N-Photo: the Nikon magazine October 2021

Ben Brain PAGE 6 Ben’s methods for schooling his Apprentice in fine art landscapes are a little unorthodox: “Now I’m going to tie you to a tree…” Adrian Davies PAGE 26 Now you don’t see it, now you do. Adrian shows you how to use your Nikon to capture things that you can’t ordinarily observe. James Paterson PAGE 50, 52 & 54 James makes a contact sheet in Affinity Photo, uses Photoshop’s powerful Color Grading panel and projects images into photos. David Doubilet PAGE 64 Marine photographer David speaks about his ‘half-and-half’ images, which tell a story both above and below the sea surface. Alfie Bowen PAGE 72 Autistic animal-lover Alfie tells how far from being a hindrance, his condition positively enhances his wildlife photography. Matthew Richards PAGE 88 & 104 White-coated boffin Matthew puts a selection of eight macro lenses through our lab tests, for shooting…

When we take a photo, we are usually attempting to record the scene we see in front of us, but this issue’s lead feature is dedicated to capturing things we can’t see with the naked eye: freezing an instant of time with a flash or compressing a much longer passage of time into a single image; or revealing what’s beyond the observable colour spectrum, delving into the realms of infrared and ultraviolet light. Our Apprentice also learns to see the world around him differently, as fine art pro Ben Brain sets him a range of challenges designed to hone his picture-taking skills and see things with his mind’s eye. Sticking to the ‘capturing things you don’t ordinarily see’ theme, our Big Test this issue is all about macro – lenses that enable…

“If you only go to the gym once a month you aren’t going to build any muscle, and it’s the same with photography,” said Ben as he and Rod stood at the foot of the sloping hills on Cherhill Down. “If you get out there with your camera three times a week, you will improve. And today we’re going to be trying a few exercises that will help you develop your ‘photography muscles’.” “Lead the way,” said Rod with a smile as he shouldered his bag and gestured towards the hills. “We’ll be heading up in a minute,” said the pro, “just as soon as I’ve set up your first challenge.” He produced a mobile phone from his pocket and set a three-minute alarm. “As soon as the alarm goes off,…

OVEREXPOSED Ben says… My go-to shooting mode is Aperture Priority, but if I’m not happy with the exposure, I prefer to use Manual mode rather than exposure compensation. When this happens my default setting is to overexpose my images by about 1/3 of a stop, but this is entirely a creative decision. IMAGE QUALITY Ben says… I always shoot Raw, but I also like to set my image quality to ‘NEF (RAW) + JPEG fine.’ This allows you to wirelessly download images from the camera via Nikon’s SnapBridge app, and then edit and share those images while you’re out in the field using a smart device. FILM THROWBACK Ben says… I always try to shoot using the lowest ISO possible – it’s a habit that harks back to when I shot on film. Nowadays, most…

Ben says… I use rope, string and paper to form challenges and impose boundaries when leading workshops, but I’m not suggesting you carry these around with you all the time. They’re tools to help photographers broaden their horizons and learn to channel their creativity. The hope is that by practising such exercises they become second nature. Instead of physically pulling a piece of paper with a word written on it from a hat, you’ll be able to call upon that exercise in your head, when the situation calls for it.…

Ben says… Rod was a bit bemused by a few of the exercises! The goal was never to capture a conventional landscape, but to equip him with the tools to further his skills. By setting boundaries and pushing Rod’s creativity he learned techniques and camera functions he wasn’t aware of. If you spend five minutes every morning shooting a sheet of paper on your kitchen table, playing with light, experimenting with different focal lengths and trying techniques out, you will improve as a photographer. Boundaries make us work harder and help us discover more.…