Australian Photography October 2020

One of the challenges with photography, and perhaps all creative pursuits, is the question of how we pay respect to the past while still forging a path that takes the artform into the future. In photography, you could say that embracing digital sensors over film, and software post-processing over the darkroom, was a time when photographers were able to take the best elements of the past and retool them for a new future. This sense of old and new is something we look at in a roundabout way in this issue. The first is Sydney photographer Yan Zhang’s feature on shooting landscapes in the square format. Simultaneously acknowledging the history of medium format landscape photography and the 1:1 format, it also recognises a future brought about by social media, and Instagram in…

DANNY LEE Danny Lee is an award-winning underwater photographer from Tasmania. He loves sharing photos from his ocean encounters and the stories that go with them. See more on Instagram @submerged_ images MATTHEW CROMPTON Matthew Crompton is an award-winning writer and photographer preoccupied with bikes, hikes and the mystical solitude of the way-out. See more at matthewcrompton.com YAN ZHANG Sydney AI professor Yan Zhang is also a landscape photographer with a keen interest in alpine regions. See more of his work on Instagram @yan.zhang.australia DYLAN GIANNAKOPOULOS Melbourne-based commercial, travel and landscape photographer Dylan Giannakopoulos has set out to capture all that inspires him. He is a Sony Imaging Advocate for Australia. See more at dylangiannaphotography.com.au…

I'm not sure if it's the large formidable beak, the massive wingspan, or how they always look so impressively groomed, as if they have just had makeup and eyeliner applied, but ever since I saw my first albatross 20 years ago, I have always been fascinated by them. I call the eastern coastline of Tasmania home, and I find I don't have to go too far into the Tasman Sea to find one of the few different species that rule these parts. I don’t take this for granted as many of the species are listed as near threatened with a decreasing population. Being predominantly an underwater photographer, I had always wanted to try to get a series of split shots, or half over, half under shots of the albatross, not only to…

Many photographers use the base features of autofocus, no matter what their brand of camera is, but in recent years cameras have begun to offer a number of AI assisted focusing features such as face and eye detect autofocus. Funnily enough, most of this technology started in smartphones, but today many cameras offer excellent versions of this technology that have the potential to change how we shoot. Consider a specialised portrait lens such as an 85mm f1.2, or a 135mm f1.8, and then think about the difficulty of nailing focus wide open on a subject’s eye – the depth of field is incredibly small. In the past, lenses such as these would have only been suitable for very controlled environments like a studio shoot. But not anymore. I recently witnessed the magic of…

SONY ANNOUNCES A7S III SONY has officially announced the A7S III full-frame mirrorless camera, featuring a brand new 12.1MP back-illuminated image sensor with 15+ stop dynamic range and a suite of impressive video recording capabilities, including 4K 120p and 10-bit 4:2:2 color depth. Inside, there’s a newly designed 35mm full-frame 12.1MP (approx., effective) back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS image sensor, which Sony says uses a variety of light-gathering techniques to ensure high-sensitivity with low noise, allowing users to shoot in low-light situations without needing large-scale lighting set-ups. The new sensor features a focal plane phase-detection AF system for the first time in the S-series. There’s also a new BIONZ XR image processing engine that Sony says provides up to eight times more processing power, and also reduces rolling shutter up to three times The camera…

GLOW NEIL HENDRY Kangaroo Valley Morning EDITOR’S COMMENT What makes for a great image? Light, light, light! We had a really hard time choosing a winner this month but kept coming back to Neil Hendry’s image, Kangaroo Valley Morning, which he tells us he captured one misty morning and it shows perfectly the reasons why getting up early can be great for photography. This image works because of that amazing burst of light that transforms the scene from something relatively unremarkable into something quite beautiful. We also really like your composition; by balancing the glowing tree against one that is subtly lit, it helps to create a nice point of contrast. Well done! TECHNICAL DETAILS Nikon D810, Nikkor 28-300mm lens @ 98mm. 1/125s @ f14, ISO 100. PETER MORTON Fremantle EDITOR’S COMMENT Peter Morton captured this image just in front…