Digital Photographer

In almost every genre of photography, getting sharp images is one of the key ways to ensure a truly eye-catching scene. Achieving tack sharpness generally involves doing lots of small things well, until all those tiny techniques make a noticeable dif

As Digital Photographer’s staff writer, Peter is an expert on many different imaging subjects. On p30, he looks at ways to shoot your sharpest shots, from lens stabilisation modes to camera settings. Discover Peter’s fun tutorial for capturing pets a

Image title: Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia What camera gear did you use to capture this stunning shot? A Canon EOS 5D II with a Samyang 14mm f/2.8, f/8, 15sec, and ISO 50. How did you decide on the composition? The Petronas Towers are an important subjec

For our latest competition in association with Photocrowd we asked you to submit your best images of the world in macro, and after looking through over 1,500 photos, the winners have been selected. Both crowd-voted and expert winners will win a lice

Sony has announced two new APS-C format cameras for its Alpha series, the A6100 and the A6600. Although they have the same 24.2MP Exmor CMOS sensor with a front-end LSI and the latest BIONZ X processing engine, the A6100 is aimed at novices while the

When did you first get into photography, and how? When I was a kid, my parents used to take me and my brother to the most beautiful places during our holidays. Catching special moments with my mum’s camera was one of my favourite pastimes during the

The majority of photographers believe we know and understand the definition of sharpness. With only a few weeks of photographic experience, we go through a process by which we alter our perception of acceptable sharpness and begin to critically analy

Photographic technology grows more advanced with each passing month, the key manufacturers engaged in an arms race that yields newer and more innovative designs for each generation of products. As the resolution of sensors increases and lens technolo

In an age of ultra-high-resolution cameras, advanced optics and superior software algorithms, one of the biggest threats to sharpness in our images is carelessness or lack of attention to detail. It is all too easy to rely on the modern AF system and

Once you are confident that the equipment is correctly and optimally set up to create the sharpest images it is capable of, it is time to evaluate shooting technique. Any flaw in shooting style or slight mishandling of the camera can introduce blurri

In the fraction of a second it takes to tap your shutter, a handful of complex calculations take place as the camera decides what the correct exposure is. Your camera has to work out how much light is needed to create a balanced exposure for the sens

Complex light demands a more complex approach to exposures, presenting an opportunity to capture images that go beyond being ‘standard’. Shooting into the light is a common challenge for cameras and photographers alike, with wildly divergent exposure

The secret to pushing into the realm of high-key images is harnessing the dynamic range of your camera sensor in processing. Once you get a handle on pulling back the high-end of your dynamic range, you will feel free to push the boundaries of shooti

If manipulation of highlights is the cornerstone to high-key photography, then control over shadows is the essence of low-key imaging. How much of the shadow detail you choose to reveal is where the creative potential lies. The joy of a low-key still

Just a few tools will give you access to most of what you need to balance your processing. Dynamic range for highlights, shadows or both, will enable you to find the sweet spot when pushing for high-key or low-key styles. The Levels tool will give yo

When we buy a new camera the first thing most of us do is shoot portraits of family of friends. Cameras are also dusted off on special occasions like birthday parties, christenings, weddings and Christmas to record the people present. Once our intere

Body language is a potent form of non-verbal communication. If a person feels tense, you can usually see it in the way they stand or what they do with their hands. The same applies if they’re relaxed, confident, insecure, aggressive or threatened. Mo

The way you light a portraits depends on the ‘look’ you’re trying to capture and also who your subject is. Generally, if your subject is a woman – especially a young woman – you’ll probably want to produce flattering portraits that make the most of t

When you’re shooting portraits on location, you need to make best use of the available light. Sometimes everything falls into place quickly, but often you have to work a situation hard in order to maximise its potential. These portraits are a good ex

If you’re struggling to find interesting subjects for your character portraits, all you need to do is head to your local town or city, where you’ll be spoiled for choice. It takes guts to walk up to complete strangers and ask if it’s possible for you

You don’t have to travel to the ends of the Earth to take great character portraits – members of your own family, as well as friends and their families, all make ideal subjects. Knowing your subject also makes the task of photographing them easier be

Some people exude character naturally. The way they dress, the way they look, their hairstyle, their personality – all these factors contribute. Older people tend to have more character than the young simply because the older we get, the more wrinkle

HDR (high dynamic range) images are normally created from a series of individual images of the same subject or scene that have been shot at different exposures, then merged using suitable software. This is done to maximise detail, from the shadows th

1 Find your subject It’s much easier to shoot character portraits if your subject has character in the first place. Older people are a good bet. 2 Communication is crucial Don’t shoot in silence – talk to your subject to help them relax in front of

Q I am looking to buy a secondhand Canon 5D Mark IV. What does shutter or actuation count really mean, and what would be an acceptable number? Amy Filer A With cameras the shutter count, well, counts. Every time a photo is taken, the shutter count

Difficulty level: Intermediate Time taken: 2 hours DSLR or mirrorless camera Tripod Wide-angle lens Lightroom Aurora HDR Creating a natural high-dynamic-range (HDR) scene is an art in itself, because it is exceptionally easy to go overboard and mak

1 Compose the photo To have a successful composition you must have a simple visual message – a strong foreground, middleground and background element. Omit anything distracting like cables, rubbish or anything that does not add to your message. Emplo

In the modern age of digital cameras it’s never been easier to inspect the quality of an image, whether that’s zooming in on our laptop screens at home or peeping at the pixels of our smartphone when we’re out and about. But with this emphasis on ima

Social media is a more complex term than is immediately obvious, particularly in the modern web landscape. While the majority of younger generations have at least some experience of using platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up with

1 The basic retouch Take the ‘correctly’ exposed photo into Lightroom, and do a light development; shadows +53, highlights -38, white points +11, black points -7. Remove chromatic aberration and crop as a panorama. 2 Synchronise the retouch Now tha

“He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches” is a famous saying, but this critical statement has no place or truth in the career of photography. Nowadays, it is the habit of many successful professional photographers to diversify their income by offeri

Given the British obsession with the weather, fisheye lenses should be big business. So-called because they deliver the wraparound vision of a fish, these lenses were first used in practice by meteorologists for capturing ‘whole sky’ shots. Moving on

At some point in a photographer’s professional career they will be asked to shoot a pet portrait. High street customers reliably want images of their pets, and many photographic studios will be visited by four-legged subjects on a regular basis. Howe

PRICE: £1,149 / $1,249 A tricky decision when buying a fisheye lens is whether to go for a circular or diagonal option. Launched back in 2010, this fisheye zoom from Canon solved the problem. Mounted on a full-frame body, it delivers either a circula

PRICE: £1,399 / $1,249 Tokina and Pentax make fisheye zoom lenses for APS-C format cameras, but they both give a diagonal fisheye effect at all zoom settings. Launched a couple of years ago, this fisheye zoom from Nikon looks more like a copy of the

PRICE: £649 / $899 While Sigma’s ‘Global Vision’ line-up of lenses has received many accolades, it so far doesn’t include any fisheye optics. Going back somewhat further, the company launched a 15mm f/2.8 EX DG diagonal fisheye in 2005, and followed

PRICE: £435 / $499 South Korean manufacturer Samyang (also badged Rokinon) manufactures several autofocus lenses for Sony E-mount cameras, plus a couple for Canon and Nikon DSLRs. However, it is most widely known for its extensive collection of manua

Price: £1,209 / $1,199 With all the talk about mirrorless cameras, it’s easy to forget that Canon still has a very successful DSLR business. The EOS 90D comes as a timely reminder, making an enticing upgrade on the EOS 80D with a new 32.5MP APS-C for

Price: £9,999 / $9,999.95 The GFX 100 is Fujifilm’s biggest and most advanced digital medium-format camera. Like the GFX 50S and GFX 50R, it’s mirrorless and has the Fujifilm G lens mount, but inside is a 100-million-pixel backside-illuminated sensor

Get smooth video from your smartphone xseries.benrogear.com £90 / $99 We all know that the best video comes from a ‘proper’ camera with a large sensor, but mobile phones are easy to use and super-convenient – especially if you want to live-stream

The first time I sold a photo – I was a little shocked when I did the calculation – was 25 years ago. Since then, the technological changes have been huge, and photographers now upgrade equipment on a regular basis to keep up to date and have an edge