NZ Photographer

Sept

30 1

The YouNgeST ProfeSSioNal PhoTograPher iN NZ

issue 5 September 30th 2009

reVieW: SoNY alPha a850

Plu

S:

Your imageS

CriTiqued

hoW To:maSTer PoST ProduCTioN

WiNNer of The PeoPle

ComPeTiTioN!

JULY 8

9

10

11

12 13

14

15 16

17 18 19

20 21 22

23 24 25

26 27 28

CALENDARExhibition – Back10am-4:30pmLopdell HouseExhibition – Linger10am-4:30pmLopdell HouseExhibition – From The Vault9:30am-4:30pm

Snow White Gallery

Exhibition – Back10am-4:30pmLopdell HouseExhibition – Linger10am-4:30pmLopdell HouseExhibition – From The Vault9:30am-4:30pm

Snow White Gallery

Exhibition – Back10am-4:30pmLopdell HouseExhibition – Linger10am-4:30pmLopdell HouseExhibition – From The Vault9:30am-4:30pm

Snow White Gallery

Exhibition – Back10am-4:30pmLopdell HouseExhibition – Linger10am-4:30pmLopdell House

Exhibition – Back10am-4:30pmLopdell HouseExhibition – Linger10am-4:30pmLopdell House

ADDRESSESLopdell House418 Titirangi Rd, Titirangi

Unitec Bldg 1, Gate 1, Carrington Rd, Mt Albert, Auckland

EvENTS/ExHIBITIONS: Do you have an exhibition or photographic event on anywhere in NZ?

Let us know at Calendar@nzphotographer.co.nz. PHOTOGRAPHIC CLUBS: List your photographic

club or society here! Email clubs@nzphotographer.co.nz with details of who you are and when and

where your next meeting is. Listing in this category is entirely free!

JULY

Backyard Photo EssayDue to NZ Photographer

NZ Photographer Due Out!Issue 2

WE NEED YOUR EvENTS!

16. eVeNTS CaleNdar

CoNTeNTS

11. PiC of The BuNCh

20. Cool STuff

8. ComPeTiTioN

4. ProfeSSioNal aT 14

8.maSTeriNg PoST

ProduCTioN

17. gear reVieW

13. SiZed uP

Your work critiqued

NZ Photographer

Sept

30 3

Since i wrote

to you last in

issue 4, NZ

Photographer passed

the 1000-subscribers

mark! Yay us!

or, more to the

point, Yay you! it’s

great to know that we’ve gone from a select few who received

issue 1 to over 1000 people receiving issue 5 in twelve weeks!

Now’s the time where we start to offer you more of a hand in

our little publication – i’d like the knowledgeable and wise among

you consider the idea that NZ Photographer can be a forum

for you to give back to other NZ photographers. Sharing our

photographic skills is a positive and rewarding experience; it lifts

the entire industry up to a new level.

for those of you who want to contribute to NZ Photographer,

write to me with your ideas and i’ll let you know the process

and what we require. in return we’ll give you a plug and a link

to your website, and you’ll be immortalised as a contributor to

NZ Photographer...

for those of you who just love reading our magazine, keep

sending in your feedback and images – you are all contributing

to ensure that NZ Photographer amazing!

ediTorial

NZ Photographer

Sept

9 1

HOW TO:

Issue 4 September 9th 2009

CaPTurINg NZ

WITH HelP FrOm THe aa

PluS: m

Ore

PHOTO

SHOP

TIPS

PHOTOgraPH STreeT arT

CONgraTulaTIONS TO Our eSSay COmPeTITION WINNer!

leTTerS

hi NZ Photographer,

i am a Wellington-based photographer, but am about to go on

a month-long trip around the uK and europe taking photos. When

i get back it would be awesome if you could do an article on me

and my trip, and display some of the best shots i get while away

on my travels.

Brady dyer, Wellington

Editor: Of course! We’d be happy to run an article if it’s written

in a way that educates and informs our readers, i.e. if it was an

article on how to take great travel photos, or on something to do

with UK and Europe, that’d be very usable… As long as you keep

that in mind then go forth, have a great trip, take lots of photos,

and look out for interesting stories along the way!

aBouT Whether you’re an enthusiastic weekend snapper or a beginner who wants to learn more, NZ Photographer is the fun e-magazine for all Kiwi camera owners – and it’s free!

ediTor ollie dale editor@nzphotographer.co.nz

grouP ediTor Trudi CaffellarT direCTor Jodi olssonadVerTiSiNg Phone richard oneNquirieS 09 523 4112 or email richardl@

espiremedia.com

addreSS NZ Photographer, C/- espire media, Po Box 137162, Parnell, auckland 1151, NZ

WeBSiTe www.nzphotographer.co.nz

NZ Photographer is an espire media publication

i have been a business owner in

some form for the last 15 years,

and in that time i have learned

that to create and grow a successful

business you need one quality

above all else – passion.

Passion drives you to not accept

defeat, to get up every morning

with a spring in your step and

to believe it what you are doing.

Passion also attracts others –

because passion is a powerful

energy that people hope will rub

off on them and help create their

own success.

Jayson Kingsbeer has this

passion – a passion for his art: photography.

i was introduced to Jayson via a friend on Twitter. my

friend suggested that Jayson would be a great story for

BusinessBlogs.co.nz and after speaking with Jayson, i knew

she was right.

Jayson, as a matter of interest, is currently 14 years old

and balances his school commitments with his successful

photography business. his maturity and business focus is of a

level that i might expect from a 25 year old. Jayson’s business

is so successful he has built up a loyal customer base with

repeat business. he uses social media such as Twitter, linkedin,

facebook with such success that i have learned a few tips

from him! Sometimes age is not the issue when looking for a

professional service – lack of passion is far more worrying.

What inspired you to start a business at 14?i have always been interested in business and combined

my love of photography into a business. i also noticed that

there was a lack of sport and event photographic coverage in

gisborne where customers could order their images online.

i researched the market and similar operations throughout

New Zealand and started gisborne’s first online sport and

event photo ordering website. i was then asked to photograph

a wedding and after that i had noticed that there was a high

demand for affordable, high quality wedding photography

and bookings are rolling in!

So your business is providing professional photography services?

Yes. i photograph local sports and events

and the images are uploaded online to

kingsbeer.com where customers can browse

and order prints and photo gifts. i also

photograph weddings and have also worked

with commercial clients.

How do you balance school and business commitments?

my business is normally run on weekends

ProfeSSioNal aT 14

The inspirational Jayson Kingsbeer By marc Krisjanous

Photo By rebecca grunwell - The gisborne herald

NZ Photographer

Sept

30 5

and after school; homework and schoolwork does come first. There

are really two different sides to me: they are school/social and

business. my mates and people from school really do not see the

other side.

What do your schoolmates and teachers think about your entrepreneurial spirit?

my mates think it

is amazing that i can

earn so much! my

teachers are really

supportive; my science

teacher always says

“Just about every time

i see you have that

camera around your

neck.”

What current challenges are you facing with your business?

Transportation,

as i do not have my

driver’s license. i have the opportunity to shoot so many events,

but unfortunately i can’t make it to every event i would like to,

as i have to rely on others to transport me.

my age has been a barrier, as some people do not trust me,

even though they liked my work. The main photo lab i used

went bankrupt and closed its doors and i had to think about

that one for a while but luckily i found a local photo lab that

took me onboard!

What do you love most about running a business?i enjoy the services that i provide as the images are life-

long memories that are made to be treasured for generations

to come. i also enjoy that i can earn money from my love of

photography.

As a business owner how do most people react to your age?

Shocked! i have had inquires from a few people who

have been impressed with my work, however when i have

informed them of my age they have been put off by it. This

is my biggest hurdle to overcome. even the new photo lab

that took me on board – who i had been contacting via

email – didn’t believe that it was me when i walked into the

shop.

Who are the people that inspire you?There are so many! i read blog posts and twitter posts

daily from photographers and look at photos from weddings

and commercial shoots daily that inspire me. a few people that

have inspired me are Chase Jarvis, Yuri arcurs, and robin Ng

and locally Kerry marshall and Kerry fox.

What would you say to all the young people who are thinking about starting their own business?

go for it! if you

have the knowledge

of business and

are surrounded by

people who have

business experience

and can support you

and give advice just

go for it! make sure

you do your market

research and get a good online presence.

Did you have some start-up cash for your business?

Zilch! i probably had about $20 which bought my first lot of

business cards! my family has

been really supportive of me.

Who does all the admin work for your business? Tax, bookkeeping etc…

i do most of the admin work

with help and advice on tax

and bookkeeping from my

parents.

NZ Photographer

Sept

30 6

Do you plan going onto tertiary education?as a photographer tertiary education is not normally

required as a portfolio is what gets you jobs as well as

testimonials and awards. Becoming a photo lab technician/

owner requires on the job training and i have already had

a quick tutorial on a Noritsu digital mini lab at the recently

closed SpeediColor Kodak express.

What are your ultimate business and life goals?i really want to continue on doing what i am doing now as it

gives me a huge variety of jobs to complete on a regular basis;

it would be fabulous if i could get some major international

events to photograph such as the glastonbury festival and

major sporting games. i would also really like to own my own

photo lab.

Note: permission for this

interview was given by

Jayson’s parents.

This article was written

by marc Krisjanous

and was used with

his permission after

originally appearing on

businessblogs.co.nz. To

contact marc, visit

marc.business.co.nz

http://bingr.com/q1wl

NZ Photographer

Sept

30 8

making your images look their best is an often-overlooked

part of photography. equally true is that unless you’re

shown what can be done with images you may have no

idea of the potential you have in the images you’ve taken.

Post production is the description of any work done on your

images after being taken in the camera, and usually refers to

image enhancing on computers, but can also include any other

form of finishing such as framing, mounting, printing etc. This ‘how

To’ is all about enhancing your images on a computer to look their

best – while Photoshop is the best software on the market for image

enhancement, any software that is similar (e.g. gimp) can help

you get the most out of your images. it may be a little above some

photographers’ understanding, but what i want to show you is what

is possible if you choose to learn more about post production.

ideally you will set your camera up to get the best image you can

in-camera, but sometimes the effect you want may be too difficult

to create in reality, or perhaps something happened that meant the

photo you took wasn’t looking its best and you want to enhance it

back to looking beautiful again.

To start with i want to show you some images i entered into the

‘iris’ professional photography awards this year, and what they

looked like originally.

Well, a good start anyway...By ollie dale

making your images look their best is an often-overlooked part of photography. equally true isthat unless you’re shown what can bedone with images you

may have no idea of the potential you have

in the images you’ve taken.

Before

Before

Before

maSTeriNg PoST ProduCTioN

NZ Photographer

Sept

30 9

as you can see, the end result is a long way from the shot that

was taken in-camera! Creating images like this takes a bit of

imagination, but the skills of post production are the same as those

i use in my commercial photography, which tends to be much more

mundane imagery than the images above.

So, the foundation of post production lies in the photography

itself – it’s hard to paint a masterpiece with one colour of

paint, and similarly it’s hard to make amazing images out of

poor photographs.

most consumer compact digital cameras don’t support the raw

format, but if your camera of choice supports raw files, then you

should be shooting with it if you want to get the best from your

images. raw format lets you recompose your images after

shooting and in post-processing. You can modify sharpness,

saturation, contrast, exposure and colour tones, and also

reproduce the same image from that raw file again and

again. eVerY camera shoots in raw, it’s just that most compact

cameras then process that file into a JPg file in order to save

space on the memory card. most dSlr cameras will have an

option to shoot in raw, which then gives you much more latitude

for working on your images later.

regardless of the file type you’re dealing with there are a few

basic areas to post production that are constant:

do not apply any sharpening until the very, very end of your

post production. This is because sharpening can be compounded

by other image enhancing techniques, and can result in highly

contrasted edges and give an over-sharpened look or pixelated

areas in your image.

Work non-destructively – always save original versions of your

jpg images and work on copies. raw images can be returned to

their original state very easily, which is another reason to shoot

raw. if you have Photoshop, use adjustment layers rather than

applying effects to the base image. if you use gimp or similar,

duplicate your base layer before adding an effect, so you can

always return to the original if you need to. (Beware of huge file

sizes if you do it this way!)

Some image enhancing techniques should be applied to selected

areas of your image, not the whole image. either duplicate a

selected area of the image onto a new layer, and apply the effect

to the new layer, or use image masks to control what part of your

image is affected.

Calibrate your monitor so that what you see on screen is a

true representation of what your end product will look like. (use

hardware like the Colormunki, eye-one or Spyder calibrators).

When it comes to the images themselves, you should generally be

looking for the following points:

details in the highlights – white areas of your images •

should still have detail, and not be ‘blown out’. To

achieve this, take light readings from the brightest parts

of your image and expose in-camera for these areas.

details in the shadows – dark areas of your images •

should still have detail, and not be completely black

or ‘muddy’. This is not as important as details in your

highlights, but should still be strived for.

good tonal range – the tonal range of an image, at its •

most simple, refers to the range of tones between the

lightest and darkest areas of an image. for example,

an image with a wide tonal range will include both

dark and light areas (and a range of tones in between),

whereas an image with a narrow tonal range will cover

a more restricted range; i.e it may be predominantly

composed of mid-tones.

Correct colour-balance – depending on the •

colour of the light you shot your image in

(tungsten=yellow/orange, fluorescent=green,

cloudy=blue) and whether your white balance on

your camera was correct, you may have a coloured

image that needs correction to a proper white-

balance.

Composition – cropping and image rotation for example •

should be attempted in-camera, and perfected in post

production if needed. advanced image editing skills

can also be useful for re-creating parts of an image,

introducing new elements to an image, and removing

unwanted elements from an image.

Contrast, clarity and saturation – finally, each image •

should be inspected for possible improvements in

overall contrast, midtone contrast (clarity) and colour

saturation or vibrance. Sometimes images need a

boost in their colour, and sometimes images can

have too much colour, so controlling these elements is

crucial to obtaining the best images you can.

This article contributed by ollie dale, a professional photographer based in Parnell, auckland, and a qualified member of the

NZiPP (Commercial). more details can be found on his website, www.photonz.com

C

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出血版_1.pdf 2009/4/6 上午 11:54:15

NZ Photographer

Sept

30 11

PiC of TheBuNCh Single-image Competition (Compact)

WiNNer: melaNie BereS

once again, melanie’s entry shined in what was an

interesting category. We debated whether it was

oK for someone to win a competition twice, and

decided to leave the political correctness to politicians – the

winning image should be the best image submitted, regardless

of who took it. So congrats to melanie, and to those of you who

entered the first compact category!

melanie wins the fantastic NZ Photographer BBq set from Brand

Storming Promotions, and their cover image printed onto Canvas,

thanks to PhotoNZ.com

Brand Storming Promotions provides unique and pretty cool

apparel and promotional merchandise for any corporate event or

marketing strategy. To promote your business or to get something

branded with your logo, check out their website at

www.bsp.co.nz.

PhotoNZ.com can get your favourite images printed on high-

quality canvas at almost any size! hang your photography around

your home or office, or make highly personalised gifts for friends,

relatives and those people who seem to have everything. order

your canvas online at www.photonz.com.

NZ Photographer

Sept

30 12

The next issue of NZ Photographer (issue 6) has a how

To article on macro Photography, and the winner of

this open category competition will be announced in

issue 7 (11th November 2009). if you’re already up to speed

on macro photography then you’ll have a head-start, so get

shooting and send your entries in!

Send your best image to competitions@nzphotographer.co.nz

and you’ll go into the draw to win this fabulous prize:

get your image published, and be the cover of our next •

issue.

have your winning image printed on canvas, thanks to •

PhotoNZ.com

Plus, with summer just around the corner, get your greasy •

hands on this wicked BBq set, care of our friends at

Brand Storming Promotions.

Competition rules:

You should enter only one image, and only if you

are a subscriber to NZ Photographer.

The image should be emailed at full size.•

The image you enter must have been taken on •

or after September 30th 2009, and must be

taken on a compact camera.

You as the photographer

will retain all copyrights

to the image. By entering

your image you grant NZ

Photographer a non-exclusive

license to use the image in the

magazine and on the website

www.nzphotographer.co.nz.

NZ Photographer will not sell or make available

the image to any third party for any reason.

The judge’s decision is final, and is not open for

debate.

Next Single-image Competition (open)maCro/CloSe uP

NZ Photographer

Sept

30 13

There’s no better way to learn than by having your work

critiqued! in this section you get to have your work critiqued

by two professional photographers.

Becky Nunes has been a professional photographer for 16

years, and has worked for clients like air New Zealand, Penguin

Books, Tourism New Zealand, Sunday magazine, dish magazine

and eNZa. Becky is a member of the advertising and illustrative

Photographers association.

ollie has been a professional photographer for six years, and

has had clients such as the NZ herald, Visa, microsoft, Westpac,

unitec and BmW. he is also a qualified commercial member of the

New Zealand institute of Professional Photography.

Becky will give a technical critique of your images, for

those readers who want to know the technical issues that

can improve their images, and ollie will translate for all the

beginner photographers.

Camera: Canon eoS 30d

Shutter Speed: 1/2500 sec

aperture: f4.50

iSo: 400

BeCKY’S CommeNTS:

Nice work to freeze the moment and capture

some grit in the game; good use of

short depth of field.

The skin tones feel a bit red, and

perhaps a slightly de-saturated feel

could emphasise some more of that

grit, but my main comment would be

to suggest a crop to the right; lose the

lacklustre guy in the hoodie and you

have a much more dramatic image.

(oP 1).

ollieS CommeNTS: having

photographed a lot of sport myself,

i know how difficult it can be to get

a frame with the right kind of action

in it, and soccer/football must be

one of the hardest! a shot without

the ball is boring, but the ball is

only around for fractions of a

second at a time.

You’ve done well to get a frame

with the ball in it, and technically

it’s well done (blurry background

means we almost don’t notice the monstrous building, while the action

in the foreground has been stopped).

having said that, i think the moment has been missed – either just before

with the girl in yellow more dominant, or just after with the girl in red

controlling the ball. i agree with Becky about the crop, but i’d go in even

closer to really concentrate on the stopped action and remove all the

other distracting elements! (oP 2).

Your Work Critiqued Judges: Becky Nunes and ollie dale

SiZed uP

oP1

oP2

NZ Photographer

Sept

30 14

Auckland NZIPP presents

imag

es ©

Les

Wal

klin

glk

lLift Your Photographic Game... with

Les Walkling

Wed 11 November 2009, Piha Surf Club, Piha, Auckland $199 NZIPP / AIPA members $299 non-members

Book your place today - www.photonz.com/nzipp/atonic

Packed with education and info, at this one-day seminar you will learn:

Advancing Your Photoshop “Beyond the basics” Photoshop editing techniques

The Digital Fine Print Materials and techniques for the production of prints of exquisite quality.

“Les has an amazing amount of knowledge on the underpinnings of Photoshop. He is a scholar and a masterful educator. His art knowledge is outstanding. I walked away… with a wonderful sense of rich understanding but at the same time thirsty for more.” -Johannes van Kan FNZIPP

090814_TPM_2.indd 1 28/09/2009 5:51:39 p.m.

Camera: Canon eoS 30d

Shutter Speed: 1/640 sec.

aperture: f/5.6

iSo: 200

BeCKY’S CommeNTS:

Critical focus is key in macro imaging and i’m not sure

it is quite spot-on here.

also the tones feel a little ‘hot’; i’d like to see some more

depth in the mid and shadow range to allow for textural

detail to really emerge.(oP 1)

a tighter crop would avoid repetition in the image.

The photographer might want to consider moving to

allow some of that strong light to back-light the flowers

for a more glowing effect.

ollieS CommeNTS: i don’t actually mind about your

choice of depth-of-field here – to me the two vital parts of

the central flower are in focus, which is enough to keep me

happy. What does irk me though is the angle of the flower –

i keep wanting to tilt my computer screen to straighten it up!

also, as in the football shot above, i think this image could

be more interesting with a closer crop. (oP 2)

Thanks to our good friends at Brand Storming Promotions,

our two critiqued images earn their owners a pair of these

great little NZ Photographer binoculars! To get a pair of your

own, send an image to critique@nzphotographer.co.nz with a

brief description of how and why you took the shot, and we’ll

tell you what we think and if it could be improved!

if you want to promote your brand with products, corporate

gifts and apparel, visit www.brandstorming.co.nz.

Brand Storming Promotions – supplying unique and cool

apparel and promotional merchandise for any corporate

event or marketing strategy.

oP1

oP1

oP2

NZ Photographer

Sept

30 15

You’ve read about Street art from Trustme (NZ Photographer,

issue 4), so let’s get out there and find some amazing Street

art and shoot 4-6 images telling a story about it!

Next essay Call entry deadline: 5pm 12th october 2009

Winner Published: issue 6, 21st october 2009 (next issue!)

remember, plan your shots and send your best four to six images

to essays@nzphotographer.co.nz

if you didn’t read the article on how to shoot photo essays in

issue 1 you can download it here.

get your image in to win:

Be the cover of issue 6!•

have your best image printed on Canvas, thanks to •

PhotoNZ.com

Plus, with summer just around the corner, get your greasy •

hands on this wicked BBq set, care of our friends at Brand

Storming Promotions.

PhoTo eSSaY

eSSaY ruleS:

You should enter four to six images per essay, and 1.

only if you are a subscriber to NZ Photographer.

images should be sent through at full size, and can 2.

be on separate emails. The images you enter must

have been taken on or after September 9th 2009.

You as the photographer will retain all copyrights 3.

to the images. By entering your images you grant

NZ Photographer a non-exclusive license to use

the images in the magazine and on the website

www.nzphotographer.co.nz.

NZ Photographer will not sell or make available 4.

the images to any third party for any reason.

The judge’s decision is final, and is not open 5.

for debate.

The next essay Competition theme is: Street art (open category)

SePT 30 oCT 1 2

3 4 5

6 7 8

9 10 11

12 13 14

15 16 17

18 19 20 21

CaleNdaraddreSSeS

lopdell house

418 Titirangi rd,

Titirangi

unitec Bldg 1,

gate 1,

Carrington rd,

mt albert, auckland

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NZ Photographer due out!issue 5

PhoTograPhiC CluBShowick Camera Club

7.30pm. 1st, 3rd & 4th mondays each

month (excpet dec and Jan).

We meet in the howick Bridge Club in the

grounds of the howick recreation Center,

on the Pakuranga highway, just before

the intersection with

Botany road. See

www.howickcameraclub.org.nz

for more information.

Club President: Colin Tyler

North Shore Photographic Society

7:30pm. 1st, 2nd & 4th mondays

each month.

1st Wed – Workshop Night

2nd Wed – Projected image assessment

Night

4th Wed – Print assessment Night

We meet in the memorial hall, City

library building, The Strand, Takapuna

Club President: Kay hook

hutt Camera Club

7:45pm

2nd & 4th Tuesday of each month

for more information visit

www.huttcameraclub.org.nz

list your photographic club

or society here! email

clubs@nzphotographer.co.nz with details

of who you are and when and where

your next meeting is.

listing in this category is entirely free!

PSNZ Central regional Convention

oct 30th, 31st, & Nov 1st

Silverstream retreat, upper hutt.

great workshops, inspirational speakers, awesome field trips

- something for everyone! registrations are being accepted

online at www.get-a-grip.co.nz, so get a grip on

your camera and come along to a weekend full of fun,

learning and entertainment. everyone is welcome - you

don’t need to be a member of the PSNZ to attend.

Check out the convention blog on the website for all the

latest news!

Contact: Toya heatley hutt Camera Club Committee.

Jasmine Star – wedding photographer from orange CountyWorkshop held in January – more details to come

ComiNg SooN

We Need Your eVeNTS!

NZ Photographer

Sept

30 17

Sony recently announced two new cameras to both

its dSlr and Compact ranges, and to celebrate

they invited me to Wellington to show them off at a

Wellington Phoenix football game. This issue we’ll go over

the big daddy of the group – the a850.

Touted as an Slr with pro-style features, the a850 certainly

looks like your average Slr – but it’s what’s under the hood that

really makes the difference. it packs a whopping great sensor

measuring 24.6 megapixels, which is also full frame, and inbuilt

image stabilising with the SteadyShot iNSide™ system that is

proprietary to Sony dSlrs.

last year Sony released the a900 as their flagship dSlr, and

the a850 has many of the features that the a900 has – in fact,

it’s almost the same camera. The only major differences between

them are the frames-per-second rate of 3 in the a850 and 5 in the

a900, and a viewfinder coverage of 98 percent in the a850 as

opposed to 100 percent in the a900.

The other big difference is the price – the a850 rrP is $3999,

although a quick search showed me i can get it for $3749, while

on the same website the a900 was $4800.

So, what was the a850 like?

The hardest thing to overcome was my ‘with-my-eyes-closed’

familiarity with another brand of camera, especially as we were

thrown in the deep end – we were allowed onto the pitch during

the Wellington Phoenix’s warm up before the game, but only for

15 minutes. “here’s the camera, now you’ve got 15 minutes –

go!”... i spent the first 4 minutes trying to figure out how to change

the aperture...

once i got my head around the different layout and menu

screens, the camera seemed to work pretty well. it was quite

responsive shooting either

with live View or through

the viewfinder, and it felt

like any other dSlr to hold

and work with.

The inbuilt image

stabilising system means

that any lens you attach will

be stabilised, rather than

gear reVieWSoNY alPha a850 - 24.6 megapixels for under $4Kby ollie dale

stabilising each lens individually like other manufacturers’ designs. i

really noticed it too, as stadium lights are okay for TV but pretty poor

for still photography, but the a850 performed pretty well.

The body itself is a magnesium alloy, meaning it can take a few

brutal knocks and still perform at its best. The lens mount obviously

fits all the Sony lenses, but also the legacy lenses of the Konica

and Konica minolta brands. The other feature i liked was the dual

memory card slots, accepting both the Compact flash (type i and

ii) cards and/or the Sony memory Stick duo cards – you can load

both and change mid-shoot as often as you want.

Wrap-up: Sony has produced a camera that has almost all

the technology of its big brother a900 model, for less than

$4000. anyone who already has other brand Slr cameras

will struggle to find reasons to sell up and swap brands, but

for those of you who are looking to get into the world of

Slr, and need the super sized sensor and all the other bells

and whistles the a850 offers at a great price, then this could

quite well be the answer for you.

Photo By ollie dale

NZ Photographer

Sept

30 18

fuJifilm fiNePiX f70eXr

fujifilm recently announced a new

compact camera to their range –

the fujifilm finePix f70eXr – a

pocket-friendly shooter with a 10x wide

angle optical zoom, a case that’s just 22.7

millimeters thick, a 10 megapixel sensor

and a respectable price tag of NZ$699.

Their official blurb says “We know that good

things come in tiny packages – that’s why we’ve

launched the world’s smallest 10X zoom digital

camera! The fujifilm finePix f70eXr features

award-winning technology and is suitable

for any photography enthusiast who wants a

convenient camera without compromising on

picture quality.”

Could be a good Christmas present for

holiday-makers looking to avoid excess

baggage this summer?

Cool STuff

3d TV aT home

Sony has announced that it is bringing the experience of

looking absolutely ridiculous in 3d glasses home to the living

room. The initiative is starting in 2010 and will expand

through BraVia lCd hdTVs, Vaio machines, PlayStation 3, and

Blu-ray discs... and, while it’s not in the press release, we clearly

see a CyberShot digital camera in the

promotional video. it’s hard to say from the wording if all of

the listed product lines will go 3d next year, but from what we

gather there’ll at least be BraVia sets in time for that Christmas.

Curious to see the zaniest video this side of the second

dimension? Well, we don’t have that, but you can giggle your

way through Sony’s promo video here.

Source: engadget

NZ Photographer

Sept

30 19

iN The NeXT iSSue of NZ PhoTograPher…how To: macro Photography

have Your images CritiquedWinner: “Street art” essay

(get your essay in by monday 12th october)New Series: Simple Tips and Techniques to

improve Your Photography – Part 1:

everyone has seen that image that quite literally

stops you in your tracks . . . it’s so spectacular

that it doesn’t matter where you are – in a gallery,

reading a magazine, or perusing a friend’s photo album. it

immediately appeals and you linger on the image, taking

in the detail. it could be the colours, the composition or the

angle. You’re really not sure which of these is the reason

you like the image, you just know you can’t tear your eyes

away. This is the aim of every photographer – to capture

an image that speaks to the viewer. With a little practice,

you too can capture these visually appealing images by

applying a few simple techniques to your photography.

it will help turn your holiday snaps into photos that your

friends wish they could create.