digital camera magazine sampler
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Your practical guide to creating better photographs, each issue of Digtal Camera Magazine is full of expert techniques, tips and inspirational images.TRANSCRIPT
PRO-LOOK PORTRAITSHow to give your peopleshots a stylishmakeover
PHOTOSHOPZEN SEASCAPESLess ismore: how to createlovelyminimalist scenes
CREATIVITY
CORE SLR SKILLSFOR SEPTEMBERGet great starry night shotsEarly autumnwildlife tipsCreative urban abstracts
EASIEST-EVERMACRO GUIDE
Get cool close-ups ofplants&flowers– it’sall explained inside!
Bigger&betterthananyotherphotographymagazine!
164PAGES
Discover the rules of great landscape photography(and when to break them for stunning creative results!)
Secrets of creative
VERDICTSSLR32
TECHNIQUE
Visitus
onlineatw
ww.photoradar.com
SEPTEM
BER
2011
116
“Ireallyknow
whatw
orksform
eand
whatexp
osuresettings
Ineed”Adam
Pretty(page
107)
DIGITA
LCAMERA
The definitive guideto SLR photography
ISSUE116
SEP
TEM
BER
2011
£4.99
BEST LANDSCAPE LENSES REVEALEDHANDYWIDE-ANGLELENSESTESTEDONPAGE128
BEAT BLAND SKIESBoost colour and tonewithlensfilters or in Photoshop
Find theperfectSLR for
yourbudget inour
buyers’ guide!
It’stImeforsome IntroductIons…
DigitalCamera september2011
Editor’s WElcomE
the definitive guideto slr photography
Welcometoyour all-new
03
There’s a great storydoing the roundsabout somepompous cliqueonFlickr that takes greatpleasure in votingdownanyphoto thatdoesn’tmeet itsstandards.One
recent submissionwas turfedout by thegroupbecause it didn’t obey thetraditional diktats on composition,graininess, sharpness and soon; turnsout the imagewas ‘Hyères, France, 1932’,an iconicwork byHenri Cartier-Bresson.The anecdote shows that greatphotography is aboutmuchmore thanjust obeying the rules andconventions ofa particular genre. But it’s also true thatyouhave to at least have some ideaofthe rules before you canbreak them. Soourmain feature this issue introducessomeof thebasic tenets of landscapephotography, before showing how totweak them for creative effect. Even the
most jaded landscape shooter is boundto find somenew ideas here, and asalways, we’d love to see the shots it’sinspired you to take.
Meanwhile our fold-out guide tacklesanother popular topic, namely birdphotography. Everything youneed toknow is in this handypocket guide,fromphotographing static birds incaptivity towild birds in flight; evenmoreimpressively, deputy editor PaulGroganmanaged towrite thewhole thingwithoutthrowing in anybird puns…Maybehedidn’t want to ruffle anybody’sfeathers?Until next time…
meettherestoftheteam…
sports enthusiastPaul is our residentexpert oncameracraft and technique
PaulGroganDeputyeditor
simon is a keenmacrophotographer, andhasspent 15 yearspictureeditingmagazines
SimonMiddleweekArt editor
hugely respected in thephotography industry,angela is our camerareviews tsarina
AngelaNicholsonHeadof testing
silver-tonguedGeorgeexplains themysteries ofPhotoshopelementsandcsonourdisc
GeorgeCairnsPhotoshopexpert
Greatnewsubscription
offer!turntopage52
fordetails
Geoff Harris, [email protected]
adamPrettySports photographer
Award-winning sports proturned advertising ace Adam
Pretty reveals on page 102 how luck,tenacity and technical knowledge gothim to the top of his game.
rickmadsenRodeophotographer
There’s muchmore to rodeophotography than yee-hahs,
daft trousers and chiropractor bills. Rodeoshooter RickMadsen talks about buckingthe trend on page 32.
GeredmankowitzRockphotographer
We are not worthy, etc. etc.This legendary photographer
of Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stoneslooks back on his stellar career in musicphotography on page 162.
Every issue featurestheworld’sbestpros…
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DigitalCamera September2011
BEHINDTHE IMAGEStoryoftheCover
1I shot in raw,andthenopenedthe imageup
inAdobeCameraRawandconverted toblackandwhiteusing theGrayscale tab, toenablemetocontrolhowthecolourswereconverted.
2 I actuallyprocessedthe rawfile twice:
once tobringout thedetail in the rocksandthesmall stonesunderthewater, andonce fortheskyandmountainsin thebackground.
3Finally, I combinedthe twoversions in
Photoshopbycopyingoneontopof theotherandthenmerging theforegroundofonewiththebackgroundof theotherusinga layermask.
Behind the image… Stepping up - howMichel got his stunning shot
StoryoftheCover
“This photowas taken at LochLomond, in Scotland, on a veryovercast afternoon. Duringmy tripto Scotland, I cameback to shootthis spot four times. Tome, themost important thing is the qualityof the light. I’mnot happy unless Ihave the image that’s inmyheadin front ofme.How I imagine theimage, bywhich Imeanhow Ipicture it when I’m shooting, ismore important tome than thereality of the landscape.”
CanonEOS5DwithCanonEF24-105mmf/4LISUSM;ISO50;1/200secatf9withanND400;tripodandremote
SteppingStonesByMichel Rajkovic
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DigitalCamera September2011
ContentsISSUE 116/SEPTEMBER2011
Expert photo advice
20 10ThingstoTryRightNowKick-startyourcreativitybytackling
afreshsubjectornewtechniquetoday
30 YourMissionResultsThewinnersofour latestphoto
challengeexplainhowtheygotsuchgreatshots
32 PostcardsfromtheEdgeRickMadsentellsushowhegot
started in rodeophotography
4010CommandmentsLearnthetenmost important rulesof
landscapephotographyandhowtobreakthem
55 Shoot!Fourteenpagesofexpertcameratips
andadvicetohelpyouperfectyourphotography
72 ThePhotoFixerThis issueour rovingtroubleshooter
helpsareader takebetterflowershots
79 PhotoshopSchoolExpertadviceonenhancingphotos
andaddingcreativeeffectsafter theshot
93 PhotoAdvisorWeanswerall yourSLRandPhotoshop
questions,andgivefeedbackonyourshots
102 TheDigitalCamera InterviewSportsandadvertisingphotographer
AdamPretty reveals thesecretsofhissuccess
162MyLife inFocusRockphotographerGeredMankowitz
reflectson50yearsofshooting thestars
Essentials
10HotshotsStunningimagestakenbyourreaders
18 Photographerof theYear2011Detailsofthisyear’smassivecompetition,
plusadvicefrompreviouswinners
38ViewfinderYouropinionsmakeforalivelyread
52 Subscribe! *Savemoneyandgettwogreatfreegifts
101NextmonthWhat’scomingupin issue117
“Xx Xx x xx X x xxx x xx xx xxxx xx xxx x xx xx xx xx xx xxx xxx xx xx xx xx xxx x xx x”
Turntopage52forfulldetailsofour latestsubscriptionoffer
Subscribe today
Cameras and gear
112 HowWeTest...Ourin-depthrankingsystemrevealed
114 OlympusPENE-P3ThelatestPENisputthroughitspaces
120 PhotoDirector2011Newimage-editingsoftwaretested
122FieldtestedLatestaccessoriesreviewedandrated
127Mini test: landscapefilterkitsRevealed:thebestNDgradsforscenics
128GrouptestWide-anglezoomlensescompared
142SLRBuyers’GuideSeethebestcamerabuysataglance
* ExclusiveVIP content for existing subscribers
2FREEGIFTS Your team
EditorialcontributorsBenBrain,GeorgeCairns,AlexChambers,DavidClark,AmyDavies,
CarlyDrew, JeremyFord,ChrisGeorge,MattGolowcznski,MarkHamblin,Steve
Hanlon,RichardHood,Ali Jennings,RodLawton,JeffMeyer, MatthewRichards,
BenSecret
Photographiccontributors (wherenotcredited inside)FutureNetworkPhotoStudio
AngelaNicholsonHeadof testing [email protected]
AdvertisingMalcolmStoodleyAdvertisingdirector02070424156malcolm.stoodley@futurenet.comJamesRansonAdvertisingsalesdirector02070424163 james.ranson@futurenet.comEmilySmithSeniorsalesexecutive02070424254emily.smith@futurenet.comLucieGillespieSalesexecutive02070424252 [email protected]
AdvertisementtypesettingJJaysLtd
CirculationandmarketingDanielBruceBrandmanagerdaniel.bruce@futurenet.comLizaAustinTrademarketingmanager [email protected] [email protected]
PrintandproductionVivienneTurnerProductionco-ordinatorvivienne.turner@futurenet.comRoseGriffithsProductionmanager rose.griffiths@futurenet.comRobFletcherReprotechnicianrob.fletcher@futurenet.comDeborahJavierReprotechnicianDeborah.Javier@futurenet.com
International licensingTimHudson International licensingdirector
SeniormanagementMatthewPierceGrouppublishermatthew.pierce@futurenet.comMarkWoodChiefexecutiveUK
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The definitive guideto SLR photography
AmemberoftheAuditBureauofCirculations39,018Jan-Dec2010
All informationcontained inthismagazine is for informationalpurposesonlyand is,to thebestofourknowledge,correctat thetimeofgoing topress.FuturePublishingLimitedcannotacceptanyresponsibility forerrorsor inaccuracies thatoccur.Readersareadvisedtocontactmanufacturersandretailersdirectwith regardtopricing.
All submissionstoDigitalCameramagazinearemadeonthebasisofa licencetopublishthesubmission inDigitalCameramagazine, its licensededitionsworldwideandphotography-relatedwebsites.Anymaterial submitted issentat theowner’s riskand,althougheverycare is taken,neitherFuturePublishingLimitednor itsagentsshallbeliable for lossordamage.
©FuturePublishingLimited2011.All rights reserved.Nopartof thismagazinemaybeusedor reproducedwithout thewrittenpermissionof thepublisher.Weencourageyoutorecycle thismagazine,either throughyourusualhouseholdrecyclablewastecollectionserviceoratarecyclingsite.
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DigitalCamera September2011
What’s onyour d sc
Aquick guide to the videodisc that comes freewithevery issue – discover ourPhotoshop lessons,subscribe andmore!
Whenever you seethis logo on a page inthemagazine, there’scorrespondingcontent on the disc
ONYOURDISC
*THISPRODUCTISNOTENDORSEDORSPONSOREDBYADOBESYSTEMSINCORPORATED,PUBLISHEROFPHOTOSHOPCS5,PHOTOSHOPEXTENDED,PHOTOSHOPLIGHTROOMANDPHOTOSHOPELEMENTSPRODUCTS
21 3 4 5 6
1 VideolessonsAll our videos can be accessed via
this top tab. The videos are divided asfollows: Teach Yourself Photoshop* is anongoing guide to the basics of Photoshopand Photoshop Elements; PhotoshopSchool contains the videos that go withthe Photoshop School tutorials in themagazine (see page ); Bonus contentincludes extra videos, such as camerapreviews (don’t miss Ali Jennings’preview of the Olympus E-P ).
2 MeettheteamClick here and you can get the
details of the Digital Camera team.
3 Back issuesHere you can order back issues of
Digital Camera (some issues have soldout, however). Simply click the links tobuy print or digital versions.
4 SubscribeClick here for full details of our
great subscription offers for print anddigital versions of Digital Camera.
5 JoinusonlineCome here for easy access to
PhotoRadar.com, the online home ofDigital Camera and PhotoPlusmagazine.You can also join us on Facebook andfollow us on Twitter from here!
6 HelpHaving problems using or figuring
out the disc? Click here for contactdetails for the people who can help.
Insert the disc into yourWindows PCand up pops an introductory videofrom the deputy editor, Paul Grogan(Mac users will need to double-clickthe icon on the desktop). Paul runsthrough the highlights of the disc andonce you’ve watched his video, click‘Enter’to bring up the interface.
Click a video lesson screen and the lessonwill start automatically. Use the sliderunder the video window to movebackwards and forwards. The icons at thebottom right of the video window enableyou to download images associated withthe tutorial, to see more videos, or to goback to the main interface.
Thevideodisc interfaceexplained
Makingthemostof thevideolessonsonyour freedisc
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SLRCAMERASKILLS
DigitalCamera September2011
Long lensBence captured thisunusual stand-offwith hisNikonD300 fittedwith a300mmf/2.8 lens. Hewasonly able to fire off a fewframesbefore thehummingbird flewaway.
Shallowdepth of fieldByusing a telephoto lens andthrowing thebackgroundcompletely out of focus, Bencehas concentrated attentiononthebird and snake. Thebranchprovides context anda frame.
Supplementary lightingRainwas falling and the lightwaspoor, soBenceused twoflash units – one in front andtheother behind the action.The flashes enabledhim tocapture themotionof thehummingbird’swings.
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DigitalCamera September2011
Award-winningHungarianwildlifephotographerBenceMátébrilliantlycapturedthisrareconfrontationbetweenahummingbirdandasnake.Werevealhowhedid it…
PHOTO ANATOMY
STAND-OFF!“Getting into the situationwhere you canphotographsomething like this is onething, but this picturecould easily havebeenruinedby thepoor light.Using flash to supplementdaylight giveswildlifeimages added impact, andallows you toworkwithfaster shutter speeds.”PaulGrogan,deputyeditor
EXPERT TIP
Restricted colour paletteThephotographusesdifferentshades of green to strikingeffect. Thebright green snakeandmoss, and thehummingbird’smid-greenplumage, standout brilliantlyagainst themuted, darkergreenbackground.
Expecting theunexpectedBencewasphotographinghummingbirds inMonteverde,Costa Rica, whenhenoticedthey hadbecomeagitated.He soon realisedwhy: a side-stripedpalmpit viperwascoiled on anearbybranch.
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PHOTOSHOPBASICSPhotoshopSchool
DigitalCamera September2011
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PHOTOSHOPBASICSPhotoshopSchool86 PhotoshopSchoolADVANCEDSKILLS
Retouching images of people is adelicate balancing act betweenhow far we go to try to makeour models look flawless, andhow much realism we’re willing
to lose in the process.Applying blurring or painting directly
onto skin quickly tends to make animage look artificial, leading to thedreaded“Photoshopped”criticism, andyet images in fashion magazines seemable to stretch to totally unrealistic levelsof perfection without ever losing thatcertain something that makes them stilllook real.
Frequency separation is one of theblack arts of retouching. At its simplest,it’s a way of splitting an image into ahigh detail layer and a low detail layer.These separate layers are overlaid toform a perfect reconstruction of theoriginal image. The big advantage is thatwe can manipulate what goes on in eachlayer independently.
The low detail (or low spatialfrequency) layer contains all the basiccolour and tonal information – we canedit this quite heavily to manipulatehighlights or smooth over blotchy skinand coarse textures. The high detail layercontains the fine textures and detailsthat are vitally important in ensuringdelicate image elements such as skin andhair look real.
In this tutorial we’re going todemonstrate a simple retouchingworkflow that uses frequency separationto enable us to both smooth and sharpenskin effectively and efficiently, withouteither of the processes conflicting withthe other.
BenSecret reveals how to use the frequency separation techniqueto improve skin texture and remove flaws without losing realismWHATYOU’LLNEEDPhotoshopCS5
WHATYOU’LL LEARNHow todeconstruct an image in detail,opening up apowerful new rangeofediting techniques
ITONLYTAKES30minutes
Retouchyourportraits foramodernhigh-fashion look
STEPBY STEP
ONYOURDISC
AFTER
a is people of images etouching
willing we’re realism much how
directly painting or blurring Applying
BEFORE
Ben
Secret
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DigitalCamera September2011
FREQUENCYSEPARATIONTECHNIQUEPhotoshopSchoolPhotoshopSchool
Loadthestart image
1Thereareanalmostunlimitednumberofwaysyoucanwork frequencyseparation intoa retouching
workflow. Youmaychoose touse it asa first step, or asa finishing step.But generally, everyone finds their ownbalance.Thevery first thing youneed todoofcourseis load the image.
Removeblemishes
2 It’s a good idea tobeginwithabasic retouch, andas longasyouavoidedges, Photoshop’sHealing
Brush tool is veryeffective for this. Lookat the imagezoomedout, andwhereyouseeblemishes, sampleacleanareaof skinnearbybyholdingdownAlt andclicking, then justpaintover them.
Duplicate thebackground
3Inorder toperformthe frequencysplit, we’ll needtocreate twocopiesofour image layer. Youcando
thisquicklybypressingCtrl+J twice.Nowyousimplyneed tonamethemiddle layer LowFrequencyandthe top layerHighFrequency.Click theLowFrequencylayer toworkon it.
Changetheblendingmode
6Change theHighFrequency layer’sblendingmode toLinear Light, andweshouldhave the
original imageperfectly reconstructed.Onlynowwehave thehighdetail contentonone layer, and the lowdetail onanother,where theycanbemanipulatedindependently.
Preparethehigh-frequency layer
5Click theHighFrequency layer andchooseImage>Apply Image. FromtheLayerdrop-down
menu, youneed toselect LowFrequency, and fromtheblendingmodesselectAdd.Ensure thatScale isset to2, andOffset is0, then tick the InvertboxandclickOK.
Preparethe low-frequency layer
4Wenowneed to remove thehigh-frequencyinformation fromthis layer, sowe’re simply going
touse theGaussianBlur filter. Select it fromtheFiltermenuanduseaRadiusof around5pixels. Thisdetermineswhere thesplit betweenhighand lowfrequencyactually takesplace (seebox, top right).
“Creatinga low-frequency layer iseasy– justuse theGaussianBlurfilter,andthe radiusyousetdeterminesexactlywhere thecrossoverpointbetweenyourlayers is.Ageneral ruleof thumbonhowbigthis shouldbe is that itwill be thepointwherefinedetailsbecomeinvisiblewhenviewingthe imageat full size.”BenSecret, techniquewriter
EXPERT TIP
Learn the lingoSpatial frequency
The concept of spatialfrequencies canbe
quite difficult to grasp.Onewayof thinking about it is toimagine a photographicimage extruded into alandscape, where thebrightest pixels are highpeaks, and thedarkestpixels are flat ground. Anyareas of high detail will havelarge fluctuations betweenhigh and low, while thesmooth contourswill begradual inclines.
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DigitalCamera September2011
PhotoshopSchoolADVANCEDSKILLS
ApplySoftLight
7Asimpleway tocleanupanyblotchyskinandaddhighlights iswith theDodgeandBurn tools (see
box, bottom left), butwe’re going touse theSoft Lightmethod. Select theLowFrequency layer andchooseLayers>NewLayer.Change theMode toSoft Light, ticktheFill with50%GreyboxandclickOK.
Dodgeandburn
8Now, simplypaintwitheither awhiteor ablackbrushset toa low floworopacityon theSoft
Light layer to lightenordarken the imageunderneath.In thescreengrababovewe’ve switched theblendingmode toNormal soyoucanseewherewe’veburnedthe image.
Smooththedetail
9Wecanalsoperformaquickandeasy smoothingofour low-frequencycontent.With theLow
Frequency layer selected, youneed toduplicate itand thenchooseFilter>Blur>SurfaceBlur. For this stepwe’re going touseaRadiusof around 14pixels, andathresholdof 11.
Masktheeffect
10Thiswill smoothouta lotofblotcheswithoutdamaging the fine skin textureat all. But you
maywell decide that theeffect is not actuallywantedeverywhere, so just clickAdd layermaskandpaintover anyedges, fabric andhairwithamedium-sizedblackbrush.
Cleanupthehigh-frequency layer
11Nowthatour low-frequencycontent is lookingmuchcleaner,wecan turnourattention tosorting
the finedetails. Ensuring theHighFrequency layeris visible, temporarily change itsblendingmode toNormal and thenpaintover anyunwanteddetailswiththeHealingBrush.
Sharpenup
12Another thingwecandowithourhigh-frequencycontent is sharpen it. AddaCurves
adjustment layer above theHighFrequency layerandattach it to theHighFrequency layer asaclippingmask. Youcando thisbyholdingdownAlt andclickingbetween the two layers in theLayerspalette.
“Tokeepthingssimplein the tutorial,weusedSmartSharpentosharpenourfinishedimage.However,manyretouchers favourfrequencyseparationfor this. Forfinesharpening,performthe frequencysplit asdescribed,butusingasmallerblur radius–around1pixel. Youcanthensimply reducetheOpacityof thelow-frequency layertosharpen.”BenSecret, techniquewriter
EXPERT TIP
Learn the lingoDodge and burn
Dodging andburningderives froma
darkroomprocessingtechniquewhere theexposure of selectedpartsof an image ismanipulatedby selectively lightening anddarkening image elements.Photoshophas its ownDodge andBurn tools, butmany retouchers prefer touse alternatives, such as theSoft Lightmethod.
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FREQUENCYSEPARATIONTECHNIQUEPhotoshopSchool
CreateanS-curve
13The first thingweneed todo ismakesurewedon’tmove themid-point. So in theCurves
window, createacontrol point right in themiddle.Adjust the InputandOutput values so thatboth read128.NowwecancreateanS-curve tosharpen finehighlights andshadows, as in thescreenshotabove.
Desaturate the image
14At thispointwecan flattenall of our layers tosimplify theLayerspalette. PressShift+Alt+E.
Nowwecandesaturateour image.AddaGradientMapadjustment layer above the flattened layers andselect a simpleblack-to-white gradient.Now reducethis layer’sOpacity toabout25%.
Adjust theCurves
15NowaddaCurvesadjustment layer. Select theClick andDrag toModifyCurve iconandclick a
highlight, amid-tonehighlight, amid-toneshadowandashadowregionof skin in the image.Thiswill createfourpointsonourcurve.Move theseupordown tocontrol skincontrast.
Touchupthehighlights
17Nextwehave tocreateanew layer.We’re goingtouse this toaddanymorehighlightsweneed
bysimplypaintingdirectlyonto the imageusinga large,softwhitebrush, set toeither a low flowor lowopacity.Herewe justpaintedsomewhiteon the topsof thegirl’s legs.
Modify theLevels
16Nowweneed toaddaLevels adjustment layer.Wecanuse this tomakesurewe’re gettinga
full rangeof tones fromour image, andalsoadjust themid-tonebrightnessbydragging theblack, greyandwhite sliders along thehistogramto inputLevelsof6,1.09and252 respectively.
Sharpenthefinal image
18 It’s commontoapply some finedetailsharpening to the finished image. Firstwe’ll
flatten the imagebypressingShift+Ctrl+E.Wecoulduse frequencyseparationonceagain for this job (seebox, top left), but insteadwe’ll useSmartSharpenat126%witha radiusof0.3pixels.
“Toget themostoutof this technique, it’sadvisable tomakesureyou’reworking in16-bitmode.Unlessstoragespace isanissue,convertingyour raw images to16-bit imagefiles,andworking ina16-bitPhotoshopenvironment, ensuresyougetsmoothertonal gradation.”BenSecret, techniquewriter
EXPERT TIP
Learn the lingoHealing Brush
TheHealing Brush is abasic retouching tool.
It can beused effectively onregular images, or on high-or low-frequency layersseparately. It works bysampling details fromonepart of an image, andcopying themandblendingthemwith the backgroundsomewhere else, enablingyou to cover up flaws orhide lines andwrinkles.