Practical Photography - September 2015

PRACTICAL PHOTOGRAPHY SEPTEMBER 2015

Fuji X-T10

Advanced CSC offers superb image quality for under £500

35mm lens group test Canon, Nikon, Sigma and Sony do battle Plus Best free apps for Android & iOS

LEARN NEW CREATIVE

CAMERA SKILLS

September 2015 £4.99

FREE COURSE EASY WAYS TO SHOOT STYLISH LIFESTYLE IMAGES

n Master the art of symmetry n Get closer with extreme macro n Take the ultimate family portrait

Five reasons why full-frame is better

LEARN NEW CREATIVE CAMERA SKILLS

Smart ways to keep your photo gear safe Plus Add or enhance catchlights in Photoshop

84

cameras, lenses and accessories reviewed & rated

Cover image by Maxime Robeyns

La Cueva Ventana

by Omar AlQabandi

The story behind the world’s greatest shots

l “this photo was taken at the cueva Ventana (Window Cave) in Puerto Rico.

Having seen some previous images of this impressive location, I decided I should shoot it using a HDR technique to try to show its full beauty. I mounted my camera to a tripod, selected autobracketing and then set the camera’s self-timer. Once I clicked the shutter release, I quickly ran into position, where I remained until the camera had finished taking the bracketed shots. I used Photoshop and Photomatix Pro to edit the final image.”

Nikon D800 | 18mm | 1/13sec | f/16 | ISO 50

Omar AlQabandi is from Kuwait and is studying at Missouri State University, USA. He has been shooting for around 5 years and loves all types of photography, especially travel and adventure. plusomar.com

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COMPLETE GUIDE

FUN IDEAS FOR

CREATIVE PORTRAITS Forget the stuffy rules of old and plunge headfirst into an exciting world of portraiture where having fun is the main objective...

Learn great new photo skills...

Focus on objects

Try slow-sync flash

Blend faces

Capture the interests of different people p36

Add dynamic blur to your portrait shots p38

Merge the faces of a group of people together p42

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Jasper James

Keep it simple Quick and fun portrait ideas to get started p32

PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 31

Capture the beauty of

symmetry Bring balance and elegance to your images by mastering symmetry.

Tim Berry presents three techniques for both quirky and classic results.

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.

P

hotographers are always on the lookout for compositional formulas that will make their images more aesthetically appealing.

Depending on the image, that might be the rule-of-thirds or foreground interest, or it could be interesting framing or lead-in lines. But by far the most beautiful compositional tool of all is symmetry, where one part of the frame mirrors another. This method gives photos a strong sense of balance, harmony and simplicity.

Symmetry can be found almost everywhere you look. In the natural world, plants have symmetrical flowers, fruits and leaves, and almost all animals have symmetrical faces.

Symmetry is found in snowflakes, spider webs, rainbows and reflections on the surface of water. Similarly, it’s prevalent in buildings, bridges and other areas of urban planning. Chances are, even the chair you’re sitting in is designed in this way. So from a photographer’s point of view, there’s no shortage of material.

Over the next few pages, I’m going to show you three different creative projects based around the idea of symmetry. I’ll explain the best camera settings, techniques and compositional tips for simple but striking results.

Create stunning symmetrical shots

Inject balance into your landscapes p56

Create eye-catching floral images p58

Bring extra style to your portraits p60

Compose your scenics with a perfect reflection.

Shoot and process your own abstract flower shot.

Create a false reflection to add energy and style.

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Above Replicating a small section of a flower in Photoshop creates an intricate graphic design.

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Basic Skills

Editing Suite

Recover underexposed images the easy way Think all those dark shots are destined for deletion? It’s time to think again! Matthew Higgs shows you two exposure correction techniques that look faultlessly natural...

What you’ll learn

Camera RAW

How to correct exposure How to boost image vibrance How to use Levels Layers and blending modes Software Photoshop Do it in 5 mins

l reviewing a potentially great image only to realise it’s been underexposed is a frustration that all photographers have experienced. It could have happened for a number of reasons, but suddenly our masterpiece has become lost to darkness.

However, just because it wasn’t a perfect exposure in-camera, doesn’t mean that we can’t correct this disappointment during the editing process. Mastering the core techniques needed to quickly brighten up your shots, while still maintaining a naturallooking end result, is a skill that’s crucial for all photographers to develop.

In this tutorial we will be using two different techniques, one for RAW files and one for JPEGs. In the first method we will be working in the Adobe Camera RAW window to modifying our underexposed file via a series of adjustment sliders. In our second method, we will be using multiple blended Levels Layers to increase the brightness of our image. Both of these techniques take only minutes, despite the dramatic impact that they have.

It doesn’t matter how good a photographer you are, we all get the odd exposure wrong.

But with these simple techniques, you’ll be able to work your own exposure miracles the next time it happens...

1

Open file and increase exposure

Click File>Open and locate your image. If it’s a compatible RAW file, Photoshop will open the Adobe Camera RAW window. Drag the Exposure slider to the right to increase your image’s overall brightness. Avoid pushing this slider too far and blowing out the highlights. An evenly distributed histogram will mean an even exposure with a good balance between highlights and shadows.

3

Set Blacks and increase Clarity

We can now add depth to the darkest tones to further reduce the muddiness in the image. This is easily done by dragging the Blacks slider to the left. We moved our slider over to -15, which made our image look more like the way it would if it had been correctly exposed.

Next increase the Clarity to add some final contrast to our image’s midtones. To do this drag the sider to the right to around +20.

Before

Brightening the exposure may result in a photo that seems washed out and lacking in contrast. Drag the Contrast slider to increase contrast. An amount around +50 should be sufficient. This contrast can be further improved by adjusting Whites. By dragging this slider to the right we can increase the image’s white point, aka the brightness of its lightest tones.

4

Correct the colour balance

It’s not just exposure that can be corrected in this window. As our original file was underexposed, the now brighter image has a cool colour balance. Using the Temperature slider we can rectify this quickly.

Drag the slider to the right to increase the yellows for a warmer colour balance. We can also increase the level of Vibrance in our image to boost the saturation of its dullest colours. We set a new level of +20.

Levels Layers

1

Create and blend a Levels Layer

After Above The original RAW file was substantially underexposed, but our Camera RAW editing has quickly corrected the exposure while maintaining a natural-looking result.

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2

Boost contrast in the image

Open your image and click the Adjustment Layer icon, the half-black/half-white circle found at the bottom of the Layers palette. From the menu select Levels. With the new Layer selected, click the blending mode drop-down box and change Normal to Screen. This blending mode will lighten all of your image’s colours, except its solid blacks. The end result is a much brighter image.

2

Multiply the first Layer and adjust

Click and drag the first Levels Layer down to the Create a new Layer icon (the page with the up-turned corner found beneath the Layers palette) to duplicate it. Double-click your mouse on the Levels icon of this new Layer to bring up its dialogue box. Drag the black and white points underneath the histogram inwards to the edges of the existing histogram to increase the level of contrast in the image.

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35mm group test

Get Into Gear

T

Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM l A £699

Sony 35mm f/1.4 G £1099

Samyang 35mm f/1.4 AS UMC (AE) £399

How we test a lens

Canon 35mm f/2 IS USM £399

l Each lens is tested on location to find out how it performs in real-world conditions and in a range of shooting situations. l We use specially designed lens test charts in our studio to check for optical issues such as distortion, corner softness, chromatic aberration and vignetting.

Group test

l Every lens is fully assessed for useability, features, build quality and value for money.

The best 35mm

for full-frame Looking for the ultimate lens in this classic focal length? Matthew Higgs rounds up the market’s best value offerings and puts them to the test…

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he preferred lens of many street and wedding p h o t o g ra p h e r s, 3 5 m m primes are valued for their often excellent image quality and fast apertures. Since becoming popular with photojournalists in the 1960s and ’70s, they have successfully maintained their status as a kitbag essential for the past 50 years, and with good reason.

Providing an angle-of-view slightly wider than the human eye these lenses give a natural-looking perspective, and can be used comfortably for just about anything that doesn’t require an extreme wide-angle or a long reach. While not a traditional portrait lens, they are excellent for in-situ images of subjects that avoid the excessive distortion associated with wider lenses.

They also make good landscape lenses, capturing a reasonably large angle-of-view despite their small size. Compact and lightweight, they’re perfect for the photographer on go.

While the six lenses we’ll be looking at are all full-frame compatible, they can also be used on APS-C DSLRs, making them a great investment for those wanting to upgrade their gear at a later date. When fitted to an APS-C camera, the 1.5x crop produces a full-frame equivalent focal length of around 53mm, cropping out some of the lens’ softer corners.

Nikon 35mm f/1.8G ED £429 Lensbaby Sweet 35 Optic with Composer Pro £279 PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 107