N-Photo: the Nikon magazine December 2021

Adrian Davies PAGE 6 Proving that he’s a fun guy, Adrian leads this issue’s Apprentice into a deep dark wood to photograph fungi. Matt Higgs PAGE 26 Matt turns it up to 11 in his masterclass for getting great shots of live music, from dingy pubs to festivals and more. James Paterson PAGE 48, 50 & 52 Do go shooting waterfalls urges James, by blending exposures with different shutter speeds to make the most of movement. Angel Fitor PAGE 60 Multi-award-winning underwater photographer Angel explains why things are better down where it’s wetter in this issue’s interview. Sahil Zutshi PAGE 68 No one knows green avadavats like Sahil, who documents his mission to photograph these endearing but endangered birds. Neil Freeman PAGE 78 & 82 Nikon School’s main man shows how to use your camera’s in-built compositional aids, plus how the LCH tools work in NX Studio.…

The big news this issue is Nikon’s announcement of the Z 9, its first ‘flagship’ mirrorless, and the specs are truly jaw-dropping, with 120fps, 1/32,000 sec shutter speed, 1000+ Raw bursts, two hours of 8K video, next-generation autofocus and a dazzling 45.7Mp stacked sensor. And we got our hands on it! See our first impressions on page 100. With more and more of ‘normal’ society opening up, enabling such activities as seeing live music, we join photographer Matt Higgs on a rock ’n roll photography masterclass in this issue’s lead feature. We also join this issue’s Apprentice in an ancient woodland deep in rural Sussex to photograph one of nature’s strangest organisms – fungi – under the expert tutelage of top nature pro Adrian Davies. In our Big Test, we put eight lighting…

THE PRO NAME: Adrian Davies CAMERA: Nikon D850 Surrey-based Adrian is a wildlife and natural history photographer, author and lecturer. His career of more than 30 years has taken him from the woodlands of Sussex to the rainforests of Borneo and everywhere in between. He’s worked with organizations including the Royal Horticultural Society and the Field Studies Council, and co-wrote one of the first text books on digital photography. To see more of his stunning work, visit: www.adriandaviesimaging.com THE APPRENTICE NAME: Gary White CAMERA: Nikon D7200 Gary lives in East London and works as a chef in a five-star hotel. He has always been into photography, but only made the jump to Nikon a few years ago. Before his star turn in N-Photo, his claim to fame was a successful run on ITV game show The Chase,…

PLAYBACK OPTIONS Adrian says… Rear LCD screens aren’t very big and it can be difficult to know for sure if you’ve perfected your exposure. I therefore use the RGB Histogram and Highlights to keep tabs on my exposures while out in the field. They can be switched on via ‘Playback display options’ in the Playback Menu. CAMERA SETTINGS Adrian says… My camera settings for a generic fungus close-up would be using Aperture Priority and setting the aperture to f/11, sticking to ISO200 (a habit from my film days) and leaving the White Balance on Auto. I’d then dial in a little exposure compensation, use manual focus and shoot Raw. MIRROR-UP MODE Adrian says… Minimize tripod camera shake by turning any VR off and using Mirror-up mode (DSLR only). When you press the shutter button this…

SET UP YOUR SHOT Adrian says… Find a subject that requires a larger depth of field than is possible via a single shot – rows of mushrooms are a good example. Set your tripod up and frame the shot before focusing on the area you want in focus that’s closest to the camera. NAIL YOUR SETTINGS Adrian says… ‘Focus shift shooting’ is found in the D850’s Photo Shooting Menu. Select the number of shots then the focus step width – it can take trial and error to find what’s best, but a width of 5 worked here. For cameras without this feature, you’ll have to refocus manually between shots. THE PERFECT BLEND Adrian says… Once you press ‘Start’, focus shift shooting will begin. I use Adobe Photoshop to edit my images by manually masking and…

HERICIUM ERINACEUS The aptly named bearded tooth fungus is a rare species. I found this specimen growing at the base of a dead tree. I shot this image in bright, overcast lighting to avoid harsh shadows. The fine texture of the spines make a great close-up image. EARTHSTAR FUNGUS Geastrum triplex is a type of puffball that disperses its spores when raindrops hit it. The fallen autumn leaves make a great surround and provide context to the image, as well as a size comparison against this captivating, star-shaped fungus. STARFISH FUNGUS Aseroe rubra is an incredibly rare fungus that looks wonderful against this carpet of moss. The tripod-mounted camera was placed directly overhead, parallel to the main plane, and the lens was stopped down to f/16 for maximum sharpness.…