N-Photo: the Nikon magazine March 2022

Ben Moore PAGE 6 Our apprentice learns to elevate his skyscraper shots with help from architectural photographer and Instagram influencer Ben. Paul Wilkinson PAGE 26 & 38 Professional portrait photographer Paul shares 25 pearls of wisdom for shooting impactful pictures of people. Jon Adams PAGE 50 Polish off your pictures with Jon’s collection of 26 custom-made Photoshop borders to give your photos a framed effect. García de Marina PAGE 62 We speak to Spanish conceptual photographer García about his thought-provoking mash-ups of everyday objects. Adrian Houston PAGE 70 Nature photographer Adrian tells us all about his project photographing the favourite trees of famous folks. Matthew Richards PAGE 86, 102 & 104 Agony uncle Matthew answers your Nikon queries, reviews the new Z 100-400mm, and rounds up the best-value Z-mount lenses. SUBSCRIBE TO N-PHOTO & SAVE 50% ON THE REGULAR NEWSSTAND PRICE! Take out a year’s subscription to N-Photo and…

When many of us first invested in our Nikon cameras, the first shots we took were of our nearest and dearest. So this issue portrait pro and regular N-Photo columnist shares 25 terrific tips and techniques to improve your people pictures. Heading out into the mean streets of the capital, architecture photographer Ben Moore shows that you can teach an old dog new tricks, persuading his set-in-his-ways octogenarian apprentice to embrace the advantages of digital. This month’s interviewee is conceptual photographer García de Marina, who combines everyday items to produce fine-art photos that amount to so much more than their component parts. In our Gear section, we test Nikon’s first Z-mount super-tele zoom, the Z 100-400mm. It’s a cracking but pricey lens, so in our Big Test we compare eight great-value mirrorless optics,…

Ben Moore is part of a growing contingent of social-media savvy professionals who have pushed the boundaries of urban photography. He’s cultivated a career snuffing out the most photogenic cityscapes in London and beyond. And, armed with the very latest Nikon mirrorless tech, a drone and tens of thousands of Instagram followers, he’s the epitome of the modern photographer. It wasn’t by happenstance then that we paired Ben with retired newspaper journalist Michael Becket. Michael’s been taking photos for more than 70 years so, in a bid to challenge his skill set, Ben was tasked with turning his apprentice’s photographic world on its head. LEADING LINES The photographers started their journey among the modern office blocks of More London. Ben pointed down the corridor of modern buildings and noted Tower Bridge at the…

1 TAKE BACK CONTROL Ben says… I don’t want to hand over control to the camera, so I use Manual and occasionally Aperture or Shutter Priority, if required. I worry about ISO as well, I don’t want the image to be so noisy I can’t edit it properly. I also like to shoot bursts, so I can select the sharpest shots in post-production. 2 THE BIG PICTURE Ben says… The Rotate Tall option in the Playback Menu flips portrait-orientation images 90 degrees so they fill the entire Playback screen. Viewing the whole image is important when assessing your composition, and by filling the entire screen you get a much more detailed view. 3 LINE IT UP Ben says… Grid lines are essential for architecture photography because they provide a reference when lining up verticals and…

1 OPEN IN PHOTOSHOP Ben says… I do the majority of my editing in Lightroom by applying my own bespoke presets. If I need to clone or comp, I’ll then right click on the image in the Develop Module and select Edit in>Edit in Adobe Photoshop 2022. The image will then open in Photoshop with my Lightroom edits applied. 2 APPLY A LAYER MASK Ben says… To cover up the scaffolding I duplicated the ‘Background’ layer and selected and copied the upper third of the new layer. This was flipped and placed over the bottom third of the image before applying a layer mask. Black/white brushes were then used to hide/reveal the layer accordingly. 3 SKEW FOR SYMMETRY Ben says… Rulers were used to check the image was symmetrical and Transform tools such as Skew…

Ben says… Always look up when you approach a building. Shooting upwards not only conveys a building’s immense size, but the perspective often reveals leading lines and interesting geometric patterns. With a super-wide-angle lens, it can be surprising how many nearby buildings you can squeeze into a single frame and it can be fun playing with how they converge. Lookups aren’t just a viable option when you’re outside though. Many buildings sport fantastic interior ceilings, be it modern minimalist patterns or fanciful historical decor and murals.…