Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-03-07)

12 7 March 2020I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

Doyouhavesomethingyou’dliketogetoffyourchest?Sendusyourthoughtsinaround

500 wordstotheaddressonpage 20 andwina year’sdigitalsubscriptiontoAP,worth£79.

I

t’s6pm.Thelittlesectionof the

internetreservedforphotographers

is wildwithexcitementanticipating

thelatestshinynewcamera

announcement.Detailsstartto trickle

through;theheadlinespecsfirst,then

thoselittledetails.Howmuchis it?Are

theretwomemorycardslots?(Therehad

betterbeortherewillbetrouble!)Willit be

availablein a metallicspacegreyfinish?

Withinsecondsof digestingthe

specificationstherearethosewhohave

beenwaitingalldaytopickapartevery

perceivedlet-downin thespecs.‘It’s

outrageousthatthiscameradoesn’thave

twomemorycardslots’(I toldyou)‘Howis

a professionalmeanttousethiscamera

alldaywiththatbatterylife?’

Maybeif therearethatmanythings

abouta camerathatyoudon’tlike,then

perhapsthemanufacturerdidn’thaveyou

in mindwhendesigningit?It’sthenumber

onethingI alwaystrytothinkaboutwhen

I amreviewinga camera– ‘whois this

camerafor?’andI thentrytoputmyself

in theirshoesandseeif it’suptothejob.

In theendit is stilldowntoopinion,but

hopefullyaneducatedonethathas

consideredthecamera’stargetmarket

ratherthanmyownneeds.Onlinethereis

littleof suchnuancein thecomment

sections,justshouty opinions without

muchthought.

Quicktocriticise

Andit happenswhenpeoplepostimages

too;‘I couldhavetakenthat!’,‘Whyis that

thewinningimage?It’srubbish!’,‘Why

didn’ttheyusef/11togetmoredepthof

field?’.Thevocalminorityis quickto

criticisewithlittleconsiderationforwhat

thephotographerwastrying,andusually

succeeding,todo.

AndI’vegottoholdmyhandsupand

saythatI’vebeenguiltyof theabove,

particularlyin myyoungerdays.I

occasionallyneedtoremindmyselfto

revertbacktomydefaultpositionasa

journalist,orreviewer,andask‘why?’.

It is sucha simplequestion,butif you

can ask ‘why?’ and try to reverse

engineerwhata manufactureror

photographerwasaimingfor,thenyou

cangaina lotof understanding.Allof a

sudden,decisionsmakea lotmoresense,

orcanat leastbeexplainable.‘Whyis that

cameraexpensive?’,‘Whyis thereonly

onememorycardslot?’,‘Whyisn’tit

availablein metallicspacegreyfinish?’

Thesameforimages.‘Whyhasthe

photographerchosenthatimage?’,‘Why

havetheyshotin colourratherthanblack

& white?’,‘Whatexactlyaretheytryingto

showortellme?’Whenyouaskyourself

thequestionsandapplysomeempathy,

yougeta betterunderstanding.Andwhen

youbegintounderstandhowandwhy

photographerstakepictures,youcan

thenapplyit toyourownimages,which

willmakeyoua betterphotographer,and

hopefullyresistthaturgetobeoneof

those ‘shouty’ people on the internet.

RichardSibleywasformerlyDeputyEditorof

AmateurPhotographer. Henowwritesaboutcameras

andphotographyaswellasrunningthePhotoGear

NewsYouTubechannel. Find him on Instagram at

@richsibley.

RichardSibleyexplainshowasking‘why?’

andhavingadegreeofempathy can make

you a better photographer

View point

Richard Sibley

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS COLUMN ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER MAGA ZINE OR TI MEDIA LIMITED

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Sigmafp

AndyWestlakereviewstheworld’s

smallestfull-framemirrorlesscamera

CanonCameraConnect

Wecontinueourseriesonhowtoconnect

yourcameratoyoursmartphone

Canon24-240mmF4-6.

MichaelTophamtestsanall-in-one

superzoom for Canon’s EOS R range

Paintingwithlightcangive

greatresults.Weasksix

practitioners for their tips

Light

painting

In next week’s issue

On sale Tuesday 10 March

Whencommentingonnewmodelsit’swell

worth considering the camera’s target market

‘Iftherearethingsabout

a camerayoudon’tlike,

perhapsthemanufacturer

didn’thaveyouinmind

when designing it’