YOUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO CREATING YOUR BEST EVER PHOTOS ert | —— need to ‘tele P90 Mone Mc Um (ea tte Renee ~ »\ oh) Me al MiaLCoM al 9)/c=1(e)ac- |e lant aris} (re. eee cee o)} 7 ae Pee : fete) Create Winter —. 4 Wonderlands Digital SLRs, J PT eae = Trae tt| Eloi t a) ec Landscapes PLUS Master Photoshop Printing | Storage |Raw files! HDR And more...Tim Matsui: Born in 1973 in California. Became a freelance photographer, after ‘earning a degree in photojournalism, from the University of Washington. Established the FEAR Project, a non-profit media organisation creating documentaries about sexual violence, the environment and other vital social issues. W O R L D Photo data: Sigma 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 DC OS. 1/400-second exposure at 16.3. TIM MATSUI SHOOTS THE WORLD WITH A SIGMA LENS. Traveling light for a high rugged climb, overlooking Oregon's Trout Creek, is made 3 possible by Sigma’s lightweight and compact optically stabilised lens. Sigma’s super-zoom lens for digital SLRs captured this reflective moment at twilight to perfection. The exclusive built-in Sigma Optical Subiliser virally eliminates the problem of eamera shake that can otherwise mar telephoto photography in such low light conditions. SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass and aspherical elements effectively ‘eliminate aberrations whilst super multilayer coating cuts flare and ghosting. An impressive minimum focusing distance of 4Sem/17.7in, throughout the entire zoom range gives & maximum reproduction ratio is 1:39. A matched petal-shaped Jens hood is included and the non-rotating front element is ideal for accepting circular polarising filters A high quality super-zoom lens for digital SLRs, with Sigma’s exclusive Optical SMoroteweye aA Stabiliser to minimise the effects of camera shake. SIGMA 18-200i F3.5-6.3 DC OS (aici LSigma Imaging (UK) Lid, 13 Little Mundells, Welwyn Garden City, Herts. ALT IEW. Tel: 01707 329 999 Fax: 01707 327 822 ‘worw.sigma-imaging-uk.com E-mail: sales@sigma-imaging-uk.comand welcome to our special winterspring edition of, Digital Photography Techniques. Overthe next 100 pages our team of experts will be providing heaps of inspiration and advice on how to master your digital SLR ‘or bridge camera and create better pictures. Weillalso be guidingyou through the most important features of your camera -ineffect actingas ausersriendly extension of your camera manual sharing tricks of the trade and recommending erses and other accessories that will improve yourskils noend. Gettingthe result you wantright in-camera sof course justone stage inthe process. Soourteam will adcitionally be looking tthe best methods of processing Raw format files and storing and organising your photos, plus ‘manipulating your pictures in easy stages so tat they look: stunning, Soif you bought or were given a DSLR ‘orbridge camera this year, by picking up fod Digital Photography Techniques you've best from taken yourfirst decisive step towards better digital photography. COVER IMAGE: PR Nrgin wi blrrcisons com ee rT) Seeatt eee Forint errr st aerial ae Sashes ae route ear eoi fem anos 1PC|INSPIRE DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY TECHNIQUES &ec) 0] Technique Get to know your camera and accessories Our experts show you how to take great Pris (eRe (U eRe eRe ants pictures of some of your favourite pe Cett me Wea Theta subjects, with, forthe more creatively mastered yourkit, you can concentrate ambitious, advice on how to process NOU eTH yom rOMUNLerteeCoc Be OED E RAWimages and experiment with High. Dynamic Range (HDR) photography. Pyooracoe ken Salvi KO le Comore atin Make the most of yourcamera gear with our Complete Guides to... | 38 WINTER PHOTOGRAPHY 46 PORTRAITS | 54 RAWEILESS 60 PHOTOGRAPHING KIDS Cet Nee) Pres acd pt sy Pre easy PALL 4 DIGITAL PE RAPHY TECHNIQUESContents Photoshop tips Learn how to make good pictures great ones with our easy to follow image editing, enhancement and file management tips for Adobe Photoshop and Elements users. Get up to speed with arguably the most popular and powerful photo software onthe market with our Complete Guides to.. > , aan i Se aa pe tee aille pent Cae BU cy inspiration Sac lereunc ts TCTs mas nits accor coe ay examples of what other reddershave achievedwith their DSLRs. Panniers ie == You've learnt how to get to grips with your camera kit, digested our experts’ shooting technique tips, plus processed, edited and catalogued your images. What's next? Making stunning prints that do your images justice. We've outlined the types of printers to look out for and how to easily achieve optimum results with our Complete Guide to Printing. Get the lowdowr joe Teen Be Teeny retryComplete Guide tohile bridge and digital SLR (DSLR) camerasarenot the same, they sporta setof very similar features and modes, and sothe way they do their jobsis not that different. Bridge cameras ere so called because they offer a ink between basic point-and- compacts and more fully featured offering greater degree of creative being more portable than a DSLR. Unlike a DSLR you can't swap the lens in use, butits broad focal range see our guidetto lenses, page 18) ensures that bridge models So you've got yournew photographic pride and joy and want to know how to use its features to take better pictures. (also known as’superzooms’orpro-sumer cameras) are ideal forthe vast majority (of photographic subjects end opportunites Forthe pros and cons of both, see our boxout The simiartes the way you set the sh 2 DSLR forinstance wil follow the same principles on a bridgecamera, The Read on to find out more about the key features of your digital camera. you quichy familiarise yourselfwith such Features and getting you out nd taking better pictures as soon as possibleComplete Guide to: DSL ‘Above: Chak n sie you DSLR (bttem) or thie camer top has ard shake ut wil Feb lve a higher potion of sharp focused Images ares all common shoctng coratons eee Image Stabilisation or Anti Shake To ensure sharpershots when using ‘maximum 200m or sheoting in ow light without fash ora trigod, both DSLRs and bridge cameras have buitin-oraccessto lenses with image stabilisation. The alternatives CCD shit anti shake, whereby the camera'sinternal sensor adjusts to counterbalance any external wobble and avoid image blu i's common con bridge cameras and, with thenatable ‘exception of Canon and Nikon, most modern DSLRs. Here the sensor isattached toapiatform that can be moved to ‘compensate for your hand shaking at low shutterspeeds. The obvious advantage of DSLRS fitted withthe CCD shift system is that any lens fitted, image stabilised or not, can automaticaly take advantage of anti shake. Such cameras esoemploy theirsystem asa {defence against dust adheringto the sensor, the resultof undesirables inbudingwhen changing lenses. As part ofa sensor Cleaning procedure, itis given a vigorous E ¥ shake, @ process normally taking place ‘when the camera isturned on andor off Camera systems meanwhile that built anti shake into theirlenses, such as Canon's OS DSLRs, use active optics within the lens to compensate for any hand shake. The ‘downside here isitcan make the lenses ‘mote expensive, though buyingoneas part ‘ofa bundle dea at the same time as the ‘camera can prove more cost effective On both a bridge camera and a DSLR, using image stabilisation also means you can avoid some of the higher ISO light sensitivity settings on your camera; aroute togetting faster shutter speeds, but one that can introduce unwanted image noise atvery high ISOs, Our advice then istoleave image stabilisation switched on, even for general shooting. Even though itsepsatad more power from your camera's battery it helps keep shots pin sharp no matter what typeof image you'te photographing. ‘Above: These two images show the way a OCD shit ant shake system warks within a DSLR, itl be the same in a bre camera with at shake. hose cameras makers at use an shake kroes wl ave ative optics within the as Go the Same job. Howe, cameras wih ts CCD Sit System benetit fiom evry knssat on the camera behig automaticaly “ant she” F ECHNIQUES 9Using your gear Shooting RAW Pee ee ee ea) Dea ae eet Pe Tee eee aay expensive bridge models. it's a fle format th See ese ey CVE eee -ause they Have had no camera processing applied, so, Grau a ee as detail — to fit onto a memory card. Why i that an advantage? Well it means that all the original image information is stil eee ee Cree a ee cag Pe eee set eres Photoshop or with the dedicated RAW processing software Pree sea eS ees Key advantages include the ability to tweak almost every CCR eee en Cone ec eu es lens vignetting (an apparent darkening of image corners) can be compensated for. But of particular interest 's the greater pr ne eee ets Ce ee ec ne aS cee Pre ee fee ewe oy eat er RAW Se en ee ecu Cay es images, and, as noted, will quite specialist software v which to do so. Shooting JPEG eee ae eae eae ue setae Tee ee aes compression levels increase, the image quality will drop and JPEG artefacts, such as piel fringing (a line of et) areas of high contrast or Tee eee ent eee eet a But don't panic, most ofthese artifacts are only visible if, eee ee cr erred intention of doi Se a a ary RNC ae eee en) eet eee en eee ea Peon ee eee nt nee tr on your DSLR or Bridge camera, each step up reduces the amount of compression and so improves ultimate image ra nee eee es Oe ge ae ee ey Ppa eee Scores i eons RAW + JPEG HY TECHNIOLE Sot RAW and JPEG ima of image quality. By capturing both each time you ded with a JPEG image to use as a quick proof, say, and @Complete Guide to: DSLR & Bridge Cameras Image Size Settings This setting provides you with a way to adjust the number of pixels you throw at any image you shoot. If you have 2 15-megapixel sensor in your camera, ‘you don't always have to use all of them. Shooting fora web site will nt require such high-resolution images as a shoot for large prints, so you might consider