Popular Photography Magazine

Looking at photographer Erik Johansson’s intricate photo manipulations, you might think of them more as digital art than photography. But in fact, Johansson explains, photography is one of the most important parts of his process—even if he uses the photos as raw material for his art. “I began learning image-editing as I learned digital photography, when I was 15,” says Norrköping, Sweden-based Johansson, now 25. “Photography is my way of expressing an idea. I’ll sketch the idea, and then use photography and software to make it happen.”

Eventually serious photographers outgrow the cameras they learn on and decide to step up to more advanced models. For the current Nikon system, that model is now the 16.2-megapixel D7000—a rugged body with nicer controls, faster bursts, and better AF than the D3100 or D5000. This $1,200 (street, body only) DSLR offers everything the aging D90 does, while adding 1080/24p video capture, a second memory card slot, and upgraded metering and AF systems. With all that going for it, we were eager to run it through our rigorous tests. In the Test Lab

A few months ago, we spent several days shooting with a preproduction sample—a not-quite-ready-for-prime- time version—of Canon’s EOS 60D ($1,100, street, body only), and described our favorable first impressions in the October 2010 issue of the magazine. But now that we’ve been able to see how a full production model performs in the Popular Photography Test Lab, it’s clear that this 18MP Canon is going to be a big star.

For landscape and scenic photographers, snowstorms bring a host of benefits you might not think of at first. They very effectively reduce visual clutter. Snow-covered ground can hide rocks, dirt, and weeds, and low clouds and falling snow blot out busy backgrounds. Foreground subjects can be isolated, standing out where they may have been camouflaged in a normal visual environment. With cloud cover, the lack of shadows also helps simplify a landscape.