Review Digital Camera World 07-20-2014

Digital Camera World

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A layman's guide to battery grips Jul 19th 2014, 23:01, by jmeyer What is a battery grip and how do you use it? If you're new to photography you might understandably have a few questions about some of the equipment. There are a number of things you need to consider when buying a battery grip and using it for the first time. In our latest layman's guide to fundamental gear we answer some of the most common questions photographers have about battery grips. What are battery grips? A battery grip that's dedicated to specific camera bodies generally enables the fitment of an extra regular Li-ion camera battery, and often gives the additional option of running the camera from a number of regular AA batteries. What are battery grips good for? One of the biggest selling points of a battery grip is that the main shutter button and some other controls are duplicated. This enables much more comfortable and intuitive handling when using the camera in portrait (upright) orientation. A lock for the secondary shutter release button is often fitted, to guard against accidental firing with the palm of your hand in landscape orientation shooting. SEE MORE: Battery grip anatomy – what’s inside and what does it do? Who makes battery grips? Own-brand battery grips are available for most makes and models of SLR. However, they often tend to be pricey, costing up to £250 and sometimes even more than that. For a good-quality independent make, Hähnel is a popular option, often giving a saving of more than 50 per cent. However, be wary of cheap unbranded grips, which may be poorly made and unreliable in operation. When should I use a battery grip? With capacity for two camera batteries, or one battery in addition to the existing battery in the camera, a battery grip can effectively double your shooting life before you need to swap cells. As we've mentioned, they're much more comfortable for portrait-orientation shooting, but can also make the camera bigger and more natural to handle for landscape-orientation shots. How do I attach a battery grip to my DSLR? Battery grips attach to the underside of the camera, securing via the threaded tripod socket. In some cases, a cover flap needs to be removed to enable connections. In others, a protruding upright section slots upwards into the battery chamber. Two more things you should know about battery grips… Grips that enable you to still fit a battery into the camera usually only have space for one additional battery in the grip itself (see top of this page); although, they often have a tray for using AA batteries as an alternative. With some grips you can't fit a battery into the actual camera (see above), but you can usually put two camera batteries or a number of AA batteries into the grip itself. READ MORE Best photo accessories: transform your pictures for less than £100 Best photo backpacks: 6 top models tested and rated A layman’s guide to memory cards Best monitor for photo editing: 4 top models tested and rated Behind the Image: Fran Halsall on shooting in extreme conditions Jul 19th 2014, 11:00, by jmeyer To celebrate the lead up to PhotoLive 2014, we'll be featuring a different image from each photographer speaking at the event. Sometimes a spectacular image happens when you least expect it. Fran Halsall explains how a long walk, a steep scramble and triumphing in the face of adversity has lead to the creation of one of her favourite images. High Cup Nick, near Dufton in Cumbria. Image copyright Fran Halsall This is one of my favourite pieces of work because the amount of effort was totally justified by the results.  Some locations are just plain awkward and High Cup Gill is certainly one of these. Firstly it is a long walk followed by a steep scramble, and secondly the combination of the valley's southwest to northeast orientation and its height means that throughout most of the year substantial shadows are cast across it at sunrise and sunset. The only way to get around this is to wait until the light floods up the valley at sunset in midwinter and accept that this will mean walking back in the dark. While this sounds like a reasonable strategy what it actually meant was that from the intended viewpoint, looking southwest, it would mean shooting directly into the sun's path. Under normal conditions the backlit landscape would be silhouetted, however by waiting until there was a covering of snow the foreground is distinguishable from the background. SEE MORE: The best camera settings for sunsets (free photography cheat sheet) Snow has wonderfully reflective properties and is the ideal medium to work with in such circumstances. Put simply no snow, no photograph. To make this possible I had to travel to Cumbria before the weather deteriorated and then wait 4 or 5 days at minus temperatures for the sun to reappear. Despite the favourable (if chilly) conditions there were still technical hurdles to overcome as pointing the camera right at the sun not only creates exposure difficulties, with misleading meter readings and lens flare, but it is also potentially damaging for both eyes and camera sensor. Fortunately linear rolls of cloud between my viewing position and the sun provided the solution. As the sun sank below them the light slowly reached up the valley, taking many minutes to reach me, and this image was shot before the sun appeared directly in the frame. This has created the best possible combination of warm-coloured sunlit snow contrasting with areas softly illuminated by scattered blue skylight. Importantly this kept the contrast within a much more manageable range, although it still required the combination of two exposures during post-processing: the first at a plus one compensation for the snow and the other set at a stop under to retain detail around the sun. These were better conditions that could have been hoped for and the balance between areas of directly illuminated snow, those lit only with reflected skylight and the dark rocks make a graphically strong and exciting image. Fran shot this image at 21mm using a Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L on a Canon EOS 5D Mark II at  ISO 100, 1/15sec & 1/30sec at f/16. Fran is running two sessions at PhotoLive 2014. Weather Watching Intimate Landscapes You can find Fran on Facebook and check out her website to see more of her amazing pictures. PhotoLive takes place in Leeds (23 Aug), Edinburgh (30 Aug) and London (06 Sep). You can view the full schedule and book tickets at photo-live.com. Use code DCAM20 and get 20% off your ticket. READ MORE Professional Photographer to the Rescue: seaside sunset photography made easy Silhouette photography: tips for shooting into the sun How to replace a sky: Photoshop effects to make your landscapes more attractive Sky photography: how to take pictures of the sky that dramatically fill your frame

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