Photography News

Your desk is the other half of your camera bag. Here is every piece of it, from monitor to backup drive, at three price tiers. 

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Most photographers do not get creatively stuck because they stop shooting. They get stuck because their process becomes too efficient. 

That is where we were. Then I heard this quote by the art critic Jerry Saltz, and it unlocked something. This was the quote.

“Art is slow, physical, resistant, material; it involves an ongoing commitment to doing the same thing differently over and over again.”— Jerry Saltz

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An 85mm lens feels like the most restrictive lens in your bag, but what if it is actually the one that sets your creativity free? Let us explore how narrowing your field of view can lead to a more intentional way of storytelling through your photography. 

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Editing wildlife images in can make the difference between a decent frame and one that holds attention. Small changes to background, detail, and sharpness shape how the subject stands out. 

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You don’t need another lens. You need a reason to press the shutter. 

That might sting a little, especially if you’ve been eyeing an upgrade, but it hits at the core of how you actually improve. Better gear can help in certain situations, but it won’t fix hesitation, lack of direction, or random shooting with no purpose. Intention will.

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Photoshop 27.3.1 introduces three new adjustment layers: Color and Vibrance, Clarity and Dehaze, and Grain. If you rely on selective edits and non-destructive control, these additions change how quickly and cleanly you can shape an image. 

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The narrative of smartphones launched every year has honestly been quite dull, mainly focusing on still photography — better cameras, more resolution, sharper images, and better low-light image quality. Being dull is not necessarily a bad thing; if anything, it means that we might have successfully reached the point of sufficiency for smartphone photography imaging systems.

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Lightroom Classic gives you more than one way to compare edits, but most people only tap the backslash key and move on. If you want cleaner decisions and fewer second guesses, you need tighter control over what “before” actually shows. 

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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 Day

To 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.
 

4. Get The White Balance Right 

It is worth trying different white-balance settings. Auto white-balance can work well, but try shade or cloudy for warmer looking images.  
 

5. Framing & Capturing Your Portrait 

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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© Skylum

 

Skylum is celebrating four years of Luminar Neo, reflecting the impressive evolution of its AI-powered photo editing software since its 2022 launch. A standout achievement came in late 2025 when Luminar Mobile received Google Play’s Best Multi-Device App Award, recognizing its smooth and consistent experience across phones, tablets, and desktops. To thank its growing community, Skylum is offering new customers discounts of up to 74%, creative anniversary gifts, and a special video message from the team.

 

From Skylum:

The software company Skylum is celebrating four years of Luminar Neo. The AI-powered photo editing software enables access to professional photo editing for both experienced photographers and beginners with just a few clicks. To mark the anniversary, Skylum’s development team has released a dedicated video. It particularly honors the creativity of Luminar Neo users and serves as a thank-you for the shared journey so far.

The video is available here:

 

From Desktop App to Ecosystem

Since its launch, Luminar Neo has evolved from a standalone desktop application into a fully developed cross-platform ecosystem seamlessly connecting PC, iOS, Android, and ChromeOS. The software synchronizes photo editing across all devices, allowing users to edit photos on the go using a smartphone or tablet and finalize them later on a desktop if desired. Advanced AI technologies can be used to automatically analyze image content as well as add or remove elements. This makes editing significantly faster, more precise, and more intuitive.

 

Google Awards 2025: Best Multi-Device App

A major highlight of the past year: Luminar Mobile was named Best Multi-Device App at the Google Play Best of 2025 Awards. The award particularly recognizes the seamless cross-platform use of the Android app, including Chromebook support, as well as its integration into desktop workflows. This category honors apps that provide an especially consistent and high-quality user experience across multiple devices.

“Four years of Luminar would not have been possible without our loyal community. We thank all our users for their trust, creativity, and valuable feedback, which plays a key role in the ongoing development of our software. Our goal is to continuously improve Luminar so that professional photo editing remains as simple, intuitive, and accessible as possible for everyone in the future,” says Yevhenii Tymoshenko, CMO at Skylum.

 

Benefits for New Customers

Skylum is currently offering various licenses with discounts of up to 74% as well as an anniversary gift:

• Perpetual Desktop License: Luminar Neo for Desktop (macOS, Windows) – €64.99 instead of €357.00
• Perpetual Multi-Device License: Luminar Neo for Desktop + Mobile App for iOS, Android, ChromeOS – €84.99 instead of €405.00
• Perpetual Max License: Luminar Neo for Desktop, Mobile App for iOS, Android, ChromeOS, and access to the Creative Library – €99.99 instead of €464.00

For more information about the deals, please visit Skylum's website. 

 

About Luminar Neo

Luminar Neo (skylum.com/luminar) is a powerful, AI-driven photo editing software developed by Skylum, a global company specializing in imaging technology. The software combines an intuitive user interface with advanced AI technologies to make professional-level photo editing accessible to everyone—whether beginners or experienced photographers. Thanks to Generative AI, users can effortlessly remove elements, extend backgrounds, or replace objects in just a few clicks. Enhance AI brings together more than 20 adjustments in a single tool, automatically optimizing color, detail, and exposure, while tools such as Relight AI and Atmosphere AI enable precise control over lighting moods and depth effects. Luminar Neo also offers non-destructive editing, RAW support, layers and masking features, as well as seamless integration into existing workflows. From portrait retouching and landscape enhancement to creative photo compositions, Luminar Neo revolutionizes photo editing with cutting-edge AI and unlocks entirely new creative possibilities for photographers.

As a comprehensive ecosystem, Luminar Neo also enables cross-device editing between desktop and mobile devices, allowing projects to be continued anytime, seamlessly. With integrated web galleries via “Spaces,” AI-powered photo restoration for old or damaged images, and an intelligent AI Assistant that provides personalized editing suggestions, the software supports creatives throughout the entire workflow—from the initial idea to the final presentation.

Apple has announced the updated 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, marking a significant generational update focused heavily on AI performance and storage.  

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You can wait for hours, days or months for the right sky and still be disappointed. But don't get too downhearted as a little bit of digital processing will give your image the sky it needs.
 

Photograph The Sky Whenever & Wherever 

Before we get to this stage we need a sky to import and having a library of stormy, bright blue and sunset-coloured skies is a time-saving idea that's practical and easy to create. In other words, just shoot interesting skies whenever you see one and do so with wide-angle, standard and telephoto lenses. Also, consider the many varieties of lighting - back, frontal, side, for example - so you build a library of sky images to cover all creative options.

  Quick Gear Checklist 

For most skies in the open, all you need is a wide-angle or standard zoom lens but a long telephoto lens can be useful too. If you're planning on taking several images of the sun LiveView is crucial as you don't want to be looking down the lens with it burning back into your eyes. A strong neutral density filter will help reduce the sun's glare and a polariser is perfect for creating saturated blue skies.

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Fill The Frame With Sky 

Usually, you're told to remove some of the sky but this time it's our focus so you want to shoot from a position that allows you to get plenty of it in the frame and be in a location where there are no distracting objects such as trees, buildings and long grasses.

Pay attention to which direction the light is coming from and note it down as you don't want to use a sky with light coming from the left when shadows on your original image lay in the opposite direction.

Don't ignore the clouds either as they can alter the light and make certain areas of the shot darker than others. For sunsets, which work well dropped into shots of people or buildings silhouetted, you need to fill the shot with the sun but don't stare at it through the lens as this will damage your eyes. Use LiveView, point and press.

Stormy skies are perfect for atmospheric shots where castles or any other old building are your centrepieces. Watch for breaks in the clouds where long streaks of sunlight burst through for more interesting images.

For more tips on replacing skies or shooting images where the sky is your main focus, have a look at these tutorials: 

• Shooting Landscapes With Interesting Skies
• Create A Dramatic Sky In Photoshop
• Enhancing Sky In Photoshop
• How To Replace A Sky In Elements
• Adding A Sky Behind A Lighthouse
• Photographing Beach Huts With A Big Sky

 

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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:

 

• Four Ways To Create A Vignette In Photoshop
• How To Create A High-Key Vignette Using GIMP

 

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.
 

Amount

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.

 

Roundness

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.

 

Feather

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.

 

Highlights

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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Apple has announced a refreshed Studio Display and an entirely new Studio Display XDR, replacing the aging Pro Display XDR and giving Mac users two tiers of external monitor to choose from.  

Studio Display

The updated Studio Display keeps the same 27-inch, 5K (5,120 x 2,880) panel running at 60 Hz with 600 nits of brightness and P3 wide color. In other words, the display itself hasn't changed. What has changed is the camera, audio, and connectivity.

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Apple has officially announced the latest MacBook Air, now powered by the company's M5 chip. The updated laptop brings a meaningful performance bump, doubles the base storage to 512 GB, introduces Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 via Apple's new N1 wireless chip, and keeps the same thin, fanless aluminum design that's made the Air Apple's best-selling laptop for years.  

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Every photographer knows the notification. Storage Almost Full. It pops up on your computer or your phone, and instead of mild annoyance, you feel something closer to dread. Not because hard drives are expensive. They aren't. A 4 TB external drive costs less than a decent dinner for two. The dread comes from knowing what's actually sitting on those drives. 

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Street photography is about decisions, not perfection. That’s the difference between a picture and a moment that stays alive. 

The street doesn’t give you time to adjust your settings, fix your framing, or wait for better light. It gives you a fraction of a second and asks one simple question: are you ready to choose?

Every strong street photograph starts with a decision. To stop. To move. To react. To trust your instinct.

Miss that moment and it’s gone forever.

The Photograph

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Why do some photographs feel like a fleeting memory while others possess the weight and atmosphere of a cinematic masterpiece? Let's discuss the subtle shift in editing techniques that transforms a standard edit into a truly silver screen experience. 

Kosta Bratsos shows why your photo editing doesn't look cinematic in this video and takes us through four specific pillars that define a high-end filmic look. He touches on the importance of creating a consistent emotional mood and the necessity of separating the subject from the background to tell a clear story.

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DxO PureRAW has been a go-to item in the workflow of photographers for years. PureRAW launched back in 2021, designed as a tool to preprocess Raw files before they go into an editor. The software de-noises your image, then corrects for defects in your optical path or the sensor. To do this, DxO maintains an extensive database of lenses and sensors so it can match your equipment to the corrections. 

What's New?

This latest version of PureRAW, version 6, has some extensive improvements that seem to me to be a bigger leap than some of the previous versions.

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Traveling with a full lighting kit gets complicated fast. Weight limits, lithium batteries, and tight overhead bins change how you pack and what you bring. You want gear that works anywhere without turning every trip into a negotiation at the check-in counter. 

 

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