Photography News

Every photographer has experienced that moment of envy scrolling through Instagram, wondering how certain portraits achieve that impossibly smooth, cinematic background blur that seems to wrap subjects in pure light. Here are five fantastic portrait lenses that will give you some of the smoothest and unique bokeh you've ever seen.

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A view of the Mekong River in Laos features a balanced composition and natural light.

Titled Mekong Views Laos and taken by Backabit, the photo places the river in the foreground, with trees along the banks and steep limestone cliffs rising behind. Additional layers of trees and hills extend into the distance, enhancing the sense of depth. The light is soft and even, bringing out detail across the scene. There’s a stillness to the image that feels grounded—calm, enduring, and true to the landscape.

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 2026, we’ll crown our 2025 Photo of the Year winner, who will take home the ultimate prize of a Samsung Portable 1TB SSD T7 Shield, courtesy of Samsung. It’s time to shoot, submit, and showcase your best work for a chance to win these incredible rewards!

A lens that can handle everything from wide landscapes to distant wildlife shots means you can travel lighter and react faster. You avoid carrying a bag full of glass and still have the range to shoot almost anything that catches your eye. That’s why a zoom like this matters if you want flexibility without the constant lens-swapping.

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Photoshop just got a wave of updates that could speed up your workflow and make certain edits far easier. The updates also add new AI-powered options that can handle more complex adjustments automatically.

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Some of the most respected names in photography didn’t just create remarkable images. They sustained that quality for decades. Their mastery came from consistent effort, not a single burst of inspiration.

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  If used correctly, the empty space you leave in your shots (negative space) can make your photograph more interesting and easier to focus on rather than trying to fill every inch of the frame with interest. Negative space can play several important compositional roles so here are a few tips to help you think more about making the most of what's not in your scene:  

 

1. Reinforce What's Important

The obvious role of negative space is to show the viewer of your image what is and what isn't important in your shot. If there's nothing else fighting for focus, their eyes will be able to settle on your main subject without searching the rest of the shot first.

2. Balance Your Shot

Negative space can make a shot appear more balanced and as a general rule, you need twice as much negative space to the area taken up by your subject. For example, if you shot a close-up portrait and your subject fills the right third of the frame, you'd want the two thirds to the left to be negative space.
 

3. Give Your Shot Context

Of course, there are times, such as when you're shooting environmental portraits where you want to make the most of the size of the place you're taking photos in, when the above rule won't apply.

With environmental portraits, it's often what's around your subject that gives the shot more interest so filling your frame with your subject would mean the context would be lost.

 

 

4. Space For Your Subject

If you do place your subject to one side of your frame make sure they're looking towards the area of negative space. The same goes for action shots where they're running through the frame as generally, your shot will be more compositionally pleasing if they have space to move into. Of course, if you're wanting them to increase the sense of speed or want to make people wonder what they're looking at, position the negative space behind them, almost pushing them out of the frame.

5. Negative Space Doesn't Have To Be 'Empty'

By using one colour in your background when shooting indoors or by throwing it out of focus if you're shooting outdoors, it won't become a point of focus for your viewer so all attention will fall on your main subject. However, sometimes adding blur to your backgrounds will leave your shot with less impact. For example, if you're out shooting portraits and behind your subject is a mountain scene, shooting with a smaller aperture so you get front to back sharpness will exaggerate the amount of negative space around them, giving the shot more meaning and impact as a result.

6. Exaggerate The Negative Space

Take the idea one step further and strip all the colour out of your shot, leaving just the shapes and space around them to tell your story. You could also remove all the textures from the shot by shooting silhouettes.

 

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

The camera industry has been pushing full frame sensors so hard that many photographers think anything smaller is automatically inferior. Here are five remarkable APS-C cameras that deliver professional results while offering advantages that even the best full frame cameras can't match.

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Canon's decision to release two different 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses for the RF mount has left many photographers scratching their heads about which one to buy. The choice becomes even more complex when you factor in the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM as an alternative for reaching longer focal lengths, especially since all three lenses occupy similar price points and target overlapping use cases.

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The latest winner of our popular daily photography theme which takes place in our forums have been chosen and congratulations go to NDODS (Day 3 - The Night Sky).

 

Daily Theme Runners-Up

If you didn't win this time, keep uploading your images to the daily competition forum for another chance to win! If you're new to the Daily Theme, you can find out more about it in the Daily Theme Q&A. 

Well done to our latest runners-up, too, whose images you can take a look at below.

  Day 1

Creative Portraiture

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Day 2

Coastal Landscapes

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Day 4

Zoom Burst

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Day 5

Fancy Dress

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Day 6

Birds Of Prey

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Day 7

Festivals

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Day 8

Speed

[COMMENT_IMG]portfolio|198845|2685974[/COMMENT_IMG]

 

You’ll find the Daily Themes, along with other great photo competitions, over in our Forum. Take a look to see the latest daily photo contests. Open to all levels of photographer, you’re sure to find a photography competition to enter. Why not share details of competitions with our community? Join the camaraderie and upload an image to our Gallery.

It’s hard to leave the camera at home. But when you travel with family or friends, photography isn’t always the point. So can it still find a place?

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Portable power solutions have become essential gear for photographers who work in remote locations or extended outdoor shoots. The EcoFlow TRAIL 300 DC represents a new approach to camping power banks, prioritizing weight savings and DC-only outputs over the bulkier AC-capable units that often weigh 40-50 pounds

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Macro photographers often face a frustrating choice between compact flash units that run out of steam during focus stacking sessions and powerful strobes that add unwanted bulk to their setup. The new Godox V480 flash aims to bridge this gap by offering improved stamina and modern features in a size that sits between the compact V350 and the powerhouse V860.

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The Canon EOS R1 mirrorless camera brings flagship-level video capabilities that wildlife and action shooters have been waiting for. You get features like pre-recording and CLog 2 that fundamentally change how you capture critical moments. Here's what you can expect.

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Once you have your tourist, postcard style shots, spend a few hours of your vacation time thinking about how you can do things a little bit differently. (Yes, we know we are talking about not doing this but the reason everyone takes these shots is that they do actually look good, most of the time. Just remember to get up early or stay out late to miss the rush of tourists so you stand a better chance of capturing people-free shots.)
 

1. Use It As A Secondary Point Of Interest

Instead of making the landmark your main point of focus, place another object in the foreground and use the landmark as background detail for your shot. You could use a larger aperture to throw it slightly out of focus but don't go too wide as you still want the landmark to be recognisable. For shots with plenty of depth of field, think like a landscape photographer, standing further back from your landmark so you can add interest in the foreground as well as the middle and background of the shot.

 

2. Find A New Angle

This is an obvious point that's also easier said than done sometimes but even the smallest change in composition can make a big difference to the shot. Try blurring foliage into an out of focus frame, shoot through a window or arch or look for objects your landmark can be reflected in. Shooting down into a puddle of water, particularly on a moody, wet day will give any landmark photo an interesting twist while switching from a wide lens to telephoto so you can crop in will give you a shot that's ever so subtly different but yet, still recognisable to those back home.

Watch for where the crowds go and head off in a different direction, looking for new vantage points to shoot from. This could mean climbing to get above it or trying to get lower to shoot from nearer the ground. We can't guarantee you won't get any funny looks but you should walk away with a set of unique shots. 

 

 

3. Get In Close

As landmarks are well known you don't have to get the whole structure in the frame for people to know what it is. The blue/green shade of the Statue of Liberty will be recognisable no matter how close you zoom in. In fact, the shapes created to form drapes in the statue's clothing could create an interesting abstract shot if you have a lens that can get you close enough.

 

4. Head Out When Other's Don't

A cloudy, rainy day will put most sight-seers off and you should take advantage of this. They'll be less bad weather shots than there are scenes with blue sky and sun. Rainy days also mean you can shoot reflections (as mentioned above). Just remember to protect your equipment as unless it's waterproof, it won't like the rain.

 

 

5. Human Interest

We said above to head out early/late to avoid crowds but including one or two people can give your landmark shot a new angle. By adding people, street vendors setting up near the landmark or people sweeping away rubbish, you add a new level of interest to what would be 'just another tourist shot'. As people have a habit of stopping what they're doing and either grinning or frowning when they see a camera pointed at them you may need to work more like a street photographer to get shots where your subject isn't posed. 

   

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

In an era where smartphone cameras can capture 4K video and AI can enhance photos beyond recognition, something unexpected is happening in photography studios and college campuses across America. Young photographers are deliberately choosing 35mm film cameras over cutting-edge digital equipment, creating a renaissance that has film manufacturers scrambling to meet demand and camera shops dusting off decades-old inventory.

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Medium format cameras represent the pinnacle of image quality for many photographers, but their price tags often put them out of reach for all but working professionals. The decision to invest $15,000 or more in a camera system requires serious consideration of whether the benefits justify the massive expense.

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With every new generation of camera producing larger files and higher bitrates, the demand for faster transfer speeds is relentless. Now, with Apple's M4 Pro and M4 Max chips ushering in the new Thunderbolt 5 standard, the goalposts have moved once again. Can the OWC Envoy Ultra deliver the next step-change in portable drive speeds?

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The Fujifilm X-E5 promises to deliver flagship-level performance in an incredibly compact body that resembles a miniature X100 series camera. When a camera packs 40.2 megapixels, 5-axis image stabilization, and interchangeable lenses into such a small package, it demands serious consideration from anyone seeking a versatile everyday shooter.

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The 55mm f/1.8 lens sits in a sweet spot for photographers who want the versatility of a standard focal length without the bulk and cost of faster f/1.4 options. Budget-conscious shooters have traditionally had to choose between cheap but mediocre optics or expensive premium glass, leaving a gap in the market for affordable lenses that deliver genuinely good performance. However, this lens bucks that trend.

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The DJI Osmo Pocket 3 has quietly become the go-to device for content creators who need professional-quality footage without the bulk of traditional cameras. Understanding why this tiny powerhouse has gained such traction among professionals could reshape how you approach portable video creation.

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