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H
avingfirstpickedupanSLR
cameraagedaround 14
yearsoldtherearefew
genresof photographythat
I haven’ttriedat somepoint.Writingfor
thisverymagazineopenedupmanymore
opportunitiesto trynewkitandnewstyles,
andto writetechniquearticlesaboutthe
skillsI hadandtheskillsI hadlearnt.
Naturallytherewerethingsthatcamevery
easily,andothersthatwerehardwork.
StudiolightingI amgoodat;directinga
subjectto gettheshot,notsogoodat.
Takingmacroshotsof flowers= good.
Macroshotsof bugswitha bellowsand
focusstackingsoftware= notsogood,
andnotmuchfuneither.
ButwhatI loveaboutphotographyis
thechallengeof tryingsomethingnew.
Learninga newskillis somethingwe
shouldalwaysbedoing,butit canalsobe
alltooeasytogiveupwhenit’ssimplytoo
hardforustodo.I’vedestroyedtwo
NikonD70camerasbytakingthem
apart,gettingtothesensorandusingmild
abrasivestoremovetheRGBBayerfilter
arraytocreatemyownNikonD
Monochromcamera.Don’tworry,I
havea thirdcameraandhaven’tgiven
up– I knowit’spossible,it’sjust
whetherI candoit.
‘Findthetortureyou’recomfortable
with’ is an incredible quote from an
unlikelysource– Americancomedian
JerrySeinfeld.Whatit meansis thatwe
shouldbelookingtodothethingsthatwe
findimmenselydifficult,yetweenjoy
themallthesame.Youmaybeterribleat
landscapephotography,butstillloveit
andstillwanttokeepgettingupona
coldandwetwinter’smorning.Youmay
findusingtelephotolensesdifficult,yet
lovethethrillof takingwildlifeimages.
Justkeepgoing,andpracticeof theskill
becomesasmucha partof the
enjoymentasfinallyachievingthat
firstimageyouareproudtoenterin
toa competition.
Tryingtomakea D70monochrome
onlyis mytorture.Theaccomplishment
whenI finallygetanageing6-million-
pixelcameratocreatea perfectblack&
whiteimagewillfeelamazing.However,
thejourneyin gettingtothatpointis the
funstuff.I’mlearninghowtotakea
cameraapart,whateachpartdoesand
thenthereis theskillof actually
removingthefilterarrayitself.I’vetried
T-Cutandtoothpaste...butI needan
evenmilder,lessminty,abrasive. Any
suggestionswelcome.
RichardSibleywasformerlyDeputyEditorofAmateur
Photographer. Henowwritesaboutcamerasand
photographyandrunsthePhotoGearNewsYouTube
channel. Find him on Instagramat@richsibley.
RichardSibleydiscusseswhyweshould
allbetryingouttheareasofphotography
we fi nd challenging, yet still enjoy doing
View point
Richard Sibley
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OlympusOM-DE-M1MkIII
Thishelpsyougetshotsothercameras
can’t,asAndyWestlakefindsinhistest
Covid-19:thelongestweek
PeterDenchfindsouthowtheCovid-
pandemicis affectingphotographers
Snaphappy
Instamaticcamerasarestilleminently
usable, explains John Wade
PassionateInstagrammers
sharetheirtipsforhowyou
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In next week’s issue
On sale Tuesday 7 April
Richardhardatwork
attemptingtomakehis
Nikon D70 monochrome