Digital Photographer

Welcome to the latest issue of Digital Photographer magazine. Bird photography is an incredibly popular pursuit among those photographers who are also ‘birders’, and the two interests converge perfectly. But capturing great images is demanding as the

Peter is Digital Photographer magazine’s staff writer, and in this issue he’s explored one of the most important issues for photographers to master – shutter speed. Head over to p64 of the magazine to begin reading his major feature. He’s also looked

Image title: Lone Tree, Malham What camera, lens and settings did you use to capture this stunning shot? Canon EOS 5DSR, EF 17-40mm F/4L USM lens, ISO 50, f22, 8 sec exposure. How did you decide on the composition? The composition of this image was

Name: Erik Veldkamp Website: erikveldkamp.com Image location: The Netherlands Type of commission: Personal work Shot details: Nikon D750, 105mm, 1/50sec, f5.6, ISO 100 About the shot: Sometimes it can be easy to form assumptions about specific genre

Like its predecessor, the Hasselblad X1D II 50C is a medium format mirrorless camera. In fact, it has the same 50MP 43.8x32.9mm sensor inside it as the original. However, it’s paired with a new processing engine to deliver a dramatic increase in its

What’s your background? I’m a 25-year-old philosophy student living in Utrecht, the Netherlands. I was born on a farm quite far away from a small rural town, but I was always a city person, unlike my parents who are real countryside people. My first

Birds are a majestic and wondrous group of species, capable of inciting awe and emotion wherever they fly. They can be notoriously tricky to capture on camera, though, because of their high speed and their small size. Many birds also have seasonal mi

Many birds you’ll encounter are tiny, far away or both, and photographing them requires long telephoto lenses that fill the frame with the subject. A 70-200mm lens is too wide for most species (unless you extend the focal length with a teleconverter)

“Sometimes, the bird in action photos can appear frozen, lacking the drama and speed that was there at the time,” shares pro wildlife photographer Sean Weekly (seanweekly.com) – whose tips feature on this spread. “One technique to bring back the exci

With bird photography, a key aim is to capture action or behaviour – something dynamic in the shot that creates interest and makes it more engaging to a viewer. Living subjects tend to appear more dramatic when they’re in motion, when they’re ‘doing

“Creativity is something that challenges every photographer and something that is often difficult to teach,” says Sean Weekly, whose own wildlife images offer up an array of unique approaches. “Before I head off to a subject, I have a vision in my he

1 Brighten catchlight Use selective adjustment brushes (in Adobe Camera Raw or Photoshop) if the bird’s catchlight (the little spark in their eye) needs boosting. A bright catchlight adds life to portraits. 2 Boost vibrance If your RAW image doesn’t

Entering its fifth year, Bird Photographer of the Year (BPOTY) continues to grow, broaden its community horizons and expand what it does for conservation. Paul Sterry explains BPOTY’s commitment to the environment, its vision for the future and the i

There are more photographers creating black and white images now than ever before. Producing good results is also easier than before thanks mainly to the convenience that digital imaging has introduced. There’s no need to stay up all night in your bl

It’s difficult to define exactly what elevates an image from run of the mill to art. Feeling and emotion have a lot to do with it. If you stir something in the viewer, make them react – either positively or negatively – then you’re well on your way.

There are more ways to process a RAW file than there are to skin the proverbial cat, which is what makes the process so versatile and open to personal interpretation. Think of that file as a digital negative. It contains masses of tonal information,

Location and light are undoubtedly important when your quest is to create artistic black and white images. However, the techniques you use while shooting those images also play an important role because it helps to define the way your subject is reco

Photographs tend to be considered more artistic when they don’t actually look like conventional photographs. This certainly seems to be the case when it comes to selling prints. Non-photographers are more likely to splash out when they have no idea h

One problem with digital images is that they’re a little too perfect – pin-sharp, noise-free, full of detail. That’s great when you want to produce technically flawless images, but artistically they can appear cold and clinical. One method for avoidi

Creating high-quality black and white images is child’s play without ever going near a computer, thanks to the many editing apps you can download to your smartphone. One of the most popular and versatile is Google Snapseed. To show you just how cleve

Since the digital revolution took the photographic world by storm, we’ve become obsessed with image quality. More megapixels, sharper lenses, heavier tripods – it has all become a little bit ridiculous and is in danger of overshadowing what photograp

1 There are no rules Black and white isn’t real world, so your images don’t have to be realistic. Once that idea sinks in, you can really let your creative juices flow. 2 Be bold There’s nothing worse than flat, dull black and white images. Don’t be

Learning to control shutter speed is often the first camera skill we learn when starting out in creative photography. It is the most visually apparent of all the components of the exposure process, as even minor experimentation with lengthening or sh

The use of longer exposures is perhaps the most well known and popular shutter speed technique. Slowing the shutter speed is, for many photographers, the first technique attempted when learning to take manual control of their camera. While it can bec

1 Choose your subject Intentionally moving the camera during exposure can open up many creative opportunities. This can be used with any subject, but it really lends itself to landscapes by enabling you to concentrate on lines, form and colour over d

What areas of photography do you specialise in and why? I am a wildlife and tribal photographer whose work has been focussed in Africa for the past 16 years. From the moment I stepped foot on the rich red soil, it was magic. Although I have travelle

If you own a high street photo studio, you will likely need your own printer. While large printing jobs can be outsourced, for smaller scale batches, such as for a main wedding album, it’s often more convenient to print in-house. For the highest qual

Difficulty level: Intermediate Time taken: 3-4 hours Most people love panoramics as they mimic the way we view a vista, with our eyes scanning across the scene. When creating a panoramic, the temptation can be to simply crop the middle from a single

1 Choose the right subject This scene should work well as a panorama; it has strong interest across the scene and a natural focal point – the lighthouse – to give the eye somewhere to rest. The close foreground should be avoided as it could create st

1 Mid-range speeds The use of ‘neutral’ shutter speeds, such as 1/50 sec, will often not blur your image much, but neither will they freeze motion, creating an unintentional-looking sharpness deficit. Solution: Either lengthen or shorten the exposure

Professional product photography is a deceptively complex genre. In order to create the image styles sought after by clients today while fulfilling the main functions of any product shot – to draw attention to and sell the featured product – lighting

When you’re a professional photographer, or hoping to make money from your photography in any capacity at all, you’ll probably be tempted to acquire a high-resolution medium format camera. This is especially true if you’re a landscape photographer, w

Firstly why do you want one? If it is because you think you’ll be a better photographer then stick with what you’ve got. If you want higher resolution files with beautiful detail and tonal rendition then start by going along to some demo days, where

An APS-C format DSLR has distinct advantages as a travel camera, whether you’re city-hopping or jetting off to the other side of the world. The camera body itself tends to be reasonably compact and lightweight, and its accompanying lenses are typical

Price: £669/$699 Back in 2005 Nikon’s original AF-S DX 18-200mm VR lens was one of the first superzooms for APS-C format cameras to hit the market. A minor refresh followed in 2009 and is still available. It remains a good choice for performance and

Price: £499/$629 For over a decade, Tamron seems to have been intent on pushing the boundaries in superzoom design, repeatedly launching lenses with world-first zoom ranges. The current line-up includes a particularly compact and ultra-lightweight 18

Price: £670/$649 Serving up a longer minimum focal length than Tamron’s 16-300mm lens, the company’s latest superzoom kicks off at a more mainstream 18mm. At the long end, however, it stretches to a class-leading 400mm, putting every other superzoom

Price: £499/$579 Sigma currently offers 18-200mm and 18-300mm ‘Contemporary’ superzooms in its Global Vision line-up. This 18-300mm gives substantially more telephoto reach but is bigger and heavier. Even so, it’s manageable, measuring 79-102mm and w

Price: £3,399 / $3,697 The Panasonic Lumix S1R is a 47.3MP full-frame mirrorless camera. It was announced at the same time as the 24.2MP Lumix S1, which is billed as an all-rounder with high-end video capability. As the high-resolution model of the p

Price: £45,700 / $51,990 We tend to think that things move slowly in the medium format camera world, but Phase One has bucked that trend by introducing a succession of new backs for its XF camera, which was introduced in 2015. The latest release is t

Take your video audio up a notch with this wireless microphone system rode.com £199 / $199 If you want to record speech with your video, you need an external microphone – the camera’s inbuilt mic just won’t cut it. There are several options availab

At some point in your photographic journey you will find yourself stuck in a rut. You’ll feel that your photography isn’t going anywhere, you’re not enjoying it, and even getting out with the camera can seem a herculean task. During these times, some