Photography News

In our busy modern lives, it is often complicated to find the time to shoot great autumnal images, considering the amount of research, walking and perseverance that is often involved. Big hitters like the New Forest and The Lake District are often out of reach for city dwellers, especially with a family in tow. So this coming autumn has a go at visiting an arboretum, as they make a brilliant and easy alternative, keeping the kids amused with throwing leaves at each other while you take some breathtaking opportunities to capture autumnal photography.

1. What kit is best?

When it comes to kit, fit a medium telephoto lens to your DSLR as it'll be particularly handy for capturing leaf and branch detail. Make sure you pocket your macro lens too. Don't forget your wellies when you visit an Arboretum as they do get a lot of visitors and the ground gets well-trodden.  

2. Why are arboretums so good as photographic locations?

Right, back to arboretums! As they are collections of trees from various continents, this can be just the ticket to an easy shoot. Horticultural planners include sensational visual displays to attract visitors in their thousands, to places like Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire to name one of the UK’s favourites. Yet it's not as simple as falling off a log, you need good sunshine and a well-timed visit to get the best from the colours and the day.

3. Any particularly stunning trees I should look out for?

There are two tree species to look out for - Maples and Acers. Most arboretums have these trees in their collection and they feature heavily in annual publicity shots (hence generating a huge car parking revenue each year, vital to the arboretum's upkeep). Westonbirt is not cheap to get in, but consider where this money is actually going.

4. What conditions are best?

It's best to wait for sunshine to give dimension to the trees, but if the day starts a bit flat and dull, all is not necessarily lost. Concentrate on staging some ideas, such as putting leaves on interesting textures or making arrangements of leaves themselves.

Also, try the good old zoom burst technique. Put an ND filter on the lens, set an aperture of f/16 and the ISO as low as possible. This should give a long shutter speed, maybe a few seconds. Set the camera's two-second timer, press the shutter and then zoom into the shot and create a wonderful vortex of colours. It's easy to do and is very effective.   

A batch of packaging board made at a mill on the Wabash River on August 6, 1945 came out radioactive, and the X-ray film stacked against it fogged after roughly two weeks in the box. A physicist at Eastman Kodak worked backward from those spots to a bomb test about 1,000 miles away in the New Mexico desert. He then sat on the finding for four years before publishing it.

 

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  What to Expect from Graphic Design in 2027: Key Trends and Predictions

 

 

In anticipation of the new year, we all dream of what we hope to achieve in the coming months, both personally and professionally. However, the uncertainty around us clouds the future. What helps are predictions and trends that give us a glimpse into what lies ahead.

As we look to 2027, it promises us many graphic design innovations, a revival of traditional designs, and a focus on maximalism. What else can we expect from graphic design next year? Read on to learn more about the visual trends that will dominate the industry in 2027.

 

What are graphic design trends?

Graphic design trends refer to the styles, colors, and approaches popular in the design industry during a given period. They are influenced by many factors, including popular aesthetics, social and political changes, as well as advancements in technology and graphic design.

Sometimes it happens that design trends do not follow current events, but try to go against them. For example, in times of uncertainty, design trends lean towards minimalism as a way to bring a sense of order.

 

Who predicts the future of design?

Annual visual trends are a window into the future of graphic design. They are usually defined by industry professionals who track consumer preferences, gather expert opinions, and observe patterns to predict what will be popular in the coming year. Among them are DeposiPhotos.com, 99designs, Behance, VistaPrint, and Creative Boom.

 

Color trends in design in 2026

To act on the graphic design trends of 2026, one must first get familiar with the design color forecast for the coming year. So, while the rest of the world is discovering new visual trends, you can create your next project in the color of now.

Depositphotos, one of the world’s largest stock content marketplaces, predicts that a mix of intense and subtle colors will dominate the design landscape this winter. These include Aged Wine (#481623) and Dark Copper (#532906) shades, as well as Matcha Latte (#D6DF9F) and Stardust (#C1BCB6) hues. 

The Pantone Color Institute, one of the most respected sources in color forecasting, suggests basing your designs on the shade Mocha Mousse (#A47864) next year. However, WGSN and Coloro made their choice two years ago, when they named Future Dusk (#474972) the color of 2025.

 

 

Top 8 design industry predictions and trends for 2026-2027

 

1. Graphic design innovations with AI assistance 

The level of tech development has always played a key role in the evolution of graphic design. Looking ahead to 2027, it is clear that artificial intelligence will become an integral part of design processes. If you tried to ignore AI before, it will be impossible to do so in the future.

2026 is the year to embrace AI-powered tools to stay competitive in the creative industry. New solutions are making it easier to develop visual concepts, refine ideas, and create visual content with less manual effort. One example is the Depositphotos AI Assistant, which combines AI-powered search and creative capabilities with access to a vast library of licensed visual content, helping users turn ideas into visual concepts and streamline the creative process more efficiently.

 

2. The revival of naturalism in design 

To balance the spread of AI-fueled designs, some visual artists will turn to nature. The revival of naturalism in design will focus on organic shapes, earthy color palettes, and textures that mimic natural elements. It will be clearly visible in product packaging and branding.

To grasp this trend, take a look at nkm — a sustainable cosmetics brand with environmentally-friendly packaging. You can see how they conveyed the new visual trend and the company’s philosophy in their choice of design elements, such as floral motifs and earth-toned colors.

 

 

3. Abstract gradients

Gradients in designs have been trending for the past few years, but now, they will take a more abstract and artistic direction. Instead of traditional horizontal gradients, designers will experiment with more unique and unpredictable directions and color combinations. To make it look even more on-trend, add some noise and texture to your gradient pictures.

 

Abstract, colorful, and grainy gradient background

 

Reeded glass effect

Another way to make your designs stand out is to incorporate a reeded glass effect. This textured effect adds a modern touch to any visual, whether it's a photo, graphic art, or website layout. Therefore, it’s ideal for projects with a futuristic aesthetic. 

But the best part is that the reeded glass effect easily combines with other design trends. You can use it alongside nature-inspired images to balance natural motifs with modern design elements. Or, utilize the reeded glass effect with colorful gradients for a dynamic look.

 

4. Minimalist maximalism

Some call it minimalist maximalism, while others refer to this trend as bold minimalism. However, the name doesn’t change the essence of the trend, which is all about striking a balance between simplicity and extravagance.

Minimalist maximalism is the future of graphic design we deserve. It pushes the boundaries of traditional design norms while adhering to its core principles—simplicity and functionality. So, get ready to see vivid colors and bold contrasts alongside clean lines and sleek typography.

 

5. Vibrant color schemes

The graphic design community has embraced maximalist color schemes since 2022. They are eye-catching, fun to look at, and add a dynamic element to any design. Needless to say, this is exactly what brands are looking for to get the attention of potential customers. 

In 2026, we will once again experience the popularity of attention-grabbing colors in design. Brat green, hot pink, electric blue, and vivid orange will be the go-to choices for designers looking to make a statement.

 

6. The renaissance of artisanal design

In contrast to colorful and flashy visuals, we will also see more serene designs based on natural materials and earthy tones. They will signify the renaissance of artisanal design that focuses on craftsmanship, simplicity, and sustainability.

This trend is backlash against the widespread use of AI and the mass production of both physical and digital products. Digital saturation has reached its peak, so now people want to reconnect with more authentic and meaningful creations.

 

Geometric design with abstract nature

 

Dark aesthetics

A fair share of people who feel uncertain about the future will gravitate toward dark aesthetics in design. The familiarity of deep, rich colors and moody atmospheres will bring comfort and a sense of stability in chaotic times. The return to dark shades is also a response to flashy designs and constantly changing microtrends and aesthetics.

 

Wrapping up

Whether to move forward and embrace AI-fueled visuals or take a step back to appreciate timeless designs, you decide. 2027 will also offer many options between innovation and tradition, comfort and boldness, familiarity and novelty. However, ultimately, it is you who will shape the future of design with your decisions.

 

The new AI feature curates smartphone photos automatically and privately into albums, helping people rediscover their buried camera roll moments

 

No generation has documented life this thoroughly, yet no generation looks back on less of it. That’s the paradox Popsa Memories - launched by memory curation app Popsa - is designed to solve.

Now available on Popsa's iOS and Android apps, Memories launches in two beautifully designed collections: Popsa Rewinds, which curates your highlights from the past month or year into one story, and Popsa Journeys, which instantly resurfaces forgotten holidays and day trips. 

The scale of our buried photos on our smartphones is stark. The Memory Economy report, Popsa's survey of 8,000 global consumers conducted earlier this year, found that:

• 70% of smartphone photos are never revisited
• Only 16% have looked back at even a quarter of their own camera roll in the past year
• 49% say their camera roll actively stresses them out

“The camera roll has become an archive system rather than a reminiscing experience, and our research shows that sorting them is a common issue for users” says Liam Houghton, CEO and Founder of Popsa. “In fact, I started Popsa after realising I had over 250,000 photos on my own phone. I was documenting my life, but I had no way to actually make sense of any of it.”

Memories is Popsa's answer: An AI that runs privately on the customer's device, automatically resurfacing and curating the best moments buried in a camera roll. AI photo curation isn't new - Apple and Google have both offered versions of it for years. What's new is where Popsa does it, and how it organises the results.

Built on PrivateContext, Popsa's on-device intelligence layer developed over a decade of machine learning work, Popsa Memories automatically detects the people, places and activities most present in someone’s life. It recognises when something worth remembering happened while letting users hide any memories that they don’t want to see. Entirely on device, nothing is ever uploaded and no one at Popsa ever sees the photos - photos only leave a device when a customer chooses to print them.

“We decided early on that understanding someone’s photos should never require uploading them,” says Liam Houghton. “PrivateContext does all of that work on the device, so some of the most personal data people own stays in their hands.”

Early beta data shows the appetite is real: Popsa has generated more than 33 million Memories since January, each a curated set of 128 photos on average, surfacing more than 4.2 billion individual photos that customers would otherwise have been unlikely to see again. Roughly one in seven people who opened a Memory went on to create a printed product from it.

Memories is free to use - no subscription, no ads - and it’s now rolled out to all Popsa users across available markets in the latest version of its iOS and Android mobile apps. Two new articles on the company’s Perspectives blog detail How Popsa Memories Works and how the company protects users’ privacy while accessing the app.

For more information, please visit the Popsa website.

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Having a comfortable and well-lit workstation is something that can vastly improve your time working at your desk, and while many of us spend hours every day working at a computer, lighting is probably something that most of us don't give a huge amount of thought to. 

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Bright midday sun and a pitted concrete wall are poor ingredients for a dark, moody portrait, yet one small gridded flash can turn them into exactly that. Learning to shut out ambient light, shape a single source, and then finish the file with careful retouching gives you a look you can repeat almost anywhere with very little gear.

 

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Butterfly eyes are pure black, and bees are dark, quick, and always hopping between flowers that expose completely differently. Getting crisp, detailed macro shots of subjects like that is hard with daylight alone, and a small flash solves more of the problem than most people expect.

 

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This week's 'Photo of the Week' accolade has been awarded to 'Californian Poppies' by chase, a still life full of warm tones and rustic glass that creates a quiet, cozy atmosphere.

We love the detail in this image and the obvious care that went into setting up each piece. There's real thought in how the flowers and foliage are arranged across the three bottles, with the vintage glass complementing the golden and orange petals perfectly. The fallen petal on the wooden table adds a natural touch, and the soft daylight creates a simple, balanced composition that ties everything together.

Every Photo of the Week (POTW) winner will be rewarded with a Samsung 128GB PRO Plus microSDXC memory card with SD adapter, providing top-tier storage for all your creative needs across multiple devices. But that's not all! In January 2027, we'll crown our 2026 Photo of the Year winner, who will take home the ultimate prize of a Samsung Portable 1TB SSD T7 Shield, courtesy of Samsung. See the terms & conditions and prize procedure for more information.

It’s time to shoot, submit, and showcase your best work for a chance to win these incredible rewards! Want to be our next POTW winner? Just upload an image to our gallery where you'll also find all of our past POTW winners.

When the colors in a Lightroom edit look gray, muddy, or garish, the first instinct is to open the color mixer and start pushing hue and saturation around. That approach can stack up 20 adjustments that cancel each other out, and the result often looks no better than the raw file you started with.

 

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You can name every shot type, from a medium close-up to an over-the-shoulder, and still freeze when it's time to decide where the camera actually goes. That hesitation is often what keeps a small weekend project stuck as an idea instead of a finished film.

 

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An old photo album pulled from a garage contains a snapshot with Clyde Barrow's and Bonnie Parker's names handwritten on it, and the man who found it believes several of its pictures show the outlaw couple in scenes that have never been published. 

 

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The beauty of this time of year is that the sun rises at a more reasonable hour so an early morning jaunt to the woods isn't as painful as it was a few weeks ago. To top this already good news off, the chances of you finding mist circling around the trees is a lot higher at this time of year and when you mix this with your rising sun, you have the chance to capture strong beams of light as they burst through the trees.

 

1. Hope The Mist Is Right

You have to have the right type of mist for this - too thick and you won't be able to see the end of your nose let alone a sunbeam but if it's too thin there won't be enough moisture in the air for the light to reflect off. Read up on fog and mist techniques to become an expert at dealing with it. 

 

2. Take A Good Look At The Trees

It can be a little hit and miss but when the right density of mist does appear, you'll be able to capture some cracking shots as long as you have the right number of trees. Too many and you'll have broken, uneven patches of light but if there's too few the light will flood the open spaces leaving you with plenty of light but no beams. Your best bet is to quickly move to several locations to judge what looks the best before setting up camp. We say move quickly as the mist can vanish and the light can change quickly.

This also means you need to work quickly so do be familiar with your camera's controls and how you can adjust apertures etc. quickly to maximise your opportunities. Some cameras have dedicated dials you can assign specific controls to or offer ways you can access a particular setting more quickly.    3. Position Yourself In The Right Place For this to work properly you need to be shooting into the sun. Of course, this means you could have problems with flare but if you position yourself so the sun's hidden by a tree or foliage the light won't be as bright.
  4. Metering Tips

Metering is another tricky subject when you're working with direct sunlight and shadowy areas you don't want to lose too much detail in. To keep as much detail as possible don't meter from the direction of the sun instead, pick an area away from the light then compose your shot.

The most famous face of the Great Depression belonged to a woman who wished the picture had never been taken. Florence Owens Thompson sat for Dorothea Lange for about ten minutes in a California pea field in March 1936, said almost nothing, and never earned a cent from the portrait that turned her into a national symbol. For most of the next 47 years, she resented it.

 

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Getting my hands on the new DJI Osmo 360 II was an interesting experience, largely because the first generation was already so well-built. The original gave us solid specs that made it a serious contender right out of the gate. Because it set that bar so high, a quick glance at the Osmo 360 II’s spec sheet might initially feel like a letdown. But if you look past the paper specs, there are clear hints that DJI actually listened. Instead of chasing blind spec bumps, they focused on further refinements, better core image quality, and real-world usability.

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The railing you pass on the way to the shop, the peeling door down the street, and the traffic marker on the corner rarely look like photographs, which is why most people never point a camera at them. Learning to see images in those ordinary things means you can shoot well on any free evening, without a long drive or a planned trip.

 

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Canon has released a wave of new RF primes since the RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM arrived, including a fast 35mm in its VCM line and an inexpensive 45mm f/1.2. That raises a fair question about whether the older, cheaper lens still deserves to be the first one you put on an RF body.

 

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A white wall behind your subject can go pure black in the final frame, even when the light never moves. You can get two completely different portraits from one setup in a room the size of a spare bedroom if you know how to use the light already in the room and how to shut it out.

 

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A car shoot can easily produce 1,000 or 2,000 frames, and the time you spend sorting and editing them often decides how many images you actually finish. The order of your Lightroom steps, from culling to tone curve to masking to Denoise, shapes the final look as much as any single slider does.

 

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Mountain photography, both on and off these magnificent natural structures, is something photographers can capture images of all year round, but there's something about the Autumn and Winter seasons which add an extra level of 'wow' to these landscape shots. For your next venture up a mountain or to one of our many national parks where mountain ranges decorate the horizon, here are 8 pieces of advice that'll have you capturing breathtaking mountain shots in no-time at all.

 

1. Safety First 

This can be a tricky subject in winter as you need to ensure you remain safe at all times. Walking in snow is one thing but mountains tend to also be covered with ice and have erratic weather conditions. Before you set off, know your ability, wear the right clothing and take the right walking equipment including phone, compass and map. You should also carry a whistle which can be used to attract attention if you need help.

2. Pack Your Filters

Don't leave home without a UV filter as not only does it protect the lens from the elements but it will cut the levels of UV which are often high in the mountains, especially in sunny conditions.

If it’s sunny and there’s snow use a polarising filter. The polariser is a great tool to help control glare and light reflection from the snow. Take care not to over polarise a blue sky in the mountains, though.

The ND Grad filter is essential for reducing the contrast difference between the sky and ground. Landscape photographer Robin Whalley tends to carry a 2 stop and 3 stop (0.6 and 0.9) wrapped in a filter cloth and placed in his pocket when photographing mountain landscapes.

 

 

3. Lens Choices 

The lens choice for shooting in the mountains is wide-angle. A longer lens can also be useful for picking out details, but a zoom will probably allow you to capture the best the mountain has to offer. When using longer lenses, don't forget that you need a tripod that can support their weight.

 

4. Capture Distance And Height 

When shooting from the mountainside or summit the best approach to composition is to emphasise distance and height. Use a wide-angle lens and include something to act as foreground interest. Lenses wider than 24mm can be used successfully but the feeling of distance and height tends to diminish the wider you go.

 

 

5. Use Small Apertures 

The need to include foreground interest as well as keep the distant hills in good focus probably means you need to stop your lens down to quite a small aperture, perhaps f/16.0 or smaller. If you are also using filters, for example, a polariser you might find slow shutter speeds a problem. Robin Whalley says: "I used to use a walking pole and place the camera lens through the hand loop to support it, giving me a few extra stops of stability. Now I use a monopod which doubles as a walking pole and which I have used successfully with shots with over 0.5-second exposure."

 

6. Creating The 'Wow' Factor When shooting from the mountain you want the viewer to gain a sense of the place, so when they look at the shot they almost feel like they were actually there with you. To do this, as well as using a wide-angle lens, use a panoramic composition as this will help the viewer appreciate the scale of the location but again, it doesn’t emphasise the dramatic height of the mountain, something we'll discuss further down the page.      

 

7. Correct Exposures 

If you are shooting in snowy conditions, you should also watch out for the cameras light meter being fooled into underexposing the scene. Check your histogram regularly after shots and use your cameras exposure compensation adjustment if necessary to increase the exposure.

 

8. Off The Mountain 

This option is far more accessible to most people and can provide equally if not more impressive images. When people think of dramatic mountain scenery, it’s often shots taken of the mountain from a normal altitude that they think of.

When shooting off the mountain the best lens is a long telephoto, probably in excess of 100mm. This may seem counter-intuitive but wide-angle lenses seldom give the most drama. They will emphasise the foreground but diminish the background, almost making it shrink into the horizon. The telephoto lens in contrast will emphasise the size of the mountain and allow you to focus in on the rugged details. 

In summary, decide on your approach, on or off the mountain, then use the right equipment to give a composition that will best connect the viewer with the scene.