Photography News

 
 

Photographing a flower head on a black background is a simple but effective way to make yourself a piece of wall art. The bright petals against a stark, dark background make a vibrant image that wouldn't look out of place on the shelves of stores that are designed to fill your home with accessories and decorations.

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1. Gear Suggestions

• Macro lens 
• Window for light or two constant light sources placed either side of your set-up
• Black background
• Flower(s)
• Tape
• Container to hold your flower
• Tripod - keep your hands free so you can adjust the position of the flower head etc.

  2. Constant Light Source 

If it's a sunny day you'll have plenty of free light falling through your windows to work with, however, if it's a gloomy and really overcast you'll need a couple of constant light sources to place at either side of your set-up. You want just enough light so the petals have contrast and don't blend together. Take a look at the edge of the flower too as you don't want it to vanish into the background too much.
 

3. Background Choices

You can use whatever you have to hand as long as it's black and not reflective. As holding a flower still is rather hard work, we used a plastic cup as a stand and taped the flower to it but a vase or any other container will work just as well.

  4. Do & Don't

Don't use an aperture that's too wide as you'll lose too much detail towards the edges of the flower and if you're shooting straight on make sure the centre of the flower is sharp. Experiment with your shooting distance, taking shots of just the centre of the flower or try changing the position of the flower to shoot it on a slight angle.
 

5. Photo Editing 

Once you have your shots why not get creative in Photoshop? Take a look at ePHOTOzine's technique section for Photoshop, Lightroom, Elements and GIMP editing tutorials. 

 

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© Skylum

 

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

 

From Skylum:

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

The video is available here:

 

From Desktop App to Ecosystem

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

 

Google Awards 2025: Best Multi-Device App

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

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

 

Benefits for New Customers

Skylum is currently offering various licenses with discounts of up to 74% as well as an anniversary gift. More information about the deals and pricing information for your region is available at: https://skylum.com/luminar/pricing

 

About Luminar Neo

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

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

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

Photograph The Sky Whenever & Wherever 

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

  Quick Gear Checklist 

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

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Fill The Frame With Sky 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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The Viltrox Vintage Z2 on-camera flash combines value, power, features, and fun in a package designed for photographers who wish to avoid the bulk of the typical external flash. 

The Viltrox Vintage Z2 TTL Flash follows the Z1 and features a radical departure in design language. Although the Z2 does evoke some retro vibes, it abandons the "steampunk" look of their previous small flashes in favor of a compact, folding design, which is both stylish and, more importantly, functional.

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Nikon USA Ambassador Audrey Woulard is known for her distinctive lighting style and natural, expressive portraits. Woulard's commercial clients include Pottery Barn and IAMS, and her work has appeared in People, InStyle, and Better Homes & Gardens. Here she holds forth on the best advice she's ever gotten, the importance of steady hands, and how simplicity led to success. 

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For the past few years, many have felt changes to Instagram have moved the platform away from photographers. According to recent comments by Instagram's CEO, Adam Mosseri, those fears appear well-founded. 

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Lightroom's Transform panel has a reputation for being a one-click fix, but it can do far more than straighten a crooked horizon. Most people hit "Auto" and move on, leaving a set of sliders untouched that can genuinely reshape how a photo feels, especially if it was shot with a wide angle lens. 

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The 35mm focal length sits in a unique position: wide enough to show a scene, tight enough to keep it clean. Most people who struggle with it are treating it like a 50mm or 85mm, and that's exactly where things go wrong. 

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If you've been paying for a Lightroom Classic subscription while quietly wondering whether it's still worth it, DxO PhotoLab 9 is a direct answer to that question. After roughly 15 years of Lightroom as his primary editing tool, Matt Day spent two months with PhotoLab 9 before canceling his Adobe subscription entirely. 

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Shooting carefully or upgrading your gear rarely fixes flat, forgettable photos. What actually separates images that stop people mid-scroll from ones that don't is something most photography content skips entirely: whether you were genuinely present when you pressed the shutter. 

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Here are 10 top tutorials that will get you looking a little closer at your photographic subjects as well as providing some handy tips along the way which includes lens choices, advice on lighting, set-up and more. 

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1. 4 Top Tips For Creative Fruit And Veg Photography

 

We thought we'd put together a quick and easy to follow tutorial on photographing fruit and veg slices with a light source behind them which you can do indoors when it's raining outside. Why do this? Well, the bright light combined with a single or even a few slices of fruit or vegetable can produce an interesting 'arty' style photograph that's really easy to capture at home. 

 

2. Five Quick Still Life Photography Tips

 

This step-by-step guide will give you a great basic introduction to the world of still life photography so if you're new to the subject, or are short on time, this could be the perfect place to start. 

 

 

3. Christmas Macro Photography Tips

 

Christmas is a great time of year to try out some macro photography, with loads of trinkets and brightly coloured objects to shoot. Here are some tips for festive macro photography.

 

4. How To Photograph Kitchen Utensils And Cutlery Creatively

 

Once you start searching, you'll find plenty of objects in the kitchen that have photographic potential. Things like pots and pans, colanders and, as here, a trivet can be pressed into service as subjects. A kitchen work surface will make a perfectly good background but so can the sink or any material you have in your house. Objects can be arranged on the worktop in various compositions, with the camera and lens aimed downwards.

 

 

5. Autumn Close-Up Photo Tips For Point & Shoot Digital Cameras

 

Autumn is the perfect time for capturing close-up/macro shots and this is something you can do even if you're a compact user who doesn't have an arsenal of lenses at their disposal. Be on the lookout for subjects that have interesting textures or are full of colour, plus look on the ground as well as up at the trees as you'll find conkers and other interesting items that make the perfect subject for an Autumn macro shot. 

 

 

6. How to Photograph Fungi In 10 Easy Steps

 

if you're venturing into the world of fungi photography for the first time or just want a quick reminder on what kit you'll need, have a read of our guide on photographing mushrooms, toadstools and fungi.

 

 

7. Macro Photography Tips - Raindrops On Windows

 

Raindrops on windows produce interesting patterns which can be photographed with ease on days when venturing outside will just soak you and your camera. Choose a window that has interesting raindrop patterns and that is facing a plain background. The background should be a long way off so a window into a garden with trees, grass or a fence at a good distance is ideal. The choice of background can really make a difference; a light background such as a sky will often result in the droplets having a darker more defined outline while a dark background will make the centres of the droplets more prominent.

 

8. Do I Need A Tripod For Macro Photography?

 

Outdoor macro photography, particularly during the Autumn months, can be very rewarding but as you'll most likely be doing some walking, you may be wondering if fastening a tripod to your camera bag is really necessary as, after all, they can be heavy and a bit awkward to carry. Well, the quick answer to this question is 'yes' but here are 6 reasons that'll further explain why you'll be annoyed at yourself if you don't pack your tripod when heading out of the door. 

 

9. 6 Outdoor Flower Photography Tips Every Compact User Needs

 

Just because you're a compact user doesn't mean you shouldn't shoot outdoor flower shots. In fact, with these few tips, you'll soon be on your way to capturing excellent examples of flower photography. 

 

10. Ten Top Macro Photography Tips

 

Macro and close-up photography allows us to see the world from a different viewpoint and sometimes, shots can be almost magical with what they unveil. Plus, with so many subjects waiting to be captured, you really can put your macro photography skills to the test and, you don't have to venture much further than your own garden either.    To get you started, here are our 10 top tips on capturing images with close-up/macro lenses. 

 

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Before heading out for a shoot or even while on one, make sure you don't overlook some of the most important but basic things. To stop you doing this, we've put together a quick checklist which may seem obvious but the things on it can often be overlooked and can cause a day out shooting to descend into chaos!
 

1. Charge Your Camera's Batteries

 

The most important thing to remember is to make sure that your batteries are charged. If not, your day out will be rendered useless when you discover that your battery has died. If your battery is low the night before but you don't want to charge it before it's fully dead, consider wearing the battery down on purpose so it can be fully charged overnight. You could also consider taking a spare battery if you have one, or a spare camera if you don't, so at least you can still shoot if your primary equipment fails.
 

2. Memory Card Check

You should ensure your memory card is not full or going to be quickly filled when you're out shooting. Always carry a spare card or two just in case one goes missing or shows a fault.

 
3. What Am I Trying To Say?

 

How you frame, light and compose your shot will provoke a different feeling, thought or emotion so think about what message you're trying to convey before hitting the shutter button.

4. Watch The Horizon

 

One of the main things to remember is to keep your horizon straight. If not, the shot will look wonky. If you're on flat ground, an easy way to ensure this is to use a tripod which has a spirit level built-in. However, do remember that if you're working with a hot shoe spirit level on terrain that's uneven the spirit level on your tripod may tell you the shot's wonky when actually it's not. 

 

5. Don't Make It Too Busy

 

Although you will want to portray a lot through your photos, try not to overcrowd the image. If you do, the eye will not know where to settle on the photo and ruin the feel of the image. Do a quick check of the foreground and background before you take your shot to check there's not unsightly elements and take the time to consider if your shot will work better with the background out of focus.

 

6. Fill The Frame Or Leave Some Space?

 

 

You should also consider how close you are to your subject/how much space you want in your shot. If it is too far away, the image can lose impact, however, if you're trying to create a sense of scale in your shot, moving a person further away, for example, moving a person further into an area of sand dunes, will make the landscape appear as if it stretches on for miles. If you do want to fill the frame, use the zoom on your camera or move your feet.

 

7. Have A Focal Point

 

Identify your main focal point so you can then decide if you're going to use secondary points of focus or just place your subject in the frame so all attention falls on them.

 

8. Look At The Lighting

 

The light's angle and how strong it is will, of course, change the look of your photograph but so will the type of light source you're using. For example, if the light is tungsten or fluorescent, your camera may have a specific white balance setting to make the scene look natural. If you're shooting in darker conditions and don't want to use flash, consider using a higher ISO instead.

9. Consider Creating A Path

 

Having a path within the photo for the eye to follow can help guide your viewer through your shot. The picture above is a good example as the metal railing guides the eye down the beach to the person in the distance. 

 

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

DXO had a big announcement a few weeks ago with powerful new features in their raw image processor PureRAW 6. Now those features have been folded into their powerful image editor, PhotoLab, which gets a version bump to 9.6. 

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The iPad Pro (M5) is the kind of device that makes you rethink what a tablet can be. I've been using it daily for the past two months, and it has become an indispensable part of how I create, consume, and work. Here are my thoughts. 

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You can build a high-end headshot portfolio with nothing more than a speedlite, trigger, softbox, and stand, if you understand how to control light. You don't need 600-watt strobe lights or high-end softboxes to get the commercial portfolio. In this guide, I'm breaking down the budget-friendly studio workflow I use at 415Headshots Inc., when I need to deliver corporate headshots in cramped offices in San Francisco.  

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The Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM pancake lens has been around long enough that most people have stopped thinking about it. That's a mistake, especially now that used copies are selling for cheap and the lens adapts cleanly onto modern mirrorless bodies. 

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One of the most common comments we get online is, "One day I'll create when I have a studio." 

So David and I decided to challenge that idea. Over the next 100 days, we are building 25 photo sets inside our attic.

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Calling your flash "harsh" is usually a sign that something specific is wrong with your setup, not that flash itself is the problem. Four fixable mistakes cover the vast majority of cases where flash lighting goes wrong. 

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Most people wildly misread what a photography career actually looks like. The gap between what gets posted online and what the work actually involves is wide enough to wreck your expectations if you're not paying attention. 

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