Photography News issue 27

We want your pics for gear of the year! As 2015 comes to an end, we bring you the year’s final news stories. We talk to rock-God, Brian May about his passion for stereo photography and give you our best studio-style portrait lighting. There’s more advice about combining sharp and blurred elements in your photos and we test both the Sony A7R Mark II and the Leica SL.

Your FREE newspaper packed with the latest news, views and stories from the world of photography news Photography Produced by Issue 27 19 Dec – 18 Jan News Tests Reviews Interviews Techniques Competitions Exhibitions Clubs

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Portraits in a flash Master studio shooting on page 24

Sony A7R Mark II Turn to page 36 to see how it rates

Taking it slowly Get to grips with slow-sync flash, page 30

Samsung memory duo Enter the competition on page 56

Pick the gear of the year Register your votes for what you consider to be simply the best imaging kit that money can buy

The Photography News Awards aim to recognise great kit and it is you who decides who wins. The PNAwards categories cover all aspects of modern imaging from pro cameras and lenses to camera supports and colour management devices. In most categories we have done some of the work for you by nominating a number of products. In the remaining categories, such as Best Retailer and Best Processing Lab, there are no nominations so you have a completely free choice. You can vote in all categories, but if you prefer, just vote in the categories where you have a strong opinion. Everyone who votes will be entered into a prize draw, with a 12-bottle case of wine going to one lucky reader, chosen at random after voting closes on 24 February 2016. We look forward to receiving your votes – online or by post; see page 34.

Camera Club of the Year 2015-16 It’s ‘scores on the doors’ time aswe announce the round 1 winners… … continue reading on 18

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Photography News Issue 27 absolutephoto.com

News

Fly away Action cameras are hugely popular and give us all sorts of awesome footage to enjoy. In stores from mid- January 2016 will be the 360fly, a game-changing action camera with the ability to shoot 360° recordings. The 360fly is a 61mm sphere so a little bigger than a golf ball and smaller than a tennis ball. The 2.26-megapixel CMOS sensor gives recordings of 1503x1504 pixels through its high-quality glass, ultra- fisheye f/2.5 lens. It’s a fixed-focus lens that renders everything sharp down to 30cm. The tough housing is waterproof to 35m and will continue towork inall sortsof dustysituations. An internal 32GB memory allows up to two hours of recording, with

More fromLeica The latest M is a rangefinder only digital camera for a pure photographic experience

the same capacity rechargeable internal battery. Camera control, editing and file export is done via an app for iOS, Android and desktop. The smartphone or tablet becomes a viewfinder, viaWi-Fi or Bluetooth, and a remote control and replay device. The panoramic videos can be scaled down to 16:9 or even stills. The 360fly camera costs £399. In the box as well as the camera is a battery charger, GoPro- compatible adapter, adhesive mounts

and a Neoprene pouch, as well as a quick-start guide.

intro2020.co.uk

Leica has had a busy 2015 and it has rounded off this fruitful year with yet more new products. Leica’s range of digital M cameras has grown to four with the introduction of the M (Typ 262), which joins the M (Typ 240), the M-P and the Monochrom (Typ 246). The Typ 262 has a full-frame 24-megapixel CMOS sensor and it is designed for rangefinder photography exclusively so there is no video or live view. Manual focusing is with Leica’s time- honoured coupled rangefinder

system. ISO performance, very quiet shutter and shutter cocking system and a top continuous shooting speed of 3fps are other highlights. The M (Typ 262) is available now at a body price of £4050. The Leica D-Lux Solid Gray has an elegant two-tone finish body, the lens being silverwhile the body is grey enamel. It has a guide price of £825. The sensor is Micro Four Thirds format with an effective resolution of 12.8-megapixels and the integral lens is a 10.9-34mm A good high

f/1.7-2.8 giving an equivalent view of a 24-75mm in the 35mm format. It has an 11 element in eight group construction with five aspherical and two ED lenses. Finally, Leica has extended its à la carte programme to the M (Typ 240). It means you can order a personalised camera – you can even have your signature engraved on the camera. The price for an à la carte M (Typ 240) is between £5100 and £6050.

uk.leica-camera.com

Nice andwide fromPentax

Pentax has launched a wide-angle lens for its 645Z system. The HD Pentax-D FA645 35mm f/3.5AL (IF) costs £1549.99 and gives the equivalent of a 27.5mm focal length in the 35mm format, making it perfect for landscapes, interiors and environmental portraits. Minimum focusing distance is 30cm so there’s plenty of opportunity for dramatic compositions and strong foregrounds. Its optical construction includes a glass-moulded aspherical element, a high refractive index low dispersion element and a hybrid aspherical

element, all designed to avoid chromatic and spherical aberrations. HD coating gives higher light transmission and lower reflections compared with conventional multilayer coatings to deliver high contrast, flare-free images even in demanding lighting conditions. The surface of the front element has been treated with SP (Super Protect) coating to repel water and grease. The HD Pentax-D FA645 35mm f/3.5AL (IF) will be available from mid-December.

Olympus OM-D owners upgraded New free firmware versions are available for Olympus OM-D E-M1 and E-M5 Mark II owners

ricoh-imaging.co.uk

New free firmware is available for Olympus OM-D E-M1 and E-M5 Mark II owners. For the E-M1, the firmware is v4 and there are 18 key improvements with a focus on video capture and professional workflow. The most significant is probably Focus Stacking Mode where you get greater depth-of-field with close-up subjects with the camera combining eight individual shots with just one

Customer Support and Downloads. Many of today’s latest cameras are fashion accessories and Olympus has embraced that with its collection of designer bags and straps. The range comprises stylish shoulder and clutch bags and variety of straps including hand straps and necklace straps. Perfect for fashionista photographers.

push of the shutter release. A Silent mode is also available. Owners of the OM-D E-M5 Mark II can download firmware v2 that offers a new picture mode for easier video editing and focus bracketing where the camera takes a set of pictures automatically with slightly different focal lengths and can choose the one you want later. To download the software go to the Olympus website then to

olympus.co.uk

Photography News Issue 27 absolutephoto.com

News

Tenba go elegant

Tenba’s range of Cooper bags offers classic elegance and practical performance. These messenger- style bags are made from soft cotton canvas with leather trim and classy fittings like hand-rivetted zipper pulls. Materials have been chosen for their balance of style, strength and light weight. The peach-wax cotton canvas exterior, leather base and trim have been specially coated for excellent water repellency. Smart finish is important but the bags have been designed with day- to-day use in mind. Quick access, a laptop/tablet pocket, rain cover, side pockets and a removable padded insert are key features of note. The bags also feature Quiet Velcro so you have the option of getting to your kit without making yourself the centre of attention. Tenba Cooper bags are available now with prices ranging from £125 for the Cooper 8 to £210 for the Cooper 15.

Hoya Fusion

Hoya’s latest professional filters feature nine layers of Super Multi Coating making them very durable. The new Antistatic coating makes Fusion filters stain and waterproof, anti-static, scratch-resistant, and easier to clean. Made from Hoya’s professional-grade glass, the range features UV, protector and circular polariser filter types from 37mm to 82mm. Prices start from £26.99.

intro2020.co.uk

macgroupeu.com

Latest Capture

News in brief

Tokina byHähnel The Tokina lens range will now be distributed in the UK and Ireland by Hähnel from 2 January 2016. Hähnel is well known for its great value, high-quality accessories and these high-class, Japanese- made lenses will mesh with its current products. hahnel.ie

Capture One Pro is widely used by pros for its Raw-processing skills, tethered shooting abilities and extensive editing tools. V9 brings a new contrast engine as well as improved asset-management features including sortable keywords and new image quality precision tools. The keyword feature is designed to speed up your workflow and image management. The revised contrast engine has seen improvements to the way

the software deals with colour, saturation and contrast, while luma and local curves givemore flexibility with contrast control. Capture One Pro 9 is available for Windows and Mac and costs €279 which allows three activations. Owners of Pro 7 and 8 can upgrade for €99. It is also available by subscription at €12 a month for a year-long plan.

phaseone.com

AfterShot updated

Corel AfterShot Pro 2.3 is a non- subscription software which costs $79.99 with these three operating systems that are catered for: Linux, Mac andWindows. One cool aspect for users of Photoshop CS6 is an improved Send to External Editor function so AfterShot users can process Raws from the latest cameras and quickly export files to CS6 for final editing.

Corel aims to provide ongoing Raw support to Aftershot while Adobe has said that it will no longer update Camera Raw for CS6. That is one aspect of course and there is much more. For example, Corel’s tests have shown AfterShot to be faster than Lightroom for image importing and processing. There is plenty of editing potential too, including HDR tools, local

contrast control and better batch processing. If the idea of a one-off purchase for workflow software appeals to you, have a look at AfterShot Pro 2.3.

corel.com

Photography News Issue 27 absolutephoto.com

News

Shoot and learn with Olympus

News in brief

Get a grip Until 28 January 2016, buy a Nikon D7200 (body only or lens kit) and you can claim a free MB-D15 battery grip. A similar offer is available to Nikon D610 buyers (body only or lens kit) with a free MB-Da4 battery grip. Nikon also made available firmware updates for the D750 and D4s. Bug fixes, an option for external recording and, for the D750, an ‘optimal vibration control’ with VR lenses. nikon.co.uk

Olympus and its principle educator Damian McGillicuddy have come together to bring you four new photography training academies located across the country. With eight years’ experience of running his own training facility in Chester, McGillicuddy has now expanded his training operation with three new bases, each with a principal selected and trained personally by him. The new training facilities are in Gateshead run by Alan Clarke, Royston by Guann-Yeu Chin

and Birmingham run by with McGillicuddy himself who will also continue training operations at his Chester base. Each facility is a working studio, and the principals are all working photographers, chosenand trainedbyMcGillycuddy to the highest standard. “Each principal I’ve handpicked frommystudents,”saysMcGillicuddy. “I’ve spent years teaching and mentoring them to the highest standards, so clients are learning from people who have a direct and detailed

understanding of my methods and philosophy. I believe that makes a big difference because a working photographer is a little bitmore on the cutting edge of solving problems than onewho’s not.”

The courses are available to users of any camera brand, but naturally Olympus kit will be available for clients to try.

mcgillicuddyacademies.com

Bowens see the light

Lighting company Bowens has had a major management restructure as it turns its sights on 2016 and plans for a series of innovative product launches. ‘New product development is the number one target for us’, said newmanagingdirector JohnGobbi. “I have been appointed to be an agent for change and I am putting in place a new structure and a new layer of senior management to ensure our growth ambitions are met in the coming months,”

he says. “We have some very exciting products in the pipeline right now for launch next year, and we intend to follow those up with an additional array of game- changing lighting equipment. The future direction for Bowens is all about innovation. Our R & D team is expanding and not only are we going to be launching exciting new products but we are going to be launching themmuch faster.”

Protect it Kaiser has introduced a range of LCD screen protectors. These high-quality filmprotectors offer excellent protection and work with touch screen cameras. They are glare-free too and easy to fit (and remove) without bubbling. Guide prices start from £8.99 each. fotospeed.com

Above Bowen’s new directors, fom left to right: sales and marketing director Alan Walmsley, managing director John Gobbi and technical director John Gass.

bowens.co.uk

Photography News Issue 27 absolutephoto.com

News

London Life Catch a glimpse of London Life through Colin O’Brien’s lens.

News in brief

viewed the street as his stage and all the everyday scenes as plays, capturing them with his Leica 111a and 3.5 Elmar lens. London Life is on the Leica Store City Gallery, London until Tuesday 19 January.

Students Shoot fromtheHip All UK students, whether studying photography or not, are invited to enter the Fujifilm Student Awards 2016. This year’s brief is: Shoot from the Hip. All images must be shot on Fujifilm film. The Awards are a collaboration between Fujifilm Professional, Metroprint, ChooseFilm (an online community dedicated to film) and Fujifilm instax. Entry is free and closes on 31 March. The Student Photographer of the Year 2016 will collect £200 worth of Fujifilm film, a professionally produced folio of prints, a one- to-one printing/consultancy with Metroprint and a selection of instax goodies. The college or university submitting the most prints also wins £500 worth of Fujifilm film. fujifilmstudentawards.co.uk Fujifilmat the SWPP If you are thinking of going to the SWPP Convention (20- 24 January, Hilton London Metropole Hotel), head to the Fuji stand and answer a simple question to be in with the chance of winning a Frontier-S DX100 printer and Shirax Carbon software package worth £3000. The question is how many coloured inks does the Frontier-S DX100 have? fujifilm.eu/uk/ The winning and outstanding photos will be on display as part of the Awards Exhibition at London’s Somerset House, 22 April to 8 May. worldphoto.org See Beyond Expand your horizons and achieve your ambitions with the new Zeiss Photography Award, Seeing Beyond. The Zeiss Photography Award, which is run in cooperation with the World Photography Organisation, “perfectly complements the Sony World Photography Awards” says Scott Gray, CEO of the World Photography Organisation. Each year, the competition will have a different theme and this first year’s theme is Seeing Beyond – Meaningful Places. Photographers can submit three to ten images; entry is free. The closing date is 5 February, with the winner announced in April. The first prize is a Zeiss lens worth up to €15,000 and a flight to attend the 2016 Sony World Photography Awards gala ceremony in London.

O’Brien began taking photos of London in the 1940s, aged just eight, and his shots document working class life of 1950s and 60s London. Reminiscent of the photojournalism published in such magazines as Picture Post , O’Brien

uk.leica-camera.com

©ColinO’Brien

Leibovitz’s Women on tour Annie Leibovitz’s WOMEN: New Portraits exhibition kicks off in London, January 2016, before touring the world. The exhibition features newly commissioned portraits, continuing the project, Women, which she began more than 15 years ago in collaboration with writer and filmmaker Susan Sontag. This new work reflects the changes in the roles of women today. Both new and old images will be on show at the exhibition. WOMEN: New Portraits is at Wapping Hydraulic Power Station, London, from 16 January to 7 February. Entry is free.

ubs.com/annieleibovitz

Telling tales of science Can you take a photo that tells a science story? If so, enter the International Images for Science competition 2016. Organised by the Royal Photographic Society and supported by global technology company Siemens, the International Images for Science competition will select 100 images to be exhibited at the British Science Festival in Swansea in September 2016. Prizes of RPS Gold, Silver and Bronze medals, plus up to £1000, will be awarded in three age categories. “We want as many people as possible to enter this competition – school or college students, scientists, photojournalists, artists – everyone!” says RPS coordinator, Gary Evans. “Entrants can have Above Entries to last year’s International Images for Science competition included a bubble popping and a bee’s bottom.

Win at The Societies’ Convention Enter The SWPP Convention’s 20x16” Print Competition and you could win a Gemini 500R Tx/Rx kit worth over £950. The top prize is sponsored by Bowens, and there are also prizes and trophies for all the category and sub-category winners. and there are many more sub- categories. Entering a print costs £15 (for non-members). The winners will be announced at the Convention, taking place 20- 21 January in the Hilton London Metropole Hotel. All the merited images will also be on display in the Convention’s reception area.

fancy equipment or use a smartphone, it doesn’t matter.” The competition is free to enter and closes on 1 May.

You’ve got until 31 December to enter your prints into the competition’s six categories,

rps-science.org

swpp.co.uk/convention

Photography News Issue 27 absolutephoto.com

News

All change but no change in the Lakes Lakeland Photographic Holidays, based near Keswick, will be well known to readers of Photography News. There have been some changes to the business recently so we thought it was time to catch up with the owner John Gravett ARPS

Interview by Will Cheung

PN: Hi John, how are things going at LPH? JG: Things are great.We’ve just finished our 17th season and have been really busy. It is Gail’s last season there; she’s decided after 17 years to set up her own business. PN: You are probably aware of rumours circulating around that say LPH is closing down in the near future. Do any of the rumours have substance? JG: There were thoughts of selling LPH last year, and Gail moving on might have made people think that but LPH is not closing. I decided that I loved the job somuch that I couldn’t possibly leave the place. So I’m staying, LPH is continuing evenmore strongly, with a great new enthusiastic team for next year. PN: So, it sounds that the rumours are completely false that is great news. What are your plans for 2016 and is there anything you want to highlight to PN readers? JG: The 2016 season will start on 31 January 2016 with a new set of workshop options. For example, for the Landscape workshop, guests arrive on the Sunday with escorted walks on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Tuesday and Thursdays are unescorted, with guests usually going out as a group. Photo assessment will take place every evening. This has long been our standard workshop and the format is popular with our regulars, as giving a good balance of workshop v spare time.

Thenwe have the fully escorted five-night workshop, which starts on Sunday, with four fully escorted days and nightly photo assessments with guests checking out on Friday morning. We’re also planning walking/photography workshops and skills-based sessions like Black & White, and Photoshop workshops. PN: With the changes, will regular visitors experience any difference? JG: Nothing major, there’ll be a few new faces around and our excellent reputation for food will continue. My (hopefully) infectious enthusiasm for photography remains undaunted. PN: If anyone is interested in your events what should they do next? JG: Check our website soon as possible – there are discounts available for booking before the end of January 2016. Use the offer code of ‘LPH50’ for £50 discount and a reduced deposit of £100 instead of the usual £200. We also offer discounts to RPS distinction holders that bring work to show the group. PN: We knowyou also run overseas photographic trips. Will you be continuing with these? If so, what do you have coming up?

JG: For 2016, I’m planning four overseas workshops, with trips to India, Tuscany and Iceland (the latter in June when temperatures are pleasant!). In 2017, there’s a

USA western parks workshop coincidingwith a total eclipse of the sun in the Grand Tetons.

lakelandphotohols.com

Pinchbook range expands Innova has added an A3 landscape-format Pinchbook to its range of Photo Books. Offering a quickway to a great looking portfolio, all you do is fold back the covers to open the spine, insert the finished prints and return the covers to their original position. The cover is available in black only but there are finish options – cloth or leather, or whether you want a window or not. The A3 Pinchbooks are sold in packs of five: £80.73 for cloth with window, £80.22 cloth and no window, £90.15 leather without window and £90.65 with leather and window. If you want to buy individual books, look at the Innova website for retailers.

News in brief

Lytro latest Lytro Illum owners will be pleased to see that the Desktop software has been updated. The v5.0 update gives depth-editing features not possible with any other camera on the market. It’s free for Windows users. A new tool, Depth FX, allows selective changes based on the depth information captured in each Illum image. It is now possible to replace backgrounds as well as make depth- and region- based changes. Illum.lytro.com DxOupdate Seven new cameras are supported in Dx0 OpticsPro v10.5.2. Dx0 FilmPack v5.5.2 and ViewPoint v2.5.10 have also been updated. Mac and Windows is supported by these Dx0 softwares and they are available in-store or from the DxO shop website. OpticsPro v10.5.2 Elite edition costs £79 with £49 asked for the Essential edition. dxo.com

In stereo Victorian Gems is a great introductory package to the wonders of 3D photography but also comprises new items for those already smitten by the medium. Designed by Brian May and costing £95, Victorian Gems comprises three sets of remastered stereo photographic cards, a booklet to accompany the cards and an OWL, a dedicated viewer for all stereo cards. Among the three cards sets is a 12-scene pack of Scenes in Our Village by TR Williams. It is a stereo portrait of an Oxfordshire village and its farming community in the 1850s. The images have been restored to show the beauty of each scene and on the back of each is an exact facsimile of the verse on the originals.

innovaart.com

More Marumi sizes

Marumi DHG and Fit+Slim filters are nowavailable in awider range of sizes. Eighteen more sizes from 37mm up to 105mm have been added to the range. The Fit+Slim range, which come in a 5.4mm satin frame, now has circular polariser, lens protect and UV in 37mm, 40.5mm, 43mm and 46mm sizes. There is now a selection of filters in the 105mm fitting.

londonstereo.com

kenro.co.uk

Photography News Issue 27 absolutephoto.com

News

Three companies have launched bulk ink systems for the Epson SureColor P600 A3+ printer Fotospeed has two sizes of its refillable cartridge system. The 60ml kit costs £129.99 and the 125ml version £249.99. PermaJet also has two options of its PRC Refill Cartridge kits for the same Epson printer. The 125ml kit costs £185 and the 62.5ml kit is £119 Finally, Marrutt has three size options for the RCS system with the 60ml version available at £139.99. Two CIS options are on offer – for the 9x60ml cartridge and 100ml ink reservoir option the price is £139.99. Let it flow

This month sees more bags fromManfrotto. The company’s Advanced and Pro Light collections have been added to, with the Pixi Messenger, Befree Messenger and Redbee- 210 backpack. Prices stars from £69.95. Priced at £159.99 is theD1 Drone backpack, designed for quadcopters like the DJI Phantom 3, providing high protection levels but with comfort and lightness. Action camera owners will appreciate Manfrotto’s Off Road Stunt poles, lightweight sticks for GoPro and action cams. These poles are fast to set up, comfortable to use and nicely priced from £39.95. Finally, from Manfrotto we have Lykos LED lights. These give daylight quality output with the option to change colour temperature and output rates More fromManfrotto

News in brief

Nikon open up Last month, Nikon confirmed that it has the D5 pro DSLR, SB-5000 flashgun and Wireless Transmitter WT-6 in development. No release dates, details or prices were supplied. Nikon.co.uk Money off Broncolor owners can save 20% off accessories but you have to hurry as the offer is only valid to 31 December 2015. Contact your local Broncolor dealer for details. broncolor.com Rosco opens up in the Middle East Rosco is known for its filters among other products. It has now opened an office in Dubai to capitalize on the sales potential in the Middle East. Rosco.com Leica SL firmware update If you’ve treated yourself to a Leica SL, v1.2 firmware is now available. uk.leica-camera.com

at 1600 lux. The two units are Bluetooth ready so they can be controlled remotely with a smart devicewith the free downloadable app optional dongle. Prices start from £299.99

fotospeed.com marrutt.com permajet.com

and £39.95 for the softbox and £75.95 for the Lykos dingle.

Last chance to register

manfrotto.co.uk

The SWPP’s annual convention is a ‘must visit’ for aspiring pro photographers. Register before 15 January 2016 and entrance is free. The Convention takes place at the Hilton London Metropole, Edgware Road, London W2 1JU and runs over the weekend starting on Friday 22 January. Many leading names in photography will be there including Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Fujifilmand Epson so if youwant to catch upwith the latest hardware this is a great time to do it. Our sister title, Professional Photo, will also be present. The Convention also features technique talks and live demonostrationsso to book on these please see the website for details.

Lie flat books Photobox’s A4 Pro Lay Flat book is a great way to show off your best shots. The premium glossy pages not only show your work to great effect, they are also coated to avoid any fingerprint issues. Each book comes inaboxand thehardbackcover adds a touch of class. Prices start at £45 (you get 26 pages for that price) and if you want more pages they are £1.49 each.

swpp.co.uk/convention

photobox.co.uk

Photography News Issue 27 absolutephoto.com

Tell us your club’s latest news, email: clubnews@photography-news.co.uk

Clubs

Camera club news If your club has any news that you want to share with the rest of the world, this is the page for it. Your story might be about your club’s success in a contest, or a member’s personal achievement; it could be about a group outing you had recently or when the annual exhibition is on show. Any news is eligible for inclusion, so club publicity officers please take note of the submission guidelines and get your stories in

How to submit

Deadline for the next issue: 7 January 2016

We need words and pictures by 7 January for the next issue of Photography News , which will be available from 19 January. Write your story in a Word document (400 words maximum). Please include contact details of the club, exhibition or event – website, meeting times, opening times, whatever is relevant. Images should be JPEGs, 2000 pixels on the longest dimension, any colour space, and image credits should be included. If the story is an exhibition or event, please send a picture from the exhibition (not the publicity poster) or

one from the event. If it includes people please identify them. Attach the Word document and JPEGs to an email and send to clubnews@photography-news.co.uk.

TheDavidNoton experience Camera Club of the Year 2014-15 winners Amersham PS recently enjoyed a day with David Noton, as part of their prize. Club chairman John Caton tells us about the experience

Thewinning club received...

“It had been raining for days. We kept looking at the weather forecast, but there was just a small window of possibility for a decent afternoon. So the brave and hardy 23 from Amersham Photographic Society assembled at one o’clock in drizzle at Ivinghoe Beacon car park, awaiting the arrival of David Noton, landscape photographer extraordinaire to begin the field workshop that we had won. “The rain was still tipping down so we headed for the woods looking for some autumn colour. David began his tutorial with some words of wisdom on exposure, using the histogram on his camera to expose as far to the right as possible. Then he moved on to a bit of tripod theory and explained his use of filters for trees on a rainy day. “Suddenly it was looking much brighter and we decided to head for the hills. “It was a 20-minute walk to Beacon Hill. When we got to the top, it was blowing a howling gale, but not raining. In fact, the sky had turned into a thing of awesome beauty with a massive black cloud filling most of it, but the sun was winning the battle and those

much-maligned weather forecasters may have actually got it right. “We moved on in the direction of Whipsnade. David explained his use of filters on landscapes to us. He only uses three types and, specifically, only Lee Filters. The sun had now taken control and it had become a beautiful fine late afternoon. “We all set up our tripods and carefully took shots of thelandscape.TheviewtowardsWhipsnadehadbecome quite wonderful and the constant trickle of walkers made a good focal point in our images. David talked to each of us individually, giving each of us the benefit of his experience. “An excellent day was coming to an end. In small groups, we headed back to the car park, most of us still shooting all the way back as the low light was playing marvellous tricks on individual trees and bushes. “Thank you, David Noton. Thank you, Photography News . We had a splendid day!”

Our winners of the Camera Club of the Year 2014-15 competition, Amersham PS, won a day out with David Noton as part of their prize. The Club also won a Canon XEED WUX450 top-end projector worth £3000. That prize came in especially handy as the Club’s own projector was not behaving itself and was due for replacement. Also part of the prize was 25 free year-long subscriptions to Canon’s Irista. The usual cost of this is £45. Irista lets you manage, store and share your pictures online. It is not brand specific so any camera user can benefit from its features which includes 50GB of storage. For more details on Irista, click on irista.com. This year’s overall winners will scoop a Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 A2 printer. We’ll be testing this fabulous machine in the next issue of Photography News .

Could your club be this year’s Camera Club of the Year? Turn to page 18 for more details.

amershamphotosoc.com

Photography News Issue 27 absolutephoto.com

Tell us your club’s latest news, email: clubnews@photography-news.co.uk

Clubs

Winning ways Smethwick PS wins the 10th FIAP Clubs World Cup

Beating 196 clubs, Smethwick Photographic Society has won the tenth FIAP Clubs’ World Cup, an annual competition run by the International Federation of Photographic Art. To win Smethwick submitted 20 images, with a maximum of two per photographer, and two club

photographers individual medals for their pictures. Peter Siviter won a Bronze medal with his picture, Argentine Tango (below), and JohnMoore won a judges medal for his image Pure Power. won

smethwickphotographic.com

Celebratewith Colchester

You’ve still got time to visit and enjoy Colchester PhotographicSociety’sACelebrationofPhotography exhibition. On until 11 January, the exhibition comprisesmore than70mono and colour prints by the clubmembers. It’s at the Mercury Theatre’s Digby Gallery, which is

open 10am until 6pm, and the images can also be viewed prior to theatre performances. Entrance is free and the theatre’s restaurant sells refreshments.

colchesterphotosoc.co.uk

Gateway to success

GatewayCameraClubhas finished the year onahighnote, withYuletide celebrations as well celebrations for their new chair’s winning streak. Recently elected club chair, Jeremy Broome-Smith has also recently received his DPAGB award, scoring 19 points more than required. He then went on to win the club’s own Photograph of the Year competition, with Tony Scarfe coming second. It wasn’t a clean sweep for the chair though, as Arthur Woodward won the DPI of the Year award… with Jeremy Broome-Smith a close second. Gateway Camera Club meets on Thursday evenings at Crabble Corn Mill, River, Dover. Potential new members are welcome to enjoy their first meeting for free.

Race for nature Clacton Camera Club plays host to nature photographer

Join Clacton Camera Club in welcoming nature photographer Steve Race on Friday 12 February. The multi award-winning photographer and naturalist is presenting a lecture, Yorkshire Coast Nature. Inspired by the

natural world around him, Steve has been a keen naturalist for more than 30 years and in that time his work has been commended by both the Wildlife Photographer of the Year and British Wildlife Photographer of the Year competitions.

His talk on Friday 12 February is at Frinton-on-Sea’s McGrigor Hall. It starts at 7.30pm and tickets are £8 including refreshments from the club’s website.

gatewaycameraclub.co.uk

clactoncameraclub.co.uk

Photography News Issue 27 absolutephoto.com

Profile

Before the Judge

Biography

Each issue, a respected judge or exhibition selector shares their thoughts and experiences. This month, we hear from award junkie and relative newcomer to the judging scene, Ross McKelvey RossMcKelveyMPAGB FIPF EFIAP/B ABPE

Words by Ross McKelvey

I am a relative newcomer to international judging, but am extremely proud of the fact that the prestigious Edinburgh 2014 was my first international exhibition to judge. I was lucky to have two very experienced co-judges in Chris Palmer FRPS and Kevin Adlard FRPS. I have only recently finished judging the Tallaght International here in Ireland, and one thing I have learned is that you only get one chance to hit the five button. If an image has impact, whether because of subject matter, contrast, colours or whatever, hit the five button! With three experienced judges, you always like to think that the best images will come out on top, and so long as they hit the four or five button on appropriate images, that should happen. The cream of the crop can be sorted out at the point when you are selecting the images to actually award, but I do like to see a clatter of the best images score in the 13-15 range, rather than just a handful. I am currently booked to judge at the Southampton International competition in 2017, as well as the Scottish Print Championships in February 2016 and the PAGB Inter-Federation Print and PDI Competition in June 2016. My own Federation in Northern Ireland is NIPA, and I was painfully aware that NIPA clubs were not performing well against the opposition in the UK. I made it my personal goal to try to change that. It is often joked that I have more letters after my name, than I have in my name, but as I moved from one distinction to another, the standard of my photography definitely improved. As others in my club followed, getting distinctions like the DPAGB and regularly entering the various British Photographic Exhibitions, the standard of photography in the club improved also. So much so, that I am proud to say that Catchlight Camera Club became the first club fromNorthern Ireland to win silverware in a UK-wide competition, winning the Plate in the PAGB Print Championships in 2013. We followed that last season by winning the GB Cup for small clubs. In my view, this was only possible by getting that handful of fellow club members interested in open exhibition photography.

For this reason, I am a staunch supporter of the whole distinctions process. There are literally all types of distinctions out there, to suit all types of photography, whether they be panel-based like the RPS and the IPF, or individually scored images such as the PAGB Awards for Photographic Merit. Currently I have the Fellowship of the Irish Photographic Federation, the Master of the PAGB, the EFIAP Bronze and am working towards the Fellowship of the BPE. IfpeopleaskmewhyIbotherwith so many distinctions the answer is primarily because I thoroughly enjoy the whole process. At the end of the day, I would not be the guest speaker and judging at invitations if clubs throughout the country had not heard of me. Prints are my main interest, I do not do any PDI presentations and I am fortunate enough to have recently been appointed a Fotospeed Photographer, so I have tremendous access to all the fabulous photographic papers on the market. Then, when I do a print presentation, I can explain why I chose one paper type over another for a particular picture. So in terms of judging, I definitely prefer to score the prints rather than the PDIs, and it is a real pleasure to see other people’s work first-hand. I do believe that those who judge at an international level should have a proven track record, and it is fantastic when an image literally makes your jaw drop. When judging the mono prints at Tallaght recently, I must have hit the five button for four or five images in a row; all very different and all very good in their own individual way. I enjoyed that, because you really can have spells where you feel you are hitting the three button constantly and then suddenly an image hits you in the face. There is no doubt that the increasing popularity of national and international exhibitions over the last several years has seen an increase in the standard required to gain an acceptance, never mind an award. A judge never sees the author’s name until they have selected an image for an award and I must admit, I love to see an award-winning print being turned over to reveal the name of a relatively unknown photographer,

RossMcKelvey He’s a photographer first and foremost, and through his genuine passion for, and interest in, exhibition photography he has progressed onto the judging stage where he now sits for both national and international exhibitions.

Years in photography Ten years in competitive photography Home club

Founder of Catchlight Camera Club, Belfast in 2012. Served as chairman in first two years. Favourite camera Canon EOS 5D Mark III Favourite lens 70-200mm f/2.8L IS – it’s never off my camera! Favourite photo accessories Wireless flash triggers Favourite photographers Yousuf Karsh, Gregory Heisler and Guy Bourdin, amongst many Favourite subject or technique I am primarily a people photographer and I tend to adopt the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ approach; either a beautiful or striking female subject, or a male subject with character. Awards I have more than 120 medals and countless awards such as ribbons and certificates of commendation, but the highlights have been receiving a Gold Medal in Edinburgh in its 150th Celebration Exhibition; and gold medals in all the recognised top exhibitions such as Smethwick, Southampton, Scottish Salon, Trierenberg and the Al-Thani.

I do like to see a clatter of the best images score in the 13-15 range, rather than just a handful

or someone new to the game. You just know you have made their day. If I was giving advice to anyone starting out in exhibition photography, I would definitely encourage them to stick to what they enjoy and what they are good at, rather than following a trend. Personally I choose not to get involved in the debate about composite images, a good judge should judge the image in front of him and not waste a single nanosecond trying to figure out whether such and such has been ‘put in’. My pet hate is for someone

to say, ‘but is that not a composite?’ Now I just yawn and say, ‘and your point is…?’ Of course, there are the obvious and surreal digital composite images, and more and more often, these creative images are being pushed into a separate category. Whether that is a good thing or not is a moot point, but from a judging perspective, I just judge the picture in front of me, and have learnt to appreciate all genres of photography, particularly those outside my own comfort zone.

rossmckelvey.co.uk

What do you think?

Image Red Shawl took first place in the Colour Prints category at the NIPA Interclub competition in 2015.

Have you seen a photographic judge at work who you’d like to see profiled in Photography News ? If so please drop us a line to opinion@photography- news.co.uk with the judge’s name and, if possible, their contact details.

Photography News Issue 27 absolutephoto.com

17 Interview

Profile BrianMay Best known as the legendary guitarist of rock supergroup Queen, Dr Brian May CBE harbours another passion, stereo photography. We take the chance to chat all things 3D

First off, what is stereo photography? Stereo photography is as old as photography itself, it goes right back to, as far as the public is concerned, the Victorians in the 1850s. Queen Victoria herself was turned on by it at the 1851 exhibition. It’s been with us ever since and it comes and goes, it can be difficult to bring it to life and make it work, and sometimes people lose patience with it. Time and time again though, people come back to it because it is the most realistic form of photography that you could possibly imagine and it’s given birth to virtual reality, which is becoming a craze now, and, of course, to all the 3D movies. But 3D has been with us pretty much since Charles Wheatstone in the 1840s discovered this principle. The principle is that you have two eyes for a reason. You have two eyes because they’re a few inches apart and they give us two slightly different views of the universe simultaneously. What your brain does is combine those two slightly different images and give you a three- dimensional picture of the universe in your head. Stereoscopic photography reproduces that effect, instead of a flat picture you’re getting a 3D solid picture of your subject. It’s magic, it really is. For those of us who discover it when we’re young, it never leaves us as a passion. What appeals to you about it? It’s magic. You’re presented with two flat pictures which may or not be very interesting or evocative, you put them in your stereoscopic viewer, you look through these lenses and you’re in a different universe. It feels as though you could walk in and touch the objects, talk to the people in the picture. In the case of the Victorian views that I’m so fond of, you’re looking at real people in Victorian times and you can look them in the eyes. You really feel like you’re there, it’s much more intensely real than any other kind of photography. When did you first discover the form? It used to be a lot of fun at breakfast time when you’d get all these toys in your cereal packet. There’d be model planes, cars, and cowboys and Indians, but Weetabix gave you a stereo card in every packet; you could send away three packet tops and they’d send you a viewer. You put these pairs of views in the viewer and suddenly the magic happens, there was this 3D space. The first thing I ever saw were some animals photographed in colour 3D and I was absolutely captivated. I very quickly figured out how it was done, so I got my little Woolworths camera and started taking pairs of pictures, moving the camera to the side between exposures. I made my own stereo pictures at the age of about ten Instead of a flat picture you’re getting a 3D solid picture of your subject. It’s magic, it really is

and I’ve never looked back since. I still have those pictures. I took pictures of my parents and my bike, and of me, too. Unlike other forms, it seems to be a very personal experience? It’s a one-to-one thing. It harks back to people sitting around their fires in Victorian times and sharing stereo cards. It’s interesting that the smartphone has really brought us back to that experience, the smartphone is a very personal, one-to-one thing. It’s absolutely perfectly suited to the medium of 3D. What’s your most prized stereo image? I have a picture of Princess Vicky, who was Queen Victoria’s daughter, on the occasion of her marriage to a German Duke. It’s a stereoscopic Daguerreotype, hand-coloured, and it’s unique, it’s the only one of its kind. Although these things can be copied, there would only be one plate in the camera at that time. It survived in the German family she married into. She became the mother of Kaiser Bill, who declared war on us – the war that became the First World War. The stereo is absolutely beautiful, it looks as fresh as the day it was made, you can look into her eyes. How do readers learn more? We have a website, londonstereo.com. There’s a wide variety of stuff on there; from historical and how to do it yourself, to where do you find the kit and all sorts of modern day things, and we keep it fairly up to date. I’ve become the London Stereoscopic Company, I’ll never make any money out of it but that’s not the reason I’m doing it. I do it because I want to share this experience with the 21st century. What gear do you need to get started? You can take stereo pictures with any kind of smartphone. I would recommend that you download an app, my favourite is called 3D Camera and it helps you to do sequential stereos. This is nothing new, basically what you do is take one picture with your weight on your left foot then transfer your weight to your right foot and that gives you your two pictures which are the stereo pair. The app enables you to put the pictures together side by side, then you can view them by putting the smartphone with my smartphone adapter and instantly you can see the view in 3D. I’ve designed an adapter for my OWL stereoscopic viewer. Once you’ve got this adapter in your OWL you just put your smartphone on the back, it attaches and then you can view all of these virtual reality movies in 3D the way that they were intended. It’s an immersive experience. Everyone who sees it just becomes entranced. Are you interested in the history of stereo photography or creating new stereo images? Both. I’mcreating at a furious rate at themoment, I absolutely love it. Together with my co-author, French photo historian Denis Pellerin, I’ve published three books on stereo and they’re all historical. One’s on the Diableries , little French devils from the 1850s; one is A Village Lost and Found , the chronicle of a Victorian farming

village, which is incredibly rare. The other is The Poor Man’s Picture Gallery , comparing Victorian stereo photography with Victorian painters. I have another one coming out very soon on a phenomenon, Crinoline: Fashion’s Most Magnificent Disaster . Crinoline had its glory days from about 1850 to 1860 and that’s exactly the first glory days of the stereoscopic picture, so we have an amazing collection of stereoscopic pictures. That’s going to be out early next year. The next issue will be a book of Queen stereos and the way we are creating that book is to go back through history. I carried a stereo camera with me all through the glory days of Queen so I have lots of pictures of us in our hay day; Freddie on stage and off and all the private moments backstage. That’s going to be an amazing portrait of backstage Queen and it’ll be out hopefully about the end of next year. The one after that will be on the solar system, it’s called Rocks and it’ll be a chronicle of as many bodies in the solar system as we can muster. We’re creating those at the moment out of pictures which are issued by NASA, ISA and various other astrophotographers both amateur and professional. That’s going to be quite something and will be out early next year.

Biography

Years in the photo industry? 55 Current location

Music studio, Surrey Last picture taken

20 minutes ago. It was taken with a stereoscopic pinhole camera, which a friend of mine sent me from America, it’s fascinating. I’ve never had a stereoscopic pinhole camera before. When youwere younger, what did youwant to bewhen you grewup? Either an astronomer or a rock star, I was very lucky in managing to achieve both in some measure. I did want to be a surgeon at some point. Dogs or cats? Cats Toast or cereal? Both Email or phone call? Both

londonstereo.com

Victorian Gems

New to stereo photography or want to learn more about it? Victorian Gems (£95) is a real all-rounder for those with an interest in 3D photography. It’s a complete kit, coming with Brian May’s patented OWL high-quality stereo viewer and three sets of cards in boxes from the Scenes in Our Village , Diableries and The Poor Man’s Picture Gallery collections. It also includes a booklet with a history on stereo photography and a how-to so you can have a go yourself. You can purchase the OWL smartphone adapter along with Victorian Gems and any of the mentioned published books on the website, all new releases will also be announced and available for purchase there too.

Above Victorian Gems, from The London Stereoscopic Company, £95, available to buy from londonstereo.com.

Photography News Issue 27 absolutephoto.com

18 Camera Club of the Year IN ASSOCIATIONWITH

Round 2: Brr, it’s cold Closes: 11/01/2016

Camera Club of the Year 2015-16 We are looking for the most talented camera club in the country and there are wonderful prizes from Canon to be won in every round

How to enter

First, your club’s competition secretary (or whoever is going to enter each month) must sign up at absolutephoto.com . Next, click on Members’ Area in the menu bar, then choose Camera Club of the Year 2015-16 from the drop-down list. Simply register your camera club and follow the upload instructions.

It’s time to enter Round 2 of our Camera Club of the Year 2015-16 contest. Round 1 has now closed and you can check out the images from the winning club, Dorchester CC who qualify for the final, opposite. Round 2 closes 11 January. We’ve teamed upwithCanon and this year’s Camera Club of the Year promises to be bigger and better than ever, and it is easy to enter too. To start, every club must register on absolute.com. Once registered, go to the Member’s Area tab and

click on Competitions and then Camera Club of Year. Follow the instructions from there to upload images. Each month we’ll set a theme and we want to see five images from five different club members on that theme. Any club or group is eligible to enter so long as there are at least five members. Online groups, internal company clubs and those clubs not affiliated to the PAGB can enter. After the closing date, the images will be judged by the experts at

Photography News and the top- scoring club from that month will qualify for the grand final and win a Canon PIXMA PRO-100S A3+ printer worth £499.99. Once a club has qualified for the grand final they needn’t enter again – they can if they want but they will not be eligible for themonthly prize. Clubs can enter the competition at any point, even at the fifth and final round. After the five monthly rounds, we’ll have five grand finalists and

these clubs will each be asked to submit a selection of pictures. It is from these images that the overall winning club will be decided. The themes for the final judging will be made known to the finalists at the same time so there will be no advantage for the early qualifiers. The overall winners will earn the accolade of the Photography News Camera Club of the Year 2015-16 and win a Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1000, a professional 12-ink A2 inkjet printer worth £1199.99.

Canon EOS 5DS R

The Camera Club of the Year wins… … a Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1000. This brand-new professional quality A2 printer is worth £1199.99. It uses a 12-colour Lucia PRO inkset that includes four blacks for excellent monochrome output. On appropriate media, Lucia PRO inks have impressive lightfast qualities. … an exclusive day with renowned professional landscape and travel photographer David Noton, enjoying a workshop and an illustrated talk.

The Canon EOS 5DS and 5DS R are game- changing DSLRs offering the highest

megapixel count currently available in full- frame. But, as both cameras look identical and have virtually identical specifications, perhaps what is less appreciated is the actual difference between the two models – apart from price. The EOS 5DS R costs £200 more than the 5DS.

Both cameras capture amazing-quality files capable of big enlargement, but if you want ultimate image quality with brilliantly resolved, tiny details, the EOS 5DS R is the camera to buy. Both cameras have the Canon CMOS 50.6-megapixel sensor but the R has a low-pass cancellation filter. Having an optical low-pass filter (OLPF) affects the sensor quality, so the EOS 5DS R has a filter that cancels the OLPF’s effect to give the best quality so the finest detail is faithfully recorded. Used with lenses recommended by Canon (see Canon’s website) coupled with sound camera technique, the EOS 5DS R will appeal to landscape, nature and portrait photographers where detail rendition really counts.

Overall winner prize: CANON imagePROGRAF PRO-1000

Specs

Overall winner prize: DAVID NOTON exclusive day

Street price

Metering system 150k pixel RGB+IR sensor. Evaluative, partial, centre-weight and spot Exposuremodes PASM ISO range 100-6400, with expansion to ISO 50 and 12,800 Shutter range 30secs to 1/8000sec, B

Continuous

shooting Up to 5fps Monitor 3.2in LCD, Clear View II TFT, 1040k dots Dimensions (wxhxd) 152x116.4x76.4mm Weight 845g body only

£3199

Resolution 50.6 megapixels Sensor

24x36mm CMOS with Dual DIGIC processor Autofocus system TTL-CT SIR with dedicated CMOS sensor. 61-point AF system that works down to -2EV

Monthlywinners

The five monthly winners each get a Canon PIXMA PRO-100S worth £499.99. This is a professional quality A3+ printer, featuring an eight colour inkset with excellent lightfast qualities.

Its built-in Wi-Fi capabilities means wireless connection is possible so prints can be made from tablets and phones as well as the computer. canon.co.uk

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