Welcome

This issue is Digital Camera’s 250th, and we

Winter wonderlands

Demiray Oral visits The Roaches in the Peak District to take on the difficult shooting conditions of the season

Red kite at night

Richard Biggs explains how you can showcase beautiful birds of prey

Time for reflection

Think outside the box to produce interesting results, says Roddy Llewellyn

Fairground attraction

Keith Eccles takes the opportunity to shoot eyecatching portraits while the fun fair is in town

The old ways

Guy Bellingham shares the magic of shooting vintage tintypes

Perfect petals

Helen Farlow makes the most of the great British weather to shoot interesting macro compositions

Perfect pie photography

Claire Gillo uses natural light to get creative Christmas shots

Station slowdown

James Artaius controls time with a slow shutter and stabilisation

Oar-some scenics

Kate Baxter surrounds her life with water

250 Tried & tested photo tips

H appy birthday to us – Digital Camera

1 LANDSCAPES

25 tips for successful shooting in one of the most popular – and accessible – genres of photography

2 WILDLIFE

Bolster your wildlife portfolio with our top advice from professional photographers

3 ACTION

Squeeze every last ounce of performance out of your camera, and immortalise action-packed moments

4 ASTRO

Capture exquisite imagery in the dead of night with our pro advice for star-studded astro photos

5 PORTRAITS

Capture people shots full of flair and personality with a combination of technical and interpersonal skills

6 MACRO

Bring tiny critters to life with extraordinary detail using macro lenses, camera hacks and close-up imagery

7 ABSTRACT

A different way of thinking is required in order to tap into your creative energy and make mesmerising works of abstract art

8 NATURE

Capture the wonders of nature in all its glory with your camera and our expert advice

9 STREET

Shooting real life as it happens needs a distinctive approach and skill set: just keep it simple

10 EDITING

Photographs are the raw materials; the editing suite is where you stamp your mark and bring your digital dish together

Camera College

The complete guide to modern photography

Set up your camera for low light

Work with your camera rather than against it, and you’ll have a happier night-time experience

High-ISO exposure test

If you’re shooting in a particularly dark area

Add a starburst effect

Use a narrow aperture to bring some extra sparkle to the lights in your pictures

Paint a scene with light

Bring a pitch-black scene to life with a few brushes of a house hold torch

Camera skills How to become a light artist

Pack plenty of camera and torch batteries: this technique is addictive!

Shield the front of your lens

Block unwanted stray light to improve the contrast and colour of your city scenes

Camera skills Noise reduction

Hide bright spots revealed by a long exposure

Camera skills Bracketing

Capture the full range of detail in-camera

Enhance the low light

Experiment with white balance settings to find a palette to suit your night-time shots

Night photography tips

You won’t go wrong if you…

Reader challenge Night shoots

Enter your best shot to win a copy of Affinity Photo for Windows or macOS worth £49/$50

And the winner of the Halloween challenge is…

Pauline Graham Amina Grigore In issue 248, we

Master LUTs in Affinity Photo

Use our 10 free lookup tables or create your own, for a host of beautiful colour treatments

Discover Excire Foto and Excire Search

Find any photo from your collection in moments with these catalogue tools

Turn back time for a stylish retro look

Use your free Actions to apply cool, retro effects to any picture, then get your shot ready for a high-quality print in one click

The Masking Panel

Camera Raw and Lightroom are treated to a major editing update in their latest versions

How to get pure white backgrounds

Give studio shots the professional look with Lightroom’s new masking tools

Switch and control your colours

Learn a variety of important editing skills using colour and saturation tools

Photo Answers

Antagonised by autofocus? Unhinged by underexposure? Send your technique and camera questions to digitalcamera@futurenet.com

The art of seeing

Surreal snowflakes and photo fun inspire Benedict Brain this festive season

Hotshots

Highlights f rom Close-up Photographer of the Year 2021, an annual global competition celebrating close-up, macro and micro photography

Reader gallery

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

Shootout

In a special three-round edition, two readers show us their wildlife photography skills at the Big Cat Sanctuary in Kent. Are they feline up for the challenge, asks Niall Hampton

Shot of the month

Lucia Herrero addresses gender issues within a rural community in this series

In Focus

The latest photography news from around the globe

Behind the lens

www.mikemccartney.com Sonny McCartney Mike says: “One of the

Scanning ahead...

Jon Devo invites you into the Metaverse – the future of photography on the internet

KitZone

New gear, buying tips a nd the world’s tough est tests

Art Wolfe

You’d think this veteran travel photographer had seen it all – but, as Graeme Green discovers, his thirst for adventure remains

Nikon Z 9 £5,299/$5,499

It’s late to the pro mirrorless party – but what an entrance!

GoPro Hero10 Black £479/$499

An action cam that’s better at everything www.gopro.com

Fujifilm GFX 50S II

£3,499/$3,999

Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6 -8 IS USM £649/$649

A super-affordable super-telephoto

Let there be light

Pick a lighting kit to fit your needs and budget. Here are our best buys across three categories