Welcome

OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL Technique Settings Kit tips How

This month’s contributors

Marjorie Becker Photographer As the latest Accidentally Wes

How to get your 23 STEP digital 1 gifts

BONUS SOFTWARE EXTRAS! Turn to page 83

How to shoot rock stars

Combining his twin passions of climbing and photography allows Sam Davis to scale the heights with his camera. Niall Hampton dons a hard hat

Prepare for war!

10 things you can shoot, edit or create this month, from sea creatures to classic cars and woodland streams

What lies beneath

2 | WILDLIFE

Burning chrome

3 | STILL-LIFE

Slow-sync party shot

4 | PORTRAITS

Woodland streams

5 | LANDSCAPES

Get into the scrum

6 | ACTION

How to capture an owl in flight

7 | WILDLIFE

See the city in black and white

8 | ARCHITECTURE

No such thing as bad weather…

9 | LANDSCAPES

Reflections challenge

10 | COMPETITION

LOCAL LANDSCAPES

Capture the varied landscapes within easy reach of your home, says James Abbott

PROJECT 1 WORK THE SEASONS

Take advantage of a location that’s close to home and capture it across all seasons

PROJECT 2 CAPTURE THE CANOPY

Take advantage of a simple approach that can be shot anywhere with trees

PROJECT 3 ALTERNATIVE LANDSCAPES

For creative results, use these techniques, viewpoints and approaches

PRO SHOT CAPTURE THE COAST

Living on a small island means we’re never too far away from the shore

PROJECT 5 HORIZONTAL OR VERTICAL?

When shooting a location that works well in

PROJECT 6 FOREGROUND INTEREST

Strong foreground interest is the perfect way to

PROJECT 7 SHOOT A MAGICAL WOODLAND SCENE

Take advantage of local woodlands so you can capture favourable weather conditions

PROJECT 8 SHOOT THE GOLDEN HOUR

Be on location before, during and after golden hour to maximise opportunities

MORE PHOTO IDEAS

Here are three more ideas to make the use of interesting buildings in your local landscapes

CAMERA CINIC

Master the art of modern photography

Night photography

Keep your shutter finger busy during the long winter nights ahead

Camera know-how White balance

Fine-tune colour with white balance

Camera tech Battery life

Keep your energy levels up and shoot all night long

Shoot photos like a pro

Enjoying a night out with the camera can be great fun

Camera skills Shoot the moon

Making the most of photographing our own satellite

Pro tip Making light work

Add your own light by painting with a torch

MEET YOUR TRAINERS

Edit like a pro with their expert insights

Get rid of distractions with a single click

It’s easy to tidy up images with Distraction Removal in Photoshop, says James Paterson

Make your colours pop

Sean McCormack balances Saturation and Vibrance in Lightroom for maximum colour

Get more from Levels

Try this useful creative and corrective tool in Photoshop and Elements, says James Abbott

How to fix a dull day

Wendy Evans wonders what Affinity Photo 2 can do to brighten up grey and gloomy weather

How to swap skies

Sean McCormack controls the weather in ON1 Photo RAW

Photo Answers

Hazy about the Highlight Alert function? Stumped by silhouette shots? Send your technique and camera questions to digitalcamera@futurenet.com

The art of seeing

Benedict Brain seeks beauty in the banal and explores the relationship between humanity and nature on a Caribbean island

Hotshots

Winning images from the 2024 Epson International Pano Awards, celebrating the best in panoramic photography

Reader gallery

Digital Camera readers show how they’ve been getting creative, submitting images across a range of genres

Shot of the month

Josh Dury captured an annular solar eclipse over the ancient Moai sculptures of Rapa Nui

New Fujifilm compact

The latest photography news from around the globe

Focal point

Rounding up what’s new and exciting

New version of classic Tamron macro prime

90mm F2.8 Di III Macro VXD for Sony E and Nikon Z is an update of a popular lens that launched back in 1979

Win a DJI drone!

In our latest competition, we’re giving away a DJI Neo Fly More Combo, worth £299/$289

Photography Show tickets on sale now

The essential event for photo enthusiasts runs from 8-11 March 2025 at ExCeL London

DxO ViewPoint 5

Leading perspective correction tool can now apply powerful localised reshaping and lens correction

Scanning ahead…

This year was all about new camera releases, but Jon Devo wonders what 2025 has in store

KitZone

New gear, buying tips and the world’s toughest tests

Marjorie Becker

As the latest Accidentally Wes Anderson book goes on sale, Niall Hampton catches up with the project’s official photographer

GoPro Hero13 Black

From £399/$399 (camera)

Pentax 17 £499/$499

Though it may not be the film camera that many had hoped for, it could be the perfect camera for right now https://pentax.eu

Sigma 28-105mm F2 .8 DG DN Art £1,399/$1,499

Takes fast standard zooms further into telephoto territory ww w.sigmauk.com

Sturdy tripods

We’ve rated all the latest best-buy tripods from compact travel models to full-sized sticks – and this is the long and short of it

3 Legged Thing Pro 2.0 Winston £271/$399

The biggest and sturdiest tripod kit in the Pro 2.0 carbon fibre range 3leggedthing.com

How we test From head to toe, we give each tripod in our Group Test a thorough workout

W e measure the maximum operating height of

3 Legged Thing Punks Corey 2.0 £162/$179

An immaculate tripod that’s more than the sum of its cleverly designed parts 3leggedthing.com

Also consider... Benro Go Plus Travel FGP28C & B1 head £353/$460

This robust and sturdy kit has a surprisingly versatile feature set for a travel tripod

Benro Mach3 TMA27C £331/$449

Simple and elegant, the Mach3 has a relatively conventional design

Also consider... Kenro Karoo Ultimate Travel KENTR401C £219/$281

Despite being a travel tripod, the Kenro is particularly tall and rich in features

Benro Rhino 05C VX20 £179/$216

A recent design from Benro, the Rhino is a compact but sturdy and dependable kit uk.benroeu.com

Also consider... Manfrotto 190go! + XPRO Ball £498/$719

The latest in Manfrotto’s universally popular 190 series of tripods is good to go!

Manfrotto Befree Pro GT 3-Way £284/$329

This travel-friendly kit features a video-friendly three-way head www.manfrotto.com

Also consider... Manfrotto Befree Advanced AS £174/$200

A lightweight but complete Befree travel tripod kit with ball head from Manfrotto

Manfrotto MT055CXPRO3 £508/$698

Big and sturdy, this weighty Manfrotto is a stickler for tradition www.manfrotto.com

Also consider... Vanguard VEO 3GO 235CB £200/$220

This recent incarnation of the VEO 3GO is ideally suited to the selfie generation

Peak Design Travel tripod £329/$379

An innovative travel tripod available in aluminium or carbon fibre editions peakdesign.com

Playing the angles

Pivoting centre columns are great for macro and extreme wide-angle shooting

Vanguard VEO 3+ 303CBS £499/$499

It’s billed as Vanguard’s most stable and versatile photographic tripod kit so far vanguardworld.co.uk

How low can you go?

Options for really low-level shooting sometimes go right down to ground level

The winner is… 3 Legged Thing Pro 2.0 Winston

Winston is a worthy winner of our three-legged race of the most sturdy modern tripods