N-Photo Issue 40

free nikon skills disc

Photo magazine of the year!

Issue 40 • December 2014 £5.49 • www.nphotomag.com

All WE WANT

FOR XMAS

The ultimate gear & gadget wishlist for Nikon lovers

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE

The no.1 magazine for

RAW JPEG

Nikon users !

NIKON MASTERCLASS

NIGHT VISION

■ Punchy panoramas ■ Toy-town effect ■ Bokeh blur ■ Winding traffic trails ■ Creative reflection abstracts

Think you know the difference?

It might be time to think again...

BIG TEST

FAST GLASS We put eight FX-format prime lenses through their paces

apprentice

LANDSCAPE

What Sports Illustrated taught me is to chase the one great picture and not worry about getting lots of pictures Legendary sports photographer Bob Martin p82

FLIP OUT!

Capture a sideways view of the world p48

Water WORLD Create a globe in a droplet of water p54

SECRETS

Shoot stunning images of local landmarks

LightBOX

Wildlife Photographer of the Year special p20

December 2014

PRINTED IN THE UK

£5.49

THE

Monuments

Men

In this month’s Apprentice, reader Andrew Morl meets up with renowned landscape photographer and author David Taylor for a 24-hour masterclass on capturing local landmarks in his native Northumbria...

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Landmark masterclass

Name David Taylor Cameras Nikon D600 ■ David has been interested in photography since his teens. His love of the outdoors, particularly his native Northumberland, made landscape photography an obvious specialisation. He turned professional in 2006 after 20 years as a graphic artist for a variety of computer game development companies.

Since then he’s worked with organisations such as the Northumberland National Park Authority to supply imagery for promotional and editorial use. He’s also written camera guides and technique books for Ammonite Press (www. ammonitepress.com). His most recent book, Mastering Landscape Photography, is available now from Amazon and all good bookshops.

Name Andrew Morl Cameras Nikon D3200 ■ Bus driver Andrew got the photography bug from his dad, who bought him his first camera: a Zenit 11 with a 50mm lens. His first foray into digital was a 6.3MP Fujifilm s7000 bridge camera.

He’d always wanted a Nikon, though, so last year he treated himself to a D3200. Lens-wise he’s got most of the bases covered, with an 18-55mm kit lens and a Sigma 70-300mm zoom. He has recently invested in a circular polariser, a variable ND filter and a set of ND grads, plus a Manfrotto tripod and a remote release, which he’s keen to put to use improving his landscapes. He’s particularly interested in learning how to capture local landmarks within a wider landscape.

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The winners of the 2014 Wildlife Photographer of the Year have been announced. Here are our favourites taken by Nikon photographers

01 Jelly Fireworks Geo Cloete, Spain Finalist, Underwater Species

I encountered a swarm of box jellyfish when diving in Hout Bay off Cape Town several years ago. I didn’t have a camera with me, but I fantasised about photographing a huge mass of them, moving like a firework display in slow motion. Seven years later I came across this swarm in the same location.

Visibility was poor, so I needed to manoeuvre them nearer to the surface, where I could backlight them with the sun.

Nikon D300, Tokina AT-X 10-17mm f/3.5–4.5 AF DX, 1/320 sec, f/16, ISO160, Seatool housing, 2 x Inon Z-240 flashes

Special feature

Night vision

N i g h t V i s i o n

Go beyond picture-postcard cityscapes with our essential guide to five fun photo projects you can try in a single evening

owns and cities arguably look at their best – their most inviting and exciting – at night. Of course, it’s perfectly possible to shoot stunning cityscapes during the day, too, but unless the light is just right, and from just the right direction, it’s often hard to do a city justice in a photograph; an iconic skyline against a deep blue sky that’s dotted with crisp white clouds is fine for postcards, but let’s face it, it’s not exactly creative.

The advantage of shooting at night, of course, is that you don’t have to worry as much about the light, or indeed the weather. The sort of deep, dusky blue skies you get up to an hour after sunset on clear evenings are arguably the ideal for cityscapes at night, but you can still get amazing results even if it’s completely overcast

T

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and pouring with rain, which is more than can be said for photographing cityscapes in the daytime.

Shooting at night will improve your cityscapes… well, overnight, but you don’t have to stop there. By thinking creatively, it’s possible to go even further with your images to capture something more exciting and original.

All it needs is some creative vision.

To help get your started, over the next ten pages we present five ideas for classic cityscapes at night, and then, for each, provide a step-by-step guide to a fresh or creative twist that will help take your own nightscapes to the next level. And remember, our suggestions are just that: suggestions.

For every cityscape, there are dozens of different ways to shoot it, and the results you come home with are limited only by your imagination…

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Night vision

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Nikon skills the mission

■ Photograph deer in a deer park, sanctuary or in the wild

time needed

■ Three hours

skill level

■ Anyone can do it ■ Some tricky aspects ■ Advanced technique

Kit needed

■ A long lens (around 400mm is ideal) ■ Nikon D-SLR ■ Tripod ■ Monopod

Next issue…

Don’t suffer festive stress – take quick and easy group shots

Ingenious recipes for stunning shots

Project one camera techniques

Stalk a stag

Photographing deer means long lenses and plenty of patience. James Paterson goes stalking…

Capturing wildlife is a challenge on several levels.

It’s a test of your patience, dedication and, if you have a big lens, even your arm muscles. But it’s a chance to observe beautiful creatures behaving naturally, and perseverance can be rewarded with photos to be proud of.

There’s always an element of luck involved in wildlife photography, as you can never be sure that the animals will play ball, but with perseverance you can make your own luck. Wildlife photographers will visit the same location time and time again, waiting for the right moment when animal,

light and composition all come together to create the perfect shot.

It pays to be up and in position very early, as deer activity is usually most intense just after dawn. Of course, this is often also one of the best times of the day for light, especially if you’re lucky enough to get the magic combination of morning sunlight and low-lying mist. Wild deer get spooked easily, so stay downwind, wear dark clothes and keep quiet. Alternatively, head to a deer sanctuary or park where the animals are used to people.

Here you can usually get in closer or use dedicated viewing areas.

There is always an element of luck involved in wildlife photography, as you can never be sure that the animals will play ball, but with perseverance you can make your own luck

Spotted!

Nikon D800, Nikon AF-S 400mm f/2.8G ED VR, 1/1000 sec, f/8, ISO1600

KEY KIT Going large

You’ll want support when using a long, heavy lens

Keep it steady

Big lenses are packed with glass and very heavy, especially ones with wide maximum apertures, so you’ll need a tripod or monopod to help keep them rock steady. Most big lenses come with a bracket so you can attach the lens to your stand rather than the camera body.

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Tripod and head

A tripod with a gimbal head is ideal for long lenses as it keeps the lens steady and allows you to scan the scene. If you don’t have a gimbal head you could try a video head, as these let you pan and tilt the lens while providing a bit of friction.

Monopod

Monopods allow you to be more mobile and react quicker than tripods, although with one leg rather than three they are less steady.

They take the weight of the lens and prevent vertical camera movement, which makes it easier to search a scene for wildlife.

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Chewy Nikon D800, Nikon AF-S 400mm f/2.8G ED VR, 1/1000 sec, f/4.5, ISO2500

CLOSE-UP

The N-Photo interview

There is hardly a sport that Bob Martin hasn’t photographed. He tells Keith Wilson about his favourite Olympics, using robots at Wimbledon, and falling over backwards at the World Athletics Championships… or someone who wasn’t that interested in sport as a boy, Bob Martin’s journey from the Surrey Comet to Sports Illustrated had many twists and turns. But his passion for photography and desire to take great pictures has never wavered…

When you were a kid, which interest came first: photography or sport?

Photography. I was 14 when I first got interested in photography. I was more interested in the processing side, looking at prints develop in trays, than photography itself. It was my big hobby at school.

Were you not interested in sport?

A little bit, but not overtly. I wasn’t one of the people who was playing sport every weekend. I’d lumber up to the rugby club, I liked playing squash when I was in my 20s, but I was never crazy about sport.

Did you study photography at school?

I thought I was going to be a vet, but I started A-levels and didn’t finish. I went off to work part-time for FNG Clarke in Teddington, a wedding and industrial photography company, as an assistant.

How long did that job last?

About a year and a half. I learnt about black-and-white developing. We just shuffled paper: say we had a hundred prints to do, it was like playing cards with a giant tray of developer and a great big rotary drier. So I was a darkroom person during the week and at weekends I would go out and help on the occasional shoot.

When you left this job, what came next?

I went to work at Imperial College London as a photographic technician, which was really a step backwards because it didn’t teach me much about photography, but it did teach me to be technical. I was working for the civil engineering department. It was not photography as I think of it today, because there wasn’t much creativity in what I was doing. However, I’d go off at weekends and take pictures of a bike trial,

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CLOSE-UP

BOB MARTIN www.nphotomag.com

Federer in action Bob Martin ranks Roger Federer as one of the greatest sports stars he’s photographed

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test team

2 3

7

4 5

Prime lenses

Fast Glass

The modest maximum apertures offered by most zoom lenses can cramp your style.

Matthew Richards presents his prime picks that go all the way to f/1.4 94

December 2014

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Fast prime lenses

THE CONTENDERS 1 Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.4G £280, $425 2 Samyang 85mm f/1.4 IF MC £310, $300 3 Samyang 35mm f/1.4 AS UMC £450, $426 4 Sigma 85mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM £650, $970 5 Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM A £670, $900

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6 Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM A £700, $950 7 Nikon AF-S 85mm f/1.4G £1180, $1600 8 Nikon AF-S 58mm f/1.4G £1400, $1695

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Dear Santa…

XMAS GIFT guide

all you want in your stocking, UNDER THE TREE AND IN YOUR DREAMS...

Cokin Landscape Kit 1 Complete filter kit to get you started £50, $67

www.cokin.co.uk

■ This filter set is designed for anyone with a passion for capturing landscapes. It contains almost everything you need, including three 84mm P-Type rectangular filters (a blue-to-clear filter to intensify blue skies, a graduated warming one to boost sunsets and a conventional warming filter), and a holder that attaches to your lens.

An adapter ring to fit your lens is the only extra you’ll need to buy.

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LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt 1TB

Tough portable hard drive to keep your images safe £149, $199

www.lacie.com

■ With its orange rubberised case this top hard drive is hard to miss.

Featuring Thunderbolt connectivity and a USB3 socket, it boasts data transfer times of up to 110MB per second. It comes as 1TB and 2TB conventional drives, and 250GB and 500GB SSD models – but at £379/$500, the latter would be a special gift indeed!

December 2014

Triggertrap Mobile Dongle Kit

A cable release with some very big differences £23, $40

www.cokin.co.uk

■ Triggertrap is basically a wire that connects your camera to your smartphone. An app then enables you to fire the shutter with your phone. It uses many of your phone’s features to add functionality, such as triggering the shutter when it hears a sound, feels motion or sees a number of faces. It’s a great way to capture the festive fun.

Photo Phreeze Phun

I’m sure there’s a camera in my drink! £10, $16

www.bigfanofphoto.com

■ The holidays are the ideal time to meet up with family and friends.

To help get the party well on its way, this silicon ice tray creates perfectly formed ice camera bodies and lenses. If that isn’t enough for you, dip the end of one of the ice lenses into some water and attach it to the ice camera body, then pop them back into the freezer for ten minutes to create the perfect miniature camera popsicle!

The Stocking-filler List

little treats

Joby GorillaPod SLR-Zoom and ball head

small but welcome

Ready to hold your camera and capture the family Mini support

£65, $90

www.joby.com

■ GorillaPods are known for their versatility, with articulated legs that are able wrap around almost any object and hold your camera steady. This is the second-strongest ’pod from Gorillapod’s range and is able to hold an impressive 3kg, so it can easily support a D5300 and kit lens when standing on a table or wrapped around a Christmas tree. The legs feature rubberised bands on each of the flexible joints, enabling a surprisingly firm grasp.

A good-quality ball head is included, and although there’s no friction adjustment, for a ’pod of this size it’s nicely made and works well. It even features a quick release plate and level at the back, so whatever the surface you attach the pod to, you should be able to get a level shot.

Uniqball UBH 35 & 45 Solid heads that keep your horizons level Tripod Head

£250, $420/ £392, $660

£40, $50

www.sandisk.com

■ Impressive read/write speeds 95/90MB per second and tests to ensure it’s shock-, water- and X-ray-proof mean this memory card is both fast and secure in use.

You can use this to fix your Nikon above the crowds at parties!

Lastolite Micro Apollo MKII £32, $30

www.lastolite.com

■ The Micro Apollo unfolds to look like a conventional softbox, and slots over a hotshoe flash. It noticeably softens flash and helps create a more complimentary light – great for portraits. Price is for the 20x13cm model.

www.uniqball.eu

■ These two-in-one Arca Swiss-compatible ball heads enable you to level your camera and lock it in one plane while still allowing the lens to be tilted or panned. This allows you to follow a moving subject without the horizon tilting.

Both heads are machined from aerospace-industry aluminium alloy, and the tension can be adjusted via a small knob. The UBH 45 weighs 700 grams and is designed to support a heavyweight lens like an 800mm f/5.6 on a pro-level SLR, although of course it can also be used with smaller cameras lenses. Meanwhile the smaller, 500-gram, UBH 35 can cope with standard lenses like a 70-200mm f/2.8.

Getting the heads level at the outset takes practice, but you will get the hang of it. Once it’s done you can tip and pan the camera without worrying about the horizon tilting. Fitting an L-plate to your SLR before attaching it to a UBH head gives you the same degree of control when shooting upright images.

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SanDisk Extreme Pro SDHC UHS-1 32GB

Syrp Variable ND £87, $139

www.syrp.co.nz

■ The perfect filter for long exposures to capture smoothed clouds and water, this variable neutral density filter comes with a beautiful leather case. It’s available in 67mm and 82mm versions, with step-up rings.

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