f2 Freelance Photographer 2014-05-06

2
FREELANCE
PHOTOGRAPHER
STUART
WOOD
A UNIQUE MIX
OF SOCIAL AND
EDITORIAL
SMOOTH
OPERATORS
FROM SIGMA AND SONY

TO LOMO AND ZENIT!
ARCHITECTURE
MARTINE HAMILTON KNIGHT

PLUS SAMYANGS 24MM TILT-SHIFT
GETTY PROMISES PHOTOGRAPHERS
INNOVATION & DISRUPTION

MAY/JUNE 2014 4.95
PHOTOGRAPH BY KRISTHIAN CASTRO SONY WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS
2 May/June 2014 1
2 May/June 2014 2
FREELANCE
PHOTOGRAPHER
2 FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
Icon Publications Ltd
Maxwell Place
Maxwell Lane
Kelso
Scottish Borders TD5 7BB UK
ISSN 1754-0615
Directors
DAVID KILPATRICK
SHIRLEY KILPATRICK
VAT Reg. No. 458 1014 63
Company Reg. in England
April 14th 1987 No. 2122711
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

DAVID KILPATRICK
editor@iconpublications.com
+44(0)1573 226032
Editor (England)
RICHARD KILPATRICK
RTK Media
The Grange, Pincet Lane
North Kilworth
Leicestershire LE17 6NE
richard@rtkmedia.co.uk
+44(0)1858 882105
Advertising & Promotion
DIANE E. HENDERSON
scotia195@aol.com
+44(0)1573 226000
2 magazine is published six times
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Icon Publications Ltd can accept no responsibility for
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or test rests with the owner. Views expressed in this
magazine are those of the individual contributors and
do not necessarily represent the views and policies of
Icon Publications Ltd or its advertisers. All technical data
and pricing information contained in news and feature
articles is printed in good faith. While all advertising copy
is accepted in good faith, Icon Publications Ltd can not
accept any legal responsibility for claims made or the
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the publishers or the creators of the works, and must not
be reproduced by any means without prior permission.
2014 Icon Publications Ltd. E&OE.
COVER
VOLUME 8 No 3 (Issue #70)

MAY/JUNE 2014
CONTENTS
26
From the Sony World Photography

Awards 2014, 2nd Place, Colombia
National open section, by Kristhian
Castro
NEWS
Trade talk and updates
DISARMING DISSENT
Controversy over a $120,000 photo
competition winner ended in
denial of any problem
10

Its probably not an original
bizspeak term from Jonathan Klein
of Getty, but it was certainly an
appropriate description
manual focus Samyang offers a

modestly priced solution for many
different camera systems
your work. From shutter sounds

to zoom feel and optical bokeh,
welcome to the world of smooth
14
42
58
PROFILE: STUART WOOD

FROM GROOMS & BRIDES TO TV
GUIDES
Its not every day that your
wedding photographer turns out
to have taken the shots you have
just seen in your weekly magazine.
Richard Kilpatrick talks to triple
wedding Fellow and editorial
portrait master Stuart
24
RIFT LABS KICK LIGHT

Amazing multicoloured light
painting with a tiny palm-sized
LED light you can program using
your iPhone
26
COVER STORY:
SONY WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY
AWARDS 2014
You can go to see the show in
London this month with gallery
walls of images to choose from,
heres our selection
BEING A BRAND AMBASSADOR

Gavin Stoker talks to four
photographers who have become
evangelists often of their own
choice for their favourite brands.
Is it something which anyone can
do if they work at it?
52
LIGHT READING
with Martin Grahame-Dunn
A page of tips and knowledge from
one of the industrys best teachers.
The story of a night-time snapshot
which captures the spirit of Dublin
54
SMOOTH OPERATORS
We take a look at equipment
lenses in particular which brings
a new slick and silent approach to
UNDERXPOSURE
A missive from the Antipodes,
by writer-photographer David
Bigwood
60
NOKIA LUMIA 1020

Its the highest resolution
smartphone ever made
62
YOUR VISION
An open gallery with reward
vouchers by courtesy of top
imaging lab One Vision
65
TEST: BARGAIN STILE+ BAGS

Two end-of-line Manfrotto bags,
one of them definitely worth
finding if you can
14
33
PROFILE: MARTINE HAMILTON

KNIGHT BUILDING AN
ARCHITECTURAL REPUTATION
Making the transition from 5 x 4
film to full frame digital, Martine
maintains the highest technical
standards. Interview by Richard
Kilpatrick
40
LENS REVIEW: SAMYANG 24mm

3.5 TILT-SHIFT
For architectural work in the
classical tradition, or special effects
with restricted focus zones, the
Photographs top, The Knight and his Steed by Nicolas Reusens, Spain (Shortlist,
Open Nature & Wildlife, 2014 Sony World Photography Awards). Above, taken
during Photo Training Overseas 2013 by Stuart Wood.
2 May/June 2014 3
- Richard Walch, Extreme Sport Photograper
THE PROFOTO B1
WITH TTL
WITHOUT CORDS
The revolutionary Profoto B1 makes it easier than ever to take the flash off
your camera. With TTL you set the light in a flash. With battery-power and
without cords, you take the B1 wherever you go and put it wherever you want.
Add to that the power, speed and light shaping possibilities that Profoto lights
are known for, and you have an off-camera flash that makes great light easy.
For more information visit www.profoto.com/uk/b1
TRY NOW!
4 May/June 2014 2
Try now at these stockists

AJs - www.aj-s.co.uk
Calumet - www.calumetphoto.co.uk
CVP - www.cvp.co.uk
Fixation - www.fixationuk.com
Pro Centre - www.procentre.co.uk
Richard Walch
Once you try it,

it changes everything
NEWS
May 1st-18th 2014

Sony World Photography Awards
Exhibition
Somerset House, London
www.worldphoto.org
May 6th-8th 2014
Photoworld Dubai, Hall 6,
Dubai World Trade Centre
www.photoworld-dubai.com
May 13th 2014
Photovision Photo Equipment
& Technology Roadshow
Man United Football Stadium
10am-4pm
www.forwardevents.co.uk
May 22nd - June 14th 2014
Prix Pictet: Consumption
exhibition at the V&A, London
www.prixpictet.com
June 3rd 2014
Matford Centre
Exeter 10am-4pm
June 18th 2014
Royal Windsor Racecourse
10am-4pm
July 1st 2014
Donington Park Race Circuit
10am-4pm
July 15th 2014
Bristol City Football Club
10am-4pm
September 16th-20th 2014
photokina
Biennial world trade photo fair
Cologne/Kln, Germany
www.photokina.com
January 14th-18th 2015
The Societies Convention
Trade Show 16th-18th
Hilton London Metropole Hotel
www.swpp.co.uk
THE PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW,

replacing Focus on Imaging
unofficially, was held at
Birminghams NEC from March
1st-4th and the initial unaudited
count showed 30,134 through the
turnstiles.
2 Freelance Photographer,
Cameracraft and Master
Photography magazines were all
present with new editions on the
Icon Publications Ltd stand, which
was small but very busy. David
Kilpatrick, Richard Kilpatrick and
Helen Green manned the stand
while also shooting show pictures

and (we regret to say) investing
in new bargain camera gear from
Calumet, who had both the Fujfilm
X and Sony NEX kits at internetbeating prices.
There were over 180 exhibiting
brands and 400 seminars,
workshops and demos. Big name
supporters included Canon, Nikon,
Panasonic, Samsung, Olympus
and Fujifilm but not Sony their
executives were present to
consider next years involvement.
Celebrities of the cameraside
included Rankin, Steve McCurry,

Joe McNally and Terry ONeill who
addressed audiences in a closed,
ticket admission 500-seat Super
Stage. The Live Stage and Catwalk
featured open photography
masterclasses. The Studio and
Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom
Studios provided a smaller
audience with tailored tutorials.
In 2015 the Photography Show
will return to the Birmingham NEC
from 21st - 24th March, in Hall 5
which offers almost twice the area.
www.thephotographyshow.com
New light
Panoramic paper
Samyang 12mm 2
NEW PORTRAITPRO 12 offers

new, patent applied for face
relighting technology, so you can
now literally show your subject in
their best light, bringing out the
beauty or character of any face
naturally.
It has an enhanced capability
to slim faces, which can have a
dramatic effect on how happy
people are with their photos.
The latest skin enhancer has
a brush which detects edges
automatically making it faster and
easier to use.
PortraitPro is claimed to be the
only software that can improve
the appearance of hair thickened
and made smoother, recoloured,
or highlights added, by moving
sliders. The industrys most
accurate automatic facial feature
finder is combined with a worldfirst automatic gender and age
detector. There is a new Automatic
Batch Mode for large jobs (Studio
Max edition only) which enables an
entire photo shoot to be enhanced
without human intervention. V12
is said to be four times faster than
its predecessor. The launch price
of PortraitPro 12 standard edition
is $49.95 (normally $99.95) and 2
readers can obtain a further 10%
discount using code F214.
www.PortraitPro.com
NEW FROM Fotospeed is

Panoramic cut sheet paper, with
a dimension of 210mm x 594mm
so the user can feed this paper
through almost any inkjet printer
from A4 upwards. The 3:1 ratio
suits most panoramic views
without the need for roll paper.
Fotospeeds Panoramic range
comes in six types (three Art
papers and three Photo Quality
papers): Smooth Cotton 300, new
Platinum Etching 285, Platinum
Baryta 300, PF Gloss 270, PF Lustre
270, and new Photo Smooth Pearl
290.
Photoshop templates are
available for customers to
download from the Fotospeed
website www.fotospeed.com
to help place their images when
printing.
Test packs are available with
4 sheets of each paper for 29.99
inc VAT, including A4 sheets for
bespoke profiling (generic profiles
available on-line, and bespoke
profiles are available free of charge
if you e-mail tech@fotospeed.com.
An even larger wall print size
for A3 or bigger printers, 297mm x
900mm, is on the way.
THE NEW Samyang 12 mm 2 NCS

CS matches the focal length and
coverage of the Carl Zeiss Touit
12mm 2.8 for APS-C mirrorless
systems, and offers the same fast
maximum aperture as Olympuss
12mm with 30% more angle of
view.
With 98.9 coverage and
rectilinear image mapping,
its optical construction is 12
elements in 10 groups, including
one aspherical lens (ASP), one
hybrid aspherical lens (H-ASP) and
three ED glass. Nanocrystal antireflective coating gives maximum
light transmission, higher
resistance to reflections and higher
contrast.
This manual focus, manual
aperture lens comes with a
removable lens hood and 67 mm
filter mount, and it weighs 245g.
The lens is not chipped, which will
help keep its cost down, but also
means no EXIF data is recorded.
Available mounts will be Canon
M, Fujifilm X, Samyang NX, Sony E
and MicroFourThirds.
For further details visit the
Samyang website at:
www.samyang.co.uk
2 May/June 2014 5
Nikon 1 V3
NEWS
MPA/OLYMPUS
WEDDING & PORTRAIT AWARDS
2014/15
2013/14 Portrait Winner Lisa Visser FMPA
ENTER your images for

the MPA Wedding and
Portrait Awards!
All professionals can
enter, with categories
for MPA members and
non-members. Make
the most of publicity
opportunities!
Release selected
great pictures to your
local media and tell
them these have been
chosen to enter in the
presitigious MPA Olympus awards.
If you make it into the shortlist of five
nominations for each category in the first or
second round, publicise that too.
If you are one of the two top winners
presented in October go national with the
news!
Success breeds success. Use this powerful
tool to enhance your local reputation and
create new business

opportunities.
There are two rounds
judged and closing
dates for entry are:
Round One 17/5/2014
Round Two 31/8/2014
Two final winners
will be unveiled in
October at the Master
Photography Awards
2014/15 with a
headlining cash reward
for each client, trophies
and certificates for the photographers, and a
host of PR opportunities!
Tell your customers they can win! Both
categories carry a 1,000 cash prize direct
to the consumer a fantastic incentive to
promote your business now. Let all potential
and existing portrait and wedding clients
know they can be entered into this fantastic
competition. Entry Fee: 2.00 per picture
www.masterphotographyawards.co.uk
NIKON HAS introduced a

replacement for the 1 system V2 we
featured in our last issue. The higher
resolution V3 omits the built-in
viewfinder for the first time in a V
model the DF-N1000 electronic
viewfinder is an optional extra.
The V3 has an 18.4 megapixel
CMOS sensor, ISO to 12,800, a tilting
touch screen monitor, built-in WiFi,
Expeed 4A image processor, and
hybrid AF with 171 auto focus points
105 of which are phase detection AF
points. The accessory GR-N1010 grip,
along with the EVF, add up to DSLR looks
in a small package. Nikon has also announced
a VR 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 PD-Zoom with automatic
lenscap shutter, and a VR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 (810mm
view) at 249.99 and 879.99 respectively. Suggested
pricing for the V3 is 799.99 with a VR 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 PD-Zoom lens, and 1049.99 for a kit with EVF and grip.
www.nikon.co.uk
Look no mounting!
Samsung NX Mini
Nikon goes to court
WITH A depth of 22.5mm and

a body only 158g weight, the
Samsung NX Mini introduces
a new complete mirrorless
mini interchangeable lens
system using the one-inch 20
megapixel backside illuminated
CMOS sensor, and brings it in at
a market-beating SRP.
Three new mini NX-M lenses
are the 9mm 3.5 ED pancake
(24mm equivalent); a 9-27mm
f/3.5-5.6 ED OIS compact
zoom, and a 17mm f/1.8 OIS
lens (45mm equivalent with
smooth bokeh). The 15 existing
NX optics can be used with the
camera via the NX-M Mount
Adapter ED-MA4NXM.
Price is confirmed at 399.99
with a 9mm lens and the system
should be on sale now.
www.samsung.com
WITH the announcement of

the Nikon 1 V3 and the entry of
the Samsung NX Mini to the 1
system arena, a new sensor format
is now firmly established as a
smaller option than FourThirds or
MicroFourThirds, both of which
are supported by a consortium of
manufacturers.
Kodak is set to market a
Chinese-made MicroFourThirds
model in the Chinese market only
under the Kodak brand.
One-inch is not a consortium
and Samsungs system is not
connected with Nikons, or with
Sony though the NX Mini is
equipped with a sensor similar to
the RX100II and RX10.
Nikon has won an injunction
to prevent Sakar from launching
a 1 sensor ILC under the Polaroid
iM1836 name, on the grounds
that it copied the appearance of
the Nikon 1 J1. Nikon has also
been successful in a contested
action against Sigma for use of
technology similar to Nikon VR
lens stabilisation, though not for
the original sum claimed.
2013/14 Wedding Winner Simon Mackney
MPA-Olympusentryform.indd 1
30/03/2014 11:00
THE MPA/OLYMPUS Wedding

& Portrait Awards are now in
their second year, after many
years of association first with
Kodak and later with Fujifilm.
It is an open competition,
with categories for MPA
members and non-members
treated equally in the judging.
You must however be a
professional to enter.
The top prizes in Wedding
and Portrait are 1,000 for
each of the clients (not for the
photographer!) and its entered
by submitting physical prints, 5
x 4 to 10 x 8 unmounted, not
digital files. Each entry costs
only 2 and all entry fees go to
nominated charities.
You can download printable
information and entry forms
from:
http://bit.ly/1pnky16
There are two rounds with
closing dates of May 17th and
August 31st 2014.
TETENAL has launched a new

addition to its Spectrajet range,
filling a gap left by Ilfords premounted inkjet boards. Tetenal
Photo Board allows exhibition
prints to be made directly on a
1.3mm thick base which feeds in
Epson and Canon wide format
printers.
Acid free and PH neutral, the
result is a frame-ready mounted
print. There are three finishes
available in Premium Satin,
Premium Gloss and Double Side
Archival Matt.
www.tetenaluk.com
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2 May/June 2014 7
Gemini by Bowens
Step up to consistent color stability and precision lighting control.

With unmatched durability, its easy to see why Bowens has been
a premier lighting brand for over 50 years.
Gemini is available in six models, from 400Ws to 1500Ws. Choose
AC power or the optional battery pack for the most versatile flash
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Distributed by Bowens 01255 422807
Bowens and the power behind the picture are registered trademarks of Bowens International Ltd.
8 May/June 2014 2
Wayne Johns - WayneJohns.com
creative freedom without compromise
DISARMINGDISSENT
I
n March a debate broke out on

internet about the Grand Winner
of the HIPA awards, with the
release of the $120,000-winning
image (right) by Chinese
photographer Fuyang Zhou. The
theme of the contest was Creating
the Future and it meets the brief.
The HIPA Awards like most
today outlaw manipulation and
alteration of images. You are not
supposed to do is Photoshop an
image to add or remove elements.
Fuyang Zhou received his
award at a ceremony attending
by over 1,000 guests in Dubai
on March 17th. By March 18th,
versions of the winning image
were appearing on-line, and on
March 19th PetaPixel shared a blog
page suggesting the teachers
right arm was shopped into place
upon which others suggested the
scale of the figures, the direction
of shadows and other aspects
indicated the whole image was a
composited fiction.
The competition received
more than 26,000 entries from
156 countries, including India,
Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia and
the Russian Federation, as well
as countries in the United Arab
Emirates. The top prize is $120,000
which makes the controversy quite
heated.
Its true that the arm looks
odd. On PetaPixels blog expert
posters claimed the arm to be
anatomically impossible, wrong
position, wrong angle, wrong
length, the hand the wrong size
and so on. The 24mm lens of
Zhous Canon EOS 1D-X camera is
positioned just above the height of
the table on the left. The teacher is
seen from below.
Hasty conclusions are best
avoided. I set up a camera at a
similar height and posed myself
the same way, draping some cloth
over my shoulder. It only took
half a dozen shots with my arm
raised a little more each time,
followed by copying and pasting
as a transparent layer (right) over
the original (left), to prove that
the picture shows a normal arm
position from an unusual angle,
with layers of clothing. As we
went to press it had not been
confirmed that the image was free
from Photoshop work but I hope
my dphotoexpert.com web page
moderated those accusations
against Fuyang Zhou.
Then, we learned it is not a real
classroom. The mayor of the village
models as the teacher, and puts
payments received for the use of
his old building towards village
funds. There was one other image

from the same location in the
awards and others have now been
found on-line.
With prize money totalling
$389,000, HIPA is the richest
photography competition in the
world. The Hamdan International
Photography Awards (HIPA) were
launched in 2011 by His Highness
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed
bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown
Prince of Dubai. The theme of the
2014 season is Life in Colour.
My experience as a magazine
editor enables me to recognise
many subjects which are
reproduced by photographers
year after year, almost down to
the tripod marks on the ground.
No-one could expect international
judges to recognise this location
maybe a Chinese photo magazine
editor would have done so.
Photographers do revisit and
repeat each others work and
many locations or events are

perennial subjects. Last issues
cover and folio from Jos Ramos
were no exception like Britains
beaches, Portugals lagoons and
fishing jetties are photographed
thousands of times a year. That
doesnt rule out making new and
truly excellent views which, like
Joss, have real merit.
If Zhous image has great merit
the award is deserved regardless of
the back story.
David Kilpatrick
As we went to press, HIPA made an

official statement:
The HIPA management was
made aware of certain accusations
and discussions on social media
questioning the authenticity
of the Grand Prize winning
photograph from the third season
of competition Creating the Future.
We can assure the global
photographic community, that all

winning photographs with HIPA
pass through several stages of
evaluation by our international
panel of judges before a final
analysis of the (raw file) takes
place, to ensure full compliance
with all rules and regulations.
It is only after these thorough
checks of authenticity, that
winners are announced at the
annual awards ceremony, and their
photographs are then shared with
international media outlets.
The management at HIPA
would like to thank everyone
for their input over the last few
weeks and we hope to have more
talented photographers take part
in our new season of competition
Life in Colour.
For the full list of the 2013-2014
HIPA Judging committee:
http://bit.ly/1lyjmZO
To learn more about HIPA see:
www.hipa.ae
2 May/June 2014 9
INNOVATION &
here are no gods, and

precious few heroes thats
the way it is going in the
online stock business right now. A
little bit before the Idea of March
2014 the oracle of Getty revealed
the future for many editorial and
general stock photographers
that the value of their work would
be judged against the value of 35
million existing Getty images to
be given away as free licences to
almost all online users, including
the electronic editions of major
international news media.
It is from the words of Getty
Images President Jonathan Klein
that we take our headline. He said
that Getty was in the business of
innovation and disruption. He
might as well have dropped the
formal language and said, were
gonna do new stuff which will
muck this market up because
thats the meaning hiding behind
the MBA-patois. We would have
written something which rhymes
with muck had we not been in the
decent and respectable company
of our readers, who only use casual
vulgarities every time they check
their Alamy sales.
Disruption really is one hell
of a word. Change, you can live
with that. Good enough for Lao
Tse, not a bad principle. All things
must change. If they dont change,
life ends. Existence ends. The
fundamental vibrations of the
universe are nothing more than a
perpetual state of change.
Disruption? This sounds
more the philosophy of Britains
coalition government when
faced with any system which
happens to work efficiently
without distributing profit. Kleins
decision to freelicence 35 million
images is puzzling because its not
motivated by profit. Kleptocracies,
such as the current UK political
system, steal from the creators of
wealth (anyone who works, in any
way) and hand that wealth over
to those who dont work. Getty
has instead stolen the work of
thousands of photographers and
given it to all comers while gaining
no benefit in the process.
Youre going to have get used
to disruption. Blur Group plc, a
dotcom well be investigating in
a future edition of 2, uses the
word to describe the way their
project-based creative sourcing
has changed the way advertising
agencies find photographers
and video producers, companies
10 May/June 2014 2
We all like innovation. Without anything new, nothing changes.

But Getty Images CEO Jonathan Klein likes another word from
the Harvard Business School disruption. In that world, messing
things up can be good. Its like clearing a useless rain forest
ecosystem to make way for useful palm oil plantations. Sure, a
few orang-utans get mashed in the process. But Mr Klein is not a
photographic orang-utan, hes a palm planter. You are the orangutan and youd better hope someone is protecting a bit of that
forest to keep you alive.
Getty Embed
You really have to think whether,

as a photographer, you want to
get in Embed with Getty. Its well
worth looking at the site. The front
page produces a link the search all
embeddable images. This then shows
you many options, such as pictures
with one person, two, and so on. It
lets you select specific people. The top
person has over 50,000 embeddable
images to choose from. It is see left
Paris Hilton. See left.
Web commentary on the Getty free-for-all
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/mar/07/photographers-getty-images
http://www.bjp-online.com/2014/03/getty-images-makes-35-million-images-free-in-fight-against-copyright-infringement
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-26463886
http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/5/5475202/getty-images-made-its-pictures-free-to-us
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-03-07/photographers-hate-getty-imagess-plan-to-give-away-their-work
http://photobusinessforum.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/monetizing-gettys-35m-image-archive-via.html?m=1
http://weeder.org/rLHYBqr
& DISRUPTION
do their recruitment and
headhunting, and so on. Blurs
Global Services Exchange is in its
infancy, but this is what their MD
Philip Letts says about their latest
drive to link corporations wanting
video work to creatives able to
provide the service:
Video has always been a
popular project on the Exchange;
driven by an incredible array
of expert providers around the
globe who are able to be more
competitive by working directly
through the platform. However we
recognized that these providers
could deliver on the full gamut of
production and further disrupt the
older-style network agencies.
Notice the disrupt word again,
in conjunction with older-style
indicating that the world of
traditional advertising and media
agencies is something of the past.
We could argue that the arrival
of printing disrupted the work
of scribes, that photography
disrupted art and engraving, that
digital photography disrupted
the entire commercial structure
of silver imaging along with the
markets for silver and for the rare
earth minerals needed to make
digital sensors.
However, not one of these
cases involves the idea that
because you can no longer prevent
the theft of your stock, you give it
all away.
Heres the original news from
Getty as issued in early March.
Getty press release

NEW YORK and AUSTIN, Texas,
March 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/
-- Global digital media company
Getty Images today announces,
for the first time, the ability for
people to easily embed and share
its imagery at no cost for noncommercial use on websites, blogs
and social media channels through
a new embed tool.
With people increasingly
turning to imagery to
communicate and tell their stories
online, the embed capability
opens up Getty Images awardwinning imagery for seamless
sharing. Through the embed
tool, individuals can draw on
Getty Images latest news, sports,
celebrity, music and fashion
coverage; immense digital photo
archive; and rich conceptual
images to illustrate their unique
passions, ideas and interests.
Stockimo
Alamys iPhone
only App is called
Stockimo, and its
a collection as well
as a submission
method edited,
unlike regular
Alamy content. At
first it produced
howls of rage.
Then, when
Getty dropped
their bombshell,
Stockimo suddenly
seemed wonderful.
This innovation opens one
of the largest, deepest and most
comprehensive image collections
in the world for easy sharing,
thereby making the world an even
more visual place.
Images are the
communication medium of today
and imagery has become the
worlds most spoken language,
said Jonathan Klein, co-founder
and CEO of Getty Images.
Whether via a blog, website
or social media, everyone is a
publisher and increasingly visually
literate.
Innovation and disruption are
the foundation of Getty Images,
and we are excited to open up
our vast and growing image
collection for easy, legal sharing
in a new way that benefits our
content contributors and partners,
and advances our core mission to
enable a more visually-rich world.
Embedded images will include

photographer attribution and,
when clicked, will link back to
www.gettyimages.com where
the image can be licensed for
commercial use. This will provide
people with a simple and legal
way to utilize content that respects
creators rights, including the
opportunity to generate licensing
revenue.
You have to adapt to survive,
said Kevin Mazur, celebrity
photographer and director, and
co-founder of WireImage Inc*.
Evolving to embrace technology
that encourages responsible image
sharing is the way forward for the
industry. *Now part of Getty Ed
The embed capability will be
supported anywhere HTML can be
posted and users will also be able
to share images on major social
platforms including Twitter, as
well as WordPress, which, with 75
million users, is the worlds most

popular blogging platform.
This new Getty Images embed
capability will open users up to a
huge new creative repository in
a simple, legal way, said Raanan
Bar-Cohen, senior vice president of
commercial services at Automattic,
the company behind WordPress.
com. We look forward to seeing
all the amazing ways that our users
can take advantage of this new
access.
This is the latest in a series of
moves by Getty Images to harness
technology and social media to
drive broader exposure and usage
of its content. Recent initiatives
include a unique partnership with
Pinterest, the content sharing
channel, announced in October
2013, whereby Pinterest pays
Getty Images a fee in exchange
for metadata. Getty Images
then shares these fees with its
contributors, who also receive
attribution when their content is
used.
For more information visit
www.gettyimages.com/embed
A publishers angle
First of all, as specialist magazine
publishers, we dont like to see
any move which retains costs on
printed media while removing such
costs from websites. There is no
intrinsic difference in copyright
terms between a page in this
magazine and one on the web,
except that this page will be seen
by a few thousand readers and the
web page may be seen by millions.
Getty is not granting any
similar right for physical publishers
non-profit or otherwise to
access this collection. By doing
this, Getty creates conditions
where printed media become
less able to compete with web
media. Forget the term blogging,
its a weasel-word used to make
the creation of websites sound
like a friendly little casual hobby.
WordPress may have 75 million
blogging users but you would be
amazed at how widely WordPress
is used to construct commercial
websites, including almost all
websites our own company has
designed in the last ten years.
By creating this discrimination
against printed media a kind of
restriction of trade which could
perhaps be challenged in court
Getty Images weakens the very
sector from which its remaining
2 May/June 2014 11
paid photographers earn their

living. The highest fees, the big
money which keeps Getty viable,
are still created across multiple
media platforms ranging from
broadcast television to billboards,
encompassing newspapers and
magazines and websites on the
way. By allowing a freelicence
for the on-line media only, but
imposing no restrictions of the
nature of the blog or web pages
involved as long as they are
editorial, Klein doesnt so much
disrupt as skew the market.
The British Journal of
Photography website probably
gave the best commentary and
interviews during the week in
March when this news broke. Most
other photo sites and major media
followed. Photographers were
dismayed, to say the least, and we
have heard
from many
readers
01582
661878
who announced their intention to
leave
Getty up
or thanked
fortune
Close
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Flickr
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their editors could find new
includes adaptors for 49, 52, 55,
talent via Flickrs photo sharing
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the result of disruption, before the
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ND Fader tested AP
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fromformed
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Fighting disruption
FOAP
Finnish phone-photo
library FOAP hit the
headlines in March
after getting featured
by the New York
Times. We licensed this
(phone?) image by
Marcella Alexim for just
$10, 822 x 1096 pixels.
printing further with the earliest
imagesetting and scanning of
this type. However, the disruption
was not all negative. Over a
seven-year period magazines and
books changed radically, from a
model where every page needed
many stages of labour-intensive
production and high costs to
one where costs are identical
and could be considered to be
zero regardless of complexity.

Where books had colour sections
scattered through black and white
text, and magazines had mono on
one side of the paper with CMYK
on the other, the new technology
led to full colour throughout.
Where each image once carried
a three-figure cost for scanning,
separations and stripping in,
progress led first to single page
film with everything in place, then
to multiple pages imposed to
make plates, and finally in 2003 to
the end of silver film (developed
and fixed) in the print industry.
It was this, the final change
from silver imaging to Computerto-Plate, which ended or vastly
changed the viability of Kodak,
Afga, Ilford Anitec, Du Pont, 3M
and many others. It coincided
with the change from silver film
to digital capture in photography,
aerial and X-ray imaging.
The disruption was huge but
in the process the use of colour
images in print increased greatly.
Magazines today often have
dozens of colour pictures on a
single spread and hundreds in an
issue, and all these images cost
not a single penny in materials at
any stage until the press rolls. Not
in-camera, not in post-production,
not in proofing as very few hard
proofs are ever made now. The
only photosensitive material used
is the printing plate, and if the
press is digital (like those used
to create Graphistudio wedding
books, VisionImpress leaflets, or
Vistaprint business cards) even
that is a re-usable drum.
This magazine started in
1989 as PHOTOpro, and was a
direct result of innovation and
disruption, produced from the
start using new methods. For a
decade the result was nothing but
an increase in economic activity
more pictures taken, more
pictures used, more scanners and
printers sold, great advances in
traditional photography. We then
saw a further decade in which the
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innovation and disruption came

partly from digital photography,
but mainly from improvements
to internet and mobile
communications. Photographers
often blame the shift from film
to digital for their changed
circumstances, but this is an
illusion. If the web was still using
1200bps modems and phone lines,
if WiFi did not exist, if there were
no smartphones, if computers still
cost the same as cars digital
photography even at todays level
would function much as film once
used to.
Alternative portals
Photographers certainly want
their work to be seen, and shared.
They also want to secure revenue
from it (our last issues article on
Revenue Streams might have
read slightly differently after this
Getty announcement).
In the last issue, we also
featured websites with direct
selling which may involve
some storage charges or take
commissions (though rarely at
the 40% to 90% levels taken by
picture libraries). One of these,
theimagefile.com, notes that
costs were shown incorrectly.
Websites can be had from 3 a
month the 12 a month figure
related to a photographer using
70GB of storage and theimagefile
does not take any commission on
PayPal sales, the only deduction is
the PayPal charge.
In the case of theimagefile,
its a site we have been following
for some years to see whether it
will develop its library-style sales
to a level able to compete with
Alamy, Getty or Fotolibra (this
last one being perhaps the most
comparable).
Because such sales normally
depend on a user community as
well as a contributor community,
photographers have to drive traffic
to sites like theimagefile, otherwise
the content remains mostly
unseen by newspapers, agencies

and other image buyers. Theres
also a matter of volume. It takes a
lot of work to create a collection
of tens of thousands of images for
stock sales, and that is what you
may need in todays world where
libraries allow a search of millions
of pictures.
James Duncan of theimagefile
expressed a belief that the image
belongs to the image creator
and that the creator should be able
to price, sell, distribute and print
his own work individually.
offers not only sales of the images

but also the opportunity to receive
commissions and create new
clients.
You can get a trial 60-day
account from:
www.theimagefile.com/try
by entering the discount code
F2APR.
If you are a specialist, there are
still many small libraries which
secure excellent fees and regular
sales. We spoke to Heather Angel,
whose own work is known around
the world. She accepts other
Theimagefile website started

out as a proofing and ordering
service, typically used by events
and wedding photographers to
host complete shoots for the client
to view and order from. Over the
years its gathered momentum to
become a collective picture library,
each photographer managing
their own files and their price
structure, but globally searchable.
The website now looks just like a
mainsteam image library.
Sure, the price will be the
deciding factor of the image
selling or not, but it should be
the photographer that makes
that decision, he told us. Within
theimagefile the photographer can
run his own stock agency, through
his own web site attract his or
her own clients and be in control
of the imagery. There are different
models to suit different workflows.
Automated licensed sales rights
managed, royalty free or editorial
only or by negotiation sales,
as well as fine art print sales
are all possible, either from the
photographers existing web site,
a web site built within theimagefile
system, or through theimagefile
web site.
For search engine
optimisation, links back to the
photographers web site are
included from every image
displayed on theimagefile web
site. It is a transparent service that
www.photographersdirect.com
which is a site issuing requests
from picture buyers, but building
all the submitted work into a
searchable picture library for
future clients to browse. Some of
the requests are so precise they
amount to a commission brief,
the only problem being that a few
dozen competing photographers
could also try to fulfil that brief and
win the sale.
Run by Gwyn Headley, the
Welsh-based
www.fotolibra.com
also issues photographer
briefings, but not as precise.
They deal with organisations like
Ordnance Survey, needing great
pictures from specific areas but
open to whatever subjects make
the strongest shot. They also
provide book publishers with
covers.
Art sales
natural history photography into

her library:
www.naturalvisions.co.uk
Its worth looking at this site
because the images on offer
provide a snapshot of what
sells well in this niche market.
As Heather emphasises, shes a
biologist and when we spoke, she
was engaged in work on a major
project at Kew Gardens which
requires her scientific discipline
as much as her photographic skill.
Anyone planning to enter this
field without in-depth knowledge
of what they are photographing
wont be able to provide the
rock-solid guarantee of correct
identification and naming. These
two points alone are why serious
users of natural history images
go to her library and not to
microstock sites.
General out-and-about
photographers should also
consider subscribing to:
Were seeing freelances now use

more sites like Artflakes and Fine
Art America, which instead of
trying to sell image rights, sell
finished wall art. As digital licence
values erode to zero thanks to
disruption limited edition and
fine art print values seem to be
increasing.
At the same time, other sites
like Flickr and 500px have added
print sales options (not always
active we tested the licence
option for an image on 500px and
got the response that this was not
yet enabled for that image).
Photographers who sell
for the art print market tend
not to allow digital downloads,
because this opens up the risk
of the buyer making their own
print outwith the control of the
photographer. So to secure any
rights to reproduce such images,
direct contact and negotiation is
needed further increasing the
non-disrupted value of the work.
2
2 May/June 2014 13
STUARTWOOD
FROM GROOMS&BRIDES TO TV GUIDES
hances are, youve seen the

work of UK photographer
Stuart Wood many times.
With over twenty years in the
industry, hes a model for the vital
get-up-and-go attitude that defies
the doom-and-gloom attitude
that has pervaded so many
professions recently. Despite a
full diary, he always finds time to
learn from other and develop his
photographic skills.
Stuarts career began, like so
many, with enthusiasm rather than
a vocational education choice. He
was about to go into management
with Sainsburys when his family
supported his wonder if moment.
I thought long and hard
about it you get one shot at life.
I like working at Sainsburys, but
I wanted to be a photographer.
I was doing an O-Level at Derby
College, and went up to Martin,
the photography lecturer, in
the evening. I gave him my
Kodachrome slides, and asked him
if I was good enough.
Stuart got his response a
couple of weeks later told by
Martin, youve got this innate
ability to make a picture its
up to you youll have to work
your nuts off for it, but you could
become very high end.
From that point in, his career
has been dedicated to making
that prediction a reality. Its not
been a walkover, and has required
dedication to working hard to
achieve each goal, rather than
expecting them just to fall into
place through natural ability.
The life-changing decision
to jump careers from a steady
progression through the ranks at
a major employer to the doubleedge sword of self-employment
and a market dominated by
personal creativity can often
seem a safe choice only for
those with a talent identified
and affirmed by major awards
or an income from photography
which starts exceeding their main
job. That doesnt happen often,
and its happening less today as
speculative editorial and stock
routes into the professional suffer
from ever more eroded values.
Stuart could see that the
amateur turns pro path was not
a predictable one to tread, and
turned instead to the educational
options available to him, opting
to attend Salisbury College
14 May/June 2014 2
of Art after visiting Blackpool

and Bournemouth to choose
between the available options.
All three of these have a long
history with top UK photographic
courses accredited by the BIPP
and accepted as Associateship
equivalent on graduating.
I had the best training to
be a photographer. After being
a watchmaker and jeweller, I
had gone into supermarket
management, learning not only
that fine attention to detail, but
also the discipline to get stuck in
when needed.
Safe and sure

Stuart learned when Polaroid
proofing was normal, and now
sees the cameras LCD screen
and histogram as the equivalent.
Delivering a good finished image is
all that really counts, and he does
confirm his histograms and focus
are spot-on before taking the final
shots, as in many of the highpressure jobs hes commissioned
to do there isnt the ability to go
back and do it again.
The ability to change gear
has equipped him to handle
those brutal cuts in available
time working with multiple
creative teams in the TV world can
engender. Twenty minutes with
the talent can quickly be reduced
to two I just have to get it done.
The benefits of a good course,
and supportive lecturers, has
helped Stuart choosing a course
based not on the prestige of the
institution, but on the rapport,
the feedback with the individuals
hed be working with to complete
the course. Identifying people
skills quickly ensured Stuart was
encouraged in the direction of
portraiture, with feedback from the
college focusing as much on the
stories alongside the images as the
images themselves.
Upper left: Sheridan Smith, publicity

shot for iTV Drama Mrs. Biggs in
2012. Lit with Elinchrom Ranger RX;
Stuart is now working with Sheridan
Smith again for the new show Cilla
Left: Publicity shot for Vera, with
Brenda Blethyn during filming in
Newcastle.
Right: Wedding at Four Seasons Hotel.
2 May/June 2014 15
Over the period of the 3 year

course, Stuart began building a
portfolio working with people. He
wrote to over 250 Celebrities - and
25 replied. The first one I did was
John Inman, of Are You Being
Served. Hed given me two hours;
my next one was Melvin Bragg and he gave me 10 minutes. Just
using window light at South Bank
studios, I got a cracking picture. Im
remembering it now, and it was a
real Road to Damascus moment;
Id gone with a reflector and a
tripod, and I had that two-hour
experience crammed into 10
minutes, and I thought this is what
I want to do.
Writing, calling, and putting
in the legwork has remained
very relevant, but has evolved
with modern technology and the
demands of clients. From a simple
setup he has progressed to a
carload of equipment, including
the Nikon bodies Stuart relies on
and the Elinchrom Ranger Quadra
RX battery powered location flash
which has allowed him to create
many of the striking images that
fill his current portfolio. Having
found he had the ability to get into
the right places at the right times,
now the agents are calling him.
Stuarts creative process often
starts with previsualising the
image long before the actual
photography. Getting fired up
and excited before the shoot,
16 May/June 2014 2
hes honed a skill to see great

backgrounds and settings in the
most mundane of locations. As
we sat in the Hilton lounge during
one Photo Training Overseas week,
he identified many spots in the
interior with features ideal for a
portrait background.
Hes very sure about what
is going to work, and how to
make it work. At this event,
Stuart was one of the tutors
taking on four sessions with
a wide variety of delegates,
and his high energy, focused
presentation demonstrated this
rapid way of thinking and seeing
with locations around the hotel
complex wed walked past many
times were revealed as the perfect
contrast, framing or background.
He demonstrated how to
communicate with a subject and
set them at ease very quickly.
The contact process
Above: Village Wisewoman Laetitia Latham-Jones, shot in Cornwall. Lit using

video light for warm skin-tones against steel skies.
Below: Bridal shot at Thrumpton Hall in Nottingham, back-light with Jerry
Ghionis Ice Light.
Facing page: Publicity shot for iTV Drama Making of a Lady with the brief for a
sinister atmosphere; the show cast with lighting from Elinchrom Ranger Quadra.
Though based in Derby, Stuart is

quick to emphasis the importance
of London right at the start,
Id be in London at least twice a
week, slogging around the streets,
and making my face and my work
known.
An early break was to be
thrown in to work during the BBC
production of Pride & Prejudice,
when the images captured in the
busy arena of production won
2 May/June 2014 17
18 May/June 2014 2
favour with this high-profile client.

He has gone on to work with
many independent production
companies and his work is seen
in ITV publications as well. After
years of working alongside camera
crews who dont want the stills
photographer to be seen or heard,
Stuart cant emphasise enough the
need to remember your rle and
the needs of the client I dont
want to give people excuses, I
want to give people pictures.
Its an attitude that also applies
to almost any photographer
working with people, and
undoubtedly reflected in Stuarts
wedding work. Increasingly
in demand, Stuarts calm
professionalism under pressure
has been a key factor in his shift
towards a greater number of
weddings. The requirements and
standards in the sector having
increased dramatically since the
traditionalism of the 80s and early
90s, the work has become more of
a challenge.
And with fashion and
media cover shoots to show
to aspirational clients, Stuart is
attracting the high-end of the
market and with it, high-end
locations.
Working so long with the
BBC, ITV and media clients,
Stuarts portfolio is impressive.
Since those college days, he has
made the effort to sell himself
through his images, and carries an
expensively produced, heavy and
bespoke portfolio which impresses
Doorway, facing page: Prog Rock magazine commission of supergroup

Transatlantic, shot at abandoned asylum in Peckham and lit with the Ranger
Quadra.
Above : For the same magazine, the Guy Manning Band, looking for a steampunk
appearance. Elinchrom Quadra used in baking heat, despite the costumes.
Below: Head Chef and Fisherman of Titchwell Manor Norfolk, captured in a blend
of available light and interior tungsten lights for Olive magazine.
instantly. Despite this investment

and the undoubted impact this
makes, Stuart has found that
Apples iPad is a compelling device
for presentations. Ive been doing
folio visits for over 22 years and
yes, there has been resistance from
photographers (to adopting iPads)
as they are hard to colour calibrate.
Ive done research with picture
editors and far from going against
me, every magazine up to and
including Vogue has been positive
about viewing images on an iPad
particularly with the new Retina
display.
With many Radio Times
covers, award winning images,
Fellowship and a catalogue of
clients that would be the envy
of any photographer, what really
impressed me on meeting Stuart
was simply how keen he is to
teach others. Even with PTOs
remit of training, theres an open
and inspirational attitude that
ensured the delegates on his
course were fired up for days, and
meeting up again for the interview
just reinforced that impression.
In an era when its hard to find
confidence without arrogance, and
many commercial photographers
are seeking to protect their own
businesses, Stuarts attitude is
encouraging to a whole new
generation. Some strong lessons
are there to be learned, not least
the real effort of finding clients and
leads, but he makes no attempt
to hide it or imply that the work
simply lands at his feet.
2 May/June 2014 19
Paris Parle, dancer with Royal Ballet, captured in on the beach, personal work shot during the
2013 Photo Training Overseas in Lanzarote. Daylight and Elinchrom Ranger Quadra RX flash, final
image unaltered in-camera exposure. Nikon D3, 24-70mm 2.8 at 31mm, ISO 200, 1/250th at 8.
20 May/June 2014 2
2 May/June 2014 21
22 May/June 2014 2
And with that, its clear that Stuart Wood is going to

continue to win over clients, be it behind the camera facing
the celebrity PR shoot or the local wedding, because he
is not resting on his past successes. The decision to take
on teaching on top of all of that well, if you get the
opportunity to attend one of his courses, take it!
D-Day Veterans

Stuarts current personal project has been to photograph
D-day veterans for an exhibition and book, shown on this
spread. Each veteran is treated separately, reflecting their
personality Theyre so enthusiastic in their 90s and
acting like theyre in their 20s.
The challenge is to retain a variety and visual interest
throughout the group. My admiration for these guys knows
no bounds, its a pleasure to record them.
Summed up by a quote from the film A Few Good Men
Because they stand on a wall and they say nothing will
hurt you tonight, not on my watch.

Richard Kilpatrick
See:
www.stuart-wood.com for photographic training please see
the workshops section of the website
See also:
www.stuartwoodweddings.com
Right In memoriam: Jim Ratcliffe of Bolton, who passed

away on 19th February.
2 May/June 2014 23
RIFT LABS KICK

O
ne of the fascinating ways

in which the internet has
changed the world is in
invention. From faster discussion,
to reaching new markets and even
3D prototyping with downloaded
components, the most interesting
development in recent years has
been Kickstarter.
This is a platform upon
which inventors and artists can
seek funding for their products
without the inertia and resistance
of traditional sources, many
unusual and innovative gadgets
have hit the market thanks to
the demand from connected
consumers willing to commit no
more than the purchase price of
the yet to be released item. The
crucial difference between this,
and risking your cheque or postal
order on Sir Clive Sinclairs latest
brainwave? No money is taken
until the funding target is hit, and
its all protected.
Sinclairs great talent, of course,
was to look at an established
market and with a bit of lateral
thinking and technological
cunning, fill a gap, and do so at a
good price. Rift Labs emulated
that skill with 2013s KICK
light, now offered through UK
distributors Colour Confidence.
Compact, with a similar form factor
to the iPhone that the casing is
designed to house, the KICK light
is now in full production at with a
price around 119.
Chain-mail necktie photographed in

a pub, where the maker of the chainmail garments was showing off stuff.
Mail on table surface, draped over
iPhone as a support, KICK light held
overhead and panned across during
two-second exposures on Nikon Df
with 105mm Sigma macro lens set
to 22 at ISO 100. The output from
the KICK is far higher than you would
imagine from a phone-sized array.
24 May/June 2014 2
Richard Kilpatrick discovers a unique variable colour

smartphone controlled hand held LED light source
Editors Note: Sinclairs presence

in early 1980s computing in the UK
was driven by the low cost, popular
computer the Spectrum. The author
acknowledges that he is an old geek,
and there may be readers that have
never seen the rubber keyed wonder
referred to above.
Its been taken for granted
that LED lights have a couple of
weaknesses, and this is the way
it must be. A narrow spectrum
of light often tailored for a
preferred colour temperature
and an equally narrow beam
angle give coverage typically of
30. KICKs approach is to use large
lenses to spread the beam to a
more usable 60, and RGB LED
modules that emit light across the
full spectrum. A 400 lumen output,
with easy control, and a built in
rechargeable battery pack would
have represented enough advance
on typical lights to be notable, yet
the hardware goes way beyond
this specification.
The RGB emitters allow
any colour temperature to be
created. Selectable from presets
via buttons on the light, more
flexibility is offered by starting the
WiFi option. Smartphone control,
via the KICK Light app on iOS and
Android, expands the abilities of
the compact unit dramatically.
Colour temperature can be

quickly matched to ambient light
by aiming the smartphone camera
at a neutral target and selecting a
sample point. Effects are created
in a similar way, by choosing a
colour to match, or dragging the
sampler across a palette to allow
a cycle effect matching the colour
scheme of a location. Theres a set
of pre-loaded strobe, flash and
cycle settings including a rainbow
loop as used for my long exposure
shot in the flooded brewery cellar.
Direct selection of colours from a
palette is also incorporated.
Through WiFi, multiple KICK
Expensive tricolor LEDs visible here under the large 60 angle lenses allow the KICK
to output any balance of R, G, B light with a higher Colour Rendering Index than
typical LED battery lighting. Interfaces and controls, right.
lights can be connected and

controlled individually or as a
group. There are no fans, and
minimal whine from the power
circuits even when plugged into
USB power supplies, though the
running time can extend to around
four hours easily. Heat is more
likely to stop play, though in 40
minutes of continuous operation
neither of our review units shut
down.
Some minor weaknesses in
the overall stability of the WiFi
connection largely down to
the quirks of iOS do little to
lessen the experience of working
with the lights. The smartphone
emphasis extends to the app
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Broncolor Move 1200L Outdoor Kit 2

For the ultimate in location lighting
This may look impossible to light with a phone-sized LED, as it was totally dark
the flooded cellar of an old brewery bring re-opened in Northampton. But the
Nikon D4 at ISO 100 needed its Schneider 28mm stopped well down and used
with a circular polariser to secure 10 seconds at ISO 100. Using two KICK lights set
to colour cycle, Richard Kilpatrick walked through the water, in-shot.
being capable of capturing stills
or video. The lights are ideal for
stills photography, light painting
and simply providing fill in
mixed lighting conditions, with
enough output to work with a
good distance from the subject.
Skin tones and subtle colours are
preserved, with the KICK able to
vary between 2,800 and 12,000
Kelvins whilst providing a full
spectrum of light.
The lightweight unit features
a screwed-on casing, indicating
easily replaced batteries in the
long run. The large lenses spread
light evenly. A diffuser option, if
you dont want to improvise, is
probably the only feature lacking.
Doubling as an iPhone case, both

the 4 and 5 fit with a soft padded
insert for the slimmer form factor
of the 5/S. It adds a tripod mount.
There are other LED panels
that attempt a high CRI colour
spectrum, and some which
allow some variation in colour
temperature, but few offer the
flexibility, output, sophistication
and compact dimensions of
the KICK light. Now, with a UK
distributor, its possible to get your
hands on one before buying. But
without the confidence of those
early Kickstarter backers it might
never have reached production.
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Photographic e-books
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Available from
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Grey model MGF on studio perspex table. Top, one light on rainbow cycle moved
round the subject from the back then to the front, D4, 105mm macro, ISO 100,
32. Bottom, with the Kick moved across behind the subject, 29, 30 seconds.
www.bigwoodpublishing.com
info@bigwoodpublishing.com
2 May/June 2014 25
SONY WORLD PHOTOGR

T
he World Photography
Organisation holds annual
awards which have now
been sponsored by Sony for
seven years. For the 2014 Awards,
photographers from 166 countries
submitted nearly 140,000
images, the highest ever. From
the submissions the judges have
selected a shortlist and from this
shortlist, we have edited our own
choice. Unlike many world photo
competitions, these are entirely
free to enter. Professionals submit
sets of images on a theme (from
three to ten pictures) while the
Open section is for single images.
The Somerset House exhibition
prints have been produced by the
print sponsor of the awards, Metro
Imaging. Tickets to see the show
are now available at:
www.worldphoto.org/2014exhibition
The winners of the Open and
Youth categories were announced
on March 18th. Professional
category winners, and LIris dOr/
Sony World Photography Awards
Photographer of the Year title, are
due to be announced in London
on April 30th.
26 May/June 2014 2
The Sony World Photography Awards

Exhibition 2014 can be seen at Somerset
House in London from May 1st to 18th.
Here we present our edited selection from
the exhibition.
LIris dOr winner receives

$25,000 (US) and the Open
Photographer of the Year receives
$5,000 (US). All winners, including
category winners, receive digital
imaging equipment from Sony.
To enter the 2015 awards, visit
www.worldphoto.org after June 1st
2014, when entry opens.
RAPHY AWARDS 2014
Facing page: two photographs by George Logan, UK, from the professional Campaign category Whiskas cat food advertising.
This page: two photographs by Gonzaga Manso, Spain, Campaign category from the World Wildlife Funds Extinction Cant Be Fixed series.
2 May/June 2014 27
28 May/June 2014 2
Left hand page one of your editors favourites from the entry, by Yves Devleminck, given third position in the Belgian national ranking. Reflets, and most
reminiscent of the 1930s work of Krtesz and his contemporary pioneers of viewfinder vision. On this page, the only two uses of infrared imaging in the
show. Above, Below the Mystery by Christian Vilz of Mexico, finalist in the professional Travel category. Below, 1st place in Central America National open
award, by Gabriel Solis Carmona.
2 May/June 2014 29
Water and cameras do not always mix well! Top, entered in the Split Second category by
Hairul Azizi Harun of Malaysia, this rather wonderful moment took the overall prize for the
Open section. Above, entered in Low Light by Vlad Eftenie of Romania, a contemporary
view of night and rain which also made the top ten finalists in Open.
30 May/June 2014 2
The weather, when not raining in Romania, produced some exceptional conditions during
2013. Top picture, Starry Lighthouse by Ivan Pedretti from Italy, which took the award for
Open Panoramic and a place in the final ten of the Open classes. Bottom, Northern Lights
by Raymond Hoffman took 2nd Place National award for the Nordic region (which is
classed as one country in this competition).
2 May/June 2014 31
8.5
Tilt-Shift 24mm
f/3.5 ED AS UMC
Wide angle, full-frame tilt and shift

lens with perspective control and
tilt-shift functions.
Independent shift of the optical
axis and lens plane shift.
Ideal lens for landscape, panoramic
and architectural photography.
Focal length: 24 mm
Maximum aperture: 3.5
Angle of view: 83.5 diagonal
Minimum focusing distance: 0.2 m
-90
Minimum aperture: 22
Lens Construction: 16 elements,
11 groups, 1 Aspherical.
Available mounts:
Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony
Weight: 640 g
12 mm
+90
Samyang manufacture a range of manual focus lenses including

Ultra Wide Angle, Fish Eye, Portrait, Telephoto and Video DSLR lenses.
All Samyang lenses are manual focus, they do not include autofocus (AF)
Exclusive UK Distributors: Intro 2020 Ltd. Priors Way, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 2HP
32 May/June 2014 2 Tel: 01628 674411 Email: sales@intro2020.co.uk
/samyanguk
www.samyang.co.uk
YEAR
GUARANTEE
BUILDING
AN ARCHITECTURAL REPUTATION
n an era of photography being

driven by technology and the
act of photography itself, it
sometimes pays to remember
the most important aspect of
photography is the subject and
presentation. Martine Hamilton
Knights career has been successful
due to a passion for architecture
and buildings. Although her
reputation has been founded
within this field, her venture
into training and education is
extending the exposure and
recognition her work receives,
and offering an opportunity for
enthusiasts to learn from an eye
trained by a true understanding of,
immersion in her subject.
Living in Nottingham
and growing up around the
construction industry the
world of building sites and the
network of the city may seem like
a natural path. At a time when
commercial photography was a
very male-dominated profession,
Martine soon carved out a niche
and recognition for her energetic,
enthusiastic and professional
personality as much as her images.
Since 1990, she has created a
library of architectural, cultural
and historical images, evolving
to include video and film work by
Paul Mottram, her husband and
a former international broadcast
documentary cameraman.
Martines career was forged in
the era of film, each capture the
result of a significant planning
and investment. This single shot
approach remains even in the
era of digital, with ambient and
interior lighting managed in
camera. In an era when 20,000
a year was spent on film alone
getting it right was a worthwhile
investment. Understanding the
environment and balancing the
requirements of the image with
the requirements and deadlines of
the client can, on occasion, present
some significant challenges.
Winter light in particular can make
working with architecture in builtup areas a tricky business, and
thinking outside the box, taking in
the setting and environment and
Richard Kilpatrick talks to one of Britains

leading photographers of the
built environment at her Nottingham
studio and image library Builtvision
Martine Hamilton Knight working

with her vehicle roof platform and
Linhof Technikardan, in the days
before high resolution DSLRs replaced
sheet film for most work. Armada
Housing, sHertegenbosch, Holland
(BDP) 2003.
Left, Martine today a lighter
Manfrotto tripod with essential threeway geared head and Digital Pro SV
on-axis camera rotator bracket now
hold Canon full-frame bodies with a
choice of 17mm, 24mm, 45mm and
90mm TS-E tilt-shift lenses. She has
also collected on Honorary Doctorate
from Nottingham University and a
Woman of Substance award.
getting further away or finding a

high viewpoint may be the only
solutions.
Still subjects may seem like
the focus in these photographs,
yet the importance of people
should not be overlooked.
Bringing the buildings to life,
digital photography has improved
working speed and interaction
with the users of the buildings.
They have become another aspect
of the presentation to be watched,
worked with and controlled, rather
than ignored or avoided.
One of the most telling
qualities of Martines work is
thrown into sharp relief when
looking at photographs submitted
by entrants to the Royal Institute
of British Architects (RIBA) awards.
The awards are focused on the
buildings, not the photography.
Too many presentation images
are submitted with flat, grey skies,
frontages in shadow, interiors
with narrow angles of view and
features cut off. If ever a case could
and should be made for the value
of commissioned professional
photography, this is it.
Martine has found that the
accessibility of digital photography
has affected the working
relationship with clients even
when they value professional work
and have good budgets. Rather
than lowering prices to compete,
its necessary to engage with all
of the suppliers and contractors
involved in the project and coordinate the requirements for a full
package. The market for the dayto-day, stage shots and progress
or compliance images has fallen
away as managers and other team
members involved in the industry
will inevitably own a digital camera
or smartphone, and record these
themselves. Even time-lapse work
is often set up by the contractors,
armed with low-cost GoPro
cameras, both to demonstrate
compliance and to create visually
appealing media for marketing.
As such, many of Martines
images are commissions for the
hero shot, with architects looking
for the professionals talents for
2 May/June 2014 33
After looking for a conventional high viewpoint to avoid the heavy shadows (left, an iPhone record shot) Martine chose an even higher distant overview of Nottingham
Trent University Byron Students Union building (Church Lukas Architects 2013 - RIBA Award Shortlist 2014). It shows context and solves the winter light problem.
the finished product, looking to
RIBA Awards and final marketing
and promotional material. As we
look through years of images,
Martine is as excited by the details,
the near abstract, as she is by the
impressive interior and exterior
shots. Though I talk about my
job as one involving patience
and precision, Im inevitably to be
found running because Ive seen
something and need to catch it
before the light changes.
Along with the hero shot
often taken with the widest angle
lens she emphasises the need for
mid-focal length (35/40/50/70mm)
views to tell the story of the
design and use of a building, and
close-up detail shots to showcase
the materials and craftsmanship
involved.
34 May/June 2014 2
Below, the University of Nottinghams Jubilee Campus Extension (MAKE Architects,

2008) photographed with the Canon 24mm TS-E lens. Above, the buildings and
landscapes areas of the campus make an ideal location for students on Martines
Line & Light photographic training courses here shooting the natural aspect not
the architecture.
Martine has been known in

architectural circles for years as a
safe pair of hands, and has built
up an enviable reputation around
Nottingham and internationally,
working with the Universities and
Council, receiving distinctions
and recognition from sources that
reassuringly also acknowledge
the importance of photography
in society. Martine has been
awarded an Honorary Doctorate
by the University of Nottingham
and also a Woman of Substance
award (celebrating 100 years
of International Womens Day)
for her impact on Nottinghams
perception during its regeneration,
by showing the culture and beauty
of the city. Her relationship with
the region continues to grow, with
an exhibition in May celebrating
Remote controlled people

Martine often needs to photograph buildings at night, both to show the lighting as a part of the architecture, and to create more interesting results regardless of the
prevailing weather. Modern buildings like the Teesside University block above have automatically switched space lighting to save energy, so the lights can not just be
switched on and left. Instead, teams of helpers must be recruited, and controlled by mobile phone in this case running to beat the clock and get all the lights on at the
same time. Below, Westfield Folkhouse Lewis & Hickey Architects 2011, with figures inside directed into position for the 1.3 second exposure.
2 May/June 2014 35
Canons four TS-E tilt shift lenses are essential for Martines work on full-frame Canon 1Ds series bodies. Above, Newport University of Wales 2011, using the 17mm lens.
Below left, University of Sunderland, Faulkner Browns Architects 2009, using the 45mm for a solid weighty perspective.
Below right, Climbing Wall in the Byron Students Union, taken using the 17mm and 0.4 second exposure at 11 and ISO 320, with carefully posed figures.
Facing page, West Herts College (Weedon Partnership 2010) rigorously corrected with the modest angle of view of the 90mm TS-E.
36 May/June 2014 2
2 May/June 2014 37
Colour can be an important aspect of architectural work, especially when dealing with designed interiors. The new Canon EOS 1D X was used for this lighting
installation interior of Nottingham Trent University Byron Students Union (Church Lukas Architects 2013 - RIBA Award Shortlist 2014). 24mm TS-E lens.
Left 1, Nottingham Science Park (Studio Egret West 2008) is one example where
the use of perspective controls would be inappropriate. Mixed daylight and
artificial light.
Above Crowne Plaza Marlow by Conran & Partners (2003) using the 150mm
Schneider on the Linhof Technikardan.
38 May/June 2014 2
Yarm School Theatre (Associated Architects 2013 RIBA Award winner 2013) photographed for BUILT magazine. The students had to pose as the exposure with the
17mm Canon TS-E lens was 1/6th at 11, using the Canon EOS 1D X at ISO 320. Though it has excellent high ISO performance, keeping the setting below ISO 400
ensures maximum dynamic range and colour information. Below, as part of an assignment like this close-ups of detailing are very important. Here the long lens of the
Canon TS-E series, the 90mm, was used to show the complex acoustic woodwork.
the architecture of Sir Michael
Hopkins in shaping the citys
landscape, as depicted through
Martines work.
Her passion for photography
burns as strongly as it did 25 years
ago. Through her training offered
as Line & Light, Martine gets to
teach enthusiastic photographers
a wide range of disciplines such
as wildlife or portraiture as well
as urban and built environments.
These have proved popular and
some are offered under the English
Heritage umbrella. While she
does offer architectural training,
this is on a one-to-one basis for
overseas students only. Martine
puts considerable effort into
to planning and arranging the
affordable programmes. Her lively
presentation style and strong
technical knowledge proved
popular at Photo Training Overseas
2014 and at The Photography
Show. Shes an Ambassador for the
Manfrotto tripods and heads she
has always used.
See:
http://bit.ly/1gyp3Ve
(the Nottingham exhibition
mentioned in the text, which has a
very long web address just use this
shortened Bitly version)
and
http://www.lineandlight.co.uk
Martines toolbox
For location work in the UK, after
switching to digital capture in
2005, Martine carries:
Canon EOS-1D X body
Set of Canon TSE lenses
Manfrottto MT057C4-G tripod
Manfrotto 405 geared head
Digital Pro SV rotator
Metz flash units
Continuous lighting
For overseas or construction site
work, she uses lighter weight
equipment:
Canon EOS-5D MkIII body
Set of TSE lenses
Manfrotto 190 Pro Carbon Fibre
Manfrotto 410 Junior head
Digital Pro SV rotator
Canon Speedlights
Martine does not use high levels of
post-processing, her technique is
based on film methods and relies
on lighting and exposure control
in-camera. She shoots raw files
and uses Adobe Camera Raw from
Bridge to organise and process her
files. BuiltVision is also an image
library and retains the (Flextight)
systems needed to scan 5 x 4 and
other film formats to high quality.
See:
http://www.builtvision.co.uk
2 May/June 2014 39
SAMYANG 24mm TS
T
For full-frame Nikon, Canon or the versatile

Sony A7 Samyangs manual focus, manual
aperture tilt-shift wide angle breaks price
barriers and offers unique independently
rotating tilt and shift stages
here are only two marque

to have more force to deal with,
brands offering tilt-shift
perhaps because rise is the usual
lenses with a coverage
function and gravity prevents easy
angle of 83 and wider, Nikon and
rise. So, the tendency in real use is
Canon. Nikon offers a 24mm PC-E,
to unlock the movement, and just
while Canon has both 24mm and
push the lens in its track without
17mm TS-E lenses. For owners
using the precision adjustment
of mirrorless camera systems
screw, then lock it.
these lenses dont adapt easily or
The tilt action is easier to handle
cheaply as the E in their names
because the tilt knob is far bigger
refers to electronic transmitted
than the shift one, and does not
aperture adjustment. In the case
tend to get overhung by the rest of
of the Nikon design, the tilt and
the lens its in clear space beyond
shift are fixed at 90 to each other
all the other controls.
and can be aligned by a factory
The rotation releases are small
modification; Canons post-2009
spring and return flanges made
lenses have a rotation step
of bright metal, which need a
between shift and tilt with 45 click
fingernail to hold down before
stops.
turning the lens to a different
Into this market steps
click stop. These again are not
Samyang, the ambitious South
ergonomic. Overall, all the
Korean optical corporation with
controls work and the lens can be
a good track record from a range
locked up firmly which is vital. All
of manual lenses from fisheye to
actions are smooth and without
mirror telephoto. The lenses which
unwanted play or binding. There
made Samyangs reputation are
are markings on both sides of the
the 14mm 2.8 ultra-wide, 24mm
lens, adjustment or locking, and
1.4 super fast wide angle, and
the assembly centres up perfectly
Above: the small grey locking screws and second scales of the lens. Below:
85mm 1.4 portrait.
on the cameras lens mount and
complex shift and tilt used together. The black knobs adjust the movements.
Their 24mm 3.5 TS lens has
therefore is aligned correctly with
a very large image circle and a
the sensor frame.
rotation stage between shift (closest to the camera)
With focus down 0.2m and apertures to
and tilt (front section) with 30 click stops, as well as a
22, the Samyang offers the necessary
rotating camera mount stage with the same intervals.
control to keep most subjects sharp
Because it has a manual aperture, it can be used directly
using tilt. You should not feel too
on mirrorless bodies almost regardless of the native fit
concerned about stopping down and
bought.
risking diffraction loss. The field is not
The TS controls are almost identical in range to Canons
flat, and at full shift, theres some loss of
24mm, which the lens seems to be modelled on. You can
sharpness on subjects like buildings at the
set plus or minus 8.5 of tilt, and plus or minus 12mm
limits of the image circle unless you push the
shift. If you try to use the maximum for both, quality at the
focus back towards infinity and stop down to
edge of the image circle could be limited. In practice very
bring centre and edge both well into focus.
few subjects need more than a very slight tilt and most
Certainly, you may want to use 3.5 with
architectural situations seem to need around 8 to
focus peaking on live view to get your focus
10mm of shift, very rarely the maximum even on full
right but you will not consider shooting wide
frame.
open unless the lens is centred. The whole
Four mirrorless system versions are made for
frame is sharp when no shift is used, and
Canon M, Fujifilm X, Samsung NX and Sony E but
as you add shift, it becomes necessary to
it makes far more sense to buy the Samyang in a
use smaller apertures. Do not trust 8 as
DSLR mount where there is a choice of Canon,
a safe setting, go for 11 or 16 whenever
Nikon or Sony Alpha. Its a way of futurepossible. Its practical to use this lens hand-held
proofing the purchase if for example you are
with todays horizon level displays giving easy
using Sony A7 and find that Fujifilm introduce a
alignment but a tripod is essential to cope
full frame X-mount body which persuades you to
with anything except bright sunshine.
change system.
There is little point is using this lens
No tilt-shift lens is ever going to be small or
for shift alone on APS-C, or on low
light, and this one measures around 110mm long
resolution full frame cameras like
(mirrorless mount version have a further 28-39mm
the Nikon D3 or D4/f models. Even
of extension tube built in) with an 86mm
at 24 megapixels, you may find that
maximum diameter, taking 82mm filters
cropping an 18mm view matches
and weighing in around 630g.
the result, and with the 36 megapixel
In practical use the controls and
body we used a crop from around a 15locks of the Samyang are on the
16mm starting from a composition with spare
small side, especially for the shift
foreground will match the lower pixel count fullaction which is more likely to be used
framer with a shifted 24mm. Its ideal companions
frequently. The idea is that you unscrew
are the Nikon D800/800E and the Sony A7R, as
a small grey locking screw, then turn the
then you get the full benefit of the lens quality in
slightly larger adjustment screw to move the
a very large image file composed to fill the frame.
shift action. However, this adjustment is not a large
As for the tilt function, well take a look at this
finger-and-thumb knob like the tilt action and it seems
in its own right in a future article along with some
40 May/June 2014 2
of the many adaptors now sold

to allow tilt, shift or both. Lets
just say that attaching a regular
24mm wide angle to a tilt adaptor
does not give you anything like
the same result. Most tilt adaptors
move the axis of the image and
most 24mms have no leeway at
all to cope with the vignetting
created when the lens is moved off
centre relative to the frame. The
shift mechanism of the Samyang
enables you to bring the image
circle back into position with the
sensor in its sharpest central zone,
after tilting the lens to change
the plane of focus. An electronic
viewfinder helps greatly, as its
much easier to see vignetting as it
happens.
This brings us to focus and
exposure. Neither can be relied
on unless you use Live View. Even
the chipped focus confirmation
of the Nikon and Canon lenses
does little to help check the
sharpness in detail across the
frame, and thats something you
need to do when using tilt. Live
View or EVF operation, with focus
magnification and perhaps with
peaking to delineate the best point
of focus on edges, transforms the
usefulness of all lenses like this.
The same goes for exposure,
where traditional SLR metering
fails once the lens is off centre, but
exposure taken directly from the
sensor is generally accurate and
can be previewed.
At around 900 the 24mm TS
is not a budget lens, and it needs
careful use to extract the best. If
youre into architecture it could be
a workhorse to last a lifetime.
David Kilpatrick
See: www.samyang.co.uk
Top pair, black and white from a close viewpoint, the 24mm with 10mm vertical shift has a dramatic effect on the
apparent scale and shape of the overhanging glazed roof section. Vertical elongation is a quality of wide-angle shift
lens drawing. Centre, gravestone at this angle, 4 of swing brought the face of the memorial and the distance to the
left side both into sharp focus. Above, shopping mall here the shift was rotated to 30 to have a slight vertical effect
and substantial horizontal cross front, while around 1.5 of swing aligned the plane of focus. These examples were all
made hand-held using the A7Rs viewfinder horizon level display. Right minimising the ground or floor, maximising
the roof or ceiling. Small images show eye-level view with no shift, then ground level view with no shift. The large view,
colour corrected to remove a strong green cast from sunlight reflected off grass outside the cloister, uses the ground
level view with 9mm of rise shift and about 3 of swing to the left. The lens is set to 13. A tripod was used and the
exposure was 1/15th of a second at ISO 50. Any softening of detail occurs towards the top right only.
2 May/June 2014 41
BEING A BRAND
AMBASSADOR
or those of us of a certain age,

David Bailey will be forever
synonymous with Olympus,
and specifically the Olympus Trip,
even if, now in his 70s, he was last
seen doing promotional activity
for Samsung and Nokia. Arguably,
and for better or for worse, such TV
spots cemented him just as much
in the public consciousness as the
iconic black and white images in
his famous Box of Pin Ups.
In this digital age with so much
media and so many channels
fighting for our attention, brand
ambassadors seem to everywhere:
somebody celebrated in their field
associating with a well-known
brand with both basking in the
warm glow is so common that
we barely raise an eye muscle.
But, as the following
interviewees demonstrate,
whether youve been in the
business 30 years or three, there
are opportunities to be had from
an ambassadorial role that might
not only get you free bits of kit and
a regular fee, but lead to jobs and
commissions you might not have
got prior to such an association.
Who knows, they may even lead
you down new creative avenues.
With that in mind, can
becoming a promotional
ambassador for a brand truly
work both ways, and do as much
for your career as it does for the
company in question? We spoke
to some of photographys leading
lights in this country, as well as a
relative newcomer, to find out.
Is becoming an ambassador for a

photographic industry brand a way to
boost your own career, profile and income
or simply a perk of having a successful
career in the first place? Gavin Stoker
speaks to photographers acting as the
public faces of camera manufacturers and
service providers to discover how both
sides benefit.
At The Photography Show, NEC, UK, in March above, Mark Seymour talks to a
packed house for Nikon; below, Trevor and Faye Yerbury on the Catwalk Stage
with Bowens lighting and Fujifilm X cameras (equally large audience out of shot!).
Yerburys Fujifilm
NEWLY-APPOINTED Fujifilm
ambassadors Trevor & Faye Yerbury
have had a long and distinguished
career creating fine art portraiture.
As a result, approaches now come
to them, and they already have
associations with Bowens, Loxley
Colour, Nik Software and Kubota
Image Tools. Fuji recently got in
touch about doing some seminars
with the X-Pro1 and X-T1, which
are lovely, Trevor says. They lent
me a camera with the 56mm
portrait lens, which is beautiful.
The whole point is that
Fujifilm want to get back into the
professional market when it comes
to cameras.
42 May/June 2014 2
Previously there has been

that whole thing about pros
feeling inadequate turning up at a
wedding with an X-Pro1 because
its not a huge camera with a huge
lens, confirms Trevor. But having
said that what theyre really selling

to the bride and groom is what
they do, not what they use to do it.
The photographer is happy
with the new relationship because
he believes like others canvassed
here that Fujis quality is there

and others will agree if they can
get past the size of the camera
not matching up to perhaps
whats expected of a pro. He also
tells us that there have been no
restrictions imposed as part of
the ambassadorial role on using
alternative kit. For example, for
creative reasons he still shoots
medium and large format on
Hasselblad and 10 x 8 for certain
jobs.
Im still playing with the old,
or rather new, Petzval portrait
lens, which my great grandfather
used in the studio. Invented back
in 1840 it was a great portrait lens
and was used by the majority of
studio photographers for many,
many years. You can still get
original ones but theyre around
3,000 to 4,000. Lomography did
a kickstarter campaign to replicate
a version in brass, done by Zenit in
Russia, which raised over a million
dollars. I first used one back in
January, its for Nikon and Canon
fit only. You focus via a knob on the
side and your apertures fit through
a slot in the top of the lens where
you drop in metal Waterhouse
stops that give you 2.2, 4, 5.6,
8 and so on. It gives you some
really nice, different portrait effects
and its good fun to play with.
In other words by all means ally
yourself with a brand but dont let
creativity be compromised in the
process? No, Id never do that. I
havent picked up my Nikon since
we got the Fuji, but thats not to
say I wouldnt use it and I have a
Nikon lens mount adaptor for the
Fujifilm X cameras.
The relationships with Bowens
and Loxley also came about fairly
organically. My father was using
Bowens kit way back, so that
was just a natural progression.
I dont think weve gone up to
anybody and said will you sponsor
us please? Its just come about
because of certain conversations
and Ive never felt pressure on me
as a result.
Trevor and Faye still use
Bowens lighting and says the
company offers all the products
he would ever need for his work
and lends appropriate systems
for seminars. If theyre doing
The Photography Show or the
2 May/June 2014 43
44 May/June 2014 2
Photographs by Trevor Yerbury using the Fujfilm X-Pro1 camera above, Papa taken with an early production 56mm 1.2 portrait lens.
Left, a remarkable use of a Parisian setting caught using the 55-230mm Fujinon XF telephoto zoom. See: www.yerburystudio.com
Convention, were more than

delighted to demonstrate their
kit to the public. Its more of a
gentlemens agreement, theres
nothing in writing: they trust you
and you trust them and thats the
way that it should be.
Alliance to a brand has resulted
in many more people approaching
the Yerburys via the likes of social
media. Were always getting
emails about lighting set ups
and with the Fuji particularly
of late Im being asked what we
use it for, or what my favourite
lens is. So you do spend quite a
bit of time answering peoples
correspondence which I hadnt
realized until you mentioned it!
In addition, being ambassadors
for several brands seems to
attract even more, which is all
well and good as long as conflicts
are avoided. For example, Trevor
explains: We use Fotospeeds
paper because we print a lot of
our own black and white and
they supply Loxley with a large
proportion of their large format
papers so that kind of works
nicely. Were not stepping on
anybodys toes.
Were also about to do a
four-city tour sponsored by Loxley
Colour. Fuji wanted to come on
board, so we obviously had to run
this past Loxley but Fuji supply
Loxley with paper too so it all ties
in nicely together. There are other
lighting companies and labs who
have tried very hard to poach us,
but I think if youre happy with the
equipment and services youre
being supplied with and they do
what you want, there is no reason
to change. If it comes to monetary
bribes tempting you to jump ship,
I dont think that is particularly
honourable.
At the end of the day it comes
down to personal and professional
integrity, and not wanting it to
appear to the wider world that
youre extolling the virtues of one
brand one minute and another
the next. As to whether a brand
ambassador is something you
can become after just a few years
in business rather than decades,
Trevor thinks each case will be
different.
Brands want people to
represent them who are well
known enough to get their
message across to the maximum
number of people, but there are
photographers who have only
been in the industry two or three
year and are already picking up
small sponsorship deals.
They have made a mark
so they are noticed. To the
industry these days anybody and
everybody is a professional, but
the proof of the pudding is always
in the eating.
PHOTO
OVERSEAS
PHOTO TRAINING
TRAINING OVERSEAS
28th
January -- 6th
6thFebruary
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atatthe
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onallallinclusive
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phoneArt
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Coe -- Portrait
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Wedding
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Oswin -- Classical Wedding
BrianJ.
J.McLernon
McLernon - Sea & Landscapes
Brian
Landscapes
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Wall -- Stock Photography
Dave
Photography
MarkSeymour
Seymour -- Documentary
Documentary Wedding
Mark
Wedding
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Doorhof - Fashion
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For full information visit www.pto-uk.com

Forand
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the PTO visit
group
on facebook
and join the PTO group on facebook 2 May/June 2014 45
Dave Jagger PTO

AS Trevor Yerbury notes, you dont
have to have been a long term
pro to necessarily find yourself
in an ambassador role. A case
in point is wedding and portrait
photographer Dave Jagger, who
has been a pro for just three. David
recently struck up a mutually
beneficial relationship with
Photography Training Overseas
(PTO), having retired after 30
years in the Manchester police
force, where he dealt with murders
and financial investigations.
Whilst I havent been going so
long, I fell in love with PTO during
my first year, he reveals. Two days
into one of PTOs training events I
said to organizer George Dawber
Ill be back next year, do you want
my deposit?
Dave is further fortunate
in having a wife who runs the
photography business, leaving him
to get on with the art of taking
photos as well as, naturally,
driving fellow photographer
customers to PTO.
Representing PTO works
out very well because we go
abroad for two weeks, and treat
the second week as a holiday, as
quite a lot of the actual delegates
do. My wife works really hard, so
she spends the first week mostly
sleeping, and just joins us for the
socialising in the evening.
In terms of what is required
of him in his ambassador role,
beyond encouraging people to
enrol on PTOs courses in the
first place, I tell people what its
all about, what theyre likely to
experience, what the set up is, how
it all fits together, says Dave. And
I answer any further questions and
concerns that they might have
and well as ensuring that they
feel welcome both in the run up
to the course and whilst theyre
actually in resort. Theres a social
aspect to it too PTO is unique in
that regard. I call it a work hard,
play hard course.
Apart from the attractiveness
of being able to go to foreign
locations and take pictures,
David gets a financial incentive of
50 for each photographer hes
befriended who books. I dont
know whether other ambassadors
do this and I dont think they do
but I often give the 50 back to
the delegate whilst in the resort. I
do that because I have such a great
time whilst Im there and I want
people to experience it in the same
way. Another way I look at it is that
its 50 off my booking fee. And for
each new person the price would
reduce by 50.
Social interaction with your
peers and the opportunity to make
a little bit of money out of it at the
46 May/June 2014 2
Left: Dave Jaggers regular work, as

he develops his business, is social
and wedding coverage. Attending
and helping promote Photo Training
Overseas works well as he enjoys
networking with contemporaries.
same time may well be a draw for
others considering ambassadorial
opportunities. I steer people to
PTO by word of mouth and also
keep an eye on the photography
forums. If anybody at all expresses
interest in photo training I get to
know them and tell them all about
PTO. One of the things about
being an ambassador is that you
have to book in a particular year to
become an ambassador for them.
Its on a yearly renewing basis, so
you cant just opt out of all the
courses. Youre also expected to
welcome people at the resort.
Dave explains that youre
not on your own however the
PTO management team is at the
resort as naturally are the course
tutors, of which there can be eight
in number. There are morning
and evening sessions and all the
delegates are split up into groups
dependent on location and ability.
And then you go to the different
sessions throughout the week.
When you go as a new delegate
it can be quite daunting, so thats
where you need the ambassadorial
input to help the delegates bond.
I dont know anyone who doesnt
have a good time and make
lifelong friends.
As to whether his alliance
with PTO has bled back into his
own work and business and led
to opportunities that he wouldnt
otherwise have got, David notes
that: you pick up a lot of contacts
and may meet different types
of wedding photographer
traditional and documentary that
enable you to learn new tips and
tricks all the time.
The photographer adds that,
moreover, should he fall ill or be
already booked on a certain date,
it is good to have fellow pros he
knows well and can call on to step
in and take up the slack.
www.xclusivphotos.co.uk
Above: a technique Dave
Jagger learned from Glyn
Dewis (one of the tutors for
PTO 2015). I have done a
few images using this style,
he says, usually taken on
a grey background with
the colour added later, plus
dodging and burning and
Glyns technique to add the
waxy skin look. The model
is my son, always karaoke
singing on holiday
so we just did a fun
image. Left: PTO wedding
demonstration. Right: PTO
flashmob!
Mark Seymour Nikon and Loxley

AWARD winning wedding
photographer Mark Seymour
has had a close relationship
with Nikon UK for a number of
years which has even extended
to photographing weddings of
its staff. It came about initially
because I chaired the London
Portrait Group which led to a low
level relationship with them, Mark
recalls. I was a Canon user at the
time Canon had its 1D Mark III
and I felt that Nikon didnt really
have anything to compete but
they coaxed me back into the
Nikon fold. I then won Wedding
Photographer of the Year with the
MPA, gained my Associateship
in documentary wedding
photography and gradually
developed the relationship. Theyd
give me a little discount off new
gear and I gained the trust of
various people in the Nikon group.
As regards the actual
ambassadorship though, Mark says
that Nikon totally approached me.
I dont think many photographers
would be able to ring up Canon or
Nikon and say would you sponsor
me? They probably keep their
cards quite close to their chest.
It sounds a bit like joining the
secret service? Back in February
last year I had a call to say Nikons
Group Support Manager James
Banfield would like to meet me
off-site for a chat. The gist was
that theyd like to work with me
more and I was offered the role of
Rachel Esther Taylors wedding was one of Marks recent glowing successes but
who could fail with such a stunning bride and reception venue?
Nikon ambassador for weddings in

the UK. They said this is what we
expect from you and this is what
we will give you back. I have a
contract that is quite detailed and
runs to five or six pages, basically
tying me to Nikon for any imaging
equipment.
As one would expect, getting
to play with the latest and greatest
bits of kit is one of the added
perks. Indeed. I have a Nikon D4S
on the way. But as photography
is my love and my passion its
almost irrelevant what Im given
its just lovely to be a part of it.
The association has also led to
further opportunities above and
beyond the ambassador role, or
as Mark puts it: loads of stuff; its
been quite unbelievable really.
Weve had a lot of exposure in
photography magazines, and
a lot of articles done on my
photography and what gear I use.
And at The Photography Show
this March I was one of Nikons
main speakers. Nikon also has an
ambassadors page on its website,
and from an SEO point of view a
link from Nikon to my website is
pretty priceless!
Traffic to Mark Seymours site
has, he says, increased massively
from around 10 or 15 hits per day
to an average of 80 to 100, though
there have been days when it has
peaked at 800 hits. I wouldnt say
it has led directly to more work
because my wedding clients book
2 May/June 2014 47
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F2 21/3/14.indd 1
21/03/2014 11:22
me regardless. Having said that

its quite nice to wave the flag
that Im a Nikon ambassador; it
differentiates me and adds kudos
when talking to prospective
brides.
The other thing that has spun
off from the Nikon association is
that Seymour has become involved
with Loxley Colour in a similarly
promotional way. They flew me
up to Glasgow two months ago. All
my album orders now go through
Loxley were gradually moving
over to them. The other thing
thats come off the back of it is that
Ive become involved with Mark
Cleghorns Photo Academy. Ive
known Mark for quite a while and
did a webinar for him after Nikon
signed me up. Theyve also asked
me to talk on their stand at the
Gadget Show. All these little things
are ticking away
It leads us to wonder how
much of an impact being an
ambassador can have on your
ability to still get out there and
take pictures. It doesnt impact
massively because these are all
things that dont take up a huge
amount of time, and I value being
part of a bigger unit. Once you
start it elevates you and you
start mixing in a higher echelon,
because youve got a company
pushing you and endorsing you.
Nikon have just written me the
most lovely letter of thanks for my
contribution on The Photography
Show stand. There are masses of benefits that

have come off the back of it. Photo Training
Overseas for example have asked me to do
a talk for them. These things have all started
happening since Nikon made me their
ambassador.
To see more of Marks work please visit:
www.markseymourphotography.co.uk
Marks real wedding images (left) are loved by his
clients, who say yes to such uses. Hes renowned
for his iconic images of Jewish weddings,
capturing devotion and exuberance alike.
2 May/June 2014 49
Damian
McGillicuddy
Olympus
LAST YEAR Damian McGillicuddy
dubbed Big Dog was
announced by Olympus as
their official brand ambassador,
replacing the long-serving David
Bailey, big shoes to fill for sure.
When I was at school, about
15 years old, I used to watch
David Baileys Olympus adverts on
television and tell my mum thats
where I want to end up, Damian
recalls.
About four years ago we
were doing something at Focus
on Imaging and Mark Thackara
at Olympus asked if I would take
a shot with a new camera the
XZ-1 for them. They used the
shot for an A3 pull out brochure. It
went a bit quiet after that but then
I received an E-3 through the post
to try, then an E-5, and I was quite
smitten. I was a Nikon user at that
point but I liked the quality of the
files. Even at high ISOs the look
was quite filmic. And the camera
was quite a lot smaller than my D3.
Then the new OM-D E-M5
came out, and by this time
wed established an informal
arrangement Olympus and I, all
based on a handshake. The only
contract is a verbal one. I have to
say when the OM-D came out I
genuinely didnt want to like it.
It was small and Im a superstar
professional photographer but
the more I shot with it, the more
it beguiled me and the more it
compelled me to want to use it.
It happened gradually: there was
never a next Monday you will
be working for us conversation,
though we made it official last
year, having been working for 12
or 18 months before that. They had
to make sure I was the right man
for the job, and I had to make sure
it was what I wanted to do.
Damian adds that from his
point of view he wasnt prepared
to jump into bed with anybody
just on a financial arrangement. I
genuinely believe that the E-M1
and the OM-D system as a whole
is a revolutionary concept. I had
a very long association with Fuji,
their films and papers, and was a
little bit disappointed I couldnt
say to them right, Ill use this
camera because for me the OM-D
is a better product for the way I
work. Im not knocking them, but
for me the Fuji X series was more
rangefinder than SLR and the
focus wasnt fast enough for me.
So I made a deliberate choice to
go with a company I thought had
good product. Because the truth
of the matter is that I cant do a
50 May/June 2014 2
demonstration and stand on stage

and tell people somethings good
if its not.
The photographer reveals that
furthermore he has not been told
to shoot only on Olympus and
ignore any alternatives. I could
shoot on my Nikon if I wanted
to but the truth of the matter is
I dont want to. Weve got Phase
One backs at work that havent
been touched for two years. To
be totally honest the capability of
most cameras on the market now
far exceeds the ability of most
photographers. So Im not making
any compromises in quality as far
as Im concerned. It works really
well for the way I work and I get
massive logistical benefits from the
OM-D because of the small form
factor and get massive usability
benefits because of the viewfinder.
Its a no brainer.
Damien says that 2015 is
already planned out in terms of his
Olympus activities, so that much
is formalized. And we certainly
dont do it for nothing, he adds,
speaking to me from a motorway
having spent two days down in
London at Olympus East London
Image Space. Really the whole
of my existence now is based
around what we are doing for
Olympus. First job of the year we
went to Las Vegas, though I only
spent two hours in CES, looking
at the TVs! I do the equipment
testing. We spent four days with
various journalists showing off
the 25mm 1.8 lens, which at that
point hadnt been released, and
generating advertising pictures. As
much as Olympus use everything
we do, I retain the copyright.
The photographer will also
answer questions from Olympus
users online. Our web presence
is quite massive we get tens of
thousands of unique visitors a
month, with an even higher level
of Facebook impressions, which
to me is quite a lot. My role is to
show what the mighty Four Thirds
system is capable of. I do use it in
my own commercial and private
commission work.
As to how all this impacts on
his creativity, Damian recalls that
there was a period in his career 10
years ago of doing 40-50 portrait
sessions a week plus two or three
weddings. And that got too much
for me, so we re-branded so we
were back down to doing three
or four sessions a week for higher
paying clients. That organically got
to the point of doing four or six
sessions a month for really highend clients. This year for Olympus
Ive done the SWPP show, then
we went to Fuerteventura, then
to London, Birmingham and back
to London and then Sweden
but Im not complaining. When
I was at art school I was like a

nave teenager thinking that one
day when they say David Bailey,
whos he? theyll actually mean it,
because I will have replaced him.
Back then it was pure fantasy. Ten
years ago it was still pure fantasy.
But obviously its been in my
subconscious for the past 30 years

and Ive been working towards it.
Im a big believer in fate and that
we make our own chances, so I
genuinely think Olympus have got
the right man for the job!
www.damianmcgillicuddy.com
2 May/June 2014 51
LIGHTREADING
A LITTLE
with Martin Grahame-Dunn
ack in March of 2009 I was running a

professional development training course in
Dublins fair city and after a fruitful day, decided
to go for a pre-dinner walk along the banks of the
Liffey. On this particular evening I was being treated
to a tour of the town with its lights and sights.
Strolling casually along the banks of the Liffey I
caught saw a musician busking in a dark alley under
some beautiful and interesting directional lighting.
I was eager to capture the scene without him being
aware of my presence. I was so happy Id taken my
camera with me! My Nikon D700 was armed with a
24-70mm 2.8 lens, a most amazing piece of glass
unusual for me as Im a huge fan of Prime Lenses.
I had been eager to really
push the ISO capabilities
of the camera. The guy was
still unaware of my presence
and continued performing
with passion. He stopped
for a moment to draw on
the hand rolled cigarette
and I just had to capture
that moment of savouring
the pleasure he was clearly
experiencing.
Camera down, eyes wide
open, ISO pushed to 1600,
aperture to 2.8, scene
reviewed and I lifted the
Nikon to my face setting the
focal length to 55mm and
click, captured my shot. In
fact I only took three frames
before he noticed I was there
and the moment was over.
I knew that the initial
capture was only the
beginning of the road for
this image. I couldnt wait
to download the JPEG (yes,
I did say JPEG!) and start
playing with my vision using
my Nik software suite, now
free to try as an older version
to all following Googles
takeover of Nik.
First I wanted to check
the noise levels, even
though I am well aware of
the amazing low or even no
noise capabilities of Nikon
cameras. With an ISO of 1600
selected I just wanted to be
sure particularly in such a
low light situation. And so I
gave it a courtesy swipe through Nik Dfine 2.0 to be sure, to be sure!. I also
did a little mess clearing removing the obvious unwanted bits and pieces
that just had to go. De-cluttering is so important and as I often feel I suffer
from OCD in my photography, it was doubly important to me. Of course
the way we view an image can change throughout the manipulation
process and I was totally sure I would be doing more tidying later.
Next step was to apply a tricky effect known as Tonal Contrast from
the Nik Color Efex 3.0 palette (this has now been superseded with Color
Efex 4.0 in the Nik suite now from Google). Go to www.niksoftware.com
for an amazing deal on this invaluable collection of seven products! In
the latest version of Color Efex you will find a different tool called Detail
Extractor which Id certainly use in preference to Tonal Contrast. This
52 May/June 2014 2
effect or similar has been used by some fairly well

known shooters in the production of more surreal
than figurative images. I know we see a huge
amount of HDR feel images, but there is a time
and a place where it simply works and this to me
i was one of them. My main objective was to pull
out detail and texture in the brickwork and this
filter is a marvel at that! The key thing is to play
with the sliders and apply the effect in a painterly
way. I was particularly careful to avoid the subjects
skin. So, texture abundant and on to the next
step. Using the ever popular and probably most
misused Midnight filter I decided to apply a kind of
vignetted feel to accentuate the hot area and draw
the viewers attention to the
key subjects. I so love this
tool but if it is not applied
in the right way there
will be banding at worst
and halation around your
subject at best. So, beware
and use with caution!
A little more retouching
now removing any
remaining annoying
highlights towards the
edges of the image that
would further constitute
distractions if this were ever
to become a competition
print. It is at this stage I
have become at my most
critical, and to be honest
and before any of you say
it, Yes! I am bothered about
the brightness of that street
light! But it should not the
be all and end all of an
image. I get a little weary of
the constant spouting of so
called photographic rules.
After all, who says they are
rules? Arent the only real
rules the laws of physics
that govern the use and
mechanics of light?
The last thing is all about
the colour. I am no fan of
green tones and lean more
towards hot images. First
task was to beef up certain
areas with the magic of
Nik Viveza (I so wanted to
heat up that guitar) which
having sorted that and the
tip of his glowing cigarette
I finished up by a preferred colour adjustment simply through Photoshop.
And there we have it, my Liffey Serenade.
Just to end this story, I thanked the guy profusely and offered him
some money which he politely declined as he was simply busking for fun! I
so love Dublin and the Irish!
The software I selected for this image way back in 2009 was Adobe
Photoshop, with the Nik Professional Suite comprising Dfine for noise
reduction, Viveza for targeted colour adjustment, Color Efex for an amazing
pack of controllable filters and Sharpener Pro for the best selective
sharpening tool on the market.
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2 May/June 2014 53
SMOOTH OPERAT
ts almost 40 years ago that

Canon and Minolta previewed
the first polycarbonate (and
other plastic) camera parts with
the claim that lenses mounted in
these new light-weight barrels
could and would be better centred
than traditional brass and steel
designs. At the same time YashicaContax introduced a stainless steel
bayonet mount which operated
as smoothly as a plated brass
one, and Minolta created a type
of stainless steel with crystals of
lubricant mineral in its structure.
Just exactly what happened
after these advanced of the
1970s we can only guess, but
was a bumpy ride through the
era of autofocus SLRs and into
the creation of the first digital
generations. Youve got to
remember that in 1997 Minolta
Canon and Nikon, as members
of the APS Consortium, told the
world that regular SLR lenses were
just not accurate enough for the
new smaller format and that
their mainly plastic, entirely new
dedicated lenses for Vectis, Nexia
and IXUS were superior.
Then digital arrived and the
dominant SLR format was similar,
APS-C. Instead of building the
future round those abandoned
APS film systems and their better
lenses every maker reverted to
conversions of traditional SLRs and
most digital lenses were nothing
more than 20-year-old designs
with new coatings, information
chips and perhaps a focus motor.
The design and quality of
those film-era AF lenses, however
updated, proved disappointing.
From endemic front or back
focus to strong distortions and
chromatic aberration, the whole
DSLR system basis struggled
even when cameras were only 6
megapixels. Fixes like in-camera AF
calibration and in lens correction
arrived to save the day.
Digital just kept getting higher
in resolution. Certain lenses
acquired new good reputations,
others lost once-good reputations,
and photographers became ever
more aware of subtle aspects of
lens design, bokeh, aperturerelated focus shift and so on.
In this informed and critical
environment every manufacturer
was going to have to improve
the look, feel and performance
of enthusiast and professional
equipment.
The leaders in this should have
been Nikon and Canon. Theyve
54 May/June 2014 2
not been idle, but their improved

products have often been revisions
of familiar ones. Lenses have gone
through two or three generations
and the latest variants are as good
as their considerably increased
costs suggest.
The real pacemakers
instead have turned out to
be relative outsiders Sony,
Fujifilm, Samsung, Samyang,
Panasonic, Olympus, Tamron,
and Sigma along with a revived
and innovative Carl Zeiss.
Photographers who have never
thought of deviating from their
Canon 85mm 1.2 L USM II now
find the Fujinon XF 56mm 1.2
exerts a magical pull, along with
the entire system that goes with it.
Silent shooting
Were used to the sound of massed
SLRs at news events quieter
now theres no film motordrive,
but faster frame to frame so just
as offensive. Within two or three
years, most of this will go quiet.
There are already silent shutter
modes or quiet modes, though
only Panasonic claims a true silent
mode in advertising. The leaf
shutter of Sonys RX cameras series
from the basic RX100 through
the superzoom RX10 to the high
end RX1/R is effectively silent
and of all the cameras Ive used
recently, the RX10 points most
firmly to the future. Samsungs
new NX Mini system is based on
a similar sensor and has silent
shooting to 1/16,000th shutter
speed so I may revise that view.
The RX10 is not only silent, its
the most amazing smooth camera
in every sense. The entire body
feels rock solid (its magnesium)
and the lens though a motorised
zoom has a similar feel. Its an
illusion, as the central extending
tube has the usual slight play you
expect from any 24-200mm range
superzoom. It just doesnt happen
unless you push it around.
The RX10 is based on a oneinch 20 megapixel sensor, 8.8 x
13.2mm (a 2.7X factor reduction
from full frame). This sensor
delivers finely toned, noise free
raw images from ISO 80 to 200 and
can be used confidently at 400 to
1600, noise needing strong control
or treatment only kicking in at
2000 and above. Because the Carl
Zeiss zoom lens is 2.8 constant
maximum aperture all the way
from 24mm to 200mm equivalent,
and also has excellent full bore
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10 has

the ability to do almost everything
anyone needs superb video
with audio gain control and live
headphone monitoring, a 35mm
2:3 image format and 24-200mm
equivalent lens with constant 2.8.
Even so it feels like a risk to rely on it
without a backup camera.
Above, ISO 800 still shot of Rory
McLeod, 1/200th at 3.5, full tele
reach, completely silent shooting.
Video was also taken with great
results. Below, acrylic paints for sale,
quickly arranged to align the labels
and photographed in a shop, 1/25th
and 4 at ISO 80, auto WB. The silent
operation avoided any odd reactions
from shop staff, and the lens bokeh at
49mm (=132mm) proved just right.
TORS
Optics, engineering, and electronics come together to give

todays gear fluid qualities of handling and imaging.
Sony, Zeiss, Sigma, and even Lomography/Zenit are in on the act.
performance combined with
pinpoint contrast-detection AF the
ISO rating rarely needs to be taken
high. The depth of field of the lens
is between two and three stops
more than equivalent full frame;
2.8 has the same effect as 6.3.
The RX10 has very crisp
mechanical dials but an odd
motorized zoom with a touchresponsive barrel if you turn it
very gently, the zoom is slower
than if you twist it quickly. It is
matched by a lever round the
shutter release which operates
faster when you need access to the
other end of the zoom range in a
hurry, but its never instant.
It has a mechanically
clickstopped aperture ring on
one-third steps, with slightly soft
detentes. This can be disengaged
using a small switch on the
underside of the lens, to become a
video-friendly continuous aperture
adjustment.
The whole package is the same
overall size as one of Minoltas
smallest good quality SLRs, the
Dynax 5, though the fat zoom lens
barrel makes it look larger.
The image quality from the

RX10 is also super-smooth. The
Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* lens is
in a class of its own, especially if
used around 3.5 to 5.6 for an
optimum balance of resolution
and depth of field. At 2.8 it has
fine circular-aperture bokeh as
you would expect, and no trace of
chromatic effects in the defocused
zones.
Before you ask why Zeiss dont
make such a lens for APS-C or fullframe, consider whether you want
a lens the size of a bucket. Scaled
up to full frame, this lens would
take 170mm filters and extend
about the same length as your
forearm. It would also use up your
baggage allowance and cost about
10,000. The fact that you get this
scaled-down superlens in a 1,000
camera is easily overlooked. That
much for a camera which doesnt
even have interchangeable lenses?
That much for the smoothest,
quietest, finest quality imaging
you can get in a bridge camera.
Alamy has put this on is approved
camera list. Its just something like
no other current camera.
Petzval makes portraits again

For over 100 years the Petzval portrait lens in its many manufactured
forms made portraits, and in the 20th century derivations of the fast
triplet design became projector lenses for the new movie industry.
In 2013, Lomography launched a Kickstarter project to raise
investment pledges to purchase and commission the Russian Zenit
factory to re-create the Petzval. Richard Kilpatrick was one of the first to
sign up and secured in turn one of the first lenses delivered, for a price
between a third and half the real value. Many Kickstarter orders made
later on had to pay a higher price, as thats how it works, but it proved a
huge success and raised over $1m.
The lens is engineered from brass, with multicoated optics to a slightly
modified Petzval design (85mm, which is a short focal length, and 2.2
which is faster than the typical
3 to 4 of Victorian originals around
135mm focal length). It focuses
by rack and pinion and
the aperture is
changed using
Waterhouse stops
dropped in via
a
slot in
in the lens
top. Richard is photographed
here, using the lens at 5.6.
2 May/June 2014 55
The Sigma DN lenses for E-mount (also made for MicroFourThirds) are 19mm,
30mm and 60mm 2.8 designs sharing the same lens hood, filter size and cap. All
three have high resolution and contrast corner to corner.
Changing lenses
The greatest transformation of
quality and brand image in the
last few years must be Sigmas
introduction of individual lens
MTF testing using their new
Foveon-based higher resolution
quality control system. They
have combined this with new
methods of barrel construction
including rear units which can
be factory-service changed from
one mount to another, and fully
reprogrammable AF and function
adjustment accessed through
a low-cost USB adaptor and PC
or Mac software. To top it out,
they installed new coating lines
which can match the standard of
Zeiss T* and beyond, including
nanocoatings which throw off oil,
moisture and dirt while being far
harder than earlier multicoating
layers.
We suspect the coating lines
were upgraded because Sigma
make lenses and lens components
for big name camera brands and
had to be able to replicate the
coatings by these customers.
While theyve taken a $14m
hit from a Nikon court action
claiming infringement of some
Nikon VR technology in the Sigma
OS stabilisation, its not the $120m
that Nikon originally went for and
Sigma has continued to develop
OS independently until, like their
HSM ultrasonic motor focusing,
individual Sigma lenses match
or exceed the performance of
camera brand lenses. For many
years, Sigma sold because you just
couldnt buy a camera marque
12-24mm or 300-800mm or 20mm
1.8 (and son on). They made
lenses which went beyond the
conservative catalogues of the big
names.
Now, they are rolling out
lenses like the 24-105mm 4 OS
HSM which exactly match the
nominal specs of marque designs
(clearly, the Canon 24-105mm L
IS USM II is the target here). When
tested, Sigmas new equivalent
turns out to knock the real thing
into a cocked hat and hardly
anyone disagrees. It can also be
56 May/June 2014 2
converted from Nikon to Canon

or vice-verse is you change
systems, and calibrated for AF
accuracy at many focal lengths,
focus distances and aperture
settings. Its a future-proof
super-performance replacement
and the more professionals take
the brave step of trusting it, the
more the word gets round. This
trend started with the first Sigma
50mm 1.4, was confirmed with
the quite amazing 35mm 1.4,
reinforced by the ridiculously good
performance of the little DN lens
set for MicroFourThirds and NEX,
and has been crowned gloriously
by the 24-105mm and also the
unprecedented 18-35mm 1.8
constant aperture APS-C.
We looked at the DN lenses
first on Olympus OM-D E-M5 and
ended up buying the 60mm 2.8
(120mm equivalent) because it
was sharper than any of the kit
of Olympus lenses, including
the 45mm 1.8 which has a
great portrait quality wide open
but needs to be at 4 for biting
crispness. The Sigma 60mm has
that quality wide open.
Recently, weve had the 19mm,
30mm and 60mm all in Sony
E-mount. There was an agenda,
looking to see whether any of
these would actually do well
covering full frame on the A7/R.
They dont, and all have well
defined image circles larger than
APS-C but never full frame.
They do however show no loss
of sharpness and illumination in
the usual gradual way, instead
producing a sharp field until
sudden death well beyond the
image corners. All three are
impeccably sharp but the 60mm is
still a favourite. It works especially
well on extension tubes for macro,
retaining its sharpness well.
Then, along with the Nikon
D5300 reviewed in the last 2
issue, we had the Sigma 18-35mm
to try out.
What can you say? Things have
changed. This non-stabilised lens
is built to standards youd expect
from Leica or Zeiss. It can be used
The 60mm 2.8 Sigma DN for E-mount was used on the Sony NEX-6 for this
macro shot with two Meikle dedicated extension tubes, and the cameras popup flash, with an aperture of 10 at ISO 200. Even at this small aperture, the
defocused image has a smooth bokeh front and back.
Maximum normal close-up focus, left, and excellent contrast and geometry, right,
using the 60mm for MFT on the Olympus OM-D E-M5.
wide open at any focal length
with absolute unconditional
confidence. You might think 1.8
is a bit limiting in depth of field
even at 18mm, but in fact this
lens has about the same range
and practical depth of field as a
27-52mm 2.8 lens on full frame.
Would you buy a 27-52mm?
Maybe not if it was scaled up from
the solid, almost massive form of
the 18-35mm.
My full aperture snaps of the
Citroen C3 Picasso use 1.8 to
blur out intruding foreground
completely (and very attractively)

while the car is pixel-sharp and
the distant scene just softened a
touch. It makes a perfect A2 print
and would clearly go to 20 x 30 or
bigger from the 24 megapixel file.
If you have been a critic of
Sigma lenses going back ten,
twenty, thirty or even more years
its time to think again. They have
always challenged the marque
ranges in terms of ambitious
specifications at both ends of the
focal length scale. Now Sigma is
competing and often winning in
other ways optical performance,

custom functions, mechanical look
and feel. If you shoot portraits,
commercial or editorial be sure to
try the 18-35mm 1.8 as soon as
you can.
New stars
After the first availability of the
Fujifilm X-T1 in early March,
and the promotional deals on
the X-Pro1 and other models
with lenses which accompanied
this, it seems that almost every
professional in the UK acquired a
Fuji X system and discovered that
the lenses deserve their legendary
reputation. We cant really add
anything except to say that so
far we have not heard a single
complaint.
Weve had a chance to handle
and make a few test shots with
the Zeiss Touit lenses 12mm
ultrawide (18mm equivalent),
32mm fast standard (=48mm) and
50mm macro (=75mm). These, like
Sigma DN and Fujinon-X, seem
capable of transforming mediocre
small mirrorless camera results
into files able to compete with
full frame DSLR work. Well be
following up this trend.
2
The Sigma 18-35mm 1.8 DC HSM

lens fitted to Nikons D5300 body,
above. A D3300 was used for the shots
of the Citroen C3 Picasso taken using
the parking layby at Scotts View,
one of the best-known viewpoints
in Scotland and a ten-minute drive
from our office. The lens was used
wide open at 1.8, and at 18mm for
the main view; the enlarged detail is
at 150dpi, or 40 print size. The closeup, right, is also at 18mm and 1.8.
Theres no colour bokeh issue at all.
2 May/June 2014 57
UNDERXPOSURE
THE VIEW FROM AUSTRALIA
elcome to a letter from

the other side of the
world, from the Snowy
Mountains of New South Wales
in Australia. I havent always lived
here born in Crewe, to Knutsford
as a toddler, to London where I
grew up, to the RAF where I did
my National Service, to Sydney
where I worked after emigrating to
Australia and a delightfully named
place just north of Newcastle
(NSW) called Lemon Tree Passage.
I have an LRPS for black and white
prints and Im a member of the
Australian Society of Authors, a
regularly published writer and
photographer. Youll find my name
on e-books and the occasional
paperback. I also founded and
edited a magazine, The Black
and White Enthusiast, which later
became Silvershotz under its new
owner. I have over a thousand
images with Alamy.
Right, that is enough about me.
As you read this, the army of Grey
Nomads here in Australia will be
either on the move or thinking
about heading their campervans
on a trek to the red centre and
beyond. Autumn is the start of the
trip of a lifetime for many retirees.
It is a chance for those in the south
to get away from winter chill and
wander in warmer climes without
the fierce heat of the summer.
Dont forget, we are upside down
and the cold comes from the
Antarctic to our south!
The roads of the Northern
Territory will, at times, resemble
an army on the move as convoys
of campervans, motorhomes and
more campervans head steadily
north. Uluru or Ayers Rock will
be surrounded as thousands of
cameras and mobile phones will
capture pictures, many of which
will never be seen again after
friends and family have been
shown them on the cameras
little screen. If you are planning
to ever visit Uluru and hoping
to get images to sell, be aware
that there are restrictions on
making photographs for use in
publications, as prints for sale, or
for any purpose that is considered
as profit making including use
on your website. These type of
restrictions are fairly common in
Australia heaven alone knows
why, when one considers the
valuable free publicity provided by
photographers.
However, if you would like to
be able to offer your images for
58 May/June 2014 2
from David Bigwood
Above: a campervan on its trip of a lifetime. Below: Devils Marbles, Northern

Territory, Australia. Both photographs Margaret Bigwood.
sale legally, go to the Department

of Environment website at
http://tinyurl.com/mae6bmn
and download an application form.
I am not sure how these
restrictions apply to overseas
sales and, as a matter of interest
I checked images of Uluru on the
Alamy site of 4,139 images only
296 have a Property Release.
It would be remiss of me if I
did not give a rundown on the
photographic press in Australia
in this first letter. There are
basically three magazines aimed

at the beginner to intermediate
photographers and two directed
to professionals (not including
the magazine of the Australian
Institute of Professional
Photographers, AIPP). I asked
the editors whether they were
interested in receiving work
from the UK, how they wanted it
delivered and what sort of work
stood the best chance of being
used.
Paul Burrows, editor of Camera
and ProPhoto magazines replied,

This is an interesting topic. With
all the UK photo mags being
sold here, we make the point of
emphasising Australian made
content in both Camera and
ProPhoto. Additionally some UK
photo mags masquerade as being
Australian produced, but all the
content is sourced from the UK
so, for example, any test images
that appear with camera reports
are clearly shot in the UK or
Europe, so are the example images
which accompany how to articles.
Consequently, as far as Camera
is concerned, we hardly use any
overseas content even though
were a member of TIPA and
could, for instance, source all our
test reports from TIPAs bank of
articles generated in Europe. As it
happens, Camera currently has one
UK-based regular contributor and
thats as much as we would ever
consider using.
The same is mostly true of
ProPhoto in that test reports,
business stories and profiles are
generated either in-house or by
local contributors even though,
in the case of the profiles and
portfolios, the subject may be
an overseas photographer. We
cover overseas photo festivals, but
always with a local contributor to
provide a perspective relevant to
the Australian market.
That said, we would consider
portfolio submissions from UK
photographers and feature
articles in the event these
cover something that is either
particularly unique or groundbreaking. Most submissions these
days are via email with images
uploaded via Dropbox or Hightail
or the like.
Not very encouraging? But
quite understandable as our
newsagents shelves overflow with
the UK magazines at horrendous
prices I must say.
Peter Eastway is the editor and
publisher of Better Photography
(not to be confused with the
Indian magazine of the same
name), a quarterly very well
produced magazine that is aimed
at the serious photographer.
His comments were, Always
interested (in receiving work from
the UK), but we have limited scope
for accepting articles as were a
quarterly magazine. We probably
dont accept more than half a
dozen articles a year outside our
existing contributors.
for MPA members

professionals. You can read the
rest at their site.
I have been unable to contact
the editor of Capture and, once
again, give details off their
website, which you can visit.
Capture is Australias leading
magazine for pro photographers.
It covers all aspects of running a
successful
photography business,
Atech is the UKs leading supplier
of photo-book
from
equipment,
manufacturing systems, and national sales studios
and and
techniques,
to staffing, marketing,
service agent for Chromira photo
printers.
copyright and legal issues. It
reaches
the7whole
Atech offers its customers a 24
hour,
day photographic
a week
community, including
after sales service, together with service contracts
editorial, advertising, wedding,
to cover its whole range of photographic, digital
photojournalism, events, fashion
printing equipment and finishing machines. All
and portrait photographers, plus
An interview I had published in
spare parts and consumables such as laminates,
assistants and aspiring students
Better Photography some years ago.
inks, paper, films and slide mounts are carried in
the pros of the future.
Accepted because of the subjects
stock for same or next day delivery.
Overall, the chance of getting
reputation even though he is an
work from the UK published in
overseas photographer.
We keep the photo labs YOU the
useAustralian
for yourphotographic
vital
press
orders up
and running
your
In response
to delivery,
he wrote,to meet
is, at
best,deadlines
slim but that should
without
Email
thanks,compromising
with a number of quality.
not stop you from trying. I would
small thumbnails and an outline.
advise you e-mail an outline to the
to find
labwith
offering
Contact
And as far us
as work
withyour
best nearest
editor
some low resolution
Chromira
printsHow-to
or bound photo
books
chance
of acceptance?
images
beforeand
writing any article.
albums,
or find
out photos
more about
our
products
and
articles
with great
example
As far
as portfolio
submissions
thatservices.
are inspiring for readers.
are concerned, e-mail a number
I havent heard back from the
of thumbnail low resolution
Call
373738
or email images and your bio. I use Hightail
editor
of 01707
Australian
Photography
enquiries@atech.co.uk
+ Digital
so include the details www.atech.co.uk
(formerly known as YouSendIt) to
given on their website. Australian
send my high resolution images.
Photography
+ DigitalLTD
is Australias
You can e-mail me on:
ATECH
fastest
amateur Welwyn Garden
info@bigwoodpublishing.com
15 growing
Little Mundells
City Herts AL7 1EW
31
photography media brand,
and I shall try to answer any
catering to photographers of all
questions.
levels from beginners to semi
Focus on
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2 May/June 2014 59
NOKIA LUMIA 1020
THE 41 MEGAPIXEL SMARTPHONE

I
n 2002, Nokia launched the
7650. Whilst it was recognised
for blending what would now
be considered featurephone
capabilities with a small, VGA
resolution camera, at the time few
could have considered the impact
the simple combination of a mobile
telephone and a digital camera
would have on society, social
interaction and global media.
Even fewer could have foreseen
the situation where Nokia would
no longer be a dominant force in
mobile phones.
Now, carrying a smartphone
be it from the two major players of
Apple and Samsung, or one of the
myriad Android-based handsets
has become almost compulsory
for functioning in the modern
world. Capabilities have raced
beyond that early 640 x 480 image,
with 8Mp being typical alongside
automated HDR, sweeping
panoramas, special effects and
video. Samsungs Galaxy range
has expanded to tilt the balance,
adding smartphone and tablet
abilities to a camera with 20Mp
and interchangeable lenses.
Nokia continue to innovate,
though from being the largest
camera manufacturer in the
world prior to the release of the
iPhone, its chilling to see their
market share and mindshare
shrinking alike, to the extent that
the smartphone division has been
sold to Microsoft. The Lumia and
Asha brands will, therefore, no
longer carry the Nokia name as
they become a vehicle for the
often overlooked Windows Mobile
platform.
As a cliffhanger before the
next chapter from the Finnish
companys smartphone+camera
division, the Nokia 1020 is pretty
impressive. Having made headlines
in 2012 with their last homegrown Symbian handset, the
PureView 808 and its 41Mp camera
module that wowed reviewers
and spawned endless debates
in forums, they failed to gain the
sales to justify the investment.
Paired with dated hardware and an
increasingly irrelevant operating
system the handset was a
commercial failure. As such, Nokia
have thrown everything at the
next 41Mp PureView smartphone.
The Lumia 1020 is a stylish,
affordable, beautifully made
handset that were it to carry a
familiar fruity logo and OS, would
60 May/June 2014 2
Its not an Apple but its not a lemon either the Nokia 1020 with PureView
camera, and hybrid design look, plus an innovative touch screen interface.
be heralded as a welcome new
direction in design. The large
display is seamlessly integrated
into the tough polycarbonate shell,
with the camera module on the
rear a flat, metal disc protruding
enough to keep stray fingers from
obscuring the lens and lights. The
metal construction here hints not
only at the precision needed for
the Zeiss optics and large 41Mp
BSI sensor, it undoubtedly aids
cooling for the processing needed
to handle such large files.
An optional camera grip, the
PD-95G, enhances handling and
completes the Lumia 1020 as a
camera. Providing a secondary
battery, a tripod mount and
a two stage shutter button, it
dramatically improves the balance
of the Lumia as a camera without
interfering with the smartphone

operation as well as extending
the understandably poor battery
life. The grips street price varies
with colour popularity, starting
at 35 and it pushes the powerhungry handset to a reasonable
24hr standby (up to three days if
using apps sensibly) even when
background tasks are chewing
through data, whilst the 1020 itself
is available free on surprisingly
low-cost contracts from many
networks.
Having made that choice to
step out of the bipartisan world
of iOS and Android, the camera is
essentially the reward. Windows
Phone is greatly improved over
the early Pocket PC, stylus driven
interface that most users will have
encountered before Apples iPhone
popularised the smartphone. For

all the effort, it is still an infuriating
mess of dead-ends and barely
connected concepts. The tile
paradigm is familiar to Surface and
Windows 8 users, and tries to unite
social networking with your overall
interface. It does so moderately
well, incorporating Facebook
albums with your own images, but
to no real end in a handset that
still offers its greatest strengths for
corporate environments; Microsoft
Office and Exchange are key to the
integration of the Lumia. Some
pleasant surprises exist, not least
the convenient connection to
Microsofts SkyDrive cloud storage
which backs up your images as you
shoot, data connection allowing.
The ecosystem of Windows
Phone (ne mobile) remains tiny
by comparison to the mature and
extensive range of applications
and accessories for iOS and
Android. Developers also charge
for apps that would otherwise
be free, and the handling of
background tasks, uploads and
the like can be frustrating. For
photographers, the dearth of
remote triggers and support for
WiFi equipped cameras is almost
as infuriating as finding the
new wave of stock photography
apps like FOAP simply arent
implemented. Even Nokia seem
to be accepting this is a weakness
and putting forward a low-end
Android-based hybrid, the X;
with a low end camera and basic
tech, this experiment in blending
Microsofts support and interface
with Androids core is classed as
a featurephone. Microsoft wants
the prestige and kudos of the
high-end, but has a long way to go
tempting developers in.
Nevertheless, if you use
Windows in particular the
experience of using the Lumia
1020 is not a bad one. It is
extremely responsive and pleasing
to look at, and if you have Windows
8 on your desktop and perhaps,
an Xbox One in your living room
the consistency and connectivity
is impressive. It may feel like an
island, but its a big one. If the
app selection were larger, it could
be considered equal to Android,
maybe even superior for offering
greater consistency across devices,
though the issue of updates being
dependent on the mobile carriers
approval and deployment remains.
It was necessary to de-brand the
Vodafone unit reviewed to get

access to the OS version allowing
raw capture.
Shooting at 38Mp and saving
as a DNG file, the raw capture
reveals the true ability of the
sensor and what we may expect
as compact cameras pursue ever
higher resolutions. The 1.1m
sensels are working hard to gather
just enough light to fill a typical
8-bit per channel file - with a base
ISO seemingly around 400, 100 ISO
leaves little room for adjustment,
and higher ISOs rely on perfect
exposure whilst still displaying
high noise levels. Even with the
best combination of sensitivity
and exposure the camera tends
to leave no room to recover
highlights from the raw file.
Shooting at 38Mp is not the
point. Its a vanity for Nokia,
pandering to their fans (and wider
consumer market) enthusiasm for
the specifications. What the 1020
really captures all that data for is to
allow a combination of crop-zoom
without dropping to worthless
resolutions, and multisampling for
an excellent, colourful, sharp and
noise-free 5Mp image. With that
in mind, the lens is well matched
to the 41Mp sensor, and delivers
stunning results with the 5Mp
output. Zooming this way allows
the budget to go on a compact
and stunningly high quality simple
lens, too, one of the strongest
features of the PureView camera
module.
A few extra gimmicks are
thrown in, of course. Cinemagraph
captures short movies, allowing
areas to be painted out to isolate
movement of one subject then
sharing the result as an animated
GIF file. Refocus, meanwhile,
automates the process of focus
stacking, taking advantage of
close subjects and the relatively
clear differentiation of depth of
field allowed by the 2.2 lens and
larger (for a phone) sensor. Refocus
files can be shared, or exported at
specific points of focus including
an All in focus option, A few
clever modes for action and best
shot, and the obligatory filters fill
out the consumer-pleasing spec.
Nokia could be said to have
returned to form with the 1020.
All things being equal, the camera
is quite simply one of the best
you will find in a smartphone,
and slightly slow shot-to-shot
times aside, delivers amazing
performance given the size of
the device and the amount of
data it processes. The handset
itself feels like a robust, high
quality and usable device with a
beautiful screen and surprisingly
pleasing, solid texture, as if hewn
from a single element; personally
I preferred it to the feel of the
RenaultSport Clio 200 Turbo outside

Kilworth House Hotel 38Mp leaves
room for some dramatic, if not
perfect, perspective adjustments.
At 100% its apparent there is the
tiniest amount of fringing on sharp
edges, yet for the area covered and
the resolution the lens may as well
be flawless by any other benchmark.
Detail: 200% scale (150dpi) from
original file.
Left: the enormous depth of field of
the 2.2 Zeiss lens, and its wide angle,
combine to make a strong shot with
excellent colour and neutral black.
Smaller apertures are never used, a
neutral density filter controls light.
Raw image files on a smartphone!

iPhone in any generation. The
grip resulted in a flexible camera
that is smaller and in the right
conditions, much better at wide
angle equivalents - than the
obvious competition from the
Galaxy Camera.
For Windows users, the
integration and user interface
are improved over previous
incarnations of Windows
It is about 12 years since Nokia

entered the camera business with the
7650 (above). The small, low quality
VGA camera produced a 640 x 480
pixel image and started a revolution
leading to Instagram and Facebook.
Mobile, though as pioneers of

such joined-up data its hard to
imagine otherwise. Yet for the
modern smartphone experience,
the ecosystem underpinning
Windows Mobile hampers the
perceived value of the 1020, and
thats the only reason not to go
for one; tempting owners out of
their library of applications and
familiar OS is hard work. If any
Windows phone can do it, its the
Lumia 1020. The most compelling
argument though, is that despite
similar retail prices the impressive
Nokia is free on lower cost
contracts than any iPhone model,
let alone the 4G capable 5S.
Richard Kilpatrick
See: www.nokia.co.uk
2 May/June 2014 61
yourVision
2 gallery
Above: Dave Millard of Sedgley, West Midlands, provided this reminder of what might be in store for 2014 if the summer produces a drought to match the winters
floods In 1992 when we had hosepipe bans because of the drought, the grasses in the foreground of Llyn Dinas in Wales are normally under water and just visible.
They are normally green but because of the lack of rain the lake had gone down, exposing them to the surface and making them go brown. They were a way out so I
had to wade with my camera and tripod, and the water was at the top of my waders. I have been there many times since but the water as never since been so low as to
expose the grasses; I guess I was just lucky as I have never seen another photo like it. Canon T90, 24mm lens, deep red filter, half a second at 22, Ilford FP4.
Below: Castlerigg Stone Circle in Cumbria
YOUR VISION GALLERY PAGES SPONSORED BY ONE VISION IMAGING LTD

Every image selected for use receives a voucher for 30 in services (inclusive of VAT) from One Vision.
Submit images as JPEGS to: yourvision@iconpublications.com
62 May/June 2014 2
I purchased the April issue of 2 Freelance Photographer and thought I would submit my photo for the chance
of featuring in your next issue. I am a teenage freelance photographer (17), and took this photo while on an
expedition in the mountains of Park City, Utah. I used a Canon 7D, with a 10-22mm Canon Lens, at a focal
length of 10mm, 3.5, ISO 1250, and a shutter speed of 8 secoNDS. I call the photo Long Trail Out of Eden.
Steven Craig Smith
2 May/June 2014 63
yourVision
2 gallery
64 May/June 2014 2
Above: small boy holding his pet kitten, Waikkal Village, Sri Lanka, sitting outside his home, by Findlay Rankin.
Below left: from my business trip to Shanghai Fuii X100s street shot by Nick Higham.
Below right: taken in Calcutta on a Colin Summers/Colin Westgate trip, by Peter Karry.
PUTTING ON THE STILE: MANFROTTOS

BAGS WITH HIDDEN INNER PROTECTION
or the last year and a bit Ive

been using the Manfrotto
Stile Unica VII bag, with Gitzo
Traveller 6X tripod and Sony Alpha
99, for travel. It was inexpensive,
holds a vast amount, and has a full
length base compartment which
fits the tripod plus all kinds of
accessories like MacBook Pro and
camera battery chargers, rocket
blower, wipes and so on.
However, its strictly a shoulder
bag and I have stopped cabinbagging the Gitzo after Italian
customs tried to confiscate it
(telling them is was Italian-made
by Manfrotto worked a small
miracle and got it past three Italian
security staff at Bari Airport).
So when more affordable
Stile+ bags came out last year
we picked up two to try out, a
backpack Stile+ Bravo 50 and
a what can only be called a
handbag-type Stile+ Diva 15 tote.
The latter is designed with a semirigid insert to hold a mirrorless
camera, laptop space and a zip
top with the idea of looking unlike
a camera bag. It does not have a
shoulder strap and in the end, it
didnt get any use as there were no
circumstances where a bag with
only hand straps worked.
The Bravo 50 backpack was
a different matter. The central
semi-hard shock-box turned out to
be able to fit an Alpha 77 with 1680mm about Canon 7D or Nikon
D7100 size and gave it total
travel protection, while also acting
as a belt-clip holster when needed.
Though the backpack looks slim,
it proved easy to fit two of Sigmas
well padded zip cases either
side of this central box, holding
8-16mm and 70-300mm lenses.
There was room on top of these
three (incredibly) for a complete
waistpack holding a mirrorless
body with four lenses, and the top
flap was generous enough to allow
a Barbour coat to be rolled up and
secured. The MacBook Pro 13 was
an easy fit and there was room
for accessories. It was also cabin
baggage size and comfortable
backpack when worn. It would
easily take a 70-200mm or 300mm
2.8 even one each side of the
camera/lens box. This bag afforded
great protection to a surprisingly
large travel kit. Both these lines
are now discontinued and I found
WEX had them for under 30
and promptly ordered a Bravo 50
to keep. The shock box camera
container is worth that on its own!
DK
Top: unattended baggage the Stile+

Bravo 50 fully loaded with two cameras,
six lenses, a complete extra bag inside
it and a coat, awaits departures. Detail
shots, left and above. Below: the Diva
15 tote handbag with removable
camera pouch didnt prove good for us,
but might suit others.
2 May/June 2014 65
SUBSCRIBE T0 2 NOW
NEVER MISS YOUR COPY
magazines for photographers
Cmercrt
No 7 Q2 2014 ISSN 2050-7844
FREELANCE
PHOTOGRAPHER
STUART
WOOD
A UNIQUE MIX
OF SOCIAL AND
EDITORIAL
SMOOTH
OPERATORS
FROM SIGMA AND SONY

TO LOMO AND ZENIT!
ARCHITECTURE

PLUS SAMYANGS 24MM TILT-SHIFT
GETTY PROMISES PHOTOGRAPHERS

MAY/JUNE 2014 4.95
PHOTOGRAPH BY KRISTHIAN CASTRO SONY WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS
ow can you be sure of obtaining

your personal copy of 2 Freelance
Photographer? Libraries may have copies
(especially in colleges if they dont, put in
a request as most can decide which titles to
take and 2 now has a lower cost per annum).
Newsagents probably wont have any copies
after the first day or two on sale. Figures show
us that 2 either sells out, or doesnt sell at all,
presumably depending on the demographic
of the branch. Some places are full of creative
people with a fiver to spare, others are not!
You can overcome this problem by placing
an order with any newsagent; it doesnt matter
what date the magazine next comes out, they
will keep it for you.
For libraries or newsagents, just specify the
title and the ISSN which is 1754-0615. Issues
dates are May/June, July/August, September/
October, November/December, January/
February, March/April. This May/June issue went
on sale on April 12th. This is the normal timing
for UK magazines, about three weeks before the
first month of a cover date.
An even better way to get 2 is to subscribe.
You should receive your magazine on or before
the retail sale date. Subscription costs exactly
the same as a counter purchase and we cover
the costs of postage. You can also find special
offers to reduce the cost if you order more than
one title from our website:
66 May/June 2014 2
265
2 May/June 2014 1
Cmercrt
ameracraft is our way of creating an

affordable international publication
without just giving in to progress and
making it into an app. All our printed magazines
are lodged with the libraries of record in
England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the USA.
Even a single copy surviving a few hundred
years will be of more value to the future than
any volume of PDFs, apps or web pages. We
know that books and magazines survive intact,
and readable, for centuries.
Part of the ethos of Cameracraft comes from
the idea that even if only a thousand copies
are printed, its free of all advertising and paid
for by the subscription alone. Though articles
are included which deal with equipment and
cover the important news from each quarter, its
almost from a retrospective viewpoint.
Cameracraft was partly inspired by the
San Francisco based Camera Craft, started at
the beginning of the 20th century for a new
generation of photo enthusiasts which blurred
the boundary between the amateur and
professional. Looking back at copies, we found
the contents of even a single volume gave a
snapshot of the technology and art of the time.
Gary Friedman is our US Associate Editor on the
West Coast, and our readership is evenly split
between the UK and the world in general.
A three-year, 12-issue bookcase binder
completes Cameracraft as a publication to keep
and continue to refer to for years to come.
aster Photography is our magazine

produced for members of The Master
Photographers Association, the only
UK group for photographers recognised as a
Trade Association. MPA did, in fact, start as
a Trade Union over sixty years ago with its
emphasis on securing better terms for media,
forces, corporate and government photographic
staff. Today, it mainly represents owners of High
Street or home-based studio studios serving the
public and local businesses.
In the last few years, wedding photography
has changed with a high proportion of
weddings held at special venues or destinations,
removing the local aspect and giving wedding
photography a much higher value. It is now a
vital part of celebrations which may cost tens
of thousands and take place hundreds of miles
from the couples home ground. The same
process is also changing portrait photography,
as high value commissions involve full day
shoots at special locations.
MPA is expanding rapidly in Singapore,
Malaysia, Indonesia and mainland China but the
magazine remains focused on the UK market.
The content is of general interest to anyone
intending to become a full-time photographer,
or to qualify as a licensed Master Photographer
and progress to the two higher levels of
distinction, Associateship and Fellowship. It is
included with MPA UK membership, but anyone
can subscribe directly to the magazine.
2 May/June 2014 67
Jill Furmanovsky and Mark Thackara bring you Olympus in association with rockarchive.com
a whole new gallery/showroom experience in the City.
Come and see stunning rock and roll images and buy prints.
Try out the latest award winning Olympus cameras and join regular workshops and talks by
top photographers.
199 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 3TY (entrance on Primrose Street)
The gallery will be open daily from 10.30 - 19.00 (Monday to Saturday) and 12.00 - 19.00 (Sunday)
with special events detailed at olympus-imagespace.co.uk
Jill Furmanovsky
For print sales:

rockarchive.com
@rockarchive
68 May/June 2014 2
Jill Furmanovsky
Colin N. Purvor
Jill Furmanovsky
Jill Furmanovsky
For news, events booking and hardware:

olympus-imagespace.co.uk
@OlympusUK

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2

FROM SIGMA AND SONY

MARTINE HAMILTON KNIGHT

GETTY PROMISES PHOTOGRAPHERS

INNOVATION & DISRUPTION

Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

VOLUME 8 No 3 (Issue #70)

From the Sony World Photography

INNOVATION & DISRUPTION

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BEING A BRAND AMBASSADOR

NOKIA LUMIA 1020

TEST: BARGAIN STILE+ BAGS

PROFILE: MARTINE HAMILTON

LENS REVIEW: SAMYANG 24mm

- Richard Walch, Extreme Sport Photograper

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