photoreview · yumi with pink rose by zorica purlija ... and yet it doesn't matter ... that...

PHOTOREVIEWMAR - MAY 2016 WWW.PHOTOREVIEW.COM.AU

I N S P I R I N G A U S T R A L I A N P H O T O G R A P H E R S

FEATURES }Lake Gairdner National ParkCamera and lens market trends

Passion and persistenceNuran Zorlu

Our man in the KimberleyTom Edwards

TIPS}What is the

best camera?}Choose the right

travel gear}Select the right

camera settings}Fine-tune your

editing workflow

Panasonic DMC-TZ110

ISSN 1839-5899

$12.95 INCL. GST Issue 67

I S S N 1839-5899

+ WIN

2 PHOTOREVIEW AUSTRALIA | Issue 67 www.photoreview.com.au

C O n T E n T S

InSPIRATIOn 10 Passion and persistence

Fourteen years after first appearing in the pages of Photo Review, Nuran Zorlu is still as passionate as ever about the power of photography.

20 our man in the Kimberley Tom Edwards’ eye for adventure has taken him across the world and made him a key figure in depicting one of Australia’s ‘last frontiers’.

28 Reader Profile Susan Shanta regularly contributes curious, quirky and quite beautiful pictures to Photo Review.

LOCATIOnS30 Lake Gairdner National Park

Just north of the Gawler Ranges in South Australia, Lake Gairdner National Park provides a wilderness experience with high scenic, aesthetic and wilderness qualities.

CONTENTS

17

IMAGE REVIEW5 Photo gallery

Editor Don’s response to impressive image submissions from Dianne English, Zorica Purlija, David Barnes-Mackenzie, and Neil Cunningham.

TECHnIQUE 38 Choosing appropriate

camera settings Despite all the inbuilt technologies in today's cameras, some key choices should be made before going on a photo shoot.

55 Fine-tune your editing workflow A step-by-step guide to ensure your images are optimised for display and printing.

InSIDER42 What's the best camera?

They say the best camera is the one you have with you, but could your smartphone ever replace a 'proper' camera?

TREnDS44 'Balance of power'

with enthusiasts The camera companies have re-kindled loyalty to the enthusiast and professional segments of their business after a passionate 10-year affair with the mass market.

On THE FROnT COVERNuran Zorlu See page 10

PHOTOREVIEWMAR - MAY 2016 WWW.PHOTOREVIEW.COM.AU

I N S P I R I N G A U S T R A L I A N P H O T O G R A P H E R S

Passion and persistenceNuran Zorlu

Our man in the KimberleyTom Edwards

TIPS}What is the

best camera?}Choose the right

travel gear}Select the right

camera settings}Fine-tune your

editing workflow

ISSN 1839-5899

$12.95 INCL. GST Issue 67

FEATURES }Lake Gairdner National ParkCamera and lens market trends

I S S N 1839-5899

a Panasonic DMC-TZ110+ WIN

PHOTOREVIEW AUSTRALIA | Issue 67 www.photoreview.com.au 3

EditorDon Norris [email protected]

Technical EditorMargaret [email protected]

Features Keith ShiptonSteve Packer

Creative DirectorDarren Waldren

Publisher David O’[email protected]

Publication ManagerPauline [email protected]

Accounts Manager Kate [email protected]

Media [email protected]

AdvertisingPhone (02) 9948 [email protected]

SubscriptionsOne year (4 issues) $29.00 including GST and deliveryin Australia.See inside back cover this issue or phone: (02) 9948 8600 or online:www.photoreview.com.au

Photo Review Australia is printed on

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Photo Review Australia is published by

Media Publishing Pty LimitedABN 86 099 172 577PO Box 4097 Balgowlah HeightsNSW Australia 2093Ph: (02) 9948 8600 Em: edmail@mediapublishing.com.auwww.mediapublishing.com.auwww.photoreview.com.au

All content in Photo Review Australia is protected under copyright and cannot be reproduced in any form without written consent from the publisher.

Melissa Kallas

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Distributed by Integrated Publication Solutions

Titan Plus Satin Paper withISO 14001 Environmental AccreditationPrinted by Lindsay Yates in Australia

Editor Don Norris [email protected]

Technical Editor Margaret [email protected]

Features Keith ShiptonSteve Packer

Creative Director Darren Waldren

Publisher David O’[email protected]

Publication Manager Pauline [email protected]

Accounts Manager Kate [email protected]

Media [email protected]

AdvertisingPhone (02) 9948 [email protected]

SubscriptionsOne year (4 issues) $29.00 including GST and delivery in Australia.See inside back cover this issue or phone: (02) 9948 8600 or online:www.photoreview.com.au

Design by itechne [www.itechne.com]phone (03) 9421 8833

Photo Review Australia ispublished by

Media Publishing Pty LimitedABN 86 099 172 577PO Box 4097 Balgowlah HeightsNSW Australia 2093Ph: (02) 9948 8600 Em: edmail@mediapublishing.com.auwww.mediapublishing.com.auwww.photoreview.com.au

All content in Photo Review Australia isprotected under copyright and cannot be reproduced in any form without written consent from the publisher.

Melissa Kallas

$39.00

[email protected]

Distributed by Integrated Publication Solutions

CONTENTS

24

29

BUYERS GUIDE49 Equipment for your next trip

How to choose the right equipment for different types of holidays.

PHOTO CHALLEnGE60 A spot of colour

Plenty of spot-on entries in our 'spot of colour' challenge and a fresh one to face up to.

nET EFFECT64 Click-worthy sites

A photo community-cum-marketplace, the best Instagram snaps from a White House photographer, and several sites with a storage story to tell.

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Yumi with pink rose By Zorica PurlijaFirst winner Image Review 5Nikon D4s; Nikkor 24-70mm; hand held

à Don’s responseThe best portraits make viewers believe that they're looking through outward appearances and into the subject's essential being. When, as in this instance, the photographer is also the subject's mother, the challenge to create a faithful portrait can be particularly complex and subtle. It's commonplace to say that we parents are intimately familiar and even entwined with our children's personalities. Paradoxically, that can make it extremely difficult to capture their essence and integrity as individuals. Most of the time we're more likely to end up with a nice snapshot of our offspring which, while it is full of meaning for us, is unremarkable to anyone outside our circle of family and friends. 'Yumi with pink rose' effortlessly transcends mere snapshot status. Her expression is almost as still and blank as a 19th century portrait. Yet, calm and direct as it is, there is such an unmistakable, almost fierce intensity in her gaze that we can't help but be convinced that we see, in some mysterious way, who she is.

ImAgE REVIEW


ImAgE REVIEW

Mackenzie Textures By David Barnes-MackenziePanasonic DMC-GX7; Lumiz G Vario 12-35mm; 2.8 @ 12mm; 1/60s @ f/5.0; ISO 320B&W conversion in Adobe Lightroom CC

In September 2015, I travelled to New Zealand to photograph the Mackenzie Country, Central otago, in the South Island, with my father. The trip was inspired by the beautiful paintings of Dad's friend since childhood, Graham Tait. I wanted to see (and hopefully capture) the extraordinary, clear blue skies and warm brown tussock landscapes of Central otago. Somewhat unexpectedly though, the landscape turned out to also be a wonderful canvas of texture and light, and this B&W conversion is one of my favourites from the trip.

à Don’s responseIt's easy to see why this image is one of photographer David Barnes-Mackenzie's favourites. I think the decision to give the foreground pride of place was a good one. The fine textural details cue the brain to imagine that the entire picture is tack sharp. But cover the foreground and you'll notice that, if anything, the rest of image is ever so slightly soft. And yet it doesn't matter at all, because taken as a whole the image has such a delightfully crisp quality that you can almost smell the tussock grass and feel the brisk breeze.


INSPIRATION

When we published Nuran Zorlu’s work some 14 years ago, the young and unknown Turkish-born Armenian photographer had not long been in Australia. ‘When I arrived with my suitcase, there wasn’t any money in it,’ he said. ‘I’m a poor man. But the thing is, I brought my knowledge and my experience.’

And, he might have added, he also brought a talent for image making that was impressive enough to merit half a dozen pages in our fourth issue.

Two children, an Aussie citizenship and many a move later, Nuran is still passionately committed to photography. Along with the usual mix of photo work, he’s developed a thriving specialty business as a jewellery photographer. ‘I’m a macro photographer,’ he jokes, ‘who doesn’t do zoology -- no insects or flowers.’

There have been exhibitions and accolades as well. An active member of the AIPP, he won that organisation’s NSW Travel Photographer of the Year award for 2015. His work has appeared in the Head on Photo Festival and the Sydney Morning Herald’s Shoot the Chef challenge. And he finds time to conduct photographic workshops and tours to Turkey.

Nuran was still shooting on film when we published his work in 2002. Within three years he’d made the move to digital after buying his first DSLR, a Nikon D70s. Since then he’s owned a succession of DSLRs (he’s now a Canon shooter) and when his specialist jewellery shooting business began to take off, he added a Phase one medium format system to the mix. While medium format is essential for the kind of product photography he does, he’s not a gear snob. ‘To me it is the content of the image that is more important than what we take it with,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t matter if you have a quill or Parker pen. It doesn’t matter what you write with, as long as the content is good.’

In 2005, not long after acquiring the D70s, Nuran returned to Turkey with the specific intention of travelling to the eastern region. It’s the heartland of Armenian culture, and it was on the trip through those lands he took a photograph that was, in effect, the starting point of a lifelong journey.

The Church of the Holy Saviour, in Ani, Turkey was constructed in the 11th century when the then-city of some 100,000 was an important stop on the great trading routes of the medieval era. Although the ancient city gradually fell into ruins, the striking 19-sided church with its impressive central dome survived until the mid-20th century. Sadly, in 1957 a huge section of the structure collapsed in a storm.

Although now being restored by the World Monument Fund, when Nuran visited and photographed it, The Church of the Holy Saviour was a stark and neglected ruin. And it was that neglect which struck him so forcefully. ‘The more I documented it, the more I started understanding the importance of cultural preservation,’ he said. As an Armenian, the sense of loss he felt was profound.

‘My people lost half of their culture and so much more in the early 20th century.

‘This photograph made me start thinking about cultural preservation. This represents my people, the Armenians. If you think about the big church, still majestic but half has disappeared, this is like the Armenians. It’s really symbolic. And as photographers we work with symbols.’

The harrowing events of what is now widely viewed as the Armenian genocide unfolded three or four generations ago, but the scars still run deep. For Nuran, who has degrees in sociology and philosophy, the urgent desire to preserve the history of the world’s great civilisations is a natural response to the loss. ‘Even today, 100 years later,’ he said, ‘in Syria and Iraq we are losing an amazing amount of things; like the giant Armenian cemetery [at Julfa in Azerbaijan] razed in 2005-2006, or [the Buddhas of] Bamiyan in Afghanistan.

‘In my photographs I try to avoid politics,’ he added. ‘I’m not there to change anyone’s view. That’s why I call myself a documentary photographer – I document whatever is there, whatever people created.’

Five years ago, Nuran exhibited some of his images of World Heritage sites as part of the Head on Photo Festival in Sydney. Arising out of that, he was invited to give a talk at the Art Gallery of NSW and it so happened that the Iranian

‘I’m not there to change anyone’s view. That’s why I call myself a documentary photographer – I document whatever is there, whatever people created.’


INSPIRATION

Kurdish villager


INSPIRATION

Edwards was a journalist on the English mainland and in the Channel Islands before he went globetrotting. The first proper job he took in Australia was at a weekly newspaper, the Manjimup-Bridgetown Times, in south-west Western Australia.

‘That was a pivotal time for my photography because, being a small country newspaper, they didn’t have a staff photographer. My hobby became part of my livelihood and I did editorial-style photos for the first time. The documentary style I’d been doing on my travels proved to be a good informal education for that. It was a joy to go out into the community every day and set up shots, thinking “What’s the story here?” and how to convey it in the most effective way.

‘I take a lot of pride in what I do and I hoped that came through in the pictures. The feedback I got indicated that it did. It was a pretty good gig and I wanted to make the most of it.’

Edwards has always considered himself a storyteller first and foremost, whatever the medium. But that urge has always been picture-driven. ‘When I was a young kid, I used

to steal a National Geographic every time I went to the dentist with my mother. It felt like the naughtiest thing I could do and my adrenalin would be pumping. Fortunately, it didn’t lead to a life of crime.’

During his time in Manjimup he did a TAFE course taught by locally based photographer Sam Harris (samharrisphoto.com). ‘It was a real eye-opener. He introduced me to a lot of people’s work I wasn’t aware of, such as [American documentary photographers] Steve McCurry and David Alan Harvey.’

Then Edwards went to work at a newspaper in Busselton, a couple of hours’ drive from Manjimup, where his skills as a photographer weren’t required because they had one on staff. ‘I called up Sam and said I hadn’t taken a shot for a month and was feeling uninspired. He advised me to look close to home with a fresh pair of eyes – at my environment and my life within that environment – and, as Sam put it, taking “the shots between the shots”. As an example, he introduced me to the landmark work of American street photographer William Eggleston.’

‘Boiling down the essence of where I’m at with gear, it’s all about portability. one bag and out the door.’

Below: Gelganyem Right: Sapa hills-tribe woman


INSPIRATION


INSPIRATION

Susan Shanta lives in Seaford, Victoria and has been taking photographs since 2010.

READER PRoFILE: SuSAN SHANTAWell known to followers of our Photo Challenge page, Susan Shanta regularly responds to our contests with curious, often quirky and occasionally quite beautiful pictures. We sent Susan a few questions about her work and asked to her to pick out several of her personal favourites to share.

How did you come to be interested in photography? I have always been interested in art, whether it be drawing, painting,etc, and I found that photography is really just another medium – but with the advantages of technology.

Having started with basic point-and-shoot cameras, I moved on to a DSLR as my knowledge and confidence grew. Having a young family, it was also an interest I could fit into my life.

Can you remember your first photo? It would have been a nature shot, something that was easy and attainable. And, it probably would have involved playing with textures and composition as I was learning what I could do with the camera.

Can you remember the first time you took a photo where you had a particular outcome in mind? I have a particular fondness for macro and will often see an object in my mind and picture what I would like the outcome to be. My goal is to let the camera ‘catch up’ to the images I’ve constructed. This process often occurs when I take pictures of my small scenes in which I use miniature people to create a story.

Are you self-taught or have you undertaken formal studies? Mainly self-taught, although I completed a basic photography course on the technical side of the camera early on. It taught me how cameras work and how to get the most out of

them. My knowledge comes from watching and learning from others, but really it mainly comes from just getting out there and taking that shot.

The camera and lens combo(s) you use most frequently? I have an Olympus E-M5 and I often use the olympus 60mm macro. While this is my favourite type of photography, I also enjoy capturing landscapes with my 12-40mm, f/2.8 Pro. I’ve always used olympus and often will upgrade within this brand. Due to its weight, the E-M5 is ideal for macro, but it’s also perfect for that out-and-about shot.

Your inspirations (who/what inspires you photographically)?I am inspired by light, colours and textures. They’re endless and there is always something new to see and imagine – no matter what the topic or subject.

I create artistic images purely for the love of doing so.

Your photographic aspirations (where do you plan to go with your photography)?I would like eventually to create an art book of photographic images. At the moment I like the casualness of it – no pressure or stress and only being limited by my imagination. It is a creative outlet that always has something new to offer and learn.


INSPIRATIONINSPIRATION

Top: Iris Lower left: One Wish Lower right: Make a Wish


TIPS } SHOOTINg

CHooSING APPRoPRIATE CAmERA SETTINgS Despite all the inbuilt technologies in today's cameras, some key choices should be made before going on a photo shoot. Margaret Brown

How well-prepared is your camera before you start to take pictures? Some important choices should be made to ensure you obtain the results you want.

Factors like the file format you use can play a key role, as can the drive mode setting, the metering mode, whether to shoot stills or movies (or both) and whether to take advantage of stabilisation (camera and/or lens) and built-in aids like face and eye detection or dynamic range adjustments.

In this feature, we’ll examine some of these choices.

1. File FormatJPEG is considered the ‘universal’ file format because it can be viewed on any screen, output to any printer or device and stored quickly and easily because it automatically compresses the data to reduce the amount of storage space required. Shooting JPEGs is best when you just want to post images on sharing websites, or view them on Tv sets and monitor screens.

Because it can be displayed on any device, JPEG is the format of choice for images that are required quickly, such as those sent to publishers or submitted for competitions. It is supported by all image editors and commercial printing equipment. Most cameras provide several settings covering the image size (in pixels) and quality (level of compression) for JPEGs recorded in the camera. The same is true when you save JPEGs via an image editor.

Unfortunately, each time a JPEG image is saved, it will be compressed, which means the more often a JPEG file is saved, the more data is lost. After several re-savings, the quality of the image will have deteriorated noticeably. So most photographers find it’s useful to have an uncompressed file containing all

the image data recorded when the shot was captured as well, if only for archiving.

Two options are available: TIFF and the camera’s native raw format. The former is editable, while raw files need to be converted into editable formats. Raw files (often shown as ‘RAW’, although the term is not an acronym) record raw data captured by the camera. This information passes straight to the memory card without the camera’s microprocessor adjusting it.

Most cameras save the data in a proprietary format determined by the camera manufacturer, which requires compatible conversion software (some of questionable functionality). This can be inconvenient for photographers who want results in a rush.

While most enthusiasts’ cameras support both JPEG and raw capture, few provide TIFF as a native capture option, because they are usually huge and take a long time to process. Raw files can be converted into 16-bit TIFFs to obtain the maximum amount of image data for editing.

The effects of JPEG compression show up in challenging shooting situations. This photograph of a small-spotted genet, was taken at night in the Witsand area in South Africa with a M4/3 camera using an ISO setting of 25,600 plus an exposure of 1/13 second at f/5.6 (the maximum aperture of the lens at the 140mm focal length).

The raw file captured simultaneously with the JPEG enabled more detail to be extracted and delivered better colour reproduction and a wider dynamic range in the image.

The workspace for a popular conversion software, Adobe Camera Raw, shows the adjustments that can be made while processing raw files. Raw files can also be saved in TIFF format with a 16-bit depth, which retains all the image data and provides additional scope for tweaking the file.


TIPS } SHOOTINg

Files saved in TIFF format can be uncompressed or losslessly compressed, both options retaining all (or most) of the original data. Edited TIFF files are easily converted into 8-bit JPEG format where they will retain the advantages of having been edited in the higher bit depth format (as shown in the illustration on page 38) but be easy to view, share and print.

Professional photographers and serious enthusiasts usually capture still images as raw files, which are either uncompressed or compressed losslessly to retain all the image data. This allows the photographer to adjust sharpness, contrast, brightness range, colour balance, saturation and other parameters without compromising picture quality.

When speed is an important criterion, many photographers elect to shoot only JPEGs. If you’re working to a deadline, shooting to output for online viewing or printing in a newspaper, shooting JPEGs makes more sense. A slight loss of image data is largely irrelevant in all these situations and JPEGs can be sent via Wi-Fi directly from the camera to a smart device for transmitting to a central office or posting in a blog.

Where speed is irrelevant, raw files are preferable as they provide the maximum amount of image data to work with when editing shots. All raw-capable cameras let you capture raw and JPEG files simultaneously via a RAW+JPEG setting and some provide adjustments to the size and quality of the JPEG shots, a handy feature where storage space is limited.

Shooting raw files involves a few caveats. Raw files are larger than JPEGs and, even though the latest cameras can record bursts of raw files almost as fast as JPEGs, the buffer memory for storing them temporarily can’t hold as many files. Entry-level cameras usually run out of space

after fewer than 10 raw files are recorded, and users must often wait for 30 seconds or more until the memory is cleared and the camera is able to capture more shots.

2. Drive mode choice. While it’s easy to be seduced by claims of fast continuous shooting rates, continuous shooting has positive and negative aspects. Unless you want to capture a sequence of shots covering a specific action, most cameras will deliver a higher percentage of sharp shots with the single-frame mode, particularly when subjects are moving.

Avoid the burst mode if the action peaks in a split second, such as at the top of a jump or dive or the finish of a race. Unless the camera supports speeds faster than 10 frames/second (fps), there’s seldom enough time for the camera to ‘find’ the subject and you’ll only get near misses.

Try to keep bursts short to ensure the images move quickly to the memory card, freeing the camera to shoot again. In many cases, the action can be encompassed within three to five frames, letting you pause a second then shoot another burst.

Check your camera’s instruction manual to find its limitations. Many cameras lock the focus on the first shot in a burst. Where continuous AF is supported, capture rates are often slower, sometimes substantially so. Many burst modes can’t be used in conjunction with flash and zoom and some require shutter speeds of 1/30 second or faster.

3. Metering. Selecting the optimal metering pattern for the subject enables the camera to evaluate the brightness level(s) and adjust aperture and/or

Professional sports photographers often record images in JPEG format, particularly when they know they will have to use the continuous shooting mode and when the images are destined for newspapers or websites.

When the direction of movement is predictable and you can shoot from a fixed position, frame rates slower than five frames/second can provide good coverage of action, as illustrated above.

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