Photography News

As photographers, we spend our lives capturing other people’s moments. But somewhere along the way, many of us stop documenting our own.

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AI tools for editing are becoming more advanced, and some of them promise results that would have taken hours only a few years ago. Are they ready to compete with Photoshop?

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Leica’s M11 is one of those cameras that makes you think about how and why you shoot. It pushes you to slow down, notice the details, and really work a scene instead of blasting through frames. In a world where you’re flooded with options, it’s good to know what a camera like this does differently and what it asks of you.

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The Sigma 17-40mm f/1.8 DC Art lens is shaking things up. You don’t often get an APS-C zoom lens that promises both speed and versatility while still being aimed at serious users.

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Photo by Joshua Waller

 

If you're thinking of trying nature or wildlife photography, as well as a camera it's worth investing in a telephoto lens. Why? Well, this is something we'll move on to shortly but first, you need to decide which telephoto lens will work best for you. 

A medium telephoto can be useful for shots taken in and around zoos and wildlife parks but if you're capturing smaller subjects such as birds, even if it's in your own garden, you'll need a telephoto that has much more reach (300mm +). For shots of swans and ducks in the park, a shorter telephoto lens will be fine. 

 

Why A Telephoto? 

 

Reason 1: Bring The Subject Closer

Apart from the odd swan at the park who is used to people feeding it bread, most wildlife is wary of humans and they will move away, sometimes never returning when people get too close. For this reason, a telephoto lens is needed to bring your subject to you. With a telephoto lens, you'll be able to take shots that look like you were just a few steps away from your subject when really there was quite a bit of distance between you and them. It also means you won't have to waste energy chasing your subject around all day. Instead, set up in a hide, wait patiently and use the pull of your longer focal length to create frame-filling wildlife shots. 

 

Photo by Joshua Waller

Reason 2: Safety

Having the ability to capture images from further away makes it safer for the photographer when capturing images of what could be considered as a dangerous animal or when your subject's behaviour, such as male deer fighting during mating season, would put you in danger up close. The distance also means the animal is less likely to be startled which will stop them bolting away quickly which could cause them or other animals that are around them injury if they begin to panic. 

 

 

Reason 3: Pleasing Perspective

When shooting with telephotos it can be easier to produce shots where the subject is separated from the background as the zone of sharpness is more restricted.
 

 

Reason 4: Shoot 'Through' Fences

Wildlife parks and zoos make it easier for photographers to get closer to wildlife, but mesh fences can be a particular annoyance and can ruin a great shot. However, if you're using a lens with a longer focal range, it can be quite easy to eliminate fences from shots. Similar results can be produced on lenses with wider apertures on offer, meaning users with lenses that have smaller focal lengths can still produce mesh-free images. Basically, you need to set a wide aperture, place the lens over one of the gaps and once there's some distance between your subject and the fence, click the shutter button. 

 

 

Points To Remember When Using A Telephoto

 

Point 1: Shake

Telephotos have a habit of magnifying the slightest bit of camera shake so either use a support such as a tripod or monopod or stick to higher shutter speeds. Switching up the ISO will help you achieve quicker shutter speeds or you could invest in a faster lens. 

 

Point 2: Focus 

When working with a subject in the distance, the autofocus system can get easily confused by blades of grass etc. that may be positioned closer to your lens and it'll focus on these rather than the bird etc. in the distance. This is why it's often worth switching to manual focus so you can have full control over what's your main focal point. 
 

Photo by Joshua Waller

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The Society of Photographers is excited to host a series of free-to-enter photographic roadshows across the UK. Now in its 11th year, these events offer an excellent opportunity for photographers of all experience levels to explore innovative industry trends, connect with leading photography brands, and gain valuable insights through expert-led Masterclasses.

 

A Unique Learning Experience

Each roadshow starting at 09:30, will feature three FREE Masterclasses led by renowned photographic educators, covering topics such as lighting techniques, business strategies, and inspirational storytelling. Attendees will have the chance to learn from an impressive lineup of speakers, including Raj Khepar, Gary Hill, Luke Davis, Mr Whisper (Balwinder Bhatla), and Rebecca Douglas.

 

Leading Brands in the Industry

The accompanying trade shows will showcase top photographic companies, allowing attendees to explore the latest equipment, software, and services. Exhibiting brands include Fujifilm, Sony, Canon, Nikon, Elinchrom, Permajet, 3 Legged Thing, MagMod, Gomatic, Click Backdrops, Camera Centre UK, Aaduki Multimedia Insurance, Graphistudio, The Society of Photographers, Professional Imagemaker, Bump2Baby, and Praetego. Manufacturers will also be offering exclusive show deals for attendees.

Event Schedule

Here are the upcoming 2025 Roadshow dates and venues:

September 2025

• Tuesday 16th September – Webbington Hotel & Spa, Somerset
• Wednesday 17th September – Green Park Conference Centre, Reading
• Thursday 18th September – Priestfield Stadium, Kent

 

  An Unmissable Opportunity for Photographers

Colin Jones, CEO of The Society of Photographers, expressed his enthusiasm for the upcoming events: “We are delighted to bring the Roadshows back for 2025. Each event will offer three free Masterclasses, providing valuable insights and tips to help photographers elevate their skills. Alongside this, our trade shows will be packed with leading photographic companies showcasing the latest products and services, with exclusive show deals available. Whether you’re an aspiring or professional photographer, these events promise to be both educational and inspiring. Best of all, entry is completely free!”

 

Register for Free Tickets

To find out more about The Society of Photographers’ 2025 Roadshows and to secure your free tickets, please visit the event website.

Get Your FREE Tickets Today!

Camera companies know how to sell dreams. Every press release is packed with bigger numbers, faster speeds, and dramatic leaps in technical capabilities. On spec sheets, today’s cameras look like science fiction compared to models from just a decade ago. But not every shiny number translates into real-world value.

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Do you wish your camera could autofocus on stars—without reframing? Good news. The venerable Pentax K-1 DSLR now has Star AF available in the U.S. Autofocusing on pinpoint stars just got a whole lot easier—and you can forget endless pixel-peeping.

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The Meike 35mm f/1.8 Pro AF lens arrives at a price that stands out in a market where fast full frame primes often come at a steep cost. At $379, it promises sharp results, autofocus, and a bright aperture without demanding a large investment. That means a chance to get a versatile lens that can handle everyday shooting without draining your budget.

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Wireless chargers have had a flaw that made them less popular than they deserved to be. This new update in wireless charging, first implemented in UGREEN’s Magflow chargers, just made it worth another look.

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Every now and then, a photo feels technically solid. The exposure is right, the composition works, and the colors are balanced. But something still feels unfinished. Not a major change, just a subtle artistic element to help the photo tell a better story. That’s where layers, textures, and light leaks in Luminar Neo come in.

Over the weekend, I took my niece and cousin out to photograph butterflies. It was one of those relaxed, fun shoots where everything lined up just right. Good light, beautiful subjects, and time to slow down and enjoy the process. When we got back, we loaded the images into Luminar Neo and started editing together. That’s when I saw how much a few simple creative adjustments could add to an image. A soft light leak, a touch of texture, and suddenly a nice photo felt like a finished piece of art.

 

Start with a Clean Edit

 

During the shoot, I had accidentally left my camera set to a 16:9 aspect ratio. That’s great for video, but not ideal for photo prints or traditional framing. So the first thing I did was crop the image to a 2:3 ratio. That instantly gave the composition a more natural balance. I also flipped the photo horizontally, which helped place the subject in a stronger visual position.

With the composition locked in, now you're ready for quick editing. Open the Raw Develop tool and start with the Auto adjustment to get the exposure in the right ballpark. This gives you a solid baseline without overthinking it. From there, use Enhance AI to add just the right amount of structure and detail. Keep it balanced, not heavy. The goal here isn’t to finish the photo, just to build a clean, neutral starting point before moving into the creative steps.

 

Add Light Leaks and Flares

 

 

This is where things start to get fun. In Luminar Neo’s Layers panel, you’ll find built-in overlays like light leaks, flares, sparklers, and bokeh. These can bring energy and warmth to an image when used with intention.

For this edit, I added the “Celebration” light leak. It dropped in a warm, glowing effect that blended nicely with the background.

To apply one yourself, choose an overlay and set the blend mode to Screen. This allows the light from the overlay to shine through while hiding the darker parts. If the overlay introduces unwanted color, open the color settings on that layer and lower the saturation. This keeps the light effect but prevents it from clashing with your original tones.

Use the masking brush to control where the effect shows up. Light leaks can be powerful, so paint in only what adds to the image. If something feels too strong, lower the opacity. You can also stack multiple overlays on different layers, adjusting each one individually to get the look just right.

 

Add Texture for a Painterly Look

 

 

After getting the light effect in place, I wanted to add a bit of texture to give the background some character. I used one of Carly’s Old Masters textures, which are available in the Luminar Marketplace. These textures have a timeless, artistic feel that works well with nature shots like this.

To do the same, import a texture into My Images. Use the Stretch option so the texture fills the entire image. Then try blend modes like Overlay or Soft Light and see which one works best with your photo.

 

 

If the texture starts to overpower the photo, head into the color settings for that layer. Reduce the saturation to tone it down, then increase vibrance slightly to keep a soft richness in the image. The result should enhance the background without taking attention away from the subject.

Like overlays, textures sit on their own layers, so you can fine-tune them easily. If part of the texture feels distracting, use masking or lower the opacity to make it blend more naturally.

 

Save the Style as a Preset

 

After layering in light leaks and textures, I saved the entire look as a preset so I could use it on other images from the same shoot. This step saves a lot of time and keeps your edits consistent across a series.

To do this correctly, save the preset while all layers are still separate. Don’t merge the layers yet. If you save a preset with merged layers, that composite version gets applied to every image you use the preset on, which is not ideal.

Once the preset is saved, you can choose to merge the layers for final adjustments. At that point, I added a vignette to bring more focus to the butterfly. Use the Choose Subject option to place the vignette accurately, then raise the inner light to softly brighten the center. This helps guide the viewer’s attention without creating a harsh effect.

 

Apply to Multiple Images

 

With the preset saved, I applied it to several other butterfly images from the same session. Since cropping isn’t saved with presets, each image needs to be cropped individually first. Choose the ratio that suits the image, maybe 8x10 for printing or 2:3 for a more natural framing.

Then apply the preset. If you're working with a batch of photos, use Luminar Neo’s batch processing to apply it all at once. After that, review each image for small adjustments. Some may need the vignette shifted, others might benefit from a different overlay opacity or texture adjustment. The non-destructive editing makes this easy to handle without starting from scratch.

 

Wrap It All Together

 

Textures, flares, and light leaks aren’t just visual effects. They’re tools that help create mood and focus in an image. Used with care, they can turn a clean edit into something that feels complete and personal.

These features are built into Luminar Neo and are ready to use. So next time a photo feels like it’s missing something, try adding a light leak, layering in a texture, or saving your style as a preset. The process is creative, flexible, and easy to repeat across a project.

And here’s something extra for you: get 10% off Luminar Neo with the code EPHOTOZINE at checkout.

 

About the Author

 

Vanelli is an accomplished photographer, educator, and author based in Florida. He is the Director of Education at Skylum and has transitioned from being a Triple Crown Karate champion to teaching visual arts. With a diverse skill set, Vanelli develops educational content and courses for photo editing, teaching industry leaders along the way. He is a sought-after speaker at major conferences, delivering engaging speeches on photography.

 

Photo by David Pritchard

 

Head to ponds, lakes and rivers and chances are, you'll soon spot Damselflies and Dragonflies which make interesting subjects for a macro image. If you do want to have a go at capturing these flying insects in your shots ideally, you'll need a macro lens but a longer zoom with a macro function at the longer end will also work fine, especially when coupled with extension tubes. Approach slowly, and start taking pictures from a distance so if they do fly off, at least you've got a few images saved to your memory card. It can be easier to capture images of these insects from a higher angle, looking down on the subject but do try shooting side-on, too. 

These characters aren’t the easiest to catch on camera, but a reasonable shutter speed combined with a small maximum aperture will make tracking your subject easier. You also really need to know your equipment well otherwise you could miss a shot searching for a dial/function so do remember to examine your equipment carefully, even more so if it's a new piece of kit. 

Take the time to pick a background carefully because even though you'll be throwing it out of focus, a busy background will still be distracting.

Below you'll find more tips along with a selection of dragonfly and damselfly images taken by ePHOTOzine member David Pritchard. 

 

Photo by David Pritchard

 

"I used a 20mm extension tube for this shot, so that I could get higher magnification from a greater distance. That was important for two reasons; firstly, this pair of damselflies were very skittish and secondly, they were perched over water. I couldn’t have got closer if I had wanted to and as a result, a shorter lens just didn’t work for this shot. However, as I was using a zoom lens, I was able to reach right out over the water, and the extension tube allowed me to make sure that the lens didn’t reduce in focal length as it was focused. It has also resulted in the background softening out."

 

Photo by David Pritchard

 

"The shot below is of a Banded Demoiselle and if you get the chance, watch one in-flight as it's quite beautiful." 

Photo by David Pritchard


 

"Another Banded Demoiselle, this time a female. The grace of these insects in leisurely flight belies the speed and agility that they are capable of; this lady disappeared from my viewfinder for only a couple of seconds. In that short time she shot out three feet, and returned to the same spot with this lacewing. The females generally seem more cautious than the males, and are certainly harder to spot."

Photo by David Pritchard

 

"The Banded Demoiselle is one of my favourite species of damselfly, due to their spectacular flight. The male’s wing markings appear electric blue under the right light, and they appear almost butterfly-like in the way that they move."

 

Photo by David Pritchard

  

"For this image, I used extension tubes to increase my working distance, and then chose a combination of aperture and focal length that allowed me to include some of the foreground grasses without them detracting from the main subject which added some layering to the photo."

Photo by David Pritchard

"This Damselfly was resting a few feet over the water and due to the bright sunshine,  I was able to use a couple of extension tubes (totalling 56mm) to bring the insect within range. This meant I was able to throw the background out of focus more than normal." 

Photo by David Pritchard
 

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In photography, trends come and go faster than you can say “preset pack.” One season, it is all about soft, desaturated tones. The next, everyone is leaning hard into bold, cinematic color grading. But when the dust settles, one thing becomes clear: most clients just want their memories to look the way they remember them.

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Layers are the engine of non-destructive editing in Photoshop, and they decide how far you can push an image without breaking it. If you build composites, tweak color, or test ideas for a client, layers let you experiment while keeping the original untouched.

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The 7Artisans 35mm f/1.8 is designed to balance affordability with performance. With its full frame design and relatively compact build, it’s aimed at people who want dependable image quality at a budget-friendly price point.

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Floods swallowing cities, buildings set ablaze, and entire landscapes torn apart by quakes aren’t just about spectacle. Here's how these famous effects were made.

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With Autumn rapidly approaching, they'll soon be ample opportunity to unpack your macro lens so you can capture images of fungi and close-up patterns of leaves as the golden shades take hold. 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. 

 

1. Stability

The most obvious reason for using a tripod is for added stability. Camera shake is more noticeable when working close to your subject so the use of a tripod's recommended. To minimise movement further, use your camera's self-timer or use a remote / cable release so you're not actually touching the camera when the exposure begins.

 

2. Low Angles And Awkward Spots

Not all macro subjects are in places which are easy to reach so use a tripod with a centre column that can be moved to a horizontal position or even turned the opposite way around as they make it easier to get into tight spots. It also helps if your tripod can get low to the ground. You can use various tripod heads but a ball head can be more flexible than other models as their range of movement means more camera positions can be achieved. They can take some getting used to so do have a play around with one at home before heading out into the field.

 

3. Longer Shutter Speeds

A tripod, bean bag or whatever support you're using will become even more important when you start using longer shutter speeds as if you try hand-holding the shots, you'll probably find shake causes blur to appear. You'll find longer exposure times are needed in woods where fungi thrive but not much light gets through the tree canopy. 

 

 

4. Composing Your Shots

Having a tripod with you when out shooting means you can get your framing right then make adjustments to white balance, aperture, shutter speed etc. without the camera's position changing. It also means your hands are free to adjust/remove distracting objects from the frame without the camera having to be put down. This could be moving a branch out of the way, removing stray twigs etc. 

 

5. Pre-Focus

This points more for the warmer months when butterflies and other flying insects are more likely to be around as speed is of the essence when working with small, fast subjects like these. To increase your chances of capturing a subject that moves quickly and doesn't hang around for long, try pre-focusing on the spot where you expect your subject to land. The reason you need a tripod for this is that even the smallest of nudges can change the focus. It also keeps your hands free for making minor adjustments (if needed) to the lens so you can reach your required focal plane once your subject is in the frame.
 

6. Focus Stacking

This technique is excellent for any static macro subjects. It's not recommended for use on live subjects such as insects as these tend to move. For the technique to work, you need to use editing software to combine several shots, where the focus is set at different points in each image, to effectively extend the depth of field of one shot. A tripod's needed as all the images need to line up perfectly for the technique to work successfully. For more information on Focus Stacking, take a look at John Gravett's article: Focus Stacking Images In Photoshop
 

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It always feels great when tech accessories step up to be affordable solutions to inconvenient parts of one’s workflow. This all-in-one hub is a great example.

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Few photographers have stared into the heart of conflict like Sir Don McCullin. For more than two decades, his black-and-white images defined what it meant to document war. Stark, empathetic portraits of soldiers, civilians, and refugees caught in the chaos of Vietnam, Cyprus, Biafra, and Northern Ireland with his unglamorous photographs. They were raw, human, and often unbearable to look at because they demanded that viewers confront the cost of violence.

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When your photos feel flat or uninspired, it can be tough to know what went wrong. The problem isn’t always your camera or your gear. Often, it’s about how you approach a scene, the way you see light, and the confidence you bring to pressing the shutter more than once.

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