Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2018 i Australian Photography

Talk to any great portrait photographer (or start by reading our interview with portrait-wiz Keren Dobia on page 52) and what you’ll quickly discover is there are a million and one different ways to take someone’s portrait. Sure, there’s the tangible ways to change the image captured, like flicking a switch on a strobe to change the lighting, or getting a subject to grimace to completely change the mood. But there’s less obvious things too, like ways of working. In her new book At Work, Annie Leibowitz talks about how much of her imagery is planned, and how much direction she gives to her subjects. “By the time the subject arrives we’ve figured out what is possible for them to do. You set the stage for them. Once they are…

We live in an era where big is beautiful. Some will say the more megapixels you have, the better photographer you are, but is that really so? I love my iPhone and many times it has offered a fast and reliable way to shoot story images. However, at times, it has also offered publishable images as well. From phones that offer 40MP sensors (yes that is correct) to software that offers professional features, anyone from a beginner to a seasoned professional photographer can use a smartphone for everything from family portraits to grand landscapes. I take my iPhone with me on every trip, but most importantly I understand its limitations and its strengths. My advice when it comes to buying a smartphone is buy one that helps your photo interests.…

YOUR BEST SHOT IS OPEN TO AP SUBSCRIBERS AND APS MEMBERS. TO ENTER AN IMAGE IN THE COMP, CHECK THE COMPETITION THEMES AND INSTRUCTIONS BELOW AND EMAIL YOUR BEST IMAGE TO YOURBESTSHOT@AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM UPCOMING COMPETITION THEMES JANUARY ISSUE SUMMER October 31, 2018 FEBRUARY ISSUE TECHNOLOGY November 30, 2018 MARCH ISSUE IN MY BACKYARD December 15, 2018 APRIL ISSUE RAIN January 31, 2019 MAY ISSUE COLOUR February 28, 2019 EMAIL DETAILS • Send your entry to yourbestshot@australianphotography.com• Include the name of the competition theme you are entering in the email subject line, for example ‘Rain’ or ‘Abstract’.• Please include the following details with your entry: your name, image title (if there is one) and 100-200 words about how you created your image. Please also include technical details including camera, lens, focal length,…

The unique advantage of aerial photography cannot be overestimated. The extraordinary vistas you can capture from astonishing, often unthinkable angles are one of the recognised benefits of drone photography. But how do you fly drones (aka UAVs) safely and effectively to achieve photographic prowess? Drone photographer and Recreational Aerial Photographer, Jessica Culley, says it’s all about initially becoming properly accustomed to your UAV. “Both the drone and the controls need to become second nature to you, so you can concentrate on framing your shots and being proficient in the photographic side of things,” she says. A local park or football field is an ideal place to start, however you should always find out if you’re permitted to fly there first. A good check point is to use CASA’s (Civil Aviation…

They say home is where the heart is, and so too for most portrait photographers. The origin of what they do often seems to start in the exact same place. After all, the best photography comes from shooting what we love, and what more do we love than our own family? So it is probably no surprise that professional portrait photographer Keren Dobia’s first exposure to photography came from a family member, and her first subjects were the people she lived with in her family home. “When I was 14 my cousin came from France to live with us,” she remembers. “The thing that seemed to interest him at school was being in the darkroom. He’d bring these beautiful prints home. I found it fascinating.” On discovering that her school…

First it was film—A Box Brownie, Instamatic, Minolta, Canon, Hasselblad, RB67, Tri-X and 6x6. Now, it’s digital—SD cards, RAW files, mirrorless, led studio lights, Lightroom, Photoshop, Instagram and Facebook. The first image I remember making was of my brother on our family farm. I was probably eight years old at the time. I now call it an “environmental portrait” because there was a lot of landscape and not much of him. I took the photo from so far away he was just a dot in the frame. But when that print came back from the chemist (that’s where they were developed in those days) I was hooked. I knew I could do better. Fast forward to when I was thirteen. The first photo I ever sold was a shot of…

WIN! Thanks to Fujifilm, Marie McLaurin has won a brilliant Fujifilm Finepix XP130 camera valued at $299. Integrating four rugged protection features, the XP130 is waterproof to 65ft/20m, freezeproof to 14°F/-10°C, shockproof to withstand drops from 5.8ft/1.75m, and dustproof to keep out sand and other foreign particles. Inside you’ll find a 16.4 megapixel 1/2.3”-inch BSI-CMOS sensor. The camera automatically adjusts shooting settings according to the scene, and features 10 frames per second high-speed continuous shooting. The widest setting of 28mm on the versatile Fujinon 5x optical zoom lens is perfectly suited to close up action shots and beautiful natural scenes. Clear portraits are easy using the 5x optical zoom and you can get even closer using the 10x Intelligent Digital Zoom. The XP130 also features a large 3-inch high-definition 920K-dot…

RICHARD I’ANSON Richard I’Anson is a freelance photographer who has built a career on his twin passions for travel and photography. He is a Canon Master Photographer. See more of his work at richardianson.com PETRA LEARY Based in Auckland, New Zealand, Petra Leary is an award winning photographer whose work is distinguished by her travels. See more at petraleary.com EWEN BELL Ewen Bell is a travel photography specialist who shoots editorial and commissions. See more of his work at ewenbell.com ANTHONY MCKEE A regular contributor to AP, Melbourne’s Anthony McKee was named AIPP documentary photographer of the year in 2014. See more at anthonymckee.com.au…

FUJIFILM ANNOUNCE GFX-50R: A RANGEFINDER-STYLE MEDIUM FORMAT CAMERA INTERNALLY both cameras are similar, with the differences being the design, weight and price. Both use the same 51.4MP, 3.8 x 32.9mm medium-format sensor sensor, with the GFX 50R the more portable and lighter of the two. The 50R weighs 145g less than the 50S at 775g, but keeps similar levels of weather sealing to its big brother, with the magnesium alloy body weather-sealed in 64 places. The camera body is also thinner, measuring in at 66.4mm thick - 22m thinner than the GFX 50S. The 50R features a smaller 3.69 million dot viewfinder and has a more traditional viewfinder rather than the tiltable design on the GFX 50S. On the top of the camera are dials for shutter speed and exposure…

7 CAMERA SETTINGS Learn the basics of photography first. Before you even take to the air, set the camera to shoot manual and RAW. Sure, you can pull your drone right out the box and get a great image, but learning how shutter speeds work with aperture and ISO is key to developing your style and improving your photography. Shooting images in RAW is very important. While shooting JPEG gives you an easy fix, it also means you lose the quality, size and capability to edit your images as you would like. RAW images are uncompressed and unprocessed meaning you have much greater flexibility to adjust settings within the image yourself later. RAW files are also super handy if you plan on printing work as you capture all the quality…

The Masai Mara in Kenya is much more than an open savannah filled with herbivores and the big cats that prey on them. River systems and gullies divide the grassy landscapes with long corridors of wooded forest. There are habitats within these habitats, layered from scrub to tree-top, concealing an immense diversity of wildlife and offering refuge from larger predators. These green oases are also home to a handful of tented camps around the park, where the ten-minute walk from your tent to the dinner lodge can include encounters with a dozen bird species at a time. At the start of any safari experience you get pretty excited with each and every encounter with wild beasts. Just driving from the airport to downtown in Nairobi takes you along the edges…

With photojournalist David Dare Parker as my witness I can honestly say I have been wishing Nikon to make a full-frame mirrorless camera for 11 years. On November 14, 2007, David and I helped Nikon Australia launch the D3, and that evening we joined Nikon’s Tetsuro Goto for dinner. Being doco photographers, we asked Mr Goto if Nikon would build their new sensor into a mirrorless camera, but we never got our answer, until now. Last month Nikon finally announced their first full-frame mirrorless cameras - the 25-megapixel Z6 and 45-megapixel Nikon Z7. The Nikon D3 was not the world’s first full-frame DSLR, nor was it the first camera to have dual memory card slots, but the D3 did redefine our expectations of professional DSLR cameras. In many ways the…

Being a photography educator I see this all the time with learning the exposure triangle and its effect on depth of field and shutter speed, which generally is the first big hurdle in learning photography. Like learning to ride a bike, it is hard right up to the point where it clicks and you have that 'eureka' moment. Unsurprisingly I have never had a class of students that picked up the principles of exposure at the same time. It can be hours, days, weeks or months before this happens, which is an issue if you are teaching using a syllabus as, unfortunately for us teachers, everyone is unique. For anyone born into and who grew up with computers, the exposure triangle is in reality the only major issue they will…

Guide books wax lyrical about the Yuangyang rice terraces’ beauty, built by the local Hani people over the last thousand years and now listed as a World Heritage Site. A quick internet search reveals more about the photographic potential (as well as how overdoing the saturation and vibrance seems to be the norm with this subject!) What’s more, at the time of this shot I was leading a tour and was aware I had to meet my own expectations and those of the group. The trip was timed for February during China’s winter, as that’s when the terraces are flooded, offering lots of photography opportunities throughout the day. So, with the timing right, and with rooms secured at a hotel located on the hillside overlooking one of the main terraces,…

GOLDEN HIGHLY COMMENDED BRANDON CHANT Title: Desert wildflower at sunrise EDITOR’S COMMENT: Brandon Chant says he took this photo about 40km from Uluru at a set of sand dunes. “The sun had just risen over the rock and was shooting through these little brambly plants covered in white wildflowers,” he says. “I added some basic adjustments to highlights and shadows, and also added some vibrance and vignette in Lightroom and Photoshop.” It’s all about the backlighting in this shot, which you’ve captured at the most photogenic time of day. It’s a busy image in the bottom half, but is balanced nicely by the simplicity of the top half. Well done. TECHNICAL DETAILS Fujifilm X-T2, 23mm lens, 1/220s @ f/5.6, ISO 200. THIS MONTH’S WIMER SABIN FLUTUR Title: Golden boots EDITOR’S…

Even two years on from it’s release, the original DJI Mavic Pro is still about as close as we’ve come to the perfect drone—easy to fly and offering a good 27-minute flight time, it came housed in a revolutionary (for the time) compact body, and packed a sharp lens and solid, if unspectacular, video capabilities. In fact the drone’s only real weakness was its somewhat small 12MP sensor and primitive low-light performance. This led many photographers and videographers to lean towards the Phantom 4 Pro, which we loved for its image quality, but disliked for its size. Looking back, it seems the perfect combination would be a 20MP sensor like the one in the Phantom 4 Pro, com bined with the compact body of the Mavic. We’re glad to say…

HOW IS THE PANASONIC LUMIX G9 CHANGING THE WAY YOU SHOOT? Ewan Bell: Wildlife is the big change for me since picking up the G9. The weight is one big advantage, both when travelling and in the field. I can have a bag with two bodies and four lenses, one of them the equivalent of 800mm, and still have space for a drone and water bottle. But that wouldn’t matter unless the performance was there. I’ve taken the G9 on a few wildlife trips in the last 12 months and in truth I have an unfair advantage. The larger viewfinder and superb autofocus allows me to target wildlife with precision. I’m getting a hit rate on my focus that is far beyond anything I was previously capable of. WHAT FEATURES…

Without doubt the most contentious design feature of the new Nikon Z cameras has been the single memory card slot, with many photographers grumbling they’d never use this camera in case a memory card should fail and their images were lost. What many people forget though, is that not long ago photographers could only ever capture one image at a time onto one single piece of film, and sometimes bad things happened to that film. I know a photographer who bought professional film for a wedding only to discover the entire batch of film had been damaged by light during a manufacturing error, and I know of other photographers (myself included) who have sent film to a lab only to have it chewed up by a processing machine, or simply…

THIS MONTH’S WIMER TITLE: Untitled PHOTOGRAPHER: Marie McLaurin DETAILS: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 27mm focal length, 30s @ f22, 100 ISO, three shots in Aurora HDR, adjustments to clarity, HDR structure, and adjustments to tone curve, selective dodging and burning. 50/50 NOT ALWAYS BEST This photo was taken by Marie McLaurin on a four-day photography workshop run by a professional photographer in the Macarthur Region. She said: “We spent four days at Narooma on the south coast of NSW, taking lots of different photos and one of the main ‘themes’ of the photography shoot was HDR. This was taken on the second-last day at early dusk. I was using a tripod, and the photographer reminded us all to look for leading lines. I found this viewpoint, which I liked.”…