Issue 243 July 2016

Kerry Martin’s Fine Art of Pet Photography...Is The Fujifilm X-Pro2 A Serious Pro Camera?How To Search In LightroomShould All Professional Photographers Make Prints?

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AIPP JOURNAL is the official newsletter of The Australian Institute of Professional Photography (AIPP).

Editor Peter Eastway

APP.L, G.M. Photog., FNZIPP, Hon. FAIPP, Hon. FNZIPP, FAIPP

Disclaimer The information provided in The Working Pro and associated publica-

tions is made in good faith, but is general in nature. Neither the editor, the publisher

or the AIPP accept responsibility for or will be under any liability for any recommen-

dations, representations or information provided herein. The AIPP JOURNAL presents

information, opinions and suggestions for subscribers to evaluate in coming to their

own decisions in the light of their own individual circumstances. The information

should not be relied upon without readers first obtaining independent advice from

their own financial and legal advisers.

Unless otherwise noted, all articles are written by Peter Eastway.

Publication The newsletter is published 10 times a year – monthly with November/

December and January/February being combined.

The AIPP JOURNAL newsletter is published by Pt 78 Pty Ltd,

ABN 75 003 152 136, PO Box 351, Collaroy Beach, NSW 2097, Australia.

Phone: (02) 9971 6857; Fax (02) 9971 6641.

E-mail eastway@betterphotography.com

AIPP Membership Contacts

Suite G.02, 171 Union Road,

Surrey Hills, Victoria 3127

Phone: 03 9888 4111

E-mail: admin@aipp.com.au

Cover

Vicki Papas APP AAIPP2015 AIPP AUSTRALIAN FASHION

PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

4 Vittorio Natoli, AIPP National PresidentWestern Australia’s Vittorio Natoli APP.L, M.Photog. has shouldered the role of AIPP National President with some clear directions for the future and acknowledgement of all the work done by the previous Board.

8 Mercury Megaloudis - Board MemberA passionate photographer, a past AIPP Australian Professional Photographer of the Year, and well known for his zest for life, Mercury Megaloudis APP.L, G.M. Photog. has joined the AIPP Board with the goal of making a difference - and bringing back both education and fun.

10 David Glazebrook - Board MemberLet’s build on the aspirational nature of AIPP membership, suggests one of our latest additions to the AIPP Board, Master of Photography and Blue Mountains resident, David Glazebrook, APP, M.Photog.

12 Facebook’s New AIPP CommunityOkay, it’s not new, but it’s brand new! And it’s a member-only benefit where AIPP members can talk to other members in the privacy of their own Facebook Group. Peter Myers explains.

CONTENTS

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14 The ABC of Pet PhotographyKerry Martin APP, AAIPP of Akemi Photography was the 2015 AIPP Australian Pet/Animal Photographer of the Year, so she has a few ideas about what it takes to get the most out of her subjects. Here she reveals some of her hard earned ‘secrets’ for capturing expressions that sell.

24 Knocking The Productivity CommissionIf ever there were an example of bureaucracy taking a wrong path, it is the recent Productivity Commission’s report on suggested changes to copyright. As Chris Shain APP points out, this report must be stopped!

28 Joshua Holko On APPADid you hear about what happened at APPA? APPA is the most discussed event in the AIPP and everyone has an opinion. Joshua Holko APP M. Photog. chats to Peter Eastway about a range of issues, from judge training to reining in scores for multiple images.

36 Why Do Prints Score Less At Nationals?From time to time, a print with a great score at the Epson State Awards will get a lower score at the national APPAs. If we’re supposed to have a single Australian standard, why does this happen? Is it normal? And who is right?

38 Real Photographers Make PrintsHere’s a challenge for the photography profession: To be a professional, you need to offer your clients prints. If you can’t have prints made from your files, then you need to update your skills so you can. Without the ability to make prints, our profession will never survive!

44 How To Easily Search In LightroomLocating a photograph needn’t be like searching for a needle in a haystack – if you follow a few simple steps with Lightroom. However, Lightroom requires text, words or ratings for its search function to work its best, so start by providing this information when you import and edit your images – and then searching is easy! Here’s how it all works...

48 Broad & Short LightingNow that we understand the terms ‘broad’ and ‘short’ lighting, when do you put them into effect? The answer depends on what you want to create as a photographer, but these examples will give you a quick idea of what – and what doesn’t – work so well!

50 Fujifilm X-Pro2 – Is It Professional?The new breed of mirrorless cameras have most of the features of a fully blown DSLR, but less size and weight. Are they only designed for enthusiasts, or are they now truly contenders for a professional photographer’s camera bag?

ISSUE 243 / JULY 2016

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Vittorio Natoli, AIPP National PresidentWestern Australia’s Vittorio Natoli APP.L, M.Photog. has shouldered the role of AIPP National President with some clear directions for the future and acknowledgement of all the work done by the previous Board.

It is a great honour to take on the role of

National President of the Australian Institute of

Professional Photography.

I look forward to continuing the task

of promoting and building what is already

the peak professional body in Australia for

photographers and video producers, and

recognising the needs and interests of

professional image makers in every genre.

INCREASING AWARENESSAs custodian of our AIPP brand, I am passionate

and enthusiastic about supporting the

membership, those entrepreneurial women

and men in their chosen fields of specialisation,

delivering quality imaging to the greater public

and increasing the awareness of the value of

our services.

As image makers become more optimistic

about our value to society, industry and the

arts, our combined strength will continue to

be a shining light for our membership and the

photography profession generally.

I am very excited to be working with the

AIPP Board, the executive team, our national

office, state divisions and the many committees

and sub-committees who volunteer their time

and efforts to nurture our organisation.

SPECIAL THANKSI would like to specially mention our past AIPP

National President, Ross Eason, and to thank

him for his tireless efforts. He has navigated us

through some challenging times and the AIPP is

the stronger for his guidance and advice.

Of course, Ross was not working alone. He

was ably supported by our past Chair Felicity

Biasi, board member Melissa Neumann, ACMP’s

Richard Weinstein and co-opted Board Member

Bruce Williams. I’d like to thank these stalwart

members for their invaluable service.

Our veteran national board member Kylie

Lyons, along with Rocco Ancora and Melinda

Comerford, are now joined by Mercury

Megaloudis and David Glazebrook to complete

our Board of six, a Board that in turn is reliant on

the support of our hard working National Office

staff and our executive officer, Peter Myers.

And I would be remiss not to make mention

of the Board’s special advisors, Rochelle Morris

NEWS

TAGSAIPP Board

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for the professional video producers, and Chris

Shain for his work in copyright and IP.

Moving forward, the AIPP Board is

committed to increasing the benefits for

our members through the highly successful

Accredited Professional Photographer program,

ensuring the logo is promoted widely to the

community so it becomes the recognised mark

of a true professional, thus further increasing

our credibility and value.

SUSTAINABLE MODELIn terms of delivering member benefits, I

would like to acknowledge the ongoing

support of sponsors and trade affiliates. Their

assistance is greatly appreciated and I hope we

can demonstrate this through our continued

partnerships.

Our National Office has achieved a great

deal over the past few years and while we

have progressed greatly with our internal

organisational structure, it has not happened

without challenges to our culture and our

profession. Technology changes have also been

disruptive, requiring our attention, but we have

more than survived. We have established an

independent and sustainable model which will

enable our future success.

As your representative, I will work with all

our stakeholders to ensure the interests of the

profession are maintained and promoted.

I realise that we, the AIPP, must take the lead

with many issues that are challenging us today,

such as our position in the market, the services

and products we provide, and the high level of

professionalism required.

Collectively, we have the skills, the advice

and the knowledge. All we need to do is use

it. Please familiarise yourself with the many

educational resources my predecessors have

established on the AIPP website, because it

is only with this knowledge that we can be

successful in the future.

APPA & THE EVENTIn the meantime, I am looking forward to

meeting more members and continuing to

grow and improve our Institute.

My first opportunity is likely to be at APPA

or The Event which is being held at the end of

August in Melbourne. If you haven’t yet booked

your tickets, may I suggest you do so now!

We have an amazing program of inspirational

speakers - and that follows the equally amazing

Australian Professional Photography Awards.

See you there!

vittorio.natoli@aipp.com.au

0400 418 888

MICHAEL GRECCO COMMERCIALDAVID & LUKE EDMONSON PORTRAITURE/INSPIRATIONTIM BAUER EDITORIAL PORTIATUREDAVID DECHUMIN PHOTOJOURNALISTIC VICTORIA BEREKMERI & CASSIE EMMETT BIRTHGEOFF COMFORT AERIAL JERRY GHIONIS WEDDINGNATALIE HOWE NEWBORNMARCUS BELL WEDDINGSTEVE SCALONE CREATIVE PROCESSNICK GHIONIS LIGHTINGROCCO ANCORA POST PRODUCTIONMARK DUFFUS COMMERCIAL/BUSINESSGLENN GIBSON ADVERTISINGKAREN ALSOP POST PRODUCTIONALAN MOYLE BUSINESSSARA DELPOPOLO LEGAL/COPYRIGHTROBYN CAMPBELL BUSINESSROCHELLE & DEAN MORRIS VIDEORUSSELL BARTON BUSINESSNICK RAINS TRAVEL/DOCUMENTARYAND MORE...

THEEVENT

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27TH 31ST AUGUST 2016

melbourne

THEEVENT

2016 NIKON AIPP

melbournemelbourne

27th August-31st August 2016melbourne

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melbourne2 7 t h A u g u s t - 3 1 s t A u g u s t 2 0 1 6

P U L L M A N M E L B O U R N E A L B E R T P A R K

SPEAKERS

EARLY BIRD BOOKINGS OPEN WWW.AIPPTHEEVENT.AIPP.COM.AUIMAGES LEFT TO RIGHT: DAVID EDMONSON, NICK RAINS, LUKE EDMONSON, ADREW CAMPBELL, KAREN ALSOP, MICHAEL GRECCO, ROCCO ANCORA, DAVID DECHUMIN, NATALIE HOWE, GLENN GIBSON, TIM BAUER, CASSIE EMMETT, NICK GHIONIS, GEOFF COMFORT, JERRY GHIONIS, MARCUS BELL, ROCHELLE & DEAN MORRIS, MARK DUFFUS, ALAN MOYLE, ROBYN CAMPBELL, VICTORIA BEREKMERI, SARA DELPOPOLO, RUSSELL BARTON, STEVE SCALONE, KAREN ASLOP AND DAVID DCHUMIN.DON’T MISS OUT - BOOK NOW!

MICHAEL GRECCO COMMERCIALDAVID & LUKE EDMONSON PORTRAITURE/INSPIRATIONTIM BAUER EDITORIAL PORTIATUREDAVID DECHUMIN PHOTOJOURNALISTIC VICTORIA BEREKMERI & CASSIE EMMETT BIRTHGEOFF COMFORT AERIAL JERRY GHIONIS WEDDINGNATALIE HOWE NEWBORNMARCUS BELL WEDDINGSTEVE SCALONE CREATIVE PROCESSNICK GHIONIS LIGHTINGROCCO ANCORA POST PRODUCTIONMARK DUFFUS COMMERCIAL/BUSINESSGLENN GIBSON ADVERTISINGKAREN ALSOP POST PRODUCTIONALAN MOYLE BUSINESSSARA DELPOPOLO LEGAL/COPYRIGHTROBYN CAMPBELL BUSINESSROCHELLE & DEAN MORRIS VIDEORUSSELL BARTON BUSINESSNICK RAINS TRAVEL/DOCUMENTARYAND MORE...

THEEVENT

2016 NIKON AIPP

27TH 31ST AUGUST 2016

melbourne

THEEVENT

2016 NIKON AIPP

melbournemelbourne

27th August-31st August 2016melbourne

2 7 t h A u g u s t - 3 1 s t A u g u s t 2 0 1 6

melbourne2 7 t h A u g u s t - 3 1 s t A u g u s t 2 0 1 6

P U L L M A N M E L B O U R N E A L B E R T P A R K

SPEAKERS

EARLY BIRD BOOKINGS OPEN WWW.AIPPTHEEVENT.AIPP.COM.AUIMAGES LEFT TO RIGHT: DAVID EDMONSON, NICK RAINS, LUKE EDMONSON, ADREW CAMPBELL, KAREN ALSOP, MICHAEL GRECCO, ROCCO ANCORA, DAVID DECHUMIN, NATALIE HOWE, GLENN GIBSON, TIM BAUER, CASSIE EMMETT, NICK GHIONIS, GEOFF COMFORT, JERRY GHIONIS, MARCUS BELL, ROCHELLE & DEAN MORRIS, MARK DUFFUS, ALAN MOYLE, ROBYN CAMPBELL, VICTORIA BEREKMERI, SARA DELPOPOLO, RUSSELL BARTON, STEVE SCALONE, KAREN ASLOP AND DAVID DCHUMIN.

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Mercury Megaloudis - Board MemberA passionate photographer, a past AIPP Australian Professional Photographer of the Year, and well known for his zest for life, Mercury Megaloudis APP.L, G.M. Photog. has joined the AIPP Board with the goal of making a difference - and bringing back both education and fun.

Mercury knows that the AIPP has changed.

When president of the Victorian division, his

thing was to do a monthly newsletter, run a

monthly meeting and put on a great state

awards. “If you did that, everything just worked”,

he said.

However, today he believes the Institute

needs a change in direction and he’s taken

some leads from the NZIPP’s national president,

Katherine Williams - who coincidentally has just

won the 2016 NZIPP Professional Photographer

of the Year Award.

“Recently I spent five hours with Katherine.

We were driving to a wedding in the country

and for most of the trip, she was organizing

the NZIPP awards, liaising with sponsors and

working out what meals everyone would have.

She was completely hands on and she inspired

me so much, that I put my hand up to join the

AIPP Board.”

Mercury has already given a lot to the

Institute, but he was concerned that many

of his friends were leaving. Some of them are

simply retiring, others saw the Institute moving

in a different direction, but from Mercury’s

perspective, the Institute is all about contacts

and friendships. He wants to retain them.

“I think one of the reasons these members

are leaving is that the creativity and fun have

disappeared. It’s something the NZIPP has

rediscovered and I think that’s what we have to

do, too.”

However, Mercury fully understands that the

Institute isn’t only about fun. In addition, there’s

an invaluable exchange of advice that makes

the difference between success and failure.

“When I was a young photographer, I’d

attend seminars by international photographers

like Monte Zucker and Anne Geddes. Not only

did they show you how they created great

photographs, they gave you material on how to

market yourself and how to bring work in.

“I don’t think there is enough of this

type of education today. I’m told many new

photographers only last three to five years in

the industry and that’s partly because we’re not

teaching them enough about business.”

We welcome Mercury to the Board!

TAGSAIPP Board

NEWS

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Mercury’s experience and expertise as a wedding and portrait photographer can be seen above in the perfect placement of his light in a day-to-day portrait sitting. The studio is not dead - in fact, it is making a strong comeback!

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David Glazebrook - Board MemberLet’s build on the aspirational nature of AIPP membership, suggests one of our latest additions to the AIPP Board, Master of Photography and Blue Mountains resident, David Glazebrook, APP, M.Photog.

One wonders what tempts David to ever leave

his home in the beautiful Blue Mountains,

just outside Sydney. Yet you’ll often find him

travelling to photograph weddings, commercial

jobs and landscapes. And now you’ll also see

him travelling to AIPP Board Meetings!

David is one of our two new AIPP Board

Members. He has a strong association with

his local NSW division and he is a passionate

supporter of APPA. Himself a Master of

Photography, he has been picking up Silver

and Gold awards since 2011 and was awarded

the AIPP NSW Science, Environment & Nature

Photographer of the Year in 2013.

However, David has a good balance

between his passion for photography and

seeing photography as a business and as his

profession

“There’s no doubt the profession has

changed dramatically in the last five years or

so. I think the AIPP may once have been seen

as a ‘boys’ club’, but now there are more female

members - and there are also more parttime

members than fulltime.”

Whether fulltime or parttime, David doesn’t

see this new reality as a problem as long as all

members run their businesses professionally.

“The AIPP needs to embrace the changes

happening within our profession so we can

remain relevant.”

However, that doesn’t mean a lowering of

standards in any way. “I want membership of

the AIPP to be aspirational. If you’re in there,

it’s because membership has a value. It has

knowledge, education, financial benefits and

camaraderie. If you’re going to have a crack

at becoming a professional photographer,

whether parttime or fulltime, joining the AIPP

should be an essential step. And just because

you only shoot on the weekend doesn’t mean

you should only charge half price - we need the

public as well as our members to understand

the value of what we produce.”

David sees great opportunities for

helping members to be better with their

pricing, negotiating and creating a product

that separates them from non-professional

photographers. “With the Board’s help, I’d

like to add to the aspirational nature of AIPP

membership.”

TAGSAIPPBoard

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D a v i d G l a z e b r o o k A P P M . P h o t o g .

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Facebook’s New AIPP CommunityOkay, it’s not new, but it’s brand new! And it’s a member-only benefit where AIPP members can talk to other members in the privacy of their own Facebook Group. Peter Myers explains.

According to the AIPP’s Executive Officer,

Peter Myers, “The Board has always grappled

with the AIPP’s presence on social media and

how we deal with different types of posts and

comments.

“Around six years ago we began with the

AIPP National Facebook page and that now

has around 24k followers. It has a fairly active

following, too, and is a good platform for the

AIPP - but it is also completely public.”

Seeing how successful the AIPP National

Facebook page was, most of the state councils

and committees also set up their own

Facebook page. “Even Eric Victor has his own

AIPP mentoring group page on Facebook”,

explained Peter, “which is great in one way,

but challenging in another because all the

information isn’t available in the one place.”

FACEBOOK“The world of community and group forums

has changed in recent years and by default,

Facebook appears to have replaced the old

fashioned forums and bulletin boards. However,

rather than every state council and committee

having their own separate groups with limited

reach, we have created a new AIPP national

group – the AIPP Community – with a national

reach to every member of the AIPP.”

The AIPP Community is a closed group. Only

AIPP members, including educational and trade

partners, will have access – and that’s why Peter

is calling it ‘the AIPP community’.

If you are reading this, you should already

have received an email inviting you to join (If

not, check your Trash folder or contact National

Office). Members will have access for as long as

they are financial members of the AIPP – lapsed

members will be removed from the group.

“It allows us to lock down the

communication to members only, something

we haven’t been able to do before. There will

be guidelines, of course, but essentially the

new group can be used for anything a member

wants to discuss.”

So, how do you get involved? If you’re a

member, simply search for and visit the AIPP

Community on Facebook. Join up! Then

bookmark the page in your browser and add it

to your favourites in Facebook.

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TAGSPetsAnimalsPor t fo l io

FEATURES

The ABC of Pet PhotographyKerry Martin APP, AAIPP of Akemi Photography was the 2015 AIPP Australian Pet/Animal Photographer of the Year, so she has a few ideas about what it takes to get the most out of her subjects. Here she reveals some of her hard earned ‘secrets’ for capturing expressions that sell.

Kerry Martin specialises in capturing the

connection that animal companions, specifically

dogs, and their humans share. And when you

hear how passionate she is about her subjects,

you begin to understand why her clients love

her work and refer her too.

“I photograph in my Melbourne based

studio and offer on-location and destination

photo sessions. This approach gives me great

flexibility with the dogs that I photograph – to

capture their personality, the things they love to

do with their people and to customise what my

clients would love to have at the end.

“I approach my photography as a dog lover,

so the most important part of my photography

is meeting with the dog and their people,

learning as much as I can about them, their

connection, the time they spend together and

the ‘must have’ photos.

“I also discuss the type of photography or

finished art that they are looking to enjoy when

they display the results on their walls. All of this

information helps us plan their unique photo

experience.”

Kerry says she has photographed dogs and their

people in a variety of locations and finds that

by choosing exciting environments, such as the

snow for her Aussie Snow Dogs Retreats, she’s

able to capture a variety of emotion, light and

action.

ALL AROUND“Dogs seem to enjoy my company, as much as I

do theirs, so we work well together. Throughout

my career, I’ve learnt that some dogs need a

quiet and calm approach, while others thrive

on enthusiasm to get the best out of their

photography session.”

Kerry grew up on a five acre property, so

she always had pets and animals around her as

photography subjects. Throughout her twenties,

she travelled quite a bit, including hiking the

battlefields of Turkey and remote parts of Papua

New Guinea, and seeing the contrast between

imperial and communist Russia and so much

more.

“A camera was a must-have for these travels. I

am mostly self-taught and began taking photos

15Bernese Mountain Dog, Alfie. Photography by Kerry Martin

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for friends and family. After a few photography

sessions that included dogs and pets, and with

welcoming my own dog into the family, I soon

realised pet photography was my happiest

place.

“That’s when I founded Akemi Photography

and chose to specialise in pet photography.

“I am always looking for ways to grow and

evolve my photography and I’m constantly

reading about other photographers’

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experiences and tips to setup and create

beautiful photos.

“While I love the opportunity to meet and

photograph any dog, my favourite place for

photography is in the beauty of a snow covered

alpine environment. It’s wonderful fun and

Old English Sheepdog, Douglas. Photography by Kerry Martin. Gold with Distinction. Cropped slightly here to fit the layout.

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my clients love the photos. Not only do they

have their dog captured in a great location, but

they also have the memories of the experience

of heading away together to somewhere so

amazing.”

IN THE SNOWCertainly Kerry has nailed her technique as

evidenced by her recent competition successes,

including the 2015 AIPP Australian Pet/Animal

Photographer of the Year.

Her photograph of an old English sheep

dog named Douglas (photographed in the

snow - see previous page) was announced as

the highest scoring print in its category and

one of only a handful of prints to be awarded a

Gold With Distinction at the Awards that year.

She more recently won the 2016 AIPP Epson

Victorian Pet/Animal Photographer of the Year.

“My camera gear is all Canon. I use the EOS

5D Mk III and a mix of lens. My favourite lens

in the studio is the 35mm because it’s a good

focal length for my set up and it’s super quick to

focus which you need when working with dogs.

“On location, I love to mix it up between the

16-35mm for capturing fun and quirky wide-

angle photos, the 135mm for beautiful soft

backgrounds and the 70-200mm for capturing

the action.”

In the studio Kerry has Elinchrom flash

heads and modifiers, and she says she loves

both her Lowepro backpack and Crumpler

shoulder bag for carrying her gear about. “It

depends on where I am going and what I need

for the photography as to which bag I use for a

particular session.

“The other essential gear is what I use to

work with the dogs – anything that is going to

help capture their attention – treats, squeakers,

balls. I always have a long leash which is

essential if a dog has a tendency to not come

back! Their safety is paramount and a leash can

be removed in post-production if necessary.”

Back at the office, Kerry has a dual screen

Mac and a MacBook Pro for work on location.

She uses Lightroom and Photoshop for her

post-production.

CREATING A STYLEThe photos accompanying this article are

both Kerry’s day-to-day work as well as some

personal work.

“Being based in Melbourne, I love that we

have four seasons. On location, I am looking

to combine the beauty of a seasonal location

with my gorgeous subjects. It’s the snow in

winter, but there are flowers in spring, falling

leaves in autumn and water and beaches in

summer. In the studio, I love to use colour

to catch attention, perhaps a contrasting

colour to highlight the dog’s coat colour, or a

complimentary colour to draw attention to their

eyes or another feature.

“As a dog lover myself, I look for experiences

FEATURES

19

When the opportunity arises, I like to take profile photos of rescue dogs to help them attract the attention of potential adopters. It’s a valuable photography practice and an opportunity to build my understanding of dogs. Lucky, the puppy in this photo, has quite significant scars on his back. I don’t know how he got them, but it was heartbreaking to see such a young pup and to know that he had already experienced pain and cruelty in his life. He was incredibly timid and I had to approach working with him in such a way as to build his trust, in order to take photos that gave him the best opportunity to find a home. It has a happy ending though: beautiful photos and Lucky has found himself a forever home. Photography by Kerry Martin.

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Above: Australian Shepherd, Barkley. Below: “Alfie and Pippa were looking to their human to throw the ball but lined up perfectly in doing so which gave me the opportunity for this photo. I love how perfectly their body shapes match and, of course, the beautiful sunset at the snow.” Photography by Kerry Martin.

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and photography opportunities that I would

enjoy with my dogs and that I think other

dog lovers would want to have captured

as memories, so sunrise and sunset create

beautiful lighting and skylines for photography.

“I often take my dogs to places or on walks

where they get the experience and the exercise,

but I can also see if there’s photo potential.

“I was the first photographer in Australia

to offer Aussie Snow Dog Retreats specifically

for photographing dogs, their people and the

experience of the visit.

“The photography captures the connection

these clients have with their dog and every

time they look at the photos, it reminds them of

the fun and experience they had in visiting the

snow.

“Following the wonderful results and

feedback from the Snow Dogs, I was inspired to

launch destinations for all four seasons.

PRACTICAL ISSUES“Scheduling sessions is important. The best

times are first thing in the morning or just

before and after sunset. If there’s no option

but to work in the middle of the day, then I am

hopeful for some cloud cover or nice areas of

open shade.

“My studio set up and lighting technique

is intentionally simple because when working

with dogs, there is a limited window in which

they are interested and responsive to what I am

doing. If I were fussing with lighting equipment

during a session, I would be missing the

FEATURES

Photography by Kerry Martin.

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moments way too often.

“I do minimal post-processing in Lightroom,

while more major jobs such as removing

objects such as leashes or background clean-

ups are done in Photoshop. I frequently use

the Nik and Totally Rad Lab plugins to quickly

enhance my photos in Photoshop.”

Kerry says she also uses three or four

Lightroom pre-sets that she has developed for

different environments to speed up her post-

production.

“I run these as I import the files and then

tweak from there as required.”

And at the end of the process, Kerry offers a

personal preview and artwork consultation for

her clients.

“At this appointment I show my clients

a gallery of photos that I have prepared for

them (all are edited) and some wall art design

ideas based on what they indicated they

would like at their earlier design consultation

appointment.”

While Kerry is undoubtedly passionate about

her subjects, she seems equally aware of the

importance in setting up a structured business

that is also designed to support her.

Kerry Martin Akemi Photography

Website: www.akemiphotography.com.au

Email: kerry@akemiphotography.com.au

Facebook: facebook.com/akemiphotography

Instagram: instagram.com/akemiphotos

FEATURES

“My Japanese Spitz, Keiko, taken in the Sugar Pine Forest near Batlow, NSW.” Photography by Kerry Martin.

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Photography by Kerry Martin.

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Knocking The Productivity CommissionIf ever there were an example of bureaucracy taking a wrong path, it is the recent Productivity Commission’s report on suggested changes to copyright. As Chris Shain APP points out, this report must be stopped!

The Productivity Commission’s Draft

Recommendations on intellectual property

arrangements appear to be ideologically

driven, designed to protect consumers and not

creators, and if implemented, would be very

detrimental to the livelihood of AIPP members.

On 27 June 2016, Chris Shain attended

a public hearing hosted by the Productivity

Commission where he and several other

representatives put forward their contrary

views. It’s not just photographers who would be

affected, but everyone from authors with books

to big businesses with patents.

CONSUMER, NOT CREATORAt the heart of the problem is the apparent

desire by the Commission to protect

the consumer and drive down prices for

photography, music and literature. Funny, $10

for a book or $2 for a song doesn’t seem too

expensive in the first place? Compare what

creative people provide with the cost of a cup

of coffee and it is ludicrous to suggest that small

time creatives like professional photographers

are gouging the public.

Explained Chris to the Commission, “The

Copyright Act works okay as it is right now.

Consumers can make a copy of their DVDs and

school kids have very fair access to copyright

material, so what problem is the Productivity

Commission trying to solve?”

One of the suggestions from the

Productivity Commission was the introduction

of ‘fair use’ along the lines of the provisions in

the USA today. However, if there’s one thing

that fires up photographers who understand

copyright, it’s how damaging ‘fair use’ is to our

profession.

Continued Chris in his presentation to the

Commission, “Photography is a very widely used

creative medium. There is an insatiable appetite

for good quality visual material in the online

world, but not all photography is equal. There

are many examples of significant moments

in history that are marked very strongly

and effectively by a professionally captured

photograph and our society would be a much

poorer place without images like these.

“Today everyone has iPhones and crowd

sourcing of news imagery is widely used,

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but even so, if our society wants to record

something properly, from a new bridge to a

stillbirth, then a professional photographer is

called in.”

If the ‘fair use’ provisions were brought

into Australia, there is a genuine concern that

copyright creators could lose up to $1 billion

a year in revenue - and some of that would be

lost by professional photographers.

WHAT IS FAIR USE?According to the U.S. Copyright Office, ‘fair use’

promotes freedom of expression by permitting

the unlicensed use of copyright-protected

works in certain circumstances - such as

criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching,

scholarship and research.

However, this is such a vague definition that

it is difficult to prove that unlicensed use isn’t

‘fair use’, thus opening the doors for anyone to

use any copyright-protected material.

Take the experience of Australia’s own

Peter Coulson. His photograph of model Alice

Kelson, posted by Kelson on Instagram, was

appropriated by US based artist Richard Prince

and exhibited as part of Prince’s exhibition. In

fact, Prince had used 37 Instagram images for

the exhibition and one was reportedly sold for

over $100,000.

Suffice to say Peter Coulson was not happy

and nor was another photographer Donald

Graham who is currently in legal proceedings

against Prince. However, how many

photographers have the time or the financial

resources to contest a case like this? And the

fact that an artist like Prince is trying to rely on

the ‘fair use’ provisions indicates how fraught

the legislation is.

Said Chris Shain, “I’m a working professional

photographer, freelancing for 40 years and my

income is based on my ability to control the

copyright in my work. There are many situations

in which copyright is the ONLY way I can make

money from my work.”

Introduction of the ‘fair use’ provisions, Chris

explained, would make it too easy for people

to use photographs without permission – and

without any likelihood of being taken to court

by the photographer because the outcome

would be so uncertain.

Chris added that the Commission seemed

to confuse large corporate companies who

demand to own copyright and small, individual

creators, who also need to own copyright.

“It appears many of the Commission’s

recommendations are trying to give consumers

free and uncomplicated access to content on

their phones and screens, but this is incredibly

simplistic.

“As a small time content creator, I’m equally

affected by these proposals because they will

limit my ability to earn an income.”

The Productivity Commission has yet to

respond to the June round of presentations.

NEWS

Fur ther I nfoYou can read the Produc t iv i t y Commiss ion repor t here : ht tp : //www.pc.gov.au/inqui r ies/cur rent/inte l lec tua l -proper t y/draf t

The AIPP ’s response can be found here : ht tp : //www.pc.gov.au/inqui r ies/cur rent/inte l lec tua l -proper t y/submiss ions#post-draf t

The AIPP At Work

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Joshua Holko On APPADid you hear about what happened at APPA? APPA is the most discussed event in the AIPP and everyone has an opinion. Joshua Holko APP M. Photog. chats to Peter Eastway about a range of issues, from judge training to reining in scores for multiple images.

With APPA just around the corner, many

questions and issues are raised on social media

and in general conversation alike. The AIPP

Journal had a chat with Victorian nature and

wilderness photographer Joshua Holko, sharing

his thoughts on some of the challenges facing

entrants and judges alike.

DIPTYCHS, TRIPTYCHS AND MORE...There has been a trend in recent years for

multiple images to be scored highly, perhaps

more highly than the photography in the

individual photos deserves. Is this a reasonable

criticism?

Suggested Joshua, “We’re all looking for

new ways to present our work that is unique

and different, and that’s great, but it doesn’t

automatically mean that it is good. If a group

of photographs on a matte are mediocre

individually, should they score highly because

of their graphic design?”

It is only natural that judges will have their

interest piqued when presented with a multi-

image entry in a sea of single images, but

should they be looking past the presentation to

the quality of the photographs themselves?

“This aspect of the Awards really interested

me, so I made a series of photographs of a polar

bear I had photographed with a motor drive,

in slightly different positions, and printed them

up as though I were entering them to APPA. I

asked myself, ‘Does this series add to the story,

or should one photograph be enough?’

“If an image isn’t strong enough on its own,

does adding one or two more images make the

presentation any better? What happens if we

add in ten or twenty? Given APPA is all about

photography and not graphic design, I think in

most cases the single image should be strong

enough on its own, or if multiple images are

presented, then they should all be strong.”

MORE THAN PROFESSIONALJoshua suggested that one of the best things

an APPA entrant can think about is what they

want to achieve from entering.

“Very often at the preliminary critique nights,

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AWARDSAWARDS

Photography by Joshua Holko

30

I’ll hear a judge complimenting a would-be

entrant’s photograph by suggesting that the

client would love it, but it won’t win an award.

“APPA is not rewarding what we do daily

for a living”, explained Joshua. Given these are

‘professional photography awards’, one might

expect that this is exactly what APPA should be

rewarding - and it does. A score between 70

and 79 gives entrants the feedback that they

have produced a professional quality image.

WHAT IS AN AWARD IMAGE?But it’s not an ‘award image’. An award

image is not only professional in quality and

presentation, it has another level of creativity

and impact that sometimes impresses other

photographers more than our clients. It is an

aspirational award.

Continued Joshua, “Many entrants are

creating photographs specifically for the

Awards - and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

However, it also means that good quality

professional work is not always going to be

enough to earn a Silver”.

However, Joshua is the first to acknowledge

that there can be times when two or more

photographs are certainly better than one.

“There was an entry last year, presented like a

proof sheet with 36 images and the best one

circled in red. I thought this was clever because

the photographer have given some thought

on how to present his best work. It wasn’t just

a collage of 36 or so photographs, but a story

about the best one.

“How we present our work to the judges

is critically important, and this worked for me,

but there were also instances where a group

of average photos seemed to be rewarded for

graphic design, not photography. I’m not sure

the judges got this quite right.”

WHO DETERMINES WHAT IS GOOD?All photography is subjective, but in the context

of a professional awards system, there are some

basic aspects of craft and technique that must

be satisfied. You have to achieve a high standard

of exposure, focus, lighting and presentation. It

is expected. From here, it comes down to the

experience of the judges in placing an entry

into the context of contemporary photography.

Based on all the other photographs entered

into the Awards this year and in previous years,

where does this entry sit?

Added Joshua, “Being an APPA judge is a

huge responsibility. It’s not only an honour, in

some way’s it’s a burden because you owe it to

the entrants to do a proper job. As a judge, you

need to familiarize yourself with the work of

previous years, and also more widely around the

world in the genres you will judge. At the very

least, an APPA judge should go through the

previous year’s Awards (either online or in the

book), so they can get a feeling for where the

AWARDSAWARDS

31

Gold with Distinction

100 Exceptional vision, creativity and innovation. Remarkable technique. Encompasses excellence in all assessment criteria.

99

98

97

96

95

Gold Award 94 Outstanding visual communication, interpretation and emotional impact. Remarkable technique.93

92

91

90

Silver with Distinction

89 Professional excellence. Superior visual communication, imagination, craft and skill.88

87

86

85

Silver Award 84 Exceeds normal professional practice, with high levels of communication, imagination, craft and skill.

83

82

81

80

Professional Standard

79 Approaching award level

78

77-70 Average to very good professional practice, but does not meet AIPP Award criteria.

Approaching Professional

Standard

69-60 Meets professional standards in some areas, but needs work in others. Entrant is on the way to achieving a professional standard.

More Work Required

59-50 Does not yet exhibit the basic standards required of professional practice.

ProfessionalismA high standard in:• Exposure• Focus• Colour• Lighting• Posing and styling • Composition and image design• Attention to detail• Post-production• Printing• Presentation

Judge Assessment Criteria• Communication and narrative skills• Imagination• Innovation• Visual and emotional impact• Technique• Lighting• Composition & image design• Timing, anticipation• Processing, post-production and presentation

Judge's Assessment Guide

1

32Photography by Joshua Holko

33

standard lies, what has been done before, what

is new and different.

THE RIGHT TO JUDGE“How can I as a judge give honest feedback

unless I am familiar with what’s happening in

photography? I owe it to the entrant to have as

much knowledge as I can.

“At the State Awards, we have a smaller pool

of judges and I think that accounts for some

of the differences in scores between State and

National awards. However, just because you’re

a Master of Photography doesn’t automatically

give you the right to be a judge. I believe that

first you need to demonstrate a strong core

knowledge of the genres you want to judge.

“We have recently had judge training and

that is great, but I think it was more focused on

mutual respect while the big issue of judges’

knowledge remains underplayed.”

Judges are invited onto a panel because

they add to a collective pool of experience and

opinion. Not all judges think the same way and

that’s an important part of the system. That’s

why there are five judges, not just one.

“Personally, I think we are in danger of being

tagged the Australian Photoshop Awards. I think

it would be unfortunate for us to be seen in this

light because surely we are photographers, not

re-touchers? This doesn’t mean I don’t have the

greatest respect for what other people do, but I

am very much an in-camera artist.

“However, I do get irked when I see images

that are a composite, but they are not disclosed

as such. For instance, you see a beautiful

photograph of Patagonia with some amazing

clouds, but it’s not disclosed as a composite. It’s

important for us to be honest with our viewer.

WHAT AM I LOOKING AT?“In the landscape category, there used to be

a distinction between composite and non-

composite images, but that has gone now.

However, as a judge, I want to know what I am

looking at, whether something is a composite

or a single image because it makes a difference.”

And it certainly does, but Joshua concedes

that this is why there are different rules for

different categories. For instance, composite

landscape are not allowed into the Science,

Wildlife and Wild Places.

“In conversation with Darren Jew recently,

we agreed that judges can’t take into account

the degree of difficulty in capture. If I shot

a polar bear after 10 minutes or five days,

how could a judge know by looking at the

photograph? I think all a judge can do is assess

what is put in front of them - and that’s why

it was helpful to know whether images were

single captures or composites.”

Joshua noted that it can be difficult for

judges to remove their biases completely, but

judging a print isn’t a matter of ‘liking’ or ‘not

liking’ it.

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34

“At a critique night recently, I was presented

with a birth category entry which, for me, was

very confronting. It’s not something that I ‘like’,

but the image was incredibly powerful and I

scored it a Silver with Distinction. As a judge, it’s

really important to remove the ‘like’ and ‘don’t

like’. We’re there to see if the photographer has

demonstrated a level of skill above professional

standard. Have they taken that next step into

Award territory - even if we don’t like the

photograph?

“When I sit on a judging panel, I like to look

at the score descriptions because they remind

me what I am looking for in a photograph. It

can help when you’re presented with images

that are very ‘popular’ or ‘trendy’.

“For instances, over the past few years there

have been many aerial photographs winning

awards and many of them are breathtakingly

beautiful. However, as a judge I have to ask

the question: does this entry demonstrate any

real creativity, or is it just a snap out of a plane

window? It’s an interesting question and you

can only answer it on an image by image basis. I

score it highly if it displays exceptional creativity

and is unique, but a lower score if it only

displays something that has been done many

times before.”

FIRST TO MARKETJoshua is referring to the photographer who

is first to market. While in Australia we can

look back on photographers like Richard

Woldendorp as being the father of aerial

photography, more recently it was Jackie

Ranken with her lith printed aerials taken while

upside down in her father’s biplane (Jackie won

the 2002 Australian Professional Photographer

of the Year with this series, followed up in 2005

with the AIPP Australian Photography Book of

the Year).

Jackie was followed more recently by Tony

Hewitt’s highly coloured, square aerials in 2013

and the ND5 group’s 2014 AIPP Australian

Photography Book of the Year of aerials

photographed above Shark Bay, so while the

rush of aerials in following years has produced

some beautiful work, how should it be scored at

APPA?

“It’s tough because, as entrants, you’re

putting in work to be assessed by your peers,

by other professional photographers who are

widely read and experienced. It can be really

hard to find something that’s new and different.

“I think it all comes back to why you entered

the Awards in the first place. Sit back for a

second and consider why you are entering - or

not entering. If you want kudos from winning

awards, I’m not sure that’s a good enough

reason. If you want to know how your work

stacks up against the profession generally, I

can certainly understand that. If it’s to assist

you in your development as a professional

photographer, then that’s an excellent reason.”

AWARDSAWARDS

35

“The secret to photographic technique is layers, and that’s whether you use Photoshop or Lightroom.”

How To Master Layers is a series of video/article presentations by Peter Eastway.

To purchase and view on your computer, visit:

www.betterphotography.com

$6.49 each or $19.95 for all four titles

If you download the files from the website, they will not play properly on the iPad.

How To Master Photoshop Layers

36

Why Do Prints Score Less At Nationals?From time to time, a print with a great score at the Epson State Awards will get a lower score at the national APPAs. If we’re supposed to have a single Australian standard, why does this happen? Is it normal? And who is right?

When discussing the AIPP’s photography

awards programs, I often begin with the

comment that all photography award and

competition results are subjective.

We have five human beings giving an

opinion about the value of the print.

They are expert opinions, but as we know in

all walks of life, different experts can have quite

different opinions. It shouldn’t surprise us this is

the same in photography - and that’s why we

have five judges, not one.

This is also why our Awards are represented

by a range of scores. It’s hard to say one print is

worth 82 and another must be better at 83. It’s

much fairer to say both prints are Silver awards

because, at the end of the day, the difference

between 82 and 83 is relatively meaningless.

Of course, the difference between 79 and

80 is professional standard versus Silver Award

standard. One point can be very important.

So, granted there is variability in the scores

we receive, but why do the scores at the State

awards appear to be higher than those at

Nationals? With all the judge training we have

had, why aren’t the results more even from one

awards to the next?

There are many reasons, but it’s probably

easier to agree that it is a little harder at the

National Awards, just like the swimming or

tennis becomes harder between state and

national events.

However, the vast majority of prints receive

similar scores. If you scored 83 or 84 at State,

usually you’d get a Silver at Nationals too.

Statistically, it is unusual for a print to get Gold

at State and nothing at Nationals, but it has

happened. I don’t have an answer why.

The National awards have a larger pool of

more experienced judges and, overall, their

standards are higher. Your work has to be good

to impress them.

And there’s also the chance that a print

judged at Nationals has already been seen at

the State awards - and so there is less impact if a

judge is seeing it the second time.

It shouldn’t make a difference, but perhaps

it does. As I said, the judges are human and all

competition results are somewhat subjective.

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TAGSBus inessPr ints

FEATURES

Real Photographers Make PrintsHere’s a challenge for the photography profession: To be a professional, you need to offer your clients prints. If you can’t have prints made from your files, then you need to update your skills so you can. Without the ability to make prints, our profession will never survive!

Everyone who picks up a camera thinks they

are a photographer, so how do professional

photographers stand apart? What makes them

different to someone with an expensive, fully

automatic camera set to program mode?

Answer: Prints.Now before you stop reading and think this

is a load of rubbish, please spend a couple of

minutes considering my thoughts and see if you

agree. I’m not saying your clients have to buy

prints, but I am suggesting you have to offer

prints as part of your work as a professional.

ONLY PRINTS LASTLet’s begin with domestic photographers - such

as wedding and family portrait photographers.

We know that the majority of our clients

engage our services because, deep down,

they expect the photographs to last a lifetime.

Most of us have family photos of our parents or

grandparents we can relate to, but what will our

shoot-and-burn clients have in 10 or 20 years’

time, let alone a couple of generations?

Let’s look at the facts. In the history of

computers and digital storage, we have seen

constant change.

The floppy disks some of us remember can

no longer be read and there are many formats

that are no longer available. Many computers

today don’t have CD/DVD drives, so how long

will our recent clients have access to their files

(assuming the media is still readable)?

And while we have cloud storage today,

it will only take one company to go out of

business to shake apart this brave new world as

well.

Historically, nothing in the digital realm has

survived as long as a photographic print. Yes,

there are limitations with prints as well, but

kept in an album or drawer like many important

family keepsakes, they will last a lot longer than

digital files.

Note, I am talking about how clients are

likely to behave. They are unlikely to make

multiple backups of their digital files every few

years to refresh their data, so it is up to us to

recommend a medium that is most likely to

last the two, three or more generations that our

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fact or fiction?

To be a Professional Photographer

you need to be able to make

PRINTSour profession’s challenge

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41

clients expect.

We should be recommending prints.

Some clients won’t want them. That’s

fine! We can’t force our clients to buy prints,

but we can offer them. It also gives us an

opportunity to explain that if they want their

grandchildren to look at the photographs they

are commissioning today, they need to have

prints. They can still have digital files, the prints

are provided as an addition.

WHAT ABOUT COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHERS?Commercial, advertising, fashion and stock

photographers don’t make a lot of prints these

days, but their clients sometimes turn their files

into printed matter (even if we acknowledge

most uses are web based).

One of the reasons for suggesting all

professional photographers offer prints is to

impose a minimum image standard.

A lot of images I see that are provided to

clients as digital files are below professional

standard - and naturally I’m excluding AIPP

Accredited Professional Photographers from this

statement!

To be printed, a file needs a basic level of

processing for density, contrast and colour that

makes it appropriate for printing - and many

other applications.

Let’s ensure all the files we send to clients

are of ‘print’ standard, whether or not they will

be turned into a print or just used on a website.

It’s a quality thing.

DIFFERENT GOAL POSTSMany professionals correctly believe that

their quality of work sets them apart as

photographers. I have no doubt it does, but our

problem is convincing our clients.

The world’s population is already taking

photos with their phones and they are loving

the results. Why would they need a professional

photograph when their phone does everything

that they need? Or they think they need.

We know that the majority of those phone

photographs won’t last. They will be lost forever

when the owner loses the phone, changes

phone carrier or stops paying their cloud

storage fees.

So when someone does make the effort

to approach a professional photographer, it

must be for an important reason. They expect

our image quality will be good because we’re

professionals. However, they possibly won’t care

whether our quality is much better than what

they take with their own phones!

The point I am making is that no matter how

good we think we are, no matter how much

better we are than the average snap shooter

with a camera phone, it isn’t going to earn us

money. As far as these people are concerned,

their snapshots are usually ‘good enough’.

Our skill alone will not always define us

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42

as professional photographers. We need

something more. We need marketing,

advertising and interesting products.

That’s why I suggest we need prints.

OUR PRICE LISTI have two recommendations.

1. All APP domestic photographers should

include prints on their price list. They can

still offer digital-only services as well, but

it’s important to show our clients that their

photography can be turned into prints.

2. All APP commercial photographers should

refer to their files as ‘print quality’. To say ‘print

ready’ is a bit difficult depending on how a

client might wish to use the files, but ‘print

quality’ says it all.

So, instead of producing a quote or estimate

for 20 photographs, it would be ‘20 print quality

photographs’. What do these changes do?

1. It lifts the standard of our craft. To make a

photograph ‘print quality’ requires a higher

standard of work than a file merely destined for

social media and that’s important for the whole

profession.

2. For domestic photographers it puts our

clients on notice that they can buy prints. This

in turn gives us something extra to sell to our

clients - it can only be a good thing for both

parties.

3. For commercial photographers it puts our

clients on notice that there is a difference

between the photos their secretary takes and

the files that will be presented by a professional

photographer.

4. In the commercial world, it’s not always

the case that a client will want a print, but I’m

still selling prints from time to time for the

boardroom or the office from jobs I have shot

for a client. If clients don’t know you can make

a print for the wall, or more likely, if they simply

never think of it, they certainly won’t order one!

Let’s put the idea out there!

5. I am not suggesting that to be a professional

you need to make your own prints. There are

many business models where the photographer

hands over the raw files to other creative people

who handle the post-production and printing.

What I am suggesting is that the end product,

whoever does it, is capable of being printed to a

high, professional standard.

So, do you agree? This article is a challenge

to the profession. From where I sit, I see

some very successful studios, but many more

photographers who are struggling to make a

living. In many cases, photographers struggle

because they aren’t yet as good at business as

they are at photography.

Is this one way that can help our profession

stand apart?

If you’d like to make comments or suggestions,

please send them to eastway@betterphotograpy.

com.

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How To Easily Search In LightroomLocating a photograph needn’t be like searching for a needle in a haystack – if you follow a few simple steps with Lightroom. However, Lightroom requires text, words or ratings for its search function to work its best, so start by providing this information when you import and edit your images – and then searching is easy! Here’s how it all works...

Whether you’re using a local search on your

computer or Google to trawl the internet,

finding and filtering all information and

photographs works on the same basic

principles. You need to have something that is

searchable!

WE NEED KEYWORDS!While there are some search functions that

will look for a copy of a photograph (Google

will do this and there’s a lot of new technology

coming that may make this more available in

the future), you can’t ask Lightroom to look for

photographs of Mary Smith by describing her in

words. “Search for a young girl with dark blond

hair and a blue blouse...” Lightroom can’t yet

recognise photographs in this way.

However, if you have added to the

photographs of Mary Smith metadata (such

as keywords or tags) that includes the words

‘Mary Smith’, ‘blond’ or ‘blue blouse’ , then the

Lightroom search function will work because

it can recognise text, words and ratings.

Lightroom uses the terms Text, Attributes and

Metadata.

For the purposes of this discussion, we

can think of Text as the keywords and tags

that you add to your photographs; Attributes

are the flags, stars and colours you give your

photographs during editing, and Metadata

comprises all the camera settings.

So, for Lightroom to work its best, it needs

you to add in keywords and tags so it can in

turn help you find the right photographs later

on.

WHERE IS LIGHTROOM LOOKING?Lightroom’s Library Filter feature will look in the

catalog that is open. So, if you have one catalog

for every photograph you have ever taken, and

you have added keywords and tags to your

photo files, Lightroom will be able to find your

photographs.

However, if you use lots of smaller catalogs,

say a catalog for each job, then chances are you

TAGSL ightroomTechnique

EDUCATION

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STEP 01 Searching in Lightroom is

primarily done in the Library module. Up the top right of the screen, in the Library Filter bar, you will find the words ‘Filters Off ’. Click on these words and a drop-down menu will appear, allowing you to ‘filter’ the images shown in the develop module based on a range of different options. The keyboard shortcut is the backslash: \.

STEP 03 The most obvious search or ‘filter’ is for

a specific word, so the Text attribute comes in handy. Leave the default ‘Any Searchable Field’ in the first drop down box; you may wish to change ‘Contains All’ to ‘Contains’ in the second drop down box, then type in your search (e.g. Mary Smith). Lightroom will now show you all the files which include Mary Smith in the metadata.

STEP 02 Also in the middle of the Library Filter

bar you’ll see the four options to filter or search by: Text, Attribute, Metadata or None (which is turned off ). The Library Filters bar is where you will do most of your searching and it can be very powerful, especially when you have added keywords and tags to your photographs upon ingesting or during editing.

STEP 04 Of course, sometimes you may need to be

more specific in your search, especially if every photo in the catalog has a particular tag or keyword in it. You have to think a little laterally from time to time to get the search function working for you. Take a look at the options in the two drop down menus and you’ll soon see how powerful Lightroom’s search feature is.

46

EDUCATION

don’t need Lightroom to do much searching.

Your task may be to find the job catalog or

folder first - and so it’s important that your

catalog naming system allows you to find jobs

quickly and easily in the first place. This was

covered in detail in the previous issue of AIPP

Journal.

Unless you have added a keyword or a tag to

your files, Lightroom won’t find them for you!

Lightroom will also filter on folders within

your catalog, so if you don’t want to filter every

photograph you have ever taken, you can

restrict your search to specific folders.

SEARCH AND FILTERING IN PRACTICEMost photographers rate their files after a shoot,

usually by giving a rating of one or more stars,

but you can also add flags or colours instead.

Usually, only files that are going to be

shown to the client or edited are given a star.

Some photographers give different star ratings

depending on how good the photograph is,

others just start with one star for the initial run

through.

Once the whole shoot has been assessed, the

folder or catalog can be ‘filtered’, selecting the

Attribute section and ticking the one star. All the

photos without a star rating are hidden, making

it easier to see what you’re working with.

Photographers who give a range of star

ratings might think they have too many

photographs with one or more stars, so they

filter on two or maybe three stars, thus reducing

the number of shots they will work with. The

idea is to use the filtering function in this way to

speed up your post-production.

OLD FILESFor current shoots, we generally know where to

find them, but if a client wants you to pull out a

photo from a family portrait or a wedding, and

you don’t have keywords or name tags, what

can you do? Often your diary will have the date

you did the shoot - and assuming your camera

is set to record the correct date, it will be a

straightforward matter to go into the Metadata

search area and filter or choose by date.

You can also sort and filter based on a

variety of different specifications. For intsance,

once you have found all the photos taken on 1

May 2012, you could then filter for only those

photos with 4 or more stars, or taken with an

85mm lens.

To keep more than one search option open

in the Library Filter bar, hold down the shift key

and click the next option.

If you are doing the same complicated or

compound search regularly, you can go to

the Custom Filter drop down box and add the

current settings as a custom filter.

Finally, the Film Strip also allows to filter by

star rating - and the custom filters as well. Very

handy!

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STEP 05 The Attribute search bar lets you select

images based on the flag, star or colour rating you’ve provided. If you haven’t rated your images, this feature won’t work! When using the Rating selection, you can choose when you select a number of stars if it is greater than, equal to or less than. The default is greater than, so selecting 1 star will select 2, 3, 4 and 5 stars as well.

STEP 06 The Metadata search option lets

you choose from a range of different specifications for your files, from date, camera, lens to creator, job and copyright status. For the average working professional, it’s useful, but not as good as adding keywords and tags and doing a text search. The metadata search fields available are shown opposite.

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Broad & Short LightingNow that we understand the terms ‘broad’ and ‘short’ lighting, when do you put them into effect? The answer depends on what you want to create as a photographer, but these examples will give you a quick idea of what – and what doesn’t – work so well!

Every studio photo on a web page or in a

magazine is a lesson in lighting. Note the types

of lighting you like and then work out how they

were created. One trick is to look at the eyes

because you can usually see the lights reflected

in them (unless they have been retouched out,

of course!)

Opposite are three portraits with different

lighting patterns. You will probably only like

one or two of them – and this is a good start.

Learning to be discerning about what you like

and don’t like is the key to lighting effectively.

You’ll notice the problems if we talk about

the angle of the light in terms of left or right.

However, if our subject changes her pose to

the other side, then these lighting patterns all

change as well. The lights might not move, but

their effect on the subject changes completely.

This is why portrait photographers talk in

terms of broad and short lighting, so it doesn’t

matter whether it’s the left side or the right side.

(See the previous issue for an explanation of

broad and short lighting.)

Not many portrait photographers talk in

these terms anymore, since so much portraiture

is shot without studio lighting, but an

understanding of these principles can be very

helpful.

LIGHTING PATTERNThe example photos use three lights. Two of

the lights are just ‘padding’ or ‘fill in’ lighting.

The background light creates the graduated

effect. The fill light is behind and above the

camera and its job is to illuminate the subject

broadly. The stronger the fill light, the lighter the

shadows. If there was no fill light, the shadows

would be very harsh, especially when the key

light is 90° to one side.

The main purpose of these examples is

to demonstrate the effect of the key light on

our subject, the light that creates the light

and shade and dominates how our subject is

illluminated. It’s a pretty straightforward lesson,

but if you’re setting these patterns up yourself,

also experiment with how high or low the lights

are positioned. We’ll cover this in more detail in

future articles.

EDUCATION

TAGSTechniqueLight ing

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Key Light 45° Left

This is called a 'broad light'. The

'broad' side of the face is the side

facing the camera, or the side of the

face where the distance between

the ear and the nose is greatest. It is

camera left, the model's right side,

in this photo. When the key light is

on the 'broad' side of the face, it is

called broad lighting. However, for

traditional portraiture, photographers

tend to prefer short lighting, as seen

in the previous issue of the AIPP

Journal (AJ242).

BACKGROUND

Subject

Fill Light Fill Light

Key Light

3 LIGHT SET UP

Key Light Front On

When the key light and the fill light

are essentially lighting the subject

from the same angle, there is very

little modelling in the face. Note that

because the lights are higher than the

subject that there is still some shadow

under the chin, but this could be

eliminated by lowering the light a little.

Flat lighting is often used in beauty and

fashion, but is not so popular for family

or corporate portraiture.

BACKGROUND

Subject

Background LightBackground Light

Key Light

Key Light 90° Right

As you move the key light around to

the other side of your subject, the

shadows become more noticeable

and the result more dramatic. This

example probably isn't what you

want for a family portrait, but could

be good for a theatrical effect. (See

previous issue for a good example of

short lighting for portraiture.) How

deep the shadows are is determined

by how much fill light you use.

BACKGROUND

Subject

Fill Light

Key Light

Background Light

50

Fujifilm X-Pro2 – Is It Professional?The new breed of mirrorless cameras have most of the features of a fully blown DSLR, but less size and weight. Are they only designed for enthusiasts, or are they now truly contenders for a professional photographer’s camera bag?

If Hasselblad was happy to have Fujifilm’s

involvement with its camera and lens design

over the years, there’s no doubting Fuji’s

acceptance as a manufacturer of professionally

specified cameras.

Indeed, Fujifilm developed a range of

different format professional film cameras,

from 6x17 cm panorama cameras to the studio

based GX680. It is no stranger to the world of

professional photography.

X-SERIESToday, Fujifilm doesn’t produce medium format

cameras or even full-frame DSLRs, but it has

taken a niche role in the new mirrorless camera

design.

SLR and later DSLR cameras needed a reflex

mirror design so you could see your subject

through the lens that would actually take the

photograph, rather than having a separate

viewfinder lens and the inevitable problems

with parallax error.

However, with digital technology, that

requirement no longer exists and while many

mirrorless cameras today look and behave like

the conventional SLR design, they are quite

different beasts.

Importantly, they are smaller and lighter

(because they can be).

While this might not be so important for

a studio photographer, it is of great interest

to professional photographers who work on

location. It makes their job easier.

In the past, our clients would often judge

their photographer based on the camera being

used – and not the photographic results! These

days people are much more sophisticated and

knowing. And camera’s like the X-Series models

from Fujifilm certainly look the part.

X-PRO2The largest challenge until recently for Fujifilm

(and the other mirrorless cameras) was

convincing people that 16-megapixels was

enough.

In many ways, it was an odd argument

because both Canon and Nikon’s flagship

DSLR cameras, designed specifically for

TAGSEquipmentCamerasM ir ror lessFuj i f i lm

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professional photographers, only sported 16- to

18-megapixel sensors anyway!

Even today, the latest Canon and Nikon

professional SLRs use roughly 20-megapixel

sensors, although both have 36- or

50-megapixel models as well.

But being mirrorless doesn’t mean you can’t

have bigger sensors (in terms of the number of

pixels). Sony has a 42-megapixel body and now

Fujifilm has launched a 24-megapixel X-Series

model: the X-Pro2.

There will be few professional applications

where a 24-megapixel sensor isn’t enough, so

now the question becomes whether or not a

mirrorless camera can do the job.

FULLY FEATUREDThe simple fact is that the new X-Pro2 has

all the features a professional photographer

needs - and a host of extras that are loved by

enthusiasts.

To date, the majority of photographers

taking up the X-Series cameras have been

photojournalists, travel, portrait and wedding

photographers.

In fact, the X-Series has been considered in

the light of the rangefinder design, being small

and quiet. And the X-Pro2 takes it a step further

with a strong retro look.

However, the X-Pro2 is far from retro in

operation. It has an amazing hybrid multi

viewfinder, which gives you an optical

viewfinder if you want one (like the rangefinder

design of old), or at the flick of a switch, an

electronic viewfinder as well. Plus there’s a

combination optical and electronic viewfinder

with a digital enlargement of the focus area.

It is very cool!

Where DSLR designs can struggle to give

you focus points around the edges of the frame,

the X-Pro2 provides very fullsome coverage.

Shutter speeds range from 60 minutes to

1/8000 second, the body has weather resistant

construction, and the camera is more dials and

knobs than LCD menus.

LENS RANGEHowever, what really makes the new X-Pro2

a serious professional camera is the range of

lenses it now offers.

There are prime lenses from 14mm to

90mm (and given the sensor is APS-C size, this

equates to a 21mm to 145mm range) with wide

maximum apertures (f1.2 on the XF56mm R

lens), while the zoom range starts with a 10-

24mm (15-36mm) f4 R OIS wide-angle and

extends to the 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 R LM OIS

WR telephoto!

Autofocus is fast and accurate, but it doesn’t

yet match the professionally specced DSLRs in

terms of continuous shooting.

However, with such a small size and weight,

it’s definitely a camera to consider. It will

certainly lighten your load.

FUR THER DE TAILSwww. f u j i j f i lm . com . au

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