Photography for Beginners Issue 36 - 2014

Plain English award winner Jargon-free photo magazine

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and share your shots!

Essential guides for

10 STEPS TO GREA GRE A T SHOT SHOTS S Practical hands-on shooti shooting ng advice 

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AM S C AM UN U G E R G RA W N O R RT H T H

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Master important exposure settings  Discover your camera bag essentials  To Top p tips & techniques techniques 

Shoot the moon moon How to capture the night sky

Easy tricks for better…

Switch to Switch R A W now Why you should leave JPEGs behind forever

COMPOSITION  Learn the photo rules

 Use fresh perspectives  Work with leading lines  Experiment with zoom I S S U E 0 3 6

WELCOME Issue 36

Welcome 5

essential skills you will learn in this issue

As it’s my first issue taking the reins of Photography For Beginners, we thought we would pack it full of fantastic features, practical tutorials and useful tips to help kick-star kick-startt your springtime shooting. There’s a great Beginner’s Guide to composition on p18, where you’ll discover how to compose stunning shots in-camera, and a helpful ten-step guide to perfect photos of any subject on p28. We’ve We’ve also got an ten-page feature on why you should switch to RAW, along with advice on shooting landscapes using your cameraphone and more. I hope you enjoy the issue. Don’t forget to share your shots online!

01 ACE COMPOSITION Discover how to take striking shots in-camera on p18

02 CREATIVE PORTRAITS Head to p38 to shoot, edit and share a creative avatar

03 SHOOT THE MOON Turn to p42 to capture sharp shots of the night sky

04 PERFECT VISTAS Learn to capture landscapes on your cameraphone on p50

05 DISCOVER RAW

Hay Hayley ley Paterek terek

Find out how to shoot and edit RAW images on p56

Deputy Editor Follow us at @PFBMag

photoforbeginners.com For more great photo tips, head to photoforbeginners.com Get in touch with us… Ask questions, leave feedback on the magazine or share your shots via the following social sites…

@PFBMag

PFBMag

PFB Magazine

[email protected]

photoforbeginners.com

Photography for Beginners 3

Issue 36

Contents ESSENTIALS 06 Your photos Send us your shots for a chance to appear in the section that’s just for you!

10 Readers’ challenge Get your hands on some slideshow software by entering our competition

12 How to share your photos Ways to send your shots to the PFB team for advice and to share with our readers

84

Latest kit reviewed Nikon D5300 and more rated inside

18

Tricks for better composition Discover how to capture stunning shots in-camera with our top tips

14 Need to know Check out Olympus’s latest camera and win a landscape masterclass in Argyll

16 Join the debate Would you share your shots online without a watermark? Tell us your thoughts now

17 Win a camera worth £250 Be in with a chance of winning a fantastic Samsung WB350F by entering today

46 Subscribe! Save money on your copy of Photography for Beginners with our exclusive offer

78 Ask the team Your questions answered and problems solved by our panel of photo experts

82 Quick start guide All you need to get to know your camera in just five minutes

84 Upgrade On test: Nikon’s latest DSLR, the Sony RX10, the Fujifilm X-A1 and more

92 Accessories

Learn composition rules on p20

Latest cameraphones reviewed, essential landscape accessories and more

98 Architecture cheat sheet Learn the key things you need for incredible architecture shots

Creative portraits Create a cool online profile pic

38

70

Choosing the right cloud storage

42

Shoot the moon

Capture sharp shots of the night sky

WHAT THE ICONS MEAN… Your quick-start guide to all the icons you’ll see in Photography for Beginners Cameraphone: Smartphones that are always with you

4

Photography for Beginners

Compact:Small, low-cost and easyto-use cameras

DSLR:Usually more expensive, but good image quality

Compact system camera:Good image quality, lightweight

Shutterspeed:The time your shutter is open for, in seconds

Aperture:The depth of field of an image, as an f-number

46 28

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CONTENTS Issue 36

GET MONEY OFF ISSUES! SHOOT

18 Easy tricks for better composition now Shoot images with more impact by following our composition tips and tricks

10 steps to great shots

28 10 steps to great shots Discover the secrets behind getting a great shot with our step-by-step guide

A practical guide to getting fantastic images every time

36 5 tips for natural portraits Improve your people pics in an instant

38 Shoot, edit and share a creative portrait Transform your online profile with a mind-bending avatar image

42 Shoot the moon Get sharp shots of the moon tonight

44 Capture a backlit still life How to take a photo with a difference

48 Story behind the shot Find out how to photograph light trails

50 Take stunning landscapes on your cameraphone Tips for capturing fantastic vistas

54 Retouch phone captures A step-by-step guide to using the Handy Photo app Adjust shutter speed on p31

Master metering on p32

EDIT

56

56 Get to grips with RAW Discover the benefits of shooting in RAW for bigger and better quality shots

Switch to RAW capture today

66 Add a light leak How to create a retro camera effect

Find out how RAW can transform your shots

68 Use the History palette Learn how to undo editing adjustments

SHARE 70 Choosing the right cloud storage service A roundup of the best cloud storage options that are available online

74 Organise your shots by location in Elements Enhance exposure on p62

For back issues & more go to…

. . . t a 76 Print your photos s o m . t o r s . c o n . . h s n n e a g r i F u e g B M o P b y r r o o f e o t fo a r h c r a e h h p O r s S Assign places to your images 5 tips for printing your photos at home and on the internet

READERS’ GALLERY

Your photos ! N I W 6G B A S am sung 1

rd or y c w a mem i ll rece i ve a er inn e w on ,

Take a look at our favourite photos taken by our talented readers this month and be inspired to send in your own

or y card E ver y issue B SDHC mem Samsung 16G o f equa l va lue ze i pr a or .com/u k

ng s w w w. s am su nd cond i t ion Fu l l term s a on l ine a v a i la b le

Reader: Damien Harrow Fairfield Church, Kent “I set the camera to bracket and fired five shots with different exposures, then used Photomatix to turn them into an HDR image.” Shot on: Nikon D7100, 35mm lens, ISO 100, f8, 1/30sec Sent in via: Email

6 Photography for Beginners

YOUR PHOTOS

Readers’ gallery

Share your shots at: photoforbeginners.com


7

YOUR PHOTOS Readers’ gallery

Reader: Matthew Woodhouse The Dark Hedges “This was taken at 5:10am, before sunrise. The trees were all in shadow, so I decided to park my car in the middle of the road (there was no traffic at that time), turn on the car lights full beam and take the shot using a remote release.” Shot on: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f22, 20sec

Reader: Lisa Donoghue A Break From Life “I had no intentions of taking any photos, but towards the end of the day, the clouds and the light took on a strange look. I decided to race home, grab the camera and basically chase the strange clouds in the sky.” Shot on: Sony Alpha SLT A-65, ISO 100, f10, 1/125sec

Reader: Ian Angus Young Bird “The was taken on the path down to Threave Castle. He sat on the fence post and I managed to get four shots from three feet away.” Shot on: Fujifilm FinePix HS30EXR, ISO 100, f5, 1/60sec

Reader: Gareth Cheshire-Whatley Lily On A Duck Pond “I saw the lily and was attracted by the colour and petals. After having your magazine delivered to me with an article on zoom burst, I felt inspired to give it a shot as my first editing experience.” Shot on: Nikon D3100, ISO 400, f9, 1/160sec

Reader: Shazz Hooper Disco Ball “I wanted to try something creative, so I set up a disco ball in a dark room, placed it against a wall to get the light to bounce back and got this effect.” Shot on: Canon EOS 70D, ISO 100, f8, 1.3sec


Win cameraphone kit! Send us your cameraphone shots and you could win a Manfrotto KLYP kit worth £95/approx $150. For more info head to www. manfrotto.co.uk. Full terms and conditions available online.

ENTER NOW: Send your shots to [email protected]

Reader: Jo Cantelo Bond Title: The Tower Of Gold

Reader: Kaye Amos Gentle Blues “These beautiful blue rams are recent morphs of the common rams. These fish are very sensitive to certain environments and need extra care. I love how vibrant they are and how chilled they are.” Shot on: iPhone 4S

Reader: Alun Clinton Title: Old Pier

Reader: Eleanor Payne Title: Sunset Silhouette

Reader: Jai Crawford Title: Innocence


Reader: Teri Humphrey Title: Amazing Mother Nature


YOUR READERS' PHOTOS CHALLENGE Readers’ Low light gallery

WE CHALLENGED, YOU DELIVERED…

Low-light shooting Learn how to make the most of fading light in PFB Issue 35. Find this issue and more at…

You might think that low-light situations are not ideal for photography, as photography is essentially the recording of light . However, there are plenty of great photographic opportunities to be discovered as the light begins to fade. In actual fact, the hours of the day when the sun is low in the sky are best for outdoor photography, as the light is soft and golden at these times. You can also get creative with artificial light indoors, experimenting with different setups for your still life and portrait photos to produce really creative

results. In our Beginner’s Guide to Low-light Photography in Issue 35, we showed you how to shoot landscapes, portraits and still life when there is little or no natural light around. We then asked you to send us your P hot oSt or y Del u x e sof tw best low-light a r e Send us y our shotsfor a chance to win a copy of MAGIX PhotoStory 2014 Delu xe,c ourtesy of photos, and here is w ww .mag ix.com.T hissoftware, which allows y ou to turn yourphotos into f antastic slideshow s, isw or th £70 / $7 0. a small selection of our favourites.

W IN!

Reader: Darren Price Stockton Infinity Bridge “This was taken at sunset. I knew with the sky being clear the white bridge would look good against the blue sky.” Shot on: Nikon D3200, ISO 100, f3.8, 3sec

Your next photo challenge Composition 10 Photography for Beginners

Follow the guidelines from our Beginner’s Guide to Composition feature in this issue and send us your favourite photos by 18 March 2014 for a chance to win MAGIX PhotoStory 2014 Deluxe.

Prize may be substituted for an item of equal value. Full T&Cs available online.

READERS' CHALLENGE

Low light

S h a r e t t s a o h s o m r y o u o r b e g i n n e r s .c o n

p h o t o f r c h P F B M a g r s e a o

Reader:

Kathryn Bowles Dragon

Title: Smoking

Reader:

Michael Atkinson Beacon Light Trails

Title: Redcar

James Walsh Dame Basilica

Reader: Title: Notre

Reader:

Reader:

Steve Martin

Title: Reflection

Melinda Crouch The Lakeside

Title: On

Reader:

Barry Liner Trails North

Title: Light



11

SHARE YOU OUR R SHOT SHOTS S Here’s how to show us your stunning snaps

Share on our social sites Join the Facebook, Twitter and Flickr communities @PFBMag

PFBMag Search for ‘PFBMag’ and click the tab. On our page, hit Photo/Video, then Upload Photo/ Video. Browse for your image, write a message and click Post for it to appear on our wall!

PFB Magazine

Click the Compose New Tweet box and select Add An Image. Find your shot and click Open. Write some text, include @PFBMag, then click Tweet and we will see your photo!

Hit Upload to add images. Click on the image you want to share, then click Share>Grab the link. Email it to pfbteam@imagine-publishing. co.uk or post it to us on Facebook or Twitter.

Also share on our website Head to www.photoforbeginners.com n now ow Create a gallery

Be inspired

Become our favourite!

You can showcase your favourite images by creating your own gallery page on our website. It’s quick and simple to set up.

Browse through all the different categories to be inspired by other readers’ photos and get ideas of your own.

We pick our favourite shots to highlight in our Featured Image section. This could be you soon, so get uploading!

Enter the Face-Off Your shots are entered into our Face-Off section and pitted against other people’s – have fun watching your score rise!

ALSO ONLINE… The best of the rest on our great website Competitions Head to www.photoforbeginners.com and enter our weekly competitions to win some really fantastic prizes!

Tips and tutorials Our website is piled high with step-by-step tutorials and useful tips to help you take better photos of any subject.

News and debate We help you keep up-to-date with the latest industry news and releases. You can also get stuck into hot topics with our debates!


NEED TO KNOW A snapshot of what’s exciting us this month

Never miss an action Nev shot sh ot wit with h Dot Si Sight ght The new Olympus SP-100EE has an innovative feature One of the latest cameras to be launched by Olympus has a particularly handy function for photographing wildlife and sports. The SP-100EE’s

built-in Dot Sight helps you keep track of moving subjects in the frame, even when you are fully zoomed in, so that you won’t miss a great shot opportunity. The Dot Sight is featured on the camera body, rather than being an optional and bulky accessory, and automatically pops up above the viewfinder when you switch the camera on. The camera’s 50x optical and 100x digital zoom will also help you get fantastic close-up shots of far-off subjects, while the 24-1200mm focal range is versatile enough for shooting a range of different

Share your shots Use the optional FlashAir card to wirelessly connect the camera with any Wi-Fi-enabled smartphone, tablet or PC

Add art filters You can choose from seven different art filters to apply to your photos, including pop art, soft focus and grainy film

Record HD video Capture high-resolution full HD (1920 x 1080) 60p movies to record even more of the action and accompanying sound

Shoot super macro The camera’s Super Macro mode lets you focus on subjects up close and 1cm away from the lens


scenes. The deep, textured grip on the front of the camera makes it very comfortable to hold for long periods of time, and the single-finger-operation control dial allows you to change your settings quickly and easily. Inside the camera is a 16MP CMOS sensor, which promises high-resolution high- resolution images, and built-in image stabilisation is on hand to keep shots sharp even at full zoom. The Olympus SP-100EE has an RRP of £350/$400. Olympus has also launched a new feature-packed CSC, CSC, the OM-D OM -D E-M10, and a super-tough super-tough compact camera, the TG-850. For details on these other new releases, head to our website, www.photoforbeginners.com.

THE TOP 3… Reasons why we can’t wait to get our hands on this camera…

01

We want to see just how useful the Dot Sight is for taking shots of fast-paced action

02

We’re going to see if the built-in image stabilisation really does keep shots steady

03

We’ll discover how easy this camera is to use for beginner shooters

Frame with ease The built-in Dot Sight is positioned above the electronic viewfinder and helps you frame shots of moving subjects

NEED TO KNOW News

This month on… photoforbeginners.com Capture fun photos of oil and water A great photo project to try at home is to take creative close-ups of oil and water. The two do not combine, leaving perfectly circular drops for you to photograph, and our guide will show you how to get great results.

PLUS ALL THIS

Take great photos of aeroplanes Aeroplanes in flight provide you with a great opportunity to practise your action photo skills, but knowing how to get sharp and well-exposed shots can be tricky. Let us show you the best settings for striking photos.

Complete guide to camera modes Street photography step-by-step Great competitions and exciting news







WIN a landscape photography masterclass in Argyll! Get one-on-one photo tuition on the stunning west coast of Scotland

The breathtaking scenery in Argyll is a photographer’s dream

If you want to brush up on your landscape photography skills, then the breathtaking scenery of Scotland is a fantastic place to do it. Knowing where to start might seem a little daunting though, so we are giving you the chance to learn from a pro. If you enter our competition, you could win your very own one-on-one photography masterclass with Bill Baillie from Rainy Cloud Images (www. rainycloudimages.com ). He lives in Argyll, Scotland and feels very fortunate that he has such a beautiful landscape to use as his classroom. Bill says: “Photography provides me with the perfect medium to capture the outstanding beauty of Argyll. Its rugged coastal landscape, the passing seasons and the history that seeps through the land are the ever-changing backdrop for my work.”

The winner of our competition will not only win Bill’s expert photography tuition, but also get a free two-night stay for two in the beautiful Loch Melfort Hotel (lochmelfort. co.uk), set in 17 acres of gardens and beach on the romantic coast of Argyll, plus a delicious dinner for two. Please note that travel expenses are not included and that accommodation at Loch Melfort Hotel is subject to availability. The winner will liaise with Bill Baillie at Rainy Cloud Images on a mutually convenient date for the workshop. For your chance to win this fantastic prize, all you need to do is send your name, contact details and your best landscape photo to [email protected] by 3 April 2014 and include ‘Scottish photo course’ as the subject header of your email.


Enjoy a tasty dinner for two

Termsandconditions Travel expenses will not be paid by Imagine Publishing or Bill Baillie. The winner must be of reasonable mobility, as some walking will be involved. The two-night stay at Loch Melfort Hotel is subject to availability. This competition is open to residents of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Imagine Publishing has the right to substitute the prize with a similar item of equal or higher value. Employees of Imagine Publishing (including freelancers), Bill Baillie, their relatives or any agents are not eligible to enter. The editor’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Prizes cannot be exchanged for cash. Full terms and conditions are available on request. From time to time, Imagine Publishing or its agents may send you related material or special offers. If you do not wish to receive this, please state on your competition entry.


NEED TO KNOW Join the debate

JOIN THE DEBATE

THINGS WE LO VE

Do you share shots without a watermark? The internet is a fantastic tool for sharing your photos with the world, but it also leaves them vulnerable to being copied and used by others without your permission. Adding a watermark to your images will help you protect them online, but

this can also compromise the look of your shots. Would you share your photos online without adding a watermark first? Take a look at what our Staff Writer has to say and what some of our readers think.

01

#PFBLoves

Nikon COOLPIX S32

Web: www.nikon.com Price: £100/$130 This family-friendly compact is waterproof and shockproof, and it has bright, colourful and simple menus for kids. Plus it comes in a great range of fun colours.

02

Sigma 18-200 f3.5-6.3 lens

Web: www.sigma-imaging-uk.com Price: £350/$500 Sigma’s new lens, compatible with many cameras, has a very versatile focal range for shooting both wide-angle landscapes and far-off wildlife and action.

03

Web: www.reallusion.com Price: £21/$30

OUR STAFF WRITER JO SAYS: If I’m sharing my photos publicly online, I

is making the watermark look discreet so that it does

always add a watermark to them so that

not compromise the photo too much. However, you also

if someone does copy them, at least

have to make sure that it can’t be easily cropped out

they will still be accredited to me. It is

and that it doesn’t just blend into the photo, so I usually

easy to create a watermark using

put it in the centre but make it a very pale colour for a

editing software or free online tools, but the tricky part

FaceFilter 3 editing software

more subtle effect.

This photo retouching tool lets you apply make-up to portrait shots for really flattering results. Smooth skin, remove blemishes, and even reshape facial features.

04

Booq Python Mirrorless bag

What Photography For Beginners readers have to say… Richard Davis

Tim Marshall

Simon Kitt

Bob Slassor

“If someone really wants to remove your watermark they will find a way to do so, so why ruin a viewer’s experience?”

“I don't see the point, as most people have editing software and can remove watermarks unless you completely cover a shot.”

“I've dropped my watermark due to finding my pictures were still getting stolen anyway and cropped down.”

“I am not prepared to sit back and let thieves not only steal my images but potentially make money from them.”

Sent in via website

Sent in via website

Sent in via Twitter

Sent in via Facebook

THE POLL RESULTS SAY 44% YES, 56% NO. GIVE US YOUR VOTE ONLINE TODAY!


Web: www.booqbags.co.uk Price: £68/$80 Protect any CSC or small DSLR with this stylish bag. Made from water-resistant nylon to protect your kit against the elements, it can also store a small tablet.

Search for #PFBLoves on Twitter to see what we love

Join the debate at...


Search for PFBMag on...

! I N W A Samsung WB350F

Plus three lucky runners-up will each get a Samsung 16GB SDHC memory card

P LU S ! A

16 GB S amsung me mo ry c ar d

Samsung’s new SMART Camera WB350F makes sharing shots on the go seamless. This cloudenabled camera features Wi-Fi and NFC technology, which means it’s possible to send images straight from the camera over to your smartphone, tablet or home computer in an instant, which is ideal for both sharing and backing up your shots. The WB350F also features a 16.3MP backside-illuminated sensor, which enables you to shoot

better quality captures in low light without the use of flash. Its sleek and lightweight build also makes it the perfect pocket companion, and the 21x optical zoom lens, which offers a focal range between 23-483mm, will ensure you can capture a range of photographic subjects. To find out more about this new SMART camera, simply visit www. samsung.com/uk. For a chance to win this fantastic camera, enter our competition now!

HOW TO ENTER: Send your name, contact details and your best shot to us by 3 April 2014. Email: [email protected] Website: www.photoforbeginners.com

Terms and conditions This competition is open to residents of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Imagine Publishing has the right to subst itute the prize with a similar item of equal or higher value. Camera colours may vary. Employees of Imagine Publishing (including freelancers), Samsung, their relatives or any agents are not eligible to enter. The editor’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Prizes cannot be exchanged for cash. Full terms and conditions are available on request. From time to time, Imagine Publishing or its agents may send you related material or special offers. If you do not wish to receive this, please state clearly on your competition entry.


It’s possible to take several great shots of one scene. Just experiment with different compositions

Gear guide Kit to help you with composition

High megapixel camera Use a camera that can produce highresolution photos so that you can crop to recompose without losing image quality. The Nikon D3200 (£650/$600) has 24.2 effective megapixels.


Articulated LCD screen

Lens with a versatile zoom

Tripod with spirit level

Being able to tilt and flip your camera’s LCD screen is useful for framing shots creatively. The Nikon COOLPIX S6600’s (£199/$369) vari-angle LCD flips outwards so you can tilt it at any angle.

A large focal range will give you lots of scope for shooting wide-angle scenes and great close-ups. The NIKKOR AF-S DX 55-300mm lens (£260/$400) has a versatile 5.5x zoom.

A tripod with a spirit level will help you steady your camera and keep horizons straight. The Manfrotto MT190XPRO3 (£185/$245) also has a tilting centre column for even more framing options.

SHOOTING Beginner's guide

Easy tricks for better composition Discover how to capture eye-catching shots in any genre Composition is one of the most basic skills of photography, and yet it is often the secret to turning a good shot into a great one. It refers to what you choose to include in your photo and how you position it within the frame. A visually pleasing composition should typically be simple and engaging, showing off your subject in the best way possible. There are a few tried-and-tested rules that you can use to help you decide what to include and where to place it.

Although we call them rules, they are actually more like guidelines, as the way you frame your shots is ultimately a matter of personal opinion. However, these rules come in useful as a great starting point for when you get stuck and can also help to inspire you when you’re looking for something to shoot. Then if you decide to bend or break them, you can follow your own artistic instinct to decide what you think is best for the shot.

Unlike modes and settings, composition is a technique that can be applied no matter what camera you are using, whether it’s a DSLR or even a cameraphone. It can also be used with any photography genre, as many of the rules we will show you over the next few pages can be applied when shooting anything from landscapes to action. If you don’t get it quite right in-camera, we’ll also show you how to recompose your image using editing software.

Take time composing by using a tripod



SHOOTING

Beginner's guide

Rule of thirds Use gridlines to help you frame your shot The rule of thirds is perhaps the most popular compositional technique, as it is very easy to master. It involves imagining a nine-section grid over your scene and using the lines to help you position your subject. It

is suggested that you place the main focal point over one of the intersecting points of the grid, as this is where the viewer’s eye is likely to be drawn to first. If you are taking a landscape photo, then you can also use the

horizontal lines of the grid to position the horizon in either the top or bottom third. If you’re struggling to picture the grid, many cameras have a gridlines display function that you can switch on and use instead.

e s id l in e r a r g c t a m d i n g , e S e l e y o u r c i n c l u r id l in o n s t c a m e e r sa s h a v e a i n g y o u r e M o p h o n l e c t i t f r a m e r a S e a n d c a m i s p l a y. m e n u s w i t h t s d r a ' s o n e r s h c a m t r o n g e t h o r iz o s a i g h s t r

Where should I put the horizon?

Top tips for composing landscapes

Top of the frame

Bottom of the frame

Middle of the frame

01

02

03

If the foreground is the most important part of the scene, position the horizon in the top third of your photo to draw attention to it and remove any expanse of dull sky.


If your vista has an interesting sky, position the horizon in the bottom third of your photo to show it off, but be sure not to cut out any important foreground detail.

If the sky and foreground are equally important, position the horizon along the centre. If your scene is reflected in a lake or river, this will also help to create symmetry.


Leading lines Including lead-in lines in your photo is a great way to help guide your viewer’s eye through your photo or towards your main subject. Look out for natural lines made by pathways, fences, bridges or anything else you can spot, and carefully position them in the frame. You could even use the lines of a building or other structure, or introduce your own lines into a still-life photo.

Foreground interest Avoid shooting just the land and sky of a landscape, as this can make for a dull shot. Look for something of interest to include in the foreground, such as a building, colourful flowers or other inanimate object. This will serve as the main focal point, giving the viewer somewhere to first direct their gaze before they explore the rest of the photo.

Golden ratio The golden ratio is a traditional compositional technique often used by artists. It follows a design that is commonly found in nature and is universally pleasing to the human eye. The idea is to position the most important part of your photo towards the centre of the spiral and the rest of your main focal point within its curve. It can be tricky to master, but some cameras and editing programs have a spiral display function that you can use to help.




Eye-catching elements Look out for visually pleasing compositions

Look for symmetry Symmetry is automatically appealing to the eye and can be found everywhere, be it in nature or man-made structures. It also gives you permission to ignore the rule of thirds, as it works best if you centre your subject in the frame.

Find patterns and texture Interesting patterns and textures can add to your existing photo or serve as the main subject of your shot. Shoot them close-up to capture as much detail as possible, and keep an eye out for repetition too.



Include reflections Including reflections allows you to double up your main subject and can also create symmetry in your shot, or you could just shoot the reflection on its own for a different perspective. Look out for mirror images in lakes, puddles and even the windows of buildings.

Compose with colour Bright colours will help to grab people’s attention, and so they make a great compositional element for ensuring your photos get noticed. Try not to include more than three different colours in your shot, as this can leave it looking cluttered and overwhelming.

Frame your subject Look for something else in the scene that you can use to frame your main subject. This could be a natural frame such as tree branches or a man-made frame such as an archway. It might just be a case of shooting from a different angle.



SHOOTING

Beginner's guide

Fill the frame Take an intimate close-up Sometimes the best way to shoot your subject is up close so that they fill the frame. If your subject is surrounded by lots of empty space that doesn’t add anything to the shot, then zoom in to take a more striking image. Similarly, a close-up will eliminate any distractions in the surrounding scene to ensure your subject is the main focal point of the shot. This can also make for a really intimate image, particularly for portraits, so get your subject to look right into the lens for a really engaging photo.

y o u r A d j u s t s e t h s e tt c i tn i g s fi l l in g r e

s u b j e p e r t u I f y o u r e a n a r r o w a e p s o k e , u f r a m e f -n u m b e r ) t . S t a r t h u c ( h i g f o s t h i n g in h a e v e r y t a n d c h e c k t a t f 8 e a r s s h a r p i t a p p

A longer focal length will allow you to keep your distance and prevent lens distortion

24



Leave some active space Leaving active space in front of your moving subject will help the viewer to visualise where it is moving to. Without it, your shot can look a little static and create the illusion that your subject isn’t moving. If you are struggling to achieve this, zoom right ou t to leave lots of space around your subject that you can crop into later. It is a good idea to leave a large enough space for your subject to fit into again.

Recompose your shot Solve compositional problems in Photoshop It's not uncommon to open an image on your computer and realise that a horizon is not completely straight, or that a tighter crop would work better. Here's how to recompose quickly in Photoshop.

Straighten horizons

01

If your horizon is wonky, select the Straighten tool and choose if you want it to automatically crop your shot or keep it the original size. Then draw a line across the actual horizon of your shot.

Consider the background When taking your shot, watch out for anything in the background that could divert attention away from your subject, and re-frame if you need to eliminate distractions. You could simply change your position to capture a different background, or add your own backdrop with plain card or curtains. Another way to simplify the background is to use a wide aperture (small f-number) to create a shallow depth of field and blur it out.

Crop in

02

The Crop tool lets you choose a grid to help you recompose your shot. You can use the rule of thirds or the golden ratio and highlight the section of your image you wish to keep.

Flip or rotate

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Go to Image>Rotate and choose from the menu options. You can rotate by a set number of degrees, choose a custom amount, or flip your image horizontally or vertically.



SHOOTING

Beginner's guide

Break the rules

Sometimes you need to trust your instincts

Break eye contact Capturing your portrait subject looking away from the camera isn’t always a bad thing. Although eye contact is more engaging, a candid shot of someone looking away can still make a big impact. It can also help to show your subject’s natural emotions without the forced and cheesy smiles they typically give when they are told to look at the camera.

Centre your subject Although following the rule of thirds and positioning your subject off-centre in the frame works for most situations, try placing your subject in the middle to make them really stand out, particularly so if this also helps you to create some symmetry.

Cut off your subject Sometimes including only a small section of an object will encourage the viewer to focus on that area of detail and leave them guessing about what you didn’t include. This can leave you with an artistic abstract photograph of an ordinary subject.

Don't add a focal point By not including an obvious focal point, you force the viewer to explore the entire photo and make up their own mind about it. This will enable you to concentrate on using other compositional elements to make your image stand out, such as bright colour, patterns and texture.

Experiment with unusual angles

Shoot from fresh perspectives

High angle

Low angle

Eye level

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Shooting from a high angle is flattering for portraits, as you avoid accentuating the nose and chin, but it's also great for shooting a bird’s eye view of landscapes.


Taking your photo from a low angle can create a really dramatic shot, particularly when shooting buildings and structures, as it emphasises their height.

Taking photos of people at eye level will create a natural shot with everything in proportion. Try this when photographing children and pets too.

Not just for dummies

TM

A clear, comprehensive series for people who want to start learning about iPhone, iPad, Mac, Photoshop, photography and more

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SHOOTING


STEPS TO

GREAT SHOTS Follow along to get perfect photos of any subject So you want to take some great photos, get in a bit of practice and improve your camera skills, but where do you start? It start? It can be a little daunting when you’re just starting out and lacking confidence behind the lens, so the best solution is to break the process down into simple steps. That’s what we’re going to do for you over the next few pages, as we’ve worked out that there are actually only ten steps to taking the perfect photo. We will start with the tricky decision of what to actually shoot, because if you’re not already inspired to photograph a particular subject, then it can be difficult to decide what to point your camera at. However, there is always something to photograph and we will show you a few simple ways to kick-start your creativity. Once you’ve found an interesting subject to shoot, we will guide you through what kit to use and which settings to choose, before showing you how to actually take and then edit your photo. Everything will be broken down into bite-sized chunks that are easy to follow and understand, plus we’ll be busting some of that confusing photography jargon along the way. way. So pick pick up your camera camera and let us show you how to take your best-ever photos step-by-step.


SHOOTING 10 steps to great shots

Find a subject Search for photography inspiration

ts ts

nd subjec fin hen fi th eme he raphs and t g o c k a t h to t ic o P i h p r u o heme o f yo y th or fo he t th eme f ose t

h th a t g a ou could cho yo y choosing Tr y Tr ample, y xa ific colour . For e x t. t i lf a spec fic t n e s e r ourse f p yo e t y r e t l s n wiil t w e ve v e ha t th t r o , p i frriendsh or f e, happiness ve lo v r. o fo f k o o l o to t or shape

Choose a genre You could narrow down your choice of subject by picking a specific genre to focus on, such as portraits or wildlife. Then you can start searching for a subject, maybe asking a friend to model for you, or going to a zoo to photograph the animals.

Set a space Force yourself to really look for something to photograph within a small space. That could be your living room at home, a corner of your garden or an area of your local town. You’ll be amazed at what you can find to shoot.

oZ to frrom A t Go f

ain ta ith a cer t wi th in w th ha t begin th hings t ograph t to o only pho t lf to he th t ourse f t d e yo te t le p enge y m o c e Challlle ve v a h u o yo tiil y er each da y un t te t t e l t n e r fer fe f f i d or a e r g n u i tu t k a i c na n pi er, p te er in te le t t our chosen le t t yo or y fo t f en look ou t ve ould e v co it. t. h ou c p Yo a r t.. Y g o to t o h ph p alphabe t d n a ures tu trruc t -m made s t man -



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Choose your kit Load up your kit bag with everything you’ll need

Pack your camera bag with all the essential kit before you venture venture out out on a shoot shoot

As well as making sure your camera is charged up and that you have enough space on your memory card, you may need a few other accessories to help you take great shots. If you’re going to be photographing in low light, then a tripod will come in handy for keeping your camera steady and your shots sharp while you capture as much of the light as possible using a slow shutter speed. An external flashgun will be useful for adding a more powerful burst of light than your camera’s flash when taking portraits, and can be bounced off of the walls or ceiling for a softer and more flattering effect. If you have more than one lens in your kit bag to choose from, then make sure you choose the best focal length for the scene you will be shooting. A short focal length of 18-35mm is best for landscapes, architecture and group shots, but zooming in to between 50 and 200mm will be useful for portraits, sports and wildlife.

s g n i t t e s r u o Pick y s ts sho t d e s o p x e -e l l e w r o fo f s e d o m es ive his giv th t er camera te Mas t fo or program mode, and ands f ta P s t g i n s o o h c s i o to t he o th f t f h o p r e r u a o yo ng y ke c

a ta aki ta o t to It wiill t ep t te trrol. t w The nex t s t Th tle more con t it tl ou a l t yo y ur scene or o us t yo y ju r o fo f e d can ad j o u m o yo g t y t ing tin t u b o , o s h g s n tii he bes t th t ain exposure se t t m n o d n e p e d l l i wi w u o yo ash, o y fla to able t ailila va ering and fl te hose a v Th t.. T nce, me t lan ec t je sub j ite bala h te wh O, w S I r u o yo y y y l l a u s u n a c t ou are using, bu yo er. te he camera y th t e’ll explain la t we hich w wh th he mode dial or w ou yo t y tiing t wis t wiill le t t wi v)) w y t ound b y fo de (A or A v be f o m y y t t i r o i r P ure tu Aper t s. u n e m a r e m a m c a r r u g o o yo y r P o to t i n lving in ailable va de vi tiings a v he same se t t th pick t hing th y t er y ve wiill wiill do e v o mode w he camera w to Th Au t ure. T tu r t e p a r u o yo y ell as we mode, as w t s e b e h on th t g d n e i k s ou ba ou, pic yo yo or y fo or y fo f ter speed f n choose a shu t te e h th t t h g i l e h th t n o d it y er Prior t tiings base te se t t ou make. Shu t t yo s y ts men t tm us t ju he ad j th e t te trra t ou yo y ou can concen t g yo n i t y ti t t ha t l e th , e te t so t i s o p he op th v)) does t o. mode (S or T v to he pho t th aking t ta is ly t e r u tu t r e p a on simply e h th hile t wh te er speed w he shu t t th pick t or fo ul f fu his is use f Th T ou. yo or y fo chosen f o to ed pho t te o to unexpec t g up t ing hin th y t er y ve es e v ve Manual mode (M) lea v ities, un ti tu r oppor t e te t t ure, shu tu he aper t th o pick t to e t ve ou ha v Yo ou. Y yo y ’t ou don t yo hen y wh w tings and r se t ti e h th t o r u o yo f y d, ISO and all o f e e p s o to t e m i ti t e ve v ’t ha hem. Don t th ween t fec t balance be t we per fe e h th t d n fin fi l l a h th i t wi w ddle fid fi er. te o mas t to tiime t akes some t it ta if t t orr y f wo w ons. to he bu t t th t

30



Think about lighting

Con trol your aper ture The size o f the opening in your lens is con trolled b y your aper ture. Aper ture is -numbers, w ith measured in f a small f-number crea ting a wide opening and a large f -number crea ting a narrow opening. There f ore, a wide -number) can aper ture (small f be used to le t in more ligh t and brigh ten up your sho ts, while a narrow aper ture (large -number) will le t in less ligh t f to darken them.

Get the light right for your shots

Se t your shu t ter speed Use natural light Natural light is often the most flattering for photography. Shooting when the sun is low in the sky will also provide you with a lovely soft light.

Add artificial light Using a single light source such as a lamp when shooting indoors will cast shadows across your subject. You could fill in these shadows by adding another light source or bouncing the light back into the dark areas with a reflector or piece of paper.

ter ys open f or a f The leng th o f time your camera’s shu t ter s ta le t . To speed ter t shu r b y you t you press the shu t ter bu t ton is se f o speed ter t shu slow plen t y o f ligh t reach your sensor, use a pre ven t camera 1 /60sec to 30sec, bu t you’ll need a tripod to le t in less ligh t shake. A shu t ter speed f as ter than 1 /60sec will t ting blurr y sho ts. and allow you to shoo t handheld wi thou t ge

Ad jus t your ISO Your ISO can be used to ad jus t the sens iti vi t y o f your camera’s sensor to the ligh t a vailable. To make i t more sensi ti ve and brigh ten up your sho ts, use a high ISO value, bu t wa tch ou t f or noise as this will reduce the qualit y. Some cameras are be tter a t dealing wi th high ISOs than o thers, so tes t yours ou t to see how f ar you can push it. Howe ver, it’s bes t to keep your ISO as low as possible and only raise it if you can’ t use a slower shu t ter or wider aperture to cap ture more ligh t ins tead.


Fire your flash Use your flash to illuminate subjects in poor lighting or to fill in shadows when your subject is backlit. Try bouncing your flash off of a piece of white paper to soften its effect.


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Explore your camera menus Discover more essential settings to get even better looking photos

Master metering Every time you half-press the shutter button, your camera measures the available light in the scene so that it can pick the best settings for you in auto and semi-manual modes. This is known as metering, and adjusting your metering modes lets you control which part of the scene your camera measures the light for. Evaluative/Matrix metering reads the light for the entire scene, so is commonly used for shooting landscapes. If your subject is in the centre of the frame, use Centreweighted metering, as this will measure the light for the middle of the scene. Spot metering measures the light for whichever part of the scene you focus on and so it can be used to choose which part of the scene you want to keep well-exposed (for example, the bright background to create a silhouette).

Change y our met eri ng mod e t o sui t the scene and posur es get even e x

Prevent colour casts in your captures by selecting the correct white balance

Learn about white balance settings If you’ve ever noticed that the colours in your photos don’t look quite right, then it is probably a white balance issue. Your camera can sometimes struggle to read the colour temperatures of different sources of light. To avoid strong orange or blue colour casts, change your white balance setting to suit the scene. Ad just w hi te balance set ti ngs in t he menu

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Focus your shot

Keep your subject sharp by choosing the right setting

Continuous autofocus If you are photographing a moving subject, then this is a handy mode to use. Your camera will continuously re-focus the shot to keep your subject sharp, even if they are moving erratically. This is very useful for if you are trying to capture animals or children on camera.

Single-point autofocus Many cameras will let you choose which part of your image you want to keep in focus, which is particularly important for when you are using a wide aperture (small f-number). Position the focus point over your main subject so that it stays sharp and only the background blurs.

Manual focus Focusing manually is only possible on some cameras, but can be helpful in certain situations. For example, autofocus can struggle when your subject is very close up, so use manual for macro shooting. Simply twist the focus dial until your subject is sharp.

Pre-focus You can also use manual focus when photographing moving subjects. If you know the path of your subject, such as a car travelling along a road, then you can pre-focus on an area it is going to move into and then take the shot when it moves into view.

Experiment with your camera’s focus settings and get pin-sharp results

Learn composition Decide where to position your subject

Before you come to take your shot, it is important to think about how you are going to frame it – that is, how are you going to position

and F ollow t he phot o r ules ct ur ed y ou’ll hav e w ell -st ru out shot s t hat r eall y st and

your subject in the photo. Composition is of course subjective, so it is up to you to decide what works best. However, there are few tried-and-tested guides that you can use to help you. Check out our Beginner’s Guide to Composition on page 18 for an in-depth look at these compositional rules and see how you can apply them to your photo. Then, once you’ve taken your shot, try a new approach and see how many different ways you can photograph your subject.



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Take your photo Choose the right mode and get into position Select a drive mode that suits your subject and start shooting fantastic photos

Now you’re all set up, the time has come to take your photo. However, first you need to consider your drive modes. If you’re taking an action shot, then Burst mode will take a series of images while you hold down the shutter button, increasing your chances of getting a great result. If you want to create a HDR image, choose autobracketing (if your camera has it) to take a series of shots at once with different exposures. If you want to put yourself in the picture and your camera is on a tripod, then you’ll need to use self-timer to delay the shutter so you have enough time to get into position. However, if you just want to take a standard photo, then you can stay on the default single shot mode, which will take one photo as soon as you fire the shutter. Now all you need to do is hold the camera steady with your feet shoulder-width apart and your elbows tucked into your sides, and press that shutter button.

Review your photo Check the image and learn f rom your mistakes

Rather than just packing your camera away af ter you’ve taken your photo, make sure you check it in Playback mode on your LCD screen. Zoom in to make sure that it’s sharp and analyse the exposure and colours to determine whether you need to ad just your settings and take it again. Y ou may even be able to check the image’s histogram, a graph that shows you how many bright and dark pixels are in your photo. If it’s bunched to the right, your shot may be overexposed, but if it’s bunched the lef t, your shot could be underexposed. Try changing your exposure compensation setting until you get the graph to peak in the middle, as this shows that your image has an even spread of tones throughout.

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SHOOTING


Process the shot Improve your photo with simple edits If you’re completely happy with how your photo looks straight from the camera, then you can choose to skip this step. However, most photos will benefit from a few basic tweaks to get them looking completely perfect. Editing software can work miracles for correcting common problems such as bad exposure, inaccurate colours, soft details and unwanted distractions. If you’ve chosen to shoot in RAW, an unprocessed file

format that retains a lot more information than a standard JPEG file, then processing your photo is essential and you’ll have much more control over adjusting your exposure and white balance. However, JPEGs need some love and attention too, so here are some basic edits that you can apply to get the most out of your shot. We’ve used Photoshop Elements, but most editing software will have the same adjustments.

Remove a colour cast

Correct the exposure

Shadows and highlights

If an incorrect white balance setting has caused a warm or cool colour cast, go to Filter>Adjustments>Photo Filter and select a warming or cooling filter.

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To fix an over or underexposed shot, go to Enhance>Adjust Lighting> Levels. Drag the arrows to boost the blacks and whites and brighten or darken it up.

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Boost the colours

Sharpen it up

Correct composition

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Go to Enhance>Adjust Color> Adjust Hue/Saturation. Increase the Saturation slider, but avoid pushing it too far as the results can appear unnatural.


You can’t fix an out-of-focus shot, but if some of the details in your photo are a little soft, go to Enhance> Unsharp Mask and increase the Amount.

Next, go to Enhance>Adjust Color>Adjust Color Curves and move the Highlights and Shadows sliders, and give the Brightness and Contrast a boost.

Finally, use the Straighten and Crop tools to recompose your image. You can even use gridlines when cropping to help you reposition your subject.


SHOOTING Quick tips

5 tips for shooting natural portraits Capture relaxed photos outdoors There are some key ingredients that go into a great portrait image, including great lighting and a good choice of location. However, your model will make all the difference, and with good direction and plenty of natural smiles, you can’t really go wrong. To help you get some great natural portraits this spring, check out the top tips below.

Shoot in the shade

Relax the model

Avoid squinting shots when taking a portrait outdoors by positioning your model under open shade. This way you’ll be able to get a better exposure and still make use of the bright, natural light within the surroundings.

The secret to getting a natural-looking portrait lies in how relaxed the model is. Don’t just direct on how you want them to pose; keep a light conversation going so that you get plenty of natural smiles.

Use a reflector

Select a mode

Set the focal length

Use a white reflector or a large piece of white card to bounce light into shadow areas on the model’s face. Position the reflector at an angle under their chin to create subtle catch lights in their eyes.

Set your camera to Portrait mode, which will take care of the exposure and ensure the model appears sharp and in focus. If you want to experiment with manual modes, start with Aperture Priority (A or Av).

Check the focal range your lens has to offer. Most standard zoom lenses are built to shoot a variety of subjects. For a flattering portrait, step back and zoom in between 50-80mm for the best results.


Focal length: 18mm Exposure: F/16, 1/20 sec, ISO 320

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SHOOTING Creative portraits

Create a cool profile avatar Impress your friends with a fun self-portrait

“Perform some digital trickery in editing software” 38 Photography for Beginners

SHOOTING

Creative portraits WHAT YOU’LL NEED…

Digital camera Tripod Editing software WE USED…

Canon EOS 600D Slik tripod Adobe Photoshop CS6 YOU COULD USE…

Any digital camera Adobe Photoshop Elements WHAT YOU’LL LEARN…

How to create a picturewithin-a-picture image

Self-portraits are becoming increasingly popular in the modern world. This is especially true when it comes to social networking sites, as most require you to upload a photo of yourself to be used as your profile avatar. This picture is often the first thing that people will see when browsing your networking page, so why not get creative and try capturing something that’s a little bit different? For some people, the idea of taking a self-portrait might be slightly daunting. This is usually because we’re so used to being behind the camera that the idea of posing for our own shots may seem alien at first. But in practice, it’s actually a lot of fun, and with yourself as the main subject of the picture, it’s something that you can try out whenever you like. One of the biggest benefits of digital photography is that it allows us to perform some digital trickery using editing software. One great example of this is creating a portrait within a portrait. This requires taking a

photograph of yourself holding a large photo frame and then using editing software to cleverly copy the image inside of the photo frame over and over again so that it resembles a never-ending tunnel of images. The result is one that’s truly mesmerising and makes for an interesting profile picture on social networking sites. What’s more, the great thing about this technique is that you don’t need any expensive or sophisticated photo equipment either; it can be done using just about any type of camera, including a simple point-and-shoot or even a cameraphone. You will need a tripod, however, to set your camera up on, or alternatively you can rest it on a straight, flat surface. To find out how to shoot, edit and share your own creative avatar now, just follow along with our simple step-by-step guide below and we’ll show you everything you need to create your very own mind-bending picturein-a-picture self-portrait.

Shoot We show you how to capture a creative self-portrait

Choose a location

Set up your tripod

Using a location with a chair or bench is a good idea as it will act as a marker, so you always know where in the frame to be. It’s also handy if you’re holding a heavy frame as it means you can take the weight off.

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Using a tripod will allow you to take the shot and be in the photo at the same time. Once you’ve set your camera up on a sturdy tripod, frame the image, making sure you leave enough headroom to fit in the photo.

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Focus the shot

Use the self-timer

Take your image

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Place the picture frame roughly where you’ll be sitting and focus on it by half depressing the shutter button. Afterwards, switch to Manual Focus (MF) to prevent it re-focusing when you take the shot.

Activate Self-timer mode to give you enough time to get into position once the shutter button is pushed. Alternatively, you could ask someone else to push it for you or use a remote shutter release.


Select Aperture Priority Set the camera to Aperture Priority (A or Av) and dial in an aperture of around f5.6 – this should nicely blur distractions in the background. Don’t worry about the shutter speed as the camera will set this for you.

Fully depress the shutter button and get into place for the photo. Review the shot on the rear screen and make any compositional changes that you need to make. Carry on taking photos until you’re happy.


SHOOTING

Creative portraits

Accessories for taking self-portraits

Edit Construct your picture-in-a-picture in Photoshop

Tripod When it comes to taking a self-portrait, investing in a sturdy tripod is absolutely vital, as it’ll allow you to keep the camera held securely in position while you’re busy getting ready for the photo!

Duplicate the layer

Resize to fit

The first step is to create a duplicate of the image on a new layer in the Layers palette (Window>Layers). Do this by Ctrl/ right-clicking the Background layer, choosing Duplicate Layer and then clicking OK.

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Move into position

Rotate the layer

Head up to Edit>Free Transform, then click and drag one of the corner tabs to resize the layer to roughly fit the photo frame. Holding Shift while you resize will make sure that the layer stays in proportion.

Wireless shutter release A wireless shutter release is a handy tool that lets you take a photo from a distance using a small remote. What’s more, with prices starting at around £20/approx $33, they’re affordable too.

Flip-out LCD screen If you own a DSLR with a flip-out LCD screen, try activating the camera’s Live-view f unction and use the flip-out screen to view yourself while you take the shot, to help with composition.

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Tidy up the edges

Repeat until complete

If the layer isn’t in the right position, click and drag in the centre of the image and move it into the right place. If you need to make further size adjustments, you can also do this now.

Move your mouse to the outside edge of one of the corner tabs, then click and drag to rotate the layer until it matches the angle of the frame. Once the image roughly fits the frame, hit Enter to confirm.

3 OF THE BEST…

Apps for sharing Twitter

Free (Android/iOS) Twitter is a microblogging service that lets you send and read ‘tweets’ from other users, which are either short, 140-character messages or photos.

Instagram

Free (Android/iOS) Instagram is a free social networking app that allows you to apply funky film effects to your images and then share them with other users.

Flickr

Free (Android/iOS) Flickr allows you to upload and share your images with other photographers around the world. Creating an account is quick and completely free to do.


05

Click the eye icon next to the top layer in the Layers palette, then grab the Polygonal Lasso tool and trace the inside of the frame. Go to Select>Inverse, then press Delete before going to Select>Deselect.

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Click the eye icon next to the top layer to reveal it again. Now simply repeat steps 1 to 4 but duplicating the top layer instead of the background. Keep doing this until you’ve filled in all of the frames.

SHOOTING

Creative portraits

Share Upload your image as your Facebook profile picture

Log in to Facebook

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Open up your web browser and type www.facebook.com into the web address bar. Type in your log-in details at the top and click Log In. If you don’t have an account, create one using the Sign Up section.

Go to your page

Edit your profile picture

Once you’ve successfully logged in to your account, head up to the top-left of the window and locate your current profile picture. Next to it you should see your name – click on it to visit your personal profile page.

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Gain Likes

Update

Share

Comments

Your Facebook friends can show their appreciation by hitting ‘Like’ below your photo

With your image uploaded, your friends will be informed about your new profile picture

Clicking ‘Share’ will allow you, and others to show off your image with other users

Your friends can also give feedback about your new photo by hitting ‘Comment’

Hover the mouse over your current profile picture in the top left-hand corner of the window and you’ll see the Edit Profile Picture option appear. Click on this and from the list of options, select Upload Photo.

Upload your image

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In the File Upload window that appears, navigate through your computer files and locate your picture-in-a-picture image. Click on it to highlight it, then click the Open button at the bottom-right of the window.

Wait for the upload

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Your image may take anywhere up to a few minutes to upload depending on the speed of your internet connection. Once the upload is complete, you’ll see your new profile picture appear in the top-left corner.



SHOOTING Shoot the moon

Capture sharp shots of the moon five minute project

WHAT YOU’LL NEED… Camera with Manual mode Lens with 200mm focal range or more (equivalent)

Learn how to take an awe-inspiring shot of the moon that’s free from blur

Tripod

WE USED… Nikon D7100 Sigma 50-500mm f3.5-f6.3 EX zoom lens Manfrotto 190 with ball head tripod

YOU COULD USE… Remote camera trigger

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN… How to take great photographs of the moon

42


SHOOTING

Shoot the moon The moon is an awe-inspiring sight, especially when it’s set among a star-littered night sky.

Photographing the moon, however, can be challenging, and particularly so if you’re shooting in your camera’s Automatic mode, which will often overexpose the moon’s surface, resulting in a lack of detail. By switching over to your camera’s manual settings, you can take more control over the exposure and resulting image. Although you’ll be shooting at night, you won’t need to use long exposures to get great shots of the moon, as the moon itself is lit directly by the sun. With this in mind, your exposure settings should be suited to daytime conditions as opposed to night. But of course, your exposure settings will also change depending on your location, weather conditions and the phase of the moon you are shooting.

Shoot the moon

3 OF THE BEST…

For great shots of the moon, always aim to shoot on a clear night and away from heavily light-polluted towns or cities. You don’t always have to wait until dark, however, as the moon can also look fantastic at dusk, and with the extra light around, it’ll be easier to change your exposure settings on the go. If you’re keen to shoot a specific moon phase, why not check out websites such as www.moonconnection. com, which are great for finding out which phase the moon is currently in. To help you get started and ensure you get great results first time round, we’ve outlined some easy-to-follow steps below. If your camera doesn’t feature manual modes, try changing to Spot metering and frame the moon centrally within your image. This mode will work alongside your camera’s Auto setting to help ensure you still get a good exposure.

Moon phases to photograph

Full moon To capture a full moon, consult the lunar calendar to find out when it will occur alongside moonrise and moonset times. This is when the moon is at its brightest, so you need faster shutter speeds.

Get a detailed lunar image

Half moon The half moon is a lot dimmer than a full moon, so you’ll need to slow down your shutter speed a touch to get the right exposure. If it is coming out too dark, try increasing your ISO setting.

Steady your camera

Select a shooting mode

As you’ll be using a high magnification to bring the moon closer, you need to make sure the camera is supported properly. Use a tripod, ideally with a head you can move to point the camera directly at the moon.

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Set your exposure

Change your ISO

Shoot and review

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Switch your camera to Manual and set a shutter speed between 1/200 and 1/400sec (depending on the moon brightness where you are). Set an aperture of f8. If you’re not confident in Manual, try Aperture Priority.

Set your camera to either Continuous shooting mode if you’re using a remote camera release, or set it to Timer if you aren’t. This will stop the camera being moved when you release the shutter.

The lower the ISO the better the image quality, but you should set it to 800 initially as this lets you use a faster shutter speed, eliminating any motion blur. You can lower this if you find your moon too bright.


Crescent moon The crescent moon is at its dimmest and is a mere sliver. This means that you will need even slower shutter speeds than when you photographed the full and half moons.

Focus on the moon then switch to Manual focus mode to stop the camera from refocusing between shots. After taking some test pictures, check their brightness and adjust depending on results.


SHOOTING

Backlit still life

Backlit still life Take great shots with the light behind your subject WHAT YOU’LL NEED…

A backlit subject Digital camera Reflector WE USED…

Nikon D3200 Lastolite reflector YOU COULD USE…

Any digital camera Tin foil WHAT YOU’LL LEARN…

How to take a well-exposed photo of a backlit subject

01 Pick a subject

02 When to shoot

Translucent objects are great for backlit photography as you can capture some of the light shining through them. This really brings out their texture, detail and colour in your image, which adds more interest.

When shooting outdoors, sunrise and sunset are the best times of day to take your shot. The sun will be low in the sky so you can easily position it behind your subject, and it will cast a lovely, golden light over everything.

03 Avoid lens flare

04 Consider the background

Including the light source in your photo can create lens flare. To prevent it, keep the sun or lamp just out of the frame, or use your lens hood to shield your lens from the light. Alternatively, work with it for a creative effect.

When finding an angle to shoot from, make sure that the background of your photo is simple yet attractive and does not distract attention away from your subject. Using a wide aperture will help to blur distractions too.

05 Reflect the light

06 Set your focus

If your subject is in silhouette, try using a reflector or tin foil to bounce the light back into the shadows. This will ensure the background and foreground are both well lit and exposure appears even.

When using a wide aperture, it’s important to focus your camera lens directly on your subject. Use Manual or Selective Autofocus mode to keep your subject sharp and make sure just the background is blurred.

Turn your mode dial to Aperture Priority mode and select a wide aperture (small f-number). This will blur the background of your shot to make your subject stand out


If your subject is looking too dark, find your camera’s exposure compensation function and set it to +1 or +2 on the dial to brighten your shot up

Spot metering mode will get your camera to measure the light where you focus, so you can ensure that your main subject, and not just the background, stays bright

SHOOTING

Backlit still life

“Sunrise and sunset are the best times of day to take your shot”

OUR SETTINGS: APERTURE: F5.6 ISO: 200 SHUTTER SPEED: 1/640SEC Share your shots at: photoforbeginners.com


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SHOOTING Story behind the shot

Story

behind

the

shot

Photography For Beginners Deputy Editor Hayley Paterek tells us about her creative low-light city shot

What was the inspiration behind this photo?

What kit and settings did you use to get this effect?

Did you face any problems when taking this shot?

I travelled up to London with some friends to do a photo walk. We spent the day taking photos of the fantastic architecture and famous landmarks, but before we headed home we thought we would have a go at creating light trails. I had seen them online but had never had a go at one myself, and the busy traffic of the London streets seemed like a great opportunity to try it.

I used my Nikon D800 and set it up on my Manfrotto tripod so that I could keep it steady throughout the long exposure. I set the camera to Shutter Priority mode and selected a speed of 2sec. This enabled me to blur the movement of the lights as the traffic travelled through the scene. I also had to set my white balance to Tungsten, as the first shot I took had an orange colour cast.

The trickiest part of the process was finding the best angle to shoot from. I started off shooting the traffic side on, but the shots looked a little dull with just straight light trails running across them. Shooting from an angle allowed me to capture a curve in the trails. It was also a struggle to find enough space to set up my tripod as the pavements were so busy, but I eventually found a spot.


SHOOTING Story behind the shot

What do you like most about the final image?

Is there anything you would like to have done differently?

Do you have any advice for capturing perfect light trails?

Well the first few shots I took were just of car light trails, which were very low to the ground and meant there was quite a lot of empty space towards the top of the shot. Waiting for this bus to come into view really paid off because it meant I could capture several different light trails at once and fill the frame with them. I think that makes for a more striking image.

I would like to have stayed later to get a shot after the sun had completely set, but unfortunately I had to head home. As I was using slow shutter speeds, the sky appeared quite overexposed and blown out. If I had had a graduated neutral density filter I could have used that to block some of the light, but instead I had to sacrifice some of the detail in the sky to create the light trails.

Firstly, you need to be patient, as it takes quite a bit of time to experiment with your settings and angles before you get it right. Find a road with a constant stream of moving traffic so that you have plenty of opportunities to take your shot. Also, try to shoot oncoming traffic, as the front headlights are much brighter, but remember to stay safe and out of the way of the cars.



49

SHOOTING Cameraphone vistas

Shoot stunning

landscapes with your

cameraphone Essential tips for capturing beautiful vistas on your phone

These days, most people have a camera with them at all times. For some it might be a DSLR or a compact, but for most i t is usually a cameraphone. As it is always in your pocket or bag, the trusty smartphone is often the go-to device for snapping away when a photo opportunity arises, and now that the cameras on these devices are

getting better and better, it is possible to get some truly great results. While you may not have much control over your camera settings, there are lots of simple ways to make sure you come away with great shots every time. Then, and this is the best bit about smartphones, you can share your fantastic photos straight away to

keep your friends updated and even get instant feedback on your photo skills. Landscapes are fantastic subjects for your cameraphone photography, as they are very straightforward to shoot. Let us guide you through the basics and teach you exactly what to do next time you find a stunning vista and have your cameraphone to hand.

Frame your shot No matter what camera you are using, you c an always control the composition of your photo. In fact, it is often the secret to making sure your shots stand out from all the others. Before you start snapping, think about which angle to shoot from to capture the best perspective of the scene, and try to include foreground interest. Common compositional tricks such as the rule of thirds and lead-in lines are great to use for landscapes, and you can read more about them in our Beginner’s Guide to Composition on page 18. Many cameraphones will also enable you to switch on a gridlines display when you are shooting, which will help you frame your scene and keep the horizon straight.



RECOMMEND APP Sun Seeker

£4.99/$6.99 (iOS), £3.79/$5.99 (Android)

Find out the exact sunrise and sunset times at your chosen landscape location using the Sun Seeker app, which is available for both iOS and Android devices.

Wait for the right light As with any landscape shoot, the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset will give you the best light. At these times of day, the sun is low in the sky and so will project a lovely soft and golden light across your scene. It might even give you the chance to capture some of the fantastic vibrant colours in the sky. However, if you don’t manage to catch the sunrise or sunset, you can still get great shots. Bright blue and even moody, cloudy skies will still look great in your images, and you can always rescue dull shots by adding instant creative effects using the thousands of editing apps available.

Avoid lens flare or embrace it Lens flare can occur when using any camera, but smartphone cameras seem to be especially prone to the problem. It is caused by light reflecting internally off of the elements inside the camera’s lens and onto the image sensor, and usually appears as a coloured

haze or series of coloured spots in your shots. Typically, it appears when you are pointing your camera in the direction of a bright light, and particularly when you are including the light source in your image. The simplest way to avoid it is to change your position so that


you are not shooting into the sun, or you could try shielding the lens with your hand. However, lens flare is sometimes used deliberately to enhance photos, as the haze it creates can add a dreamy quality. You can even download apps that add lens flare to your shots.



Set up your shot Choose the best settings for shooting a landscape

Switch on HDR Most cameraphones have an HDR (High Dynamic Range) function which will let you take a photo with added contrast. This is useful for landscape photography as it will prevent your photos from looking flat and dull and prevent blow-out skies. If your phone does not have this function, then you can download an app to re-create it.

RECOMMEND APP Pro HDR

£1.49/$1.99 (iOS), £1.28/$1.99 (Android)

Create stunning HDR shots that are full of colour and detail on your iOS or Android device using the Pro HDR app. This is available from Google Play and the App Store now.

Turn the flash off

Pick a scene mode

Select a metering mode

Your flash won’t be of much use when shooting a landscape, as the light won’t be powerful enough to illuminate the entire scene. If you’re shooting in low light or at night-time, switch it off to prevent it from firing automatically.

Some phones will give you a selection of scene modes to choose from that will pick the best settings for you. Use the Landscape mode to keep everything in focus and boost the blues and greens in the scene.

You might be able to adjust the metering mode, which controls how it measures the available light. Set it to Matrix/Evaluative so that it reads the light for the entire scene and picks the settings accordingly.

Adjust the white balance If your cameraphone allows you to change your white balance setting, switch it to daylight, cloudy or shade, depending on the lighting conditions. This will prevent colour casts and ensure the colours in your photo appear true-to-life.



Get creative Take your photography further with panoramas and accessories

Find Panorama mode Many cameraphones have a panorama function that will automatically stitch several photos together to create one long image.

RECOMMEND APP

Some will even let you create vertical panoramas as well as horizontal ones. If this option isn’t available, there are plenty of apps to help you.

Swivel smoothly

Avoid moving subjects

Start by pointing the camera at the edge of the scene, and then slowly swivel your body around as smoothly as possible until you have captured everything. Using a tripod will create a more seamless image.

If someone is walking through the scene you are shooting, they will appear several times throughout the photo. Wait until they are out of the way before you take your shot to prevent this happening.

360 Panorama £0.69/$0.99(iOS),£0.62/$0.99 (Android)

If your camera does not have a built-in panorama function, download the 360 Panorama app and start shooting seamless vistas in an instant.

Take a step back If you take your photo while standing too close to the scene you are shooting, then any straight lines in your vista may appear curved in your panorama. It is best to shoot from a distance if you can.

Add an accessory Landscape photography accessories for your cameraphone

olloclip 4-in-1 iPhone Lens

JOBY GripTight GorillaPod

Holga iPhone Lens

Daylight Viewfinder

Price £60/$70

Price £25/approx $41

Price From £16/$27

Price Approx £18/$30

Clip this gadget onto your iPhone and use the wide-angle lens to capture the whole view. You can also use the fish-eye lens to really extend the field of view and take close-ups with the 10x and 15x macro lenses too.

This mini tripod is flexible so that you can stand it on and wrap it around a variety of surfaces. The attachment is adjustable so it can hold any smartphone model, even if it has a case attached.

Clip on this case and use the rotating disk to choose from nine different lens filters to enhance your shots. There are coloured filters, vignettes, multi-image lenses and more, plus you can preview the effect on screen.

Reflections on your iPhone screen on a bright day can make it difficult to see. This viewfinder fixes to the screen to make things clearer. Attach it with the screw-on suction pad and download the free app.



SHOOTING

App of the month

APP OF THE MONTH 

Creatively edit photos with Handy Photo Move objects, add filters, make precise adjustments and retouch any photo Available on: iOS and Android Price: £1.49/$1.99 (iOS), £1.32/$1.99 (Android) There are countless photo-editing apps

WHAT YOU’LL NEED… iPhone, iPad or Android device Handy Photo app

available for mobile devices today, but few are as intuitive and as effective for beginners as Handy Photo. You are

WE USED… iPad YOU COULD USE… iPhone Android device WHAT YOU’LL LEARN… How to enhance your photos using just touch

offered contextual help as you explore every feature, and there is always a fail-safe in that you can easily step back to remove any changes you have made. Every single part of the interface has been designed to take full advantage of the touch-centric nature of iOS and Android devices, and with the ability to zoom in and specifically change levels precisely, you can spend as much time as you need creating the perfect result. There are also quick changes available such as filters and textures, which can add personality to a snap, but it is in the more advanced tools that the app truly shines. Unwanted objects can be removed by simply scrubbing them out, and they will be replaced with a perfect

background to offer the illusion of them never having been there. You can make changes to one part of an image and leave the rest alone, and you can even move objects to make them look as if they are in a different location. Even better, you can move objects to new photos and the results are almost always exceptionally realistic. Throughout the editing process you are shown the changes as they happen in real-time, so you will always know if they are working or if you need to step back. Much care has been taken in the creation of this app, and it has resulted in a solution that will suit beginners and the more experienced in equal measure. The more you delve into the features, the more you will get out of Handy Photo, and it’s actually very hard to put down. To give you a head-start, below we have provided you with a simple editing tutorial. Download the app and follow along to get standout photos in a flash.

Edit your photos Improve and adjust snaps in Handy Photo

Locate the tools

01

Open the app and you will see three options on the front screen. Either choose to take a new photo or locate one from your camera roll. Once it has been loaded, you can now tap the top right-hand icon to bring up the main tools.


Highlight the subject

02

Very few landscapes have perfect positioning of the subject matter. Scroll the tool wheel and select the ‘Magic Touch’ option. You can now drag the corners to crop the image, but try to keep as much necessary content as possible.

Remove unwanted objects

03

If you have objects that you would prefer not to be there, tap the ‘Retouch’ option and then the centre icon in the bottom-left wheel. Now scrub your finger over the unwanted object and tap the screen to remove it.

SHOOTING App of the month Extra features

Going back

The circular key

Many of the main features include further adjustable icons for making tiny changes to any part of a photo. Select one and move your finger over the screen for precise edits

It's easy to overdo edits with the host of features on offer. The upper-left clock icon lets you see a list of changes made; just select any point to jump back in time

This icon will take you to all of the most important functions within the app. When it is tapped, they will appear in a surrounding wheel ready for spinning and selection

A real view At every point of the process, the photo you are editing will dominate the view. This means that you will see everything in great detail and you can also pinch to zoom right in

APPS FOR ANDROID Handy Photo £1.32/$1.99

Handy Photo is also available on Android and offers all of the same tools and a near-identical interface to the iOS version. The tool icons do look slightly different, but the placement is the same so you can easily jump between the two and know exactly what to do. For similar editing on a Mac, try ADVA's TouchRetouch app.

Add some texture

Experiment with filters

Help is useful

04

05

06

Selecting ‘Textures’ from the tool wheel will present a new wheel with multiple textures to choose from. Try experimenting with each and when happy, tap the left icon and then adjust each part of the texture if necessary.

Tapping ‘Filters’ in the tool wheel will once again pop up a series of options. You will want to experiment carefully with these because many filters can make shots look unrealistic. This, however, can sometimes produce fantastic results.


There are many tools included in Handy Photo, and most include extra options, so tap the ‘?’ icon at the top to see help that corresponds to whatever feature you are currently using. With this handy addition, it will all make sense in time.


EDITING

Get to grips

with

RAW Discover how to start shooting more detailed images in RAW and learn the benefits of using this file format If you’ve ever looked through your camera’s

photo can then be viewed on a computer, uploaded

settings, you may have come across the option to

to the internet or printed straight from the camera

choose between shooting in RAW or JPEG. But

without any further processing needed.

what’s the difference? Well, it’s first important to

Shooting in RAW, on the other hand, tells the

know that each time you take a photo, your camera

camera not to make any adjustments and instead

has to decide how it processes the information it

keeps all of the unprocessed (or RAW) data that the

has captured. It has the choice to output the data in

camera captured. Unlike JPEGs, RAW files can’t be

two different file formats – RAW or JPEG. When your

viewed initially without using specialised software,

camera is set to shoot in JPEG, it will automatically

like Adobe Photoshop, though once you’ve finished

make subtle enhancements to the image in-camera,

editing your RAWs they can be converted to a JPEG

like sharpening and adjusting contrast, before

so that you can print or upload your shots straight to

crunching the data down into a JPEG. The resulting

the internet.

When shooting photos in JPEG, your camera will automatically apply subtle sharpness, contrast and colour enhancements


EDITING

RAW

“RAW files retain more data than a JPEG, so you have more control during editing”



EDITING RAW

Why switch to RAW? Discover the benefits of shooting in RAW over JPEG A RAW file retains a greater amount of data

particularly useful when shooting things like

restricted to taking fewer photos and will

compared to that of a JPEG. The benefit of this

landscapes that feature large amounts of detail

experience slower burst rates. However, the

comes when editing your images, as a RAW file

or require more complex adjustments.

benefits of shooting in RAW heavily outweigh

allows for greater flexibility when making adjustments during post-processing. This is

RAW

The downside is that RAW files take up more memory compared to JPEG images, so you’ll be

VS

the downsides. Take a closer look below at how RAW and JPEG really compare.

JPEG

RAW files are larger in size, resulting in bigger and better quality images

JPEGs are smaller in size and lower in quality but take up less memory

As an uncompressed file, images will feature more colour and detail

JPEGs are compressed in camera, so they lack as much detail as RAW

Higher dynamic range means you can adjust exposures in editing

Files are processed in-camera, so editing options are greatly limited

More data is available, so you can edit and fix your images freely

Images will lose data and reduce in quality every time you edit a JPEG

It’s possible to batch edit images and retain all of the original file info

If you edit and save over a JPEG you can’t go back to it’s original state

58


EDITING RAW

Processing RAW files What you need to edit a RAW image and how it works Editing a RAW file requires specialised software (like Photoshop or GIMP)

handy if you ever want to go back and re-edit an image. Another positive

that’s able to read RAW files. It’s important to know that when editing a

to shooting in RAW is that it’s possible to batch edit a number of files at

RAW file, any adjustments made to the image using a RAW editor will

the same time using RAW editing software. To do this in Photoshop

never actually alter the original file; instead, the alterations you make are

Camera Raw, simply open up the files together, click the Select All

simply stored as a separate .xmp file. Working in this way means that it’s

button and make your adjustments using the sliders shown below. The

always possible to refer back to the original image at any time, which is

changes will then be applied to all of the images simultaneously.

HOW DOES BIT DEPTH WORK? Every digital image is made up of red, green and blue, and the bit depth determines how many shades of these colours it has to create the image’s colour palette. A JPEG that is an 8-bit image has a choice of roughly 16.8 million individual colours. RAW files dedicate more bits to each pixel, meaning most have a bit depth of between 12 and 16.

Blacks and whites The Blacks slider controls the darkest tones in the image, letting you lighten or darken them, while the Whites slider manipulates the brightest tones

Shadows and highlights The Shadows slider lets you darken or brighten the shadowy tones within an image, while the Highlights slider lets you darken or brighten the photo’s lighter tones

Contrast As the name suggests, the Contrast slider allows you to either increase or decrease the amount of contrast within an image, for a more striking or subtle colour range

Sharpening and noise reduction Clicking this tab will grant access to the Sharpening and Noise Reduction sliders, letting you increase the sharpness of your image and remove any signs of noise

White balance Clarity The Clarity slider allows you to control the amount of contrast that appears around any of the edges in your image. This in turn increases or decreases the perception of clarity

The Temperature and Tint sliders are used to control the colour temperature of an image, as well as to remove any unwanted colour casts

Exposure Colour enhancement tools The Vibrance and Saturation options are used to either intensify or completely remove the colours from an image, turning it black and white


The Exposure slider is arguably the most important of the main options as it allows you to adjust the overall exposure of the image, correcting signs of under or overexposure


59

EDITING RAW

Improve contrast in RAW images Add some punch to your shots using the Basic sliders in Adobe Camera Raw

WHAT YOU’LL NEED… Editing software RAW image

WE USED… Photoshop CS6

YOU COULD USE… Photoshop Elements Lightroom GIMP

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN… How to enhance the contrast and colours of your RAW images

60


EDITING

RAW When deciding to start shooting in RAW file formats, it’s important to remember that the images you’ll receive will have been left completely untouched by the camera. This means that the camera has simply provided you with the unprocessed – or RAW – data it captured without performing any further enhancements. This is unlike shooting in JPEG, where the camera will automatically make subtle adjustments to your images for you, such as sharpening, boosting contrast and enhancing colours. Although the resulting RAW images may look a little flat and lifeless at first, the advantage of this is that it allows you to take the reins and have full creative control over how your image is processed. Arguably one of the easiest and most rewarding adjustments you can make to your images is adding a hit of contrast. Adding

How to boost the contrast using GIMP

contrast is a sure-fire way to make your image leap from your computer screen or print, and it’s also incredibly quick and easy to do. To learn how, just follow along with our simple tutorial below, and discover first-hand some of the benefits of shooting and editing in RAW. Before we get started, though, in order to make any adjustments to your RAW files, you’re going to need to have access to compatible editing software that’s able to understand this file format. For this tutorial we’ve used the Camera Raw plug-in in Adobe Photoshop CS6, though there are plenty of other options available, such as Photoshop Elements, Lightroom and GIMP. No matter which piece of software you decide to use, the basic principles remain the same, and most share similarly named adjustment sliders, so you’ll have little problem following along.

Contrast and colour

Brighten up With your chosen RAW file opened up in GIMP, start by clicking and dragging the Ex posure Compensation slider to the right in order to brighten up the image.

Easily improve RAW shots

Add contrast Under the Exposure Compensation slider, click on the ‘Correct Luminosity, Saturation’ tab to reveal a new set of options. Click and drag the Contrast slider to the right in order to boost the contrast.

Brighten the image

Boost the contrast

With your RAW image opened in the Adobe Camera Raw interface, start by brightening the image slightly by clicking and dragging the Exposure slider to the right – a value of +0.30 was just enough for our shot.

01

02

Increase the whites

Darken the blacks

Add clarity

03

04

05

Making your way down the list, locate the Whites slider. Slowly start to drag the slider to the right to brighten the lightest tones within the image, being careful not to burn out any detail in the brightest areas.

Head to the Contrast slider next and click and drag it to the right to subtly intensify the contrast within the image. Be careful not to be too heavy-handed here though; a value of +25 worked for us.

Locate the Blacks slider, then click and drag it to the left in order to intensify the darkest tones within the image. Don’t push the slider too far here, as the image can lose fine details in the darkest areas.


Tone curve Finally, head down to the Linear Curve and, using your mouse, click and drag out a shallow ‘S-curve’ (like the one shown in the image below). This will brighten the highlights and darken the shadows.

Towards the very bottom of the list you’ll find the Clarity slider – gently move this slider to the right to inject a final dose of contrast into the image. A value of around +30 worked well for our own image.


EDITING RAW

Enhance exposures using Camera Raw Discover how to correct exposures and improve colours It’s fair to say that on occasion, even professional photographers will

been completely lost. This is particularly handy when it comes to trying

mess up the exposure of a shot. If the image was captured in JPEG then

to fix an under or overexposed image, as you’ll see from this tutorial.

unfortunately there’s not much that can be done to fix it. However, if the

Although shooting in RAW offers far more flexibility, it’s important to

shot was taken in RAW then you may just be able to save it from the

remember that it’s not a complete miracle cure, and there’s a limit as to

rubbish bin! RAW files retain a greater amount of data than a JPEG; this

how far your can push a RAW image before it starts to break up. It’s for

means that when it comes to editing, they’re also a lot more forgiving,

this reason that it’s always sensible to try and get the exposure as near

and you’ll be able to restore some details that would have otherwise

to perfect in-camera rather than relying on fixing it in Photoshop later on.

Exposure and colour

Enhance shots in Photoshop’s Camera Raw

Correct the exposure

Brighten the whites

If your photo is underexposed and appears too dark, drag the Exposure slider to the right to brighten the image. Alternatively, if your photo is overexposed and too bright, move the slider left to darken it.

01

Locate the Whites slider and move it to the right to start brightening up the lightest tones. Keep an eye on the image as you do this to make sure that you don’t over-brighten any areas and lose fine details.

02

03

Fix the highlights

Adjust the shadows

Add vibrancy

04

05

06

Take a look around your image to see if there are any highlights that appear too bright. If so, you can fix this by simply moving the Highlights slider to the left to darken them slightly and bring back details.


Similar to the previous step, if there are any shadows in your image that appear to be too dark, lighten them slightly by gently moving the Shadows slider to the right-hand side.

Darken the blacks Next, click and drag the Blacks slider to the left to start darkening the deepest tones within the photo. Be careful not to push the slider too far as this will overdarken the shadows, turning them pure black.

Working down the list of sliders, find the Vibrance slider and start to move it to the right to boost the colours. Be careful not to push this slider too much though or the image will start to break up.

EDITING

RAW WHAT YOU’LL NEED…

Editing software RAW image WE USED…

Photoshop CS6 YOU COULD USE…

Photoshop Elements Lightroom GIMP WHAT YOU’LL LEARN…

How to correct the exposure of your RAW images

Increase saturation

Boost the sky

Add a grad

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Now, locate the Saturation slider and start to move it to the right to further intensify the colours. Just like the Vibrance, be careful not to push this slider too far, otherwise the colours will start to look fake.

Click the Graduated Filter tool, then move the Exposure slider left to a value of -0.30 and the Contrast slider right to +50. Don’t worry if you can’t see the effects yet as this will become clear in the next step.


With the Graduated Filter tool still selected, click at the top of the photo and drag down the image, only releasing when it reaches the horizon. This will apply the effects we set in the previous step to the sky.


EDITING

RAW

Correct white balance in RAW Correct the colour temperature of your RAW shots using Photoshop

64


WHAT YOU’LL NEED…

Editing software RAW image WE USED…

Photoshop CS6 YOU COULD USE…

Photoshop Elements Lightroom GIMP WHAT YOU’LL LEARN…

How to correct the colour balance in your RAW photographs

EDITING

RAW Have you ever taken what you thought was a

fact incredibly easy to do and will take just a

great photo, only to look at the back of your

few minutes to master. What’s more, once you

camera and find that the results appear to

know how it’s done, the edit will take less than

have adopted either a blue or orange hue? This

a minute to perform and you will have your

is most likely caused by your camera being set

images looking just how you intended them to

to the incorrect white balance setting for the

appear in an instant. To find out how to perform this potentially

colour temperature of lighting in the scene. The bad news is that if you shot the image in JPEG

shot-saving technique, simply follow along with

then it’s almost impossible to restore the

our five-step guide below and discover

photo to the correct colour, even with the help

first-hand just how easy it really is. It’s a vital

of very sophisticated post-processing software

technique that all budding photographers

like Photoshop.

should add to their arsenal, as you never know

However, if you’ve shot the image in RAW

when you’ll need it to get you out of a bind.

then you’re in luck. As RAW files are able to

Although we’ll be using Photoshop’s Camera

retain a greater amount of data than a JPEG,

Raw plug-in for this tutorial, this process can be

it’s possible to manually adjust the white

repeated using virtually any RAW processing

balance of an image later on using specialist

software, including Photoshop Elements,

tools in post-processing. Although this process

Lightroom and even GIMP. See our quick

may sound rather complicated at first, it’s in

tutorial on the right to learn how.

Fix white balance

How to adjust white balance in GIMP

Use presets Under the White Balance tab, click the White Balance preset (where it says Camera WB) to reveal the list of presets. Scroll through and choose the one that’s best suited to your image.

Control colour in Photoshop

White Balance tool Locate and click on a grey area of your photo, then click the Eyedropper tool (located right of the Temperature slider) to automatically adjust the white balance to suit the selected region.

Choose your method

Use the presets

There are a handful of ways to adjust the colour temperature of your RAW images in Photoshop. Each method can either be used on its own, or combined together to successfully correct white balance.

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White Balance tool

Adjust the temperature

Control the tint

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The second method is to use the White Balance tool, located in the top toolbar. With this selected, simply click on a grey area of your photo and Photoshop will automatically make correcting adjustments.

One of the quickest ways is by using the automated presets. Simply click on the White Balance option and choose a preset. If you’re not sure, click through the list until you find one that looks right.

The third way is to make manual adjustments using the Temperature slider. Moving the slider to the left will cool down the image, making it blue, while moving it to the right will warm it, taking on red tones.


Manual adjustments Click and drag the Temperature slider to make manual adjustments to the colour temperature of the image. Moving the slider left will cool it down, while moving it to the right will warm it up.

Finally there’s the Tint slider, which can be found under the Temperature slider, and is used to combat colour casts within your image. Move the slider left to add a green hue or move it right to add magenta.


EDITING

Light leak Photoshop Elements 12 Available on: Mac/PC Price: £78/$100

Add a light leak to shots Inject character into your photos by creating this retro light effect

01

Begin by opening your chosen start photo by going to File> Open. Click on the Expert in the top panel to make the Gradient tool available in the toolbar on the left. Select it and tool options will appear at the base of your window.

GIMP Available on: Mac/PC Price: Free

The finished result

01

Adding in a stunning vintage lighting effect will transform your photos, making them burst with atmosphere!

In this tutorial you will learn how to add a digital light leak effect to your treasured photos, giving them a lovely WE USED… retro feel. A light leak is a Photoshop Elements 12 photographic term used when a GIMP small hole has appeared in the Snapseed body of the camera, allowing YOU COULD USE… light to seep in where it Photoshop CS6 or earlier wouldn’t normally reach, Pixelmator flooding the sensor with extra light. Some would consider it a WHAT YOU’LL LEARN… How to add a light leak problem, but this effect can effect to your images also give your photos great character and enhance the end shot. Adding a light leak in digitally means you can control the effect, colours and the amount of light entering your image. It is a timeless technique that can be created in a variety of programs, regardless of your skill level, device or budget. Read on to see how. WHAT YOU’LL NEED… A suitable start image One or more of the programs covered


Go to File>Open and select your start photo. Go to Windows>Layers – Brushes, making your Layers palette visible. Press the Create a New Layer button at the bottom, choose the Transparency option and hit OK.

3 OF THE BEST…

Apps for adding a light leak effect

Snapseed Available on: iOS/Android Price: Free

iLeaker Free (iOS) Create artistic light-leak images with the free effects in this app. Once your appetite has been whet, more creative effects can be purchased in-app.

XnLight Effect Bokeh & Leak Free (Android) Choose between a variety of traditional light effects in this app. Experiment with light leaks, bokeh, shapes and colours.

XnRetro £1.49/$1.99 (iOS), Free (A ndroid) Traditional photographic effects at a touch of a button, plus other photo editing adjustments are available. Easy to use on all devices and quick to share.

01

Open up Snapseed and click on the Open button, then select your start photo. Down the left-hand side you will see all the adjustments available to you, and there is a huge amount to experiment with. For this task, pick Retrolux.

EDITING

Light leak

02

Click on the Edit button, opening the Gradient Editor window. Select the Foreground to Transparent blend. Under this, on the long, checkered line, click on the black stopper shown in the image. Click on the Color box under this and select a bright orange.

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To add another Color Stop, click directly under the checkered line and repeat the process, altering the colour to yellow. Hit OK. Go to the Layers palette on the right and press the Create a New Layer button at the top of the palette, adding a transparent layer.

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Click on your newly added layer. Go to the Toolbox located on the left of your screen and select the Blend tool. Under the Toolbox, you'll see a Tool options palette filled with Blend options. Click on the Foreground square in the Toolbox and select orange.

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Click the Background coloured square and select yellow. In the tool options, click on the coloured gradient and select FG to Transparent. Click the pad and pencil icon to bring up the Gradient Editor. Drag and drop the Background square into this window.

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02

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04

To choose an effect at random, press the Shuffle button. To access the menu of effects, scroll up or down the touch screen. Select Brightness to begin with and move your finger left to right, increasing the overall levels. Press the Style button.

Try out the styles, select one you like best, then press the Properties button. Here you can choose how strong the effect is and alter the direction of the light leak. Tap the screen and scroll upwards, then select Light Leaks from the menu.


Return to the Gradient tool options at the base of your screen. Select Pin Light from the drop-down Mode menu, Reflected Gradient from the five options available and 50% Opacity. Draw from the bottom-left corner to the centre of your photo.

With the yellow added into the blend, click on your photo window. Drag your cursor from the bottom-left corner up to the centre. Now go to the Layers palette and select Screen from the Mode drop-down menu, finishing off the effect.

Move your finger left or right on screen, altering the strength of the light leak. To see how much your image has changed, press Compare, allowing you to view your image in its original state. When complete, press Apply and then Save.


67

EDITING History palette

The History Palette Keep track of your edits and undo bad adjustments WHAT YOU’LL NEED…  Editing software WE USED… Photoshop

Elements 11 YOU COULD USE… Photoshop CS GIMP WHAT YOU’LL LEARN… How to use the

History palette to undo edits

Editing your photos to turn them into stunning works of art can take time, so the last thing you want to do is start all over again every time you make an editing mistake. This is where the History palette comes in very useful. This handy function can be found in most editing programs, and will list all of the adjustments you make in chronological order. Then, if you decide that you want to go back to a certain stage of the editing process, you can. In Photoshop Elements, choose the number of edits it records in ‘Preferences’.

Rewrite the past

Learn how to use the History palette in Photoshop Elements

Open the History palette

Check the before and after

Remove an adjustment

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To open the History palette, go to Window and select History. A thumbnail of your original image will appear at the top of the palette and then any edits you make will be listed underneath in the order they were applied.


Clicking on the original thumbnail lets you compare the before and after of your photo, while selecting one of your edits lets you temporarily remove any of the subsequent adjustments you have made, to check that you are happy with the changes.

If you select an earlier adjustment and then apply another edit to your shot, this will override your following edits. You can also remove any adjustments by opening the History palette menu and clicking Delete, which will also remove edits that c ame after.

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SHARING

Choosing a cloud storage service We put three of the best sites to the test to see what each of them has to offer Get started Set up your own account on a cloud storage service and you can then access your images on any device with internet

Backup

Sharing

Saving

Losing your photos doesn’t bear thinking about; cloud storage offers a way to keep them safe, should the worst happen

Want to show off your new arrival or recent holiday shots? Ping a share link to selected recipients and they can do the rest

Many cloud storage sites offer a free service for limited space – saves you having to purchase an external hard drive

WHAT YOU’LL NEED… Photos Email address Internet connection

WE USED… Dropbox SkyDrive Box

YOU COULD USE… SugarSync Livedrive Google Drive

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN… Transferring: moving files from your smartphone to the cloud Sharing: sending photos to family and friends Organising: renaming files and folders


JARGON BUSTER Sync Syncing occurs when files saved on each synced device are the same. So editing a photo and saving it to the cloud means the most recent version will be accessible from whatever device you’re using.

SHARING

Cloud storage

Dropbox

Discover what this free storage service can do for you and how you can use it on the go

URL: www.dropbox.com Dropbox is one of the most well-known storage sites out There’s the opportunity to boost your initial storage there, letting you keep all your allocation through referrals photos, videos and documents Has free iPhone, iPad safe. Its updated Photos view and Android apps for truly mobile data transfer enables you to browse through all When you first install the your photos and share them via app, there’s no option to email, Facebook or Twitter. You select shots to back up can also invite friends to look at The referrals can seem a bit ‘spammy’ to your friends specific files or folders via a link. and family While your initial 2GB of storage is free, you can pay to upgrade to a Pro account – prices for which start at approx £6/$10 per month. THE PROS & CONS

Photo browser Click on the Photos tab to browse through your snaps and select files to share

Quick sync Sharing enables you to see exactly which folders you have access to. This syncs to your computer automatically

is super-simple and easy VERDICT Dropbox to use, as well as kind on your pockets. The free Apple and Android apps enable file sharing and syncing from any device anywhere in the world. We're not keen on the referral scheme, though.

Mobile Dropbox

Download Dropbox

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All you need is a Wi-Fi connection to get started

Start storing

Download the Dropbox app to your smart device. Register for an account if you don’t have one already. If you do, log in to access the files already stored and shared on the cloud.

02

Other settings

Share shots

03

Use Cellular Data lets you control uploads during times when you’re out of Wi-Fi areas. Meanwhile, Background Uploading continues file transfers when you’re not in the app.

One of the first screens you’ll see gives you the option to save your photos directly to Dropbox. Click on Enable Camera Upload to start the process.

04

Share photos via text, email or social networks. Select your image, click on the arrow and you’ll be presented with a number of options. Print, copy or save from this screen too.


Backing up and sharing shots has never been easier

Favourite images

05

Favourites are a way to save the latest version of a photo for offline use. Simply click on your image, press the star icon and it’ll appear in the Favourites page.

Up your storage

06

Increase your storage by inviting friends and family to sign up to the site. Each one generates 500MB of extra space (up to 16GB). In Settings, select ‘Tell Friends About Dropbox’.


SHARING Cloud storage

SkyDrive

We take a closer look at Microsoft’s cloud storage service and the features it offers

URL: www.skydrive.live.com SkyDrive is a cloud storage option from Microsoft. It offers 7GB of Users get 7GB of free free space to its users, with an storage when you sign up, which is great for amateurs extra 20GB available if you You can download the subscribe to its Office 247 SkyDrive app for Apple and Android devices package. You can also upgrade for You need to have a an annual fee (an extra 50GB is Microsoft account to £16 per year). Much like Dropbox, access it SkyDrive’s interface is easy to use There isn’t an option for background uploading, so it and can be accessed wherever takes up a lot of your time you are on a variety of devices using its SkyDrive app, which has plenty of helpful features to really make it stand out from the rest. THE PROS & CONS

Preview SkyDrive displays key information about your photographs in its preview mode

Easy sharing Sharing functions and tagging is built into the interface, making it easy to connect your favourite photos with your favourite people

offers a decent amount of VERDICT SkyDrive storage and its apps enable you to customise folders and edit documents on the go. We particularly liked that recipients of shared images didn’t necessarily need a Microsoft account to access files.

Send your shots

Say goodbye to bulky emails with SkyDrive’s app

Add your images

Send out invites

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02

Download the app and in Files>Photos, tap on the three dots. Hit Add Items>Create a Folder, enter a name and tap Create. Tap the three dots again and press Choose Existing.

Tap on Share to invite contacts, type a message, decide if you want your recipients to view or edit shots and then tick if they need a Microsoft account to access them.

Cloud storage offers back-up and sharing solutions in one

SkyDrive extra features

Get a link

03

SkyDrive also lets you generate a link that can be copied and pasted into an email, blog or web page. Tweak the settings to allow or prevent editing and tap Create Link.


It’s not just storage on offer here

Tag someone

Change folders

Make it app-y

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02

03

SkyDrive gives you the Even when everything’s option to tag people within filed away, you have the your photos. You can also add a chance to switch folder types to caption here too. reorganise. Handy, eh?

SkyDrive works alongside smart device apps. Cool Iris lets you display your photos creatively to share with friends.

SHARING Cloud storage

Box

You get oodles of features and bags of storage with this high-spec storage site and app

URL: www.box.com At first glance, the Box interface might seem a bit daunting and The 10GB of free storage on offer will be technical. However, get past its ample for most people rather corporate-looking It has a great app that is homepage and there’s a wealth of well designed and very easy to use options on offer here. It’s simple The website’s interface to use too. What’s more, its looks a bit daunting at first, smartphone app is superb – it’s but you soon get used to it quick to get to grips with and Although fantastic for file sharing, there are not as welcomes customisation and many back-up tools on offer organisation, including the option to sort by name, date or size, or even to completely rename files and folders. THE PROS & CONS

Easy upload Uploading files is simple and easy to do. Simply click on the Upload button to get started

Collaborators Want people to add to this folder? No problem. Press this button to send an invite to friends, family and colleagues

were really impressed with VERDICT We Box. It goes beyond the usual cloud storage fare to really offer you the chance to edit and organise your data. You also get 10GB of free space at the sign-up stage.

Organise your folders

Use Box’s smartphone app to keep your files in order

Register an account

Create a folder

Sign up for an account on Box.com. Next, go to the App Store, or the Android equivalent, and search for Box. Download, install and sign into your Box account on your device.

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02

Upload files

Pop-up options

Rename photos

Further tweaks

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Select the ‘+’ symbol again, but this time press ‘Choose from Library’ if you would like to transfer files stored on your phone. Select the shots you want to add and tap Upload.

Click on the ‘+’ symbol. Choose a file name that’ll help you remember what’s stored inside. We chose ‘Holiday Snaps’, but if you travel a lot it's a good idea to put the location and year.

Once you’ve created the folder, swipe to the left and choose whether to share, rename or delete the folder. You can also enable offline access to edit or view these files on the go.


If your phone or tablet is stolen, Box will ease the pain

When you’ve got a lot of shots, automatically generated filenames such as ‘IMG_5006.JPG’ just don’t cut the mustard. Tap the page icon and select ‘Rename this file’ to alter it.

The folder icon lets you do further housekeeping on the cloud, like organisisng files by name, size or date. You can also copy, move or rename this folder within this menu too.


SHARING

Elements Organizer

Sort by location with Elements Organizer Find out how you can assign images to locations and view all snaps from one place easily Available on: Mac/PC Price: £78/$100 WHAT YOU’LL NEED… Photoshop Elements Organizer Photos from a range of locations WE USED… Photoshop Elements 12 Organizer YOU COULD USE… Earlier versions of Elements (with Places, but not the stack view)

Photoshop Elements makes it easy to view and sort your photos using its handy Organizer program. The

ability to sort photos by location is not new, but with more and more cameras having GPS built in, it is becoming a more popular way to view your snaps. In Elements 12, you can now view your images from every location that you have images assigned to in a handy stack view. This collects together all of your photos from one location and 'stacks' them on top of each other to keep them together. The advantage is that you can browse all of your locations in one go, without

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN… How to assign and edit locations to photos How to view all images from one location How to see your photos in Places stack view

wading through lots of images, before deciding which location you want to view in more detail. It's easy to assign a location to a photo. If your camera captures GPS data, then you will find that your photos can be viewed on a map in the Places view instantly. If the data is wrong, it's easy to change the location by dragging the pin to a new place. If your camera doesn't have location data, then we'll be showing you how to manually add a location in this tutorial. We'll then give you a quick tour of what you can do once you have multiple places stacked together.

Sort by place The Places tab enables you to add images to a location or edit where shots have been assigned

Swap views Use this toggle to view either the Media (ie all of your photos) or Places, the latter of which gives you the Stack view

Location pins A location that has photos assigned to it will have a red pin with the number of images in that stack


SHARING

Elements Organizer

Places Stack view View your photos by location

Add Places

Choose a location

Change a location

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If your camera has GPS data, then your images will already have a place assigned to them. If not, select a folder of images from one location and then hit the Add Places button at the bottom of the window.

In the new dialog that opens, use the Search bar to type in the name of the location that you want to assign to your images. They will all be added and you will need to tick to confirm.

If you want to change the location, you can simply pick up the pin and move it to a new place. You can also assign a location by dragging and dropping the photos to a precise location.

3 OF THE BEST…

Additional features

Browse by location

See your stacks

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Now you can view your images by location. At the top of the main window, choose the Places tab. You will see the currently selected images displayed on the left, and a map of locations on the right.

In order to use the stack view, you will need to change the little slider above the window with your images in from Media to Places. You will now see stacks for every assigned location.

Slideshow Ctrl/right-click on any stack to view a slideshow. You can alter the theme and the settings to get a bespoke display – great for showing friends.

Quick edit While you are in Slideshow view, the pop-out boxes on the left enable you to quickly edit your photos, or add keywords, while in full screen.

View selected images

Edit options

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If you want to only view images taken in one particular place, then you can click on the pin in the map. An option to Show Media will pop up. Click on this and you will only see the photos from that location.

If you Ctrl/right-click on any of the stacks, you can choose to edit the location of the images, remove the assigned location, or view a quick slideshow of all images in that stack.


Change your map You can view your map in a number of different views including Hybrid (shown here), Light and Dark. Plus you can turn Terrain on and off.


SHARING Quick tips

5 tips for printing your photos Create copies to share and enjoy

Thanks to digital photography and the internet, we can now share our photos with the whole world in a matter of seconds. However, it’s still nice to create actual prints

every once in a while, as they make fantastic presents for loved ones and look great on your living room wall. Here are our top tips for creating high-quality prints…

DIY or order online

Pick the paper

Create a book

If you have a printer at home, you can create your own prints as and when you please. However, there are lots of websites that will do all the hard work for you, and you can get discounts for ordering in bulk.

Printing on high-quality paper will help you create high-quality prints, so get the best paper that you can afford. Choose between a range of finishes including glossy or matte, depending on the effect you prefer.

A great way to display your prints is in a photobook. You could cut and stick them yourself to create your own scrapbook, or order a ready-made photobook online full of your digital images.

Set the resolution

Crop and resize

Preview the print

When printing, your images should ideally have a resolution of around 300dpi (dots per inch). The resolution will depend on the megapixel count of your sensor, but choose the highest quality setting on your camera.

Work out the size of the print you want and then resize your shot. Crop your image in editing software if you want to change its shape, but constrain the proportions if you want to keep the original aspect ratio.

Make sure that you preview your prints before actually printing them to check that important parts of your shot won’t be cropped off. If they are then you will need to resize the image again.


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Evo Belt System                   Carry your camera on your waist or wherever. Safe and secure, instant access to your camera. Works great on its own or with B-Grip Hand Strap. Instant click onto tripod with B-Grip Tripod Adaptor.  

Stylish, ergonomic stand alone hand strap.

Click instantly onto your tripod with B-Grip tripod adaptor.

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Click instantly onto B-Grip Belt Holder or B-Glider.

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Instantly click your camera with B-Grip Hand Strap onto tripod. Instantly click your camera with B-Grip Evo Belt system or B-Glider onto tripod.

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Mount your B-Grip Evo Belt System onto your backpack strap.* Quick Fit waterproof camera cover. Compatible with all B-Grip accessories.

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* Requires B-Grip Evo Belt System

. g n i d n e P t n e t a P

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E&OE

Ask the team questions at

Hayley Paterek


Hayley is here to help out with our readers’ shooting concerns

Post questions to the PFBMag group at www.facebook.com Tweet any quick questions or tips you may have to @PFBMag Upload your problem pics to our Flickr pool at www.flickr.com/ pfbmag

Questions & answers, tips & photo-fixes

PFB’s deputy editor

James Sheppard Photographer and Photoshop whizz James is on hand to solve any editing issues

Jo Stass PFB’s

staff writer Jo is at the ready to answer your camera tech questions

How can I fix a grey sky? I recently took this photo of my favourite statue in my local town, but the grey sky makes it look a little dull and gloomy. Is there any way that I can enhance the sky to make it look a little brighter?

A B

Jane Hawks, via Email

Unfortunately you can’t do much about the weather, and so sometimes you just have to work with what you’re given. You could convert your image to black and white to make a cloudy sky look more dramatic, or use a filter to adjust the exposure. However, there are also some simple ways to improve dull weather shots using editing software. Let us show you how to turn a grey sky bright blue.

C

of an otherwise well- composed shot

Flat image There is also a lack of detail in C the clouds, making the image

Email it to our experts [email protected]

01 Select your subject

look relatively uninteresting and flat

Alter the look of bad weather skies in Photoshop Elements

Use the Quick Selection tool to select your main subject so that you can edit it independently from the sky. The Add and Subtract tools can be used to neaten it up.


and so a lot of its details are lost in shadow

Dull sky The grey sky looks very dull B and drab, reducing the impact

Photo needs rescuing?

Enhance dull skies

Dark details The statue looks a little dark A against the sky in this photo,

02 Brighten it up

Now go to Enhance>Adjust Lighting>Brightness/Contrast and increase the Brightness to bring out detail in your subject. You can also boost the Contrast to add texture.

03Improve the sky

Next, go to Select>Inverse to select the sky, then go back to Enhance>Adjust Lighting>Brightness/ Contrast and increase the Contrast to bring out more detail in the clouds.

04Add some colour

Go to Filter>Adjustments> Photo Filter, select a cooling filter and increase the Density slider until the sky turns bright blue, or use a warming filter to create a golden sky.

Ask the team questions at photoforbeginners.com

4 OF THE BEST…

Aperture Priority is a great mode for beginners looking to get out of Auto

Tricks for capturing perfect skies

Shoot in the golden hours To capture really colourful skies, shoot during the golden hours, which are just after sunrise and just before sunset. At these times of day, the sun is low in the sky and creates a lovely, golden light in your photos.

How do I master Aperture Priority? Use a filter A neutral density graduated filter will allow you to block some of the light from the sky to prevent it from becoming overexposed. A polarising filter is better for increasing contrast and boosting colours in your photo.

I have had my camera for a while but have been too scared to use any of the manual modes, so all of my photos have been taken in Auto. I think it’s time to start progressing my skills though, and I’ve heard that Aperture Priority is a good place to start. Do you have any advice for a complete novice taking their first steps into manual shooting, and how to go about choosing the right settings? Bill Norman, via Facebook

Meter correctly If you switch to Spot Metering mode, your camera will measure the light for wherever you set your focus point. Therefore, if you focus on the sky, it will pick the right settings to make sure that it appears well exposed.

Change your angle Avoid pointing your camera in the direction of the sun as this will create washed-out photos with glare. You will also capture richer colours and better contrast in your shots if the clouds are lit from an angle.

How to use Aperture Priority

Aperture Priority mode is a great first step into manual shooting. It lets you choose the aperture for your shot but takes care of the shut ter speed for you, so you don’t have to worry too much about exposure. Aperture controls the size of the opening in your lens, with a small f- number creating a large hole and a large f-number creating a smaller hole. Therefore a small f-number will capture lots of light, while a large f-number will capture less. Aperture also controls depth of field, determining how much of your shot is in focus.

Take the next step with this semi-automatic mode

Decide on depth of field

Set the f-number

To blur the background of your photo, use a large aperture to create a shallow depth of field. To keep everything in focus from back to front, use a small aperture.

Aperture is measured in ‘f-stops’. For If you’re shooting in well-lit a large aperture, choose a small conditions, keep your ISO low, but if f-number between f1.8 and f5.6. For a your shots appear too dark, try small aperture, pick a larger f-number increasing it to around 400. Watch between f8 and f22. out for noise appearing, though.

Pick an ISO


This month we

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Knowing the right settings to use will help you capture perfect party pictures

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Jason Day Water is a fascinating photography subject, particularly for taking great action shots.

How do I photograph an indoor event? Lee Wintrip A slow shutter speed lets you blur car headlights to create light trails.

I’m going to a friend’s party soon and I want to take some photos to preserve my memories of the night and give to my friends as gifts. Have you got any advice for taking great shots? It’s going to be taking place in a dark room. Rachel Carr, via Facebook Taking photos at an indoor event when there isn’t much available light is always tricky. It’s very easy

Take great party shots

to come away with blurry and unflat tering shots of your friends that you’ll want to delete straight away. However, there are a few simple ways to take fantastic shots, and it’s usually about knowing the best camera settings to use. If your camera does not have manual controls, then you could try using a low light or indoor scene mode so that it can pick the right settings for you. It also helps if your camera has a good zoom, as you can capture great, candid shots of partygoers from a distance.

Get flattering shots in low-light conditions

Michael Davey The lovely, golden light projected across this scene gives it extra warmth and depth.

Ruth Holt Lighting subjects from behind can reveal hidden textures and patterns.


Set your aperture

Raise your ISO

Control your flash

Use a large aperture (small f-number) to make sure plenty of light reaches your sensor. It will also blur the background of your shots to remove any distractions.

Increasing your ISO will make your sensor more sensitive to the light and therefore brighten up your shot. It can make your photos grainy if you raise it too high though.

Bouncing your flash off of a piece of white paper will create a more flattering effect, while Slow Sync mode will let you use a slow shutter speed to capture background detail.

Twitpics The best photos tweeted to us @pfbmag

Shooting f ro m a plane window g iv es y ou a unique per spectiv e @C G6919

T exture and contrast make f or g re at monochr ome shots @dafy d dsnelling

g a k i n f o r t d e a l g 1 i s i e r i n t e a t h s @ M c m y w t o S t o r a t i c p h o d r a m

B ri g ht fl o we r t o y ou a d a r s h s a dd sh o f c ot s @ Na ol o th ur B ra y sh a w

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Getting your photos printed on canvas is a great way to display them in your home as your very own work of art, or give your shots to friends and family as gifts. It has become increasingly more affordable to get your shots printed on canvas too, with lots of companies offering very reasonable prices. All you have to do is upload your shots online, place your order, and then your c anvas print will be delivered straight to your door. Once it arrives, all that’s left to do is decide which wall to hang it on. Here are a few recommendations for printing services to use…

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QUICK START GUIDE Get to know your camera

Get to know your camera in 5 minutes Your quick start guide to help you master your kit now Shutter release

Mode dial

This button is used to take the picture. On most cameras, pressing it halfway in Auto will focus the image

Change the settings on the camera using the mode dial

Hotshoe The hotshoe allows you to attach external accessories, such as a more powerful flash, to the camera

CAMERA ICONS EXPLAINED Choose the correct setting with this guide If you’re using a compact camera, then most of your controls will be on the back. A DSLR or Compact System Camera will usually have a mode dial on top. Either way, the icons for setting the camera to shoot in different conditions and for basic operation such as deleting images are usually universal.

Landscape Boosts the saturation in blues and greens for really vivid outdoor photographs

Program Easily customise things like ISO and white balance in Program mode

P

Flash

The light enters the camera here. Lenses can be changed on some camera models

Lens release

If your camera has an on-board flash, press this button to use it

Press this button to remove the lens from your camera

JARGON BUSTER Aperture

Focal lengths

Megapixels

Affects the amount of your image that is in focus – the ‘depth of field’

Wide-angle – a wider angle of view than normal, eg 28mm Telephoto – a magnified view of subjects in the distance, eg 200mm

Number of pixels on the sensor, in millions

CSC Compact system camera

DSLR

Focus

Digital single lens reflex camera

Autofocus means your camera focuses for you; Manual puts you in control

Drive mode

ISO

Continuous or Burst mode, single shot and self-timer

Dynamic range The term used to refer to the amount of detail in the highlights and shadows

Exposure A balanced exposure has detail in light and shadow areas alike

Exposure compensation Adjusts the tonal range of your photo, lighter or darker

Refers to how sensitive your camera’s sensor is to light and affects the visible grain or ‘noise’ in a photo

LCD The display screen on the rear of the camera used to compose images

Live view An electronic view of the scene in front of the lens

Metering Refers to the way the camera reads the light in the scene


Noise Refers to the visible digital grain in a photo

Select the aperture while the camera picks the shutter speed for you

A

AUTO Lens

Aperture priority

S

Auto

Shutter priority

I f all else fails, let your camera do the hard work for you by using automatic mode

Select the shutter speed and the camera will change the aperture

Sports Uses a fast shutter speed to capture movement without blur

Portrait For super-flattering shots of your friends and family with blurry backgrounds

Manual Take control in this mode and pick your own shutter speed and aperture

Shutter speed Fast speeds freeze action while longer ones blur any motion

Viewfinder Optical – shows you the view through the camera lens and is good for accurate framing Electronic – shows the view on an LCD in the viewfinder

Self-timer for self-portraits etc

Playback – use

Metering modes

Image stabilisation

Flash – choose to switch on/off Flash off – the flash won’t fire

Affected by the ambient light, the white balance can be altered to ensure a natural colour result

Optical – the magnification provided by the camera lens Digital – a camera crop factor

Drive modes including Burst

 to review photos

White balance

Zoom

Delete – found on all cameras

+

Zoom in on your photos

–

Zoom out of your photos

W T +

–

Zooms lens out for wide angles

Fn – for shortcuts

Function button

Zooms lens in for close-ups

Ø

Diameter of lens – found on barrel

Exposure compensation

Macro or closeup modes

Video mode on stills cameras

Night-time/ low-light scenes


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UPGRADE

Nikon D5300

With tons of features, this will tempt first-time DSLR users £730/$800 (body only) | 3.2”, 1037k-dot vari-angle TFT | 24.2MP DX-format CMOS sensor | 5fps high-res RAW shooting

BUY T HIS IF … y o

u ar e an on- th e g o ent husiast - look ing f or a f ir st DSLR

WHY DOESN’T IT HAVE A LOW-PASS FILTER? Optical low-pass or anti-aliasing (AA) filters decrease high frequencies that create distortion when photographing patterns. The problem with the filter, though, is it decreases the light travelling through the lens, resulting in sof tening.


UPGRADE

Nikon D5300 Below Without the optical low-pass filter diffusing light

before it reaches the sensor, images leave the camera superbly crisp and rich in detail

The 39-point autofocus system handles smoothly and quickly when using the viewfinder, but the pace slows down when using LiveView mode

TECHNICAL INFO

Megapixels

24.2MP Capable of producing extremely large prints, with A2 and larger pictures presenting razor-sharp detail

Zoom Lens dependent A selection of lenses are available

Shutter speed 30-1/4000sec Will please both those seeking lengthy exposures and lightning-quick speeds

ISO sensitivity 100-12800 This superb range means that you could shoot in low light without a tripod

Exp. modes 16 scenes, plus Auto, Program, Manual, AP and SP Plenty of modes to support both novices and step-up shooters

Aperture Lens dependent Flash modes A, RE, SS, SS+RE, Fill, RC+SS, RC, Fon, Foff

Weight 530g with battery Dimensions 125 x 98 x 76mm Batteries Rechargeable

Lithium-ion

Storage SD, SDHC, SDXC

Set to appeal to adventurous first-time DSLR-users, the Nikon D5300 neatly slips in above the Nikon D5200 to become the brand’s most feature-heavy, entry-level shooter. The camera is fully equipped to suit improvers and also provides the full range of automatic modes to appease those a little less experienced. Topping the bill of features is a 24.2MP DX-format CMOS sensor that has been stripped of its optical low-pass filter for enhanced definition. The unit, which is available in black, grey or red, also provides a top sensitivity of ISO 25600, built-in Wi-Fi and GPS, and a maximum burst rate of 5fps. At 530g, the D5300 is significantly lighter and smaller than its predecessor and much of its competition in the entry-level market, yet it retains durability. The 3.2-inch screen is bigger than the average camera and offers a higher resolution too. Occasionally direct sunlight is a problem, but the screen is viewable from most angles and is vari-angle, delivering greater scope for composition. Both newcomers and those with some DSLR or CSC experience should find the D5300 accessible thanks to its wide range of shooting options. The


only real feature lacking an outer-shell shortcut is ISO, but a Function button is within reach to provide a link to commonly used settings like sensitivity. Shutter response and write times are snappy and the 39-point autofocus system, when using the viewfinder, is well paced and accurate, but this is noticeably slower when using LiveView, especially in low light or when the subject is travelling. The absence of the optical low-pass filter results in sharper images, and colours are reproduced realistically and bright with a wide tonal scale. The camera’s meter is on-point, generating balanced exposures and a broad dynamic range even in high-contrast frames. We begin to see telltale signs of noise nibbling away at quality from ISO 16003200, which is very favourable, and pictures are arguably still usable right up to ISO 12800.

Screen 3.2 inches

HOW GOOD IS IT FOR…

Landscapes  No optical low-pass filter means richer details – perfect for landscapes

Portraits  The D5300 offers RAW shooting, ideal if users intend to tweak skin tone colours

Sports  Sports enthusiasts can take advantage of its high ISO and 5fps Burst mode

Low light  Handheld night shots are possible with the RAW option and a high ISO setting

Macro  The camera sports a handy and effective close-up mode

THE PROS & CONS Vari-angle screen that is larger than most and offers a higher resolution

Offering great value for money, the D5300 brings high-end specs to the entry-level market; delivering streamlined handling and strong image quality.

Capable of fantastic image quality at a very reasonable price

VERDICT 

No optical low-pass filter means some patterns might appear distorted

The lack of shortcut commands may irk more advanced users


UPGRADE Sony DSC-RX10

Sony DSC-RX10

Can this camera’s performance justify its high price tag? £1079/$1300 | 20.2MP back-lit sensor | 24-200mm Carl Zeiss zoom lens | Tiltable 1,229k dot screen

BU Y THIS IF…

You’re an eag er i a en thusias t w th big budg e t to ma tch

WHY IS IT BETTER THAN THE AVERAGE BRIDGE? The RX10 shares its family’s one-inch, back-illuminated sensor, which is four times bigger than those found on average bridge cameras. This means the 20.2MP resolution isn’t compromised by lack of space, resulting in stronger detailing.


UPGRADE

Sony DSC-RX10 Below Colours, metering and dynamic range reach a level far exceeding that of its

nearest bridge competitor, with quality more akin to that of an entry-level DSLR

The RX10 is light yet strong thanks to its magnesiumalloy body, which is dust and moisture resistant

TECHNICAL INFO

Megapixels

20.2MP The camera lets users capture images at a selection of sizes, from 3.7MP for sharing online, to 20MP for large prints

Zoom 8.3x optical, 4x digital The Carl Zeiss lens provides a very versatile focal range of 24-200mm

Shutter speed 30-1/3200sec With an incredibly fast shutter speed, the RX10 will suit sports enthusiasts

ISO sensitivity 125-12800 The reach makes sharp, handheld low-light images a real possibility

Exp. modes 9 scenes, plus Auto, Program, Manual, AP and SP All the necessary scene modes as well as advanced shooting options

Aperture f2.8-f16 Flash modes A, Fill, SS, RS, Foff Weight 813g with battery Dimensions 129.0 x 88.1 x 102.2mm Batteries Lithium-ion Storage SD, SDHC, SDXC

DSLRs and CSCs aren’t for everyone; they can be tricky to handle and there’s the additional expense of lenses and accessories. Compacts are ideal for beginners, but there aren’t many that are capable of stunning detail because their sensors are so small. The new Sony bridge camera, the DSC-RX10, is an advanced compact with a hefty zoom that attempts to offer enthusiasts the best of both worlds: ease of handling in one all-encompassing unit and exquisite detailing thanks to its one-inch 20.2MP sensor. The build quality of the light and compact RX10 is reassuringly rugged, plus it looks as impressive as any contemporary CSC or entry-level DSLR. It features a multi-interface shoe for accessories like external flashes and stereo microphones, which is rare for a bridge camera, and more unusual still is the adoption of a richly detailed (1,440k dots) OLED Tru-Finder offering 100 per cent coverage. For those not wishing to use the Tru-Finder, there is a tiltable 1,229k dot LCD screen that moves downwards 45 degrees and up 84 degrees. While the screen can be seen in direct sunlight and from a wider than average range of angles, views can be blocked by


the eyepiece when shooting from beneath eye-level. Handling the camera is straightforward thanks to the range of auto and semi-auto modes, but there are also manual options including operating the lens ring, which lets users fine-tune focus as well as focal range. The autofocus is slick and effective regardless of light or whether the subject is moving. For a camera of this price, we’d expect the image quality to be of a very high standard, and the Sony didn’t disappoint. As expected, noise was held at bay for the majority of the native ISO range, with the first signs of damage appearing at ISO 3200, but the image quality achieved at its highest extendable setting of ISO 25600 is still usable, making shooting handheld in low light a realistic venture. Colours are also accurate, metering is spot-on and the dynamic range is incredibly high for a bridge camera.

Screen 3 inches


Landscapes  The lens offers a flexible 24-200mm focal range – ideal for landscapes

Portraits  The autofocus is fast and accurate, making it easy to capture subjects

Sports  The fast shutter speed and ability to add a flash will excite sports shooters

Low light  The camera’s large sensor means noise is controlled even at higher sensitivities

Macro  You can use the lens ring to fine-tune focus – a boon for macro photography

THE PROS & CONS Large sensor resulting in low noise, higher dynamic range and rich detailing

Proving its worth tenfold, the RX10 is a high-end yet easy-to-use bridge camera that is ideal for effectively capturing a wide range of photography genres.

Lens with wide focal range and T* coating to reduce ghosting and flare


When shooting beneath eye-level, the eyepiece can block part of the LCD

Priced at over £1000, it is one of the most expensive bridge cameras ever


UPGRADE Fujifilm X-A1

Fujifilm X-A1 We find out if the X-M1’s budget brother can compete £529/$600 | 16MP APS-C sensor | Tilting LCD | Wi-Fi

BU Y THIS IF…

you wan t a budg e t CSC tha t doesn’ t compromise on i y qual t

CAN I SHARE STRAIGHT FROM CAMERA? The X-A1 can send shots to your phone or tablet using Wi-Fi, as well to friends using the Photo Receiver app. This was easy to set up and use and you can also back up images to your home PC, but you can’t control the camera from your phone.


UPGRADE

Fujifilm X-A1 Below Colours were vibrant in the shots we took and the camera metered well.

Image quality is excellent, despite a small amount of softness

There is a small thumbgrip on the back and a grip at the front. It’s nice and light too, making it okay to hold with just one hand

TECHNICAL INFO

Megapixels

16.3MP A good size on a large sensor

Zoom By lens Compatible with a range of XF and XC lenses, from wide angle to zooms

Shutter speed 30-1/4000sec Great for long exposures and freezing action in its tracks

ISO sensitivity 200-6400 (extendable to 100-25600) A large range and it handles noise well

Exp. modes 13 scenes, plus Auto, Advanced SR Auto, Program, Manual, AP, SP, Advanced Filter Sport, Landscape and Portrait modes are on the dial, with manual modes too

Aperture By lens Flash modes Auto, Fon, Foff, SS, RS, Commander, RE

Weight 330g with battery Dimensions 116.9 x 66.5 x 39.0mm Batteries Lithium-ion Storage SD, SDHC, SDXC

The X-A1 continues Fujifilm’s retro trend with its appealing rangefinder-esque looks, and enters the market as one of the company’s budget options. It’s affordable, but no less desirable, as it packs some great features worth your c ontemplation. Available in black, blue or red with a textured faux-leather front that helps with grip, the X-A1 has plastic buttons but the build is sturdy. It handles well too, with settings being easy to access using twin command dials. ISO is hidden in the menu, but you can assign a setting to the Fn but ton and there’s a Quick Menu to access the most used settings. Fujifilm’s latest camera is similar to the X- M1 (reviewed in Issue 30) but with a slightly lower grade sensor so images won’t be as sharp. It’s still APS- C sized though, which is larger compared to its Micro Four Thirds competitors. As an affordable entry-level model, we’ll forgive the lack of viewfinder, but this would have been nice for composing on bright, sunny days. The bright and clear 920k dot, three-inch tilting LCD screen is useful for awkward angles, but it’s a shame it doesn’t flip out and it’s not a touch screen.


This model doesn’t skimp on shooting options, however, with an Advanced SR Auto mode that detects 58 scenes as well as various manual controls, fun filters, and film simulation modes. There’s even a double exposure mode that merges two shots in-camera. Alongside RAW files, Wi-Fi, 5.6fps high-speed continuous shooting to capture action and 1080p video mode, you have plenty of options to get creative with. One feature it excels at is low-light performance. With a wide ISO range that’s extendable to a massive 25600, the X-A1 handles noise very well, with only a very small amount appearing at ISO 1600. The shots were a little soft, but for such an affordable camera, the general image quality and features on offer here make this one of the best budget CSCs on the market.

Screen 3 inches

The X-A1 is missing one or two features, but at this price it isn’t enough to detract from what is an easy-to-use camera with great image quality.

Easy handling with twin control dials and a useful Quick Menu


You can’t control it remotely from a smartphone like some competitors


Landscapes  Select Velvia film simulation for bright and vibrant vistas

Portraits  Skin tones are flattering and backgrounds nicely blurred in

Sports   Tracking focus doesn’t always keep up in Burst mode

Low light  Excellent ISO performance, and there’s 30sec exposures

Macro   A dedicated macro lens is needed to get in really close

THE PROS & CONS Excellent low-light performance, with a good handling of noise at higher ISOs

It would be useful to have a touch screen LCD that flipped out


UPGRADE Olympus STYLUS 1

HOW EASY IS IT TO SHARE PHOTOS? Wirelessly connecting the camera to your smartphone is quick and simple. Just download the free Olympus Image Share app, tap the Wi-Fi option on the camera screen and then scan the QR code that appears on the display with your phone.

BU Y THIS IF…

you wan t DSLR func tionali t y in a pocke table bod y

Olympus STYLUS 1 Does this chunky compact from Olympus pack a punch? £550/$700 | 28-300mm f2.8 lens | Wi-Fi connectivity | Electronic viewfinder & tilting touch screen


UPGRADE

Olympus STYLUS 1 Below Colours can appear a little over-saturated, but images are otherwise vibrant

and true-to-life. They also have plenty of detail, even in low light

The camera is comfortable to hold and easy to use, although the dials are quite far forward

TECHNICAL INFO

Megapixels

12MP A decent number of megapixels for producing high-resolution photos

Zoom 10.7x optical, 21.4x digital The 28-300mm focal range is very impressive for a compact camera

Shutter speed 60-1/2000sec Great for shooting fast-paced action as well as low-light scenes

ISO sensitivity 100-12800 An extensive range for taking sharp shots while shooting handheld at night

Exp. modes 12 scenes plus Auto, Program, Manual, AP and SP A great range for both beginners taking their first steps into photography and more advanced shooters

Aperture f2.8 Flash modes A, RE, Fon, Foff, SS, M Weight 402g with battery Dimensions 116.2 x 87.0 x 56.5mm Batteries Lithium-ion Storage SD, SDHC, SDXC, UHS-I

The STYLUS 1 from Olympus has lots of features that you wouldn’t normally find on a compact camera. Firstly, there’s the electronic viewfinder for easily framing shots in bright, sunny conditions, as well as the hotshoe for attaching a flashgun or other accessory. Then there’s the tiltable LCD screen that can be used to compose your shots from high or low angles, and the ability to shoot in RAW so you have more control over the editing process. All of these additions, combined with the full manual control, make this a great camera for beginners looking to advance their skills but who don’t want to carry around a bulky DSLR and additional lenses. The lens of the STYLUS 1 is particularly versatile, and is protected behind a clever screw-on lens cap that automatically folds back when the camera is switched on. The 28-300mm focal range is useful for most shooting situations and it also has a constant aperture of f2.8, so that you can capture blurry backgrounds and plenty of light throughout the zoom range. Despite its advanced functionality, the camera is actually very easy to use. The control ring around


the lens can be used to quickly change your exposure settings or be assigned with your favourite controls, and the touch screen enables you to focus and take your shot with just a couple of taps of your finger. For those taking their first steps into photography, Auto mode gives you simple control over depth of field and freezing or blurring motion, as well as basic shooting tips for capturing various different scenes. The mostly metal camera body is stylish, pocketable and sturdy, and although a little heavy, it is comfortable to hold thanks to the front and back grips. The image quality is high, producing photos that are detailed and vibrant, if a little oversaturated at times. Digital noise does creep in at ISO 800 though, making the constant f2.8 aperture particularly useful for shooting handheld at night. You get a quality camera with plenty of useful features for a reasonable price, and you can take it everywhere thanks to its compact size.


Screen 3 inches


Landscapes  The built-in ND filter will let you shoot long exposure landscapes in the day

Portraits  E-Portrait mode automatically retouches your people shots for you

Sports  7fps continuous shooting increases your chances of taking great shots

Low light  The ISO performance is decent, but the f2.8 helps for shooting handheld

Macro  Super Macro mode allows you to get really close up to your subject

THE PROS & CONS Advanced features are packed into a camera that will fit in a large pocket It has a lot to offer both beginners and more experienced shooters The ISO performance is a little disappointing for an advanced camera It is quite heavy for a compact, but does feel sturdy and robust


ACCESSORIES

Ricoh Theta

Ricoh Theta Capture a full 360-degree panorama image in a push of a button

The Ricoh Theta is a camera that’s different to anything you have used before, but it feels well made and sturdy in the hand, and comes with a nice, soft protective case for throwing in your bag. This is the ideal camera if you want to capture immersive 360-degree panorama photos of your surroundings in an instant. There is no space for a memory card, but you do get enough memory built in for around 1200 photos before you need to download them onto your computer to make room. Charging is done with the supplied micro-USB cable and once charged, you can take around 200 photos before needing to find a charging point – more than enough for a weekend away. It’s super simple to use too; just turn it on and press the button to capture the panorama, and a little beeping sound tells you when it’s complete. If you have an iOS device, you can also download an app and trigger the camera remotely, which lets you move out of the picture if you don’t want your hand to be in the photograph. There is also a tripod mount on the bottom of the camera to facilitate getting the best image quality, which will also enable you to prevent your hand from appearing in the photograph too. Image quality is pretty good for such a small camera, and outdoors it does very well. When shooting inside in low light, noise is visible in the image but it still gives a good result. The images produced are 3584 x 1792px in size (about 6.4MP) and you can upload them to the Ricoh Theta website via the included software for Mac and PC.

B UY T HI S y ou w a I F… n

f un p a t t o t ak e a p ho t o g no r a m ra a n i ns ph s i n ta n t

THE INFO Price £330/$400

External dimension 42 x 129 x 22.8mm

Shots per charge 200 Storage capacity Approx 1200 Weight 95g Colours White

THE PROS & CONS A great, fun little camera that is small enough to take anywhere and get completely different pictures to those that other cameras would produce. The question is, is it enough?

VERDICT  92 Photography for Beginners

Allows a full 360-degrees in one button press, making it easy to u se Can be controlled by a smartphone to get you out of the picture Image quality isn’t brilliant in low light but i t’s good in outdoor conditions Using the button, your hand and body are in the picture

ACCESSORIES Cameraphones

Cameraphones The latest smartphones for snapping shots on the go 2 iPhone 5S Price From £549/$649 The latest version of the iPhone ( www. apple.com) has a slightly larger sensor and brighter lens than its predecessor, producing impressively high-quality images for such a small and slim phone. ‘True Tone’ LED flash is another new addition, adjusting the colour and intensity of the light for a slightly more flattering effect, plus you can shoot in a square format to save you

cropping in Instagram later. The Panorama and HDR functions are still available, but there is very little else in the way of manual control. However, you can add filters in real-time and choose from a wide range of editing and sharing apps available on the App Store.



1 Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom Price From £399/$499 The S4 Zoom (www.samsung.com) is the perfect example of smartphone meets compact camera, yet it doesn’t do a great job of being either. It’s quite chunky and heavy for a smartphone, and the camera’s image quality is a little disappointing for a compact. It does have a 10x optical zoom, however, which sets it apart from your standard digital zoom-only smartphone. It also has a shutter button, plus the dial around the protruding lens lets you control the zoom and gives you quick access to your shooting modes. In the camera app you can use Auto, Program and Manual too.

02

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01


ACCESSORIES Cameraphones

3 Nokia Lumia 1020 Price £520/$610 The 41MP sensor of this Nokia ( www.

even produce a 38MP and 5MP image

nokia.com) smartphone provides a solution to its lack of optical zoom, as once you’ve taken an image, you can simply zoom in or crop your shots without losing much detail. The overall image quality is impressive, and the camera performs well in low light thanks to its bright f2.2 lens. It can

at the same time, so you can print one and easily share the smaller one online. The built-in Nokia Pro Camera app includes a Manual mode to control your shutter speed, ISO, white balance and exposure compensation.



4 Sony Xperia Z1 Price £479/$600 Sony’s (www.sony.co.uk) smartphone is the largest on test, but still manages to look sleek and stylish. The image quality is good, although lacks detail in low light, and the operation of the camera app is quite slow and unresponsive, which can be frustrating. As well as Auto, you can control

03

some manual functions such as exposure compensation, ISO, metering and white balance, but other exposure settings cannot be adjusted. There are handy scene modes to choose from, and Timeshift Burst mode takes a series of shots in a split second so you can choose the best one. Fun creative options are also available, and like the Samsung, the Xperia Z1 is also an Android phone with access to thousands of apps.

04


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ACCESSORIES Budget landscape kit

Budget landscape kit Affordable accessories to help you shoot stunning, pin-sharp vistas

03 04

01

02 96


1 HOYA CIR-PL filter Price From £39/approx $65 A polarising filter will increase contrast and

then twist the outer section of the filter

boost the colours in your landscape shot,

around until you achieve the desired effect. It

which is particularly useful when shooting

does also block out a bit of light though, so

cloudy blue skies. It will also help to remove

you may need to increase your exposure

any reflections if you are including water or

compensation value to prevent your shots

glass in your scene. This one from HOYA

from becoming too dark. While they are

(www.hoyafilter.com) is very lightweight, yet it

available in a range of sizes to suit different

is also a quality and effective product. You

lenses, be aware that the price does increase

simply screw it onto the end of your lens and

with the size of the filter.

BEST FOR: BOOSTING COLOURS AND CONTRAST

Imagine Publishing Ltd Richmond House, 33 Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH2 6EZ  +44 (0)1202 586200 Web: www.photoforbeginners.com www.greatdigitalmags.com

Magazine team Deputy Editor Hayley Paterek [email protected]  01202 586276

Designer Moe Hezwani Staff Writer Joanna Stass Sub Editor Alicea Francis Editor in Chief Dan Hutchinson Photographer James Sheppard Senior Art Editor Duncan Crook Head of Publishing Aaron Asadi Head of Design Ross Andrews Contributors

2 Phottix Wired Remote XS Price £16/approx $27 To avoid causing camera shake when you

shot, and if you wish to take a long exposure

press the shutter button, you can use the

you can press and slide the button upwards to

Phottix (www.phottix.co.uk) remote shutter

lock it into the depressed position, which will

release. It’s incredibly tiny – no bigger than

keep your shutter open. You can’t shoot from

your finger – so you can easily take it with you

much of a distance (approximately 1 metre)

in your bag or pocket wherever you go. All you

and you can’t use it to control any of your

have to do is plug the wire into your camera

other camera settings, but for this price, you

and press the button to trigger the shutter.

can’t really go wrong with this simple,

Half-pressing the button will also focus your

must-have accessory.

BEST FOR: PREVENTING CAMERA SHAKE

3 SLIK Compact II tripod Price £30/$40

Shaun McGill, Thomas Calton, Dani Dixon, Julie Bassett, Greg Thurtle, Sarah Gane

Advertising Digital or printed media packs are available on request. Advertising Director Matthew Balch  01202 586437 Head of Sales Hang Deretz  01202 586442 Advertising Manager Alex Carnegie  01202 586430 [email protected]

International Photography for Beginners is available for licensing. Contact the International department to discuss partnership opportunities.

Head of International Licensing Cathy Blackman  +44 (0)1202 586401 [email protected]

Subscriptions Head of Subscriptions Gill Lambert [email protected] For all subscription enquiries Email: [email protected]  (UK) 0844 245 6957  (Overseas) +44 (0)1795 592 815 13-issue subscription (UK) – £52 13-issue subscription (Europe) – £70 13-issue subscription (ROW) – £80

Circulation

This very reasonably priced tripod from SLIK

cheap and flimsy, the legs are still quite sturdy

(www.slik.com) will help you keep your camera

and have a secure locking system to prevent

steady and free from camera shake, allowing

them collapsing. The maximum height is a

you to use slow shutters speeds in low light or

lower-than-average 990mm, so you may have

to capture creative motion blur. Carrying it to

to crouch to frame your shots, but the pan and

your landscape location is easy as it is very

tilt head will help you to get the right angle.

lightweight, weighing just 570g, and it folds

The attached bubble spirit level will ensure

down to just 360mm long. It even comes with

your shots are straight, making wonky horizons

a handy carrying bag. Although parts of it feel

a thing of the past.

BEST FOR: STEADYING YOUR CAMERA

Head of Circulation Darren Pearce  01202 586200

Production Production Director Jane Hawkins  01202 586200

Founders Group Managing Director Damian Butt Group Finance & Commercial Director Steven Boyd

Printing & Distribution Printed by Wyndeham Heron, The Bentall Complex, Colchester Road, Heybridge, Maldon, Essex CM9 4NW Distributed in the UK & Eire by Seymour Distribution, 2 East Poultry Avenue, London, EC1A 9PT  0207 429 4000 Distributed in Australia by Gordon & Gotch Corporate Centre, 26 Rodborough Road, Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086  + 61 2 9972 8800 Distributed in the Rest of the World by Marketforce, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London, SE1 0SU  0203 148 8105

Disclaimer

4 Lowepro Photo Traveler 150 bag Price £49/approx $81 Lowepro’s (www.lowepro.com) ultra- compact

to protect your kit, and the outer bag is made

Photo Traveler backpack has enough space to

from high-quality material that should

store a DSLR, plus a couple of additional

withstand any bad weather. The pockets are

lenses and extra accessories, so you can take

secured with zips, allowing for quick access

everything you’ll need on your shoot. It also

should that unexpected photo opportunity

has a front pocket for storing a small tablet

arise. The adjustable and padded straps make

device and a quick-access side pouch that can

this bag comfortable to carry for long periods

hold a water bottle. The main compartment

of time, and the loops on the side can be used

has padded dividers that you can customise

to attach further kit, such as a small tripod.

BEST FOR: CARRYING YOUR KIT


The publisher cannot accept responsibility for any unsolicited material lost or damaged in the post. All text and layout is the copyright of Imagine Publishing Ltd. Nothing in this magazine may be reproduced in whole or part without the written permission of the publisher. All copyrights are recognised and used speci�cally for the purpose of criticism and review. Although the magazine has endeavoured to ensure all information is correct at time of print, prices and availability may change. This magazine is fully independent and not af�liated in any way with the companies mentioned herein. If you submit material to Imagine Publishing via post, email, social network or any other means, you automatically grant Imagine Publishing an irrevocable, perpetual, royalty-free license to use the material across its entire portfolio, in print, online and digital, and to deliver the material to existing and future clients, including but not limited to international licensees for reproduction in international, licensed editions of Imagine products. Any material you submit is sent at your risk and, although every care is taken, neither Imagine Publishing nor its employees, agents or subcontractors shall be liable for the loss or damage. © Imagine Publishing Ltd 2014

ISSN 2046-9845

CHEAT SHEET

Architecture

PHOTO CHEAT SHEET

Architecture Practical advice for shooting stunning architecture There are lots of incredible man-made structures to shoot in local towns and cities; even rural locations feature stunning architecture. Perspective is the key to getting great shots of any building, be it a modern skyscraper or rural church. Experiment with the angle you shoot from; low angles are great for emphasising the size of a structure, but if you want straight vertical lines, you’ll need to shoot face on from a distance.

Although there are specialist lenses for architectural photography, known as tilt and shift lenses, which ensure structures appear straight and accurate, they are costly. Wide-angle lenses will distort straight lines but they are fantastic for fitting more in the frame, so don’t be afraid to explore your lens’s focal lengths for more original results. You can use our cut-out-and-keep guide below to help you get great shots, too.

 ESSENTIAL ARCHITECTURE KNOW-HOW Aperture Shutter speed

f11-22 1/125sec or below

ISO Focus mode

200 Multi-point AF

Drive mode Lens Helpful kit

Single 12-50mm Tripod, polarising filter

To light the shot… Bright sunny days will offer brilliant blue skies as a backdrop. Experiment during sunset and sunrise too for a softer, warm light

Top Tip… If you’re shooting glass-fronted structures, attach a polarising filter to the end of your camera lens to reduce the appearance of reflections on the glass


Fresh perspective Experiment with composition on an architectural shoot and find new angles and perspectives for stronger images

MOVE INTO A NEW WORLD

The new OM-D E-M10 interchangeable lens camera will transform your photography. The latest addition to the award-winning OM-D series, the E-M10 is a super-slim lightweight camera loaded with features for capturing the important moments in your life in brilliant quality. Its unique design complements the high-grade build to provide an extraordinary shooting experience and amazing performance. Welcome to a New World. Ask your l ocal dealer or visit us online at olympus.co.uk/e-m10

Photography for Beginners Issue 36 - 2014

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