N-Photo: the Nikon magazine June 2022

Tianna J-Williams PAGE 6 Our apprentice learns to shoot mums and babies – and mumsto-be – under the expert eye of maternity photographer Tianna. Steve Davey PAGE 26 The world is open again! Steve offers 20 top tips to kick-start your travel photography in time for your next getaway… Chris McLennan PAGE 62 Commercial travel photographer Chris shares his story on how he went from New Zealand native to globe-trotting tour leader. Marc Schlossman PAGE 70 Marc tells us how rummaging through the dusty exhibits of a museum led to his project photographing extinct critters. Matthew Richards PAGE 86 & 106 Matthew solves your techie woes and puts eight super-telephoto zooms through their paces for shooting sports and wildlife. James Artaius PAGE 102 James tests Nikon’s Z 28-75mm f/2.8 – a fast, constant-aperture standard zoom that’s half the price of a similarly specced rival. SUBSCRIBE TO N-PHOTO &…

Could it be that we’re finally able to venture into the wider world again? After two years of lockdowns – and false starts aplenty – travel restrictions are easing the world over, enabling us to explore – and shoot – far-flung exotic locations. Travel pro Steve Davey reckons there’s never been a better time to hone your skills before the tourist hordes are back… This issue’s apprentice heads to the studio of midwife-turned-mother-and-baby photographer Tianna J-Williams to capture enchanting portraits of expectant mums in a maternity masterclass. In our interview, we speak with New Zealander Chris McLennan, who tells how he ventured from the South Island to become one of the world’s foremost commercial travel and adventure photographers. In our Gear section, we review and rate the astonishing Z 28-75mm f/2.8, put eight…

THE PRO NAME: Tianna J-Williams CAMERA: Nikon Z 6II Ex-midwife Tianna used to deliver babies, but nowadays she spends most of her time delivering bespoke maternity shoots for newborns and mums-to-be. She started out photographing her baby girl, but when unpredictable shifts and long hours kept them apart she left the NHS and opened for business. Five years to the day and she’s won numerous awards and is a Nikon Europe Z Creator. Both Marie and the clients are in good hands: www.tiannajwilliamsphotography.co.uk THE APPRENTICE NAME: Marie Ainge CAMERA: Nikon D7200 A milestone birthday prompted Leicestershire-based Marie to sell her kayaking kit and raise the funds to buy her first camera, a Nikon D3400. Lockdown provided her with the opportunity to explore her newfound hobby and she’s since tried her hand at multiple genres and upgraded to…

CAMERA SETTINGS Tianna says… I shoot in Manual mode so I have full control over my exposure settings. I’ll typically start at 1/200 sec, f/4, ISO100, but this might change as the shoot progresses. Babies don’t sit still and they rarely pose for long, so AF-C and continuous shooting helps you capture those fleeting moments. BALANCING ACT Tianna says… Getting the white balance right in-camera allows me to preview exactly what my image will look like via my Nikon Z 7II’s excellent electronic viewfinder. Today, my white balance was set to 6000K, but if I want a more accurate reading I’ll use my white balance filter (inset). LET THERE BE LIGHT Tianna says… I control the exposure with my lights, so my camera settings rarely change. My Elinchrom ELC 500 flash heads have a power…

Tianna says… Hair and makeup takes up to two hours (one for just the latter). Gabriele (@infogabrielemua) is the makeup artist I work with for the majority of my clients and she knows exactly what I like. Some people decide to have their makeup done elsewhere and if this happens I ask them to limit the intensity of the contouring. Bold makeup is very popular on Instagram and TikTok, but while it looks good in ambient lighting conditions, it’s less suitable in the studio. This is because the lighting does the contouring for you – it’s carefully shaped to add definition to the face and can be enhanced further by dodging and burning in post.…

CAMERA RAW Tianna says… I like to make tonal edits in Camera Raw. Its simple interface makes it easy to implement global adjustments. For this image, I used the Temperature and Tint sliders to alter the white balance in seconds. PATCH WORK Tianna says… I use Photoshop’s Patch tool to remove minor elements that are not permanent. Draw around the blemish before clicking in the centre and dragging your cursor to a clean area of the image that you want the tool to sample. Match colours, tones and textures for a seamless patch. CROP ’TIL YOU DROP Tianna says… I try to frame perfectly in-camera, but some cropping in post is inevitable. If I’m enlarging the canvas I’ll tick the Crop tool’s Content-Aware checkbox (Options Bar). Photoshop’s algorithms will then render new areas, based on…