7 days

This week’s cover image

Mike Will used a moving light to create this striking pic, set against a backdrop of The Shard, London. Read his tips on page 36

In this issue

3 7 days 14 Stars in their eyes 22 Inbox 24 Something of the night 28 Photo insight 30 APOY 2022 launch 36 Light after dark 42 Midnight rambler 46 Gig secrets 48 Northern exposure 52 Fast workers 56 Best cameras for low light 62 Noise-reduction software 68 Reader portfolio 71 Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM 75 Zoner Photo

Studio X (Autumn 2021 update) 79 Second-hand classic 82 Accessories 83 Tech talk 85 Buying guide 98 Final analysis

Some of the most compelling photo opportunities occur after the sun goes down. In the city, lights of all colours, on buildings and moving vehicles, provide compelling subject matter for the creative photographer, while out in the country you only have to look skyward at the stars to find amazing subject matter. This week’s special issue is dedicated to getting great photos from dusk to dawn, with tips from leading photographers on everything from astrophotography to shooting gigs. We look at the best cameras and lenses for low light, and the best noise-reduction software for editing. I hope we give you lots of ideas and inspiration. Also in this week’s issue we launch the brand new 2022 Amateur Photographer of the Year competition, with £11,000 of prizes from MPB. For more details and to find out how to enter turn to page 30. Good luck! Nigel Atherton, Editor

7 days

If you’d like to see your words or pictures published in Amateur Photographer, here’s how:

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This week in 1953

TREASURES FROM THE HULTON ARCHIVE

Centenary Exhibition by L Blandford

The Royal Photographic Society (RPS) celebrated its centenary in 1953 with an exhibition at the Science Museum. In this photograph, Mrs Betty Sheppard of Leicester compares the Daguerreotype camera with the latest ‘Graphic Pace Maker’. The original aim of the society was to ‘promote the art and science of photography’. Originally called simply The Photographic Society, its first royal patrons were Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, with the royal moniker being added in 1894.

The RPS is still going strong today, and is now headquartered in Bristol.

Our favourite photos posted by readers on our social media channels this week

AP picture of the week

Crescent Moon by Andy Parker

Canon EOS M6 Mark II, Sky-Watcher 127 telescope, 1/30sec at f/12, ISO 100, 20 stacked exposures ‘The 12% waxing crescent moon was just above the rooftops from my back garden in south-east London. I attached my Canon EOS M6 Mark II to my Sky-Watcher 127 telescope to try to get a better zoomed view. I took 20 exposures and then stacked them in Photoshop. The moon was so sharp that night that only a few tweaks were needed in editing,’ says keen landscape and astro photographer Andy, from London. Instagram @balders18

#appicoftheweek

Win!

Each week we choose our favourite picture on Facebook, Instagram, Flickr or Twitter using #appicoftheweek. PermaJet proudly supports the online picture of the week winner, who will receive a top-quality print of their image on the finest PermaJet paper*. It is important to bring images to life outside the digital sphere, so we encourage everyone to get printing today! Visit www.permajet.com to learn more.

We also liked...

Morning Sky by Cath Thomas

Huawei P20, 1/475sec at f/1.8, ISO 50 ‘This image of Mornington beach, in County Meath, Ireland, was taken around dawn while I was walking my dog. We’re very lucky in this part of the world to have such a wonderful natural resource close by and watching the sunrise from the seashore is definitely one of my favourite activities. I know I should but I don’t generally take my camera (a Fujifilm X-T3) on my morning dog walks – but I do, however, always have my Huawei P20,’ says Cath, from North Wales and living in Ireland. ‘I took up photography around 2018 after a trip to Vietnam and Cambodia for which I’d bought my first DSLR (a Nikon D3400). While travelling, I realised I hadn’t a clue how to get the best, or anywhere near average for that matter, from the camera, so, on my return, I promptly signed up to a beginner level photography course with a local club, Drogheda Photographic Club (DPC).’ Cath is on Instagram @caththomasphotography

Lensball Sparkles by Kate Parmaku

Canon EOS 1300D, 18-55mm at 49mm, 2 secs at f/5.6, ISO 100 Kate says, ‘I took this picture in my back garden with a sparkler left over from Fireworks night. I took it as part of a 365/photo a day project, which I am hoping will improve my photography skills. I have been taking photos as a hobby since I got my camera in 2018, and it was the first “proper” camera I have ever owned. I am keeping track of my 365 photos on my Instagram account @katie_writes_ nice.’ Kate’s main Instagram account is @kate_parmaku

Follow the White Lines by Ian Johnston

Panasonic Lumix LX5 at 51mm, 1/60sec at f/6.3, ISO 80 ‘This image was taken with an old Lumix LX5 which I have had since it first came out (2010), but has spent many years sitting in the “use again one day” drawer. So it has been recently dusted off and this image posted. The LX5 has always been a favourite due to the compact size and reasonable lens. For a camera which is probably considered old at ten years, it can still do a reasonable job as a street shooter,’ says Ian, who is now retired and enjoys photography in his spare time. He has, though, left chemical processing behind to shoot only digital, mainly with Nikon hardware.

Want to see your pictures here? Share them with our Flickr, Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook communities using the hashtag #appicoftheweek. Or email your best shot to us at ap.ed@kelsey.co.uk. See page 3 for how to find us.

Fujifilm firmware causes file problems

FUJIFILM has identified a firmware incompatibility between specific X and GFX series cameras, which can result in MacOS users being unable to directly access files if they were initially saved to SDXC memory cards in-camera. The cameras affected include models that don’t depend on the firmware version (the GFX100, GFX100S, GFX50S II, X-Pro3, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, X-T30 II and X100V) and models that do – the GFX50S (Ver.4.00 or later), GFX50R (Ver.2.00 or later) (see image above) and X-T3 (Ver.3.20 or later).

To address the problem Fujifilm is working on creating a firmware patch, which (at the time of going to press) was expected to be available for free download by X series and GFX system users ‘soon’.

CaptureOne adds LIVE photo platform

PHOTO editing software company

CaptureOne has unveiled LIVE – a cloud-based collaboration add-on that allows creative teams working remotely to rate, tag and view images or to watch an edit or a tethered shoot in real time. The live photography/creative platform will allow photographers to show their clients their work in real time or to work on image edits together during a shoot. The LIVE service is immediately available for both Catalogs and Sessions and is available as an add-on paid service with an introductory rate of $9.99 USD per month or it can be trialled free for one month. For a complete list of all options visit the store at www.captureone.com.

Mirrorless dominant: Sony leads the market

THE 2021 year-end sales report from

Japan, compiled by BCN Retail, has revealed that Sony leads the mirrorless camera market while Canon leads the DSLR market. The BCN Retail report monitors point-of-sale data from 40% of Japanese retailers, including specialist camera chains. In the mirrorless camera market for 2021 Sony increased its share to 32% (up from 27.44% in 2020), while Canon grew its second-placed position to 28.2% (up from 23.78%). The third-biggest share was for OM Digital Solutions (formerly Olympus) with 12.7% (but down from 23.37%). According to 2021 figures from the Camera & Imaging Products Association (an industry association) the total worldwide camera shipments were 488,933,327 units (up 16.4% from 2020) with mirrorless cameras accounting for approx. 66.38% of those shipments.

In BCN Retail’s sales data for DSLRs, Canon has a commanding 59.8% market share (up from 51.91% in 2020) with Nikon in second place with 33.9% (a drop from 44.78% in 2020). Ricoh (the manufacturer of Pentax cameras) comes in as a distant third, but with an increased 5.8% share (up from 3% in 2020). Canon held first place in sales of fixed-lens cameras with 34.01% (down from 39.08%), followed by Sony at 23.1% (up from 19.65%) and Fujifilm at 11.6% (up from 11.41%).

Sony’s 2021 mirrorless launches included the A7 IV

NPG opens up The Nation’s Family Album

THE NATIONAL Portrait Gallery (NPG) has announced ‘The

Nation’s Family Album’ initiative, which encourages people to submit images of their families for possible inclusion in a landmark exhibition online and at the gallery when it reopens in 2023. The NPG is collaborating with genealogy website Ancestry on the project and the idea is to represent the diversity of family stories in the UK and to showcase ‘undiscovered portraits of everyday British people’, which will then be collated into a ‘representative’ online album. Submissions to ‘The Nation’s Family Album’ will close on 30 June and must be uploaded digitally. Any person in the UK can submit up to a maximum of three images that relate to the following themes – Belonging; Legacy; Connection and Identity. Later this year, a panel of experts – including the NPG’s chief curator, Dr. Alison Smith – will shortlist a selection of portraits that best encapsulate the three themes’. Those selected will feature in the exhibitions. Find out more at www.ancestry.co.uk.

Viewpoint Jon Bentley

Get away from the default of groups lined up, and be inspired by centuries-old paintings

Every group event these days needs commemorating with a group photo. Whether it’s a meeting of family and friends, a team’s celebration of a job well done, or just a pleasant night out at the pub, the occasion wouldn’t be complete without a shot of the happy participants.

Group portraits may be more common but our instincts on how to arrange ourselves within them haven’t changed much. Some sort of genetic predisposition to standing side-to-side quickly takes over, with everyone forming an orderly line as if summoned to an impromptu identification parade.

This knee-jerk behaviour can jar with a photographer’s instincts, especially if you’re called on to record the occasion. But in the heat of the moment, finding the inspiration to rearrange the group into something more interesting can be a challenge.

Happily the problem isn’t a new one, and the work of some old masters can provide inspiration. I’m not talking about photographers, but painters.

Dutch artists of the 17th century often immortalised their local city’s voluntary guards on canvas, most famously Rembrandt in his 1642 masterpiece, The Night Watch. Rembrandt’s soldiers aren’t lined up in rows, they’re ready for action, not empty-handed but carrying their weapons, the musketeers pouring powder into their muskets’ muzzles.

The lesson seems to be to find props

Hogarth’s painting can inspire us when creating group shots and ask your subjects to interact with them whether beer glasses, pets or cars.

William Hogarth, the British satirical painter, took things further. He started his serious career with group portraits called conversation pieces. His subjects would be artfully arranged, playing instruments or card games, drinking tea, or looking through a telescope and would appear totally involved in their pursuits.

Centuries later, Hogarth’s work can inspire us to arrange everyone in as diverse a way as possible – using seats to vary head heights, creating a foreground and background by staggering how near people are to the camera, and dividing the ensemble into sub-groups to vary the composition. His pictures can also encourage us to try shots with people not looking at the camera but absorbed in their activities. Also, people running, jumping, scrummed over a camera on the ground or distracted by an event that’s out of the frame can work.

On The Gadget Show we often create quick group publicity photos with contributors. One that I thought worked rather well was for a recent item with a group of TikTok influencers. A shot of me and some of the group through their ring light, while they were in turn shooting a video of us dancing, was much more effective than just lining up side-by-side.

I’d like to think that if Rembrandt or Hogarth were called on to render some 21st-century TikTokers, it’s the kind of picture they’d have painted.

© NATIONAL TRUST

Books & exhibitions

The latest and best books and exhibitions from the world of photography

International Garden Photographer of the Year

Until 6 March, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London. Entry included with gardens ticket

There’s still a couple of weeks left to see the exhibition of the 15th International Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY) competition at Kew Gardens in Richmond.

Featuring a selection of higher-placed winning photographs from across all the main pay-to-enter categories, you’ll see shots from ‘Beautiful Gardens,’ ‘The Beauty of Plants,’ ‘Wildlife in the Garden’, and the newest category, ‘The World of Fungi’.

There’s also a chance to see the photo projects and a selection of exclusive winning photographs from the latest ‘Captured at Kew’ special award.

Images are displayed outdoors and in a large format to show off the truly stunning winners and finalists. After leaving Kew, other IGPOTY exhibitions can be seen in other locations around the UK, including Cambridge, Barrow-in-Furness and Rotherham. See igpoty.com for more details.

Photographers on the Art of Photography

£22, ACC Art Books, hardback, 240 pages, ISBN: 9781788840880

Some of the world’s biggest names in photography appear in this compendium of interviews. Whether you’re interested in portraits, wildlife, fashion, landscapes or something in between, there should be a photographer here which matches your interests. Discovering what motivates them, inspires them and how they go into the business makes for fascinating reading. Although relatively light on pictures (each interview is accompanied by just one picture from the photographer’s back catalogue), this is a veritable who’s who in photography. Names in the book include Tim Flach, Tom Stoddart, Eva Sereny, Gerd Ludwig, Terry O’Neill, Sue Flood and several more besides. Well worth a read if you want to get an insight into how big-name photographers tick.

From the archive

Nigel Atherton looks back at past AP issues

14 February 1979

As Venus emerges from the sea on her shell, AP readers gasp in amazement: how did they do that? George Hughes provided the answer in his interview with Bill Carter, the photographer behind the ‘eagerly awaited 1979 calendar from Motorway Tyres and Accessories.’ (Remember the days when motor-trade glamour calendars were eagerly awaited?) The calendar blended studio shots of 12 top international models in a variety of pre-designed poses which were then ‘ingeniously combined with the work of six artists’, creating a ‘striking effect in which the eye cannot tell where fact becomes fantasy’. According to Hughes, ‘Carter’s 1979 calendar is being hailed as The contemporary breakthrough in combination photo/art.’ He went on to explain, with the aid of artist sketches and behind-the-scenes shots, the huge cost and complexity of creating images like this in the days before Photoshop. In his leader, editor Martin Hodder was more interested in the rise of the 35mm compact, and expert predictions that this will become ‘by far the most popular type of camera within a couple of years or so,’ as photographers trade down from their bulky and complicated 35mm SLRs which often offer inferior features and specifications. ‘I wouldn’t mind betting that the reflex camera market could have one or two hiccups heading its way as some people realise that the compact camera has more to offer,’ he predicted. It’s a scenario that’s all very familiar today. Meanwhile in a group test of those bulky, soon-to-beobsolete SLRs costing under £100, five Warsaw Pact models from Praktica, Zenith and Prinzflex were beaten to the podium by the fancy Japanese upstart Chinon CS.

The rise of the 35mm compact camera Chinon beats five Eastern Bloc SLRs

The story behind the ground-breaking 1979 Motorway Tyres & Accessories calendar