Photography Monthly - June 2011

EXPERIENCE LIFE - CAPTURE THE MOMENT

36 PAGES OF LANDSCAPE TIPS & TECHNIQUES

THE BEST OF
BRITISH
LANDSCAPES

ISSUE 122
JUNE 2011

WHAT MAKES A
GOOD LENS?
We answer the question and give
you the advice you need

You could win our bumper prize
with your favourite images

PERFECT PRINT
The art of black-and-white
printing explained,
discussed & dissected
TEST ZONE

REVIEWED
CANON EOS 600D
NIKON 5100D
SAMSUNG NX11
CANON EOS 1100D
PLUS:
OUR ESSENTIAL
TRIPOD HEAD GUIDE

BRITISH LANDSCAPES
The magazine for people who love photography

WWW.PHOTOGRAPHYMONTHLY.COM

75 SECRETS, TIPS & TECHNIQUES
£3.99

Th e Professional’s Choice
Classic
Design

Modern
Technology

N

O
W
at f
a or
st de
or m
e o
ne ns
ar tra
yo tio
u n

Inspired by the beauty and form of classic cameras from the
past, the FinePix X100 combines all the latest technical digital
innovations in a beautiful, traditional chassis which oozes
class and prestige.

WELCOME

FROM THE EDITOR

JUNE 2011 | ISSUE 122

I HAVE NO FORMAL TRAINING OR EDUCATION IN HOW TO TAKE A PICTURE. I HAVE NEVER ATTENDED
A COURSE AND I HAVE NEVER READ A BOOK TELLING ME WHAT TO DO. So how, I hear you ask, did I
manage to become a professional photographer? Well, quite simply by listening to and reading about professional
photographers. I absorbed what they had to say and had a go myself. I made mistakes and I tried again and again
and again until I started to create images that I was happy with. I was never intimidated by great work or the term
professional. Neither did I feel that a large investment in expensive equipment was the only way I was going to
progress. It’s just like football. When I was a kid I wanted to learn from Pelé, not just from the other kids in my
class. That’s why every month we assemble a group of photographic Pelés to impart the help, advice and
inspiration you and I need to take great pictures.
This month we have decided to turn the lens on the varied landscapes of the British Isles, just to show how
by getting in the car, on a train, on a bicycle or simply by taking a walk, we all have the subject matter reasonably close to hand that we
need to create images we can all be proud of.
It’s looking like it’s going to be a summer many of us will be spending in the UK, so whatever the weather and wherever you are, why
not pick up your camera and on some of the advice in this issue and have a go at creating images to enter into our Great British
Landscapes competition (details on how to enter are on page 67)? For me photography is a lot like football – it’s fun to have a kickabout,
but the more you kick the ball the better you can get. Now who’s going to be ref? PM

Grant Scott
Editor, Photography Monthly

EDITOR’S IMAGE | MATT HALSTEAD
THIS IMAGE | SLAWEK STASZCZUK
COVER IMAGE | SLAWEK STASZCZUK

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CONTENTS
PHOTO MONTH

Every month we feature the best of
our readers’ pictures that have
been posted in our online gallery.
See pages 15-22.

9-13 Each month we bring you all the essential
news on kit, books and exhibitions.

PHOTO ZONE
82-87 Jessica Lamb finds out the right tripod
head for your photographic needs.

REGULARS
7 FRIENDS
Those who have helped us to put this
month’s issue together.

44-45 SUBSCRIPTIONS
Subscribe to Photography Monthly today.

69 EMILY’S PEOPLE
Emily Andersen discusses her experiences
revisiting a personal project.

80-81 FILM SCHOOL
John Campbell brings you the latest news
from the world of film making on your DSLR.

88-89 READERS’ CHALLENGE
Win great prizes by uploading your images to
the gallery. This month – British landscapes.

111 UPGRADE
Your kit questions answered.

122 F STOP
David Ward discusses the artist versus
photographer debate.

TEST ZONE
92-94 NIKON D5100
Kelly Weech reveals her verdict on the latest
addition to the Nikon line-up.

97-101 WHAT MAKES A GOOD LENS?
Neil Turner asks why old glass is still good
glass.

Find out what PM Editor Grant Scott made
of the high-specification EOS 600D.

106-107 SAMSUNG NX11
We take a closer look at the new CSC on
the market.

108-109 CANON EOS 1100D
Sean Samuels reviews the latest entry-level
DSLR in the Canon EOS range.

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ALWYN R COATES / KARL SHAW / ALEX NAIL

102-104 CANON EOS 600D
70-75 ROBIN BELL:
THE MASTER PRINTER
There is an art to creating great
black-and-white prints from
negatives, which is why we turned
to Robin Bell, one of the best in the
industry, to give us his tips and
advice on how to get the most from
your images.

IN THE JUNE ISSUE

27-66
THE BEST OF
BRITISH
LANDSCAPES

WIN STUFF ON PAGES 22, 25, 67, 77, 88

GO
ONLINE
For great photographer
interviews visit
www.photography
monthly.com

Britain has some
of the world’s
most interesting
landscapes to
photograph, from
long stretches of
coast to snow-covered
mountains and
everything in
between. To help you
to make the most
of your images, we
have words of advice
and tips from some
of the world’s best
photographers.
Find out how they
prepare for shoots
and learn to find new
locations, and the
way they work
with the light to
create amazing
British landscapes.
W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 5 ]

FRIENDS

MEET THE TEAM

CLARE PARK

Each month we introduce you to the people we work with to produce Photography Monthly

Neil Turner

Robin Bell

Julia Molony

Photographer

Photographer

Darkroom legend

Journalist

David is a regular contributor to
Photography Monthly. He is also
a master of composition and a
veteran tutor, regularly sharing
with his students the years of
experience he has gained working
as a professional photographer.
In Fstop this month, on page 122,
he ponders the age-old debate
about why photographers are not
seen as artists in their own right.

Neil has worked in the photography
industry for more than 25 years.
A freelance photographer, he shoots
for PR, commercial and editorial
clients. He is also a vice-chairman of
the British Press Photographers’
Association. In Through the Looking
Glass on page 97 Neil turns to the
experts to find out exactly what
the elements are that must come
together to make a great lens.

Robin Bell is one of Britain’s most
respected black-and-white printers,
specialising in hand processing the
film and hand printing the images.
Over the years he has printed for
some of the great photographers,
including Terry O’Neill, Eve Arnold
and David Bailey. In The Master
Printer on page 70 he reveals how
he goes about creating
great black-and-white prints.

Julia Molony started her career on
the features desk of the Sunday
Independent in Ireland. She is now
a freelance writer covering arts,
culture, entertainment and lifestyle
stories for a number of newspapers
and magazines, including The
Observer and Guardian Unlimited.
In The Master Printer on page 70
she meets Robin Bell to explore the
world of black-and-white printing.

David Ward

GROUP BRAND EDITOR Grant Scott
[email protected]
DEPUTY EDITOR Sean Samuels
[email protected]
MANAGING EDITOR Simon Reynolds
[email protected]
FEATURES ASSISTANT Kelly Weech
[email protected]
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Jessica Lamb
[email protected]
SPECIAL THANKS Rebecca Shaw,
Karen le Gallez and Mandy Pellatt

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Eleanor Godwin
[email protected], 01242 211092
SALES EXECUTIVE Amy Pope
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■ While reasonable care is taken to ensure the accuracy of the information in Photography Monthly, that information is obtained from a variety of sources and neither the publisher,
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ABC certified circulation
(Jan-Dec 2010): 17,324

Competition terms and conditions: ■ The closing date for competitions/giveaways is displayed alongside the competition/giveaway online. ■ Employees of Archant Specialist, and those
professionally connected with the competition/giveaway, for example, employees of the sponsor company, are not eligible to enter. ■ Unless otherwise stated, competitions/giveaways
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W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 7 ]

AUSTRALIA Camera CANADA Photo Life CHINA Chinese Photography FRANCE Réponses Photo GERMANY digit! • Foto Hits
Magazin • Inpho Imaging & Business • Photographie • Photo Presse • ProfiFoto GREECE Photographos • Photobusiness HUNGARY
Digitális Fotó ITALY Fotografia Reflex • FotoGraphia NETHERLANDS Fotografie F+D • FotoVisie • P/F POLAND Foto SOUTH AFRICA
PiX Magazine SPAIN Arte Fotográfico • Diorama • Foto/Ventas • FV/Foto-Vídeo Actualidad • La Fotografía Actual UNITED KINGDOM
Digital Photo • Photography Monthly • Practical Photography • Professional Photographer UNITED STATES of AMERICA Shutterbug

If you need expert advice on which are the best photographic, video and
imaging products, look out for products with the TIPA Awards logo. Every year
the editors of 30 worldwide leading photography and imaging magazines vote
to decide which new products are the very best in their respective categories.
The TIPA awards are judged on quality, performance and value, making them
the independent photo and imaging awards you can trust.

PHOTOMONTH

All you need to know from the world of photography

THE BEST

OF BRITISH

JOHN SWANNELL


AWARD-WINNING PHOTOGRAPHER JOHN

Nude Behind Silk,
Series No 1, 2004.

SWANNELL IS GIVING A PUBLIC LECTURE at
the Royal Geographical Society on 7June in aid
of the National Autistic Society.
The lecture, My World in Pictures, will trace
John’s photographic career from his first days
as an assistant at Vogue Studios through to
his time working for publications such as
Harpers & Queen, the Sunday Times and Tatler.
He is expected to talk about his experiences of
photographing some of the world’s most
well-known faces and to discuss the amazing
places he has visited. Proceeds will go
towards paying for key services and support
for individuals with autism in the UK.
John said: “This will be the first time I have
talked in public about the early years of my
career and I will be revealing some previously
unseen photographs as well as some of my more
famous work, including portraits of Diana,
Princess of Wales, and her two sons, Joanna
Lumley, Andy Warhol and Tony Blair.
“I am really pleased to be working with the
National Autistic Society and fundraising to help
support people with autism, like my son Charlie,
across the UK.”
The lecture, at the Royal Geographical
Society, in Kensington Gore, London, is open to
the public. Tickets cost £15 from
www.autism.org.uk/johnswannell or by calling
Sam Van-Niekerk on 020 7923 5789. PM

WW
WW.
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AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

IN A FLASH

Taking advantage of tablet touch screen
technology, Adobe has introduced three
Photoshop CS5 apps for the Apple iPad.
Adobe Color Lava allows users to
mix colours on the iPad to create
custom swatches to transfer back into

MAGIX AG Website Maker 5 software
allows you to build animated Flash
websites. The website is already set up
online, so that all you need to do is
customise and publish it. The online
application enables you to access your
website from any computer, anywhere
in the world. It features an archive of free
website templates, drag-and-drop user
interface, three web addresses, one domain
name of your choice, two sub-domains, five
email accounts and secure web hosting,
including 5,000MB of web space. All for £39.99
from Amazon and PC World. www.magix.com

YEAH BABY!
Photoshop. Adobe Eazel lets digital
artists create rich, realistic paintings
and introduces a new kind of interaction
between ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ paints.
Adobe Nav increases workflow efficiency
by letting users select and customise
the toolbar, browse and zoom in on up to
200 open Photoshop files and easily
create new files. The Adobe Color Lava,
Adobe Eazel and Adobe Nav applications
for Photoshop range in price and are
available from the iTunes App Store.
www.store.apple.com/uk
www.photoshop.com

For daily updates on news visit the website
at www.photographymonthly.com

[10] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

The Lensbaby Composer Pro
features an upgraded swivel
ball and focus mechanism
from the award-winning
Lensbaby Composer system.
The Composer Pro’s metal
swivel ball design and
refined focus mechanism
deliver ultra-smooth focus
and tilt control, making it ideal for both
photographers and videographers. It is
compatible with the Lensbaby Optic Swap
System and ships with either the Double Glass
Optic or the new Sweet 35 Optic installed.
Composer Pro with Double Glass Optic is
available now for $300 (£180). Composer
Pro with Sweet 35 Optic will be available
soon for $400 (£240).
www.lensbaby.com

TRENT PARKE / MAGNUM PHOTOS


A full screen view of the Adobe Eazel and (smaller image) the Adobe Color Lava canvas.

George Street, Sydney, 2006.

The Aquapac submersible DSLR camera case.

PHOTOMONTH

SAFE WHEN WET

EXTREME VIDEO MAKER

TAKE TO THE STREETS

The new submersible camera cases from the
Aquapac range include compact and large cases,
plus a mini case with a hard lens, as well as
another specifically designed for DSLR cameras.
The case is designed to float if you drop it
and to stay waterproof down to a depth of five
metres for up to half an hour. The cases open
and close with a simple twist of three levers.
Each pack comes supplied with a shoulder strap.
Prices start from £25.
www.aquapac.net

For anyone wanting to shoot videos
in extreme conditions, Midland’s
XTC-300VP4 1080p XTC video camera is
an ideal choice. It includes mounts and a
submersible case, so no hands are
required to shoot footage in 1080p high
definition. It also has the ability to record
to microSD memory cards (up to 32GB)
and can hold 15 minutes of video per
gigabyte. The camera is priced £199.95.
www.midland-uk.com

More than 100 images taken from the
Magnum Photos archives feature in an
exhibition celebrating the best of street
photography from around the world.
‘take to the streets’ is an outdoor
exhibition based in the heart of
Birmingham city centre and will be on
show until 3 July ‘Outside Snow Hill
Station’, Colmore Row, Colmore Business
District, B3 2BJ.
www.taketothestreetsbirmingham.co.uk
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BURKE + NORFOLK:
PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE
WAR IN AFGHANISTAN

THE COMPACT
AND LIGHT, LONG AND
THE SHORT OF IT

This exhibition of new images by British
photographer Simon Norfolk is being shown
alongside those taken by the 19th-century
Irish photographer John Burke to give
a unique historical perspective
on Afghanistan. Burke was
one of the first people to
photograph there from 1878
to 1880 and Norfolk’s
work responds to Burke’s Afghan
war scenes in the context of the
contemporary conflict.
Seeking out the original locations of these
Kabul, 2010.
images or finding modern
parallels in their subject matter, Afghan police receive gun training from US Marines at Camp
Leatherneck, Helmand, 2010.
Norfolk’s new body of work
depicts local communities,
soldiers and embassy workers,
as well as contemporary sites
such as internet cafés and
wedding halls.
Burke + Norfolk: Photographs
from the War in Aghanistan is
showing daily until 10 July,
admission free, at Tate Modern,
Bankside, London, SE1 9TG,
020 7887 8888.
www.tate.org.uk/modern

The Velbon Ultra REXi L is an
ultra-compact tripod which
measures only 36cm long
when folded, yet reaches a
maximum height of 153cm.
Weighing just 1.3kg thanks
to its magnesium alloy collar
build, it has an impressive load
capacity of 4kg and a solid design.
Its multi-angle legs are especially
useful for macro photography.
The splittable, reversible centre column with
quick-lock lever accepts any tripod head with
1/4in or 3/8in thread so you can make up your
own combination. The price is £149.99.
www.velbon.co.uk

MUST

SEE

MAKING MOVIES
The latest update for Canon EOS Movie
Plug-in-E1 for Apple’s Final Cut Pro has
arrived. The 1.2 version makes importing EOS
Movie files easier, and enables users to
transfer files from any folder. The free update
offers smoother importing from Canon’s EOS
7D, EOS 5D MkII and EOS-1D MkIV models.
www.canon.co.uk

We love the images in the
exhibition Making Waves, by
Adrian Peacock, showing at the
Lucy Bell Fine Art
Gallery in St
Leonards-onSea, East
Sussex, from
11 June until
2 July. More
details at
www.lucy-bell.com

WE

LOVE

PHOTOMONTH

ADRIAN PEACOCK / SIMON NORFOLK / ELIZABETH EVANS

The Malvern Hills are alive.

TWICE AS NICE

PUTTING THE GREAT IN
BRITAIN

Fujifilm has launched two
new cameras. The FinePix
Z900 EXR and FinePix F550
EXR are packed with features,
including a 16-megapixel
EXR-CMOS sensor within a
stylish and compact body.
Also included in the
FinePix Z900 EXR is a
5x wide-angle zoom lens,
touch-screen LCD with
improved user interface,
a selection of high-speed
shooting modes and
high-quality video capture.
The Fujifilm FinePix
F550 EXR has a RAW
capture facility, advanced
GPS functions, high-speed
shooting capabilities,
a 15x wide-angle zoom
lens, full HD video
function and an improved
user interface.
With their good looks and
compact designs these two
cameras are a welcome
addition to the market.
The RRP of the Fujifilm FinePix Z900 EXR
is £219 and the FinePix F550 EXR is £329.
www.fujifilm.co.uk

Regular PM contributor Martin Middlebrook has
launched the first photographic archive of
Britain at work and is looking for images that
celebrate the understated pride and passion of
the British nation. He is working with fellow
photographer Elizabeth Evans on the project
and all enthusiast photographers are welcome
to contribute, as is anyone with a story to tell
about their rural community. There is no limit to
the number of images you can submit.
Visit www.greatinbritain.co.uk, register with
the site and then upload your images.

WI
NN
ER

READERS’
CHALLENGE

Congratulations to David Hyde for his image
Smile the golden ball which is the winner of
our May Readers’ Challenge.

The sleek designs and compact bodies of
the Fujifilm FinePix F550 EXR (top)
and FinePix Z900 EXR (above), coupled with
impressive specifications, caught our eye.
W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 1 3 ]

GALLERY

YOUR IMAGES

Upload your images to www.photographymonthly.com, we choose the best and publish them the following month. Simple!

ED
IT
OR
’S

CH
OI
C
IMAGE OF THE MONTH E
I hope you agree with me when I say that
this is a portrait that cannot be ignored.
The penetrating gaze, direct and simple
composition, the tattoos, the jewellery, the
body piercings and his clothes all add up to
what I think is one of the strongest Editor’s
Choice images I have been able to choose
for quite some while. A perfect example of
portrait photography.

Grant Scott, Editor

Dawn Martin
Ordinary People
Canon EOS 5D MkII
Canon 50mm f/1.4

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Yaman Ibrahim
Sunset at Pushkar
Nikon D3
Nikkor 70-200mm VR II

Yaman Ibrahim
Lady in red
Nikon D3
Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8

[16] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

READERS’ GALLERY

Svitlana Lysytsia
In the dark
Nikon D90
Nikkor 16-85mm

Sharkawi Che Din
Our heritage
Canon EOS 5D MkII
Canon EF 17-40mm

Daniel Morelli
Set fire to the rain
Canon EOS 5D
Canon 17-105mm USM

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 1 7 ]

Karl Shaw
Haley
Nikon D3s
Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8

James Bird
Sunlight
Fujifilm FinePix S5 Pro
Sigma 105mm Macro

[18] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

READERS’ GALLERY
Edward McKay
Soft sunset
Canon EOS 40D
Tamron SP 70-300mm VC

Bogdan Bousca
Having a smoked fish
Canon EOS 30D
Lensbaby Composer

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 1 9 ]

Barri Elford
Fisher woman, Broadhaven
Nikon D300
Nikkor 18-200mm

Rob Cole
Millennium Bridge reflections
Canon EOS 450D
Sigma 10-20mm EX DC

READERS’ GALLERY

Chris Ogden
Miles
Canon EOS 400D
Sigma 18–50mm

Gary Edgeworth
Duxford Spitfire
Olympus E-410
14-42mm

Terry Hall
Durdle Door
Sony Alpha 200
18-70mm

Pete Zelewski
Fringe benefits
Canon EOS 7D
Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 2 1 ]

READERS’ GALLERY

Rylan Tuohy
Infinity of luminescence
Sony Cyber-shot
F/2.8 – Exposure: 1/25


Harry Chamberlain
Icicles
Fuji FinePix 3800
Fujinon 6x optical zoom f/2.8

Roger Roberts
Saab
Nikon D300s
Nikkor 18-200mm

UPLOAD

& WIN!
Darren Athersmith
Giro
Nikon D3S
Nikkor 70-20mm

IF YOU WANT TO SEE YOUR IMAGES IN THE
MAGAZINE and have the opportunity to win
an 8GB Lexar Professional memory card and
reader, visit www.photographymonthly.com and
upload your favourite images. We will choose the
best work uploaded each month for inclusion
in the magazine, and the Editor’s Choice will win a
card and reader. SD or CF, the choice is yours.
If you want the ultimate in memory cards, look no
further than Lexar’s Professional range. Even if
you shoot at machine-gun speeds, they’ll keep
up; the 133x SDHC cards can sustain write speeds
of 20Mbps, while the 400x CF cards are even
faster, at 60Mbps — and at that rate you will need
their 8GB capacity. That’s room for more than
5,000 RAW files from a 10-megapixel DSLR.
So, if you want to shoot away unhampered,
secure in the knowledge that your pictures
are being stored safely, start uploading
your images to
www.photographymonthly.com
For more details visit www.lexar.com

[22] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

WIN!

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PHOTO COMPETITION

WIN A BREAK
!
N
I
IN SAINT-MALO, W

A FERRY TRIP OR A
LUXURY FRENCH HAMPER
We have teamed up once again with our friends at FRANCE Magazine to
host a competition which gives you the chance to show us and them the
images you have shot in France over the past year, or those you shoot
in the coming weeks. All you need to do to enter is upload your favourite
images on to the Photography Monthly website. As you can see
below, there are some great prizes to be won, so make sure you enter.

PRIZES

SPONSORED BY

1ST PRIZE
A TWO-NIGHT BREAK FOR TWO PEOPLE IN
SAINT-MALO, PLUS YOUR PICTURE IN THE
FRANCE CALENDAR 2012!
First prize is a fabulous two-night break for two people
in the historic Breton town of Saint-Malo, courtesy of
Brittany Ferries. The winner will travel to Saint-Malo
by ferry and stay in a lovely hotel in the pretty port,
which is famous for its ancient walled town and
cobbled streets. They can stroll around the impressive
fortifications, sample the local seafood or visit the little
shops packed with French specialities. Saint-Malo is
also the perfect base from which to visit the charming
coastline of Brittany, the lovely town of Dinard and
the picture postcard village of Dinan.

Whether you choose simply to sail with
Brittany Ferries or take one of their
award-winning holidays, you can mix and
match any of the Brittany Ferries services from
Portsmouth, Poole or Plymouth to France or
Spain, and plan a route that’s just right for you.
• Sail to France by day, overnight, or go
high-speed and arrive in as little as 2 1⁄2 hours.

The winning photograph will also appear in the FRANCE
Calendar 2012 – the popular calendar full of high-quality
images which is produced by the FRANCE Magazine
team every year.

• Choose to arrive at Caen, Cherbourg,
Saint-Malo or Roscoff.

2ND PRIZE

3RD PRIZE

• Enjoy a relaxing overnight cruise to Spain
– ideal for touring southwest France.

PORTSMOUTH-CHERBOURG RETURN FERRY TRIP
The second-prize winner will receive a fabulous return
ferry trip for one car and up to four passengers on the
popular Portsmouth to Cherbourg crossing, courtesy of
Brittany Ferries.

A MADE IN PROVENCE HAMPER WORTH £100
This luxury gift hamper, courtesy of Made in Provence,
contains a selection of traditional artisan food and
scented gifts from the south of France, including
truffle-infused olive oil and
balsamic vinegar and a
Provence lavender organic
gift set.
www.madeinprovence.co.uk

• Brittany Ferries’ direct routes to the holiday
regions will save you miles of driving, plus
money on fuel, tolls and overnight stops.
• Holidays too! Take your pick from a range of
award-winning gîtes, cottages, hotels and
apartments – all for less than you’d expect.
To find out more visit www.brittanyferries.com
or call 0871 244 1444

HOW TO ENTER
Pictures for this year’s competition must be in a
landscape format and in colour. Each entrant can
submit up to three images.

To enter visit www.photographymonthly.com
Please be aware that you will need to register to
upload your images to the gallery. PM

M A G A Z I N E

Full terms and conditions are available at www.francemag.com/phototerms Deadline for submissions: 20 July 2011
All prizes are subject to availability. Depending on the contact details you give us, FRANCE Magazine and Photography Monthly may mail, email, or phone you with offers, products or services reflecting your preferences. If you do not
wish to be contacted by us or third parties, please indicate this on your entry.

W W W. P H O T O G R A P H Y M O N T H LY. C O M [ 2 5 ]

5

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5

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SPECIAL
Great British landscapes

GREAT BRITISH
LANDSCAPES

MARK LAKEMAN

GREAT BRITAIN IS A UNIQUE CORNER OF THE WORLD. NOT ONLY DOES THE
LANDSCAPE RANGE FAR AND WIDE, OFFERING MOUNTAINS AND COASTLINES,
LAKES AND FORESTS, FARMLAND AND CITYSCAPES, BUT THE WEATHER MEANS
YOU CAN NEVER MAKE THE SAME IMAGE TWICE. THIS IS WHY WE HAVE ASKED
SOME OF THE TOP LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHERS TO PROVIDE ONLY THE BEST
TIPS AND ADVICE TO HELP YOU CAPTURE BETTER BRITISH LANDSCAPES.

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [27 ]

Holwell Lawn, Dartmoor,Devon.
Half a mile from Saddle Tor
and Hound Tor.

HOW TO PLAN YOUR
LANDSCAPE SHOTS
WHAT KIT DID YOU USE
AND WHY?
Most of my kit is second-hand, including
the camera body itself, which is now a
[Canon EOS] 7D. I believe that if you train
yourself in the raw basics and progress, it’s
the art of photography that drives you on.
None of my lens collection is on the
‘must-have’ hit list: a second-hand (SH) 

[28 ] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

BIOGRAPHY – MARK LAKEMAN
Based in south Devon, Mark Lakeman has been a
finalist in the past two Landscape Photographer of
the Year competitions. His work has also been
featured in a National Theatre Gallery exhibition.
www.flickr.com/photos/lakemans/

SPECIAL
Great British landscapes Mark Lakeman

MASTER
COMPOSITION

MARK LAKEMAN

Allow yourself time to settle in when you first
visit a new place. Try to resist the temptation
to start taking images immediately. Sit down
and absorb the atmosphere because often what you
need to do is connect with where you are.
Once you have done this, it will become easier to see
interesting compositions and discover additional
themes and stories for you to shoot. The unusual
is all around us. It’s not so much a question
of the correct geographic location as
being in the right place in
your mind.

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 29 ]

Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 EX DC, SH Canon
75-300mm f/4 USM, SH Canon 24-85mm
f/3.5 which is 15 years old and built for Canon
film cameras, and a Sigma 10-20mm f/4.5.
I also occasionally dip into silly focal lengths
if the conditions allow and use my Kenko 2x
convertor, but as my lenses are not top spec
it is a tricky piece of glass to use. The Sigma
10-20mm is the only lens I’ve bought new.
I sometimes get creative with filters; I have
a few ND [neutral density] grads and a B+W
ND1000x (again second-hand) but to keep
the cost down I only use the Cokin P series.
My favourite filters are Hoya circular
polarisers, of which I have one for every lens
diameter in the bag. As with most TOGs
[Terry’s Old Geezers] I have a lot of photo kit
that stays in the bag and doesn’t get used,
but the cable release and spirit bubble are
my most used gadgets, especially as the light
fades and longer exposures are required.
The tripod, a Manfrotto 190X and strange
vertical trigger head, is on permanent loan
from my father. I believe you don’t need
to have all the gear to get started and I have
progressed well with the camera kit I have.
I think you learn more by using basic kit,
with its development of compositional
skills that end up dictating your lenses and
camera equipment.

WHAT ARE THE
INGREDIENTS FOR A
SUCCESSFUL IMAGE?

WHO OR WHAT INSPIRES
YOU?
I have never read my camera manual or
completed any photographic courses,
however I have been fortunate to meet up
with some local TOG celebrities and form
great friendships with them. David Clapp is
a good friend whom I approached a few
years ago through his Non-Workshop
invitation. We share location knowledge and
travel expenses although we spend more
time in the pub than on shoots now! Other
TOG friends include the likes of Lloyd
Cosway, aka DevonShots.com, Adrian Oakes,
Bob Berry and many more. They have all
inspired me in their image capture and

[30 ] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

Bantham Cove, Bigbury
Bay, Devon.
Exposure blend of two
images, one at five
seconds and the other at
two seconds.

approach to photography. I have obviously
looked up to the greats such as Charlie Waite,
David Noton and Joe Cornish, but they are
the ‘untouchables’. I seem to have more
success utilising community sites such as
Flickr, redbubble and deviantART.
Photographers such as Antony Spencer and
Alex Nail play a part in my direction and
drive; they all are very kind in offering advice
or critiques on my shots or sharing
knowledge about equipment and locations.

DID YOU HAVE ANY
PROBLEMS GETTING
THE IMAGES?
The foggy scene (page 32) is Haldon Forest,
near Exeter, and that morning I was heading
home after a dawn shoot on Dartmoor.
The Exe Valley fills up with fog quite often
but to be there as it breaks up and the sun
pierces through is a rare occurrence. It was

a mad 10 minutes of running around trying
to compose shots as the mist moved and
broke up.
A shot of bluebells is the ultimate spring
prize. To get a strong and unique bluebell
shot in those famous woodlands is almost
impossible. I am so lucky to live in the West
Country and can be in many diverse locations
in under an hour. Dartmoor is very special;
it is a real wilderness but offers incredible
scope to photographers of any experience.
Holwell Lawn (previous pages) is an iconic
local bluebell spot. It is enjoyed by many and
shot by most, so again to capture it
differently is a tricky task. Due to the
prolonged winter the bluebells were very late
and overlapped the hawthorn bloom, a rare
natural diary event, but one I was lucky to
catch before the weather broke last spring.
Westcombe Bay is Devon’s own iconic
coastal location, up there with Durdle Door

MARK LAKEMAN

If the conditions are right even the most
overlooked location can morph into your own
mythical landscape. I don’t really stick to
the rules of thirds or golden hour shooting
as I believe the secret to great images is
good weather at your location. My favourite
conditions are fog or mist and before
sunrise when the colours are true. An image
that opens your imagination or one
that really makes you want to be there is
a successful one.

SPECIAL
Great British landscapes Mark Lakeman

“I DON’T REALLY STICK TO THE RULES OF
THIRDS OR GOLDEN HOUR SHOOTING AS I
BELIEVE THE SECRET TO GREAT IMAGES IS
GOOD WEATHER AT YOUR LOCATION.

pride myself on my local location knowledge.
I always plan my shoots very well and
modern technology is invaluable in this
process. Great weather sites, Google Earth,
phone apps and GPS are all essential in
understanding location potential. I am not
that well-travelled. France and Guernsey
are as far as I have got, but the British
landscape is admired all over the world.
We have a great deal of history and to utilise
that in photography is a real head-turner.
Whether you are shooting old lighthouses,
ancient stone circles or classic architecture
it’s about the connection you make with your
subject. Read about it before or after so you
appreciate it fully; that way you’re learning
all the time as well as building your portfolio.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU
HAVE FOR SHOOTING
BRITISH LANDSCAPES?


Planning is the way to avoid wasted
journeys, so reliable weather websites are
utter genius. Sites such as Metcheck,
MyWeather2 and XC Weather are extremely
useful. They all have smartphone apps so you
can check on the move.

Clothing is as important, if not more so,
than your lens collection. I have had to dig
my camera bag out of the snow in sub-zero
temperatures on Dartmoor but the right
clothing meant I was out all day, and stayed
warm too. Strong footwear is another
essential. Spend out on lined and insulated
Wellington boots if you shoot seascapes or
rivers. Comfortable walking boots are the
difference between getting to the
summit before sunrise for a cracking
shot and suffering a twisted ankle.
For more advice and

Respect the location every way,
techniques from the pros
visit the website at
from the moment you arrive to the
www.photography
way
you process your images.
the location. This settles you
monthly.com
Don’t trample over wild flowers or access
and allows you to think straight.
restricted land, heed the warning signs and
A landscape photographer should
stay safe. This should also be represented in
be appreciating what is going on around
your final image. Process it as it looked with
them, almost using that connection to their
your own eyes. Don’t be tempted by overadvantage. I rarely cook my shots up in
saturating and turning your capture into
Photoshop but try to keep them as close to
cooked-up digital art.
the moment of capture as possible. If you
don’t tune in, appreciate the surroundings,

I should say something about the hit list
lens collection or a mid to top-end camera
and capture these as they are, then why are
body, but I will not. If you can afford the
you doing this? The keys to success are
top-end kit, great, go for it. However, think
planning, timing and more planning.
about what you are shooting and whether
Leave in good time, take your time and
you want to be lugging a huge camera bag
appreciate what you have just captured.
full of top-quality glass up that tor or around
those cliffs. My lenses are light, my bag is
never full and I am very careful how I get in
and out of locations. My lenses are
second-hand, as is my camera body, but they
Dorset is great, Somerset is lovely and
are all insured, as am I. Search out the
Cornwall is amazing. Devon, however, offers
right kit for you and what you want it for.

so much more and being a true Devonian I

GO
ONLINE

in Dorset and the Arch of Lands End in
Cornwall. I have a friend to thank for this
image (page 32). He took me to this location
a few years back and we visit at the ‘right
time’ every year to try to better the
conditions. Interesting weather and the right
tides are important to good shots here; get
them and you can’t really go wrong. However,
decent wellington boots are also essential.
As is the case with most of Devon’s beaches,
access is tricky and taking the path back to
the village of Kingston is time-consuming.

HOW DID YOU OVERCOME
THE PROBLEMS?
To cross a busy road you should Stop, Look
and Listen. The same life-saving rule applies
to all the images I take. I believe if you do
actually stop and look around you, the shots
always present themselves to you; if
you listen, it calms you, tunes you in to

WHAT DO YOU LOVE
ABOUT SHOOTING
BRITISH LANDSCAPES?

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 31 ]

SPECIAL
Mark Lakeman Great British landscapes

Top glass is heavy, but if I could afford it I
would have some too. The same goes for
software; if you can work with what you
have got, then you’re fine. You don’t need
the most up-to-date, digital, mindbending
software just to blend or sharpen an
image a tad.

Clean your camera gear well. Your tripod,
bag and even your filters will need a clean
after a trip to the coast or inner-city
captures. Be careful with your kit when on
location; always zip your bag up and don’t
rush, because that is how it all goes wrong.

WHAT DO YOU THINK
MAKES A SUCCESSFUL
IMAGE?
A successful image has to make you feel
like you could be there. It’s that simple
for me. My family are rarely up at the times
I head out so when I return from the
Somerset Levels after a 4am start, or from
a sunrise on the cliffs in the South Hams,
I can share images that move them and
which they believe are real. An image should
capture a moment in time that can be
shared, believed and felt. My intention is to
capture local landscapes with my own
stamp on them. Being confident that you’re
capturing your patch your way is
very important to being recognised as
a serious contender.

WHAT WERE THE
SETTINGS FOR THE
SHOTS?
Most of my images are captured at the

[32 ] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

MASTER
CAPTURING
EXTREMES
Judge the best conditions, be patient, and look for
elements that complement or boost the presence of
existing colours. Get to know your in-camera settings.
Experiment with saturation levels, sharpness, colour
tone and contrast. Understand how white balance
works and use it to enhance a scene or shift certain hues
within a shot. Underexpose the highlights in your shot.
This ensures good colour, although darker areas may
need some dodging later in post-production.
In these situations most of the stronger
colours are in the brightest areas of the
image, so it’s important not to lose
them to overexposure.

detailed end of focal lengths such as f/11 and
above. Try not to dip below f/8 as you will
lose the detail and sharpness of your images.
So I tend to shoot between f/11 and f/16
for landscape images. As I exposure-blend
my images rather than use graduated
filters, I seem to blend at least two or three
images to achieve the natural feel. In doing
this the Exif data is merged or lost in the
post-processing of the capture. I know that
the foggy forest was a single exposure
at f/11 with a focal length of around 20mm
and the Holwell Lawn bluebells were also a
single exposure, at f/16, using the Sigma
18-50mm lens, which on a crop gives you a
35mm feel. The Westcombe Bay image is a
two-shot exposure blend in bulb mode using
a cable release and sturdy tripod in the
shallows. The exposures were around 30
seconds for the sky and background and a
minute or so for the foreground detail,
both at f/11 because the fading light meant
lengthening exposures.

Westcombe Bay,
South Hams, Devon.

DO YOU DO ANY
POST-PRODUCTION?
I do try to keep post-processing to a bare
minimum. It is important to me that I respect
what the camera captured at the location,
not to turn the image into a piece of
saturated digital art instead of a ‘real-feel’
photograph. I do use the obvious weapons of
choice such as Adobe CS and Lightroom, but
I don’t spend hours tweaking and cloning or
contrasting and producing HDR
super-landscapes. That is not me.

MARK LAKEMAN

Haldon Forest, Devon.
Off the A380, Telegraph Hill, near Exeter.

Brine junction.
Mellon Udrigle, near Laide,
west coast of Scotland.

ADDING DRAMA TO
YOUR LANDSCAPES
WHAT KIT DID YOU USE
AND WHY?
I shoot landscapes exclusively with film
using Fujichrome Velvia 50. A Pentax 67II
was used for all the images here with either
a 55-100mm or a 90-180mm zoom lens.
Thereafter I use a Nikon 9000 film scanner
to produce any digital files I require from
the 6 x 7cm transparencies.
I enjoy the art of making a photograph
with film, the methodical approach and the
‘blind’ satisfaction I get from achieving a
great result in a single exposure.

WHAT ARE THE
INGREDIENTS FOR A
SUCCESSFUL IMAGE?
Light, composition and subject in that order,
with the quality of light being the single
most important ingredient.

WHO OR WHAT INSPIRES
YOU?
In landscape terms fine light is what
inspires me most, but fine light is a
woolly definition, because the best light is
that which is most appropriate to the scene
you wish to photograph. I strongly believe
that subject matter and composition

[3 4 ] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

BIOGRAPHY – IAN CAMERON
Ian Cameron, a professional landscape photographer
based in Scotland, operates under the banner
of Transient Light. He has written a successful
landscape photography field technique book and sells
framed prints, calendars and gift cards through his
website. His work has been published both nationally
and internationally, and he runs photographic
courses throughout Scotland.
www.transientlight.co.uk
are subservient to fine light but all three
components working coherently will
inevitably produce the best images.
Photographically I find the work of Steve
McCurry and Galen Rowell the most
evocative and stimulating; they are the
primary reason I regard fine light as being
so important.

DID YOU HAVE ANY
PROBLEMS GETTING
THE IMAGES?
Technically no, but physically yes I did, most
assuredly. An Teallach is one of the
most dramatic of Scotland’s mainland ridge
walks and it takes a good four hours to the
summit through fairly squelchy ground,
and frankly it isn’t the most exciting of
walks into the mountain. Add to this the
logistics of carrying all my photographic
gear, a sturdy tripod and camping
paraphernalia, so that I could take in both a
sunset and a sunrise, and you could easily

Jurassic view.
The Quiraing, Skye, Scotland.

be forgiven for thinking it might not be
worth the effort. That notion is immediately
dispelled around 10ft from the summit
where a jaw-dropping view opens up that
leaves you so spellbound that you forget to
take your camera out and photograph it.

SPECIAL
Great British landscapes
Cameron
24 hours Ian
of shooting

“...SUBJECT MATTER AND COMPOSITION
ARE SUBSERVIENT TO FINE LIGHT BUT ALL THREE
COMPONENTS WORKING COHERENTLY WILL
INEVITABLY PRODUCE THE BEST IMAGES.

WORK
YOUR LOCAL
AREA

IAN CAMERON

HOW DID YOU OVERCOME
THE PROBLEMS?
Resolve, mixed with a lot of planning in
terms of weather and anticipated positions
of sunset and sunrise. Technically the only
real issues were compositional, providing

adequate depth of field and balancing the
existing light with a two-stop, soft-edge
graduated neutral density filter dropped
into the shadowy mountains to add a little
menace to the serrated peaks and hold the
colour and detail in the sky. 

You don’t have to travel far and wide to
make great landscape images. Consider what
is close to home and all around you.
If you don’t have to travel very far you are
more likely to see the location in all weather
and in all light, which means you can build a
greater understanding of the location and
can choose your shots. You might even
consider creating a series of images
of the same location.

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 35 ]

IAN CAMERON

Sunset An Teallach.
Summit ridge of An Teallach,
Dundonnell, west coast of Scotland.

[36 ] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

SPECIAL
Great British landscapes Ian Cameron
WHAT DO YOU LOVE
ABOUT SHOOTING
BRITISH LANDSCAPES?
To be honest it’s a kind of love/hate
relationship I have with shooting
landscapes in Britain, so I’d probably qualify
this still further by saying that it is
Scotland’s landscapes in particular that
enthral me. The landscapes of Scotland
are more three-dimensional, and generally
a lot wilder and less subject to rules,
regulations and general access.
England is undeniably pretty, green and
pleasant, and the weather plays its
part to ensure this vitality over and above
a great many of its European neighbours,
but it is also crowded, highly man-managed
and cultivated. Access to land and
permission to photograph it are becoming
increasingly problematical with the
scapegoat of terrorism being cited by the
overly zealous in frankly ludicrous
circumstances. The best thing about
shooting British landscapes is that the
weather, seasons and, above all, its
exceptional transient light make repeat
visits to the same location a nevertheless
unrepeatable experience.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU
HAVE FOR SHOOTING
BRITISH LANDSCAPES?
Plan your intended shoot meticulously,
paying attention to weather forecasts,
tides, and the position and times of sunrise
and sunset.
Develop a systematic field-based
workflow so you can work methodically in
less than ideal conditions, which will allow
you to capture the moment without it being
compromised by technical issues.
Although there are some fabulous
landscape shots to be taken at either end
of the day don’t be confined to these
times exclusively, because great light
can be present at any time.
When shooting landscapes try not to
forsake or neglect the aesthetically
beautiful for the perceived need to find an
original composition; light, weather and the
seasons will provide its own originality.
Be patient. Even with all the planning and
preparation, a great subject and an
outstanding composition, the image will
only ever be as strong as the quality of light
dished out. Learn to accept the fact
that some things are outside your control.

WHAT DO YOU THINK
MAKES A SUCCESSFUL
IMAGE?
My definition of a successful landscape
image is one that captures the essence of

the scene before me in a realistic and
believable way such that it stimulates an
emotional response in the viewer and
transports that person to the scene.
A great landscape photograph should be as
transparent as a glassless window, one you
can step through and walk into.

WHAT WERE THE
SETTINGS FOR YOUR
SHOTS?
Sunset An Teallach, Dundonnell, Scotland:
Shot on a Pentax 67II, 55-100mm zoom lens
at wide end, 0.6 ND soft-edge grad, f/22 at
1/2sec, Velvia 50 film. The camera was
mounted on a Gitzo 3530LS tripod with a
Really Right Stuff BH-55 ball head.
Jurassic view, The Quiraing, Skye, Scotland:
Shot on a Pentax 67II, 90-180mm zoom lens
at wide end, 0.75 ND hard-edge grad, f/16 at
six seconds, Velvia 50 film. Again the
camera was mounted on a Gitzo 3530LS
with a Really Right Stuff BH-55 ball head.
Brine junction, Mellon Udrigle, near
Laide, Scotland:
Shot on a Pentax 67II, 55-100mm zoom
lens at wide end, polariser, 0.45 ND
hard-edge grad, f/22 at 1/2sec, Velvia 50
film. The camera was mounted on
a Gitzo 3530LS with a Really Right Stuff
BH-55 ball head.

DO YOU DO ANY
POST-PRODUCTION?
I only choose to scan the transparencies
that look good to me. My usual
post-processing routine is crude but works
very well because everything is sorted out
in the field at the time of taking the shot.
I scan to a 16-bit 300dpi RGB Tiff for the
planned output size, make any minor levels
adjustment, reduce to an 8-bit Tiff, sharpen
and output as required. At all times my
original transparency as viewed on a
calibrated light box is my reference for
contrast colour and saturation.
Adjustments to the 16-bit file are made to
mimic the original transparency.

INSPIRATION FROM THE GREATS:
GALEN ROWELL, 1940-2002
American landscape photographer Galen Rowell
pioneered a special brand of participatory wilderness
photography in which the photographer transcends
being an observer with a camera to become an active
participant in the image being photographed.
His emotional connection to his subject matter came
across clearly in his early mountain climbing
photographs that first earned public recognition, but
his landscape imagery, often made on the same
adventures, has proved even more evocative because
of the visual power he created.
www.mountainlight.com

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 37 ]

BIOGRAPHY – ALEX NAIL
Alex Nail is an aeronautical engineer and landscape
photographer based in Bristol. He photographs
Dartmoor and other UK national parks throughout all
seasons. He also enjoys teaching photography on
Dartmoor.
www.alexnail.com

WORKING WITH THE
AVAILABLE LIGHT
WHAT KIT DID YOU USE
AND WHY?
I used a Canon EOS 20D, 17-40mm f/4 L and
70-200mm f/4 L for these images. I used a
Gitzo Explorer tripod and Really Right Stuff
BH-40 ballhead. This gear produces stunning
results for a reasonable weight (and weight is
an issue, since I regularly go camping).
Maybe this will convince some photographers
that you just don’t need the latest camera
for high-quality images (although I now use
a Canon EOS 5D MkII). The 20D can
now be bought for £150 second-hand.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE
ABOUT SHOOTING
BRITISH LANDSCAPES?
I can’t believe how under-appreciated the
British landscape is and I love the idea of
revealing how magical it can be. Visitors to
my exhibitions have been surprised that the
scene they are looking at is just a few miles’
walk away. I love the solitude when out on
Dartmoor, especially while I am solo camping.
There is nothing like waking up to a summer
sunrise on the moor knowing I am the only
one enjoying it. I also like the challenge of
the British weather; the unpredictability adds
a level of disappointment and excitement
that is quite addictive.

Lighting
is everything.
To take
great grounds
a
pavilion
outside the
Taj Mahal’s

Mogul
images
you to
need
great
light
and in Although
Britain the
from
which
shoot
these
images.
that means
work.
Persistence,
not luck,
weather
washard
foggy,
I climbed
the pavilion
before
is
the key
to good
lighting.
You can
watchin
the
sunrise
while
the area
was quiet;
a rarity
India Broken, not beaten.
Hawthorn tree,
weather
forecast
to your heart’s content but
once each
day begins.
Combe Tor, Dartmoor.
ultimately
thelifted
only and
way though
you canthere
reliably
The fog soon
wasget
still a
good along
light is
to river,
get outdoors
a lot.
Thatasmight
wisp
the
that lifted
higher
the sun
mean
accepting
10 trips light
without
any
rose. The
early-morning
illuminated
the
success,
butthe
in the
run, if you
stick
it,
that
are to
compositional
failures. Instead
plan
decent
tripod and
understand
marble and
fog long
still covered
the
riveratbelow
it,
lifting
reveal the fishermen.
I was shooting
with
Fujichrome
Velvia
film and exposure,
used spot ISO,
the
rewards
will the
come.
your shot on a cloudy day or instead arrive a
aperture, shutter speed, camera modes and
metering
to get
exposure right.
couple of hours before sunset. Make sure you
RAW, and read your camera manual.

Scout your images or arrive early. If you do
have good light and you’re in a location, the
know where the light will fall.
Using your camera should be instinctive, not
last thing you want to do is rush shots to the
laboured. Technique is the first thing I teach

Master the technical side. Don’t sabotage
point where you have beautifully-lit images
your images with poor technique. Buy a
beginners; it frees you up to be creative.

[38 ] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

ALEX NAIL

THINK OUTSIDE
THE BOX
WHAT
ADVICE DO YOU
HAVE
FOR
Most images
of theSHOOTING
Taj Mahal in Agra, India, are
BRITISH
taken within theLANDSCAPES?
palace’s compound, but I found

SPECIAL
Great British landscapes Alex Nail

USE THE
LIGHT TO YOUR
ADVANTAGE
The low light of dawn or dusk often gives the
best landscape images. So get up early and
stay in your location for as long as you can.
Try to arrive in advance of the dawn in the dark
if needs be so you can be set up and ready
to go when the sun starts to rise. For sunsets
arrive at least two hours before to find
the right position to shoot from to
capture the dusk light in
all its glory.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE HOW
UNDER-APPRECIATED THE BRITISH
LANDSCAPE IS AND I LOVE THE
IDEA OF REVEALING JUST HOW
MAGICAL IT CAN BE.
 Get off the beaten track. We are all guilty
of taking images from the roadside or path,
or shooting heavily photographed viewpoints.
If you want to take your work to the next
level, put in a bit more effort and try to find
new locations and perspectives.

WHAT ARE THE
INGREDIENTS FOR A
SUCCESSFUL IMAGE?
Lighting is absolutely crucial. As a general
rule I think it’s best to shoot around dawn
or dusk. I may shoot under the midday sun

in the summer and overcast days can be
excellent for dramatic shots or
photographing woodland, but the amazing
colour that can be present at sunrise
and sunset can set your images apart.
A good location and composition follow 

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 39 ]

BE PATIENT

KNOW YOUR FILTERS
NEUTRAL DENSITY GRADUATED
ND filters come in either hard or soft
graduations. The difference between the
two is the severity of the change from
colour to clear and a range of strengths
denoting the light-stopping power of the
filter. This filter selectively adjusts
exposure without affecting colour
balance and enables the use of longer
shutter speeds and wider apertures for
creative purposes.

Sometimes you need to wait hours,
even days, to get the right shot.
The light in your chosen landscape will
always be different and no two shots will
ever be the same. Consider revisiting
a location during a different time of the
day or of the year, do your research
on the area and devise a list of
shots you think would show
the landscape at its best.

POLARISING
Polarising filters eliminate unwanted
reflections and darken skies.
Polarisers also enhance colour and
contrast to tackle the whitish glare
caused by reflected light. The beauty
of this filter is that it can be rotated to
achieve the desired effect.

ULTRAVIOLET
A UV filter is transparent to visible light
and can be left on the lens for nearly all
shots. It absorbs ultraviolet rays without
changing the exposure and with most
images people cannot see a difference
when a UV filter is used. However, these
filters (in particular any that lack
a coating) may introduce flaring and
have a negative impact on contrast and
sharpness, especially when a strong light
source is present.

SKYLIGHT
This very pale pink filter, commonly used
with colour film, is a colour correction
filter which reduces excess blue found in
outdoor scenes. Although some might
argue that it is no longer required with
digital cameras as the white balance
automatically compensates, there is no
harm leaving a skylight filter on all the
time to protect your lens.

INFRARED
This filter blocks out visible light and
allows only infrared light to pass through
your lens. The effect darkens the sky
and green can appear almost white.
Using this filter requires long exposures
and a tripod, so enough infrared light can
get through to achieve the desired effect.

[4 0 ] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

Forest for the trees.
Pine plantation, Burrator
Reservoir, Dartmoor.

closely behind. I find simple, well-structured
images have the greatest impact.

WHO OR WHAT INSPIRES
YOU?
Admiration would probably be a better word.
I admire the work of Joe Cornish and David
Ward in the UK and that of Floris van Breugel
and Hougaard Malan internationally. I think
my inspiration comes from a competitive

desire to capture the most spectacular
images of the British landscape that I can.
It is not particularly idealistic but trying to
‘be the best’ or ‘be the first’, even when I
have a way to go, constantly keeps me going
(particularly since it’s not achievable).

DO YOU DO ANY
POST-PRODUCTION?
All of my images are edited in Lightroom or

SPECIAL
Great British landscapes Alex Nail

“GET OFF THE BEATEN TRACK. WE ARE
ALL GUILTY OF TAKING IMAGES FROM
THE ROADSIDE OR PATH, OR SHOOTING
HEAVILY PHOTOGRAPHED VIEWPOINTS.

ALEX NAIL

INSPIRATION FROM THE GREATS:

Photoshop to some extent. My goal is always
to re-create the moment and sometimes this
can require some complex processing. If, for
example, I am shooting into the setting sun,
I might shoot three separate exposures and
manually blend them with layer masks
in Photoshop to balance exposure levels.
On the other hand, if I am shooting rivers
or woodland I might only need very minor
adjustments in Lightroom.

WHAT WERE THE
SETTINGS FOR YOUR
SHOTS?
Forest for the trees: 1/45sec at f/11, ISO 100,
70-200mm f/4 L at 122mm;
Broken, not beaten: 1/8sec to 1/60sec (three
exposures) at f/11, ISO 100, 17-40mm f/4 L at
17mm;
Pew Tor: 1/8sec to 1/125sec (three exposures)
at f/11 ISO 100, 17-40mm F/4 L at 17mm.


ANSEL ADAMS, 1902–1984
Ansel Adams was an American photographer and
environmentalist, best-known for his black-and-white
photographs of the American West, especially in
Yosemite National Park. With Fred Archer, Adams
developed the Zone System as a way of determining
proper exposure and adjusting the contrast of
the final print. The resulting clarity and depth
characterised his photographs and the work of those
to whom he taught the system. Adams primarily
used large-format cameras, despite their size, weight,
setup time and film cost, because their high resolution
helped to ensure sharpness in his images.
www.anseladams.com

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 41 ]

Be careful with your exposures, particularly in
areas of high luminance such as glaciers or snowfields.
Altitude and ultraviolet rays can harm exposures,
particularly when measuring incident light with a
handheld device. Bracket more widely than normal.
Watch for digital burnout. In bright sunlight
highlight values will often exceed the dynamic
range of your camera’s sensor. A graduated
filter will help, but there is little you can do.
It’s better to let the sun cool off and
try a different aspect
or composition.

[42 ] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

ALEX NAIL

TIPS FOR
SHOOTING IN
EXTREME CONDITIONS

SPECIAL
Great British landscapes Alex Nail

“MASTER THE TECHNICAL SIDE.
DON’T SABOTAGE YOUR IMAGES
WITH POOR TECHNIQUE. BUY A
DECENT TRIPOD AND UNDERSTAND
EXPOSURE, ISO, APERTURE,
SHUTTER SPEED, CAMERA MODES
AND RAW AND READ YOUR
CAMERA MANUAL.
Pew Tor grasses, Pew Tor, Dartmoor. The whole day had been a washout but
an hour or so before sunset I noticed a gap on the horizon which, by the time
I had arrived at Pew Tor, had turned into a dramatic sunset.

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 4 3 ]

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THE PHOTOGRAPHER’S GUIDE TO

TURNINGPRO

WORLD OF

PHOTOGRAPHY

SPECIAL
Great British landscapes Fran Halsall

FRAN HALSALL

Derwent Edge,
Peak District.
The Salt Cellar boulder,
heather and grasses,
August 2007.

HOW TO WORK
WITH
MUTED TONES

WHAT KIT DID YOU USE
AND WHY?
I have always used various Canon cameras.
Currently I use the Canon EOS 5D MkII, with
which these images were taken using a
17-40mm lens. I use this as my main lens
most of the time. One of the reasons I


BIOGRAPHY – FRAN HALSALL
Fran Halsall is a professional photographer and writer.
She is the author of two books, The Peak District
(Frances Lincoln, 2008) and Light and Shadow
(Frances Lincoln, 2010), and is currently working on
a third. She also runs workshops on location in the
Peak District.
www.fran-halsall.co.uk

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 47 ]

like the Canon EOS 5D MkII and Canon
EOS-1D is that they both have full-frame
sensors, so when using the 17-40mm you get
a nice wide angle. For the [Froggatt Edge
and Dunkery Beacon] shots this allowed me
to get low and to give a sense of receding
perspective. When you’ve got detail in the
flowers in the foreground and lots of things
happening in the distance, a wide-angle lens
helps to lead the viewer into the image.
I also have a Canon 70-200mm f/4 without

[48 ] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

image stabilisation for picking out elements
within the landscape, such as the detail of
trees, and regularly carry a Canon 100mm
macro specifically for floral details.

WHAT ARE THE
INGREDIENTS FOR A
SUCCESSFUL IMAGE?
Always plan and know your location.
Ideally you should visit beforehand, having
looked at maps so you can prepare and

know where landforms are, where the sun is
going to be at any given time of year etc.
This is particularly important if you are
shooting mountains or coastal locations
where you may find that if you turn up at
the wrong time of the year areas will be
in shadow, which can be disappointing.
On the day itself it is a case of being
patient and waiting for the right light.
If the sun isn’t obliging and the clouds aren’t
interesting, then don’t think all your

FRAN HALSALL

Froggatt Edge,
Peak District.
Purple heather,
September 2010.

SPECIAL
Great British landscapes Fran Halsall
passionate about conservation and I hope
to bring attention to landscapes using
photography as a subtle reminder of how
important, beautiful and amazing these
places are.

DID YOU HAVE ANY
PROBLEMS GETTING
THE IMAGES?
The heather moorland and Dunkery Beacon
image was taken on a windy morning. On the
moorlands I had to sacrifice a little bit of
depth of field which resulted in the horizon
being ever so slightly soft. This was because
I couldn’t use a small enough aperture to get
both the flowers in the foreground and also
the hill sharp. Although it is nearly there, it’s
not perfect.
The Froggatt Edge image was less
problematic; it was mainly a case of waiting
for the light to become a little more intense.
It was quite a hazy afternoon and it was
only in the last few minutes, just as the sun
was about to go down over the horizon,
that a gap opened up in the cloud to the west
to give a decent quality of light. Until that
point it had been quite wishy-washy, meaning
the colours of the flowers really didn’t stand
out against the green of the trees.

HOW DID YOU OVERCOME
THE PROBLEMS?

ALWAYS USE
A TRIPOD
A good, sturdy tripod is essential for
landscape photography. Most of the time
the best shots will be captured in
low-light conditions, resulting in longer
exposures. Not only will a tripod
prevent camera shake, it will
also help in composing
your image.

preparations are wasted. You will either
have to go back at another time or be
very patient to wait for the right weather
conditions to materialise; this could
be a few days. The biggest problem is being
patient enough to wait.

WHO OR WHAT INSPIRES
YOU?
Originally I trained as a painter so I think
initially my landscape influences were people

such as Turner and Caspar David Friedrich,
who was a German painter of landscapes.
Then, of course, people such as Ansel Adams,
Edward Weston and Joe Cornish, to a
certain extent.
I am fascinated by landscapes as a subject
because I am interested in how they relate to
us on a psychological level. What are the
emotions we get out of landscapes, how does
light change our perception of things
and how does it makes us feel? I am very

Normally in these circumstances I would
want to use f/22 at least but had to use f/16
to get a little bit of sharpness in the flowers,
otherwise it would have been a blurry mess.
This is quite typical when I am working on
moorlands, as they are windy places.
Coming from a painting background, I am
interested in colour, light and the way an
image makes you feel and so it would have
been a tragedy if the foreground hadn’t been
sharp. I think the subjects closest to your
attention should be sharp unless you are
deliberately doing something different.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE
ABOUT SHOOTING
BRITISH LANDSCAPES?
The biggest problem with the British
landscape is the weather; however, it also
makes things exciting because it is so
dynamic and changeable. You tend to get
more interesting cloudscapes than you would
in somewhere like America. In the desert
states you could wait for two weeks and not
see a cloud, so in essence you want some
interesting weather, but not much. In Britain
we have a lot of variety within a small
amount of space, everything from chalk
downlands to high volcanic mountains in
Scotland, Wales and the Lake District.
For me, I am very interested in the rock 

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 49 ]

forms that we see throughout the
country, and Britain has some of the best
rock formations in the world.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU
HAVE FOR SHOOTING
BRITISH LANDSCAPES?


Know your location and prepare thoroughly
by looking at maps. Try to be at the landscape
the day before you shoot.

Choose the right time of year to shoot the
landscape. If you want to shoot the Exmoor
moorlands you need to be aware that flowers
come out much earlier than those in the Peak
District. Unfortunately a lot of this knowledge
only comes with experience.

Always use a tripod if you want a good
depth of field.

Spend your money on good-quality lenses.
Many people buy a good camera body and
then skimp on the lenses. This is always a
problem because it’s also down to the optics,
not just the resolution of your camera.
When you are trying to pick out lots of details
within a landscape, you need the optical
distinction you get with better-quality lenses.

It’s a cliché but be patient and wait for the
right light.

WHAT DO YOU THINK
MAKES A SUCCESSFUL
IMAGE?
Show the landscape as nature presents it and
be faithful to the natural colour and contrast.
You should let the light do all the work for
you. Try not to fake it afterwards, because it
never looks the same.

WHAT WERE THE
SETTINGS FOR THE
SHOTS?
Froggatt Edge, purple heather: Canon EOS 5D
MkII, 17-40mm, ISO 200, f/18, 0.6sec.
Heather moorland and Dunkery Beacon:
Canon EOS 5D MkII, 17-40mm, ISO 200,
f/18, 0.5sec.

The main technique I use is combining two
exposures. In post-production you can
control the shape of the horizon and ensure
the darker and lighter exposures blend
perfectly. This is one of the major
advantages of working digitally. I very
rarely alter the colour of images, but will if
I feel the camera hasn’t recorded them well.
Generally, though, the camera is fairly
accurate. I do a little bit of selective
brightening or contrast control using
Lightroom or if it’s a bit more complicated,
I will use Photoshop. However, I believe that
less is more.

[5 0 ] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

FRAN HALSALL

DO YOU DO ANY
POST-PRODUCTION?

SPECIAL
Great British landscapes Fran Halsall

“SPEND YOUR MONEY ON GOOD-QUALITY LENSES.
MANY PEOPLE BUY A GOOD CAMERA BODY AND THEN
SKIMP ON THE LENSES. THIS IS ALWAYS A PROBLEM
BECAUSE IT’S ALSO DOWN TO THE OPTICS, NOT JUST
THE RESOLUTION OF YOUR CAMERA.

Heather moorland
and Dunkery Beacon,
Exmoor.
August 2009.

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 51 ]

HOW TO MASTER
EXPOSURES

Hard to see.

WHAT KIT DID YOU USE
AND WHY?
I have been pretty fickle in my equipment
usage through the years and have used
whatever I had to hand or felt gave me the
results and look I wanted for an image.
I have shot with Pentax, Bronica, Nikon,
Canon, Panasonic, Zenith, Olympus and
Sigma cameras and lenses.
The camera body for all three images you
see here was an Olympus E-300, an
eight-megapixel camera which is light but
also very robust. I could rely on it in a wide
range of conditions and environments.
The camera features a 4:3 aspect ratio
sensor which matches up to the
645 medium format ratio that I love.
I was using a 14-54mm and a 50-200mm
lens, both of which are fantastic lenses.
To have the convenience of a 28-400mm
(35mm equivalent) setup in two, compact,
portable and high-quality lenses was ideal
for landscapes. The last thing you want is
a heavy kit bag when stomping through the
wilderness in search of images.

WHAT ARE THE
INGREDIENTS FOR A
SUCCESSFUL IMAGE?
There is only one key ingredient to getting a
successful image – the photographer armed
with a good amount of vision, passion and
knowledge. Vision is about being able to see
an unusual quality, angle or focal point in a
scene which captures something unique.
Passion is the bit that drives you on, even
though it is cold in the morning and the
weather is bad when you get up and get out
in search of the wonderful light. Knowledge
is the years of studying technique until you
forget even to think about it, where your
camera has become an extension of
your mind’s eye. This also means building
a great visual vocabulary by studying
and dissecting images you like in order to
see what makes them great.

WHO OR WHAT INSPIRES
YOU?
There are a few photographers who inspire
me, including Joel Meyerowitz, Joel Sartore
and Basil Pao. All of them work in the same
fashion capturing mood and fleeting
moments more than anything else.
That’s what I strive for; an image that
captures the mood and feel of the location.
The biggest inspiration though is
the image which started it all off for me,
The Kiss by the Hôtel de Ville, taken in 

[52 ] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

BIOGRAPHY – STEPHEN McCURRY
With more than 20 years’ experience, Stephen
McCurry has travelled the world and created a unique
portfolio which has been used in a range of marketing
and advertising material. He contributes to stock
photography site Alamy, but also sells directly from
www.notofthisearth.co.uk

SPECIAL
Great British landscapes
Stephen
McCurry
24 hours
of shooting

“PASSION IS THE BIT THAT DRIVES YOU ON, EVEN
THOUGH IT IS COLD IN THE MORNING AND
THE WEATHER IS BAD WHEN YOU GET UP AND
GET OUT IN SEARCH OF THE WONDERFUL LIGHT.

STEPHEN McCURRY

THE
AESTHETICS
OF LANDSCAPE
Photography should be the emotion you
capture at the scene. Other landscape
photographers will see through images which
have been over-enhanced, so always be subtle in
your approach. To get the best quality, shoot
at the lowest ISO possible and always in RAW.
Once in RAW, tweak an image to improve
the overall tonal range, contrast and colour
balance, but do not rely on this to turn
an okay image taken in-camera into
a great image.

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 53 ]

Paris in 1950 by Robert Doisneau. Though
not a landscape image it was the capturing
of a split-second in time which inspired me
to pick up a camera. Outside of photography
I take a lot of inspiration from cinema,
comic books, sculpture and painting. I think
it is always good to explore ideas and ways
of thinking which sit outside your own
art form, as they increase your depth and
breadth as an image maker.

DID YOU HAVE ANY
PROBLEMS GETTING
THE IMAGES?
The three images here were all part of my
project 1/365 to get one really good image
a day for one year. The biggest problem this
caused was finding the time to get out and
shoot and to keep on shooting. With an
image such as Hard to see, exposure was a
huge problem, with the sky being a lot
brighter than the foreground. Similarly with
Shadow of..., it is the shadow falling on the
land that makes the focus of the image for
me. Patience, perseverance and luck were
the only things which eventually made this
image work so well. Trying to predict how
the shadows would fall and when to release
the shutter, brought into the landscape shot
the elements of street photography that I
love. I am pleased to say Rugged is one of
those images which just fell into place
easily, though the final crop was something
I knew I could only achieve during editing.

see what was captured as what is shown,
but photographers have been using these
techniques for years in the darkroom and
these are ones I have carried with me from
my years of shooting film.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE
ABOUT SHOOTING
BRITISH LANDSCAPES?
There is such diversity in the British
landscape. I am fortunate enough to live by
the coast within easy driving distance of
Northumberland, which is one of the least
populated areas of England and features
national treasures such as Hadrian’s Wall as
well as sweeping mountains and rugged
farmland. It is all very natural and does not
have the manicured look of some of the
more arable farmland around the country.
This ruggedness, combined with rough


Know your equipment. There is no point
turning up to a beautiful setting with
perfect light and then having to figure out
how you change your ISO settings or
how to expose properly for the shadows.
Knowing what a piece of gear can do
will let you push the boundaries of what
you can achieve with it.

Know what you want. Don’t leave without
an idea of what you would like to achieve.
Though I am not a fan of pre-planning a
shot, as I like to capture the unplanned little
moments, I still like having a technique to
try or an angle to explore before I get there,
to let me focus my efforts.

Know the basics. Long exposures often
need tripods; smaller apertures allow for
greater depth of field; depth of field extends
one-third in front of the focal point and two
thirds behind it; graduated filters help

HOW DID YOU OVERCOME
THE PROBLEMS?

[5 4 ] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

Shadow of...
Northumberland.

weather, always brings me back. Blue skies
certainly have their place, but the clouds
and light in the landscape are as much a
part of a picture as the rolling hills, forests
and human features. The accessibility to the
country makes it wonderful as well; being
able to drive the length of the country
in one day makes almost anywhere open for
shooting with a little effort.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU
HAVE FOR SHOOTING
BRITISH LANDSCAPES?


Know where you are going. There are
a lot of dangers associated with running
about the landscape. Take sensible
precautions, such as letting people know
when and where you will be at a given time.

balance skies in pictures etc. Knowing all
this stuff like the back of your hand means
you will be quicker and work more on the
image than on the act of using a camera.

Know yourself. This one sounds a little
corny, but landscape photography, for me, is
all about solitude, spending time alone and
almost being meditative on the land.
This means you are going to be spending a
lot of time on your own while waiting for the
sun to rise, so you need to know your limits.
A picture from the top of Ben Nevis may
look fantastic but if you are going to be
bedridden for weeks afterwards with the
effort of getting up and down the mountain
then it may be a good idea to concentrate
on how you can achieve a good shot from
the bottom of the mountain.

STEPHEN McCURRY

With Hard to see the solution was threefold.
During the shoot I positioned the camera on
a tripod and then used a graduated neutral
density filter to try to balance the exposure.
I also metered using the digital technique of
‘shooting to the right’.
With this technique you take the exposure
to the extremes of the highlight range.
Digital data carries a lot more information
at the highlight levels than it does in the
shadows (which is where the inherent noise
problems of underexposure occur). In the
edit you can then pull the exposure back
down, keeping lots of detail and very little
noise in the shadows while still capturing all
the information held in the highlight range.
For this technique the histogram on the
camera is invaluable for achieving correct
exposure and it certainly is not a technique
to use for fast-moving subjects. The third
element to the solution was dodging and
burning along with digital graduated fills to
bring the exposure further into line and to
highlight the detail in the crop sufficiently.
I am not a huge fan of extreme digital
manipulation of an image because I want to

SPECIAL
Great British landscapes Stephen McCurry

Rugged.
Greenhaugh,
Northumberland.

WHAT DO YOU THINK
MAKES A SUCCESSFUL
IMAGE?
There are three elements of an image I am
drawn to which make it successful for me –
light, sky and texture. Even the nicest area
looks infinitely better in the correct light.
The light also helps to achieve a mood in
the landscape and the photographer’s use
of this is all-important. Skies are like the
topping on an apple crumble; the apple bit
would still be lovely on its own but is lifted
and made into a different experience by the
crumble. The same is true of a landscape:
rolling hills and sweeping valleys will make
a good picture, but a bit of fog rolling over
a mountain top or the sun catching wisps
of cloud in the evening air give so much

more mood. Texture, detail and interest all
keep you looking at an image long after the
initial impact – when you get closer to an
image and discover the fine detail in the
crops, the sweeps of a river through the
land and the colours of the heather strewn
through the grass. It’s these little elements
which will bring someone back to an
image time and again, as opposed to it
being all style and no substance.

WHAT WERE THE
SETTINGS FOR THE
SHOTS?
Hard to see: Olympus E-300 with 14-54mm
lens at 23mm and f/5.6, 1/60sec, ISO 100.
Shadow of: Olympus E-300 with 50-200mm
lens at 50mm and f/10, 1/200sec, ISO 100.

Rugged: Olympus E-300 with 14-54mm lens
at 27mm and f/8, 1/200sec, ISO 100.

DO YOU DO ANY
POST-PRODUCTION?
I think you cannot help but do some
post-production if you want to get the
best-quality results. I try to get everything
as near to perfect in-camera, but there are
always areas where you can ‘improve’ on
what you have captured. It never goes near
the levels of HDR; I restrict myself to
touching up dust spots, dodging or burning
and applying digital graduated filters to
bring skies back into a shot. I occasionally
tweak the white balance or apply a yellow,
orange or rose-coloured filter to warm the
image slightly.

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 55 ]

The Millennium Bridge.
Known as the ‘blinking
eye’, the bridge
straddles the Tyne
and links Newcastle
with Gateshead.
The Tyne Bridge is in
the distance.

[5 6 ] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

SPECIAL
Great British landscapes David Webb

HOW TO ADD
DRAMA AT NIGHT
WHAT KIT DID YOU USE
AND WHY?
Currently, I use a Canon EOS 5D MkII and
a 24-105mm L series lens for the majority of
my work. I love the versatility of this lens as
it gives the opportunity to capture
a reasonably wide-angle scene while also
allowing the opportunity to use the zoom to
concentrate on more detail if necessary. I do
also have the option of using a 100-400mm
L series lens.
I always carry a range of Lee neutral
density and coloured graduated filters in my
bag to help control light levels and slow
shutter speeds. I like the quality of the Lee
filters; however, I have used other
manufacturers’ products in the past with
good results.
Another essential piece of kit which
accompanies me when I’m out making
images is my Manfrotto tripod. It is
invaluable for maintaining a steady camera –
particularly when capturing scenes
where the light levels are low. For the
images I also used a cable release
and mirror lock-up. This means I have
minimum contact with the camera, which
helps to produce sharp images.
Personally I love the quality and features
on the 5D MkII and the superb range of
professional lenses available. I find the
21-megapixel camera provides amazing
images and a fantastic amount of detail,
essential for producing quality images and
canvases which can be printed to poster size
without losing detail.

WHAT ARE THE
INGREDIENTS FOR A
SUCCESSFUL IMAGE?

DAVID WEBB

BIOGRAPHY – DAVID WEBB
A self-taught photographer based in the
north-east of England, David Webb has been
featured in various regional publications
as well as being showcased by the BBC.
www.davidwebb-landscapephotography.co.uk

For me, the main ingredient is planning
ahead. I have to have good knowledge of the
area or scene I wish to capture followed by a
pre-visualisation of what I expect from the
scene and the final print. Before stepping
out of the door I check weather forecasts,
sunrise and sunset times, tide tables etc to
get an idea of what to expect.
During the process of capturing a scene
I’m working out in my head whether the
image would look better as colour or
black-and-white. Also, I’m considering the
final presentation of the image and deciding
on the crop factor, ie as a standard image or
perhaps as a panorama.
It goes without saying that the quality
of light and good composition help to
turn an average picture into something


W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 57 ]

River Tyne reflections.

more powerful. In turn I hope that the
viewer is feeling a sense of being there.
Taking all of the above into
consideration, I religiously check my
histogram, which gives me an indication
of what the light is doing and allows me
to tweak the levels in-camera.

WHO OR WHAT INSPIRES
YOU?
My inspiration comes from my own drive,
passion and thirst for photography and to
produce images that not only give pleasure
to me but also to viewers.
As a photographer I am an artist, except
that I don’t start off with a blank canvas;
my canvas – the landscape – is already
painted for me. As a photographer I am
striving to interpret that scene using my
eyes and technical skills to let the viewer
feel as if they were there.
I am a qualified teacher and provide
photographic tuition to individuals of all
ages and levels of experience. What really
satisfies me is seeing someone develop
their skills and levels of confidence, taking
control of the camera and producing
images that they are really proud of.
Other photographers who inspire me are
Joe Cornish, David Noton, Charlie Waite,
Ansel Adams to name but a few. But I think
a photographer should be inspired by
their own determination and motivation to
produce great images.


[58 ] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

SPECIAL
Great British landscapes David Webb

DAVID WEBB

MASTERING
WHITE BALANCE
In some situations you may be faced with more
than one light source; in these cases if your
camera is in auto mode it will try to set something
in between or will shoot the brighter light source,
which is why it helps to be able to set your white
balance. The most precise way is to set it manually by
focusing the camera on a white or neutral colour source
at your location, such as a sheet of paper, and then
pressing the button. The camera then measures
the colour for you and makes the necessary
adjustments. Alternatively you can change
the colour temperature by adjusting
the camera’s Kelvin scale to
suit your needs.

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 59 ]

DID YOU HAVE ANY
PROBLEMS GETTING
THE IMAGES?
To be honest I had no problems as I know the
area well and had therefore pre-visualised
what I wanted. Had the weather forecast not
been accurate I could easily have gone back
the following day, as the area is a relatively
short drive away.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE
ABOUT SHOOTING THE
BRITISH LANDSCAPE?
As strange as it sounds, I think the
unpredictability of the British weather can be
challenging and therefore stretches my skills
and creativity. There is also so much variety
with the British landscape and weather, so
it can offer something different and magical
every day.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU
HAVE FOR SHOOTING
BRITISH LANDSCAPES?


Do your research – get to know the area
well, where the best viewpoints are and what
the best time of day is for capturing a scene.

Be prepared and patient. The British
weather can be unpredictable; if it fails to live
up to expectations use the time to recce the
area and make notes ready for your return.

Be prepared to revisit the scene during
different seasons and time of day.

If you want the best from landscapes and
your camera, then it’s important to move
away from using the automatic function and
to take more control of the camera functions,
aperture, depth of field, shutter speed and
histogram, which will ultimately improve your
photography and help you capture the
beauty the British landscape has to offer.

Strong and interesting composition will
help to keep the viewer interested.
Take a step back from the scene and try
alternative viewpoints.

Wear appropriate clothing.
Waiting for the right time to
capture your scene in our
great climate can involve
waiting around, so
To see more landscape
photos in our gallery
it’s important to keep
www.photography
warm and comfortable.

GO
ONLINE

WHAT DO YOU
THINK MAKES A
SUCCESSFUL IMAGE?
I think that is quite subjective and personal
to each photographer. For me, a successful
image is one which reflects what I saw,
has a strong viewpoint, is compositionally
interesting and can also hold the attention
of the viewer.

[6 0 ] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

WHAT WERE THE
SETTINGS FOR THE
SHOTS?
Northern lights: ISO 100, f/10 at 15sec,
+0.67 exposure compensation, 24-105mm
lens at 80mm, evaluative metering,
aperture priority.

The Millennium Bridge: ISO 100, f/7
at 25sec, +0.33 exposure compensation,
24-105mm lens at 24mm, evaluative
metering, aperture priority.
River Tyne reflections: Focal length 24mm,
ISO 100; f/11, 13sec exposure, +0.67 EV
applied, Lee ND graduated filter, Manfrotto

DAVID WEBB

monthly.com

SPECIAL
Great British landscapes David Webb
Northern lights.
Gateshead’s modern
Sage building and the
iconic Tyne Bridge.

INSPIRATION FROM THE GREATS:

tripod, cable release and mirror lock-up used,
evaluative metering, aperture priority.

DO YOU DO ANY
POST-PRODUCTION?
Techniques consist of converting the RAW
file in Capture One after checking white

balance settings, removing any minor dust
spots and blemishes, and saving the image
as a 16-bit file. I use Adobe Photoshop CS4 to
apply minor localised adjustments using
curves and perhaps a tweak of saturation
levels, before applying a minor amount of
sharpening and finally saving as a Jpeg.

SHINZO MAEDA (1922–1998)
One of the leading names in Japanese landscape
photography, Shinzo Maeda developed an interest in
both nature and photography in his teens. It wasn’t
until his 40s that he became a professional
photographer, founding the Tankei Photo Agency in
1967. His personal style of shooting landscapes won
him several major awards, including the top prize of
Japan Photographers’ Association. He published 46
books in Japan and eight in other countries.

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 61 ]

Falmer, East Sussex.
October 2010.

Sławek’s initial interest in digital photography arose
from computer graphics, but it soon grew to be
a passion in its own right. Having first tried wild bird
photography, today he concentrates on landscape.
Outdoor photography is a perfect complement to his
love and respect for nature, instilled since early
childhood. Although proficient in Photoshop, he
favours natural-looking landscape images and keeps
any edits to a minimum.
www.pbase.com/bruslaw

[62 ] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

SLAWEK STASZCZUK

BIOGRAPHY – SLAWEK STASZCZUK

SPECIAL
Great British landscapes Slawek Staszczuk

LEARN TO
SHOOT PATTERNS
Learn to appreciate the things we so often
dismiss. Allow your imagination to create
something from the forms and rhythms that
abound everywhere. By shooting wide or cropping
in really tight with a long lens, you can abstract a
textural scene that on first viewing seems to have
no potential, when viewed literally. The value of
abstracting your subject is that you can avoid
a purely illustrative image and create
something more interesting. The beauty of
shooting abstract is that it can
happen at any time of the day
and in all weathers.

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 6 3 ]

HOW TO MASTER
TELEPHOTO LENSES
WHAT KIT DID YOU USE
AND WHY?
In both cases I used a Canon EOS 5D MkII
with a Sigma 100-300mm f/4 EX lens.
I daresay the 5D MkII doesn’t need any
recommendation when it comes to landscape
photography, and the Sigma is a worthy,
while still affordable, telephoto lens; the two
of them work splendidly together.

WHAT ARE THE
INGREDIENTS FOR A
SUCCESSFUL IMAGE?
The obvious ingredients are of course: an
interesting motif/subject matter, the right
lighting for your particular purposes and a
good photographer to make the best of the
first two. Besides that, there is a ‘secret’
ingredient – either luck or perseverance.

WHO OR WHAT INSPIRES
YOU?
There is one author who some years ago
unknowingly drew my attention to landscape
photography, a very talented Polish
photographer: Marcin Sacha. But I have long
since followed my own path and hopefully
cannot be reproached with being an imitator.
These days, there are quite a few
photographers whom I greatly respect and
admire, but I don’t have a ‘guru’. I draw
my inspiration from the beauty of nature
and always keep my eyes wide open for
opportunities, which sometimes come in
unexpected forms.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE
ABOUT SHOOTING
BRITISH LANDSCAPES?

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU
HAVE FOR SHOOTING
BRITISH LANDSCAPES?

 Don’t get fooled and discouraged by the
British weather stereotype. Summers in the
south are often sunny and warm and they
are usually also the worst season for
landscape photography. Volatile weather
can offer great opportunities.

[6 4 ] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

Seven Sisters,
East Sussex.
November 2008.

 Dress appropriately and be prepared for a
sudden change in the weather, it's never fully
predictable.
 Britain is very densely populated and
visited by a great many tourists throughout
the year. Many iconic locations have been

photographed millions of times, often in
nearly identical frames. Do some research of
the places you’re going to visit. There is
always room to get away from the cliché;
a new angle, new perspective, new light (the
changeable weather can be a big help here).

SLAWEK STASZCZUK

What I love most about the British landscape
is its diversity. So far I have only visited the
south coast counties (excluding Cornwall),
and had a glimpse of Surrey and East Anglia.
But even within this limited scope I find the
natural and cultural variety invigorating and
inspiring. I cannot wait to explore the rest.

SPECIAL
Great British landscapes Slawek Staszczuk

“I DRAW MY INSPIRATION FROM THE BEAUTY
OF NATURE AND ALWAYS KEEP MY EYES WIDE
OPEN FOR OPPORTUNITIES, WHICH
SOMETIMES COME IN UNEXPECTED FORMS.

 Try to tackle less popular
locations or objects omitted by
photographers, it may prove very
gratifying.
 We usually go to a location with
a specific kind of image in mind.

GO
ONLINE
To see more landscape
photos in our gallery
www.photography
monthly.com

Allow for something unexpected
to happen and take an extra lens
with you so as not to miss a sudden
opportunity; they do present
themselves. Keep your eyes open and
think ‘outside the box’.

WHAT DO YOU THINK
MAKES A SUCCESSFUL
IMAGE?
I believe it is good and skilfully captured
lighting, appropriate for the scene, and
strong and thoughtful composition keeping 

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 65 ]

SPECIAL
Slawek Staszczuk Great British landscapes
Berwick,
East Sussex.
September 2010.

DO SOME RESEARCH OF THE PLACES YOU’RE
GOING TO VISIT. THERE IS ALWAYS ROOM TO
GET AWAY FROM THE CLICHÉ; A NEW
ANGLE, NEW PERSPECTIVE, NEW LIGHT.”

DID YOU HAVE ANY
PROBLEMS GETTING
THE IMAGES?
Berwick, East Sussex (above): Long lenses
are really prone to vibrations which translate
to blurriness in the final image, and the wind
(probably the most adverse circumstance)
hardly ever ceases on the South Downs.
Falmer, East Sussex (pages 62 and 63): It was
almost windless so my main hurdle was
massive lens flare. Telephoto lenses are
susceptible to flare when shooting into the
source of the light, which may be very hard,
sometimes impossible, to counter.

HOW DID YOU OVERCOME
THE PROBLEMS?
Berwick: Luckily enough I wasn’t standing on
the very top of the hill when taking the image
of the tractor, which afforded me some
shelter from the gusts. Also, it was only
mid-afternoon and the overall light intensity
allowed a relatively short exposure time.
To ensure maximum stability during exposure
I typically use a cable remote.

[6 6 ] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

Falmer: When the lens hood is inadequate
I try to eliminate the flare by using my
tripod pouch as a hood ‘extension’, as I
did with this image.

WHAT WERE THE
SETTINGS FOR THE
SHOTS?
Berwick: 237mm, f/8, 1/640sec, ISO 320,
tripod, remote.
Falmer: 332mm (taken with a teleconverter
1.4x), f/10, 1/80sec, ISO 200, tripod, remote.
Seven Sisters: 13mm, f/10, 1/80sec, ISO 100,
ND grad filter, tripod, remote.

DO YOU DO ANY
POST-PRODUCTION?
I do. I shoot only RAW and do the bulk of
editing work when ‘developing’ the files.
I keep my edits to a minimum and in most
cases they are narrowed to adjusting the
colour balance (white balance), enhancing
the overall contrast, mitigating chromatic
aberration fringing and vignetting if
necessary, and eradicating spots coming
from dust specks on the sensor. In Photoshop
I normally add a single curves layer to
balance the shadows and highlights in each
individual channel (which I can’t do
when developing RAW). With telephoto
pictures, since I take them from hundreds

RESOURCES
THE PHOTOGRAPHER’S EPHEMERIS
Landscape photography is about being in
the right place at the right time.
The Photographer’s Ephemeris is a free
online tool to help with the planning of
landscape photography. It is a sun and
moon calculator so you can see how the
light will fall on the land. It’s map-based
which means you are not limited to
a predefined list of locations that often
don’t include the places where many
photographers go. With this tool you can
search for any place or position on the
map. Advanced features include automatic
time zone and elevation detection, and
correction for atmospheric refraction and
height above the horizon. It can even
determine when the sun or moon will be
visible behind nearby hills and mountains.
This tool is also available for the iPad to
take on location. It is available to download
from www.stephentrainor.com/tools

or even thousands of metres away, which
compacts the atmosphere heavily and
consequently dims the image, I usually
need to increase the contrast much more
than with wide-angle photos. PM

SLAWEK STASZCZUK

the viewer inside the picture. I’m not a big fan
of black-and-white landscape photography, so
I really value the skill of using colour in a
compelling way. I find well-matched colour
juxtapositions particularly captivating.

!
N
I
W

A BUMPER BUNDLE
WORTH £290
Photography Monthly is giving readers the chance to win a bundle of
inspiration and kit worth £290. To enter simply upload your images
of the Great British landscape to the gallery section at
www.photographymonthly.com

A BUNDLE OF INSPIRATIONAL
LANDSCAPE BOOKS WORTH £140
THE RIDGEWAY, JOHN CLEARE
Running for nearly 90 miles across southern
England, the Ridgeway National Trail is one of our
most ancient cross-county routes. This book shares
the frequent spectacular views of this special
cross-section of England.
THE WELSH COAST, PETER WATSON
From castles in the sand to castles on a clifftop,
the Welsh coast is as beautiful and dramatic as it is
diverse. This book shares the visual delights of this
twisting and endlessly varied coastline.
THE SQUARE MILE: A PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT
OF THE CITY, BEATA MOORE
Writer and photographer Beata Moore reveals the
oldest part of London, the Square Mile, which sits
within the original walled city built by the Romans

around AD50. Beata’s images truly capture the
architecture, history and beauty of this small area,
which measures a little more than one square mile.

the world. With invaluable insights into his work and
informative and witty commentary, this book is a
must-have for any landscape photographer.

THE NORFOLK COAST, JON GIBBS
Great Yarmouth-based landscape photographer
Jon Gibbs presents a selection of his dramatic
and evocative images of this remarkable stretch
of coastline.

THE SUFFOLK COAST, JON GIBBS
The Suffolk coast has a varied landscape including
old-fashioned seaside towns, unspoilt fishing
villages and rolling farmland. Photographer Jon
Gibbs captures the magic of this extraordinary
stretch of coastline with his evocative images.

WINTER IN THE LAKE DISTRICT, VAL CORBETT
This book shows the Lake District in arguably its
most scenic season, with snow on the mountains
and frozen lakes and waterfalls.
FULL FRAME, DAVID NOTON
Award-winning landscape and travel photographer
David Noton takes you on an epic journey around

A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF WINDSOR AND ETON,
JOANNA JACKSON
Joanna Jackson captures this quintessentially
English subject through the seasons. Home to
Windsor Castle and Eton College, as well as 1,000
acres of woodland, lakes and gardens, this book
covers them all.

A GIOTTOS VITRUVIAN
TRIPOD WORTH £150
This lightweight and compact tripod
folds down into a neat 40cm and
also converts easily into a
full-size monopod. Inspired
by Leonardo da Vinci’s
Vitruvian Man, the
Vitruvian has been
designed with reverse
technology legs so
that when collapsed
they fold through 180°
to surround the centre
column and head.
The VGR9255 model
is manufactured using
aluminium tubing and weighs
just 1.5kg, making it extremely

portable, as well as versatile.
The tripod castings are made
from a forged aluminium
alloy for strength and the
quick-action twist leg
locks require only a
1/8th turn to lock and
unlock, making it quick
and easy to set up.
It comes fitted with a
compact ball and
socket head that offers
smooth and precise
movement, incorporates
independent pan control and
has a quick-release system. PM
www.giottos-tripods.co.uk

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 67 ]

Land's End.raw

No v

14
Land's End
Cornwall
England

Lee 0.9 ND ProGlass
standard filter +
0.9 ND grad filter
(Lee Wide Angle Adaptor
Ring + Filter Holder)

14th November 2007
Evening

Canon EOS-1Ds mk II
16-35mm lens @ 16mm
30 sec @ f22

We used to think of 28mm lenses as wide angle. Now I take it as a matter of course to use my
wide angle zoom at 16mm on a full-frame camera. Vignetting problems with the filter system?
Not with a wide-angle adaptor ring fitted. The ProGlass ND slows the world down for me and the
shutter stays open for a leisurely 30 seconds whilst the ND grad holds back the sky. Check the
histogram, all’s OK. The sun’s dropped beneath the horizon now, game over. Time for the pub.

David Noton
www.davidnoton.com

Tel: (01264) 338599

www.leefilters.com

EMILY’S PEOPLE
GO
ONLINE
To read more of
Emily’s columns visit
www.photography
monthly.com

EMILY ANDERSEN
Emily is a veteran portrait photographer. A selection
of her images forms part of the National Portrait
Gallery’s permanent collection.

This month Emily discusses
how responding to a commission
from The Photographers’ Gallery
more than 20 years ago has led to
an ongoing body of work.
 I BEGAN PHOTOGRAPHING PAIRS OF PEOPLE
WITH A SERIES OF FATHERS AND DAUGHTERS IN
1987 in response to a commission from The
Photographers’ Gallery for an exhibition called
The Body Politic: Representation of Sexuality.
This was a group show which also included Helen
Chadwick, Jo Spence, John Coplans and Sunil Gupta.
For this exhibition I chose to photograph 10 fathers
and daughters. I asked women I knew whether they
would like to take part and some agreed. For the
exhibition the black-and-white photographs were
printed a metre square, mounted back to back and
framed in Perspex. They hung in a row from the
ceiling with the centre of the photograph at
eye level and you walked between the images.
I have continued this project through to today
and am revisiting some of the pairs 15 and 20 years
later – where I can track them down.
One of the photographs from this series was
taken in 1993 and is of Martin and Mimi Richman.
Martin is an artist who makes sculptures using forms
and light. I asked him where they would feel
comfortable being photographed and he suggested
his studio in the Alaska Building in Bermondsey,
near Tower Bridge. The original factory had been
built for treating Alaskan seal fur and was later
re-designed in the Art Deco style by Wallis, Gilbert
and Partners (the same architects who created the
Hoover building in west London). I arrived at the
factory with two Bowens flash lights (1500W and
1000W), two silver umbrellas, three tungsten 500W
lights, a Norman 200B portable flash, light stands,
a tripod and a light meter.
In my camera bag I carried two Hasselblad
500C/M bodies with 80mm and 50mm lenses and
three film backs. The film was Fujicolor 400 ASA and
Fuji black-and-white Neopan, also 400 ASA, and
Polaroid 100 ASA. I used to think I had to bring a lot

EMILY ANDERSEN / JANUSZ PODRAZIK

EMILY’S TOP TIPS

 Get to know your subjects, I find it works to
photograph while I talk to them.
 Familiarise yourself with your lights, and
look at what light is doing to the
photograph.
 Change locations until you find the right
one; often the least obvious choice works.
 Experiment and take chances.
 Bring a sturdy trolley for equipment.

Martin and Mimi.

“I USED TO THINK I HAD TO BRING A LOT OF EQUIPMENT
IN CASE IT WAS NEEDED, BUT WITH EXPERIENCE
I HAVE REALISED I CAN OFTEN MANAGE WITH LESS
THAN HALF OF IT.
of equipment in case it was needed, but with
experience I have realised that I can often manage
with less than half of it, unless it is a large shoot.
I met Martin and eight-year-old Mimi for the
shoot. We had access to most of the building, which
was huge with acres of large factory floors and
windows on four sides. The factory was sold a year
later to developers and the one-bedroom flats there
start at £250,000 today.
We wandered around and I took photographs of
father and daughter in one of the large loft spaces,
where they were dwarfed by the architecture;
the light was streaming in and it was hard to find
a position where there wasn’t flare. Then we went
outside and again the bright sunshine and
architecture were dominating the photograph. I shot
a roll of colour, two rolls of black-and-white and a
few Polaroids as we were moving around.
We went downstairs to Martin’s studio and looked
at his light sculptures and decided that it would be
interesting to try a photograph with the ladder,
which had illuminated struts. We set up the ladder
in the basement, where there was no natural light,
and I asked Martin to stand behind the ladder, with
his daughter in front of him. Mimi had chosen her

own outfit for the shoot, including the headscarf.
I had set up a flash and umbrella for this shot, and
when looking at the Polaroid saw that I was blasting
out the interesting, subtle light from the ladder, so
decided instead to use the available light. I put the
camera on the tripod and guessed the exposure
times, as reciprocity means the Polaroid gives
uncertain results. I knew I wanted an f-stop of f/11 to
f/16 to keep the focus and shot a roll with shutter
speeds from 1/30sec to three seconds. The shot that
worked was f/11 at 1.5sec. I literally had seconds
to ask them to move into the right place in the frame
and to keep completely still for the long exposure
before they would lose concentration.
The time spent around the different locations of
the building was the warm-up; as we walked about
I was getting to see how they interacted. When it
came to the shot I knew what I would like from them
and they trusted me enough to follow my direction.
This photograph has been exhibited in the UK
and Germany, been sold as a print and appeared on
the cover of Photography Magazine Korea, in
Foto Pozytyw from Poland, and Emotion magazine
published in Germany. PM
www.andersenphotographic.org
W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 69 ]

Angela in Provence.
[70] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY M AY 20 1 1

ALWYN R COATES

THE MASTER

PRO ZONE
The art of black-and-white printing Robin Bell

PRINTER
Without doubt, there is an art to producing great black-and-white
prints. Printers capable of drawing out the innate beauty from a
negative were once in high demand but only a handful remain.
Robin Bell is one of them, having brought to life the images of some
of the world’s best photographers. We sent JULIA MOLONY to his
darkroom in London to find out about his work, but perhaps more
importantly, to ask him what makes a great black-and-white print.
ilver gelatin printing, now an artisan
craft in a digital age, has become so
specialised that only a handful of people
still do it. It’s a tough market for printers, but the
very best survive. Which may be why Robin Bell,
standing in his Fulham studio on a bright spring
day, is pleased to say he is entering half a year of
back-to-back commissions.
There’s the National Portrait Gallery exhibition
of the work of 1950s photographer Ida Kar that
he has just printed in its entirety, plus a clutch of
other prestigious jobs – a collection of prints for
the Royal Geographical Society, and a John
Thornton retrospective, among others.
Since he set out on his own in the 1980s Robin
has been the go-to man for some of the world’s
best photographers. His back catalogue features
collaborations with the big guns: Terry O’Neill,
Eve Arnold, David Bailey and Norman Parkinson,
to name just a few.
“I don’t do commercial work anymore,” he
says. “All the stuff that used to pay my mortgage
in the 1980s and 1990s is all digital. The good
thing about that is that my day is full of joy.
I don’t have to do humdrum work anymore.
The bad side is that I am poor, because I don’t
do the work that used to pay my mortgage.”
That sense of joy or pure passion for the job is
discernible in his work. “I look forward to every
day… Every big, meaty job that I get involved in
is a totally emotional experience. I get very
wrapped up in the subject. I spend all day for
weeks and weeks soaking up these images and
really getting a first-hand experience of them.”
This enthusiasm, an aficionado’s appreciation
of his craft, eventually finds expression in the
end result, which is perhaps why the greats keep
on coming to him.
“Some of those negatives from the 1950s,” he
says, offering the example of the NPG job he has

S

just finished, “are challenging, to say the least,
but because of the human element, I’m injecting
as much character into them as possible. It goes
way beyond a technical exercise. It’s a technical
challenge, but that’s secondary. The mechanics
are secondary to the humanity.
“I think I probably have a gift, and I don’t
appreciate where it has come from,” he
concludes, flinching diffidently at this small
concession to self-praise. “I’m always thinking
that I’m going to get found out, or suddenly my
brain will seize and I’ll stare at a negative and
won’t know what I’m looking at, and it will
become non-instinctive at that point. But so far
that hasn’t happened. I just go with the gift.”
That gift has been expertly honed through
years of practice in the industry – a hard-won
level of expertise which took seed while he
worked as a photographer’s assistant in the
1970s (“slave labour for £7.50 a week”) and
progressed to an apprenticeship served in the
darkroom of printer Gerry Dickens (“the
maestro of the day, a printer for all the big
names at the time: Bailey, Clive Arrowsmith and
Justin de Villeneuve”). It was there that he
eventually came to recognise “what a good print
looked like.”
The sine qua non of a good print is soul.
Something that Robin firmly believes cannot be
found in the “clinical perfection of digital”.
The ability to inject soul into his work, plus a
hefty dose of talent is what distinguishes him
from the rest. He can look at a negative
and know instinctively how to handle it.
Over the years he has established an
identifiable style of printing. “No matter what
the subject there seems to be a tonality running
through it, a style of printing. It’s not a zappy,
contrasty style; it’s probably a warm, full,
moody, tonal style.” 

“I LOOK FORWARD TO EVERY DAY…
EVERY BIG, MEATY JOB THAT I GET INVOLVED
IN IS A TOTALLY EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE.

Producing a high-quality
black-and-white print from a
digital file can be a difficult task.
Today’s inkjet printers can
produce prints which rival wet
chemistry but there are a few
tricks of the trade that will help
you to get even better results.
• Always shoot in RAW if possible – 16-bit
(per channel) images allow for the
smoothest greyscale tones and greatest
flexibility. It also allows you to
fine-tune the white balance based on
the black-and-white look you want.
• Always shoot your images in colour and
convert to black and white in
post-production because this gives more
tonal control over the image.
Conversions which do not take into account
an image’s colour and subject matter
may create an image which appears
washed out or lacking tonal range.
• For advice on how to convert a colour
image to black and white visit:
www.photographymonthly.com/
Tips-and-Techniques/Pro-Zone/Pro-ZoneDavid-Cantwell-black-and-white-portraits
• Ensure your resolution is set to 300dpi at
the print size you require.
• Sending a black-and-white image to your
inkjet printer to print in greyscale
may produce adequate results but could
leave a slight colour cast. This may not
be visible when you print colour images,
but when you print greytones any shift
in colour will be immediately noticeable
as a warm tinge.
• Always ensure your digital file is in
RGB, because inkjet printers do not process
CMYK mode as efficiently.
• Greytones on an inkjet printer are made
up from an equal mixture of the colour
inks. For example, 128 red, 128 green, 128
blue produces a mid-tone grey while 200
red, 200 green, 200 blue produces a
lighter shade of grey. If the mixture is not
equal, then you may see a slight shift in
colour in your prints.
• One of the most common digital printing
errors is to over-adjust your image in
post-production. Always make an A6 test
print of the original black-and-white
conversion as a point of reference if you
intend making further changes.
• Some printers produce prints with
dedicated grey inks. Using these cartridges
will radically improve over-simulated 

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 7 1 ]

Actor Daniel
Day-Lewis.

[72] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

The Queen’s silver jubilee
celebrations, Fulham,
London, 1977.

“NEVER BE TEMPTED
TO USE OLD
DEVELOPER. MAKE
IT UP FRESH EVERY
TIME. I USE PQ
UNIVERSAL, 1-4, FOR
96% OF WHAT I DO.

That, in glossy, “is the paper I use most of the
time. And even when I print on resin, which is
usually just for contact printing, I use ILFORD,
Warmtone 44M Pearl. There is a really nice
quality about that as a resin-coated print.
You can get good results on that. But standard
multi-grade papers aren’t really up to it.
They are either very flat, or the blacks aren’t
controllable. And they fill in too quickly.”
Only with the right materials can you get the
most out of the exhaustive trial-and-error
process that eventually trains the eye. “You have
to begin to learn to read the negative so you

IAN BERRY / ALISTAIR MORRISON

Is there a particular process that defines his
approach? “I like to get the optimum from the
negative provided, and for me that means
getting rich blacks, without losing the detail in
those blacks; getting nice highlights, but without
losing detail in those highlights and all the tones
that run in between. Now that sounds very basic.
You would think any printer would be looking for
that, but a lot of times they aren’t.”
There are some central tenets to achieving
a good print, which anyone can apply in a
darkroom. It sounds almost too elementary to
mention, he says. “You look at your print and you
ask yourself four questions: Is it too dark? Is it
too light? Is it too flat? Is it too contrasty? If the
answer to all those four questions is no, then
you’ve probably got a good print.”
The quality of materials is paramount too.
“Never be tempted to use old developer. Make it
up fresh every time. I use PQ Universal, 1-4, for
96% of what I do.” And for the other 4%?
“You can dilute the developer for a softer result,
or use a different developer or lith developer.
“I used to be able to say that chemicals were
cheap and therefore what would you gain by
using old chemicals? But now everything has got
more and more expensive.” Compromise is a
false economy, however. “Corner cutting gets
you nowhere in this lark, because quality is
everything. You are represented by the finished
print. And if the finished print isn’t achieved
because you have saved 70p on chemicals, then
what’s the point?”
The same rule applies to the quality of the
paper. “Depending on the facilities you have in
your darkroom setup, try to get used to printing
fibre-based papers. It’s more painstaking to do –
harder to wash, longer to dry and then you have
to flatten them afterwards, but by their nature
they are much better quality. And if you are
struggling to get good results, it’s probably
because the paper is lacking. Your basic
resin-coated multi-grades aren’t good quality.
ILFORD Warmtone is the way to go for standard
black-and-white printing, you can’t do better.”

PRO ZONE
The art of black-and-white printing Robin Bell

greys using a composite of the coloured
inks and eliminated colour casts.
• When printing monochrome images,
remember to let your printer know
by setting the correct options in the
driver setup.
• Specify the paper type and quality
setting to ensure the best results.
• Inks are divided into two primary types:
dye and pigment. Dye inks are commonly
associated with inkjet printers and
generally have more intense colours.
They have a reputation for fading more
quickly, although this is improving.
Pigment inks last much longer but
generally have weaker colours, although
this, too, is changing for the better.
• Many photographers are switching to
pigment inks. One drawback is their rather
dull appearance when printing with glossy
media, but pigment ink printers work well
with semi-gloss and matte media, and
produce prints that could last up to a
predicted 200 years.
• Most inkjet paper manufacturers offer
ICC profiles – a set of data that
characterises a colour input or output
device, or a colour space, according to
standards set down by the International
Color Consortium.
• Baryta or fibre-based papers replicate
those treasured by monochrome
darkroom users; they give the appearance
of silver halide papers and support
vast black-and-white tonal ranges.
• People often refer to the problem of
metamerism, which is where two samples
match under one particular light source but
not under another. For example, a print can
look greenish in daylight, brownish under
tungsten and magenta under fluorescent
lighting. Generally, this effect is related
to the amount of colour in the inks
used; however to control this you should
consider the following options:
know as precisely and quickly as possible what
grade you are going to print it on to get this
optimum result. You want to get to the stage
where trial and error is cut to a minimum.
Ultimately you don’t want to be trial-ing and
error-ing your way to frustration.” By this,
one can eventually learn to read a negative with
“a feeling for how to balance the blacks.
The aim is to achieve a ‘living black’ full of
resonance and depth.
“A common fault seems to be that if blacks are
achieved they seem to be filling in. So then the
blacks become dead and lifeless. You have to

stop short of letting the black go in too far, but
don’t stop so far short that it’s not black; there is
nothing worse than a grey, muddy-looking print.
That requires reading the negative and knowing
what grade is required, which is something that
you probably only get from experience.
“It’s amazing,” he adds, “how many people
don’t even get their prints sharp. I think people
seem to believe that the stops on the lens of an
enlarger are for shortening the exposure.
It’s nothing to do with that, it’s to do with getting
a print in focus. The first thing I do when I go to
an exhibition, rather pedantically, is look in the 

RIP SOFTWARE
RIP stands for Raster Image Processing
software and has additional features and
functions for more advanced printing
commands not found in a standard printer
driver. It helps to regulate the flow and
application of inks to regulate the overall
tone and colour. Black inks are
carbon-based but the main issue is that
carbon is not a true black, but a dark brown
which tends to look warm in print.
The RIP software adds small amounts of
cyan and magenta to produce a pleasing 

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 73 ]

corners to see if the grain is sharp. That is
absolutely a prerequisite. So that probably
means stopping down at least twice on your
enlarger lens.”
He says he has never handled a digital print in
his life. “There is some gorgeous printing done
on inkjets and so on, but I always think of it as
slightly superficial beauty. Just by its nature it’s
sprayed on to the surface and it just lacks the
depth a little, that beautiful other dimension that
silver gelatin gives, and I don’t see how an inkjet
[74] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

“IF YOU WORK IN A
LAB AS I DID, YOU
BEGIN TO SEE WHAT
GOOD PRINTS
SHOULD LOOK
LIKE...

print of any sort, no matter how sophisticated it
gets, can achieve that.”
There is a solution, he avers, to bridging the
gap between the time-honoured practices in
which he specialises and the digital revolution.
He has recently started printing from negatives
that are made from digital files.
“There’s an arranged marriage between digital
and analogue. If people want a silver gelatin
print, but only have a digital camera, it’s not the
end of the line. From my point of view it slightly

ERNST HAAS

Football Father,
Salerno, Italy, 1952.

PRO ZONE
The art of black-and-white printing Robin Bell

overall colour tone. The better-quality
RIPs produce beautiful results and offer
a range of tones, from neutral to sepia.
However, most RIPs are expensive and
require a technical input from the
photographer, such as the use of curves
and profiles to control the inks, and can be
difficult to master.
An RIP called QTR (Quad Tone Rip) can be
bought for about $50 (£30) and is available
for Windows and Mac. For more information
about QTR go to www.quadtonerip.com

GREYSCALE INKS
Greyscale pigment ink sets replace colour
ink sets with various shades of grey.
Most of these greyscale inks use carbon as
the pigment for the black ink, with the
lighter inks being various dilutions of the
black. In most cases the Lyson Small Gamut
ink set is a recommended choice for
producing professional black-and-white
prints. If you are really serious about
black-and-white printing it may be worth
considering Lyson Quad Black inks and
investing in a printer dedicated to
monochrome printing. The Quad Black
ink set is toneable, combining three
neutral shades of grey with two channels
of warm and two channels of cool.
This combination gives you the versatility
to tone the image or produce neutral
prints. Remember that these inks replace
the printer’s colour cartridges so it can be
a costly process to resume colour printing.
You would have to run several
deep-cleaning cycles using the normal
colour ink set to remove all traces of
monochrome ink. www.lyson.com

BLACK-ONLY PRINTING

takes away the creativity, because the negative
you get is pretty much written in stone. It’s sort
of a straight print and it certainly doesn’t behave
in the same way as a negative produced in a
camera, although it’s a piece of emulsion-coated
film. So far it’s a slightly restricted creative
process, but the end look is a silver gelatin print,
which is gorgeous, of course, and has something
no digital print has yet achieved.”
The golden rule, then, for photographers
looking to improve the quality of their prints is

one simple, unassailable principle: “Shoot film,”
he says, baldly. “Shoot film and come to Fulham.”
It’s there, through the rigorous lens of Robin’s
expert eye that a passion for the art of
photography finds expression in prints of the
highest quality. “If you work in a lab as I did,
you begin to see what good prints should look
like, if you are working with a good printer.
If not, you have to educate yourself, with
exhibitions, books, drive and passion.” PM
www.robinbell.com

Black-only printing is a unique method
which has several significant advantages.
Using only a single pure carbon black
ink, it is a reliable, inexpensive and easy
way to make prints with the highest
possible archival longevity. It does rely
on good Photoshop skills and
experimenting with different papers to get
good results, but it is the least expensive
way of trying black-and-white printing
without committing to a particular system
or software. It also simplifies the
calibration process. Black-only printing
creates the density range by varying
the space between the ink dots, allowing
more bare paper to show between
the dots in the lighter zones. You have
to look really closely to detect a small
amount of mid-tone graininess.
While black-only printing is monotoned,
some warm to cool variation can be
achieved by using different papers,
similar to the warm and cold-toned papers
used in darkroom printing.

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 75 ]

S AGAIN!
CANSON WIN
ING
AT
R
96%
11
rch
Photoplus Ma
Group Test

See our 3 minute video www.theimagefile.com/about

PODCAST
In case you missed them…

WE’RE ON YOUR

WAVELENGTH

Thanks to everyone who has listened to our monthly podcasts
over the past two years. In case you missed any, they are available
via the website and can be downloaded from iTunes.

JANUARY 2011

MASTERS SPECIAL PODCAST
In this month’s masters special podcast, Sean
speaks to Steve Bloom about his creative
approach to photographing wildlife, his career
and the future of photography.

DECEMBER 2010
ISSUE PODCAST
Grant and Sean speak to British professional
photographer Jake Chessum, who has shot many top
rock bands and celebrities, about his approach to
capturing group portraits. Jake shares his passion
and advice to help you take better photographs.

TAKEN FROM PM, MAY ISSUE

MASTERS SPECIAL PODCAST
In this month’s special podcast, Sean speaks to our
Lighting Master, Neil Turner, about how he uses
flashguns to add depth and atmosphere to family
and group portraits. PM

JUNE 2011

THE
BACK
CATALOGUE

SPECIAL PODCAST

ISSUE PODCAST
NIKON MASTERMIND FINAL
The Editor of Photography
The final contestants of our
Monthly, Grant Scott and
Mastermind quiz, sponsored
All of our podcasts featuring
deputy editor Sean Samuels
by Nikon, go head to head to
photographer interviews and
speak about the latest
see who will win the Nikon D3s worth
industry news specials
developments in the world of
are available online at
£4,200.
www.photography
photography and what makes a
monthly.com
great British landscape. Goes live on
MARCH 2011
18 May 2011.
ISSUE PODCAST

MAY 2011
ISSUE PODCAST
The Editor of Photography Monthly, Grant Scott,
and deputy editor Sean Samuels speak about their
experiences shooting 24 hours a day.

APRIL 2011
ISSUE PODCAST
The Editor of Photography Monthly, Grant Scott,
and deputy editor Sean Samuels speak about the
latest releases and innovations from the world of
photography and the interesting people and
products present at Focus on Imaging 2011 at
Birmingham NEC.

Grant Scott and Sean Samuels speak to
National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson
about his wonderful landscape work made
in the Hebrides. They also discuss the latest
news from the world of photography.

FEBRUARY 2011

MULL
IONA AND
STAFFA

Malcolm MacGregor has produced his
second book of landscape photography in
Scotland, entitled Mull, Iona and Staffa.
He has travelled these three Hebridean
islands to capture their incredible light and
his images feature mountains, hills, the
coast, rivers, waterfalls and frozen hill
lochs. The text describes the life, history
and legends of the islands. For your chance
to win a copy, worth £16.99, enter our
contest at www.photographymonthly.com

ISSUE PODCAST
Grant and Sean discuss their time at the CES Show
in Las Vegas and reveal all their favourite things,
releases and dishes from Sin City.

SPECIAL ISSUE
TEST ZONE AWARDS SPECIAL PODCAST
Grant and Sean discuss the winners of this
year’s Test Zone Awards, as featured in the
December issue of the magazine.

WIN!
W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 77 ]

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ROCK STEADY
Ensuring you capture smooth footage with your DSLR can be an interesting challenge, which is
why this month JOHN CAMPBELL takes a look at some simple accessories to give you the
support you need to produce visually stunning films. He also has some great films to watch.
BIOGRAPHY

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE
NIKON’S D5100 HD DSLR CAMERA can
autofocus during video recording, which is a real
attraction for film makers, and being available for
less than £800 makes it even more interesting.
With video recording at 1080p at 24fps and 30fps,
it has a 3in side-mounted articulated display, which
more and more film makers are asking for on
entry-level cameras. It has an ISO ranging from 100
to 6400 and comes with an 18mm to 105mm lens.
www.nikon.co.uk
Still from No Reservations.
Here is a quick roundup of where DSLRs are
breaking into the mainstream:
The idents between programmes on the FIVE
USA TV channel have all been shot with DSLRs.
The American food documentary series No
Reservations, which follows celebrity chef Anthony
Bourdain, was shot with a Canon EOS 5D MkII by
the Travel Channel. Bourdain wasn’t convinced at
first, but by the end of one day’s shooting had
changed his mind. His director has now decided to
shoot the entire series with DSLRs, saying
Still from 30-Minute Meals.
Bourdain was impressed at how the 5D MkII had
really increased the show’s production values.
Jamie Oliver’s daytime cookery show 30-Minute
Meals has also been bitten by the DSLR bug as the
main footage has been intercut with sequences
shot on a 5D MkII.
US vampire show True Blood on cable channel
HBO is probably the best thing on the box, so I was
delighted to hear they shot sequences for the most
recent series on a 5D MkII. Although an avid
viewer, I admit not noticing a thing when watching. Still from True Blood.

TIP OF THE MONTH
ALL YOU DIY BUFFS who love creating cheap
solutions to problems should check out Johnny Chung
Lee’s $14 creation. Instead of paying a lot for a camera
stabiliser, why not build one? Granted, this version may
not be as smooth as the manufactured ones, but it’s
ideal for newcomers to film making.
http://littlegreatideas.com/stabilizer/diy
Philip Bloom is a tour de force of the convergence
movement who has helped inspire photographers and
film makers alike to move forward and embrace this

[80] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

development in both our worlds. With a huge dose
of fearlessness he embraces new technologies.
On his blog, he has written a piece dealing with how
he got involved in film making, showing how it is grit
and determination that help drive you forward as
a film maker. It is a must-read for all you wannabe
directors out there, with part one geared more
towards young hopefuls and part two to come for
career changers and such. Better and more
informative than a costly one-day course!
http://philipbloom.net/2011/03/31/
how-do-i-get-into-this-filming-lark-and-makemoney-from-it-part-1/

John Campbell received his MA in film from
the International Film School, Wales.
He won the cinematography award at the
Bristol International Film Festival for a
short film called Blue Morning You in 1999. He now works
as a freelance film maker for public bodies and arts
organisations across the UK and mainland Europe.

FILMS TO WATCH

SHANGHAI 5
Although a bit long at 23 minutes, Charles
Lanceplaine’s documentary is a prime
example of what can be achieved with
minimal DSLR kit, great locations and a group
of people willing for us to see their world.
This is an interesting look at skateboarding in
China from the participants’ point of view.
http://vimeo.com/17700447

ARCANE ROOTS
Arcane Roots have just released their first
album, Left Fire, and due to its success the
band made a music video for the single You Are
for Kerrang! magazine. Shot for a budget of $0
– and that’s not a typing error – this video
perfectly accompanies their great sound. It was
shot with a Canon EOS 5D and a 7D by a crew
of two in just two days. Watch out for stunning
slow-mo and great use of depth of field, which
shows the outstanding quality of DSLR footage.
http://theconvergence.co.uk/2011/03/how-to-produce-amusic-video-for-0-arcane-roots-you-are-kerrang/

FILM SCHOOL

Shooting film on your DSLR John Campbell

KIT CHECK
Camera stabilisation is a necessity in film making,
as are logistics and planning, especially with
added equipment, as this process can quickly
become costly. This month I have put together
three cheap ways of improving your ability to
shoot film as steadily as your wallet will allow.
My first pick is the Manfrotto 561BHDV-1 Fluid Video Monopod, which is
a useful bit of kit for any photographer or film maker to have. It is fitted
with a fluid head, which means that when you pan-and-tilt, the friction
normally caused by this movement that could make the camera judder is
greatly reduced. In addition you get a compact four-section monopod
and a long sliding plate to help you balance your camera on the monopod.
This bar helps to make pan-and-tilting movements even smoother.
The monopod’s height when fully extended is 200cm; at its closed length,
it is 76.5cm – great for attaching to a backpack and at only 1.91kg it
won’t add too much weight to your pack. The 561BHDV-1 takes a maximum
load of 4kg, which is more than enough for a DSLR and a few accessories.
It is a great price too at only £168.46.
www.manfrotto.com
Film making on DSLRs has spawned a wide variety of shoulder mounts.
The problem with these devices is they can become very costly, but they
are invaluable. The indiRAILSpro DSLR sm rig is far from costly, at only
$369 (£222). It has 18in carbon fibre rods with an offset shoulder pad and
a new extendable handle system for more control and adaptability.
This rig can be configured for any body or shooting style, and the handles
and pad can be removed so it can be used ‘studio style’ on a tripod.
The shoulder pad includes a counter-weight block which will accept
further accessories such as microphone transceivers and battery packs.
www.indisystem.com
A key problem
 Robert Benson’s LCD
Wireless Monitor.
facing a lot of film
makers shooting video
on DSLRs is the small
LCD screen on the back
of the camera – not just
the size, but where it is
located. It can make it
hard to follow focus, as
many DSLRs’ ability to
focus continuously is
turned off once you have entered movie
mode. This is generally okay if you are an experienced
camera operator, but you will always want the ability to alter
focus manually. A wireless monitor, which you can mount on a rig or
use handheld, will quickly improve your film making. Robert Benson’s LCD
Wireless Monitor with custom transmitter features a rugged enclosure
around the LCD. It is built out of carbon fibre compounded polycarbonate
and has a 7in digital LCD screen. The custom transmitter, a top and
bottom frame, one set of carbon fibre rods, a rail pad and a set of snap
holders cost only $279.99 (£168), which really is a great deal.
www.cpmfilmtools.com
Overall, these three bits of kit have come in at well under £600. So for the
same price as a mid-level lens, you will have a robust set of equipment
that can really improve your filming.

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PM

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 8 1 ]

WHERE’S
YOUR HEAD
AT?

WHAT IS A BALL AND SOCKET HEAD?
Ball and socket heads are one of the most popular types of tripod head for photographers
today. The ball rotates within the socket around a single point in all directions. Typically, ball
and socket heads are compact in design and simple to use, making them a great choice for
travelling photographers.

The world of tripod heads can
be a confusing place filled with
a range of products and prices
which could lead you to make
expensive mistakes. So we
asked JESSICA LAMB to do
the hard work for you and
explain the types available and
the appropriate choices,
depending on your budget and
what you want to shoot.

GITZO SERIES 5
SYSTEMATIC BALL HEAD QR
The Series 5 Systematic from Gitzo can support an
amazing 30kg in weight, making it useful for longer lenses
and heavier equipment. It would be ideal for
wildlife/nature photography. The aluminium head features
an ultra-strong hydraulic ball locking system that provides
peace of mind that your camera equipment will stay
securely in place. The Gitzo Series 5 also has a spirit level
for accurate camera positioning.

£349.95, Weight: 720g, Load capacity: 30kg,
Height: 10.1cm, Quick release: Yes.
www.gitzo.co.uk

[82] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

ADVANTAGES: A ball and socket head is simple and quick to use and, unlike other types of
head, usually have only one adjustment knob to operate. The ball and socket design provides a
great range of angles at which your camera can take images.
DISADVANTAGES: There is the risk of dirt getting into the socket, which can hamper the
movement of the ball. If this happens, it would need to be taken apart and cleaned. Also, when
the friction knob is released care is required to ensure the camera doesn’t fall in its position;
this could be a problem with heavier equipment.

MANFROTTO 498RC4 MIDI BALL HEAD WITH
RAPID CONNECT
SYSTEM
The 498RC4 model has the same
features as its predecessor, the 488,
but also has a quick release 410PL
camera plate system. The head has
a second safety catch which provides
added security for your camera
equipment; the lock stops the plate
from being released accidentally.
This model from the Manfrotto range
has two spirit levels for precise
positioning on both the vertical and
horizontal axes. Though bigger in size
than the other heads in the Manfrotto
range, the aluminium 498RC4 is still
light and portable, making it perfect
for both amateurs and professionals.

—BEST FOR—

SAFETY

£91.99, Weight: 700g, Load capacity: 8kg,
Height: 13.5cm, Quick release: Yes.
www.manfrotto.com

PHOTO ZONE
Tripod heads Jessica Lamb

3 LEGGED THING B3s BALL HEAD
—BEST FOR—

The B3s ball head from 3 Legged Thing is compact, solid
and neat in design, making it perfect for the travelling
photographer. The B3s features a pan lock and ball lock,
giving you effortless stability and allowing you to adjust
the position of your camera with ease. The B3s ball is
made from magnesium alloy and features an Arca Swiss
release plate. The B3s is available in three colours.

LOOKS

£79.99, Weight: 640g, Load capacity: 12kg,
Height: 11.5cm, Quick release: Yes.
www.3leggedthing.com

—BEST FOR—

EASE OF USE

CAN I FIT
A TRIPOD
HEAD TO
ANY
TRIPOD?


Most heads

GIOTTOS BALL HEAD
SERIES II, MH 1300-652
Following on from the Ball Head series 1, the MH 1300-652
provides the same great support with some additional
features. Movement through all three axes is controlled
from just one locking lever, with an additional friction
lever. The latter allows you to control the friction on
the ball while unlocked, so you can adjust the head to
suit the weight of your camera equipment.
The MH 1300-652 has a spirit level to assist with
positioning. This model from the Giottos range comes
with a five-year warranty.

£123.50, Weight: 700g, Load capacity: 15kg,
Height: 11.5cm, Quick release: Yes.
www.giottos-tripods.co.uk

VANGUARD SBH-30
The SBH-30 is made from solid magnesium alloy and is
surprisingly light. This particular head from Vanguard
features two spirit levels on the side of the plate for
accurate adjustments and offers additional angles
through its ability to tilt from -35° to 90°. The ball is
secured using a single locking mechanism and the plate
features a safety lock.

£49.99, Weight: 270g, Load capacity: 5kg,
Height: 8cm, Quick release: Yes.
www.vanguardworld.co.uk

featured
here come with a
3/8in quick release
camera plate, which
is standard fitting
for tripod heads
today. If you find
that a head you
have bought will not
fit on to your tripod,
then separate
release plates are
available in various
sizes from most
camera retailers.

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 83 ]

WHAT IS A PAN-TILT HEAD?
A pan-tilt head has separate axes and controls for tilting and panning, and each is individually
adjustable. This means each axis can be controlled without the risk of affecting the other.
Pan-tilt heads come in two types: two-way (pan and tilt) and three-way (pan, tilt and lateral
tilt). These heads are particularly useful for macro photography and film making.
ADVANTAGES: A pan-tilt head provides panning and easy positioning for stills or video.
DISADVANTAGES: Pan-tilt heads can take longer to set up than a ball and socket
head, for example, and are not as smooth as fluid heads.

MANFROTTO 804RC2 BASIC PAN TILT
HEAD WITH QUICK LOCK
Manfrotto’s 804RC2 is a three-way photo head constructed from ultra-durable technical polymer.
This head has a unique spring feature which helps in its tilt motion to ensure smoother movements.
The comfortable grip handles allow you to manoeuvre the angles with ease.

£50.95, Weight: 800g, Load capacity: 4kg,
Height: 12cm, Quick release: Yes.
www.manfrotto.com

GITZO G2272M SERIES 2
LOW PROFILE HEAD

—BEST FOR—

BUILD

The Gitzo G2272M Low Profile
Head has been engineered to
guarantee smooth and precise
control through its three
independent axes. The height of
the magnesium head has been
reduced to avoid the possibility
of any overbalancing.

£264.95, Weight: 720g, Load capacity: 5kg,
Height: 9.3cm, Quick release: Yes.
www.gitzo.co.uk

VELBON PH-157Q 3-WAY
PAN-TILT HEAD

—BEST FOR—

VALUE

The Velbon PH-157Q features a three-way pan-tilt head
allowing you to achieve a range of angles with ease.
This model has a large and comfortable pan handle,
making it easier to position and angle your camera.
This head from the Velbon range is constructed from
die-cast metal but is surprisingly light.

£37, Weight: 580g, Load capacity: 5.4kg,
Height: 10.5cm, Quick release: Yes.
www.velbon.co.uk

SLIK SH-704E
GO ONLINE

—BEST FOR—

EASE OF
USE

[84] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

For more kit
and gadget news,
visit the website
www.photography
monthly.com

The Slik three-way head has separate locks for both
tilt and pan movements. This head is extremely light
and would be ideal for photographers on the move.
The SH-704E has rubberised grips for accurate and simple
positioning of the camera.

£59.99, Weight: 290g, Load capacity: 2.5kg,
Height: 8.5cm, Quick release: Yes.
www.sliktripod.co.uk

PHOTO ZONE
Tripod heads Jessica Lamb

WHAT IS A FLUID HEAD?

GO ONLINE
For more kit
and gadget news,
visit the website
www.photography
monthly.com

Fluid heads are great for shooting both stills and video. The head features a sealed chamber
containing fluid cartridges which allow for the amount of tension needed depending on the
weight of your equipment. Fluid heads generally allow 360˚ panning and rotation that is
superior to any other type of tripod head. Designed to offer smooth movement, fluid heads
are perfect for bird-watching and shooting films.
ADVANTAGES: Precision and freedom of movement extend your creative possibilities.
DISADVANTAGES: Can be larger than other types of head, so not as portable.

—BEST FOR—

VALUE

SLIK 504QF II
VELBON FHD-61Q
The FHD-61Q is marketed as a fluid pan head; it works as a
pan head with the smoothness of a fluid head thanks to
the internal oil cartridges. A comfortable handle allows
you to adjust the position of your camera easily.
This model from the Velbon range is constructed from
aluminium and would be ideal for shooting both stills
and video.

£75, Weight: 910g, Load capacity: 2.5kg,
Height: 10.6cm, Quick release: Yes.
www.velbon.co.uk

—BEST FOR—

WEIGHT

Simple in its design, the 504QF II is both functional and easy
to use. This three-way fluid head from Slik is specifically
manufactured for video use but can also provide great
positioning options for shooting stills.

£56.99, Weight: 620g, Load capacity: 3kg,
Height: 10.5cm, Quick release: Yes.
www.sliktripod.co.uk

GITZO FLUID HEAD G2180
The G2180 is designed to be lightweight and compact,
making it ideal for outdoor use. The head is made from
a new material developed by Gitzo called Soulid 238
which is 30% lighter than magnesium. The G2180 has
a smooth movement thanks to its integrated fluid
cartridges and highly accurate counterbalance system.

£199.95, Weight: 570g, Load capacity: 4kg,
Height: 8.5cm, Quick release: Yes.
www.gitzo.co.uk

GIOTTOS MH5001 FLUID
3-WAY
The MH5001 is made of aluminium alloy and coated in a
protective lacquer. Hydraulic pressure provides precision
when you are positioning the camera. The three-way head
is operated by robust and easy-locking handles which
allow comfortable and simple adjustments. This model
features a quick release safety button, attaching and
removing the camera quickly.

£65, Weight: 900g, Load capacity: 6kg,
Height: 12cm, Quick release: Yes.
www.giottos-tripods.co.uk
W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 85 ]

PHOTO ZONE
Tripod heads Jessica Lamb

MANFROTTO 701HDV
PRO FLUID
—BEST FOR—

PROS

Developed specifically to support the latest camcorders
the 701HDV is perfect for shooting films as well as stills.
Several locks and knobs allow for better control over the
camera placements and the larger sliding plate
can position the camera depending on its centre of
gravity to avoid overbalancing.

£109.95, Weight: 800g, Load capacity: 4kg,
Height: 9.5cm, Quick release: Yes.
www.manfrotto.com

GO ONLINE
For more kit
and gadget news,
visit the website
www.photography
monthly.com

VANGUARD PH-22
This three-way fluid pan head from Vanguard is light and
easy to use and offers 360˚ panning. It has two spirit
levels and handles for accurate and quick positioning.
The Vanguard PH-22 is made of magnesium alloy.

—BEST FOR—

VALUE

£49.99, Weight: 360g, Load capacity: 3kg,
Height: 9cm, Quick release: Yes.
www.vanguardworld.co.uk

SPECIALIST TRIPOD HEADS
These tripod heads might not be products you would want to use every day but they can provide absolute precision and advanced shooting options.

—BEST FOR—

CREATIVITY

GITZO
GH375OQR
QUICK
RELEASE
OFF-CENTRE
BALL HEAD
This off-centre ball head from Gitzo
works on the same basis as other ball
and socket heads, the only difference
being that it provides a 90˚ lateral tilt.
This head is ideal for creative
photographers; it is made of magnesium
and can be used with most tripods from
other manufacturers.

MANFROTTO
405 PRO GEARED HEAD
The 405 Pro geared head offers pan, frontal and lateral tilt.
Each motion has its own easy-to-use grip knob and dial
specifying the degree at which you are tilting the camera.
This head from Manfrotto’s range is made of aluminium
and is suitable for use with most tripods. The 405 Pro allows
you to disengage the gears so you can place the camera
approximately by hand and then re-engage the gears for final
positioning. These heads are brilliant when precision
is paramount and would be ideal for architectural and
still-life work.

£295.99, Weight: 1.6kg, Load capacity: 7.5kg,
Height: 16cm, Quick release: Yes.
www.manfrotto.com

£254.95, Weight: 790g,
Load capacity: 8kg, Height: 13cm,
Quick release: Yes.
www.gitzo.co.uk

—BEST FOR—

PRECISION
W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 87 ]

TAKING
PICTURES
THE GREAT BRITISH LANDSCAPE COMPETITION
For this month’s readers’ challenge we thought we would
share some of our readers’ images as well as our own to give
you even more encouragement to enter this month’s special
edition competition. If the images here have the right effect
and do inspire you, find out all about the competition and the
great prizes you could win by turning to page 67.

To enter and for full terms and conditions, visit
www.photographymonthly.com

Barri Elford
Pier dusk

Bart Hoga
Lone tree, Yorkshire Dales

Ian Blair
Lavender sunrise

Sarah Waddams
London skyline reflections

READERS’ CHALLENGE
Upload to our gallery to win prizes British landscapes
PM TEAM PICTURES

JESSICA LAMB — EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
PHOTOGRAPHY MONTHLY
During a gorgeous day last September I
took advantage of the weather and went
for a stroll in the Cotswolds. When I got to
the top of a hill I lay in the grass and
snapped this image of Cheltenham and the
surrounding countryside.

KELLY WEECH — FEATURES ASSISTANT
PHOTOGRAPHY MONTHLY
This image was taken in woodlands in the
Cotswolds too. I used a zoom lens and
created the sense of movement by using
a slow shutter speed and tripod, and by
moving the focal length while the shutter
was open. I shot this on a Canon EOS 20D.

GRANT SCOTT — EDITOR
PHOTOGRAPHY MONTHLY

READERS’ PICTURES

I can’t remember where I shot this
image but I do remember when. It was
at the end of an interiors shoot for
House & Garden magazine. I walked to
the end of the garden of the house and
found this idyllic setting.

Simon Bull
Viaduct

Alfie Kerrigan
Sunset

Lukasz Szyszka
White cliffs and house

SEAN SAMUELS — DEPUTY EDITOR
PHOTOGRAPHY MONTHLY
The countryside in West Sussex near the
South Downs is one of my favourite places
in England. This image was taken on a hot
summer’s day close to the village of East
Dean. My eye was caught by the way the
light was creating great patterns.

For more readers’ images and to upload to the
gallery visit the website at
www.photographymonthly.com
W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 89 ]

Enjoy Pea Soup.

Learning to navigate through thick fog, in poor visibility or
in fading light can be fun. What’s more, once mastered,
reliable navigation skills will leave you feeling more
confident on the hill so you’ll be able to go further off the
beaten track, taking your adventures to another level.
At Plas y Brenin, our highly experienced, qualified and
enthusiastic instructors will help learn to navigate from
scratch or help you fine tune your existing navigation
techniques into highly dependable skills. We run weekend
and week-long courses in mountain navigation all year
round, catering for beginners and experienced
practitioners alike. We even run courses dedicated to GPS

along with a ‘Complete Navigation Week’ which allows you
to develop your GPS skills alongside traditional methods
for a rounded understanding of mountain navigation.
If you’d like a copy of our 72-page brochure listing over
200 courses and holidays, e-mail [email protected],
call 01690 720214, or visit our website on www.pyb.co.uk

w w w. py b. c o . u k
Plas y Brenin The National Mountain Centre Capel Curig Conwy LL24 OET Tel: 01690 720214

Fax: 01690 720394

Email: [email protected]

TEST ZONE

ONLY THE VERY BEST KIT

Each month we bring you the reviews you need to make sure you buy the right equipment, for the right reasons

VOLTAIC FUSE

SOLAR CHARGER

8 REASONS TO BUY
TOP
TIP!
For more news and
reviews on the latest
kit and technology
visit the website at

www.photography
monthly.com

We recently came across the
Voltaic fuse solar charger which
will recharge almost all electronic
devices using just the power of
the sun. It is the ideal accessory
for photographers on the move.
1

THE POWER OF THE SUN

This panel enables photographers to charge any
battery-powered device in any location. When you
are not in the sun, the battery can be charged
using the USB Power Cable or an optional AC travel
or DC car charger.
2

ECO-WARRIOR

Solar power is a renewable, sustainable source
which not only helps the environment but
also enables you to enjoy your modern technology
wherever you are.
Voltaic also has a range
of solar backpacks
and bags. Alternative
adapters are available
as well to suit a variety
of electronic devices.
To view the range visit
www.voltaicsystems.com

3

ULTIMATE FLEXIBILITY

The panel has two 1in straps and a 3/4in strap with
four male and female clip sets. The male clips will fit
standard buckles found on backpacks and the female
clips can also be attached to any loop, such as those
found on tents.
4

LIGHT AS A FEATHER

Weighing in at 600g, including battery and solar
panels, this bit of kit won’t slow you down.
5

ALWAYS CONNECTED

The charger connects to devices via a USB port,
but also includes five standard adapters for
different connection slots. Optional adapters are
also available, including Nikon and Canon camera
battery cradles.
6

BUILT TO LAST

The 600D shell fabric is made from recycled PET
(soda bottles), making the panel waterproof and
UV resistant.
7

EASY ACCESS

The panel is part of a pack that offers 0.8 litres of
storage space for the Voltaic battery, and all
your adapters and cables, as well as a mobile phone
and small camera.
8

FOR THE FASHIONISTA

The Voltaic fuse solar charger is available in
eye-catching silver, chic charcoal and dazzling
orange. It is priced £129.99 and available from
www.electroniczone.co.uk PM

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 9 1 ]

FORMULA 5100

As a non-Nikon user KELLY WEECH jumped at the chance to discover what she might be missing out
on with the latest addition to the Nikon line-up, the D5100. With the opportunity to try out Goodwood
racing circuit in West Sussex, go up in a biplane and visit a sculpture park, she knew that nothing would
test the camera’s capabilities more than a day packed with fast cars, action and low-light situations.


STRAIGHT OUT OF THE BOX, THE NIKON D5100
WITH AN 18-55MM LENS FELT COMPACT AND LIGHT.
Its smooth curves fitted perfectly in my hands
and it felt incredibly comfortable. The key
shooting controls are at your fingertips and
the layout appears less cluttered than that of
the Nikon D5000. It is packed with features
for shooting either stills or full 1080p HD
movies and carries functions inherited from
the Nikon D7000, such as a similar
16.2-megapixel DX-format CMOS sensor with
the EXPEED 2, as well as an extending
equivalent of ISO 25600 and 14-bit RAW
shooting. These features were previously
found only on more expensive Nikon models.

The new HDR (High Dynamic Range)
function, which combines two exposures to
create one image, includes detail in highlights
and shadow to create a good overall exposure.
I found it worked well, especially on my visit
to the nearby sculpture park. The woodlands
feature more than 80 sculptures; many of
these are under tree cover which gave me a
good opportunity to see how the camera
handled lower light situations and thankfully I
found it delivered the results I had hoped for.
The exposure differential is selectable from
auto, 1 EV, 2 EV and 3 EV and it can be set on
high, normal or low. It is ideal for stationary
subjects such as landscapes and still lifes.
The 3in vari-angle LCD
screen’s improved high
resolution, 921,000-pixel TFT
(thin-film transistor) gave
great results and the side
hinge is a welcome addition,
making it easier to shoot with
a tripod.
The D5100 is the first Nikon
DSLR camera to offer special
effects and while I was
initially dubious about how
effective this mode would
be, what impressed me most was being able
to use it to shoot full (1080p) HD movies,
which I’ll discuss later. The seven special
effects are: selective colour, low key, high
key, colour sketch, miniature effect,
silhouette and night vision. Nikon has
made it easy to access these via a mode
dial on the top of the camera.
I particularly liked the low key and
miniature effects. Both were great in
different situations; the miniature effect
acts as a mock tilt-and-shift lens to
produce interesting results. However, it
became increasingly frustrating not to be
able to compensate exposures and other
customisations that a more advanced
photographer would be accustomed to.
But for those new to DSLRs this may not be
an issue, nor will the fact that these modes
only record Jpeg files.

“I FOUND THE D5100
INCREDIBLY EASY
TO GET TO GRIPS WITH
AND I WAS ABLE
TO BEGIN SHOOTING
STRAIGHT AWAY.”
While the camera is slimmer and sleeker
than its predecessor, which is good news for
people with small hands, I do feel the overall
build quality doesn’t quite reflect the price
tag of £669. In an ideal world the same
magnesium alloy build of the Nikon D7000
would have been nice (although this body has
an RRP of £1,099.99 it can now be picked up
for around £800 if you look carefully enough).
As a non-Nikon user I found the D5100
incredibly easy to get to grips with and I was
able to begin shooting straight away. It was
able to capture good exposures in a variety of
conditions and produced images rich in colour,
detail and sharpness. The 11-point autofocus
system performed well, as did the white
balance, especially when shooting cars on the
Goodwood circuit travelling at more than
100mph. In this difficult situation 4fps let me
capture expressive, in-focus action shots.
[92] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

Nikon has made it
easy to switch
between shooting
stills and movies
with the D-movie
button, which is
located next
to the shutter
release.

TEST ZONE
Camera review Nikon D5100

“THE SEVEN SPECIAL EFFECTS ARE: SELECTIVE COLOUR,
LOW KEY, HIGH KEY, COLOUR SKETCH,
MINIATURE EFFECT, SILHOUETTE AND NIGHT VISION.”
Although these features can be associated
with certain stereotypical shots, I wanted to
experiment and appreciate how they could be
applied. The bottom line is that for some
situations the modes will be very effective,
such as when I used low key to photograph
the interior and details of the car. The blacks
were rich and this mode avoided the glare I
was presented with when using program
mode. However, I found with colour sketch
that it was difficult to get an image I could be
proud of. I think this mode needs a subject
with strong graphic shapes to enhance the
effect, otherwise it seems quite gimmicky,
although some people may love it. The beauty
of having these creative modes in-camera
is that it eliminates the need to use a
computer to get the desired effect later
in post-production; it is also great fun.
Sometimes it is nice not to get caught up in

the technical side of taking an image but just
to focus on composition.
The night vision mode intrigued me. As the
megapixel war seems to be slowing down
among manufacturers, the ISO war continues.
When this option is selected, extremely high
ISO sensitivities are available (up to ISO
25600 equivalent), enabling you to shoot
under conditions of darkness. However, this is
available only in monochrome, and in normal
daylight it gives almost an infrared effect.
On the film front Nikon has made it
effortless to switch between shooting stills
and movies with the D-movie button which is
right next to the shutter release. As a
first-time film maker I found it simple and
straightforward. You can record in full (1080p)
HD at 24/25/30fps while using the range of
special effects and the AF-F ensures your
subject is always in focus. The Nikon


SOME OF THE EFFECTS
MODES THAT ARE
AVAILABLE ON THE D5100:

Miniature effect

Low key

High key

HDR

Colour sketch

Night vision

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 93 ]

TEST ZONE
Camera review Nikon D5100


The camera
carries a similar
16.2-megapixel
DX-format CMOS
sensor with the
EXPEED 2 processor
as the D7000, with
an ISO 25600 and
14-bit RAW shooting.

97mm

TECHNICAL SPEC: NIKON D5100

 The 3in vari-angle
LCD screen’s
improved
high resolution
(921,000-pixel TFT)
offers good results.
The new side hinge
makes it easier to
shoot with a tripod.

D5100 took away all the complications and
preconceptions I had of shooting film with a
DSLR. All I had to worry about was what to
film and keeping the camera steady. The fact
that I used this mode while in a biplane flying
over the West Sussex countryside did make
the task a little more difficult; however, it
produced stunning footage of a high quality.
If I were looking for my first DSLR and had a
big enough budget, I would consider the Nikon
D5100, especially for its video capabilities.
It is portable, accessible and does everything
it says on the tin. However, if you are serious
about your photography it is likely you will
quickly outgrow this camera and may look to
the Nikon D7000 to provide a more robust
design. The D5100 is 10% smaller and lighter
than the D5000 and in fact is the
smallest and lightest model in the Nikon
DSLR line-up so far. I would say that it is ideal
for someone buying their first DSLR or
current owners looking for
a back-up, everyday camera
that does not limit their
creativity. However, it
doesn’t feature the built-in AF
motor which is found on the
Nikon D90, meaning you will
have to focus manually for older
lenses, which may also be a negative
for advanced photographers.
It is obvious that Nikon is keen to build on
the success of its previous models, but to
compete in today’s crowded enthusiast
market a DSLR has to be so much more than
just a camera. Since the birth of compact
system cameras, there has also been
increasing pressure for DSLRs to be made
smaller and more portable but still include
incredible specifications. The D5100 delivers
just that; it’s a high specification camera in a
compact body and a lot of fun to use. PM
www.nikon.co.uk
[94] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

“IT’S A HIGH
SPECIFICATION
CAMERA IN A
COMPACT BODY
AND A LOT
OF FUN TO USE.”

WE LOVE
EASE OF USE
VIDEO FUNCTION IN FULL HD
AND AUTOFOCUS
CREATIVE MODES

WE HATE
OVERALL BUILD QUALITY

79mm (Depth)

128mm


LENS MOUNT

Nikon F mount (with AF
contacts)

EFFECTIVE PIXELS
16.2 million

IMAGE SENSOR
23.6 x 15.6mm CMOS

IMAGE SIZE (PIXELS)
4,928 x 3,264 (L)
3,696 x 2,448 (M)
2,464 x 1,632 (S)

FILE FORMAT
1) NEF (RAW), 2) JPEG,
3) NEF (RAW) + JPEG

MEDIA
SD (Secure Digital) SDHC
and SDXC cards

FRAME ADVANCE RATE Up to 4fps

ISO SENSITIVITY
ISO 100-6400 in steps of
1/3 EV. Can also be set to
approx 0.3, 0.7, 1, or 2 EV
(ISO 25600 equivalent)
above ISO 6400;
auto ISO sensitivity
control available

MOVIE
1,920 x 1,080p, 30p/
25p/24p; 1,280 x 720,
30p/25p/24p,
640 x 424, 30p/25p

FILE FORMAT/VIDEO
MOV, H.264/MPEG-4,
COMPRESSION
advanced video coding

AUDIO RECORDING
Built-in monaural
DEVICE
or external stereo
microphone

MONITOR
3in, approx 921k-dot
(VGA), vari-angle TFT
LCD with 170° viewing
angle

DUST REDUCTION
Image sensor cleaning,
SYSTEM
image dust off reference
data (optional Capture
NX2 software required)

POWER SOURCE
Rechargeable Li-ion
EN-EL14 battery, EH-5b
AC adapter; requires
EP-5A power connector
(available separately)

WEIGHT (APPROX)
560g with battery and
memory card but
without body cap

PRICE
£669.99 (body only)
£779.99 (18-55VR kit)

00 URE
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TEST ZONE
What makes a good lens Neil Turner

THROUGH
THE LOOKING
GLASS
If you want to get the most out of your
camera then your choice of lenses is vital,
which is why we asked NEIL TURNER to
speak to those in the know to find out
exactly what it is that makes a great lens
great and why old glass is still good glass.

 I CAN VERY CLEARLY REMEMBER THE LIGHT BULB
MOMENT WHEN I FIRST UNDERSTOOD WHAT THE
TECHNICAL DIFFERENCE WAS BETWEEN A GOOD LENS
AND AN AVERAGE ONE. It was in late 1988 and I had just
broken my beloved 85mm f/2 Nikkor. I had rushed around to see
Mike Allen at Fixation who already had a stellar
reputation as the man who could fix anything and
fast. As he was carrying out open-heart
surgery on my lens I saw just how much
engineering there was inside and the
resemblance between his tool kit and
that of a watchmaker suddenly made
BUILD QUALITY:
sense. He fixed the lens and it worked
Great lenses are
better and took even sharper pictures
well-made from
than when I’d bought it (second-hand) a
high-quality
couple of years previously.
materials.
All of this came as a revelation, despite
having worked for a small chain of camera
shops which at the time, in 1983 and 1984, had only
five outlets (Jessops of Leicester, remember them?) and then
spending two years studying photography at college.
In all that time taking pictures and handling equipment I
hadn’t realised quite how much of my career would be
affected by glass.
Buying the odd new lens means a substantial investment for
most people and knowing why you want to buy lens A instead of
lens B is crucial. Having the right gear is important but, for most
of us, getting the right pictures is even more important and that
means having great lenses.
I would like to conclude this introduction by asking if you
have tried the latest Sigma 50mm f/1.4. If Nikon, Canon,
 Sigma APO
Sony and the rest aren’t a little bit worried by that one, they
70-200mm F2.8 EX
should be. 
DG OS HSM.

WHAT MAKES
A LENS GREAT?

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 97 ]

DOES YOUR LENS
FEEL GOOD?
Trying to define what I mean by ‘feel’ is
hard. I know what it means to me, but I’ve
always struggled to convey it to other
people. I guess you can break it down into
two parts. The first is that certain lenses
are right for certain pictures and that is
often because they have a quality, a style
and a way of rendering pictures that suits
the occasion. If the lens you are using
delivers the image as you imagined it
would, then it has the right feel. Of course,
a lens that has the right feel for you may
well not have the same effect on me, and
vice versa. Feel is wonderfully and joyously
subjective in this instance.
The other kind of feel might well be
peculiar to me, but I suspect it isn’t. I shoot
with two or three cameras and always have
done. I have always wanted my cameras to
match and my lenses to do the same.
Shooting news and feature stories has
always meant having a set of images that
belong together and I have always thought
that having lenses with similar
characteristics on my cameras was
important. These days I mostly use three
Canon L-series zooms (16-35mm, 24-70mm
and 70-200mm f/2.8s) which have total

“IF THE LENS YOU ARE USING
DELIVERS THE IMAGE AS YOU
IMAGINED IT WOULD, THEN IT HAS
THE RIGHT FEEL.”
consistency of tone, sharpness and
contrast. If it were not for the different
focal lengths, it would be impossible to
tell between them when bringing
pictures up on screen. Other days I’ll
use a pair of non-L prime lenses (28mm
and 85mm f/1.8s) which have the same
symmetry but don’t match the feel of
the zooms. Looking back on my
favoured lens combinations over the
years I have found exactly the same
relationship and it’s clear that
feel is hugely important to me as
a photographer.

WHAT MAKES
A LENS GREAT?
SHARPNESS:
A great lens can render
detail right across the
image from edge to edge
and from corner to
corner.

 Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM.

“THE FIRST
MAGICAL PAIRING FOR
ME GOES RIGHT BACK TO MY PRE-COLLEGE DAYS WHEN
I FELL IN LOVE WITH MY OLYMPUS OM-1 CAMERAS,
A ZUIKO 100MM F/2.8 LENS AND KODACHROME 64 FILM.”

IS YOUR LENS MAGICAL AND WHAT IS MAGICAL?
This doesn’t just describe the qualities of
a given lens. It describes what happens
when you get the right lens on the right
body shooting with the right medium
and the right subject. All photographers
have these combinations but very few
realise it. In the digital age the difference
between ‘magic’ and ‘good’ can even come
down to the ISO they are shooting at
or even differing focal lengths within the
range of a zoom.
The first magical pairing for me goes
right back to my pre-college days when I
fell in love with my Olympus OM-1 cameras,
a Zuiko 100mm f/2.8 lens and Kodachrome
64 film. I still have a picture on my wall

[98] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

taken with this setup. Back then various
Leicas and Nikons stole my heart –
including the 85mm f/2 on a Nikon FM2
shooting Tri-X and a 35mm f/2 Nikkor
that I used around the same time.
Right now I mostly shoot with
Canon EOS 5D MkII bodies and zoom
lenses, but I have developed a soft
spot for a new magical combination:
a Canon EOS 7D with a Canon EF
85mm f/1.8 USM lens. I can’t put my
finger on what it is about this pairing
and actually in my hands it doesn’t feel
anything out of the ordinary, but the
pictures on screen leap out at me time
after time.

WHAT MAKES
A LENS GREAT?
HANDLING:
Great lenses feel right in the
hand and on the camera.
Their controls are
well-positioned and have
just the right amount
of adjustment.

TEST ZONE
What makes a good lens Neil Turner

CHOOSING THE RIGHT LENS FOR YOU
There are two ways of choosing which lens
to stick on your camera:
 You could say, “There’s my subject and
here I am, let’s see which focal length on
my zoom works best.” Sometimes at sports
matches and other events you have your
position and that is that, or…
 You could say, “I want the effect that my
experience tells me a 28mm lens will give
me so I’ll select that focal length and move
to the right position to make that happen.”

Either of these could be a valid option and,
in many cases, the first is decided for you
by circumstances. Most news
photographers use zoom lenses because it
makes sense to have
fewer lenses when you
are never quite sure
what kind of work you
will be doing on any
given day.
Personally, I use a
combination of both
approaches. If a
position forces me to
choose a certain lens
then I’m with option 1.

Given complete freedom to shoot what I
want I would go with option 2. More often
than not I’ll go with, say, a 24-70mm lens
intending to shoot at the 24mm end and
get in a position to shoot that way. I will
shoot several frames and then start to
move around, zoom in and out and shoot a
variety of similar images, each with subtle
differences. I try to make a point of
shooting with just about every focal length
available to me on every job.
Answering self-set questions and
making compromises is the key to
successful photography. Choosing the right
lenses helps to reduce the number of
technical compromises that you are forced
to make, giving you more time to decide
on the creative
compromises
that you want
to make.

 Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM.
 Canon EF 70-200mm

f/2.8L IS II USM zoom.

WHAT THE EXPERT SAYS ABOUT LENSES
BARRY EDMONDS IS THE NIKON
SERVICE MANAGER AT FIXATION UK.
HE STARTED OUT AS A TECHNICIAN
AT NIKON IN 1979 AND JOINED
FIXATION UK IN 1995. FIND OUT
HERE WHAT HE THINKS ABOUT
LENSES AND HOW THEY HAVE
CHANGED OVER THE 30-PLUS
YEARS HE HAS BEEN SERVICING
AND REPAIRING THEM.
 NT: I’ll start by asking you what differences you

see between older and newer lenses.

 BE: Older lenses were made to perform in their

era. They were really well-made with simple
mechanisms. Lenses such as the 84mm f/1.4 and
the 35mm f/1.4 had simple helicoids construction
and it was pretty easy to see where the damage
was and fix it. Modern lenses might not be made to
the same mechanical and machining standards, but
they have come on in leaps and bounds as far as
design, optics, coatings and element configurations
are concerned. New stuff is often easier to repair
because it is so well-designed. Obviously, modern
lenses have a lot of electronics that the classic
stuff didn’t and we use a lot of diagnostic
equipment to set up the autofocus and alignments.

We have evolved as a company using oscilloscopes,
software and a load of other kit to adjust lenses.
 NT: You said old kit was better machined.
A lot of photographers would take that to mean
better made.
 BE: In the old days there were pretty big
variations in lenses. If you took two 85mm f/1.4
lenses off the shelf and tested them there was a
decent chance one would be better than the other.
These days the standards are far higher and,
speaking as a Nikon technician, there is no real
difference between lenses. Imperfections in lenses
would be spotted in seconds on today’s cameras.
The standards of design and manufacture are
higher now and the images you get from a D3X and
a D3S are so good that a bad lens would stick out a
mile. Older lenses could take the knocks, but they
didn’t have the electronics, which the newer
materials are there to protect. If you had talked
30 years ago about making a lens that zoomed
from 18-200mm you would have been laughed at,
but the modern materials and the latest design
techniques have made it a reality.
 NT: If you were to think about all of the Nikkor
lenses that have passed across your workbench, is
there one model that stands out as a favourite?

 BE: (Short pause for thought) Yes, now you ask.
The 300mm f/2.8 AIS IF-ED Nikkor that was a
standard lens for sports and even news
photographers in the mid-1980s was a classic.
Beautiful design, top-quality manufacturing
and sharp too. It was so small and light compared
to the current model. Obviously it had no AF
(autofocus), no VR and no electronics at all, but it
was a great lens. A lot of those manual focus
lenses are back in great demand for video work
and all of those early IF-ED (internal focus,
extra dispersion glass) lenses were brilliant
in their day.
 NT: If I were an aspiring photographer asking you
for the single best piece of advice you have for me
when buying lenses, what would it be?
 BE: Think about the kind of pictures you want to
do, think about what focal lengths suit your work
the best and go and buy a couple of fixed lenses.
Don’t get me wrong, modern zooms are brilliant,
but there is something special about fixed (focal
length) lenses. 

Fixation UK is a professional service and retail centre
for both Nikon and Canon based in central London.
www.fixationuk.com

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 9 9 ]

Canon EOS 5D MkII, Canon EF 16-35mm
f2.8 II USM, KOOD ND 16 SB270 82mm

Andy Wilson setting up the shot, [email protected]

= 4 STO
16
P

Manufactured in Japan for KOOD using
Schott B270 optical glass with neutral
density coating on both surfaces to maintain
a true neutral with a 4 stop strength.
An exceptional high quality filter enabling slow
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KOOD JAPANESE MANUFACTURED
ROUND FILTER RANGE INCLUDES:

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Multi Image 3, Radial Multi Image 5, Centre Spot Clear,
Soft, Fog, Split Field, Close Up Sets +1 + 2 + 4, 80a,
80b, 81a, 81b, 82a, 82b, 85a, 85b, FLW, FLD, Red,
Orange, Yellow, Yellow/Green.
Many of these are available from 25mm – 86mm.
A straight Polarizer though lower cost than a Circular
polarizer gives a better result but you might have to
focus manually, all auto focus systems work with the
circular polarizer.

Llanwryst Falls - ISO 100 f2.8 35mm 0,8sec

SLOT FILTERS MANUFACTURED BY KOOD
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SEND YOUR DETAILS FOR ACCOUNT APPLICATION AND TRADE SUPPLY PRICES

TEST ZONE
What makes a good lens Neil Turner
blur than others and that is a product of the
design of the lens – the shape of the
aperture, the coatings on the elements and
the way the lens is manufactured.
Whether you find the bokeh of any given
lens pleasing is a purely subjective
matter and you need to be
aware that the bokeh will
change with focusing
distance, how far the
aperture is closed down
CONTRAST:
and the quality of the
A great lens will render a good
light. What most people
range of light and dark, highlight
don’t consider is that
and shadow, letting the
on a digital image, any
photographer capture the scene
sharpening used in the
in an accurate, pleasing and
camera or in the subsequent
tonally smooth way.
post-processing will have an
effect on the bokeh too.

DOES YOUR LENS
GIVE GOOD
BOKEH?
I don’t think you can
talk about lenses
these days without
mentioning bokeh.
It’s a Japanese
word that refers
to the way a lens
renders the
out-of-focus areas
of an image.
Some lenses have more
aesthetically pleasing

WHAT MAKES
A LENS GREAT?

“WHEN BUYING
VINTAGE LENSES,
CHECKS MUST BE
MADE FOR PHYSICAL
DAMAGE TO THE LENS
BARREL AS WELL AS
THE GLASS. DO NOT
BUY A LENS WITH
ANY INDICATION OF
IMPACT DAMAGE.”

WHAT THE COLLECTOR SAYS ABOUT LENSES
PAUL LIPSCOMBE IS A
PHOTOGRAPHY LECTURER AT THE
ARTS UNIVERSITY COLLEGE AT
BOURNEMOUTH, A PRACTISING
PHOTOGRAPHER AND THE AUTHOR OF
THE USE OF HISTORIC LENSES
IN CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY
WHICH DETAILS HOW HE USES
OLDER LENSES IN HIS OWN
LONG-TERM PROJECTS.

NT: Paul, can I start by asking what makes a good
lens magical?

PL: With a modern multi-coated lens, we are pretty
much guaranteed a sharp picture with clearly defined
tones, provided we exercise the appropriate care.
Modern lenses, however sharp and for all their
crispness, do often lose the subtlety of tone apparent
to the careful user of early uncoated optics. If we
consider the work of James Ravilious, he deliberately
chose to use lenses made in the 1930s on his Leica,
working in the 1970s-1990s. Using great skill to avoid
flare, his early lenses produce an ‘open’ quality in the
shadows, which is almost impossible with modern
equipment.
For similar reasons, I use a range of early lens
designs in my landscape work – ones that were
favoured by the Pictorialists in the early 20th
century. With these lenses I can create a delicate level
of flare to suggest the brilliancy of the light, or open
up the darkest of shadow detail.

NT: What three things do you look for when buying
a lens?

PL: Even if the lens is to be used for soft focus
images, it must be able to create a core image – which
is sharp and clearly defined. If I were to define three
qualities they would be the following:
Firstly, the most important quality to me is tonal
rendering. The lens must be capable of delivering the
full tonal scale, and not be too contrasty.

The second is sharpness. A lens which fails to
produce a sharp image is not a soft focus lens, it’s
simply low quality. When buying vintage lenses,
checks must be made for physical damage to the lens
barrel as well as the glass. Do not buy a lens with any
indication of impact damage.
Finally, there is coverage. This is only of real
relevance to the large format photographer, but a lens
should adequately cover a field wide enough for some
movements. Always test for this; some lenses have
supposedly mythical coverage – it is probably just
that – a myth! If you are adapting an old lens to a
camera of smaller format this will not be a problem.

WHAT MAKES
A LENS GREAT?
QUALITY GLASS:
Great lenses have the best glass
manufactured using the best
techniques and using the best
optical coatings
for the job.


NT: Why do you use old glass?

PL: Initially, I used older lenses because they were

a cheap way into large format photography – that
would not really be true today as prices have climbed
dramatically. After realising their potential and
becoming interested in the history of the medium,
I started to investigate older lenses seriously.
In the 19th century there were literally dozens of
lens manufacturers, but it does simplify life to stick to
the higher quality makers, and then to their better
products. For example, from Britain, Dallmeyer made

Vintage Darlot and
Dallmeyer lenses.

a range of portrait lenses with adjustable softness,
and some of the earliest good telephotos and wide
angles. Ross also made superb telephoto and portrait
lenses. In France the best early maker was Darlot of
Paris and its lenses tend to be the most common on
the American market, hence their regular appearance
on eBay. Britain had an excellent optical industry in
this period; Germany was also among the leaders and
most lenses by Goerz – the Dagor, Zeiss and notably
the Tessar – are worth considering.
If you wanted to investigate these early lenses
without spending too much I’d look for a good Rapid
Rectilinear from a maker such as Dallmeyer, Ross,
Busch or Meyer. These are the common standard lens
on a quality camera of the second half of the 19th
century and probably took most of the historical
images we see today. Prices for these are generally
very reasonable, from £50 upwards. Adapting them
for your use may require ingenuity but small ones can
often be fitted to a body cap and used in front of
extension bellows to allow focusing.
Paul’s book, The Use of Historic Lenses in
Contemporary Photography, is available either as
a download or a printed book from www.lulu.com
or you can order the book at a special price
of £20, including UK postage, from the author
at [email protected]. PM

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 1 0 1 ]

THE HIGH
NUMBERS
The latest Canon EOS launch has a high number, price and specification list
and yet it’s apparently an entry-level model. PM Editor GRANT SCOTT
immediately wanted to know more. What he discovered was that the 600D
is a camera worth considering.


I AM GOING TO START THIS REVIEW AT THE
END. THERE IS NO REASON I CAN FIND WHY YOU
SHOULD NOT BUY THE CANON EOS 600D.
There you have it, a simple answer to the
question, “Should I buy this camera?”
But I realise you want to know more, so I
will do my best to oblige.
Let’s start in Istanbul. The TIPA awards
are an internationally recognised series of
honours given to the year’s equipment
launches which have made people sit up
and take notice. I am a judge, along with
representatives from Japan, China,
Australia, Germany, Spain, Greece, France,
Spain and on and on. I’m sure you get the
picture that winning one of these awards
is a prestigious achievement. And guess
what? The Canon EOS 600D won the best
entry-level DSLR award for 2011.
But hang on a minute, with an RRP of
£679 is this really an entry-level camera?
Well Canon certainly thinks so, while
admitting the 600D is at the top end of its
offerings for this market. From my
perspective this fact means my approach
to the camera has to be one based on
appropriateness and value for money.
Coming after the launches of the
ground-breaking 5D, innovation-packed
7D and high-performing 550D my hopes
for the 600D are understandably high and
straight out of the box the camera seems
to feel and look exactly as I expected. It’s
a Canon and feels like one, although on a
slightly smaller scale than I personally

like; but then I have said that about pretty
much every camera I have reviewed
over the past two years as DSLRs have
got increasingly smaller and lighter.
At first sight it looks just like the 550D
but with an articulated screen (not
something I like, I must admit, but I may
well be in the minority and, of course, you
don’t have to use it). But it’s soon clear
that it also owes some of its DNA to the
lower-priced entry-level EOS 60D, most
notably the Basic+. This simple function
allows image adjustments in the
scene-based exposure modes so you can
change the overall look of images and
control background blur without needing
to know anything technical or that what
you have just done has been done!
In addition, the 600D includes a
multi-aspect ratio function plus the 60D’s
creative filters, a range of effects that
can be applied to images after shooting,
including toy camera, fisheye and
fake-miniature looks. Now I’m starting to
get the entry-level tag.
The entry-level spec continues with the
fully automatic ‘green square’ exposure
mode now becoming a scene intelligent
auto function which analyses the scene in
front of the camera and sets its exposure
and image-processing parameters
accordingly, including a colour tweak.
And a feature guide gives concise
explanations of what each function does
to help beginners learn how things work.

Canon EOS 600D
The camera comes equipped with a pop-up
flash which can be used creatively as fill-in
flash when shooting portraits, both indoors
and outdoors. There is also built-in wireless
multi-flash support, meaning you can shoot
with off-camera flash as well.

TOP 5 FEATURES
1 FEATURE GUIDE
Short explanations of what each
function does are easily reached.

[102] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

2 VIDEO SNAPSHOT MODE
Shoot film in short bursts and the camera
will do all the hard editing for you.

3 GOOD-SIZED SENSOR
It’s an APS-C CMOS with an ISO range of
100-6400, which is expandable to 12800.

TEST ZONE
Camera review Canon EOS 600D
“THE 600D IS A GREAT LITTLE CAMERA AND
HEAD AND SHOULDERS ABOVE THE NORMAL
EXPECTATIONS OF AN ENTRY-LEVEL DSLR...”
There is also an innovative video
snapshot movie mode which comes from
Canon’s camcorder range. It’s based on the
concept that amateur movies are usually
more interesting when stitched together
from a number of short ‘takes’, rather than
being one long continuous clip and on this I
have to agree. It works by limiting the user
to recording for only two, four or eight
seconds, which it then plays back
sequentially as a completed composite
movie, with the option of adding a
soundtrack in post-production. It may
seem like a strange concept but it’s one I
really like and if it encourages
people to make movies, it’s got
to be a great thing. Most
photographers now are
entry-level film makers,

however experienced they are as
photographers, so hats off to Canon.
Nevertheless, the camera’s core
specification has not been upgraded from
the 60D, which makes it the first camera
in the EOS line that hasn’t gained a higher
resolution sensor or new processor.
So the 600D is fitted with Canon’s tried
and trusted 18MP APS-C CMOS with
its sensitivity range of ISO 100-6400
(expandable to 12800) and 3.7fps
continuous shooting. The nine-point
autofocus and 63-zone metering systems
have also not been upgraded. What does
this mean? Well, basically, the core of the
600D is a no-surprises, no-thrills deliverer
of good-quality images. Like a Saab it
delivers all it promises, just without much
excitement, thrills or spills. I shot
with it, worked with it, pushed it and
experimented with it over the period
of a week and it just kept on delivering


A number of accessories
are available for your
600D, such as a
Speedlite 270EX II
flashgun pictured here.
Also worth considering
is a high-speed memory
card for quick and
safe transfer of stills
and video.

4 BUILD QUALITY
The camera sits well in the hands. It’s the
right weight and feels tough.

5 IMAGE QUALITY
The camera will deliver good images
time and time again.

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 1 03 ]

TEST ZONE
Camera review Canon EOS 600D

For more news and reviews visit our site
www.photographymonthly.com

99.5mm

TECHNICAL SPEC: CANON EOS 600D

79.7mm (Depth)

133.1mm

The Canon EOS 600D has
an advanced HD movie mode
(1080p). The technology allows
clips of two, four or eight seconds
to be merged into a single movie file.

without any fuss or drama. The perfect
entry-level camera then, for the
photographer who just wants to feel
comfortable. The entry-level tag is
starting to make more and more sense.
As well as the borrowed video composite
function on the movie front, the 600D, just

and head and shoulders above the normal
expectations of the standard entry-level
DSLR. In reality it only differs from the
60D in the way in which it feels in the hand
(more curved and smoother of line).
But the 600D finds itself in a particularly
competitive section of the market,

“IT’S BASED ON THE CONCEPT THAT AMATEUR
MOVIES ARE USUALLY MORE INTERESTING
WHEN STITCHED TOGETHER FROM A NUMBER
OF SHORT ‘TAKES’, RATHER THAN BEING ONE
LONG CONTINUOUS CLIP...”
like the 60D, offers full HD recording via a
dedicated position on the camera’s mode
dial, with full manual control available for
those who want it. There is, however, a new
digital zoom function, offering 3-10x zoom,
and a built-in sound recording level
control, with a stereo sound meter to help
judge the right recording levels.
And that, I am afraid, is about all I have
to say. The 600D is a great little camera

especially with the continued growth
and development of the CSCs that it will
inevitably come up against. One thing may
help it, however. Remember the TIPA
awards in Istanbul and how the EOS 600D
was named best entry-level DSLR? As I
said, I can’t find any reason not to
recommend this camera and neither could
the international panel of judges.
www.canon.co.uk

WE LOVE
CANON HERITAGE


MEGAPIXELS

SENSOR TYPE

AUTOFOCUS

CROP FACTOR

LENS MOUNT

METERING SYSTEM

FRAMES PER SECOND

ISO SENSITIVITY

SCREEN SIZE

CARD FORMAT

RESOLUTION

SENSOR SIZE

SCREEN RESOLUTION

FILE FORMATS

CONNECTIVITY


FLASH TYPE

FLASH SYNC SPEED

INTEGRATED CLEANING

LIVE VIEW

SHUTTER SPEED

VF COVERAGE

MOVIE MODE

PRICE

18.0
CMOS
Nine points
1.6x
Canon EF/EF-S
TTL 63-zone SPC
3.7
ISO 100 to 12800
3in
SD/SDHC/SDXC cards
5,184 x 3,456
aspect ratio 3:2
22.3 x 14.9mm
1,040,000
RAW, Jpeg
USB 2.0 (Hi-Speed),
Video out (PAL /
NTSC), HDMI mini
output
Built-in pop-up
1/200sec
Yes
Yes
Max 1/4,000sec
Min 30sec
95%
1080p
£679 (body only)

WE HATE
MOVIE COMPOSITE

[104] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

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A JACK OF ALL
TRADES AND A...
In the world of CSCs the Olympus, Sony and Panasonic Lumix are the names most often mentioned
but as PM Editor GRANT SCOTT discovered, Samsung is also a name to be reckoned with.


SAMSUNG CAMERAS HAVE INTERESTED ME EVER
SINCE THE COMPANY’S EARLY BEGINNINGS IN
CAMERA PRODUCTION IN THE MID-1990S FOR THE
AEROSPACE INDUSTRY. They have a fine history
of placing importance on design, innovation
and intriguing collaborations (such as
with the designers at Porsche) and produce
interesting cameras so it is no surprise
that they have embraced the new world of
CSCs so enthusiastically.
Now, I’m a fan of the CSC concept and
have been lucky enough over the past year
or so to be able to work with all of the
Samsung NX11’s competitors, so it was
with some excitement and expectation
that I started to test the camera, as I had
not had the chance to try its predecessor,
the NX10. Straight out of the box, the
overall look and feel of the NX11 are good
(and not dissimilar to the NX10), and
its weight and balance feel right, with an
upgraded new hand grip providing a good
counterbalance to the body’s ergonomics
and control. It’s not, however, either exciting
or innovative in its looks in the way that its
main rivals are. The NX11 feels and looks like
a no-thrills, miniaturised DSLR; it’s not retro
or minimalist in its styling, it’s an all-black
camera which looks like the kind of DSLR we
are used to seeing today, just smaller.

The NX11 comes fitted with an
18-55mm i-Function lens.
Other options include two new
i-Function lenses:
a 20mm pancake and a
20-50mm zoom.

mode control dial which feels less definite in
use than it should on a camera at this price.
As I have mentioned already, the NX11 is

“STRAIGHT OUT OF THE BOX, THE OVERALL LOOK
AND FEEL OF THE NX11 ARE GOOD (AND NOT
DISSIMILAR TO THE NX10), AND ITS WEIGHT AND
BALANCE FEEL RIGHT..”
This is not a criticism, just an observation,
as this kind of non-flashy camera may appeal
to many. The one thing, however, I do not
think will appeal is the new top-positioned
[106] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

an upgrade based on the NX10, which means
that the new model is now compatible with the
Samsung i-Function lens system introduced
alongside the NX100. The NX11 comes fitted

with an 18-55mm i-Function lens, as well as
with the option to add one or two new
i-Function lenses: a 20mm pancake and
a 20-50mm zoom, which is not a bad selection
for a CSC system.
If you’ve never come across or heard of the
Samsung i-Function lens system, I had better
explain what it is. Basically, it allows you to use
your left hand to change settings through
a small button built into the lens so you can
toggle between shutter speed, aperture, EV,
white balance and ISO. That’s the kind of
innovation I expect from Samsung and I’m
sure for many it will give a great reason
to purchase. Personally I found it really easy
to use, but I’m not sure how often I would
do so, which is an issue because this lens

TEST ZONE
Camera review Samsung NX11

87mm

TECHNICAL SPEC: SAMSUNG NX11

39.8mm (Depth)

123mm


LENS MOUNT

IMAGE SENSOR TYPE

SENSOR SIZE

DISPLAY SIZE

SHUTTER SPEED


FLASH

EXPOSURE METERING


EXPOSURE
COMPENSATION

EXPOSURE ISO
EQUIVALENT

WHITE BALANCE
MODES

SHOOTING MODES


SHOOTING QUALITY

PRICE

Samsung NX
CMOS 14.6-megapixel
23.4 x 15.6mm
AMOLED 3in display
Smart Auto: 1/4,000sec
to 30sec. Manual:
1/4,000sec to 30sec
(1/3 EV step). Bulb (limit
time: 8min)
TTL Auto pop-up flash
Multi, centre-weighted,
spot metering range:
EV 0-18 (ISO 100
• 30mm f/2.0)
±3 EV (1/2 EV,
1/3 EV step)
Auto, 100, 200,400, 800,
1600, 3200 (1 EV or
1/3 EV step)
Auto, daylight, cloudy,
fluorescent (W, N, D),
tungsten, flash, custom,
K (manual)
Smart auto, program,
shutter priority AE,
aperture priority AE,
manual, night, portrait,
landscape, scene, movie
Super fine, fine, normal
RAW format
£499.99 (with 18.55mm
i-Function lens)

WE LOVE
GOOD ALL-ROUND PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY

WE HATE
LACK OF EXCITEMENT

The NX11 features a 14.6-megapixel
APS-C CMOS sensor, a built-in flash
and electronic VGA viewfinder.

“THE NX11 IS A DECENT CAMERA

WHICH I WOULD HAVE NO PROBLEM
RECOMMENDING TO SOMEONE WHO
WAS LOOKING TO DIP A TOE INTO THE
BURGEONING WORLD OF CSCs.”
compatibility is the main upgrade feature over
the NX10. The focus on lens innovation is
shown further with a lens priority mode dial to
help you make the right choices when shooting.
As with the NX10, the NX11 features a
14.6-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, a built-in
flash and electronic VGA viewfinder, a 3in
AMOLED LCD screen to help reduce glare, a
new panorama feature and video functionality
with 720p HD recording. In all of these
respects the NX11 delivers everything that you
would expect it to do in both features and
quality of image. It does the basics well but
sadly does not offer much more than that.
Although the NX11’s sensor features the
same processor as the NX10, Samsung has
cleverly raised the ISO 3200 capacity to ISO
6400, which has to be a good thing for any
photographer trying to avoid using flash.
However, the use of the same sensor does
suggest that image quality is not going to be
that different, if at all, to the NX10’s.
However, Samsung has created an updated
autofocus system in the NX11 to make it faster
than both the NX10 and NX100 models.
This has been created through in-camera
software changes rather than mechanical

upgrade and, in truth, is a slight tweak rather
than a groundbreaking re-working; but it does
deliver the goods. It appears then that when
the dry facts are put down on paper the main
reason for the NX11’s existence seems to be
the added i-Function lens compatibility.
But camera reviews should never just be
based on comparisons and, taken as a
stand-alone camera, the NX11 is a good, solid
choice which I found hard to find any fault
with at an extremely competitive price of just
under £500 for body and 18-55mm lens.
The NX11 is a decent camera which I would
have no problem recommending to someone
who was looking to dip a toe into the
burgeoning world of CSCs, but I don’t think
that it’s going to get NX10 owners excited
enough to replace their current CSC and
re-invest, unless of course the i-Function is
enough of a pull for them. I’ll be keeping
a close eye on Samsung and the NX system in
the future as, having mastered a camera
as solid in performance as this, the company
must surely be just a small step from
creating something truly exciting. Sadly, with
the NX11 they are not quite there yet. PM
www.samsung.com
W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 1 07 ]

THE BEST
BEGINNINGS
The EOS 1100D DSLR from Canon is aimed at those new to
photography, but having taken it for a quick spin,
PM deputy editor SEAN SAMUELS wonders why they
should have all the fun.


CAN CAMERAS EVER REALLY BE SEXY? CAN THEY
EVER REALLY BE DULL? No doubt there are
camera aficionados everywhere who would
answer yes to both of these questions, but for
many photographers a camera is just a tool.
After all, have you ever wandered into
a hardware shop and decided, “That’s the
hammer for me, I just love its clean lines
and feel?” Like me, you probably haven’t,
opting instead for a hammer that was right
for the job, which is the same requirement
that most photographers look for when
choosing a camera.
So what makes a camera right for the job?
Depending on your style of photography there
will be several factors, ranging from speed
and build quality to being able to shoot in
extremely low light and, of course, price.
Breaking down these factors further, let’s
examine why the Canon EOS 1100D is good
and why it might not be right for everybody.
Straight away I have to say Canon, you have
done it again. Not only is the 1100D extremely
easy to use, but it is also capable of producing
images that would make anyone proud, for
£419 body only.
Okay, so the camera feels slight.
The electronics are housed within a steel
frame encased by plastic. This is solid
enough, but not if you want to work in
extreme conditions. The plastic has a smooth
finish, but enough about how the camera
looks. What is more important is how the
camera works and reviewing the images taken
while testing the camera, I was impressed by
the quality that the 1100D was producing.

Canon EOS 1100D
This is a great little camera for anyone wanting to
start photography or those wishing to develop their
skills further.

The camera has a 12MP APS-C CMOS
sensor with an increased sensitivity range
from ISO 100 to 6400, a notable improvement
on its predecessor, the 1000D. It means that
even at this level you will be able to create
large prints shot in low light. While testing the
camera in manual I tried to create images
at a high ISO of 800 with different light
sources, including shooting through glass.

The images produced were exactly what I
wanted and how I wanted them. Any camera
that can do this easily, without forcing me to
navigate through layer upon layer of menu
options, giving me a headache at the same
time, is fine in my book.
I should add that this might have had
something to do with the second-hand 50mm
Canon prime lens I was using. On this

TOP 5 FEATURES
1 PRICE
At £419 body only this is great kit
to start shooting with.

[108] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

2 EASE OF USE
The menu and function buttons are clear
and easy to navigate.

3 IMAGE QUALITY
This little powerhouse will reproduce the
images you want to make every time.

TEST ZONE
Camera review Canon EOS 1100D
occasion I didn’t have the kit lens that
normally comes with the camera, but in many
ways I am glad because it made me realise
that even an entry-level camera can quickly
become much more if it is used with good
glass (to find out what makes a great lens,
turn to page 97).
Increasingly I think photographers should
consider buying camera bodies only and then
hunt around for a second-hand lens suitable
for the type of photography they want to do.
The 50mm and 85mm lenses did not look out
of place on the 1100D body. Anything bigger
than this and the setup might become
unwieldy. The 1100D is small at just 130mm x
100mm x 78mm (W x H x D); too small for
some and I did wonder what might happen to
the plastic casing after it had endured a few
knocks. However, if you are a careful owner
and are unlikely to be using the 1100D in
extreme conditions, then a little care is not
a tall order and, given the image quality,
it’s a small price to pay for a camera that
shoots RAW and movies.
High definition (720p) footage can be
recorded at up to 30fps (frames per second),
which is perfect for those wishing to make

“IN THE PORTRAIT MODE YOU CAN TAKE
CONTROL OF THE PICTURE STYLE AND WHITE
BALANCE SETTINGS, WHILE THE CAMERA TAKES
CARE OF EVERYTHING ELSE...”
films with a DSLR. Continuous shooting is
possible at three frames per second, which
isn’t the fastest speed on the planet, but it’s
good enough for most uses. Even the
exposure metering and autofocus have been
overhauled. The seven-point autofocus
system found in the 1000D has been replaced
with a nine-point array of focusing points;
changing the points was quick and easier to
do than on some more expensive cameras on
the market.
As the 1100D is an entry-level camera it
would not be complete without a range of
automatic scene programs. Included here are
the usual suspects such as portrait, landscape
and sports, but interestingly Canon has added
a Basic+ option, which allows users to set
certain parameters in each of the auto scene
modes. For example, in the portrait mode you
can take control of the picture style and

white balance settings, while the camera
takes care of everything else. I like this
feature; it should encourage people to come
off auto a lot more quickly and develop more
creative possibilities. Similarly, the creative
auto mode is a liberating change to aperture
priority, letting you select the depth of focus
in an image while the camera does the rest.
So who is the 1100D for? It is probably
easier to say who it is not for and that, quite
simply, means professional photographers,
who require kit that can take a beating.
However, throw on a reliable prime lens and
the 1100D becomes an interesting camera for
pretty much everyone else. It isn’t sexy, but
then neither is it dull. It is the right tool for
the job if what you want is a camera that
will give good results and encourage you to
become a better photographer. PM
www.canon.co.uk

The controls and
functions on the Canon
EOS 1100D are laid out
well and easy to use.
The buttons are large
and feel sturdy.
Important camera
functions can be
accessed quickly
without entering the
menu, but if this is
required, the menu
panels are intuitive and
clear, enabling you to
change settings easily
without losing much
shooting time.

4 GOOD FOR LOW LIGHT
Inside is a 12MP APS-C CMOS sensor
offering ISO 100 to 6400.

5 SHOOTS RAW
The ability to shoot RAW means you can
be more creative with your final images.

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [ 1 0 9 ]

Phone one of our knowledgeable sales advisors

01444 23 70 63

available Monday - Saturday 8.45am - 5:45pm

1971 - 2011

Visit our website, available 7 days a week, 365 days a year

www.ParkCameras.com/PM

Photographic Experts since 1971! - Visit www.ParkCameras.com/40 and celebrate our 40th Anniversary!
you can

As a Canon EOS Professional Centre, Park
Cameras is designed to give you the very
best photographic retail experience.

Park Cameras - one of the UK's Leading Professional Dealers
SUPERB DX-FORMAT SLR PACKED
WITH CREATIVE FEATURES

YOUR EOS ADVENTURE
STARTS HERE.

NEW!

Body Only: £619.00

D5100 + 18-55 VR: £739.00

EOS 600D + 18-55mm IS £729.99 | EOS 600D + 18-135mm IS £859.99

+ 4GB SDHC Memory Card and Nikon VA2201BB Bag £769.99

FIND YOUR OWN ANGLE
WITH THE EOS 60D.
to help you achieve superior results.

Body Price £569.99

Body Price £384.99

£749.99
£615.00

£439.99
£678.98

Body Only: £779.99

technologies and performance into a

EOS 60D + 17-85mm IS £1,019.99 | EOS 60D + 17-55mm IS £1,497.99

Body Price £995.00

£2,479.98
£3,159.98

Body Price £517.00

£469.00
For full detailson this new product
please visit our website

£30 cashback on the EOS 550D if
bought between 31.03.11 & 01.06.11

Please visit us in-store or
on-line for the latest low price

LENSES
£1,913.99
£649.99
£408.99
£1,362.99
£373.99
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£4,999.99
£629.99

Body Price £1,179.99
£1,439.99
£1,689.99

£609.99
£776.98

For the latest low price on the Canon
EOS 7D, please visit our website

Body Only
£3,499.00
For money saving deals on filters
& hoods, visit our website.
£6,499.99
£1,184.99
£9,899.99
£5,449.99
£1,128.99
£8,999.00
£11,299.00
£7,363.99
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£1,099.99
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£619.99
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£749.99
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£85.00
£150.99
£115.00

£149.99
£165.00
£309.99
£269.99
£389.99
£999.99
£879.99
£749.99
£381.99
£2,236.99
£166.99
£948.00
See Web
£509.99
£909.99
£399.99
£1,137.99
£1,153.99
£159.99
£239.99
£1,239.99
In development

Our Price £3,699.99

£539.99
£1,249.99
£614.99
£469.99
£344.99
£1,619.99
£1,419.99
£229.99
£1,469.99
£264.99
£179.99
£1,429.99
£239.99
£309.99
£112.99
£409.99
£419.00
£314.99
£1,287.00

Our Price £5,249.99

For money saving deals with filters
& hoods, visit our website.

LENSES

Body Price £357.00

£1,064.00
£1,163.00

Body Price £1,849.99

£1,458.99
£1,579.99

NEW!

Body Price £899.00

£649.99
£1,419.99
£809.99
£999.99
£634.99
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£4,499.99
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OLYMPUS PEN - E-PL1 OLYMPUS PEN - E-PL2 OLYMPUS PEN - E-P2
lenses
Kits from £299.00

PANASONIC GF2

lenses
Kits from £479.00

PANASONIC G2 + 14-

lenses
Kits from £629.00

PANASONIC GH2 + 14-42MM

lenses
Kits from £469.99

Operation
Our Price £419.99

lenses
Our Price £799.99

K-R + 18-55 .

K-7 + 18-55 .

K-5 + 18-55 .

Our Price £439.00

proofed body
Our Price £679.00

proofed body
Our Price £1,069.00

SONY 580 + 18-55MM SONY NEX-5 + 18-55MM SAMSUNG NX11 + 18-55

£494.99
£494.99

Prices changed daily - Visit www.ParkCameras.com/PM for our latest low prices

Our Price £547.00

lenses
Our Price £519.95

In stock! Our Price £459.00

All prices include VAT @ 20% Opening times Mon-Sat 8:45-5:45pm; Thursday 8:45-7.30pm; Sunday 10:15-4.30pm. Sunday trading is for in-store only. Store address : York Road, Victoria Business Park, Burgess Hill, West Sussex RH15 9TT.
We accept Visa, Mastercard, Switch/Maestro. Figures in Brackets indicates stock level held at unrepeatable prices at time of going to print. All products are UK stock. E&OE. * = Please mention “Photography Monthly” for this special price

Prices correct at time of going to press; Prices subject to change; Check website for latest prices.

YOUR QUESTIONS

UPGRADE
I am a Nikon user thinking about
buying a Samyang 85mm f/1.4
Aspherical IF lens from a friend at a
good price. Any thoughts?
Made by a Korean company, this lens can also be
found under various import brand names, including
Vivitar, Walimex, Opteka and Rokinon. It was
designed as an affordable option for the lower end
of the market, and has attracted a lot of attention
since it first appeared in late 2008.
This ultra-large aperture 85mm f/1.4 lens sells
typically for less than £300 and has the ‘look’
of other manufacturers’ 85mm lenses that are
up to quadruple its price, which certainly makes the
Samyang an interesting proposition. It is
made from a combination of metal and plastic parts,
and, considering its low price tag, the build quality
is unexpectedly high.
While this lens offers a good central sharpness
wide open, the close focus may not be as good as
more expensive lens options, but this is to be
expected. It does deliver even illumination across
the frame although maybe it is slightly soft at
the edges when wide open. However, the bokeh,
which is a primary consideration for an ultra-large
aperture lens, is very effective overall.
As a Nikon user you are in luck as only the Nikon
AE mount has full aperture and metering coupling,
whereas the Sony and Pentax versions are the more
basic, manual preset aperture lenses. The Nikon

Q

I am considering buying either the
Tamron AF 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di LD
MACRO 1:2 or the Tamron SP AF
70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di VC USD. However, I have
no idea what the difference is between these
lenses. Could you explain?
The Tamron AF 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di LD MACRO
1:2 is the more versatile telephoto zoom lens. It is
ideal for both portrait and nature photography
because it includes a macro 1:2 function which
allows a minimum focus distance of 0.95m within
the focal length range of 180-300mm. Di stands for

Q

Digitally Integrated Design, meaning the lens can be
used on a digital APS-C sized or full frame camera.
It has a street price of £120. The Tamron SP AF
70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di VC USD (pictured) uses an
advanced optical design that features an LD (Low
Dispersion) and an XLD (Extra Low Dispersion) lens
element made from specialised materials that
prevent chromatic aberration and create a sharper
contrast. The lens also includes a USD (Ultrasonic
Silent Drive), Tamron’s own autofocus drive
mechanism and VC (Vibration Compensation) image
stabilisation to help handheld photography in low
light. The street price is £349.95.
www.tamron.co.uk

Q
version has always had
auto-aperture operation and includes an Exif chip,
so focus confirmation works and the proper image
data is recorded.
The Samyang may not be the sharpest lens
around but it provides a reasonable and affordable
introduction to shallow depth-of-field photography.
The main drawback is the mechanical coupling, with
no camera-controlled aperture or autofocus, but
with a typical UK shop price of less than £300, a
high-end Nikon enthusiast can’t go wrong.
www.samyang.pl/en

I am looking for accessories to use
for portrait photography with my
Canon flashgun. Any ideas?
Check out Strobies by Interfit, which has taken
the concept of large studio flash accessories and
reduced them in size to fit manufacturers’
flashguns. Some of the attachments can then be
fitted directly on to your flashguns by using a flex
mount, eliminating the need for rubber bands or
Velcro. Two kits are available: an EFX kit for
background and product lighting, and a portrait kit
containing a beauty dish, softbox, globe diffuser,
barndoor set, snoot and honeycomb grid. The kits
are portable, making them ideal for photographers
who want to shoot on location, and will fit the
majority of popular manufacturers’ flashguns.
The portrait kit is available for £138.99 from:
www.interfitphotographic.com/Strobies

This month KELLY WEECH
answers your questions
about kit to help you
make the right choices.
I own a Canon EOS 550D which I am
very happy with but I have seen some
of Simon Marsden’s infrared work and
fancy giving this technique a try. I don’t want to
go to the expense of buying another DSLR body
and having it converted to do this. Could you tell
me any other ways I could try this technique?
Digital cameras have made infrared (IR)
photography more accessible and easier to achieve.
You can now experiment without incurring the cost
of processing film, which was why people often
avoided using this technique in the past.
Simon Marsden, www.simonmarsden.co.uk, has also
helped to raise the level of interest among
enthusiasts. He is known for his supernatural and
ghostly images which use infrared to encourage
people not to take everything at face value,
by offering an alternative version of reality.
Most digital camera CCD sensors are sensitive to
infrared light. This can be tested simply by pointing
your TV remote control directly at your camera
lens. Push any button and look on the LCD screen
for a spot of light. You should be able to see the
infrared beam from the remote. If you see white or
purple flashes, your camera is IR sensitive and will
be able to shoot IR images with your camera if the
visible light is blocked out.
Once you have checked if your camera is
compatible you will need to invest in an infrared
filter which you place in front of the lens.
The camera will then make adjustments to
accommodate this wavelength. The beauty of using
a digital camera is that you will also be able to
review the shot and decide the length of exposure
you need. The average light meter cannot read
for infrared light and the exposure will be much
longer than for visible light, so a tripod will be
needed to deal with the longer shutter speed.
If you want an infrared filter I would recommend
the Hoya R72 from www.hoyafilter.com. Prices start
from £44 depending on the size needed to fit your
lens. You could also use Photoshop to simulate the
look of infrared photography on images you have
already taken. If you want to learn how this is done
you can download a tutorial from www.photoshop
essentials.com/photo-effects/infrared-photo
For those looking to invest in a DSLR with
infrared capabilities then the Nikon D5100 should
be taken seriously. It features a DX-format
16.2-megapixel CMOS sensor, ISO ranges from
100 to 6400 (which can be raised to ISO 25600 at
Hi-2), 11-point autofocus system and vari-angle
LCD monitor. A new night vision mode raises the
ISO sensitivity limit from its expanded maximum
of ISO 25600 equivalent up to ISO 102400
equivalent. However, you can shoot only
monochromatic images in this mode. The RRP
of the Nikon D5100 is £669.99 (body only) and
£779.99 (with an 18-55VR kit). PM
www.nikon.co.uk

Q

W W W. P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY.CO M [111]

STUDIO KIT DIRECT
Lastolite

Lastolite

Collapsible, Reversible
Backgrounds

Lumen8 Pro
Studio Flash

6701 Black/White
with train. . . . . . . . . £176.69
1.8m x 1.5m . . . . . . £93.90
2.1m x 1.8m plus
1.5m train . . . . . . . . £159.69

Inc Stands, 2 brollies,
cables & carry bag

WHITE VINYL ROLLS 2.75 x 6 metre
on alloy tube £194.03

from

New D Lite kits
come with 2 x
66cm soft boxes
plus a 16cm
reflector and
Skyport Eco
Transmitter,
stands ,cables
and carry cases

£214.47

LASTOLITE Cubelite,
Ezybox Hotshoe
60cm Cubelite . . £84.50
90cm Cubelite . £103.30
90cm Cubelite
kit . . . . . . . . . . . £329.70
Ezybox Hotshoe from. . . . . . . . . £84.50

LASTOLITE Triflector
Compact and easy to use,
Triflector is three panels on one
lighting stand. Hinge mechanisms
make all panels individually
adjustable to get light exactly
where you need it.
The Sunfire/Silver version comes
with a stand . . . £131.50
Triflector without stand. . . £112.70

Lastolite Baby poser . . . . . . . . .£98.60
Lastolite Posing tubs . . . . . . . .£197.00

D Lite2 Kit 200/200
Softbox Kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £485.00
D Lite4 Kit 400/400
Softbox Kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £529.00
BXRi 500/500 Softbox Kit . . . . £824.50
BXRi 500/250 Softbox Kit . . . . £776.00
BXRi 250/250 Softbox Kit . . . . £735.00

Interfit
Continuous
Daylight
Balanced
Lighting Kits
EZ -FLO 2 head soft
box kit (shown) . . . . .£179.74
Super Coolite 4 (4 x 55Watt )
2 head soft box kit . . . . . . . . . . . £285.95

LASTOLITE
SAVAGE

EX150 Mk2
Home Studio Kit

Background paper

Kit contains 2 Heads with
Stands, Soft Box, Brolly & DVD

1 roll (2.75m x 11m) . . . . . . . . . . . . . £41.72
Triple hooks (MN045) . . . . . . . . . . . . £35.69
XPan set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £73.49
Interfit INT312 wall mounting
kit for up to 3 rolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . £69.38

£203.47
EX150 3 head kit £339.90

Stellar X 300/300 twin brolly kit £417

Buy On-Line...

SKD Muslin

LEE Filters

Backgrounds

Super size 10 x 16ft, also 10 x 20ft
- Mill Dyed for the truest
and richest colours
in BLACK, WHITE,
Gemini 200/400 shown
CHROMA KEY
Gemini 200/200
GREEN & BLUE
studio in a bag . £485.11
- from £64.32
Gemini 400/400 studio
in a bag . . . £556.60
each.
Mottled now in 8
colours 10 x 16ft heavy muslin to our
Gemini 250R
own design and
shown
specification - machine
Gemini 250R 2 head kit . . . . . £807.84 washable Great Value!
Gemini 500R 2 head kit . . . . . £875.04
£66.95 each.
New Type R kits - new features include

Bowens

Elinchrom

See web or ring for details

www.studiokitdirect.co.uk

Interfit
It’s what your hotshoe
flash has been waiting
for! NOW IN STOCK

LUMEN8 400w/s 2 head kit. . £430.00

Hilite
Backgrounds

Buy On-Line at...

5 stop power range in 1/10th stop, dual
power control, auto power dump,
optional plug-in trigger cards for Pulsar
or Pocket Wizard plus lots more!
See web for other kits

Sekonic
Sekonic's highly rated, award
winning meters are available in a
wide range of models to suit all
subjects and shooting conditions.
L308 S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £135.74
L358 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £225.39
L758D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £394.54

Expodisk
If you own a digital slr or video camera, you
need one of these.
Replace your grey and
white cards with the
EXPODISK
digital white balance filter.
Available from

NEW!! Crease resistant
fabric in Black or White in
size 8 x 10ft only £40.84
We stock a
wide range of
background
support
systems
From a host of respected
brands including.....

Lastolite 1108 £140.39
Manfrotto MN314B £209.52
All above have telescopic cross bars

Interfit COR756 £101.21
Plus a range of Lighting Stands
and Auto Poles
- please see our website

58mm to 82mm, £48.50 to £79.50.
All prices are correct at time of going to press
and include V.A.T at the current rate. E&OE.
Studio Kit Direct. Bridgnorth. WV16 5JB

Heads & Accessories are
listed on our website

Improve your
results TODAY!
We carry huge stocks of Lee Filters - if
it’s listed on the website - it’s in stock!
Example prices...
Big Stopper 10xND Glass Filter . . . . £96.00
B+W Kaseman 105 mm circ polar . £219.13
Foundation Kit at the
centre of the Lee Filter
holder system and is
primarily designed to
take 100mm filters,
although other sizes can
be adapted to fit.
Once constructed, the holder clips easily
onto the adaptor ring and can then be
rotated to your exact requirements, This
also enables optimum use of grad and
special effect filters. . . . . . . . . . . . . £60.69
Starter Kit includes
an assembled filter
holder, a 0.6 ND
grad, a cleaning
cloth, and a Coral 3
grad with extended
coloured portion that
can be used as both a graduate and an all
over warm up. All packed in the new three
filter triple pouch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £142.99
Adaptor rings from . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £19.40
W/A adaptor rings from . . . . . . . . . . £41.72
ND grad sets from . . . . . . . . . . . . . £173.62
Resin sets from . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £94.97
Ind resins from . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £44.94
Multi filter pouch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £34.80
105mm polariser ring . . . . . . . . . . . . £35.35
Standard lens hood . . . . . . . . . . . . . £88.75

www.studiokitdirect.co.uk Tel: 01746 769 768

FOR THE BEST PART EXCHANGE DEALS!
D3100

c/w 18-55VR

ONLY £249.00

AFTER CASH-BACK and
your working Nikon
D60 c/w 18-55
IN PART EXCHANGE

D90

c/w 18-105VR

ONLY £480.00
with your working
Nikon D80 Body
IN PART EXCHANGE

D7000

c/w 18-105VR

ONLY £950.00

with your working
Nikon D200 Body
IN PART EXCHANGE

D300s

Body

ONLY £789.00

with your working
Nikon D90 Body
IN PART EXCHANGE

LATEST USED EQUIPMENT
Canon 7D Body - £950
Nikon D50 Body £189
Canon 55-250is - £159
Sigma 2x DG EX C/AF - £99
Minolta 800si + Grip - £59
Minolta 7D + Grip - £269
Contax 167MT + Zeiss 50mm 1.7 - £199
Contax Zeiss 180mm F2.8 - £289
Panasonic GH2 + 14-140 (50 shots) - £999
Sony Alpha 350 + 18-70 -299
Sony 20mm F2.8 - £350
Nikon 70-300 AFG - £99
Nikon ED82 + 25-75x - £999
Nikon FSA-L1 - £179
Sony 18-200mm - £249
Sony Mavica MVC-CD500 - £129
Canon BG-E3 Grip59
Nikon MD-12 Motordrive - £39

Canon Powershot SX20is - £219
Panasonic 14-50mm F2.8-3.5 OIS - £499
Canon XM2 - £799
Nikon 24-70mm F2.8 N - £999
Canon 70-300mm USM IS - £299
Ricoh GR Digital - £179
Contax TVS Digital - £99
Leica M8.2 - £2499
Leica Elmar-M 24mm F3.8 ASPH - £1199
Leica Summarit-M 75mm F2.5 - £899
Leica Summicron-M 90mm F2.5 - £899
Nikon 200mm F4 Non AI - £79
Nikon 18-35mm F3.5-4.5 - £249
Minolta 85mm F1.4 AF - £599
Canon 17-85mm F3.5-5.6 IS USM - £199
Nikon 24-85mm AF-S F3.5-4.5 - £249
Canon 18-135mm IS - £239
Ricoh R8 - £99

NIKON PREMIER DEALER

LEICA SPECIALIST DEALER

53 The Horsefair, Broadmead, Bristol

3 Alliance House, Baldwin St, Bristol

NEXT TO DEBENHAMS

0117 927 6185

NEXT THE HIPPODROME 0117

927 6185

Canon 70-300is Do - £699
Sigma 135-400mm f4.5-6.6 APO EOS - £299.99
Sigma 15-30mm f3.5-4.5 EX DG EOS - £449.99
Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 EX Sony - £449.99
Nikon 80-400mm AF VR ED - £999.99
Nikon 80-200mm F4.5 Ais - £109.99
NikonD1X Body - £189.99
Nikon 20mm f2.8 Ais - £399.99
Nikon 135mm f2.8 Ais - £59.99
Olympus Om4Ti Black - £279.99
Olympus 35-70mm f3.6 OM - £49.99
Angenieux 35-70mm f2.5-3.3 OM - £349.99
Olympus Xa & A11 - £79.99
Sigma Dp1 - £299.99
Sigma 600mm Mirror lens Sa fit - £29.99

NIKON PREMIER DEALER
13 Cheap Street, Bath

NEXT TO THE ABBEY

0117 927 6185

14-24mm f2.8 G
ED

£1319

Find us
on

www.abc-digital-cameras.co.uk
08450 70 90 50
Lines open 8:45am-5:45pm Monday - Saturday
*

Find your own angle

I am your Guide

Our Price from £649.00

Our Price from £779.99

EX1

The world's brightest lens

Stills or movies, capture your story

Our Price from £487.00*

Our Price £249.00

* = Price after £30 Canon Cashback

Digital SLRs

Compact Digital Cameras

Canon EOS 7D Canon EOS 5D II
Body Only
Body Only
Our Price
Our Price
See Website
£1,179.99

Canon EOS 600D
+ 18-55mm IS
Our Price
£699.00

Canon
Canon
PowerShot S95 PowerShot G12
Our Price
Our Price
£309.00
£419.00

Nikon D3100
+ 18-55mm VR
Our Price
£439.99

Nikon D7000
Body Only
Our Price
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FSTOP

DAVID WARD
David is a professional photographer with more
than 20 years’ experience. He shoots large format
and is drawn to the abstract image.

An unplanned meeting in a Finnish
car park has led to David wondering
this month why the medium of
photography is so often seen
as less of an art than other more
traditional forms.

A CHANCE ENCOUNTER WITH A GERMAN IN A
FINNISH CAR PARK RAISED MY BLOOD PRESSURE
TO UNHEALTHY LEVELS. No one was physically hurt
in the encounter, though the ground was covered in
ice and snow, and a nasty fall was a serious
possibility. Fortunately neither of us was driving a
vehicle or it might have led to a drive-by shooting
incident with one of us armed with a clunky Cambo
and the other shouldering a lissom Linhof.
Shortly after breakfast I had wandered out of my
hotel in northern Lapland to find a group of four or
five people clustered round a very impressive large
format monorail camera. They were preparing
for a shoot of some kind with portable flash and
reflectors. My interest was piqued by finding

DAVID WARD

“WHY CAN ONE NOT BE BOTH ARTIST AND
PHOTOGRAPHER? OR INDEED PHOTOGRAPHER
AND ARTIST! THE ARTIST VERSUS PHOTOGRAPHER BATTLE
IS AS OLD AS THE MEDIUM...”
another 5 x 4 format user in such a remote place and
the choice of location (the car park seemed a bizarre
option given the endless miles of beautiful landscape
that surrounded the hotel). So I wandered across
the frozen Tarmac and introduced myself as a fellow
photographer and evolutionary denier, still with
those single-use sensors commonly known as film.
Apparently, judging by the camera operator’s
expression, I’d said something either unfathomable
or rude – to be fair this isn’t an uncommon reaction
to my utterances. I turned to another member of
the group to see if my words had been lost in
translation but the camera operator interrupted me,
saying, “It’s okay, I speak English but I’m an Artist,
not a photographer.”
To say I was taken aback by her derogatory tone
would be an understatement of monumental
proportions. In a rare moment of wisdom I chose not
to enter into a discussion, but after a few more
pleasantries wished them good luck and left with
a cheery “Tschüs!” But inwardly I was seething.
Why can one not be both artist and photographer?
Or indeed photographer and artist! The artist versus
photographer battle is as old as the medium, but I
have always felt that the distinction’s only real
purpose is to suggest a hierarchy. The preference
[122] P H OTO G RA P H Y M O N T H LY J U N E 20 1 1

for ‘artist as photographer’ as opposed to
‘photographer as artist’ is intended to suggest
superiority. In the past, commercial art galleries
preferred to represent artists so this meant one
could reasonably expect to earn more for
one’s work as an artist than as a photographer.
Over almost two centuries photography has often
seemed like a poor cousin when compared to other
visual arts. This view has been changing for at least
the past 30 years, but if our goal is the widespread
recognition of photography as an art form we’re still
not there. The prejudices against it mainly regard
the mechanical aspects of the medium; firstly, and
most importantly, its mechanical transcription of
reality. It was the medium’s descriptive power that
was seen as both its raison d’être and its artistic
Achilles heel. Secondly, the potential for the infinite
reproducibility of the photograph also counts against
it in a society that habitually values a hand-made
object above a machine-made one of higher quality.
The real test of any object should be the quality of its
design and, similarly, in photography the test should
be the quality of the vision rather than the process.
I am proud to call myself a photographer. To me
the medium holds almost limitless possibilities
for exploring the way I see. It also presents huge

Finnish wood, northern Lapland.

challenges if one is to make an image that speaks of
more than it baldly describes – to paraphrase David
Bailey, painters need less imagination because they
can make things up – but I wonder if ‘the Artist’ was
betraying a lack of confidence in the medium. Or am I
exhibiting a lack of faith and hypersensitivity by
making a fuss over her remark? After all, most
painters in oils would describe themselves as artists
first and only then talk about which medium they use.
Over the course of the next few days I glimpsed
‘the Artist’ at work making a series of formal
portraits of the indigenous Sami people. What struck
me as hugely ironic was that her art relied upon the
enormous descriptive power of large format
photography, harnessed to some overarching
concept, whereas my artistic ambition is to subvert
the photograph’s ability to describe. So in a way
she’s more of a photographer than I am. Now there’s
a thought. PM
www.into-the-light.com

To read more of David’s columns and for
more advice from the pros visit the
website www.photographymonthly.com

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