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Let there be

light!

FIELD TECHNIQUES FOR BETTER IMAGES

FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD Shots to savour from two of our best food shooters

HOW TO Master Lightroom’s Adjustment Brush

TESTED Fujifilm GFX100S Pentax K-3 Mark III

WIN! EIZO CS2420 IMAGE-EDITING + EX4 CALIBRATION SENSOR WORTH $1,500 P74 PEAK DESIGN EVERYDAY BACKPACK 15L ZIP V2 WORTH $399 P21 AUSTRALIAN RESIDENTS ONLY

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EDITOR’S NOTE

ESTABLISHED IN 1950 EDITORIAL Editor: Mike O’Connor mikeoconnor@yaffa.com.au Contributing Editors: Mick Fletoridis, Rob Ditessa, Drew Hopper, Anthony McKee and Saima Morel.

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GOOD ARTISTS COPY, GREAT ARTISTS STEAL? LEFT: An image I took from what is now a very popular angle of the harbour. I don’t think this is a particularly creative image beyond perhaps my editing – the shot has been captured hundreds of times before!

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MIKE O’CONNOR, EDITOR

H

ave you ever heard this quote above? It has been accredited to a few people over the years - Steve Jobs, Pablo Picasso, William Faulkner but whoever said it first, the essence is the same – that stealing is a part of artistic genius.

Now I can’t claim to be the first to consider it in the context of photography, but recently I watched a YouTube video by Ted Forbes of channel The Art of Photography (You can watch it here: https://bit. ly/3ADFgoq) who did just this, and much more eloquently than I ever could. As he says, while inspiration is essential to photography and copying a picture can teach you a great deal, there is a point where you have to dig deeper and try and find your own voice.

YouTube videos, Instagram, photography magazines - whatever your particular poison, everything

you create is a combination of your influences. To take that a step further, my own influences are probably reflected in this magazine with the kind of content I choose to publish – which in turn may end up influencing you!

Of course, there’s also a school of thought out there that there’s nothing truly original at all. But copying a particular style from someone you admire can be one of the best ways to get a start on your creative journey. I know for me, seeing great travel photos taken by my friends made me want to get out there and take my own, which then opened me up to other styles of photography and eventually working for this magazine.

However, at some point most people will find that just being derivative of others will stifle their creative process. There are exceptions to this of course - the most obvious being artist Richard Prince, famous and notorious in equal measure for shamelessly appropriating others work through ‘rephotographing’ and then selling the prints. Sure, what Prince does is definitely theft, but it’s also a very literal (and arguably creative) interpretation of the quote at the top of this page.

So, what if you interpreted the steal part differently, and took it to mean taking an idea and then making it your own? This would give you something original.

If you can then combine this with something interesting, you might then be onto something. None of this is easy nor straightforward, and those who have been successful at doing it will likely have spent their entire lives to get to that point. But it is an interesting idea worth considering with your own photography – what makes it unique, and how is it different to what others are doing? Doing this regularly might not make you a genius, but it may make your work something special. C

| 3 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

LANDSCAPE

CREATIVE

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26 LIGHT MAGIC Wildlife photographer Michael Snedic shares a few tips that’ll switch on your understanding of light at your next wildlife and landscape shoot.

34 THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING: THE ART OF FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY Ever heard the expression your eyes are bigger than your stomach? Well we have something that’ll keep both happy, as Rob Ditessa speaks to two food photographers about the skills and secrets of capturing mouth-watering and worldclass food photos.

62 TESTED: FUJIFILM GFX 100S A 102MP medium format camera in a body the size of a DSLR for less than the cost of an arm and a leg?! Yep, it’s here, and it’s very, very good.

Drew Hopper tests Fujifilm’s newest megapixel monster.

44 A ROYAL IN WAITING From windswept Campbell Island, wildlife photographer Doug Gimesy breaks down the story and edit behind one of his favourite images.

CONTRIBUTORS

52 PAINT LIKE A PRO Learn the secrets of Adobe Lightroom’s most useful tool - the adjustment brush - in this handy tutorial by AP editor Mike O’Connor.

DEPARTMENTS 8 QUICK SNAPS The latest news and products from the world of photography.

MICHAEL SNEDIC Michael Snedic is one of Australia’s most experienced professional wildlife and nature photographers. See more at wildnaturephotoexpeditions.com.

14 BEHIND THE LENS Drew Hopper took his camera out to experience some rare snow in rural NSW.

18 STRAIGHT SHOOTER Darran Leal has hit a huge milestone, and celebrates by announcing the winner of our first ever Straight Shooter photo comp.

20 YOUR BEST SHOT Take a look at the best images from our ‘Sport’ photo competition.

66 APS ONE FRAME AND COLUMN News, views and images from the Australian Photographic Society.

DOUG GIMESY Doug Gimesy is a professional conservation and wildlife photojournalist who focuses on Australian issues.

His clients include National Geographic, BBC Wildlife, bioGraphic and others.

See more at gimesy.com.

70 IMAGE DOCTOR

58 TESTED: PENTAX K-3 MARK III

Saima Morel critiques a selection of readers’ images, and picks the winner of the EIZO CS2420 image-editing monitor and calibrator.

A new DSLR camera released in 2021? No, we’re not kidding! Matty Graham takes Pentax’s newest DSLR out for a spin.

DREW HOPPER Drew Hopper is an Australian freelance documentary photographer exploring ecological themes, landscape and place. See more of his work at drewhopper.com.

COVER

A red hot sunrise at the Bay of Fires graces our cover this month.

“Sunrise in Tassie during summer is very early and we were staying about 30 minutes drive from Binalong Bay, which meant I was up at 3.30am to get there and set up in time,” explains photographer Craig Crosthwaite. “Not only that, but this was my third morning in a row trying to get the shot I wanted. At least by then I had the composition worked out. I walked away with a smile thinking there was no need to get up the next morning…I had it!” Canon 5D Mark IV, Canon 16-35mm lens @ 24mm. 1/8s @ f11, ISO 50.

You can see more of Craig’s images at seeseaimages.com.au.

MATTY GRAHAM Matty Graham is a photojournalist and former mag editor based in the UK. He specialises in landscapes, portraiture and video. See more at mattygraham.com.

QUICK SNAPS

QUICK SNAPS

MARTIN KANTOR PORTRAIT PRIZE RECOGNISES 27 AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAPHERS

T

HE finalists for the 2021 Ballarat International Foto Bi-

ennale’s (BIFB) Martin Kantor Portrait Prize have been announced, with 27 photographers recognised in the annual portrait photography competition.

The Martin Kantor Portrait Prize is both an exhibition and award for a photographic artwork of a significant Australian. Images must be a portrait of a living individual distinguished in art, letters, science, sports or politics.

The award is named after the late photographer Martin Kantor, and is an acquisitive prize, with first prize also winning $15,000 AUD. The finalists were selected by judges Naomi Cass, Max Delany, Bill Henson and Fiona Sweet.

The finalists for 2021 are George Angelovski, Graeme Armstrong, Fiona Bowring, Su Cassiano, Anna Maria Antoinette D’Addario, Elise Derwin, Stephen Dupont, George Fetting, Julia Firak, Lisa Gipton, John Gollings, Naomi Hobson, Nicholas Hubicki, Penelope Hunt, Tammy Law, Kellie Leczinska, Mia Mala McDonald, Stuart Miller, Suzanne Phoenix, Eugenia Raskopoulos, Eva Schroeder, Russell Shakespeare, Laki Sideris, Sanjeev Singh, Tobias Titz, Linda Wachtel and Rudi Williams.

All finalists will be exhibited as part of the 2021 Ballarat International Foto Biennale, which opens this month.

RARE $120,000+ CANON 1200MM F/5.6L LENS TO BE AUCTIONED A CLEAN copy of one of Canon’s rarest camera lenses is set to go under the hammer.

German auction house Wetzlar Camera Auctions is set to sell the Canon EF 1200mm f/5.6L lens, described as ‘exceedingly rare’, in October.

The super telephoto currently has no price guide, but is likely to sell for more than $100,000 USD ($129,000 AUD). In 2015, B&H Photo offered a 1200mm f/5.6L lens for $180,000 in ‘very good’ condition.

Wetzlar says that each lens took more than a year to build due to the time required to grow “its massive fluorite crystals”.

Very few of these particular crystals are known to exist today, and as such the production volume for the

1200mm f/5.6L was limited to about two lenses a year.

At the time, the lens had the longest focal length of an interchangeable lens for AF SLR cameras. It sports a USM (Ultrasonic Motor) and rear focusing system.

With the addition of extenders, the lens could be used as a manual focusing super-super-telephoto 1700mm f/8 or even a whopping 2400mm f/11 lens.

According to Canon, the EF 1200mm f/5.6 features 13 elements in 10 groups and has a close focusing distance of 14 metres - yes, that’s metres!

You can expect to hear more information about the lens closer to its auction on October 9, via wetzlarcameraauctions.com.

| 8 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

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announcement late last year, Sony has officially revealed the Airpeak S1 drone – which the company is calling the world’s smallest drone capable of carrying a full-size mirrorless camera.

The $9,000 USD ($11,000 AUD) professional-level drone promises to offer ‘exceptional f light performance, obstacle detection systems, and “heavy-lift” capability’ in a device that is slightly larger than a DJI Inspire 2.

The Airpeak is compatible with all of Sony’s mirrorless offerings, including the A1, A9, A7S and 7R series, and the recently announced FX3.

Sony says the Airpeak S1 can fly up to 90 km/h while withstanding winds of up to 72 km/h, and the company has released a video to back these claims, below. Sony says the drone will accelerate faster than DJI’s Inspire 2, and also has a higher top speed than DJI’s Matrice.

Sony says it has leveraged its vast inhouse manufacturing knowlege in the development of the Airpeak S1, and the drone will utilise a proprietary motor, propeller, control system, and sensing technology.

Onboard, stereo cameras containing the company’s image sensors are located on the front, rear, left, right, and bottom of the aircraft. Coupled with Sony’s ‘Vision Sensing Processor’, the aircraft’s location and ori-

entation can be determined in real-time – even in areas where GPS may be hindered, such as indoor spaces.

The S1 will be supported by a standalone controller as well as a dedicated Airpeak Flight app, which, for now at least, will remain an iOS and iPadOS-only application.

The S1 will offer a maximum flight time of 22 minutes without a payload, and just 12 minutes when equipped with an A7S Mark III and 24mm f/1.4 lens.

Surprisingly, the $9,000 USD admission price doesn’t even include a gimbal. According to Petapixel, the gimbal is the only part that Sony is not specifically manufacturing, and the S1 will work with a custom Gemsy Gimbal T3. It’s currently listed for $1,750 USD ($2,250 AUD) on Gemsy’s website, however Sony says this price may drop as a S1 specific variant is produced.

However, the Airpeak S1 will come with two sets of propellers, a remote controller, two batteries, and a battery charger. No local pricing or availability has confirmed yet, so keep an eye on Sony.com.au for more info.

www.tamron.com.au | 10 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

Focus on the Future

35-150mm F/2.8-4 Di VC OSD (Model A043) Di: For full-frame and APS-C format DSLR cameras.

QUICK SNAPS

NIKON LAUNCHES RETRO Z FC CAMERA NIKON has announced the Z fc, a DX-format (crop sensor) camera that combines mirrorless tech with an achingly cool vintage design inspired by the iconic Nikon FM2 film SLR. Even with the retro look, Nikon says the Z fc is designed to be a completely modern digital camera. It’s made of a magnesium alloy, and comes wrapped in a leather-tone material Nikon says will offer a ‘premium feel.’

On the exterior are carved aluminium dials, engraved lettering, and a circular eyepiece surrounding the EVF that features a 2.36mdot (XGA) OLED display. The camera weighs 390g, and 445g with battery and card.

On the inside, Nikon has paired a 20.9 Megapixel CMOS image sensor with its EXPEED 6 engine that will allow for up to 11 frames per second still burst shooting.

In addition to the retro black and silver model pictured here, six other colours will be avail-

able to purchase in Australia - black, white, sand beige, amber brown, natural grey, coral pink, and mint green, as well as the option to have the colour changed at a Nikon Australia Authorised Service Centre for a small fee.

No availability have been confirmed, but it is expected the Z fc will retail for around $1,499, body only.

Australian customers can pre-order a Z fc to receive a bonus colour change, Nikon MLL7 Bluetooth Remote Control and SmallRig Vlogging Tripod on purchases before September 30th 2021.

You can find out more about preordering at the Nikon website, nikon.com.au.

ADOBE PREMIERE PRO GETS MAJOR FACELIFT ADOBE has unveiled a major new update and refresh to video editing software Premiere Pro, with a public beta available for testing from today.

The update to Premiere Pro’s import and export functions, plus header bar, reflects 30 years of growth since the industry-standard video editor debuted back in 1991. Adobe says the current and changing needs of users are reflected in the updates, whilst also not forcing people to completely relearn their timeline editing skills.

At the heart of the update are new import and export functions - reflecting the reality that there are now are now a much greater number of video platforms, channels, formats, cameras and inputs than ever before.

“We want Premiere Pro to become a more intuitive, yet powerful editing tool that is ready to meet the demands of tomorrow while also helping creators meet the demands of to-

day of delivering high-quality content at quick turnarounds and optimizing content for multiple social platforms,” says Adobe.

The new Import Mode has been streamlined, focusing on what Adobe believes social video creators and editors want to prioritise.

The new Export Mode has been designed to make it easier to export multiple files, and puts the focus on the destination of the content. Users can now quickly choose a particular media format, or the social media platform where they want to publish (such as YouTube), use a selection of automatic settings to render it, preview it before publishing, and directly upload their video in Premiere when ready.

You can download the new beta of Adobe Premiere Pro CC now. C

www.tamron.com.au | 12 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

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BEHIND THE LENS

FROZEN COKE PHOTOGRAPHER: DREW HOPPER

When you think of snow, you probably have visions of snow-capped mountains or glaciers in some faraway winter wonderland. Snow in Australia is not something many people associate the country with, and neither is snow surrounded by stark industrial landscapes or suburban sprawl like I captured here during a snowstorm in June.

When I heard that snow was forecast, I was keen to try something different, so I made an overnight trip up the Northern Tablelands, and to the small mountain town of Guyra in New South Wales. Here I was greeted with an unusual scene of snow in Australia.

Some people would call this low graphic style of photography ‘boring’, or describe the image as a “snapshot”, yet despite its banality, I believe that even bland subject matter can take on another meaning and become something more extraordinary. In many ways, it’s a little like poetry in that its open-ended and allows the viewer to pause, reflect and/or reconsider what’s before them.

Over the years I’ve sought out plenty of “pretty” or “picture perfect” images, but these days I find myself drawn to the opposite side of the spectrum, to the mundane man-made objects that are often overlooked or taken for granted. Photographing these ordinary scenes in a way that emphasises their uniqueness has allowed me to express my feelings towards Australian life.

Guyra is a town I’ve visited multiple times, and I’ve photographed the same vending machine here on digital and film before. Witnessing the scene blanketed in snow felt rather nostalgic - as if I’d stepped back in time. At the moment, I feel like my work is constantly shifting directions, whether it be technique, format or subjects, but documenting the ordinary and everyday has become a constant. In time, I hope this work will become a larger body of work and perhaps a photobook.

I took this image with my trusty Fujifilm X100V mirrorless digital camera. Over the years I’ve learnt to love the 35mm (full-frame) focal length. I spent nearly a decade back and forth travelling in Asia shooting primarily with the focal length so it’s become an extension of myself. I like the colours you get with Fujifilm’s presets, and this one is set on Classic Chrome with a slight cyan tone. It may look like daytime, but this was captured at night using a tripod and a longer exposure. If I had framed it with the sky visible then it would have likely given away too much information. I feel that the exclusion of that element helped create something a bit more interesting than the norm.

FUJIFILM X100V, FUJINON 23MM FIXED LENS @ 23MM. 8S @ F3.6, ISO 400, TRIPOD.

| 14 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

| 15 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

Join us in Tasmania for the photography workshop of a lifetime To find out more information about the workshop, go to worldphotoadventures.com or email julia@worldadventures.com.au

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STRAIGHT SHOOTER

MY 100 COLUMN! TH

We have a winner! To celebrate 100 Straight Shooter columns, Darran Leal looks back on 100 columns of Straight Shooter and shares the winner of our Australian Landscape photography competition.

I

never quite expected to reach this milestone when I first started writing for Australian Photography back in 2010, but this is my 100th Straight Shooter feature!

Over the years I’ve shared hundreds of images and written thousands of words about photography on these pages, and yet I still get the same kick out of it today that I did when I first picked up a camera as a young guy who dreamed of being a photographer. When I first took on writing for the mag, I was always keen to focus my features on practical advice, and today I see my goal as to help photographers learn, improve and be challenged to be better creative artists.

Every Straight Shooter is based on targeting a particular facet of photography.

First, AP’s editor Mike may give me a specific topic to start with, such as the best landscape lens, or shooting in low light, and from there I’ll explore ways in which you, the reader, can learn something new.

Often this makes me think through things I might not have considered or thought about for years, and I need to constantly challenge myself, from knowledge, to techniques and to equipment, to bring something new with every column.

One of the things I’ve always encouraged photographers to do is to use their images, as for me, this is what photography is truly about. After all, what is the good of shooting thousands of images, only to leave them on a storage device, or as we did with film, in sleeves or boxes? So, I wanted a way to

celebrate my milestone and reward people for taking great work as well – so why not a photo competition?

THE COMPETITION The theme we settled on was pretty simple – your best single-image capture of an Australian landscape. From nearly 1,000 entries, and after an exhaustive judging process, we now have a winner. But most importantly, we have hundreds of photographers who entered and will be better photographers for it.

The finalists were all fantastic, but there can be only one winner. So, a big congratulations to Lee Cleland for winning with her image ‘Ancient Sentinels’ – which was a true iconic Aussie landscape photo. Of her image, she says, ‘These red river gums of SA, known as Hans Heysen trees, survive in a dry creek bed in the rugged Flinders Ranges – a land uplifted and weathered down, but still awe inspiring.”

To me, this is quintessential Australia, and it uses great landscape techniques with late light. The trees help to tell the story in the foreground with a beautiful frame of the peaks as a backdrop. It is not overly processed, and the right lens and aperture was used to fully tell the story.

Finally, if I was to offer some feedback to all the entrants, many entries would have been considered finalists with just a touch of better processing. Some had poor composition, while others didn’t succeed in telling a cohesive story. And of course, some did not follow the competition rules either!

If you’d like to see all the finalists, visit bit. ly/2R19Aqu where we’ve shared them all.

Like the competition, Straight Shooter is here to help you hone your skills. There can be only one winner, but in reality, you are all winners for reading this magazine and by exploring and pushing yourself to take better images. I hope you enjoy the columns, and here’s to a hundred more! C

DARRAN LEAL Darran has been teaching photography since 1981. His company, World Photo Adventures, takes small groups of photographers on professionally guided photo tours around the world, including a once-a-year trip with AP in 2021. More info: worldphotoadventures.com.au

| 18 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

STRAIGHT SHOOTER

Lee Cleland’s winning image, ‘Ancient Sentinels’.

Captured in the Flinders Ranges, it combines classic landscape technique with subtle editing and was a standout entry in the hotly-contested Straight Shooter photo competition.

| 19 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAPHY.COM

YOUR BEST SHOT

YOUR BEST SHOT SPORT

The essence of a great sports image can be many things – a moment of unique atheticism, the agony of defeat etched on a face, or a fist pump of emotion as victory is secured. This month we were looking for images that captured more than just the action on the field, and you didn’t disappoint us. Here were our favourites.

| 20 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

RICHARD MISQUITTA Ready, Set, Go EDITOR’S COMMENT Richard Misquitta’s image Ready Set, Go is a creative spin on the classic pin sharp shots we often see of sprinters launching out of the blocks. “I was taking photos at a local track meet,” Richard recalls. “I had an idea for a blurred motion image but hadn’t taken any ND filters, so to reduce the shutter speed I used the lowest ISO possible and a small aperture. I then had to make sure that I didn’t accidentally press the shutter too early and cause a false start for the competitors who may have heard the DSLR mirror.” There’s just enough in focus here so that we know what we’re looking at, while still giving a wonderful sense of movement in the frame. Your positioning right in-on-the-action and at the same height as the sprinters also helps bring the viewer into the shot with you. This is a creative image that takes some confidence to try, especially if you don’t want to miss the moment!

TECHNICAL DETAILS Nikon D7200, Nikon 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6 lens @ 26mm. 1/30s @ f20, ISO 100.

JOHN VAUSE Ejected EDITOR’S COMMENT John Vause’s image Ejected is one of those shots we probably all dream of capturing – the decisive moment, pin sharp and in beautiful light. He tells us the image was taken at Yallingup in SW WA in May, on a day where he had headed down to the southwest coast for wave and ocean photos and also to try out his new Fuji 70-300mm lens.

“This location can work well in the late afternoon with backlight on the waves, great water colour and usually plenty

of surfers,” he says. “A changing cloud cover made exposure difficult as the light was constantly varying, so I had to constantly check exposure and ISO to keep a high shutter speed as I was restricted to F8 with the teleconverter.”

Moments like this don’t come along often, and you’ve nailed the capture even with your new gear. There’s simply nothing to fault here. This is a standout image from a very stacked field of entries this month, and a shot that captures big wave surfing at its most visceral. Well done.

TECHNICAL DETAILS Fujifilm X-T4, Fujifilm XF70-300mmF4-5.6 lens + 1.4x TC @ 420mm. 1/1250s @ f8, ISO 800.

Thanks to the team at Blonde Robot, John Vause has won a Peak Design Everyday Backpack 15L Zip v2 bag valued at $399. Ideal for everyday carry and light photo carry, the bag is accessible on the top and sides via a single weatherproof 270-degree zip. Inside, configurable FlexFold dividers keep photo, drone, or everyday gear organised and protected, while outside, a 100% recycled 400D weatherproof shell keeps everything safe.

MORE INFO: PEAKDESIGN.COM

| 21 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

ROBERT SHEPHERD Determination HOW I DID IT During the Australian Commonwealth Games we had checked our position for the road bikes event a few days prior and made sure to position ourselves away from crowded areas. Here, a Ghanaian cyclist grits his teeth as he competes.

TECHNICAL DETAILS Canon 7D, Tamron 100400mm lens @ 352mm, 1/320s @ f6.3, ISO 100.

MARK GUTTERSON Rugby league finals HOW I DID IT In October, Penrith beat South Sydney to secure their first grand final in 17 years.

TECHNICAL DETAILS Nikon D850, 180-400mm f/4 lens @ 390mm. 1/1250s @ f4, ISO 8000.

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| 22 | AUGUST 2021| AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

YOUR BEST SHOT

STEVEN JEFFERY Deep Breath HOW I DID IT Before that final lift in a CrossFit competition.

TECHNICAL DETAILS Sony A6400, Sony E 70-350mm lens @ 70mm.

1/160s @ f4.5, ISO 6400.

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CRAIG ANDERSON Josh HOW I DID IT This photo was taken in Feb 2021 at the annual swimming carnival for the school where I work in South Gippsland, Victoria. It was a great opportunity to be given the “photographer” duties instead of driving a stopwatch for the day, but it also meant a few hoops to jump through to get the appropriate permissions for public use of the image In frame, Josh is one of our senior students who is very passionate about his individual sport

pursuits, and glad to be enjoying competition after the lockdowns and remote learning of last year.

I love the determination in his facial expression, and the texture of the water frozen in time as it’s streaming from his head and shoulders while he emerges from the pool surface mid-stroke in the breaststroke event.

Josh was initially a little embarrassed by the photo. He’d never seen a close-up of himself in action and found the rawness a little confronting at first sight, but he loved the photo.

TECHNICAL DETAILS Sony A7R II, Sigma 100-400mm lens @ 400mm.

1/1600s @ f6.3, ISO 1000. | 23 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

YOUR BEST SHOT

HOW TO ENTER YOUR BEST SHOT IS OPEN TO AP SUBSCRIBERS AND APS MEMBERS. TO ENTER AN IMAGE IN THE COMP, CHECK THE COMPETITION THEMES AND INSTRUCTIONS BELOW AND EMAIL YOUR BEST IMAGE TO YOURBESTSHOT@AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

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YOUR ENTRY

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October 31, 2021

November 30, 2021

1. Email your entry to yourbestshot@australianphotography.com with the name of the competition theme in the email subject line, for example: Weather, Abstract, Landscape, etc.

2. The image file must be the same as your name, for example Jane Smith.jpg. If you enter multiple images, each new image file name should be appended with a unique number, eg Jane Smith2.jpg 3. A maximum of three images can be entered per person.

4. Images must be in JPEG format.

5. Email file size must not exceed 7MB. 6. Please include the following information about your entry in the body of your email: Name, image title and up to 200 words explaining how you created your image. Please also include technical details including camera, lens, focal length, shutter speed, aperture, ISO, tripod (if used) and a brief summary of any software edits.

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PHOTO TIPS: USING LIGHT

LIGHT MAGIC

BY MICHAEL SNEDIC

Light is perhaps the most important aspect of photography, and understanding how it works and how to make the most of your camera in different lighting situations is a sure-fire way to capturing better images.

RIGHT: Shooting wildlife, such as this Thorny Devil, through glass at wildlife parks and zoos can be quite challenging.

If the exhibit is outdoors, like here at the Alice Springs Desert Park, or there is harsh lighting above you indoors, then you’ll need needs to be taken that the glass doesn’t reflect light back on to your camera. One way to eliminate this unwanted light is to use a lens hood on the lens you are using and carefully touch the glass with the hood, but at an angle.

This way, you have a much better chance of photographing your subject without unsightly light across your image.

Nikon D700, 200mm f/4 lens. 1/25s @ f5.6, ISO 800. | 26 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

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For this Boyd’s Rainforest Dragon, I used a diffuser on my flash to minimise harsh light and overblowing the subject. Flash at full power or too close to a subject can create unsightly images.

Nikon D200, 105mm f/2.8 lens. 1/60s @ f9, ISO 100.

W

hether it’s rays of light in a rainforest, subtle early morning sunlight poking through mist or gorgeous backlighting on a bird, nice light can make the world of difference to the feel of an image.

NATURE’S DIFFUSER Without exception, nature provides the best diffuser. An overcast day will always produce much more favourable and ‘even’ lighting as the light is much more subtle. On a sunny day you will often end up with harsh light projected onto your subject as well as contrasting shadows. Unfortunately, trying to ‘fix’ these type of images in post-processing is usually a lost cause.

Modern cameras are excellent at metering available light and photographing wildlife on overcast days will generally produce images with perfect exposure.

However, care still needs to be taken if the subject is white or brightly coloured. If you are using Manual mode, you generally need to increase your shutter speed to avoid overblown highlights. If your camera is set to Aperture Priority, then you will likely need to reduce your exposure compensation in one third increments, until you achieve the perfect exposure.

To check for this in the field, turn on the ‘blinkies’ and check your highlight areas aren’t blowing out too greatly between shots.

Where diffused light truly comes into its own is in the rainforest. If you have ever taken shots in a rainforest on a sunny day then you’ll know the end

results are usually disappointing – for me personally, I don’t even take out my camera in these conditions!

Sure, you can take a few images as a memory, especially if you have travelled far to get to your shooting location, but the shots won’t be ‘competition winning’ by any stretch.

However, if you are lucky enough to be in a rainforest on a cloudy or rainy day, try to use a circular polarising filter (CPL). The CPL will help reduce unsightly glare on wet rocks and leaves and give your images a slightly saturated look without being gaudy and overthe-top. Just don’t forget that a CPL will lower your shutter speed by an average of 1.5 to 2 stops, so keep an eye on your shutter speed.

RIM LIGHTING Rim lighting can add a lovely effect to a wildlife image, especially if it is used the correct way. To use it effectively, you will need to position the sun behind the subject that you are photographing. Early morning (sunrise) or late afternoon (sunset) light creates the most pleasing effect that will really emphasise your subject.

By moving around with your camera and lens and composing the shot, where the harsh light of the sun is ‘blocked’ by the animal, you end up with a rim of light around your subject. Rim lighting is the perfect way to accentuate textures in fur or feathers, as well as shapes and contours. You’ll find it works best for subjects that don’t move much.

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PHOTO TIPS: USING LIGHT

“WHERE DIFFUSED LIGHT TRULY COMES INTO ITS OWN IS IN THE RAINFOREST. IF YOU HAVE EVER TAKEN SHOTS IN A RAINFOREST ON A SUNNY DAY THEN YOU’LL KNOW THE END RESULTS ARE USUALLY DISAPPOINTING...”

CREATING GREAT SILHOUETTES

CAPTURING A MOODY LANDSCAPE

I have always been a huge fan of creating photographic silhouettes, and they can be great to shoot if you’re stuck with high contrast lighting. However, as with rim lighting, sunrise and sunset are the best times to try it.

The key here is to choose the correct metering on your camera. If you use Spot Metering on your subject, then the subject will often be correctly exposed, but your background will be blown out. The secret is to use Matrix Metering (Nikon), Evaluative Metering (Canon) or Multi-pattern or Multi-segment Metering (most other camera brands), which will mean the camera’s meter will read the whole scene you are photographing.

If the background is way too bright, then try to reduce your exposure so that the background is exposed well. With the background correctly exposed, your subject will become a silhouette. Photographing wildlife subjects when there is a rich, colourful sunrise or sunset will often give you the best end results for this style.

You can also create interesting silhouettes when the sky is dull. I suggest turning the background to white when post-processing, thus creating interesting black and white silhouette images.

There is nothing more appealing than a photo of a moody landscape. This could be rays of light beaming through a rainforest, mist across a valley or the sun hitting a part of a beautiful landscape. The best way to capture rays of light or mist is to venture out with your camera early in the morning, especially after rain. It is important to expose for the rays of light or mist to make them stand out. Once again, this effect is best on a cloudy day.

Waterfalls and cascades are very popular subjects with many landscape photographers. To be in an environment where you are surrounded by rainforest while breathing in fresh air and listening to water flowing is very relaxing. For best results when photographing waterfalls or cascades, photograph them when it’s cloudy.

It may be the angle of the sun hitting a certain part of a landscape that makes an image ‘pop’. Try honing in on that particular area by zooming in with a lens that has a longer focal length. This way you are concentrating on that specific area and accentuating the part of the landscape that has the sun shining on it.

LEFT: By shooting birds and other wildlife with the sun in front of you or slightly to the side, rather than behind you, you can create lovely rim lighting around your subject. By lining up your subject (in this case a Cape Baron Goose chick on Kangaroo Island) so that it is in line with the sun, you are also stopping the sun from being completely overblown in your shot. Nikon D850, Nikon 500mm f/5.6 lens. 1/2500s @ f5.6, ISO 400.

RIGHT: To create a silhouette like of this Rainbow Lorikeet feeding on a Grass tree, set your camera’s metering to Matrix (Nikon), Evaluative (Canon) or Multi Pattern/Multi Segment (most other brands) and expose for the sky.

Sunrises and sunsets is the best time to try this. Nikon D850, 500mm f/5.6 lens.

1/8000s @ f5.6, ISO 800.

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PHOTO TIPS: USING LIGHT

Early morning light right after sunrise is hard to beat if you are wanting subtle, delicate light to fall on plants you are photographing, such as the grevillea shown here. You can also add extra light to the plant by using a diffused hand held torch. Experiment with the angle that you are shining the torch and once you find the right angle of light, you can then work on composition and focusing. Nikon D850, 105mm f/2.8 lens. 1/320s @ f8, ISO 800.

| 30 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

“A PORTABLE DIFFUSER BETWEEN YOUR CAMERA AND MACRO SUBJECTS CAN CREATE A NICELY DIFFUSED LIGHTING EFFECT. AND, RATHER THAN ENDING UP WITH OVERBLOWN MACRO IMAGES, THE SUBJECT WILL BE BATHED IN SUBTLE, DIFFUSED LIGHT THAT IS MUCH MORE PLEASING ON THE EYE...”

Some of the most interesting images of trees I have seen over the years are ones that have been taken directly after rain. Certain species of eucalyptus trees for example shed their outer bark at particular times of the year and reveal incredible colours on the inner bark.

But when this layer of bark becomes wet, the rich colours come to life. Some people don’t like to head out after rain or during rain but I can guarantee some of the best shots of trees have been taken during rain!

FILL FLASH FOR BIRDS AND WILDLIFE While natural lighting is often preferred by many wildlife photographers, fill flash can be advantageous in some situations. Recently I was presenting a wildlife photography workshop in the rainforest in Lamington National Park, Queensland. It was early in the morning; the clouds were very dark and shutter speeds were abysmally low. This is where flash can help The light released from a flash or speedlight is enough to increase your camera’s shutter speed, without the need for a really high ISO setting which can create lots of noise. Sure, images with lots of noise can be corrected in post, but the issue is that your image quality will be greatly reduced.

By practising with different flash angles, varied power settings and diffusers over the top of a flash, you can end up with shots of the same subject, all with varying lighting effects. Sometimes using two flash units, where each flash is set up on brackets attached to the camera’s hot shoe, can also create delicate light without harsh shadows.

PORTABLE DIFFUSERS AND REFLECTORS If you don’t have a flash, handheld diffusers and reflectors can be a good backup. Something like a 45cm or 50cm 5-in-1 reflector/diffuser is compact and easy to carry around and very versatile, and I’ll always try to pack one when photographing macro subjects such as fungi, flowers or insects. Fungi images in particular can be greatly improved by using external light sources. | 31 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

A portable diffuser between your camera and macro subjects can create a nicely diffused lighting effect.

And, rather than ending up with overblown macro images, the subject will be bathed in subtle, diffused light that is much more pleasing on the eye.

A ref lector is also a very handy product to keep in your camera bag as they are cheap and easy to use in the field. I prefer using the silver diffuser compared to gold and I use it to ref lect natural light onto fungi or plants. If you are photographing gilled fungi or f lowers that have shadows, a ref lector adds just the right amount of extra light in the darker areas of the image My advice is to locate the position of the sun, point the reflector to the sun and then slowly move the beam of light onto whatever it is you are photographing. Small reflectors are great because you can usually hold one with one hand while your other hand

presses the camera’s shutter button or remote/cable release (if using a tripod).

In the end, it doesn’t matter what type of external light source you try and where you position it, the key is you experiment.

PHOTOGRAPHING WILDLIFE IN ZOOS DURING HARSH LIGHT Zoos and wildlife parks are the ideal places for practising your wildlife photography. There are plenty of animals to choose from in varying shapes and sizes. Sometimes though, lighting can be quite harsh, especially if you’re stuck visiting in the middle of the day. It may not be ideal, but you can still photograph in sunny conditions. If shooting white animals or ones with shiny feathers, fur or scales, you can increase your camera’s shutter speed in order to reduce overblown highlights.

Alternatively, if shooting in Aperture Priority, reduce

| 32 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

PHOTO TIPS: USING LIGHT

LEFT: One of the best tips I can give when photographing sunrises and sunsets is “look behind you”. I was on the Overland Track in Tasmania, photographing a beautiful sunrise scene, when I turned around and saw an even more amazing view. The mist hovering over the landscape, coupled with the beautiful pink glow of the sunrise, made for a perfect setting for this image. Nikon D700, 150mm f/2.8 lens. 1/25s @ f11, ISO 800.

BELOW: For the image of this wildflower photographed at Girraween National Park in Queensland, I was fortunate to have perfect, overcast light above me.

This beautiful light bathed the flower, without any harsh light or shadows to worry about. Nikon D700, 150mm f/2.8 lens. 1/125s @ f22, ISO 1600.

your exposure by going minus with your exposure compensation (+/-). Also in Aperture Priority, when shooting an animal and the background is very bright, you can choose Spot Metering. This metering setting helps better manage exposure on your subject.

EXPERIMENT, EXPERIMENT, EXPERIMENT The best thing you can do to understand lighting is to experiment like crazy – it’s something I still do today. When you have downloaded your images onto the computer, look through them carefully. Some images may not work, while others might be nice but nothing special. It doesn’t matter, as it is from these mistakes that you learn. Carefully study why some images worked and others didn’t and try and replicate your best results next time you are out shooting.

Doing this will help you create fantastic, well-lit and interesting images. C | 33 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

PROFILE: OMID DAGHIGHI & DANELLA CHALMERS

THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING:

THE ART OF FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY

BY ROB DITESSA

What does it mean to capture the essence of what we eat? AP meets two leading food photographers to discover how they create images that capture our attention and our tastebuds.

I

t was said by Apicius, a foodie from first century Ancient Rome, that we first eat with our eyes, and then our mouths. And, centuries later, the quote has never been more accurate. Today, cookbooks illustrated with page after page of mouth-watering images are always amongst the best sellers, and good food photography is a must for any business keen to draw customers into their kitchens.

For a select group of our finest food photographers, capturing what we eat is a real artform, and Sydney photographer Omid Daghighi knows this better than most. In his more than 25 years as a photographer, he has worked with clients such as David Jones, Guzan Y Gomez and Meat and Livestock Australia. But he’s also wary of being titled something he’s not.

“I am a still life photographer,” he says. “There are hundreds of us. Some specialise in fashion, like shoes and handbags. I do a lot of food. What is a food photographer? In the old days we were still life photographers specialising in food.

When I say ‘food photography’ now people think it’s all about social media. I do a lot of food, and also a lot of advertising of products you buy from the shelf in supermarkets, frozen foods, ice cream, or pasta. But I’m a still life photographer. It’s just the way I feel about my work.”

For photographer Danella Chalmers, who has a portfolio that stretches from advertising images to work for cookbooks and restaurants, the joy of capturing food comes from its unpredictability.

| 34 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

© DANELLA CHALMERS

This image utilises opposing colours of yellow and blue to create a dynamic image of this lemon tart. Canon EOS 5D Mark III, EF 24-105mm lens @ 50mm.

1/125s @ f8, ISO 160.

| 35 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

LEFT: Window light from camera right, plus a white reflector from the opposite side, helped balance the light in this image.

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III, Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8 lens. 1/40s @ f4, ISO 100.

OPPOSITE: Here, the restaurant environment was extremely dark and had very limited space to work within. So, the stylist and I recreated our own table set with a vibrant background wall colour and marble tile surface to create this image. Canon EOS 5D Mark III, EF 24-105mm lens @ 50mm. 1/125s @ f10, ISO 250.

“The beauty of food is that it doesn’t have an ego, but it does have personality,” she says. “Finding the cake’s best side, or knowing what angle will bring out the shine in a melted cheese sandwich, are all things to embrace when shooting food. A single piece of fruit can have its own sense of character.

Your job is to let it shine.”

And shine is something great food images do, making them an instrumental part of how we perceive what we eat.

© OMID DAGHIGHI

KITCHEN TO THE TABLE

G E T T I N G S TA R T E D “You don’t need a lot of fancy equipment to start shooting at home,” explains Danella Chalmers. “A window with good natural light, a tripod, and a decent DSLR camera is enough to get you started. You learn best by experimenting, so pick an image you like and try to replicate it. By doing so you will begin to understand how it was lit, what camera setting they used and why that particular composition was so affective. Keep practicing, the more you shoot, the easier it is to find your style.

“I usually set up my photo session at the start of a shoot with a few settings I like to begin with. In general I set ISO, aperture and shutter speed, then I start testing placement and power of my light source. But I always come back to checking focus before moving on with any shot. You can fix many things in retouching, but you cannot make something sharp that is blurry. Always double check your focus.

“Don’t forget to adjust your setting throughout the shoot depending on each shot. You cannot rely on the same setting working for every dish throughout the day. Focal length is a great way to push and pull your background in and out of dominance in a shot. Depth of Field is vital for removing unnecessary details and focusing the eye on what’s important. Shutter speed will allow you to capture that sense of movement and urgency when food is being playful like oozing, dripping, steaming, bubbling or sprinkling.”

For both photographers, the process typically starts with a brief. For Omid, he’ll work through this with his food stylist and the chef regarding the look, feel and props before the shoot.

“We have to plan the shoot carefully as some dishes take longer [to photograph] than others,” he explains. “In some instances, we have to stack the shots in a way that we don’t have a sudden rush or too much downtime.”

Danella stresses the need to know exactly where and how the images will be used, to help pinpoint the essence of the shoot. But even then, she says, it is never possible to plan for everything.

“Although plans give you a starting point and options to explore, a great deal of what we do is to respond to the plate of food that is put in front of us to photograph.

It helps to stay open to new possibilities - that’s where the magic happens.”

This magic occurs in the hustle and bustle of a food shoot with many people to accommodate and please.

As Omid explains, on a typical commercial shoot there could be as many as four people from the advertising agency in the studio. And that’s before his photography crew comes in.

Omid works with his own assistant who is tasked with setting up equipment. From there, a food stylist plates the dish in a way that creates the planned effect, which includes organising the props, backgrounds, and surfaces. Then, the chef will prepare the food to be plated on time, in sequence, and in a way that highlights the qualities being promoted.

At the centre of all this is the photographer, whose job, says Omid, is to transform the vision in the minds of the art director and client into a visual reality, while creating an image that stimulates a mouth-water-watering response in the viewer.

| 36 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

PROFILE: OMID DAGHIGHI & DANELLA CHALMERS

© DANELLA CHALMERS

“...FINDING THE CAKE’S BEST SIDE, OR KNOWING WHAT ANGLE WILL BRING OUT THE SHINE IN A MELTED CHEESE SANDWICH, ARE ALL THINGS TO EMBRACE WHEN SHOOTING FOOD. A SINGLE PIECE OF FRUIT CAN HAVE ITS OWN SENSE OF CHARACTER. YOUR JOB IS TO LET IT SHINE.”

| 37 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

PROFILE: OMID DAGHIGHI & DANELLA CHALMERS

© OMID DAGHIGHI

© OMID DAGHIGHI

“LIGHTING MAKES OR BREAKS AN IMAGE, AND THE ONLY WAY IS TO PRACTICE. YOU COULD LAY ANY OBJECT DOWN, LOCK THE CAMERA IN POSITION AND JUST MOVE THE LIGHT AROUND AND SEE HOW DIFFERENT IT LOOKS...”

| 38 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

PROFILE: OMID DAGHIGHI & DANELLA CHALMERS

ABOVE: Window light and a white reflector helped balance the light here. Canon EOS-1D X, Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8 lens. 1/4s @ f5.6, ISO 200.

RIGHT: I shot this as an experiment into classical portrait lighting techniques and how they could be applied to a food subject. By mimicking a shaft of light reminiscent of a Rembrandt painting, I was hoping to create a still life painterly feel to this poached pear.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III, EF 24-70mm f/2.8 lens @ 70mm. 1/125s @ f11, ISO 100.

© DANELLA CHALMERS

LEFT: A Profoto D1Air 1000 through a scrim from camera right behind the subject, and a large white reflector created the light for this image. Canon EOS-1D X, Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8 lens. 1/25s @ f4, ISO 100.

| 39 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

© DANELLA CHALMERS

“I LIKE TO USE CUTLERY TO ADD LINES IF THERE ARE A LOT OF ROUND PLATES. THEY HELP TO LEAD THE VIEWER’S EYE FROM ONE PLATE TO ANOTHER...”

| 40 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

PROFILE: OMID DAGHIGHI & DANELLA CHALMERS

LIGHTING THE SCENE Just like the best food needs the perfect amount of seasoning, so to even the most inspired and best planned composition can be undone by poor lighting.

For Danella, keeping things uncomplicated is key.

“I remember once being told that there is only one sun in the sky, and so I usually start each shoot with one main light source,” she explains.

“This is the best way to create shape and texture. Of course, there are times where one light isn’t enough, but I approach lighting with a less-is-more kind of philosophy. I generally use a studio flash head, either with a soft box or a reflector dish, through a scrim.

This allows me to adjust the direction and sharpness of my shadows with easily.”

As she explains, lighting creates texture in an image, and texture goes a long way to visually describe how something will taste. Crusty pizza bread, soft basil leaves, and shiny melted cheese, contribute to making a pizza mouth-wateringly delicious. This is achieved by creating just enough contrast in the lighting without losing important detail.

It’s something Omid agrees with. “Lighting makes or breaks an image, and the only way is to practice.

You could lay any object down, lock the camera in position and just move the light around and see how different it looks. Generally cross lighting will emphasise texture,” he says.

Colour too is critical in whether food will look delicious, Danella adds.

“Too yellow or too blue and you risk making the food look sickly and unappetising. Like most professionals, I shoot in RAW file format. This allows me to apply a white balance during the shoot and make adjustments after the shoot is finished.”

TO ZOOM OR NOT? There are different schools of thought as to whether a fixed or zoom lens is better. Danella Chalmers uses two main lenses for her food photography, a 24-105mm zoom and a macro 100mm.

“Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but I keep both in my kit at all times. Most food images are captured somewhere between 50-100 mm which is why I love my zoom lens. It allows me to quickly and easily line up and see which focal length will suit each dish, especially when on location or on shoots where time is limited to cover all shots.”

| 41 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

BELOW: Here, a Profoto D1Air 1000 through a scrim from camera right behind the subject and a large white reflector helped make the shot. Canon EOS-1D X, Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8 lens.

1/15s @ f4, ISO 100.

OPPOSITE PAGE: This image was captured during a menu shoot for a new Vietnamese restaurant.

The interior of the premises was still under construction when I arrived on location to photograph their food.

Unable to utilise their room décor, I instead constructed a wall of cutters to remove the distracting unfinished background from the set. When the hot steaming noodle soup came to the table, the steam could be easily captured against the now black and uncluttered background. Canon EOS 5D Mark III, EF 24-105mm lens @ 60mm. 1/60s @ f11, ISO 320. © OMID DAGHIGHI

But as he explains, you can have all the people and setup in the world, but melting cheese waits for no photographer.

“I try to have the shot pretty much set up with a different plate. Once the hero dish is ready, I just replace it. You have to work fast once the food arrives on set.”

© OMID DAGHIGHI

ABOVE: Simple window light helped create this image. Canon EOS-1D X, Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8 lens. 1/10s @ f5.6, ISO 200.

TRICKS OF THE TRADE As Danella explains, there are generally three main angles in setting up a shot - overhead, 45-degree angle, and front-on.

“There are simple rules. For example, a burger looks better from the front because you can then see all the juicy layers of ingredients, as opposed to an overhead shot where you can only see a bun top.

I like to set up a shot with the camera on a tripod, and once I’ve captured that angle, and if time permits, I find it’s always worth handholding to explore the scene for other alternative angles. However, don’t discount the importance of using a tripod. The advantage of locking your camera in a single position is that it allows you flexibility when retouching, to include or remove elements from shots you photographed in a sequence.”

Angles, perspectives and depth of field are tools to use in composition to emphasise or distract from parts of an

image, says Omid. His style is to get everything finessed and locked up in a frame, and while he will walk about checking angles and views before pressing the shutter, he generally avoids being “footloose” with his camera.

Rustic plate ware and props are Danella’s preference.

She will use an uneven number of plates or items because an odd number lends itself to a more dynamic layout. “I like to use cutlery to add lines if there are a lot of round plates. They help to lead the viewer’s eye from one plate to another. A soft napkin can be a great addition too, although getting the perfect fold can be tricky. Experienced stylists can make folding a soft napkin look effortless. I struggle to get them to behave!”

She adds that loose herbs, pinch pots of sauce and other food items can act as helpful graphic elements to balance out the composition in a shot.

For his part, Omid likes to use props that are relevant to reality. “I just like it to look like it’s someone’s home,

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PROFILE: OMID DAGHIGHI & DANELLA CHALMERS

a dinner party, or at a restaurant, where you use napkins and cutlery. I don’t like overdoing it. I like to keep it simple, but make it stand out.”

CLEANING UP

“Take a recent image of a burger I shot as an example.

The way it was laid out, the actual meat was a bit dark. I could have easily fixed it in Photoshop. But it would have been another five minutes, to open up the Photoshop program. I would have lightened the area, my contrast would have gone a bit flat, so I would have had to add a bit more contrast, add a bit more of that, do a bit of this … No! What I did was to use some silver foil to reflect just a little light onto the meat. I stood just out of the shot, bouncing light from my flash back into the burger.

I lightened it and enriched the tonal value.”

Like comparing apples and oranges, both photographers approach editing in their own way. For work in post-production, Danella prefers Adobe Photoshop.

“I will finesse an image first in Capture One, applying levels, curves, colour balance, saturation, clarity and crops before outputting the image to the correct size and format as requested,” she explains.

THE SWEET AFTER-TASTE “I then take the image into Photoshop for finer reJust like we remember a fine meal for its after-taste, touching to clean any marks, spills, etcetera. I overwe remember a good food image in the way it lets lay multiple images if need be, or apply any specific the food shine and stimulates the taste buds. And, adjustments to selective areas that may not apply to like every great cook does it their way, every phothe whole image.” tographer should do it their way too. Says Danella, Omid on the other hand uses Capture One soft“Every decision in a shoot helps ware for capture and aims to get create the style for which you beeverything right in-camera. As FIND OUT MORE come known. Clients book you he explains, he can’t understand Danella Chalmers – danellachalmers.com for the look you create because of the fix-in-post mentality because Omid Daghighi – omid.com.au the combination of decisions you more often than not it takes only make when photographing.” C a few seconds extra to get it right.

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BEHIND THE LENS: SHOOT TO EDIT

A ROYAL IN WAITING

BY DOUG GIMESY

In the last hour of the last day of a two-week sub-Antarctic expedition, wildlife photographer Doug Gimesy was fortunate enough to capture this image of a rare Southern Royal Albatross. With only about 8,500 breeding pairs left, they are now classified as vulnerable to extinction. Here’s how he did it.

| 44 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

A Southern Royal albatross (Diomedea epomophora) sits patiently on Campbell Island, an uninhabited subantarctic island south of the New Zealand mainland. For just a few minutes, a small break in the clouds cast a beam of light on this elegant bird. Nikon D750, 2470mm f/2.8 lens @ 70mm. 1/250s @ f18, ISO 500.

| 45 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

My goal in coming here was to try and photograph the rare and beautiful Southern Royal Albatross, and when I saw this one, the first of the day, my immediate thought was “Well if this is what I see straight away, I wonder what it will be like if I keep on going?”. We pushed up the hill looking for something better, but of course after about an hour and a half there wasn’t anything, and as our time ashore had started to run out, we headed back towards the ship. As we reached the spot again this magnificent bird was still there, sitting quietly and patiently.

WAITING TO BE PHOTOGRAPHED

T

he image that opens this story was taken on Campbell Island in the Southern Ocean, where wind gusts reach over 96km/h on at least 100 days each year. New Zealand’s sub-Antarctic islands, including Campbell, are the Albatross capital of the world with around 14 species breeding in the region. To experience wildlife that lives in such rugged isolation is both exhilarating and deeply moving.

Albatross prefer windswept isolated islands in high latitudes, and as such their environments can be difficult to access and also demanding to work in.

Like with most conservation and wildlife photography, the challenges are often not just limited to locating the wildlife, the weather conditions on the day, or your equipment. Simply getting to the location can be tough, especially for someone like myself who suffers from severe sea sickness.

To reach Campbell Island (which is the main island of the uninhabited sub-Antarctic Campbell Islands group) you need to travel about 600kms from the tip of New Zealand’s South Island. We travelled there with Heritage Expeditions on an ice-strengthened Russian expedition vessel as part of a 12-day journey to visit several sub-Antarctic islands south of New Zealand, including Macquarie, Auckland, Snares and Campbell islands. Being chronically seasick and bed bound on all the sea legs, I took no comfort in the Captain telling me that our sea swells were a ‘moderate’ seven metres, and could have been much worse as stormy conditions can produce waves the height of six-storey buildings.

The ecosystem and environment on Campbell is magnificent - a maritime tundra with consistently cool, cloudy, wet and windy weather, where the mean daily temperature is between 5 and 10 degrees Celsius, and it rains for around 325 days each year.

As the albatross had built its nest next to the path, I assumed it was somewhat comfortable with human presence - at least for a short period of time. I checked with the guides and bird experts who were there and they said it would be fine for a few minutes to stop and take some images. I gave myself a maximum of five minutes, or until ‘bill clacking’ started (a sign of albatross anxiety), to either take the shot, or move on. To be candid, I am now not sure whether this amount of time was even short enough, as recent research has shown that some birds (like humans I guess) start experiencing physiological stress way before they show any outward behavioural signs.

My choice of vantage points was limited because we needed to stay on the boardwalk to avoid trampling the vegetation, so I selected my 24-70mm f/2.8 lens. As haste, flexibility and minimum movement were important, I decided against using my tripod and simply went for a good f/18 depth of field to capture the albatross and the environment it lives in. My shutter speed was set to 1/250th and my ISO (which I always set to auto) was fluctuating around the 500 mark.

After a few minutes and about 25 shots, the sun momentarily broke through and illuminated the albatross - I couldn’t believe my luck. I took about another 10 images or so during that window of natural fill light, and then decided that was enough, and moved away slowly. All up I took about 35 images, and as usual when using a camera with two memory card slots, one image was saved as a RAW file, the other backing up as a high-resolution jpeg.

BACK ONBOARD I didn’t use to take a laptop into the field, not only because of the extra weight, but I thought that would help ensure I spent as much time as possible outside, either taking photos or just enjoying the experience. As I’ve progressed, I still try to have minimal in-field computer time, but I have found taking a laptop allows to me to easily do three things at the end of each day: back up all the images, check image quality (i.e. sensor spots, is everything working?) and reflect if there are any learnings or creative ideas that I may want to take into the field the next day. All this minimises my greatest fear of getting home and wishing “If only I had….”

Taking a laptop also allows me to create a Lightroom catalogue and add keywords and the location so I don’t forget anything when I get home.

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BEHIND THE LENS: SHOOT TO EDIT

“I TOOK NO COMFORT IN THE CAPTAIN TELLING ME THAT OUR SEA SWELLS WERE A ‘MODERATE’ SEVEN METRES, AND COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH WORSE AS STORMY CONDITIONS CAN PRODUCE WAVES THE HEIGHT OF SIX-STOREY BUILDINGS...”

| 47 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

BELOW: The scene that I first saw when we started walking on the island. A southern royal albatross sits between tussock grasses next to the designated walking path.

Nikon D750, 24-70mm f/2.8 lens @ 24mm. 1/800s @ f13, ISO 500.

OPPOSITE PAGE: We were forced to detour through the tussock grass as a Hooker’s sea lion had inconveniently decided to use the boardwalk as a sundeck. Why not I thought – I would if I was him.

Nikon D750, 24-70mm f/2.8 lens @ 40mm. 1/320s @ f7.1, ISO 500.

BEHIND THE LENS: SHOOT TO EDIT

ABOVE: The coastal landscape of Campbell Island is magnificent. Uninhibited by humans, it is the main island of the Campbell Island group, and is now designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Nikon D750, 24-70mm f/2.8 lens @ 24mm. 1/1600s @ f4, ISO 320.

POST-PROCESSING

ORIGINAL

When I’m home from a trip like this, I transfer the files and catalogue to my home computer and do two backups; one stored on-site, the other off-site. I also put the SD cards aside for a month or so. I then try to take a few days off to absorb all the experiences. However, if I feel I have a great shot - I really can’t help myself and usually have to take a look.

Generally, I like to keep processing pretty simple.

Let’s look at how I edited this image.

First, I imported the image into Lightroom. Lens and chromatic aberration are set to automatic, and I did global adjustments in the following order: | 48 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

BEHIND THE LENS: SHOOT TO EDIT

STEP

1

ANGLE ADJUSTMENT AND CROP This is a good step to do first as it gives the first look at what image you will have to work with once you have cropped in.

STEP

2

TONAL ADJUSTMENTS VIA THE TONE PANEL To better match what I remember the light was like on the islands, I made a few tweaks to the Contrast (+8), Highlights (-6), Whites (+26) and Blacks (-3). I also lifted the Shadows (+56) a fair bit to bring detail back into the feathers and background.

STEP

3

PRESENCE Presence adjustments were made via the Clarity (+38), Vibrance (+33) and Saturation (+34) sliders to add some punch. This isn’t always necessary, and I’ve found it often depends upon the lens used.

| 49 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

BEHIND THE LENS: SHOOT TO EDIT

STEP

4

SPOT ADJUSTMENTS The next step is spot adjustments to address any clipping or extremes. I then use the spot removal checking the ‘visualise spots’ button and cloning tool to minimise any sensor spots. Finally I apply sharpening and noise reduction..

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS

STEP

5

SHARPENING With my sharpening for this image, you might see that I have the masking up pretty high. That’s simply to make sure only key edges are sharp, not everything. I feel with nature images if you don’t do that, everything can start to feel too digital and artificial - and that’s the opposite of what I want.

Oh, and a quick tip to help you see what is masked when you are processing - hold down the option key whilst your cursor is on the masking slider.

As I’ve developed as a conservation and wildlife photographer, I’ve become much more aware of the potential negative animal welfare impacts we can all have – often unknowingly at the time - when trying to get ‘that shot’. If I could do it all again, I would do a few things differently (which I do now). Firstly, I’d do more pretrip research and ask more experts questions like “How close is too close for the birds I may come across?” and “How long is too long to take pictures if they are aware of my presence?”

With the longest lifespan of all birds at 28 years, ironically the southern royal albatrosses’ longevity correlates to a greater extinction risk because this determines how quickly they have young and how quickly a species can respond to environmental changes. I discovered this as I was recently honoured to have this image used on the cover of Conservation Biology, with a feature article about this very fact. But also learning this makes me really sad. Whilst their existence is increasingly threatened by our choices and our behaviour thousands of kilometres away - by the creation of plastic waste that now floats in our oceans, and from the impact of the fish we choose to buy – the great thing is we can all make choices to help.

I have probably taken over 200,000 images and saved over 50,000, but have printed only three to hang on my walls. This is one of them. I love it because it just happened, because of where it was, and because I simply love albatross. It took this image nearly eight years ago now and sometimes look at it and wonder, is he/she still alive, still calling windswept Campbell island their home? Will this southern royal albatross still be there waiting for me to visit them again one day? I hope so. C | 50 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

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Syd n Meet lockdow r he grap to o h p

EDITING TIPS: LIGHTROOM’S ADJUSTMENT BRUSH

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EDITING TIPS: LIGHTROOM’S ADJUSTMENT BRUSH

PAINT LIKE A PRO Just about every image can benefit from local edits, and the Adjustment Brush is one of Lightroom’s best tools for this very purpose.

Here are six ways to master this powerful feature.

BY MIKE O’CONNOR

L

ocated at the top of the Develop module is one of Lightroom’s most useful tools – the Adjustment Brush. At its essence, the Adjustment Brush gives you access to Lightroom’s major global editing tools like Temperature, Exposure and Contrast, but with the ability to localise your edits.

From making tweaks to highlights, whitening teeth or sharpening up a small part of an image, I find it’s rare that I edit an image without using it at least once.

In this tutorial, I’ll share a few different ways you can use the Adjustment Brush to enhance your images. The Adjustment Brush icon can be found in the Develop module below the Histogram, and above the Basic panel on the far right. Let’s get started.

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EDITING TIPS: LIGHTROOM’S ADJUSTMENT BRUSH

1

SPEED UP HOW YOU USE THE BRUSH Lightroom’s best feature is its shortcuts, so let’s start with a few handy ones you can try when using the Adjustment Brush. First, you can select the Adjustment Brush at any time by pressing ‘K’, and hitting it twice will reset any changes you’ve made and give you a new brush to work with.

It’s often useful to show and hide the Mask overlay when you’re using the brush, and the shortcut for this is ‘O’. You can also adjust the size of the brush with the scroll wheel on a mouse, or by using the square brackets if you prefer a keyboardbased shortcut. To adjust the amount of feather (the amount of softness at the edges of the brush), use Shift + the square brackets, and if you ever want to show and hide the pin, you can hit the ‘H’ key. On that, you can also duplicate a pin by right clicking on it and selecting ‘Duplicate’.

Another handy shortcut to use when you’re painting is to hold down the Option key (Mac) Alt key (PC) to temporarily convert to the eraser tool to paint away parts of your adjustment.

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EDITING TIPS: LIGHTROOM’S ADJUSTMENT BRUSH

3

USE THE ADJUSTMENT BRUSH LIKE A PAINTBRUSH You use a paintbrush to paint things, so it’s probably no surprise you can use the Adjustment Brush to do the same thing. If you want to add brushstrokes of colour to your images, near the bottom of the colour panel is a rectangular box with a large X through it. Click on that and you will see a colour picker with an eyedropper tool that you can use to give your brush strokes a bit of colour.

The effect is simply stacked on any adjustments you are already using such as Exposure or Clarity, so if you want to just brush a straight colour on an image make sure you turn these off first.

2 USE THE ADJUSTMENT BRUSH WITH PRESETS One of the best time-saving features of the Adjustment Brush is the variety of presets you can use to quickly edit your images. At the top of the greyed-out box when you select the tool (next to the word ‘Effect’) you’ll find a selection of options available from a drop down.

The presets are simply default values that Lightroom thinks would work well to accomplish specific tasks, so as well as familiar settings like Dodge and Burn (for localised adjustment to exposure) there’s also a few handy ones for editing portraits such as Teeth Whitening and Iris Enhance.

With all of the presets, you’re free to override the setting sliders to make the chosen effect as dramatic as you like. Here’s a quick tip – you can reset any slider back to 0 by double clicking the ‘Effect’ label.

Finally, you can also make and save your own presets as well. This is done at the bottom with ‘Save current settings as new preset’, and is particularly useful if you want to create a few different options to cycle between without setting them up each time.

| 55 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

EDITING TIPS: LIGHTROOM’S ADJUSTMENT BRUSH

4

ADJUST THE INTENSITY OF A BRUSH This one is a great time saving trick. Let’s say you’ve created a custom brush preset and applied it to your image, but after doing so realise you want to make the effect more intense. You could manually adjust all the individual sliders, but who has time for that? Luckily, Lightroom has a tool to help. On the right of the word Effect at the top of the panel is a small triangle.

Click it and it will collapse the box, revealing a single slider that says ‘Amount’. You can then use this to adjust the intensity of your chosen preset. This also works on any of the other Layer Mask adjustments too, such as the Radial tool – genius!

5

DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS A feature many people aren’t aware of is that Lightroom gives you the option to use two separate brushes with different settings. You can see these indicated by the “A” and “B” near the bottom of the brush effects panel.

Much like there are separate sizes and types of paintbrushes for different kinds of painting jobs, there may be times when you may want a large, softer brush and times when you want a brush that is smaller or has a harder edge. You can set these to your liking, and switch between the two brushes by using the “/” key.

One last thing. In the settings for the brush you’ll see options to adjust the size and feather, but if you’re wondering what the difference is between Density and Flow, Density is a constant control that doesn’t ebb or flow as you’re painting, while Flow is more akin to using a can of spray paint - the longer your hold the brush pressed down over an area, the more heavily the effect will be applied.

| 56 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

EDITING TIPS: LIGHTROOM’S ADJUSTMENT BRUSH

6

AUTO MASK HELPS YOU WORK FAST Auto Masking lets you ‘paint in’ large parts of an image quickly, and the Adjustment Brush has a few built-in features that will help you use it efficiently. Firstly, you can find the Auto Mask feature at the bottom of the Brush section. When it’s on, adjustments will be limited to an automatically selected area –usually the edges/areas of contrast in an image. You could leave it on all the time, however results can look a little strange if the algorithm that decides what to mask and what not to mask gets confused. A good technique is to paint the ‘body’ of the subject with Auto Mask off, and then once you’re done, hold down Command (Mac) or Control (PC), which will turn on the Auto Mask feature. Doing this means the only area affected by the brush as you paint is the colour beneath the little crosshair in the centre of the brush. With Auto Mask enabled you will then be able to paint the edges nice and tidily – don’t forget you can also hold down Alt (PC) or Opt (Mac) to erase strokes if you miss. C

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| 57 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

T E S T E D: P E N TA X K- 3 M A R K I I I

PENTAX K-3 MARK III

It’s taken a while, but the K-3 Mark III has finally arrived and Pentax’s latest flagship APS-C DSLR has plenty to offer, as Matty Graham discovers.

W

RIGHT: The 1.5x crop factor created by the APS-C sensor gets you closer to the action - a useful benefit for wildlife photographers. Pentax K-3 Mark III, 150450mm f/4.5-5.6 lens @ 450mm. 1/500s @ f5.6, ISO 400.

OPPOSITE PAGE: The K-3 III’s RAW files retain a huge amount of tonal data and overall image quality is more than impressive. Pentax K-3 Mark III, 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 lens @ 450mm. 1/250s @ f5.6, ISO 800.

e’ve heard it for the last couple of years; DSLRs are dead and mirrorless is the future. But not all photographers are so keen to jump ship and dump the mirror for a variety of reasons such as battery life, build quality and the fact that they may already be hugely invested in lenses for their DSLRs. Well, there is one brand hanging doggedly on to the DSLR dream and that is Pentax, who have just released its newest camera, the K-3 Mark III that takes over as the flagship APS-C sensor model from the Mark II, which was launched all the way back in 2015 - yes, six years ago!

After such a wait in between the new camera and its predecessor, there is a lot of pressure on Pentax to make big improvements, so has the brand come up with the goods?

ON THE INSIDE At the heart of the K-3 Mark III is a 26-megapixel (25.7 effective megapixels) CMOS APS-C sensor. This is obviously smaller in size and resolution than the 36-megapixel K-1 Mark II, which is Pentax’s full-frame DSLR and is perfect for landscape photography.

While 26-megapixel may not seem like a huge leap forward over the Mark II, the maximum file size of 6192x4128 pixels does mean photographers will be able to make big prints or crop in on images without massively compromising image quality. | 58 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

T E S T E D: P E N TA X K- 3 M A R K I I I

Paired with that 26-MP sensor is Pentax’s PRIME V imaging engine and this combination enables the K-3 Mark III to be Pentax’s fastest ever DSLR. In fact, the K-3 Mark III offers up to 12 Frames Per Second (FPS), and this improves hugely on the Mark II, which only offered 8.3 Frames Per Second and the sluggish K-1 Mark II, which offers 4.4 Frames Per Second.

For the first time, Pentax now has a camera that will deliver speeds fast enough for sports and wildlife photographers - even for those who shoot action imagery on a professional basis. Granted, 12 FPS isn’t as fast as dedicated professional bodies like the 1DX or Sony a9, but that is of course reflected in the

price-tag. What’s more, the K-3 Mark III can maintain this speedy burst rate for up to 37 frames JPEG or 32 RAW allowing action photographers to capture split second sequences, whether it be a photo finish on the track or a can’t-miss wildlife moment.

AUTOFOCUS Of course, speed is nothing without precision so it’s no great surprise that Pentax has overhauled its autofocus system for the K-3 Mark III. Onboard, the SAFOX Phase Detection set-up delivers 101 AF points (25 of which are the more sensitive Cross Type) and this is another big improvement on the Mark II which only offered 27 AF points in total.

| 59 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

T E S T E D: P E N TA X K- 3 M A R K I I I

The AF is designed to perform well in low light conditions and can operate down to -4EV, which further reinforces the K-3 Mark III’s credentials as a ‘in the field’ camera.

Having used the Mark II in the past, I can confirm this is a big improvement over the Mark II and the Phase detection system is also much faster and accurate, particularly when in Continuous focus and tracking subjects in the scene.

In the photography hide, this improved speed makes a big difference and, having used both cameras, I can confirm my ‘hit rate’ with moving subjects is much higher with the Mark III.

THE BODY Faster speeds and improved autofocus are great, but there’s another reason photographers buy Pentax, and that’s because they are built like tanks, with the K-3 Mark III design sticking to that script.

Featuring a tough magnesium alloy body, the Mark III benefits from extensive weather sealing to keep dust and moisture out. If needed, the K-3 Mark III can operate in temperatures as low as -10°C and also benefits from a DRII (Dust Removal) mechanism that will banish dust particles from the sensor so that it doesn’t impact on image quality.

One advantage DSLRs still hold over mirrorless cameras is that battery life is always really good and the K-3 Mark III offers 800 shots on a single charge, although this can be drastically improved if you pair the body with the option battery grip. What’s more, the Mark III’s shutter mechanism is rated

to withstand 300,000 actuations so this is a camera that is going to last you for years.

One of the most likable things about the K-3 Mark III is the number of buttons and dials on the body. Along with the mode dial, there is a front and rear control dial and an extra feature dial on the top plate, next to a big LCD screen that is illuminated and offers exposure info.

All the dials and buttons can be customised to your liking and, although this can take a while to set up, once it’s done, you’re good to go. Even the colour coding of the Menu tabs can be changed, so if you like geeking out over details, the K-3 Mark III will be to your liking.

One area the K-3 Mark III does fall down in is its LCD screen. While the main screen is a decent size and features touch-screen technology that allows users to establish a focal point when in Live View mode, the design of the screen is fixed. This is a shame as a variangle or tilting design would have made setting up awkward low/high compositions much easier.

That said, the resolution of the screen is high and there is also an Outdoor Viewing setting that enables users to alter the brightness to make it easier to view in the bright sunshine. The feel of the camera is great, and this is important as if you are shooting wildlife for example, the chances are that you’ll be using a long lens so a good grip is essential.

THE SENSOR While the K-1 is better suited to landscape photography thanks to that 36-megapixel sensor, the K-3 Mark III does a great job for wildlife shooters thanks to that APS-C sensor that carries a 1.5x crop factor and this will turn a 70-200mm telezoom into a 105-300mm lens - getting the photographer closer to their subject. The K-3 Mark III even offers an additional 1.3x crop feature that will get you even closer to subjects, although it should be noted that you lose some pixels in this set-up.

Using long lenses can mean the risk of camera shake is greater, but Pentax has this covered thanks to the inclusion of In Body Image Stabilisation,

with the K-3 Mark III packing a 5-axis system that offers 5.5-stops of compensation to make sure everything is steady, and this also helps when photographers are shooting in low light, too.

IMAGE QUALITY When it comes to image quality, the K-3 Mark III impresses, delivering frames full of detail and dripping in that renowned Pentax colour science, which are free from unwanted colour casts. I shoot in RAW and the K-3 Mark III allows you to record RAW in DNG or PEF format.

When processing files I found that overexposed Highlights could easily be rescued and the same went for revealing detail in areas of shadows. Although the Pentax vast ISO range that features an eye-watering ceiling of ISO 1600000, it’s not likely many photographers will need to take advantage of this, and digital noise is well controlled in the typical parameters of ISO 100 to ISO 12800. Photographers can make an instant back up of their images thanks to the K-3 Mark III offering not one, but two SD card slots, or they can choose to record images to one card and video files to another.

| 60 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

LEFT Speed-hungry Pentax shooters finally have a camera that combines a fast burst speed with speedy, accurate autofocus - perfect for capturing objects moving into the frame. Pentax K-3 Mark III, 70-200mm f/2.8 lens @ 200mm. 1/640s @ f3.2, ISO 400.

SCORE

8.4

VIDEO On that, Pentax has also improved the video specs and the Mark III can shoot ultra high-quality 4K footage at 30p, plus there’s ports for headphones and an external mic so if you’re the sort of photographer that likes to shoot the odd movie in between stills, then Pentax has you covered.

THE WRAP-UP Faster, more advanced and tougher than ever before, this is Pentax’s speediest camera to date and the K-3 Mark III offers a genuine alternative to wildlife photographers who want to stay with DSLRs rather than move over to the mirrorless movement.

Any preconceptions that the APS-C sensor makes this camera any ‘less professional’ should be tossed aside as it is packed with features that make a big difference out in the field and it is built to take the knocks of everyday use.

That said, while great, it’s not completely perfect due to that frustrating LCD design and a premium price-tag.

However, this is a camera that will last for years so the overall value is fairly high and for those photographers already invested in Pentax lenses, upgrading to the K-3 Mark III should be a no-brainer. C

RESULTS HANDLING ) ) ) )

SPECS

There’s plenty of control dials and buttons so operation is quick and efficient, but the fixed LCD is a let down.

Sensor

APS-C CMOS

Format

25.7 MP

Lens mount

K-Mount

Size

134.5mm x 103.5mm x 73.5mm

Weight

735g

Autofocus

SAFOX 13 TTL phase-matching - 101 point (25 cross type focus points in the center)

Video

3840x2160 (30p/ 24p) 1920x1080 (60p/ 50p/ 30p/ 25p/ 24p)

Viewfinder

Optical / LCD, 100% coverage

Rear LCD

3.2', 1,620,000 dots (540,000 px)

Memory

Dual UHS-II, SD / SDHC / SDXC

Price

2,626 AUD (body only)

More info

ricoh-imaging.co.jp

FEATURES ) ) ) ) ) From impressive IBIS to keep shots steady, to dual SD cards to create back-ups - the K-3 III is bursting with useful features.

AUTOFOCUS ) ) ) ) A quantum leap forward for Pentax, though the autofocus is still bested by more advanced systems found on mirrorless cameras.

IMAGE QUALITY ) ) ) ) Rich colour saturation and great detail from the APS-C sensor, especially from RAW files means photographers will be impressed by the image quality.

VALUE FOR MONEY ) ) ) ) At around $2,600, the K-3 Mark III is fairly priced.

FINAL WORD The K-3 III is a new chapter in the Pentax story and brings the DSLR as a whole kicking and screaming into 2021. A genuine option for those who would prefer to stick with a bullet-proof DSLR, complete with a build quality that could survive an apocalypse, wildlife photographers in particular will be checking out this camera with interest.

| 61 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

T E S T E D : F U J I F I L M G F X 10 0 S

FUJIFILM GFX 100S Fujifilm have turned our ideas about big sensor cameras on their head with the 100-megapixel GFX 100S, discovers Drew Hopper.

BELOW Intimate details of a coastal environment captured with the GFX100S. The detail the sensor records is simply incredible with edge to edge sharpness. Fujifilm GFX100S, 30mm f/3.5 lens. 0.6s @ f4.5, ISO 160.

OPPOSITE PAGE: An abstract photo of the pink super moon rising above the Pacific Ocean. I used a slower shutter speed while handholding the GFX100S to create this artistic vision. White balance was adjusted in post to create a dreamy warm sensation. Fujifilm GFX100S, 45-100mmF4 R lens @ 76mm. 2s @ f4, ISO 800.

F

ujifilm’s GFX 100 is a simple proposition on paper – the 102-megapixel BSI CMOS sensor from 2019’s GFX 100, paired with a body not much bigger than a DSLR and at a price tag that puts it squarely in the same price bracket as many high-end full-frame mirrorless cameras. But to look at it just like this doesn’t tell the whole story, with Fujifilm’s focus on usability and price making this perhaps the most accessible medium format camera on the market today.

THE BODY The Fujifilm GFX 100S is a much smaller camera than its predecessor the GFX 100 – it’s also smaller than the GFX 50S, and it adopts a more DSLRlike styling rather than the rangefinder design of the GFX 50R. Fujifilm has been able to cram so much sensor real estate into the 150x104x44mm body of the 100S by redesigning the shutter and image stabilisation (IBIS) mechanisms. In fact, the IBIS unit is 20% smaller than the one in the GFX 100 (and 10% lighter too). Sur-

prisingly, it’s also more effective - it's rated at six stops of compensation for camera shake as compared to the 5.5 stops of correction on the GFX 100.

However, downsizing the body has also meant some compromises. Instead of using the larger NP-T125 batteries in earlier GFX bodies, Fujifilm has used a smaller NP-W235 unit as found in the X-T4, although this does offer a CIPA rated 460 shots per charge. Unfortunately, the GFX 100S doesn’t accept an optional vertical hand/battery grip either, but you do gain a tangible benefit when it comes to weight – at just 900g, the 100S is still lighter to carry than many full-frame offerings, and a whopping 500g lighter than the GFX 100.

The controls of the GFX 100S are well laid out with a large and clearly legible e-ink top display. The buttons surrounding the display can be customised to suit your shooting style, and two function buttons on top of the camera can be set manually to adjust almost any camera setting including image size/quality, exposure compensation, film simu-

| 62 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

lation, focus modes, metering, white balance, self-timer and various AE/AF locks among many others.

Fujifilm has also included their handy ‘Q’ button (quick menu), which is found in an ergonomically placed position for the right thumb to select. Overall, there aren’t any buttons and dials on the GFX 100S that I wish were different or located elsewhere - everything just feels very thoughtfully placed.

On the rear you’ll also find a tilting rear touchscreen which is useful for low and awkward hip shooting, although it would have been nice if Fujifilm had made it tilt and swivel for more versatility. Despite this, it works well, and it’s bright and clear.

AUTOFOCUS A sports camera this is not, but the hybrid AF system in the GFX 100S is still a big improvement over the GFX 50S, which feels slow and clunky by comparison. Onboard, there’s 3.76M phase-detect autofocus pixels to play with and for the most part autofocus is reliable.

That said, the GFX 100S is nowhere near as quick as most of the high-end full-frame mirrorless cameras from manufacturers such as Sony and Canon, so if fast moving subjects are your thing you’re probably better to look elsewhere.

However, with slow moving subjects I found the autofocus in continuous AF solid, and face and eye detect worked well. Considering the GFX 100S’ sensor size, the maximum 5 frames per second is also pretty impressive. However, I did find the buffering a bit of a hindrance when trying to keep up with action in continuous drive mode, and it’s a shame that RAW image quality drops from 16bit to 14-bit in this mode as well. Depending on your shooting style, you may notice the EVF blackout distracting when shooting too.

Overall, and even with the limited AF, the GFX 100S is still a joy to shoot with, and I was able to take some good shots as long as my subjects weren’t moving erratically. For studio and landscape photographers or users who find themselves using tripods a lot, the GFX 100S would be ideal.

IMAGE QUALITY The star of the show is the GFX 100s’ image sensor, and image quality is exactly where it shines. All sample images for this review were captured with Fujifilm’s SuperFine JPEG setting, which still gives an average file size of 50MB. There’s no denying how useful such a massive sensor is, and when cropping images tight in post it’s simply astounding.

Dynamic range is excellent and there’s plenty of detail in both the shadows and highlights, with incredible sharpness and detail throughout the image. Underexposing by a few stops and recovering shadows works terrifically well to give you confidence in bringing back any lost information within your files, especially when shooting RAW, but even JPEGs hold up.

Noise is also handled quite well, and much better than the smaller sensor Fujifilm cameras. I still tried to keep my ISO below 3200 for cleaner images but found ISO 6400 still quite clean. Overall, tonality, colour and cropping power are all fantastic with the GFX 100S.

| 63 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

T E S T E D : F U J I F I L M G F X 10 0 S

LEFT: A fisherman on the rocks as the super moon rises over the ocean.

The GFX100S handled this scene very well with low noise and tack sharp details throughout the frame. The colours are from the Classic Chrome film simulation and an in-camera JPEG. Fujifilm GFX100S, 30mm f/3.5 lens.

0.5s @ f7.1, ISO 800.

VIDEO When it comes to video, the GFX 100S is a very capable camera. Most of the video features in the GFX 100S come directly from the Fujifilm X-T4, which include a good range of bitrates and codecs (10-bit Log options) and a user interface allowing good separation between still and video settings making it quick and simple to change shooting modes.

Unfortunately, in video mode you do lose autofocus subject tracking and face/ eye detection, although using singlepoint AF you can easily tap to refocus and control speed and responsiveness.

The GFX 100S’ has a raw video output of 3840 x 2160 pixels taken from the full-width sensor. The downside of this is it limits the camera to a minimum of 1SO 1250. As you might expect, this produces a noisier result than the cameras’ more processed output.

I’m admittedly not much of a videographer, but if I was, I probably wouldn’t choose the GFX - there are more advanced video-focused cameras out there that are better suited for the task like the Sony A7S III and Panasonic S1H. In saying that, the GFX 100S has the potential to capture nice video but is probably best when used on a tripod or gimbal rather than in a run-and-gun style.

OVERALL The Fujifilm GFX 100S is an excellent camera, and thanks to smart design is a joy to operate. You’ve also gotta give kudos to Fujifilm for designing a

medium format camera that’s not much bigger than a full-frame DSLR, yet still includes IBIS and a host of other useful features.

Autofocus tracking performance may not live up to the expectations of fastaction photographers, and for videographers, the included features probably won’t get pulses racing. But for landscapes, studio work and more ‘considered’ shooting, the GFX100S is a fine choice. I rate the camera highly, and really did enjoy my time shooting with it. C

SCORE

RESULTS HANDLING ) ) ) ) ) All buttons and dials are thoughtfully placed, the grip is ergonomically built, and the overall design feels solid.

SPECS

8.6

Sensor

BSI-CMOS medium format

Format

102MO

Lens mount

FUJINON G Mount

Great. It ticks all the boxes in terms of in-camera features.

Size

150 x 104 x 87mm

Weight

354g

AUTOFOCUS ) ) )

Autofocus

Intelligent Hybrid AF (TTL contrast AF / TTL phase detection AF): 3.76 million phase detection pixels with approx.

100% frame coverage

Video

4096x2160 (30p/ 25p/ 24p/ 23.98p) 3840x2160 (30p/ 25p/ 24p/ 23.98p)

EVF

Detachable EVF-GFX2 electronic viewfinder: 5.76M-dot OLED, 100% coverage, 0.86x magnification

Rear LCD

3.2' 2,360,000 dots (786,600 px)

Memory

Dual UHS-II, SD / SDHC / SDXC

Price

$9.499

More info

fujifilm.com.au

FEATURES ) ) ) )

It’s very good for stationary subjects but may miss the boat for action shooters. The X-T4 is a better option here.

IMAGE QUALITY ) ) ) ) ) Excellent image quality with plenty of cropping power should you need it.

VALUE FOR MONEY ) ) ) ) Pricey, but in the medium format world it’s a bargain.

OVERALL Powerful, reasonably priced and with marvellous image quality, the GFX 100S is a home run from Fujifilm.

| 64 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

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APS ONE FRAME

RHYTHM IN THE DEW More than 60 images were used to create this stunning water droplet image.

| 66 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

APS ONE FRAME

W ITH DAVID HANSELL

I

was an early adopter of digital and the wonders of Photoshop in 2002, but it was in the darkroom back in 1988 that my real love of photography developed. The ability to influence the look and feel of an image post capture hooked me for life. Since then, I’ve learned from some very accomplished photographers in my local Photographic Society in the UK and again in Australia where I have retired a few years ago.

This image came about because I love capturing scenes which occur naturally in nature but are generally overlooked because they are too small or happen too quickly for the human eye to see them. In this instance I was exploring the refractive properties of water droplets and wanted to show the beauty that can be captured in these droplets.

Captured in a small home studio, it comprises a tendril from a passion fruit vine, with water droplets suspended on the coils and a small African Daisy placed strategically behind the droplets. Because the magnification is so great on the Canon MPE 65mm lens I used to take this, the depth of field was just 0.2 mm. To capture the necessary detail I exposed 60 images, advancing each image 0.1mm to capture everything in sharp focus. I then aligned and focus stacked the 60 image layers in Photoshop and waited for the software to render the final image. It took the computer around 3 hours before the final render appeared on the screen! Until then it just looks a blurred mess. But when that final image pops up on the screen and you have successfully captured all that detail it becomes worth the wait.

In many ways, this was a breakthrough image for me. It has won more than 12 National and International awards, including multiple gold medals but more importantly it encouraged me to experiment more and to capture subjects using different techniques and alternate perspectives. For me the greatest accolade I can receive is for a viewer to ask: how was that captured or how did you do that? It means that I have produced something that has captured their interest. C CANON 6D MK II, CANON MPE 65MM LENS. 60 IMAGES @ 1/180S @ F9, ISO 100. CANON 600 EX II RT OFF CAMERA FLASH @1/32 POWER. MANFROTTO MACRO RAIL AND TRIPOD.

THE AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY Membership with the Australian Photographic Society caters for enthusiasts, amateurs and professionals in photography.

The APS can help you improve your photography, increase your level of satisfaction and achievement with your images, and make lasting friendships with other photographers throughout Australia.

All that is required is that you take two steps; the first, joining the society; the second, becoming involved in what it has to offer.

Find out more at a-p-s.org.au.

| 67 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAPHY.COM

APS FOCUS

CARPE DIEM

Persistence, planning and a clear vision will help you realise your goals, writes Roz Zito.

LEFT: Low rays of evening light reveal the nuances of folded hills.

BELOW: Serendipity can be earned by drawing on experience.

WITH ROZ ZITO

O

ne thing I have learnt in photography is the importance of seizing the day.

A few years ago in Tuscany with friends, I remember noticing the light revealing wonderful patterns and folds in the ploughed fields. But I couldn’t bore our friends with tripods and settings so decided to go back later.

Unfortunately, weeks went by before I could as there was rain every day. We would be leaving Tuscany soon, and I began to fear I would never get that photo of the striking folded hills I’d so wanted.

On the last day but one, however, it was clear and we dropped everything to make the trip. In golden hour I captured the images I had visualised, one of which has since become a prize-winning photo.

Seizing the day is not just about getting out and shooting, but about experience and planning. You might know the location and your subject but be unable to capture it as you envisaged, because of adverse weather or light conditions. A

keen photographer will keep going back until they capture that elusive vision in their mind’s eye.

In Tokyo, I had read the forecast was for exceptionally fine weather. I thought of Mount Fuji – in four visits to Japan, I had succeeded only in capturing this iconic mountain with its head wreathed coyly in cloud. I checked – Mount Fuji was also predicted to be clear – a rare event!

On a previous visit, I captured some very special images of the Cherry Blossom Festival in Tokyo. I then spent a day at Lake Kawaguchi near Mount Fuji.

However, the mountain remained hidden, and the cherry blossom had not yet emerged in the colder elevation.

This time we were in Tokyo one week after cherry blossom-time had finished.

I knew cherry blossom should still be flowering in the mountains, and so talked my husband into a trip to Mount Fuji the very next day, a five-hour round trip.

As we drew nearer, this perfect volcano was revealed – with the added bonus of snow on top! However, small clouds appeared, and I became very tense. My husband was going to be really annoyed if I had organised this trip for nothing!

We arrived and clambered up countless flights of stairs, then took the Kachi

Kachi Ropeway cable car to the top of a nearby mountain. I emerged from our gondola with trepidation - but there was Mount Fuji, in all its glory! That perfect cone shape was enhanced by snow, the sky a beautiful clear blue with a cloud or two – and the icing on the cake – the cherry blossom was out. It formed a perfect frame for magical Fujisan. A simple red wooden arch added something different to the usual composition of cherry blossom and mountain.

In these instances, I’m reminded of the expression ‘Luck is when preparation meets opportunity’ – it’s a perfect quote for any photographer. C

| 68 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

IMAGE DOCTOR

IMAGE DOCTOR

Images need a pick-me-up?

The doctor will see you now.

BY SAIMA MOREL

MINIMALIST MAGIC With a rising full moon and perfectly calm conditions, Mark Sibley and his mate ventured to Dunalley in Tasmania to capture the moonrise over Norfolk Bay using the local jetty and fishing fleet as the foreground interest. While shifting positions for a different composition, he said that he noticed the ladder from the jetty to a pontoon left a perfect reflection in the water. “This was a one-off shot as I was more interested in capturing the moonrise but after viewing it at home and performing some editing, it has become one of my favourites from the night out.”

What a graphic image! This is black-and-white at its best in the creation of an image with great interest and intrigue. It is an extraordinary and clever image, as the content fills only about 15 percent of the frame, yet those black, empty spaces form part of the subject’s mystery. The reflection looks like hooks or an anchor while the original looks like the top of a ladder - which it is. The elements of metal and wood also offer different textures which add dimension to the subject matter.

SAIMA’S TIP: A truly interesting image generally needs no explanation, and is sometimes better without.

TITLE: Suspended Elements PHOTOGRAPHER: Mark Sibley DETAILS: Olympus OM-D EM-1 Mark II, M Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro lens @ 32mm. 2.5s @ f5.6, ISO 500. edited in Lightroom 6 and Nik Silver Efex.

| 70 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

TITLE: Outback serenade PHOTOGRAPHER: Terry Dorney DETAILS: Sony A7III, Sigma 14-24mm f2.8 DG DN Art lens @ 14mm.

1/400s @ f10, ISO 800.

IT’S IN THE DETAILS Terry Dorney’s interest was captured by this “somewhat quirky image spotted just outside Yunta, South Australia on the road between Adelaide and Broken Hill, on a rainy, overcast day. He found that there was “almost a surreal feel about it, reminiscent of a country and western album cover perhaps!”

I agree that this has the elements of a vinyl album cover, as it has a slightly grungy feel with the carelessly placed black straps in the foreground, and the poor condition of the piano. The slight tilt of the image would fit in as well. However, it is not an album cover, and the horizon line needs to be more level. Rotating clockwise

two to three degrees is all it would need to sort that out. Fitting in with the “grunge” theme is the image quality which is lacking and results in loss of detail due to not enough pixels. Another factor to consider is framing. While the central placement of the piano works, placing subject matter off centre, right or left, can produce more dynamic impact.

SAIMA’S TIP: Sacrificing pixels with cropping or poor quality JPEGS - or whatever - is not a wise move if you want a quality image.

DON’T FORGET THE SHADOWS While bushwalking in the Blue Mountains, Robert A. Baillie found himself “in awe of the huge cliffs, deep canyons and vast landscapes. However it was this more intimate scene that caught my eye and was my favourite image of the day. “I loved the way the cool green vertical trees subtly contrasted with warm horizontal bands of rock in the canyon wall behind,” he says. “Deep in the canyon and with a cloudy day I had to wait some time for the light to be just right. Focusing on the trees as the sharp close subject I let the canyon wall soften behind so as not to be too distracting. I used a tripod as the shot was going to be a slow exposure due to the low light. Cropping to a square I think helped balance the geometry of the image”.

These are nice trees and the square format works well.

I am sure that a vertical framing may have worked well also – just a different feel! I do think the image could do with some darkening. This would make the trees more dominant and their textures would show up better. Darkening would also make that background disappear, as it similarly suffers from being too light. In a colour image, the trees and green would have more impact against a darker backdrop. You could even convert to black-and-white, and get some lovely tones.

SAIMA’S TIP: An overall bright image allows you to see everything in a scene, but lacks the darker areas and shadows that create mood and mystery.

TITLE: Canyon Grove PHOTOGRAPHER: Robert A. Baillie DETAILS: Canon EOS 6D Mark II, Canon EF 24-105 L IS lens @ 41mm. 13s @ f11, ISO 200. | 71 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

IMAGE DOCTOR

SPOT CHECK This image was taken from Wild Horse Lookout just as the sun rose behind photographer Rob Hill.

“The bright flood lights of the quarry at the foot of Tibrogargan normally spoil any early morning shots of the Glasshouse Mountains,” he says. “But on this occasion I felt they added something to the atmosphere as they peered through the mist.”

This is such a primeval landscape, except for the car headlights, road and buildings of course!

They are a killer for this ‘lost world” scene. The starburst effect of the headlights is a little too “Hollywood” here. If you shot at f5, you could get closer to a softer more eerie light that would suit the landscape better. I would love to see more of the mountains and misty foreground rather than so much sky. After all, the king subject matter is all in the lower part of the frame. Cropping one third off the top would draw everything down to the land. This would also help get rid of the sensor spots in the sky, six at last count. A clean is in order! It would also be good to do a local

edit and lighten up the tops of the peaks far right and far left, while making the sky go darker to heighten the contrast.

SAIMA’S TIP: Watch out for those round spots easily seen in skies - that are an indication that the sensor needs a clean.

TITLE: Untitled PHOTOGRAPHER: Rob Hill DETAILS: Nikon D7100, 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens @ 48mm.

10s @ f10, ISO 100.

TITLE: Irresistible force, immovable objects PHOTOGRAPHER: Alan Coligado DETAILS: none

THE SECRET OF GREAT IMAGERY? Alan Coligado tries “to carry as little photography gear as possible in an often futile attempt to focus more on craft/composition and less on equipment/accessories. “However I made a rare exception on a recent workshop on Flinders Island, where I had the luxury of time to set up a tripod and experiment with using a variable density filter,” he writes. “This was one of the images taken on Egg Beach that I was quite happy with as I felt that I managed to capture the dreamy seascape that I had intended, and juxtapose the fluid and stationary elements of the landscape”.

This is a sharp image made with what looks like to be a superb ultra-long exposure. However, I think the title sums up the overall

feel of the scene. There is something very static - and grey about this image. Even that mist seems heavy and almost solid, and is unfortunately similar to a desktop background effect. I feel that even “immovable objects” need a sense of dynamism, maybe with the composition. The main rock doesn’t need to be centreframe, and would be more interesting if placed right or left. There is also an annoying rock with a scabby piece on it, while all the others are blemish-free. If that “scab” was attractive, it would have added interest rather than distraction.

SAIMA’S TIP: Technical perfection is only part of the creation of exceptional images.

| 72 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

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IMAGE DOCTOR

STABILISE! A photography student, Amelia Eime submitted this image in a series for assessment in her course. She said "I spent a lot of time in the shed looking at the way light fell, how to capture something not usually photographed, trying to create images that might make people pause to consider what they were looking at. This photo was taken whilst my husband was mid-way through a first attempt at a DIY wheel bearing replacement. I love the light, and the complexity it shows behind something that people would normally consider very simple – a wheel".

Mono is an obvious choice for this sort of wonderful subject matter: shiny and industrial in a dark setting. The lighting is fine and the content fills the frame. That said, the main issue with this image is the depth of field of the central bulky piece of metal. It is not sharp, while the much smaller screw thread sitting on top of it is.

The best way around this is to use a tripod to enable a better depth of field. If a tripod is not viable for the space you are in, there are other possibilities such as sand bags or bean bags. It can be anything as long as it is stable and holds the camera and lens steady.

TITLE: Car Complexity.

PHOTOGRAPHER: Amelia Eime DETAILS:. Sony SLT-A77V, Tamron DT 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 lens @ 70mm focal length, 1/5s @ f5, 200 ISO

SAIMA'S TIP: Alternatives to tripods in tricky situations include suction cups, metal arms and clamps, monopods, ground pods and bean bags.

HOW TO SUBMIT AN IMAGE

| 74 | AUGUST 2021 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

C O M PE T I T

I

S

• Email entries to: imagedoctor@ australianphotography.com with “Image Doctor” in the subject line.

• Include your name, image title and up to 150 words about how you created it.

• Only one image per person per month.

• Images must be saved in JPEG format.

Maximum file size is 5MB. Include your name in the filename of the image.

• An Australian address is required in order to receive the prize.

• Employees of Yaffa Publishing or the sponsor are not eligible to win the prize.

• The editor’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

TO

ON

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Image courtesy Kris Anderson