Photography Blog

On March 8, International Women’s Day, Leica announced the four winners of its annual Leica Women Foto Project Award. Each woman’s award-winning project demonstrates the power of visual storytelling and exemplifies this year’s competition theme, unity through diversity. PetaPixel spoke to each winning photographer to learn more about their work. American photographer Priya Suresh Kambli was honored for her project, “Archive as Companion.” Kambli’s series, which combines traditional photography with multimedia artwork and handmade composites, investigates the migrant experience through a deeply personal lens. “My approach to imaginatively exploring content is to combine labor-intensive practice with playful experimentation, which is an integral and intuitive part of my creative process,” Kambli tells PetaPixel. “Natural light, always a key ingredient in my work, becomes another material to manipulate — I use its mercurial nature as a sign of both the unpredictable and the transformational. I re-contextualize the familial qualities of the materials (flour, rice, pigments, spices, etc.) for my own artistic and creative purposes but also as a way of embellishing my past and connecting it to the present. It also plays games with them. With these materials, I alter the stories the archival photographs tell.” “My work looks outward by documenting a story of migration and cultural hybridization that has particular resonance in a political climate marked by anti-immigrant rhetoric. It does so by mining an archive of family heirlooms, artworks, photographs, and other documents, even as it creates new images — new documents — which become part of that collection,” she continues. Kambli has long been connected with photography. Her father was an avid amateur photographer and frequently photographed the family. “My most vivid childhood memories are of standing beside my sister in front of my father’s Minolta camera — waiting while he carefully framed and exposed us onto film. My father took the task of making images rather seriously. And we (my father’s family) often found ourselves to be his unwilling subjects. Our reluctance was related to his perfectionism. We, his subjects, were constantly herded from one spot to another, posed in one pool of light and then another,” Kambli says. “As a child, I was certain that being photographed by my father was my punishment.” Now, Kambli finds herself behind the camera, occupying the photographer’s role that was once her father’s. However, she remarks that she now demands “the same commitment that I balked at. Hence most of my subject matter tends to be objects, artifacts, or self-portraits that I can put through the wringer without feeling that I am donning my father’s shoes.” Kambli is a 25-year veteran of the photo field, having fallen in love with the craft during her undergraduate studies in design. She then pursued photography for her graduate studies and has been doing it professionally and as a teacher since. This year, Kambli will be a visual artist fellow at MacDowell, Peterborough, NH, and an artist in residence at the Headlands Center for Arts in California. Kambli’s work relies heavily upon photography’s power to connect generations to each other. “In my series Color Falls Down, I talk about my self-portrait as the constant that links my past with my present, that in this work I am neither Indian nor American, but the link that chains generations together,” Kambli explains. And like she was for her father, Kambli’s children are part of her artistic journey, albeit with seemingly more excitement than Kambli herself once had. “I always intended my work as my photographic inheritance to my children. Both my children have contributed to the work in multiple ways, by physically being part of it, my son’s question at age three; do you belong to two different worlds, since you speak two different languages? The essence of his question continues to be a driving force in my art making. And my daughter, who is my harshest critic and my most ardent supporter.” However, the photographer adds that her family is not “specifically interested” in her work, which is “great” in a way, as it provides Kambli more artistic freedom. Canadian photographer Jennifer Osborne uses her camera as a lens through which she can investigate current events. The photojournalist feels a deep responsibility to use her camera to help impact the world and incite necessary change. “As land burns around the world, under record-breaking temperatures and with more intensity than ever before, this is a crucial time to be recognized for my work about conservation efforts. I would like to thank the committee for honoring my work at Fairy Creek with the 2025 Leica Women Foto Project Award,” Osborne tells PetaPixel. Her award-winning series, Fairy Creek, focuses on a diverse group of activists who united in a cause to protect old-growth forests in British Columbia, Canada. The activists camped out for months, sometimes years, to protect the trees, some of which are more than 1,500 years old and among the longest-lived life forms in all of Canada. “Because Fairy Creek hosts large old-growth trees, it plays a part in mitigating global warming. Ancient forests serve as carbon sinks. While human activities release carbon into the air, old-growth forests absorb some of it. But it only takes minutes to fell a 1,500-year-old-tree. If those same trees are designated for timber production and then cut, the stored carbon is released back into the air. My subjects at Fairy united to protect those trees. Every second they had to defend those forests, which host trees approaching 2,000 years of age, mattered. And Due to the actions of these devoted individuals, the B.C. government has extended a temporary legal order to protect the Fairy Creek watershed until September 2026,” Osborne explains. She hopes that her award helps shed more light on the story of Fairy Creek and the courageous people who have fought to protect old-growth forests. Unsurprisingly, Osborne plans to use her prize money and new Leica camera kit to document additional environmental issues, including disasters and extreme weather events. Osborne is no stranger to being in dangerous places, having previously done wildfire photography in Australia and beyond and conflict work in Ukraine. Osborne, who is working on documenting wildfires in California, admits that it’s dangerous work that can seem strange to some people. “It’s abnormal to run towards wildfires. Fire photography is taxing. One must keep a safe distance, while staying close enough to take meaningful pictures. Fire often requires long, grueling drives. Burned trees may fall and block my escape route. Traffic jams trap panicked people, causing them to escape fire on foot. At night, I sleep in my car because evacuees fill hotels, or power outages sometimes close everything,” the photographer explains. A professional photographer since 2007, Osborne has occasionally needed to dig into her own pocket to fund some of her projects, including at Fairy Creek. “During my time in Fairy Creek, I was rarely on assignment. I was out there at my own expense and on my own volition. I cared deeply about the story,” Osborne says. “We, as photojournalists, are expected to remain neutral in the field. Yet we live in poverty as media budgets dwindle and staff jobs die away. Consequentially, there must be some kind of emotional connection to our subject matter that keeps us going. Indeed, there is more power in our work when the public feels we are ‘unbiased’ because our reporting can reach bigger audiences. And it’s not ideal when a journalist creates echo chambers with their work, by taking sides. Siding with a particular faction in more severe contexts, such as armed conflicts, is a personal security risk and, therefore, dangerous. Yet academics will argue that there’s no such thing as objectivity. Many write that objectivity is a ‘farce,’ or that it is ‘dead.'” Osborne says documentary work is often “masochistic” and comes at a significant cost financially, emotionally, and personally. “Like much of my professional life, I financed my work there and experienced a great loss of personal comfort,” the photographer admits. In Fairy Creek and elsewhere, Osborne is fueled by the courage and determination of her subjects. “Regardless of what happens to those trees in the decades to come, I hope my viewers will remember their efforts as meaningful and brave. They tried very hard to defend things much older than themselves,” Osborne says. “I often focus my lens on disasters that impact the world. Over the past six years, I’ve concentrated on climate-related stories — particularly on wildfires. I previously photographed the resilience of people living through hardship, as well. Throughout all the stories I tell, the courage and trauma displayed by my subjects gives me energy to tackle difficult subject matter.” Mexican photographer Koral Carballo’s project, Blood Summons, or La Sangre Llama in Spanish, deals with the complex concept of identity, specifically Afro-descendant Mexicans in Veracruz. “My work is part of an effervescence that exists in Mexico to define what it is to be Mexican when we become aware of the colonial legacy that exists. For years, through the racist doctrine of José Vasconcelos on the La raza cósmica (cosmic race), a national project was appealed to [homogenize] the experience and erase the indigenous and Afro-descendant origin,” Carballo tells PetaPixel. “My project La Sangre Llama is a counter-narrative of the national officialism on a given identity. It is a project that questions mestizaje and puts on the table that Afro-descendants were erased from many of the important chapters of history for the creation of the nation-state. Structural and state racism wanted to erase the experiences of my grandparents and made my parents’ generation assimilate this mestizo world.” Through her photography, Carballo aims to bring to light hidden stories that reflect varied origins, struggles, and oppression within Mexico’s history. She also hopes to distance herself from a stereotypical Mexican tradition and identity she does not feel connected to. Another aspect of Carballo’s award-winning project is to help people retake control over their identity and history. “Reading this story and feeling these photographs are my bet to connect. Everyone has their own stories, and everyone knows whether or not to open their story, because doing this is painful and puts you in a vulnerable place. But this project is an invitation to not feel alone in our experiences but to understand that our stories are very important to create the new narratives we need to build hope in the present. To remember is to resist,” the photographer explains. Carballo, who also does more traditional professional photojournalist and documentary work alongside her deeply personal projects, says every project is different. Projects like La Sangre Llama “are born from my guts, from very strong experiences that I lived.” Sometimes, the driving force for her artwork is rage; other times, it’s hope or curiosity, maybe sadness. “But these feelings are not defined and arise suddenly, they take over my body, my thoughts, my readings, the music I listen to, my ideas, and the energy to create,” Carballo says. Her artistic process is long; sometimes, it takes years to bring a project to life. In the case of Blood Summons, the work has been incubating for Carballo’s entire life. She has been actively working on it off and on for over a decade, though, and time spent with family during the pandemic helped solidify specific ideas and create the right environment to bring the project to fruition. “This project is [an attempt] to tell that there is not one Mexico but many Mexicos with diverse experiences through my personal history,” Carballo explains. “And to do it photographically is my language with which I want to transmit emotions, to put visually all these reflections that accompany me. These photos are the ones that are there in my mind and that are emerging through documentary-direct, metaphorical and [sensory] work. They have no order, they are images that are in memory but that together are a free story, where the viewer feels comfortable, inviting them to take the time to enter and reflect together.” Austrian-born, United Kingdom-based photographer Anna Neubauer’s winning photo series Ashes from Stone provides visibility to people who are far too often ignored or shunned by society, either because they don’t conform to societal norms or fit traditional beauty standards. “Winning the Leica Women Foto Project Award is deeply meaningful to me as it is an incredible honor and validation of the stories I strive to tell. To me, photography is a way of seeing beyond the surface, of understanding resilience, identity and beauty in places where the world often fails to look,” Neubauer says. “My work is deeply rooted in amplifying voices that are often overlooked, and this recognition not only fuels my passion but also gives these narratives a greater platform. It’s a reminder that storytelling has power to challenge perspectives, build empathy, and create change. Leica’s commitment to meaningful visual storytelling aligns perfectly with my own mission, and this award has allowed me to push my work even further. I really am truly grateful for the support and opportunity this award represents.” A self-taught photographer, Neubauer got her first DSLR in 2010 and began taking self-portraits shortly thereafter. In the small Austrian town where she grew up, people didn’t believe artistic photography was “a real profession,” so she often worried about how other people perceived her passions and, as an extension, herself. “However, photography quickly became my safe space, and sharing my work online connected me with a global community of creatives, which was incredibly special.” In 2021, Neubauer went for it and became a full-time freelance photographer, quickly scoring big-time clients like Barbie, Abercrombie, and Condé Nast. “Seeing my work in major campaigns and on billboards definitely made me feel like it was the right decision. While I don’t define my work by awards, being named an Adobe Rising Star was a meaningful milestone,” the photographer tells PetaPixel. For Neubauer, photography is about much more than making a living, it is about giving people the opportunity to be seen. “As a photographer with a disability, representation in photography is really important to me because everyone deserves to see themselves reflected in the world. For those who are often overlooked or misrepresented, being in front of the camera can be a powerful experience — one that affirms their presence, identity, and worth.” “My goal is to create images that not only honor their stories but also challenge outdated narratives, making space for more diverse and authentic representations.” Through her camera, Neubauer connects to her subjects. “Every person I photograph leaves an impact on me, and their stories stay with me long after. The inspiration for Ashes from Stone comes from both personal experience and a desire to broaden representation in visual storytelling. Living with a disability, I know how often assumptions dictate the way people are perceived. Rather than framing difference as something extraordinary, I want to create a body of work that shifts the focus from how people are ‘defined’ by others to how they define themselves. I approach this work with an understanding that the world isn’t always designed for everyone, yet people continue to navigate, thrive, and reshape conversations around ability, gender, and inclusion. It’s incredibly meaningful to me to create a space where people feel valued and represented, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to share their stories with the world,” Neubauer says. As she has continued to grow as an artist and turn her lens toward people who have historically been ignored, Neubauer believes the world has become more inclusive, but there remains much work to be done. “There’s been a noticeable shift in terms of social movements, representation and conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion. More marginalized voices are being heard, and I also think there’s a growing push for acceptance and accessibility,” Neubauer says. “However, in my opinion, the journey isn’t linear, and challenges like systemic inequalities and discrimination still persist.” The award-winning photographer believes photography is immensely powerful and can improve the world. “Photography can capture raw, untold stories, shed light on important social issues, and challenge narratives. Photography has the ability to evoke strong emotional responses, educate people on unseen realities and build empathy. By framing issues like poverty, injustice, and climate change, photography can bring these topics to the forefront of public consciousness, making them more urgent for global action. It holds the potential to shift perspectives and inspire change in ways words sometimes can’t,” Neubauer concludes. Image credits: Priya Suresh Kambli, Jennifer Osborne, Koral Carballo, and Anna Neubauer. Each photographer is credited in the individual image captions. Photographs provided courtesy of the Leica Women Foto Project Award.

Just as there is hardly a one-size-fits-all best DSLR or best mirrorless camera for any given user, there is certainly not any single best application for everyone. Users’ needs and preferences vary wildly, especially considering the extensive capabilities of today’s iPhones. It is estimated that nearly 1.5 trillion photos will be taken this year alone. Of those, approximately 92% will be snapped by smartphones, so shouldn’t you try and get the best possible photo with them? These iPhone camera apps will certainly help you do that. Certainly, a large percentage, if not a majority, of the vast number of photos taken are casual snapshots or what I’d call “non-photography photos” — images taken for non-artistic purposes, like snapping a photo of a document for later reference. A smaller percentage, though, are photos taken by amateurs and professionals alike who are seeking a higher level of image quality and output. In this case, users may and often do seek out third-party applications to put them in the driver’s seat — whether it be manual control and RAW or simply applying a preset filter to upload to social media. The issue facing these users are the perhaps hundreds, if not thousands, of third-party options available in the App Store. If you’re like me, you may end up trying (and paying for) half a dozen or more apps over the years. So, our goal here is to provide a list of the best apps to help steer you in a direction that will save you time (and money) with the best application – and therefore best photo results – to fit your needs. To make matters at least somewhat simpler, we’ve broken down our list into several categories to cover a wide, if not exhaustive, range of options for iPhone users. Some users value ultimate control and others value simplicity; some seek to milk every ounce of image quality possible from their camera and others simply want a quick path from the camera to Instagram or Facebook. There’s an app for just about anyone or anything these days, so we’ve selected a few outstanding choices that run the gamut of what most people expect out of their iPhone camera. Above all others, Halide Mark II offers the most comprehensive set of controls and features of any iOS camera app to date. From histograms, to focus peaking, to long exposures up to fifteen seconds, Halide offers an extensive and exhaustive suite of features that will satisfy even the most demanding user. The swipe gestures (for example, swipe up or down for exposure compensation) are incredibly handy and keep the layout simple and clean, though they can take a bit of time to master before you’ll be able to reliably capture quick snapshots. One of the newer (and best) features of Halide is its excellent ProRAW support. So far this only applies to the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max, but presumably, ProRAW will become a standard option in future iPhone models. ProRAW has the advantage of combining RAW image quality with the computational photography that allows iPhone cameras to punch so high above their weight class. Read more: Apple ProRAW Review: The Best Way to Shoot RAW on an iPhone Upon Apple’s introduction of ProRAW, Halide did a deep dive into its workings and was ultimately successful in combining the best of their app with the advantages of Apple’s new format. This article from Ben Sandofsky (co-founder and developer of Lux Optics, who makes Halide) goes deep into the science of ProRAW, how it differs from standard RAW, and how they integrate it into their app. It should be noted that Halide is solely for taking photographs — there are no editing or processing options in the app itself. Firstlight is developed and produced by FiLMiC Camera, the same team that made the excellent and incredibly popular FiLMiC Pro app for smartphone filmmaking. Upfront, know that most of what Firstlight offers over Halide relates to its implementation and use of the ProRAW format. So, if your phone is an older model and does not support ProRAW, there will not be much for you to gain by using Firstlight — though there are a few very neat features, like its film simulations, that are better than the competition. Firstlight is, like Halide and ProCamera, a professional camera app designed for serious photographers who want to maximize the imaging capabilities and potential of their iPhone. And, like those apps, it has many of the same extensive features that allow you to control every aspect of your photo — manual exposure, shutter and ISO priority, gridlines, manual focus with peaking, zebras, histograms, and so on. Firstlight can shoot both standard RAW and ProRAW (as well as JPEG, HEIC, and TIFF). It has a bevy of film simulations, like most apps, but unlike those other apps, FiLMiC went the extra mile in terms of how those simulations are implemented. While other apps use soft-light composite, Firstlight uses what they call ISO Adaptive Mode — the app converts digital noise to variable-density grain. In other words, the actual grain sizes and granularity change based on the sensitivity and level of noise. This is something you cannot achieve with the standard “film look” filter overlays in other apps. FiLMiC even built a light meter from scratch to optimize scene-by-scene metering for the best exposure. But above all else, Firstlight is capable of the absolute best image quality you can get on a smartphone. I was at first dubious given that there is not a whole lot of difference between Halide’s ProRAW and ProCamera’s ProRAW, so how much better could Firstlight’s be? But after side-by-side testing and over a month of use, I came away incredibly impressed at what the FiLMiC team has accomplished here. What Firstlight gives us is something I have never seen — ProRAW capture that is essentially always as good — or better — than standard RAW capture. The reason we added an additional category instead of replacing Halide with Firstlight is that I cannot recommend the app as the absolute best when taking into consideration everything as a whole. Specifically, the user interface needs work and making adjustments is slow and tedious. But for pure image quality, Firstlight is unbeatable. ProCamera+ is a close second to Halide and like Halide, it offers a high degree of manual control across dozens of settings. It also includes ProRAW support, though Halide’s integration is a notch above which we found produced cleaner and more malleable results. However, unlike Halide, ProCamera includes a fairly extensive built-in editing suite which even supports features like portrait mode (provided your phone does, of course). If you’re looking for the best app out there to both capture and edit, this is it. Of all the advanced-level applications mentioned here, I think this one has the most intuitive layout with a very easy learning curve, provided you understand the essentials of exposure and editing. If you’re an amateur user completely unfamiliar with the basics, this app would make it easy to see how different exposure parameters affect an image and could be a useful learning tool. If you’re not interested in that and only desire higher degrees of automation, ProCamera is likely overkill. Worth mentioning is one of ProCamera’s more unique features, which sets it apart from many of its peers: integration with Adobe which means you can send photos directly to your Creative Cloud storage. If that is not relevant to you, it won’t get in your way, but it’s there if you need it. For those familiar with the standard version of Lightroom and the Adobe Suite in general, it may seem strange to see Adobe Lightroom for iOS listed as a free app, but it is! It does require registration, which you can easily do via your iCloud or Gmail account, but the entire application functions for free with the exception of syncing across multiple devices via Adobe Cloud — that obviously requires an Adobe subscription. Naturally, if you already pay for Lightroom, just simply sign in with your Adobe ID. Not only is Lightroom one of the best mobile photo editors out there, but its built-in camera has extensive features that make the entire app worthy of all-around use. Full manual exposure and focus control, RAW capture, Lightroom presets, watermarks, and of course all of the color correction and editing features you’d expect from a mobile version of Lightroom. As a bonus, and unlike the desktop version, it’s surprisingly simple to navigate the app as a first-time user. Adobe managed to compress the best features of the full-blown program into a very user-friendly, but still feature-rich, mobile camera suite. Designed to unseat VSCO, pop! has basically done it. Just a few minutes with the app left us jaws agape, and hours later we still couldn’t get enough. Many apps claim they use special algorithms or secret methods to produce film-like results, but when pop! says it, we actually believe it. The app features a large and growing array of filters and emulations that, when combined with the surprisingly robust photo editing suite, create photos that you would swear were shot on film. If that’s not your jam, that’s okay too, as the app maintains the same editing tools photographers are used to finding and implements them exceedingly well. The best part about pop! is that it knows what it is: it’s an editor. That means there is no built-in camera, because that would be unnecessary, and the interface is remarkably simple and streamlined towards the one goal of editing an image. Import and export are easy, and the app has no problem providing a full-resolution finished file that looks fantastic even when viewed on desktop. Part of pop!’s stated goal was to not make editors feel forced into a subscription, and to that end the app’s free tools are actually quite powerful. For those that want more, pop! will unlock the entire app for a one-time fee of $8 or a monthly fee of $3.50. Like VSCO, Darkroom is one of the highest-rated photo apps available for iOS users, but Darkroom goes well beyond VSCO with its editing capabilities and offers pro-level features in a very beginner-friendly layout. The interface and design are among the best out there as it sports an extremely clean and easy-to-use RAW editor with all the expected adjustment sliders and curves, batch editing, portrait mode adjustments, content-aware frames, and a library of filter options (including the ability to create your own), plus ProRAW and HDR support. Not only is Darkroom a powerful editing app but it’s also a very competent video editor, which is not something many other apps can claim to include. Finally, like Lightroom, there is a desktop version that you can get access to if you subscribe to the mobile version (or vice versa), another bonus that is a rarity among competitors. The overall user experience is actually not unlike Lightroom, but a bit cleaner and beginner-friendly, too. Most of us think of smartphone cameras as we do other cameras: devices with the sole intent of taking photos (or video). But they can also double as incredibly useful photography tools — in this case, as a viewfinder emulator for photographers and cinematographers. There are a number of options available on the App Store, but none are as feature-packed and complete as Mark II Artist’s Viewfinder. For those with smaller, easily portable cameras this may seem like a trivial feature, but for photographers and cinematographers who work primarily off a tripod, the ability to previsualize your shots and frame precisely — or scout locations — before moving your entire set up can be a godsend and save untold amounts of time. Artist’s Viewfinder has an insanely impressive catalog of “virtual” cameras and lenses to choose from. Want to know what the frame of your Linhof Master Technika with a Leaf Aptus 75 digital back and Rodenstock Apo-Sironar 55mm lens will look like? This app has it. RED Komodo in DCI 6K with a Zeiss 32mm Ultra Prime? This app has it. Name a camera – stills or cinema – and it’s in here. The app supports the use of add-on lenses (including 1.33x and 1.55x anamorphic), includes thirteen aspect ratio options, allows you to view multiple acquisition formats (such as a 2K crop from a 4K sensor), custom focal lengths, custom cameras and backs, tons of frame line options, and all the usual manual exposure and focus controls of other apps plus RAW image capture. Photos that are taken within the app are stored with metadata that includes the simulated camera and lens information along with optional geotagging. There is also a very useful track logging option, stored in the standard GPX format, that can be referenced later or sent to assistants, crew members, or rental houses. It’s worth noting that this app works best if your iPhone has both the standard lens and the ultra-wide, otherwise you’ll be unable to simulate anything below roughly 26mm full-frame equivalent. And, of course, it works even better if you have the ultra-wide, wide, and telephoto trio. FiLMiC Pro is probably the most well-known and well-regarded video app that exists, and for good reason. It’s been used professionally to shoot everything from Netflix features, to a Zack Snyder short film, to high-profile music videos, to popular Sundance indies. It offers just about everything you could ask for in a video app: full manual exposure tools, frame rates from 1 frame per second up to 240 frames per second for slow and fast motion, timelapse recording, zebras, histograms, focus peaking, manual focus pulling, false color, up to 150Mbps encoding in 4K, an array of pro audio features, integration with certain DJI, Zhiyun, and Movi gimbals, and so much more. Anamorphic support, which includes automatic de-squeeze, pairs perfectly with both 1.33x and 1.55x anamorphic lenses such as those from Moment or Beastgrip. It even allows LOG gamma recording for maximum dynamic range and flexibility in post. Dolby Vision HDR support is available on 12 series iPhones as is 10-bit SDR. Some of these features — like LOG gamma — are only available if you purchase the Cinematographer’s Kit for an additional $13.99. Also available is FiLMiC Remote ($9.99), which allows you to use a second iOS device (iPhone or iPad) as a wireless monitor or to control the recording device, which is particularly handy for crane/jib/slider shots or simply to relieve the camera operator from the responsibility of pulling focus. There is even a clean HDMI out feature on offer. FiLMiC Pro costs $2.99 per week or $49.99 per year.

The original Nikon Z5 is four years old now and probably still represents the best bang for the buck in the affordable full-frame game. With ample controls, excellent 24-megapixel image quality, and even dual card slots, the Z5 had no right to be as affordable as it was. Every summer as a child, I attended a day camp during the school break because my single-parent mother had to work to make ends meet. Of course, I wanted to stay home and play video games but I soon began to love learning archery, making new friends, and exploring the wilderness without TV or computer screens to distract me. Many wonderful memories were made and I look back on these times fondly. It is this nostalgia for a simpler and more adventurous time that Camp Snap Photo is trying to market with its popular little 103B Camp Snap camera. Fujifilm's GFX medium format camera line features versatile and relatively affordable cameras in an industry normally dominated by prestigious names like Phase One or Hasselblad. However, Fujifilm also makes the insanely popular X100 series of cameras which make for a perfect compact companion to the traveling urban photographer. So what would happen if you combined the over-your-shoulder convenience of the X100 with the raw image quality of the GFX? The answer is the GFX100RF. Expanding on our efforts we started last year, we're again taking a look at the best smartphones for photography available in 2025. We have four phones to look at this time: the Apple iPhone 16 Pro, Google Pixel 9 Pro, Samsung S25 Ultra, and a newcomer in the OnePlus 13. I intend to provide some education on what situations some of these phones might excel in versus the other so you can select which is best suited for you. In the DSLR days, Sigma was well known for making affordable super-zoom lenses that traded convenience for some image quality. However, recently, Sigma has transformed itself into a preeminent optics manufacturer, building high-grade lenses that many professionals prefer over OEM glass options. Now Sigma is back at it, and it's a welcome return. One of the most fundamental lessons taught in any art form is to strip away the excess; to streamline and distill down to its essence, only the most essential parts. We see this in many art forms such as sculpture, writing, and even photography, and now we have it in a camera. But is it possible to go too far? Viltrox is steadily expanding its line of lenses and I’ve committed to making 2025 the year that I review more of them. Viltrox lenses have earned a glowing reputation and I very much enjoyed the 135mm f/1.8. But the latest 25mm f/1.7 comes in at an incredibly low price of $179. Can a lens this affordable make a favorable impression or is it too good to be true? I distinctly remember when the Zeiss Otus 55mm f/1.4 lens first entered the market. It was a lens designed to project a larger circle of light onto the sensor and therefore it was huge. As bulky as it was, this oversized design enhanced the overall sharpness of the lens, especially toward the corners, and quickly cemented itself a legendary status. However, the Zeiss Otus lenses were designed for DSLR cameras and it has been six years since the 100mm Otus was released. A lot can happen in six years and the other manufacturers have had plenty of time to catch up in terms of optical performance. Alberta, Canada, has been pounded by polar vortex after polar vortex, pushing daytime temperatures down to -25 Celsius before any wind chill factors in. As Alberta-born Canadians, Jordan and I can brave the frigid temperatures for the sake of the show, but with our lavalier microphones refusing to hold a charge and our camera EVFs running at eight frames per second, we pressed on to review a fascinating little lens on what we knew would be a taxing day. I wasn't looking forward to a trip halfway around the world even though I've always wanted to see northern Norway. My main concern was the two full days of flight time to partake in the two-day-long launch event, but the rumors pointed to a long-awaited S1R replacement so it was worth the toil. The weather turned out to be very wet and very cold, but the camera may have made it all worthwhile. I have gone on the record with two stances for a while now: manufacturers need to cash in on their classic heritage and someone needs to make a compact Micro Four Thirds body. OM System just announced the new $2,000 OM-3 camera and while it certainly covers the first request, it kind of misses on the second one. Nikon has created a compelling lineup of prime lenses that feature fast apertures and premium optics. The 135mm f/1.8 Plena anchors the telephoto end and the 85mm and 50mm f/1.2 lenses bring incredibly bright apertures to the normal ranges. It makes sense that the logical foray into the wide-angle is going to start with the new Nikkor 35mm f/1.2 S. The photographic world tends to flow into a state of normality, order, and conformity. Certain lenses just work for most situations, and the popular choices of the professionals quickly become the traditional tools of the masses. It seems everyone starts with a general-purpose lens that covers a rough full-frame range of 28mm to 70mm or so, and then eventually, you end up with something wider and something longer. The PetaPixel team flew back to San Jose, California for 2025's Samsung Unpacked event ready to review the new Galaxy S25 Ultra smartphone as a tool for creators. Although all the new S25 phones feature a brand new Snapdragon 8 Elite 3nm processor and similar AI-based tools, it is the $1,299 Ultra which has the latest camera hardware that we want to focus on. The PetaPixel team is in San Jose, California for the Samsung Unpacked event and is working hard on our review of the latest Galaxy S25 Ultra for photographers. However, we did get an early briefing and first look at the latest high-end phone from Samsung and we have some thoughts about the most exciting features. Why buy a product from Leica with many of the same internal components and capabilities as the far more affordable entries from the other makers? Leica seeks to answer that question with its latest SL3-S, a 24-megapixel design aimed squarely at cameras like the Panasonic Lumix S5IIX. The majority of professional photographers pray at the Church of the Holy Trinity. That is to say that they make their daily bread with an ultra-wide f/2.8 zoom, a general-purpose 24-70mm f/2.8, and a 70-200mm f/2.8 telephoto. This is a tradition that has held true for decades from the time of the autofocusing film SLR to the modern mirrorless cameras of today. Good things come in threes so today we look at the best three lenses from the three biggest companies. It's well-known that I am not a fan of the 35mm focal length. It's also well-known that I am in the extreme minority on this. Everyone loves a good 35mm lens which is a prime candidate for a faster f/1.4 aperture. Samyang has answered the call with its latest "Prima" series of lenses which promise to be optical standouts with sophisticated autofocusing. Viltrox has been making waves in the lens space for a while now, but its LAB series, a new push into professional-grade optics, takes the company's ambitions up a notch (or two). The Viltrox LAB 135mm f/1.8 aims to deliver professional performance at a much lower price. Does it deliver the goods? Here, we thought that the smartphone would kill the point-and-shoot digital camera. There is, instead, a steady resurgence with more and more (mostly young) people purchasing used point-and-shoot cameras. The Panasonic ZS99 aims to capitalize on the trend, offering a modernized take on an older P&S model. The Lomography Lomo'Instant Automat Wide Glass aims to be the best instant camera on the market, and in many ways, it lives up to this ambitious goal. My editor-in-chief, Jaron Schneider, tasked me with a Christmas challenge to review a camera unlike anything I had reviewed before. On my doorstep shows up a Bluey-themed kids' camera with the worrisome "eKids" branding on the bottom. I had a family vacation coming up in Alberta's capital city of Edmonton, so it was the right opportunity to put the camera through a rugged baptism of fire. We planned on shooting at the Royal Alberta Museum, which would give us bright and dark conditions in which to test the camera. Even with low expectations, I came away disappointed. Jordan and I regularly give our two cents about the lenses we enjoy the most from each of the major manufacturers. Taking each brand in turn, we list our favorite wide-angle, normal zooms, normal primes, portrait, and telephoto lenses. However, we have never tackled the Micro Four Thirds system, which is unique because it has two major OEM manufacturers that can share lenses. This gives us roughly twice as many optics to sift through, but we managed to narrow it down. Some of the best traditions are holiday traditions. Turkey at Thanksgiving, pumpkin carving at Halloween, and Christmas trees loaded with decorations are some of the cherished classics but undeniably, the greatest of them all is our annual Best and Worst camera gear roundup. Hasselblad is a name that screams premium optics at a premium price. However, Hasselblad recently developed a line of more compact and somewhat more affordable lenses categorized under the “P” for portable moniker. I like the ultra-compact Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L lens very much. It’s easy to carry around in the camera bag. It’s very sharp and well-corrected. But the inability to attach a teleconverter is a huge strike against a fast 70-200mm lens and video shooters don’t like the shifting balance as you zoom the extendable lens elements. Now that Canon has released the R1 and Sony has updated its a1 II platform, the Nikon Z9 has stiff competition. The title of "flagship camera" represents the pinnacle of each company's technological abilities and becomes the outward face of that company for all to judge. Should a flagship camera be able to handle anything that is thrown at it? And is there such a thing as a "best" right now? I wanted to love this camera so desperately. When I first looked at the X-M5, I was won over by its handsome design and compact nature. And the world needs more stylish little cameras like this, which are within the reach of most people’s budgets. However, we might lose too much to make this lower $799 price possible. Most of the technical specs and features were covered in a previous video and subsequent article, but I want to focus on the make-or-break features today. I’m an outlier in the photo world, especially regarding glass. I dislike the 35mm focal length, and as much as I love a good 24mm lens, a 28mm lens is even better. Maybe this is why I immediately gravitated to the quirky Canon RF 28-70mm f/2 zoom when it first came out. Despite its massive form factor, this bulbous gem of a lens quickly became a favorite of mine. The original Sony a1 is one of the most capable, advanced, and expensive flagship cameras ever. When it first came out, it wowed potential buyers with a fast-scanning 50-megapixel sensor without major rolling shutter issues while offering fast burst rates. It has been almost four years since then, and now we have a version II from Sony in our hands. Does the apple fall far enough from the tree to make it worth the $6,500 cost?

The original Nikon Z5 is four years old now and probably still represents the best bang for the buck in the affordable full-frame game. With ample controls, excellent 24-megapixel image quality, and even dual card slots, the Z5 had no right to be as affordable as it was. The intention behind the Nikon Z5 was to make an effective, but ultimately basic, entry-level camera. The success of the Nikon Z5 proved this direction to be a sound one but there is no denying that the Z5 lacked in certain areas. However, it did have a decent EVF, IBIS, and dual card slots which went a long way to assuring its popularity. The Z5 II goes well beyond the original Z5 capabilities with some meaningful upgrades but let’s start with the body handling first. This camera handles like a Z6 III with almost identical controls. The deep grip is really comfortable to use and manages longer and heavier glass comfortably. There are plenty of customizable buttons and an autofocusing joystick on the back to navigate menus and move AF points but you can also use the touch panel quickly. The camera manages to come in slightly underweight compared to the Z6 III, hovering around the 24.69-ounce (700-gram) mark. There is a unique Picture Control button on the top of the camera which quickly brings up all the company’s special picture color options and yes, you can customize it to do something else. What is notably absent is any sort of top-mounted LCD panel, however. I don’t really mind the lack of a top panel though and I found the camera to have an overall familiar and functional layout. The Nikon Z5 II doesn’t skimp on the more professional features either. It has an IBIS unit that rivals the ZF system, featuring up to 7.5 stops of stabilization in the center of the frame and the ability to adjust the IBIS specifically to the aperture point chosen. We also see dual UHS-II SD card slots which makes the Z5 very appealing as a primary or secondary camera for a working professional. Power is provided by the now-ubiquitous Nikon EN-EL15C type battery and provides roughly 380 CIPA-rated shots. Displays are quite decent as well with a very bright 3.69-million dot EVF pushing up to a 60hz refresh rate and with 3,000 nits of peak brightness. The back panel is a handy 3.2-inch, 2.1-million dot that has full articulation. I know that a fully articulating screen is a polarizing feature but I personally love it for shooting at awkward angles and also for video work. Everything about the new Nikon Z5 controls helps to provide a confidence-inspiring experience without feeling like there is anything missing. The Nikon Z5 II is rugged enough to handle the dusty deserts of Moab and I was pleased with both the ample customization options and compact handling and found the camera to be capable in any shooting situation. Moab is known for its stunning red landscapes and gorgeous arches. I intended to capture some classic landscapes but I also got to test the camera in some fast-action situations with the help of a couple of local mountain bikers. The Z5 II has the same autofocusing algorithms as the more specialized Z6 III and with the the help of the Expeed 7 processor, can focus quickly and accurately. I like that Nikon cameras can now automatically detect whether a subject is a person, animal, or automobile, but decided to lock the detection mode to faces for my testing. Even from a decent distance and with subjects weaving along the trail, I found the hit rate to be excellent and it was able to track subjects right up to very close distances. Whether using telephotos from a distance or ultra-wide lenses from right next to the rider, the autofocus was predictable and accurate. Nikon has come a long way with its autofocus technology and the Z5 II seems to be maximizing the benefits. Now the Z5 II can shoot up to 30 FPS but only when using electronic shutter mode and, frankly, the non-stacked BSI sensor does not handle rolling shutter very well. I’m always more concerned with the best mechanical shutter speeds and the Z5 II can push up to 14 FPS if JPEGs are acceptable, but I will only shoot RAW and there I still have access to a very respectable 11 FPS. The Z6 III will still be a better choice for more specialized fast-action events where faster burst rates are a must, but I was impressed by how well the Z5 II handled sports photography considering its more jack-of-all-trades design philosophy. I’d happily use the Z5 II for anything from kids and pets to sports and wildlife. Image quality is a known commodity because many cameras utilize a similar sensor. The 24-megapixel backside illuminated sensor provides decent detail and I really pushed the low-light potential by shooting the Milky Way Galaxy at 3 AM. The results are excellent and most users will find the resolution adequate for their work. The files will essentially look identical to the more expensive Nikon Zf and will have a slight dynamic range advantage over the Z6 III. The original Nikon Z5 was an excellent value but it held little appeal for video shooters, as the older 24-megapixel CMOS led to cropped 4K video and distracting rolling shutter. For that reason, I was surprised at the comprehensive and very usable video capabilities of the Z5 II. It features all of the video functions found in the more expensive Zf but in a body design better optimized for video shooters. Full width, oversampled 4K can be captured up to 30p. Due to the slower sensor readout (though much faster than the Z5), 4K/60P requires an APS-C crop. Footage can be recorded in 10-bit H.265 with standard profiles or with the much more flexible N-Log format. Exposure tools are very fleshed out, with histograms and even waveforms available. Unfortunately, none of these exposure aids are enabled by default, which can be frustrating. I was quite impressed by the autofocus performance, even when tracking fast-moving subjects. The performance felt similar to the Z8 and Z6 III despite the slower sensor in the Z5 II. I would happily use this camera for documentary filmmaking but it’s worth keeping an eye on the footage as the focus would very occasionally drift to the background before reacquiring the chosen subject. Default stabilization is very good for static shots but will fight any attempt to pan or tilt while recording. For that reason, I generally left the Z5 II in “Sport” VR mode which is slightly less effective but yields much more natural results when moving the camera. I think the “Sport” mode should be the default on all Nikon cameras, with the option to enable standard VR for static scenes. One new addition to the ability to capture N-RAW video to an SD card. The data rate limits of SD cards require this video to be limited to 4K and, unfortunately, this also means the full-width N-RAW capture is line skipped and thus much softer than the compressed 4K recordings. For a 1:1 Pixel RAW video, you’ll need to shoot in APS-C 4K N-RAW crop mode. These restrictions mean N-RAW should probably be ignored unless you require enormous flexibility in adjusting your white balance and tint. Overall, the Nikon Z5 II is a very capable video tool and is easily among the best in class. The Panasonic S5 II still offers a more effective stabilization system, more assist tools, and open-gate recording, but the Z5 II’s stickier autofocus means it’s a better option for recording fast-moving subjects. The real question for potential buyers is if the Z5 II’s video capabilities are enough or if it’s worth spending an extra $800 for the Z6 III’s much faster readout and uncropped 4K/60p. I loved my time with the Nikon Z5 II because I never felt under-gunned. The original Z5 was designed to meet a certain price and as capable as it was, there were some unavoidable compromises made to get there. However, the Nikon Z5 II feels totally different. This is a true jack-of-all-trades with quality hardware throughout. It can handle everything from landscapes to sports to wildlife and would be equally at home as a professional wedding camera. If you want more megapixels, the Z8 or Z9 are appropriate while the Z6 III is better suited for more demanding sports and action work. The Zf is the closest camera in capability to the Z5 II and has nearly identical features, so it is likely the closest one-to-one alternative in Nikon’s line. The Zf is significantly more expensive though, so the the real appeal of that system comes down to the retro-inspired design and control scheme. Regardless, the Z5 II is going to make more practical sense to a wider range of photographers and I wouldn’t be surprised if it even grabs the attention of some prospective Z6 III customers. The sub $2000 full-frame camera market is a crowded one, but after using the Z5 II I’m convinced that this is my favorite option living in this space so far. Image credits: Photographs by Chris Niccolls for PetaPixel

Nikon announced the Z5 II, a 24-megapixel full-frame camera that is a major departure from the line’s predecessor thanks to dramatically improved performance across the board. On that note, the Z5 II features a 24-megapixel, full-frame, backside illuminated sensor that is paired with Nikon’s EXPEED 7 processing engine, which the company says allows it to deliver the best low light performance in its class. “Images and video are rendered with minimal noise and incredible AF detection abilities in low light. Whether shooting indoors, twilight cityscapes, or the night sky, the Z5 II is built to help you capture confidently in nearly any light, preserving details and textures throughout the broad ISO range,” Nikon claims. Nikon says that the autofocus of the Z5 II is also class-leading, allowing it to deliver reliable autofocus down to -10EV. It also has a broad native ISO range from 100 to 64,000 for photo and 100 to 51,200 for video. The ISO can also expand to Hi 1.7 (ISO 204,800 equivalent) for photo. Starlight View Mode makes focus and composition easier in extremely low light, while the Warm Color Display Mode helps preserve night vision when working in complete darkness. When shooting at night, the extended shutter speeds allow it to stay open for up to 900 seconds (15 minutes) in manual exposure mode. The sensor is also supported by an in-body image stabilization system that promises an equivalent of 7.5 stops of compensation in the center of the frame and six stops on the edges of the frame. Nikon says that the Focus-point VR adds to this by tailoring stabilization to the area covered by the active AF point even when it is positioned near the edge of the frame. For more resolution, the Z5 II has Pixel Shift capture capability which allows it to shoot up to 96-megapixel photos (Nikon’s Studio NX software is required to compile the images). Even though the sensor isn’t stacked, Nikon says that the autofocus is fast and reliable — a marked improvement over the original Z5. It integrates the company’s 3D tracking and it is the first full-frame Nikon mirrorless camera to come with AF-A focus mode, which automatically switches between AF-S and AF-C in response to a detected subject. With it enabled, photographers won’t have to decide between human faces or animals to achieve the most accurate focusing method as the camera will do it automatically. The Z5 II can shoot up to 14 frames per second (JPEG) and 11 frames per second (RAW) with the mechanical shutter and up to 30 (JPEG) and 15 (RAW) using the electronic shutter. The camera also has Nikon’s pre-release capture mode which allows the continuous shooting of photos buffered up to a second before the shutter release is fully pressed, allowing photographers to capture action that might happen before they are ready. The Nikon Z5 II’s front, back, and top covers are made from magnesium alloy, which the company says delivers exceptional durability and outstanding dust and drip resistance. It packs dual SD card slots (which is typically a pro-level feature) and the top of the camera also features a dedicated Picture Control button (which can be reprogrammed if desired). “The dedicated Picture Control button opens new possibilities for expressive color, with imaginative film-inspired looks that instantly change the color tone and color of a scene. In a single press, the user can see in real-time the effects of up to 31 built-in color presets plus Imaging Recipes downloaded by the user,” Nikon says. Nikon equipped the Z5 II with an improved electronic viewfinder (EVF) which it claims is six times brighter than any competing model and can reach up to 3,000 nits peak brightness. The rear 3.2-inch vari-angle LCD touchscreen rotates to accommodate nearly any angle and is also ideal for video production. On the video front, the Z5 II can shoot uncropped 4K at up to 30 frames per second (FPS). To get to 60 FPS, the camera does incur a 1.5x crop. To go faster, the camera will need to drop resolution to 1080p Full HD, but there it can shoot at up to 120 FPS. The Z5 II can capture video in 12-bit N-RAW as well as 10-bit H.265 and 8-bit H.264. Additionally, Nikon says this is the first camera to be able to record N-RAW to an SD card. It can, of course, also shoot N-Log. Below are a few sample images captured on the Z5 II, provided courtesy of Nikon. The Nikon Z5 II will be available in April 2025 for $1,699.95. Kit configurations include the Nikkor Z 24-50mm f/4-6.3 lens for $1,999.95 and the NIKKOR Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR lens for $2,499.95. Image credits: Nikon

Alongside the new Nikon Z5 II camera, Nikon announced that Adobe will introduce support for Nikon’s efficient 12-bit N-RAW video format in an upcoming version of Premiere Pro later this year. N-RAW is a proprietary high-quality RAW video format that promises creators expansive video data without massive file sizes. The 12-bit format supports the Rec2020 color gamut and allows users to adjust the white balance in post-production, similar to tweaking the white balance in RAW photo files. With Adobe Premiere Pro adding Nikon N-RAW support “by the end of 2025,” a much wider range of videographers and editors will be able to work with Nikon N-RAW video, which is available on many of Nikon’s recent Z mirrorless cameras, including the Nikon Z8, Z9, Z6 III, and the new Z5 II. Nikon has previously touted N-RAW’s performance, including its balance between image quality and file size, but as PetaPixel has noted, widespread support in industry-standard non-linear video editors has been somewhat slow. Other than Premiere Pro, once the promised support arrives, video editors only have two options for editing N-RAW video: DaVinci Resolve and, more recently, REDCINE-X PRO. “I think N-RAW can be helpful in any type of project, whether it be a documentary, a wedding film, or a corporate video, or whatever you’re shooting,” says cinematographer Mitch Blummer. “I generally work with a colorist for many of my pieces but for this one, I was able to dial in the look and maintain consistent color throughout the scenes using the camera RAW controls that N-RAW enables.” The Premiere Pro support for the N-RAW format is directly related to Nikon’s acquisition of RED. Nikon says that N-RAW support is possible thanks to the addition of N-RAW support to RED’s R3D software development kit (SDK). Nikon’s RED purchase has paid impressive dividends in only a year, including the addition of RED-developed N-Log LUTs. “Nikon will continuously meet the needs of those involved in video and film production, contributing to the development of imaging culture, with the hope of expanding possibilities for imaging expression,” Nikon promises. Although a precise date for N-RAW support’s arrival to Premiere Pro is not yet available, videographers may not need to wait too long to begin editing N-RAW footage in Adobe’s popular video editing application. Image credits: Nikon, Adobe

President Donald Trump today announced a huge swath of global tariffs that, if enacted, would increase the cost of camera products imported from Japan in the United States by 24%. Products from China would get hit even harder with a 34% tariff. Calling them “Liberation Day” tariffs, CBS News reports, the US president announced sweeping tariffs for a huge list of global products which includes a 10% baseline tariff for all US trading partners and reciprocal tariffs against what he referred to as the “worst offenders.” The first round would take effect on April 5 with the second round coming on April 9. To this point, Japan had remained out of Trump’s trade war sights but the recent supposed partnership between it, South Korea, and China seems to have invoked his ire. Of note, Japan has denied any such discussion of a partnership took place and South Korean officials said China’s public announcement of an alliance was “somewhat exaggerated.” Imports from South Korea will be taxed at 25%, Japan at 24%, and the European Union at 20%. China will get hit the hardest with a new 34% tariff. “They do it to us, we do it to them. It can’t get any simpler than that,” the president said. Of note, any tariffs imposed by former trade partners were already in response to his first round of tariffs enacted earlier this year. “Such horrendous imbalances have devastated our industrial base,” he added. The president says these high tariffs would help convince foreign businesses to relocate factories to the United States while at the same time argued these taxes would, somehow, lower prices for Americans. Economists and those who understand how tariffs work — they are an import tax whose burden falls on the importer and then the domestic buyer — say it will do the opposite and likely boost inflation while also increasing costs. The United States not only doesn’t have access to the raw materials necessary for the production of many of the tech products that will be affected by the tariff, but it also lacks manufacturing facilities and skilled labor to work in said facilities. It would take years to build up the infrastructure and talent to fill demand domestically notwithstanding the added cost of shipping in materials even if they could be acquired, since they don’t exist in the United States naturally. U.S. stock futures crashed on news of the tariffs, CNBC reports. At the time of publication, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen more than 1,000 points (2.3%), while the S&P 500 fell 3.4%. Nasdaq futures fell harder by 4.2%. If the tariffs are rolled out, expect Japanese camera companies operating in North America to announce across-the-board price increases to match the 24% tariff, just as Asus did when the previous China tariffs caused it to announce a blanket increase last month, unless specific exceptions are written into the import tax. Chinese brands like DJI and Viltrox will very likely be forced to do the same. Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.

A rare Blood Moon appeared in the skies last night caused by a total lunar eclipse and photographers were able to capture the spectacular celestial event. The eclipse began just before midnight and continued into the early hours, but the period of totality — when the Moon shined red — was from 2.26 AM EDT to 3.31 AM EDT. For photographers in North America, it meant a late night but it was worth it. Regular PetaPixel contributor Andrew McCarthy captured a stunning view of the Moon with a red hue. In typical McCarthy fashion, he captured the shot using “three telescopes and tens of thousands of images”. While he is still working on the final image, he has shared a preview, and if anyone is interested he will be making a limited edition print run available via his email list. The shot I’m sharing tomorrow was captured using 3 telescopes and 10s of 1000s of images captured during totality. I’ll be processing data all night to try and get it done by tomorrow morning 😅 I really hope you like it! pic.twitter.com/mk0hH2YsiU — Andrew McCarthy (@AJamesMcCarthy) March 14, 2025 Over on the other side of the Atlantic, Josh Dury traveled north to Scotland, unsure of what he would actually be able to see in his viewfinder. “It was hit or miss across the UK as to whether the partial stages of the eclipse would be seen and also speculation, as to whether totality would be seen or not. In fact, it was and I captured it,” Dury writes on Instagram. Josh Dury captured totality over Castle Stalker in Scotland. Dan Martland captured the full Worm Moon rising over One World Trade Center and The Empire State Building in New York City just a few hours before the total eclipse. The March full Moon gets its name from earthworm casts appearing in the ground at this time of year. Gary Hershorn was also in New York for moonrise, capturing it as it rose above the Brooklyn skyline and Statue of Liberty. Photography’s not all expensive lenses and full frame sensors. Jose Lima captured the Blood Moon on his Samsung S24 smartphone, a device with a checkered history of Moon photos. And in case you were wondering what the eclipse looked like from the Moon’s perspective, helpfully there is a freshly landed spacecraft on the surface which caught a picture showing the Sun shining brightly but with a “glowing ring of light” reflected in one of Blue Ghost’s solar panels. Firefly Aerospace, which operates Blue Ghost, also captured a view of the Blood Moon from their base in Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Here’s a roundup of some of the most spectacular eclipse photos we’ve found on social media. The Total Lunar Eclipse minutes ago pic.twitter.com/eKUjwo1U3A — Rami Ammoun (@rami_astro) March 14, 2025 Lunar eclipse over Florida 🌕🌖🌗🌘🌴🌒🌓🌓🌔 pic.twitter.com/W6JaGUCiGW — John Kraus (@johnkrausphotos) March 14, 2025 The clouds parted enough!She was a pretty one. I am cold. I will now sleep.Enjoy a brief mooning with an owl heard in the background and a couple single exposures.Goodnight, world.#BloodMoon#TotalLunarEclipse pic.twitter.com/e1tarB6GY2 — Roger Craig Smith (@RogerCraigSmith) March 14, 2025 If you have any photos of the Blood Moon from last night that you would like to share with us then please contact us on the tip line. Update 3/14: Updated with the Blue Ghost photo of the eclipse.

Steve Sanders, the Director of Photography for the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs, was on hand in New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX. While the Chiefs ultimately came up short of a historic three-peat, falling to the Philadelphia Eagles, Sanders captured many amazing photos of the big game that put a bow on an excellent season for the Chiefs. Sanders is the Chief’s Director of Photography, a role he assumed a few seasons ago, but his time with the team goes back much further. 2025 is Sanders’ 30th year with the historic NFL club. Over those three decades, he has captured many moments, big and small alike, for the Chiefs. Much like the New York Yankees’ official photographer, Ariele Goldman Hecht, Sanders wears many hats, certainly more than a more traditional press agency sports photographer. He covers the team across offseason workouts, NFL draft prep, the preseason, the regular season, and for the Chiefs lately, the playoffs. Sanders also does team employee photos, player headshots, award ceremonies, and events. “On any given week, we’re tasked with capturing between 40 to 60 requests per game. These range from partner activations and special guests to cheerleading performances and many other specific asks. We always aim to showcase the atmosphere, the environment, and the players’ arrivals,” Sanders tells PetaPixel. However, while Sanders and his team perform an eclectic mix of tasks — if it involves the Kansas City Chiefs and there are photos to capture, Sanders is there — the meat and potatoes of the gig remains football. That said, the Super Bowl is more than just a game; it’s an entire event spanning a week. “A Super Bowl, as I’ve learned, requires meticulous planning. Everyone involved wants to preserve memories from the entire week leading up to the game,” Sanders explains. “To ensure we cover everything without stepping on each other’s toes, we assign each photographer specific tasks, ensuring we’re spread out across the field and capturing unique angles and moments without duplicating efforts,” he continues. Much like the on-field action, Sanders works with a team. He tells PetaPixel that he added a full-time associate to his staff last spring, Mikayla Schmidt. She was originally a seasonal hire in 2023 and “did an outstanding job.” Sanders and Schmidt headline a full-time staff, which Sanders, who admits he may be biased, calls “the best in the NFL.” They work alongside a game day crew padded out with freelancers. “On game day, my crew consists of Mikayla and six additional freelancers, some working upstairs and others on the field, with a runner/grip also stationed on the field. We’re supported by a team of two editors in our workroom, ensuring everything runs smoothly,” Sanders explains. It’s a team effort. Sanders, Schmidt, and the team of freelancers are not just among the best photo teams in the NFL, they also work for one of the most successful teams in the modern NFL era. Even though the Kansas City Chiefs failed to secure their third consecutive Lombardi trophy, they have won four championships in the Super Bowl era, including three in the past six seasons (2019, 2022, 2023). The team has won five AFC championships over that same period. The point is that Sanders has had many long seasons and a lot of winning to capture lately. “The job has always been a dream, and it’s been a true joy. The past seven years have been incredible, especially having the opportunity to photograph Patrick Mahomes on a daily basis,” Sanders explains. “It’s made my work so much more exciting. The games are always thrilling, and the team’s success continually pushes me to improve and bring my best to every shot.” When asked about his favorite moment as the Chiefs photographer, Sanders didn’t hesitate. “That’s an easy one — the first Super Bowl in 2019! It was an unforgettable experience, and being part of that historic moment is something I’ll always cherish.” During Sanders’ time with the Chiefs, the team has gone through ups and downs — primarily ups lately — and photography itself has changed dramatically. Not only has equipment evolved, but so too have the demands placed on Sanders and his team. “On game day, the immediate use of our photos is for the social and creative teams. We also have editors on hand to create real-time photo galleries and produce finished edits, which are shared in our archive and with the players,” Sanders says. “Our goal is simple: we strive to cover every aspect of the day, ensuring that nothing important goes uncaptured.” Once the game kicks off and the teams go to battle on the gridiron, Sanders faces many challenges. The hardest part of photographing an NFL game is being in the right place at the right time. “The most challenging aspect of photographing football isn’t just chasing the perfect shot — it’s trusting your instincts to be in the right place at the right time, and having your camera set up to capture the action effectively,” the photographer says. In the Super Bowl, being in the right place becomes much more difficult than a regular season or even other playoff games. “The difficulty increases with the added layers of rules and access restrictions,” he laments. Not that this slows him down any, though. “You have to be prepared to shoot at any moment, no matter the limitation.” Sanders remarks that the latest Canon camera and lens advancements certainly help. “I believe the improvements in cameras and lenses have opened up new possibilities for creativity. The focus is faster, the colors are more vibrant, and overall, the quality has reached new heights,” he says. Since Sanders works exclusively with the Chiefs and produces work over the entire season, color is a big part of his job. He aims to have a consistent visual language throughout the season, from training camp through the final game. “I’m a traditionalist when it comes to my style,” he admits, “and I try to pass that along to my crew. My biggest focus is on color tone; we always shoot at a specific Kelvin temperature depending on where we are shooting and the conditions. At the end of each season, we aim to put together galleries and sometimes even a display album, so maintaining a consistent tone and style throughout the images is crucial.” For example, Super Bowl LIX was played at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, an outdoor venue. Compared to the Chiefs’ home field, the outdoor Arrowhead Stadium, Sanders says it’s relatively easy to shoot indoors. “The lighting remains consistent, and the color temperature stays the same throughout the event, which simplifies a lot of the challenges we face,” Sanders explains. He and Schmidt outfit all their photographers with the right cameras and lenses, the appropriate color balance, and let them go to work. The team’s workflow has changed a lot in recent years, not only because of new and faster camera equipment. “The biggest game-changer for our workflow has been the ability to transfer files directly from the camera at such a quick and reliable rate. Gone are the days of running camera cards back and forth — this has streamlined everything and made our process so much more efficient.” Speaking of the latest gear, though, Sanders shot the Super Bowl with the Canon EOS R1. “My favorite new feature of the EOS R1 is its ability to capture frames,” Sanders says. “This allows me to get the camera rolling before even hitting the shutter. If I’m a little late to the action, the camera helps me out, and combined with the multi-directional focus, my images are sharper and captured more quickly.” On any given gameday, Sanders typically relies on three lenses: Canon’s RF 24-105mm f/2.8 L Z, the RF 100-300mm f/2.8 L, and the RF 600mm f/4 L. He occasionally mixes in an RF 10-20mm f/4 L for wide-angle shots and an RF 50mm f/1.2 prime for pregame work. “The 100-300mm has truly changed the way I can get up close to the action without intruding on the players’ personal space. It allows me to capture more intimate, detailed shots while maintaining a respectful distance,” Sanders says. While maintaining a respectful distance is essential to Sanders and his team, he says spending so much time around the team and its players makes his job easier. “The better you know your subject, the better your images will be,” the photographer explains. “When you’re able to have regular conversations with the players and discuss things outside of football, it helps build trust. This allows them to let their guard down, which in turn leads to more genuine and authentic shots.” “I always aim to be a storyteller with my photography, creating a collection of images that work together to capture the narrative, whether it’s a win or a loss,” Sanders concludes. Image credits: Photographs by Steve Sanders. Behind-the-scenes images provided by the Kansas City Chiefs.

ProGrade Digital is expanding its product line with more SSD products, expanding its business further beyond memory cards. The company’s new SSDs promise high speeds and reliability despite their small form factors. ProGrade’s new Pro Mini SSD shares the same familiar square shell that the company’s many stackable card reader options do, indicating that it is meant to accompany that line of products. “Our new PG10.5, Pro Mini SSD, allows imaging professionals to uniquely integrate high-speed SSD storage into their desktop workspace, which includes the ProGrade PG20, Thunderbolt 4, 4 port hub. Leveraging the small physical size of the ProGrade workflow card readers and a patented magnetic base, the PG10.5 leverages a USB 4.0 interface that provides industry-leading read and write speeds — critical to high-speed post-production editing and storage. The PG10.5’s small physical size and robust design also allow it to be easily removed from the workstation, studio environment, and easily used in more mobile, non-studio environments”, Wes Brewer, CEO and founder of ProGrade Digital, says. The compact SSD promises read speeds of up to 4,000 MB/s and write speeds of up to 3,500 MB/S. More importantly, ProGrade says it will sustain 1,250 MB/s, which is a more critical statistic for data-heavy workflows like high-resolution video. The aforementioned form factor is meant to work in tandem with the ProGrade Digital PG20 Thunderbolt 4 Hub. The ProGrade Digital PG10.5 Pro Mini USB 4.0 will be available in three capacities — 1 TB, 2TB, and 4TB — and will ship starting at the end of April for $179.99, $299.99, and $549.99, respectively. ProGrade’s other compact SSD is what most would colloquially call a “thumb drive,” but ProGrade’s decision to call it a portable SSD points to a promise of greater reliability. Standard thumb drives are typically great for getting data from one place to another one or two times, but their long-term reliability is usually poor. They’re not meant to be used as a working drive either, as their controllers are typically not designed to handle repeat data loads, and while ProGrade doesn’t market its new PG30 as any different, it does call out that its option will last longer than typical drives of this design. “Our new PG30 Ultra-Portable SSD provides imaging professionals with a highly portable SSD that is perfect for quick and easy, ad-hoc file transfer needs. The PG30’s relatively small die-cast aluminum body, dual USB Type A and C connectors, coupled with an impressive IP65 dust and water rating, make it an ideal choice for all imaging professionals seeking the compatibility and reliability that ProGrade is known for,” Brewer says. The stick-shaped SSD promises read and write speeds of up to 1,000 MB/s and sustained speeds of 300 MB/s. Using USB-A and USB-C connections, the PG30 utilizes USB 3.2 Gen 2 which isn’t as fast as Thunderbolt 4 but will suffice for sending data between two machines. ProGrade backs the PG30 with a three-year warranty (far exceeding the norm for a thumb drive) and will offer it in three capacities: 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB. It will be available starting at the end of April for $99.99, $139.99, and $249.99, respectively. In addition to the new SSD options, ProGrade also announced a new CFexpress Type A single-slot memory card reader called the PGM12. While the shape is familiar to ProGrade users, this new reader is more compact than ProGrade’s other offerings and is meant to work in tandem with the iPhone 16 line to support 4K 120p video recording. “Our new PGM12, CFexpress Type A mobile card reader is designed to ensure content creators can reliably utilize the full capability of their iPhone 15 or 16 Pro/Pro Max, which requires external storage for up to 120 frames/second, ProRes video recording. Our customers can now record video onto low-power, CFexpress Type A memory cards, at the highest possible quality, and not have to worry about running out of storage space, which might be experienced with a fixed-capacity storage device. As a key differentiator, the PGM12 reader is designed to utilize our patented magnetic base mounting system and is small enough to be affixed to an iPhone without impeding the use of MagSafe™ charging while recording”, Brewer says. The PGM12 includes a flexible cable and magnetic base and promises transfer speeds of up to 1.25 GB/s through its USB 3.2 Gen 2 connection — perfect for iPhone. It will be available at the end of April for $79.99. Image credits: ProGrade Digital

A study has shown that whether a person smiles or not in their profile picture matters to other people and can even affect how much money they earn. The study published in April’s Journal of Consumer Research looked at the profile pictures of Airbnb hosts and how their smile affects other people’s perceptions of them. Amazingly, Airbnb hosts who do smile saw a 3.5 percent average increase in bookings. Forbes reports that is an additional $673 extra annual income just for wearing a smile. But not all smiles are equal and there is a difference between the sexes. Whether a female host smiled or not didn’t matter anywhere near as much as smiling males who saw an 8.7 percent increase over their non-smiling counterparts. The researchers say that is because of “the greater uncertainty surrounding interactions with male hosts.” A smile puts a potential customer at ease. Forbes notes that this is not the only study to affirm that smiling in profile pictures has a positive effect. Smiling on LinkedIn also matters, one study found that profiles with over 500 or more connections are more smiley than those with less. However, the smile itself matters. A large, laughing type of smile can actually put people off, and so can an inauthentic smile. The research says that a smile that is forced is less effective than one that involves the entire face when the person’s eyes light up and “crow’s feet” appear at the corner of the eyes. But again, there are differences between men and women. A study by the Hinge dating app says that on relationship platforms, women smiling while showing teeth are 76 percent more likely to get a like than those concealing their teeth. But for men, it is the other way around: those smiling without teeth were 43 percent more likely to receive a like than their teeth-baring peers. The researchers say that smiling is a sure-fire way to signal approachability and safety. People are more likely to trust people who smile. Nevertheless, different contexts may require different smiles. For example, for those who want a leadership role a more subtle smile might be better than a large flashing smile to show both approachability and authority. But for those dealing directly with customers, a bigger smile may come across as more personable. Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.

Meta is reportedly working on a more exclusive version of the company’s popular Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses that could be released this year, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Codenamed Hypernova, the glasses will be priced over $1,000 — perhaps as high as $1,400 — but will come with hand-gesture controls and a screen in the lens that will display photos and apps, anonymous Meta employees tell Bloomberg. The glasses will have a dedicated app for taking pictures from the camera, which itself might get an upgrade. The company believes the current 12-megapixel camera on the $299 pair of Meta Ray-Bans is equivalent to the iPhone 11’s camera from 2019. Gurman’s report does not provide camera specifications, but the company wants a new camera that compares to the iPhone 13 from 2021. There will also be apps for looking at the photos and for viewing maps. Meta’s messaging apps like WhatsApp and Messenger will also be supported. The Ray-Ban Meta partnership has been a surprising success. Mark Zuckerberg’s company is hoping the popularity of the smart glasses will spur users to buy a more deluxe version. Bloomberg notes that the 370 percent price hike to Hypernova is largely because of the screen that is slated to be on the lower-right side of the right lens. Rather like Iron Man, the eyepiece wearer will get the information displayed in front of their eye which will reportedly look clearer if the user tilts their head down. Furthermore, Meta is already working on the next-generation model, codenamed Hypernova 2. A “binocular display system” means it will have screens in both lenses that display information to both eyes. This is due to be released in 2027, Bloomberg reports. The information will be displayed in a similar way to the Apple Vision Pro or Meta Quest mixed-reality headset, users will get a “boot screen” and see circular icons. The Meta employees tell Gurman that a “neural wristband” will start shipping with the smart glasses. This device will allow the users to make hand gestures that control the glasses — a notoriously tricky piece of technology to pull off.

Greenland has been making headlines lately, but beyond the news stories, another side of the island has nothing to do with politics. Northeast Greenland National Park is the largest national park on Earth, surpassing the size of 166 of the world’s 195 countries. Its ice-sculpted fjords, mammoth glaciers, and jagged mountains define the landscape and offer a photographic treasure unlike any other. One of the greatest charms of the park is its palpable sense of solitude. With no permanent human inhabitants (only a handful of researchers and the occasional patrol unit), you’ll find a wilderness ruled by Arctic elements—where wildlife and weather shape the landscape. Here, the rugged geology—ancient rock layers laid bare by ice and wind—reveals the formation of Earth in all its raw beauty. In the brief Arctic summer, sunlight bathes the tundra in a soft glow, illuminating carpets of moss and lichen in a palette of greens, oranges, and golds. Come winter, vast plains of ice and snow transform the region into a minimalist heaven. Patience is essential; the unpredictable Arctic climate dictates the pace of photography. Musk oxen meander in groups across the mountain slopes, walruses echo their calls in rowdy gatherings by the shore, and arctic foxes glide ghostlike through the rocky terrain. Seabird colonies also call this region home. And in these remote Arctic seas, you may catch a fleeting glimpse of narwhals—famed for their unicorn-like tusks—and graceful beluga whales, weaving silently through the waters in a timeless Arctic ballet. And the moment you catch a polar bear strolling over a pack of unbroken ice? It’s the kind of image that redefines your connection to photography. As summer recedes and autumn sets in, the Arctic light takes on softer, more dramatic tones. Days get shorter, casting a warm, golden glow that fades into pastel skies at dusk. By night, there’s a chance for the northern lights to sweep across the horizon. This ever-changing light in this region creates a landscape that seems to reinvent itself with each passing hour. Reaching Northeast Greenland National Park is an adventure in itself. The only way in is often by specialized expedition vessels, and the journey is worth it. These waters remain largely uncharted, and voyages require careful planning due to shifting ice and hidden hazards. As you travel from the park’s southern edge to its far northern reaches, ice takes on ever-shifting forms. Towering icebergs—sculpted by melting and seawater—rise from the sea like frozen cathedrals. Farther north, endless stretches of sea ice sprawl across the horizon, creating a panorama of shifting shapes and textures. This ice isn’t just a static surface; it’s a living, evolving force that shelters many of the Arctic’s most iconic species. Perhaps what truly sets this (vast) corner of Greenland apart is how it lingers in your memory—the crisp air, the soft glow of autumn light, and a startling stillness that inspires. Adventure here isn’t just about the pictures you’ll take; it’s about the stories you’ll bring home. About Talor Stone: I’m a professional photographer and Ph.D. Arctic researcher based in Las Vegas. After serving as a U.S. federal agent, I pursued my passion for photography, leading me to the polar regions’ remote landscapes. My love for the Arctic drives my research on climate policy and photography, which I share through workshops that blend adventure, education, and storytelling. About Virgil Reglioni: I’m a professional photographer and Arctic guide with a passion for capturing the wild beauty of remote landscapes. Specializing in northern lights, adventure, and expedition photography, I’ve spent years exploring the polar regions, sharing their magic through my lens.

Words play a significant role in photography in many ways as we talk and write about them. I created the above image many years ago using an online app, Wordle, which used text content and analyzed the significant words. The larger the word, the greater the frequency of use. You have likely amassed thousands of photographs, each holding memories, moments, and artistic expression. However, finding a specific image can become time-consuming and frustrating as your archive grows. This is where the power of keywording comes in, and for seasoned shooters, moving beyond random tagging to a hierarchical keyword system can be a game-changer. I have been using a keywording structure for a long time. I developed it to reflect my interests, travels, tools, and techniques, and most of my images are keyworded. I still have many that need keywords, and I periodically add keywords to more of them. If you market your photographs on stock photo sites, keywording becomes particularly important as those sites demand keywords. But first, do it for yourself! By the way, the samples I will provide here reflect my needs and my interests. I do not mean this is suitable for others. They simply provide examples of how I have developed a keyword set that fits my needs. While you might already be familiar with adding keywords to your images in Lightroom, tagging with a laundry list of terms can quickly become unwieldy. A hierarchical system allows you to create a structured approach to your keywords, making your library searchable and navigable. Think of it like organizing files on your computer – folders and subfolders make finding what you need significantly easier. The same principle applies to your Lightroom keywords. At its core, a hierarchical keyword system involves organizing your keywords into parent-child relationships. A parent keyword is a broad category, while child keywords are more specific, granular terms that fall under that category. Below are my top-level keywords, and one of them is partially captured to show the multi-level nature of the keywords. For example, instead of just tagging an image with “Arcadia,” you might have a parent keyword “PLACES” with a child keyword “USA” and a further grandchild keyword “Rhode Island,” and a great-grandchild “Arcadia”. This structure provides several key advantages for the experienced photographer. Anytime you filter out “Rhode Island,” “Arcadia” will be included among the selected photographs. This structure also provides context. As a photographer, you’re likely dealing with different subjects, locations, and styles. A hierarchical keyword system offers significant benefits tailored to your needs: Precision in Searching: When you need to find all your images of “birds of prey in flight,” a well-structured hierarchy allows you to drill down quickly instead of sifting through all your “bird” images. They will likely be tagged with the “Birds > Birds of Prey” and “Action > Flight” categories or something similar. Consistency in Tagging: By formulating clear categories and subcategories, you ensure that similar images are tagged with consistent terminology, thus reducing the chances of using slightly different terms for the same subject, like “Bird” for some and “Birds” for others. Powering Smart Collections: Hierarchical keywords are even more useful when used with Lightroom’s Smart Collections. You can create dynamic collections that automatically update based on specific keyword combinations within your hierarchy. For example, a “Coastal Landscapes – Golden Hour” collection could automatically pull in any image tagged under “Landscapes > Coastal” AND “Time of Day > Golden Hour.” The separate section below on this tool explains it in detail. Scalability for Growing Libraries: As your photography interests grow and your image library expands, a hierarchical system provides a robust and scalable framework for managing your ever-increasing collection. The beauty of a hierarchical keyword system is that it can be completely customized to your unique photographic focus and workflow. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. The key is to think about recurring themes, subjects, and characteristics in your work and how you (or others) might search for those images in the future. There are keyword structures for sale on the Internet with an extensive range of keywords. Some may even be structured for specific groups, like bird photographers with a long list of species and sub-species. Way back in the day, none of them fit my needs. Start broad. What are the main buckets your images naturally fall into? Consider these questions: For instance, if you primarily shoot weddings and portraits, your top-level categories might include “People” and “Events.” Once you have your main categories, start brainstorming more specific terms that fall under each. Consider different attributes, actions, emotions, or technical details relevant to your work. But as you develop these subcategories, also take a moment to consider synonyms and related terms. How else might you or someone else describe this subject or concept? For example, under the parent keyword “PEOPLE,” you might have child keywords like “Portraits,” “Candid,” “Family,” “Children,” and even more specific terms like “Headshot” “Full Body,” or emotions like “Joyful” or “Reflective.” While you’re at it, you might note that “Kids” is a common synonym for “Children” or that “Emotions” could also be described as “Feelings.” My sub-categories include Family, Friends, and specific people by name. While your hierarchical structure provides the primary organization, you can strategically incorporate synonyms in Lightroom to enhance searchability: Lightroom offers a powerful feature that allows you to add synonyms to your keywords. This means that even if you search for a term that isn’t your primary keyword, Lightroom can still find images tagged with its synonyms. For example, if you have a keyword “Automobiles > Sedan,” you can add “Car” and “Vehicle” as synonyms to “Sedan.” Then, if you search your catalog for “Car,” any image tagged with “Automobiles > Sedan” (and its synonyms) will appear in your search results. Add synonyms separated by comma There are several ways you can structure your keyword hierarchy. Here are a few common approaches, and you might even find that a combination works best for you: Take, for instance, the BALLET top-level keyword for my collection. It allows me to organize the photographs based on different performances and projects. Lightroom makes it relatively straightforward to create and manage hierarchical keywords: My top-level keywords are all in caps, as you can see in the sample. I am not sure what made me do that but it may be something to distinguish the top-level, broad keywords from the more specific, granular child keywords. It is quite possible that I read a reference to that somewhere. It was too long ago for me to remember. But, take your pick. You may be using collections for various purposes. Once you have a working keyword hierarchy, you can also create dynamic smart collections using your keywords. These smart collections will automatically include the images that fit your criteria. The first step is to decide how to intersect your keywords. For instance, I can combine Providence and Architecture to group all my images that reflect Providence Architecture. Here are the steps with the related screen captures below them. Of course, you can create any condition that is helpful to you, and you can create as many of them as you like. Here are screen captures of the above steps. If you have more than one computer, say a desktop and a laptop, you can export your keywords from its master source and import them to the other devices where Lightroom is installed. This will ensure that you will use the same set when you are traveling or working on your laptop. The export and import keywords option is under the Metadata menu option. Remember that many of your keywords may not have any images assigned to them and show zero images. Don’t delete them, you may need to use them one day. If you do a lot of work in Lightroom on your laptop, I recommend adding the keywords while you are working on them, even when you first import them to your laptop. When the time comes to copy these images to your desktop, make sure to save metadata to files by selecting all to be copied and pressing Ctrl-S on Windows. Alternatively, you can select the images, right-click on one of them, and select the “Metadata/Save Metadata to Files” option. This will create XMP files next to each raw file and write the metadata to any DNG file you might have created, like stitching a panorama. When you copy the files in Windows Explorer, make sure to select the XMP files along with the original files. Investing the time and effort to create a well-thought-out hierarchical keyword system in Lightroom is an investment in your future workflow. It will save you time searching for images, empower you to create dynamic Smart Collections, and ultimately allow you to focus more on what you love most: capturing incredible photographs. Take the time to build a structure that reflects your unique photographic vision and how people might search for it, and you’ll unlock a new level of efficiency and organization in your digital darkroom. About the author: A. Cemal Ekin is a photographer based in Warwick, Rhode Island who has been shooting for roughly 60 years. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. Ekin retired as a professor of marketing emeritus from Providence College in 2012 after 36 years of service there. Visit his website here. This article was also published here.

The city of Ann Arbor, Michigan is expanding its ongoing chemical contamination investigation that has been linked to the former Argus Camera manufacturing facilities. Despite their closure in 1963, dangerous levels of TCE have been leeching out from the former factory into the surrounding neighborhoods. TCE, or trichloroethylene, is a colorless liquid organic chemical that has several uses including making refrigerants and as a degreasing solvent for metal equipment. It was used extensively in the past but was banned in 1977. However, it breaks down slowly and can remain in an environment for a long time, meaning the use of the chemical before its ban can still affect areas today. “TCE is carcinogenic to humans by all routes of exposure and poses a potential human health hazard for noncancer toxicity to the central nervous system, kidney, liver, immune system, male reproductive system, and the developing embryo/fetus,” the National Library of Medicine says. Argus Camera was a US-based camera maker that was located in Ann Arbor, Michigan until 1963. It went out of business in 1969. Argus owned two properties (called Argus I and Argus II) which were used for camera and lens manufacturing from the 1930s through the 1960s. After Argus went out of business, the Argus II facility has only been used for storage while the Argus I building is still used for commercial office space. In 2006, industrial solvents, including trichloroethene (TCE), tetrachloroethene, cis-1,2-dichloroethene, carbon tetrachloride, and vinyl chloride were identified in soil and groundwater on the Argus II property. These chemicals can move through the ground and walls by what is known as vapor intrusion. By 2018, it had been established that TCE had migrated north of the property and towards residential areas. Ann Arbor installed mitigation systems, which are similar to the ones used on radon, at three residential properties. As the problem persisted through to 2022, additional sub-slab gas sampling and indoor air sampling was added to asses for the contaminants. According to a new report published today, the situation is getting worse and an expanded pollution investigation is underway that is seeing addition of new groundwater monitoring wells installed along Third Street, south of William Street, in Ann Arbor. While TCE is capable of moving through solid objects as mentioned, its integration into the groundwater would make its spread considerably worse. According to a 2022 document, if high levels of TCE are detected, the city of Ann Arbor will work with Geosyntec, a private consulting and engineering firm, to install mitigation equipment free of charge to affected residents. It is not clear, however, what the solution will be if the groundwater in the area is affected. Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a request for comment. Image credits: Header photo by Dwight Burdette, Creative Commons

Last night, Nikon announced a new entry-level full-frame camera in the Z5 II. Based on initial impressions, not only does it carry on the legacy of “good value” from its predecessor, it expands on it to the degree it might be the best camera in its segment right now. With a PetaPixel Membership, not only can you support original PetaPixel reporting and in-depth reviews, but you can also remove ads from the website and gain access to some seriously great perks, too. Members get $15 off the Moment Store, 25% off the PetaPixel Merch Store, and now can download full-resolution RAW files and JPEGs from the latest cameras and lenses. Join today! It costs just $3 per month or $30 per year. The PetaPixel Podcast team anticipated that one of the most common questions about Nikon’s latest camera would be how it compares to the competition, namely the Canon R8, Panasonic S5 II, Sony a7C II, Fujifilm X-T5, OM System OM-3, and Sigma BF. So the team debates: would they take the new Z5 II or any of these other cameras? It’s a lively discussion that, if nothing else, reveals just how aggressive Nikon is being with its mirrorless camera strategy. Check out PetaPixel Merch: store.petapixel.com/ We use Riverside to record The PetaPixel Podcast in our online recording studio.   We hope you enjoy the podcast and we look forward to hearing what you think. If you like what you hear, please support us by subscribing, liking, commenting, and reviewing! Every week, the trio go over comments on YouTube and here on PetaPixel, but if you’d like to send a message for them to hear, you can do so through SpeakPipe.

While conducting a photo shoot on the shores of Washington DC’s tidal basin this week, photographer Briana Inell captured an unlikely photobomber in her frame: former president Barack Obama. Inell, a maternity and family photographer based in DC, was shooting portraits of preschooler Belle Thomas and her one-year-old brother, Preston, in the tidal basin, which blooms with cherry blossom each year. “I’m used to a bunch of tourists walking in on my photos,” Inell explains on Instagram. “Usually I just tell my clients not to worry about them because I can always just Photoshop them out.” Inell was focused on her young subjects but the grandparents of the children noticed the secret service agent walking behind the 6-foot-1 recognizable figure who strolled through the back of the shot. The photographer caught wind of what was happening and asked: “Um, was that Obama who walked by?” Inell went to check back through the photos and sure enough, she had captured Obama walking past in a few of the frames as the two children stood on a low wall. The photo shoot was taking place early in the morning, 7:30 AM, which Inell says is a “magical time” when the sunlight breaks over the Tidal Basin. Obama agrees, sharing photos of the DC cherry blossom in an Instagram post. Despite being just four years old, Belle understands the significance of being photobombed by the former president. “What! Barack Obama is in my picture?” she said after hearing about it. Belle and Preston’s mom, Portia Moore, also shared the story on Instagram which prompted a response from the 44th president. “Preston and Belle, I hope you enjoyed peak bloom! My bad for stepping into the shot,” Obama jokes. More of Inell’s work can be found on her Instagram and website. Image credits: Photographs by Briana Inell

You could be forgiven for looking at Samsung’s latest crop of flagship devices in the S25 series and wonder what the silver lining is. It’s all about AI — Galaxy AI, that is — and in doubling down on these features, the company is betting that it has a leg up on what could be the next big thing for mobile devices. When your devices look more and more alike year after year, yet you still go ahead with the pageantry of a launch event, you have to bring something new to warrant at least a modicum of excitement. There’s certainly potential in disrupting or changing how people use their smartphones, but it remains to be seen if this is the package they’re looking for. As Samsung stacks up its AI features and credentials, it also risks continuing to stagnate in a few key respects. Looking at the newest devices firsthand, Samsung reps said very little about hardware changes, photography capabilities improvements, or how overall performance justifies the premium pricing. Samsung rarely reveals sales figures for its mobile devices, so much of the relevant data comes from analysts and market research firms. According to them, the Galaxy S24 series outsold the S23 lineup with a strong start in Q1 2024, including cracking the top 10 in Q3 based on Counterpoint Research’s report. Those are encouraging signs for a company that had an otherwise forgettable 2024. It is hardly a surprise that the company would choose to go a similar route in 2025 with the Galaxy S25 series. The few public statements Samsung has made related to its phone business indicate it sees its Galaxy AI software suite as a major driver. In a category (smartphones) searching for renewed growth, something has to feel “new” for users, whatever it is. After all, AI is set to play an increasingly important role in Samsung’s varying product lines. From TVs to appliances, on to audio and computing, it sees “generative AI integrated into everyday life.” Just look at the products and experiences it discussed at CES 2025, and you notice a pattern. It slaps a screen on just about any product with room for one while equipping them with AI smarts to boot. Its “Vision AI” strategy for the home centers on the idea that AI isn’t a one-way street; it can go wherever you need. Samsung believes in it so strongly that it’s trying to keep its own Bixby digital assistant alive and kicking through these initiatives. Its phones, tablets, and laptops are all part of this mission. For Samsung, the race isn’t to make the most powerful phone or take the greatest photos, it’s to lead the charge in AI development and deployment. Doing that right would theoretically give its mobile devices an edge over competitors. The path, however, is fraught with risk and full of potential pitfalls. Not to mention complacency in other respects. For starters, Galaxy AI is highly dependent on Google’s own AI infrastructure, be it Gemini or its cloud services. Case in point: Circle to Search is everywhere. Those don’t come free, and certainly not cheap. Hence, Samsung warned as far back as January 2024 that the free ride would eventually hit a paywall by the end of 2025. It didn’t explicitly say “paywall,” but the implication is pretty obvious. These nifty AI-driven features will require a subscription. Whether or not that will apply to all or some of them is a mystery at this point. Moreover, other Android manufacturers generally have access to the same tools Google makes available. Plus, there’s little to stop it from holding certain things back for its own Pixel devices. The Galaxy S24 series was as much about highlighting Samsung-Google AI collaboration as it was about the phones themselves. With the Galaxy S25 series, new AI features focus on catching up to others or trying something new. For instance, Best Face is a way to pick the right face for any person in the frame by rolling through a series of selections onscreen. Since the camera takes a live photo, there are multiple frames to choose from. Sound familiar? Sure, because it bears similarities to Best Take on Pixel devices. Audio Eraser is almost the same name since Google calls it Audio Magic Eraser. The idea is the same: remove unwanted background noise from a video. Others, like Call Record, let you record a phone call (notifying both parties) and get a transcript afterward. Generative AI stickers can now be part of your personalized messaging creativity. The Now Bar is an offshoot of Apple’s Dynamic Island (and more recently, OnePlus’ Live Alerts), which can show contextual information for supporting apps in a bar on the lower part of the screen rather than where the front camera is. That also opens up the Now Brief, an AI-driven daily summary that pulls data from various apps you use. Some of these new features look useful, but now that a possible paywall looms over them by the end of the year, it’s hard to gauge what Samsung will leave in front or behind it. What is clear, at least to me, is that Samsung benefits from the fact that its most formidable Android competitors aren’t well-known in North America. The likes of Xiaomi, Vivo, and Honor don’t have the visibility or distribution and retail channels Samsung has long built on these shores. That leaves OnePlus in an advantageous position as an outlier. While carriers aren’t selling OnePlus devices, they shouldn’t yield any compatibility issues. The lack of subsidies means you pay full freight to get a OnePlus phone, in most cases. That’s a tough sell for some, but it’s also hard to argue with the value added. The OnePlus 13 is a stellar device in so many ways because it feels like it’s doing something different. It improves performance, battery life, photography, and the software experience across the board. OxygenOS is still one of the best Android overlays you’ll find. Where it stumbles is that OnePlus only offers four years of Android updates and six years of security updates. Samsung offers seven years’ worth for both. Not that the Galaxy S25 series is cheap. The Galaxy S25 Ultra starts at $1,300, while the S25+ ($1,000) and S25 ($800) also fall into premium territory. The Ultra is $300 more than the 16GB/512GB variant of the OnePlus 13. Compared to the iPhone 16 Pro, a 256GB variant of that phone is $100 more than the S25+. When a phone so strongly resembles the previous two generations, it is a good time to cut consumers a break. Hence, the hefty price tag is one way to pay for the AI features Samsung markets so much. It’s even embracing magnetic charging through select cases for the S25 series, effectively making the devices compatible with MagSafe accessories. OnePlus has already made this move with the 13 and 13R and expects other Android manufacturers to follow suit now that Qi2 wireless charging is standard. This launch isn’t likely to intimidate anyone competing with Samsung. Even if we concede there’s not much to change on the hardware front, it’s clear the brand isn’t really leading in particular areas. OnePlus and the other Chinese brands are pursuing new ways to capture photos, including action shots — something Samsung continues to ignore. It doesn’t make it easier to share content with iPhone users. It doesn’t lead to battery life in any substantial way. Its S Pen is at the mercy of Wacom, the company behind the stylus’ technology. Samsung will claim that its AI suite represents the innovation that users are looking for. Maybe, but that’s also what it said last year. Not since the Galaxy S23 series has the hardware felt even the least bit unique or different. That year, the S23 Ultra carried a holster for the S Pen for the first time and introduced the 200-megapixel image sensor still in the S25 Ultra. A flatter and brighter screen and a newer vapor chamber cooling system made the phone feel different. Surprisingly, it simply didn’t sell as well as the follow-up S24 series, though its hardware changes remain in place for the S25 series. A Samsung flagship is expensive already, and it may become more expensive once the company rolls out a subscription fee to use its Galaxy AI suite. Selling these features as useful daily tools is one thing, but actually selling them will be another when that conversation starts later this year.

Photographer Alastair Philip Wiper is no stranger to entering spaces rarely seen by others — having previously visited a cryogenic chamber and a doomsday underground house. Wiper continued his modus operandi of taking viewers inside restricted locations when he was invited to document the inside of Nike. The global sportswear and athletic brand with the iconic “Swoosh” logo and famous “Just Do It” slogan is headquartered in Oregon. “My work is all about seeing behind the scenes and going places people don’t usually go, so this project was perfect for me,” Wiper tells PetaPixel. The photographer explored the Nike World Headquarters, exploring the entire campus over the course of five days. Wiper captured foot moulds, freshly-printed prototypes, and jump tests in his hyper-realistic, surrealist signature style that requires flash to light frames evenly. “It’s an epic place,” Wiper explains. “It was very businesslike — professionals going about their working day — and it was amazing that I was being allowed into the core of this iconic brand, known and worn throughout the world.” Wiper visited the Nike Air Manufacturing Innovation facility, the LeBron James Innovation Center, the Nike Advanced Product Creation Center, Nike’s Bowerman Footwear Lab, Nike’s Pegasus testing lab, all in Beaverton, Oregon. But his favorite site was the Department of Nike Archives. “The archive was perhaps the most memorable place — stacks of folders with correspondence from Phil Knight [Nike’s co-founder], hand drawings by Tinker Hatfield of iconic Nike shoes, game-worn shoes by Agassi and Michael Jordan,” he says. “Things that should be in a museum, but instead are just in this warehouse where you could reach out and touch them.” Wiper was invited by Nike to visit the site and his photos will be included in a book and exhibition called Nike: Form Follows Motion which is show at the Vitra Design Museum near Basel, Switzerland until May 4, 2025. More of Wiper’s work can be found on his website and Instagram. Image credits: Photographs by Alastair Philip Wiper.

In February, DxO announced PureRAW 5 which promised a large jump in performance versus the previous version as well as the promise for Fujifilm X-Trans support through the DeepPrime XD3 beta. The company revealed today that its beta wouldn’t include support for the latest 40-megapixel X Trans sensor, but that information still isn’t on its website. Update 4/4: DxO responded to PetaPixel acknowledging that its messaging was “unclear or misleading.” That report can be read here while the original story is below. In the original launch materials, DxO promised that those who ordered PureRAW 5 would get access to the next generation of DeepPRIME XD3 X-Trans beta. “As an extension of DeepPRIME, DxO’s DeepPRIME XD — ‘eXtra Detail’ — engine was introduced in DxO PureRAW 3 to offer the most intense processing of the most demanding files. Since then, it has progressed, promising incredible results for images captured at ISO levels that had previously been considered unusable,” DxO’s press materials from February read. “For owners of Fujifilm cameras, DxO is proud to introduce DeepPRIME XD3 X-Trans Beta, giving X-Trans photographers early access to the next generation of noise reduction and detail extraction.” Yesterday, DxO pushed out an email that again encouraged pre-orders but a new line was added to the X-Trans beta section: “At this stage, the fifth generation of X-Trans sensors is not yet supported.” The exclusion of the most recent X-Trans sensor (which was first released in 2022) means that any camera Fujifilm has released that features the latest 40-megapixel sensor will not be supported. For many Fujifilm photographers, that would make a pre-order of PureRAW significantly less valuable. DxO did not provide any timeline for when, or if, X-Trans 5 would be supported. “This messaging was not previously mentioned when DxO was urging folks to preorder. I foolishly preordered, and since I only have X-Trans 5 Fuji cameras, I requested a cancellation,” a PetaPixel reader says in an email about this situation. “My request for a cancellation was denied because I had used the ‘Free Gift’ of DXO 4.” He provides the following quote from DxO customer service as the reason he was provided for not being eligible for a refund: “We show you have activated DxO PureRAW 4 twice and used the software for almost a month now. We have had this information on our website previously, it updates regularly. We would be unable to refund software used for a month successfully, our apologies. We are currently actively working on this support.” Of note, the claim that DxO’s website has been updated to reflect that X-Trans 5 would not be supported is inaccurate, as the company’s website still does not reveal the exclusion of X-trans 5: PetaPixel reached out to multiple DxO employees as well as general contact lines but did not receive a response. It did, however, receive two bounce-backs noting that some previous contacts no longer were employed by the company.

Award-winning actress Tilda Swinton to curate gallery exhibition featuring portraits of herself titled Tilda Swinton — Ongoing. Catherine Matilda Swinton was born November 5, 1960. She is a British actress known for her decades long career including portrayals of eccentric and polarizing characters and her career is prolific with a list of credits spanning over sixty roles in film and a dozen in television. Her list of awards is just as impressive, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, the British Academy Scotland Award for Best Actress, the British Academy Film Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, the Volpi Cup for Best Actress. With so many acting credits and accolades to her name, Tilda Swinton has also been the muse for many photographers, filmmakers, and artists of all genres. Her penchant for playing eccentric characters is displayed in her portraits which are collaborative, an artistic partnership in which she plays an active role. Swinton’s close friendship with photographers and collaborators will be on display in her upcoming exhibition Tilda Swinton — Ongoing. Images featured will include those in Swinton’s personal archive, as well as work by prominent photographers and artists. The show will be on view September 28, 2025 until to February 8, 2026 at the Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam. Works featured are described by Eye to “take shape across multiple forms.” “Swinton presents eight works in partnership with her creative collaborators. Five of these are co-created with filmmakers Pedro Almodóvar, Luca Guadagnino, Joanna Hogg, Jim Jarmusch, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. The sixth, a performance and installation, is being developed with fashion historian and curator Olivier Saillard, drawing inspiration from Swinton’s personal archive. The seventh, captured through the lens of photographer Tim Walker, offers an intimate reflection on her roots. The legacy of filmmaker Derek Jarman also plays a prominent role in the exhibition: in the eighth work, Swinton is presenting never-before-seen archival material from his 8mm oeuvre,” Eye explains. With Swinton’s collaboration and curation, Eye remarked in its exhibition announcement that, “the role of the performer has never taken center stage in quite this way.” “Actors and performers are often seen as passive vessels to be filled or molded by directors. Tilda Swinton — Ongoing focuses on her active contribution, the potential for co-authorship, and creative agency,” Eye continues. “By inviting collaborators with whom she has shared close working relationships, conversations and creative exchange over decades, Swinton reveals how these long-standing connections shape the films and (art)works that they create together.” In a statement released by the museum, Swinton herself describes the distinction and significance of Tilda Swinton — Ongoing: “With the honor of this extraordinary invitation, Eye has given me the opportunity to reflect on the mechanics of my working practice over the past forty years. And to come to rest on the – ever present – bedrock and battery of the close fellowships I found from the very first and continue to rely upon to this day. In focusing attention on profoundly enriching creative relationships in my life, we share the narratives and atmospheres that inspire us: we offer new work, especially commissioned for the Eye exhibition, as the most recent gestures borne out of various companionable conversations that keep me curious, engaged and nourished. An ongoing — and unbroken — thread of breadcrumbs through the wood, new leaves on long-established trees. The perpetual seedbed. I should be so lucky, in the gift of such an invitation, in such friends and in such a life.” Image credits: Photographs by Tim Walker, Brigitte Lacombe, Ruediger Glatz, Jacqueline Lucas Palmer, Sandro Kopp, Swinton Archive

Today Sigma announced the BF, the company’s latest camera that makes a series of wild, unexpected design choices. Sigma calls it “radically simple” and for the first time in a while, a company’s marketing language isn’t overselling the product. The Sigma BF is radical. As far as a product made in 2025 goes, it’s downright weird. Every camera takes seven hours to mill from a solid block of aluminum. It has no traditional grip, no memory card slot, no electronic viewfinder, and no hot shoe. It has one command dial, almost no buttons, and a wholly redesigned menu system that strips back the experience to the absolute bare necessities. It is a major risk and an absolute swing for the fences kind of design that goes all-in on the idea that taking a photo should be simple, intuitive, and untethered from design aesthetics that have been included for years simply because they exited on film cameras. When you hear Sigma describe why it made all these decisions, you find yourself nodding along in agreement. “Yeah, why do we have those command dials? Is there not a better way?” I found myself mumbling. I’m not sure if Sigma found that better way, but challenging the status quo so blatantly and unashamedly is something the camera industry sees so very little of. For the past year, I’ve rediscovered my love for photography by shooting almost entirely on film. What was once work, I can again see as fun. I think that’s a similar desire at the core of the Sigma BF. Sigma made a camera that is meant to be enjoyed. There are plenty of workhorse cameras — and Sigma makes lenses designed to take advantage of those systems (it even announced one of those today) — but what I think Sigma is arguing with the BF is that there are scant few fun cameras. Cameras meant to be used daily and for the simple love of art can exist, Sigma argues, and photographers can have more than just the giant utilitarian multitaskers which dominate the market today. While we are still evaluating the BF, I fully expect to have to rewire my brain in order to use it effectively. I must unlearn what I have learned, and while that might sound to some like an irritating and unnecessary hurdle to some, to me that prospect sounds exciting. It sounds fun. I can imagine folks are concerned about the handling because not only does it look like just a metal box but Sigma also doesn’t have the best history when it comes to ergonomics. I am happy to report that not only is the Sigma BF not uncomfortable, it’s actually quite nice to heft. There are some nearly hidden little design touches that make it fit comfortably despite what appears to be a plain, stark metal brick. There is a little curve to the bottom right of the camera, a nice thumb rest, and the texture on the front is easy to find purchase. I was initially afraid of holding the Sigma BF but was immediately and pleasantly surprised. But as excited as I am about the BF, I don’t expect it to be flawless and will likely run into some irritations. I like the idea of raising the camera to my eye to take a photo, but that’s part of the “unlearning” thing I will have to come to terms with. I wish it had a mechanical shutter because the sensor Sigma chose isn’t particularly fast scanning. Chris Niccolls was unsettled by the lack of a memory card slot and couldn’t really explain why. The BF isn’t going to be for everyone — it might not end up being for me, either — but what it represents is something that should at the very least be respected. How many times have you heard photographers wonder aloud why no one tries anything new with cameras anymore? Well, thanks to Sigma, they don’t have to wonder anymore.

Adobe today launched its competitor to OpenAI’s Sora, a text-to-video AI generator that Adobe is positioning as a possible alternative to licensing stock footage. It costs at least $10 per month with the “best value” option at $30 per month, but it’s nowhere near good enough to warrant either price. Powered by Adobe’s Firefly video model, the generative video feature is currently in beta but is still being monetized. Current Creative Cloud subscribers can test it out with two free generations but after that, Adobe requires a Firefly subscription. The $10 per month option grants 2,000 generative credits, which is enough for 20 generated videos, while the $30 per month option grants 7,000 credits, which is enough for 70 video generations. Videos are always five seconds long (no longer) and max out at 1080p resolution. It is important to note that these are “introductory” prices that will change on March 15. Adobe has not been clear what it will change to. When a customer attempts to subscribe, a notice informs them that the pricing “will automatically renew monthly until you cancel. Price subject to change at renewal.” Change to what? Adobe does not say. This language only appears during the purchase process and is not explained in Adobe’s public FAQ. Additionally, Adobe doesn’t offer other tiers above these, such as an unlimited tier, so the only option for those who exhaust their pool of credits is just to buy another subscription to Firefly and stack them on top of each other. At least the annual subscription option does provide a discount over the month-to-month option, which isn’t always the case for Adobe software. Keeping that pricing structure in the back of mind, let’s examine what Adobe believes this tool is going to be useful for. “Today, we are expanding this vision with the launch of the Adobe Firefly Video Model, the only generative AI model that is IP-friendly and commercially safe, and the expansion of creative control in the Firefly web app which empowers anyone, at any skill level, to explore, ideate and bring their creative vision to life,” Adobe says. “This isn’t just another video tool —– we’ve revolutionized the creative workflow and watching our community generate custom b-roll that exactly matches their vision, crafting dynamic visual effects, and designing motion elements, all while maintaining complete creative control. And there’s more — whether you need to bridge content gaps in your timeline or enhance existing footage with new elements, Firefly Video Model empowers you to achieve your creative vision with efficiency and precision.” So there are two proposed use cases: one is stock footage that is more specifically tailored to something that might not exist and the other is for what boils down to moving storyboards. To be frank, the idea that Firefly is good enough to replace stock footage in any circumstance is laughable. PetaPixel generated four videos with varying prompts to see how it handled them. Actually, we only generated three since the first one required a re-do since we wanted to see a variation of it. That burned both of our test generations on one account. The first was created using the prompt: “an asian-american camera reviewer on youtube in the snow talking about camera equipment while holding a camera.” The last two are better, but they still don’t look believable. The San Francisco skyline might pass for usable at first glance for anyone who had not seen it before but compared to reality, the perspective is wrong. The main issue is that the buildings are not the right height in relation to one another (let alone most of the less iconic ones are just incorrect). Adobe has a lovely stock video that is, basically, exactly what I asked Firefly to create and serves as an example of what the AI should be aiming for: The wolf is, I think, the best generation. Additionally, real stock footage of wolves is scant and often pretty bad. That said, what Firefly created looks like a moving painting, not like a video clip that would be usable for anything an editor would purchase stock footage for. And, again, Adobe Stock has a good option that basically fulfills the demand of the prompt and does so significantly better than Firefly did. I can see the argument that I shouldn’t be so hard on Adobe Firefly Text-to-Video here because it’s a beta and it’s not nearly the “final form” that it will eventually reach. Even so (and I am not convinced it will get to the point where it can ever replace real footage), why then is Adobe charging for it? Charging for a beta that produces low-resolution, inaccurate, unusable, and extremely short clips feels like something thought up in a board room by bureaucrats who have never once even spoken to an artist. Firefly’s text-to-video tool is not good enough to be used for what Adobe says it’s there to be used for and I’d have this opinion even if it was free. But it’s not. It’s expensive, especially considering videos are difficult to get right on the first go-around and multiple attempts will often be required. In no world is this worth $10 a month, let alone $30 or more. And that’s an important note: starting in one month, it will cost more — that is for certain. Adobe already says that the $30 tier isn’t going to be the top-end option. “Additionally, a new Firefly Premium plan designed for professionals looking to generate video content on a regular basis will be coming soon to provide even more audio and video capacity for high-volume creators and teams,” the company said in a press release. When it’s not worth using for free, I’m not sure it matters how much it will cost.

Clothing retailer H&M is making AI clones for 30 of its models and will start posting AI-generated fashion images to social media and including them in marketing campaigns. Unsurprisingly, the news has not gone down well in all quarters. While H&M says the models will own the rights to their AI twins and there will be some sort of compensation for the rights to their image, many have asked what will happen to photographers, hair and makeup artists, and other creatives involved in a shoot. The AI twins are created by taking numerous photos of the model from different angles and in different lighting. This large amount of data is then fed into a machine-learning algorithm that can reproduce images in their likeness. Industry outlet The Business of Fashion which broke the story, says H&M sees the models as a “complement to their physical counterparts” rather than a replacement. The technology will allow models to book a shoot while at the same time booking their clone on another shoot. Theoretically, they will be in two places at the same time. An image on the paywalled website shows two images of model Mathilda Gvarlini, one is real and one is AI-generated, and it is almost impossible to tell the difference — even her boyfriend says he can’t tell them apart. As news of H&M’s plans has trickled out, there has been more and more pushback. “Boycotting H&M for AI model usage. Use REAL HUMANS,” writes Tarzy B photographer beneath a recent H&M Instagram post. “Why would a company think using AI models is going to be a good look for them,” writes another user. “We want to see real people in real clothes who put all their creativity into it. H&M has no respect for the work of artists,” writes photographer Leonie. Former Harper’s Bazaar editor Lucy Yeomans tells The Business of Fashion that: “If you think of someone like Steven Meisel [famous fashion photographer], he was always discovering that next model and everyone would ask, ‘Oh my gosh, is that beautiful?’ ‘Oh yes, it is beautiful’. I’m not sure whether AI will be able to look around the corner and predict what might be next.” In a statement, H&M says: “While we understand that this will spark opinions, discussions, and uncertainty, we are humble in acknowledging that we do not hold all the answers at this point.” “We will continue to explore with other creatives within the industry to see what generative AI can bring to any creative process while ensuring we maintain our human-centric approach,” it adds. H&M isn’t the first fashion brand to use AI-generated models, Mango launched a campaign featuring fake computer-made images that look like real photos and while Levi’s used AI-generated models to “increase diversity.” Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.

A new book has revealed that after President Biden’s disastrous televised debate with Donald Trump, he flew for a photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz rather than meeting with the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Ron Klain was Biden’s Aide from 2021 to 2023 before joining the president again as he prepared to debate President Trump. In an explosive new book entitled Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History, he tells author Chris Whipple that after the CNN debate on June 27, 2024, Biden opted to fly to Camp David for a photo shoot with Vogue photographer Leibovitz. “You need to cancel that,” Klain told the president, according to The Guardian which has obtained a copy of the book. “You need to stay in Washington. You need to have an aggressive plan to fight and to rally the troops.” Klain wanted Biden to meet with the progressive Democrats in a bid to secure their endorsement, which he saw as key to Biden’s chances of remaining the Democratic nominee. Klain tells Whipple that Biden initially relented and agreed to meet with the group. “But the president’s resolve didn’t last,” the book says. “That weekend, Biden and his family were at Camp David having their pictures taken.” The photographer the Bidens were meeting was none other than Annie Leibovitz. Despite the Vogue August 2024 edition featuring the First Lady Jill Biden on the front cover, there is no Leibovitz-attributed pictures inside the edition and no pictures of Joe. There is an editor’s note that mentions the calamitous June 27 debate, in which Dr. Jill Biden says the family “will not let those 90 minutes define the four years he’s been president. We will continue to fight.” Leibovitz has captured photos of Jill and Joe earlier in his presidency that were published in Vogue. She also photographed Biden in 2017. A post shared by Annie Leibovitz (@annieleibovitz) A post shared by Annie Leibovitz (@annieleibovitz) Klain says he called Biden on June 28 and told him bluntly: “Look, we’re hemorrhaging badly. We need to get the progressive caucus to the White House this weekend. And you need to agree with them on an agenda for a second term, and they will endorse you. So you can walk out there with one hundred members of Congress saying, ‘You should stay in the race.’” Although Biden initially backed down, he decided to go to Camp David for the photo shoot after all, much to the annoyance of Klain. Biden bowed out the race on July 21. Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.

Peek-A-Photo LLC, founded by San Diego mom and entrepreneur Maribel Angulo Bender, announced innovative photography storybooks for children. Angulo Bender started Peek-A-Photo to make reading fun through hands-on engagement and personalization. Her patent-pending children’s book style takes the already popular lift-the-flap design and elevates it by incorporating personal photographs. Standard lift-the-flap books are an interactive type that is often educational, intended for young children ages zero to three years old. As the style’s name hints, the pages feature cutouts with flaps that when opened further the book’s story by revealing hidden words or pictures. With Peek-A-Photo’s lift-the-flap photo storybooks, the flaps are hidden photo pockets that can instead reveal pictures of loved ones. “While there are customizable books on the market, none offer the magical experience of discovering real family photos hidden behind interactive flaps. Our books transform ordinary storytime into moments of surprise and connection,” Angulo Bender describes. “For families separated by distance, these books are particularly meaningful — loved ones who live far away can now become part of a child’s daily reading ritual, fostering connections that traditional books simply can’t create.” The book’s patent-pending design will be available as either durable board or soft cloth, and both styles include five interactive flaps with concealed photo pockets where parents can easily insert standard 4×6-inch photo prints. The pockets utilize a simple tab system to securely store photographs. Peek-A-Photo shared that it has already received enthusiasm from early access presentations of the yet-to-be-released books. “One mother was moved to tears seeing how the book could help her autistic son connect with family members through visual recognition. Another parent valued how the books could help children know extended family members who live far away,” Angulo Bender says. “These reactions confirm what we believed — that combining storytelling with personal photos creates something truly special for families.” Peek-A-Photo’s initial release will be limited to 100 books. Early bird orders, which are those that come by joining the pre-order list, will receive a 10% launch discount as well as complimentary photo printing. Direct sales will be hosted at San Diego area events with online ordering to be available later in 2025. Additionally, there are plans to add Spanish language versions in the coming years. Image credits: Peek-A-Photo LLC

Last December, the FY 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed by US Congress outlined a structured approach for evaluating the security concerns of Chinese-owned companies such as DJI. With less than nine months before the deadline for such an evaluation remaining, DJI is urging any of the five national security agencies to start the process. While DJI was not outright banned last year, that didn’t mean the company was out of the woods. The aforementioned “risk assessment” was added and at the time, DJI said that it was scrutiny it looked forward to so that it could showcase its privacy controls and security features to the American government. To date, it hasn’t had the opportunity to do so as, according to DJI, no such risk assessment has even started. Realizing that it was running short on time, DJI has sent a letter urging any of the five national security agencies (the DHS, DoD, FBI, NSA, or ODNI) that could perform that assessment to start. “Section 1709 of the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act ‘mandates that within one year of enactment, a designated national security agency must evaluate whether communications and video surveillance equipment from these manufacturers pose ‘an unacceptable risk’ to U.S. national security or the safety of American citizens,’” Adam Welsh, head of global policy at DJI writes in the letter. “If you determine that DJI’s drones pose an unacceptable risk, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) must add them to its ‘covered list,’ effectively restricting their use in the United States. If you do not evaluate DJI’s products in 2025, the FCC would also have to add the company’s equipment to its covered list, depriving DJI of its due process and depriving thousands of businesses, consumers, and public safety agencies of products that they want and need for no reason at all. Accordingly, I write to request that any or all of your agencies begin this required evaluation of DJI’s products right away.” DJI addressed the letter to Kristi Noem, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Pete Hegseth, Secretary of the Department of Defense, Kash Patel, Director of the FBI, Timothy Haugh, Director of the NSA, and Tulsi Gabbard, Director of the National Intelligence Office of Strategic Communications. To cover its bases, it also copied a long list of senators and state representatives who lead multiple intelligence committees. It appears the hope is that someone — anyone — will begin the process that was mandated by the NDAA last year and leave enough time to perform the evaluation fairly. “Our message to these agencies is simple: We welcome the scrutiny and are confident that our products can withstand their strictest scrutiny. We feel strongly that the people who have built livelihoods using DJI products deserve a fair and timely evaluation to lift the cloud on our company and reassure DJI’s customers and the American public that DJI’s drones are safe and secure,” a DJI spokesperson writes in an email to PetaPixel. Image credits: DJI

One of the most fundamental lessons taught in any art form is to strip away the excess; to streamline and distill down to its essence, only the most essential parts. We see this in many art forms such as sculpture, writing, and even photography, and now we have it in a camera. But is it possible to go too far? To make something so simple that it only appeals to a select few? There is a fine line involved and for better or for worse, I think Sigma may have crossed it. The Sigma BF has a name that doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue but it has an interesting origin story. The “BF” stands for “beautiful foolishness,” which is a line from a poem in a Japanese treatise called The Book of Tea. It is a statement essentially about letting go of the worries of life and relishing instead in the modest pleasures of simply being. I will say that to really understand this camera you have to appreciate this mindset. Easily the most striking feature of the Sigma BF is its stark and gorgeous aluminum body. The trapezoidal shape can cut you just as easily as it can impress you. Despite the radical design and simple grip structure, the Sigma BF is surprisingly comfortable to hold. I found the textured pattern on the grip-half of the body to not only look striking but provide secure purchase upon the camera as well. Everything about this camera looks expensive but the $2,000 price is quite reasonable. I had access to the brushed aluminum version of the camera which certainly draws the eye with its silver finish, especially when mated with the new Sigma Contemporary primes that are also being released in the same finish. I have to admit though, counter to my normal preference for a brighter-looking camera, I found the black version of the BF to be classier and a little mysterious — in a good way. I also feel that it will naturally match with the more commonly available black finishes found on the majority of L-mount lenses. There are two rounded corners that make the camera comfortable to hold in your support hand and the machined thumb grip is both classy and functional simultaneously. The camera only weighs 13.68 ounces (388 grams) which is easy to field, but the all-metal “I” series lenses that match the BF so perfectly tend to be on the heavy side. Unfortunately, the first major sacrifice to achieve such as svelte body design is the omission of an electronic viewfinder (EVF). For me, this is a major downside although I recognize that not every user values a viewfinder as much as I do. However, if you are going to remove the EVF, the back panel better be awesome. At first glance, the 2.1-million dot LCD is sharp and clear but in the interest of simplicity, it lacks any sort of articulation. This problem is further compounded by a relatively narrow viewing angle which causes the screen to go quite dark when looking at it from any angle other than straight on. I also found that in bright viewing conditions, the screen is hard to compose with even when the monitor brightness is cranked to maximum and the additional “outdoor” setting enabled. This extra — and very necessary — brightness also takes a toll on the battery life of the Sigma BF which is fairly middling overall. The BF uses a novel battery design that we haven’t seen before in a camera and the CIPA rating is for roughly 280 shots. I found myself pushing the battery life to empty with a full but casual day of shooting; a spare battery would be well advised. The shutter button feels very nice to use and has a perfectly set half-press functionality to it. The playback button, power button, and menu buttons all feel excellent too thanks to well-implemented haptic feedback. Most of the buttons lock in place when the camera is off preventing any unnecessary wear and tear, but the power button, shutter button, and the spinning aspect of the dial never lock. The BF is “radically simple” and along those lines, there is no additional command dial and the interface involves a rather clunky method of toggling through the multitude of exposure and control settings without any way to use the touch screen as an aid. In fact, the touch interface is only really used to move the AF point around, navigate photos in playback, or toggle additional control buttons for rarely-used settings. Why we can’t simply use the touch screen to select basic exposure controls is, I think, a miss. I found myself occasionally lifting the BF to my eye hoping for an EVF or found myself stabbing at the screen in a futile attempt to quickly adjust something, and I suspect many of you will do this, too. On the back of the camera above the control dial is a small black LCD which showcases your current editable control. Whatever is listed in this box is the singular function that will be altered by rotating the single command dial. The BF is only made to operate in one way and if you don’t like it you’re going to be disappointed. To be fair, I didn’t mind the control structure when photographing slowly and deliberately during my trip. It was when I needed a quick response that I found the camera to be cumbersome. Partly, this is because the BF only has that aforementioned single dial to alter settings and the bare minimum of buttons required to operate it. Mostly though, it is due to the constant scrolling required to select an option to change and then rotating the dial to make that adjustment. I will also say that anything you can do to avoid scrolling through the menu controls, such as using a lens with an aperture ring and also engaging the auto ISO feature, is worth doing. I feel like Sigma could have included another command dial or even an additional custom button to hold and press while turning the dial to manipulate something else quickly. I was often tempted to just set everything to auto and use the camera as a point-and-shoot. What else is missing? The Sigma BF has no in-body image stabilization (IBIS) and since it is somewhat challenging to find L-mount lenses with image stabilization that are appropriate for this camera, it’s a feature I find myself really wanting. There is no mechanical or electronic front curtain-based shutter which leads to rolling shutter issues, banding when shooting artificial lights, and limits the image quality to 12-bit RAW files. The electronic shutter does at least help when hand-holding the camera because it prevents any shutter shock. A nice touch: I do like that Sigma put a protective layer of glass in lieu of where the shutter would be. This means the sensor itself is not exposed and the placement of the glass means even if you get dust on this pane of glass, spots won’t appear on your images. There is no hot shoe (or cold shoe for that matter), no mic or headphone jack, and only one strap lug on the grip side of the camera. I don’t mind this last aspect because I am a wrist strap kind of guy, but neck strap users may find this lack of dual attachment points frustrating. I get that Sigma wants to design a camera in a way that no one else would dare, but maybe there are reasons why no one else has dared. The most obvious port missing from the Sigma BF is any memory card slot. The BF only has a built-in SSD for storage, with access strictly limited via a USB-C port. This is a fast USB-C 3.2 connection and does transfer files quickly, which is nice. That single input can also double as the charging port and as an accessory mic port, too. While I can live that dongle life, the skeptic in me finds the lack of a memory card port to be unsettling, but the 230GB storage is good for about 4,300 RAW files and barring any sort of hardware failures, should be convenient and usable. The lack of WiFi or Bluetooth support is odd given the integration modern users desire with smartphones. Although the bottom plate of the camera has a standard tripod screw, the space is limited, and pretty much any tripod plate will need to be removed before the battery can be changed. Additionally, most standard Arca Swiss-style plates will also protrude uncomfortably beyond the dimensions of the body. If you are looking for any other ports or features on the bottom plate, you won’t find them. Wandering the streets of Tokyo, I have to admit that the Sigma BF is an eye-catching statement to brandish on your shoulder. I got plenty of second looks and pointed fingers due to the one-of-a-kind beauty of the BF camera. I also fully accept that this is a big part of the BF’s appeal. But in some regards, the BF is not just a pretty face. It can shoot up to eight frames per second with full autofocus capability and it can use that autofocus way better than I ever expected. The interface is simple of course, with an option for either wide-area focus or a single point. The BF also has eye and face detect autofocus as well as an unexpectedly excellent ability to track most inanimate objects. The performance reminds me of the intuitive real-time tracking features that Sony utilizes: it’s very good. As a street and portrait camera, the Sigma BF will capture my subjects in focus wherever they are in the frame. The BF certainly takes beautiful photos. I love the ease of use that DNG RAW files provide and the color modes are pleasing to the eye. I like the choices that Sigma has curated for photographers when it comes to using the color profiles and I like that they consistently look good while also being relatively few in number. All the profiles can be customized further allowing you to build your own looks from very distinct starting points. The BF adds a brand new Calm mode and Rich mode which give images either a muted and low-contrast look or a vibrant and dramatic feel. I particularly liked the Warm Gold option but I found utility with almost all of the choices. The monochromatic mode is also gorgeous and can be toned with various color casts and you can apply digital versions of classic color filters to affect the tones in the images. Whether there is a future option to add more color profiles or customize which ones show up in the menu remains to be seen. However, even with Sigma’s excellent optics involved, the image quality is a ubiquitous experience because we get a very similar sensor in so many other cameras on the market. Don’t get me wrong, I really like the image quality out of this camera but the results are not the unique selling feature that Sigma’s previous Foveon-based cameras enjoyed in their time. Where the BF really shines is when it is dangling from the wrist as you wander around the great cities of the world. When you consider the full-frame sensor and the relatively light and compact nature of the body, the BF makes sense as a jet-setting travel camera and urban companion. Despite Sigma marketing the BF as a more simplistic way of shooting to lure in beginner photographers I think it makes far more sense as a prestigious fashion accessory that also happens to take high-quality photos. Kazuto Yamaki, the CEO of Sigma, is one of the best dressed and classiest executives you will ever find and he is also an ardent photographer. I feel like this camera was made specifically for him as a creative tool that can be taken anywhere and that compliments a bespoke suit the way that only the most prestigious cameras would. Considering that the price of the BF is not over-inflated given its obviously expensive engineering requirements, I think Sigma has made a product that oozes style and has enough photographic substance to capture interesting images with some creative input. Make no mistake though, the Sigma BF is quite limited in its scope and it forces you to use it in a very specific way which you may not necessarily feel comfortable with. As a video camera, the BF can be an excellent platform to capture nice-looking clips with its ability to shoot up to 6K record modes. You can choose between h.264 and h.265 compression modes and the Sigma offers Leica L-log for those that want to grade the footage further. Slow motion video is rather limited though as the BF lacks any 4K 60p record mode and instead, you must be okay with 1080p video up to 120 frames per second. Rolling shutter is an issue given the lack of a stacked sensor and the image stabilization in video mode is digital only so it applies a heavy crop. Although the USB-C port can double as a mic jack there is no way to mount any accessories and it is obvious that the BF is not designed to be a serious video camera. Curiously though, the BF features quite advanced video tools belying its otherwise basic specs. It has false color and advanced peaking controls for manual focus alongside an interval shooting mode for timelapses. Given the lack of an articulating screen and mounting points, I don’t expect anyone to use the BF as a video camera beyond capturing the occasional pretty clip. In the end, the Sigma BF is an exercise in extreme minimalism. This is a similar approach to the mindset that Leica designs its cameras with. By simplifying the photographic tool there is as little left as possible between the photographer and the image. I often find this experience challenging and ultimately, quite fun. However, most of this review has involved what this camera doesn’t have. There were a lot of statements about how such-and-such feature is missing, or you don’t get “X” option either. And I understand that this is exactly the intention of the design but it doesn’t change the fact that you miss out on a lot with the BF. If there is a company that starts with a concept and doggedly sticks to it until all that is left is a camera, then it is Sigma. As a company, Sigma loves to make unique camera designs that eschew the commonly held rules that so many other manufacturers stick to. You have to respect the boldness it takes to do this but in my opinion, that doesn’t always make for a great camera. I have often criticized Sigma cameras for being incredibly bold at the expense of basic usability and it looks like I’m right back to doing it again with the BF. Clicking photos here and there about town is absolutely fun but the moment I wanted to take control and do something more manually, the fun factor waned. Perhaps a bit of zen is required to simply let the shooting experience of the BF wash over you until all that remains is you and the image. Look, I’m fine with a simple camera, and I did get some photos that I will treasure, but I didn’t feel the joyful experience that I had hoped for. The BF camera is designed to change the way you think about photography and to take photos with less concern for the process and with more thought on the feeling. The BF also looks like a million bucks and will only cost you $2,000 but a camera needs to be more to me than a gorgeous accessory. I’m left with a conclusion to my time in Japan that harkens directly back to the very title of the Sigma BF: it is aptly named because it is a beautiful camera but it is also a bit of a foolish one. The Panasonic S9 would be the closest competitor because it offers a similar size and weight, albeit in a far less refined body. However, the S9 will provide way more customization, a much better video experience, and identical image quality. It does quite a bit more for quite a bit less. Maybe. The curb appeal is definitely present but the limitations will only resonate with a very specific group of shooters. This camera is perhaps the perfect example of style over substance.

Photographer Nigel Danson’s newest book, Close to Calm, celebrates the beauty in the local landscapes photographers too often overlook in pursuit of a far-flung location halfway around the globe. Oftentimes, the best photos aren’t thousands of miles away in a famous locale, they are right in a photographer’s backyard. “I’ve always wanted to go and photograph faraway places and I’ve been lucky enough to do that,” Danson tells PetaPixel. “You forget just how beautiful it is where you live.” Danson admits that many people might believe the area where he lives in the United Kingdom is just especially beautiful — and it is lovely, there’s little doubt about that — but Danson pushes back. “The reality is that you don’t always appreciate your own place because it’s familiar, and when something becomes familiar, you just don’t appreciate it as much.” Danson is not immune to this at all, admitting that there was a time when he only wanted to photograph distant landscapes rather than the areas he lived in. Danson’s friend and fellow talented photographer, Mads Peter Iversen, who is from Denmark, wrote the foreword for Close to Calm and had shared similar views with Danson. “When I first met him, we met in Iceland probably eight years ago,” Danson recalls meeting Iversen. “He’d been doing workshops for a whole winter there, and I was so jealous of him.” Iversen said Iceland was a good place to do workshops because his native Denmark was “boring.” Now, Iversen is a fellow “local photography” enthusiast committed to showcasing the wonders and beauty of Denmark. “I have a really strong connection to where I live and I want to show it off,” Danson says. And he believes he can help other photographers build that bond with their homes, too, no matter where they live. “I do workshops and meet lots of other people and I keep getting the comment, ‘But it’s not beautiful where I am. I wish I was in a place like you.’ And what I want to do with Close to Calm is say — it’s not just photos, there are words as well — that there is real beauty in your local landscape,” Danson says. “You’ve just got to go and find it.” “It’s amazing how many [photos] you can get when you look for them,” the acclaimed photographer adds. Beyond the obvious goal of getting good photographs, Danson believes the benefits of local photography go far beyond the results. Traveling worldwide to take landscape photos is extremely expensive, prohibitively so for many photographers. So local photography has the easy win when it comes to cost, both financially and in terms of time. Danson is also adamant that becoming a passionate local photographer will help people take much better advantage of their more exotic opportunities when they arise. Too often, he will encounter people on workshops who miss a shot — yes, landscape photography can be fast-paced and fleeting, too — because they were not entirely familiar with their camera equipment. Local photography is a fantastic way to learn essential photography skills. Danson believes in-the-field photography skills boil down to two main categories: “Composition and technology.” Composition comprises, unsurprisingly, composition but also lighting and being able to understand how to properly see a scene and turn it into a compelling photograph, whether that’s learning how to utilize foreground elements, find leading lines, or something else. Technology skills ensure that a photographer can turn their artistic vision into a great photograph by selecting the proper settings, understanding their camera modes, and, to varying extents, knowing how to post-process RAW files. Although editing is not a “field” skill, capturing many local photos will give photographers plenty of chances to improve their photo editing skills. “Learning and improving your skills is a great way of using local photography,” Danson says. “But to do that, you’ve got to believe you can get good shots locally. You’ve got to get into that mindset.” Danson believes his book will inspire readers to get into that mindset, and based on Danson’s beautiful photos and thoughtful writing, Close to Calm is well-positioned to do just that. As mentioned, Nigel Danson was not always the believer in the beauty of home like he is now. “There was a local photographer, and he doesn’t actually do photography anymore, believe it or not, but he’d taken some shots,” Danson recalls. “I live near what’s called the Peak District, which is actually quite a nice national park. But I’d gone there a few times, this was maybe 20 years ago. And I just felt like there were not a lot of hills. It says ‘the Peak District,’ which is a dumb name for it because there aren’t many peaks — it’s quite flat. I didn’t think the villages were particularly pretty either.” “Then I saw this guy’s photos. We have a lot of a certain type of rock, it’s like a sandstone rock and it’s really nice in warm light. And we have a lot of heather. This photographer had gone out and combined these sorts of gray sandstone with heather and created just stunning photos. And I thought, ‘I am just not looking hard enough here. I’m just not thinking about it in the right way.'” Before this experience, Danson was always trying to get shots in places like Iceland, the Great Pyrenees, etc. Sure, his local area does not have grand, dramatic vistas — most places don’t, Danson admits — but that doesn’t mean there aren’t beautiful landscape and nature photos to be had, photographers might just need to look a little harder or think a bit differently. “You’ve got to think, ‘Well, what is there in my landscape that’s just a little bit different?'” Danson suggests. Seeing that photographer’s images of sandstone and heather was a real turning point for Danson. “He opened my eyes.” Danson can already hear some complaints from photographers who maintain, “No, my local area is different, there really is nothing to shoot.” While some areas are “better” than others insofar as finding interesting photos in one location might be easier, Danson is confident that few photographers have entirely exhausted their local environs. While he has lived in the Peak District for a while, he still finds new photographs he’s never seen before, whether it’s because he has physically never been to the spot before or just never seen the photo. He spends a lot of time exploring, taking notes, and thinking about how a scene might look in other weather, conditions, or a different season. Walking with his dog, Pebbles, who Danson’s YouTube viewers know and love, provides Danson ample opportunity to find new photos. A post shared by Nigel Danson (@nigel.danson) “I guarantee you if you put a three-mile radius around where most people live, there will be something they haven’t seen in that extremely local area,” Danson says. “It’s just a matter of exploring, and you will find things you didn’t know existed.” Danson is also a firm believer in the power of projects to help photographers capture new photos, see things differently, and hone their skills. “Another thing I like about local photography is having a project. You might find a tree or a monument or a road, anything really, and photograph it in all different weather conditions or different seasons. And you can do that because it’s local. You can just go there when it’s raining, when there is a rainbow, when there are storms,” Danson says. “I’ve seen some really excellent projects online where people have just found a lone tree or something and gone to photograph it in different conditions and seasons. It’s so interesting because of how the landscape changes.” Photographers should also be careful of falling into the all-too-common trap of thinking that there is not a good photo there just because they have technically seen something before. “I think because something is familiar, you almost aren’t as attentive to spotting compositions because you just dismiss things,” says Danson. “I’ve got a really great example. There’s a tree I used to drive past on the way to work and it ends up being one of my favorite images I’ve ever taken. I realized that this tree, after driving past it for about three years, I thought, ‘Actually, that tree could make a good shot.’ And then I planned out a shot where the sunrise rose just above it, and I got just such an amazing image of this tree. It looked like it was from Japan or something. It was so cool. That was another moment where I thought, ‘Yeah, there’s so much locally.’ There really is.” While Danson is a huge believer that there are great photos to be found anywhere on Earth, no matter how ‘boring’ it may seem, he also knows that photography doesn’t always require great photos to be productive. A results-driven view will lead to disappointment no matter where someone lives because oftentimes, it’s just hard to make good photographs. For him, he loves being out and going through the photographic process. If he can make a great shot, and he certainly bats a higher average thanks to his decades of experience and hard work, that’s awesome. But if not? “I like the peacefulness of being out, especially in the morning. I really like shooting in the morning and just being on my own in a really peaceful woodland or hillside and seeing what happens,” the photographer explains. “It’s not that I haven’t planned because I will have planned where to go, but it tends to be that I’m looking for new things.” It is also vital to consider one of the most essential ingredients to capturing great photos: Knowledge of the subject. Not only does shooting locally help photographers improve their skills, capture strong photographs, and just enjoy being out in nature, but being able to spend so much time in one area helps people get to know their potential subjects much better. “This is one of the most important things about local shooting,” Danson says. “I think it’s why I love it so much, because you’ve got a stronger connection to a place.” While he’s been all over the world, including a couple of incredible trips to Antarctica, he never feels that same connection when traveling. “I’ve been to Antarctica a few times and it’s incredible and the memories there are great, but I never feel quite that same connection to my photos from there because it’s a place that just isn’t that familiar to me. And although they are dramatic, impressive, etc., I don’t feel like I’ve ever had a massive connection to it. Whereas the local woodland near me where I walk my dog Pebbles all the time, if I get a good photo from there, I’m so excited,” Danson says. Few things are as exciting for a landscape photographer as being in the right place at the perfect time and capturing an incredible photo. When all the conditions come together, it’s magical. For Danson, it’s especially meaningful when that happens at home. Danson, perhaps modestly, says portfolio-quality images “don’t happen very often,” but when they do, the ones captured near Danson’s home are his favorites. Ultimately, Nigel Danson hopes his upcoming book, Close to Calm, will help more photographers appreciate their local landscapes and embrace all they offer. Shooting close to home is accessible, an amazing way to improve skills, and, with determination and effort, a pathway to capture incredible photographs. A post shared by Nigel Danson (@nigel.danson) Nigel Danson loves his home and wants to do it justice through his photography. Close to Calm does that. But it does so much more — it offers the inspiration that all photographers need from time to time to pick up their camera and explore their backyard. There is beauty there; it’s time to find it. Image credits: All photographs © Nigel Danson. Nigel Danson’s upcoming book, ‘Close to Calm,’ is available to preorder now from £49. It will begin shipping in late spring or early summer.

For this week's edition of Historical Friday, we're going to take a look at Disney's revolutionary multiplane camera system which was used for incredible effect in classic movies like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Pinocchio (1940), and Bambi (1942). Midjourney has released a new version of its AI image generator, V7, which is its "smartest, most beautiful, most coherent model yet." Clothing retailer H&M is making AI clones for 30 of its models and will start posting AI-generated fashion images to social media and including them in marketing campaigns. A new book has revealed that after President Biden's disastrous televised debate with Donald Trump, he flew for a photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz rather than meeting with the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Photographer Alastair Philip Wiper is no stranger to entering spaces rarely seen by others -- having previously visited a cryogenic chamber and a doomsday underground house. Wiper continued his modus operandi of taking viewers inside restricted locations when he was invited to document the inside of Nike. While conducting a photo shoot on the shores of Washington DC's tidal basin this week, photographer Briana Inell captured an unlikely photobomber in her frame: former president Barack Obama. A study has shown that whether a person smiles or not in their profile picture matters to other people and can even affect how much money they earn. Meta is reportedly working on a more exclusive version of the company's popular Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses that could be released this year, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In recent years, YouTube has become a breeding ground for AI-generated fake movie trailers, flooding the platform with misleading yet captivating content. These videos, which often combine snippets of legitimate footage with AI-generated visuals, have amassed billions of views. The astronauts currently orbiting both polar regions -- the first humans to ever do so -- are asking for help from photographers on terra firma. A camera store in San Rafael has been rammed with a car and raided. It is the fifth such robbery in the Bay Area in a little over a month. After the Sally Mann photographs controversy in Fort Worth, Texas, a lawmaker in the state has proposed a ban on "obscene" artwork being displayed at museums. A crew of astronauts have become the first-ever people to orbit over Earth's north and south poles and they have done so with an incredible view thanks to the cupola installed on their spacecraft. Raspberry Pi computers are a boon for tinkerers inclined to design one-of-a-kind cameras. And now one Redditor has made a Raspberry Pi Zero-based instant camera. AI video company Runway has released a powerful new model that claims to generate consistent characters and realistic physics. With the TikTok sale deadline fast approaching, President Donald Trump says a deal will be struck before Saturday, April 5. A photographer had his $5,800 (£4,500) camera and lens obliterated by an errant ball during a soccer game in England this weekend. "Space is hard," says an aerospace engineer commenting on a rocket launch video that ends with it exploding into smithereens. But as Dr. Chris Combs also points out, "This is the most picturesque launch failure video I've ever seen." Photographers flock to the hills of southern California for the superbloom that sometimes appears in spring. But this year, so far at least, has been a disappointment. There were mixed weather conditions along the northeast coast of North America for the partial solar eclipse on Saturday but some photographers still came away with spectacular photos. Not long after the Blood Moon lunar eclipse, photographers can gear up for yet another eclipse tomorrow -- this time it's a solar one. A wildlife photographer spent days attempting to capture a picture of a one-of-a-kind orange snowy owl that has confused scientists. The Nodus Obscura is the first mechanical watch to integrate an exposure gauge for film photographers who don't have a light meter. An Associated Press photographer who captured the iconic image of Trump with his fist raised and blood on his face after the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania has testified on the White House ban of his news agency. There has been a flood of photos turned into Studio Ghibli-style images posted to social media in the last 24 hours and it's all because of ChatGPT's new AI image generator. A European Space Agency probe has captured a rare view of Mars' outermost and more mysterious moon, Deimos. World Press Photo has announced the winners of its 2025 World Press Photo Contest, showcasing some of the world's best photojournalism and documentary photography. Texas has dropped charges against Sally Mann after a grand jury declined to take action against the controversial photographer and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth where her photos were exhibited in January. The Blue Ghost lunar lander's mission may have ended, now resting lifeless on the Moon’s surface, but its success has secured its place in history. A key designer behind the Pentax 17 half-frame film camera has left Ricoh Imaging, as the company says it is pausing the Pentax film project to evaluate the market.