STACK #234 April 2024

TECH FEATURE

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Q & A

Pro tips

We asked Mark Galer, Sony Digital Imaging Ambassador, for some insider tips on capturing the perfect photo, and what to look out for when choosing a digital camera. M ark Galer is a renowned photographer, educator, world What should you consider when buying a camera? BEHIND THE LENS

attention to either choosing a background that doesn’t detract from the primary subject, or one that includes elements that can help create ‘leading lines’ to direct the viewers attention to the focal point of my image. A photographer’s position, or ‘vantage point’, in relation to the subject, is an extremely powerful tool for creative design. All recent Sony Alpha cameras now have ‘AI Subject Recognition’, which helps the photographer quickly acquire focus, and maintain accurate focus on the subject, even when it is partly obscured or moving quickly. Sony cameras are widely regarded as having the best focus systems of any camera brand. Using a late-model Alpha camera, amateur photographers can now handle challenging subjects that previously could only be captured by experienced sports photographers. What is your camera of choice? I use the Alpha 1 for my sports photography, and the ‘Compact’ A7CII and A6700 cameras when travelling light. What new camera tech are you excited about? Portrait Position your subject in soft and flattering ‘open shade’ or ‘window light’ rather than using harsh direct sunlight or artificial lighting. Landscape Consider including subject matter in the foreground, middle distance and distance, within the composition, to send the viewer on a journey of discovery when viewing your photograph. Also consider whether the best vantage point is to be found very low to the ground or higher than eye level. Flippy ‘vari-angle monitors’ make this creative task very easy. Night and low light Consider purchasing at least one wide aperture ‘prime lens’ so that you can avoid having to use a flash. Also make sure that you have enabled ‘SteadyShot’ for stills or ‘Active SteadyShot’ for movie capture. Look for cameras that feature IBIS if you want to avoid using a tripod.

It’s advisable to first decide on the format (size of imaging sensor, e.g., APS-C or full-frame) and whether your primary use for the camera is capturing

traveller, and storyteller, with a commercial background in editorial photography, having published 30 books for Focal Press (before switching his focus to YouTube). He was Program Director and Senior Lecturer of photography

‘stills’ or ‘moving Images’/ vlogging. Your budget will stretch a little further when choosing an APS-C camera over a full-frame camera. Full-frame cameras, however, provide the optimum image quality. Lenses designed for APS-C cameras, such as the A6400 and A6700, tend to be smaller, lighter, and cheaper than the full-frame equivalents — although Sony have a range of very light ‘G’ lenses for their full-frame cameras. What factors do you consider to capture the perfect photo? My primary creative decisions include choosing which subjects I want in sharp focus, and which subjects I want to blur. I will also decide whether to apply settings that will either freeze or blur a moving subject. What composition techniques are the most effective? When composing an image, I will pay a lot of

Mark Galer

at Melbourne’s RMIT University and now uses his wealth of experience to support the photographic community. Mark was appointed a Sony Digital Imaging Ambassador in 2012 and was happy to give STACK an insight into his creative process. What are the advantages of using a digital camera over a smartphone camera? There is more creative freedom when using an interchangeable lens camera compared to a smartphone. An Alpha camera allows the user to precisely take control of the look and feel of the images and movies they create, whether it be to precisely track focus on a speeding subject, blur the background by just the right amount, or to zoom in to capture a distant subject.

Need help?

There is guidance available for newcomers who purchase an Alpha camera, including my own YouTube channel and Alpha support channel – Patreon. com/markgaler – where I share how I register groups of settings so that I can quickly recall them from the Shoot Mode Dial on top of the camera (1, 2 or 3). This ensures I always have appropriate settings for the creative ‘task-in-hand’ (without having to dive into the menus each and every time).

Photo credit: Mark-Galer

14 APRIL 2024

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