Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-05-09)

31

ALL

PCTURES

©

BEN

BRA

N

4 Position the subject
In order to get the ‘fl oating’ effect I’ve
supported the potato on a skewer. Removing
this skewer in Adobe Photoshop at the end of
the process is a simple procedure using the
Content-Aware Fill tool.

Ben’s

top tips

Ben reveals his top

tips for lighting and

shooting your subject

Know your subject

Spend a little time getting to know

our subject, even if it’s a potato.

Ask yourself how best to capture

its character.

One light at a time

Start with one light and then build

from that, adding more lights and/

or refl ectors to suit the look that

you’re going for.

Tethered shooting

In a small controlled studio

environment like this, try tethered

shooting by connecting your

camera directly to your computer

for a more effi cient workfl ow.

Shoot raw

It’s often a good idea to shoot in

raw as it allows you a little more

creative freedom and fl exibility at

the processing stage.

Processing

ACR and/or Lightroom will help

you to fully realise your vision

and is an important part of the

creative process.

Potato

Photographer

of the Year

As chance would have it... the

Potato Photographer of the Year

competition has just launched.

There are some amazing prizes up

for grabs including a Fujifi lm X-A7,

a year’s membership to the Royal

Photographic Society and more.

The prestigious judging panel

includes Martin Parr, Paul Hill and

AP’s very own Nigel Atherton.

All proceeds from the competition

will go towards the Trussell Trust

which supports a nationwide

network of food banks that

provides emergency food and

support to people locked in

poverty. Visit http://www.photocrowd.

com/potato.

Flat Light

Even lighting

from both sides,

a bit boring

Split lighting

A hard side light

adds drama

Split with rim

One main light

with a backlight

(from above) to

accentuate some

features