N-Photo: the Nikon magazine July 2021

Edyta Rice PAGE 6 Early bird Edyta is up before the lark (and in bed after the owl) to school our Apprentice in mountainous landscapes. Jordan Banks PAGE 26 Reigning National Geographic Traveller City Photographer of the Year Jordan teaches how to photograph all things urban. Adam Oswell PAGE 64 Australian-born, Thailandresident wildlife photographer Adam shares his shots and story in the N-Photo interview. Amy Jones PAGE 72 Animal rights activist and documentary photographer Amy tells how photography can bring conservation issues to the fore. Neil Freeman PAGE 82 Top tutor Neil explains all you need to know to get perfect and creative exposures in this instalment of Nikon Academy. Matthew Richards PAGE 104 Matthew puts a selection of eight prime and zoom lenses through their paces that are streets ahead for street photography. SUBSCRIBE AND GET A FREE LOWEPRO TAHOE 150 BAG! Subscribe from just £54 and get…

Whether pounding the pavements of your hometown or seeing the sights of the world’s great metropolises, there’s so much to capture in the urban conurbations most of us call home. Awardwinning photographer Jordan Banks shares his top tips for shooting cities in this issue’s lead feature. Heading out into the countryside, our Apprentice heads for the hills of the bucolic Brecon Beacons for a dawn-and-dusk shoot under the expert guidance of landscape pro Edyta Rice. Back in the city, we try lenses that are ideal for street photography; but while ‘street’ used to equate to 35mm primes, times have changed and we’re including widish zooms, too. We also share our pick of photo paper for perfect prints and test the Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift – a wide-angle ‘shift’ lens for a…

THE PRO NAME: Edyta Rice CAMERA: Nikon Z 6 Newport-based Edyta has worked as a portrait and wedding photographer, but found landscapes to be her true calling. She moved from her native Poland to study in Wales over 15 years ago and hasn’t looked back. When she’s not working as an HR business partner she spends as much time as possible travelling to stunning landscapes in her campervan or leading workshops. Edyta is an ambassador for NiSi and FOTOPRO. See her work at: www.bit.ly/3vFKgW5 THE APPRENTICE NAME: Dave Harford CAMERA: Nikon D7200 Dave lives in Worcester where he works as a traffic officer and volunteers as a community first responder for the West Midlands Ambulance Service. He started his photography journey with a compact camera, but what started as a hobby has morphed into a serious passion.…

LIVE VIEW Edyta says… If I’m searching for a good composition I’ll look through the viewfinder, but once the camera’s on the tripod I’ll refine my framing in Live View. The Grid and Virtual Horizon overlays are particularly useful when using the rule of thirds and ensuring your frame is perfectly level. WHITE BALANCE Edyta says… I always shoot Raw to retain as much detail as possible. This also means I can easily alter an image’s colour temperature in post. Despite this, I tend to use a white balance preset so I can better visualize what the final image will look like in-camera. My go-to preset is Cloudy. BRACKETING Edyta says… The dynamic range of Nikon’s latest cameras is amazing, but there are still high-contrast situations where it’s difficult not to clip the shadows or…

Edyta says… I spend a lot of time planning shoots, and apps make the process a lot easier. I use browser and smartphone apps, but the beauty of the latter is that you can easily access them when out in the field. My favourite app is AccuWeather (pictured), which allows you to check the weather at specific times and locations using a variety of detailed map overlays, charts and interfaces. I cross-reference this information with other weather apps, such as Met Office Weather Forecast and Clear Outside. Other useful apps include Sun Position, which maps the position of the sun and details when it rises and sets, and PhotoPills, which is an extremely detailed program. I use it for astrophotography, but it can do much more if you’re willing to…

Edyta says… Dave naturally looks for leading lines, which is a great way to create a compelling composition. Objects that carve a path through a scene – such as roads, ridges, walls, rows of flowers and tree lines – can be used to guide your viewer’s eye towards the focal point of the image. The jetty next to the Welsh Crannog Centre is a perfect example of a leading line. Dave lined up his frame so the jetty would zigzag from the left-hand corner of the frame, guiding the viewer towards the hut.…