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Astrophotographer captures rare image of STEVE over Canada

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Early Monday morning a powerful solar storm hit planet Earth. The stream of charged solar particles from the sun caused an arresting display of aurora when they hit the Earth’s atmosphere. One lucky astrophotographer captured the spectacular sky and also managed to witness a very rare elusive phenomenon called STEVE.

Alan Dyer, an astronomy writer and photographer based in southern Alberta, Canada, knew exactly what he was seeing. The iridescent purple river of light crossing the sky wasn’t just part of the usual aurora, but was created by an entirely different mechanism and wasn’t even discovered until 2017.

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Spanish ministry in hot water over stolen images used for beach body ad campaign

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Three British women have made complaints so far when they spotted images of themselves used without their permission in a Spanish government campaign. The advertisement was commissioned by the Spanish Women’s Institute as part of their Equality Ministry.

The poster translates roughly as “Summer is our’s too”, and shows five women of different body shapes and sizes enjoying a day at the beach. The image was put together by artist Arte Machape, however, it appears that neither Machape nor the Spanish Government bothered to request permission to use the images of the women. And in an even stranger twist, the Spanish ministry has said that it didn’t know that they were “real people”.

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Canon’s next mirrorless camera could be yet another cropped sensor aimed at vloggers

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Canon is fast investing in its lineup of RF mount mirrorless cameras. This year saw the announcement of two new APS-C mirrorless cameras from Canon: the R7 and R10. Now new rumours have been flying around that Canon’s next camera will also be a cropped frame sensor mirrorless camera intended to address the vlogging market.

The mirrorless line had previously been targeting the higher end of the market, with the R5 and R3 properly aimed at the needs of professional photographers. But usually reliable rumour site Canon Rumours has said that they have information that the next camera will be “a small form factor “vlogger”, which…will be close to the Canon EOS M6 Mark II in design.”

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Dad creates smart webcam to tell him when newborn is hungry

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It often makes me laugh when I see a news article about sleep deprivation tests. Typically the subjects cannot make it past about a week on less than 4 hours sleep a night. I laugh in their faces. “Try going 15 months of 4 hours sleep a night,” I say to myself, “a week? you’re weak!”.

And so would be echoed the world over by parents of new babies. One new dad, however, has taken his lack of sleep seriously and has hacked a webcam to analyze his sleeping baby and tell him when the baby is hungry. Where was this man 5 years ago when I needed him?

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Ukraine’s First Lady sparks Sit like a girl photo trend after Vogue cover shoot

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Ukraine’s First Lady, Olena Zelenska has sparked an online trend of women sitting in a traditionally masculine pose. The trend is hashtagged “Sit like a girl” after  Zelenska was featured sitting in this position on the cover of Vogue.

The image was shot by Annie Leibovitz and shows her seated on some steps, front facing the camera, legs apart, elbows resting on knees. The stance apparently provoked a wave of criticism that it wasn’t ladylike enough for a leader’s wife. However, Zelenska is no ordinary woman.

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The Zhiyun Smooth Q4: a solid smartphone stabiliser built for travel vloggers

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Whether we like it or not, video has become a part of our everyday lives. We now take it for granted that the ability to shoot good enough quality video resides in our pockets. But shooting stable video is still very difficult to do handheld. That’s where a good stabiliser or gimbal becomes an essential piece of equipment.

I was very excited to try out the Zhiyun Smooth-Q4 smartphone stabiliser and see just how good it was. I ended up taking it on a few short trips to see how it would hold up quite literally ‘in the field’. I tried it using my rather geriatric but still going strong Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 Android phone.

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Moment release new travel camera backpack collaboration with Emmett Sparling

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Photography accessories company Moment is confirming their presence in the camera bag market by launching another travel camera backpack. This time around they have paired up with travel photographer Emmett Sparling to create the 35L Day Chaser Backpack.

Sparling says that he spent 5 years travelling with every type of camera bag possible, and was increasingly frustrated by the options available. They were either traditional bags that locked you into a pre-set configuration, and often didn’t protect your gear very well. So he teamed up with Moment to create one that fitted his vision.

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Scientists develop stamp sized ultrasound patches that create images of your internal organs

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From unborn babies in the womb to kidney stones, ultra sound technology is a marvelous thing. It allows us to see inside our bodies in a non-invasive way. It’s been used as a diagnostic tool in medicine for sometime now, at least 50 years and generally it requires a specialist radiologist or sonographer and bulky machines.

Scientists at MIT want to change all that and have invested an ultrasound ‘patch’, a little like a Nicorette patch, which can be sold in pharmacies or used in small doctor’s practices. And it’s the size of a postage stamp.

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This anti-Instagram photo sharing app wants you to post a photo of whatever you’re doing

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Is it just me or is everyone sick of Instagram these days? The once photography-centric sharing app has now morphed into an advertisement heavy look-at-me-fest with an emphasis on video, not even still photographs. Well never mind, because there’s another option in town, the app called BeReal which only lets you post one image a day.

It’s actually not a new app, however. It was launched in 2020 but recently has gained a lot more users and a large following from Gen Zers.

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The alternative Mother’s Day gift guide, for the MWAC in your life

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Mother’s Day is almost upon us, and perhaps some of you still haven’t figured out the ideal gift yet. It can be incredibly difficult to find that perfect present, but if you’re lucky enough to have a mum who is also a photographer, we are here to help with our alternative Mother’s Day Gift Guide.

If you’re a Mum With A Camera then fear not, we are serious about our mission to ensure that you get what you really want for Mother’s Day, and not yet another DSLR-shaped pendant, lens mug or floral-scarf camera strap. From one ‘mom-tographer’ to another, you’re welcome.

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