Amateur Photographer (2019-05-31)

10 25 May 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukIsubscribe 03303331113

Doyouhavesomethingyou’dliketogetoffyourchest?Sendusyourthoughtsinaround

500 wordstotheaddressonpage 12 andwina year’sdigitalsubscriptiontoAP,worth£79.

A

fewweeksagoI boughta copy

of LindaMcCartney’sbook

Sixties:Portraitof anErafroma

charityshop.Oneof thethings

thatattractedmeto it wasanimageof

TheBeatlespreparingto shootthecover

ofAbbeyRoadin 1969.Thephotograph

showsPaulMcCartneyadjustingthecollar

of RingoStarr’sjacket,whileJohnLennon

fiddleswiththebeltonhistrousers.It was

a hotday,andthebandis overdressed.A

memberof thepublichaswanderedover

fora chat,andthebandlooksat easewith

her.Technically,it’snota greatpicture–

Lindatookit forherownarchive– butit

doesprovidelotsof greatinformation.

ScottishphotographerIainMacmillan

tookthephotographthateventually

gracedthealbumcover.Heshotsix

framesof thebandcrossingtheroad,and

thesessionwasoverin just 15 minutes

becausetheycouldn’tholdthetraffic up

anylonger.Formostof usMacmillan’s

pictureis theonethatspringstomind

wheneverthealbumis mentioned,

butformeLinda’simageis equally

valuable.Seeingherbehind-the-scenes

photographledmetorevisitoneof my

favouritephotographybooks,Magnum

ContactSheets.

Thisweightytomefeaturescontact

sheetsfrom 69 membersof Magnum

PhotosincludingHenriCartier-Bresson,

ElliottErwittandIngeMorath.These

sheetswereneverintendedforpublic

consumption,solookingat themis a bit

likepeekingat someone’sdiary.Thehighs

andthelowsareallthere:youcantrace

theroutesthatledtoclassicimages,and

seewhathappenedaftertheyweretaken

too.Youcanalsoseethemistakesmade

bysomeof themasters:blown-outskies,

misjudgedfocus,poorcomposition–

there’snowheretohide.

Someof theframesaremarkedto

indicatethephotographer’spreference,

andit’sfuntolookat theseandtryto

workoutwhytheywerechosenover

others.Personallythough,I liketolook

at theframesthatweren’tselected– the

onesthatforonereasonoranotherwere

considered‘failures’.Afterall,failureis

greatfeedbackif youcanacceptit asa

partof thelearningprocess.

Lookingat thesecontactsheets

remindsmeof anarticleI onceread

aboutimprovingyourgolfswing.

Accordingtotheexpertsyouneedto

payasmuchattentiontowhathappens

beforeandafteryouhittheballasyou

dotothemomentof impact– allthree

stagesworktogethertoensuresuccess.

Seeinga rollof filmlaidoutin itsentirety

allowsustotracethephotographer’s

‘swing’andtoseewhythebuildupand

‘followthrough’aresoimportant.

Withsomanyof usshootingdigitally

thetraditionalcontactsheethasbecome

somethingof a rarity.Wemightimport

theentirecontentsof a memorycardto

animage-editingprogram,butthen

weusuallydeletetheunsuccessfulshots

withouttoomuchthought.Howabout,just

occasionally,wekeepsomeof the‘failures’

andconsiderwhatcanbelearntfromthem?

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED

NTH

SCOLUMN

ARE

NOT

NECESSARILY THOSE OF AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER MAGA ZINE OR TI MEDIA LIMITED

©

TRACY

CALDER

Themomentsbeforeandafteryoutakeagreat

picturecanprovidevaluable feedback, so don’t

be too quick to hit delete

View point

Tra cy Calder

TracyCalderhasmorethan 20 yearsof experiencein thephotomagazineindustry,andis oneof AP’sactingtechnique

editors.Shehaswrittennumerousphotographybooks,includingoneonclose-upandmacrophotography(her

specialist subject), and is the co-founder of Close-up Photographer of theYear.Visit http://www.cupoty.com.

MagnumContactSheetsis wellwortha look

as a superb source of photographic inspiration

© EMANUELE BIGGI

© NORMAN PARKINSON ARCHIVE/ICONIC IMAGES

CONTENT

FOR

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WEEK

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MAY

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NormanParkinson

Revealed:thephotographicarchiveof

thislegendaryfashionphotographer

MasterLightroomProfiles

Kick-startyourimageeditingwiththese

20 toptipsforusingLightroomProfiles

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Celebrate

close-ups

In next week’s issue

On sale Tuesday 28 May

Sixties:PortraitofanErabyLindaMcCartney,

Little,BrownBookGroup,ISBN978-0821220566.

MagnumContactSheets, editedbyKristen

Lubben,Thames& Hudson,ISBN978-

0500292914 (latest version).