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50 STORM CATCHER How one photographer couples the

artistry of a monochrome master

with the courage of a daredevil

weather chaser. The result? A

portfolio that both fine art and

meteorological fans can embrace.

Photos by Mitch Dobrowner;

text by Jon Blistein

5 SUPER PHOTO PROJECTS

68 ANATOMY OF A STUDIO SHOOT How many professionals does it

take to pull off a singleand fairly

simplefashion shoot? We visit the

studio of a very busy clothing website

to find out. The answer may surprise

readers! By Matthew Ismael Ruiz

FEATURES This how-to extravaganza provides practically everything you need to know to

produce great action-stopping, time-lapse, pinhole, paint-with-light, and DIY

photo booth projects. Cant decide which to try? Go for broke and do all five!

By the Editors of Popular Photography

57

HOW TO MAKE GREAT PICTURES MAY 2014 VOLUME 78, NO. 5

POPPHOTO.COM MAY 2014 POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY 5

POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY (ISSN 1542-0337) (USPS 504-890), May 2014, Volume 78, Issue 5, is

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6 POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY MAY 2014 POPPHOTO.COM

3213

NEXT13 WE WANT THIS The Nikon D4s delivers the highest chip sensitivity yet: ISO 409,600. Now you can shoot by starlight.

14 JUST OUT A Panasonic ILC flagship, Sigmas next Foveon camera, a Nikon RAW converter, and other news.

18 ROUNDUP Flash and strobe modifiers to make your lights softer, fuller, more colorful, or just plain better.

SHARE23 PHOTO CHALLENGE This months winner aimed for the stars.

24 MY PROJECT An Alaskan photographer transforms his bedroom window into a picture window.

26 I, PHOTOGRAPHER She aims her Canon at writers of the literary canon.

28 MENTOR SERIES On her very first trek, this painter fell for the visual riches of Irelandand for photography, too.

29 LETTERS You pelt us with questions about Nikon DSLRs, the Sony Alpha 7R, DIY refractographs, and more.

30 TECH TALK For those wondering how your flashs output compares to the competitions, we have some answers.

32 YOUR BEST SHOT This month, charismatic animal couples prove that two critters can be cuter than one.

HOW37 CREATIVE THINKING Learn how commercial pro David Arky shot this months awesome cover image.

40 TIPS & TRICKS Add humor to your selfies for sure-fire viewer appeal.

41 TRAVELING PHOTOGRAPHER Wend your way to Savannah, GA, to discover the heart of southern charm.

42 SOFTWARE WORKSHOP Try these six tricks to get the most out of the lastest version of Adobe Camera Raw.

46 YOU CAN DO IT Lengthen your shutter speeds for dreamy seascapes.

LAB73 ILC TEST Samsung NX30 With a new sensor, swiveling touchscreen, and unique viewfinder, this is hot!

80 DSLR TEST Nikon D3300 Better bursts, a bigger buffer, and more.

83 LENS TEST Tamron 150600mm f/56.3 Di VC USD Great focal length range and, wow, that price!

DONT MISS . . .8 EDITORS LETTER 10 SHOWCASE 94 TIME EXPOSURE 98 BACKSTORY

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EDITORS LETTER

Little Bits of AdviceAt this magazine, we have a term for our own

tendency to try to tell you everything you need

to know about every aspect of photography:

The Pop Photo Answer. Read this months

Tech Talk (page 30) on how fash is measured

for The Pop Photo Answer at its best.

But while our annual Big How-To Issue

always seems to show us at our most ency-

clopedic, this year the editors decided to focus

on just a handful of really cool photo projects that any photographer

can doand everyone should try at least once. Youll fnd a few of these

in our HOW section and more in the feature on page 57. (Just forgive us

for the cover featuring a photographic technique, X-ray, that you may

never be able to do. You can learn, though, how commercial and editorial

pro David Arky makes X-ray his own in Creative Thinking, page 37.)

In another rebellion against the Pop Photo Answer, I asked Arky and a

few other photographers whose work we love to give us their best tips or

techniquesin 140 characters or less. And the length of a tweet was all

these pros needed. Whether I am shooting an X-ray or conventional still

life, I always make a sketch to help clarify the composition and palette

of my picture, said Arky, whose Twitter handle is @david_arky.

Said landscape shooter Rodney Lough Jr., Move left, move right, a

mere seven inches at a time. When you can see the forest for the trees,

youve got it. Snap the shutter! Ever the maximalist, he sent more.

Heres one: Patience rewards those who wait for the wind to stop. The

not-so-patient will have leftand you will be alone when the shutter is

snapped. You can fnd him on Twitter @rodneyloughjr.

Use all your senses to take a picture. Close your eyes. Hold your

subjects hand. Listen carefully. Smell all around. Then open your eyes,

advised portraitist George Lange (@langestudio). He added another

portrait how-to: Focus on one point. Let your subject walk into that spot

and away. Then have them come so close they can lick your lens.

Sports shooter Brad Mangin (@bradmangin) has Americas pastime in

mind: A clean background, pretty light, great facial expression, and peak

action are all needed in one frame for me to love a baseball photograph.

So hooked am I now on these mini tutorials that Ive decided to start

a new hashtag, #PopPhotoTips, on our Twitter feed, @PopPhoto. Look for

more brief advice from pros there, and tweet your own back at us using

that tag. But never fearwell still

always have The Pop Photo Answer.

NEWSSTAND David Arkys X-ray of a

Canon EOS 1D X with 50mm f/1.4 EF

lens exemplifies the Big How-To. But see

p. 57 for stuff you can actually do.

SUBSCRIBER The same camera,

now fitted a tripod-mounted Sigma

50500mm f/4.56.3 OS lens, also got

Arkys X-ray treatment. See how on p. 37.

POPPHOTO.COM8 POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY MAY 2014

FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE AND SUBSCRIPTION QUESTIONS,such as Renewals, Address Changes, Email Preferences, Billing and Account Status,

go to: PopPhoto.com/cs. You can also call 800-876-6636, email us at [email protected], or write to Popular Photography,

P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MIRIAM LEUCHTERART DIRECTOR Jason Beckstead

SENIOR EDITOR Peter Kolonia

SENIOR EDITOR Dan Richards

FEATURES EDITOR Debbie Grossman

TECHNICAL EDITOR Philip Ryan

TECHNOLOGY MANAGER Julia Silber

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Matthew Ismael Ruiz

GROUP PHOTO EDITOR Thomas Payne

ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR Linzee Lichtman

DESIGNER Wesley Fulghum

EDITORIAL COORDINATOR Jae Segarra

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Laurence Chen, Tim Fitzharris,

Lori Fredrickson, Ian Plant, Jeff Wignall

POPPHOTO.COM EDITOR Stan Horaczek

ASSISTANT ONLINE EDITOR Dan Bracaglia

IN MEMORIAM Herbert Keppler

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT ERIC ZINCZENKOGROUP PUBLISHER GREGORY D. GATTOPUBLISHER ANTHONY M. RUOTOLO [email protected] PUBLISHER, INTEGRATED SALES DEVELOPMENT Michael Gallic

FINANCIAL DIRECTOR Tara Bisciello

PHOTO AND TRAVEL MANAGER Sara Schiano Flynn

NORTHEAST ADVERTISING OFFICE

Shawn Lindeman, Frank McCaffrey, Chip Parham

AD ASSISTANT Amanda Smyth

MIDWEST MANAGERS Doug Leipprandt, Carl Benson

AD ASSISTANT Lindsay Kuhlmann

WEST COAST ACCOUNT MANAGER Bob Meth

AD ASSISTANT Sam Miller-Christiansen

DETROIT ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Jeff Roberge

MANAGER Edward A. Bartley

AD ASSISTANT Diane Pahl

DIGITAL SALES MANAGER Adam Miller

ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Irene Reyes Coles

DIRECTOR OF CUSTOM SOLUTIONS Noreen Myers

GENERAL MANAGER, DIGITAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Shannon Rudd

SR. DIGITAL CAMPAIGN MANAGERS Amanda Alimo, Wilber Perez, Ben Chen

DIGITAL MARKETING PRODUCER Joey Stein

DIGITAL CAMPAIGN COORDINATOR Justin Ziccardi

DIGITAL SALES DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Elizabeth Besada

DIGITAL SALES COORDINATOR Mojdeh Zarrinnal

INTEGRATED SALES DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Alex Garcia

INTEGRATED SALES DEVELOPMENT MANAGERS Kate Gregory, Kelly Martin, Charlotte Grima

GROUP CREATIVE SERVICES DIRECTOR Ingrid M. Reslmaier

MARKETING DESIGN DIRECTORS Jonathan Berger, Gabe Ramirez

ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Sarah Hughes

DIGITAL DESIGN MANAGER Steve Gianaca

GROUP EVENTS AND PROMOTIONS DIRECTOR Beth Hetrick

PROMOTIONS AND EVENTS DIRECTOR Michelle Cast

ASSISTANT EVENTS & PROMOTIONS MANAGER Vanessa Vazquez

CONSUMER MARKETING DIRECTOR Bob Cohn

RETAIL SINGLE COPY SALES: PROCIRC RETAIL SOLUTIONS GROUP Tony DiBisceglie

HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR Kim Putman

PRODUCTION MANAGER Betty Dong

CORPORATE PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Jeff Cassell

GROUP PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Laurel Kurnides

CHAIRMAN Jonas Bonnier

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Dave Freygang

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Eric Zinczenko

CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER David Ritchie

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Nancy Coalter

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Lisa Earlywine

CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER Elizabeth Burnham Murphy

CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCE OFFICER Leslie Glenn

CHIEF BRAND DEVELOPMENT OFFICER Sean Holzman

VICE PRESIDENT, CONSUMER MARKETING John Reese

GENERAL COUNSEL Jeremy Thompson

THIS PRODUCT

IS FROM SUSTAINABLY

MANAGED FORESTS

AND CONTROLLED

SOURCES.

The worlds most mind blowing feature lms, television commercials

and music videos look amazing because they are lmed with digital lm

cameras! The new award winning Blackmagic Cinema Camera is unlike a

regular video camera or DSLR camera because its a true high end digital

lm camera! You get a true Hollywood cinematic look with 13 stops of

dynamic range, interchangeable lenses, high quality RAW and ProRes le

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Dramatically Better than DSLR Video

The Blackmagic Cinema Camera includes a large 2.5K

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HD bayer sensors suffer from, while creating manageable

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the high speed SSD recorder lets you record in ProRes, DNxHD and

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Super Wide Dynamic Range

The Blackmagic Cinema Camera captures an incredible 13

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correction for a feature lm look! You also get a full copy of DaVinci Resolve!

Film Industry Quality

Every feature of the Blackmagic Cinema Camera has been

designed for quality. With 2 separate models, you can

choose from the worlds most amazing EF or MFT lenses

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work, you can shoot full 12 bit CinemaDNG RAW uncompressed les for

incredible creative range in DaVinci Resolve color correction, as well as the

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Accessories Built In

High end cinema cameras often require thousands of

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10 POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY MAY 2014

SHOWCASE * NIKON D3300

POPPHOTO.COM POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY 11

GET DUCKY

Philip Ryan, our technical editor, found these hand

painted ducks in a small shop in Kyoto, Japan. He

captured the intricate paint work using a Sigma

105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro lens on the Nikon

D3300. He shot with the camera mounted on a Benbo

1 tripod just inches from the left-hand figurine, to

make an exposure of 1/60 sec at f/10, ISO 200. For

our full lab and field test of this DSLR, see page 80.

WE WANT THIS


16

17

THE FIRST-EVER ILC WITH 4K VIDEO

AN EF TO E-MOUNT ADAPTER WITH ND FILTER

OUR ROUNDUP OF FLASH MODIFIERS

18

FOR THE first update to its

venerable flagship, the D4,

Nikon chose to refine rather than

16.2MP full-frame sensor11-fps burstsCF and XQD card slotsGigabit Ethernet$6,497, street, body only nikonusa.com

mechanism to reduce vibrations

from mirror slap. The new

EXPEED4 processor can churn

out 200 continuous shots (with

autoexposure and autofocus) at

a blazing 11 frames per second,

up from the D4s 10 fps.

But Nikon didnt fix what

wasnt broken: The 91,000-pixel

RGB 3D Color Matrix Metering

and 51-point AF system from

the D4 remain untouched.

SPEED BUMPNikons new flagship hits ISO 409,600

reinvent, pushing the cameras

limits in sensitivity and speed.

Nikon says the D4s newly

developed sensor, a 16.2MP

full-frame CMOS imager,

improves on the D4s dynamic

range; the expanded sensitivity

now reaches an astonishing

ISO 409,600. The battery life is

improved, lasting up to about

3020 shots versus the D4s 2600,

and Nikon modified the mirror

4K FORAY

PANASONICS GH line of Micro Four Thirds cameras have been video-focused ever since the runaway success of the Lumix GH2. Its newest model,

This f agship ILC is the f rst to capture 4K video

14 POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY POPPHOTO.COM

3-Layer DipSigma has always faced a challenge processing the data from the many pixels found on its Foveon sensors. The latest iteration reduces the number of pixels on the red and green layers, using them only to provide color information. This is then added to the luminance information captured on the top layer, which also provides the blue color information. With fewer pixels, processing is faster.

INSIDE TECH

> Getty Images now allows

low-resolution

photos to be

embedded on

noncommercial

websites and

social media for

free. The photos

will have no

watermark, but

will be locked

in the Getty

Embedded

Viewer.

KILLER COMPACTThe next evolution of an unusual sensor

SIGMAS FOVEON sensor has always been a little, well, different, with its multi-layered structure (see Inside Tech, at right) and high nominal pixel counts. And the companys newest camera model with the APS-C-sized Foveon X3 inside, the dp2 Quattro, fits the bill.

Thinner and longer than its predecessors in the Merrill line, the Quattro has a new Foveon that Sigma says out-resolves the old one by 30 percent. The first of three planned models, the dp2 sports

the GH4, takes it to the next levelits the first ILC to capture 4K video

The 16.05MP Live MOS sensor and Venus Engine IX processor can capture video in QuadHD (3840x2160p30) or Cinema 4K (4096x2160p24) at bit rates up to 100Mbps. With regular HD (1920x1080p60), the bit rate can reach as high as 200Mbps. A 10-bit video

stream can be output via the HDMI 1.4a to an external monitor or recorder.

Panasonic also introduced a slew of accessories, including a flash, shotgun mic, and the DMW-YAGH Interface unit ($1,998, street), which sports two XLR inputs, four SDI ports, and a 12V DC power source for use with professional video rigs.

The GH4 comes with built-in NFC and Wi-Fi, a pop-up TTL flash, a stereo mic and external mic input.

Sigma dp2 Quattro

Price to be announced

sigma-global.com

a fixed 30mm (45mm full-frame equivalent) f/2.8 lens. It has a 9-point AF system, and the leaf shutter allows for flash sync at all shutter speeds. The camera is due in stores this summer.

MATTH

EW

IS

MA

EL R

UIZ

(LC

D IM

AG

E)

Panasonic Lumix GH4

$1,698, street, body only

panasonic.net

One step beyond

SP 150-600mmF/5-6.3 Di VC USD

Capture clear, sharp images all the way to 600mm. With advanced optical technology, Ultrasonic Silent Drive autofocusing and Vibration Compensation, our stylish new zoom can take you closer to the extraordinary.

Model A011

For Canon, Nikon and Sony* mounts

*Sony mount without VC

Hiroto Fukuda Focal length 483mm; f/9 at 1/2000 ISO 800

www.tamron-usa.com

SMARTPHONE CAMERAS continue to improve, but

until recently they were limited by their tiniest of

sensors. Sonys Android-based, waterproof Xperia

Z1 raised the bar last year with its 1/2.3-inch, 20.7MP

Exmor RS sensor. And now, with the new Xperia Z2,

Sony takes the improvements for photographers

even further, adding image stabilization and 4K video

(3820x2160p30) capture. The high-res LED display

grows to 5.2 inches from 5, and

the processor is upgraded to

Qualcomms newest quad-core

Snapdragon 801 chip.

BIGGER IS BETTERSonys waterproof smartphone gets an upgrade

> Watch out! Its now illegal

to take photos

in Hungary

without first

getting

permission

from each

subject in the

photograph.

Unsurprisingly,

Hungarian

photo-

journalists are

some of the

new laws

harshest

critics.

> The National

Press

Photog-

raphers

Association

awarded

Miami Herald

photographer

Al Diaz the

NPPA

Humanitarian

Award for

assisting in a

roadside

emergency

before fulfilling

his duties as a

photographer.

> The Chinese

government

ordered Nikon

to stop selling

the D600 in

China after

the World

Consumer

Rights Day

television

program

reported on

defects in

the cameras.

Nikon will

cease sales

of the D600

and offer free

repairs.

NEW CONVERT

NEXT * JUST OUT

POPPHOTO.COM

Sony Xperia Z2

Price to be announced

www.sonymobile.com

SIX NEW BRIGHT EYESOlympus filed patents for six new wide-

angle lenses with maximum apertures

close to f/1, four of them in Micro

Four Thirds mounts. They include two

12.7mm designs (f/1.05 and f/0.95),

plus a 14.27mm and 13.99mm, both at

f/1. Its too soon to say whether theyll

come to market, but the news could

mean a bright future for Olys lens

line and competition for Voigtlnders

Nokton 17.5mm f/0.95 for MFT.

THE LOWDOWN

WE LOVE lens adapters

anything that gives old glass

new life is OK in our book. The

Fotodiox Pro Vizelex ND Throttle

adapter will let you mount your

Canon EF or EF-S glass on a

Sony E-mount ILC camera such

as the Alpha 6000, and keep

infinity focus. Heres the twist:

Its blue ring houses a variable

neutral-density filter, letting

you control the amount

of light that reaches

the sensor without

affecting color or

depth of field.

The catch?

With no electronic

contacts, the adapter

loses you autofocus

and automatic

diaphragm control, and you

will have to set your aperture

before mounting it. So its

best-suited for video use, where

shooters prefer manual focus

and apertures remain constant

throughout a clip.

The adapter is made of brass

with a stainless-steel finish and

comes with a removable tripod

mount and 2-year warranty.

Fotodiox puts an ND f lter in a converter


Fotodiox Pro Vizelex ND Throttle

$100, direct

www.fotodioxpro.com

RAW ReviseNikon Capture NX-D (Beta)

As Nikon has steadily updated its line of DSLRs, its premium companion software, Capture NX, has languished recently. But Nikon has finally released the new Capture NX (currently in Beta), with a redesigned user interface. The updated version, called Capture NX-D, includes batch processing, improved multi-monitor support, and a nondestructive workflow that saves adjustments as separate files, but it no longer has U-Point control. Capture NX 2 cost $180, but Capture NX-D will be free.

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>Flickrs six-year partnership with Getty Images has come to an end, but Getty told its contributors from Flickr that their contracts remain unchanged.

> Giottos has launched a new line of tripods. The Air series offers four kit options, ranging from 2.4 to 3.3 pounds, with prices from $250 to $465.

> Time named Makati City, Philippines, the Selfiest City in the World, determining that there are 258 selfie-takers per 100,000 people in the Philippines financial capital. It ranked first among 100 selfie-obsessed cities.

> Leicas newest limited edition camera sees Playboy and Hello Kitty joining forces to celebrate anniversaries. The $1,264 Leica C sports a picture of a winking Hello Kitty wearing the famous bunny ears.

WHEN IT comes to storage, bigger and faster is usually better, and with its new UHS-II Speed Class 3 SD cards, SanDisk pushes the boundaries just a little farther.

Designed to handle the rigors of 4K video capture, the new SanDisk cards have a maximum write speed of 250MBps and a maximum read speed of 280MBps, though its unlikely youll ever reach that theoretical limit. A 16GB card will run $75, street, while a 64GB version will go for $245.

In addition, SanDisks new 128GB microSD card ($200, street) has a UHS-I classification, a requirement for shooting 4K video on microSD cameras like the GoPro Hero3.

SanDisks new SD cards

are the fastestfor now

TOOLBOX

128MB

SOURCE: SanDisk

Westcott Zeppelin Deep Parabolic Softboxes $399 When its time for the big gunsstudio strobesthis 39-inch parabolic softbox helps focus and diffuse the light. It fits Profoto, Bowens,

and other strobes but costs much less than comparable models.

RayFlash Universal RingFlash Adapter $140Ring flashes are excellent (but expensive) tools for portraits, flattering

faces with even lighting. If youre on a budget and have a regular hot-

shoe strobe, this RayFlash unit can convert it into a diffused ring light.

Spinlight 360 Gel Collection $40 These gels work with the Spinlight 360 system to color the light from

your flash unit. Included are 20 gels, two clear disks, and a clear storage

case that doubles as a modifier when filled with translucent objects.

Rogue Safari Pop-Up Flash Booster $35 Designed for the built-in flash on APS-C Canon and Nikon DSLRs, the

Safari claims to extend the range of your cameras flash, useful with

lenses longer than 100mm. It mounts to the cameras hot-shoe.

Gary Fong LightBlade Diffuser LB-01 $35This inexpensive modifier for shoe-mounted flash units attaches with a

hook-and-loop fastening strap and softens your strobes powerful blast.

It flips up or down to act as a bounce or shoot-through diffuser.

PHOTOGRAPHY IS ALL about light, and when the sun doesnt give you enough, you bring your own. But not all light is created equal, so how do you make it do what you want? These flash modifiers will help make your light softer, reach farther, change color, or simply just look better.

128GB Storage capacity of SanDisks newly released microSD UHS-I model

Storage capacity of SanDisks first microSD card, in 2004

SD SPEED CHAMP


NEXT * ROUNDUP

FLASH MOD

TWO SIZES FIT ALL

One of the two RayFlash RingFlash sizes should fit your

hot-shoe unit.

2014 Sony Electronics Inc. The Sony logo is a trademark of Sony. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.

All other trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners.

The Sony 7R is the worlds lightest full frame interchangeable lens camera thats so small,

youll take it everywhere. 36MP. OLED viewnder. Wi-Fi sharing all in a compact body that

will change your perspective entirely. Power of Imaging.

See the diference for yourself at www.sony.com/fullframe

A New Frame of Mind. Sony 7R Compact Full Frame Interchangeable Lens Camera

PH

OT O G R

APHYPO

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ALASKAN WINDOW GAZER

PHOTOGRAPHERS WRITE STUFF

YOUR BEST ANIMAL PAIRS

MAY 2014 POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY 23

SHARECONVERSATION, INSPIRATION, CONTESTS, AND YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

STARRY NIGHTA reader looks up and shoots for the stars

PHOTO CHALLENGE

DO

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IT WASNT hard for Douglas Croft, 55,

to convince his shooting buddy to

drive up to the ancient bristlecone

pine forest outside Big Pine, CA, to

capture the night sky. At the Patri-

arch Grove in the White Mountains,

altitudes reach as high as 11,000

feet, and primordial trees dot the

stark landscape. I wanted something

natural for a foreground, Croft says.

These twisted, gnarly trees are so

old and uniqueperfect to showcase

the ancient light of the Milky Way.

So the fanance manager from

San Jose, CA, affxed an 1116mm

AT-X Pro DX Tokina lens to a tripod-

mounted Nikon D7000. With the lens

set to 13mm, his exposure (20 sec at

f/2.8 and ISO 3200) was fast enough

to keep the stars from trailing but

slow enough to reveal them. And his

composition? A clear winner in a

strong feld. Matthew Ismael Ruiz

In our big How-To feature (5 Super Photo Projects,

page 57), photographer Harold Ross paints an idyllic nighttime landscape with a pair of LED panels. Send us your best light-painted outdoor scenes by May 31you could win $100 and your photo here. For a full set of contest rules, visit PopPhoto.com/contests.

POPPHOTO.COM

Room With a ViewWHEN MARK MEYER and his

wife moved to Anchorage from

California in 2007, it took a year

to find just the right house. With

its hand-hewn log siding and

old sash windows, the 100-year-

old home stood out among the

hastily developed citys oil-boom

surroundings. And ever since

the couple moved in, the unique

characteristics of their two

bedroom windows caught the

photographers eye. They have

a surprising range in the winter,

from tessellated ice when its

frozen outside to fog with the

humidity, Meyer explains.

A snapshot taken with his

iPhone in the fall of 2012 quickly

grew into an ongoing series, An

Alaska Window, with images

captured roughly every few

days and uploaded to Tumblr.

Even though the series now

An Alaskan photographers picture window

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SHARE * MY PROJECT

Mark Meyer (www.photo-mark.com) is an editorial and commercial pro based in Anchorage.

encompasses more than 100

photos, all taken from the same

window, very few look alike.

As Meyer began to take his

project more seriously, he

experimented with technique

and equipment. He shot not just

with his phone but with cameras

of all sizes, from a K.B. Canham

4x5 to a Nikon D800 to a Fujifilm

X-E1. Taking into account the

weather and small changes in

the window and the landscape,

he varied his creative approach

capturing a blur of windswept

trees or the view through a

condensation handprint.

The limits were, in a way,

what made the project most fun.

My yard isnt special, and its

not particularly active, Meyer

saysa fence-hopping moose

or a moth near the window sash

were equally exciting. His favorite

photos are those that include

a view of the actual window

frame, lending a reminder of the

projects literal context.

For Meyer, the work spurred

a return to a contemplative

form of photography, something

hes rarely had time for amidst

the fast pace of his editorial

assignments. His goal is to edit

and print a selection to show in

galleries. Its brought me back

to the fundamentals, and its

also made me appreciate the

mundane, he says. Looking

out a window is one thing, but

photographing it gives you a way

to notice it. Lori Fredrickson


Meyer photo-graphed the view from his bedroom window using an Apple iPhone 5, 4x5 K.B. Canham view camera, Fujifilm X-E1, and Nikon D800, with various lenses.

JON

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)

him from his 40th birthday party

in 1973 to his 80th last year in

Newark. Im always trying to get

the definitive shot of him.

Whats your technique for getting an authentic moment?I try to be as open as possible. I

am not inclined to impose an idea

of some sort. I like to see what I

can discover. It is exciting to work

on location, which usually means

at the persons home, especially if

I can use available light, because

there are so many possibilities.

What equipment do you use?I was very late in coming to

digital for my portraits. I finally

switched five years ago from

my Leicas to the Canon EOS 5D

Mark II. My standard lens is the

24105mm f/4L Canon EF zoom.

I have always used a 105mm

as my standard headshot lens

because I like being close to

my subjects. One thing about

shooting digital is that I can show

people photographs during the

session. At first I wondered if

that would make them too self-

conscious, but they really like

participating in the process.

Do you have a favorite portrait that you have taken?No, I am awestruck by all the

writers I photograph. When you

are photographing someone,

they seem beautiful to you.

What of your own authorship?One thing about my profession is

that a writer might spend years

doing a book and a photographer

spends an hour or two taking a

portrait, so I have found the need

to pull my work together. I did

a book several years ago, and I

have a traveling exhibition. Last

year I sold my first stamp to the

U.S. Postal Service, a photo of

Joseph Brodsky.

Interview by Zara Katz

SHARE * I, PHOTOGRAPHER


Who was the first writer you ever photographed?The first time was in 1971 at a

reading that Allen Ginsberg was

giving at New York University. I

was prepared to take a picture

with my Leica and someone

passed me a note saying, I am

a German journalist and my

camera is broken. Please meet me

at the break. I started working

with him regularly: He would

give breezy interviews with all

sorts of people in the arts and I

would take my picture, and we

would file the story together. But I

consider my first literary portrait

to be the picture that I took of the

poet W.H. Auden in 1972 at his

home on St. Marks Place.

Youve shot New Yorks 92nd Street Y poetry reading series for 25 years. What intrigues you about this job? I took up photography when I

went on a wildlife safari in East

Africa. But literature was my first

love, so it just felt very natural

to me. I never imagined when I

started out that it would lead me

back to literature. At 92Y, I have

had the opportunity to photograph

hundreds of writers. I try to make

the most of limited time backstage

to get a good portrait.

Is there an author whom you shoot frequently? I became Philip Roths official

photographer and photographed

Nancy Crampton (www.nancy crampton.com) is the house photog-rapher at the 92nd Street Ys Unterberg Poetry Center in New York City and author of Writers

(Quantuck Lane Press, 2005). See a gallery of her work at PopPhoto.com/Crampton.

POET PORTRAITISTNancy Crampton has immortalized generations of literary lions

New York Institute of Photography

Request a free course catalog at

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A New Love GREAT PHOTOS often come

from the eye of an artist. And as

Suzanne Trottier discovered, one

great picture can turn a painter

into a committed photographer.

Traveling to Ireland for her first

Mentor Series trek in 2008, this

resident of Portsmouth, NH, had

absolutely no experience with her

equipment. Until then, shed used

photography mainly as a basis for

her paintingsmostly landscapes,

still lifes, and portraits of animals.

It was my first time using a

DSLR camera, she says. I had

everything to learn.

Everywhere in Ireland that she

looked, she saw pictures waiting

to be taken: magical green

landscapes, with rainbows,

lonely trees, stone walls, and

ruins. On one particularly

windy, misty day in September,

the trekkers stopped along a

road. Others were drawn to the

landscape, with its rolling hills,

castle, sheep, and view of the

ocean, but Trottier was drawn to

two horses she had spotted in a

field. I got off the bus first, so I

was first to approach the horses,

she says. I loved the wind in their

manes. They were still curious.

She fired off three exposures

this the only one with both horses

looking at the camera. I wasnt

thinking much, she recalls. I

find that spontaneity works better

with animals in general.

With treks to Egypt, Switzerland,

Lake Como, and China now

under their belt, Trottier and her

husband Tim Parker have no plans

to stop photographing. But for

Trottier, the first trip to Ireland

was special. I fell in love with

photography on that trek, she

says. It became my passion, and it

still is. Matthew Ismael Ruiz

From painter to photographer

SUZANNE TROTTIER See more work by this painter and photographer at www.timand suzanne.com.

Suzanne Trottier captured these Irish steeds with a Nikon D70 and 18200mm f/3.55.6G VR

Nikkor at 120mm, freezing their flowing manes with an exposure of 1/1250 sec at f/7.1, ISO 800.

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2014 Treks: Colorado, California,

Montana, Ireland, Charleston,

Puerto Rico, Long Island,

Prague, and more!

SHARE * MENTOR SERIES


Still Shooting I read the article Light Show (You Can Do It, February) and I hope to try the techniqueafter I make a lens with a body cap, an old UV filter, a Dremel tool, and some glue.This will alleviate the dust fears expressed by reader William Ruting (Letters, March). Harvey Morgan II

Santa Fe, NM

REGARDING THE review of the Nikon Df in your March issue, comparing a couple of features of the $2,747 Df to Nikons $6,000 D4 is fine. But how could the article be complete without comparing the Df to the Nikon D800? Its only about $50 more than the Df, and in my opinion a near-runaway current-day seller, with a 36MP sensor? Pete Muller

Fairfield County, CT

EDITORS NOTE: Despite their similarity in

price, the DF and D800 have such different

sensor resolutions (16.2MP vs. 36.3MP)

that we dont see this as a fair comparison.

I AM PUZZLED by Paul Raffelds complaint (Letters, April) on not being able to find frame sizes and mats that fit digital images. I do my own with Nielsen aluminum sectional framesso I can mix and match sizesand board from Blick or an art supply store. A Logan mat cutter is about $100 and stores easily in a closet, and 32x40 board is about $15. I buy glass by the box from the local glass store, and for odd sizes like my photograph of the Tregurtha, the longest ship on the Great Lakes, I cut the mat and glass to fit. A glass cutter, less than $4, and a T-Square, less than $10, make it all pretty easy. The expensive item is a dry mounting press, but you can sometimes find access at schools, or just have that bit done commercially.

Tom Groenfeldt

Sturegeon Bay, WI

IN THE ARTICLE about the Camera of the Year (January) you mention that the new Sony Alpha 7R is smaller than a Leica M, but that tells me zip. Ive never owned a Leica, never even seen one. How about a shot of the camera in someones hands for comparison? Sonys ad didnt reveal anything about it either. The result is that Im interested but have to research further. Eric Meyers

via PopPhoto.com

EDITORS NOTE: The dimensions of the

Sony Alpha 7R (5.0x3.8x1.9 in.) are stated

in the specifications sidebar in the camera

test in that very issue. We find using

hands to be a poor comparison, since it is

impossible to tell how large the hands are.

SHARE * LETTERS WRITE TO US! [email protected]

HOW TO CONTACT US Address your questions or comments on editorial content to Popular Photography, 2 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016; e-mail, [email protected]. Published letters may be edited for length and clarity. We regret that we cannot answer all letters. Editorial contributions sent by mail must include return postage and will be handled with reasonable care; however, we assume no responsibility for return or safety of photographs, disks, or manuscripts.

SUBSCRIPTIONS Visit PopPhoto.com/cs for all subscription inquiries, call us at 800-876-6636, or email us at [email protected].

Please allow at least 8 weeks for a change of address; include both your old and new addresses, and if possible an address label from a recent issue. Subscription prices: U.S.: 1 year, $14; 2 years, $28; 3 years, $42. Canada: 1 year, $26; 2 years, $52; 3 years, $78. All other foreign: 1 year, $38; 2 years, $76; 3 years, $114. Occasionally we share our information with other reputable companies whose products and services might interest you. If you prefer not to participate, please contact us at [email protected] or popphoto.com/cs.

REPRINTS AND

EPRINTS For Reprints email [email protected].


HOW POWERFUL is your flash unit?

And how does the one youre

considering buying compare? We

often get asked for help with this.

Here are the major methods of

rating flash oomphand their

various imperfections.

Guide number (GN): Probably

the most confusing spec, in part

because it was never meant to

rate flash output. GNs original

function was to set the correct

f-stop for proper flash exposure

at a certain distance or vice versa.

Its the arithmetic product of the

two factors: You divide the GN

by one factor to get the other.

So with a flash with a GN of 80

placed 10 feet from your subject,

you would use an aperture of f/8

(80/10 = 8); at 20 feet, f/4.

The earliest electronic flash

guns were strictly manualmost

featured GN dials or sliders that

showed, at a glance, the correct

f-stop for the distance. Flash

units with a higher GN for a given

film speed clearly had more

output than those with lower GN,

so it became a de facto measure

of flash powerand remained

so with the advent of automatic

flash units that vary output.

But GN tells you nothing about

flash coverage: A flash unit rated

GN 80 that covers the angle of

view of a 28mm lens is more

powerful than one of the same

GN than covers only a 50mm

lens. It varies with ISO, so you

must compare GNs at the same

ISO. And while ISO 100 is usually

a standard, some manufacturers

give GNs at other ISOs.

Then there is confusion about

linear measurementsome

manufacturers give GNs for

meters rather than feet. (Rough

conversion: Multiply a GN in

meters by 3.333 to get it in feet.)

Filters, diffusers, and other light

modifiers will affect the GN.

Zooming flash heads add another

variable; a flash with a GN of,

say, 100 for 28mm coverage will

typically have a GN of about 160

with the flash head zoomed to

100mm coverage. And sensor

format has a bearing here: A flash

that covers 18mm for APS-C will

cover about 28mm for full frame.

Beam candle-power seconds

(BCPS): Used by several makers of

studio flashes, this spec rates the

actual output as measured by a

meter, and so is often considered

the most accurate measure

of flash power. ISO and linear

measurement units make no

difference to a BCPS rating, but,

as with GN, the size, shape, and

color of a reflector or modifier

will change this measurement.

Watt-seconds (Ws): Measuring

actual energy (1 Ws = 1 watt

sustained for 1 second), this

spec, used on many studio

strobes, seems like it should be

the most precise. Actually, it has

essentially no bearing on flash

outputits simply a measure

of how much energy can be

stored in the flashs capacitor.

The shape and efficiency of the

flash tube, color and shape of the

reflector, and all the other factors

that can mess with GN and BCPS

also make Ws a pretty imprecise

measuring unit.

Our advice? Always make sure

youre comparing kumquats to

kumquats and pomegranates to

pomegranates when deciding on

flash units. Dont sweat small

differences in flash output

just focus on the important

stuff: ease of use, build quality,

accessories available, and, for

TTL shoe-mount units, the

compatibility of the flash with

your particular camera(s).

Dan Richards


From the No Free Lunch Dept.: A zooming flash head set to cover a longer lens will provide a higher guide number, and hence allow greater flash distancebut the flash may be inadequate in angular coverage.

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Flash Decoder

How to read those electronic f ash specs

Flash head

set to 28mm

GN = 100

Flash head

set to 100mm

GN = 160

SHARE * TECH TALK

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Where

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Two of a KindWant to enter? Get the official rules and upload your images at PopPhoto.com/contests.

SHARE * YOUR BEST SHOT

3rd Place $100 Prize IWAN SUSANTO, 32, IT SPECIALIST, TANGERANG, INDONESIA

One afternoon in late January, I went shooting in the park near my

house, in a tropical garden filled with wild plants and insects where I

often make macro photos. The wet and muddy terrain was a difficult

challenge, but I was able to find this pair of green frogs locked in a unique,

human-like embrace. TECH INFO: Canon EOS Rebel T2i with 100mm f/2.8L

Canon EF Macro lens; 1/400 sec at f/6.3, ISO 400. Saturation, brightness,

shadows, and highlights adjusted in Adobe Photoshop CS5.

This months winners find charismatic pairs of animal subjects

2nd Place $200 Prize JASON LANIER, 39, PHOTOGRAPHER, MURRIETA, CA The Kruger National Park in South Africa is like visiting Jurassic Park.Its going

back in time.I searched and followed this herd of elephants for a while until I found an opening in the brush, wanting to capture

them in a natural frame. When the adult elephant came to protect the baby and started flapping its ears it made for a powerful

image. Shooting in Africa is not like shooting in a zoo. Its real,raw, and dangerous. TECH INFO: Nikon D700 with 28300mm f/3.55.6

VR Zoom-Nikkor lens at 50mm; 1/1000 sec at f/11, ISO 400. Minor edits in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2; sepia filter added in Photoshop CS3.


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SHARE * YOUR BEST SHOT

1st Place $300 Prize BRAD JENKINS, 75,

BERNARDSVILLE, NJ,

RETIRED

On a November

morning during a

24-day photo safari

put together by Joseph

Van Os, we landed

on the beach of South

Georgia islands St.

Andrews Bay, home

to more then 300,000

king penguins.

Walking the beach, I

saw the chicks were

all in groups, like a

nursery.There were

usually some adults

with them, and I

wanted to capture

them together. By

9 a.m., 6070 mph

katabatic gusts blasted

sand across the beach,

and we had to leave.

What a memorable

experience.

TECH INFO: Canon

EOS 5D Mark II with

100400mm f/4.55.6L

Canon EF IS lens at

170mm; 1/100 sec at

f/22, ISO 320. Minor

edits in Lightroom 5 and

Photoshop CS6.


DAV

ID A

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MAY 2014 POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY 37POPPHOTO.COM

HOWEXPERT TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FOR BETTER PHOTOS

MASTER ADOBE CAMERA RAW

40

42

ADD HUMOR TO YOUR SELFIES AND ROMANCE TO YOUR SEASCAPES

46

41

DISCOVER SAVANNAHS CHARMS

David Arkys

image of

a tripod-

mounted

Canon EOS-1D

X and Sigma

50500mm

f/4.56.3,

shot for us, is

a composite

of four X-rays

with exposure

times varying

from 30 sec

to 7 minutes.

WHEN YOU see really cool X-ray

photographs like the one on this

months cover by New York-based

conceptual still-life photographer

David Arky, you could be forgiven

for hoping that maybe Santa

could score you an X-ray camera

for the holidays this year.

Thats not going to happen,

says an amused Arky, pointing

out that in the U.S. these mach-

ines are tightly regulated. No one

is allowed to X-ray other people

unless its medically necessary.

His skeletal legs on the next page?

They're just that: from a skeleton.

Still, we thought you might

want to learn how Arky actually

makes these amazing photos.

To that endand as the opening

salvo of this months big how-to

feature (page 57)we asked him to

explain how he uses heavy-duty,

industrial-grade cameras for his

more artistic ends.

X-ray cameras for medical use

are low-voltage and often digital

now, but they produce relatively

low quality, screen-resolution

X-RAY ARTISTTurn industrial X-rays into something fun

CREATIVE THINKING

HOW * CREATIVE THINKING

files. When Arky began making

X-ray photographs almost 20

years ago, he realized that while

low-voltage devices might be

fine for things like flowers,

many other subjects required

X-ray equipment found in heavy

industry such as aerospace.

Arky forged a relationship with

technicians at an industrial lab

(whom he regards as creative

collaborators) to gain access to

these devices. I learned there are

many kinds of X-ray cameras,

but I work with five that best suit

my needs, he says. They are

infinitely more powerful than a

dentists X-ray.

In the shot on the previous page

of a Canon EOS-1D X and Sigma

50500mm f/4.56.3 APO DG OS

HSM lens that he made for Popular

Photography, Arky took numerous

exposures to get the best-looking

reveal of camera and lens parts.

His final image is a composite of

four shots. The first step is just

to feel the object and get a sense

of whats inside, he says. You

weight the exposure based on the

heft and orientation of the object.

Relying on notes from hundreds

of previous X-rays, he selects a

voltage and exposure time to

serve as his base exposure. After

processing the film and reviewing

the results, he generally ups the

time or voltage to gradually find

the best look for the subjects guts.

The process is simple, but not

always easy, because X-ray film

is a bit imprecisethe reveal isnt

always what he had imagined.

Its a lot of experimentation, he

says, I made four exposures to get

one shot. He and his retoucher

finally scanned and assembled the

composite pieces, before adjusting

color and contrast for the whole.

Above, left: Levi Strauss used Arkys composite of some 30 X-rays for a Dockers ad compaign.Above, right: The artist stands in an X-ray exposure vault, using a plumb bob to align the subject and camera (in X-ray jargon, the gen er ator).

Arky faces a creative challenge

in balancing the contrasting

densities of a subjects interior

and exterior. Many materials

look more dense along the edges

than in the center. Similarly, this

zooms housing is more dense

than its hollow interior, while in

X-rays, ironically, glass appears

the most opaque of almost all

materials.

Despite his many years of X-ray

imaging, Arky never tires of it.

Every time I learn something

new, and it always rekindles that

a-ha! feeling you experienced

when you processed your very

first roll of black-and-white film.

Laurence Chen

SUPPORT A LONG LENS BY THE LENS

THAT TRIPOD COLLAR on your big, heavy telephoto or tele-zoom lens isnt just for affixing the lens to a tripod. It can also help save you from some very expensive grief.

If you carry a camera with a big lens via a strap mounted to the camera body, the weight

of the lens can bend or even break the cameras lensmount flanges. Its much better to

carry the rig on a strap with a tripod-mount fitting (such as a BlackRapid) attached to

the lens collar. (Some very large lenses have actual neckstrap lugs for the same reason.)

Another nice thing about the collar: its tripod platform can be positioned so as to rest on

the palm of your left hand when youre using the (correct) under-the-lens grip, for stable

handheld shooting. Is the tripod collar an extra-cost accessory for your lens? Buy it!

DID YOU KNOW?


DAV

ID A

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Y (X

-RAY); B

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NT C

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NA

(S

TU

DIO

)

WANT AN amusing kick

for your selfies? Dom Reed, a

40-year old software designer

from Cambridge, England, has

made a career of making funny

photos, mostly of himself.

Better known to thousands

of flickr fans as the absurd

Mr. Flibble (www.flickr.com/

photos/flibble/), Reed has

produced hundreds of wacky

self-portraits that appear in his

improbably successful, crowd-

funded book, I Drink Lead Paint.

Flibbleer, Reedhas the

following suggestions for

making guffaw-full photos:

Dont be afraid to look stupid.

People like stupid.

Shoot with wide-angle lenses.

The wider the better. They can

make your nose look really big,

which viewers also tend to find

appealing in a funny/ugly way.

Get to know the Distort tools

in Adobe Photoshop. Reed used

Pinch here to distort his eyes a

bit. Just dont overdo it.

Dont take your camera too

seriously. Just because you paid

thousands for it doesnt mean

you shouldnt do outrageously

silly things with that DSLR.

Peter Kolonia

Laugh LineReed shot with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and an 50mm f/1.2L Canon EF lens, exposing for 1/200 sec at f/11, ISO 50. For more of his zany self-portraits, go to idrinkleadpaint.com.

DO

M R

EE

D

QUICK TIP

30-SECOND SOFTWARE

HOW * TIPS & TRICKS

Light Blaster What it is: A slide

or transparency projector, the Light Blaster (starting at $99, direct; www.light-blaster.com) uses a shoe-mount flashs output to cast images or light patterns.

Whats included: You supply a standard SLR lens and the flash, while the Light Blaster provides a slide/transparency carriage, its housing, and a lightstand post. (The pistol grip shown below is an optional accessory.)

How it works: As the cameras shutter opens, the flash fires either in a wired or wireless (e.g. via optical slave) mode, projecting a transparencys image onto a scene. You bring the image to maximum sharpness by focusing the lens.

Put some humor in your photos

FILM IN LIGHTROOM

Plug-ins for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom can be great, but they can also

be frustrating since LR has to make a TIFF, costing you RAW flexibility.

To avoid going to a plug-in when you want to apply a more basic effect

such as an analog film simulation, try VSCOs Film 05 in LR 4 or 5. Load

the presets onto your system and select your camera brand, then the

film type you need. Next go to VSCO Film Toolkit set to choose from

modification presets. You can use those to go easier on the grain, say,

or bring back detail in the shadows. Debbie Grossman


BEFORE AFTER

WIN

TH

RO

PE

HIE

RS

HOW * TRAVELING PHOTOGRAPHER


IN MAY, Savannahs city parks

are decked out in the brilliant

pink plumes of crepe myrtle and

showy white magnolia flowers,

says local photographer and

history teacher Winthrope Hiers.

And mixing scenic beauty with

history is a Savannah trademark.

Forsyth Park, first laid out in

the 1840s, is a favorite of Hiers.

The north end, its paths lined in

magnolia and live oak dripping

with Spanish moss, is particularly

pretty, he says. The moss

photographs nicely backlit in the

early morning or late day sun.

He recommends photographing

the parks historic fountain.

Installed in 1858, it appears in

photos that a Mathew Brady

associate took during Gen.

Shermans famous march. Best

vantage point: Where Bull Street

meets the park looking south.

Savannah has the largest

historic district in the country

perfect for walkers and history-

History blossoms in Savannahs byways

GOSOUTH

SAVORINGSAVANNAH So much history, so little time! Grab a mint julep and visit some this citys most charming points of interestincluding a great photo exhibit.

OBONAVENTURE CEMETERY www.

bonaventurehistorical.org Described

as part natural cathedral, part sculpture

garden, this cemetery is featured in the

book and movie Midnight in the Garden

of Good and Evil, and photographer

Jack Leigh, who shot the books famous

cover, is buried there. Nothing says

spooky like a 150-year-old cemetery

dripping with Spanish moss. Open to the

public daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

OGEORGIA STATE RAILROAD MUSEUM

railga.com/oddend/roundhouse.html

Largest and oldest existing 19th-century

railroad complex in the countryit

dates from 1850, and 13 of its original

buildings still remain. On display: steam

and diesel locomotives, rail cars, and a

fully operational turntable.

OJEPSON CENTER www.telfair.org

This downtown-Savannah museurm is

showing the work of legendary New York

street photographer Helen Levitt through

September 21.

OSAVANNAH NATIONAL WILDLIFE

REFUGE www.fws.gov/savannah

On U.S. Highway 17, six miles north of

Savannah, the refuge offers more than

29,000 acres of freshwater marshes

and tidal rivers, with critters including

ducks, wading birds, shorebirds, and

endangered species like wood storks

and manatees. The refuge has alligators,

too, so watch your toes!

lovers, says Hiers. He suggests:

Bull Street. Starting at City Hall

on Bay Street, head south on

Bull to pass through picturesque

squares and admire historic

homes and Civil War-era sites.

Streets around Forsyth Park.

Classic ginger bread homes line

three of the parks four sides.

Factors Walk. Between Bay

Street and River Street, this

offers striking stone archways

for warehouses that have been

linked to slave auctions.

Talmadge Memorial Bridge.

It dominates the skyline. Go at

sunset and add a well-lit river-

boat as a fore ground focal point.

Jeff Wignall

Winthrope Hiers shot these houses along the 400 block of Savannahs East Hunting-don Street using a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F828. Exposure unrecorded.

HOW * SOFTWARE WORKSHOP SIMPLE COMPLEX

PH

ILIP

RYA

N

IF YOU have Adobe Photoshop,

you already have a great RAW

converter on your hands in the

form of Adobe Camera Raw.

Because it maintains feature

parity with Lightroom, its new

tools keep piling up. But because

its interface hasnt had an

overhaul in a long time, you may

not know a lot of them are there,


SIX RAW TIPS Creative Clouds ACR has all kinds of cool features; we used the interactive histogram to fix this photoss exposure.

and even if you do, you may have

some trouble locating them.

Getting familiar with the

intricacies of ACR can be esp-

ecially important if you dont like

the RAW software that came with

your camera (or if it didnt come

with any). And it can be even

more important if you dont use

an application like Lightroom,

Phase One Capture One Pro/

Express, or Apple Aperture to

organize and process your RAW

files. So follow along to make

sure youre getting the most out

of Photoshop CCs version of this

stalwart converter. Even if you

use it all the time, youll likely

pick up something helpful.

Debbie Grossman

How to use Adobe Camera

Raws best new features

1

2

3

Tip 1If you double-click on a

RAW file in Bridge, the

program will, by default,

run ACR within Photoshop.

To avoid opening that app

if it isnt necessary (or tying

it up if you need to work

on another image), run

ACR through Bridge. Go to

Bridges Preferences, then

check the box for Double-

Click Edits Camera Raw

Settings in Bridge. Click

OK. If you prefer to open

RAW files in Bridge only on

demand, you can highlight

your file or files and then

type Ctrl (Command) + R.

Tip 2In Creative Cloud, youll no longer find

resolution options under the Crop tool.

Insteadand even betteryou can create

custom presets for output. Directly below

your image youll see a summary of the

settings by which your image will be

processed when you open it or save it.

Click on these, your Workflow Options, to

adjust. To make a preset for web sharing,

for example, set your Color

Space to sRGB, and choose

an appropriately small Image

Size. You can adjust Output

Sharpening here, too. When back

in ACR, right-click or Ctrl+click

on the Workflow Options to

choose the preset you need.

Tip 3One of ACRs fun (and useful) features in

CC is the interactive histogram. Instead

of guessing which slider represents which

range of tones, you can just click and drag

on the histogram itself. Grab the midtones

and drag them right to brighten your

image; its respective slider will move

accordingly. If necessary, do the same with

Shadows, Highlights, Whites, and Blacks.


Print Preview Now you can soft proof

via ACR. In Workflow Options, set a paper

profile and intent under Color Space.

Tip 4Spot removal was never one of

Camera Raws strong suitsif you

had something long, like a telephone

wire, to remove, you had to keep

adding spots. But now you can paint

on spot removal. Type B to access the

tool, or just find it in the toolbar. Use

the left and right bracket keys to

shrink or expand your brush to

a size slightly larger than what

you want to remove, and paint

the offending area out. Note

that the tools options now

include Feather; use this slider

to fine-tune your brush edge.

Type B again to exit the tool.

Tip 5To reduce color noise in a new way,

head to the Detail panel. Zoom

in to 100%. After you make your

adjustments for Luminance and Color

noise reduction, minimize the colored

patchiness that sometimes occurs in

areas where there should be smooth

tone. Move the new Color Smoothness

slider to the right. If it desaturates too

much, pull it back to the left until the

effect is just barely noticeable.

Tip 6The Radial Filter is a quick way to

focus an adjustment on a specific

circular or oval-shaped area. This

can be useful when you want to add

a vignette but dont want it centered,

or as a shortcut when you dont need

to paint on your selective adjustment.

Get it by typing J. Use the crosshairs

to draw a circle around the area you

want to affect, and move the central

red dot to reposition if necessary.

Adjust your feathering (or make any

other adjustment youd like), and

choose whether you want the Effect

to happen inside or outside the circle.


HOW * SOFTWARE WORKSHOP

5

4

6

Adjust the SampleAfter painting, youll still need to grab

the area, circled in green, and move it to

a sampling spot that works.


DA

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MO

OR

E

DREAMSCENE

HOW * YOU CAN DO IT


Moore shot with a tripod-mounted Nikon D7000 and 1770mm f/2.84 Sigma lens with 10-stop ND filter; 79 sec at f/11, ISO 100.

Step 1Gather your gear. Start with a

camera that allows bulb

settings, a sturdy tripod, and

neutral-density flters (with or

without a holder) for your lens. A

telephoto lens will give you a deep

working distance that lets you

shoot far from the waters edge.

Also, a remote shutter release will

let you fre the camera without

jogging it.

Step 2 Find the right beach. You will

want a sheltered location with

a gentle surf and a minimum of

swimmers in your background to

clutter it up.

Step 3Wait for the right conditions.

Moore went early in the morning

of an overcast day to take

advantage of its soft light, hazy

horizon, and lack of crowds.

Step 4Make your (long) exposures.

After mounting your rig and

composing the scene, ask the

model to hold absolutely still for

the duration of the exposures,

which could be a minute or more.

The pose should be natural,

have some visual interest, and

be easy to hold. You may want

your model to turn away from the

camera to avoid a blurred face.

Final StepFinesse the scene in software.

Moore wanted to exaggerate the

dreamlike quality of the scene by

getting rid of background detail.

This included the horizon line,

which he eliminated by selecting

it with Adobe Photoshop CS6s

Marquee tool and applying a

Gaussian blur to the selection.

SIMPLE COMPLEX

TO FLIP mundane seascapes

into something more magical,

the secret is simple: lengthen

your exposure times to a

full minute or more. Darren

Moore, a photographer

from Surrey, England, has

mastered this technique. As

you can see in his dozens of

hauntingly beautiful images

(www.darrenmoorephotography.

com), his seascapes are more

like dreamscapes, free of the

clutter, grime, and boring detail

of everyday scenes.

The cool thing here is that you

really can do this yourself. All it

takes is a camera that lets you

set long exposure times, a tripod

to hold your camera steady, and,

assuming you want to shoot in

daylightand not in the dead of

nighta neutral-density filter to

thread over your lens.

Neutral-density (ND) filters cut

the light reaching your cameras

image sensor or film without

affecting overall color balance.

They let you make accurate

daylight exposures that are

measured in minutes, not the

more usual fractions of seconds.

ND filters are calibrated

logarithmically, however, which

can lead to some confusion. An

ND filter that blocks 1 stop of

light, for example, is commonly

labeled 0.3; a filter that blocks 2

stops is labeled 0.6; and so on up

the line. The maximum-strength

3.0 filter will dim down a scene

by 10 full stops.

You can buy screw-in ND

filters of different densities to fit

each of your favorite lenses, or

get a kit with a standard holder

(such as the Cokin) that works

with a variety of lens sizes.

Variable ND filters, such as those

from Hoya and Tiffen, let you

dial in up to 9 stops of neutral

density. Peter Kolonia

Conjure up some scenic magic

To capture his model as sharply as possible Moore used a Pixel TW-282 wireless camera trigger (A). His 10-stop 72mm B+W Neutral Density filter (B)and Vanguard Auctus Plus 283AT tripod (C) allowed the long 79-sec exposure that blurred the motion of the surf.

A

C

B

David Roman - RomanDA Photography

FOLLOW US ONMentor Series Ultimate Photo Adventure

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7KH866

Mitch Dobrowner merges the artistry of a monochrome master with the daring of a weather chaser. Heres how does it.

Photos by Mitch Dobrowner; interview by Jon Blistein

Howd you get started?As a teenager in the early 1970s,

I was mainly about fast cars,

motorcycles, women, and getting

in trouble. Hoping to get me on a

different path, my father gave me

an old Argus rangefnder cam-

era. It worked. I ended up with

a scholarship to Pratt Institute,

which I passed on because I didn't

want to drive from Long Island to

Brooklyn every day. My parents

said, Do something, so I went to

Manhattan and started assisting.

At one point I was working

for Hashi; Canon was one of his

clients. I showed someone from

the company my personal work

and they gave me some funding.

I used that to get the heck out of

New York. I had been exposed to

a lot of Ansel Adams, and, hav-

ing grown up in New York, those

landscapes just blew my mind.

They looked like another planet to

me, and I had to go see them.

I experimented with shooting

tungsten flm in daylight, using

infrared, taking Ektachrome and

developing it in C41, reversing

things and using different types

of fltersit was all so much fun.

I was taking red, green, and blue

flters and using triple-exposures

and coming out with things that

looked like they were exposed cor-

rectly but were multiple exposures

on a single frame. That taught me

about learning the fundamentals

but doing my own thing.

Then I met my wife and I

dropped photography for 20 years.

We had our own design company,

doing images for the TV networks.

What led you to storms?I was shooting landscapes and

always found myself in the worst

weather because the light was the

most interesting. [Storm chaser]

Sean Casey lived behind me; he

recommended someone I could

go out with. I had this vision in

my mind of what I wanted to

shoot; Caseys friend recom-

mended I go to South Dakota.


The next year I upgraded to a

Canon EOS 5D Mark II. I really

like live view for shooting storms

and landscapes. I come from a

view-camera and wet-darkroom

background, and composing in

live view looked like ground glass

to me. I dont understand why

people still use optical viewfnd-

ers for landscapes. Now I shoot

with two lenses: a 24105mm and

a 70200mm. You give up a bit of

sharpness with a zoom but you

can compose on the fyyou dont

have time to switch lenses or cam-

eras because it all changes so fast.

Do you use flters?Yup. I have two 5D Mark IIsone

thats modifed for full spectrum

(the IR and anti-aliasing flters

have been removed) and another

that is not modifed. I think,

Whats the environment look like?

Whats the light look like? Then I

choose how to flter based on

what I see. In a lower-contrast or

overcast situation without a lot

of directional light, Ill use the

body without the sensor flters. It

gives me the opportunity to add

screw-on flters to the lens. I can

block parts of the spectrum based

How has your technique evolved over the years?Shooting storms is kind of a

hybrid of shooting a quiet land-

scape and a sports event: Compo-

sitions are constantly changing,

the lights changing, theres wind,

theres noise, theres a lot going

on and you have to stay focused.

I used a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-R1

when I started in 2009, which

wasnt the optimal camera for

storms. It was really limited to

landscapes, but I did get some of

my best shots that frst year, and

it was great for lightning strikes.

GALATIA, KANSAS

Arm of God, 2009. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-R1, 1/4 sec at f/8, ISO 160.


LAKE

POINSETT, SD

Previous

page: Storm

Over Field,

2010. Canon

EOS 5D Mark

II, 24105mm

f/4L Canon

lens; 1 sec at

f/8, ISO 100.

ground the pictures, but I think

everybody has to have their own

vision. Its OK to go and use the

rulesAnsel Adams has obviously

infuenced me a lot but thats a

foundation to deviate from.

Why monochrome mode?I shoot in RAW but in mono-

chrome mode so I can see a pre-

view of what Im shooting. Unlike

with a flm camera, I dont have

to imagine what it will look like

in black-and-white, I can actually

on the way the situation looks. I

dont like the camera manufac-

turer telling me how I should see

or expose. I like the freedom to

pick and choose the way I want

to do things. I also use flters with

digital the way I did when shoot-

ing black-and-white flm. Red

(25), green, and blue flters are

still important components in my

arsenal. If I want to darken a sky

Ill use a red flter or a polarizer.

Do you adjust on the fy?When I drop my tripod, Im usu-

ally set up at 50mm f/8 and half

a secondand focused at infnity.

Sometimes you drive 500 miles

and drop your tripod and the

perfect composition happens the

second you drop it, sometimes a

half an hour later. I dont shoot

much. In a 10-day trip I might

fll up two 16GB cards, but I only

shoot sequentially if Im trying to

capture a lightning strike.

I dont use rules of composition.

The main thing is just what looks

good to me. A lot of my shots have

a horizon in them, which helps

NO. DAKOTA & NEW MEXICOFrom top: Rope Out, Regan, ND, 2011. Canon 5D Mark II, 24105mm; 1/6 sec at f/8, ISO 100. Shiprock and Cloud, Navajo Nation, 2013. Sony R1; 20 sec at f/6.3, ISO 160.


see it. When I convert my RAW

fle, all I do is take saturation and

turn it to 0 and it looks very, very

close to what I originally shot. Part

two is prints: My fnal product

and vision is the print. I print on

Epson Stylus Pro 9900 printers

using Epsons ABW driver. After all

the experimenting Ive found that

the ABW driver gives me the most

neutral black-and-white prints.

How do you prepare for a shoot?When I hear music I see colors,

and when I do photography most

times I see the picture in my brain

before I go out. I do a self-check

and see where Im at, what Im

looking to do, think of what I want

to capturewhats my goal? Like

that tornado shot: Before I went

on that trip I knew I wanted to

capture an iconic tornado. The Wiz-

ard of Oz made a big impact on me

when I was a kid, and I just always

envisioned this iconic tornado

shot and then it was there. All of

a sudden I was standing in North

Dakota and theres this thing.

How do you deal with the weather itself?I found that a cotton

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