Photo Review AUSTRALIA ISSUE 48 www.photoreview.com.au2

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INSIDE01 Editorial

A meditation on photographic creativity.

05 Products & Trends We cast an eye over the local and international camera

market, and tap into a chat about future directions.

08 Photo Challenge A fine spread of pictures within pictures from Challenge

46, and now we ask you to make like David Attenborough - but with the human species.

INSPIRATION

12 READING BETWEEN THE LINES: ZORICA PURLIJA

Zorica Purlija says her portraiture is all about ‘beauty and truth and the human condition’.

18 GRIST FOR PARADISE: PETER KOVACSY In Pemberton, Western Australia, Peter Kovacsy is

documenting what he always knew was much more than a gritty little timber town for mill workers.

24 PREVIEW: BIFB ‘11 This year’s Ballarat International is just around the corner

and down the Midlands Highway. We feature some of the work on display through September.

Cover image by Zorica Purlija. See page 12.

We encourage submissions to: The Editor edmail@photoreview.com.au T: (02) 9948 8600 Office 4 Clontarf Marina, Sandy Bay RoadClontarf NSW 2093

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onal camera irections.

3Photo Review AUSTRALIA ISSUE 48 www.photoreview.com.au

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Editor Don Norris dnorris@photoreview.com.au

Technical Editor Margaret Brownmbrown@photoreview.com.au

Trade News Editor Keith Shiptonkeiths@photoreview.com.au

Contributor Steve Packer

Creative Director Darren Waldren

Publisher David O’Sullivandosullivan@photoreview.com.au

Publication Manager Pauline Shuttleworthpshuttleworth@photoreview.com.au

Accounts Manager Heather Hampsonmpaccounts@photoreview.com.au

Media Releasesedmail@photoreview.com.au

AdvertisingPhone (02) 9948 8600pshuttleworth@photoreview.com.au

SubscriptionsOne year (4 issues) $29.00 including GST and delivery in Australia.See page 34 this issue or phone: (02) 9948 8600 or online:www.photoreview.com.au

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SUBSCRIPTIONS

34 SUBSCRIBE TO PHOTO REVIEW Have Photo Review delivered to your door just

$29 per year. You can also order back issues of Photo Review magazine or a selection of digital photography pocket guides.

TECHNIQUE

37 SHOOTING: SUNRISE AND SUNSET How to get the best out of the ‘golden hours’

around sunrise and sunset.

41 EDITING: FIRST STEPS WORKING WITH LAYERS

Simple ways to begin using adjustment layers in an image editor.

47 OUTPUT: SHOULD YOU BUY A PROFESSIONAL PRINTER?

Factors to consider if you want to print your photos larger than A3+.

INSIDER

50 DO YOU NEED A PRIME LENS? A guide to special-purpose prime lenses.

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Photo ReviewA U S T R A L I A

NET EFFECT

64 A PHOTO POTPOURRI Why browse aimlessly across the vastness of the

internet when you could simply check out these useful photographic sites instead?

BUYERS GUIDE

DSLR52 CANON EOS 1100D53 CANON EOS 600D54 SIGMA SD15

MIRRORLESS INTERCHANGEABLES56 FUJIFILM X10057 OLYMPUS XZ-1

DIGITAL COMPACTS

58 CANON IXUS 310 HS

58 NIKON COOLPIX P5000

LENS58 TAMRON 18-270MM F/3.5-6.3 DI II VC PZD

PRINTERS

60 EPSON STYLUS PHOTO R3000

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Photo Review AUSTRALIA ISSUE 48 www.photoreview.com.au12 SSUE 4A ISSAUSTRALIA

Readinng between eetwee

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the lines:s:nes t Zorica Purlijaor Z

InspirationInspiration

A few years ago, Zorica Purlija began submitting entries to the Photo Review

challenges. Her work had a certain intensity and as the submissions turned up each issue, it became

apparent that there was a consistency of vision behind them. Often featuring

her daughter Yumi, the pictures had an ineffable quality of belonging to

a wider body of work. Something about them seemed to hint at deeper

currents far below the surface.

Seven years after her family had emigrated from Montenegro to Newcastle, NSW, Zorica Purlija encountered photography for the first time. She was in fourth form and ‘art was one of my school subjects and photography was an element of that. I tried it and found I really loved it.’

On finishing high school, Purlija decided to pursue a degree in architecture. However, after three years she dropped out of the course. ‘I was quite idealistic and I didn’t feel that I was going to be a really good architect. I thought graphic design would be a good thing to do instead.’

She enrolled in the Associate Diploma in Visual Arts at Nepean College of Advanced Education. There she majored in Design and Photography, where she was taught and mentored by Robyn Stacey and Dennis Del Favero. But when she completed the course in 1989 she was once again beset by doubts.

‘I didn’t think I was as good as the photographers I idealised; people like Brassai, Diane Arbus and Cindy Sherman,’ she said, adding, ‘I didn’t think I was technically proficient or competent. At college I hadn’t cared. The intuitive side was what I was into.’

The next four years of her life entailed working for various design agencies, but only rarely did she use a camera for work. So, in the middle of 1991 she left the world of design agencies behind and set off on an 18-month European trip to, as she said, explore life and absorb art.

By 1992 she was back in Australia and a year later she gave birth to her first child. Thenceforward

she devoted herself full time to mothering. Unfortunately, when she gave birth to her second child in 1999 she was stricken with severe post-natal depression.

‘After a year of sort of being in it and getting through it,’ she said, ‘I thought, “I finally know what I can do”.’ And what she could do, she decided, was photography, or more particularly, photographic portraiture.

At first, she explained, ‘I couldn’t get how photography and I fitted together. How do you work as a photographer? Without meaning? Or with meaning? Finally it made sense and I thought: “Portraits”. ‘

‘I thought, I have something I’m really passionate about... I could maybe do something that had meaning. So I gave myself a project called “shedding skin”. It was looking at post-natal depression and the myths of motherhood.

‘When I experienced post-natal depression it was very hard to articulate. I thought the photographs were the perfect way to say all these things without having to speak. I thought I could be helpful in some way to other sufferers — just to have that recognition of what they’ve been through.’

During this period she produced a series of pictures. These she subsequently exhibited in a small group show, along with other artists who’d also suffered post-natal depression.

Sadly, the post-natal depression would return soon thereafter, when she gave birth to her daughter.

Purlija’s second struggle with the illness took almost three years out of her life. But as she was recovering in

13Photo Review AUSTRALIA ISSUE 48 www.photoreview.com.au

InspirationInspirationInspirationInspiration

2004, she got her first digital camera. Gradually she returned to photography.

‘In 2005 I entered my first photography competition, the Head On. I saw their exhibition in Woollhara and thought, “this looks really good, quite diverse, and there’s a range of abilities”. So I thought I could get in that group.’

It turned out that she was right. She entered a picture of her mother and her young daughter taken with her Canon Ixus 40 and to her great delight the image was accepted for the exhibition. Encouraged, she entered the Olive Cotton Award competition. Her black and white photograph of a pregnant friend was accepted and she had another success to add to the cv.

With her confidence rebuilding, Purlija successfully entered more competitions and group shows over the next few years. By 2007 her portfolio was strong enough that Sydney’s Sara Roney Gallery added her to their stable of artists and began representing her work. Since 2007 she’s continued entering portraiture and other photographic competitions while also picking up the occasional commission job.

Asked what she’d learned thus far in her career as a portraitist, Purlija confessed that she still struggled with some of the technical aspects of photography. ‘I don’t look at manuals. I start to, but then I get distracted and the technical side tends to go out the window.’

Whether it’s using a flash and an umbrella, or

Left: Lisa Belden. I was captivated by her ethereal beauty, I wanted to capture that.

Below Left: Ben Mellefont, a young Flautist, I loved his intense gaze.

Photo Review AUSTRALIA ISSUE 48 www.photoreview.com.au50

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A GUIDE TO SPECIAL-PURPOSE PRIME LENSES.

By Margaret Brown

Do You Need a Prime Lens?

PRIME LENSES FOR MACRO

True macro photography means a 1:1 reproduction (magnification) ratio - or slightly larger. It’s almost impossible to obtain such reproduction ratios with zoom lenses, the best of which will seldom go larger than half life-size.

The best way to select a macro lens is on the basis of working distance (the distance between the front of the lens and the subject when the lens is at its closest focus). The longer the focal length of the lens, the greater the working distance it provides.

Most lens manufacturers don’t publish working distances but it’s easy enough to calculate them. Simply subtract the length of the lens and the distance between the rear element of the lens and sensor (around 44 mm for most DSLRs) from the published closest focusing distance for the lens.

The table on this page provides typical working distances for some popular true macro lenses.

For non-moving subjects, such as flowers or coins, a relatively short focal length will be fine. For subjects that are easily ‘spooked’, such as insects and small animals, the longer the working distance the more likely you are to get a usable shot.

With shorter focal lengths the lens may throw a shadow over the subject and it can be difficult to photograph

Most people buy an interchangeable-lens camera with a zoom lens - and for many people one or two kit lenses is all they’ll need. That said, serious photographers also understand that zoom lenses are essentially compromises. They aren’t as fast as prime lenses (ie, their maximum apertures aren’t as wide) and their optical performance is seldom as good.

Prime lenses provide the best image quality and wider maximum apertures than zoom lenses, particularly at longer focal lengths. However, prime lenses are usually heavier and more expensive, so you need to think carefully about the improvements they will make to your photography before investing in them.

While zoom lenses can form the basis of a photographer’s kit, there are reasons to consider prime lenses when you are interested in specific photographic genres. We’ll outline some of them here.

The three main subject types where buying prime lenses is easily justified are macro, portraiture and architectural photography. Wildlife photographers can benefit from fast prime lenses, because it’s easier to focus on flighty subjects when the viewfinder image is bright. A case can also be made for using prime lenses for some kinds of landscape photography, although it’s not quite as compelling for those other subject types.

Lens Sensor size Working distance Diameter x length (mm) Weight (grams)

Olympus 35mm f/3.5 Macro Four Thirds 60mm 71 x 53 165

Sigma Macro 50mm f/2.8 EX DG FF 78mm 71.5 x 64 320

Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro APS-C 86mm 73 x 69.8 335

AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D F 90mm 70 x 74.5 440

Tamron SP AF 60mm f/2 Di II APS-C 100mm 73 x 80 390

Canon MP-E65 f/2.8 Macro Photo FF 101mm 81 x 98 710

Sigma Macro 70mm f/2.8 EX DG FF 112mm 76 x 95 525

AF-S DX Micro Nikkor 85mm f/3.5G ED VR APS-C 115mm 73 x 98.5 355

Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di FF 149mm 55 x 97 400

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM FF 148mm 78.6 x 118.6 580

AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED FF 148mm 83 x 116 790

Sigma Macro 105mm f/2.8 EX DG FF 121mm 74 x 95 450

Sigma Macro 150mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM FF 196mm 79.6 x 150 895

Canon 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM FF 249mm 82.5 x 186.6 1090

Tamron SP AF 180mm f/3.5 Di FF 260mm 84.8 x 165.7 920

AF Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4 IF-ED FF 260mm 76 x 193 1190

subjects among grass or leaves. On the plus side, shorter focal lengths often add a sense of depth to the shot, whereas longer lenses tend to flatten the view.

PRIME LENSES FOR PORTRAITURE

Photographers usually choose prime lenses for portraiture for the following reasons: 1. A longer focal length provides a comfortable

working distance between the camera and the subject;

2. The lens provides a natural-looking perspective at the selected shooting distance;

3. The aperture is wide enough to provide depth-of-field control and attractive bokeh.Although short zooms, such as 70-200mm, cover a

popular range for portraiture, you’ll pay a lot for a fast f/2.8 maximum aperture and the lens will be large and bulky. Once you’ve determined the style of portraiture you prefer, a prime lens will provide better performance.

Most portrait photographers prefer a working distance of three to five metres to their subjects. It’s close enough to support good communication without making the subject feel crowded and/or dominated.

Consequently, the classic focal length range for portrait lenses on camera with a 36 x 24mm sensor is from around 80mm to 135mm. For cameras with APS-C sized sensors, it is 50mm to around 85mm and for Four Thirds system sensors it’s 40mm to 65mm.

Shorter focal lengths can be used for portraits in which the subject fills less than a quarter of the frame (as in ‘environmental’ portraits). Longer lenses tend to ‘flatten’ the subject and, although they’re great for candid shots and street photography, in a studio situation you need

Sigma’s 105mm macro lens is available with mounts for all major DSLR brands and provides a useful working distance

of 121mm.

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plenty of space to use them. However, they can produce interesting results and usually have attractive bokeh.

Interestingly, you can also use macro lenses for portraiture, because they are fast and sharp and provide a good working distance for ‘head shots’. If the subject isn’t framed as you like it, ‘zooming with your feet’ can take you closer or further away in just a few steps.

PRIME LENSES FOR WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY

Although some wildlife photographers can make do with zoom lenses, if you’re serious about photographing birds or animals in the wild, a long telephoto lens is a must. Expect to invest serious money if you want a fast lens with a focal length greater than 300mm.

Most lenses in this category are professional-quality, which means they are built to be rugged and weatherproof. They are also VERY heavy and usually come with their own carrying cases.

Having a bright viewfinder image is vital when you’re shooting in conditions where light levels may be low and subjects are flighty. The faster the lens the easier it is to focus.

Factor in the additional cost of a sturdy monopod or tripod if you’re considering one of these lenses. Even lenses with optical stabilisation built-in can use some assistance in many situations.

Canon’s ‘super telephoto’ prime lens range is targeted at sports and wildlife photographers and covers focal lengths from 200mm to 800mm. Nikon’s range goes from 200mm to 600mm, while Pentax has 200mm and 300mm primes and Sony has a 300mm f/2.8 prime. Olympus offers a 300mm f/2.8 Super Telephoto lens that is also compatible with Panasonic’s G-series cameras, as well as a 150mm f/2 telephoto lens.

Photo Review AUSTRALIA ISSUE 43 www.photoreview.com.au

There are a couple of areas where a fast prime lens will make a noticeable difference to your photography:1. The viewfinder image will be brighter, making it easier to focus manually and/or ensure autofocused subjects are sharp. This can make a huge difference when shooting in low light.2. There will be more scope for shooting with a shallow depth of field. Wider maximum apertures enable a greater degree of blurring in out-of-focus areas. Prime lenses also tend to have softer and more natural-looking bokeh (blurred out-of-focus areas) than zoom lenses. 3. Aberrations are generally fewer in prime lenses because it’s easier to design the optical system to eliminate them. You will probably see improved image sharpness (particularly edge-to-edge sharpness) and contrast when making A3 or larger prints.

The following lenses can be used on DSLRs with 36 x 24mm sensors and smaller APS-C sized sensors. They are competitively priced and good performers for portraiture:Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM: Excellent value for money at $719 (RRP) and usable with all Canon DSLRs. Focal length is equivalent to 135mm on cameras with APS-C sized sensors.Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D: Priced at less than $600 this compact, lightweight lens provides a focal length equivalent to 127.5mm on cameras with APS-C sized sensors.Sigma 85mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM: A slightly more expensive (but faster) lens with mounts for all major DSLR brands. For cameras with APS-C sensors, a dedicated hood adapter, which expands the length of the lens hood, is supplied.Zeiss Planar T* 85mm f/1.4: A fast, high-quality lens available with mounts to suit Nikon F bayonet

(ZF), Canon EF bayonet (ZE) and Pentax K bayonet (ZK) lens mounts. Usable with ‘full-frame’ and APS-C DSLR cameras.

MACRO LENSES THAT CAN BE USED FOR PORTRAITURE INCLUDE:

Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM: A dynamic, compact, fast-focusing lens that provides attractive bokeh for portraiture.Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D: Another macro lens that doubles as a compact portrait lens. Sigma Macro 70mm f/2.8 EX DG: Available with mounts for all major DSLR brands, this lens provides an effective focal length of around 105mm on cameras with APS-C sensors.Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro: A new version of a popular macro lens that is popular with portrait photographers. Available with mounts for all major DSLR brands.

Will you notice the difference?

Recommended Portrait Lenses

Among the third-party lens manufacturers, Sigma offers 300mm, 500mm and 800mm lenses with mounts for the leading DSLR brands. Tamron’s longest prime lens is its 300mm f/2.8 LD [IF] lens.

PRIME LENSES FOR OTHER APPLICATIONS

Architectural photography is another genre where specialist prime lenses can provide a quantifiable advantage. Regardless of whether the subject is interiors or exteriors, a tilt/shift (or perspective correction) lens will enable you to minimise the distortions that occur when photographing buildings with wide-angle lenses.

Tilt/shift lenses have adjustment screws that can change the alignment of the lens plane to the image plane (‘tilt’) and move the lens elements parallel to the image plane (‘shift). The tilt control is used to control the plane of focus for a number of purposes:1. to enable objects at different distances from the camera to be sharply focused;

2. to deliver a very narrow plane of focus (‘selective focusing’), leaving objects in front of and behind it unsharp.

The shift control is used to keep the image plane and focus parallel to the subject and can be applied:1. when photographing a tall building to keep sides of the building parallel with the edges of the frame;2. in interior photography to avoid having the camera and photographer reflected in a mirror or by a reflective surface.

One useful characteristic of tilt/shift lenses is their flatness of field, which also makes them good copying lenses. They can also be used to minimise parallax errors when shooting panorama sequences and composites

Canon’s 600mm

‘super tele’ lens is fast

for its type and includes built-in

image stabilisation plus a very fast and quiet ultrasonic AF motor,

which makes it ideal for wildlife photography.

using several rows of overlapping shots.Canon and Nikon each include a couple of tilt/shift

lenses in their ranges. Details can be found on each manufacturer’s website.

Tamron’s 60mm macro is one of a number of macro lenses that can double as portrait

lenses. Fitted to a camera with an APS-C sized sensor, it provides an effective focal length of around 90mm, which is ideal for

head-and-shoulders shots.

Landscape purists often prefer prime lenses. The most popular focal length is 35mm on a 36 x 24mm sensor or 24mm for a camera with an APS-C sensor. This focal length will provide a wide enough angle of view to encompass a typical scene without adding noticeable distortion.

Nikon’s 45mm tilt/shift lens, showing the adjustments available for changing the alignment of the lens plane to the image plane.

The EOS 60D gives you even more creative control of your photography.

With its Vari-Angle LCD screen, you can experiment and take high quality images from creative angles you never thought possible.