Innholdsfortegnelse for 11/18/25 i Amateur Photographer

This issue we span topics as diverse as astrophotography, motorsport (on a cheap 35mm compact camera!), portraits of inspirational women around the world, and a project documenting George Orwell’s house. We test five Godox Lux flashguns, two hotshoe light meters and a new Viltrox lens. With Christmas just around the bend we present our annual round-up of top accessories that we recommend as gifts, for giving or receiving. There’s sure to be something on our list you’ll love. Alternatively how about buying a ticket to our next Festival of Photography in January? The early bird ticket sale ends on 23 November – see page 45. Don’t forget that a subscription to AP makes a great gift too. See page 22. Our cover image by Ethan Scorer was a runner-up in…

DJI has announced its latest flagship gimbal to help keep photos and videos stable, the Osmo Mobile 8. Key additions include 360° horizontal panning, plus the ability to track cats and dogs. As with previous models, the Osmo Mobile 8 has three-axis image stabilisation, but the 360° horizonal rotation is a first. Tracking technology for pets, people and objects is provided by the company’s ActiveTrack 7.01 technology, which is part of the DJI Mimo app for iOS and Android. There is also support for Apple DockKit tracking tecnnology, which makes it easier to track subjects using the iPhone’s camera. With Dual Lens Boost, the app uses both a phone’s wideangle and telephoto lenses together to ensure the subject is never lost, no matter how fast the movement or how crowded…

THINK Tank has announced a winter promotion from now until 31 December, giving you the chance to save up to £120 on 18 camera backpacks and seven ‘airport roller’ cases. Models include the BackLight backpacks, ranging from 18L to 45L capacity, and the Think Tank SpeedTop backpacks; with capacities of 20L or 30L, they can handle compact or full kits and offer easy bottom access. The best discount on the Airport rollers is £90 off the International v3.0 model. Full details are at bit.ly/thinktankdeals…

I remember the uproar when iPhone photos began dominating Flickr. That first iPhone had a 2MP camera and no zoom! Why would anyone think it was a proper camera? Yet before long, I’d ditched my digital camera too, and used my iPhone for everything. I still do. Because from the start, Apple got the fundamentals right – and has pushed photography forward ever since. Here’s how. Apple’s strength lies in control. By owning hardware and software and keeping to just a few models, it can fine-tune performance across the board. And having long ago decided cameras matter, Apple gives even the most affordable iPhone a high-quality sensor. The main camera in every iPhone on sale today is 48MP. Not bad. Then there is the constant reinvention. Every iPhone launch gives…

Awe-inspiring scenes of the Milky Way, dancing aurorae and serene galaxies all feature in this year’s ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. With over 5,500 entries received from amateur and professional photographers, submitted from 69 countries, this year’s winner is a collaboration between three photographers – Weitang Liang, Qi Yang and Chuhong Yu – with ‘The Andromeda Core’. Dr Ed Bloomer, Royal Observatory Greenwich Astronomer and judge said, ‘Once again, ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year offers up some of the best astrophotography in the world. This year I believe we’re particularly strong on images which ask the observer to really think about what they’re looking at and investigate just how the astrophotographer has achieved those particular results – this proved true for the judges as well! I think…

WIN! The AP Pic of the Week winner will receive a beautifully framed print of their winning image worth up to £100. If you Love it, Frame it! ThisPicture.com is an experienced, high-quality framing company with a unique, easy-to-use website. Build single or multi-image frames with a few clicks of your mouse and select from a wide range of frames, window mounts and glazing options. Each frame comes with a three-year guarantee and FREE P&P within the UK. Visit thispicture.co.uk Snettisham, Norfolk by Edward Russell OM System OM-1 Mk2, Laowa 7.5mm, 1/2500sec, ISO 250 ‘Snettisham, on the North Norfolk coast, faces west across the Wash. When there is a very high tide (in this case 8.2m), all the birds – knot, dunlin, oystercatchers – are forced off the mudflats and…

ANDY WESTLAKE Technical Editor Andy recommends the best photo accessories at all budgets in our Xmas gift guide JESSICA MILLER Dep Online Editor Jessica presents the winners of Astronomy Photographer of the Year PETER DENCH Acting Features Ed Peter writes about a book redefining women and beauty – then brings you NASCAR on film AILSA MCWHINNIE APOY Low Light round winners; and Ailsa finds out more about where Orwell wrote 1984 ANGELA NICHOLSON The AP reguar tests the Viltrox AF 15mm F1.7 Air lens for APS-C format cameras NIGEL ATHERTON Editor Nigel puts the Lux range of retro flashguns from Godox to the test…

LETTER OF THE WEEK Alfred Buckham I’ve just been to the Alfred Buckham exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh – a wonderful exhibition and refreshingly, not in London. Alfred Buckham created beautiful montages by hanging out of a biplane and photographing Scotland, Edinburgh, The Thames, South America etc but it was in the darkroom where he created his art, dodging and burning in clouds from his huge archive and adding biplanes to the scene. One of his most impressive non-montage pieces is a shot taken flying through a live volcano in Mexico! He also wrote for AP and one of the displays features a copy where he’s described as being ‘generous with his advice’. The exhibition is free and on until 19 April 2026; it’s well worth a…

When Romanian photographer Mihaela Noroc published The Atlas of Beauty in 2017, she offered the world an antidote to stereotypes: portraits of women in more than 50 countries, each image a quiet statement of dignity and individuality. The book became an international bestseller, earning Noroc a global following. Eight years later, she has returned with a more urgent sequel. The Power of Women, which was published earlier this year, builds on the humanist spirit of her first book but channels it into something bolder, a celebration of women whose influence is reshaping the world. This project took Noroc across the globe and into countless communities and lives. She says, ‘After Atlas of Beauty I didn’t want to repeat myself. Beauty is wonderful, but I felt the need to show something…

Kingsley Singleton Kingsley is a photographer, tutor, and writer with decades of experience in shooting technique and editing. As well as shooting landscapes and portraits he’s a professional dog photographer, based in Cumbria’s beautiful Eden Valley. Follow his dog photography at Instagram @eden.valley.dogs Whatever the subject, I love backlighting. Our vision is instinctively drawn to the light, so backlit shots are always eye-catching. And when there’s water and fur involved it’s even better. Particularly for action and portrait images of dogs, with the sun behind, definition on the subject increases, picking them out from the background and adding a pleasing glow. But along with the benefits come a few challenges. For one thing, unless exposure compensation or some kind of reflector is used, the camera will probably underexpose to some…

Cameras Cameras come in three types: DSLRs with optical viewfinders, mirrorless models with electronic viewing, and compact cameras with non-interchangeable lenses Handgrip DSLRs traditionally have relatively large handgrips, while many mirrorless models have much smaller grips to keep the size down. However, some can accept accessory grips to improve handling with larger lenses. Lens mount Each camera brand uses its own lens mount, and mirrorless cameras use different lenses to DSLRs even from the same brand. However, mirrorless models can often use DSLR lenses via a mount adapter. Controls Entry-level cameras tend to have simple, easy-to-understand controls, while more expensive models add lots of buttons and dials to give quick access to settings. Viewfinder The biggest difference between DSLRs and mirrorless cameras is that the latter use electronic, rather than…

PRINTER maker Epson has announced the winners of its 2025 International Pano Awards. The overall victor was Alessandro Cantarelli from Italy for his entries Last Fireworks, Jackpot and Mann. ‘As the sun went down, the sky exploded,’ says Cantarelli about Last Fireworks. ‘Layer after layer of clouds lit up, painting the desert with fire and gold. Using my Sony A7 IV with a fisheye lens on a tripod, I captured a full multiexposure sequence at f/8 and ISO 100, rotating carefully around the nodal point to create a seamless 360° panorama.’ Enter now for this year’s contest and you can see all the winners at thepanoawards.com…

THE INTERNATIONAL Association for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) has announced the winners of the 10th annual World Sight Day Photo Competition. ‘Shakul’s Eyes’ by Marijn Fidder from Uganda was named the Professional Photo of the Year, while ‘Makalika and her son post-surgery’ by Darren James from Samoa won through as the Amateur Photo of the Year. The winners were selected from more than 500 entries across over 60 countries, and the judging panel included AP’s Deputy Online Editor, Jessica Miller. Commenting on the winning image, she said: ‘This photograph has stuck with me since I first saw it in the first round of judging. It stands out for its exceptional composition, emotional depth and technical precision. The lighting and focus on the eye and surrounding features are technically spot…

Mark Cann It’s the one thing that’s for me and it gets me out in nature. Slows me down and resets for daily challenges. Linda Wride Photography was a creative lifeline while I supported my husband through nearly seven years of incurable cancer. Since then, it has supported my own mental well-being by meeting people from all over the world who share my passion, making long-lasting friendships in the process. Thank you, photography. Stuart Stott Sounds daft but my camera is like a shield protecting me… Marie Bruce I started doing portrait photography featuring my handmade dresses in April. Meeting other creative people, getting out in nature, and styling and directing shoots has done wonders for my mental health and self-esteem. Cynthia Momoko Harper @HarperMomoko Photography has given me the…

‘I call this a work of imagination,’ says Craig Easton as we chat over Teams. ‘I’m imagining his life there.’ The photographer is talking of the novelist, critic, essayist – and gardener – George Orwell, whose time on the Inner Hebridean island of Jura Easton has used as inspiration for his latest book, the crowdfunded An Extremely Un-get-atable Place. Easton is known for his political work such as Thatcher’s Children – a study of three generations of the same family and the impact of poverty – and Bank Top – an area of Blackburn, which was described by BBC’s Panorama as the most segregated town in Britain. So how did these bodies of work lead him to the concept for a book of large-format landscape images inspired by Orwell? ‘Like…

There’s recently been a lot of talk concerning artificial intelligence (AI) in photography. This article will give a simple account of how these techniques work. In general, they make use of neural networks which mimic the function of the neurones in the brain. The logic gates used by computers were originally inspired by neurones, but are much simpler. The inputs and outputs of neurones can be both electrical and chemical, rather than simple voltage levels, and the function of a neuron is adaptive. This means that a neural network (NN) with fixed connectivity may take on new behaviours, allowing it to learn. Neural networks allow the solving of loosely defined problems. Normal computer programs define stepwise operations which will lead to a solution of a problem, but this requires the…

Round Six Night and Low Light Low light is like catnip to the photographer. As light drops and reduces, it gives dimension, depth, colour and atmosphere to a photographic image, allowing previously ordinary scenes to gradually come alive. Low light has the power to either reduce a potential composition to its basic elements, or it can introduce a riot of conflicting tones and colour temperatures. It’s no wonder that generations of photographers have exploited it to their advantage. This is always a particularly strong round, and seems to unleash entrants’ creativity – and this year has been no exception. 1 Eric Browett, UK Death from above 100pts Nikon D500, 10-20mm at 13mm, 1/250sec at f/18, ISO 400 Guest judge Sarah Lee says: ‘For me, this image was a clear winner.…

If you’re wondering where you’ve seen this portrait – or at least part of it – before, look in your wallet. It’s the picture that has adorned five pound notes in the UK since 2016 when the old paper fivers changed to the current polymer-printed types. The picture, however, was taken 75 years before that. It is, of course, a portrait of Winston Churchill (he wouldn’t become Sir Winston until 1953), leader of the coalition government during World War II and famous for his rousing speeches that did so much to inspire British people during those dark times. When the war ended in 1945, he was voted out of office as a Labour government took control, but returned to lead a Conservative government in 1951. Yousuf Karsh was an Armenian…