Photography News

© Alison Tuck / Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

 

Nikon is pleased to announce the winner of the STERNA People’s Choice Award in the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards, with the accolade awarded to Alison Tuck’s highly comical 2025 image titled ‘Now where is my nest?’

The People’s Choice Award is a separate category where the Nikon judging panel takes a back seat and the public gets to decide. The hilarious photo of a windswept gannet in Yorkshire on the Bempton Cliffs was the most popular among public voters, beating forty other jovial images shortlisted in the 2025 Awards.

Alison Tuck says: “Winning the STERNA People’s Choice Award means a lot to me. It was really exciting to get into the finals with my gannet, and I was honoured to get a Highly Commended. However, being awarded this category is something else and I am really grateful to all the people who voted for me - not forgetting to mention how much fun I had - it is the Nikon Wildlife Comedy Awards after all!”

A devout Nikon camera user, Alison loves taking wildlife pictures on her Nikon Z8, which “makes capturing wildlife in motion so easy.” The award also comes with a series of prizes, including a ThinkTANK photography bag, as well as a special print of the image on Hahnemühle matte white paper, courtesy of category sponsor STERNA.

STERNA’s mission it is to highlight the uniqueness of wildlife and nature through creative editing and producing Fine Art Prints.

Alison Tuck continues: “I love taking lots of photos especially of wildlife, from a tiny ant to a large elephant on land, a small crab to an orca whale in the sea or a tiny sun bird to a soaring raptor in the air, they all have their own history to tell within the world and for me capturing their stories is something very special.”

Stefan Maier, Nikon Europe, Senior General Manager Marketing says: “We’re delighted to see Alison Tuck’s image recognised as the People’s Choice Award. It captures a moment of pure, universal humour, reminding us how powerful photography can be. Nikon is proud to be part of the Comedy Wildlife Awards, demonstrating how storytelling through images can entertain, inspire, and bring people closer to nature and remind us of our shared humanity.”

Nikon congratulates Alison and all of the finalists for their excellent nature and wildlife photography. The 2026 Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards is currently open for image and video entries until 30th June. The competition is free to enter for everyone globally through the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards website. There are numerous categories to enter and a host of spectacular prizes to win including Nikon cameras and lenses for the Nikon-sponsored categories, plus a week’s safari in the Masai Mara with Alex Walker’s Serian for the Overall Winner.

For more information, please visit the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards website.

As many flower varieties are currently in bloom, now's a perfect time to explore the art of flower photography. In this article, we take a closer look at why shade's important to a flower photographer and how, with a simple bit of card, a photographer can improve his or her flower shots without too much fuss or extra cost. If you're looking for tips on what kit is good for flower photography, advice on angles to shoot from etc., have a look at ePHOTOzine's technique section where you'll find a section dedicated to 'Flowers and Plants'. 

  Direct sun   Taken in shade

 

Create Your Own Shade

When it comes to flower photography, it's best to avoid the middle of the day when taking shots of flowers but what do you do if you're in a place you can't return to easily, you see an amazing flower and you look up at the sky and see the sun's too high? Do you shake your head in disappointment and leave the flower behind? No. You get your camera out and create your own shade.

The easiest way to do this is move your body until your shadow's over the flower. But only do this if you're taking a close-up. You don't want a shot of a colourful flowerbed with your shadowy outline sticking right out at you. 

If you're a little more organised and have room in your bag or car to carry some helpful photography props there are a few you can take. Reflectors and diffusers are the obvious choices, but a cheaper option would be a piece of card, cloth or towel. Just remember you need something or someone to hold these up or you could do this yourself and put the camera on a self-timer. Make sure your shade-creator is a neutral colour too otherwise your image will have a slight colour cast.   Left: No shade. Right: With shade.     Create Your Own Backgrounds

If you like shooting blooms on location, you need to consider the background very carefully. Out of focus highlights and objects like fence posts, wheelie bins and people can easily ruin your pictures even with judicious depth-of-field control. Getting around the problem is potentially very simple. Not only that, but you can be creative too.

You can use something purpose-made like a reflector or a store-bought background or create your own from a print or a sheet of card.

Sheets of coloured card work fine but stay away from glossy finishes because there could be reflection problems. Matt, single-coloured card works fine, but you can also be more imaginative and paint or print your own using your photo printer.

To help with keeping the background blurred, produce a blurred background in the first place so you do not have to worry about aperture choice so much when you come to shooting.

Your 'background' does not have to be big either. If you are shooting macro studies, a sheet of A4-size card will do nicely.

 

 

Please do note that this approach will not be welcomed everywhere so please do not roll up to an award-winning garden and start setting up your background system. It's also worth remembering that not all botanic gardens allow the use of tripods or at least have restrictions on use so you need to check this before you head off in search of a potential subject. If you plan on sticking to public gardens, heathlands or even your own garden, you won't have to worry. 

How you work with your background is up to you. With macro work, it is possible to handhold your camera and the card background behind the subject but it is not comfortable, nor is it great technique. You'll also need faster shutter speeds and focusing can be a challenge. As a result, it's much easier to use a tripod so you can hold the background a little way behind the subject much more easily. If you have a spare tripod or a lighting stand, use that to hold the background in place.

When composing your images just make sure the background fills your viewfinder frame – or at least enough of your subject to allow cropping.
 

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

Photographers print their work less often nowadays. It's not because they don't care; it is due to one fundamental issue: whom do you trust? 

I love printing my work. It's the last step in the creative process, but this step can also become the most overwhelming. Why? It's because some internet sites promote themselves as the best printers for your work. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Three printing companies struggle for every successful one. So who do you trust? Lumaprints.

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Erin Babnik is known internationally as a part of the nature photography team Photo Cascadia. Her work grew from experiences as an art historian and archaeologist, photographing in museums and at archaeological sites throughout Europe and the Middle East. Here she discusses her must-have gear, the value of museums, and when fixing it in post isn't cheating. 

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Turning your passion into a career is one of the most debated decisions in creative work, and the answer is rarely as clean as either side makes it sound. Scott Choucino from Tin House Studio has been living this question for years, and his take is more nuanced than the usual "follow your dreams" pitch. 

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Photoshop has dozens of tools, but a handful of them do most of the heavy lifting in real editing work. Knowing how the brush, remove, and selection tools actually behave is the difference between fighting Photoshop and actually using it. 

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Knowing when to convert a photo to black and white is one of those decisions that separates a thoughtful edit from a forgettable one. Get it wrong and you strip out color that was doing real work; get it right and you reveal something the color was actually hiding. 

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Adding smoke to a shoot can completely change the feel of an image. It builds depth, amplifies drama, and when you're working with colored backlights, it's often the only way to make that color visible in the atmosphere rather than just on your subject's skin. 

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At springtime our thoughts naturally lean towards flower photography, and none more so than bluebells, either as individual subjects or in carpets of blue. Often, but not exclusively found in woodlands, bluebells offer a magnetic attraction to photographers and as almost anything can be used to photograph them, from wide-angles to long telephotos, compact cameras to full-frame DSLRs, it's something photographers of all levels can have a go at. 

 

1. What Type Of Shots Should I Take? 

 

How you treat them photographically depends on how densely-packed they are growing. In a woodland where they provide a carpet of blue flower heads, wide-angles can exemplify the extent of the blooms, and shooting with a small aperture will give a huge depth of field, rendering all the flowers in focus. A macro lens can hone in on details and individual flowers, wait for an insect to land on a bloom to give added interest.

  2. How Can I Focus On Individual Flowers?

 

Telephoto lenses used at wide apertures can also give a narrow band of sharp bluebells amongst a sea of blur, with telephoto compression adding to the effect. This works best from low viewpoints, often only a few inches above the ground. Or your long lens can be well used to isolate individual flowers from their surrounds; often in a mass of bluebells, there will be some rogue colours – the most common being pink and white – focusing on these with a long telephoto at wide aperture will highlight the different colours, making them stand out among a sea of blue.

 

3. How Can I Get Creative? 

 

For a different effect, try experimenting with camera movement, by setting a small aperture to enable a long exposure and panning the camera vertically through the exposure. Try smearing petroleum jelly on an old filter (NOT on the lens itself!) and swirl it round to give an abstract effect. You can also leave a clear patch in the middle to give an area of clarity in the picture, amidst a swirl of colour.

So...no excuses...no special equipment needs, just get out there, find some bluebells and interpret them in countless different ways.
 

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

 

Samsung Electronics today introduced its new T7 and T9 microSD Cards, expanding the company’s removable storage lineup designed for distinct user needs. Built on Samsung’s storage expertise, the new microSD Cards reinforces brand recognition through a more intuitive naming structure and refined design, strengthening the competitiveness of Samsung's Removable Storage.

The T7 microSD Card is an everyday expandable storage for light gamers, intermediate creators and daily users who continue to accrue data across their devices. With massive capacities of up to 1TB, read speeds of up to 170MB/s, and extensive compatibility, the T7 microSD Card is designed to support daily storage needs across devices such as smartphones, laptops, tablets and handheld gaming consoles, delivering a simple and dependable way to expand everyday storage.

The T9 microSD Card is built for users who require relentless performance, such as gaming enthusiasts and professional creators who handle large data files and performance-intensive workloads. Featuring read speeds of up to 200MB/s and 6-proof protection for reliability and broad compatibility, the T9 microSD Card is designed to help users transfer large files quickly and work with confidence, especially on performance-driven devices such as drones and action cameras, as well as smartphones, laptops, tablets and handheld gaming consoles.

 

 

With the launch of T7 and T9 microSD cards, as well as the P9 Express, Samsung is evolving its removable storage portfolio from the previous microSD range—comprising of the EVO Plus, PRO Plus, and PRO Ultimate—into a streamlined lineup to unify the brand identity and align the brand experience across Samsung’s removable storage portfolio. The 'T' lineup signifies 'Trustworthiness' and 'P' for 'Peace of Mind,' highlighting the ample storage and powerful performance of Samsung’s removable storage offerings. The rebranding is expected to enhance consumer clarity, allowing for more intuitive and informed product selections based on specific user requirements.

The Samsung T7 microSD Card is offered in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB options, while the T9 microSD is offered in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB. Manufacturer's suggested retail prices for T7 microSD Card (MSRP) are set at £52.39 for the 128GB, £81.99 for the 256GB, £164.19 for 512GB and £303.29 for the 1TB model. T9 microSD Card starts at £60.89 for the 128GB, £96.59 for the 256GB and £193.29 for the 512GB model, available to consumers from April 14, 2026. Availability may vary by market.

For more information, please visit the Samsung UK website.

 

 

When you think of flower photography your first thoughts will usually be of shots of a single head taken from an overhead angle or a cropped in shot that focuses on the shapes and colours of the flower. There's nothing wrong with these shots as they do work well but for something different, take a look underneath the flower head.

 

What Gear Do I Need? 

Any camera with a close-up mode will be fine. If you're using a DSLR you'll need a good macro lens and consider using a tripod if you have a model that'll allow you to adjust the centre column and legs so you can work from low angles more easily. 
 

Which Flower?

Flowers, where the petals are translucent, will produce better results and if you have a flowerbed that's sheltered from the breeze head for it as if you're working in the open, even the tiniest of breezes can create blur in your final shot. If you don't have any beds hidden behind walls or hedges try using a piece of card to shield the flower from the wind or use a PLAMP to keep it still.
 

Exposure Tips

If you're shooting against a blue sky you'll usually need to allow for at least one stop extra exposure otherwise the flower will appear as a silhouette. If you're working against a dark background, such as a hedge, you won't need to do this as the camera shouldn't have any problems getting the exposure correct. Make sure you use the smallest aperture you can too to prevent blur creeping into the edges of your shot.
 

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

 

In photography, style is often discussed in terms of subject matter, color, or composition. Certainly important aspects to consider, but much less frequently do we talk about something equally decisive: focal length. Yet if you look closely at the history of urban landscape photography, focal length reveals itself as a kind of quiet grammar. 

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For most of the past decade, Adobe was not a choice. It was the default. Lightroom and Photoshop were where photographers learned to edit, where the workflows lived, where the presets came from, and where the entire industry quietly agreed to standardize. The price hikes were annoying. The subscription model was annoying. But the alternative was unthinkable, because there was no real alternative. 

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The Tamron 35-100mm f/2.8 Di III VXD is a fast standard zoom for Sony E-mount and Nikon Z-mount cameras, priced at $899 for Sony and $929 for Nikon. That longer reach comes at a direct cost: you lose the wide end compared to a typical 24-70mm, and whether that tradeoff works for you depends entirely on how you shoot. 

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Picking a 50mm lens for your Nikon Z system just got more complicated. The Viltrox 55mm f/1.8 from the Evo series is an apochromatic lens priced at $370, and it's gunning directly for the Nikkor Z 50mm f/1.8 S. 

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The Fujifilm XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR II is a significant lens for anyone shooting in the X system. It's a red badge lens, which means Fujifilm's highest standard, and the original version set a high bar that this new iteration has to clear. 

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Flash photography has a surprisingly short list of things that will quietly ruin your shots, and most beginners hit several of them before they even realize there's a problem. Knowing what those mistakes are before they cost you time, money, or a shoot you can't redo is worth more than most gear upgrades. 

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This is something everyone can have a go it. It doesn't matter if you live in a mansion or a flat or usually shoot landscapes or portraits as this will give you the chance to think out of the box a little and really help you improve your photography.

Of course, if you live on the coast or in the Highlands or Lakes, you have got it slightly easier than some. But there are pictures to be captured everywhere, you just have to get out there and find them!

If you really don't fancy shooting near your home pick a location you love or know well and see how only having a few meters to work in will make you think differently.

  Gear Suggestions

 

If you're not travelling far you can set out your full array of lenses on your side and return to pick up what you need although your standard zoom will do a perfectly good job.

If you do have a variety of lenses to pick from your macro lens will be good for giving the ordinary a unique twist while a longer telephoto will get you close to birds in the garden without having to be sat on the branch next to them. If you're out in the garden you may need a tripod when using a longer lens but otherwise working hand-held will be fine.

 

What To Shoot?

 

Look at everyday objects differently. See how a fork, TV remote or even a shoelace look close up through a macro lens. Or try setting yourself a little challenge: shoot household objects, certain packets or how about items beginning with a particular letter or number? Try shooting candids of neighbours or how about limiting the number of pictures you take?

You can go on a mini safari in your garden, photograph birds from your window or shoot the flowers that are now decorating our beds. Have a go at photographing micro landscapes on dull days or how about capturing raindrops as they fall down your windows or land on plants? If you don't mind early starts, you can shoot some photos of morning dew or spend some time with your pets, photographing their antics.

 

As the months warm-up you'll be able to spot Ladybirds to photograph but while the weather's still chilly, why not stay indoors and shoot some still life work: kitchen utensils, cutlery and food.
 

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

I hate the idea of credits. It's like feeding quarters into an arcade game (yeah, I'm old), never sure how many it'll take before you get a decent run. After years of working with generative AI, the credit system feels like an ongoing beta trial designed to monetize trial and error. 

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Fish Eyes by Sophia Spurgin

 

Winner of the 2026 London Camera Exchange Photographer of the Year, Sophia Spurgin, has  today collected a Canon RF 400mm prime lens from the LCE team at their Strand, London store.  Sophia beat 14,500 entrants to take top honour in this year’s competition with her stunning image  ‘Fish Eyes’ captured on a trip to Vietnam on a Canon EOS R5 Mark II camera. 

A retired teacher from Hertfordshire, Sophia is  a keen outdoor photographer, and the Canon RF 400mm F2.8L IS USM was top of her wish list. A super-telephoto model offering a fast f/2.8 aperture, exceptional portability and optical IS, the RF 400mm is an outstanding low-light performer, perfect for wildlife, sports and action photography. The much sought after lens is rarely in stock at UK retailers and required shipping directly from Canon in Japan.

Sophia Spurgin commented, “I’ve never owned a lens of such quality and wanted to mark my win  with something significant. I had never considered prime lenses previously, but now I’ve been able  to obtain this incredible equipment thanks to LCE. I’m looking forward to testing it out during my  travels this year.” 

 

Sophia Spurgin, LCE Photographer of the Year 2026 overall winner, holds her grand prize, the Canon RF 400mm f2.8L IS USM lens. © London Camera Exchange

 

LCE POTY comprises 14 different categories including the publicly voted ‘People’s Choice’ and  ‘Emerging Talent’ dedicated to photography students. Sophia was shortlisted in three categories  and was crowned winner of both the Travel category with ‘Fish Eyes’ and Wildlife category with 

‘Fighting Foxes in the Rain’ – as well as taking first place in the overall competition. She scooped a  total of £3,500 in LCE vouchers, to spend on equipment of her choice. 

Lee Harasyn, managing director of LCE, commented, “We’re thrilled that Sophia has been able to  acquire her dream lens as a result of winning LCE Photographer of the Year 2026, and can take  the next step up in her hugely successful photographic journey. We hope she’ll inspire others to  enter the competition next year and we can’t wait to see the images she’ll capture with this  fantastic piece of kit.” 

The LCE POTY 2026 Awards were presented in a ceremony at The Photography & Video Show at  the NEC, Birmingham. A gallery showcasing the finalists’ images was located close to the show’s  entrance and many of the shortlisted images were included in a special edition commemorative  book. Winners received a share of the £10,000 prize fund and a unique trophy to take home. There  are plans to tour the images at other locations around the UK this year. 

For more information, please visit the LCE POTY website.

 

About London Camera Exchange 

Founded in Guildford in 1956, London Camera Exchange is an employee-owned business and is  celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2026. With 26 high street stores nationwide, the company  delivers award-winning service and impartial expert advice. LCE stocks an extensive range of  cameras, lenses and optical gear from top brands – and is the go-to destination for trading in or  upgrading photographic equipment. Whether visiting in-store or online, LCE’s dedicated team is  always on hand to help customers capture their next great shot.