Digital OTA . EXPERT TIPSWant to master your Camera? Then don't miss our NEW Photography magazine on £5 Readly now! THE ULTIMATE PHOTOGRAPHER’S GEAR GUIDE! Ta See aes ao i, & White with stunning results! ic Peele sy alle 5 SoA kg VALET Editing Your Photos Photograph Your Car Shooting Into The ‘On The Go Teretee professionals Light (Yes, you can!) More essential utorialsforthe Learn the undamentalact tor eeenenofugitroam Automotive Rig PHOtORTaPPY falta aa Ue NM acentoDigital Photography The Complete Guide YOUR INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD OF CREATIVE DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY BEGINS HERE There has never been a better time to learn photography. Imaging technology has come on in leaps and bounds in the space of a few short years, and to be able to get the best out of your camera, you need a good understanding of the fundamentals. This guide is designed to introduce you to the main technical aspects of shooting digital and get you more familiar and comfortable with the core concepts that are the foundation of great photography. Then we will take you on to more creative subject matter with a series of easy to understand guides, projects and tips to really get you inspired and take your photography to the next level.Ou CF) er aooO ll PU ah Tabletopphotography 96 Outdoor portraiture pe mmiorieiaehint oie ameasestaehtentiy eee Cee! emer) ee! ee eee eee a eer cea ome een Fer area Ca cme eee Td US ts TS Cees Prentice Frrmroteery 144 Adjusting exposure PO a FOr asc’ Fee een co oes Fee PecGETTING STARTED GETTING STARTED GINS eRUA NGC UNM RC SSO ESR UM TUT pene cn ete eae ee cere et Cee ae Petey Ceca ee a ee Se SPC pete ee eet) | ea ee ey substantial quantity of your hardhearieg Corie ated money t stake, choosing the wrong Re a See pees tee ar section welltrytohelp you clear away een eure Pee nt ett eee er ens Set Pees oe te toecr)|| GETTING STARTED. Types of digital camera There are many kinds of digital camera, so which one is right for you? Igitalcameras come inall shapes and sizes, witha wide variety of different features and functions, They can varyin price from under £100 toover £30,000, soif youwant to buy anew camerait's important to know what sort youneed. Buying the wrong one couldprove tobe an expensive mistake! Let's take aquicklookat the different types of camera that are available. Compact cameras The category of Compact Cameras covers a wide and variedrange ‘of cameratypes. The term “compact” inthis context has nothing to dowith the sizeof the camera, and merely means a camera withan Standard compact > Most compact camerastallintothis category. They tend tobe fairy small and light, measuring about 100x50x25mm andweighing around 120-130. Modern standard compacts areniormally fully automatic although some may offer basic ‘manual exposureoptions. They usually haveazeomlensot upto 10xuhich olds tush wit the camera body andanLCD ‘monitor of about Zom diagonal size. Prices startat about £60 for budget models, up to around£300 for hnurymodels, Extra features may include such things. as HD videorecording, image stabiisation or \WcFiconnectivity. and they aften comein Zoom compact > Zoom compacts also sometimeskrownas “Travel Cameras, arebroadly similar to standard compacts, butare equipped with more powerful lenses, some as argeas 30xz00m.Mosthave robustmetalboceshig-capacitybatteries andlage monitorscreens:manyalsofeature HD videorecordingandopticalimage stabilisation Theyareusualylargerthan standard compacts, vith bodies thatincorporateasmalihandriptor ‘more comfortable handing. and thelenses do rnotusualy fold completely ush withthebody Mary madels now alsohave optional manual exposure features, andsomeinclce builtin GPStocautomaticgeotagging of your travel pictures. Pricesstartat around 150, goingupto around £400 orlmury models Canon ~ es Integrated, non-removable lens. The distinctions between different ‘typesof compact camerahave become rather blurredoflate, but broadly speaking they fallinto the following sub-categories: Adventure cameras > Acategorythathasbeen rowing inpopulaty, Adventure Camerasare designed tobe used outdoors inextreme conditions. They re waterproot.many areaiso shockproof, and growing ‘umber arealso advertised as being ‘reezeproctalthoughtat seemsto betakinathingstothe absolute extren intermso capabilties most adventure cameras are simiartostandard compacts wthupto Sxzoom lenses thatareusuallynon-protruding and protected behind toughenedglass ports. Prices startat around £90 orbasc ‘models, up toaround £400 or themost capablemodels,Advanced compact > Advanced compacts aredesignedtor more experienced photographers, and offer superior photographic versatiityand qual, aswell as advancedcreativefeatures suchas manual exposure controls, manual focusing optical viewfindersandexternal flashconnections. Theyareconsiderably imoreexpensive tanathertypesof compact, withpices ranging rom around :300 > over £500, Therearerelatively few models inthis category witheramplesincluding the (lyrpusX22,thePanasonie LXSandthe Canon PowerShot GIS Thereisanevenmore ratetied category thathasappearedmore recenty ofadvancedcompacts with larger sensors. Notableexamplesincude the Sory XI. the FufimX series andthe Canon LX Mia. Prcesrange from around 500 towel over £2000. Smartphone cameras > Thereisnogettingavayfromitthe ‘sariphonehasturnectedeaotapoint and shoot cameracnitshead, These days. youareafteraquick,nononsense, shotikea seieorsomerendom event where tryinato setupaDSLR'stoostomthenthese arideal Smartphoneimapingtecnroioayhascome along way andyour averagesmartphone's now capabieofshooting IB megapixels with impcessivelow-ightcapabiltyorsucha compact device Moreover, marysmartphenes nowhavethemancamerabackedupwth atronttacing lover resolution, ‘see cam aswel lthemajorplayers suchas Apple. Samsung LGand HTChaveawiderangect phones wth nereasnaycomplexcamera technologybuitinasstandard Super-zoom > Super zcomecamerasusedtobecaled bridge cameras” since they ere seen ashalt way between compact camerasand DSLRs, buttheyhavebeenfatingouto favour ver the paste yarsas zaomcompactsandCSCs encroach everfurtherinto ther tadtional terry Nonetheless there arestilanumber of superzoomsonthemarkeandmostofthem areverycapablecameres. They aeusvaby large. wihSLR-stylebodies incucrg bighardgripsandelactroicvewindrs Al offerpowerfulzo0m lenses, someasmuchas S0xzb0m,andusualy include opticalmage stebsation Most asofeatue advanced HO videorecording often withstere audio, and samealsonclideadvancedhotograntic features sucnasmanvalexposureand ash hotshees. Pres tart atarounds170,gor'gup toneary $400 forthemoreadvancedmode Digital SLR > Thefis digital SLRs (OSLR) were introduced inthelate1990s, andwerebased onearter fm cameras. They haveinterchangeablelenses, andmost igital SLRscanuse thesamelenses asthe alder irmbasedoredecessors. With speciaistlenses available for particular tasks SLRsystemsare thecholceof most serious amateur andprofessionalphotographers,and ‘mostotfersuperbimage quality. MostDSLRs useasensorsizecalled "APS-C" butafewtop- endcamerasuselargee“fulrame” sensors these ot a3Serm tm frame Presstartfrom about $400 foranentry level APS-Cmodel with astandardiens. whileatop professionalfulltrame rmodelsuchas thecanan 1Dxseen herecosts £4,800just focthe camerabody! Boe ec, aa e e . ? Compact system cameras > Compact system cameras (CSC) have interchangeablelenses, lowing photographers tochoose particular ens for apartcular task andalsohavearange father accessories such asflashguns. The istcompact system camera wasthePanasonicLumixGl.launchedin2008. Theyofler most ofthe versatity andimage ‘qualtyofdgtal SLRs, butinasmal, lghterand inmostcasesless expensive package. They are ‘agood choice forthehobby photographer who wantstoextend heicrange, but whodoesr't wanttobedragsingaheavy bag offulsized lensesaround, Thereis wide aratoninqualty andicapabiltybetweenthe varousbrandsand ‘models though. andpicesrangefromlessthan £300toover 1,200,Somerangeshaveonly releasedafewextralensesasyet soitpaystodo somehomewerkandreadproductreviewsbelore ‘making your choce Medium Format > HevenafulrameDSLRisn'tquitegood enough oryou.youcoudalvaystry adit Medium Formatcamera.ntichhas even larger sensor. he HasselbladH40-60shoun herehasa esolutionof6Omegapinelsand amazing picture quality, utitdoesntcome cheap; withastandardlersitwilcstyou around $32,000![| GETTINGSTARTED | Choosing the right camera How to avoid spending more than you need herearemany itferenttypes of T clgital camera, and choosing the right one for youis dlficult decision. Depending onwhat typeof camera you're looking for youcouldbe spending hundreds ‘reven thousands of pounds: a significant sum of money for most people, soit's important tomake theright choice. Tho first questions how muchdo youwant tospend? Naturally ou wantthe best camera youcanatford, but there'sne point spending Todecide what features you need, think aboutwhatkindofphotos youaremost Ikelytotake you domainly casual social photography, suchasholiday snaps or pictures ofyourfriends on anightout, ant onlyever sharetheresultsviaemalland Facebook, youdon'tneed tospencthundreds ‘of pounds ona high specsuper-zoom camera oraigital SLR. Any decent fully-automatic compact willd the ob perfectly welfor Under £100, andbemuch easier tocarry “With any gadgetthere's the temptation to spenda bit more to get that extra feature, but whenit comes to cameras this could quickly become very expensive.” ‘morethan youneed. Thebest option isto setyourselfabudgetandsticktoit. swith any gadget there's alvays the temptation to spendalitlebstmoretogetthat one extra feature, but whenitcomesto.camerasthis could quickly become very expensive. Decide what features youactually need, then star, lookingfor thecamerathat meets yourneeds within yourbudget Remember also thatyouhave to consider thecost of more than ustthe camera, Youalso need tobudget for things suchas memory cards, cleaningkit. maybeabag orcase, and evenextralensesoraflashgun ityouchcoseaDSLRorcompactsystem camera. 'youblowallyour budgeton the camera youmay findyourselfunableto afford these usefulextras Atypicalbasic £100 compact camerathese days wil usuallyhavea T2to14-megapixel sensor ax or 8xz00mlens witha 28mm equivalent wide-anglesetting,22.73nch ‘monitor screen and 720p HD videorecording, Expecttoadd 20 percentto the price for any adaltional features suchas ahigher resolution sensor a wider angleor longer zoomilens, a biageror sharper monitor, ful]OBOpHD video recording orany type ofmechanicalimage stabilsation Top-ofthe-rangeautomatic compactstypically cost around £250-£300. Hyouwant more versatiitybutdon't want thebulkor complexity ofadigitalSLRthen ‘maybe along-zoom compact super-z00m camerawouldbemore suitable. Mary include optional manual contro. aswellasextra features such asimage tabilstionor builtin GPS positioning. Therearealsoatew igh speccompactsthat feature veryhigh qualty lenses endlarger sensors, made'ssuchastine Canon Gseres, the PanasonieLXseriesor the ‘Samsung NX series. Depending onbranciand featuresacameraikethiswillcostbetween £200and8500. Ontheotherhandifyou areakeen hobby photographer youllwantacamerawitha ‘200d quality lens. full manualeontrolsand super picture quality. Also factorslikebuild {quality and theavaitabilty faccessories willbemajorselingpoints.soyou'relikely tofind anal auto snapshot cameratobe ‘muchtaorestritive, Youshauldbelooking atadigital SLRox compactsystem camera, ithinterchangeablelensesandcreative accessories. Thepricerangeonthesetypes ofcamerastartsat around £500 andhasno real upper limit. Knowing what you want out of your cameraisthefirststeptomakingthe rightchoice. Thebestadviceistoreadas many product reviewsasyoucan Therearemany websites thathave goodexpertreviews.aswellas ‘many goodphotography magazines. Not everyones’ thoughts wilbethesame, so itmakessensetoreadseveralreviewso! arangeofcameras. togetateelforthe prevalingopiions, Readingreviews ill helpyoutobecome familiar withthe current ‘modelsthat areavalable, whatfeatures.are sof wat problemsto lookout forandhow ‘much youshouldexpecttopay. Typeset digtatcanerarangetromsinle budget compactscasingssthan10,oprotesional- srasedgtaltRecesting over 10000.EIInuunc cou ee FI a Fe 2 )GETTING STARTED Ca DSLR and CSC lenses Expand your system with extra lenses Cen eee re Cattachedusigabayoetype mounting Stomandcanbe qt reroreby jeandaeasc compat wth tmayolerensesdesgnetoruseih Kone Minto and crt Sony DSL faxand inotalenses. Olympus abar lensmount when itswitehed from tim igital SLRs, opting instead forthe smaller sndsensorsysternco ith Panasonic. Asaresult older patil with i Thirds mount: eveloped) necompany’s modernDSLR aithough the current Olympus E-syster en rangeisqute extensive s ystems particularly neoftheneve Nxand Sony's Luchaste Samsung $tihave comparative rebengaddedt pass, The popula (G-Microsystem already has 3s. ncludingaunique Dino ause an adapterisavallabl that NEXcamerasuse existing Son snoléMinoltaA-mountlenses Prime versus zoom anbedividedintotwomain cate omlenses, whichhaveavariabl which have length, andprimelense re heavier than prime ‘maximumaperture. Pri relighterand usualy range offocallength avalableinahu andard rom che 5 ast telephotozoom There inprce-perfocallene oth _ length and maxin popularand premium onthe imelense etteroptic oreofthemtt teas verse lua price stingover El nbetween 2 wumaperture preferthe mises, others ctuily relatively ite cif with both ferBUYING USED LENSES focusingcistances ‘Apart rommount compatilty. things towateh out for when buying olderlenses Include. fay obviously signsofexternal damage Knocksanddentsonthelens barelcanpusithe lass elementsinside outof alignment which wilaffectimage ‘quality. Anotherhazardiscontaination, both from generaldust andirtthatfindsits wayinside thelens anc from fungal growth legacylenses.NkonFmountlensescan _onthesurfaceottheglasselements, sign alsobeusedwithmadernFXandOXmount _ thatthelenshasbeenstored foc along time cameras althoughinboth these casesmany — indampcondton.'seasy to spot simply lderlonseswilrequremanualfocsing _satthalensonits widest apertureandlook andapertureseting Canonchangedtrom _thoughitatabrighlytwindow or white ItsoldelectromechanicalFOmountto _surface Furgalbloomilbewsitleas theal-electricF mountin1987.andthen feathery threads, usually aroundthe edges totheEF Smountwiththeinroductionot _ofthelens, Lenses suffering rom fungal igtalSLRs. FlensescanbousedonEF-S _bloomcanbecleaned but this wil ost cameras. butfunctionssuchasautomatic ely havetobedoneby aspeciaisand can aperturesettingmaynotwork FD mount _beexpensive sotsbesttoavoditinthe lenses requirea special adapter, and frstlace ‘maynotbe abletocover the ullrangeot > Lenseshavefew moving parts soit they'rewelHookedafter theres noreason \whythey shouldntcontinueto beuseful focmanyyearsor even decades. Nikon andPentaxstiluseessetialy thesame lensmountsfortheirDSLRSas they did or theirfimcameras, andPentaxcamerasin particular arebackwards-compatibiewith allprviousPentaxbayonet mauntlenss, fivingusersacess tonearly A0yearsof “Zoom lenses have the advantage that they are more versatile... Prime lenses are lighter and usually of better optical quality.” ea aes) Se area en en ee ey eee et urs ean ee ae a eee eee eet eee ee cal ee eee eee eet de-anglelensbecomesclosertoa Pare Sr ae ct roe eee ae eee onsiderationhentuyingalens See eee Se ecu Pete orice: Beet ee enn ere! Petre TYPES OF LENSES ‘Most photographerswillaveat east acouplect lenses, hile akeenenthusiast or professional migthavea dzen ‘ormora, possibly rommorethanonesystem. ‘Mostentr evel andsomeméangeDSLRsandCSCs se avlablein ts incdingoneortwolenses. These will ‘usually bea standardwide zoom, sich asan18 55mm (orAPS.C) anda mediumtelephto zoom, suchasa55- 200mm andtheserepresetthemostpopuarfoallorgths ‘STANDARD ZOOM TPL OCALLNGT:-4r(Four Ts yn) 18-55mm(APS- Ces). 28-80 Fane Sno) > Tissthemost common focllength, stitablefor general photography and seul for everthing romlandscapes toporraits Mostsystemswilincdes couplcfleneesinthiefoallengthrange, usualy acheaper slower vesionoften ‘ncludedssakitlenswithanew camera andapremiam lensoftencostinga ot morebutwthamichlager ‘maxinumaperture andoc uch higher optical qukly. MEDIUM TELEPHOTO ZOOM "TL FOCALLENGT 050m Fur Td sto) 55.200 APS Catens) 00m Fula Semsy ms) > Thesecondmastpopuar ‘ypeoflersthemedium telephoto zoomisusetlfor amsateurwifeorsperts hotograpy opr at the shorerendofitsfcallengthrange Telephoto z00ms sreusually sioner haveasmaler effective aperture) than standard zooms but thereare specialised (adver ery ‘expensive tkepoto zooms aval for professionals thatcanhaveveryfastapetures. ULTRA-WIDE ZOOM ‘TIL OCALLINGT: 98mm Fae ete) 10-2ane APS Cyto). 35nm Fu rae yon) > Utrawidezoomlensesareprimarily sed foclandscapephotogrephy They are ‘morespeciasedthanstandardzooms and consequent areusually moreexpensive, although somesystemsincudeboth standardan premium ypes. ‘SPECIALIST LENSES > Aswallascommon types oflens suchas those sted abovethelagerDSLRsystems Include specilistensesused ‘mainly by professionals and advance enthusiasts. These inde both nomandprime itr fastelephotolenses usedby sportsandwidifephotographers shitlenses. ‘usedby architectural andlandscape photographers. and fishreyelenss, soda createultra-wideangeshots ith apeculardstortonetfct(sana “It’simportantto choose the right lens for the job, but top quality DSLR lenses are very expensive.” How it’s done The right lens for the job ijsseece specialistens toget this Manhattan skyline. The extremenatureofthe distortion this les gives you is apparent inthe very visible curvature oftheharizon, the bridge andthe foregroundjetty. Thekindoflensthat candothisis calleda isheye. Whereas most lenses aretryinghardto eliminate distortion the isheye uses ita its advantageto give youanunparallled angle of view that can encompass 180. Inthe caseof the examplelensshown here, the Canon 8:15mmfisheyecan actually create afully circular 360° image atthe mm end ofthe zoom rangeuptoa 180° corner tocornerimage when zoomed to15mm, Justbe prepared ‘over £800 forthe privilege.GETTING STARTED Tripods The best way to eliminate camera shake smpactcameras, oheavy studio tripods tyouvartotke bet potogaphs | testeerestisctisesoy ” atstncaves tet aytangatipadyascancanetay tepuniandyitertotptopaphy Siminecarereshletweumber—jcteporgtouset Soecuictunststacayeoton h” avasrsaen cong sted tipediasoesenalvhentningore fy adearyraeat Tete wtensostngnintghteodtonsyoarcaneaandatpect st ane Tcueranstteennolesend Guyer psutnpestchensedn pwoltpearemenerptcgtmodels sumnumigact bain tora eurguerdisplopttesing’ witantigesiertanaconpsctragt oitimcsradsccsonibeetd aparnm alte pounadpescsin purée Teycaremetsiestfem mlmeestnalgengtbesengh> ocket-sizedmini-trigadssuitableforsmall _supportaheavy camera: ce 5 for be A > 7 oe | Memory cards The ‘digital film’ that stores your pictures nesieffcttthe ever O icrensingreslont al Carats the rout ot themafeties taney produce and neat store Rawfestromatiphrspec OstRsuchastheCaonEOS SD Mtoe near 206 each anoren Peles producedbysnomalcompactcamers ae feeuent over hBeach Gear sone mote thanatanetlfpeures ees SListantt ancuntttorage copay Thevoutorcedby ray etogt! carastaninanohe mesa corlmeenmeruse they sverines brsameny Teycntanchpssape dteaputrmemajealedrasheny. Wiseanstoredaofoveyreperoc ayesarsd Thomeartatamaneryerd The ther bigadvantage ofFlashmemory isthatitis reusable, Once youve copiedthe image les fromyour memory cardonto computer or other permanent storage device, thecontents canbe deleted and the cardcan beusedagain Asifthat weren'tenough, Flash memory cardsarealso incredibly durable. There are ‘many stories of cameras and other devices being damagedor destroyed, but the data storedon the memory cardsurviving Lnharmed, Ihave personally accidentally runan SD.carafullof photographsthrough afulleycle na washingmachine (itwasina trouser pocket) withnoillefects, Premium cards versus budget cards > Thepopularity of SD cardshasledtoa large number of budget brands springing up, ‘andmary supermarketsandchainstores selltheir own-brand cardsat often verylow prices. However the best advices tostick tothepremium brands suchas SanDisk Lexar Pretec, PNY or Kingston, or tocamera brands suchas Fujflmor Panasonic. Although they may be more expensive their higher standards of quality control mean thatpremium cards are usually much more reliable Ityou'vegot ahigh-performance camerait'salso worth spendingabitextra for faster datatransferrates toget the best outofit = \WAGEA-TReinsieatanSDeara reused inaltypesotportabedevcesncluing ‘amare, They eoninachipotFlshmemarySD CARD SPEED RATINGS stillimages, Thespeed of the memory card ‘45MB/s 90MB/s andthe UDMA 7 Compact peeaceeeeenaienen inated nee butar now consderedtoolargetormoder compact cameras. CF cards arstilusedinsome high-end cameras suchas flframeDSLRe. canhaveanetfectontheoveraliperformance Flashcards aneach I20MB/s, ofthe camera, especially onhigh-end models Unfortunately many manufacturershave theircunwaysof describing thespeedof theircards, which canbe ery contusing fortheconsumer,Someuse the’ rating, comparingtheread/writespeedto that of ACD-RO, approximately 150 kilobytes persecand (150 KB/s), soamemorycard fatedat 40x speedhasatranterrateof6 ‘megabytes per second (6MB/s).The more widely accepted speedratingisthe Class system usualy donated by anumber inside letter C Most budget cardsareClass2,with aminimum read/write speedof2MB/s. Most (ge card oust es ned 12H but rm range high capacitycardsare Class Improvedandsmalr versions suchas Memory Stick 6,witharead/writespeed of B/S. The PRO, Memory Sick PRODuoand Memory SekPRO- HeDuohavelnereaseithstoa current 3208 ‘SMARTMEDIA ‘SmartMedia cards wereavery popular formatfodigitalcompactcamerasanda number ofather devs, butrelabilty problems and thefactthat theintealdesignitedcapacty to 128MBledtothembeingrepacedy SDards MEMORY STICK ea Sony proprietary memerycard format andonlyusedinthat companys products ‘SECURE DIGITAL (SD) ‘The SDcardsby farthemost popular format currently usedin dtl cameras, andistoundinererythngtromthe cheapestcompacstotop-endDSLRS. ssa durable andheap, andthe test variants suchas SOHC High Capacity) ndSDXC (Extended Capacity) hvevastymereaseddstatransterspeeds and maximum storagecapacity 3203 earésare widely albl, andsome manufaturershave take about future SOXCeard with capactesofover terabyte ~ thats1,000 gigabytes! XD-PICTURE LING Thex0-Plture carsformat was IntoducedbyFujtimandOtympus ssanaleratvetoSDeards,andatthetineithad severaadvantages. However ether manufactures vere tinterestd, andthe format wasnot widely used hichmadethecards expensiveandhardto find OhmpusandFujiimusedthemforafew years, buthovenowbothwitchedtothe SD format. MICROSD st commonlyusedinmabiephonesand MP3 Players, MeroSD cardsareonlyusedinafewcameras, ily rom Samsung Some olerOympuscarerascan aisousethemwithasuppled»0 Prturecardadapter[| GETTINGSTARTED Computer questions Will! need a powerful computer for digital photos? ‘oudon’tactually needa computer when youhave acigital camera, butitcertainly helps. Thereare externalimage viewers with builtin backup storage.and youcan alwaysstore your Images on memory cards and view them using algal frame, butahome computer lets you store, view, edit and share your photosmuch more easly. of RAMandIGBof reeharddrivespaceto run, well withinthe specification of virtually anyrecent laptop. fyourea professional photographer who regularly uses uncompressed image tiles from atop-endt DSLRthen youmayneedsomethingabit ‘more powerful particulary with alot more ‘momary.butot-the-shelf desktop PCs with EGE of RAM are airlycommon, “Whatever computer you choose, what you will needis plenty of storage space. It’s amazing how quickly a digital camera can fill upa hard drive.” Handling digit photographs doesn’t Fequitea particularly powertul computer. Even thelatest version of Adobe Photoshop onlyrequires a Pentium 4 processor 1GB ies See geese eae CS eres hathasbecome oer en ene ee CS See coro eee oer et er \Whilelaptops aregood for photos the smaller "netbooks" and tabletsaren'tas, useful. They're great for viewing mages, sincethey haveamuch larger screenthan Psaregenerallymorepronetovirusesand reece en hy cere ener eee eee ees See ee eee Seiem cigrem utodecde ae Pee eee ets Youdontnendapowertuleomputertordigt photographymastmederntapopsarequte apablectrunningAdebe Photoshop. your cameramonitor but they don'tusualy hhavemuchstoragecapacity. Thereare exceptions, forexample Archos makesian Androidtabletwith abuit-in250GBhard rive, butthisis the exception. Whatever computer youchoose, what youwilneedis plenty ofstorage space. I's ‘amazinghovr quickly digital cameracantill Uupaharddrive, especialy if youshootalotof video, soa good optionisto buyaveryarge external drive tostore your images. Aneven better option's buy two of them, ancuse ‘onefor backup, It'spossibletobuyagood {quality terabyte (that's 1,000 gigabytes) external USB 3hard drive for around £60: atthat sortof priceit'sby arthe cheapest solution for bulkstorage of mages and vdeo. Another useful purchaseisagood quality ‘monitor, Large LCD flat panel monitors aregettingcheaperallthetime, andit’s ‘now possibleto findagood quality 22" LCD ‘monitor forunder £100. ityou're goingto spendalongtimeviewing andediting your photos it's worth getting good mentor i’sbetterfor youreyesandalot more comfortabletouse ltyoudoalotof mage editing youmay want toconsidergettingapen-controlled crawing tablet, Thebiggestnameinthe business is Wacom. whichmakesa wide rangeot pentablets forthconsumers andprofessionals Thelarger ones are very expensive, but hey offer extremelyprecise controlandawiderangeof crawingeffects.=|| GETTINGSTARTED occa Printers | ‘Agoodhamephotoprintercan framingorputinginanatbum, Prints are still the best way to share your photos he sad truthis that photo printing I seems tobeadyingart.tt'ssoeasy these days to share your pictures by email, Twitter or instant messaging, or via online galleries and photoalbumssuch ‘as Facebook, Picasaor Flickr, thathardly ‘anyone ever prints out their photos anymore. ‘Thisisa pity, because printing your photos has several advantages. nice big framed print hungon the wallor displayedonashelt will rightenup the room andis great way toshowoff your best photos. Framed prints, ‘or photo albums make great presents or keepsakes, especially for the more important eventsin ie. You wouldn't expect to look through your wedding photos on alaptop. ‘and showing embarrassing baby photos to the prospective sonor daughter in-lawisa tradition that just wouldn't be the same if ddonewith aportable viewing screen, Thereare three maintypes of photo printer laser, inkjetanddye sublimation, Laser printers are used forcommercial printing ‘where high volume and lowrunning cost is ‘moceimportant than printquality.Ofthetwo typesintended for homeuse, by farthe mast common areinkjt printers. Theyare socalled because theyhaveamoving printhead thatspraysvery ine droplets ofiquidinkonto the paper toformanimage. The mainbrands are Canon, Epson, Lexrmarkand HP. There are number oftlfferent types on the market including stand-alonepintersthat connect tayour PCvia WiFi alin-onedevicesthat combine the functions of printer. scanner, photocopes, fax machine andmemory card reader, and cheap single-function budget printers costing less than £25. roll butthese cost thousands of pounds, These days even rlatvelylow cost photoprintersarecapableot producing very good quality results, but there are afew features that are worthlooking out for Someprinterscan printon multiple surfaces. including specially prepared CDs. great forlabeling your album backup disks, Many modern printers use multiole ink cartridges, sometimesasmanyaseight “Showing embarrassing baby photos to the prospective son or daughter-in-lawisa tradition that just wouldn'tbe thesameif done witha portable viewingscreen.” Themajority ofdomesticinkjetphoto printers canhandle paper upto Adinsize, aswellas smaller sizes suchas the popular 10x15em (x4in snapshot size For larger prints, A3sizeprinterssuch asthe Canon PrxmaPro9500 Mall orthe Epson Stylus 3000 areavallablealthoughthey cost over £500 andare considerably more expensive tarunthanan Ad model. For larger printsstil there are large-format inkjet printers thatcan produce prints on A2 paper, usually fedfrom Modernaltin-onprinterssuchas blendintohebome envronmentand festorewirelessconnectn, ning unsightieaties individual pigments. Although buying oto cartridges can seem expensive, they'reless wastefulthanmultiinkeartridges because youidon'thaveta throwaway ahal-fullone lustbecause one colourhas run out Interms of specification, manufacturers are constantly makingimprovements, sodifferent aspects ofperformanceand qualitybecomeemphasised Printresoltion shouldbe a good indicator, butalfferent ‘manufacturers measureitintferent ways, ‘making thardto compere ike withike, At themomentink droplet size seems to bethe accepted quality yardstick. with anything around 0-1 5picoltresbeing very good. Printing speedis another factor to consider theablty produce a10x15em(6x4in) photo printia under 15 seconds isa pretty good performance indicator. Dye sublimation, dye-subprintersareless common, andarenot usually usedas PC printers, Most oftheones that are available arestanc:-alone units designedto print lrectly ram the camera or memory card Apart from somevery expensivecommercial ‘models current dye-sub printers arelimited tol0xi6cm (6xdin) snapshot size prints, Dye sublimation printingworksinacompletely different way toinkjet printing, Insteadota ‘moving head squirtinginkontopaper. the Imageis formed rom three layers of pigment carriedonaspecial flmroller Rather than lacinginkcartridges, anewpigment pack isinserted. Dye-sub printers canbevery expensive torun, butthey do produce very goodqualityresults.a|| GETTINGSTARTED Software Turn your computer into a digital darkroom mitra tha iggst Gate mca protons thal potogany sshowaulydgtalinagescane tered tang computer sotnereOnthepostve shu times that mine epestoor Csr tuoceprosimecanbe st cavected-umanteem shes such ssorrhedpverinesor the pion Situs eye canberamore an seatontintrmation suchas Captions or PSTocatndatacanbe sdued On hens seta that Joucar nolo’ st tataphete mods canbegentacecandoedes tote nature new peogaphcan bedoctre toppers pot agsnda andthe potent forte suse fra trees teri, omecameree Sind rencopteosany wv speal cretion ener pots tobe Miedaserdencecometbetarpered wih, butevertsi ort ctrapeeing stare sabe satay anges ons th rosthrgsyoteno get atyou payor Teots Rycctinageeing £8 00amenherfi0¢00ayex:voned | isreally too powerful too complicatedand too expensivetobe considered forhome Use, The kindof simple photo editing that ‘most digital cameraownersneed would barely scratchthe surfaceot Photoshop's capabilites Forthis reason, in2001 Adobe launched cheaper streamlined version! Photoshop aimed at consumers, called Photoshop Elements. tally Elements wasalow-cost programwith only basic photoeciting features, utover the yearsthis too has, grown n power andcomplexity and Photoshop Expross is currentlyavallablo for freetrialatphotoshop com There are anumber of ther popular lmageediting programs thatrivalPhotoshop Elements for homeuse, Pernapsthe best knownis CorelPaintShop Pro. firstlaunched in1992. is another very powerful program thathas many of the features of Photoshop, butwhichisbetter suited forhobbyists and enthusiasts, notleastbecauseit salt cheaper. The current version, PaintShop PraX7. retails for around 840, Corelaiso rmakesamoresophisticatedversion with, “Colour balance problems can be easily corrected, unwanted blemishes such as overhead power lines or the problem of flash ‘red-eye’ can be removed.” consequentl its pricehas alsoincreased, with the latest version, Elements 13, currently selling for around £50. Asa simpler alternative to Elements, Adobehas launched Photoshop xpress, anonline browser-based image eaitngprogram avaliabletor alltypesof computer as well assomemobile devices toffersa wide rangeofeasy-to-useediting tools anda simplifedintertace. tdoeshave some limitsontileandimagesize,butpictures frommast compact cameras shouldbe fine 64-bitprocessingcalled PaintShop Pro X6Ultimate, which sells for around £60, andisaimedathobbyistand enthusiast photographers. Therearesomealternatives that are even cheaper. One ofthebestisthe Lnfortunately-named GIMP. or GNUIma Manipulation Program, afree mage editing programreleased under an open-source licence. GIMPisextremely powerful rivaling the capabilites of Adobe Phatashop, but t Islustas complicated touseandlike manyParad havefewercholesatimagecdtng stare bt l Despiteanssriyeainthe 19s tay’sMacusrs those programe thataeavaabeareveryped, open-source programsthe documentation isa'talitmightbe.Ifyou'ealready familar with Photoshop youshould haveno problem with GIMP, butit’s definitely notrecommended for beginners. Abetter ree alternative for novices isGoogle Picasa, whichis availabe for free downloadat picasa google.com. Picasahasbasic imageeaiting features for adjusting contrast and colour. resizing, eroppingor rotating images, customisable printingand removing lash red eye. Other alternatives include Pixlr whichis actually abrowser-basedediter thats freetause, There are plenty of mage adjustment features as wellas arangeot fitersandlayerssupport. There isalsoPaint NET which behaves, and looks, ke slightly more feature-rich version ofthe default paint tool that ships with Windows, tisnat exactly flagship application, butitdoes cover the basies very wel For Macintoshusers therearen'tasmany imageediting programstochoose from, butthere are some very goadones. Adobe Photoshop CC, Photoshop Elements 13and the professional magemanagementtool Adobe Lightroomare all available for Mac OSX, asisaversion of GIMP, but the most popular choice is Apple's onnprogram Aperture. Thelatestversion has anewinterface designed tobe mare accessible for noviceusers, butitlacks the versatiity and sophistication of Photoshop, Paint Shop roor GIMP. You could also consider Pixelmator,apowerfullayers:based editor availabe through the App Store for £23, orthe new Affinity Phato app, builtfor creative professionals, currently inbeta but wilretailfor around £40. © Aperture3A) Meret Ait File types and image compression {you'vehada computer ora digitalcamera {ormore than a couple of days, yout have [come across JPEG images, usually denoted jpg’.and youmay be atitmeans. Theletters ‘themselves stand forthe Joint Photographic Expert Group, abody of scientists, programmers ‘and engineers from the imaging industry who be interchangeable, so that picture fromone ‘computer could be viewed on another without having tousefile conversion programs. Th tandard acalled lossy’ storage. For most purposesthis quality reductionisimperceptibleand fine for st for maximum ima quality there are athertypes afimagerile which are uncompressed andloseno quality, ng TIFF which le Format the most commanor Basically the way JPEG compression sii photoeray Forexample, afamilyonabeach. this, Anaverage cgital tains varyinglevels of deta ke an averageholiday snap af jethe man subjec the people inthe foreground, containsa detail there willalzobe large areas sky the sand andthe sea, which atively itiedetal.Inocderto othe ile somedata rom the lower detalareas can safely affecting the qu The reduce thes our soyoumay not thatlook ike squares oti tacts sinhighly lof digitalcamera youhave, twillalmos Large arasotiowdeta selectthe lowest quality youvillprobably find thatyoucan fit about four times as many images onte yourmemory cardasyoucan at the highest setting, becausethehigher JPEG compression setting makes thefiles the quality ot the picture to compensate, Most people wil usethehighest setting: unless you intend to print theta le,youreallycanget away withusing alower quality setting and stile pictures tobe proudot, plus youllbe one quarterasbig, butred ofthetime, but your pictures t te Tats SETTINGS ey Se ee tg ae eee eer nen eee oot sy eee eee ee eee a Se ey Pena ter ee nd eed ee ees end See econ ‘comertedtoalow-compressionPEGUing Pa ey PereraUSING YOUR CAMERA Shooting modes Choosing the setting for the correct shooting conditions Iutthemostbase A wietrese one foveaseectona Stoo modes stay chosen Dyacdalonthetoperback Orinecamera fay tose many actor camerarn terangelon haves ew Sroutnmodes ithe rore scoasatedcaveres sucha theDsttmny hares any aca onan nel manual pore ooton aur programmable specatcettngs congeoraie eee borovcodanCposbl expand retopatnecamceontnsome Dect tneconora ‘Auto DOF Mode: As you focus onyour Bulb Mode: cts youcontrolbothshutter Manual Exposure: This mode provides subject, thecamerawillusetheatherfocus _speedandlens aperture independent the same range ot exposure controlas the points tomeasure the distanceof theother Many cameras offeraBulb shutter. allowing other shooting modes, butletsyou control ‘objectsin the viewfinder. Itwilldetermine _longexposures for as longs youheld the both shutter speed andlens aperture what the appropriate aperture setting shutter button down. Insome cameras, independently for more creative control should be to render everything infocus, Bulb modes anextension of Manual Mode where exposures onger than 30s are switched tothe Bulb Mode option, - BULB .| F6.3 tt00 m B o Gi ONESHOT [)Aperture-Priority AE:Thisallowsyouto Full Automatie Mode: Full Automatic Close-up Mode (Macro Mode): Turning setthelens aperture, whilethecamerais _isindicatedon the Mode dialby agreen the Mode alt the macro flowersymbol lefttoselect the most appropriate shutter rectangular outline. In this mode, th sets the camerafor capturing smaller speed. Youhavecontroloveralltheother _cameramakesallexposuredecisions with _subjectssuchas flowers, jewellery, and exposure variables, including thecontrolof _theexceptionof imagequality. Autofocus other small details. The autofocus mode is exposure compensation ‘modes setto Al Focus, ‘automatically adjusted to One St Shutter-Priority AE: You can manually Flash Off Mode: lash Offmode disables Sports Mode: This mode usesa setthe shutter speed you want towork both the internal lashhead andany external faster shutter speed to capture fast with,whilethe camera chooses thebest _flashunitconnected, Focus is setto Al ‘moving subjects, The autofocus mode correspondingaperture setting. Youhave Focus mode, the AFassistlampdisabled. __isautomatically setto Al Servoto controloverallother exposure variables, _-ISOandwhitebalanceare set automatically _predictivelytrack your subject andkeepit including exposure compensation aswell Infocus asit moves, Creative Auto Mode: Whenset io CA Portrait Mode: This mode uses alarge Night Portrait Mode: This modes for mode. the cameraaliowsthe usertoadjust aperture setting todecrease the depth taking pictures of people at sunset or at picturestyle,motordrive,andexposure _offield, which blurs thebbackground to right etting the lashilluminate the subject compensation, as wellastouse the ‘emphasize the subject. ISO and white hile the longer exposure provides brighter viewot the surroundings. Program AE: Similar tothe Full Automatic andscape made Movie Mode: Wnen Movie mode's selected, mode, butallows more controlover the combines siower shutter speeds with he camera's mitrar and shutter open, asin exposure variables. Aperture and shutter smaller aperturesettings toincrease Live View made, but the Live View / Movie speed are automatically selected by the the depth of field when shooting broad button on the camera's back functions as camera, butyou can alter exposure to panoramasand sweeping landscapes he start/stop button for movie recording, different apertures by turning the Main dial- USING YOUR CAMERA ‘manualfeculences bau tey ‘wont auto-focs bth camer sAF Sstematliyeushenthepieture Focusing Getting the best out of your autofocus system ith only one or two exceptions, allcurrent cigital cameras have automatic focusing, The first autofocus systems were developed by Leica inthe1970s. The first autofocus compact ‘camera, the Konica C35 AF. was intraduced 1n1977, and the first autofocus 35mm SLR, the Pentax ME-F, was launched n1981. Since that time autofocus technology has improved immensely, and these days even the most basic modern AF systems are generally fast, accurateand reliable, ‘Although we nowrely on autofocus forthe vast majrityofphotographs, anyone who has ried takingaphotoin low light. with fast moving subjects or using very ongtelephotolenses willhavenoticed that sometimes even the best AF systemcanrunintoprobiems. We'veell stoodthere withthe ens whirringinand outot focus, tryingtogetalack onour subject. and eventually missedthe shot. I's very frustrating when this happens, bt with afew simple tip youcan help your camerattofocus quickly and accurately evenin dificult situations. Thereare twomaintypes ofautofocussystem mmonuse today. Allcompact cameras andmostCSCs use something called contrast detection AF which samples the image fromthemain picture-taking sensor and detects sharphigh-contrastedgesinthedetailsof scene, Meanwhilealldigital SLRs and Sony's new SLT camerasusesomething called phase-detection A separate dedicated sensors usually mounte below andin front ofthe mainimaging sensor. Phase detection isamorecomplexsystem, butitisusually much faster, mare accurate andworks better inlowligt Howeverboth whichusesanarray of ‘4 By careful ocsingonustonoparttthscone.and systemsrequiresome detalinthescene telockon'to. Tryitfor yourself point your meraataplainallorasheetaf white paper andseeititwillfacus anit. Evenif you ‘wna top-otthe-range DSLRitwon't beable tofocusonateaturelesssurface, There are acouple of waystohelpyour cameratofocus quicklyona scene. Most meras have the option toselect er continuous autofocus. Your camerawitnorrally start tofocuson the scene as soonas you halt pressthe shutter button. Incontinuous focus mode twill ntinue toupdate the focus fyouthen move thecamera.butinsingle AF modeitwillhold thesame focus settingaslongasyouhold down the bution, untilyouactually take the shot. Youcan use ths tofocusthecameraon low-detailtargetsby finding anobjectinthe scene that's the samedistance away asyour jasen subject. focusin holding the focus and e-ramning the shot. ‘on that, and then Diferertensestaveiterentmiimum 2eomtelopotlensesalsoharemace focusingcapbilivestorclose-upe Similarly youcanuseitin reversetofocuson objects that aren tinthecentreoftheframe, Moving targets Compact camera AF systemsareusvaly somewhat lowerthan hoseinDSLRS, which ‘means thaycanhaveareal problem focusing wing subjects. The way aroundthisis either touse continu hasthisoption, touse manual focus. you bjectisgoingtobe such asa.car goingroundatightcorneron aracetrackorachk SAF or.fyourcamera pre-fecus thecameraon this pointand wait totakethepictureat he rightmoment Thismethod takes some practice and good reflexes, butitcan produce excelent result. Close-ups focusing distance, aclosest point beyond inate cameras this cistancecan be very smal insome cases asitle as 2cm (ln), butfor standardDSLRlenses the distances tend tobelonger. Mostcompactcamerashave amacro'settng. usually denoted bythe symbolofatower. Togetcleserfocusingwith aDSLRor CSC, specalelose-focusmacra lenses havetobe used they us, For many compact Depthoffeldis greatly reducedat very close focusing distances, andyoumay find that your AF system doesn’ tfocuson therightpartofthesubject. for exampleit youaretryingto photograph the centre of flower, but the AF focuses on the peal because theyrecloser. Thebest op uuseatripod, and manually setthe focus theclasest distance. Movethe tripod unt the frontofthe subject comes into focus, then carefully manually adjust the focus pint to gettherightparto the flowerto look sharp, isto