Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-04-04)

10 4 April 2020I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

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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

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS COLUMN ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER MAGA ZINE

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OlympusOM-DE-M1MkIII

Thishelpsyougetshotsothercameras

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Covid-19:thelongestweek

PeterDenchfindsouthowtheCovid-

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Richardhardatwork

attemptingtomakehis

Nikon D70 monochrome