Hello and welcome to the latest issue of Digital Photographer magazine. There’s a wealth of great content awaiting you this month. First up, we’ve got an in-depth portraiture masterclass. We cover six styles at home, in the studio and in natural light. There’s also advice for high-key lighting, low-key shots, black & white effects, one-light setups and more.

Meanwhile, our professional macro workshop includes tips for sourcing the best subjects, setting up your equipment and using the perfect settings for your shot.

For those of you who are keen to improve your images, don’t miss our 13-page guide to taking better photos. It includes advice for landscapes, portraiture, black and white, travel and wildlife shots, plus loads of tips from pro photographers.

Elsewhere in the magazine, we delve into the daily life of a photojournalist, answer your questions about going pro and chat with wildlife photographer Elliott Neep about how he’s living the dream.

That’s not all, though. Reviews this issue include a head-to-head between the Pentax 645D and the Sigma SD1 Merrill, the Nikon D4 is put to the test, as are the Tokina AT-X 17-35mm f4 Pro FX and Canon TS-E 17mm f4L lenses. We also got a roundup of essential wedding gear, our top ten masking programs and loads more besides.

Digital Photographer issue 122 is available to buy now from all good newsagents, supermarkets and online at the official Imagine Publishing store. iPhone, iPad and Android users can purchase their copies from the GreatDigitalMags storefront.

Digital Photographer magazine has teamed up with Capture Safaris to bring you a fantastic wildlife photography competition. We’re inviting you to enter your best wildlife images for a chance to win an incredible African photo adventure!

The prize

The winning photographer will get to choose one of three amazing seven-day Capture Safaris tours for the ultimate photographic experience:

• Birds, Beast & Feast Trip to Ruaha/Selous  29 October – 4 November 2012

• Big Cats of the Serengeti 11 November – 18 November 2012

• Calving Season in the Serengeti  15 March – 22 March 2013

The tour combines the experience of an African safari with expert tuition from a pro photographer on-hand during your trip. You’ll have an experienced tour guide to help you explore the landscape and track the game. Your guide will help you to get into the ideal position for capturing the best shots throughout your safari.
After a day’s shooting, you’ll rest your head in some of the best camps and lodges, ensuring you enjoy a touch of luxury for a truly memorable experience. Workshops are held each evening in-camp so you can share your photos with your fellow travellers and learn new tricks to try out the next day. Here are just a few of the great reasons why you should enter today:

• Specialist photography tuition
• Trained guide
• Only four people per vehicle

• Plenty of space in the car to shoot from
• Maximum of eight people per tour
• Luxury accommodation
• Flights included

• Practitioners of responsible tourism

How to enter

Simply email us your best wildlife photograph for a chance to win this amazing prize. You can only send one photo, so make sure it’s your best shot!

1. Pick your best wildlife shot
2. Ensure it is high-resolution, 300dpi and at least 23cm wide
3. Email your image to safari.comp@dphotographer.co.uk by 21st May 2012
4. Winner is announced in issue 123 of Digital Photographer

Visit the Capture Safaris website to find out more about their amazing photo trips

Competition Terms and Conditions

Your image must be your own. Images that have won previous competitions will not be accepted. Please do NOT watermark your image. Your image credit will be added by the Digital Photographer design team. Imagine Publishing and its partners have the right to substitute the prize for similar items of equal or higher value. Employees of Imagine Publishing (including freelancers), their relatives or any agents and employees of Capture Safaris are not eligible to enter this competition.

By entering this competition you agree for Digital Photographer, its licensed editions and Capture Safaris to use your image for promotional purposes within the context of this competition. The editor’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Prizes cannot be exchanged for cash. Full terms and conditions are available on request. From time to time, Imagine Publishing and Capture Safaris may send you related material or special offers. If you do not want to receive this, please state it clearly on your competition entry.

The winner is responsible for arranging their own travel/kit insurance for the duration of the trip. Immunisation jabs may be required. You must be available to travel during the dates specified on one of the three trip options.

Step 1

Go to Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask. Select Amount 20, Radius 50 and Threshold 0. This is a ‘magic setting’ that instantly adds local contrast enhancement to your images.

Step 2

Now, duplicate your Background layer and change the blending mode to Soft Light.

Step 3

Now, go to Filter>Other>High Pass and select a subtle radius value. We’ve opted for 5.2 in this example. Flatten the layers and you’re done!

GreatDigitalMags.com is a fantastic, brand new portal for purchasing Imagine Publishing’s great range of magazines in digital format for iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle, BlackBerry, Windows 7 and for desktop download.

For more information, please visit GreatDigitalMags.com 

When shooting with an external flash on-camera, you will get far better results by bouncing the flash off the ceiling (or a nearby wall) than by simply pointing the flash directly at the subject. Most flash units include a small white card that’s tucked into the flash head. This can be extended to provide catchlights when bouncing the flash.

To get your hands on a copy of McAfee’s All Access Security software and safe guard your electronic devices, enter the competion below.

Competition

To enter, select the correct answer and send either A, B or C in an email to hayley.paterek@imagine-publishing.co.uk with the subject line McAfee by the 31st May 2012. The winners will be notfied and receive their copy of this fantsatic software worth £74.99!

Question -In a website address, what do the letters WWW stand for?

Answer -   

A Website World Wide

B World Wide Web

C World Working Website

About McAfee All Access Security Software

McAfee All Access (MAA) enables users to secure smartphones, tablets, netbooks, PC and Macs with the optimal level of security protection for each device. It protects users from risky websites, stops web and email threats and detects or blocks viruses so that users can browse, shop and communicate on the move, safely and securely. MAA also allows users to locate, lock or even remotely wipe their smartphones, laptops and tablets in the event of loss to help protect personal information. For more information, please visit the McAfee website.

Step 1

Duplicate the Background layer (by dragging it onto the ‘Create a new layer’ button at the bottom of the Layers palette) and then Go to Filter>Blur>Motion Blur.

Step 2

Drag the Distance slider to the right. You can leave the Angle adjustment at its default setting.

Step 3

Click on the ‘Add a mask’ button at the bottom of the Layers palette. Then press ‘B’ on your keyboard to activate the brush tool and paint the sand back into sharp focus. This way, only the water and clouds are affected by the Motion Blur. Tweak the Curves or Levels if the image needs more contrast after Motion Blur has been added.

Perfect Effects 3 now available as a free edition!

Portland, OR – April 9, 2012

onOne Software, Inc., a leading developer of innovative, time-saving solutions for professional, advanced amateur, and hobbyist photographers, today announced the availability of Perfect Effects 3 Free Edition. Based on the award-winning Perfect Effects 3 engine, Perfect Effects 3 Free is a robust photography effects software program for image enhancement and creative stylization. It may be used as a standalone application, as an external editor for Apple Aperture, Adobe Lightroom or as a Photoshop plug-in, including the new Lightroom 4 and Adobe Photoshop CS6 beta.

Perfect Effects 3 Free provides photographers with select content and capabilities from the full- featured edition, while maintaining core functionality and without restrictions of a traditional 30-day timed trial or the addition of watermarks to images. Perfect Effects 3 Free also includes onOne Software’s Perfect Layers module that photographers can use to create and edit multi-layered files directly from Lightroom or Aperture.

“Our goal is to build simple yet powerful software for all those who love photography,” said Craig Keudell, president of onOne Software. “Offering this free version of our most popular tool is just another way we can give back to photographic community, provide value to our onOne customers, and help photographers of all skill levels create extraordinary images quickly and easily.”

Key benefits of Perfect Effects 3 Free Edition:

Library of Professional-grade, Photographic Effects: Perfect Effects 3 Free offers more than two-dozen photographic effects that can be used individually or combined, providing photographers with many options to achieve their photographic vision. The library includes effects to recreate the look of HDR, black and white and cross processing. It also includes effects that create stylized and vintage effects with just one click.

Live Preview: Photographers can now preview each effect on their image in real time before applying it, saving them time and giving them a great way to explore their creative options. This is made possible with the new effects engine developed from the ground up for Perfect Effects 3.

Effect Stacking: Effects can be combined and stacked on top of each other, resulting in unique looks, just like stacking filters on a camera lens. The strength and how each effect blends may be controlled, giving photographers the same functionality as Photoshop’s opacity and blending modes.

Masking Controls: Perfect Effects 3 Free includes the same masking tools from the standard edition of Perfect Effects 3, giving photographers the greatest amount of control for where effects are applied. The Masking Brush can be used to hide or reveal an effect in a specific area of the image. The Masking Bug, an elegant, adjustable gradient mask tool, can be used to create vignettes and graduate filter looks.

Includes Perfect Layers: Perfect Effects 3 Free also includes Perfect Layers as a free module that allows photographers to combine multiple images from Lightroom, Aperture, or any application, into a single layered file. Perfect Layers can be used to blend exposures, swap heads, or replace skies before creative effects are added. It includes basic tools like cropping, moving, and spot retouching, and also allows control of layer size, position and blending mode.

Supports Any Workflow: Perfect Effects 3 Free integrates seamlessly into a photographer’s workflow of choice. It works as a plug-in to both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, as an external editor for Lightroom or Aperture, and may be used as a standalone application.

Additional Effects: Additional effects may be purchased in preset packs from the onOne Marketplace at http://www.ononesoftware.com/marketplace.

Perfect Effects 3 Free is now available at no cost as a download from onOne Software. It may be downloaded from http://www.ononesoftware.com/free. Owners of Perfect Effects 3 or Perfect Photo Suite 6 already have the full functionality of Perfect Effects 3 Free and should not install this free edition.

onOne Software, Inc., a leading developer of innovative software tools for photographers, develops timesaving software solutions for professional and advanced amateur photographers. onOne Software solutions have been created to help photographers spend more of their time behind the camera taking pictures instead of the computer workstation. Such solutions include a wide range of easy-to-use standalone applications and plug-in enhancements for Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Photoshop Lightroom, Apple Aperture, and iPhone and iPad applications. Founded in 2005, onOne Software is a privately held company located in Portland, Oregon. For additional information, visit http://www.ononesotware.com or call 1-888-968-1468.

onOne Software, Inc., a leading developer of innovative software tools for photographers, develops timesaving software solutions for professional and advanced amateur photographers. onOne Software solutions have been created to help photographers spend more of their time behind the camera taking pictures instead of the computer workstation. The products include a wide range of easy-to-use applications and plug-in enhancements for Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Photoshop Lightroom, Apple Aperture applications and the iPhone and iPad. Founded in 2005, onOne Software is a privately held company located in Portland, Oregon. For additional information, visit http://www.ononesoftware.com or call 1-888-968-1468.

General Press Inquiries: press@ononesoftware.com

Online Press Center: http://www.ononesoftware.com/press

onOne Software Blog: http://www.ononesoftware.com/blog

Shoot the sky at night

Learn how to capture star trails, moon phases and comets with your regular DSLR.

Cityscapes skills guide

Expert tips and trick to help you capture the movement of a city.

Copyright: the facts

Be clear on your image rights and protect your shots.

Shoot celebrations with style

Practical ways to capture fun and creative party shots.

Also inside…
The recession and photography – how are manufacturers coping?
Win a £6,000 photo safari
Insider’s guide to photographing Rome
Improve your portrait skills
Photo helpdesk and image critique
Supersize your shots
How to retouch glass
Learn the basics of Layer Masks
Improve your customer service skills
Be inspired by the work of Joao Carlos
Olympus OM-D E-M5 review
Canon PowerShot G1 X on test
Nikkor 85mm f1.8 lens review
Panasonic 14-42mm f3.5 lens review
Frame your prints in style

When you are working in Photoshop, you’ll get better quality results for producing big prints by performing any editing you want to do in 16 Bits/Channel mode rather than 8 Bits/Channel. Shoot in your camera’s RAW mode and ensure that your RAW processing software is set to output your files in 16 Bit/Channel mode.