Photography News

The Lumix S 40mm f/2 is a compact full frame lens aimed squarely at keeping the Lumix S9 system small and pocketable, and it's the kind of release that makes a lot of S9 owners stop and pay attention. At $399, it sits at a price point where the tradeoffs actually matter, and knowing what they are before you buy could save you a lot of frustration. 

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Shooting green screen in a small, unventilated garage in 90-degree heat is not the ideal setup. But the results you can pull off with basic gear, some problem-solving, and a willingness to look ridiculous in front of a camera might surprise you. 

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The Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G is one of those lenses that doesn't get nearly the attention it deserves. Its focal range alone sets it apart from almost every other zoom on the market, and that's exactly what makes it worth a serious look. 

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Silhouette figure photography strips the human form down to pure outline, and the results can be surprisingly powerful. If you've been shooting bodyscapes with complex lighting setups and wondering whether there's a simpler approach that still produces striking images, this is worth your attention. 

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Not everyone's a fan of DIY but building your own camera and creating your own filters can be fun, plus it's usually cheaper and who doesn't like to save a pound or two? So, here are 10 DIY photography tricks & hacks for you to try on a rainy day.
 

1. Build Your Own Camera

This one does involve spending slightly more than just a few quid but at the end of it, you do get a camera that's fully functional. The Bigshot DIY Camera and Lomography Konstruktor are a couple of examples of the kind of kits you can purchase. 

  2. Create Your Own Filters

Filters, particularly DIY ones, can be used with all types of cameras (including phones) and they can help you create interesting effects without having to break the bank or learn a new photo editing technique. Something as simple as a sweet wrapper (think Quality Streets) wrapped around your lens and secured in place with an elastic band can add colour to your shots while a pair of tights cut to size and pulled over your lens will give you a soft focus effect. 

  3. Create Your Own Bokeh Effects

Who doesn't like a bit of Bokeh? But you don't just have to settle for circular out of focus highlights as you can use a few tools and your creativity to change the appearance of the shapes that appear. You need to get a black piece of card, decide on a shape, cut it out of the card then fasten the card around your lens like you would a lens hood. Try to not make your shapes too small or complicated as they won't stand out very well in your final shot.

  4. Reverse Your Lens For Ultra Close-Ups

Macro lenses are great for getting close to subjects, but as with all lenses, they're an investment and aren't something all of us can go out and purchase. However, with the help of a reversing ring, you can shoot close-up work in an inexpensive way. You simply attach the reversing ring to the filter thread of your lens which then allows you to attach your lens to your camera in reverse. They can be tricky to use but they do offer one of the cheapest ways of capturing macro shots. For more tips on working with reversing rings, have a read of this article: Reversing Your Lens For Ultra Close-Ups

5. Use A Magnifying Glass & Shoot Macros

Another way to shoot macros without a macro lens is by taping a magnifying glass to the front of your camera. You can use most magnifying glasses as close up lenses as long as the magnifier is big enough to cover the front of your lens. For more tips, have a read of this: Macro Photography With A Magnifying Glass

 

6. Make Your Own Reflector

Nothing beats the tin foil sheet that you'd normally wrap the turkey up into throw masses of light back into your subject. You just need to cut out a piece of card, apply glue or tape to it, carefully roll the tin foil over the glued cardboard, smooth out the tin foil with a sponge or cloth and leave to dry. You may need to trim the edges and you can apply tape around it too if you want it to look a little neater. 

 

7. Create A Beanbag

A tripod is usually the support photographers turn to but when you want to travel light or venture to places where tripods and similar supports aren't allowed to be used, you have to look for an alternative. One of these alternative options is a beanbag and even though you can purchase ready-made models, they're not hard to make yourself and the materials aren't expensive either. Basically, you just need some fabric, beans/polystyrene balls and a sewing machine or needle and thread. There are plenty of tutorials online with step-by-step instructions on how to construct a beanbag, including these found on Instructables: Camera Bean Bag Instructions

 

8. Make A Home-Made Flash Diffuser

A flash diffuser is a useful tool but why buy one when you can create your own at home? Click the following link to view a tutorial that will take you through the steps for making your own interchangeable flash diffuser, with changing filter options, for whatever light source you come across when taking photos: Build A Flash Diffuser

 

 

9. Building A DIY Modular Flash System 

Flash accessories can be made for next to nothing, all that is needed is a little creativity and a little spare time, as site member Paul Morgan explained in this tutorial: Building A DIY Modular Flash System

 

10. Get Creative With Light With An Old Lens

There's a technique you may not have come across called Lens Wacking and the idea is you allow more stray light to reach the sensor and to do this you shoot with the lens detached from and held in front of the camera body. It can be tricky to master but can create some really interesting, dream-like lighting effects and bokeh with just the help of an old, cheap manual lens you have at home. For more tips on how to perfect this technique that gives your images a cinematic feel, have a read of the Lens Wacking tutorial on Pentax User. 

 

If you have any DIY photography tips or hacks others should have a go at, feel free to post them in the comments below.
 

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The Nik Collection of software tools goes way back to when Nik introduced some editing plug-ins for Photoshop in the 90s. Google bought the tools in 2013 and brought several of the tools together into a collection. But Google, as Google does, sold the collection off to DxO in 2017, and they began to rewrite everything with new code, and released a 7-app collection, adding an 8th shortly thereafter. 

2023 marked the first release of the software using entirely DxO code, and that's pretty much the Nik Collection as we know it now.

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The question is not whether you are talented enough. Talent got you to the point where going full-time even feels possible. The question is whether the business infrastructure, the financial runway, and the personal support system are in place to survive the transition without collapsing under the weight of it. 

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Look around any expanding city today. Warehouses rise where fields stood five years ago. Housing developments stretch toward dry hills. Highways carve through fragile terrain. Data centers replace factories. The landscape is no longer something we visit. It is something we continuously build, erase, and rebuild. It is progress, they say. 

If photography once sought the sublime in untouched nature, our era demands something else: a sustained, critical observation of the man-altered world.

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Focal length is one of the most consequential decisions you make before pressing the shutter, and most people learn it the hard way, through years of trial and error. David Bergman's goal here is to compress that learning curve into a single, practical framework you can start using immediately. 

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Evoto has released an updated ecosystem brief presenting its products as a connected shoot-to-delivery workflow rather than separate editing apps. The structure links capture, culling, retouching, cloud sync, and publishing across multiple devices and product surfaces.

 

Key Takeaways

• Evoto’s ecosystem includes Desktop, Instant, Mobile, iPad, and Video products with role-based workflow handoff.
• Evoto Desktop v7.1.0 extends AI Lab (Smart Removal, People Removal, AI Scene) alongside Personalized AI Looks and Perfect Shot.
• The system is designed for photography teams that need repeatable editing quality across high-volume projects.
• Product messaging emphasizes automation for repetitive tasks while keeping final creative control with photographers and editors.

 

All-in-One AI Photo Editing Platform for 2026 Workflows

In the current positioning, Evoto Desktop remains the main post-production environment for large projects, while Evoto Instant is the delivery endpoint for online galleries and access-controlled sharing. Evoto Mobile and Evoto iPad support on-site and in-transit workflows, and Evoto Video extends finishing work into motion deliverables.

This ecosystem framing follows a pattern seen in current media coverage of imaging software: clear role assignment by device and stage, with less emphasis on broad AI claims and more emphasis on production continuity.

 

 

Seamless Workflow for Professional AI Photography

Evoto describes a five-stage operating flow:

1. Capture and ingest

Images enter through tethered shooting or import pathways, then are assigned to project-level structures.

2. Selection and grouping

AI-assisted culling helps flag technical rejects and organize similar frames for faster review.

3. Editing and consistency

Teams apply shared portrait and color logic in batch, while keeping the option for manual adjustments on individual frames.

4. Delivery and access

Approved outputs are routed into sharing workflows, including gallery-based distribution through Evoto Instant where enabled.

5. Video extension

Projects that require motion output can continue through Evoto Video for visual alignment with photo deliverables.

This sequence is aimed at reducing workflow breaks between tools, especially in event and school scenarios where deadlines are tight and image volume is high.

 

 

AI Culling and Retouching Tools for Pro Photographers

Across the suite, Evoto emphasizes AI as an assistant layer for repetitive operations:

• automated pre-sorting to reduce manual culling load
• batch-oriented portrait retouching and color handling
• consistency controls across multi-image sets
• optional cross-device continuation when projects move from desktop to delivery channels

Evoto also references recent Desktop-side feature evolution in v7.1.0 as part of the wider ecosystem value rather than isolated features. The Desktop draft aligns three feature groups:

1. AI Lab

A creative module for AI-assisted cleanup and scene composition workflows. The current AI Lab scope in this draft includes:

• Smart Removal: removes selected distractions with subject protection options in supported scenes.
• People Removal: detects and removes passersby or extra people in eligible images.
• AI Scene: supports subject cutout, background replacement, and layered foreground setup for controlled visual staging.

2. Personalized AI Looks

A style-training workflow that allows users to build reusable looks from their own edited image sets, then apply those looks across future      projects.

3. Perfect Shot

A group-photo workflow that helps replace expressions from adjacent images when subjects blink or miss gaze direction.

 

 

Real-Time Tethered Shooting and Delivery for Events

For event and location work, Evoto positions Mobile and iPad as practical companions to Desktop rather than replacements. The workflow message is: capture and review in the field, then consolidate in Desktop for volume editing, then publish through Instant for client-facing access.

The Instant layer is presented as a delivery workflow rather than only a gallery viewer, including project sharing paths, branding controls, and participant-oriented access options depending on setup.

This cross-product chain is particularly relevant for:

• school portrait operations
• event photographers handling rapid turnaround
• studio teams requiring collaborative post pipelines
• hybrid teams delivering both photo and short-form video outputs

 

Professional Photo Editing Ecosystem With Cloud Sync Features

Evoto describes cloud sync as the connective mechanism across products. In operational terms, this means teams can maintain a central project logic while switching execution context by device and task.

The company notes that not every feature is universally available in every context. Plan tier, region, hardware support, image format, and release channel can all affect capability access.

 

Who This Workflow Is For

Based on current product documentation and positioning language, the ecosystem is primarily targeted at:

• portrait professionals handling repeatable edits at scale
• studios with multi-editor throughput requirements
• photographers who need on-site review plus later desktop finishing
• teams that want a single ecosystem across capture, edit, and delivery

 

Availability

Official product channels:

• https://www.evoto.ai/ai-photo-editor
• https://instant.evoto.ai/
• https://www.evoto.ai/ipad
• https://www.evoto.ai/evoto-mobile
• https://video.evoto.ai/

 

About Evoto

Evoto is a software company that builds AI-assisted imaging tools for professional photographers, retouchers, and visual production teams. Its product line spans desktop editing, cloud gallery and delivery (Evoto Instant), mobile and tablet apps, and video finishing—designed so studios can move from capture through batch retouching to client delivery in one connected workflow. The team focuses on high-volume portrait and event use cases, with an emphasis on workflow speed, repeatable quality, and user-controlled creative decisions.

In 2026, user-review platforms Capterra and Software Advice recognized Evoto AI across multiple photo-editing and AI software categories, including ease of use, value, recommendation, and customer support. Profiles: https://www.capterra.com/p/10015499/Evoto-AI/ and https://www.softwareadvice.com/product/515822-Evoto-AI/.

More information is available at https://www.evoto.ai/

 

Lightroom Classic 15.3 adds more Adobe Firefly integration than most people realize, and some of it costs more credits than you'd expect. If you shoot high-ISO work or do any bulk AI processing, at least one of these updates will change how you work. 

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Removing reflections from glasses in portraits has always been a frustrating problem, and the existing tools in Lightroom and Camera Raw fall short when the window reflection isn't the dominant element in the frame. 

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The original Top Gun was shot in 1986 with heavy film cameras, no drones, and a U.S. Navy that charged by the hour. Nearly four decades later, Top Gun: Maverick used six Sony Venice cameras and some of the most precisely engineered aerial photography ever put on film. The gap between those two productions tells you almost everything about why one of them still feels like lightning. 

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