APS-C vs Full Frame: The Sales Numbers No One Talks About
Full frame cameras dominate headlines, but APS-C models are quietly outselling them by a wide margin. Shipments in 2025 show a gap that challenges the idea that bigger sensors are the obvious end goal.
5 Top Tips On How To Use Window Light For Indoor Portraits
Daylight is free and it is wonderful for portrait work as not only is it flattering and photogenic but it's really easy to work with so it's a good place for beginners to start. You don't need a fancy studio, either, as you can pick a location outdoors or simply set-up next to a window in your own home.
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1. Light & Time Of DayTo take good portraits with light from a window you don't need a lot of space but do try and avoid an area/time of day where direct sunlight is flowing through the window to avoid contrast problems. If you can, work on an overcast day because the light will be naturally diffused and won't be too harsh.
As we are working with window light, you don't want other light sources spoiling your shot so turn your house lights off for neutral results.
2. Use A Reflector
You'll probably need to bounce some light onto your subject's face and the best way to do this is with a reflector. You can either use a purpose-made one, some white card or some silver foil stuck onto a sheet of MDF will do.
In case you don't have someone to hand, a tripod makes a good reflector holder or you can hold the reflector yourself and set the camera on a self-timer. Or, you could use a reflector designed to be held by a photographer. If you are shooting tightly cropped images, the model can hold the reflector for you, too.
3. Metering Tips
If you use manual metering, take a reading from the model's face and not the window. If you meter from the window it will think the scene is brighter than what it is and as a result, your subject will be underexposed.
It is worth trying different white-balance settings. Auto white-balance can work well, but try shade or cloudy for warmer looking images.
Get in as close as you can to capture/use as much daylight as possible. A tripod is useful, hand-held can work just as well but make sure you are shooting at a reasonably fast shutter speed and remember to focus on the eyes. Crop in tight on the face and if you wish, you can use the window to help frame the shot.
Most people are not natural posers so communication and guidance are important. For posing ideas, check out the fashion magazines and images in our gallery, too.
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Putting the Peak Design Travel Backpack Through Its Paces: Making the Grade
I've been looking for a bag that meets my needs for a long time. I've always been a traveling photographer, taking my gear to some of the hottest, coldest, wettest, and driest places on the planet. A bag has to do a lot to make the grade. Escalating my needs, over the last few years I've also been working as a photography guide in Canada's sub-Arctic, the high Arctic, and Antarctica. These regions don't settle for everyday quality. In these extreme environments, the bags either work or your gear gets ruined.
Choosing The Best Prime Lens: Size Matters
There are so many fabulous prime lenses that have been launched these past 12 months—and continue to be launched—it’s hard to know which direction to go if you’re looking to buy a new one. The choice can be overwhelming and confusing.
An example that has stood out for me recently is 35mm primes. Viltrox has an astoundingly good, yet large, 35mm f/1.2 LAB. In comparison, there’s Artizlab’s tiny Classic 35mm f/1.4. Two 35mm lenses new to market, both shoot very fast. One weighs around 970 g—the other, a mere 157 g. It is quite a difference.
Why Instant Film Is Winning While 35mm Film Is Dying
The analog photography revival is real. You can see it at every wedding reception with a disposable camera basket, every college campus where students dangle point-and-shoots from their wrists, every TikTok tutorial on how to load a roll of Kodak Gold. But if you follow the money instead of the aesthetics, you'll find two radically different stories unfolding under the same "film is back" umbrella.
Nikon ZR vs Nikon Z8: Side-by-Side Tests That May Surprise You
The Nikon ZR promises cinema-level features in a body that overlaps heavily with the Nikon Z8, and that overlap raises a real question about what you’re actually gaining. If you shoot both photo and video, the choice affects how you work day to day, not just how your footage looks.
How to Use a Strip Softbox for Portraits: Key Light, Rim Light, and Background Setups
A strip softbox can change the way your portraits look with one small shift in light placement. If you shoot people and want more control over shape, edge highlights, and background spill, this modifier earns its place fast.
When Wide Angle Isn’t Enough for Landscape Photos
Southern Utah forces you to think bigger. When the land stretches for miles and the sky takes up half the frame, small compositional mistakes get exposed fast.
Stop Letting Couples Text at Midnight: Real Communication Rules for Wedding Work
Clear communication shapes every part of your wedding business, from the first inquiry to the final gallery delivery. If you handle it poorly, you invite stress, missed bookings, and couples who expect access to you at all hours.
How To Create A Vignette In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
Vignettes aren't a new editing trick, in fact, when darkrooms were still widely in use photographers would apply dodging and burning masks to images during the processing or use filters on their camera lenses when taking the shots. Now the effect is usually re-created digitally with software but the reason for applying them hasn't changed. They are still a simple yet, subtle way to guide/draw the eye to your main subject and frame shots.
The effect has also grown in popularity thanks to cameras such as Holgas becoming popular again. This 'hipster' look is now rather desirable so using techniques that re-create this, what was an unintentional vignette, on digital images is now something even apps are doing. In fact, creating vignettes on photos taken with mobile phones is one of the effects that's listed in our Ten Photoshop Techniques To Do On An iOS App article.
How And Why
When it comes to applying vignettes, less is usually better than more as if you make the effect too strong and obvious, it can end up spoiling your shot rather than enhancing it. Of course, there are times when a stronger vignette will work, such as with moody black & white landscapes, but most of the time subtle will be the way to go.
You should apply a vignette once all your other edits are complete as adjustments such as cropping may change the overall look of the image and the vignette could end up sitting in the wrong place or highlighting part of the shot you didn't want it to. This isn't true in Lightroom, though, as we'll explain further into the tutorial.
You can create vignettes in several applications including Photoshop, GIMP and Lightroom. For those wanting to learn more about the vignette options available in Lightroom, carry on reading this tutorial. For those looking for tips on how to create vignettes in Photoshop or GIMP, click on the following links:
Vignettes In Lightroom
When you open the develop module in Lightroom you'll see there are two Vignetting options. The first can be found under Lens Corrections and this is designed to decrease or even fully remove the vignetting caused by the lens when the image was taken. The changes are applied to the corners of the full-frame image and two sliders allow you to alter the strength and positioning of the effect.
Move the Amount slider to the right and the figure will increase, lightening the corners as the slider moves. Pull it to the right and the figure will decrease, darkening the corners. The Midpoint slider alters the area the vignette is applied to. Move the slider to the left and the vignette amount adjustment is applied to a larger area away from the corners, pull the slider in the opposite direction and this will restrict the adjustment area nearer to the corners of the image.
The Post-Crop Vignetting tool is one that's designed for more creative purposes and once applied, will stay on your image even if you decide to crop the shot again. There are also more editing controls available under the Post-Crop Vignetting tool, giving you more control over how the final vignette will look.
Three types of vignettes are available and these are accessed from the Style menu. These three options will alter how the vignette you apply blends with the photo you're editing. Highlight Priority is set as the default option and will create a vignetting effect that you're most familiar with.
Once you've picked your Style (we are using Highlight Priority) you can use the various sliders to adjust the vignette.
Pull this slider to the right and the vignette will lighten, pull it to the left and it will appear darker.
Midpoint
This will change how much of the image away from the edges the vignette is applied to. Pull the slider left and the vignette's size will be increased, pull it to the right and it will retreat back into the corners of the shot.
This changes the shape of the vignette to give it rounder or straighter edges. If you pull the slider to the left the shape is more rectangular/square while pulling it the opposite way will make the vignette more circular.
This adjusts how hard or soft the edges of the vignette are. A harder vignette (which you get by pulling the slider to the left) generally doesn't look as good as feathered vignettes as it creates a shape that's too defined. The second image, which shows a vignette with a higher feathered value, is much softer.
When in Highlight or Colour Priority the Highlights slider becomes active if you've used a negative value when adjusting the amount (so the vignette is dark). Pulling the Highlights slider to the right will, according to Adobe, 'control the degree of highlight contrast preserved'. In other words, it allows you to control how little or much highlight contrast there is in your vignette.
See the difference in these two images when the slider is set at 0 then 45:
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Why Monochrome Became the Ultimate Escape from Responsibility
Black and white photography promises seriousness without risk, coherence without effort, and intention without proof. In an era where color is technically trivial and visually unforgiving, monochrome offers shelter. It removes variables, postpones judgment, and replaces unresolved structure with borrowed authority. It is like dimming the lights in a messy room: the objects do not move, but the problems stop being visible. If an image cannot survive color, was monochrome ever a choice?
5 Used Cameras That Offer Insane Value Right Now
These aren't compromised relics from a forgotten era. They're the same tools that shot magazine covers, documented weddings, and produced professional video content when they retailed for two or three times what they cost today. The sensor inside a five-year-old camera hasn't degraded. The engineering hasn't gotten worse. These cameras have simply depreciated because photographers chase new releases with the enthusiasm of golden retrievers pursuing tennis balls, and that irrational behavior creates opportunity for everyone else.
Why ‘Gear Doesn’t Matter’ Is Bad Advice for Street Photography
The “gear doesn’t matter” phrase pops up constantly in street photography circles. It may encourage beginners, but it rarely holds up once you’re actually on the street.
An Incredible Whale Action Shot Wins Our 'Photo Of The Week'
A humpback whale rising from the cold ocean is our latest 'Photo of the Week' (POTW) winner.
Captured by ColinEJ and titled ‘Humpback Whale Breaching,’ we love the excellent timing and energy shown in this action shot. The snowy mountains and clear sky in the background frame the scene, showing the whale’s size against the landscape. This wide view makes the photo clear and well-timed. What a brilliant photo!
Every Photo of the Week (POTW) winner will be rewarded with a Samsung 128GB PRO Plus microSDXC memory card with SD adapter, providing top-tier storage for all your creative needs across multiple devices. But that's not all! In January 2027, we’ll crown our 2026 Photo of the Year winner, who will take home the ultimate prize of a Samsung Portable 1TB SSD T7 Shield, courtesy of Samsung. It’s time to shoot, submit, and showcase your best work for a chance to win these incredible rewards!
Why Waterfall Photos Fail and How to Fix Them
Waterfall scenes look simple, but they fall apart fast when the eye has nowhere to go. If you want stronger landscape images, you need to think beyond the obvious front-on shot and start controlling flow, balance, and shutter speed.
Stop Shooting Down at Flowers: A Better Angle
Snowdrops demand precision in a way that most woodland flowers do not. Miss the timing by a week and the petals brown at the edges, flattening the very detail you set out to capture.
Photoshop Generative Fill Update: Firefly Fill and Expand Gets Real Improvements
Photoshop just updated Generative Fill with the new Firefly Fill and Expand model, and yes, it changes what you can realistically create. If you rely on AI inside Photoshop, this affects how large you can generate, how real people look, and whether hands and cars still fall apart.
10 Harsh Photography Truths That Will Change How You Approach Your Work
You wait for a break. You post your best shots. You assume progress will stack neatly, one win on top of another. That belief keeps you comfortable and quietly stuck.
3 Reasons Why Converging Verticals In Photos Can Be A Good Thing
Most of the time, particularly in architectural photography, we are told that converging verticals and lines are something which should be avoided. But there are occasions when they don't have to be avoided by architectural or any other type of photographer.
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1. Use Converging Verticles To Exaggerate HeightWhen shooting close to a building with a wide-angle lens, you can exaggerate the height of the structure with the help of converging verticals however, it can look like the building is about to fall over backwards so it isn't a style everyone appreciates. To exaggerate the sloping walls further, get lower to the ground with your wide-angle lens.
We've talked previously on how vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines can be used to add interest to shots and act as guides. If you take this further so you have multiple lines stretching towards the horizon, they can appear to be moving closer together, which, in turn, will help the viewer to focus on one specific area of the shot.
Where you set your camera up and how the lines move through your frame will change the feel of the shot. The most common way to use converging lines is to position your camera in the centre of the frame so you have symmetry as well as the converging guides working for you. But as the eye often looks at the bottom left of an image first before working across the shot to the top right corner, you can also position the lines so they flow from corner to corner. By having a line which follows this path, you will unknowingly guide the viewer through your shot. Try using multiple diagonals to guide the eye to one spot in the image by intersecting them where you want the attention to fall.
Do watch where the lines are going as if they lead out of the frame it can create a sense of wonder but equally, it could lead to frustration as your viewer doesn't know what's beyond the frame and as they've followed the direction of the line, they'll end up not looking at your shot. However, if you take the time to position yourself so the lines give the impression they meet/end where you want your main point of focus to be, you shouldn't have a problem.
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5 Amazing Cameras You Can Still Buy Brand New for Under $700
The entry-level camera market has withered. Companies that once competed fiercely for first-time buyers have largely abandoned the sub-$1,000 segment, preferring to chase higher margins on enthusiast and professional equipment. But slim pickings isn't zero pickings.