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Instagram goes SnapChatty adding “Stories” that disappear after 24 hours

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No longer do you have to worry over whether you’re spamming you stream with too many images. Introduced today, Instagram Stories lets you share moments of your day, grouped together as a slideshow.

Interestingly, at a time when SnapChat is adding features to make content a little more permanent, Instagram Stories seems to be going the other way. Photos and videos get removed after 24 hours and don’t appear on your profile grid or in your feed. Instead, you’ll see stories from people you follow across a bar at the top of your feed.

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How a photographer lit and photographed this couple in Antelope Canyon

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A common source of inspiration for photographers, and a very popular tourist spot, Arizona’s Antelope Canyon is truly wonderful. Formed mostly due to erosion from flash floods, its passages cover a length of around 600 metres (2,000ft).

It’s no surprise, then that it’s a popular destination for portraits, especially for California wedding photographer Christine Diaz. When I saw the image above, the colour and vibrancy just leaped out at me. I had to get in touch with Christine to find out more.

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The World’s first digital camera, introduced by the man who invented it

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Steven Sasson invented the world’s first digital camera while working at Eastman Kodak in 1975. It weighed around 8 pounds (3.6kg) and shot a mere 0.01MP. It’s crazy to think how far we’ve come since those early days.  We’ve gone from 30 images on a delicate cassette to thousands on something as small as a fingernail.

In this video, Steven shows us around the camera, talks us through its operation, and laments on the difficulties faced during its development. Hearing how far they expected digital to go compared to how far it actually has come is fascinating.

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35mm film multipacks and large format stocks being discontinued by Fuji

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It almost feels like Fujifilm want to forget that part of their name includes the word “film”. They seem to be doing everything they can to kill it off in the last couple of years. Last year, they discontinued several much loved film stocks and hiked the price up on the rest. At the beginning of 2016, they increased the price again and killed off FP-100C.

Now, Fujifilm Japan announce that more film multipacks and large format stocks are to be discontinued. If my translation of Google’s translation is correct, it seems there is simply just a lack of demand.

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5 Reasons why you need a 70-200mm lens

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There was a time when the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8VR was the lens I used most often. I was mostly shooting portraits on location. Once I started moving toward the studio and to animals, I opened up my options. So, a 50mm and 105mm macro suddenly became my go-to glass.

Now, I’m getting back out on location and find myself using a 70-200mm more often again. I did miss it and I’ll never get rid of it, although I may still neglect it occasionally. In this video from DigitalRev, Kai gives us his 5 reasons why everybody should have one.

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The Voyager 4 drone camera offers 16x optical zoom for up to 1500mm equivalent

After a zoom feature appeared in DJI’s new Zenmuse Z3 drone camera, I knew it wouldn’t be long before we saw more. What I did not expect, however, was a camera that could give the range that this does.

The recently announced Walkera Voyager 4 boasts a rather impressive 16x optical superzoom lens. This puts it way beyond DJI’s Z3 and seems to pummel it into the ground. But, how good can it really be?

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Photographer captures amazing photos of the Milky Way over the mirrored salt flats of Bolivia

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Astrophotography is one of those genres I love to admire from a distance. I’ve tried it occasionally and failed miserably every time. I’m sure most of it is down to my technique, although I’m going to blame clouds and light pollution anyway. I’d love to be good at it, but it’s just not going to happen.

So, when I see work from people like Russian landscape photographer, Daniel Kordan, I am both amazed and impressed. During a recent visit to Sala de Uyuni in Bolivia, Daniel managed to capture something incredible. The Milky Way reflecting off the surface of the flooded salt flats.

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5 ways to get rid of chromatic aberration in Photoshop

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Chromatic aberration (CA) can be a pain, especially in high contrast situations. It’s also called colour fringing. It’s most common in inexpensive consumer lenses, but pro glass is not immune. Shooting at extreme wide or tiny apertures can introduce it quickly even with the best gear.

You can take care of most chromatic aberration within Lightroom or ACR. Sometimes, though, only Photoshop can do the job well. In his new video, Jimmy McIntyre’s going to show you five different ways of dealing with it.

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The new Laowa 12mm f/2.8 is designed for full frame and almost distortion free

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Ultrawide angle lenses are practical and fun. Almost every landscape, architectural, wedding or event photographer has one, as do many filmmakers. I have one, too. The problem with most of them, though, is barrel distortion. Usually, the wider the lens, the more of it you get.

You can fix Barrel distortion in Lightroom, but it’s easier if you don’t have to deal with it at all. The new Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D from Venus Optics uses 16 elements in 10 groups to eliminate barrel distortion almost entirely.

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Save yourself some money and learn how to clean your own sensor like a pro

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Learning to clean your camera’s sensor is one of the most valuable skills a photographer can learn. At least when it comes to camera maintenance. It’s a task that many are afraid to learn, worried that they’ll kill their camera. These things are a lot more solid than most give them credit for.

In this video from f64 Academy, Blake Rudis shows you how spot that you even have a dust problem, and then several ways to get rid of it.

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