Welcome

When there’s a learner driver on the road in front of us, it’s all too easy to get annoyed when they’re driving slowly, badly or taking their sweet time. However, I always try to relax and give these learners some space to do their thing – after all, we were all learner drivers once. The same can be said of photographers. When you see an absolute beginner all fingers and thumbs with their new Canon DSLR, it’s too easy to look down your nose. It’s not like we can ask beginners to wear L-plates on their cameras. Instead, we should remember back when we were beginners and how little we knew, cut these newbies some slack, and be on hand to offer a few pointers to assist our fellow amateurs. Whether you’ve just started taking photos with a new camera, or are a seasoned enthusiast, our main Canon skills refresher course this issue will help you take better photos (from page 28).

This issue we head to talented Canon pro photographer Tim Flach’s London studio with our Apprentice to learn how to capture human-like expressions in wildlife (page 8) by photographing two big birds of prey. We interview Jillian Edelstein about growing up in South Africa and photographing famous faces from Hollywood stars to world leaders (page 64). While in Canon School (from page 79) we look into options to get a job as a professional photographer, how to give your Canon DSLR and lenses a clean up, and we answer more of your technical questions. In Canon Skills we shoot paint sculptures underwater, look at how to get started in gig photography, and focus stack for macro shots, all including free video guides.

We’re also giving away a free 48-page preview guide to The Photography Show on 17-20 March, see over the page.