Amateur Photographer

Few subjects offer more variety for photography than our fellow humans. Shoot indoors or outdoors, posed or candid, happy or moody, in high key or low key, and with natural light or a fancy studio set-up – I could go on. This issue we present advice, tips and inspiration from expert portrait photographers embracing a wide range of styles, from Kate Hopewell-Smith’s beautifully lit beauty and boudoir work to Carolyn Mendelsohn’s natural light outdoor portraits. We compare a range of phones and editing software from a portraiture perspective and AP readers share their favourite kit. We also take a close look at Nikon’s new Z 85mm f/1.2 S portrait lens, and test Canon’s R series APS-C mirrorless camera, the EOS R50. Our cover image this issue is by Swedish photographer Satu…

KATE HOPEWELL-SMITH The top pro shares guidance on lighting your people pictures HOLLIE LATHAM HUCKER Technique Editor Hollie spoke to three portrait pros who share insights AILSA MCWHINNIE Our APOY co-ordinator brings you the results of Round 5 ROD LAWTON Editing expert Rod Lawton checks out the best portrait editing software programs ANDY WESTLAKE Technical Editor Our chief reviewer tests the Canon EOS R50, Canon’s APS-C model AMY DAVIES Features Editor Amy conducts our big interview, looks at the best phones and tests a lens…

Introduced alongside a new ultra-wideangle XF 8mm F3.5 R WR lens, the 26.1MP Fujifilm X-S20 is designed to be suitable for all types of users, including stills shooters, content creators and videographers. It offers advanced AF, high-speed continuous shooting, improved battery life, and high-resolution video recording up to 6.2K. Set to be available from late June, it’s priced at £1,249 body only, £1,349 with the XC 15-45mm F3.5-5.6 OIS PZ lens, or £1,599 with the XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS zoom. Designed to be easy to use, the X-S20 is still packed full of features. It follows on from the X-S10 as the firm’s mini-DSLR styled camera, with a mode dial on top and dual command wheels. This is in contrast to the X-T cameras, which feature more traditional controls. The…

Et tu, Adobe? For at least the last decade the photo industry has viewed the smartphone as an enemy that posed an existential threat, but it turns out that the assassin has been standing right next to us the whole time, like Brutus, waiting for just the right moment to bury a knife in photography’s back. The emergence of AI ‘photography’ will have a profound impact on our world, but despite its name, it isn’t actually photography at all, it’s a computer simulation of photography. Nevertheless the technology enables anyone, without the need for a camera, to create images that look to the untrained eye just like photos, and the technology is improving by the day. It will almost certainly make life harder for many pro photographers, and who knows what…

Gida by Lynn Fraser Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, Sigma 50mm 1.4 DG HSM Art, 1/200sec at f/2.8, ISO 200 ‘I love to travel and experience cultures different from my own. In February, I went to the Lower Omo Valley in Ethiopia with a ‘Tribal Traits and Traditions’ photo tour. The Arbore people were one of the tribes we visited. The women wear colourful accessories, considered necessary to be more attractive, and black cloths to protect their heads from the sun.’ Instagram: @lynnfraserphotography FB: www.facebook.com/MyJourneywithaCamera Website: www.lynnfraserphotography.com #appicoftheweek Win! The AP Pic of the Week winner currently wins an annual subscription to Skylum Luminar Neo, worth £99. Designed for photographers of all skill levels, Luminar Neo is an advanced but fun-to-use photo editor for Mac and PC, available also as a plug-in for Photoshop and…

Kate Hopewell-Smith Kate has run her photography business since 2010 (www.katehopewellsmith.com) and along with her cinematographer husband, Brent, represents Sony as a European Imaging Ambassador and Rotolight as a Master of Light. Together, Kate and Brent are directors of wedding brand, byLumiere (www.bylumiere.co.uk), commercial content brand, Create (www.createhub.uk), and MUSE, a luxury boudoir business, www.museboudoir.co.uk Many years ago, I discovered the importance of the direction of light and its relationship to photography. Understanding that there are essentially three directions, each requiring a different approach to exposure, immediately had a fundamental and long-lasting impact on my work and my confidence. At its simplest you can categorise light into frontal, side, and backlighting. Each direction of light has a very different effect on the form of the subject – largely due to whether shadows…