Photography News

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The latest winner of our popular daily photography theme which takes place in our forums have been chosen and congratulations go to Mike43 (Day 18 - 'Panoramics').

 

Daily Theme Runners-Up

If you didn't win this time, keep uploading your images to the daily competition forum for another chance to win! If you're new to the Daily Theme, you can find out more about it in the Daily Theme Q&A. 

Well done to our latest runners-up, too, whose images you can take a look at below.

  Day 16

Vignettes

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Day 17

Silhouettes

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Day 19

'Blue' Theme

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Day 20

Beach Huts In The Landscape

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  Day 21

Nature In The Summer

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Day 22

Insects

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You’ll find the Daily Themes, along with other great photo competitions, over in our Forum. Take a look to see the latest daily photo contests. Open to all levels of photographer, you’re sure to find a photography competition to enter. Why not share details of competitions with our community? Join the camaraderie and upload an image to our Gallery.

  Fields make great photographic subjects and better still if you play around with slow shutter speeds you don't need particularly good weather to get great photos which is good news for us Brits who quite often don't see the summer sun (although this year we are doing a little better in the sun stakes!). Some farmers have started harvesting their crops, but there are still some fields out there which the tractor hasn't reached yet.    1. Use A Wide-Angle Lens

A wide-angle lens will be the most useful bit of kit you take with you.Don't own a wide-angle lens? Take your telezoom along and just stand a little further back to get your sweeping shots of the field. 

 

2. Don't Trespass 

Make sure you're not trespassing so if there's no public access through a particular field you want to photograph stay out if it and use your telephoto.

 

3. Take Your Tripod

When using slower shutter speeds (try 1/15-1/5th or longer depending on how windy it is) you'll need a tripod as you don't want shake creeping into your shot. 

 

4. Straight Horizons

To get your horizon straight, you either need a really good eye or something to help you measure it. Some cameras have inbuilt levelling systems but if yours doesn't, you can get a spirit level that sits on the camera's hotshoe. Although, you can find in-built spirit levels on many tripod models.

 

5. Take Your Filters Along

Pack an ND filter in case the sky's a little too bright and you need to balance the exposure. 

 

6. Aperture Choices

Use a small aperture to get front to back sharpness, so you can show the whole field turning into a sea of waves.

 

7. Create Interest 

Add interest to the shot by looking out for objects such as a single tree standing at the far end of the field or a barn that will give the viewer something to focus on.

 

 

8. Guide The Eye

If there are tractor tracks use them to guide the eye from front to back. Hedges and fences can also be used for this purpose, too.

 

9. Use Frames

If there are overhanging tree branches, gate posts or if you happen to stumble across an old barn without glass in its windows or any doors, have a play around with frames in your shots to add an extra level of interest, plus they can help focus the viewer's eye when used in the correct way

 

10. Clouds Are Good

Golden light diffused by a light blanket of cloud looks great shimmering across the crop.

 

11. Photography The Sun

Clouds lower contrast and help eliminate flare which means you can shoot into the sun. Just don't look directly at it through your lens as it can cause serious damage to your eyes.

 

12. Rain Isn't A Bad Thing

Shoot in different weather conditions and at different times of the day as a dark, heavy sky full of rain adds drama to your shots while the warmer light and colours of a sunrise or sunset will make the field glow.

 

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Panning is an integral part of sports and action photography, but mastering the technique can add interest and intrigue to many genres. I am going to break down the five things I consider when trying to create a good panning image.

 

Step 1: What Kind of Photo Do You Want?

A successful panning shot starts by thinking about what you want the shot to look like. How much motion blur do you want/need? Are you going for an artistic, slightly abstract feel, or do you want a very detailed subject with enough blur to convey motion to the viewer?

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The subject in your photograph is often the easiest part to get right, and the hardest work happens everywhere else in the frame. Power lines on the horizon, a chimney breaking a clean skyline, or a background cluttered with too many competing shapes can quietly wreck an otherwise strong image.

 

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A discontinued Canon lens from the 1970s can fully resolve the 100-megapixel sensor sitting inside a modern medium format body. Old glass carries a look that clean digital optics rarely match, and that character is exactly what draws people back to gear that stopped being made decades ago.

 

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Every aperture on your lens does a different job, and the wrong one can quietly soften an image you thought was tack sharp. The choice sits at the center of exposure, depth of field, and the entire feel of a photograph, which is why arguments over the "best" aperture never really end.

 

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The advice that stings a little is usually the advice worth hearing. Money, gear, and social media can quietly stall a photographer's growth long before technique ever does, and understanding when each one helps or hurts changes how you spend your time behind the camera.

 

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A class action filed in California accuses Logitech of raising prices to cover Trump-era import tariffs, then keeping both the higher prices and the federal refund it collected once the Supreme Court struck those tariffs down. The suit wants that money returned to the people who actually paid it: customers who bought a mouse, keyboard, or webcam at the inflated price.

 

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A newly published Panasonic patent describes an alternative optical configuration for a 125-600mm f/5.6-8.3 full frame lens. 

 

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    1. Research

Before you leave your hotel, make sure the market's open and have a quick glance at the weather forecast as it won't be much fun walking around a market when it's raining rather heavy. Although fewer people will venture out to open-air markets when it's wet so you'll have more room to work. If you're going on a market trip that's organised by an excursion company you won't have much say in when you can visit the market. Plan your own trip, however, and you can arrive for when it opens, giving you more room to work and the produce will be fresher which means your shots will look more appetising. If it is really, really busy step back or find a higher spot to work from and shot a few wide shots of the hustle and bustle.
 

2. Be aware of your surroundings

Don't leave your camera bag unattended and if it's really busy, it's a good idea to do the tourist trick of spinning your bag to your front. Yes, you may look a little silly but it's better than finding all of your gear's gone from your bag. Taking a bag that doesn't scream: 'look I'm carrying expensive equipment' is a good idea too. 

It's important not to get distracted by one particular stall either. Market's are generally big places and they'll be more than one location that's worth getting your camera out of its bag for.

 

 

3. Light Source

As most markets you find on your travels will be outdoors you'll need to watch your exposure as the contrast between a stall which will probably be undercover and the open space around can change drastically. As a result, your camera will see the bright surroundings and underexpose the shot, making the stall appear a lot darker than it actually is. You may find using the exposure lock function and then re-composing as necessary should fix the problems that may occur. If you're indoors exposure shouldn't be a problem but you will need to watch your white balance to make sure the lights aren't tinting the tone of your image.

When it comes to flash, it's best to avoid using it, particularly as you most likely will only have the one that's built into your camera and the harshness of it can ruin the atmosphere of the scene you're trying to capture. You're better off just using a slightly ISO and getting the monopod out if you have problems with shake.
 

3. Wider Shots

Stepping away from the cover of the stalls to somewhere higher up, if possible, will give you the chance to shoot some shots that establish exactly where you are. If it's in a square surrounded by buildings try and get these in your shot and use the long lines created by the stalls to lead the eye through the image too.

4. Close-Ups

The beauty with markets is the stallholder wants to sell their products so usually they present them well, which means all you have to do is take the shot. Look out for colours that complement each other, interesting patterns and the textures on offer in the products on display.
 

5. People

If you want to shoot portraits always ask before you take your photos, be polite and don't get in the stall holder's way. If they say no don't argue and keep pushing as this will only annoy them and you'll probably find someone else will be more than happy for you to take their photo on another stall. If you're finding communication's a problem a big smile and holding your camera up can often get your message across quite easily.
 

 

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What Is A 'Fast' Lens?

When you hear the term 'fast lens' it means that the lens in question has a large maximum aperture (the bigger the aperture, the faster the lens will be). The aperture is often displayed as an f followed by a number but do remember that a large maximum aperture will actually be a small number such as f/1.8. A fast prime lens would be considered fast when it has a maximum aperture under f/2.8. However, if the lens is 300mm or longer, an aperture of f/2.8 would be considered to be fast and the same goes for zoom lenses.

 

Let's Talk Apertures A bigger aperture (small f-number) will allow more light to reach the camera's sensor which means faster shutter speeds can be used even in low light situations. They're useful in various shooting situations including places where flash can't be used, at concerts where there's not much ambient light, indoors when you're trying to capture movement such as dancers on stage and for subjects such as sports photography where fast shutter speeds are essential.

 

Nikon 50mm f/1.4D lens, Different apertures: f/1.4, f/4, f/16. More on exposure and camera settings here.

 

You Can Work Hand-Held

Another advantage to fast lenses is that you won't always be forced to use a tripod as the faster shutter speeds allow for hand-held shooting in more situations. This is something that's particularly useful in places where tripods aren't allowed such as in cathedrals or in busy locations where light can be an issue such as in a museum.
 

The Negatives

A downside to fast lenses is that they can be expensive and they tend to be heavier and bigger than other lenses. Care needs to be paid to focus when using autofocus as you may find it tries to focus on the wrong part of the shot, leaving focus on an area of the image that wasn't your intended subject. It's also worth investing in a good quality lens so images don't appear soft when viewed on-screen.

 

You've read the technique now share your related photos for the chance to win prizes: Daily Forum Competition

Somewhere on or below Everest's northern side, perhaps buried in snow, rock, or moving ice, there may be a camera the size of a bar of soap. If it is ever found, and if the film inside survived, it could answer a question that has hung over mountaineering for 100 years: did George Mallory and Andrew "Sandy" Irvine stand on the summit of Everest in 1924, three decades before Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay? 

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There is no camera more synonymous with "learning" than the Pentax K1000. For nearly 50 years, it has been arguably the best-known student film camera ever made. But in 2026, it's time to stop looking at the K1000 as a "beginner" camera and start appreciating it as a masterclass in "three-dial" simplicity. It does exactly three things: shutter speed, aperture, and focus. In an era of "feature creep" and menu bloat, that simplicity is a professional asset.

 

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A lighthouse surrounded by a field of yellow flowers at its peak is the kind of alignment that happens once in decades, and one landscape shooter spent an entire week working it from every angle he could find. The blue sky, the red-and-white tower, and the yellow field give you three primary colors sitting together, which is close to ideal for anyone who wants saturated, punchy landscape work.

 

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An art director at Nike once told a photographer that the reason he got hired was because his website had very few images, and every single one looked incredible. That single piece of advice about restraint sits at the center of how strong portfolios get built.

 

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A telephoto lens that weighs 325 g, holds corner-to-corner sharpness wide open, and sells for $329 sets a high bar for anyone shooting portraits on APS-C. The Viltrox 75mm f/1.8 Evo is the first APS-C lens in the Evo lineup, arriving alongside a 90mm f/2.2 sibling.

 

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Golden hour gets treated as the one condition worth shooting in, yet the same warm, angled, flattering light that makes photos look easy can also flatten your instincts and hide your subject. Leaning on it too hard limits the range of colors, moments, and conditions you learn to handle.

 

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Photo by David Pritchard

 

Head to ponds, lakes and rivers and chances are, you'll soon spot Damselflies and Dragonflies which make interesting subjects for a macro image. If you do want to have a go at capturing these flying insects in your shots ideally, you'll need a macro lens but a longer zoom with a macro function at the longer end will also work fine, especially when coupled with extension tubes. Approach slowly, and start taking pictures from a distance so if they do fly off, at least you've got a few images saved to your memory card. It can be easier to capture images of these insects from a higher angle, looking down on the subject but do try shooting side-on, too. 

These characters aren’t the easiest to catch on camera, but a reasonable shutter speed combined with a small maximum aperture will make tracking your subject easier. You also really need to know your equipment well otherwise you could miss a shot searching for a dial/function so do remember to examine your equipment carefully, even more so if it's a new piece of kit. 

Take the time to pick a background carefully because even though you'll be throwing it out of focus, a busy background will still be distracting.

Below you'll find more tips along with a selection of dragonfly and damselfly images taken by ePHOTOzine member David Pritchard. 

 

Photo by David Pritchard

 

"I used a 20mm extension tube for this shot, so that I could get higher magnification from a greater distance. That was important for two reasons; firstly, this pair of damselflies were very skittish and secondly, they were perched over water. I couldn’t have got closer if I had wanted to and as a result, a shorter lens just didn’t work for this shot. However, as I was using a zoom lens, I was able to reach right out over the water, and the extension tube allowed me to make sure that the lens didn’t reduce in focal length as it was focused. It has also resulted in the background softening out."

 

Photo by David Pritchard

 

"The shot below is of a Banded Demoiselle and if you get the chance, watch one in-flight as it's quite beautiful." 

Photo by David Pritchard


 

"Another Banded Demoiselle, this time a female. The grace of these insects in leisurely flight belies the speed and agility that they are capable of; this lady disappeared from my viewfinder for only a couple of seconds. In that short time she shot out three feet, and returned to the same spot with this lacewing. The females generally seem more cautious than the males, and are certainly harder to spot."

Photo by David Pritchard

 

"The Banded Demoiselle is one of my favourite species of damselfly, due to their spectacular flight. The male’s wing markings appear electric blue under the right light, and they appear almost butterfly-like in the way that they move."

 

Photo by David Pritchard

  

"For this image, I used extension tubes to increase my working distance, and then chose a combination of aperture and focal length that allowed me to include some of the foreground grasses without them detracting from the main subject which added some layering to the photo."

Photo by David Pritchard

"This Damselfly was resting a few feet over the water and due to the bright sunshine,  I was able to use a couple of extension tubes (totalling 56mm) to bring the insect within range. This meant I was able to throw the background out of focus more than normal." 

Photo by David Pritchard
 

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For about five minutes on May 29, 1919, the Moon blotted out the Sun over an island in the Gulf of Guinea and a hard-baked plain in northern Brazil, and two teams of astronomers pointed their cameras at a patch of sky no one could normally see. They were not photographing the eclipse for its beauty. They were trying to measure whether a handful of stars had moved. 

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The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is a huge arts festival that runs in August and even though you need tickets for many of the shows at the Fringe, you can visit the Royal Mile for free where you'll find plenty of street entertainers you can capture images of.

Due to the event's popularity and the variety of things on offer to photograph, you will see all sorts of photographic approaches so there's not really hard-and-fast rules to follow more like guidelines that'll help you capture the best of what the Fringe has to offer. Also, although taking photos is fun do remember that you're actually there to enjoy yourself so do take your eye away from the viewfinder occasionally and just enjoy the atmosphere.

 

Photo by Cattyal

 

1. Lens Choices 

A standard zoom is perfect for the sort of distances you'll be taking photos from. If you own a telezoom do take it, however, someone will more than likely get in the way if you're using a longer lens so use it for tightly-cropped shots rather than trying to get a shot from a distance. Wides can work but make the point of getting in close to fill the frame and accept that you are going to get fussy backgrounds.

 

2. Know Where You Are Going

Pick up a guide as it lists times as well as locations of where things are happening, plus if it's your first time visiting, there's usually a handy map included to help you find your way. The best location is on the Royal Mile where you get street performers and artists promoting their shows with mini-performances.

 

3. Be Patient 

It does get bustling with visitors and performers coming and going all day but hang around for long enough and you will find something to aim your lens at.

 

4. Take Care 

Due to how busy the Royal Mile gets remember to take care of your possessions and don't leave anything unattended. It can also get hot at this time of year, so remember to keep hydrated and you'll probably encounter a sudden downpour, too so keep a brolly handy.

 

Photo by  Cattyal

 

5. Payment For Performance 

Some performers would like a payment for posing and it is up to you if you want to make a contribution. Some of the shows are excellent and you might feel that a sample of enjoyable street theatre is worth some small change.

 

6. Be Polite 

As they're performing in public, on the street they tend to not mind you photographing them. However, if the opportunity arrives, it is always polite to ask them if it's OK to take a few shots. 

 

7. Capture Close-Ups 

As they're passionate about their performance you'll have plenty of interesting expressions and movements to photograph so get in close if the opportunity unfolds.

 

8. Crowd Or No Crowd? 

If there's a big crowd or the street they're on is particularly cluttered hide it by cropping in close to the performer. However, if the crowd's having a particularly good time, having them in the shot can work well in an image with the performer. Alternatively, just capture an image of the spectators watching the show. 

 

Photo by David Pritchard

9. Speed & Position 

Shoot quickly, watch the background and move around to explore different camera angles.

 

10. Different Perspective 

Performance shots are great but don't overlook capturing shots of performers scooping up change from guitar cases or moving position to set-up for the next part of their act.

 

11. Continuous Shooting & Focus 

Switch to continuous shooting but don't be tempted to constantly machine-gun away. Instead, take the time to watch for the key moments that are worth capturing. Continuous focusing will help you maintain focus on the street performers.

 

12. Shutter Priority 

Consider using Shutter Priority so you can decide how much you freeze / add motion blur to action shots. To add crowd movement to your shot you'll need a slower shutter speed and a support. Tripods take up too much space so use a monopod or even your camera bag as a support. Use a small aperture and low ISO to get the slower speeds you need. You may need to experiment to find the exact shutter speed that works but the beauty of digital means you can check the screen, adjust and take another shot.

 

You've read the technique now share your related photos for the chance to win prizes: Daily Forum Competition