Amateur Photographer 22/03/2022

Fine art photography has become an increasingly popular genre over the past few years, but there is still some confusion over what it means in practice. In our main feature Peter Dench gets some insights and advice from three accomplished photographers who define themselves as fine art practitioners. As you’ll see, ‘fine art’ covers a wide range of different approaches and styles but therein lies its beauty, so you’ll find lots of diversity and creative inspiration. Staying with the artier end of photography, we also reveal some of the wonderful images on display at the Tate’s Modern’s latest exhibition on surrealism. Our big review is the eagerly awaited Nikon Z 9, the company’s flagship full-frame mirrorless model. Andy Westlake looks beyond the hype to see if the camera delivers in…

Ladies Race by Jack Garnham Racing driver Pat Moss (1934-2008), winner of the Ladies Invitation race at Goodwood, examines the helmet of a competitor whose car overturned during the race. Pat, the sister of Formula One racing driver Stirling Moss and the daughter of race car driver Alfred Moss, was one of the most successful female auto rally drivers ever, recording three wins and seven podium finishes in international rallies. Pat and her husband, Swedish rally driver Erik Carlsson, wrote the book The Art and Technique of Driving. This image is from a 1955 Picture Post story, which celebrated the first women’s competition to be held at Goodwood. The Getty Images Hulton Archive is one of the world’s great cultural resources. Tracing its origins to the founding of the London Stereoscopic Company…

Little Egret in Flight Across the Dee Marshes by Jeff Kirby LRPS, CPAGB, AFIAP Nikon D500, Sigma 50-600mm C lens, 1/8000sec at f/6.3, ISO 800 ‘Whilst waiting for short-eared owls on the marshes of Dee Estuary, I concentrated on the egrets flying by. I wished to be able to show the elegance of these birds that are a very welcome addition to the British bird scene, recalling that they were once a very rare bird here in the UK,’ says Jeff, a keen wildlife and landscape photographer based in northern England. You can view more of Jeff’s work on Facebook www.facebook.com/jeffkirbyphotography, Twitter and Instagram @Jeff_Kirby1…

Fishing Nets of La Trinité-sur-Mer by Josh Lomen Nikon D3300, 18-55mm, 1/60sec at f/5.3, ISO 320 ‘I took this image in La Trinité-sur-Mer in Brittany, France, which is famous for its sailing races and great fishing spots. I took this photo because I like the detail and shapes within the fishing nets and they are all different in their own way. I’m currently working on a project where I hope to capture as many different fishing nets as possible to showcase the different shapes and details. When editing I added a bit of sharpness to really show off the detail of the nets and I created a slight vignette to darken the corners of the image.’ Josh is from Somerset and currently studying for a degree in Photography and Visual Cultures. His…

RICOH has launched the GR IIIx Urban Edition Special Limited Kit – a limited-edition version of its 24MP GR IIIx camera with new exposure and focus modes, and updated external styling. The new modes are Snap Distance Priority mode, Auto Area AF (Centre) focus mode, Enable AF mode shutter-release capability and Snapshot mode. Existing Ricoh GR IIIx owners will be able to add the new modes via a firmware update. The Urban Edition kit features a metallic grey finish, a blue ring around the lens barrel and matching accessories, including a leather hand strap and a metallic hotshoe cover. It will be available to purchase from April 2022 but no UK pricing has been confirmed.…

LEXAR has launched a 256GB-capacity card in its Professional 2000x SDHC/ SDXC USH-II Memory Card GOLD Series, which is said to, ‘dramatically accelerate workflow from start to finish’. Said to be for ‘DSLR and cinema-quality video cameras’ the key features of the 256GB card include UHS-II technology for a read transfer speed up to 300MB/s and the capability of capturing high-quality images and extended lengths of Full-HD and cinema-quality 8K video (when paired with an SD UHS-II reader). The Lexar Professional 2000x SDXC UHS-II Card GOLD Series 256GB is available this month online with an MSRP of £374.99.…