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The slow death of creativity in modern photography

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Is photography all the same today? What makes one image different from one another when not only technology allows us to rely on features that trivialise traditional skills, but the pool from which many learn new skills, is so easily accessible?

At a surface level this automation of foundational skills and us all having permanent access to a global knowledge pool that is continuously updated sounds amazing, but are we all becoming the same? If we all have the same tool and the same knowledge, do we run the risk of producing very similar work?

Holiday Gift Guide – Our favourite gadgets and accessories of 2023

Another lap around the sun means another winter holiday season! Black Friday may be over, but here are some more gift ideas this giving season, even if you’re giving to yourself. In this guide, we’re looking at some of our favourite gear of 2023.

It’s the last day of our holiday gift guides today, so it’s time for accessories and gadgets! We’ve already posted our cameras, lenses, lighting, and sliders, tripods & gimbals gift guides, so be sure to check those out.

Stability AI’s new AI generator creates images faster than you imagine them

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On Tuesday, Stability AI introduced a new AI image-synthesis model, Stable Diffusion XL Turbo. The bombastic name reveals its main advantage: it generates images at an unprecedented speed. It produces images in a single step, compared to the 20-50 steps its predecessor required. In other words, it can generate images as fast as you can type… maybe even faster.

AstrHori new 28mm f/13 2x Macro Periscope lens sees round corners

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AstrHori, one of only two companies that seem to make macro probe lenses, has just announced its newest. It’s an updated model of the company’s original 28mm f/13 2x Macro probe (buy here), released in 2022.

The new update takes some pointers from the Laowa 24mm T14 Periprobe lens (buy here), by letting you see around corners. Of course, this is AstrHori, so the new AstrHori 28mm f/13 2x Macro Periscope (buy here) does it at half the price.

Sony World Photography Awards under fire for age limitations in Student contest

Sony World Photography Awards (SWPA) is undoubtedly one of the world’s most prestigious photography contests. However, it recently got under scrutiny for age limitations regarding its “Student” category. Even though you can be a student at any age, the contest only recognizes those up to 30 years of age, which recently stirred up the community. As a mature student myself, in this article, I’d like to offer my own view on the matter.

5 ways to find inspiration when the weather is sad and grey

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I was browsing the subreddit for photography recently, and one particular question from a new photographer caught my eye. It was worded in an amusing way (presumably because English wasn’t their first language). However, it was a very valid question and one that I feel merits some discussion.

“I had a lot of fun learning how to take pictures in sharp sunlight, golden hour and in general playing with light,” the Redditor says, “how to take good pictures when there’s no light and only sadness?” Indeed. How do you take good photos when there is “only sadness”? Well, luckily, I can think of a lot, and maybe this will help get someone out of a rut.

How to make beautiful frozen soap bubble photos this winter

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It’s hard to conjure up the motivation to go outside and take photos when it’s 10 degrees below zero (so I’m told!). However, there are plenty of interesting and beautiful subjects to explore that won’t take you far away from your warm living room.

In this video, Jens from Another Perspective shows us how easy it is to shoot gorgeous snowflakes inside soap bubbles. The best part is that you don’t need any expensive equipment (apart from a camera and lens).

Amazon unveils its very own text-to-image generator

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We knew it wouldn’t be long before Amazon jumped onto the generative AI bandwagon. But here they are, just announcing their new text-to-image generator, amongst other AI-related things.

Amazon Web Services launched their new AI model, Titan, at the re:Invent conference this week. Just like every other image generator out there, it can create images from text or change an existing image using in-painting, out-painting, and background-altering techniques.

Holiday Gift Guide – The best new tripods, sliders and gimbals of 2023

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Another lap around the sun means another winter holiday season! Black Friday may be over, but here are some more gift ideas this giving season, even if you’re giving to yourself. In this guide, we’re looking at some of our favourite gear of 2023.

Day four is sliders, tripods and gimbals! So, these are some of our favourite new camera support products released over the last year. We’ve already posted our cameras, lenses and lighting gift guides, but visit back tomorrow for our final guide covering accessories and gadgets.

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