Want to take your best ever photos this summer? Of course you do! And the June ’09 issue of Practical Photography will help you do exactly that. If our FREE tip cards aren’t enough to satiate your lust for photographic goodness, our giant RAW feature will have you shooting RAWs and taking advantage of the format’s superlative image quality and control in no time, while an exposé of a new and exciting self-portrait craze will have you logging onto Flickr quicker than you can say ‘Freud’s defence mechanism’. Elsewhere, Jeremy Walker wraps up his location guide with a walk along Britain’s most photogenic rivers and waterfalls, DSLR Skills Course takes an in-depth look at low light photography, and Gear Guide gets under the bonnets of the Canon EOS 500D and Nikon D5000…
Why aren’t you shooting RAW?
It’s a good question! RAW offers the best possible image quality, limitless creative potential and a whole lot more, and yet photographers are still shooting JPEGs, despite having spent a small fortune on kit. Here we take a detailed look at why RAW is best, how to work with RAWs and offer 10 quick fix solutions to get you up and running. Your photos will thank you for it!
Young, talented and female
There’s an edgy self-portrait craze sweeping the globe and PP is first on the case! Fuelled by Flickr and a need to express themselves to a global audience, young, talented and female photographers the world over are shooting amazing images - we speak to seven self-portraits stars to get beneath the skin of this phenomena.
An Antarctic adventure
Holiday Photographer of the Year winner Steve Langton reports back from the icy climes of the Antarctic. Serene snow-capped volcanoes, glaciers the size of small countries, penguins aplenty and jaw-dropping sunsets – Steve’s stunning images capture the frozen splendour of the southernmost continent.
DSLR Skills Course
Module 4 explores the virtues of low light photography, and shows you how to take control of ISO, shutter speed and aperture and move your pictures forward. Three simple projects, from low light portraits to urban landscapes, will help you get to grips with the techniques needed to master this diverse subject.
Gear guide
HD video capture is the new technology on everyone’s lips, and none more so than the major manufacturers’, who’ve busied themselves with equipping their latest DSLRs. Canon’s EOS 500D is the latest to go down the HD route and the PP testers have spent weeks putting it through its paces, even going so far as to fly upside down in a biplane in the name of investigative journalism. Also, find out how the Nikon D5000 and Olympus E-620 fare in the face of such highflying company, and see which holiday compact really is waterproof…
