PhotoPlus 100th Issue

more tests • More techniques • More pages 100th issue preview

The best-ever guide to

CANON photography Expert advice from top pros Full lab tests of Canon-fit kit Free video disc full of tutorials

new look!

The n magazineo.1 for

CANON users!

148

pages of EOS advice in every issue! free ultimate Canon handbook if you subscribe today!

Fresh new ways to improve your photography

TheCanonmagazine

Welcome to…

The Canon pho PHOTOPLUSAPPRENTICE

We have a big birthday coming up, and we want you to join in the celebrations. On 28 April, the 100th issue of PhotoPlus magazine goes on sale – and we want to mark this landmark anniversary in style.

PRO NAME:

In this exclusive preview we want to show you what makes PhotoPlus different from other magazines, and what we’re doing to make PhotoPlus even more invaluable for the Canon photo enthusiast for issue 100 and beyond…

Peter Travers Editor PS Subscribe by 12 April and you’ll not only get the newlook bumper 100th issue of PhotoPlus – you’ll also get our best-selling Ultimate Canon SLR Handbook, worth £14.99!

PAUL FORGHAM

GRAND DESIGNS

CAMERA:

CANON EOS 5D MK III

APPRENTICE NAME:

KYLE LYONS CAMERA:

CANON EOS 5D MK II KYLE, 38, is a multimedia artist, specialising in stock video footage for the entertainment industry.

Originally from Buffalo, New York State, USA, he has lived in Valencia, Spain, since 2003 after studying Spanish in the city. He invested in his Canon camera primarily to shoot lime-lapse video for his work, but has wants to put his DSLR to the purpose it was originally intended.

We flew a reader to Spain for a one-on-one masterclass on architectural photography with a top pro. This is the story of his amazing trip

PAUL is a 56-year-old landscape and travel photographer, with a specialisation in architectural photography. He travels regularly to shoot great European cities, and so was just the man to show Kyle the ropes of city break photography in Valencia’s architectural masterpiece, the City of Arts and Sciences.

See more of Paul’s work at www.paulforgham.co.uk.

WORDS & LOCATION IMAGES: ADAM WARING

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Launched in 2007, PhotoPlus was the first-ever monthly magazine dedicated to Canon DSLR owners.

And 99 issues later this EOS-only mixture of tutorials, tests and photo inspirations is still going strong. But for reaching our special 100th issue we are going to make PhotoPlus bigger, better, and with even more great pictures and Canon-centric advice than ever.

SHOOT WITH A PRO

www.photoplusmag.com

The Canon Magazine

11

100% Canon

Unlike other photo magazines, we show you precisely how to tackle subjects and create effects using a Canon DSLR. And every picture we feature is shot on an EOS camera body too!

SUPERTEST

WIDE-ANGLE PRIME LENSES

WIDE-ANGLE PRIME

LENSES

We test out eight wide-eyed alternatives to the zoom, in our quest for the best Canon-fit optics IHIC TEM. Nonsed que necae velesed que nis dolore cores eiunte dolorerferum volor andebit hilluptatio iminvero cone nobit, omnihicitis prerior aut aut asped modi cuptatecto velitat. Moluptaque nobis etur sinis volupta desto modisqu oditios auta voloritatem ius ape officitia et eum rem quatqua tibeate cturiatatur?

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www.digitalcameraworld.com

The Canon Magazine

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100% independent

We might be The Canon Magazine, but we are completely independent from Canon. So we give you honest, expert buying advice, and tell you about the best non-Canon accessories for your EOS.

Subscribe NOW!

All-New

on sale 28 April

oto magazine just got better!

SKILLS

PHOTOGRAPHY SKILLS

Time needed One hour Skill level Intermediate Kit needed Home studio flash kit with softboxes and umbrellas

EXPERT ADVICE

EOSS.O.S

BROADNING HORIZONS

PROJECT 1: GEAR SKILLS

THE MISSON Get started with studio flash by learning how to set up your lights and camera equipement

Take portraits like pros!

all of Welcome to the new EOS SOS where we solve your Canon-related questions and queries

Create a classic lighting setup for close-up portraits with your home studio lights with tips from James Paterson

ffectively a home studio flash kit is one of the best ways to take your portraits to the next level. You can light subjects from any direction, fix attachments to change the quality and spread of the light, and use a low ISO to ensure the highest image quality.

But studio flash can be a difficult beast to master, not least because the burst of light is almost instantaneous and impossible to judge by eye. There are three main areas of control when it comes to

using studio flash heads. First, we have control over the quality and spread of the light through use of attachments like umbrellas and softboxes fixed in front of the bulb.

Secondly, we can put the head wherever we choose – up high, down low, in front of or behind our subject – with each position changing the look of our image.

Thirdly, we can use the power settings on the flash to control the output, which becomes important when we start balancing the light from two or more heads. By controlling these factors, you can sculpt the light so it’s exactly how

you want it to, every time. Over the next few pages we’ll show you how to set up your home studio lighting kit for stunning portraits.

The position of your lights has a huge effect on the way the face looks. We’re using ‘Butterfly’ lighting, with the softboxes positioned just above the head to create a butterfly-like shadow under the nose. Whether you want to learn classic techniques for lighting a face, see how softboxes and brollies work, or discover simple Photoshop retouching skills you’ll find the answers in our lighting guide…

The larger the light source, the softer the light, hence larger softboxes produce gentler light. Distance also plays a part, as moving a light closer effectively increases its size in relation to the subject.

D-SLR

arks

window light

X-D’s array

ur shots, arp Mask

This law states that if the distance between the light and subject is doubled, they'll receive a quarter of the light. You might think moving a light back from one metre to two metres would halve the strength, but it actually quarters it.

To compensate, you’d either need to increase the power output by four times (as in the diagram) or allow for two extra stops of aperture or ISO. You can see the Inverse Square law in action, because of the skies • Add drama to cloudy change in distance ratios between light, puddles • Have fun with subject and background, look background is made • How to get the tilt-shiftthe much a prodarker when the • Use natural light likeflash is close to the face.

You may not be able to get close to the wildlife you’re shooting if the animals are skittish or dangerous, so a long lens is a must

Is a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens good enough for wildlife photography?

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Susobhan Gupta, via email

VIDEO GUIDES A fast 24-70mm standard zoom lens is a must for wedding portraits, especially when you’re shooting indoors in low light conditions

01 FIRST, THE CAMERA!

Whereas an umbrella spreads the light to cover a wide area, softboxes don’t give as large a spread of light, giving more control over the illuminated area, and create more attractive catchlights in the eyes.

02 SOFT OPTIONS

The larger a light source the softer the light, hence larger softboxes produce softer light. Distance also plays a part; moving a light closer increases its size in relation to the subject, so bringing a light in close to

Neil Brock, Newport, UK

01 WHITE UMBRELLA

t ng Made in EU NIK43 March 2015

• Importing in to Lightroom 10 And much more...

03 KEY CAMERA SETTINGS

Stock settings for studio flash are manual (M) mode, ISO100, 1/200 sec and f/11. Take a test shot at these settings; if it’s too dark, widen your aperture or increase the power of the flash. If it's too bright, do2015 MAY MAC & PC #100

Both softboxes and umbrellas diffuse the harsh flash light, but there are differences between the two. An umbrella spreads the light to cover a wide area.

04 SOFT OPTIONS

The larger the light source, the softer the light, hence larger softboxes produce gentler light. Distance also plays a part, as moving a light closer effectively increases its size in relation to the subject. www.photoplusmag.com

Is a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens a good choice for photographing a wedding?

ESSENTIAL KIT: STUDIO FLASH MODIFIERS

FREE VIDEO DISC

02 SOFTBOX

Softboxes don’t give as large a spread of light, giving more control over the illuminated area, and create more attractive catchlights in the eyes in close-ups. For this reason, softboxes are often preferred for portraiture.

03 SILVER UMBRELLA

04 CIRCULAR REFLECTOR

Both softboxes and umbrellas diffuse the harsh flash light, but there are differences between the two.

An umbrella spreads the light to cover a wide area.

Softboxes don’t give as large a spread of light, giving more control over the illuminated area, and create more attractive catchlights in the eyes in close-ups. For this reason, softboxes are often preferred for portraiture.

BRIAN SAYS… The 24-70mm f/2.8 is a wedding staple, being bright, fast and with a focal length capable of both group shots and solo portraits. If you’re looking for one lens to cover the whole day it’s a great choice. I would also consider the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L, which offers stabilisation for shooting in low light or during the reception, and is almost 200g lighter, with an extra 50mm of focal length. As the lighting is bound to change as you move from outdoors to in during the day, it’s worth opting for

05 HONEYCOMB GRID

Both softboxes and umbrellas diffuse the harsh flash light, but there are differences between the two.

An umbrella spreads the light to cover a wide area.

11

The Canon Magazine

Two ways to learn

Learn how to get creative with your Canon Speedlite flashgun What is off-camera flash?

Off-camera flash – also referred to as strobism – is simply the ability to remove a flashgun from a fixed attachment on the camera body, and fire it from a position away from the camera.

5

BRIAN SAYS… Fast glass is often big and heavy, but it doesn’t have to be that way. One way of keeping the weight off is to go for a prime lens rather than a zoom. As such, the Canon EF 200mm f/2.8 is one of the lightest and physically shortest lens in the group, at 765g and 136mm. By stark contrast, the Canon EF 200mm f/2, which is still a prime lens but a stop faster, is over three times heavier at 2.52kg. It also has a much greater diameter at 128mm compared with 83mm. Why such a big difference in weight then?

By freeing the flashgun from the camera, you open up a lot of creative possibilities.

To explain all of them would require a lot of pages in this issue – but in a nutshell, off-camera flash allows you to modify, through direction and distance, the way the light affects your subject.

Using flash light to supplement or boost ambient light when you’re out on location can help you take more effective photos.

It is particularly popular for portraiture, allowing you to direct light more.

What do I need to be able to do it?

To start in off-camera flash, you need a camera, a separate flashgun, and a way of triggering the flashgun remotely. Some

cameras have built-in wireless capabilities – but in most cases, either a cable or, even better, a separate flash trigger and receiver are used to communicate with and fire your flash light. There are many different types of flash triggers available – from cheap and

What are the settings I need?

The precise camera settings vary from situation to situation. The only real way to start to understand how it works is to experiment, and look at the difference as you adjust power settings, angle of flash and distance from your subject. You can start with simple still-life set-ups, before moving onto portraits and other more challenging subjects later.

How do your two shots differ?

I’ve just taken the two shots as a very basic example of what off-camera flash can do. The left-hand shot is a perfectly exposed image of the subject, but with the flash attached to the camera’s

DIRECT FLASH

hotshoe. This means that the angle of light is head-on to the fossil. While the flash has illuminated the subject, the result is a flat and boring photo. Simply by removing the flashgun, positioning it at an acute angle to the subject and firing it via a wireless trigger, the result is a much more pleasing shot.

ANGLED FLASH

How do I use the Dual Pixel CMOS AF that’s on my 70D? Mike Wallis, Easingwold, UK

Brian says… In normal shooting modes, DSLRs rely on a dedicated phase-detection autofocus module, onto which light is reflected from the main reflex mirror. However, when you use Live View or video capture modes, the reflex mirror is flipped up and the autofocus module becomes redundant. Autofocus is then taken care of by the image sensor itself. Conventionally, a contrast-detection system is used, the focus setting being automatically adjusted until the greatest contrast is obtained.

It’s certainly accurate but tends to be much slower than a.

www.digitalcameraworld.com

Andrew’s shot using a flash attached to the camera hotshoe exposes the fossil well, but the object looks flat and dul

Simply by moving the flash off to the side of the camera, the shot becomes much more interesting with a well-defined form

The Canon Magazine

6

Going beyond the basics

PhotoPlus is not just about essential settings, we will inspire you with new camera tricks, showing awe-inspiring images and ensuring you get the best shots, whatever your level of expertise.

Every issue comes with a free set of videos in which our experts show you how to improve your camera skills and Photoshop knowledge – building on the techniques shown in the magazine.

YOURPHOTOS

Off-camera flash Why bother with it?

Learn how to take control of studio flash with our simple step-by-step guide

RAW

Canon Pro Brian is a freelance photographer and photo tutor from Oxfordshire.

He has unrivalled EOS DSLR knowledge after working for Canon for over 15 years.

SOFT OPTIONS

STEP BY STEP CLASSIC LIGHTING SET-UPS THE INVERSE P PHOT SQUARE LAW OSHO

BRIGHTER SHOTS

EXPERT Brian Worley

YOUR STORIES, YOUR PHOTOS 01 Lens:

PELICAN IN FLIGHT The right weather conditions give your mirror-like reflections Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM Exposure: 1/2500 sec at f/5.6; ISO 640

02

CLOSE-UP PORTRAIT At Canon one side of the lake you couldExposure: get really1/5000 closesectoatthe birds 300mm f/2.8L IS USM f/4; ISO 800

Lens:

03 Lens:

STRETCHING IN GOLDEN EVENING SUNSHINE A wide-angle shot shows the spectacular setting Exposure: 1/2000 sec at f/7.1; ISO 640 Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM

04 Lens:

JUST THE ONE DALMATIAN Isolating individual birds allowed for artistic compositions Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM Exposure: 1/1000 sec at f/5.6; ISO 800

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PROJECT INFO Drew Buckley Pembrokeshire AGE:- 29 MISSION:Showcase these prehistoriclooking birds and the place they call home in winter KIT:EOS 5D Mark III, EOS 7D Mark II, EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM, EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM II, EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM, EF 100-400mm f/4-5.6L IS USM II, Extenders, Lee filters WEB:drewbuckleyphotography.com

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Pelican weekend...

Drew Buckley spent a memorable weekend in Greece taking pictures of over 101 Dalmatians – and other local bird life! can’t think of a nicer setting in which to photograph these amazing birds! I was lucky enough to be a guide for the fabulous NaturesLens tour company on this trip.

The location, Lake Kerkini. The target species, Dalmatian Pelicans; and what a bird they are! Truly stunning bill colours and curly feathers all over their heads.

Mirror-ike reflections on the lake greeted us daily and with views backed by high snowy peaks, Lake Kerkini is stunning

place to be and a real paradise for birds. It’s situated in the north of the country about 20km from the GreekBulgarian border. Lake Kerkini offers some of the most accessible, and best opportunities for both birding and bird photography in Europe. The lake and the surrounding wetlands are nestled between the Kerkini Mountains to the north and the Marvovouni Mountains to the south. It hosts more than three hundred sorts of birds, including the Pelicans, Cormorants, Herons and

Flamingos.

Our trip consisted of many outings onto the lake in a small open fishing boat. The lake is extremely shallow; down to a few feet in some places so it was important to keep an even weight across the boat to stop it grounding out. It was very cold over the weekend with freezing fog covering the lake in the mornings. Wearing pretty much every piece of clothing I owned, it was eye watering sometimes, especially with the wind-chill. However, it did make for some pretty spectacular and atmospheric www.digitalcameraworld.com

conditions. Distant hills layered in mist and subject backgrounds blending into infinity, so can’t moan. We discovered the Pelicans early on, they follow the Pygmy Cormorants around when they’re fishing and pretty much take the food straight from their mouths when they find it.

This in turn signals to other distant Pelicans to join the ‘mob’ gang. The benefit of shooting from a boat was the ability to be like a makeshift hide (though they weren’t really put off by much) and also to get down low and shoot eye level to the birds.

Swapping between bodies

and lenses to get varied images, it’s always important in my view to shoot the wider picture sometimes. In the afternoons we headed to the to the other side of the lake where the Pelicans gather for a shoreline feed. This is not only a great opportunity to get super up close portraits, but also as more birds came in you could really get some good action and in flight images.

On another trip, we headed out on the boat again and the birds followed us allowing to get different angles of them in flight and portrait shots, with changeable backgrounds to vary the shots up.

The benefit of shooting from a boat was the ability to have a makeshift hide and to get down to their eye level.

04

TOP TIPS

for • Research the best spots and times ge t ting the best shots of migra tory birds hire • I f you don’t have a long telephoto, one for the day or the week

The Canon Magazine

Refreshing features

PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine comes packed with new features, and has been completely redesigned for 2015 to suit today’s photo enthusiast – and to celebrate our 100th issue!

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Digital? Paper? You choose!

You can buy PhotoPlus at your local newsagent or store, or via a postal subscription. But it is also available every four weeks in various digital forms for your smartphone, tablet or computer.

Don’t miss our special 100th ISSUE

TheCanonmagazine

CANon-fit kit tested

SUPERTEST

We don’t waste pages looking at kit that won’t fit with your Canon camera system.

And from issue 100 we will be using new vigorous laboratory tests to ensure our reviews are even more authoritative, too!

Tests you can trust

Serious photographers want to buy the best lenses at the best prices. That’s why we are revamping our tests to make them even tougher!

We have a new lab set up that will put zooms and primes through their paces to give you hard scientific facts. And we don’t just test Canon lenses – we test Canon-fit lenses from Tamron, Sigma, Tokina, Zeiss, Samyang, and others too!

BUYER’S GUIDE CAMERAS CANON EOS 70D

What to look for:

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AN ideal starter camera, it keeps things simple yet covers all the basics. A handy companion app is available for free download, serving as an interactive shooting guide. However, the low-res LCD screen lacks touch or vari-angle facilities.

CANON EOS 100D (REBEL SL1) IT’S smaller than any other Canon D-SLR but a step up in sophistication from the 1200D, with a newer generation image processor, high-res touchscreen and ‘hybrid CMOS AF’ for effective continuous autofocus during movie capture.

ENTRY-LEVEL

CANON EOS 700D (REBEL T5I) WITH a faster continuous drive rate than the 100D and the bonus of a vari-angle touchscreen, the 700D is more versatile for shooting from extreme angles or around corners. It’s a lovely lightweight camera but is now outclassed by the newer 750D.

CANON EOS 750D (REBEL T6I)

CANON EOS 760D (REBEL T6S) BUILDING on the smart features and impressive specifications of the 750D, the 760D adds a secondary info LCD on the top panel. This improves handling and makes it feel more like an ‘enthusiast’ camera rather than an entry-level model.

Sensor Viewfinder

18Mp, APS-C (5184x3456)

TESTED IN ISSUE 86 PRICE: £320/$450 Sensor Viewfinder ISO AF LCD Max burst (buffer) Memory card

18Mp, APS-C (5184x3456)

ISO AF LCD Max burst (buffer) Memory card

18Mp, APS-C (5184x3456) Pentamirror, 0.85x, 95% 100-12,800 (25,600 expanded) 9-point (all cross-type) 3.0-inch touchscreen vari-angle 5fps (6 RAW/22 JPEG) SD/HC/XC

TESTED IN ISSUE ?? PRICE: £600/$750 Sensor Viewfinder ISO AF LCD Max burst (buffer) Memory card

24.2Mp, APS-C (6000x4000) Pentamirror, 0.82x, 95% 100-12,800 (25,600 expanded) 9-point (all cross-type) 3.0-inch touchscreen vari-angle 5fps (8 Raw/940 JPEG) SD/HC/XC

TESTED IN ISSUE ?? PRICE: £650/$860 Sensor Viewfinder ISO AF LCD Max burst (buffer) Memory card

24.2Mp, APS-C (6000x4000)

ISO AF LCD Max burst (buffer) Memory card

HERE’S the new king of action-packed APS-C format cameras. It has 65-point AF with advanced tracking, 10fps continuous drive, dual DIGIC 6 processors and GPS, all wrapped up in a tough, weather-sealed magnesium alloy shell.

CANON EOS 6D AMAZINGLY good value for a full-frame body, the 6D combines a respectable 20.2Mp image resolution with super-high sensitivities of up to ISO 102,400. Image quality is excellent and there’s built-in Wi-Fi and GPS, but the 6D has a fairly basic autofocus system.

CANON EOS 5D MK III REMARKABLY compact and lightweight for a fully professional and weather-sealed full-frame body, the 5D Mk III boasts the same top-notch AF system as the 1D X and delivers stunning image quality even under very low lighting. The big, bright viewfinder is brilliant.

CANON EOS 5DS (5DS R) TAKING D-SLR image resolution to new heights, the stunning new 5DS combines a 50.6Mp image sensor with dual DIGIC 6 processors. The 5DS R adds a ‘low-pass cancellation filter’ to maximise the potential for extreme sharpness. Max ISO and drive rate are slower than 5D Mk III.

CANON EOS 1D X

Pentamirror, 0.82x, 95% 100-12,800 (25,600 expanded) 19-point (all cross-type)

CANON’S flagship full-frame professional camera boasts ultra-fast continuous shooting and the availability of super-high ISO, along with sublime handling. Build quality is rock-solid, image resolution is relatively modest, especially compared with the 5DS and 5DS R.

3.0-inch touchscreen vari-angle 5fps (8 Raw/940 JPEG) SD/HC/XC

1 www.digitalcameraworld.com

Sensor Viewfinder

CANON EOS 7D MK II

Pentamirror, 0.87x, 95% 100-12,800 (25,600 expanded) 9-point (1 cross-type) 3.0-inch touchscreen 4fps (7 Raw/28 JPEG) SD/HC/XC

TESTED IN ISSUE 86 PRICE: £470/$600 Sensor Viewfinder

IT’S a quick-shooter 8fps camera with dual processors and a tough magnesium alloy build.

However, while it had standout specifications when launched back in 2009, it has now been eclipsed by the new 7D Mk II and, to a lesser extent, the 70D.

Pentamirror, 0.8x, 95% 100-6400 (12,800 expanded) 9-point (1 cross-type) 3.0-inch (Raw/Large JPEG) 5760x3840 SD/HC/XC

Sensor Viewfinder

20.2Mp, APS-C (5472x3648) Pentaprism, 0.95x, 98% 100-12,800 (25,600 expanded) 19-point (all cross-type)

1

3.0-inch touchscreen vari-angle 7fps (16 Raw/65 JPEG) SD/HC/XC

TESTED IN ISSUE 86 PRICE: £725/$850 18Mp, APS-C (5184 x 3456) Pentaprism, 1.0x, 100% 100-6400 (12,800 expanded) 19-point (all cross-type) 3.0-inch 8fps (25 Raw/126 JPEG CF

TESTED IN ISSUE 95 PRICE: £1600/$1800 Sensor Viewfinder ISO AF LCD Max burst (buffer) Memory card

20.2Mp, APS-C (5472x3648) Pentaprism, 1.0x, 100% 100-16,000 (51,200 expanded) 65-point (all cross-type) 3.0-inch 10fps (31 Raw/unlimited JPEG) CF+ SD/HC/XC

TESTED IN ISSUE 86 PRICE: £1260/$1800 Sensor Viewfinder ISO AF LCD Max burst (buffer) Memory card

20.2Mp, Full-frame (5472x3648) Pentaprism, 0.71x, 97% 100-25,600 (50-102,400 expanded) 11-point (1 cross-type) 3.0-inch 4.5fps (17 Raw/1250 JPEG) SD/HC/XC

TESTED IN ISSUE 86 PRICE: £2300/$3100 Sensor Viewfinder ISO AF LCD Max burst (buffer) Memory card

22.3Mp, Full-frame (5760 x 3840) Pentaprism, 0.71x, 100% 100-25,600 (50-102,400 expanded) 61-point (41 cross-type, 5 dual-cross) 3.2-inch 6fps (18 Raw/16,270 JPEG) CF + SD/HC/XC

TESTED IN ISSUE 86 PRICE: £3000/$3700 Sensor Viewfinder ISO AF LCD Max burst (buffer) Memory card

50.6Mp, Full-frame (8688x5792) Pentaprism, 0.71x, 100% 100-6400 (50-12,800 expanded) 61-point (41 cross-type, 5 dual-cross) 3.2-inch 5fps (14 Raw/510 JPEG) CF + SD/HC/XC

TESTED IN ISSUE 86 PRICE: £4850/$6000 Sensor Viewfinder ISO AF LCD Max burst (buffer) Memory card

18.1Mp, Full-frame (5184x3456) Pentaprism, 0.76x, 100% 100-51,200 (50-204,800 expanded) 61-point (41 cross-type, 5 dual-cross) 3.2-inch 12-14fps (38 Raw/180 JPEG) 2x CF

PROFESSIONAL

HEADLINE attractions include a new 24.2Mp high-res image sensor and DIGIC 6 processor, plus 19-point autofocus. It beats the older 700D in all these respects, while also adding Wi-Fi and NFC for easy sharing and printing.

TESTED IN ISSUE 87 PRICE: £260/$400

ISO AF LCD Max burst (buffer) Memory card

CANON EOS 7D

TESTED IN ISSUE 86 PRICE: £790/$1100

ISO AF LCD Max burst (buffer) Memory card

ENTHUSIAST

CANON EOS 1200D (REBEL T5)

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A breakthrough D-SLR, the 70D delivers fast and smooth autofocus in Live View and movie modes, thanks to its revolutionary ‘Dual Pixel CMOS AF’ image sensor, backed up by DIGIC 5+ processing.

The 7fps continuous drive rate is quick and it has built-in Wi-Fi.

All-new buyers’ guides

No need to wait for a group test to come along, every issue we will provide you with an at-aglance guide to all Canon’s DSLR bodies – and every current lens available to fit them

The Canon Magazine

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Subscribe today! Save UP TO 50%

All-New

on sale 28 April WIDE-ANGLE PRIME LENSES

WIDE-ANGLE PRIME

LENSES

We test out eight wide-eyed alternatives to the zoom, in our quest for the best Canon-fit optics IHIC TEM. Nonsed que necae velesed que nis dolore cores eiunte dolorerferum volor andebit hilluptatio iminvero cone nobit, omnihicitis prerior aut aut asped modi cuptatecto velitat. Moluptaque nobis etur sinis volupta desto modisqu oditios auta voloritatem ius ape officitia et eum rem quatqua tibeate cturiatatur?

Soluptatia conet eossi volut acessimus dolum faccatati iliqui si conecti dolorias nonsenissit ut accum quam, volessincto quia core sinis eum corit volorumquia venient quia inveni tem endae non rem repro te et erae dit es magnisi magnis quis ese estotaquam atures eos aut essus nihil idenectur, ea aut es commod quae pe volorer ovitaqu atemquis et exceperspis experit reptasin comnitati cusda int remporatur aut estius esequam voles et qui optur mos as ditaspe rnamet voluptamusa cum in ratur re laborerae dit entur, con es ius. Hilla volut optatur, ommolestius perepta sequia aut ullatiis nit, que nosam es ero beatiae perroreped explabo reprovi tatur?

NEW CANON-FIT KIT

UPDATE 04

01

CANON PIXMA PRO-10S & PRO-100S 02 www.digitalcameraworld.com

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WEB: www.canon.co.uk PRICES: PRO-100S £500/600; PRO-10S £700/830 CANON’S excellent PIXMA PRO printer of the range gets upgraded in the shape offer new PRO-100S and PRO-10S, which print your new connectivity to enable you to to photos with ease. Whether you need such as print from cloud storage services Drive DropBox, Flickr, Facebook, Google Link, and direct from Canon’s PIXMA Cloud or set up to print via Wi-Fi, Ethernet, the PictBridge or via mobiles or tablets, choice is yours. The printers are also Gallery compatible with Canon’s new Pro to. connect to you enables Print app, which

The Canon Magazine

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CANON PIXMA PRO-10S & PRO-100S

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CANON PIXMA PRO-10S & PRO-100S

WEB: www.canon.co.uk PRICES: PRO-100S £500/600; PRO-10S £700/830 CANON’S excellent PIXMA PRO printer of the range gets upgraded in the shape offer new PRO-100S and PRO-10S, which print your new connectivity to enable you to to photos with ease. Whether you need such as print from cloud storage services Drive DropBox, Flickr, Facebook, Google Link, and direct from Canon’s PIXMA Cloud or set up to print via Wi-Fi, Ethernet, the PictBridge or via mobiles or tablets, also. are printers The yours. is choice

05

CANON PIXMA PRO-10S & PRO-100S

WEB: www.canon.co.uk PRICES: PRO-100S £500/600; PRO-10S £700/830 CANON’S excellent PIXMA PRO printer of the range gets upgraded in the shape offer new PRO-100S and PRO-10S, which print your new connectivity to enable you to to photos with ease. Whether you need such as print from cloud storage services Drive DropBox, Flickr, Facebook, Google Link, and direct from Canon’s PIXMA Cloud or set up to print via Wi-Fi, Ethernet, the PictBridge or via mobiles or tablets, choice is yours. The printers are also Gallery Pro new Canon’s with compatible to Print app, which enables you to connect and cloud photo-hosting services Zenfolio you SmugMug from your tablet, so that produce top-quality prints.

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CANON PIXMA PRO-10S & PRO-100S

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WEB: www.canon.co.uk PRICES: PRO-100S £500/600; PRO-10S £700/830 CANON’S excellent PIXMA PRO printer of the range gets upgraded in the shape offer new PRO-100S and PRO-10S, which print your new connectivity to enable you to to photos with ease. Whether you need such as print from cloud storage services Drive DropBox, Flickr, Facebook, Google and direct from Canon’s PIXMA Cloud to photos with ease. Whether you need such as print from cloud storage services Drive DropBox, Flickr, Facebook, Google Link, and direct from Canon’s PIXMA Cloud Ethernet, Wi-Fi, via print to up or set

WEB: www.canon.co.uk PRICES: PRO-100S £500/600; PRO-10S £700/830 CANON’S excellent PIXMA PRO printer of the range gets upgraded in the shape offer new PRO-100S and PRO-10S, which print your new connectivity to enable you to to photos with ease. Whether you need such as print from cloud storage services Drive DropBox, Flickr, Facebook, Google Link, and direct from Canon’s PIXMA Cloud or set up to print via Wi-Fi, Ethernet, the tablets, or PictBridge or via mobiles choice is yours. The printers are also Gallery compatible with Canon’s new Pro to Print app, which enables you to connect and cloud photo-hosting services Zenfolio you SmugMug from your tablet, so that produce top-quality prints.

06

CANON PIXMA PRO-10S & PRO-100S

WEB: www.canon.co.uk PRICES: PRO-100S £500/600; PRO-10S £700/830 CANON’S excellent PIXMA PRO printer of the range gets upgraded in the shape offer new PRO-100S and PRO-10S, which print your new connectivity to enable you to to photos with ease. Whether you need such as print from cloud storage services Drive DropBox, Flickr, Facebook, Google Link, and direct from Canon’s PIXMA Cloud or set up to print via Wi-Fi, Ethernet, PictBridge or via mobiles or tablets. qui ut aut tem eaqui Natenihilitas nos ex et volupta faci doluptibus dolorum ad eaque tibusam abore litet eveligendunt quis magnam estiunt ant utatendis essequo sant ditate lani senditatisi quae nimi, ipsa

Don’t sweat the small stuff

We don’t just look at lenses and cameras. We will also help you buy the best accessories with our newlook mini group tests that will show you the best add-ons and extras to buy for your camera bag

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Top canon pro advice

THECANONCONVERSATION

We scour the world in search of the best Canon professional photographers. Every issue features the very best images and advice from top pros – who use Canon EOS DSLRs, just like you!

The Canon conversation

For our all-new interview series we ask top pros in their field about their best pictures, about their kit, and how they turned photography into a living. We start off our new series with an interview with world-famous nature photographer Art Wolfe

What’s in the bag?

Every issue we get a pro to show us the key equipment that they carry in their camera bag – and explain what they use for what, and why

THEKIT CANON CONVERSATION MY

PROS AND THIER KIT

Professional photographers reveal their top six tools of the trade they couldn’t shoot without

IN ALEX’S BAG

DAVIDNOTONO

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On th

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Mui Né, Vietnam. 18.00 local tim

04

01

02

In a new series, D the compositiona different subjects

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Many of my pictures involve moving subjects smaller than a grain of rice

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WHAT DO I DO?

Alex Hyde

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Natural history photographer many of us suffer from over-filled camera bags, bursting with gadgets that rarely see the light of day. Over the years I have been trying to pare things down to a core of essential items that I use regularly for my macro wildlife photography.

Some items, such as a small paintbrush for cleaning dirt off macro subjects like toadstools, take up very little space but can make all the difference to a shot. At the other end of the scale, you

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certainly notice when you are carrying a tripod, and although relatively heavy, I almost always bring mine along for my macro photography. When shooting with natural light, shutter speeds in macro can get very long indeed as the limited depth of field at high magnification means narrow apertures are often required.

In such cases, a sturdy tripod setup is essential. Frequently working with subjects close to the ground, I often use a Gitzo carbon fiber Systematic series tripod that has no centre column, allowing me to get

down low. I use a large ballhead made by Really Right Stuff (model BH-55 LR) that is rock solid whilst making it quick and easy to adjust the camera’s position. It’s such a shame when a potentially breathtaking photograph is ruined by a flimsy, wobbly tripod setup, so don’t take shortcuts here if you can avoid them.

Equipment has a habit of breaking at the worst possible moment, so I always bring along a small roll of electrical tape, some zip ties, a penknife and a set of Allen keys for those emergency field repairs.

Canon MP-E 65mm

Alex Hyde www.alexhyde.co.uk I work as a freelance natural history photographer based in the Peak District and also run photography workshops and tours. Whether in the rainforests of Borneo or my backgarden, I am usually in search of insects, spiders and other creatures.

When composing a scene through my macro lens, I am always struck with a sense of discovery.

Many of my pictures involve moving subjects smaller than a grain of rice, requiring specialised macro equipment and a fair measure of patience!

www.digitalcameraworld.com

WEB: canon.co.uk PRICE: £500/$600

I ALSO shoot with Canon’s 100mm IS Macro lens, which is razor sharp and still gets in very close, but some smaller subjects really benefit from going beyond the 1:1 enlargement ratio of a ‘standard’ macro lens.

The MP-E 65mm f/2.8 can zoom from 1:1 all the way up to 5:1, opening up a new range of subjects. Filling the frame with an insect’s head is always exciting!

Depth of field is very limited, so precise focusing is required using my focusing rail.

The Canon Magazine

02

Canon ST-E3-RT

WEB: canon.co.uk PRICE: £500/$600

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04

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ReallyRight Stuff Mighty Bright White tray Macro focus LED book light I USE this white tray WEB: amazon.co.uk rail (B150-B) PRICE: for my field studio £15/$22

WEB: reallyrightstuff.com PRICE: £500/$345

THIS device is used to control my two THIS attaches to the off-camera 600EX-RT Really Right Stuff speedlites. Being a ballhead on my radio trigger it doesn’t battered Gitzo tripod. need a line of sight to the flashguns, making it The rail allows me to move the camera very easy to use. I have backwards or forwards found the system to be by tiny increments. really reliable and it is When using live view at very convenient to be able to adjust the power 10x magnification, the macro rail allows me to of each speedlite independently from the fine tune exactly what’s in focus. A full rotation ST-E3-RT unit that sits of the knob gives 1mm neatly in the camera’s of movement. I also use hotshoe. Even when using a single flashgun, this advance the camera forward it is still great not to between frames when need a trailing focus stacking. off-camera flash lead.

DUE to light loss at high magnifications, things can get pretty dark when using my MP-E 65mm macro lens. I find clipping this little LED light to my setup helps me get the light I need for accurate focusing.

This LED isn’t being used to light the finished photograph as I normally use flash when working with the MP-E 65mm, but simply to allow me to see to compose and focus. It is sold as light to clip onto a music stand or a book.

06

Novoflex Ground spike

WEB: www.novoflex.com

PRICE: £500/$600 work. It is made from translucent white plastic so a flash can be THE next best thing to a third arm, this placed beneath it to modular system from remove any shadows Novoflex allows me to from underneath a be hands free with my subject sitting on the off-camera flash. The tray, creating a pure spike can be pushed white background. A into the ground and will second flash is support even a large positioned above the tray to light the subject. speedlite such as the 600EX-RT. The I photograph insects with this setup and also speedlite is mounted onto the small ballhead aquatic creatures as at the end of the rod the tray can be filled section, allowing the with water. All of this flash to be articulated work is done out in the at various angles. field so the subjects can quickly be returned to their habitats.

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had a Photography C advice has stuck wit It was just three wo Sound advice, not ju importantly for my getting down low ca new world of photo Well I’m certainly bending the beach by this lady who is shelli day squatting like this; my join just ten minutes. Or has it been picture is coming to me. I’ve th super-wide zoom lens on the jo very close to my victim… sorry almost touching, and yet it’s as to many places around the wo treated with suspicion and dow seems completely unfazed by proximity. She looks up briefly work towards her companion shoulder and the 14 fps drive chatters. Oh yes. Fun this, isn pretty sure that shot’s in the c switch to my favourite lens fo portraiture, the EF 85mm f/1 like fast glass; at this maximu of f/1.2 the depth of field is a non-existent but the backgro so appealing, addictive really an easy lens to use at this ape focusing is super critical, but a way of working that ensure rate; select the appropriate A the composition and servo A follow focus on the nearest e concentrate. The sun is dipp in the late afternoon so the c under her hat is manageable need do the post production carefully to bring out the de face whilst retaining inform bright background. I’ve don determine exposure and dia

72

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ART WOLFE

ART WOLFE

Art Wolfe is one of the world’s greatest nature and travel photographers and has had an extraordinary 40-year career. At 63, he’s working harder than ever and says the best is still to come. He talks to David Clark RT WOLFE is not the sort of photographer who’s content to look back nostalgically on a lifetime of achievement, sell prints of his iconic images and sedately rest on his laurels. Endlessly active, creative and articulate, he’s always moving on to the next project and expanding the boundaries of his work.

I caught up with Art on one of the short breaks in his relentless schedule of international travel. I was keen to discover what drives him, and how, after four decades, he still shoots so many great pictures and remains at the top of his game. I found that the seeds of his love of the natural world…

When did your passion for nature first develop?

Some of my earliest memories are about going into the wooded ravines not too far from where I grew up in Seattle. By the time I was 7, I had little field guides to birds, mammals and plants and I studied and memorised them. So in many ways I was a naturalist before I’d ever heard of the word. What’s really interesting about that is, whatever I learned, I retained.

How old were you when you first got hooked by photography and what triggered it?

I was in my late teens and I started mountain climbing, and I took a camera along to document the climbs. By that point I was already studying art at the University of Washington, and whatever I

NONLOCATION

he beach

me, 27 January 2015.

I’m close, very close to my victim… sorry, subject. So close our knees are almost touching.

www.digitalcameraworld.com

The Canon Magazine

75

David Noton talks us through al decisions he makes as he shoots s from around the world…

compensation in Av mode College lecturer whose using evaluative metering, th me through the decades. as always. My fishy lady Ladies de-shelling seafood, Mui Né, ords... bend the knees. looks up again as I press Bình Thuan Province, Vietnam. ust for skiing but more the back button focus button, Canon EOS 1Dx Camera: photography ever since; then the shutter release. It’s an often open up a whole 11-24mm f/4L lens & 85mm f/1.2L II Lenses: all over in a second and my ographic opportunities. lady is peering down again at knees now as I squat on the options. I go back to using her clams; time to investigate other ing sea food. She will spend all where another two ladies the 11-24mm lens and move over to nts are screaming already after on the beach has long been are busy peeling prawns. The sand the but enough, Long shells; it crunches 30? n submerged under generations of discardedthe setting sun is by he brand new 11-24mm f/4L underfoot but the texture of it sidelight close, I’m means which ob here lady, admiring her somewhat beautiful. I hover over my chosen y, subject. So close our knees are would catch on in Paris or colourful fashion sense. I doubt it s if I’m invisible. Now I have been away from such catwalks.

Milan, but then again we’re a world I’m hovering directly orld where photographers are the zoom at its widest 11mm length With lady my here but wnright hostility, over her, and yet again it’s as if I’m my invisible. I’m using this lens to their y from her incorporate the graphic shapes of over my conical hats, the beach and the fishing of the 1Dx boats into my frame, setting the scene n’t it? I’m of Mui Né as best I can. The hats not can so I only feature as strong compositional or travel elements, they also serve as icons 1.2L II. I do locating the picture squarely and um aperture surely in Vietnam. I crouch even closer, almost remembering another nugget of advice ound bokeh is from the same lecturer; if a picture’s y. This is not not working you’re not close enough. erture; The sun dips below the horizon, all t I’ve evolved too quickly as ever in the tropics, and es a good hit its game over. Wendy and I climb on Pro travel & landscape photographer AF point for our mopeds and ride back along the AF mode to coast road to our hotel in the hills travel and AWARD winning landscape eye, overlooking the beach. I cast one last photographer with over 28 years’ ping low now over the sea of conical hats glance his During experience as a professional. contrast under which the ladies are still to photographic career David has travelled e, even so I’ll squatting over their piles of the just about every corner of the Globe. In n on this one crustaceans. Vietnam; it’s all about of 2012 Canon announced the inclusion etail on her hats. Tonight; Vietnamese yellow It’s David into its Ambassador Program by mation in the mango seafood curry. I love it here. designating him an Official Canon Explorer. ne a test shot to my fourth time in Vietnam, but I doubt alled in +2/3

David Noton’s notes

DAVID NOTON

www.digitalcameraworld.com

ladies de-shelling seafood, Mui Ne, Bình Thuận Province, Vietnam.

Camera:

Canon EOS 1Dx

Lens:

Canon 11-24mm f/4L

Top landscape and travel photographer David Noton joins PhotoPlus from issue 100. Each issue he will recount his latest adventures as he travels the globe, and shows us the decisions he makes as he takes his awe-inspiring images

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Show us your shots!

YOURPHOTOS

PhotoPlus is not just about pictures by top professionals, we want to see your pictures too! The new Photo Stories section recounts your success stories with your Canon camera, and lets you see the best pictures taken by fellow readers 01

Tell us a story!

We love to hear from our readers – and see the pictures you are taking.

Our new Photo Stories section shows a selection of mini portfolios from fellow readers – who tell the story behind their most successful shots

PROJECT INFO Drew Buckley Pembrokeshire AGE:- 29 MISSION:Showcase these prehistoriclooking birds and the place they call home in winter KIT:EOS 5D Mark III, EOS 7D Mark II, EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM, EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM II, EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM, EF 100-400mm f/4-5.6L IS USM II, Extenders, Lee filters

Pelican w

Drew Buckley spent a m pictures of over 101 Dalm

can’t think of a nicer setting in which to photograph these amazing birds! I was lucky enough to be a guide for the fabulous NaturesLens tour company on this trip.

The location, Lake Kerkini. The target species, Dalmatian Pelicans; and what a bird they are! Truly stunning bill colours and curly feathers all over their heads.

Mirror-ike reflections on the lake greeted us daily and with views backed by high snowy peaks, Lake Kerkini is stunning

PHOTOPLUSAPPRENTICE

where to send your photos If you have a portfolio or a project you want us to take a look at, email some shots to photoplus@futurenet.com, or send us a link to a gallery, along with some details about you and your work.

As a small thank you, we pay £50 for every reader’s photo story that we publish.

WEB:drewbuckleyphotography.com

pla for nor 20k Bul offe acc opp and Eur sur nes Mou Mar sou hun incl Cor

86

GRAND DESIGNS

We flew a reader to Spain for a one-on-one a masterclass on architectural photography with top pro. This is the story of his amazing trip WORDS & LOCATION IMAGES: ADAM WARING

10

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The right weather conditions give your mirror-like reflections

Lens:

Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

Exposure:

1/2500 sec at f/5.6; ISO 640

02 CLOSE-UP PORTRAIT

At one side of the lake you could get really close to the birds

Lens:

Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS USM

Exposure:

1/5000 sec at f/4; ISO 800

03 STRETCHING IN GOLDEN EVENING SUNSHINE

A wide-angle shot shows the spectacular setting

Lens:

Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM

Exposure:

1/2000 sec at f/7.1; ISO 640

04 JUST THE ONE DALMATIAN

Isolating individual birds allowed for artistic compositions

Lens:

Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

Exposure:

1/1000 sec at f/5.6; ISO 800

03

02

weekend...

memorable weekend in Greece taking matians – and other local bird life!

ace to be and a real paradise r birds. It’s situated in the rth of the country about km from the Greeklgarian border. Lake Kerkini ers some of the most cessible, and best portunities for both birding d bird photography in rope. The lake and the rrounding wetlands are stled between the Kerkini ountains to the north and the rvovouni Mountains to the uth. It hosts more than three ndred sorts of birds, luding the Pelicans, rmorants, Herons and

Flamingos.

Our trip consisted of many outings onto the lake in a small open fishing boat. The lake is extremely shallow; down to a few feet in some places so it was important to keep an even weight across the boat to stop it grounding out. It was very cold over the weekend with freezing fog covering the lake in the mornings. Wearing pretty much every piece of clothing I owned, it was eye watering sometimes, especially with the wind-chill. However, it did make for some pretty spectacular and atmospheric www.digitalcameraworld.com

conditions. Distant hills layered in mist and subject backgrounds blending into infinity, so can’t moan. We discovered the Pelicans early on, they follow the Pygmy Cormorants around when they’re fishing and pretty much take the food straight from their mouths when they find it.

This in turn signals to other distant Pelicans to join the ‘mob’ gang. The benefit of shooting from a boat was the ability to be like a makeshift hide (though they weren’t really put off by much) and also PRO low and shoot SHOOT WITH to getAdown eye level to the birds.

Swapping between bodies

and lenses to get varied images, it’s always important in my view to shoot the wider picture sometimes. In the afternoons we headed to the to the other side of the lake where the Pelicans gather for a shoreline feed. This is not only a great opportunity to get super up close portraits, but also as more birds came in you could really get some good action and in flight images.

On another trip, we headed out on the boat again and the birds followed us allowing to get different angles of them in flight and portrait shots, with changeable backgrounds to vary the shots up.

The benefit of shooting from a boat was the ability to have a makeshift hide and to get down to their eye level.

04

TOP TIPS

• Research the best spots and times for ge t ting the best shots of migra tory birds • I f you don’t have a long telephoto, hire one for the day or the week

The Canon Magazine

87

PRO

A day to remember

NAME:

PAUL FORGHAM CAMERA:

APPRENTICE NAME:

KYLE LYONS CAMERA:

CANON EOS 5D MK II KYLE, 38, is a multimedia artist, specialising in stock video footage for the entertainment industry.

Originally from Buffalo, New York State, USA, he has lived in Valencia, Spain, since 2003 after studying Spanish in the city. He invested in his Canon camera primarily to shoot lime-lapse video for his work, but has wants to put his DSLR to the purpose it was originally intended.

CANON EOS 5D MK III PAUL is a 56-year-old landscape and travel photographer, with a specialisation in architectural photography. He travels regularly to shoot great European cities, and so was just the man to show Kyle the ropes of city break photography in Valencia’s architectural masterpiece, the City of Arts and Sciences.

See more of Paul’s work at www.paulforgham.co.uk.

Every issue we pair one of our readers with a top Canon pro so they can share the tricks of their trade. The unique one-day masterclass reveals how our Apprentice gets on – and all the tricks that they learn in our unique one-on-one workshop

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The Canon Magazine

…And get a free Canon Handbook!

TheCanonmagazine

essential CANon guide

DIGITAL SLR ESSENTIALS Welcome to Canon School. In the first Digital SLR Essentials section we explain all you need to know about focal lengths

Knowing how to get the most from your camera is essential if you want to realise your full photographic potential, which is why PhotoPlus’s all-new Canon School section will teach you everything you need to know to master your Canon DSLR…

Focal lengths ex

Canon’s lens range runs from super-wide to super-teleph

TAKE A LOOK through practically any serious collection of notable handheld photography from the first use of 35mm film in the late 1920s right up to today, and you’ll see that the great majority of images were, and continue to be, shot with lenses close to

Learn SLR essentials fast

standard focal length. Yes,the definition of what qualifies as standard is vague, but what all these images have in common is that they offer views that are easy to imagine seeing with our own eyes. Of course, what is actually happening in that view is anything but ordinary

Stylistically, the traditional focal length groupings are based around a so-called ‘standard’ focal length that’s between approximately 40mm and 60mm.

Get to grips with the principles of photography and enhance your understanding of key technical subjects with Photo Class plain-English guides. It includes clear diagrams and illustrations you’ll want to keep and refer back to again and again

in a g that’s neardomi photo photo conce intere the ex

MILD WIDE-ANGLE

Regular wide-angle ranges from around 20mm to 35mm, shading to mild at the 35mm end but going towards super-wide at the 20mm end.

WIDE-ANGLE

EXPERT ADVICE

EOSS.O.S where we solve all of Welcome to the new EOS SOS and queries your Canon-related questions

EXPERT Brian Worley Canon Pro Brian is a freelance photographer and photo tutor from Oxfordshire.

He has unrivalled EOS DSLR knowledge after working for Canon for over 15 years.

BRIGHTER SHOTS

Learn how to get creative with your Canon Speedlite flashgun What is off-camera flash?

Off-camera flash – also referred to as strobism – is simply the ability to remove a flashgun from a fixed attachment on the camera body, and fire it from a position away from the camera.

you’re shooting if the You may not be able to get close to the wildlife is a must animals are skittish or dangerous, so a long lens

Is a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens good enough for wildlife photography?

By freeing the flashgun from the camera, you open up a lot of creative possibilities.

To explain all of them would require a lot of pages in this issue – but in a nutshell, off-camera flash allows you to modify, through direction and distance, the way the light affects your subject.

Using flash light to supplement or boost ambient light when you’re out on location can help you take more effective photos.

It is particularly popular for portraiture, allowing you to direct light more.

What do I need to be able to do it?

To start in off-camera flash, you need a camera, a separate flashgun, and a way of triggering the flashgun remotely. Some

Neil Brock, Newport, UK

BRIAN SAYS… The 24-70mm f/2.8 is a wedding staple, being bright, fast and with a focal length capable of both group shots and solo portraits. If you’re looking for one lens to cover the whole day it’s a great choice. I would also consider the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L, which offers stabilisation for shooting in low light or during the reception, and is almost 200g lighter, with an extra 50mm of focal length. As the lighting is bound to change as you move from outdoors to in during the day, it’s worth opting for

but it doesn’t BRIAN SAYS… Fast glass is often big and heavy, weight off is to go have to be that way. One way of keeping the the Canon EF for a prime lens rather than a zoom. As such, shortest lens 200mm f/2.8 is one of the lightest and physically the Canon in the group, at 765g and 136mm. By stark contrast, a stop faster, is EF 200mm f/2, which is still a prime lens but a much greater over three times heavier at 2.52kg. It also has Why such a big diameter at 128mm compared with 83mm. difference in weight then?

Our new section where we explain how to get the best out of the Canon software you got a free with your EOS DSLR

cameras have built-in wireless capabilities – but in most cases, either a cable or, even better, a separate flash trigger and receiver are used to communicate with and fire your flash light. There are many different types of flash triggers available – from cheap and

1

What are the settings I need?

The precise camera settings vary from situation to situation. The only real way to start to understand how it works is to experiment, and look at the difference as you adjust power settings, angle of flash and distance from your subject. You can start with simple still-life set-ups, before moving onto portraits and other more challenging subjects later.

How do your two shots differ?

I’ve just taken the two shots as a very basic example of what off-camera flash can do. The left-hand shot is a perfectly exposed image of the subject, but with the flash attached to the camera’s

Susobhan Gupta, via email

Is a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens a good choice for photographing a wedding?

SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS

Off-camera flash Why bother with it?

for wedding portraits, A fast 24-70mm standard zoom lens is a must light conditions especially when you’re shooting indoors in low

SUPER-WIDE

hotshoe. This means that the angle of light is head-on to the fossil. While the flash has illuminated the subject, the result is a flat and boring photo. Simply by removing the flashgun, positioning it at an acute angle to the subject and firing it via a wireless trigger, the result is a much more pleasing shot.

ANGLED FLASH

DIRECT FLASH

Canon’s Digital Photo Profes

Import and sort your photographs using a range of tools and

How do I use the Dual Pixel CMOS AF that’s on my 70D?

DIGITAL PHOTO PROFESSIONAL 4 is designed to help you import, organize, edit and share your photographs.

Although you’re a Canon enthusiast you may be a ‘dyed in the wool’ Adobe Photoshop user when it comes to processing your pictures. However, since Digital Photo Professional 4 is designed

by Canon to be compatible with your Canon sourced Raw files then it’s well worth giving the latest incarnation a closer look, especially with its slick

Mike Wallis, Easingwold, UK

on a Brian says… In normal shooting modes, DSLRs rely which light is dedicated phase-detection autofocus module, onto you use reflected from the main reflex mirror. However, when is flipped up Live View or video capture modes, the reflex mirror is and the autofocus module becomes redundant. Autofocus a then taken care of by the image sensor itself. Conventionally, being contrast-detection system is used, the focus setting is obtained. automatically adjusted until the greatest contrast than It’s certainly accurate but tends to be much slower a.

Andrew’s shot using a flash attached to the camera the fossil well, but the object looks flat and dul

hotshoe exposes

camera, the shot Simply by moving the flash off to the side of the form becomes much more interesting with a well-defined

6 5

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The Canon Magazine

feature

re-design and range of new tools and features. DPP 4 now features tools that Photoshop CC users are familiar with, such as the ability to make selective hue, saturation and luminance adjustments for a range of individual colours. Later in this series we’ll explore the image processing functions of DPP 4 in detail, but we’ll kick off by introducing the many ways it enables you to organize images.

DPP 4 uses the separate EOS Utility 3 to browse and import photographs on a

3

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EXPERT

BROADNING HORIZONS

Andrew James

Angle of view

Photo expert Andrew James has combined photography with writing for over 26 years. He uses a Canon 5D Mk III and 1-DX, he teaches on photography holidays and workshops, and runs the online photo community FotoBuzz

Canon’s lens range runs from super-wide to super-telephoto, but which are the most popular.

explained...

hoto, but which are the most popular focal.

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MILD TELEPHOTO

MEDIUM TELE

stronger graphics from more extreme lenses.

Taking a couple of hundred mainstream images from a variety of sources and arranging them from super wide angle to super telephoto, the result looks like a bell graph with standard focal

On the other side of the ‘standard’ divide, telephoto also has shades of meaning, from mild (between around 70mm and 100mm) to long (between 200mm and 400mm).

SUPER-TELE

EXPERT

Discover how to access Canon DPP 4’s image organising tools,

Filter screen By default DPP 4 displays thumbnails of all of the files in a selected folder, whether they are Raw, JPEG or movie format files. You can filter the contents of a folder to display files that meet a specific criteria. For example, you can choose to only display Raw files that have been rated with 5 stars, or those displaying a particular check mark.

Click the Filter fly-out icon to access the Thumbnail display filter settings window. .

06

Sort To help you find files more easily you can change the way that thumbnails are displayed in DPP 4.

You could choose to display the newest files at the top by choosing Shooting Date/Time and setting the secondary drop down menu to Descending. In our example we’ve decided to display the highest rated images at the top, descending to lower rated or unrated images at the bottom. You can sort your files by a wide range of criteria.

03

Size To get a better look at the contents of an image, try increasing its thumbnail size by dragging this slider to the right.

Views In this grab we’re viewing our selected folder’s thumbnails in the grid view. To take a closer look at a particular image click here to a multi-layout view 05

www.digitalcameraworld.com

WHILE wide-angle optics pull things apart graphically, telephotos push them together, giving a flattening effect that reduces rather than exaggerates differences in the size of things. That works for portraits (noses and chins no bigger than they should be) and for the compressing effect that appears to enlarge the background, as illustrated above. The longer the lens, the more pronounced the effect – and remember to factor in the ‘crop factor’ of the sensor

GOOD FOR Environment portraits, you can get close to someone but still show surroundings

GOOD FOR Street photography, documentary work, still-life, low-light pictures – everything!

NOT SO GOOD FOR Tight portraits. Shooting close up will lead to a distorted ‘egg-head’ effect

GOOD FOR Situations where you can’t physically get close to a subject, such as wildlife and sports

NOT SO GOOD FOR Pictures that ‘shout’ – the ‘standard’ view creates images that look natural

NOT SO GOOD FOR Close-up shots; telephotos are unable to focus on subjects at close distances

Collection

The Canon Magazine

CREATE A COLLECTION

Go to the Collections pane and click the Add collection icon. Label your collection for easy identification. Drag thumbnails to the collection to add them to it. Click on the collection label to display its contents.

2

Bookmark This pane is where you can store your favourite folders, so you don’t have to wade through dozens of folders or sub-folders in the Folder pane.

07

08 Check mark and ratings You can use these icons to add check marks or ratings to the currently selected thumbnail. You can then sort the files according to your ratings.

WHERE TO GET DPP 4 DPP 4 is available as a free download from http://bit.ly/get_dpp. To see if your Canon is compatible with DPP 4, check its Software and Drivers page. If you’re a Mac user and running OS X Yosemite, use the filter to download the older OS X 10.9 compatible Canon software to avoid a problem running EOS Utility 3.

Organize and check your files

RATE A FILE

Telephoto lenses offer a narrow angle of view – typically from 28.5° to 2.5° – so they only ‘see’ a small part of the scene

Here you can create new collection folders based on any theme and then access specific files with ease. This helps you gather photos together as you might do in an analogue photo album, making it much easier to find specific or favourite images.

Follow these housekeeping tips to find favourite files faster

You can add a rating or check mark to a selected thumbnail by clicking the icons at the base of the workspace. Alternatively tap any of the number keys between 1-5 to adding a star rating more quickly.

A 50mm lens on an FX full-frame D-SLR has an angle of view of 46°, but on a DX camera, a 35mm lens gives the same view

that displays thumbnails along the bottom, with a larger version of the selected image at the top.

04

connected Canon’s memory card. We’ll look at this partner app in more detail on page xx. On this spread we’ll show you how to use DPP 4 to access and import images that are already stored on your computer. Your photographs may be stored chronologically in various folders in your Pictures directory. This can make it a time-consuming task to locate a specific image. DPP 4 enables you to separate the wheat from the chaff by using labelling tools such as check marks

WHETHER you feel that your normal way of seeing is a bit wider, like a 35mm lens, or rather more concentrated, like 60mm, that narrow range around 50mm is what most of us think of as basically similar to our vision. It’s unobtrusive. You could even call it middle-of-the-road, perhaps haracterless, and that would for many photographers be very much the point, in that the lens optics simply don’t get in the way of the subject. CartierBresson, who hated talking much about

labels and filters

01 Folder This pane enables you to browse to existing folders of photos on your computer. Click on a folder to display the thumbnails of its contents in Digital Photo Professional 4’s workspace. You can drag one folder into another to re-arrange them. Folders of imported photos tend to be stored chronologically, but there’s lots that you can do to find files faster.

02

es, as George Cairns explains

WITH AN angle of view wider than about 60 degrees, and as much as 99 degrees before we reach the strange world of super-wides, shorter focal lengths can squeeze a lot into the frame. Nikon’s 20mm, 24mm, 28mm and 35mm lenses are classics, although these lengths are now embedded in a number of zooms.

Using them on a wide open vista with everything distant misses the point of wide-angle style; getting in close to a scene is often more interesting.

Get started in DPP Import and organise images www.digitalcameraworld.com

essional…

TELEPHOTO LENSES FLATTENED, CROPPED, COOLER AND DISTANT

The shorter the focal length of a lens, the wider the view – from CANON SOFTWARE62° (35mm TUTORIAL equivalent ) RAW POWER to 99° (20mm equivalent)

George Cairns Imaging expert

‘STANDARD’ LENSES AROUND ABOUT 50MM, SO CLOSE TO THE WAY WE SEE

Beyond 400mm is the realm of the super-telephoto, culminating in the Nikon AF-S 800mm f/5.6 (longer still if you add a TC800-1.25E teleconverter).

TELEPHOTO

George has been writing image-editing tutorials for over 10 years and is an Adobe Certified Expert in Photoshop CC. He uses a Canon 650D and 70D, and also writes for the Canon Professional Network.

WIDE-ANGLE LENSES GRAPHICALLY STRETCHED YET DRAWING IN THE VIEWER

QUICK CHECK

By clicking the Quick Check icon at the top of the workspace you can enlarge a thumbnail, and get easier access to all the rating and check mark assigning icons.

You can also see which AF point was used.

The Canon Magazine

Canon-specific software

PhotoPlus is the only magazine that runs tutorials on the free suite of software that Canon gives every DSLR owner. We show you how to process your Raw files using Digital Photo Professional, and look at other free programs, such as EOS Utility

4

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PROJECT 1: G

THE MISSON Get started with studio flash by learning how to set up your lights and camera equipement Time needed One hour Skill level Intermediate

Every issue of PhotoPlus is full of tips to make you a better photographer. We show you how to get the photos you want, and how to make them even better in image-editing software.

Better still, PhotoPlus offers two ways to learn, with a free disc of video lessons every issue – or pop-up video in our digital versions…

You’ll never run out of new things to try with our exciting Canon Skills section. It’s packed with fun projects to help you take fantastic shots, learn creative techniques and make the most of Photoshop

free video disc every issue 01 Take the long view

VOLUME 43 MARCH 2015

Capture cloud movement

for dramatic skies

ar landmarks Take a fresh look at famili

ffectively a home studio flash kit is one of the best ways to take your portraits to the next level. You can light subjects from any direction, fix attachments to change the quality and spread of the light, and use a low ISO to ensure the highest image quality.

But studio flash can be a difficult beast to master, not least because the burst of light is almost instantaneous and impossible to judge by eye. There are three main areas of control when it comes to

using stu have con spread of attachme softboxes Secondly wherever down low subject – changing Thirdly, w settings o output, w when we from two controllin sculpt the

STEP BY STEP CLASSIC

Learn how to take control of studio flash with

D-SLR

This law states that if the distance between the light and subject is doubled, they'll receive a quarter of the light. You might think moving a light back from one metre to two metres would halve the strength, but it actually quarters it.

To compensate, you’d either need to increase the power output by four times (as in the diagram) or allow for two extra stops of aperture or ISO. You can see the Inverse Square law in action, because of the change in distance ratios between light, subject and background, the background is made much darker when the flash is close to the face.

01 FIRST, THE CAMERA!

Whereas an umbrella spreads the light to cover a wide area, softboxes don’t give as large a spread light, giving more control over the illuminated are and create more attractive catchlights in the eye

03 KEY CAMERA SETTINGS

12

flash are manual (M) mo AW Rf/11.

ISO100, 1/200 Pforsecstudio and Take a test shot atEO th VID SHO PHOTOsettings; if it’s too dark, widen your aperture or GUIDE Stock settings

increase the power of the flash. If it's too bright, d

10

Every PhotoPlus tutorial comes with its own video lesson so you can see exactly how a technique is done in real time. You’ll05Shootfind thewindow light Keep it natural stunning portraits using 04 Let there be lightstudio set-up t importing Get to grips with a simple Star 03 oom Lightr into videos on the free Canon Skills disc PLU–S!along s Learn how to impor t image BONUS VIDEO ’s array Discover Nikon Capture NX-Dshots, with any files you need to follow along sharpening your of tools forat arp Mask including its handy Unsh home with the image-editing tutorials. If you buy a digital version of the magazine you 07 Go for a spin lights and a bike wheel! to fit Get creative with fairy 06 Shrinkout shop Photoyou’ll won’t miss be able to watch the in– Mimic the tilt-shift effect HOTOMAG ACEBOOK.COM/NPconnection!

AT WWW.F pop-up VIS videos with an online IT US ONLINE m/disc-support/ at www.futureplc.co turenet.com support website them at support@fu t, please visit our 5 687826, or email interface or conten while using this rt team on +44 (0)122 lties using the disc data that may occur Consult our video disc suppo If you’re having difficu disk(s) loss of hard lties, please call ms and data on it. your difficu of progra p ence the backu disc, or before installing If you still experi have an up-to-date Future Publishing rk administrator ed and netwo disc. scann your this ghly thorou before using rked computer. any disruption This disc has been of production, but we still software on a netwo responsibility for take t the or canno stages ter system er tested at all ry, Bath, UK BA1 1UA you run a virus check you damage to your compu or Ambu that The , mend House that recom also recommend hing Ltd 2015. Quay before using it. We Mac). © Future Publis (OS X or later for Windows XP or later Interface requires

Create a classic lighting setup fo your home studio lights with tip

THE INVERSE SQUARE LAW

Expert guides show you how

02 Play in puddles

Kit needed Home studio flash kit with softboxes and umbrellas

Take portrai

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BROADNING HORIZONS

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udio flash heads. First, we ntrol over the quality and f the light through use of ents like umbrellas and s fixed in front of the bulb. y, we can put the head r we choose – up high, w, in front of or behind our with each position g the look of our image. we can use the power on the flash to control the which becomes important start balancing the light or more heads. By ng these factors, you can e light so it’s exactly how

you want it to, every time. Over the next few pages we’ll show you how to set up your home studio lighting kit for stunning portraits.

The position of your lights has a huge effect on the way the face looks. We’re using ‘Butterfly’ lighting, with the softboxes positioned just above the head to create a butterfly-like shadow under the nose. Whether you want to learn classic techniques for lighting a face, see how softboxes and brollies work, or discover simple Photoshop retouching skills you’ll find the answers in our lighting guide…

SOFT OPTIONS

The larger the light source, the softer the light, hence larger softboxes produce gentler light. Distance also plays a part, as moving a light closer effectively increases its size in relation to the subject.

IC LIGHTING SET-UPS

h our simple step-by-step guide

a d of ea, es.

2ode,

O ES do

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02 SOFT OPTIONS

The larger a light source the softer the light, hence larger softboxes produce softer light. Distance also plays a part; moving a light closer increases its size in relation to the subject, so bringing a light in close to

ESSENTIAL KIT: STUDIO FLASH MODIFIERS

01 WHITE UMBRELLA

04 SOFT OPTIONS

The larger the light source, the softer the light, hence larger softboxes produce gentler light. Distance also plays a part, as moving a light closer effectively increases its size in relation to the subject. www.photoplusmag.com

Both softboxes and umbrellas diffuse the harsh flash light, but there are differences between the two. An umbrella spreads the light to cover a wide area.

02 SOFTBOX

Softboxes don’t give as large a spread of light, giving more control over the illuminated area, and create more attractive catchlights in the eyes in close-ups. For this reason, softboxes are often preferred for portraiture.

03 SILVER UMBRELLA

Both softboxes and umbrellas diffuse the harsh flash light, but there are differences between the two.

An umbrella spreads the light to cover a wide area.

04 CIRCULAR REFLECTOR

Softboxes don’t give as large a spread of light, giving more control over the illuminated area, and create more attractive catchlights in the eyes in close-ups. For this reason, softboxes are often preferred for portraiture.

The Canon Magazine

05 HONEYCOMB GRID

Both softboxes and umbrellas diffuse the harsh flash light, but there are differences between the two.

An umbrella spreads the light to cover a wide area.

11

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