Aworthyoverallwinner
Asmentioned,the 10 participantsonthedaywon
theirplaceviaa competitionhostedbythePhotocrowd
websitein partnershipwithAPandSigma.Fromamong
the 10 successfulportfoliosonPhotocrowd,SigmaUK
executivesandDaveKaiPiperthenchoseanoverall
winner.ThetopprizewenttoSarahMawdsley(see
above)forthislovelytravelportraittakenin India,using
entirelynaturallight.Sarahwona Sigma50mmArt
primelensforSonymount.Allthe 10 participantsalso
received a Sigma goodie bag with sake from Aizu.SarahMawdsley
Liverpool
Sony Alpha 7RIII
‘Agreatday.I hadn’treallydonemuchin
termsof lightingbefore,asI prefer
imagesshotin ambientlight,butthereis
a markeddifferencebetweenmyambient
lightgeishashotsandtheflashshots;an
artificiallylit onewon.A keytake-home
lessonwastheamountof preparation
timespentin findingtherightspotandangletoplace
the lights. This is not so practical for my travel portraits.’Andrewreallynailed
it withthislovely
shotofMai-san
CanonEOS5DMarkIV,
Sigma40mmF1.4DGHSM|
Art, 1/250sec at f/8, ISO 100MEMORIES OF A GEISHAAndrewRobertson
London
Canon EOS 5DMarkIV
‘Iwassurprised
anddelightedtobe
involvedin theday
asI ama landscape
andarchitectural
photographer,so
havenevershot
withflashandlightsbefore,in this
kindof portraitsituation.Dave
explainedveryclearlywhathewas
tryingtoachievewiththelightsand
howyouachievethat.Obviouslyit
wouldtakea lotof practice,but
wasa greatintroductionandmade
methinkaboutthepossibilitiesof
mixingambientwithartificial lighting
for outdoor portraits.’SteveJames
Northampton
Nikon D850
‘Thestagewassetunderthe
terracecanopythatheavily
diffusedthestrongsunlight,
andI setthematrixmetering
to+1stoptobalancethelight
andavoida greybackground.
Theconditionsgavea soft
texturetotheimages.Davehadhisworkcut
outin thestronglight,butwasa greattutor.
Theideawastobalancethedappledgarden
lightwithfillflash.WealsotriedsomeSigma
lensesin thechallenginglight.Although
sharpnessisn’teverything,the135mmf/1.8
primeI triedmakesthefinestsamuraisword
seemlikea club!Thegeishawerecharming
too,andtheiramusementat myattemptsto
communicate led to great expressions.’Withthegeisha
sittingin theheat,
Davehadtowork
quicklytocheck
camera settings© ANDREW ROBERTSON
© SARAH MAWDSLEY© GEOFF HARRIS