Amateur Photographer – 16 August 2019

34 10 August 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

Technique DI Y H AC K S

9

Studio-styleshotswithanLED

Headdowntoanypoundshopandyou’llbe

abletofindanLEDlight.Combinethiswitha sheet

of A4papertodiffusetheLEDandplaceyour

subjectona sheetof curvedcardandyou’llbe

abletocreatehigh-qualityproductimages.Turnoff

ambientlightsourcesandsetthecameratomanual

soyoucancontroltheexposurefora low-keylook

• if youneedtofillshadows,usea secondsheetof
  paper to bounce the LED back towards the subject.

10

Banishfrozen

fingers

Everpickedupa tripodwhile

outshootinglandscapeson

a frozenmorning?Themetal

legscanturnyourfingers

toicicles,butthere’sa quick

solution.Pickupa foampool

noodlefora coupleof quid

andcuta lengthoff.Make

a slitdownonesideandslip

it overthetripodleg.If you

needit tofit moretightly,

wrapsomegaffertape

around the foam.

1 2

Godiscreet

withtape

Gota brandnewcamera

butnervousabouttakingit

outandabout,particularly

intocrowdedurbanareas?

Thesolutiontoturnyour

shinynewcameraintoa

nondescript,ultra-discreet

objectthatwon’traiseany

eyebrowsis a rollof cheap

blacktape.Usingthetape

tocoverbadgesand

modelnameswillnotonly

disguisethecamera,but

alsogiveanadditionallevel

of splash protection.

8

UseaCDcaseand

Vaselineforsoftfocus

Packonehalfof a CDcaseandsome

Vaselinein yourkitbagandwhen

youreachyourlocation,smearthe

Vaselinearoundthebordersof theCD

case,whichwillcreatea soft-focus

ethereal-looking effect to the frame.

13

Usealaptopforamazing

backdrops

Thinkyouneeda hugestudioanddeeppocketsto

createimpressivebackgrounds?Well,actuallyallyou

needis aninternetconnection.Googlethetypeof

backgroundyouareafterwhetherthatbefire,bokeh

lights,a colourortexture.Setupbehindyoursubjectand

usea shallowdepthof field,keepingyoursubjectin the

foreground pin-sharp to create a blurred and soft effect.

11

Usesunglasses

asafilter

Oneof theadvantages

of shootingwitha small

cameralikeRicoh’sGRIII

ortheSonyRX100is that

youcanheadoutfora

day’sphotographywithout

needingtocartarounda

bagof lensesandfilters.

However,whatif the

lightingconditionschange

andyouwishyouwere

usinga camerawitha

polariserfilter?Well,before

youheadoutthedoor,pop

a pairof sunglasseson

yourhead.Youcanusethe

sunglassesasa makeshift

polariserthankstothe

smalldimensionsof the

cameralens– if youwere

usinga DSLRtheoptic

would likely be too big.

© JUSTIN PUMFREY/GETT Y IMAGES

© MATT Y GRAHAM

© MATT Y GRAHAM

© MATT Y GRAHAM

© MATT Y GRAHAM