want the viewer to be able to interpret shots as quickly and accurately as possible. But abstract photography is different, as it focuses more on aesthetic qualities rather than wider details.

Often, this means finding a gritty texture or attractive pattern, or a pleasing shape or striking colours.

Crucially, though, whichever visual element you choose, this will be the focus of the image.

One of the big advantages to shooting abstracts is that you don’t need to travel to traditionally stunning locations to get great shots. In fact, if you really open your eyes, you’ll be seeing potentially winning images everywhere you go.

Over the next few pages we’ll show you three striking projects that you can try without even leaving the house. The results will be really visually engaging and will look particularly impressive in a frame, making this the perfect opportunity to hang some of your most dramatic work on the wall.

Start shooting captivating abstracts

Capture colourful macro shapes p56

Shoot light trails with a difference p58

Achieve stunning bokeh effects p61

Create perfect circles with oil and water.

Paint striking abstracts using nothing but a lighter.

Use a wide aperture to shoot fibre optic lights.

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Subscribe to from just £34 & get this Lowepro camera bag

worth £69

About your gift “The Lowepro Urban Reporter 350 is a versatile messenger bag that has ample space to fit your camera, plus lenses, a laptop and accessories. Its padded inserts can be re-arranged quickly and easily to fit your gear, or completely removed if you prefer. An anti-slip shoulder strap helps to secure the strap, while generous padding makes for a comfortable fit. Side compartments and a front zippered pocket provide loads of extra space for accessories, making this bag ideal to fit all you need.”

Tim Berry, Gear Editor

Subscribe to Practical Photography today with Direct Debit and we’ll send you this Lowepro Urban Reporter 350 bag!

Dedicated compartment for your laptop or tablet The bag has a 15in laptop/tablet pocket, so you can edit on the go.

Option 1 Delivery to your door every issue

Option 2 iPad edition for instant access

Option 3 Delivery to your door plus instant access

Annual Direct Debit: £48 for 13 issues plus Lowepro bag worth £69

Annual Direct Debit: £34 for 13 issues plus Lowepro bag worth £69

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Sorry, no gift outside the UK

Overseas annual credit/debit card payment: £34 for 13 issues.

Sorry, no gift outside the UK

Overseas annual credit/debit card payment: £75 for 13 issues.

Sorry, no gift outside the UK

Call 01858 438884 Quote KBA A TERMS & CONDITIONS: Subscriptions will start with the next available issue. Offer closes on 25/11/15. After your first Direct Debit payment your subscription will continue at the price you paid on this offer every 13 issues thereafter unless you are notified otherwise. You will not receive a renewal reminder and the Direct Debit payments will continue to be taken unless you tell us otherwise. Please allow up to 28 working days to receive your gift. No cash alternative available. If the offer is oversubscribed we may send you an alternative gift of equal or greater value.

This offer cannot be used with any other. Cost from landlines for 01 numbers per minute are (approximately) 2p to 10p. Cost from mobiles per minute (approximately) 10p to 40p. Costs vary depending on the geographical location in the UK. You may get free calls to some numbers as part of your call package – please check with your network provider. Order lines open 8am9.30pm (Mon-Fri), 8am-4pm (Sat). Calls may be monitored for training purposes.

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Plenty of storage space for extra accessories Memory cards, batteries and other small items can all be stored safely.

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Basic Skills

Editing Suite

Increase saturation with more refined control Images will be flat straight out of camera, so boosting saturation is a crucial technique. Tim Berry presents three ways to make global and local adjustments... l one of the most fundamental post-processing skills you can possess is being able to enliven your images with bright, punchy colours. Think of applying a saturation boost as an easy editing win, as you’ll be transforming lacklustre snapshots into genuinely striking images in very little time.

In other words, you’re getting maximum impact with minimum effort! The technique is useful for all colour images you shoot, but especially for RAW files which don’t benefit from any in-camera processing at all.

As is usually the case with Photoshop techniques, there’s more than one way to get from A to B, so we’re going to take a look at three different approaches to suit different types of shot. The first two methods are ‘global’ adjustments, so any changes affect the whole image. They’re also nondestructive, which means nothing you do will degrade the image in any way. The third method, which uses Photoshop’s Sponge Tool, is a ‘local’ adjustment, so can be applied exclusively to a very small area, such as your subject’s eyes.

What you’ll learn

Method 1 Adjust saturation

How to use Adjustment Layers How to adjust saturation and vibrance in a non-destructive way How to tweak saturation locally Software Photoshop Do it in 10 mins

Before

1

Create a Saturation Adjustment Layer

Open Photoshop and select File>Open to choose your image.

Bring up the Layers palette by going to Window>Layers. At the very bottom of the palette, look for the Create new fill or adjustment layer icon, which looks like a half-black/half-white circle. Click this and select Hue/Saturation from the list. You should now have a new Adjustment Layer above the Background Layer in the Layers palette.

2

Increase saturation

To the left of the Layers palette you should be able to see a Properties box. Within this, move the Saturation slider to the right for more vivid colours, or to the left for more muted colours. This tool affects all pixels equally, so areas that are already very saturated can suffer from saturation ‘clipping’, which will make the image look unnatural. To avoid this problem, only make subtle adjustments.

Method 2 Adjust vibrance

Above Using saturation or vibrance Adjustment Layers or the Sponge Tool, it’s quick and easy to make accurate and natural adjustments to colour saturation.

After

1

Create a Vibrance Adjustment Layer

As in Step 1 above, open your image with File>Open and bring up the Layers palette using Window>Layers. At the very bottom of the palette, locate the Create new fill or adjustment layer icon, click on it, then select Vibrance from the list. You’ll notice an Adjustment Layer appear above your Background Layer, and a Properties box appear to the left of it, containing sliders for Vibrance and Saturation.

2

Increase vibrance

Vibrance does a similar thing to saturation, but it has a greater effect on less saturated pixels, while leaving already very saturated pixels alone. This helps you achieve more even colour saturation across the whole frame. It also leaves skin tones alone for more natural-looking portraits. As such, you can push and pull the Vibrance slider further without the same chance of saturation clipping.

Method 3 Make local adjustments

1

Duplicate your Background Layer

Peter Zelei

With your image open in Photoshop and the Layers palette visible, click on the Background Layer to select it, then duplicate the Layer by going to Layer>Duplicate Layer, or pressing Ctrl+J. Whenever you edit ‘destructively’ (ie without using Layers or Adjustment Masks), it’s good practice to work on a copy of your original Layer, so that your original image information remains fully preserved.

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2

Use the Sponge Tool for local adjustments

Select the Sponge Tool from the Tools palette, then at the top of the screen choose a Hardness of 50% from the Brush Preset Picker. Set Flow to 20%, Mode to Saturate, and change the size simply by pressing the [ or ] keys on the keyboard. Carefully brush over the specific areas, such as the subject’s eyes, where you want to boost saturation. You can also set the Mode to Desaturate if you wish.

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Get Into Gear

Starter Kits

Panasonic Lumix G7 £579

Olympus E-M10 II £649

Canon EOS 750D £562 Fujifilm X-T10 £599

Buying guide

Sony α6000 £495

Pentax K-S2 £559

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Nikon D5500 £599

Best value DSLR & CSC

starter kits W Outgrown your compact or updating your DSLR? Matthew Higgs checks out the best interchangeable lens camera kits for under £650.

ith a greater choice than ever before, the level of performance and range of features now available in an affordable DSLR or CSC is a consumer’s dream. But with so many options to play with, choosing the model that best suits your photography can be overwhelming. This is a big decision that will dictate the lenses you have access to, the accessories that you buy, and possibly the brand you stick with for life, so you really want to get it right from the outset. In this buying guide we’re going to distil the choices for you, by taking a look at the seven most attractive DSLRs and CSCs under £650. From the Panasonic G7 with its 4K video recording, to the Fuji X-T10 with its flagship sensor and processor, each camera has something unique to offer. It’s time to find your perfect match...

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