Issue 50: February 2016
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W
elcome to the 50th issue of NZ Photographer. It’s been up and running now for about five years. This started me thinking about how much cameras have changed over those five years and how much they are likely to evolve over the next five years.
ABOUT Whether you’re an enthusiastic weekend snapper or a beginner who wants to learn more, NZ Photographer is the fun e-magazine for all Kiwi camera owners – and it’s free! EDITOR Allan Cox, allan@nzphotographer.co.nz GROUP EDITOR Colin Kennedy ART DIRECTOR Jodi Olsson
ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES Phone Jennifer Liew on 09 522 7257 or email jenniferl@espiremedia.com WEBSITE www.nzphotographer.co.nz
NZ Photographer is an Espire Media publication
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With an endless choice of new cameras coming out, it is very easy to buy into the idea that with the latest camera your photography will suddenly take a quantum leap forward. By and large, this is a myth. Some people do outgrow their old camera and get to the point where it is holding them back, but these people are in the minority. I would suggest more people are being held back by lowquality lenses than their cameras. Ultimately the thing that will have the biggest impact on your photography is how you think about it.
Allan Cox Allan Cox Resident Judge NZ Photographer
GET SHOOTING AND WIN! T
he upcoming competition theme is ‘Open’ i.e. anything goes. , due on 17th February. The following month’s theme will be ‘Architecture’.
• The winning image on the cover of the next issue
• A high quality print of your image and cover to immortalise your achievement for your grandchildren, courtesy of PCL Imaging •
$50 cash
• And of course, bragging rights and the envy of your fellow NZ Photographer fans!
✸
Check out next month’s theme and enter at www.nzphotographer.co.nz
WIN!
TEA INSPIRED ME
PHOTO COMPETITION
WIN
A 10-DAY TRIP FOR 2 TO SRI LANKA & YOUR CHOICE OF CANON PHOTO GEAR CLICK HERE TO ENTER } www.nzphotographer.co.nz 3
Revealing a Hidden Universe I came across this video by astronomer and NASA scientist, Robert Hurt. His job is to take the raw data from the telescopes and translate it into the photos that we see. 4 www.nzphotographer.co.nz
If you are intrigued by this topic you’ll enjoy the full 20 mins. Otherwise it’s probably worth at least hanging in there for the first five mins, as it helps dispel the ‘false colours’ myth. ■
LESS IS MORE NEW EOS 100D
The world’s smallest and lightest APS-C DSLR*, all performance, no compromise.
*As at 1st March 2013
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All I Wanted For Christmas‌ Was a Reflector! By Angelina Giles www.angelinagiles.com
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The reflector does what it would suggest; it reflects or ‘bounces’ light onto your subject. Positioning the reflector on an angle to the sun is the aim of the game.
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f you are into portrait photography and don’t already own a reflector, getting one will change your life! As photographers we know that a fundamental principle of photography is light. Understanding and mastering light is a key differentiator between average, dull images and brilliant extraordinary ones. A reflector is a simple and affordable piece of equipment that can greatly improve your portraits.
What is a reflector? Reflectors come in many shapes and sizes. It is usually manufactured on reflective fabric, stretched over a bendy ring, allowing it to fold for traveling. Many come with white, silver and gold colored material which produces a slightly cool or warm tone of light on an image. Choose
what reflector best suits your needs. I most commonly use a 40” five-in-one (white, silver,gold, diffuser & black) that cost me around $40.
How to use to bounce light? The reflector does what it would suggest; it reflects or ‘bounces’ light onto your subject. Positioning the reflector on an angle to the sun is the aim of the game. Having an assistant is very helpful for this, but you can use a stand or even get your subject to hold it. Remember not to blind your subject with intense light, but rather feather it onto them, testing the effects to find the sweet spot. Whether you need to bounce light into backlit images or as a key light (main light), the principal is the same. www.nzphotographer.co.nz 7
How to use below faces Using a reflector to produce ‘fill light’ is one of the ways to enhance portraits. This can be done on location and in the studio. Simply place the reflector just out of the frame, directly in front of your subject at an angle. This will illuminate their faces and soften the shadows under their eyes, and help soften any sharp facial features. It can also produce a ‘catch light’ in your subjects eye that visually draws the audience into your image.
How to use as a diffuser Most reflectors have an inner sheer material we call a diffuser. Similar to how a softbox is used with a studio set-up the diffuser greatly reduces harsh shadows and softens the light source to be more flattering. The bigger, the better is often the case when you are trying to diffuse harsh light, but higher angles and a flexible assistant can do wonders!
Having a reflector in your kit is an absolute must in my opinion. It can transform and bring your images to life with a small amount of effort. Taking full advantage of all the capabilities of a reflector will take some time and practice, but understanding what a reflector can do is a game changer as you develop your photography skills. ■ 8 www.nzphotographer.co.nz
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Cleaning Your Camera C
leaning the camera is part of the regular maintenance that helps to keep it working at an optimum level. Cleaning the front bit of glass, either the front element of the lens or a filter that you may have on your lens, is probably the most frequent cleaning that needs to be done. A grubby paw print on the first bit of glass will lower image quality, especially when shooting into the sun. When we set out to clean the front element of the lens, the way we do so is influenced by a secondary and overriding objective; that under no circumstances do we want to damage the lens. 10 www.nzphotographer.co.nz
If you just grab a cloth and start wiping the front element of the lens, and there happens to be a tiny bit of grit on the lens, you can do an awful lot of damage quickly. So the first step is to clean any potential dust off with a blower (see photo). A few quick puffs will remove most if not all, grit.
This cycle of the camera bag, lens, camera bag, Allan’s nose, Allan’s pocket, washing machine, camera bag, etc., means I am cleaning the glass with a nice clean hankie and not a filthy micro fibre cloth. If unlike me, you are disciplined enough to wash the microfiber cloth regularly then definitely use one, otherwise I would suggest a cotton hankie. When you do wash the hanky or micro-fibre cloth, avoid adding fabric softener to the wash. Fabric softener is oil and will result in lovely smears instead of a clean lens.
Because I’m paranoid, I always follow up the blower with a quick flick of a brush. Personally, I use a pigs bristle brush that you can get from any hardware shop for a few bucks. Once you are confident there is no Alongside the clean cloth, I use a solvent to help grit on the lens you can then proceed to remove any greasy marks/salt spray, etc. For this job, I use a clean remove greasy marks. I know you can buy lenscleaning fluid, but personally, I’ve never trusted it. cotton handkerchief. Instead, I use a universal solvent called di-hydrogen You can buy micro-fibre cloths, and they are very good, monoxide. Please be careful when using di-hydrogen but they do have one disadvantage, which is that people monoxide as it kills about 120 New Zealanders are inclined not to wash them. The micro-fibre cloth every year. You can buy it at your local supermarket. gets used to clean the lens, and then put back into the However, they only sell it in liquid form, and we need camera bag to be used again, and the cycle continues, it in vapour form. The best way to get it in vapour until pretty soon the micro-fibre cloth is filthy. form is to breathe gently on your lens. Di-hydrogen monoxide or H2O often goes by the more common Personally, I find a hankie gets washed more often. Because in a former life I was a dog, when I go out name of water. on an early-morning photo shoot, and it’s a bit cold, So a little bit of moisture from your breath (breath, my nose starts to run. If I haven’t got a hankie in my don’t spit), soft, clean cloth, and the final ingredient, pocket, then I raid the one from my camera bag. No, I a wee bit of elbow grease (figuratively speaking) and don’t then put it back into the camera bag! Instead, it you will soon have lovely clean lenses. goes into my pocket to be thoroughly washed before being returned to the camera bag. A more sophisticated approach to all of the above is to use a thing called a ‘Lens Pen’. It uses a carbon compound that absorbs oil and will remove stubborn greasy marks that the above method won’t.
It can leave that carbon compound as a slight residue so after using the Lens Pen I’ll give the lens a quick flick over with the blower/brush/cloth approach. The same principles apply to the back element of your lens except it shouldn’t have greasy makes on it, so most often just the blower is needed to remove dust. ■ www.nzphotographer.co.nz 11
OHAWE BEACH,TARANAKI by Tim Bond. I love shooting seascapes, there is always something different even if you are visiting the same place multiple times. Canon 6d 28-135mm lens. Lee 0.6 ND filter as well as a Lee 0.6 hard grad ND filter to stop down the sky. F/13, 0.6 sec, ISO 250
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RENWICK RIVERBED, MARLBOROUGH by Jaimee Josephs. I liked the contrast of the bright flowers against the grey rocks and dramatic sky. Canon 1200D, f/13 and various shutter speeds (HDR)
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RARANGI BEACH, MARLBOROUGH. by Jaimee Josephs I tried to create a ‘peaceful’ scene with a slow shutter speed as the sun began to set. Canon 1200D, f/13, 30 sec, 100 ISO
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RAINBOW By Sue Block Rainbow with its striking colours caught my eye in Iceland Nikon D700
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LAST LIGHT AT TASMAN LAKE by Ben Norris Mt Cook National Park, Sony A77II, Sigma 24-70mm, f/14th at 25 Seconds, ISO 100
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SUNRISE by Dianne Whitehead Simple sunrise beauty. Stunning in its simplicity. Canon 6D, ISO 100, f/8.
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TONGAPORUTU BEACH by Tim Bond The Galactic Core descending towards the horizon at Tongaporutu Beach in northern Taranaki. My goal for this shot was to shoot an epic milky way image, but first I had to find something interesting for the foreground. This piece of driftwood looping up out of the sand made the perfect candidate. Shot with a Canon 6d and Samyang 14mm. F/2.8, 25 sec, ISO 10,000
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NELSON LAKES NP by Tim Bond This is Blue Lake in Nelson Lakes National Park. I really like the differing layers in the image, from the crystal clear water to the stunning beech trees all the way up to the alpine waterfall. It was shot using a Canon 650d and EFs 18-135mm lens. F/14, 1 sec, iso 100.
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TE REWA REWA BRIDGE by Tim Bond Te Rewa Rewa Bridge in New Plymouth frames the volcanic cone of Mount Egmont perfectly. We were having a camera group photo session at the bridge and I thought I would try out my new lens to see how it went, as you can see it worked very well and this image has been very popular with New Plymouth locals. This was shot with a Canon 6d and the EF 85mm lens. F/5.6, 10 sec, iso 800.
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HARBOUR NIGHT by Jana Luo It was taken at Auckland city harbour around blue hour. Love the smoothness of the water and cloud, also the dramatic colour. Canon 6D, F/10,92SEC,ISO-100, 16MM
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MT HECTOR by Goldie Walker Moody Mt Hector in the Tararua Ranges. The weather started closing in and building up some lovely convective clouds. Thankfully we got to Kime Hut before the rain hit us! I didn’t take my fancy camera, this was shot with my OnePlus One android phone: f/2, 1/1250 sec, ISO-100
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GALAXY STAR TRAIL by Tim Bond I shot this one while camping on the Stony River bed in Egmont National Park. It is a composite shot of many layers to achieve the star trailing with one frame more prominent to show the galactic core. This was my first serious attempt at creating a star trail with the galactic core as the highlight. I was using a Canon 6d and Samyang 14mm lens. F/2.8, 16 sec, iso 3200. Approx 100 images stacked together.
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ST CLAIR BEACH by Matt Corbett St Clair Beach, Dunedin. This was a grey overcast afternoon so destaurated to give it a moody feel. Nikon D5300 Tamron 17-50mm F2.8 50mm F11 85sec.
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LAMBS IN LUCERNE by Cathie Bell St Clair Beach, Dunedin. This was a grey overcast afternoon so destaurated to give it a moody feel. Nikon D5300 Tamron 17-50mm F2.8 50mm F11 85sec.
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680NM INFRARED by Emanuel Maisel This is an Infrared shot taken with a Panasonic FZ7 converted full spectrum camera. The filter I used was a 680nm. It was shot at a local Arboretum in Hamilton.
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LATE LIGHT ON THE ROLLING HILLS by David Coxon Taken south of Taihape. The late light on the rolling hills caught my attention and I exposed to capture the shapes. Canon 60D, 1/200 at f7.1 on ISO 200
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RATA by Richmond (Ritchie) White Last summer was the year of the Rata bloom. This particular tree is visible from a pullover area midway between the Karamea bluff and Corbyvale. Look at the back ground and you will see the damage to the forest from the 200300 kph winds that wrecked havoc through the region a couple years back. Fuji XT-1_ f/5.6 @ 1/125_ iso 200_XF18-55_tripod.
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LAKE WANAKA TREE by Ralph Bella A different take on the famous willow tree during a cold and foggy morning Canon 5DIII.
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BLUE LAKE, CENTRAL OTAGO by Ralph Bella A very serene place, ideal place to contemplate and relax. Canon 5DIII | Lee Filters
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By Nick Kabzamalov This is vertical panorama shot. Nikon D7000, multiple settings, panorama stitched in Photoshop.
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udging by the number of entries we received in this month’s competition, it would appear that landscapes are the most popular subject matter to photograph. For those of you who entered our competition for the first time; welcome. Hopefully, we’ll see more of your work in the future. Like any competition, there can only be one first place, which means everyone else misses out. This is a bit of a shame as there were so many great shots entered. Whittling it down to the top 40 wasn’t tooooo hard,
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but then it got difficult, so I decided to put together a montage of the photos that almost but didn’t quite make it through the final cut. Overall, there were some photos that failed, for what amounted to just one, simple to fix, problem. I guess that is the thing about photography: you can get 9 out of 10 things right, but the one thing that is not quite right spoils everything else. Keep trying, and better luck next time. ■
Did You Know?
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n this day and age of increasing miniaturisation you might be surprised to find that the largest camera was in fact built very recently. Created by renowned photographer Dennis Manarchy, it takes large format to another level with its film format of 6ft by 4ft and an overall length of 35ft. Its resolving power is said to be 1000 times that of modern day digital cameras, although getting the film to the lab can be quite difficult. â–
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“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” - Picasso
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