Practical Photography - UK (2019-09)

Richardsays:It’struethat

manyof thein-cameraeffects

fr omthedaysof film,suchas

multipleexposures,havebeen

usurpedby thepowerof digital

editingandthatthere’sfarmore

cr eativecontrolin postthan

therecaneverbe duringthe

pi cture-takingprocess.But there

are somehacksthatwillboost

yourcreativityandintroducean

el ementof experimentationthat

makephotographyso muchfun.

1

Tr y some

fr ee-lensing

Didyouknowthat

you cantakea picturewithout

attachinga lensto yourcamera?

The techniqueis knownas

fr ee-lensing,andit involves

holdinga lensnearto thefront

ofyourcamera,whichallows

you to moveit in thewaythat

you wouldwitha tilt-shiftlens.

The lenswillonlybe usableat

it s widestaperture,andyouwill

haveto workin fullmanual

modeandfocusmanually,

butwitha bit of practice

you cangetsome

in terestingeffects.Andif you

enjoytheprocessthenyoucan

ta keit furtherby reallytilting

the rearelementof an oldlens

sothatyoucanplaceit nearer

tothesensorandgeta more

extremeeffect.

2

Go macro

on a budget

Macro photography,

which is defined as the creation

of an image that is at leasta 1:1

ratio to the subject, opensup

a wholenewgenreto explore.

Butdedicatedmacrolensesare

not cheap,andit canbe difficult

tojustifytheoutlayfor a niche

st udy. Happily, you can engage

in some macro photographyby

si mply reversing a prime lens

so that your camera is looking

through it ‘backwards’. There

are reversing rings availablefor

al l the major manufacturersand

le ns sizes, and while you will

haveto workin fullmanual

modewithno controlover

the lens’aperture, as a good

introduction to the miniature

world this technique can’t be

beatenon price.

3

Put an old CD

to creative use

Don’t throw that Celine

Dion Greatest Hits CD in the bin

just yet, it’s got a lot more to

offer than its musical content

might suggest. Lens flare is a

greatcreativetool,butplacing

it exactlywhereyouwantit

can be tricky.By holdinga CD

infrontof yourcamera– the

holein themiddleis perfect

fo r puttingyourfingerthrough

• you canangleit to throwlight
  ontothefrontelementof your
  le nsto createsomedreamyflare.
  Thischeapandcheerfulhackis
  brilliantforportraiturework.

4

Turna bag

int o a softbox

Therewillbe times

when no matterhowhighyou

pushtheISO,yousimplywon’t

With digital manipulation in post-processing offering

so many options to alterthelookof an image, I’m

wondering if there’s stilla placeforsomecreative

in -camera effects. Can you pointme towardsany‘analogue’

hacks that I can have a bit of fun with?

Darren Joyce, Canterbury

Can you fill

me in on some

camera hacks?

Know

Your Stuf f

All your technique and gear questions answered by

our team of experts [email protected]

70 PrACTICALPHOTOgrAPHy

Richard Collins

PP’s deputy

editor is a hugely

experienced

journalist, tutor

and pro fashion

photographer.

BenHawkins

Withover17 years

asa photographic

jo urnalist,Benis

a procompetition

ju dge,picture

editorandwriter.

Louise Carey

Features editor

Louise is an

award-winning

fine art and

documentary

photographer.

Gett y Imafree-lensing

Ges/

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