ABOUT
u're an enthusiastic weekend snapper or a
ants to learn mare, N2 Photographer is the
fun €-magazine forall Kini camera owners - and it's freet
eDiror
Allan Cox, allanenzphotographer.co.nz
GROUP EDITOR
Richard Liew
ART DIRECTOR
Jodi Olsson
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NZ Photographer isan Espire Medi publication
time frame, we received an abnormally low number of
entries for this months phato comp. So I've decided to
take the opportunity to realign the due date for the competitions.
The competitions entries will now be due on the 15th of the
‘month. So you've got an extra week to get a photo with the
theme of The colour red’ to us. And from now on, you will have
six weeks notice to come up with the winning entry for the
monthly competition.
p ossibly due to the hard subject and shorter than normal
One of the things you learn from entering Iats af phato
Competitions is that they are always a bit of a lottery. Most
often it comes down to one persons opinion, and being
human, their opinion is subjective. Both my wife and |
have had the experience of winning big international phato
competitions and then having the very same photos that
won internationally, go nowhere in a local camera club
competition. With photo competitions you just never know.
On a completely different subject: do you fancy yourself as
abit of a bard? Maybe you enjoy writing and feel you can
explain things in a clear and concise manner. Or maybe you
specialise in an unusual type of photography and, as a result,
can offer something unique. If any of the above applies ta
you and you'd be interested in writing an article for the
magazine, then drop me an email and let’s discuss it.
Allan Cor
Alan Cox
Resient judge
NZ Photographer‘month's competition theme is ‘Black and White’ and that is due on 15th Aug. Black and white images can
vary from dark, gritty and brooding through to light and ethereal, but what ever their look, done well they
will be timeless and classic. Show us you best and be in to win $$$5 and prestige.
N ext month's competition theme is ‘the colour red’. The final date for entries is 15th July. The following
‘Avwee tip. | feel a lot of B&W photos fail because they are nat so much black and white
5 just grey. A guideline | learnt way back in the days of darkroom printing is that some
part of your photo should be pure black and some part should be pure white. As | said, a
guideline; and as such can be broken, however not a bad place to start.
The winning image on the cover of the next issue
Ahigh quality print of your image and cover to immortalise your achievement for your
grandchildren, courtesy of PCL Imaging
$50 cash
And of course, bragging rights and the envy of your fellow NZ Photographer fans!
Check out next month’s theme and enter at www.nzphotographer.co.nz!jill Ferry
his months inspiring artist is Jill Ferry. She
sts the style of her photos as ‘painterly’ and
| believe this is a very apt term, as her photos are
Feminiscent of the grand master painters: Monet and
Turner. Her technique involves layering a photo of a
textured surface on to ancther photo in Photoshop and
then changing the blending mode and opacity of the
top layer. Full tutorials here:
My overly simplistic description of her technique may
beguile you into believing it's simple, but as the saying
goes, the devil is in the detail. Which particular texture,
blending mode and level of opacity do you chase? And
onto which photo do you apply it? It’s one thing to slap
a texture on to a photo, but it’s quite a different thing
to do so in a way that creates the elegantly beautiful
Fesults that jill produces.
4 waeurapheo ape,
NZP: What inspired you to be a photographer?
I'm not sure | was inspired to be a photographer as
such; I've just always taken photos. | got my first camera
when | was about 10, a Kodak Instamatic. At high school,
although | didn’t take art as a subject, | joined the
photography club and discovered the magic of developing
and printing film. The other main inspiration was joining
Flickr - the old Flickr was so much better than itis now.
NZP: How did you first get into textures?
About eight years ago when textures weren't mainstream,
| came across a Flickr photo that was textured. | loved the
effect, and this inspired me to try my hand at texturing
myself. To start with it was very trial and error as | didn’t
know much about layers and layer masks, and at that
stage there was hardly anyone else using textures, so
there were no tutorials.
Eventually, | started making my own textures, then
became part of a group that launched the large ‘Textures,
for Layers’ group on Flickr. Then in 2009, with my Flickr
friend Paul Grand, launched Flypaper Textures. We now
sell our textures to people from all around the world.'
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NZP: What kind of look do you try to create?
This varies with the subject, but | use textures to add
depth and more importantly atmosphere to a photo.
NZP: Is there anything you look for in a photo, that flags
itas a good possibility for your textured treatment?
| find simple photos best for texturing, also photos that are
softened by mist or fog. Photos where the textures can be
seen but not dominate, People often think that textures can
be used to cover up faults in photos, and although they can
do that, it’s always better to start with a good phat.
NZP: So often your photos have a beautiful colour
pallet. How do you choose your colours?
Atricky question, | think my colour palette is mare
instinctive than by choice, When | started texturing |
‘tended to do darker, rich photos; nowadays they tend to
be softer and brighter. In my studio shots, | tend to use
pale blue or green backgrounds. | find they go with most
things, and the resulting photos are good to texture.
sg esa na aie
th
NZP: When someone looks at your photography, what
do you want them to take away from your photos?
Once again it all depends on the photo, on some | want
to convey a story; on some, flowers, for instance, | want
to show the beauty that attracted me to the subject in
the first place. With my landscapes, usually | want to
show a sense of isolation.
NZP: Do you have a personal philosophy with regards to
photography? | create and take my photos to please me, if,
everyone else likes them too, then that is a bonus.
NNZP: What is ‘quality’ in an image? What makes an
image good for you?
Much of the time | don’t know why | like an image, but |
{end to gravitate to narrative and evocative images that
tell a story. It’s often the photo that on the surface is
perhaps the most unpromising of the shoot that | choose
to work with. | guess this is because it’s ‘different’ and |
want to avoid the contrived look.
¢NZP: Mystery: is it important?
Yes, at the moment I'm mainly creating photos with
book covers in mind so adding same mystery or
atmosphere is what | strive for. Textures are good for
the atmosphere as they add depth and for the mystery
Component it’s all with the choice of elements, what's
there and more importantly what isn’t.
NZP: Are there things that help you to be more creative?
| love to experiment and try out new techniques both
in the taking of photos and in my processing. | follow
tutorials, read books and magazines and suchlike.
Also, a couple of years ago | did a 365 challenge on
Flickr, where you try and take a photo @ day over
the course of a year. This was great fun and really
encouraged me to ‘see’. | also participate in challenges
in Flickr groups, which is wonderful for getting me
Out of a creative rut.NZP: What is it that you love about photography?
| am someone who would love to have been a painter.
Photography and my use of textures allow me to paint
with my camera.
NZP: What has photography done for you?
| think at last I've found something that I'm good at, and the
fact that |’m able to make money doing it is an added bonus.
NZP: What are your three tips for others who want to
become better photographers?
If something doesn’t work (especially with using
textures but | guess it’s the same with anything] don't
be afraid to start afresh. This tip probably appears on
every list of this type but learn haw to use your camera,
learn how to use it in manual if you need to for example.
Don't be afraid to experiment.
NZP: Who do you admire and why.
| have always loved the work of Graham Sydney. | am
originally from Central Otago and his paintings capture
the beauty and essence of the area perfectly.
NZP: Finally, where can we see more of your
amazing work?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/borealnz/
http://flypapertextures.com
Thanks jill for sharing some of your wonderful work and
your ideas. lm
ev naphaemaper cone 9 #Macro Number Six
By Allan Cox www.nzphotoworkshaps.com
took my advice and gave flash a go. | talked briefly
about off-camera flash, and how if your flash can’t be
set up to fire remotely (off camera) then you can purchase
a flash trigger that will enable it to do so. Flash triggers
Tange from the basic models that just fire the flash, and
Cost as little as $2, right through to some pretty fancy
versions. The huge advantage of firing flash off the
Camera is that you can now create a range of different
types of light: like backlight and sidelight etc.
| last month's article | introduced flash. Hopefully, you
In all forms of photography, and macro is no exception,
the quality of the light is often a key ingredient of a
great photograph. If you have a look at the two photos
of mushroom gills, you will see one has been lit with
diffused front light (the sort of light you would get with
diffused on-camera flash). With the second one, | took
Ny
the flash off the camera and put it directly behind the
mushroom. The light is coming through the mushroom
to backlight the gills. Nothing has changed apart from the
light, yet the two photos are completely different.
One of the issues with flash and for that matter any kind of
artificial light, is that itcan look... well... artificial. This
may work in some situations, but more often than not just
looks wrong. So, asa ruled advise when working with
flash, to endeavour to mimic the qualities of natural light
{its for this reason that I'm not a great fan of ring flash).
But what are the qualities of light that we are trying to,
mimic? Broadly speaking, these qualities can be defined
‘with three questions. Where is the light coming from in
relation to the subject being lit? How big does the light
appear to be, to the subject being lit? And whatis the colour
of the light? Let’s look at these questions individually.Where does the light come from? This one is pretty
easy. Sidelight comes from the side, backlight comes
from behind the subject (and towards the camera).
Sidelight is great for showing texture and the
three dimensional nature of a subject as it throws
shadows, but it can mute the colours in our subject
somewhat. Even front light is better for colours.
How ‘big’ does the light appear to he? It’s how big
it appears to be, not how big it actually is that is
important. How big it appears to be, is determined by
how big it actually is and the distance between it and
the subject. The sun is actually very large, but because
itis so far away, it appears quite small. A standard
portable flash at about six metres has an apparent size
equivalent to the sun.
The larger the apparent size of the light source, the less
shadow you will get. This kind of light (large apparent size)
is often called diffused light. It’s what we see on a cloudy
And finally, what colour is our light? When we talk of
light colour, we often talk about its temperature. We talk
of cool light, and warm light. The light from the sun, as
itis setting, is warm; it has a reddish colour to it. The
light in the shadows on a sunny day is cool light. It is
light that has been bounced down from the blue sky and
has a bluish colour to it.
‘As well as our predominant light, sametimes called the
key light, we can have a secondary light - often called fill
light. Fill light can be light from our key light bounced back
by some kind of reflector, or it can be a new light source,
maybe a second flash. We need to consider the qualities of
all of our light sources.
‘When working with flash, because we can control all of
the above qualities, we can make flash look like any kind
of natural light that we like. For example, if we wanted.
our light to mimic the beautiful light we get just before
sunset we would position our flash low to the ground and
day. On a cloudy day, our light source is the whole white sky at about six metres from our subject. We would also warm.
from horizon to horizon. This kind of light, without shadow,
is best for showing colour at it richest.
Up the light a little with a coloured gel (a small bit of yellow
cellophane) in front of our flash.But what happens if we can’t move the flash six metres
away, oF, as more often is the case, we want to mimic a
cloudy day and our flash would have to be touching our
subject before its apparent size was that of a white sky. The
answer is to use flash modifiers. For a ‘cloudy day look’,
instead of firing the flash straight at the subject, we can fire
it into a reflective umbrella.
‘We have now increased its apparent size quite a lot without
having to move it ridiculously close. The same effect can be
achieved by firing the flash at something that is translucent;
something that lets the light thraugh but diffuses it.
Ultimately this is what cloud is doing. The sunlight hits the
‘top of the cloud and is diffused as it moves through.
To save having to move our flash six metres away to
mimic the sun, we can use something that attaches to
the front of our flash called ‘grid spots’. With grid spots
the light from the flash is forced through small tubes and
the apparent size of our light source becomes that of the
diameter of the small tubes.
Papers
ford Gold Fibre Silk
Ilford Smooth Pearl
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PCL
Epson Watercolour
IMAGING
Magnetic Paper
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C-Type Matle
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Hahnemuhle Photo Rag
Epson Enhanced Matte
?
I's not necessary to understand how they work, just that
they do (if you would like to DIY grid spots then black
drinking straws work a treat. Google ‘grid spats’ and look at
the images). With grid spots attached to your flash you can
Now mimic sunlight with your flash only centimetres away
instead of metres.
One of the most powerful ways to modify light, whether
itbe flash light or natural light, is to bounce light with a
reflector into an area that needs a little more light. One of
the best reflectors | know of for macro can be made from an
old drink carton.
Next time you buy a drink in a cardboard carton,
instead of throwing the carton aut when you've
finishing the drink, wash it out and cut the top and
hottom off. You will have a pre-folded piece of stiff
card with one side being a lovely silvered surface.
It will take up no room in your camera bag, costs
Nothing, is just about indestructible, and does a great
job bouncing light around. (See above). il
Fine Art PrintingCritiquing Your
hotographs
By Allan Cox
WE SOMETIMES GET A PHOTO, ENTERED INTO OUR MONTHLY COMPETITION THAT IS VERY GOOD, EXCEPT
FOR ONE SMALL THING. BY CRITIQUING THAT PHOTOGRAPH AND SHOWING A ‘BEFORE’ AND ‘AFTER’,
ITCAN BECOME A VALUABLE LEARNING TOOL FOR EVERYONE. ARJAY COSENERO HAS VERY KINDLY
ALLOWED US T0 CRITIQUE A PHOTO THAT HE ENTERED INTO LAST MONTH'S WATER COMPETITION.
Pirua-Falls
Croppedspoilt by the white sky at the top of the waterfall.
iE photograph works in so many ways but is
Cropping it out, | believe, makes all the difference.
Our eye is drawn to brightness, contrast, and vivid
colours. If we have any of these on the edge of the
frame, our eye will be drawn there, and then from
there, out of the photograph. So white sky (not the
same as stormy grey clouds), being the brightest part
of the photograph, is often deadly to a photograph. A
good habit to get into when composing a photograph,
is to run your eye around the edge of the frame,
looking for things that are particularly bright,
contrasty, or colourful, and if possible, crop it out of
the photograph. | hope you will agree that the cropped
photo is a better photograph.
Some of you may be thinking: “But now you've cut
the top of the waterfall off, surely that can’t be a
good thing?” Not only do | believe cutting into the
waterfall is OK, but | believe it is a good thing, as it
leaves the photo ‘incomplete’ and adds mystery to
the photograph. By not telling the whole story, by not
completing the picture, we are letting the viewers
imagination do so, and nine times out of 10 their
imagination will do a better job than we could have.
If you cut the top of a waterfall off mast people will
imagine it as being taller than it was. We also do love
a little bit of mystery. If 1 were to ask the question:
“What is the most famous painting in the world?”
Most people would answer the Mona Lisa. If | were to
ask “Why?” most people would answer because of that
enigmatic smile - that’s mystery.
| believe good landscape photographs are 19 parts
harmony and one part haunting. The 19 parts harmony
is the balanced composition. The one part haunting is
the little bit of mystery in the photograph. That little
bit of mystery can be the difference between a good
photograph and a great photograph.
Saying all of that, don’t go overboard on the mystery
as you can have too much of a good thing. Lots of
people find too much mystery disturbing. So all up,
don’t be afraid to cut into a waterfall and do avoid
bland white skies in your photos. iOrganising Your
Photographs _....
By Jennifer Van Waard ttps://500px.com/milhouse
WHEN | STARTED DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY IT QUICKLY BECAME APPARENT THAT IF | DIDN'T HAVE
‘SOME SORT OF FILING SYSTEM IT WOULDN'T BE LONG BEFORE PHOTOGRAPHS WOULD START
DISAPPEARING OFF INTO CYBERSPACE NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN. THE THOUGHT OF LOSING ONE
OF MY BEST PHOTOGRAPHS, PROMPTED ME TO SET UP A PROCESS TO KEEP ALL MY IMAGES
ORGANISED AND IN ONE PLACE, SO THAT REGULAR BACK-UPS BECAME AN EASY TASK.
organise and backup your photographs, and choosing
‘one should be based on your own requirements such
5 Cost and usability, and also on how much confidence
you have with your computer.
[e are many different programmes available to
These programmes are ‘best practice’ once you have
mastered them, but until you have something in place,
keeping your photographs in some sort of order now will
pay dividends in the future when you fully utilise your
software and import all of your folders with their images.
To start off, all you need to know is how to copy and
Tename files and folders in a file management system
like Windows Explorer. A lot of the programmes that
download your images from your camera to your
computer save the photographs in groups based on
the date they were taken.
So one simple thing you can do when you download
your photos is to move or copy them all into a directory
based on what you were taking photographs of.
For example, you could have one main directory called
PHOTOGRAPHS. Then under that directory you could
have directories named after the subjects you have
taken images of that day.
Ny
PHOTOGRAPHS /
CHURCH
FLOWERS
PETS
BIRTHDAY PARTY
When the time comes, and you are confidently using
your image management system like Lightroom or
Adobe Bridge, then the photographs that you have
already organised, can easily be imported into the
programme. Using one of these programmes is
essential to foster a good workflow, which is the
management of your images from the capture in your
Camera right through to the output stage - a printer
oa screen.
Tip: Never create the following folders:
MISCELLANEOUS
SUNDRY
CATCH-ALL
GENERAL
Ibis far too easy just to put photographs straight into
such categories. Take a few extra minutes when you
download those images, and decide what word best
describes them all, and then file the images under a
directory that has a meaningful name.Backing up your images
Backing up your photographs is such an absolutely
essential habit to get into because you just never
know when an incident may occur that will cause you
to lose some, or even all, of your photographs.
The thought of my computer hard drive completely
failing, or even accidentally deleting one of my best
photographs, prompted me to set up a schedule to
backup all of my images, and it is one that | adhere
to reasonably strictly. Over the years, | have heard
0 many stories of catastrophic things happening to
computers. The sad result is heartbreak from losing
photos that have tremendous sentimental value.
There are various forms of software out there to
make the process of backing up your images easier
and quicker, but learning the simple skill of copying
your photographs onto an External Hard Disk Drive is
@ good way to start. With External Hard Disk Drives
being reasonably inexpensive and large in capacity,
there are no excuses
Take some time to think about the following two
questions when you setup your backup process:
Where will this External Hard Disk Drive
be stored?
If your house, unfortunately, suffers a fire, will the
backup disk of your images be sitting beside the
computer with your original images, and be exposed
to fire/water damage? You could perhaps think of
storing the external drive with a relative or friend, at
another location.
How many backup versions do | have?
If you can afford to, try and keep two or three different
external hard drives and rotate them weekly or
monthly, whenever you do your backups. This will
ensure that if one of the External Hard Disk Drives
does suffer a failure, then there will be at least one or
two other external drives with your images.
This may appear to be an ‘over-the-top’ way to protect
your images but, for me, if | lost photographs of my
family or the images | have spent years creating, then
| would be beyond devastated. Just think about that
horrible gut-wrenching feeling you would have - if
you lost even just one precious image - and let that
inform your decision on whether or not to keep an
external backup drive. iLESS IS MORE
NEW EOS 100D
The world’s sual st al fet Notes tA C DSLR’
mpromi
no one sees tt like qeYou can lookata
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again. You can also
look at picture for
asecond and think
ofitall your life.
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