Instagram has announced that it’s currently testing a new feature enabling creators who “often create with AI” to self-identify with an “AI creator” label. The announcement was made yesterday, May 04, by the official Instagram creators account, mentioning that the label will appear on your profile as well as alongside any AI-generated content if toggled on in your account settings.

With this new optional feature, Instagram says that it’s making it easier to "understand how content is made, who's behind it, and what’s worth your attention." In principle, this is a move that I, and I’m sure millions of others, welcome as we see more and more AI-generated content that’s becoming increasingly indistinguishable from material generated by a human.

However, being optional, at least for now, is seemingly the obvious flaw in Instagram’s plan to “increase transparency” on the platform. Coming clean as an “AI creator” could lead to losing out on revenue or diminishing trust with followers, and it’s inevitable that a percentage of AI creators won’t self-identify, which is why I think Instagram needs to enforce relevant accounts to activate the feature.

I don't want to see people losing out on income, but if that income has been built on misleading, dishonest content that doesn't give viewers the option to decide whether they want to consume AI material, then I’m all for Instagram outing accounts, but this can’t be maximized through optional policies.

Admittedly, enforcing AI creators to self-label poses more questions, especially as Instagram has said that it’s testing the “AI creator” label on accounts that "regularly create content with AI." What constitutes “regularly,” but also, to what extent does AI have to have been used in creating the content for it to be considered AI-generated?

While I really want to see all social media—and all internet platforms for that matter—enforce rigorous AI content labeling, platforms would also need to ensure guidelines explicitly outlining what they consider to be AI-generated content.

This is particularly important for photographers who regularly use AI to make minor edits to images they took themselves, and who have already been bitten by automatically added AI-content labels, which was the case when Meta introduced the “AI info” tag in 2024.

Ironically, Meta’s own AI bots scan the company’s ecosystem of apps (Instagram, Facebook, and Threads), looking for “industry standard” clues of AI usage to automatically apply the label. However, tests conducted by PetaPixel showed that photos edited with Adobe's generative fill tool in Photoshop would trigger the label even if the edit was only to a "tiny speck." Subsequently, the feature evoked backlash from users, forcing Instagram to tighten its policy.

Yesterday’s announcement highlighted that if an “AI info” label has already been applied to an Instagram post by a self-identifying “AI creator,” then any automatically added “AI info” label would remain in place.

Some users have responded in the comments supporting Meta’s latest AI-labeling move, while others have vented their anger at AI content as a whole. One respondent commented: “Nuke AI in general actually, make a whole diff platform called AInstagram for them.”

I actually think that this comment makes a valid point. AI-content labeling managed by AI systems with inherent flaws will always face issues, so perhaps a separate platform for AI content, or even an option to switch between viewing only human-generated and AI-generated content, would be the optimal solution.

Anyway, according to the latest announcement, the new “AI creator" label doesn’t impact “how your account or content is distributed across Instagram," which will hopefully encourage those relying on AI-generated imagery to let their audience know without fear of repercussions.

So far, Instagram has said that only some AI creators will have access to the new labeling feature, but that it will be “expanding” this in the coming weeks.

Meta hasn't said anything about potentially enforcing it in the future, but I hope the social media monopoly will, along with strengthening the systems it has in place to detect AI usage. Although, I doubt it will happen anytime soon.

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Two years ago, Instagram rolled out algorithm changes that cut traffic to accounts that reposted Reels from other accounts, prioritizing original content from creators. Now, the social media platform is finally giving that same treatment to photos and carousels.

In a Reel, Instagram’s Adam Mosseri shared that, over the next month, Instagram will begin flagging accounts that post unoriginal photos, reducing reach to only followers and not recommending the content to new followers. The move echoes what Instagram already does for Reels – and has already had in place for two years.

The move shifts the algorithm away from aggregators who post other people’s content to help push more traffic to the original creator, which will now be applied to photos and carousels as well as Reels.

Mosseri explains that the change is on an account-wide basis, rather than post-by-post. Instagram algorithms will look at an account, and if the account is posting a majority of what Instagram calls “unoriginal content,” then the platform will no longer recommend that account to non-followers.

Users will have the ability to appeal if they believe their account was flagged in error, as well as the opportunity to remove the unoriginal content for reconsideration.

Of course, on any social media platform, memes make up a portion of those photos. But Instagram says that if a meme is “meaningfully enhanced,” then it won’t fall under that “unoriginal label.” Reuploading someone else’s photo with a different caption, border, watermark, or subtitles will be flagged as unoriginal content, Instagram says.

Users who wish to share another creator’s content may use the Repost button instead, Instagram says. Adding a collaborator to a post or a paid partnership label is another option Instagram recommends for sharing original content to multiple accounts without penalty.

Instagram notes that the algorithm guidelines for original content are separate from the company’s intellectual property policies. The social media platform also notes that the change won’t impact publishers with licensing agreements.

Creators can check to see if their account is affected by going to their profile, tapping the three-line “hamburger menu” and tapping Settings. The Account Status option is under “More Info and Support” in the Settings menu.

Instagram did not indicate why the feature that rolled out to Reels in 2024 has taken two years to come to photos. However, Instagram says that "75 percent of recommendations in the US are now coming from original posts.”

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When you take a photo with an instant film camera, you watch the photo slowly appear in your hands. Instagram is testing a new feature that feels like the exact opposite of that – instead of physical photos that slowly appear, Instants is all about digital photos that slowly disappear.

Instagram’s Instants, which is currently only available in some regions, allows users to take and share unedited photos that can only be viewed once and disappear after 24 hours. While the app sounds a bit like a Snapchat-Instagram hybrid, the goal of the app seems to be a low-pressure, unedited way to share photos.

Instagram feels increasingly curated – users are often sharing only the best moments, and even then those photos often feel highly edited. Instants doesn’t allow for photo edits at all, which may seem strange for a social platform that’s known for its camera filters, but Instagram says the test is about creating a “low pressure” way to share with friends.

Instants doesn’t even allow uploads from the Camera Roll – the only photos that can be shared are taken from the apps camera, and there’s no option to edit them. The photos can be shared to the Instants app or using Instagram itself, and the social media giant says that it is testing several variants on the feature.

As a feature still in testing, the app is currently only available in Italy and Spain, but for Instagram users worldwide, the test is an interesting glimpse into some of the ideas that Instagram is working on behind-the-scenes.

Instagram’s preference for square photos has always made me think of the network as the modern equivalent of handing a friend a Polaroid photo. The disappearing photos in Instants feel like the opposite of that, the photos are digital instead of physical, and the photos disappear instead of reappearing.

As a test, only time will tell if the app becomes widely available – or becomes integrated into Instagram itself. But an app just for unedited photos feels like an echo of the low-tech trend that has brought back early 2000s point-and-shoots.

Frankly, I’d download it in a heartbeat if the inability to edit photos also means that there’s no AI slop. But, with the inability to upload photos taken from another camera, it doesn’t seem like Instants will be a photo-focused alternative to the increasingly Reels-based Instagram for serious photographers sharing their work.

The app is available on the App Store and Google Play Store, but is currently limited to users in certain regions.

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Instagram’s new “flash look” filter quickly went viral on social media – but not without its controversy. The new filter quickly went viral for the retro look, but some users reported the AI-generated filter drastically changed their face and even ethnicity.

The viral Instagram flash filter mimicked the retro flash look with harsh shadows and film-like colors. The filter briefly disappeared from the app's options but has since returned.

The filter isn't among the usual carousel of Instagram filters. Instead, the viral Instagram flash filter was a “Create with AI” option located inside Stories and Effects that uses AI to re-generate the photo with the popular retro look.

While the filter quickly went viral, some users reported that the tool appeared to change ethnicity . I tried it out myself, and it certainly created a retro look, but it also changed my eye color from blue to green, serving as a reminder of one of the pitfalls of using generative AI.

The Instagram flash filter went viral for all the wrong reasons – while some loved the look, others realized the shortcomings of AI-generated imagery, including portraits that no longer looked like the person in the photograph.

But here’s the thing – I’m a photographer, and I think the retro flash look is actually one of the easiest flash effects to create, even if all you have is a smartphone. While using flash to mimic natural light or create dramatic portraits takes time, practice, and expensive lighting set-ups, the direct flash look is as simple as just turning the built-in flash on.

The look that the viral Instagram filter comes from is based on the look of 35mm film compact cameras, which were consumer cameras and not complicated options geared towards professionals.

Getting the retro direct flash look in camera has just one key step: Turn the flash settings to always on.

How to get the viral retro flash look on a smartphone

On a smartphone, tap the lightning bolt icon to turn the flash to “Flash on” or “Always on.” (On an iPhone, tap the advanced settings menu icon next to the flash icon, then tap the flash option until “Flash On” pops up.)

A smartphone flash isn’t always super powerful, so the retro flash look is easiest to recreate indoors and in limited light than outdoors on a sunny day. Move the phone physically closer to the subject rather than switching to a zoom lens, as getting in close will create those dark shadows. The rear-facing flash is also the strongest, so this effect doesn’t work very well with the selfie camera.

Pro tip: If the flash look isn’t strong enough, try lowering the exposure. Taping the screen, then drag the sun slider to make the image a bit darker.

That creates the harsh shadows, but you’ll need to open a photo editing app – or apply one of Instagram’s filters – to finish the look with the retro film-like colors. Once you have taken a photo with the flash on, then just open an image editor and apply a retro preset – VSCO is my favorite for retro filters. The free VSCO camera app is also great for controlling the flash on a smartphone and adding other film-inspired effects.

How to get the retro flash look on a mirrorless or compact camera

A compact camera or a mirrorless camera can create an even stronger retro flash look, as the flash on dedicated cameras tends to be even stronger. If your camera doesn’t have a built-in flash – which is becoming more common on high-end and compact mirrorless cameras – you’ll need to add a hot shoe flash. But, even a cheap flash can mimic the direct flash look.

For the retro look, go into the camera settings and set the flash to always on. You don’t want to use auto flash because if the scene is bright enough, the flash won’t fire at all.

If you’re using a hot shoe flash, just power the flash on and leave it on auto and unmodified.

While flash modifiers are often key to getting a specific look, for the retro flash look, you want an unmodified flash – don’t add a diffuser or tilt the flash to bounce off the ceiling. Aim the flash right at the subject with no modifiers; this creates those harsh shadows.

In most instances, you won’t even need to take the flash off auto mode, as most auto flash modes tend to create those harsh shadows. But if the flash isn’t harsh enough for the retro look, use flash compensation to increase the power of the flash.

Finally, open the images in your favorite photo editor and apply a retro preset to finish the look with colors like the 35mm film the AI preset is inspired by.

I love the retro flash look – but frankly, I think using AI to get a retro look feels like an oxymoron. Using energy-hungry AI to get the look is silly when it’s as simple as turning on the flash and using a retro, non-AI filter to modify the colors.

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I pay little attention to viral photography trends on Instagram, but I've spotted one might actually help you become a better photographer as well as photo editor: color hunting.

Color hunting is the name of the craze, and it’s a pretty simple one to understand: you go out looking for a specific color to make the focal point of your images.

People from all around the world are doing it and, what I like about this trend is that, unlike most Instagram photography trends, this one focuses on composition as well as editing.

I recently wrote a piece on how, for many people, composition is no longer king, so seeing a trend bring it back into focus, so to speak, is great.

So the gist of color hunting is to pick a single color and build your compositions around it. Subjects can be anything, from a passer-by wearing a bright jacket that’s exactly the color you’re hunting or a street sign with stripes of your desired hue.

But more than this, I think the key to color hunting, and what makes it a good trend to jump on, as far as trends go, is to focus on how the particular color enhances an already strong composition.

Take a vibrant yellow sunflower on a hot, sunny day, for example. The color works well here because it plays into the summer narrative. Alternatively, a dark blue car parked on a cold street corner would work just as well on a winter’s day.

Of course, you can get as creative with color hunting as you like. But, just like a strong edit doesn’t fix a poor photo, a stand-out color doesn’t either. So, seeing the color as more than just an eye-grabbing feature – as a part of the story of the image as a whole – makes for a better image all around.

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Shock horror, Jamie Lee Curits is once again claiming she invented Instagram… She’s been banging on about this for years and, if you search the web, you’ll find plenty of interviews where she’s made this controversial statement.

Curtis is so convinced that Instagram, or at least the concept of sharing photos online for the world to see, was her idea, that she’s been more than happy to say it on camera and in front of huge audiences, and only a few days ago, she brought up the Instagram debacle again at the South By SouthWest (SXSW) Keynotes sessions in Austin, Texas.

I hate to break it to Curits, but I think she’s barking mad. This isn’t a Paul Allen and Bill Gates situation where we all know that the real visionary genius behind Microsoft was the former, but the latter took all the plaudits.

But while I couldn't agree more with Curtis’ claims, I do think her creation helped promote smartphone photography at a time when people were questioning whether photos were even worth taking on a phone.

What Curtis created was a simple website for sharing iPhone photography back in 2008 called Iphoneys and she gave it the slogan: “Iphone photographers sharing their vision. The website is still online and, although it’s been dead for years, there is a decent backlog of uploads from a host of different people.

Anyway, it turns out that Instagram used a similar slogan back when it launched in 2010: “Capture and share the world's moments”. And that’s it, that’s the basis of Curtis’ “claim” to inventing Instagram.

Perhaps Instagram’s creators took a little inspiration from Curtis’ website – after all, Instagram was founded in San Francisco, just a few hours up the coast from Los Angeles, where Curtis lives – and Iphoneys was live for two years beforehand, but it’s hardly a connection.

Obviously, no one believes Jamie Lee Curits and it’s a bit like when your drunk Aunt at the family reunion starts coming out with corkers after a few too many glasses of chardonnay – you just nod along and let her have her moment.

But it would be wrong to say that Iphoneys didn’t at least help smartphone photography mature beyond infancy. In 2008 the best smartphone on the market was the iPhone 3G, only the second iPhone ever. This now retro device boasted, wait for it, a whopping 2MP rear camera with fixed focus and no flash. It didn’t even have a front-facing camera or native video recording!

While these were high-end specs back in their day, early iPhone cameras were never a match for DSLR and film cameras, and later mirrorless cameras, so props to Curtis for making the Iphoneys site and encouraging people to use their phones as creative tools.

Curtis claims to be a Leica user too and, while I certainly believe this, although there isn’t much of her work floating around online among the sea of portraits of her. What a shame, because I’d actually like to see photos she’s taken.

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Meta recently confirmed that it’s trialling clickable links in posts which would allow users to leave the platform to external webpages. This could have a positive impact on photographers and videographers who want to direct viewers towards their commercial services and products.

Until now, Instagram has strictly prohibited in-post linking, limiting adding external links to profiles, Reels and Stories, in a balancing act of restricting users from leaving the app but also keeping them happy. However, according to a report by tech publication Engadget, Meta has said that it’s testing links in captions, but only for paying Meta Verified subscribers.

The feature was initially spotted by blogger Andrea Valeria, who shared screenshots of an Instagram post in which she was able to include a link to her Substack. Valeria noted that an in-app message said she could share up to 10 links per month.

While Instagram is keeping the details as to when the feature will be officially rolled out and what the limitations will be under wraps, this will surely have creators excited.

The challenge of being a photographer or videographer on social media is that likes don’t translate to income, and viewers can disappear when having to direct them from a post to your “link in bio.” However, enabling Instagram users to leave the app to a related webpage directly from a post could help solve these issues.

With the current limitation of 10 external in-post links per month, it doesn't seem likely that the feature will make a huge difference to creators’ finances but, if used strategically, could bolster incomes.

As for now, it looks like only Instagram users paying for the coveted blue tick will get access to in-post links. But as a potentially revenue-driving feature, I think creators of all levels will want in, and this could see Instagram widening access.

For now, though, free users will have to continue making do with the maximum of five links alowed in profile bios.

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Wildlife photographer, Bella Falk, shares her thoughts on why Instagram photographers should stop using AI to write post captions.

A few days ago, the Instagram algorithm served me a gorgeous image of a leopard by a photographer I don’t follow. I clicked the caption to find out more. But instead of an explanation of where or how the photo was taken, I was slapped in the face by a tepid stream of AI-generated waffle.

You probably know the style. Quasi-poetic word vomit like: “the animal moved effortlessly through a canvas painted by light and pure chance.” Or this, which accompanied another picture of two penguins: “their paths crossing and uncrossing, a quiet choreography of pursuit and promise.”

I understand why, if you’re not a confident writer, you might be tempted to get ChatGPT to write your captions for you. But if you do, you’re shooting yourself in both feet at point-blank range for several crucial reasons.

First off, generative AI is the mortal enemy of creators. Where once a company would hire a photographer, a copywriter and a designer to make an advertisement, now one person can chuck in a prompt and it’ll spit out something usable – stolen and regurgitated from the very people whose jobs it is replacing.

Why would you want to feed the beast that’s eating you alive?

Next, AI is known to have a colossal environmental impact through building data centers, mining of raw materials and sucking up scarce water resources. For wildlife and landscape photographers to embrace it, without a second thought for the nature they claim to love, is a baffling contradiction.

But most of all, AI-generated captions aren’t even good. They’re bland, meaningless and boring: the written equivalent of chewing on polystyrene packaging. They’re also completely unnecessary. I’m not sure who told photographers that they need to become poets as well, but trust me – they really don’t.

If you’re a photographer on Instagram, your followers want to see your photography. They don’t expect you to be a great writer. They don’t want a novel, they just want to know where you were, how you took the image and what you thought. That’s all.

Don’t believe me? Think I’m a Luddite, the modern-day equivalent of a typist objecting to the invention of the computer? It seems I’m not alone. When I posted about this on Instagram, I received nearly 1000 likes and over 100 comments agreeing that AI-generated writing is “obvious, boring and harmful.”

In an era where trust and authenticity are paramount, your genuine voice, even if it’s not perfect, is worth so much more than a bowl of bland, robotic porridge.

After all, if you’ve clearly used AI to write your caption, it makes me wonder if you used it in your images too!

Bella will be talking on the Canon Spotlight stage at The Photography & Video Show on Tuesday March 17 at 1pm

Save 20% on your Photography & Video Show tickets with code DCW26

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Here’s a heartwarming story for the weekend. A few days ago, a wildlife photographer (@the_wildeye_captures) from the state of Karnataka, India, posted incredible footage of two leopards drinking at the backwaters of Bhadra’s Tiger Reserve.

What’s so special about Sohan Singh’s encounter is that not only is the mother and its cub drinking side-by-side but, while the former bears the species’ distinctive spots, the cub is all-black.

All-black leopards are often referred to as ‘black panthers’, with many confusing them as two different species. In actual fact, a black panther is simply a leopard (or jaguar) with melanism, causing excessive dark pigmentation leading to the beautiful all-black coat.

Melanism is a recessive trait, which means both mother and father must carry the gene for there to be the chance of a panther cub. And the parents need only carry the gene; they don’t have to be panthers themselves.

According to the World Land Trust, the Indian leopard is considered vulnerable, with an estimated 12,000 to 14,000 existing in the wild. However, black panthers are far less numerous, with Big Cats India putting numbers at around 720 to 1,540.

As such, filming a black panther is a feat – but filming a leopard and panther side-by-side is an incredible result. At one point, the panther looks right into the camera while lapping water alongside its mother.

Unsurprisingly, the video has gone viral, but Sohan’s Instagram is full of other big-cat encounters, including footage of a black panther grooming its leopard brother, as well as many videos of tigers and even tiger cubs.

It’s unclear as to what camera Sohan uses, but it’s possible it’s a Nikon, given that he tagged Nikon India in the post.

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For a long time, Instagram was known for its grid of square photos, but Instagram head Adam Mosseri says “that feed is dead” – and it has been for years. In a post at the start of 2026, Mosseri shared insight into how aesthetics are changing – and how that is both going to affect creators and the social media platform moving forward.

In the post, Mosseri shares a mix of thoughts, even going as far as calling out camera companies for “betting on the wrong aesthetic.” That, along with statements like “in a world where AI can generate flawless imagery, the professional look becomes the tell,” has created a comment section of angry photographers. But if there’s an overarching theme to the Instagram CEO’s ramblings, it’s authenticity – and that could be good news for artists.

Instagram’s square grid is “dead,” Mosseri says

“Unless you are under 25,” Mosseri writes, “you probably think of Instagram as feed of square photos: polished makeup, skin smoothing, and beautiful landscapes. That feed is dead. People stopped sharing personal moments to feed years ago.”

Mosseri says that era of Instagram has faded in favor of DMs and what he describes as a raw aesthetic: “blurry photos and shaky videos of daily experiences. Shoe shots and unflattering candids.”

The slow fade of Instagram’s emphasis on square photo grids won’t come as a surprise to photographers on the platform, who have long complained about seeing much less reach on photos as the algorithm shifts to favor vertical video.

But, while Instagram’s emphasis on photos is dead, where Instagram is headed next in 2026 may not be a death sentence for photography on the platform.

Instagram’s square grid is “dead,” Mosseri says

What’s replacing the perfect Instagram grid of tailored, perfected images is a less-perfected “raw aesthetic,” Mosseri says. But in the same post, the Instagram head says both that “authenticity is becoming infinitely reproducible” and “authenticity is becoming a scarce resource.”

The Instagram head notes that even AI will get better at mimicking the imperfect aesthetic that’s quickly becoming popular on the platform. As that happens, Mosseri indicated that “we’ll need to shift our focus to who says something instead of what is being said.”

Favoring authenticity will undoubtedly favor photographers with real cameras over AI, though many commenters argue that what Mosseri is saying doesn’t jive with the way that the platform has added AI over 2025.

Instagram’s square grid is “dead,” Mosseri says

The rise of authenticity may be a good sign for photography, but what Mosseri says about cameras has struck a nerve for many photographers, at least based on the post’s comments section.

“The camera companies are betting on the wrong aesthetic,” Mosseri writes. “They’re competing to make everyone look like a pro photographer from 2015. But in a world where AI can generate flawless imagery, the professional look becomes the tell. Flattering imagery is cheap to produce and boring to consume. People want content that feels real. Savvy creators are leaning into unproduced, unflattering images. In a world where everything can be perfected, imperfection becomes a signal.”

Oomph. Did Mosseri just tell professional photographers that amateur content will have an advantage because it’s less perfect? To me, this feels like how writers are being told to stop using em dashes because it’s becoming an AI tell. Why should I stop using my favorite punctuation mark because apparently, AI likes it too? (Yes – I’m fully aware that having a favorite punctuation mark makes me a nerd.)

Photographers in the comments are, understandably, upset that the head of a platform once known for photo sharing is tossing around phrases “like a pro photographer from 2015” as if it's an insult. AI copied professional photographers, so now professional photographers need to stop looking, well, so professional. That seems to be what Mosseri is saying.

I’m not going to stop trying to make my photos look professional. But, where I agree with Mosseri is that authenticity is key. I don’t think photographers have to embrace the blurry photo aesthetic to be authentic. After all, following a trend just to follow a trend is the exact opposite of authenticity.

But I think leaning into emotions, not trends, is key to authenticity. Photographs that embrace emotion over perfection will stand out in a world where computers can create images, because computers cannot feel emotions. And yes, emotions are often messy and imperfect.

I also don’t think camera companies are “betting on the wrong aesthetic,” because if I want to create a crappy image because crappy images are trendy, well, then I can just go buy an old DSLR off eBay. I don’t need the latest, greatest camera if I want to create an imperfect image.

And then, of course, we have camera companies creating experiments like the X Half, which isn’t about the image quality at all but the experience of taking photos. The experience a camera offers in an industry where it’s harder to find a terrible camera than it is to find a fantastic camera may prove essential moving forward.

While I may disagree with some of what Mosseri is saying, there’s one key that I 100 percent agree with: “The bar is shifting from ‘can you create?’ to ‘can you make something that only you could create?’” No matter what the trends are doing, leaning into your own personal emotions and experiences will always be key to making a great photograph.

One thing that I hope the trend towards authentic images leads to is to normalize images that are less Photoshopped, more in-camera. Can we please normalize the fact that real skin has pores? After all, those cameras that are “betting on the wrong aesthetic” are getting increasingly better at rendering details, skin imperfections, and all. If too-smooth skin is a telltale sign of AI, let’s normalize not Photoshopping out every single pore.

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I have to say, I didn’t see this one coming: Instagram, the social media app first popularized as a dedicated photo sharing space, is coming to smart TVs.

This week, Meta announced that it’s testing Instagram for TV, an update that brings Reels to larger screens via Amazon Fire TV devices. For now, Instagram TV is just a test, which means that not only are features limited, but it’s also only rolling out to the US and only to Fire TV devices, though Instagram says it expects to expand to more countries and devices.

Instagram for TV is designed for watching Reels together. At launch, the app supports up to five accounts, so users can watch a personalized feed on their TVs, and Instagram notes that users can also create an account just for the TV app.

In the home screen, Instagram TV will show groups of Reels by channels that match interests, along with videos that are popular among friends. “Over time, we plan to introduce new features, which may include using your phone as a remote, a more intuitive way to channel surf, shared feeds with friends, and making it easier to keep up with your favorite creators in one place,” Meta writes.

But, as a creator, the Instagram TV test raises a number of interesting questions. First, a common complaint among Instagram users is the social platform’s longstanding resolution limitations. If Instagram is experimenting with bringing its content to larger screens, it begs this question: Will higher resolution support follow if Instagram TV fares well in tests?

While Instagram can support larger files by toggling on “Upload at highest quality” in the settings, most reels playback at 1080x1920 pixels. That may be fine for a small smartphone screen, but it feels a bit diminutive for a TV screen.

Instagram Reels are also made for vertical smartphone screens, so bringing them to a traditional horizontal widescreen seems a bit odd. I wonder if the test could lead to support for a wider variety of formats?

But my final question is the more pressing as a photographer, not a videographer – is Instagram even considering bringing photos to TVs? Yes, I know that video is the more obvious choice for a TV, but I’m thinking along the lines of the viral Samsung art TV, The Frame. I would happily trade my Roku screensaver for a slideshow of images from my favorite photographers.

For now, Instagram for TV is just a test. Meta says it is planning to improve the smart TV app based on feedback, so it will be interesting to see where the move leads the social platform.

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I’m a stills photographer, not a videographer, but it seems the social media algorithm has the biggest appetite for video, not photo. I’ve been searching for a simple way to shoot behind-the-scenes without diverting too much time away from the actual photos – and I’ve finally found a solution that doesn’t take up my hot shoe slot or require smart glasses.

I’ve spotted a number of different solutions to capturing behind-the-scenes videos on my feed when photographers work solo, without an assistant, as I do. Smart glasses seem popular, but I wear prescription glasses, and outfitting the tech with prescription lenses seemed expensive.

Another popular solution is to slide an action camera into the hot shoe mount on the camera. I like the simplicity of this approach (and I already own a GoPro), but there’s one big problem – I use my hot shoe slot for flash.

I tried a backpack strap mount, but I don’t wear my camera backpack all day at a wedding, and my camera harness moves around too much to clip it there.

The solution came when I wasn’t looking for it. I picked up a wooden grip to add a bit of custom flair to my mirrorless camera and immediately realized that it added a cold shoe mount at the side.

Not only did that leave my hot shoe free, but the cold shoe sits in the opposite direction – meaning it actually holds my GoPro vertically, so I’m losing even less resolution when I crop for the Reels format.

I added a GoPro cold shoe mount adapter, the older GoPro that I already had (though any action camera will work), and I finally had a way to shoot behind-the-scenes videos without diverting too much of my focus away from actually taking pictures.

Here are some Reels I created with this setup:

I’ve been admittedly slow to jump on the video trend but, as a wedding photographer, I’m extremely conscious of the fact that there are only so many hours, minutes and seconds for my couples to enjoy their day.

There has to be a balance between having enough time to capture memories of the day, and actually having time to make those memories. Spending even 15 minutes to shoot a Reel feels like stealing time from the best-day-ever so, above everything else, I wanted a solution that took seconds, not minutes.

When I have a GoPro mounted right next to my camera, I only have to press one button to get a video started, then continue on with my photography.

The grip that I bought is designed specifically for my Fujifilm X-T4 and won’t work with other models. I highly recommend doing a search for a grip customized to your specific camera model to find something similar first. Camera cages are another option, as many of them also add extra cold shoe mounts.

But, if you can’t find a custom option, there are a few cages and grips with universal compatibility and a vertical cold shoe. ChromLives makes an affordable and simple aluminum L bracket with two extra cold shoes, for example.

The best hack to shooting behind-the-scenes videos for photographers will depend on how you shoot – perhaps smart glasses or popping an action camera into the hot shoe will work for you. But as someone who already wears prescription glasses and needs the hot shoe for flash, I found a grip with an extra cold shoe and an action camera a wonderfully simple solution.

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Adobe is working on a chatbot that helps creators plan and create for social media – including integration with Lightroom and Instagram. On Tuesday, October 28, Adobe teased Project Moonlight, a chatbot built to help creators ideate, plan, and create for social media.

During a demo at the keynote for Adobe Max, Adobe shared a glimpse into the upcoming program. Project Moonlight is an AI chatbot designed around social media. The tool is designed to help creators brainstorm and create content for social media. Adobe calls it "an AI assistant that acts like a social strategist."

Lightroom integration allows creators to feed their images into the chatbot, then ask the AI for help with things like generating ideas on how to share those images on social media. In the demo, the chatbot came up with three different ideas initially. Users can then take one of those ideas and take it even further, with the chatbot recommending things like adding overlays to the images.

Project Moonlight is also tied to Firefly, including agentic photo editing, such as asking the bot to apply a Lightroom filter to the images.

But while integration with Lightroom and Firefly may be expected for an Adobe chatbot, Project Moonlight also works with Instagram. This compatibility allows the chatbot to make recommendations that stay on brand with your previous content, as well as offer advice and insight based on how past posts have performed.

As a Sneak, Project Moonlight isn’t available yet, but something Adobe has in the works. The software giant says Project Moonlight is “coming soon.”

• See all the news from Adobe Max 2025

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The photo platform once known for its square photos has now surpassed three billion monthly active users – and Instagram doesn’t credit that success with photos. Instagram head Adam Mosseri shared the milestone on Wednesday, September 24, attributing the success to DMs, Reels, and recommendations.

Because of that success, Mosseri says the social media platform will reorient the app towards those three key traffic drivers over the next few months. Meanwhile, the company will soon begin testing a way to give users more control over the Reels algorithm.

“When we hit those types of milestones, I think it’s important to take a big step back and think about how we got here and where we’re going,” Mosseri said in a video shared on Wednesday. “And if you look at the last few years, almost all of our growth has been driven by DMs, Reels, and recommendations (content from accounts that you have not yet decided to follow). Because of that, we are going to continue to focus on those products and reorient the app more around DMs, Reels, and recommendations over the next couple of months.”

While Instagram has been pushing for Reels for years now – even launching an iPad app that opens directly to Reels instead of the traditional photo feed – that renewed focus also includes Instagram recommendations, which is the content that the algorithm feeds up that doesn’t come from a followed account. “Following still matters, but not as much as it used to,” Mosseri said.

The comments on the announcement video are filled with mixed reactions. Many congratulate the platform on the milestone and applaud more control over the algorithm. Others call the app “diet YouTube” or criticize the video focus as a “TikTok copy.” Instagram recommendations saw some criticism in the comments as well, with some creators expressing frustration with content not reaching followers.

Mosseri didn’t share exactly what the “reorientation” towards DMs, Reels, and recommendations would look like, but the app is testing an update that opens first to the Reels page in India, much like the new iPad app.

Mosseri, however, did give a better glimpse into the test of a new tool to control what type of content the algorithm delivers. The tool will be located in the settings and allow users to remove things, add things, or place topics lower or higher on the list. Those changes will then be applied in Reels first, but also in Explore and Feed, Mosseri said.

Instagram’s focus on Reels isn’t new. The vertical video format, first launched in 2020, quickly became the type of content with the most engagement, becoming a focus for many of the app's updates.

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The largest photo-centric social network has finally launched an app for iPad – but Instagram’s new iPad app opens straight into videos, not photos.

On Wednesday, September 03, Instagram unveiled the previously rumored app for iPad, finally bringing the 14-year-old app to Apple tablets without using a web browser. But, Instagram’s iPad app isn’t just a re-packaged Instagram.

Instead, Instagram says that the new iPad app is redesigned around the iPad’s larger screen. One key change is that Instagram for iPad opens straight into Reels, sending users to videos rather than the feed mixed with photos and videos.

Instagram says the decision to send users straight to Reels was made to reflect how people use larger screen devices. At the top of the Reels on the iPad app, users will see a carousel for Stories.

While watching videos is likely a key reason to reach for an iPad rather than an iPhone, opening the app straight to Reels rather than the feed may be upsetting to photographers who have watched reach decline for photos as TikTok-like Reels grew in popularity.

While Instagram is putting Reels first on the app, the social platform is also launching a Following tab for the iPad app, which gives users more control over what pops up in the feed. That’s because the Following tab has three more tabs at the top: all to see everything from followed accounts, Friends to see recommended posts from accounts that you follow that also followed you back, and latest to see a chronological feed from followed users.

That chronological feed could prove popular, as bringing back the chronological feed was a common request before the network added a similar Following tab to the mobile app in 2022. Whether or not the chronological feed – or an app that opens straight to Reels – will alter photographers' engagement on the platform remains to be seen.

The app’s overall look, down to the comments, has also been adjusted for the iPad’s larger screen. “When designing Instagram for iPad, we wanted to take advantage of the bigger screen to give people more features with fewer taps, while keeping it simple,” the company wrote in a blog post. “We’ve made it easier to catch up on your messages and notifications with layouts that display both tabs. When you watch reels, you can expand the comments while the reel stays at full size, making it easy to catch up on the best reactions without missing a moment. It’s the Instagram you love, now with more space to play.”

The Instagram iPad app is rolling out globally beginning today at the App Store; it requires a device running iPadOS 15.1 or later. Instagram says an Android tablet app will be “coming soon.”

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There was a time when Instagram felt like a gift. A space where photographers - amateurs, pros, and daydreamers alike - could share their work without overthinking. You'd post a photo because you loved it, not because you hoped it might go viral. You'd scroll through your feed and actually see photography.

Real work. Real voices. Not flat, over-sharpened sunsets chasing engagement. Back then, it felt more like a gallery and less like a casino. But somewhere along the line, we handed it all over to the algorithm.

Now? The algorithm is the client. The algorithm is the audience. We shoot for clicks, crop for engagement, and frame everything with a thumbnail preview in mind. The art is secondary. The storytelling, forgotten.

What matters now is whether a photo stops the scroll. That’s not photography. That’s bait! Somehow, we’ve convinced ourselves it’s worth it - for what? A dopamine drip and a handful of likes that evaporate by morning?

Personally, I can’t stomach it anymore. I spend maybe ten minutes a day on Instagram. I log in, schedule a post if I need to, or tap through a few stories out of curiosity or boredom. Then I’m done. I don’t linger. I don’t check numbers. I certainly don’t plan my shoots around what the algorithm wants to see. If you do that long enough, your portfolio starts looking like everybody else’s. beige, designed to be consumed in half a second and never thought of again.

The worst part is, we let it happen. We handed over our creative compass in exchange for short-term approval. We let a machine define what good photography looks like, instead of trusting our own eyes and instincts. We stopped shooting for ourselves - or for the clients who pay our bills - and started shooting for strangers who won’t remember our names by next week. That’s not growth. That’s self-erasure.

I understand some people need the platform to get work. But there's a difference between using Instagram and being used by it. Chasing the algorithm won't make you a better photographer. It’ll just make you faster at producing forgettable content.

For what it's worth, the best work I’ve seen in recent years comes from photographers who couldn’t care less about hashtags or timing their posts for maximum exposure. They're out shooting, not refreshing their notifications.

We need to remember why we picked up the camera in the first place. Photography isn’t about popularity. It’s not about feeding a system that never gives back. It’s about making images that matter - to you, to the people in them, or to the clients who trust you to tell their story. If Instagram doesn’t like it? Good. That probably means you’re on to something worth looking at.

• Make Instagram Instagram again – stop trying to be TikTok!
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I often see Instagram posts that don’t quite make sense – until I click and see the creator’s expertly arranged profile grid. But now, Instagram will soon let users rearrange the grid, no matter what order they share in. On top of that, Instagram will soon add the ability to quietly share a post on the grid without blasting it to feeds, making it easier to fill in grid gaps.

The announcement comes from a post by Instagram head Adam Mosseri on June 12.

“We know creative expression can feel intimidating, especially when posting something to feed,” Mosseri wrote. “To address this directly, we’re exploring a way to let you quietly post to your profile without broadcasting it to everyone’s feeds. We’ll also make it possible to re-order the posts on your grid. We hope this added flexibility over how and where your content shows up helps you create and share without added pressure.”

Many creators in the past have decided to use Instagram’s iconic grid profile to create a pattern, or create one whole image from three or six small ones. But doing so means sharing three posts at a time to keep the grid aligned and sometimes sharing an image that, on its own, without the rest of the grid, doesn’t make much sense.

Giving creators the ability to rearrange the grid outside of chronological order should help. And while the option to share a post without sharing it to feeds may feel off for a social media platform where the goal is reach, that option should allow creators to maintain that perfect grid even with images that don’t make much sense viewed from the feed.

Mosseri didn’t say when the updates would be coming, just that Instagram was “working on” such features. Mosseri also announced that trial reels will soon be available to all users, a tool that allows creators to share with non-followers before sharing with their audience. The Edits app will also be gaining an AI-based restyle editing tool for adjusting the look and feel of a video.

Additional updates include the option to share Spotify music in Instagram Notes. Instagram is also rolling out a program designed to support emerging creators, called Drafts. “We’re working to make Instagram a place where creators feel free to take more creative chances, break through whatever barrier holds them back and realize their ambitions,” Mosseri wrote.

The changes come as Instagram approaches its 15th birthday this fall.

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Instagram has finally answered some of the biggest complaints about recording video for the platform – but creators will need a new app to access the new features. Edits is a video editing app created by Instagram that brings several features that aren’t available when editing video directly inside Instagram, including recording videos that are up to ten minutes long, the option to shoot in 4K, and the ability to download videos without a watermark.

Like CapCut is to TikTok, Edits is Instagram’s new stand-alone video editing app. Edits, which Instagram head Adam Mosseri teased earlier this year, is a separate app designed to offer more video editing tools than what already exists inside of Instagram. While Meta says that videos created in edits can be shared on any platform, creators will need an Instagram account to log in and start using the app.

Separating the editing tools into a new app creates a long list of new capabilities for Instagrammers, starting with expanded camera capabilities. Instagram’s built-in camera can only record for up to three minutes, but Edit’s camera can record for up to ten. Not only that, but screenshots of the new app show that users have the option to record in 4K at 60 fps.

While Instagram Reels are typically 1080p, that 4K resolution may help when using Edits to create videos for multiple platforms. Edits will also download user-created Reels without the Instagram watermark. (Downloading Reels from Instagram without a watermark typically requires a third-party downloader tool.)

The Edits app also has a tool that turns a still photograph into a video. The tool, called AI image animation, uses generative AI to generate a video from a still photo. Several favorite editing tools that are part of Instagram, including green screen and countdown, are also part of the Edits app.

Outside of the built-in camera, the Edits app uses a timeline to allow creators to arrange clips, music, and overlays together. Meta says that the timeline editor allows creators to adjust clips with frame-accurate precision. Creators can also use the cutout tool to remove backgrounds from videos, along with adding effects and stylizing text.

The Edits app will also have a tab for saving ideas, including both existing Reels and sticky notes with ideas. An inspiration tab will showcase Instagram Reels with trending audio. Edits will also import statistics from Instagram to help creators understand how their fans engage with the content.

Instagram’s Edits app rolled out to both Android and iOS devices this week, but the company says that’s just the start. Meta indicated that it plans to “improve the app every week.” The list of in-progress updates slated for the new app includes keyframes, AI modification tools, and more fonts, animations, music, and effects. Instagram says that collaboration tools are also coming to the Edits app, allowing creators to share drafts with others for feedback before finalizing the video.

After Instagram announced Edits, the app quickly took the top spot in the photo and video category in the Apple App Store, while Google Play lists more than one million downloads for the new editing software. The app is available as a free download from the App Store and Google Play.

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Instagram has been gradually adding filters and tools to help creators prevent bot and spam comments, but now the social media platform is toying with the idea of intentionally encouraging AI to write comments.

Instagram could soon allow AI to analyze images and generate comments on the content, according to a recently spotted test of the feature. The tool uses Meta AI to examine the image and suggest brief comments, so the commenter doesn’t have to write something from scratch.

The test, first spotted by social media trends tester Jonah Manzano but confirmed in a comment to TechCrunch, suggests three comments based on the contents of the image. Users click on a “help me write” icon after tapping on the comment icon to access the feature.

According to a screenshot of the feature, when the commenting tool is used, Meta AI “can analyze photos, including facial features, to help you write.” In a video of the tool, the AI looks at a selfie taken in a living room and suggests comments like “cute living room setup” and “love the cozy atmosphere.”

The idea of AI analyzing images could miff some photographers, but it’s not a completely new notion; Meta has already tested a similar feature on Facebook. My Facebook feed is filled with AI suggesting questions to ask underneath a photo, including what often feels like strange personal questions that an AI shouldn’t have the answer to anyway.

The Instagram comment section has long drawn criticism for bot-written comments and spam. You can, for example, use a third-party tool to buy randomly generated comments to trick the algorithm into delivering a post to more feeds.

In 2023, the platform added new tools for creators that would help filter out bot comments and fake followers. The tested feature feels a bit like the opposite of those tools. After all, isn’t AI a bot?

The test shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, however, as Meta has been focusing on AI to deliver many of the latest features. Last year, Instagram began rolling out AI Studio to select creators, enabling them to create an AI version of themselves to respond to fans’ DMs.

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Instagram is feeling a little less instant – but the social media giant’s latest scheduling feature could still be a welcome change for some users on the photo-centric platform. Instagram now enables users to schedule DMs, or direct messages. The feature, announced on February 19, comes with a handful of other updates for Instagram’s messaging tool.

Instagram added scheduling capability for creator and business accounts at the end of 2022, a move that was a welcome change for many photographers. Now, users can also schedule their DMs to send at a specific time. Meta shared a few examples of why the tool may be useful, like sending a friend a happy birthday message at 12:01 or automatically sending somebody a reminder.

To use the new scheduling feature in DMs, users will need to type out the message – but then tap and hold on the send button, rather than the usual single tap. The app will then bring up the options to choose the date and time to send out the message. Meta notes that the time is in the sender’s timezone, not the recipient's.

While the Insta in the name has always honored Instagram’s instant sharing ethos, many photographers welcomed the addition of the ability to schedule posts on Instagram. Scheduling posts enables creatives to plan out their posts in one sitting – which can potentially free up more time for actual photography.

The ability to schedule DMs comes alongside a handful of new additions to Instagram’s messaging tool. Photographers using group messaging can now create a QR code to easily invite others into the chat. To generate a QR code, tap the name of the group chat, then tap the invite link and select the QR code option.

The Instagram DM updates also include the ability to send a song to friends, translate other languages within the chat, and the ability to pin a post to the top of the chat window. The updates began rolling out on February 19.

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Often the latest social media updates feel like a spin-off from another network, but some users are saying an upcoming Threads feature feels a lot like Instagram. Threads, Instagram’s app originally designed for text posts, will soon gain a dedicated tab for photos and videos, along with photo tagging, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in a post.

Mosseri said the dedicated tab for photos and video is a long-requested feature from the community. “A few Threads updates rolling out globally,” he wrote, “the markup feature lets you easily add your take on someone else’s post (highlighting text is a great way to show what resonates with you), and the ability to tag people in the photos you share. We’re also introducing a ‘media' tab where others can quickly see all photos and videos you share, a long overdue request from the community.”

Some Threads users noted the dedicated media tab’s similarities to Instagram. However, others called the feature overdue and similar to the media timeline on X, formerly Twitter. Because Threads, unlike Instagram, allows text-only posts, some consider the app an X alternative.

Upcoming features will also include the ability to “markup” when sharing another user’s post. Mosseri shared an image of the feature with words from the original post highlighted and circled.

Mosseri said the updates are rolling out globally.

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Instagram is developing a new video editing app for creators, the company head Adam Mosseri announced in a post this week. The upcoming app, called Edits, is slated to include a higher-quality camera mode as well as statistics on how each Reel performs. However, in the comments section, some creators called the app a CapCut clone, while others used the comments to ask for the old square profile back.

Edits is designed for creators who use their smartphones to edit videos, Mosseri said. While the app is designed by Instagram, Mosseri noted the potential to use the edited videos on other platforms – as Edits will have the ability to export without a watermark.

The app, which is slated for a March launch, will be organized into four tabs. The first will be a space for generating ideas, including finding trending audio. Another tab will house a dedicated space for drafts, while another will contain data on how Reels are performing on Instagram.

The app will also contain a higher quality camera mode, Mosseri said, revealing that his announcement video was shot with that higher quality camera. The Instagram app currently compresses videos, resulting in a lower quality than footage shot with the smartphone’s native camera app.

Screenshots of the upcoming app show the option to record in 2K HDR at up to 60fps; however, the description says those videos are shared on Instagram in FullHD. The higher resolution, then, is likely for exports.

Several commenters pointed out that the announcement came as CapCut, TikTok’s video editing app, was shut down in the US (it has since been restored as the TikTok ban deadline was extended). But in another comment, Mosseri noted several differences, including insights into how a Reel is performing, a place to track ideas, and “a much broader range of creative tools.”

Mosseri didn’t skip over the impact the current political climate has made, on not just technology but social media in general, as TikTok temporarily shut down in the US before receiving an extension and as Meta cuts fact-checking programs in the US.

“Now, there’s a lot going on in the world right now and no matter what happens, we think it's our job to create the most compelling creative tools for those of you who make videos for not just Instagram but for platforms out there as we can,” Mosseri said in the video. “And Edits is hoping to do just that. And it's hoping not just to be an editing tool but an entire full suite of creative tools for those of you who are passionate about making videos on your phone.”

Others used the comments section to criticize the app’s recent changes. Several users asked the Instagram head to bring back the iconic Instagram square profile, after the app switched to a vertical aspect ratio earlier this month. “Please read the room. We are exhausted,” one creator wrote while another noted they were “collecting curveballs like Pokemon.”

The app store lists a March 13 expected availability, but Mosseri notes that “we’re going to work with a handful of video creators to get their feedback and improve the experience” ahead of that launch.

Edits is available for pre-order now from the App Store; the app is listed as free. Mosseri noted that an Android launch would follow.

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With TikTok’s future uncertain in the US, and Instagram’s divisive ownership and controversial rectangular updates, photographers and creatives are looking for an alternative platform to display their work.

It would now seem that the photographic community is ready to return to a past flame: Flickr.

Earlier this month I came across a Reddit post on the r/photography thread from a user who wrote that Instagram had been driving them mad lately, citing battles with the algorithm, pointless content and the “overwhelming push for video content.” They added, “it’s all become too much. As someone who loves photography for the sake of the craft, it feels like Instagram has forgotten its roots.”

Describing their recent revisit to Flickr like “a breath of fresh air”, they asked, “remember when platforms were more about sharing and appreciating photography rather than chasing engagement metrics? That’s the vibe I’ve found on Flickr.”

They cited these four reasons as to why they have gone back to Flickr:

• No algorithms in sight: Your feed is chronological, so you actually see the work of the people you follow without worrying about “optimizing” your post to be seen.

• Focus on photography: It’s still a platform for photographers. Whether you're a professional or an amateur, the emphasis is on images – not reels, not stories, just photos.

• Communities and groups: I’ve joined a few groups that align with my interests, and the level of engagement feels genuine. Discussions are more about technique, inspiration, or sharing ideas – not just “Nice shot! Follow me back?” comments.

• Archive of memories: Flickr has such a deep history. Browsing through the platform, I stumbled upon older images from both myself and others that reminded me of why I fell in love with photography in the first place.

The general consensus among the comments on the thread was entirely in favor of returning to Flickr.

“Instagram is dead for photographers,” says one user. “Flickr is great - as you say, not much drama, just photography. Certainly less toxic than most places these days,” said another.

A third said, “The clean interface and focus on the photography is likely why the U.S. Department of State maintains their photography database on Flickr still.”

A natural progression after the potential demise of TikTok is that visual artists move seamlessly to Instagram. However, the platform has been plagued by controversy in recent days.

In a desperate attempt to stay relevant, Meta recently offered to pay up to $5,000 (around £4,000 / AU$8,000) to popular creators in the United States to join Facebook and Instagram.

It says those joining from "third-party social apps" will get cash based on "an evaluation of your social presence,” and although it doesn’t mention TikTok by name, it's clearly trying to capitalize on the platform's uncertain future by offering people who make their living from social media a cash incentive.

At the same time, Instagram users were furious recently when they viewed their profiles to see that Meta had changed the square grid to a portrait one, destroying carefully curated profiles, and prompting many people to look for an alternative platform.

In addition, the dominant social media platforms are alienating users who don't ascribe to the new President's politics. Mark Zuckerberg recently donated $1 million to the Trump fund, and announced this month that Meta would end third-party fact-checking in favor of a tactic taken by Elon Musk-owned X – another prolific Trump supporter – in an apparent attempt to pander to the President's previous criticisms of Meta’s platform.

Meta has also today been forced to deny forcing users to follow official accounts belonging to senior figures in the new Trump administration. Users of Instagram and Facebook have reported discovering that they have been made to “automatically” follow the new president, as well as Vice President JD Vance, and First Lady Melania Trump.

For photographers looking to share photos free of politics, Flickr might be the best answer.

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Instagram’s square profile grid is legendary. It’s been a hallmark of the social media platform ever since the decision was made to focus on image sharing and the name Instagram was adopted (it was originally called Burbn).

But now, after more than a decade, 1:1 grids are a thing of the past. If you’ve logged onto your Instagram account over the past day or two, you’ll likely have noticed that your profile has shifted from the classic 1:1 grid to 4:5 portrait-orientation rectangles.

That said, I've got several Instagram profiles and one of them is still displaying a square grid. It's also worth pointing out that – as of yet – profiles still appear to be 1:1 grids on desktop. But then again, mobile's where it matters.

Still, it's no biggie… right? You can still post images in square and landscape orientations. And the majority of your engagement doesn't even come from your grid, but from your followers’ news feeds. And for somebody like me, who never did anything fancy with their grid, it’s not the end of the world.

But if you’re somebody who heavily curates your grid to form larger images or posts 1:1 images with text, your profile probably looks like a bit of a mess now, with jumbled large-scale grid images and text that’s cropped into. If that’s the case, you’re probably rather peeved – and I’m right with you.

Why, Instagram, WHY?

So why has Instagram made the move to portrait grids? Well, for starters, this hasn’t come out of the blue, it’s a change that’s been threatened for a while – as we wrote last year, Instagram's boss warned it's about to break your curated feed back in August.

Drawing on that same article by The Verge, Instagram head honcho, Adam Mosseri, was quoted as saying: ““The vast majority of what is uploaded to Instagram today is vertical”. And as even slightly savvy Instagram users know, portrait-orientation imagery tends to garner the most engagement – something that’s irked photographers in the past.

The fact is, Instagram Reels are now many Instagrammers' bread and butter. And as the platform has shifted to become more and more video-centric over the years, a portrait-orientation grid does make sense. But it’s the timing that I find particularly cynical.

We all know that Instagram’s (and indeed Facebook’s) biggest rival is now TikTok. And with TikTok still facing the potential abyss, there’s arguably never been a better time for Instagram to fill the void. I could be wrong, but I cannot believe it's a coincidence that Meta chose to roll out portrait-orientation grids on the same weekend that TikTok was banned in the US.

Are there any positives?

The fact of the matter is that big changes like this do affect people. As we’ve seen with TikTok, like it or not, social media is big business (or rather, small business). Plenty of photographers, content creators and independent retailers rely on their social media pages to promote their livelihoods. Changes to the formula can be scary.

I'm not as invested as many people. Instagram hasn’t made me feel particularly welcome as a photographer for a long time now, so really the grid change – however annoying – is much of a muchness. But if you’re afraid this could affect you and your business, maybe this is a chance to start afresh.

You could see this as an opportunity to cull your existing grid and set about creating a whole new one. Maybe it's your chance to finally set up a regular Instagram posting schedule or finally start investing more time creating Reels. Who knows, perhaps this could be the start of your profile taking off. Here’s to turning over a new leaf!

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If you're seeking inspiration for your practice, you could do worse than to follow the photography world's most revered names. But there's a bit of a problem there. The social media landscape has become so fragmented of late, you probably don't know where to look.

Are they on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram? Or have they decamped to Threads, Bluesky or LinkedIn? Maybe they've kept their accounts going on some platforms, but they haven't posted in a while. Or maybe they've just given up on social media altogether. It's all so confusing… but don't worry, I've done the work for you.

In the list below, you'll find the 20 most famous photographers who are still active today on social media. And I've included links to where you can find them. Importantly, I've only featured the accounts they've posted on recently, not the ones they abandoned months ago. There's only one exception: where it's a new social platform like BlueSky which they've only just joined, I've kept the link in, even if they haven't posted yet… chances are they will soon enough.

1. Annie Leibovitz 

American photographer Annie Leibovitz has shaped the art of contemporary portraiture like no other, blending intimacy with grandeur and uncovering the essence of her subjects in ever-new and interesting ways. Known for her many iconic shots, including her portrait of John Lennon on the day he was murdered, and an image of a naked and pregnant Demi Moore, her work highlights how portraiture can transcend documentation to become high art.

• Follow Annie Leibovitz on Instagram | Facebook

2. Steve McCurry

A long-time member of Magnum and a National Geographic contributor, Steve McCurry's career has included war reporting, coverage of natural disasters, travel photography and portraiture. Known for his vivid, storytelling imagery, and in particular his iconic 'Afghan Girl' shot, his talent for creating emotional connections through imagery has inspired generations of practioners.

• Follow Steve McCurry on Threads | Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest

3. Alec Soth

A Magnum photographer whose poetic vision has redefined American documentary photography, Alec Soth masterfully captures the quiet complexity of Midwestern life. Through landmark projects like Sleeping by the Mississippi and Songbook, he reveals the profound in the ordinary, photographing dreamers and loners with remarkable empathy. His work, housed in major museums worldwide, continues the tradition of great American photographers while carving its own distinctive path.

• Follow Alec Soth on Threads | Instagram

4. Barbara Davidson

A photojournalist at the Los Angeles Times until 2017, Barbara Davidson has chronicled human struggle and resilience across 52 countries and is today a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner and Guggenheim Fellow. Born and raised in Montreal, Canada, her groundbreaking work documenting gang violence victims in Los Angeles earned her both a Pulitzer and an Emmy.

• Follow Barbara Davidson on Threads | X

5. Sebastian Salgado

Sebastião Ribeiro Salgado is a Brazilian documentary photographer and photojournalist who's travelled in over 120 countries for his work. Both beautiful and harrowing, his images blend artistic excellence with a profound sense of purpose. His socially conscious work brings attention to the marginalized and their struggles, and his epic projects such as Workers and Migrations have been celebrated for their striking compositions and deep empathy.

• Follow Sebastian Salgado on Threads | Instagram | Facebook

6. Andreas Gursky

German photographer Andreas Gursky’s large-scale, digitally manipulated images help us reframe how we perceive architecture, landscapes and contemporary society. Known for works like Rhine II, which sold for £2.7 million, his photographs blend abstraction and reality, creating compositions that are visually striking and thought-provoking. By addressing themes like consumerism and globalization, Gursky’s meticulous attention to detail and ability to find beauty in the mundane are a huge inspiration to modern photographers.

• Follow Andreas Gursky on Instagram

7. Art Wolfe 

Art Wolfe is an American nature and fine art photographer whose work is a testament to the beauty and fragility of the natural world. With a career spanning over four decades, his images of landscapes, wildlife and indigenous cultures are always enthralling while his books, such as The Living Wild, underscore the urgency of preserving biodiversity.

• Follow Art Wolfe on Instagram | BlueSky | X | Facebook

8. Bruce Davidson

American documentary photographer Bruce Davidson’s work is a masterclass in empathy and immersion. A member of the Magnum Photos agency since 1958, he's spent a career embedding himselves within marginalized communities, which are usually hostile to outsiders, and capturing raw, poignant moments that reveal humanity’s complexities. Projects like East 100th Street underlie his commitment to long-term storytelling and demonstrates the power of photography to foster understanding and social change.

• Follow Bruce Davidson on Instagram | Facebook

9. David Doubilet 

Born in New York City and working for National Geographic since 1971, David Doubilet is arguably the world's greatest underwater photographer. Over the course of his career, he's spent over 26,000 hours in the sea, creating a window into the hidden world beneath the surface. He also pioneered the technique of showing what’s above and below the water surface in the same image.

• Follow David Doubilet on Facebook

10. David LaChapelle 

From celebrity portraits to fine art exhibitions, American photographer David LaChapelle’s work merges pop culture with deeper social commentary. His bold, surreal imagery challenges traditional approaches with its vibrant colors, elaborate compositions and provocative narratives. And his ability to balance humor, beauty and critique makes him a standout figure, inspiring photographers everywhere to experiment and push boundaries.

• Follow David LaChapelle on Instagram | Facebook

11. Ellen von Unwerth 

Born in Germany, Ellen von Unwerth started out working as a fashion model before becoming a fashion, editorial and advertising photographer. She gained wide attention with her sensual Guess campaign in the 1990s, when her playful, sensual approach redefined fashion imagery with its sense of freedom and spontaneity, at the same time as celebrating femininity, confidence and individuality. She's currently working on her new book, to be released in 2025.

• Follow Ellen von Unwerth on Instagram | LinkedIn

12. Frans Lanting 

Dutch photographer Frans Lanting Lanting is one of the most celebrated nature photographers working today. For more than three decades, he's documented wildlife from the Amazon to Antarctica, to promote understanding about the Earth and its natural history. Long associated with National Geographic, Lanting has a laser-honed ability to capture intricate details and emotional moments in nature, with images that combine storytelling and advocacy.

• Follow Frans Lanting on Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn

13. Gregory Crewdson

American photographic artist Gregory Crewdson is known for his large-scale, cinematic, psychologically charged prints of staged scenes, set in suburban landscapes and interiors. These filmic images typically transform everyday settings into haunting, surreal narratives, inspiring a deeper consideration of how ordinary spaces can evoke extraordinary emotions. This focus on the tension between perfection and imperfection makes Crewdson's work a source of endless fascination and study.

• Follow Gregory Crewdson on Threads | Instagram | Facebook

14. Mario Testino

Peruvian photographer Mario Testino is one of the most influential fashion and portrait photographers of our time. Over a 50-year career, his glamorous, vibrant images have helped shaped modern fashion, and his collaborations with luxury brands and magazines like Vogue have made him synonymous with sophistication and allure. Testino's ability to capture iconic moments and personalities continues to influence aspiring creatives worldwide today.

• Follow Mario Testino on Instagram

15. Martin Parr

British photographer Martin Parr is known for his satirical, colorful photography, which offers a candid look at contemporary life and explores themes such as consumerism and leisure. A member of Magnum Photos, his projects highlight the importance of perspective and individuality, making him a compelling figure to study and emulate. His distinctive use of saturated colors and fill flash creates images that are both humorous and thought-provoking, and work challenges us all to find beauty and critique in the everyday.

• Follow Martin Parr on Instagram | Facebook

16. Michael Kenna

Michael Kenna is an English photographer best known for his ethereal black and white landscapes, which are typically shot at dawn or night, with exposures of up to 10 hours. Shot on medium-format film, his work is a masterclass in minimalist beauty and timeless elegance, often capturing serene, Zen-like scenes in mist, rain or snow.

• Follow Michael Kenna on Instagram | Facebook

17. Nan Goldin

Nan Goldin is an American photographer and activist whose raw, intimate snapshots delve into the complexities of love, identity and subcultures. Her seminal work, The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, combined personal vulnerability with cultural commentary, while her activism against the opioid epidemic underscores her passion for making her art's socially relevant.

• Follow Nan Goldin on Instagram

18. Joe McNally

An American photojournalist based in New York City, Joe McNally's lens has captured stories across 70 countries since 1987. His versatility shines through his many cover stories for National Geographic and LIFE magazine, among others. Known for his technical expertise and daring perspectives, McNally has scaled the world's tallest buildings and documented Olympics, all the while seamlessly bridging commercial and editorial photography.

• Follow Joe McNally on Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

19. Pete Souza

As the chief official White House photographer for both Presidents Reagan and Obama, Pete Souza has captured intimate moments of American leadership that define eras. His unique access and keen eye for decisive moments have produced some of the most iconic images in presidential history. Beyond politics, Souza's range extends to landscape and portrait photography, while his books offer unprecedented glimpses into the Obama presidency's most memorable moments.

• Follow Pete Souza on BlueSky | Threads | Instagram

20. Ami Vitale

National Geographic photographer and Nikon Ambassador Ami Vitale combines conservation photography with compelling visual storytelling. From documenting the last northern white rhinos to capturing pandas being reintroduced to the wild, her five World Press Photo awards reflect her exceptional ability to bridge wildlife and human narratives. As a founding member of Ripple Effect Images, she champions environmental causes while mentoring the next generation of visual storytellers.

• Follow Ami Vitale on Instagram

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Take a look at the 50 best photographers ever. And if you like flicking pages rather than scrolling screens, check out the best books on photography.

Instagram head Adam Mosseri took to the social media platform this week to share a sneak peek at a generative AI video tool – but followers were quick to point out that the Instagram head failed to use the AI-generated label. In a video shared on December 19, Mosseri talks about the upcoming Movie Gen tool, allowing the beta software to change the view from Mosseri on a couch to Mosseri in Paris, wearing a different outfit, sitting next to a hippo, and even transforming into a literal puppet.

“A lot of you make amazing content that makes Instagram what it is and we want to give you more tools to help you realize your ideas,” Mosseri says in the video. “And you should be able to do anything you want with your videos. You should be able to change your outfit, or change the context in which you are sitting, or add a chain. Whatever you can think of.”

Mosseri said that the demo uses an early AI research model, but says that he’s hoping to bring the tool to Instagram next year. Mosseri asked followers to “let me know what you think.” And the internet certainly delivered.

While the comments section of Mosseri’s video is peppered with some comments from users impressed with the feature or hoping to try it out, many of the video's comments criticize Instagram for continually pushing authenticity, then developing a tool that can fake anything from where you are located to what you are wearing. The comments section is littered with comments like “enough fakery already,” as well as commenters calling the feature a “gimmick.”

One commenter pointed out that Mosseri’s video doesn’t have Meta’s “made with AI label” which typically appears under the username at the top of the video. Instagram says that content modified with Meta’s AI tools may automatically be tagged with an AI label, while also giving users a toggle to properly label other videos. Of course, as an early technology preview, Mosseri wasn’t using the fully-fledged app to make his video and the use of AI is obvious from the caption and audio.

Several followers used the comments section to ask for the features that they would rather have instead, including several creators asking for a fix for reduced reach. Others asked for an option to remove AI content from the feed.

Some commenters asked for Instagram to just be Instagram, while another called the update “Snapchagram.” Several comments follow the line of "no one is asking for this.” Others tossed out terms like “fake” and “AI fatigue.”

AI-powered tools seem to have made up a majority of software announcements for several major brands over the last year. Meta AI now appears in multiple areas of the company’s social media apps, from the search tool in Instagram to a chatbot in Messenger to tools inside the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.

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Did you know you can follow Digital Camera World on Instagram @DigitalCameraMag, or on TikTok? Or, browse our list of the best cameras for Instagram.

Every new major camera feature brings out predictions that death is imminent for the previous tech. But while the advent of camera phones spelled a poor prognosis for compact cameras, like film before it, the humble point-and-shoot sputtered and then… never really died.

But when camera brands buy into the doomsaying too early, it leaves few new choices on the shelves. Case in point? The influencer camera trending on TikTok is a series that has been around for more than a decade: The Canon PowerShot G7 X.

The G7 X is a compact camera built around a 1-inch sensor and a 24-100mm equivalent zoom lens. Canon has created three renditions of the compact: the original, the G7 X Mark II and the G7 X Mark III.

Despite the newest version being half a decade old, the Canon G7 X is trending on TikTok among "It Girl" influencers. According to The New York Times’ Wirecutter, the trend caused searches for the camera to hit its highest yet in 2024, driving up prices on eBay and leaving the camera out of stock on Canon’s website.

But the G7 X is far from the only example of cameras unexpectedly hitting viral status, driving up prices and severely limiting availability in a genre once thought to be murdered by the smartphone. The Fujifilm X100VI’s viral fame means that, if you can find the camera, you may end up paying significantly more than list price.

Besides demonstrating proof of life for the compact camera, the trends point to a more serious problem: camera brands don’t really understand what influencers want. And with content as king, influencers will make up a significant portion of the market outside of photographers and videographers.

A compact design is still key

As smartphone cameras grew in capability, manufacturers seemed to divert focus to mirrorless cameras that could offer the most noticeable difference over the cameras that nearly everyone in the developed world now carries in their pockets.

But there’s something to the experience of using a dedicated camera. Photographers like myself have known that all along, but Gen Z is just realizing it for the first time, bringing back old 2000s-era compacts for the experience and ability to take photos without becoming distracted by the rabbit hole that is the internet.

Compact cameras offer that experience, yet don’t require lugging around much extra weight.

Flattery is everything (for influencers, anyway)

Here’s where I think what influencers are looking for may take a serious diversion over what photographers want: influencers tend to care more about how they look in the photos over how the photos look.

One of the reasons the G7 X series is so popular over other compacts is that the camera has a 24-100mm equivalent lens built in, where compacts like the Fujifilm X100VI and Ricoh GR III have a fixed lens. Even the Sony ZV-1F, a vlogging camera designed largely with influencers in mind, fails to offer any sort of zoom. Instead, the vlogging camera has a fixed 20mm lens.

As any portrait photographer will tell you, a longer focal length tends to be more flattering while a wide angle lens will distort the facial features and make them look farther apart. (The “digital teleconverter” on the X100VI simply crops the photo, which doesn’t have the same portrait effect as an actual optical zoom).

Every endless video that I’ve watched of beauty influencers reviewing a camera focuses on how they look in the photo, not the photos themselves.

Cameras don’t need to be “good” to be good for social media

Along those same lines, flattering portraits don’t need to be 50MP. In fact, that high resolution can actually do more harm than good by increasing the texture of the skin with too much detail. The 20MP sensor on the G7 X III – and the single digits of those crappy 2000s-era point-and-shoots – are better for smoothing the skin.

But today’s 50MP sensors are also overkill for Instagram. The social platform downsizes images to 1080 pixels wide, which means even those 20MP shots are getting downsized first.

Listen to any of the influencer reviews of the G7 X III and you’ll hear terms like “filmy” and words of praise for the tiny built-in flash. Fashion influencers don’t care how technically perfect a camera is, they care how in style the images are. And with the film-like look, twenty-year-old point-and-shoots, and direct flash trending, influencers don’t need to drop four figures on a technically superior camera.

Are camera brands too focused on technical "world first” feats?

While the latest trending cameras focus on an old- school look and compact but fashionable size, camera brands are looking towards the next new tech. While that’s a great thing for many photographers, manufacturers shouldn’t ignore the non-professional market either.

As camera brands have diverted focus to mirrorless, 2024’s trendiest cameras should serve as a wakeup call. Mirrorless innovations should continue – but brands also need to stop ignoring both the compact camera and the trend towards imperfect but stylized images.

As smartphones continue to over-perfect memories with artificial intelligence, I think we could see an even bigger demand for compact cameras that understand that memories aren’t perfect – and our everyday cameras don’t need to be, either.

Don't spend more than the $800 list price for the G7 X III – if trends have driven the price of the compact too high, consider some of the best cameras for Instagram or the best compact cameras. And don't miss our rundown of the best Black Friday camera deals

Instagram has launched its new ‘Teen Accounts’ aimed at protecting teens from sextortion attempts on the social media platform, despite criticism that the measures do not go far enough.

Introduced on October 17, 2024, Meta described the measures as “a new experience for teens, guided by parents.”

Sextortion is the act of scammers tricking people into sending sexually explicit photographs, before blackmailing them. This has become a dominant form of intimate image abuse. Global law enforcement agencies have reported a huge rise in sextortion scams on social media, particularly targeting teenage boys.

The changes will be built in, limiting who can reach out to teens on the platform as well as the content they are exposed to, “and also provide new ways for teens to explore their interests.

“We’ll automatically place teens into Teen Accounts, and teens under 16 will need a parent’s permission to change any of these settings to be less strict.”

This move comes after a formal investigation was opened by European Union regulators against Meta last May for potential breaches of online content rules relating to child safety in its Facebook and Instagram platforms.

The EU Commission said that it was concerned that algorithmic systems could “exploit the weaknesses and inexperience” of children and stimulate “addictive behavior.”

Currently, on standard Instagram accounts, numerous algorithms are in play to determine how and when an individual should be shown a certain piece of suggested content. The algorithms use hundreds of factors such as user history, location, profile, device, trends, relevance, popularity and more to suggest content and put it in front of a user.

Despite the BBC reporting that the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children said that the new moves were a “step in the right direction,” former Meta employee turned whistle blower Arturo Béjar told the BBC that there were better ways to make the platform safe for younger audiences.

"The most impactful thing they could do is make it easy for a teen to flag when they think the account asking to follow them is pretending to be a teen," Mr Béjar said. "The way the product is designed, by the time they need to report for sextortion the damage is already done."

Yvonne Johnson, President, National PTA commented:

“Given that parents today are grappling with the benefits and challenges of the internet and digital media for their teens, our association applauds Meta for launching Instagram Teen Accounts. With teens automatically placed in Teen Accounts and certain privacy settings turned on by default, this update demonstrates that Meta is taking steps to empower parents and deliver safer, more age-appropriate experiences on the platform.”

However, Meta has been criticized for not rolling these protections out across its other platforms, including WhatsApp, “where grooming and sextortion also take place at scale,” according to Richard Collard, the NSPCC's associate head of child safety online policy.

Teenagers who sign up for Instagram today will be placed into Teen Accounts, and any teens already using the platform will be notified and moved over beginning next week across the US, UK, Australia, and Canada, introducing Teen Accounts into the EU later this year.

To combat teens lying about their age, Meta is “building technology to proactively find accounts belonging to teens, even if the account lists an adult birthday.

“This technology will allow us to proactively find these teens and place them in the same protections offered by Teen Account settings. We’ll start testing this change in the US early next year.”

Take a look at our guides to the best cameras for Instagram, the best iPhone 16 Pro cases, and the best iPhone 16 Pro Max cases.

It's easy to look at camera phones as somehow inferior to their dedicated photo and video counterparts. But the simplicity of smartphone shooting has enabled savvy content creators to really think outside the box and create some truly incredible works. One such content creator is Jordi Koalitic. 

The Xiaomi Creator's Instagram is filled to the brim with clever photography and videography project ideas, but two really caught my attention. One is a short video of a person walking their dog along a beach at sunset, but through the sound hole of a classical guitar. The other is a photo of a person standing atop a guitar, walking towards the sunset in the distance. 

They were captured on the Xiaomi 13 Ultra and 14 Ultra respectively. But what really impressed me is that the special effects are created entirely in-camera. In a world where we often turn to photo editing software or video editing software to create surrealist images, Jordi's approach is refreshingly practical.

The first piece of content might look like it's being shot through the sound hole of a guitar, but Jordi's Instagram Reel reveals that it's a clever ruse. It looks like he's cut out a sound hole-sized circle into a piece of wood and attached some guitar strings. 

This DIY prop is then used to frame the subject, while an assistant plucks the strings so it looks like the 'guitar' is being played. Jordi himself can then frame the 'sound hole' with his Xiaomi 13 Ultra and gradually move the camera phone forward to zoom into the scene.

He also makes great use of the phone camera's slow-motion capabilities. Using slo-mo creates a smoother zoom and enables the viewer to watch as the strings slacken and reverberate as they're plucked. Mesmerizing! 

The second piece of content is altogether more simple, but no less effective. The Instagram Reel shows a subject standing atop a short pillar, while Jordi holds a classical guitar flat in front of himself, pointing it towards the subject while resting his Xiaomi 14 Ultra on the fretboard and taking the shot. 

Make sure you check out more incredible content on Jordi's Instagram. I know what photography projects I'll be trying this weekend!

Want to capture your own incredible phone camera content? You might be interested in the best phone for video recording and vlogging or the best rugged phone.

Following the global success of the 2023 competition, the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) has launched its 6th annual Concrete in Life photography competition with a chance to win up to $10,000!

Concrete is one of the most widely used man-made products globally and is essential for modern living, providing secure structures for houses, roads, bridges, sea barriers, and more. It can often get a bad rap for being aesthetically lacking, however, the Concrete in Life photography competition challenges this perception, highlighting its striking and underappreciated beauty.

The 2024/25 competition is open to everyone all over the world and from all photography levels. It features four distinct categories; Urban Design and Use, Concrete Infrastructure, Concrete in Daily Life, and Beauty and Design. It is also free to enter!

To enter, all you have to do is upload your image to either Instagram or X making sure to include #ConcreteInLife2425, the hashtag of the category you are entering (one per photo), and the hashtag of the country where you took the photograph – it's that easy to be in with a chance of winning some amazing cash prizes.

Entries will be judged by an esteemed judging panel made up of industry professionals from the worlds of both photography and concrete. The shortlist is scheduled to be revealed later this year and winners announced in early 2025.

There will also be a People's Choice award where the public will be able to vote on their favorite images from the shortlist.

Global Co‑Chair of Gensler Diane Hoskins states, “The places and spaces where we spend our time shape our experience of the world. Concrete is one of the most versatile and ubiquitous building materials, opening up an incredible opportunity for innovation and creativity. As architects and designers, we strive to achieve beauty, function, and resilience in our work. This is the power and promise of the built environment and the materials that bring it to life.”

Dubbed 'the sustainable building material of choice' by the GCCA, concrete provides safe, durable, and resilient structures, the basis for renewable energy infrastructure. It is instrumental in creating wind farms, sea barriers, and bridges that connect communities.

This competition can be used as an excuse to create a new photography project transforming the buildings you walk past or work in every day into art worthy of a $10,000 prize.

The full details and terms and conditions can be found on the official competition website, with the closing date for entries being November 30.

You be interested in our guide to the best tilt-shift lenses and the best cameras for landscape.

It's been a very colorful week in the world of camera news – literally, in the case of one of the biggest stories, as I found out that Taylor Swift's favorite camera filter is the same one I've been using for years.

In terms of "real" photography, a great documentary reminded us that digital cameras did not in fact kill Kodak. Elsewhere, however, an iconic photographer's patience was killed by young people looking at their phones, as Stephen Shore stormed out of a lecture he was giving. 

Finally a longstanding camera rumor came true, as Leica launched a "new" camera, while Pentax added an amazing new feature to its flagship cameras – but should this $80 purchase really have been included with a firmware update? 

These are the top five camera news stories of the week…

Taylor Swift uses this filter (and I do, too)

While doing a deep dive to identify the camera that Taylor Swift uses (spoiler alert, she's an Olympus gal), I also noticed something else about her photography: she uses the same in-camera filter that I do. 

A quick catch-up, in case you missed my original story: Swift has been using Olympus cameras since at least 2015, when photos of her with a silver Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II appeared in the press and on her Instagram profile. As of the most recent paparazzi picture, she's using an Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV. 

Something that all Olympus camera have in common is their selection of in-camera Art Filters. Now, this is probably an article / rant in its own right, but despite the negging that these get, they are really no different from the Film Simulations on Fujifilm cameras… 

Full story: This is the camera filter that Taylor Swift uses – and I've been using it for years

No, digital cameras did NOT kill Kodak

It was Kodak's failure to adapt to the onset of digital camera technology that was largely responsible for killing the company, so the common misconception goes. But as this fascinating video from YouTube channel History in the Dark explains, in reality the Eastman Kodak Company, to give it its full title, was something of a pioneer of digital tech, and by 2005 the company had become the number one seller of digital cameras in the USA. 

However, by concentrating on the consumer end of the market with point-and-shoot models like the Kodak Easy Share range, it was the arrival of smartphones, in particular the Apple iPhone, that had such a dramatic and detrimental effect on the company's fortunes. 

"The fact was that selling digital cameras was a lot different than selling film cameras because they no longer had the film market to fall back on once people bought a digital camera," the video expands. "They really didn't need to buy anything else from the company – at least not nearly as often…"

Full story: "The fall of Kodak wasn't because of digital cameras" says History in the Dark

Leica launches a "new" Q series camera

If you loved the Leica Q3 but thought that its fabulous 28mm f/1.7 lens was just a little too wide for your tastes, then you're going to be thrilled with the latest news.

Leica has unveiled the latest addition to its popular Q-series, the Leica Q3 43, marking the third generation in the compact full-frame lineup. The new model introduces a 43mm fixed focal length, fulfilling a long-standing request from users and adding a fresh dimension to the family’s legacy. 

Known for its top-tier design, craftsmanship, and exceptional image quality, the Q-series has gained a loyal following worldwide. With the new Leica Q3 43 enhances this experience by blending tradition with innovative features for photographers who value precision and versatility…

Full story: Leica Q3 43 full-frame compact camera brings new perspective with 43mm lens

Should this $80 camera feature be firmware?

Ricoh has just introduced Grad ND Simulator – a function that I called "the coolest camera feature I've ever seen" when OM System debuted it earlier this year – to its flagship Pentax cameras.

There's just one thing: it's being introduced as a "premium feature", which means you have to pay $79.95 to unlock it on the Pentax K-1 Mark II or K-3 Mark III (including the K-3 Mark III Monochrome).

As you might imagine, I have thoughts about both these points.

First of all, the technology itself is brilliant – albeit not quite as brilliant as it is on the OM System OM-1 Mark II that originated it. Essentially this is an in-camera, software-powered ND grad filter; instead of putting a physical filter on your lens, the camera does the work for you…

Full story: The coolest camera feature I've ever seen is coming to Pentax DSLRs… but you have to pay $80 for it

Icon photographer storms out of lecture due to phones

Have you ever been distracted by your phone when visiting something important? - well this week, renowned American photographer Stephen Shore abruptly left a lecture he was giving at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in Beijing, China after observing several audience members more focused on their mobile phones than his the presentation.

A video posted by Shanghai Daily’s digital platform, SHINE, captured the moment Shore ended the lecture just as a question was about to be asked. You can see the video below and Shore's walk-off around the 2-minute mark.

It can be seen that Shore is answering some questions from the audience before he begins to walk out of his own lecture stating: "Just before you ask that question – I’m gonna say something, and I apologize in advance because it’s gonna be rude," Shore said from the stage. "But it’s something [that’s been] on my mind as I experience the modern world…"

Full story: Celebrated photographer Stephen Shore walks out of his lecture after Chinese audience proves more interested in their phones

You might be interested in the best Olympus / OM System cameras, as well as the best Leica cameras and the best Pentax cameras. 

Have you tried the Fujifilm dedicated Fujifilm Film Simulation page yet? The film simulations offered by its mirrorless cameras do just what they say on the tin; they simulate the appearance of classic black and white, and color film – and the new website explains what they all do and shows the characteristics of both..

Fujifilm takes its in-camera looks seriously, drawing on its significant heritage as a photographic film manufacturer, meaning they are far more technical than an ineffective Instagram filter. 

It loads its digital cameras with around a dozen unique looks which take inspiration from its analog emulsions. 

Introduced in 2004, the film simulations harnessed 70 years of knowledge honed by Fujifilm since its foundation in 1934.

"This history and experience are reflected in the high quality of the Simulations, but rather than simply recreating analog film, Film Simulations inherit the vision of the future we strived for in the analog era," says Fujifilm on their new site dedicated just to simulations. 

"Like dining at a restaurant where an experienced chef carefully oversees the flavors of each dish, Film Simulations allow you to enjoy the results of extensive expertise without deep photographic knowledge," it added. 

Fujifilm divides its film simulations into two main categories: the all-around types, "ideal for a wide range of subjects," and individualistic types, for "vibrant reproduction, ideal for landscape and nature."

Users can click on each film simulation and see a description of each one, and they also explain how the different effects, Grain Effect, Color Chrome Effect, and Color Chrome FX Blue, affect your images.

Each simulation is designed using Provia as a base standard, and Fujifilm adds:

"Neither type claims to be the right answer. Film Simulations are merely suggestions to help broaden a photographer’s creative palette. Also, unlike replacing photographic film, no money or effort is required to choose between them."

Check out our recommendations for the best Fujifilm cameras on the market. We've also got you covered with our list of the best Fujifilm lenses.

Thanks to our ever-present smartphone we’re likely to be capturing many hours of high-quality video footage. You can trim and share short clips straight from your smartphone’s Photos app to social media sites such as Facebook or to friends and family via Whats App, but the majority of your valuable video assets may never get watched, which is a huge waste!

By using a dedicated non-linear editing (NLE) app such as Adobe Premiere Elements 2024 you can produce longer and more professional-looking video programs that you can ‘broadcast’ to the world on your YouTube channel, or share via a Reel on Instagram. The term ‘non-linear’ simply refers to the option to swap the running order of video clips in an app’s timeline.

In the ‘olden days’ video editors had to copy clips from a videotape player to a video recorder. If you needed to change the order of the linear clips you had to start editing from scratch! Non-linear computer-based video editing was as revolutionary for tape-to-tape video editors as the word processor was for type-writer users (and I’m old enough to have used a typewriter and endured the slow process of tape-to-tape video editing back in the 1980s!)

As its name suggests, Premiere Elements 2024 is a simplified version of Adobe Premiere, a high-end NLE app used by many professional video editors. The full version of Premiere will be very daunting to approach if you’re new to non-linear video editing.

Fortunately, Premiere Elements 2024 is an entry-level NLE and it’s well worth considering as your first NLE as this review will demonstrate. There are free video editing apps out there such as Apple’s iMovie, so why should you pay for Adobe Premiere Elements 2024? One answer lies in the Premiere Element’s Guided Edit mode - which takes you step-by-step through the whole video editing process. More on that later.

If you want to explore more non-linear options check out our guide to the best free video editing software. Or if you need information on a wide range of paid-for NLEs, look here – check out of top picks for the best video editing software.

Premiere Elements 2024: Specifications

Premiere Elements 2024: Interface and Usability

Adobe Premiere Elements looks very similar to most contemporary NLEs (such as iMovie), with a clip bin on the top left to store unedited video assets for your project. Along the bottom of the workspace runs a timeline. It's here that you place your clips to tell a story and trim them to create a tight, smooth-flowing narrative sequence. There’s also a toolbar to summon special effects or color-correcting tools.

Adobe Premiere Elements has looked the same for many years, so its neutral light grey workspace was beginning to look very dated. Fortunately, in its 2024 incarnation you can now access a Dark mode in the Settings > General UI Mode menu. This creates a darker black and grey interface that echoes the look of other contemporary nonlinear editing (NLE) apps such as Movavi Video Editor and helps give Premiere Elements 2024 a fresher, more modern look.

Premiere Elements 2024 does have some interesting new features to offer as we’ll explore, but are they useful enough to motivate owners of older versions of Premiere Elements to pay for an upgrade? We’ll answer that key question in due course.

Premiere Elements 2024: Quality of Results

Premiere Elements 2024 offers more ways to help novice video editors turn raw footage into shareable sequences using the power of Adobe Sensei AI. The Create drop down menu features a new Highlight Reel tool that uses AI to analyse clips for key features such as faces, groups of people, interesting lights and activity for example. It then creates an edited sequence that you can share via social media.

In theory using AI to cut the best bits of your clips together is a great idea but in practice we found the results were a bit hit and miss, though you can manually fine-tune the AI-selected results by clicking on the ‘Edit in Timeline’ button. Premiere Elements 2024 enables you to use AI as a springboard to creativity but it’s certainly not a replacement for human editorial decisions.

The new Highlight Reel tool also enables you to create a reel that matches the requirements of specific social media sites. For instance, an Instagram Story or Reel has a vertical shape that measures 1080 x 1920. If you share a horizontal series of clips to a vertical layout then the Highlight Reel tool helpfully adds a blurred and enlarged version of your clip to the reel’s background to avoid featuring large and boring black letterbox borders appearing in your reel.

This social media focus gives Adobe Premiere Elements the edge over Apple’s free iMovie which has little to offer for editors who want to produce social-media compatible content - iMovie can’t export a vertical portrait-oriented video clip for an Instagram Reel for example. Premiere Elements 2024 also features a comprehensive collection of new graphics that you can use to soup up your social media stories. Graphics are organized into categories such as Christmas, Social, or Neon Stickers for example.

One fun feature is the ability to make a graphic follow the movement of your subject using motion tracking. Simply summon the Motion Tracking tool from the Tools palette, draw a box around a moving subject such as a person, and then click Track. You can then assign a graphical element such as a speech bubble to the motion-tracking rectangle and it will follow your subject’s every move. Check out this review’s supporting video to see motion tracking in action.

We did encounter a couple of crashes when applying motion tracking, but the Premiere Elements settled down. The app does auto-save in intervals so if you have a crash you shouldn’t lose too much work. I felt obliged to manually save my work before attempting a motion-tracking operation.

Traditionally you would have to extend a music track to fit the footage on your timeline by copying a section and then cutting it in on a beat. This was quite a tricky edit to pull off to get the music to loop. Now you can simply tick the 'Fit Entire Video’ box in the Score Property panel and the music will loop to fit the duration of your footage and it will add the end of the music track to the end of your footage. You can also use a slider to adjust the music from Mellow to Intense. Mellow dials down the volume of some percussion instruments. These music Property panel features will save you a lot of time tinkering to get music tracks to suit your edited footage.

Another useful new tool in Premiere 2024 is Color Match. This enables you to click on template images to transfer their colors to a clip. You can use this to produce creative results, such as dramatically warming up a scene. Or you can sample the healthy colors from one clip in the timeline to correct problems with color in another clip (such as warming up a cold color temperature for example). Color Match should save you a lot of time playing with presets in the Fix menu. Premiere Elements 2024 also sees easier ways to modify your project’s sound with a new collection of audio effects such as Reverb, which flatters a singer's voice. There’s also as a handy DeHummer which reduces mains-induced hum. Finally, if you’re already using Photoshop Elements 2024 then Premiere Elements will slot smoothly into your organizing, editing, and sharing workflow as both the photo and video editing apps share the same Elements Organizer.

Premiere Elements 2024: Verdict

A handful of new tools, a more contemporary look, and an expansion of its AI-assisted tools may not be enough to compel existing Adobe Premiere Elements owners to upgrade to 2024, but if you’re a novice editor (or want to do more than free desktop apps such as iMovie will allow) then Premiere Elements 2024 is well worth considering thanks to its step-by-step easy to follow Guided Edit workspace. You can then take the skills that you learn into the Advanced workspace when you’re ready. Premiere Elements 2024 is also packed full of customizable graphical elements that will make your social media clips more engaging and these can be downloaded for free from within the app.

Alternatives

In the last generation, DJI surpassed GoPro with what was to my mind – and many others – the best action camera. DJI not only won with a bigger image sensor (great in low light), but because their rival actually dropped a popular unique feature, GPS, enraging fans. The backlash was nothing short of humiliating for GoPro, the brand that created the product category. 

Like the leading phone brands, however, there is a yearly product cycle and – while (like Apple and its new iPhones) you can't necessarily replace all the parts at once, both DJI and GoPro have had very good go at showing what they think is most important – or what they can achieve – in the action camera space with this new generation.

First things first, DJI has added the term 'Pro.' In this review, I'm going to try to find out what I think that means. It's not about a new image sensor size or 8K video because, well, neither of those things have arrived (nor did GoPro manage such change, so that is moot).

Much more interesting, though, is the arrival of subject tracking, which could be more of a boon to those creating for Instagram and TikTok than the GoPro's vaunted 8:7 sensor. Now I'm not sure "Pro" is the term for all creators, but then you don't have to be a professional phone user to but an iPhone 16 Pro Max and they all sold out for 4 weeks on day 1!

There are high-end features too, like the ability to get better "OsmoAudio" from DJI Mics popular with YouTubers – not mere Bluetooth audio, DJI tell me.

What, though, does this add up to?

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro: Specifications

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro: Price

The Osmo Action 5 Pro is priced at $349 / AU$599 in the cheapest bundle – camera only, one battery – which should have GoPro very worried.

This has also made the DJI Osmo Action 4 – with the same size sensor – extremely interesting in price since DJI's teaser campaign began. Perhaps the company will keep it on for a while.

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro: Design & Handling

The Action 5 Pro has a very straightforward design, almost deliberately boring. Those parts of the front and back which aren't actually touchscreens (and that's very little of the back, which is almost all screen). 

The mode menu offers the usual (photo, video, slo-mo, timelapse etc.) and the new Super Nightmode – perhaps inspired by the Ace Pro's "Pure Video" feature. It, as the name suggests, helps the camera handle contrast at night.

The quality of the touchscreens is outstanding (326PPI is the sharpest in the business by about 30), and by default the brightness and detail is impressive (more so than its rival), and it's notable that the device doesn't lurch into power-saving mode at every opportunity either. Occasionally the slightly smaller front screen did seem a little slow to swipe up to unlock for me, negating its convenience benefit, but I tend to see this as a 'nice to have' anyway.

At either end of the device, you'll find reassuringly well-sealed doors – the quality of that seal is presumably why the camera is rated as 20m/65ft waterproof. 

One end's door is for the battery and MicroSD slot. The other, smaller one for the USB-C socket (the camera can charge the battery itself, though DJI offer other options (depending on the bundle you opt for), including a handle and a charging hub. The hub's sprung-flap case is so much more elegant in design and traveller-friendly than GoPro's that it, too, is worthy of praise.

On the subject of accessories, DJI has not chosen to put GPS in the camera, but do offer (and included in my review loan bundle) a GPS Strap which is worn on the wrist. It looks are a long way short of the elegance of an Apple Watch – hinting more at the ruggedness of the Action 5 Pro (or, if I chose to be harsh, a stylish prisoner release tag). It does offer one advantage though – it is a remote control!

On the flip side, there is a pressure sensor in the housing, so the camera can record how deep it is, or – for paragliders – hidden in the 'O' – a barometric sensor that will feed back an altitude reading. You can also get telemetry from the Apple watch so I didn't need both on my arm in that photo!

The camera also boasts connectivity to the DJI Mic 2 not just via Bluetooth audio (which competitors can and do achieve), but the ability to control it using DJI's protocols and record a full 48KHz rate. Not, sadly for me, as I have the original DJI Mic.

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro: Performance

Most of my tests were in typical conditions, and the camera seemed to make sensible choices. The auto settings got the 'right look' for motion blur on the bike, though menus do allow for manual settings.

Image and video is excellent. In terms of personality it is generally less aggressively sharpened than its predecessor from DJI, and doesn't have the dishonest (but 'nice') warmth associated with GoPro.

I've said a lot in the past about low light, but it isn't just low-light where DJI's larger image sensor is beneficial; darker skin tones are also better represented on this camera than other action cameras. Super Night mode is impressive too, though I didn't need it to eclipse the GoPro Hero 13 Black in my simple side-by-side test.

Image stabilization doesn't need much discussion either as there is little to fault.

In normal daylight use (with the sun in tricky spots, admittedly), the lens did seem to catch a bit of glare more than I might have hoped; arguably it 'adds interest' but it'd have been nice to see a little less.

Battery-wise, DJI tell me you can, in lab conditions, manage 4 hours of recording at 1080P. That felt a bit optimistic, but it was still apparent the camera was ahead of the game, as does the quoted 210+ minutes recording 4K30 – but, even allowing for a dose of reality, it is still comfortably ahead of the pack here.

A very nice touch – GoPro changed their battery fittings when they improved the battery; DJI didn't, so you can also use your older batteries from Action 3 and 4 cameras if you have them (though they won't last as long).

I wasn't able to make the camera overheat and cut out testing in the UK – that said it didn't get over 30˚C (86F) in my testing period, but according to DJI I'd have been OK in weather up to 45˚C (113F).

I appreciate that DJI has included support for WiFi 6 file downloads – good stuff given the presence of a generous amount of on-board storage space – but I must admit I'm a bit old fashioned and stick to memory cards which I (tell myself I) can manage!

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro: Sample Images

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro: Sample Video

In my video test, the most telling part of the whole experience was a low-light moment when I simply stood under a bridge on a gloomy day and held both the Action 5 Pro and the GoPro Hero 13 Pro in the same hand and talked into them, both on the same settings.

Sure, both pick-up background noise, but the Action 5 Pro produced a capable shot that you could stuff into a YouTube – certainly a social video – showing detail across the image (a shame since my beard clearly needed maintenance), whereas the GoPro was noisy and dark, and struggled to identify detail.

I was also impressed that Mimo was able to overlay GPS data from the GPS Remote accessory on my phone – though a clip of a few minutes took a few more to render at 4K so it's not something you'd want to do for many long clips! It's nice, though, that this app is provided for free, without the hint of a subscription request (but I'd like it if, like Insta360, a FCP plugin was available too).

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro: Verdict

The problem with this camera is that, on its own terms, it is close to faultless. The wider issue is that, I don't know that everyone looking for an action camera would choose DJI's terms.

Let me explain. Personally I tend to be impressed by the refinement of technology, and that has happened here extensively. DJI point to a new image sensor, albeit of the same size, and the image quality is spectacular, with low light detail (as on the Action 4) class-leading. The snappy processor and refined (free) app are also big plusses.

I also like the purity of the design, and am prepared – grudgingly – to accept that keeping GPS out of the main housing makes some sense, especially in exchange for the pressure sensor, it helps keep the camera small & battery good, and who doesn't have a watch or Garmin that can provide GPS tracking?

It is harder, though, to look at the flexibility and practicality of GoPro's lens & filter system and not think "But I want that, that'd be cool!" (even if, realistically, you might never use it and it might turn out to be a bit of cash drain).

DJI, then, has done it again, brilliantly, and the sensible buyer will likely see that. It is, just, I have to admit, a little hard to see the sense as GoPro strut. 

Alternatives

You shouldn’t crop in software.
Always choose the focal length to get the right shot at the time of capture.
Only use prime lenses, a zoom lens dilutes your image quality.
Nail your exposure. If you underexpose or overexpose you’ve missed the shot.
Set your sharpening correctly for a pinsharp image.
Make sure your shutter speed is enough to prevent camera movement.
Always use a tripod. 
Real photographers shoot black and white only as it’s the most direct link to historical photography.
And those primes? They should be vintage lenses.
You should never stage a photo, you should always capture the scene as you find it. 

Honestly folks, can you imagine how boring and suppressed photography would be if you had to stick to rules like that? We’re blessed in a world where 40+ Megapixel cameras allow us to crop in to get photos within our capture, allowing you to tailor the crop to both the subject and the destination. Be that for print (and you should print), Instagram stories, posts, or going into videos like reels, shorts, or longer form. 

Use the lens that gets the shot. Many a shot has been lost swapping to the right prime. Put the zoom lens on. Sure, using one fixed length is great practice – I recently shot a festival with the fixed 23mm (35mm full frame equivalent) on a Fujifilm X100VI, but being able to choose a length leads to a far greater variety of images from a location. Get the best one you can afford. Modern zooms are easily as good are older primes for sharpness. 

If you shoot Raw, you have an amazing amount of leeway in exposure. You can easily bring back around two stops of lost highlights, or open up dark shadows with underexposure. These are just tools to enhance your photo. You may have been shooting against overcast skies and nailed your subject’s exposure at the sake of the sky. So you bring it back in raw processing. Good for you. That’s a choice based on experience. 

You don’t need a tripod all the time. Sure, if you’re looking at back-to-front depth of field, which can require long exposures, but handheld photos can work well in other situations. You could even use a tripod with motion. There’s a whole brigade of amazing Intentional Camera Movement photographers using motion during exposure to create unique pieces of art. 

Black and white photography is beautiful. That classic, pristine, look of form and tone. Often breathtaking. But that doesn’t take from the jaw-dropping shot of an amazing sunset. Or the creative use of color. Understanding how colors interact allows you to take photos that have an immediate and lasting impact, often more than with black and white. 

Sharpness is overrated.  As Ansel Adams said "There’s nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept". Film photography was often not perfectly sharp and the grain of the film prevented really sharp edges. Digital sharpness can be a bane for portraits where the depth of pore detail means a lot of retouching to create a more flattering image. Can you ignore it altogether? No, of course not. Shallow focus photos need the subject to be sharp enough for the subject to be obvious. Better to capture a great photo and fix sharpness later than miss it. 

Ignore the purists and use your creativity and gear to the fullest to create photos that represent you, your views, values and likes. 

More opinion pieces by Sean McCormack:

• This is why I hate being a photographer
• I switched camera systems, and this is the lens that really surprised me
• I can't believe I actually bought this camera
• These two lenses could do 90% of your photographic work
• You don't always have to shoot Raw as a photographer, but you probably should
• No, you don't need to get on a plane to take great travel photos

A student at the UK's Nottingham Trent University has designed an innovative modular camera that can be used by right- and left-handed users alike. Called the MC-1, this one-off design features a central 'hub' section which looks as though it can function by itself as a standalone camera. It has two large red shutter buttons, one on the top panel and another on the bottom, enabling right- or left-handed use by simply flipping the camera over. We assume the rear screen is touch-sensitive, as there doesn't seem to be any other physical controls on the main camera, apart from those shutter buttons.

To improve ergonomics, an additional grip module can be clipped to the side, and this also houses extra physical buttons to aid camera control. If the camera is to be used by a left-handed shooter, it can be rotated through 180 degrees, and a bespoke left-handed grip module then clips to the left side of the main camera unit.

Flipping the camera over for left-handed use rules out a conventional, built-in viewfinder. To solve this, the camera's designer, Rowan Baxter, came up with a separate viewfinder module that can be clipped onto either the top or bottom of the main camera, depending whether the camera is in left- or right-handed orientation. Rails on the top and bottom surfaces enable the viewfinder module to easily hook into place.

As this looks like a prototype camera, we don't know much about its internals, only that the sensor size is APS-C, and the core 'hub' module is "pocket-sized". The lens fitted to the MC-1 we see in the Instagram Reel is a TTArtisan AF 27mm F2.8. This APS-C lens is only available in Sony E, Nikon Z and Fujifilm X mounts, so we assume the MC-1 is fitted with one of those mount options.

Though a left-handed camera may seem unusual, this isn't the first time we've seen such a product. Back in 1987, Yashica launched the Samurai Z-L; a real, mass-produced left-handed film camera. It was essentially a flipped version of the company's right-handed Samurai Z, with the grip and camera controls mirrored for left-handed users. We've got a separate story about that camera if you'd like to know more.

Story credit: Rowan Baxter Design

Did you spend ages honing your Instagram images into perfect squares for your profile grid? Things might be about to take a visually awkward turn for you if this test gets rolled out onto the full platform and switches the familiar grid to a rectangular grid, just like the stories page.

It's not the first time it's been discussed, but the Verge is reporting that a more recent (and very convincing) version of a 4 by 5 vertical profile is being tested, and, moreover, Adam Mosseri – head of Instagram – talks about it in the video below.

He says: "The vast majority of what is uploaded now is vertical, and quotes him as saying: “Squares are from way back in the day when you can only upload square photos to Instagram,” a limitation Instagram removed all the way back in 2015"

That makes it sound like he's pretty set on doing it and, in the process, making Instagram's iconic 1:1 profile page look like, well, everything else.

That, despite the fact he openly acknowledges it "could be annoying for some of you who really spent time curating and making sure everything lines up."

To get an idea what the new shape might look like – which Instagram says it is testing – @arlespinzon has shared an image on Threads:

I was expecting Instagramers to react with horror to this – but negative responses are surprisingly hard to find. Many users already prioritise the Reels feature which is already this shape and – while some are horrified by vertical format video – it is mathematically the most common among users.

It's easy to see the commercial sense. Aside from the popularity of vertical, he mentions in the video, you could argue he is taking the view that a new format will force enthusiastic users to refresh content – potentially a good thing in terms of engagement – while releasing others from shackles they've made for themselves.

Perhaps Mosseri was right to say that cropping modern content to squares was "pretty brutal," but I imagine there will still be some hostility; the video he posted was, after all, a response to a suspicious query made to an 'Ask me anything' session he was hosting.

You can see more of his insights into what might happen next at Instagram simply by following his account (though I can't find the video above in the feed).

Interview

When did you start in your current genre?

I delved into camera-less photo creation at the start of my art career. In 2013, my path intersected with Kuzma Vostrikov, whose influence shaped my photography. My portraiture took on a more colourful, pop art aesthetic but I continue to engage in lyrical photography. My work can be categorised into two genres – collaborative endeavours with Kuzma, focused on fine art portraiture, and my solo projects with a more lyrical style, occasionally using camera-less techniques.

What are your creative inspirations?

Inspiration can come from everywhere – from nature in the trees, the oceans, sunset and sunrise, but also from people on the streets, even graffiti. New York City is a potent source of inspiration, full of energetic people. I also draw influences from observing old masters in museums and new art from galleries.

What key skills are needed for your line of professional work? 

In collaborative work, it’s communication, problem-solving and time management. Many of the projects we undertake are large and intense, making effective management crucial. Proper coordination is essential too.

Which social platforms are you on and how do you use each for your business?

I’m active on Instagram and Facebook. Instagram, in particular, is a valuable tool for sharing images and discovering talent. I often reach out to makeup artists or models on Instagram for photo shoots, which has proven effective. It’s a direct and intuitive platform where people can see your work and connect directly. I also receive inquiries about shooting projects or business through direct messages so maintaining a presence on Instagram is essential for building visibility.

Are there other genres you’d like to try? 

I’m currently immersed in a cyanotype project, blending digital photos with analogue processes and incorporating drawings. I embrace the full spectrum of possibilities afforded by the current technology. It’s a fresh perspective on photography, an innovative approach to artistic exploration and a means to broaden our visual horizons.

How do you turn your ideas and images into a cohesive, published book?

Ideas emerge and accumulate into a mosaic of thoughts. Once a collection takes shape, it’s time to organise, fill the gaps and allow a stream of ideas to pour in. Initiating the process is crucial as it helps refine ideas, especially in a book project. Take Just to Land in Tokyo, where we worked with a large image, integrating it with improvisation. As the pieces came together, the book took its final form.

Song's photo kit

The essential gear items used for this type of professional work 

Canon EOS 6D

This is handy in terms of digital shooting. The layout is simple to use and the optical viewfinder gives me a more connected feeling when framing the subject. 

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art lens

This relatively soft lens gives a little softness to the image detail, creating a dreamy effect. The wide aperture also allows background control.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro lens

This optic is sharp and particularly good for details. The focal length is also ideal for portraiture, offering a subtly compressed perspective. 

Twin Lens Reflex

I use this Rolleiflex Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) medium-format film camera for most of my analogue projects because of its unique form. The waist-level viewfinder offers a refreshing way to work. 

• The rise and fall of the TLR: why the twin-lens reflex camera is a real classic

Since the emergence of AI generators, there have been more and more instances of artists' work being stolen, manipulated without consent, and used to train AI. This would be an illegal act if done by a human, but becomes a gray area when it comes to AI – not in the sense of morality, but rather due to the lack of legislation for actively monitoring AI scraping.

If you use any of the social media platforms that are frequented by photographers to display their work, you may be inadvertently allowing those platforms to scrape your content for AI training. Or, unfortunately and more likely, your images could be used by independent AI programs that are scraping all images online illegally.

To combat this, a new app named Overlai has been designed "to safeguard the integrity of visual content in an age of advancing AI technology" – and it has been backed by some of the best photographers in the world.

Essentially the app, which is also available as an Adobe plug-in, enables users to upload their images where they are then issued with C2PA and IPTC assertions and creator credentials.

I was made aware of this app through the Instagram of Paul Nicklen, a world-renowned wildlife and adventure photographer, who wrote a post explaining the importance of securing your work online before taking part in 'The Whiteout'. By my understanding, 'The Whiteout' is taking place on social media where many photographers are taking a stand against AI scraping and are boycotting the platforms.

Nicklen's post states the following: 

"Why I am supporting 'The Whiteout' strike and using Overlai:

My life’s work as a photographer is currently being used without consent by companies like OpenAI and Runway to train AI models, violating copyright and privacy laws. I am not willing to just hand over the last 30 years of hard work so giants can make an even bigger profit.

Overlai addresses this by protecting our work with C2PA and IPTC assertions and creator credentials.

I’m pausing my social media posting activity indefinitely to support this cause.

If you want to join me and participate in the social media strike, please head to the link in my bio or story to download “The Whiteout” reel and be part of #TheHumanMovement.

@overlai.app is coming to the App Store this month and it will be 100% free for “The Whiteout” strike participants and those who sign up for early access.

#IamNotAI #Overlai #ProtectedbyOverlai "

I think it should be noted that Nicklen is a co-founder of the app, but that does not take away from the work Overlai is trying to do. He is also one of many photographers taking part with others including Cristina Mittermeier, Pie Aerts, Daniel Kordan and Daisy Gilardini.

Nicklen has mentioned how Overlai intends to protect imagery by adding C2PA and IPTC assertions and creator credentials to your work, protecting them from AI use.

It states on the Overlai website that, "Overlai is an AI digital asset protection app and Adobe Plugin, that ensures the privacy of your media before you upload them to social media & anywhere online. Our app combines Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), decentralized storage and advanced watermarks to protect your photos from being stolen and added to AI datasets".

The Overlai app will be available for free from the App Store and Google Play later this month, and early access is available now via the Overlai website.

Greater protection of artwork is needed in today's age, and Overlai is certainly trying to play a part in fixing the issue. Only recently did I find out that my website platform Squarespace had turned on AI scraping as a default after a recent update. 

I know many creators who use this platform and were unaware of this action which ultimately enabled Squarespace to use AI training on their images and hid it in an update. Thankfully it can be turned off, but it's a lesson in being vigilant when accepting new terms and conditions!

While the world has been glued to its TVs, phones and tablets watching the athletes in the Olympic Games, I can guarantee that all the photographers reading this have been trying to work out what camera equipment everyone is using at the Paris 2024.

Well, thanks to Instagram, we can get a look into the kit that legendary sports photographer Bob Martin is using at the Olympics. While this might not be all the equipment he is using for each event, his Instagram is very rewarding reading. 

Bob tells you what camera, lens and sometimes even the settings he used to take his wonderful pictures – a goldmine for anyone interested in the best cameras for sports photography and how the pros are using them.

So let's analyze the grid and see what we can see…

Right off the bat we know it's going to be Sony equipment, as Bob has been a long-standing Sony user since the launch of the original A9 back in 2017. So one would think Bob would be shooting with the new Sony A9 III?

Well, it looks like he actually prefers shooting with the Sony A1 – the current flagship and a massive 50MP camera that is capable of shooting up to 30fps and also being able to record 8K 30p video. 

As we can see in the crop above (taken from the candid snap below, of Martin along with fellow sports photography legend David Burnett at the Olympic beach volleyball), there's no mistaking that this is Bob's camera from the code on the body!

Lenses are always a critical choice when photographing any important tournament, but for the Olympics it's a crucial part of the process of being able to capture "the shot" or missing it completely.

It appears that Bob likes to shoot primarily with prime telephoto lenses, and taking a look at his Instagram the Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 appears often across his images – such as his amazing shot of US gymnast and 8x Olympic medalist, Simone Biles, competing on the asymmetric bars.

Another of Bob's favorite lenses is the massive Sony 600mm f/4 G Master OSS when he needs to get closer to the action, usually with action sports like canoeing or swimming – in which Bob is known for being something of an Olympic expert. 

As can be seen below, using the 600mm gives that extra reach to make a real impact on images and brings emotion to the photograph.

While big telephoto lenses get you closer to the action, there are always dedicated zones where photographers can really close the distance – and those big telephotos will need to be switched out for a wide-angle.

From what I can tell via Bob's Instagram, he is using the Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master to capture some amazing scenes across the Olympics. A wide-angle can really give you a great establishing shot if shooting for editorial purposes, and works in combination with a telephoto for the athletes. 

While I'm sure Bob has access to many other lenses and cameras from Sony, it's very interesting to see that his primary focus is the A1 – which I still think is the best camera for sports photography (and that's coming from an old Nikon pro shooter), along with his 300mm f/2.8 and 600mm f/4 primes and his trusty 14-24mm f/2.8 wide-angle zoom.

Of course, it's not just the gear taking these stunning images; Bob is nothing short of an expert and has been photographing sport at the highest level for decades. So he knows what makes a shot and what doesn't, and while the gear he's using is expensive it also makes his job that little bit easier. 

You might be interested in the best Sony cameras, along with the best Sony lenses across all disciplines. 

French sports photographer Jerome Brouillet has taken what people are already calling the best photo of the 2024 Paris Olympics. That's a big shout, with another 11 days of competions still to go - but then it is a stunning photo that encapsulates a moment of triumph. News agency France 24 asks if this is the "Greatest surf shot ever?, whilst Australian news network News.com.au says it "may just be the greatest sports photo of all time".

The image shows Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina rising triumphantly out of the surf having just successfully tackled one of the biggest waves rolling in Teahupo'o - the Tahitian venue for the 2024 Olympic surf competition. He went on to score a near-perfect 9.9 - a record score for an Olympic competition. 

Medina's fans love the photo too – with the decisive moment having already gained over 6 million likes on the three-time world champion's official Instagram page. 

Jerome Brouillet was shooting from a boat with his Nikon Z9 in the perfect position to catch the moment as Medina "kicks out" and the end of his run. "You know something is going to happen. The only tricky moment is where he is going to kick out? Because I'm blind! Sometimes he makes an acrobatic gesture and this time he did that and so I pushed the button," he told France 24.

His Z9 is capable of shooting 20fps, but the Tahiti-based AFP photographer uses the burst mode in moderation. "When I'm shooting at Teahupo'o I don't shoot in such a high burst mode, because at the end of the day, if you push too hard on the button you come back with 5,000 shots in a day, and I don't like that!," he admits. This is one of four images he shot of the surfer's celebration.

The shot is made more remarkable as Brouillet was effectively shooting blind - not sure where he would break through the wave. But the photographer was surprised with the shot's popularity. "I was just checking my phone on the six-minute break after the shoot and I had lots of notifications on social media and I thought something is happening with this shot," he told the BBC. "It's very cool, it's a nice shot and lots of people love it. It's not really a surf photograph so it captures the attention of more people."

Check out the best cameras for sports photography

When Instagram began in 2010, it was an amazing way to share your work. Now the algorithm churns through video, not photos, so you’d best be adding music to your photo for the 2.5 seconds it might get viewed for. The results of years of experience creating a masterpiece passes as quickly as a cat picture. The cat picture will typically get more likes. 

Sure, competitors like Vero have tried, but they just don’t have the reach that Meta has. Even those that swapped to Threads, Instagram’s Twitter replacement aren’t faring any better. It’s all a rat race to the bottom, where skill and excellence are replaced by comedy and mediocrity.

Some people say that it has leveled the playing field. I’d say that it’s probably gone the other way altogether. The people who were once mentors are now lost in a tsunami of ‘content,’ and the bar is lower than limbo dancers' ankles. We just jump the bar and hope for our two seconds of fame. 

If you want to raise your game, it’s not on social media. That’s all about dopamine. Excelling at photography requires slowing down, not speeding up. Trying to find some new image that matches the quality of the last one that got more likes, is an exercise in failure. We’re human. We’re not meant to operate at 100%, 100% of the time. Build your passion. Make mistakes and learn from them. Don’t show them, unless it’s as an example of work in progress.

Ignore the rat race and learn at your own pace. The only competition you have is your former self. Find nurturing communities where you can share your work and grow. Look for mentors with work you aspire to. Grow.

I’m not saying don’t post on social. I’m not telling you to stop scrolling. I’d be a huge hypocrite if I did that. I am saying that it’s not the critical element that drives your work. Post to exhibit and ignore the likes. Don’t let the dopamine be the driver. 

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As part of the launch of the EOS R5 Mark II, Canon Europe has teamed up with social media agency Formidable, and come up with a novel and entertaining idea to show off the new camera’s skills. 

For the multi-platform social campaign across Canon’s YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and web, the brand came up with a challenge: to see if director and hybrid creator Anthony Rubinstein to shoot and edit a full-length music video, and stills, in less than 48 hours, only using the EOS R5 Mark II. 

With the clock ticking, Rubinstein and the Formidable team enlisted the help of Hana Lili, a 24 year old Welsh singer-songwriter who supported Coldplay on the Cardiff leg of their world tour, and whose music has been used on the soundtrack for TV show Love Island.

The Mark II is proving incredibly popular with anyone who’s tried it.

Our editor James Artaius recently reviewed the Canon EOS R5 Mark II, calling it "Once again, the company’s most important, and most powerful camera…simply the best camera I’ve ever used."

It combines in-camera 180MP upscaling and 2-stop denoising, faster 30fps burst speed, 8K 60p RAW, C-Log2, killer AI-powered predictive autofocus, reduced rolling shutter, Eye Control AF, 8.5 stops of image stabilization, pre-capture for stills and video, Smart Controller, Multi-Function Shoe, full-size HDMI port.

The end result of the ambitious project?

A two minute and 26 second music video with accompanying stills for Lili’s new track Iconic.

Among the hero content pieces of the campaign is an eight-minute behind-the-scenes video that explains the creative process in full, and Rubinstein’s experience with the camera.

Calling the camera "A real pleasure to shoot with," Rubinstein also experienced the Mark II on a gimbal, "the idea is I’m going to be able to get some really lovely sweeping, orbiting shots, and the autofocus in the camera is going to do the job of making everything super sharp the whole way through."

He also praised the C-Log 2, which "Captures so much picture information, and it’s going to mean that we’ve got so much flexibility in the edit, and in the grade."

Another feature, which utilizes artificial intelligence, is the eye controlled autofocus.

"I just trained it on my eye," explains Rubinstein, "and basically what happens now when I look through the EVF is when I look at a different area of the scene, it automatically focuses in on where I’m looking.

"Really cool feature, really, really kind of spooky, but very fun."

Check out our guides to the best Canon cameras, and the best Canon RF lenses. 

The Pentax Film Project has been in the works since 2022, inspired by the resurgence in the popularity of film, Pentax decided to once again start producing new film cameras. Instead of dragging some blueprints out of storage for one of its old legacy models (of which there are a lot of incredible entries), Pentax decided it was going to call on all its engineering history but develop something brand new to the market.

The first camera to come from this project is the Pentax 17. Maybe not what many photographers envisioned as the first model based on the iconic cameras Pentax is most renowned for, the Pentax 17 is a half-frame 35mm film camera with a rangefinder-style design. 

Although today this makes total sense. The resurgence of film can almost certainly be credited to social media, especially Instagram, where vertical half-frame images perfectly fit Instagram’s favored 4:5 vertical style. Film has also become breathtakingly expensive compared to its heyday, with a roll of 36 Portra 400 now costing anything from $25-50 each to buy, develop and scan. Half-frame at least stretches this to 72 frames, so half the frame, double the value.

But are film cameras coming back just as AI takes over editing? The new Pentax 17 comes just at the same time as AI editing is taking off, and with dozens if not hundreds of apps trying to convince you that iPhone photos can look like they were shot on a range of vintage film cameras. While right now, I think film still has an authentic edge that can’t be beaten, and iPhones can’t replicate the experience of shooting film, if costs keep spiraling and no one online can tell the difference, then how long will new film cameras last?

With a lot riding on its shoulders as the camera to usher in the new age of film, does the Pentax 17 rise to meet the challenge?

Pentax 17: Specifications

Pentax 17: Price

I keep going back and forth on the value of the Pentax 17. On the one hand, it takes damn good photos, but on the other, whenever I pick it up, neither the build nor features sell me that it is $500 worth of camera. Obviously, substantial development costs went into creating a brand new film camera, but when it is possible to get a digital camera like the Canon EOS R100 or a phone like the excellent Pixel 8a for less money, it is hard to feel fully satisfied with the price.

This isn’t the only production film camera in town though, you can pick up a new half-frame Kodak H35 film camera for a fraction of that cost (around $50), although the image quality from the Kodak lens isn’t nearly up to the Pentax, the Kodak certainly still takes charming retro images that'll look good on your Instagram. 

If you are willing to play the second-hand market then there are plenty of great condition cameras from the film era for under $100 like the ever-popular Olympus Trip 35 (at the time of writing there are 1,600+ matching listings on eBay).

There is a reliability risk with buying old camera gear, and while the new Pentax 17 is, in theory, more reliable and can be repaired by Pentax should you damage it – repairs cost money, and in the end, it might be cheaper to just buy multiple copies of your favorite second-hand cameras. I have bought three Canon AE-1 cameras over about 10 years – and only spent around $250.

Pentax 17: Design & Handling

Pentax has done an excellent job styling the 17. There must have been a real temptation to just recreate a beloved design from the past, but instead, Pentax has developed a camera that looks every bit like a classic from the film era, yet with its own distinct imprint. It looks great, and it is easy to see why it has captured so much buzz online. 

However, appearances can be deceiving. While the Pentax 17 might look the part, when you pick it up the feel is underwhelming. The whole design just feels quite toy-like. The magnesium-alloy material could easily be confused for silver-painted plastic (which it was by several people I showed it to). There are also a few choices I am not sold on like the faux-leather finish on the front not stretching around onto the back of the camera. Some of the mixed textures across the camera like the raised diamond pattern just feel cheap.

The thing is, I don't think the camera needed to be so light and plastic-y. The resurgence of vintage clunky and heavy film cameras has shown that people are happy to carry around what is maybe not the most practical camera if it looks and feels right. Pentax, if you're going to design a vintage camera – go all the way.

However, despite my reservations around the feel of the materials, the camera does feel robust. The wind lever has a nice solid clunk to it and the dials feel precise with a nice click, but the mode dial really needs a lock. I managed to turn it accidentally quite a few times, and I don’t think it came out of my bag once in the same position as it went in. 

The film loading process is incredibly easy and I didn’t have any issues – just pop the canister in the back, line up the end with the marker, and close the case. This is blessed relief from some of the horrendous film-loading designs I have endured over the years. It takes about 5-6 photos to get to the official beginning of the roll, but I found that I could squeeze in a few shots before the counter hit zero. While there is no film advance indicator, the wind mechanism will spin as you advance the film using the lever. 

You are also able to rewind the film manually mid-way through the roll if you need to change the film mid-way. There is no double exposure mode, but if you want to attempt some double exposures you can use the old trick of fooling the camera into thinking it has been wound on by popping the rewind button to disengage the wind as you crank the lever. 

Winding the film back in was smooth, with a clear difference in resistance once the film was off the spool which should reduce any premature openings (I've done this before on other cameras, and it's devastating).

The viewfinder is one of my favorite aspects of the Pentax 17 design. As this is a half-frame camera, the viewfinder is vertical when the camera is held horizontally, and you can turn the camera portrait to take landscape photos. Which surprisingly didn't take much getting used to.

The viewfinder is not particularly big, but it is clear and easy to compose through, with framing lines that seem to be very accurate (from my recollection of desired framing at the time vs the final image). You can also see which focus zone you are in which is really handy for not taking your eye from the viewfinder. The viewfinder also goes slightly beyond the frame, which is handy for watching for a subject to enter the frame.

Next to the viewfinder, there is a red and blue LED that flash when something is wrong, although since I wasn't carrying the manual around with me, I wasn't always sure what the issue was. Some are obvious like the lens cap is still on, or I hadn't wound the film. Although some of the warnings were about lighting conditions or being in a certain zone which weren't immediately clear. What if I was in poor lighting and in the close-up zone? It would be nice to get a little clearer feedback than just an incessant flashing.

Powering those LEDs is a CR2 lithium battery, which are very widely available and I don't think should be going anywhere anytime soon. There is a note in the specifications that rules out rechargeable versions of the CR2 (likely due to the different voltage), which is an environmental disappointment but you shouldn't be churning through these batteries. The battery also powers the light meter and the flash and Pentax thinks you should get through 10 rolls of film if you use flash 50% of the time. (Unfortunately, I did not manage to shoot 10 rolls, i.e. 720 photos, in the week I had the camera to test this).

Pentax 17: Performance

In practice, I think the Pentax 17 is more simplistic to use than I hoped when it was first announced. But whether this is a good or bad thing for you depends on your expectations for how you want your photographic experience. Sometimes I was glad to just be able to slip the camera into auto and let it do its thing, but more often, I wanted the option to do more with my settings.

Pentax has chosen to prioritize the type of photographer who is going to want the highest proportion of immaculate shots, which in the economy of film today is a smart move – film photography is expensive and no one wants to waste money on rolls where they didn't quite nail the settings. But because of this lack of freedom, I found the camera a little less fun to shoot with.

You can play with the exposure using the compensation dial, but I found with no feedback from the camera there is a lot of guesswork based on your own assumed center-weighted average about how much compensation to apply. I have a decent sense of when I should be applying compensation, but without vital settings information, I can't even employ a light meter to help me out. I tended to just leave the exposure compensation dial untouched for just applying small changes and letting the camera decide what was best.

The film ISO is also manual, which means you can set it to a different ISO from the box speed for alternate looks to your images. There are some options for slow shutter speed if you're carrying a tripod, or a 'Bokeh' more maxing the aperture (more on these in a sec). Otherwise, apart from choosing if you want to have the flash on or off, there isn't much else to do.

For others though, I am sure this ease of use will be the biggest selling point – as with minimal input, the Pentax 17 didn't fail to take consistently good shots. Out of the four rolls of film I took with the camera, it achieved the highest proportion of "keepers" I think I have ever had with any film camera. The ones that were missed were mostly down to my own dumb human errors (remember to check your focus zone everyone). 

I also didn't think I would be, but I am now a half-frame convert. Having only played around a little with half-frame before to not always the most ideal results, I was skeptical about Pentax going down this route, but the Pentax 17 has really won me over with its impressive results.

Scanning the images with one of the best film scanners (I used the Plustek OpticFilm 135i) gives plenty of resolution for display online or on social media, or even small prints. The below examples were scanned at 3600dpi, you can hit the icon in the corner to view them in full resolution. 

With the price of film and development continuing to climb, getting 72+ frames on a roll really makes a difference when you are shooting a lot of them.

I think the Pentax 17's half-frame success comes down to its lens. With its compressed appearance, and plastic-y design, it might not look like it's capable of much, but the lens is incredibly sharp. Although what did I expect when the lens is based on the Ricoh Auto Half and the Pentax Espio Mini lenses? The lens also has an HD coating for sharpness and an SP coating for easier cleaning, which are taken from Pentax's DSLR lenses.

The zone-focusing system is also a wonder. With having to eyeball estimate so many distances, I was absolutely certain that I would have missed quite a few, yet there is enough leeway in the focus zones that you really don't have to get it exactly right. The camera automatically adjusts the aperture for different focus zones, so it maximizes the depth of field possible in each zone while keeping things pin sharp.

Unsurprisingly as the Pentax 17 does so well at nailing the perfect exposure in good light, this also extends to the camera's flash modes. There is a separate area on the mode dial for the flash with two options. The regular P mode is for your everyday flash shooting – either utilizing the flash as a fill light on a backlit subject or shooting in low light. The flash isn't powerful enough to light much beyond a group picture, but for these shots and portraits, it does a decent job, although as the flash is direct and has no diffusion, the light takes on a harsh quality.

There is also a separate mode for forced long exposure with flash, this is slightly harder to get to grips with but is useful in situations where you might want to light a subject, but also create light trails or keep some of the ambient light in the background. Like with any long exposure, you're going to need to carry a sturdy tripod and have a static subject.

The Pentax 17 also includes a 'BOKEH' mode, which increases the aperture to the maximum permissible size to still expose the photo correctly. If you want to get technical, bokeh is actually the shape and quality of specular highlights, not depth of field, but I guess that didn't look as good on the dial. 

Despite the smaller half-frame size the Pentax 17 can achieve some pleasing results, although with a maximum aperture of f/3.5 and a focal length of 25mm (or 37mm in full frame), the camera isn't going to be creating any super creamy backgrounds. 

The bokeh mode also only really becomes effective the closer you get to a subject. I think it's best to think of this like an iPhone's portrait mode, and it is only really worth slipping into this mode once you move into the portrait zone of the lens' focus options.

The Pentax 17 also has a macro mode, although the word macro may not be the right word to use here. The camera can focus down to 0.24m in this mode, which is pretty close for flowers and insects, but it's not macro and not going to reproduce life-size detail as you would get from a true macro lens. A 25mm focal length would also not be my first choice, although it can create an interesting perspective. 

Due to the rangefinder design of the camera, the Pentax 17 has a parallax compensation frame in the viewfinder for lining up macro (and tabletop) shots which I found to be effective. From what I can recall, the framing matched perfectly with the final shot, and I managed to get a few close-up shots that were sharp and detailed. You can see in the image below that the camera managed to capture some bees feeding on a flower. 

Pentax 17: Sample Images

These images (as well as those above) were all shot with the Pentax 17 on a mix of color Kodak Ektar 100 and Kodak Portra 400, and black-and-white Ilford HP5 Plus film. 

Development was handled by my local lab. I then scanned the film using a Plustek OpticFilm 135i film scanner and VueScan software to create RAW.dng files – before converting the .dng scans using Negative Lab Pro.

You can, of course, get your lab to produce scans for you as well.

Pentax 17: Verdict

The Pentax 17 is a solid first entry into Pentax's film project, and despite any reservations I had with the camera, I am very excited to see film cameras being produced once again.

On one hand, I appreciate the simplicity of the Pentax 17. With minimal skill, the Pentax 17 delivers reliably good photos nearly without fail. The lens is exceptional in producing incredibly sharp images, the viewfinder is bright and makes it a breeze to line up shots, and the zone focusing feature pleasantly surprised me with its accuracy. The half-frame design also makes some efficient use of film rolls, stretching their capacity further as film and development become increasingly expensive.

However, I found the camera's simplistic nature to be a double-edged sword. It is clear that this camera is designed to cater to a social media-savvy audience, with its straightforward approach being a deliberate choice to appeal to those who will prioritize the camera for its film aesthetic over its technical photography abilities. Yet because of this, I didn't find the point-and-shoot photography experience all that fun, and I found myself yearning for more manual controls.

When it comes to the price tag, the build quality is just underwhelming for what it costs. The plastic-y toyish feel of the camera body did not align with my expectations based on the exceptional design of the camera, and while as a fashion accessory, the design is an absolute classic, it doesn’t feel like good value.

Alternatives

Thomas Hoepker, the esteemed German photographer and longtime member of Magnum Photos, has passed away peacefully at the age of 88 - announced today on Instagram via Magnum Photos.

Born in Munich, Germany, in 1936, Hoepker's career spanned seven decades, leaving an indelible mark on the world of photojournalism and documentary photography.

Hoepker's fascination with photography began early. Aged fourteen, his grandfather gifted him an old plate camera, igniting a passion that would shape his future. He pursued studies in art, history, and archaeology at the University of Göttingen, but his calling was always behind the lens. In 1960, before completing his studies, Hoepker was hired by Münchner Illustrierte magazine. He continued to hone his craft at Kristall until 1963 and joined Stern magazine in 1964, where he gained widespread recognition for his compelling photojournalism.

1964 was a pivotal year for Hoepker as he was invited to join the prestigious Magnum Photos agency. Magnum began distributing his archive photographs, marking the start of a long and fruitful association. By 1989, Hoepker had become a full member of Magnum, eventually serving as its president from 2003 to 2006

Hoepker and his then-wife, Eva Windmöller, were pioneers in East Berlin, becoming Stern’s first accredited correspondents. In 1976, they relocated to New York City, where Hoepker spent the majority of his professional life. He served as an art director for the American edition of Geo and later worked at Stern in Hamburg from 1987 to 1989.

Over the years, Hoepker's work has been exhibited globally, earning him numerous awards and accolades. His ability to capture the essence of the human experience made his images timeless. Among his most iconic photographs are candid shots of Muhammad Ali and a poignant image of New Yorkers in Brooklyn on September 11, 2001, chatting calmly while the Twin Towers burned in the background.

In recent years, Hoepker's life and career were celebrated in the 2022 documentary "Dear Memories," and he published his most recent book, "The Way It Was," in the same year. These works offer a deep dive into his extensive career and the stories behind some of his most famous photographs.

Thomas Hoepker's legacy is not only defined by his stunning visual storytelling but also by his ethical approach to photojournalism. His work has left a lasting impact, inspiring countless photographers and viewers alike. Hoepker's contributions to the field of photography ensure that his memory and influence will endure for generations to come.

Thomas Hoepker died after a long battle with Alzheimer’s on July 10, 2024 in Santiago, Chile.

Samsung has announced its 2024 foldable lineup, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Galaxy Z Fold 6, iterative updates to last year's Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5. In the past, Samsung has had a relative monopoly on the foldables market, but that's starting to change. Honor's mighty Magic V2 is exquisitely thin for a foldable, the OnePlus Open seriously impressed us with its cameras, and Motorola's new Razr 50 Ultra is upping the stakes for flip phones. So has Samsung done enough with its Z Flip 6 and Z Fold 6?

Samsung seems most excited about the AI features its two new foldables are launching with. Its Galaxy AI has been rolled out across 3.2 million devices in the UK since January 2024, and Samsung clearly wants to be the poster child for artificial intelligence on smartphones. 

For the Z Flip 6 and Z Fold 6, the most interesting AI feature is part-folded cover-screen interpreting, so you can have a conversation with someone, they see their language (French, for example) on the front display, and you see the English translation on the main display.

There are some smart AI imaging features we haven't seen on other Galaxy devices too. The Z Flip 6, for example, can auto-frame a subject when part-folded between 0.6-3x zoom. 

When editing a photo, you can sketch on a picture you've taken and Samsung's Galaxy AI will turn that sketch into an element on your picture – a hat, for example – and it will attempt to embed it within the image in a natural way. You can also create a Pixar-like illustration or sketch from a photo you've taken.

As for the more serious AI editing tools like object removal, these are all back from the Galaxy S24 series, read our Galaxy S24 Ultra review to find out more about them.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6: what's new?

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 is available in three colors: Mint, Silver Shadow, Yellow and Blue, all new for 2024. Samsung has rejigged its camera design and improved the cover screen UI, adding a new interactive wallpaper and also integrated AI into cover screen message replies. It does this by analyzing the last 10 messages in a conversation and choosing an appropriate tone.

The main camera of the Galaxy Z Flip 6 has also been upgraded over its predecessor, bumped up to a 50MP sensor (the same main camera as the Galaxy S24), and the ultra-wide also features a newer sensor, so challenging scenes and lowlight video should be handled better this time around.

Samsung has also worked to integrate all its photo processing, from night mode to lowlight video enhancement, directly within key third-party apps. This should save users from having to jump out of Instagram to record a Story or Reel.

Other updates include a new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chipset, upping the power, and with a vapor chamber cooling system – a first for the line – it should manage heat better than the Z Flip 5, an issue we faced when reviewing it.

The phone will also have a modest 4000mAh battery and be available with either 256GB or 512GB storage and 12GB RAM.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6: what's new?

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 has had more of a design update than the Z Flip 6. It's a bit wider and shorter, so the cover screen feels a bit less stretched than past Z Fold phones, and the corners are more angular. As a result, it shares the same design DNA as the Galaxy S24 Ultra which is no bad thing.

The Z Fold 6 is also the lightest Z Fold to date, weighing 239g, though it isn't quite the lightest foldable, with both Honor and Oppo's alternatives weighing less. Available in Silver Shadow, Pink, and Navy, all finishes have matte back panels and metal frames, feel well-weighted on first impression, and are premium to the touch.

Just like the Z Flip 6, the Z Fold 6 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy and sports 256GB or 512GB storage, with the Fold also available in a 1TB model, with all options packing 12GB RAM.

The unfolded inner screen also supports S Pen input, and you can pick up a relatively slim-line case that stows the pen. It's a shame the S Pen doesn't work on the cover display like the Honor Magic V2's pen, though in our brief time doodling with it, pressure sensitivity and accuracy seemed on-point on the 7.6-inch main screen.

Price, availability and initial impressions

You can pre-order the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 for $1,099.99 / £1,049 / AU$1,799 for the 256GB model and $1219.99 / £1,149 / AU$1,999 for the 512GB model. 

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 starts at $1,899.99 / £1,799 / AU$2,749 for the 256GB model, costs $2,019.99 / £1,899 / AU$2,949 for the 512GB model, and $2,259.99 / £2,099 / AU$3,299 for the 1TB model. 

The phones will be on sale from 24 July, 2024.

On first impression, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Z Fold 6 both seem like solid options and safe bets, but the hardware is a touch uninspiring when compared to the hottest foldables out now like the Vivo X Fold 3 (available in India and China), Honor Magic V2 and Motorola RAZR 50 Ultra.

Samsung does have some real advantages: its software and AI features are a cut above the rest in many respects, both foldables are IP48-rated water and dust-resistant, and on the subject of durability, Samsung has more repair centers globally than the competition.

When recommending a foldable, therefore, Samsung is a safe bet purely based on repairability, though fixing a Z Flip or Z Fold flexible display phone will still cost you a lot of money.

We're excited about the Z Flip 6's new cameras and the superior heat management as they were key shortcomings of the Z Flip 5. The Z Fold 6's new design feels much less dated than the Z Fold 5's, and the wider displays should work well in the real world.

The full reviews of both the Z Flip 6 and Z Fold 6 will be dropping in the coming weeks, and to scope out both phones' key competition, read our guide to the best flip and fold phones of 2024.

The epitome of instant photography, Polaroid cameras experienced a frenzied popularity wave in the 1970s, only to be thwarted by increased film costs and, of course, the rise of digital. 

As with all good things, a passion for Polaroid photography has come around again, and one photographer on Instagram has had a huge amount of success with her unique way of developing her images. 

Texas-based photographer Hannah Harbour, 31, shared her video to Instagram, where it has been viewed by over 19 million people. 

Above: Hannah Harbour's short video showing her Polaroid Lift technique

“Polaroids have been present in my life from childhood,” Harbour told Digital Camera Word, “I used to file through old family photos excitedly, captivated by the idyllic mellow saturation that seemed to freeze the past in a timeless haze .

“There’s something about the instant, unpredictable nature of a polaroid that is so exciting! Digital photography is great at capturing a moment of time, polaroid's, however, capture the very feeling of a moment, the essence and soul of the subject in the shot; it’s magical, truly, nothing compares.”

Using a variety of both analog and digital cameras, Harbour says her first love is film, and her current favorite camera is the Canon A1, “simply because it’s built like a tank and serves me well for just about everything.”

She also favors the Polaroid Now+, which has a Bluetooth feature you can control from your smartphone. “I find this extremely helpful given that I shoot a lot of self–portraits.”

“Recently, I’ve been shooting a lot more digital photos with the Olympus OM-D E-M1. I don’t have any particular reason for choosing this camera other than it was a decent, affordable option available when I decided to try my hand at digital. I figured if I enjoy it enough, I’ll invest in a “better” camera but for now it does the job!” 

Harbour shared her process with Digital Camera World. She starts with a freshly shot Polaroid, preferably between 15 minutes and an hour after the image was taken and had time to develop.

“The first step is to cut the border of the Polaroid off, leaving just the image. With the borderless image, I carefully peel the image apart and place the portion with the image into a tray of hot water.

"The water takes effect and begins to lift the image from the plastic part of the Polaroid, and I use a paintbrush to assist in the removal if needed.”

“Once the emulsion is free from the plastic, I straighten it out in the water using a paintbrush or my fingers and slowly insert a piece of watercolor paper in the water and under the emulsion.

“Using 2 fingers holding 2 corners of the emulsion to the paper, I lift it out of the water. To straighten the emulsion onto the paper, I will then dip each edge in and out of the water until I am happy with the result.

“I let it dry on paper towels until the emulsion is completely dry and secure the paper. If I am doing multiple emulsion lifts on one paper, I let each image dry before adding another, so the first image isn’t disturbed.”

Film cameras have seen a huge resurgence in popularity in recent years, with Leica reporting a 900% increase in film camera sales, after nearly scrapping their analog range altogether.

“I feel people are starting to emerge from the endless malaise of the digital and phone-photography era," said Harbour, "where memories are captured instantly in abundance but just as quickly become lost in technical obsoletion. People are valuing physical media now more than ever as a way to possess a firm grip on their memories and passions."

Harbour has produced a 15-page downloadable guide on the Polaroid Lift process, illustrated with her own drawings. It can be bought from her website for $10.

Take a look at our guides to the best instant cameras cameras, the best retro cameras, and the best film cameras on the market. 

Content creation has gradually been revolutionizing the world of commercial photography and marketing. It’s transformed from a pool of images on platforms like Instagram and 500px into a dynamic and multifaceted art form. Having started out directing social media campaigns, photographer and videographer Chris Priestley is a full-time creator who harnesses the power of Canon cameras to bring his ideas to life.

You need energy, passion and a multi-skilled approach to succeed online in the crowded digital era, but Chris is careful with what he posts, usually opting for quality over quantity. Self-taught and seemingly self-driven, he now shoots white-label campaigns for massive global brands and has already worked with (and for) Starbucks, Red Bull and Aston Martin.

Blending a mixture of editorial and commercial genres, Chris’s luxury lifestyle content often receives millions of views, but his approach and budgets can be impressively low-key. Read on to discover the evolution of Chris’ career, and how switching from DSLR to mirrorless has been pivotal in helping him to create dramatic and compelling narratives that keep drawing audiences and clients back for more.

A longer version of this interview originally appeared in Issue 211 of Photo Plus magazine. Click the link below to see our latest special subscription deal!

It's officially been one year since Meta launched Threads, a social platform built off of Instagram to tackle the likes of Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter). Well, 12 months on Threads has hit 175 million users, and some are saying it's the best platform for photographers.

Well, I'm here to give you the scoop. I've been on Instagram since the original logo, if anyone can remember that Polaroid camera! I've now been on Threads for siz months, and I physically have to stop myself from going on the platform every five minutes, some might say I'm addicted to it, but I say there is no problem when you do it out of enjoyment!

I was late to the party with Threads, and have been a keen user of both Instagram and Twitter (now X) for many years, I saw all my photo buddies and followers going on about how good Threads was, better image uploading, better place for people to communicate with each other, etc. – everything that X and Instagram had, apparently Threads had it all in one.

Well, I waited and thought it would die off like many social media platforms that promote creatives, and photographers specifically, and I was so wrong! I have personally found Threads to be the best platform to communicate with like-minded creatives, my favorite YouTubers, and photographers around the world.

Threads is like the early days of Instagram when you posted a comment on someone's post and actually got a reply back – but on Threads it's like that all the time, and you will get responses from the original poster and other users on the platform. I see it like Reddit, but with better pictures!

That's why I agree that it's the perfect place for photographers, but with the caveat that it is best for communicating. Sharing your images does get you some engagement, but more than Instagram? I'm not so sure. 

For me at least I see more engagement when I participate in others' debates, than I do when posting my own content. But I don't mind that, as that's what I use Threads for – to communicate! 

Check our guide to the best camera phones to do your social from, or perhaps read an opinion of why photos matter from a writer with a high Twitter following.

It is a stereotype that artists and creatives believe themselves to be constantly hard–done by, however, in the face of modern technology, it would appear they’re right. 

Between the scandal at Adobe, for which they are now being sued, and Meta dubiously labelling photographers work as “made with AI,” it’s been a depressing glimpse into the future for many original creatives. 

Since April of this year, photographers have been on the warpath after Meta started forcefully labelling their Instagram photographs as “made with AI” for tiny edits, including minor Photoshop tweaks.

After allegedly “listening” to the feedback, Meta has now adapted their AI labelling technique, but is it any better? 

Meta has replaced the “made with AI” label with “AI Info” on images it detects to have come into contact with any AI tech. 

In an update to Meta’s webpage “Our Approach to Labelling AI–Generated Content and Manipulated Media,” originally created in April they have said:

“We’ve found that our labels based on [industry standard AI] indicators weren’t always aligned with people’s expectations and didn’t always provide enough context. For example, some content that included minor modifications using AI, such as retouching tools, included industry-standard indicators that were then labeled “Made with AI".

“While we work with companies across the industry to improve the process so our labeling approach better matches our intent, we’re updating the “Made with AI” label to “AI Info” across our apps, which people can click for more information.”

So how does this help artists and photographers?

Not much when you learn that when users click on the new tags, it will still flash up with the same message “made with AI,” but will now come with a "detailed" explanation of the tags justification. The limited options include indicating that the image might be entirely AI–generated, or edited using AI tools. It is not clear yet whether the types and breadth of tools will be detailed. 

Users will first notice the change across mobile apps, with the main rollout happening gradually across other platforms. 

The vast majority of creatives I know have been calling for more transparency over AI generated images since their emergence, but what they are referring to is work that is almost entirely created using programs. 

Under these rules, even with the update, there is still not enough of a differentiation between a perfectly reasonable edit on a real, original photograph, such as removing a speck of dust, or significant edits that change the authenticity of the image.

We're all still going to do it so here are the best photo editing software, and the best photo-editing laptops for photographers.