Digital Photo - March 2016

8/20/2019 Digital Photo - March 2016

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INSPIRING TECHNIQUES FOR STUNNING IMAGES!

Create elegant abstractsMake photo art in minutes!

Get long exposure skiesAchieve dreamy sunsets in Photoshop

Shoot striking close-upsFreezemoments the eye can’t see

Pep up portraits in LightroomEnhance mood with the power of RAW!

M A R C H 2 0 1 6

I S S U E 2 0 4

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Think inthreesPresentpicsin a newway with 30 exclusiveriptych templates

Learnoff-cameraflashGet betterlightingthe easyway

CAPTUREAMAZINGMAGES AT HOME

Simple props. Smart camera skills

MASTERCURVES IN

PHOTOSHOPTake expert control

of contrast & colourEnhance your landscapeswith glorious night skies

ISSUE 204 MARCH2016 £4.99

Improve every shot you take

PROJECTSTIPS & IDEAS

TO DO NOW!

47


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WELCOME F R OM THE

EDITOR

DIGITAL PHOTO3

ONOURCOVER

A

This month’s cover image wascapturedbyDaniel Greenwoodusing a

Canon EOS 6D. He merged his shot of Fraser Valley in British Columbia

with an image he’d taken of the Milky Way. Find out how you can do this

on p32, and see more of Daniel’s work at500px com danielgreenwood

JOINUSON

FACEBOOK!www.facebook.com/digitalphotouk

GIFT

WO£44 ETAMANFROTTOPIXIEVO Whenyousubscribe to the K’s best mag –see p20

lthough photography is often

seen as anoutdoor pastime,you

wouldn’t believe the funyou can

have inthe warm anddry!

There’s a huge raft ofcreative shots you

can take aroundthe house,andthis

issue serves up a great selection oftips

andtechniques that’llkeep you fuelled

no matter what the weather’s doing.

From dramaticclose-ups andcolourful

abstracts to light-paintedflorals and

dreamlike self-portraits,there’s a

wonderfulmixofabsorbingnew

projects that everyone can do.

M any ofthese shots were captured

usinga table-top tripod,andto help you

joininthe fun,we’re throw ingone in

with this month’s fantasticsubscription

deal.Turn to pfor the lowdow n,anda

M anfrotto PixiEvo w illbe yours when

you signup for a year’s supply ofthe

UK’s most creative mag!

W hen you’ve hadyour fillofthe great

indoors,make gooduse ofthe cold,

crisp conditions ofthe longwinter

nights this month as it’s the perfect

time to shoot the night sky.You’llsee

the specialcamera setup you needfor

this onp,andyou’llalso discover

the how you can merge your star-filled

skies with landscapes to create aw e-

inspiringimages.

Enjoy tacklingthe

projects,andI’llsee

you next month...

JonAdams,Editor

[email protected]

ways to get betterpho tos this m onth3

C r e a t iv e sh oot i n g id e a st o b o o s t y o u r s k il ls

See how to get colourful portraits with a twirling

brolly and a slow shutter speed on p48.

In s p ir i n g P h o t o s h o ppro jects for b etter p ics

Think in threes present themed shots together

using our free triptych templates on p64.

Re view s you can trusto n th e l ate s t g e a r

Change the light reaching your camera’s sensor

with a variable ND. We test three filters on p105.

Improve every shot you take

2

3

1

FREETRIPTYCHS ON THE CD


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T H E

G R E A T

I N D O O R

S

4DIGITAL PHOTO

22T h e g r e a t in d o o r sSixfantastic projects you can shoot at home that’ll

sharpen your skills, expand your creativity and reward

you with stunning pics! What’s not to like?

3 2S o m e t h in g f o r th e w e e k e n d !Combine your shooting and Photoshop skills to create

amazing night landscapes with star-filled skies.

40 G e t m o r e f r o m fla s hAll you need to know to fire your flashgun off camera

for improved lighting in your shots.

46B u c k e t li s t lo c a t i o n sDiscover one of the UK’s bestspotstotake stunning

shots, with a visit to AshnessBridgein the Lake District.

48S h o o t i t n o w !Capture a striking, colour-rich portrait using a longer

shutter speed and a twirling brolly as a prop.

50 O u t o f t h e o r d i n a r yTake on the challenge of turning a kitchen utensil into

a creative image. Our experts share their approach...

8P l a n e t p h o toFuelyourpassionwithour galleryof pics and

storiesfromtheworld’s bestphotographers.

16It w o r k s fo r m e !Readersshare theimagesthey’ve created

afterbeing inspiredbyDig italP hoto projects.

20 S u b s cr i b e to d a y !Takeadvantageofthisfabulousofferandgeta ManfrottoPIXI Evotripodthrownin

whenyou signupfor a year’s supply ofthe

UK’stop photo magazine!

54W h y th is s h o t w o r k sExpertinsighton the composition, shooting

skillsandingenuity usedtocreatea stunning,

colour-packed portrait.

56T h e b i g in t e r v i e w :T o m A n d e r s o nThe globetrotting co-founder of Myspace

shares his passion for photography, and

reveals how it determines where he travels.

In sp ir in g Id e a s C a m e r a T e ch n i u e s

54

50

22

46

56

C O N T E N T S

Create stunningimages at homewith five ea sy-to-shoot projects!

86Y o u r p i ct u r e sConstructive critique of readers’ images from our

expert duo, with tips and suggestions for making

them even better.

92P h o t o an s w e r sExpert advice on using the Levels command,

cleaning up battery chemicals in a flash,

repairing dented hotshoes, checking forsharpness while you shoot, and much more!

99N e x t m o n t hA sneak peek at what’s coming up in the next

great issue of Britain’s favourite photo mag. NEW


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6 4 F r e e tr ip tych te m p la te sHow to add yourimages to the 30exclusive

designs on the CD to create superb,three-in-

a-row presentations.

6 8 C re ate a lo ng e xp o su relo o k fo r yo u r la nd sca p esCreatestreakingcloudsina staticsceneto

create a longexposureeffect in Photoshop.

2 Photosho p asterclassDiscover theadvantages of usingtheCurves

command andtakeprecise controlof

contrastandcolourin yourimages.

6 M a k e a p ho to jo in e rUse our exclusive templates to create a

striking,Hockney-style photo joinereffect

from just a single picture.

8 A dd n ew sk ie sLiven upyourarchitectural shots byadding

newskiesandan extrapointofinterestusingLayers in PhotoshoporElements.

8 2 E n h a n ce p o r t r ait p ic sin L ig h tr oo mGive yourpeople pics a digital makeover

direct from RAWfilesusingthecontrols

in Lightroom.

13 0 1 m in ute P ho to sh opDarkenskies andwarm colourstoget

glorious sunsets–itonlytakes a minute

1 0 2 G e ar n ew sOurroundupofallthe latestphoto newsand

announcements from thedigitalworld.

10 5 Va ria b le N D fi lte r sWant to force a longerexposuretime inconditions that

are too bright?Three sub-£90NeutralDensityfilters

withdial-in darkness levelsgo upagainst each other

in our grouptest.Wefind out which is the best.

11 2 S o n y R X 1 0 0 M k IVThe latest prestige compact fromSonyoffers

a 1in sensor,a RAWcapturemodeanda full

suite ofcreative controls.Weassess its

performance and value.

11 6 G ad g e ts& g i z m o sManfrotto’s Street backpack

the EzyboxSpeed-lite 2

softboxand Gitzo’s new

Series 0Traveller tripod go

under Digital Photo scrutiny

Photoshop S illsGear Focus

68 82

86

116

64

DIGITAL PHOTO 5

1

ON YOUR

REECD

30 TRIPTYCHTEMPLATES

10

VIDEOLESSONSONTHECD

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8DIGITAL PHOTO

Yo ur fresh fi x o f inspiratio n fro mthe w o r ld’s best pho to gr aphe rs

PLANET

PHOTO

T H E B I G P I C T U R E

A s e a o f star sLow-light landscapes can be brought to life

by includingthe stars in the skies above.

This was exactly the case for S c o t t M c C o o k

when he was tryingto bringa fresh angle

to a coastal landscape shoot.“Iset out with this vision to

create a unique settingin one of Western Australia’s mostbeautiful coastal areas –WyadupRocks,”he explains.

With dark skies at this location,the Milky Way can be

captured in its true glory,but to include the glow of the

night sky in the rock pool foreground,Scott had to shoot

multiple images at various exposures before blendingthe

frames together in Photoshop.“The image took hours to

fine-tune,but the result is somewhere that exists not only

on this planet but also partly in my mind.For me,that’s

what photography is all about.”

W h a t w a s u s e d

C a m e r a Nikon D810 14-24mm lens

E x p o s u r e s Various So f t w a r e Photoshop

Visit 500px.com/scottmccook

GETTHISSHOTY o u c a n d i s co v e r a simple

technique to shoot and

add star-filled skies to any

landscape on page 32 but

to get the best Milky Way

images you need dark skies.

In the UKthere’s lots of light

pollution but the darkest

area is in Northumberland –

visitnorthu berlan d co

S

O T T M

C

O O

K


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B y m e r g i n g m u l ti p lefi l e s i n P h o t o s h o p ,

S c o t t c o u l d i n c lu d e ad r a m a t i c s t a r r y s k y

i n h i s l a n d s c a p e .

D I G IT A L P H O T O 9


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A short telephotofocal length of70mm helpedSeksan make themost of thisstunning scene.

10 D IG IT A L P H O T O

PLANET P H O T O

C R E A T I V E W I L D L I F E

A family portrait to rememberC a p t u r i n g a w il d

anim al in i ts na t ive

env i ronm ent is sure ly

the purest form of

nature ph otography an d i t’s a pass ion

Seksan Srikasemsuntorn h o l d s d e e p

in his hear t . Th e pro shooter l ives

in T ha ilan d,a co un try blessed with

visual wo nd er,bu t the re’s one an im al

Seksa n loves lin ing u p w i th h is lens

m ost of all. “Th is ima ge wa s taken at

t h e e le p h a n t c a m p s i n K a n c h a n a b u r i .

Th e e lephant is our nat ional anim al

and a sym bol of Th a i land .”D ur ing

on e sh oot,Sek san w as g ifted w ith

t h is o n c e - i n - a - life ti m e m o m e n t a s

a m o t h e r a n d c a l f p l a ye d u n d e r a

bea utiful sky. “Th is wa s m ore than

a cute sn aps ho t –you cou ld see the

love that existed in their relationsh ip.”

In Ph otosh op,Se ksan increas ed the

Saturat ion to boost the sunse t and

app lied a L evels Ad justm en t Laye r to

l ighten the e lephants ’ dark skin.

CameraN iko n D 750 & 70- 200 m m len s

Exposure 1/250se c @f/7.1,IS O 320

Software P h o t o s h o p Visit500px .com /kean gs9

GETTHIS SHOTWhen shooting wildlife,

you can ’ t a lways p re dict an

a n i m a l’s m o v e m e n t a n d

th is can m ake focus ing a

cha l le nge . B y switch ing to

cont inuou s focus A F-C o r A I

Se rvo ),the ca m er a w ill tra ck

t h e m o v e m e n t a n d i n c r e as e

your chance s o f a sharp re sult.


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Michael used anultra wide-angle

lens to capture thearchitectural beauty

of Milan’s Galleria.

D I G IT AL P H O T O 11

Tell us about your photography?

I w a s i n tr od u ce d to th e a r t a t t h e a g e

o f n i n e b y m y fa th e r , b u t n e ve r t ru ly

e m b r a ce d th e c am e r a u n til I to o k a

trip through Europe. Travelling opened

m y e ye s . W ith m y c am e r a

I fe lt lik e a little k id in a c a nd y s h o p ,

jus t wa nt ing to se e an d p ho tog ra p h

everything! I ’m self-taught.M y first

c a ta lo g u e fo ld e r in L i g ht ro o m is fr o m

2 00 9, w h e n I b e ca m e m o r e s e rio u s

a b o u t m y p h o to g r a ph y, a n d s in c e t he n

I’ve tr a ve lle d a n d s h o t a g r e at d e a l.

What was the biggest challenge with

capturingthis image?

T h e p h o to w a s t a ke n d u r in g a vis it t o

in Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Em anuele

I I, o n e o f t h e w o r ld ’s o ld e s t s h o p p in g

m a ll s. T h e m a in c h alle n g e w a s

fi n d in g th e r ig h t a n g le to e n s u re

perfect symm etry.

Howdidyou enhancetheimage in

post-processing?

A s I u s ed th e w id e st fo ca l le n g th o f m y

1 0 - 18 m m le n s , s o m e le n s c o rr e ctio n

in L i gh tr o o m w a s n e c es s ar y. E v e n

th o u gh I h a d ta ke n th e tim e to lin e u p

the scene,som e additionalrotat ion

w a s n e e d e d to g e t a ll th e lin e s

absolutely perfect. Other tweaks

in c lu d e d a d d in g s o m e C l ar ity a n d

V ib r an ce to th e im a g e . I p re fe r to a d d

m y v ig n e ttin g m a n u a lly, s o u s e d t he

R a d ia l F i lte r to d a rk en th e e d g es o f

the frame a lit tle.

Camera S o ny N E X 6 & 1 0- 18 m m le n s

Exposure 3 .2 s ec s @ f/ 8, I S O 1 0 0

SoftwareLightroom Visit 500px.com /miwifoto

Austrian-based photographer and traveller Michael Wiejowska s h a re s th e s to r y o f o n e o f h i s fa vo u r ite im a g e s ...

I felt lik e a k id in a candy shop andI wanted to photog raph everything !

STORYBEHINDTHESHOT

GET THIS SHOTLiningupa perfectlysymm etrical com position canprove to be a little tricky whe nyou’re s uinting through asm all viewfind er. To m ake lifesim pler, activate Live View soyou get a bigger view of thescene. Turn on grid overlays,which will m ake balancing theelemen ts in the fram e easier.

M I C H A E L W I E J O W S K A


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M I C H A

L T O M C

Z A K

C R E A T I V E P O R T R A I T S

H ig h on colourWith safety barriers

aplenty, live events can

prove restrictive for

photographers. Polish

photographer M i ch a l T om cz a k found

a novel way around these challenges

when shooting a ‘Colour Explosion’

festival in his home town of Kutno.

Ditching the DSLR for a drone, Michal

was able to hover over the stampeding

feet of the powder covered revellers

and capture an aerial view of the

chaos. “I was controlling the drone

over the mass of colour and, all of a

sudden, one girl looked up. I knew that

would really make the shot,”explains

Michal. Because his DJI Phantom 3

drone shoots RAWimages, Michal

was able to make the most of

the colours in the scene after

importing the file into Lightroom.

Along with a Saturation boost, the

White Balance was corrected and

the Sharpness increased.

C am e ra DJI Phantom 3

Ex pos ur e 1/320sec @f/5.6, ISO 400 Software

Lightroom Visit www.filmynieba.pl

GETTHIS SHOTA e ria l im a g e s aren’t always

dependent on drones. If you

are photographing an event,

try finding a high vantage

point like a footbridge where

you can carefully hold the

camera over the edge for

a similar image. A flip-out

screen will help you compose

from awkward angles.

12 DIGITAL PHOTO

PLANET PHOTO

D r o n e s h e l p g i vep h o t o g r a p h e r s au n iq u e h ig h - a n g lev i e w o f a s u b j e c t .


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14 D IG IT A L P H O T O

From a graphic illustration toreality, Fernando’s fantasyportrait is a work of art.

Placing his model on a plainbackground made cutouts easier.

Animal handlerslook after thefurry talent.

Heavy eyeliner helped giveSnow White a makeover.

PLANET P H O T O

As fairytales go ,

S n o w W h i te i s

p e r h a p s t h e p u r e s t ,

but than ks to

the cre ative vision of B razilian

p h o t o g r a p h e r Fernando Filho,

t h e s to r y to o k o n a d a r k t w i s t. Th e

id e a c a m e a b o u t w h e n h e w a s

invited to br ing an illustration of a

r a th e r d o w n - o n - h e r - lu c k S n o w

Wh ite to l i fe w i th a real photo

vers ion of the a r twork.

“After I saw the illus tration by

Re na n P orto,I sho t the s treet

s c e n e s a n d t h e n c a p tu r e d t h e

por t ra i t e lem ents in the stud io ast h is w o u l d g iv e m e m o r e c o n t ro l

ove r lighting ,”say s Fe rn an do . T he

bigges t challenge wa s find ing

a location that matched the

illustration and also replicating

the perspect ive of Sno w W hite in

the fra m e. T his w as a p roject w ith

high-product ion values. Fernando

brough t in a p rofess ional m ake-

up ar tist to give his su bject tha t

distressed look,and he even

u s e d e x p e r t a n i m a l h a n d l e r s

to enable the m odel to interact

w i th t h e m o u s e . To m e r g e a l lthe e leme nts,Fern ando wor ked

with a p rofess ional re toucher

ca lled M ilton M en ezes ,w h o

painstaking ly cut o ut the stud io-

base d im age s and re sized them

in P h o t o s h o p t o m a t c h t h e

perspe ct ive of the st reet scenes.

W hat was used

CameraCa non E OS 5D M kI I &

24-105m m le n s Exposure Var ious

Software P h o t o s h o p

Visit ww w.fern and ofilhofoto.com

B E H I N D T H E S C E N E S

Snow Whiteturns dark

F E R

N

A N

D

O F

I L H

O

GETTHIS SHShooting im ag e s in a

o ffe r s m o r e co n tr ol o v

l ight ing be cause you ’ r

n o t a t th e m e r c y o f t im

o r w ea th er. A g oo d s tu

su b stitu te is to sh o o t a

a w h ite w all in you r h o

P la in b a ckg ro un ds m a

a ny cu to uts m u ch e as

to ach ie ve dur ing the

editing process.


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D I G IT AL P H O T O 1 5

F e r n a n d o u s e d w h i t e c a r d t ob o u n c e l i g h t o n t o h i s m o d e l .

S h o o t i n g t h e s t r e e t s c e n e r e u i r e da n u l t r a - lo w c a m e r a a n g l e .

T h e o r i g i n a l a r t w o r kt h a t i n s p i r e dF e r n a n d o ’ s p r o j e c t.

I L L U

S T R

A T I O N

R

E N

A N

P O

R T O


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16 DIGITAL PHOTO

IT WORKS

FOR ME!Show u s what you’ve bee n d oing withD ig ital Photo’s creative techniq ues & wing reat Lexar priz es! Sen d your best shotsto us at dpim ag es bauerm edia.co.uk

From Black pool, Lan cashireTell us about your image T h is im a g e ha dbe e n lurk ing o n m y hard drive s ince I

s ho t it las t A ug us t wit h m y Nik o n D 7 000

and 11-16m m le ns . When I saw the ‘Ge t s tylis e d HD R s

with Photom atix’ in the January 2016 issue, along with

the free Photom atix Essentials plug in, I started to m ess

around with this picture and a few others. They were all

shots of the old jetty which now stands separated from

St Anne’s pier, and were tak en on the sam e day.

I’d shot in RAW, so was able to create three different

exposures of the scene in Cam era Raw before saving

each as a JPE G. After loading the Photom atix plug in

into m y Elem ents 11 software, I opened the three new

versions of m y orig inal RAW fi le into Photom atix and

fo llo wed t he ste ps in t he m a g az ine to ram p up t he

dynam ic rang e in t he sce ne.

From C o b h am , S u rre yTell us about your imageU s in g m y s on as a m o de l,

a nd m y N i k o n D 8 10 a nd

105m m le ns , I s ho t m y o wn ve rsio n o f the

‘Create an infi nite tunnel p ortrait’ in the

January 2016 issue of the m ag az ine.

With m y orig inal pic open in Photoshop

CS 6, I duplicated it and used Free

T ra n sfo rm to s h rin k th e im a g e o n th e n e w

L ayer until it sat within the lim its of the

iP a d sc re en in th e fi r st im a g e . I th e n m a d e

a Selection aroun d the screen a rea of the

iPad with the Q uick Selection tool, and

m as k e d it o ut by adding a Laye r Mas k .

I went on to duplicate and resiz e the

ne w Laye r twice m o re , wit h the im a g e s

b e co m in g s m a lle r e a ch tim e , b e fo re

placing the m within t he s m alle r iP ad

screens to com plete the effect.

I k eep a daily photo journal and so I

always look for inspiring ideas to try out in

the pag es of Digital hoto. Following the

step-by-step instructions in the m ag az ine,

the e dit ing proce ss fo r this im a g e to o k no

m o re than fi ve m inute s – it’s ide al as a

q uick , daily project.

St Anne’s jettyby Steve M clellan

InceptionbyN ick y Rochussen

Original pic

Nicky’s impressiveinfinite tunnelportrait was only afive-minute project


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O r i g i n a l p i c

“IWASTAKENABACKBYTHELEVEL

OFDETAILINTHEIMAGE I’MNOW

LOOKINGFORMORESUBJECTS”

S t e v e e x t r a c t e dh i d d e n d e t a i l f r o m h i s

sh ot o f an ol d jet tyu s i n g t h e P h o t o m a t ix

H D R s o ft w a r es u p p l i e d w i t h t h e

J a n u a r y i s s u e .

P ho to m atix auto m atically co m bine d m y e xpo s ure s ,and all that was left was to try out the preset HDR effects

to fi nd the bes t o ne fo r m y im a g e . With m y HD R e ffe ct

cho se n and bring ing o ut s o m uch hidde n de tail from

t he data in m y RA W fi le , I adde d s o m e s harpe ning and

contrast for a punchy result.

I was tak en aback by the level of detail in the im ag e and

I’m no w lo o k ing fo r m o re i nte re s ting s ubje cts , such as

Black pool Tower’s 158 m etres of iron and steel, or old boat

yards nearb y along the Fylde coast.


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F r o m Kirk by

in Ashfi eld,

N o t tin g h a m s hire

Tell us about youri m a g e I created this seasonal

im ag e with the help of the

‘Miniaturise a winter pic in a

snowg lobe’ video lesson in the

Janua ry 2016 edition o f Digital

Photo. Inside the supplied

s nowg lo be te m plate ,

I added an im a g e I’ d tak e n o f

the old m ark et cross in Bonsall,

Derbyshire with m y Canon EO S

1 10 0D a n d 18 -5 5m m le ns .

With m y picture pasted

into the tem plate, I applied

the Spheriz e fi lter to g ive

the appearance of the scene

bending around the g lobe. Ifi n is he d m y im a g e by a dd in g a

fl urry of snow from a separate

picture, m erg ing it in at 50

Opacity with the Screen

B le n din g M o d e .

S n o w y sce n eby Jean Waring

F r o m Tang erang , Indonesia

Tell us about your im age

Tak ing up the ‘M ak e art with

a wine g las s’ challe ng e from

the Novem ber 2015 issue, I created this

im ag e com posite that really is ‘out of the

ordinary’, and a bit of fun, too! I’ve been

passionate about photog raphy for eig ht

years so the idea of g etting creative shots

from everyday subjects is a refreshingsource of inspiration for m e.

I s h ot m y o rig in a l im a g e s o n a C a n o n

E O S 5D M k II, w ith a 16 -3 5m m le ns fo r

th e fro g a nd 1 00 m m m a cro fo r th e g la ss .

I have a studio at hom e, so I was able to

capture a clean, professional-look ing shot

o f the g las s us ing m y studio l ig hts and a

d a rk b a ck g ro u n d.

In editing , fi rstly I m ade a Selection

around the frog before copying and

p a stin g h im o n to th e win e g la ss im a g e in

Photoshop CS6. Luck ily the lig hting and

a ng le o f th e sh ots m a de co m b in in g th em abree z e . O nly sm all adj us tm e nts to t he s iz e

and p osition of the frog were needed to

place him realistically within the g lass.

D i s p l a c e dby Eduard Betz

O riginal pics

O riginal pic

J e a n ’ s u a i n t v i ll a g e sc e n e g e t sa w i n t r y t r e a t m e n t i n s i d e o u rs n o w g l o b e t e m p l a te .

A d d i n g a s u r r e a le l e m e n t t o a n e v e r y d a yo b j e c t h a s g iv e n E d u a r da s t r ik i n g c o m p o s i t e .


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PRIZESW O R T HU P T O

£132

From P o r tis h e a d S o m e r s e tTell us about your image H ere’sm y take o n the ‘B uilding a rt by the

br ick’ chal lenge from the Janua ry

2015issu e takin g a n o rdin ar y br ick a nd giving

i t a c r e a tiv e s p i n . I b o r r o w e d t h e b r i c k f ro m a

n e i g h b o u r a n d to o k t h e s h o t w i th m y P a n a s o n i c

Lu m ix G F6. For the m ouse I went to a local pet

s h o p a n d s h o t t h e im a g e t h e r e .

I b e g a n b y m a k i n g a fe a th e r e d S e l e c tio n a r o u n d

t h e m o u s e i n P h o t o s h o p t o r e m o v e i t f ro m i ts

clut tered backgroun d before copying and past ing

i t onto the br ick im age. I then use d the Free

Tran sform com m an d to res ize the m ou se to fit

into on e of the sm al l holes in the br ick. I added

a L a y e r M a s k a n d p a i n te d i n to i t w i th t h e B r u s h

tool to h ide the m ouse ’s back legs a nd feet . It

then looked as tho ugh i t nest led snug ly into the

br ick. Last ly I added a b lur red v ignette e ffect to

t h e e d g e s o f t h e im a g e . Th i s fr a m e d i t a n d h e l p e d

draw the view er’s attention squa rely into the brick

and i ts new inhab i tant .

From Warr ington C hesh i reTell us about your image W h e n I s a w t h e‘D isco ver th e F ilter G alle ry’ tec h n ique for

m aking a conden sat ion e ffect in the Augu st

2015issu e I wa n ted to re cre ate it. I h ave a d og –R ub y –an d a

window but not a p icture of the two together . I took sep arate

sh o ts w ith m y N iko n D 610 a n d 24-85m m len s b efo re cu ttin g

o u t R u b y f ro m h e r b a c k g r o u n d a n d a d d i n g h e r in t o th e w i n d o w

p i c tu r e . Th e n I h a d m y im a g e t o w o r k o n .

Fol lowing the steps in the m agazine I m ade a Se lect ion

a r o u n d t h e p a n e o f g la s s w i t h t h e P o l yg o n a l L a s s o t o o l a n d

created the con den sat ion e ffect by apply ing the D istor t G lass

opt ion in P hotosho p ’s F i lter G al lery . I b lur red the co nde nsat ion

effect us ing the G auss ian B lur filter an d then added a L ayer

M ask. Pa int ing into the M ask wi th the St ipp le Bru sh tool

I ‘wipe d aw ay’ areas of the co nd en sation e ffect aro un d R ub y’s

face for a rea listic finish .

My other homeby B rian E lliot

Doggy inthe windowb y B e r na rd B o o th

Original pics

Original pics

Bernard created his picfrom two separate imagesand then added thecondensation in Photoshop.

Brian combined twoelements for an ‘out ofthe ordinary’ result.


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22/132

DISCOVER THEWONDERS OF...

M A T T Y G R A H A M

B

A U E R

2 2 DIGITAL PHOTO

Whatever the weather’s doing, you can take

stunning, creative shots in the warm and dry.Here are sixgreat projects to get you underwayW O R D S & P I C S B Y T H E D I G I TA L P H O T O T E A M

M a k e a m e ssa e in yo ur m e al fo r atasty k itch e n - b a s e d still-lifeThis fun idea looks fantastic, can be set up in your kitchen and the only

cost involved is 50p for a tin of alphabet spaghetti! A little prep workis needed and this starts by emptying the spaghetti onto a plate. Sift

through with a fork to find the letters you need, before pouring the left-

over sauce onto a second plate. Arrange the letters into a message, and

place the plate on a textured background like a wooden chopping board

or a gnarly old table. Set up your camera and tripod so you can shoot

directly down on your subject. Switch the camera to Aperture priority

mode Av or A on the mode dial)and select a mid-range aperture of f/8

to get the sharpest results from the lens. Place a desk lamp low to one

side to accentuate the shapes and create highlights in the pasta, and use

Live View mode to assess the results before you shoot.

T H E

G R E A T

I N D O O

R S

P R O J E C T O N E


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TAKE

SELFIES WITH

A DIFFERENCEOVER THE PAGE


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To create a dreamyportrait with cottonwool clouds,just adda jar,some fairy lightsand an LED light.

24D I G IT A L P H O T O

MAKE A DREAMBECOME A REALIT

T H E

G R E A T

I N D O O

R S

Introduce som e m ag ic into a self-portrait with som eco m m o n h ou se ho ld ite m s an d a dash of im ag in atio nWORDS PICS BY ANDY HEATHE R

PR OJECT TWO


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T H E

G R E A T

I N D O O

R S


CREATE

CURLS OF COLOURG et absorbed in vibrant shapes byarrang ing pape r sheets into a still-lifeWORDS PICS BY JON ADAMS

PROJECT THREE


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SCULPTING PAPER

By usinga large aperturesettingand lightingwith

a torch,shapely abstracts

can be created from a fewsheets of paper. J O N

A D A M S / B A U E R


“ABSTRACTS GIVE YOUTHE FREEDOM TO THINK

ABOUT HOW LINES &COLOURS INTERACT”

Curl your paperGe t three or four she ets of A4 colouredpaper from your local art shop or

stationers, and arrange them so you haveabout an inch of overlap between eachsheet. Hold them all together just below thefirst overlap, and then pu sh the other endstogether so all the she ets are lined u p onone side. Now fold the flush end round to

m eet the overlapping ends, taking care no tto make any creases, and clam p them alltogether with a clothes peg. This will give youan elegant set of curves.

Focus in Live ViewAccura te focus ing is vital, so switchto Manu al Focus, then turn on your

L ive View mo de. Zoom in on the screen tom agnify the imag e and use the D- Pad to getthe edge of the paper large in the display.Turn the focusing ring to get the im age shar pright on the edge . Attach a rem ote release,or se t the S elf-tim er to 2secs . This will avoidyou nudging the cam era and causing anyblur from camera shake when you press theshutter. Take your first shot and check theresults on screen.

Compose your shotU se Blu-Tack to fix the peg to anothersheet of paper an d place your subject

on a wo rktop. With your cam era on a tripod,focus on the edge of the paper an d frame uploosely on the curls. Once you’ve done this,you can reposition the base shee t ratherthan the camera to get the best angle andcom position. Sw itch to Ape rture p riority

m ode A or Av) and dial in the lowest f/num ber available. This will be f/3.5 to 5.6 ona kit zoom . Set the ISO to 100 or its lowestvalue) to get the be st im age q uality.

Adjust your lightingNow you’re set up, try lighting thepaper from different angles using a

torch, or the light from a sm artphone. Ho wyou direct the light at your p aper will m akea hug e difference to the end result, and byusing a torch , you can control the effectq uickly and eas ily. Light from above, behindand from the side to see the d ifferent effectsthat occur on your p aper curls. Shoot thevarious options as you go, and you’ll havea great set of im ages to choose from whenyou open them on your com puter.

Make a colourful abstract from sheets of paperAbstract im age s aren’t about sho wing off the rea lity of a subject – instead they’re about creatinga satisfying arrangem ent of colours, shapes and tones. Th is takes som e ge tting used to if yourphotograph y is usu ally m ore literal, but it gives you trem endo us freedom to think sim ply aboutthe way lines an d colours interact, how you can com pose shots to reflect this, and h ow you canuse sharp and d efocused areas in harm ony.

1

3 4

2


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J O N A

D A

M S / B A U E R


SHOOTASTRIKING LOSE-UP

w o rk to p . U s e a d a rk b a ck gr ou n d w e c h os e as h in y b l ue b a g to r efl e c t th e s p ar k s) a n d p la ceyo u r h a n d o n th e ta b le , h o l d in g a l ig h te r. F r a m eu p a n d s w itc h to M a n u a l F o c u s – t his w ill p r ev en tthe AF from hu nting. Set your m inim um focus

and m ove your hand until the lighter’s sharp .

G e t th e sh o t!W ith yo u r fr e e h a n d , p r e s s th e s h u tte rbutton or use a rem ote release, as above)

and q uickly spark the lighter while the cam erais rattling off its shots. O nce you’ve sh ot a fewbursts, check your pics on s creen to see if you’vecaptured the m om ent. De lete the ones thathaven ’t wor ked. It’ll take a few goe s, but keep

shooting and you’ll soon get a grea t result.

a n d a n a p e r tu r e v alu e o f f /3 .5 . S e t yo u r IS Oto 1 60 0 to m a k e th e s e ns o r m o r e s e ns itive tolig h t. It’s n o w tim e to g e t y o u r c am e r a to s h o o ta s e q u e n ce o f s h o ts a s q u ic kly a s p o ss ib le , s oset your fastest bur st mo de. Th is will usually be

between 3 and 5fps, depen ding on m odel.

H o w t o ca p t u r e th e m o m e nt a lig h te r ig n ite sThis fun project req uires a fast shutter speed, a q uick fram e rate and a high ISO setting. It’s easier to shoo t a friend’s hand as theydo the striking, but it’s also poss ible to op erate the lighter with one ha nd w hile firing the ca m era w ith the othe r.

Spark up a great shot bycapturing a moment thathappens too quicklyfor the eye to see W O R D S & P I C S B Y J O N A D A M S

T H

G R A T

IN D O O R S

P R O J E C T F O U R


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GET ARTY WITH GLASSES

A small apertureand a desklampwere used to makeeye-catching art

from four simplewine glasses.

DIGITAL PHOTO 29

APTUREAN

UNEXPE TED ANGLEU se clever lig hting and carefulcom position to create astartling still- life that’ll turnsim ple g lasses into fi ne art

W O R D S & P IC S B Y A N D Y H E A T H E R

A r r a n g e t h e g la s s e sLineup a set ofidentical wineglasses ona

reflective surfacelike a glass table, andusea

straightedgeto arrangethemprecisely. Behind thetable

you’llneeda brightly-

colouredwall fora

backdrop.Placea

desklamp on thefloor

out ofshot, and tiltitupso itlightsthewall

directly behind the

glasses.Attachyour

camera toa tripod,

levelwith theglasses,

and carefully adjust

thepositionso each

glassis framed inside

theone infront.

D ia l in th e ca m e r a s e tt in g sUseAperture prioritymode AorAvon themode

dial), anddialin a smallaperture of f/20tokeep all

theglassessharplyfocused. Notmuch lightisgettingthroughthattiny

aperture,so your

camera willselecta

slowshutterspeed.

Witha tripodthough,

thatwon’tbe a

problem. Switchto

Manual Focus and

focusonthesecond

glass.Setyour

Self-timer to 2secs

toprevent camera

shake, thenpressthe

shutter toget theshot.

1

2

A N D Y H E A T H E R

B A U E R

P R O J E C T F I V E


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SHOOT

FUNKYFLORALS

T H E

G R E A T

I N D O O R

S

P R O J E C T S I X

30 D I G I T A L P H O T O

U se a tablet’s screen a nd a longshutter spe ed to create am azing,han d-crafted b ackgrounds inyour still-life scenesW O R D S & P IC S B Y M A T T Y G R A H A M

“BYUSINGATABLETASALIGHTSOURCE YOUCANCREATEABSTRACTBACKGROUNDSUNLIKEANYOTHER”


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CREATE BEAUTIFUL BACKGROUNDS


Add a second light

for the flowersSw itch off the l ights,then press the

s h u tte r to s ta r t t h e S e lf- tim e r. W h e n th e

e x p o s u r e s ta r t s ,m o v e t h e t a b le t a r o u n d in

th e b a c kg r o u n d to c r ea te th e c o lo u r a b s tr a c t

pattern. Your flowe rs wi l ln eed to be l it too,so

use a second l ight source a torch or even the

LE D on a phon e)to pa int som e l ight over the

pe tals. Fo r b etter con trol,you m ight find it’s

eas ier to use one l ight source at a t im e rather

than both tog ether. Review the im age an d,if

ne cessa ry,extend the sh utter spe ed to give

enou gh t ime for your pa int ing e ffects .

EXPERT TIPTry alternativebackgroundsTh ere are s ix screens to try in our d own load,

but there ’s no l im it to the patterns you can

sho ot or c reate. Fro m flags to t-shirts,

an ything colour ful will wo rk,an d the m ore

you m ove the tablet,the blurr ier it w ill be!

Get a stract ackgrounds in an instant

With textured petals,str ik ing colours a nd m any var ie t ies to p ick from al l year round in your

local su pe rm ar ket,flow er s m ake gre at su bjec ts. Bu t find ing a s uitab le bac kgro un d isn’t alw ays

so e asy,es pe cially if you’re a fter a b es po ke,cre ative finish . The so lution is to u se tec hn olog y!

B y m oving a tab let’s sc reen beh ind the sub ject an d u sing a torch to l ight the flow ers,you can

cre ate a n a bstr act,flow ing b ack gro un d. It’s gre at fun to d o,an d eve ry sh ot w ill be d iffere nt!

3

tool in P hotoshop ,or you can use the cam era

in the tab let to take a p icture o f anything

colour ful aro un d the ho use . A ltern atively,if

you r tab let’s onlin e,go to www photoanswers

co uk /dpdownloads and tap theTablet Screens

option. Once your colour ful p ic is d isp layed,

lock the screen i f your tab let has the

facility,so th e pictu re w on ’t disa pp ea r if you

accidentally tap i t dur ing the expos ure .

exposure to g ive you en ough t im e to pa int in

the coloured backgrou nd u s ing the tab let .

To do this,place the ca m era o n a tr ipod an d

sw itch to S hu tter p riority m ode S or Tv). Dial

in a starting expo sure of 8secs a nd a n ISO

valuer of 100. You ’ll nee d to s ho ot in a dar k

roo m ,bu t w hile th e ligh ts a re still on,focu s

on the su bject an d the n sw itch to M anu al

Focu s M F). Now set the Sel f-time r m ode.

M

A T T Y

G R

A H

A M

/ B

A U

E R

6 FREE ACKGROUNDSTODOWNLOAD

ANDTRY


32/132

32 D I G IT A L P H O T O

C reate stunning starlit scene s witha clever blend of cam era sk illsand Photoshop techniq uesWORDS PICS BY JON ADAMS

SOMETHINGF ORTH E WEEKEND

CAPTURE

THE SKYAT NIGHT

dding some drama in the heavens is a sure fire way to

improve any landscape and architectural image, and if

you always carry a camera, you’ll never miss out on

the opportunity to shoot your own stock of inspiring

star scapes. Capturing great skies during daylight hours is

point and shoot easy, but the night sky presents much more

of a challenge. Looking up at the starfield on a clear night is

an awe inspiring sight, and next t ime you see it, take a

moment to capture its glory a picture incorporating a night

sky invokes that same sense of wonder in your viewer. Unlike

daytime skies though, night skies require a little more

camera knowledge, and a specific setup.

In this technique, we’ll show you how to capture a great

night sky, and how to process the picture to make it really

shine. This bit requires RAW conversion software you’ll find

Adobe Camera Raw built in to Photoshop and Elements, and

it involves nothing more than adjusting a few sliders.

With your night sky captured and enhanced, we’ll then

reveal a seamless way to blend it into other pictures. These

can be true night scenes you’ve recorded with a long

exposure, but with a few processing tricks, you can even use

pictures you’ve taken during the day. From start to finish, no

highly specialised kit is needed, so provided you have a DSLR

or CSC and a tripod, you’re all set to head into the dark and

capture the celestial wonder of the night.

A

DSLR or CSCAny came ra that can shootin Manual exposure m ode isper fect for this pro ject.

TripodA 30secs exposure is needed,so a sturdy tripod is essential to

keep your cam era still.

Required kit

J O N A

D A M S / B A U E R


33/132


TECHNIQUESTEP-BY-STEPGUIDE OVER

THE PAGE

Combine capture andPhotoshopskills tosuspend a dramatic,star-speckled skyover a scene.


34/132


F r a m e u p t h e n f o cu s w i th L i v e V ie wOnce you’ve found your dark location, set up your tripod and com pose

your shot. It’ll be hard see anything throug h the viewfi nder, so k eep

the cam era turned off to avoid g lare from the viewfi nder display. Fram e up

as best you can, lock off the tripod head, and switch to Manual Focus m ode.

N ow power up and switch on L ive View m ode. Zoom in on the screen, scroll

around to pick out a brig ht star, and tweak the focus ring until it’s sharp. You

can now turn off Live View, as your focus is set for the nig ht. Use a weak torch

so you can see your cam era setting s. A headtorch with a red LE D is ideal as

this won’t affect the nig ht vision your eyes are adapting to. If your cam era or

le ns has an im ag e stab ilise r (an IS , VR, OS , OIS or VC m od e ), m a k e sure it is

switched OF F, as it will cause blur when u sing a tripod.

D i a l in y o u r m a i n ca m e r a s e t tin g sSet your m ain m ode dial to M anual (M) and dial in a shutter speed of

30secs and an ISO of 1600. Now set the aperture value to the lowest

f/num ber. On a k it lens lik e an 18-55m m , this will be f/3.5, but if you have

a faster lens, use an aperture of f/2.8. Mak e sure the z oom is at its widest

setting , as this will allow the m axim um aperture to be used. The other

reason for us ing the widest focal leng th is it will show less of the earth’s

rotation over the 30secs exposure. Th is will k eep your stars as points of lig ht

rather than short streak s. Set your cam era to record in its RAW form at. This

is im portant as extra processing is always needed to m ak e nig ht sk ies look

g ood, and R AW g ives the essential fl exibility you ne ed over the exposure,

brig htness, contrast and colour.

1 2

SETUPANDSHOOTYOURNIGHTSKYPick a clear, cloud-free

nig ht, and ideally, fi nd a

spot away from cities and

street lig hts. Your g arden is

lik ely to have too m uch lig ht

pollution, so if possible, g et

out to a dark area free of any

m a n- m a de lig h tin g . L ay- bys

on country roads are often

g o o d, an d sh o otin g fro m

these m eans you won’t have

to g o far from the car to g e t

your shots.

In shooting a nig ht sk y,

the challeng es you’re tak ing

on are the very dim lig ht

le ve ls e m a n atin g fr om th e

stars, and the fact that the

earth is rotating at about

1000m p h! Tak e an e xp osure

long enoug h to record the

starlig ht, and the earth’s

rotation will turn your stars

into short streak s rather

than pinpoints of lig ht. To

avoid this, you’ll need to use

a hig h ISO setting . This will

m ak e you r cam era m ore

sensitive to lig ht, but will

also introduce som e Noise.

C a m e r a a n d le n sA n y c r ea t iv e c a m e r aw ith a R A W o p t io na n d M a n u a le x p o s u r e m o d e c a nb e u s e d . A D S L R o rc o m p a c t s y s te mc a m e r a i s i d e a l .I f y o u h a v e a f a s tlen s w ith a n f/2.8a p e r tu r e ,u s e th i s .

N i g h t v i s i o nh e a d t o r c hT o s e e y o u r c a m e r as e t t in g s i n t h e d a r k ,y o u ’ ll n e e d a t o r c h .A h e a d t o r c h i s b e s t

t o le a v e y o u r h a n d sf r e e ,a n d o n e w i t h ar e d ‘n i g h t v i s i o n ’ L E Do p t i o n i s i d e a l a s i tw o n ’t d a zzle yo u .

A d a r k , c le a r n i g h tI f i t ’s c lo ud y,yo u’r eo u t o f l u c k ,so w a i tf o r a c l e a r n i g h t,a n dg e t a w a y f r o mc i v il i s a t i o n t o a v o i dl i g h t p o l l u t i o n .

T r i p o dA s t u r d y ‘s e t o f s t ic k s ’i s e s s e n t ia l a t n ig h t ,a s y o u n e e d t h ec a m e r a t o b e l o c ke dfir m l y i n p o s i t i o nt h r o u g h o u t th e l o n ge x p o s u r e t im e s .T h i s a l lo w s t h e s e n s o rt o s t a y m o t i o n l e s sa n d r e c o r d t h ef a i n t s t a r l i g h t .

SOMETHINGFORTHE WEEKEND


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36DIGITAL PHOTO

S O M E T H IN G F ORTH E W E E K E N D

S e t th e S e lf- tim e ra n d d is ab le N RAttacha remote releasetofire

theshutterif you haveone. Ifnot,

settheDrive modetoitsSelf-timer

setting andselecta delayof2secs.

Thispreventscamerashake occurring

andallowsthecameratosettle after

you’vepressed theshutterbutton.In

thecamera’s menus,make sure Long

Exposure NoiseReductionis switched

off. Thisisa special mode that helps

toremoveNoisefromtheshotatthe

time ofcapture. The troubleis, ittakes

toolong toprocess with a 30secs

exposure,so it’s bettertodoanyNoise

control in RAWprocessinglater.

D o n ’t u n d e r e x p o s eBecauseyour eyeswill be

adaptingtonight visionand

yourcamera isina verydark

environment,your LCDscreen

will look muchbrighterthan

usual.Thismay lead you tothink you’reoverexposing, but

30secs and f/2.8, ISO 1600 will

no t overexpose a night sky –

sostickwithit!

P o w e r d o w n to fr a m eTheglarefromyourviewfinder

displaywill wash outcontrast

andmake it impossibleto see the

starsthrough the ’finder. Switch

offthecamerawhen you’re

composing,as it’ll allowyou to

pickoutthebrighter stars and

frameup yourshot.

In c r e a se IS O s e tt in gif y o u zo o m inTo gettightercropsof

constellations,you’llneed to

zoom in. Theincrease in focal

lengthwill make theearth’s

movement moreapparent, so you

needa shortershutterspeed to

combattheearth’s rotation and

avoidthe starsbecoming streaks.

Byincreasing your ISO to 3200

andsettingyour shutterspeed to

15secs,you’llgetbetterresults.

This will createmore Noise, but

youcansuppressthisin RAW.

T ak e y o u r s h o tsTake a test shot andkeepyour

handsoff the camera andtripodwhile it’srecordingthe exposure.

After 30secs (it’ll seem like an age!)

check theshotonscreen.Zoominto

checkyourstars are clearandsharp.

Youmayseevery short trailsrather

than points, but any fuzziness means

that eitheryour focusingis inaccurate

oryourcamera has movedduring

the exposure. Adjust the focusing if

needed,andreshoot untilyou have a

goodresult. Onceyou’venailedone

partof the sky,you’re all set up, so

takethe time toshootmore angles,

capturingdifferentpartsofthe

starfield arcing above you.

Openyour starfieldshotintoAdobeCameraRaw,

and adjust the Exposure slidertogeta reasonableresult. PushtheContrastto its maximumsettingtohelpget a betterseparationbetween

stars and sky. To address the colours, move the

Temperature slider until your starfield looksnatural –a setting around 3000is usually aboutright. If you can see orange light pollution spilling

into the lower half of the sky, reduce theVibranceslider to suppress it. Nudging up the Clarity will

boost the definition, and taking the Shadows andBlacks all the way to the left will help darken thesky and help the stars stand out.

Once the shot’s looking good, click on the Detail

tab to access the Noise Reduction features. Adjust

the Color first to suppress any coloured speckling,and then tweak the Luminance sliders to getthebest trade-off between detail and electronic grain.

Click OpenImage to load the pic into the regularPhotoshop or Elements interface. Here, youcan

save the shot as a JPEG via Filet Save As. To applythe same settings to your other RAWstarfields,

click on the flyout menu at the top right of the

Basictab and select Previous Conversion.

3

4

ASTROTIPS

Convert your RAWs to create great-lookingstarfields

NOCOMBINE

YOURPHOTOS


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38D IG IT A L P H O T O

COMBINE

BLENDYOUR SHOTS INPHOTOSHOPM a k e daytim es cenes look m oon lit

an d m erg e you rstarfi eld sh ots withthem . It’s easy todo in Photoshop orE lem ents - just followthe step- by-step!

Convert yourstarfield RAW fileO pe n yo ur ow n s tarfield R AW file,

or for pra ctice,us e Starfi eld dn fr o m

the S tart Im age s folder. It ’ll load into the C am era Ra w interface. Adjust you r

settings,follow ing the ad vice in the R AW pan el on the p revious pa ge. For th is

pa rticu lar file,w e u se d s ettin gs of 2900 inTemperature,-11 inTint,a n d

1.10 inExposure. Contrast was increased to100,Highlights we re le ft

o n 0 a n dShadows we re pul led to-100. Whites w e r e p u s h e d u p t o55a n d

Black w e r e r e d u c e d t o-83. F inally Clarity was increased to45a n d b e c a u s e

there w as n o real ev idence of l ight pol lut ion,Vibrance a n dSaturation w e r e

both left on 0. With this do n e,click Open Image and it’ ll load into the re gu lar

Ph otoshop or E leme nts inter face . Le ave i t on screen as i t’s now t im e to work

on the next par t o f the im age.

Select the sky Skies a re less detailed than the sce ne th ey’re above ,so the y’re often

quicker to se lect. You can m ake a Selection m anu ally by clicking with

the Polygonal Lasso tool,or you can do it autom atically us ing th e Magic

Wand o rQuick Selection tool. Often you’ ll need a com binat ion of m ethods

to get a go od S election. S tar t wi th the Quick Selection tool a n d w i t h a b r u s h

size of ab o u t 80px,dra g it along the top of the sky. This w ill select m ost of it,

but wi l l include a reas of the bu i ld ings. To rem ove these from the Select ion,

redu ce the bru sh size w ith the [ke y,the n ho ld Alt a n d d r a g o v e r th e p a r t s

you w ant to exclud e. On ce you ’ve don e this,sw itch to the Polygonal Lasso

tool. Zoom in t ight wi th Ctrl Plus,an d tidy up the S elec tion. H old Alt wh ile

clicking a rou nd a reas you wa nt to exclude,an d ho ld Shift to add a reas of sky.

Th e re sult will be a l ine of ‘m arch ing a nts’ aroun d you r sk y.

Reveal thenew skyrecompose

Y o u n e e d t o h a v e t h e fo re g r o u n d

se lecte d,ra the r th an the sk y,so to

ge t the inve rse of the S elec tion,hit

Ctrl Shift I. N o w g o t o th e L a y e r s

panel Windowt Layers)a n d

cl ick on the Add Layer Mask icon.

Th e sky wi l l be rep laced w ith the

starfield from the L ayer b en eath. W ith you r sh ots togeth er,now ’s the tim e

to rear range the com posi t ion. Se lect the Move tool V)and dra g the dock s

scene dow nw ards u nt i l the ho r izon is at one-thi rd he ight . If you w ant to m ove

th e sk y,h old Alt a n d d o u b l e - c lic k o n t h e n a m e o f t h eBackground L a y e r t o

un lock it,the n u se the Move tool to drag i t into the pos i t ion you w ant .

1

4 5

S O M E T H IN G F ORTH E W E E K E N D

VIDEO

LESSON ON THE CD


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Blendthe

LayersTo get a na tural join,m ake sure the topLa yer is active, thencopy it with Ctrl+J.This is for safety in case anything goe s wrong . No wturn off the ‘eye’ icon on the m iddle Layer, and clickon the M ask on the copy Layer at the top of the stack.Hit D to m ake the foreground colour wh ite, then selectthe Brush tool. In the Too l Options bar, choose a soft-edged brush sized to 800pxand reduce the Opacity to 10 . Paint into the horizon area to m ake a gradualblend. Skies are brighter here, and this will also give aglow over the buildings. If you’re not hap py with yourfirst attem pt, delete the top L ayer and M ask, then copythe Layer ben eath once m ore before trying again.

Refine the colour palette to finishTo get your starry sky to look fully at hom e above its new scene , som e colour m atchingwill be req uired. To do this, click on the sky L ayer at the bottom to m ake it active, and

then click the Adjustment Layer icon. Select Levels from the dropdow n list, and wh en thepalette appea rs, click whe re it says RGB and select the Red Chan nel. There are three slidersunder the Histogram graph, and by m oving the m iddle one to the left or right you’ll add m oreor less red to the starfield. A se tting o f 0.85works well with the blue toning of the foreground.If you fin d your im age is no w a little too blue , you can add a patch of celestial colour to brea k upthe tones. Make a Selection aroun d an are a of the starfield with the Lasso tool, and then go toSelectt Refine Edge. Move the Feather slider to 140pxto soften the edge, and click OK. Makeanother Levels Adjustme nt Layer, and after selecting the Red Chann el as before, move them iddle slider to the left to ge t a subtle swathe o f colour. We used a s etting o f 1.50. You can alsointroduce a little N oise over the entire im age to help disguise any m ismatch in grain betweenthe shots. See the extra tip on the in-depth video lesson for m ore de tail on this.

Merge thepics together

into the samedocumentHit Ctrl+A to select the D ockspic, then Ctrl+Cto copy it. Youcan now close it down withCtrl+W. With your starfield backon screen, hit Ctrl+Vto paste thedocks over the top . The fi le is a little bit sm aller than the starfie ld as it wastaken o n a different cam era, so to m atch them up, hit Ctrl+T to go into FreeTransform m ode and pull out the handles so the pics are the sam e size. On ceyou’ve resized the im age , hit Return to apply the changes. If you’re using yourown sh ots taken on the sam e cam era, you wo n’t need to do this, but it’s worthknowing in case you want to m ix landscapes and skies from different sources.

Convert yourdaytime RAWinto night

Go to Filet Open and load the RAWfile you wan t to use a s the base foryour starfield, or us e Dock s dng f ro mthe Start Imag es folder. We chose thisshot, taken in Sou tham pton, as thestructures give the scene a great sci-fifeel. With the pic open in Cam era R aw,first reduce Temperature to 3000to give it a blue, night-tim e colour b alance.N ext, take Shadows to -100and Blacks to -80to thicken the d arker tones,and the n, to give a little m ore d efin ition, take Clarity to +30. Apart from thesky, the sh ot looks alm ost as if it has b een taken at night, so click on Open Image to load it into the regular P hotoshop or E lem ents interface.

6 7

3


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U s u a lly, a fl a s h g u n is s e t t o o p e r ate in T T L

m ode. This stands for ‘through-the-lens’

m e te r in g , a n d is h o w yo u r c a m e r a d e c id e s

o n t he r e u ir e d p o w e r s e ttin g s fo r a g oo d

exposure.With m ore advanced wireless

fl a s h s ys te m s it’s p o s s ib le to u s e T T L m o d e ,

b u t fo r t he m o s t p a r t y o u ’ll n e e d to s e t th e

fl a s h p o w e r m a n u a lly. T h is m ig h t s o un dlike a daunting proposition, but in fact it’s

incredibly easy and intuit ive.There are no

tricky calculations involved, and you don ’t

n e e d a n y g r o u n d in g in c o m p le x- s o u n d in g

concepts l ike the inverse s uare law.

Instead, i t’s m uch easier to think of using

off-camera flash m anually as cooking, and

the l ight is the seasoning. Start off by adding

a little – s a y 1 / 64 p o w e r – a n d in c re a s e th e

p o w e r o f e a c h te s t s h o t u n til yo u fi n d th e

p e r fe c t b l en d . I t o n ly ta k es a fe w m o m e n t s

to find the right settings, and with a lit tle

experience,de ciding on the correct power

fo r a s h o t w i ll b e c om e s e co n d n at ur e .

Yo u ’ll n e e d afl a s h u n th a t a l lo w syou set the powero u t p u t m a n u a l ly

F i r in y o u r fl a s h r e m o t e ly m e a n s y o u c a n p o s it io n itanywhere – i v in fu l l contro l over l i h t and shade

f you’re lookingto get truly creativewith

theway yourimagesare lit,then youneed

tomastero cameraflash. Few

techniqueswill revolutioniseyour

photographymore,asit allowsyou to take

totalcontrolof yourlightingandunlocksthe

creative potential of yourflashgun.Such a

rewardmight sound likeit ’sgoingto becostly

to thepocket andcomplex to conquer.But in

reality it’sa ordable to even themost modest

of budgetsanditssimplicity isguaranteedto

turnyou into anaccomplishedflash fanatic!

The benefits of off-camera flash

Freeingyourflashgun fromthe restrictions

of beingfixed to yourcamera’shotshoeis

certain to transformyourphotography.The

ability to placeyourflash anywhereassigns

youcontroloverthelight in yourframe, and

letsyou decidewhat isdirectly illuminated

andwherethe shadowswill fall. Thisallows

you to createmoredepth in yourimages, add

extratextureto surfacesand produceamore

professionalfeelto yourpics.

The possibilitiesreallyareendless, and

consideredlighting hasan enormousimpact

uponthemoodof an image.A side-lit shot

with lotsof contrast andshadowswill create

anairofmystery andintrigue,while

positioningyourflashgunwithin yourframe

willadda dynamic twistwith acoolstarburst

e ect. There’srealpleasureto behadin

experimentingwith yourlighting,andonce

youmasterthebasicsyou’llsee thato -

cameraflash isintuit iveaswellasgreat fun!

How does it work?

There’sa variety ofwaysyou can fireyour

flashgun remotely.The simplest andmost

budget-friendly isaflash sync cable, andthey

can bepurchasedonlineforaround£3.You

attachoneend to yourcamera–eitherdirectly

to adedicatedportorvia ahotshoeadapter–

andthe otherendconnectsto yourflash.

Runningacablebetween the two isn’t ideal

though, so it’sbest to seek awirelesssolution.

Youmight alreadyhaveall youneed.Both

Nikon andCanon havereleasedcamerasand

flashesthat canbetriggeredwirelessly using

infraredtechnology,which meansyou don’t

needanyfurtherinvestment. Also, lotsof

speedlightshavean opticalslavebuilt in.This

willfiretheflashwhen anotherflash burst is

detected, so you canuseyourcamera’spop-up

unit to fireanotherflashgun remotely.

However, optical slavesand infrared triggers

requireaclearlineof sight to bee ective.This

can belimitingwhen it comesto positioning

yourflash, so thebest way to fire it remotely is

to usea radio trigger.A transmitter–

sometimescalleda‘commanderunit ’ –fixesto

yourhotshoe, andthe receiver–also known as

a‘slave’–clipsto yourflashgun.Pricesstart at

around£15, so it won’t break thebank.

THEPOSSIBILITIESARE

ENDLESS&ARECERTAIN

TOHAVEA HUGEIMPACT ON

THEMOODOFAN IMAGE”

ITaking control of your

off-camera flash

GET MORE ROMLASH UNDERSTAND

& USE CREATIVELIGHTINGEFFECTS

a n ultim ate control of your li htin by tak in your fl ash off-cam eraTECHNIQUE PICS BY BEN DAVIS

REMOTE FLASH

40 D I G IT A L P H O T O


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A pop-upflash illuminates a subject effectively,butbecause it’s attached to the camera,it doesn’t allowany control over the direction of the lighting.

By placingthe flashgun to one side of the subject,farmore control over the angle of the lighting–and theshadows that it casts –is obtained.

R a dio fl a sh tr ig g e rs a re b y fa r t he m o st

e ffe ctive w ay o f fi r in g a fl a sh g u n r em o te ly.

For starters there’s no cable to trip over,

and un lik e infrared and optical slave

units, there’s no reliance on line-of-sig ht

com m unication. This m e ans the y will always

fi re, even if you ‘hide’ your fl ashg un in thescene or place it behind a wall. Radio units

work over m uch g reater distances too, and

provided you have enoug h receivers, you can

use m ult ip le fl ashes at once . To se t the m

up, just ensure that your transm itter and

receiver units are set to the sam e channel,

and you’re ready to g o.

There are doz ens of different options

to suit all budg ets with wireless fl ash

trig g e rs. The m ost ad vance d setup s – lik e

Pock etwiz ards – can cost in excess of £150,

but budg et units start at around £15 from

auction sites and are a per fect starting point

for your journey into off-cam era fl ash.

WHYIT’SESTTOUSERADIOTRIGGERS

With direct flash With off-camera flash

USING OFF-CAMERA FLASH

Optional extras A l ig h t s ta n d

w i ll a l low you to

po sition you r flash

a c c u r a t e ly a n d a

dev ice to soften

the light –like a n

um bre lla –w ill

g i ve m o r e o p t i o n s .

M o r e o n t h e s e

over the pag e. ..

What do Ineed for off-camera flash

Just the basics A s id e f ro m a D S L R

or C SC ,all yo u

ne ed is a flash gu n

a n y b r a n d w i l l d o

n d a s e t o f r a d io

igge rs tha t a re

o m p a t ib l e w i t h

o u r c a m e r a .



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F o r m o r e p r o f essi o n a l lo o k i n g p i cs u s in g

o ff c a m e r a fla sh ,y o u ’l l n e e d t o m o d i f y y o u r

l ig h t . D i r ec t l ig h t f r o m a fla sh g u n i s g e n e r a ll y

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I t a lso p r o d u ce s b l o w n o u t sp e c u la r h i gh l ig h t s

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w i l l cost yo u aro un d £ an d w il l create a

A s y o u d e v e lo p y o u r sk i lls w i th o ff c am e ra

fla sh ,y o u ’ ll l ik e l y w a n t t o a d d s e co n d a n d

t h i rd sp e e d li gh t s t o y o u r se t u p s f o r e x t ra

c r ea t iv i t y . W h i l e t h i s r e qu i r e s m o r e o u t l a y,

u s in g m u l ti p le fla sh g u n s m e a n s y o u c an

c re at e e x t ra d e p t h a n d i n t e re st i n y o u r sh o t s ,

a s w e ll a s l ig h t a w i de r a r ea . I f y o u d o e x p an d

y o u r l ig h t i n g s et u p ,m a k e su r e y o u p u r c h a se

t h e s am e m o d e l o f w i r e le s s fla sh r e c e iv e r ,s o

a ll y o u r g ea r w i ll c o m m u n i c at e . I t d o e sn ’t

m a t te r so m u c h a b o u t t h e fla sh g u n ,a s y o u

c an u se d iffe re n t m a ke s a n d m o d e ls i n t h e

sa m e sy st e m .

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o n e fla s h g u n i s n ’ t fir i n g ,c h e c k t h a t t h e

r ece iv e r u n i t i s s et t o t h e sa m e c h an n e l a s

y o u r t r an s m i t t er . M o s t d e v i c e s o ffe r m u l t ip l e

c h a n n e ls. T h e s e a r e se t t o d i ffe r e n t r a d io

f r e qu e n c i e s s o p h o t o g r ap h e r s c an w o r k c lo s e

t o o n e a n o th e r w i th o u t t ri gg er in g t h e o t h e r’s

fla sh . Y o u n e e d a ll o f y o u r s t o b e se t t h e sa m e

t o e n s u re a se a m l ess p e r f o rm a n ce .

Howtomodify yourli htformoreflatterin results

singmultiplespeedlightsremotely

m u c h so f t er li gh t so u r ce . U m b r ella s a r e

so m e t i m e s r e f er r ed t o a s a ‘l ig h t b o m b ’,

b ec au se o f t h e w a y t h e y sp re ad t h e li gh t a n d

t h r o w i t i n e v e r y d i re c ti o n . T o u s e o n e ,y o u ’ ll

Invest in a li ht stand

Blendin your fl ash with am bient li ht by adjustin shutter speed

Tomakelifeeasierforyourselfwhenusingoff-cameraflash, itmakessenseto

investina lightstand.Thesearelightweightextendibledevicesthataredesignedto

holdaflashgunsoyoucanposition itanywhere.Low-costoptionsarearound£10-15,

whilemoreexpensivemodelsofferamorerobustbuildqualityand air-cushioned

legs.Theyallwork inthesameway,though–threelegssplayout tokeepthestand

upright,andanumberofextendiblesectionsallowyou toadjusttheheight.

Tripodscanalsobeused forflashguns, asthe1/4inscrewthreadwillattachtoa

wirelessreceiverorflashshoe, buttheytendto beheavierandmorecumbersome.

When you shoot animageusingflash,there’sessentiallytwoexposures taking placeatonce. There’sthelightfromyourflash– whichlasts a tinyfraction ofa second – and theambientlightinthescene.Theexposurefortheambientlightiscontrolledbytheshutterspeed,apertureandISO,whereastheexposure for

theflashis onlygovernedbytheaperture andISO,as the burst oflightis too short tobe

affectedbytheshutterspeed.Thismeansthatif you wanttoadjustthe mixofflashand

ambientlight, yousimplyadjusttheshutterspeed.Ifyou wanttoincrease theambientlight,perhaps toliftsomedarkershadows,then dial ina slower

shutterspeed, from say1/125sec to1/60sec.Onthe other hand,if you wantthe flashtoplaya biggerrole intheshot,then increasetheshutterspeedtoreducetheamountofambientlightintheexposure. Animagecapturedindoors at1/200secwilloftencutbacktheambient lighttodark shadows for moodyshadows. Rememberthough, mostcamerashave a maximum flashSync Speed of1/250sec,soyou can’tset a fastershutterspeed thanthis.

“UMBRELLASMODIFYTHELIGHTTOMAKEITSOFTERWITHMOREFLATTERINGRESULTS”

S of t en in t he l i h twit h a sof t b ox or

u m b r e ll a w i ll i vem o r e fl a tt er in r e su l ts

f or your p or t r a i t s

A d d i n a s e c o n d fl a s h u n t o y o u r l i h t i n k i t w i l lhe lp ex p and your c r eat ive p ot ent ial

a ls o n e e d a b r a c k e t t o a t t a c h t h e b r o l ly t o y o u r

flash,an d th ese can be p icke d u p o n l ine f or

ar o u n d £.

F o r m o r e d i r ec t i o n a l co n t r o l o v e r y o u r

l i g h t i n g ,a so f t b o x i s a g o o d i n v e s t m e n t . Th e s e

d i ffu s e t h e l i g h t t h r o u g h a l a rg e w h i t e p a n e l ,

a n d t h e b i g g e r su r f a c e a r e a p r o d u c e s a so f t e r

l ig h t w i t h g e n t l e s h a d o w s . T h e y c o st

an y w h er e f ro m £to £,d ep en d in g o n th e

size,fu n ct io n alit y an d b u ild qu alit y,an d t ak e

u p a l i t t le l e ss r o o m t h a n a n u m b r e l la .

O n c e y o u r e a ll y g et i n t o m o d i f y i n g t h e l ig h t

f r o m y o u r fla s h g u n ,t h e r e a r e l o t s o f o t h e r

a c ce s so r i e s t h a t w i l l h e l p s c u l p t a n d a d d

c h a r a c t e r t o t h e l i g h t . A s n o o t i s d e s ig n e d t o

d i r e c t t h e l i gh t i n t o a t i g h t b e a m l ik e a

s p o t l i g h t i d e a l fo r a d d i n g a b a c k l i g h t t o h a i r

i n a p o r t r a i t . Y o u c a n b u y t h e m ,b u t t h e y c a n

b e e a s il y m a d e b y r o l l i n g a b l a ck p a p e r s h e e t

i n t o a c o n e a n d t a p i n g i t t o y o u r fla sh .

DIGITAL PHOTO 43

GET MORE FROM LASH


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1

Better lighting withoff camera flashIt’s e a sy to ge t m o re in tere sting a n d fla tte rin gligh t wh en u sing you r flas h gu n rem otely –follow the se step s for pro - u ality po rtraits!

Experiment withdifferent positionsfor your flashgun

On ce you’re happ y with your exposu re,try moving the flash to different po sitionsaround your subject. You’ll be am azed atthe dram atic effect subtle ad justm entscan m ake to the light and shad ows in your

image , and how different angles alter them ood. Po sitioning the light high an d infront of your su bject often called ‘butterfl ylighting’ due to the sha pe of the shado wcreated under the no se) gives a flatteringlook that enhances the cheekbo nes.Th is is a po pular lighting style for fashionpor traits, and is goo d for evenly lightingthe face but still creating som e dep th.N ow m ove your flashgun to one side ofyour subject, so the side away from thelight falls into deep shadows. This is greatfor creating m ore m oody im ages that arepacked with intrigue. Keep trying newpositions for your flash , to fin d a lighting

style that su its the story you w ant to tell.

Input your camera and flash settingsSwitch your camera to Man ual mod e M on the m ode dial) to take fullcontrol of the settings. Start by setting the shutter speed to 1/200sec.

This will ensure you’re within the flash sync speed, and also cut back o n theam bient light in the room , so your flash gun is responsible for the m ajorityof the lighting. Dial in an ape rture of f/5 for a re ason ably shallow d epth- of-field, and set the ISO to 100 for the best im age q uality. Attach your w irelesstransm itter to your cam era’s ho tshoe, and the receiver u nit to the foot of

your flash, ensur ing both are set to the sam e channe l so they are able tocom m unicate. Set your fl ashgun to its Manua l mod e, and start off with thepower set to 1/32. Attach your fl ash to a lightstand or tripod, so you can m oveit to d ifferent pos itions aro und your s ubject, to create differen t lighting e ffects.

Position your flash and set the powerBe gin by positioning your fl ash 45° to the side of the su bject, and takea sho t. At this ang le, the light produces pleasing sh adows on the far

side of your su bject’s face, and adds extra dep th and interest to the im age . It’s

best to soften your light, so use a softbox or a s hoot-through u m brella if youcan. If your s hot is too b right, simply decrease the po wer o n the fl ashgun to1/64, or m ove it further aw ay from your sub ject. If the im age is a bit too dark ,increase the power to 1/16, or m ove the flash closer to your su bject.

2

3


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BUCKETLIST

LOCATIONS

J O N

A D

A M

S

46 D I G I T A L P H O T O

Fo llow us to one of the bestplaces in the UK to capturetruly am az ing photosWORDS PICS BY JONADAMS

ASHNESS BRIDGE,CUMBRIAWhyit’s a gemA s ha llow,flow ing b eck an d texture d ro cks in the

foreground lead throug h to a stone,packh orse

bridge in the m iddle grou nd. B eyond this,the

m ajestic bulk of Skidd aw r ises ab ove to dom inate

the skyline. It’s r ight n ext to a car par k,it’s e asy to

photog raph ,and the view will take your breath awa y.

Howto get thereTa ke th e B 5289so u th fro m K es w ick to w ar ds

B orro wd ale. After abo ut 2m iles,a m inor ro ad o n the

left is signp osted ‘As hn ess B r/Waten dlath’. Tur n u p

here an d continue until you cross the bridge . There’s

a ca r p ar k on the r igh t jus t after th e b rid ge ,givin g a

very short stroll to the action. He ad up stream from

the bridg e itself for the best views.

Whento shootSkiddaw and the b ridge face roug hly south,so ifthere’s an y sun wh en you g et there,the scen e w ill

pick it up r ight throug h the day. M orning o r evening is

best,and a sp rinkling of snow on the tips is a b onu s.

LocalKnowledgeTake a wid e-a ng le lens –the s ho rt en d o f a kit zoom

is fine. A tr ipod w ill allow the use a sm all aperture

like f/16. T his w ill ho ld the w ho le s cen e in focu s,an d

the slowe r shutter speed w ill force the mo ving water

to blur o ut. A pa ir of we llies is a sm art idea ,as you

m ay find the best ang le can be found standing in

the strea m itself. Re gar ding the w eathe r,if it’s clear

enou gh to se e Sk iddaw ,there’s a sh ot to be h ad!


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NEWSERIES


B E S T S P O T S F O R P E R F E C T S H O T S

“IT’S NEXTTOA CARPARK,IT’SEASY TOSHOOT, ANDTHEVIEWWILLTAKEYOUR REATHAWAY”


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T E C H N IQ U E & P IC B Y M A T T Y G R A H A M

SHOOTARAINBOW

BLUR PORTRAITI

t’s not every day you se e a techniq ue that

encourage s you to get more blur into your

por trait pho tos! Ho wever, in this instance that’s

exactly what we’re recom m ending. Always keen

to innovate, we’ve de vised a way to add m otion blur

to a spinning um brella so it creates a gorgeous

fusion of colour to fram e your sub ject.

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Digital Photo - March 2016

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