Photography News

On June 19, 1878, a thoroughbred named Sallie Gardner ran down a track in Palo Alto and broke twelve threads stretched across her path with her chest. Each thread fired a camera. When the plates came out of the darkroom, they answered a question that painters, sculptors, and horsemen had argued about for centuries.

 

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A St. Louis public television station has lost access to more than 50 terabytes of its own archive after the cloud vendor holding the files apparently went out of business. The material spans about 70 years of programming, and it is now sitting inside a Denver data center that so far has refused to hand it back.

 

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Nearly every camera and lens Nikon was expected to ship in 2026 is reportedly running late, according to a consensus drawn from several independent tipsters. Much of what was penciled in for this year may now be sliding toward 2027.

 

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More than one in five people set their phone or camera down in a public place and step away to photograph or film themselves. That is the headline finding of new consumer research from a UK insurer, and it lands at a moment when street theft of devices is a serious problem.

 

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If you're searching for inspiration for a set of photographs, choose a colour and go out and take a series of pictures of that colour, it can be similar objects or totally different subjects, but the linking colour theme means that they can hang together as a panel. 

 

Themes To Choose

Try writing down a colour and then listing as many things as possible that are of that colour. As a suggestion, try some of the following:

• Red: Poppies, phone boxes, post boxes, tomatoes, peppers.
• Yellow: Melons, bananas, daffodils, buttercups.
• Green: Fruit & vegetables, grass, trees.

Other items (cars, doors, cladding on buildings, bottles etc.) come in a huge variety of colours and can be included in any group. There's literally nothing that can't be included.

 

Composition Is Key

When you take a single colour as a subject, you need to ensure that the composition, in terms of shapes, textures and lines to counteract the lack of colour range, so look carefully and spend time composing your images. Also, try going abstract, perhaps using camera movement to take away "reality" and emphasise the "colour".

 

Work On Several Themes

If it's something that appeals to you, try having a number of "themes" on the go at once – it's not something that you have to go out and shoot in a day, but can be built up over weeks or months. The results can be a very powerful set (or sets) of images.

I, for example, spent some time at the coast and walking along the seafront, loved the countless different coloured beach huts; but to photograph a mass of different huts and colours wouldn't have given as coherent a set of images. Having wandered up and down the promenade, I decided that blue would be a good choice, as there was plenty of variety, with all blue elements and strong blues set against more neutral tones (white).

While working on the blue huts, I still made a point of photographing other colours, which can go in collections of other colours at another time.

 

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Kodak returned to a profit in the second quarter of 2026, with revenue of $311 million and net income of $17 million, up from a $26 million loss a year earlier. The company's film and specialty-chemicals unit grew 40 percent, faster than any other part of the business.

 

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Using long exposure can create some cracking shots when used correctly but the smooth, almost dry-ice look using longer shutter speeds gives to water isn't everyone's cup of tea or idea of fun when they're heading off for a day of photography outdoors. So, if you've never tried this technique before and are wondering if it's for you, have a think about the following questions to help you decide.

 

1. Are you a fan of the outdoors?

This technique is all about leaving the shutter open long enough to turn movement into creative streaks and blur to give you a landscape with an almost graphical twist. For this reason, many types of these shots are taken where there's a wide expanse of water (the coast mainly) but you can also capture inland landscapes when you have a sky dotted with clouds or scenes with waterfalls that can add a feeling of movement and direction to the shot when taken with longer shutter speeds. The coast does give you many other still objects you can use to guide the eye and add interest to your shots though. Think tall piers sat in a mist of water, rocks adding foreground interest and several groynes or even a jetty leading the eye.

If you prefer city shooting, you can use the same technique to create streaks of colour from traffic.

 

2. Do you have a tripod?

If the answer to this is 'no' and you don't intend purchasing one anytime soon then long exposure photography isn't for you. Why? Well, with exposures in access of 30 seconds, these types of images aren't something you can really successfully take hand-held as shake will just ruin your shots.

 

3. Do you have a remote / cable release?

This isn't as important as owning a tripod but owning and using one will mean you don't have to actually touch the camera's shutter button, reducing the chances of shake spoiling the shot. However, if you want to use your camera's Bulb mode, you really need to have a remote / cable release in your kit collection. If you have a camera you've purchased more recently then it may have the option for the shutter to be controlled via an app from your Smartphone, eliminating the need for a remote to be purchased.

 

4. Do you have an ND filter?

To get the really long exposures, particularly when working out of the hours of dawn and dusk, you'll need an ND filter. These come in various strengths and will extend your shutter speeds to the length needed for capturing silk-like water and clouds streaked across the sky.

If you don't own an ND filter but do have a polariser you can still try this technique but you'll have to do it at the start or end of the day when light levels are lower. You'll also need to use a low ISO and keep your apertures small.

Polarising filter can work if just starting out or shoot at dusk with a low ISO and narrow aperture.

 

 

5. Do you have patience?

This technique isn't for someone who likes to take a quick snap and move onto the next thing as you will end up standing around for a while waiting for your camera to capture and process the image. With exposure times that can often extend well beyond a minute, you can find yourself twiddling your thumbs quite a lot of the time. However, if you enjoy quiet moments of contemplation or just like to watch the world go by, then maybe playing around with longer shutter speeds is for you.

 

6. Do you have an eye for composition?

When working with longer shutter speeds, landscape scenes can often take on a more graphical feel/composition and you have to ensure there are elements in the frame which will show movement as well as items to guide the eye and add balance. Without clouds moving across the sky or some form of water element, there won't be any movement which when combined with a slower shutter speed is what gives you the nice streaks and soft, blurry water effect.

 

7. Do you mind working out calculations?

Although this statement isn't relevant to everyone any more, if you don't own a smartphone or forget to take it out with you, you'll find yourself scribbling down shutter speed calculations when working with Bulb mode. So, if you're not a fan of maths, you'll need to invest in one of the many apps that will work out calculations for you.

  8. Do you have Live View?

Cameras that have a Live View function make the set-up for this technique much simpler as it often still works even with a strong ND filter attached to your lens. If you look through a viewfinder with an ND filter attached you won't be able to see anything which means to set-up, you have to remove the filter to compose and focus (manually) before carefully fitting the filter back in-place which is obviously doable but not as straightforward as using Live View.  

 

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Bokeh is the term used to describe how good the out of focus blur, which is usually in the background, looks. Good bokeh will show attractive out of focus highlights and how the lens you're using is designed and the shape of its aperture play an important role in creating bokeh that works. Different apertures and how far you are from your subject also affect how good the bokeh will look in your shot.

 

1. Lens Choices

The shape of your lens aperture will change depending on how many blades are used and what shape they are. These blades are what open and close to let more/less light through onto the sensor. The more blades there are, the rounder the opening will be which can mean the shape of the out-of-focus highlights in the background of your shot (the bokeh) will be more circular. Generally, the more expensive lenses have more blades and as a result, they generally create bokeh that's more pleasing. Longer lenses tend to produce better results too, however, some lenses will produce better bokeh in some situations than others so try putting your lens to the test, shooting close up portraits against a background that has highlights that can be thrown out of focus.
 

2 Depth Of Field

You may think that using the maximum aperture will give you the best results but sometimes it's worth using a slightly smaller aperture so you can still make out some of the shapes in the background of the shot. Make sure you focus on your subject at the front of the frame too so everything behind can fall nicely out of focus. Putting a little distance between your subject and the background will also help enhance the effect. If you don't have a subject in the foreground and are going for a more abstract shot you'll need to focus manually.

 

 

3. Play With Shapes

You don't just have to settle for circular out of focus highlights as you can use black card and a pair of scissors to change the shapes that appear. You need to decide on a shape cut it out of the card then fast the card around your lens like you would a lens hood. Try to not make your shapes too small or complicated as they won't stand out very well in your final shot.
 

4. Get Out At Night

During the evening, the glow coming from various colourful lights in towns and cities make perfect backgrounds for this technique. Just remember to use a longer lens with a wide aperture, focus on your subject and everything in the background of your shot should glow. Keep an eye on your shutter speeds when working in low light as if you drop too low it can cause the lights in the background to blur rather than glow so you may need to increase your ISO.

 

 

5. Other Suggestions

Try shooting close-up portraits against a background of foliage where the speckles of light can be turned into out of focus highlights. Sun glinting off water and glass can also be turned into blurry circles of light too. You can also use fairy lights indoors to create out of focus coloured circles.
 

6. So Remember:

• Use a longer focal length
• Switch to a wider aperture
• Focus on your subject
• Put a little distance between your subject and the background
• Backgrounds with individual, glowing points of light work well

 

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On July 6, 1989, physicists at the University of Minnesota aimed a low-light video camera at a distant thunderstorm to test the equipment and accidentally caught the first image of what is now called a red sprite, a burst of lightning firing upward toward space. That first frame was black and white and only proved the flashes were real; their crimson color would not be captured on camera until the mid-1990s. For most of the previous century, pilots who reported those flashes were told they had imagined them.

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When Curiosity looked across Gale Crater and captured a portrait of "Miraflores," it wasn't simply documenting another rock on Mars. It was photographing a landscape shaped by erosion—a roughly 20-foot sand-capped butte that survived while the surrounding rock slowly disappeared.

 

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There's an advantage to a small camera that doesn't call attention to itself: you can become the gray man. Not invisible or undercover; not some photographic ninja.

 

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You've pitched camp at the perfect spot, gear unloaded, base set for the next few days. And now you're waiting — for the fog to lift, the light to change, or an elusive animal to step into frame. Modern adventures in the wild are no longer just about chasing beautiful locations; there's an expectation to stay connected, keep every battery topped up, edit on location, and bring a few home comforts with you for when the light isn't cooperating. And honestly, why shouldn't that include a hot meal and a movie on your laptop while you wait for the clouds to part?

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The Sony 100-400mm f/5.6-f/8 costs $850, roughly a fifth of the price of the pricier 100-400mm f/4.5, and that number tells you almost everything about the tradeoffs waiting inside. Whether you shoot wildlife, travel light, or just want the long end covered without emptying your bank account, the question is what those savings actually cost you in the field.

 

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A new free channel on Roku plays AI-generated movies, shows, and shorts around the clock, with AI-generated ads slotted between them. It is called Fairground AI Creator TV, and it runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

 

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A new open-source typeface called ShieldFont looks like ordinary text when you read it, but hands AI scrapers a corrupted version of the same page. It swaps out select words in a site's source code so bots collect subtly wrong sentences while you see the real thing.

 

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A Wisconsin woman was stopped by police with guns drawn twice in one week after an automated license plate camera wrongly linked her car to a Milwaukee homicide. Milwaukee police say the alert should have been deleted days earlier, but a staffer never cleared it.

 

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Most of the time, when you're out taking photographs, even if it's a quick snap, make sure your shot has a strong point of interest as if it doesn't, you'll find anyone who looks at your image will look at the image, their eyes won't find anything to settle on and they'll simply move on to look at another shot. Without a focal point, there's nothing to draw them into the photograph so they'll simply lose interest with it. Of course, the more interesting the focal point is, the better your shot will be but there are a few other things you can do to make sure your focal point draws the viewer's attention.

 

1. One Main Focus Point

Images can have various points of interest but don't let them pull the attention from the main subject as your shot will just become confusing and the viewer will be unsure what to look at. Less attention-grabbing points of interest can be used on lines to draw the eye to a final resting point.

 

2. Lead In Lines

As mentioned above, by placing minor points of interest along a line you can guide the eye to your main point of interest. Straight lines such as fences or paths work well but other shapes, as talked about in our beginner's composition guide, can work equally as well. The spiral of a staircase will guide the eye up or down while positioning items along an S curve with the main point of focus at the end will lead the eye through the image. There's also the triangle where key features appear along the sides and points of the shape and when it's used correctly, you can create balance in your shot and also guide the eye through the photograph. Repetitive or symmetrical objects such as lamp posts lining either side of a street, a line of palm trees, statues or a series of arches can also be used to guide the eye to a single point.

 

3. What's In Focus

By using a larger aperture if you're working manually or by selecting Portrait Mode or Macro Mode if you're working close-up, which lets the camera know you want to use a larger aperture, you'll be able to throw the background out of focus, leaving all the attention on your main subject which will be sharp. By putting more distance between your subject and the background you'll be able to make the effect more prominent too. If you're a DSLR user, switching to a longer lens (zoom or prime) with wider maximum apertures will make it easier to get the blurry backgrounds you're looking for.

 

Photo by Joshua Waller 

 

4. Blur

When your main subject is moving, be it a pet, a person running, a car or bike, try using a slower shutter speed and pan with them, blurring the background into streaks but leaving them sharp. This will mean all focus falls on your main subject and the sense of speed is increased thanks to the horizontal streaks the background now has.

 

5. Size

A more obvious way to make sure you have one main point of focus is to fill the frame with it. This works particularly well when photographing flowers but can be applied to portraits too.

Photo by Joshua Waller 

6. Colour And Pop

Use contrasting colours or take it one step further and have a go at colour-popping, where you leave your main point of focus in colour and turn the rest of the image black & white. If you're shooting portraits, positioning your subject against a dark background will really make them 'pop' from the image.

 

7. Frame

By adding a frame you guide the eye to one main focal point in the scene that you want highlighting. You can also hide other objects you don't want to be in the shot behind your frame and it does have the added effect of just making your image more interesting generally.

 

8. Crop

If you have images on your computer that seem a little busy try cropping it to see if removing some of the elements makes it less busy and as a result, you get a main point of focus.
 

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Photo by Joshua Waller

1. Start With The Basics

Once you get your camera out of its bag it's easy to keep clicking the shutter button and forget you need to check backgrounds, subject position etc. Always look for shooting locations where the background isn't full of distracting objects that clutter the scene and where possible, put some distance between your subject and the background. This will not only add depth but it'll also make it easier to throw the background out of focus. If you're using a compact this can be done via Portrait mode. For those with more advanced cameras, this means choosing a wider aperture. It's also important to focus on your subject's eyes and even if you're shooting a friend or family member, don't forget to keep giving direction.
 

2. Natural Light Is Free

Where possible it's best to avoid using your camera's built-in flash for portraits as most of the time, the results won't be very professional-looking. Instead, make the most of window light which will help you create portraits to be proud of. North facing windows are perfect but you can use any that aren't in the direct path of the sun. Overcast days are great for this as light is naturally diffused but you can get a similar effect by hanging voile or something similar. 

If your house lights are on, switch them off and do clean the window before you begin!

A reflector will come in handy for adding light to the side of your model's face not next to the window, balancing the exposure in the process. You can buy reflectors but they can just as easily be created from a piece of white card, foil etc.

Try spot metering off your model's face then have fun experimenting with composition. Tight crops on the face work well but do try using the window to help frame a couple of your shots. 
 

3. Want More Impact?

Full-length portraits work well but for something that has more 'Pow' behind it, move in close. If your subject and yourself are comfortable doing so this could mean physically moving closer together or reach for a longer zoom lens if your model feels more comfortable with a wider working distance. Something around the 85-135mm mark is a popular choice for headshots but do be careful with your shutter speeds when using longer lenses if working hand-held.

Photo by Joshua Waller
 

4. Don't Want To Give So Much Direction?

The simple answer is to try a candid approach and shoot often so you don't miss any moments.

Try using a wider lens when working outdoors or at busy events such as a wedding as people won't think you're taking their photo if the lens isn't directly pointed at them so will stay relaxed. Longer lenses will allow you to stay out of sight but still give you the chance to focus on one or two individuals. For compact users, why not switch to P mode so you can focus on getting the shot rather than on what settings you need.

If you're working with children you could give them a task to do such as build a tower with bricks or kick a ball around outside to give you the opportunity to shoot some fun, in-the-moment photos which they won't even notice you're doing as they'll be too distracted with the task in-hand.
 

5. Get Creative

Whether it's adding fun props, creating interesting backgrounds with bokeh or using art filter and frames, there's plenty of ways to get creative with your portraits. Many cameras feature Art Filters which will give your portraits a twist. This could be adding a vignette, changing the images to black and white or simply adding a sepia tone and grain to give it a vintage feel. 

To have fun with bokeh you can head out at night or use some colourful stringed lights (the type you dig out of the loft at Christmas) and drape them over a dark background. You then need to put a few meters between the background and your subject to increase the bokeh effect.

 

You need to use your lens at its widest aperture and focus on your subject. A small portable light is handy for illuminating the front of your subject but do be careful with the positioning of the light as you don't want any light to shine on the background. Watch your white balance then experiment with framing to change the pattern created by the lights in the background. 
 

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You stood at the canyon rim at sunset, took in the glowing sky and the shadowed rock below in a single glance, and pressed the shutter certain you had it. The file came back with a white sky or a black cliff, never both. Your eyes were not lying and your camera was not broken; the two simply do not measure light the same way, and the gap between them is large enough to explain almost every disappointing landscape you have ever shot.

 

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You press the shutter once. A raw file can contain more than one admissible photograph, and the camera shows you only the version it chose.

 

You shot the scene once, but the digital file came back with several photographs inside it. You have seen one: the JPEG preview the screen handed you when the button went down. The others are in the same file, equally valid, equally yours, and most photographers discard them without ever knowing they were there.

That is not a processing tip. It changes where your work actually happens.

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