Table of contents for Issue 181 in Photography Week

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Welcome to the world’s No.1 weekly digital photography magazine. If you’re already a reader, thanks for your continued support and involvement; if you’re new to Photography Week, you’ve come to the right place! In addition to expert advice, brilliant tips and step-by-step tutorials, every issue features interactive galleries of the best new photos, how-to videos on essential shooting and editing techniques, and in-depth video reviews of the latest cameras. But that’s not the whole story. Photography Week is more than a magazine – it’s a community of like-minded people who are passionate about photography. To get involved, just follow any of the links below and share your shots and comments – your photo might even appear on our cover! JOIN THE PHOTOGRAPHY WEEK COMMUNITY AND START SHARING! FACEBOOK http://tiny.cc/bljpjx TWITTER…

1 min

Photography Week|Issue 181

LIGHT UP YOUR STUDIO PORTRAITS

APPRENTICE NEIL HADRILL Neil, a 62-year-old chauffeur from Battersea but now residing in Caterham, Surrey, has been a keen amateur photographer since 1998. His first DSLR was an EOS 300D, then a 40D, and now he shoots with a 5D Mk II. Now he’s semi-retired, Neil has more time to spend taking photos, and asked for our help to improve his studio portrait shots. PRO RORY LEWIS Rory Lewis is a 33-year-old pro portrait photographer who shoots the world’s most famous people. Originally from Liverpool, he’s based in London and often works in the US. He teaches photography workshops monthly for the Calumet Academy (http://tiny.cc/0kip9x). For his impressive portfolio and details of his workshops, visit his website: http://tiny.cc/lhip9x…

1 min

Photography Week|Issue 181

XPOSURE

KIRKJUFELL, ICELAND ANDREA HERIBANOVA Andrea has created a striking composition, placing the peak of the mountain bang in the middle of the frame where the eyes are drawn to the faint hint of northern lights under a seemingly endless, starry sky http://tiny.cc/gx3j9x GWANGHALLU GEORGE KURZIK The vibrant colours of the lighting of Korea’s Gwanghallu-won Palace stand out both on land and in the water, creating a striking contrast to the dark blue sky framing the building http://tiny.cc/rw3j9x LITTLE WARM PICTURE PETER CSONGEDI A glimmer of hope that spring is on its way, captured with lovely bokeh, pin-sharp details in the focus area and background colours that add warmth to the image http://tiny.cc/2v3j9x FROSTY SUNRISE AT MARSWORTH RESERVOIR ADRIAN JONES There is great depth in this image, and the patch of…

2 min

Photography Week|Issue 181

FLASHGUN MODIFIERS

GROUP TEST: FLASHGUN MODIFIERS BounceLite £100/$120 www.bouncelite.com ONE of the easiest ways to get softer illumination from your flashgun is to bounce light off a white ceiling or wall. You can’t always do that, though – so the BounceLite aims to recreate the same effect, whatever surroundings your subject is up against. Simply slot the box onto your flashgun, and its white interior walls and roof bounce the light through the diffusion panel on the side. The roof can hinge open, allowing you to reflect just the right amount of light onto your subject. There’s even a slot to insert a diffusion panel or coloured gels. The result is improved light softness with great controllability and minimal light loss – although a ring light modifier will produce an even softer…

4 min

Photography Week|Issue 181

DUE QUAT TRO

THE WEEK’S TOP HEADLINES IN PHOTOGRAPHY Sigma has marked its first foray into the compact system camera market by unveiling the sd Quattro and sd Quattro H at Japan’s CP+ trade show. The sd Quattro camera features an APS-C size sensor and offers medium-format image quality with 39 megapixels, Sigma says, while the sd Quattro H offers an APS-H size sensor measuring 26.6 x 17.9mm. This new, larger Foveon sensor delivers high resolution of 51 megapixels. Also on board the cameras is a Dual TRUE III processor to enable high speed shooting of 14 high-resolution raw files at 3.6 frames per second on the sd Quattro, and up to 3.8fps on the sd Quattro H, while a new Super-Fine Detail exposure mode generates images at seven different exposure to produce…

1 min

Photography Week|Issue 181

TECHNIQUE ASSESSMENT

MANUAL MODE “Although Neil usually sticks with Av mode so he can control his aperture, for studio setups using lights you need to be able to set both the aperture and shutter speed,” says Rory, “So we moved his Mode dial to M for Manual, to give him complete control over his exposures.” METERING MODES Most DSLRs have four metering modes: Centre-weighted average – metering is weighted at the centre then averaged for the whole scene; Partial – helpful if the background is brighter than your subject; Spot – meters a very specific 2% (or thereabouts) spot at the centre of your frame; and the mode Rory suggested to Neil, Evaluative – an ‘intelligent’ general-purpose mode that takes the active AF point into consideration and is ideal for portraits and…

1 min

Photography Week|Issue 181

SLICK AND GROOVY

Vinyl - as in LP records - is the analogue technology that refuses to die; just like photographic film, it inspires and sustains a legion of digital refuseniks who pride themselves on being different, and are happy to let dusty platters from the 20th century take over their entire house. This obsessiveness has been beautifully captured by photographer Eilon Paz. Originally from Israel but now resident in vinyl mecca New York City, Eilon has captured some great portraits of vinyl junkies in the midst of their collection and has even published a book about the subject, called Dust and Grooves. Collectors are usually proud of their collections; if there are any near you, they might make an interesting subject for a photo essay... SEE MORE PHOTOS ht tp: // t…

1 min

Photography Week|Issue 181

HUAWEI AND LEICA TEAM UP TO MAKE THE P9 SMARTPHONE CAMERA AWESOME

Huawei is on its way to becoming one of the world’s largest smartphone manufacturers, but the company knows it has some way to go with its camera tech – so it has enlisted some help by partnering with photography experts Leica. The partnership was announced today, and it seems that Leica technology will make its way onto smartphones in the near future. Richard Yu, CEO of the Huawei Consumer BG said: “Leica is a legend in the world of photography; we believe no other manufacturer has revolutionised the industry as much as them. Oliver Kaltner, CEO of Leica Camera AG added: “Smartphones make an important contribution to photography and open an important door for Leica to new target groups and fields of application.” It’s currently uncertain what Huawei device will…

1 min

Photography Week|Issue 181

THE PRO’S KILLER KIT

1 Light meter Rory still uses a light meter to accurately determine his exposure. With his lights set to around 1/2 or 1/4 power – depending on whether he’s shooting a full-length or head-andshoulders portrait – he triggers them while holding his Sekonic L-308S light meter in front of the model. “It makes me wonder why everybody doesn’t still use them?” questions Rory. 2 Pose on a stool! Rory swears by his Calumet Posing Stool (£45). “A stool keeps your subject in the right place for your lighting and you can adjust the height so they’re level with the camera (or so you’re shooting down to avoid double chins). As they’re on casters, they can be moved easily and they swivel, which helps people get into photogenic poses, rather than…

6 min

Photography Week|Issue 181

GET TO GRIPS WITH P MODE

ESSENTIAL PHOTO SKILLS MADE EASY 5 MINS P mode is usually seen as the poor relation among exposure modes. In it, the camera takes control of the shutter speed and the aperture, so it might seem as if it’s taking away your creative control. But there’s a simple, incredibly useful feature called ‘Program Shift’ or ‘Flexible Program’, depending on the camera, and you activate it in P mode by turning the command dial. The camera will have chosen a shutter speed and aperture when you half-pressed the shutter release, but turning the dial shifts this combination of values while keeping the exposure the same. This means you can shoot a landscape with maximum depth of field one moment and a freeze a fastmoving subject the next, without having to change…

1 min

Photography Week|Issue 181

USE THE ZOOM & GRAB TOOLS

LEARN ESSENTIAL EDITING SKILLS FAST! To successfully improve your raw files, you’ll need to get to grips with the Camera Raw navigation tools. For example, if you look at a raw file on your camera’s LCD display, it may look nice and sharp. However, the file may be actually soft due to the camera’s inability to find a focal point, or because of a shallow depth of field caused by a wide aperture setting. You can only discover how soft or sharp a photo really is by opening it in Camera Raw and then magnifying the image to see its actual pixels. As with the Photoshop workspace, Camera Raw has a toolbar that contains a Zoom tool. This navigation tool enables you to magnify the image in a series of…

2 min

Photography Week|Issue 181

APPS

N-PHOTO N-Photo is a monthly magazine for Nikon photographers, and is packed with technique and Photoshop video lessons every month. http://tiny.cc/cllrjx http://tiny.cc/97krjx PHOTOPLUS PhotoPlus is a monthly magazine for Canon photographers that features expert advice, tips and video tutorials on all things Canon. http://tiny.cc/r9krjx http://tiny.cc/halrjx DIGITAL CAMERA WORLD A monthly magazine that aims to improve your photography with an inspirational mix of amazing images and how-to articles. http://tiny.cc/u4krjx http://tiny.cc/r5krjx PRACTICAL PHOTOSHOP Improve your Photoshop skills with the monthly guide to creating stunning images. Each issue comes with expert video lessons. http://tiny.cc/pri0qx http://tiny.cc/gblrjx Check out these other fantastic photography apps for iPad & iPhone TEACH YOURSELF PHOTOSHOP Transform your images with the expert tips and advice in 50 Photoshop video tutorials. Discover the power of layers, blending modes, raw file editing…

1 min