Author Archives: Anirudh Iyer

Canon Continues Market Leadership in Interchangeable-Lens Cameras Through 2025

Canon Inc. announced that it has maintained the No. 1 global market share for interchangeable-lens digital cameras covering both DSLR & mirrorless models for 23 consecutive years from 2003 to 2025.

The company’s EOS system is built around the concept of “Speed, Comfort, and High Image Quality,” supported by technologies such as CMOS sensors, DIGIC image processors, and a lineup of 113 RF and EF lenses ranging from flagship professional models to entry-level cameras.

In 2003, Canon introduced the EOS Digital Rebel (also called EOS 300D / EOS Kiss Digital), setting foot the digital SLR market. Subsequent launches included the EOS 5D series and flagship EOS-1D series, the former contributing to the adoption of video recording in DSLRs.

Canon stated it will continue developing imaging technologies and expanding its product and service offerings to meet evolving customer needs.

How to capture Deep-Space Objects with Breathtaking Landscapes

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For decades, astrophotography was split into two camps. On one side, you had the landscape photographers capturing the Milky Way arching over a lonely pine tree with a wide-angle lens. On the other hand, you had the deep-space specialists – the “faint photon hunters” – who used massive telescopes to track nebulae and galaxies from their backyards. But recently, a new discipline has emerged that bridges the two: The Deepscape.

A deepscape is a photograph that pairs a distant, high-detail deep-space object (DSO) – like the Orion Nebula, the Andromeda Galaxy, or the Pleiades – with a terrestrial foreground. It is the “final boss” of night photography. It requires the precision of an astronomer and the eye of a landscape artist.

Here is your comprehensive guide to capturing the universe without losing the Earth.

1. The Gear: Moving Beyond the Tripod

When you’re shooting at 14mm, the Earth’s rotation is a minor nuisance. When you’re zooming into a nebula at 200mm or 400mm, the Earth’s rotation is a violent blur. To bridge this gap, your gear list needs an upgrade.

The Equatorial Mount

This is the most critical piece of kit. An equatorial mount (or star tracker) compensates for the Earth’s rotation by moving the camera at the exact same speed as the stars. Without this, your stars will trail in seconds.

The Lens Choice

Forget the wide-angle glass. For deepscapes, you want telephoto lenses.

-> 70-200mm: Perfect for large targets like the Orion Molecular Cloud or the Andromeda Galaxy.

-> 300-500mm: Ideal for smaller nebulae or “compressing” the moon/planets against distant mountains.

The Camera

While a standard DSLR or mirrorless camera works, astromodified cameras are the gold standard. These have the internal IR-cut filter removed to allow the deep red light of Hydrogen-alpha (H\alpha)—the stuff nebulae are made of—to reach the sensor.

2. The Planning: Aligning the Heavens

You can’t just show up and hope for the best. Deepscapes require “celestial alignment”. You need to know exactly where a galaxy will set behind a specific mountain peak.

Essential Tools

PhotoPills or Stellarium: These apps allow you to simulate the night sky at any date and location. You can use the “Night Augmented Reality” mode to see exactly where the Lagoon Nebula will be at 3:00 AM.

The Bortle Scale: You need dark skies. Aim for a Bortle 1-3 location. In a Bortle 8 city, the faint dust of a nebula will be drowned out by the orange glow of streetlights.

The Moon Phase

Unlike wide-field photography where a little moonlight can illuminate the landscape, deep-space objects are easily washed out. Schedule your shoot during the New Moon phase or after the moon has set.

3. The Technical Execution: A Tale of Two Exposures

Because you are using a tracker, you face a physical paradox: if the camera moves to follow the stars, the ground will be blurred. If the camera stays still for the ground, the stars will trail.

The solution? The Composite Method.

Step A: The Sky Frames (Tracked)

Once your mount is polar-aligned, take multiple long exposures of your chosen DSO.

Settings: f/2.8 or f/4, ISO 800-1600, and exposure times of 60–120 seconds.

Stacking: Don’t just take one photo. Take 20 or 30. By “stacking” these images in software, you improve the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR).

You’ll have to try this multiple times in order to find the perfect exposure balance and optimise SNR.

Step B: The Foreground Frames (Untracked)

Turn off your tracker. You need a rock-solid, sharp landscape.

Blue Hour Secret: The best deepscapes often use foregrounds shot during “Blue Hour” (just after sunset or before sunrise). This allows you to capture detail, texture, and colour in the landscape that is impossible to get in pitch blackness.

Long Exposure: If you must shoot at night, take a 5–10 minute exposure at a lower ISO to keep the foreground clean.

Having experience with landscape photography helps a bunch here, and you can practise this a bunch in daylight.

4. The Challenges of Long Focal Lengths

As you increase your focal length, two enemies emerge: Atmospheric Turbulence and Flexure.

Seeing Conditions: On hot nights, the heat rising from the ground creates “shimmering” (atmospheric seeing). This ruins deep-space detail. Aim for cold, stable nights. You can mitigate this by researching the place and weather conditions to make sure the temperature is low and winds are calm.

Wind: At 400mm, a light breeze acts like an earthquake. Use a heavy-duty tripod and hang your gear bag from the centre column for stability.

5. Post-Processing: Bringing the Nebula to Life

This is where the magic (and the hard work) happens. You will likely use software like Adobe Photoshop, PixInsight, or DeepSkyStacker.

The Masking Process

You must carefully mask the tracked sky and blend it with the static foreground. The goal is “believable transitions”. If you see a hard, glowing line around the mountain, the illusion is broken. Use a soft brush and match the colour temperature of the sky’s glow to the light hitting the landscape.

Colour Balancing

Deep space isn’t just black. It’s filled with colourful gases.

Oxygen III: Blue/Green

Hydrogen Alpha: Deep Red

Sulfur II: Deep Orange/Red

Avoid over-saturating. The most breathtaking deepscapes feel like a window into a reality we can’t see with the naked eye, rather than a neon light show.

6. The Ethics of “Faking It”

There is a healthy debate in the community about deepscapes. Is it “real”?

The Rule of Realism: Most pro photographers insist that the DSO must have actually been in that position at that time. Taking a photo of the Andromeda Galaxy in the North and pasting it over a South-facing mountain is generally considered a “digital art piece” rather than a photograph.

The Focal Length Match: Ensure your foreground and sky are shot at the same focal length. If you shoot a mountain at 35mm and a nebula at 400mm and combine them, the scale will look “uncanny” and wrong to the human eye.

Final Say

Capturing a deepscape is an exercise in patience. It is a hobby of failures—forgotten batteries, foggy lenses, and alignment errors—which is bread & butter for landscape and astrophotography—and the only thing you can do to avoid mishaps is practice.

But when you finally align your tracker, wait out the cold, and see the spiral arms of a galaxy hovering over a familiar mountain range, the perspective shift is profound. You aren’t just taking a picture of a rock; you’re capturing the Earth’s place in an infinite, glowing neighbourhood, now frozen in time.

Astronomical Events in 2026 & How to Photograph Them

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The night sky is a dynamic arena, a celestial ballet that has captivated humanity since we first looked upward. While every year offers its share of planetary alignments and meteor showers, some years stand out for hosting truly spectacular, once-in-a-lifetime astronomical phenomena. The year 2026 is poised to be one such year, offering enthusiastic amateurs to seasoned professional photographers incredible opportunities to capture the cosmos.

However, the modern world presents a significant hurdle to astrophotography: light pollution. The encroaching glow of urban sprawl has washed out the heavens for much of the global population. Therefore, planning for the events of 2026 isn’t just about knowing when to look, but where to look. This guide explores the key astronomical events of the upcoming year and weaves in essential techniques for capturing them, emphasising the crucial role of certified Dark Sky locations in achieving breathtaking results.

The Foundation: Seeking True Darkness

Before diving into specific dates, it is essential to establish the importance of location. You cannot photograph faint celestial objects if the atmosphere is glowing with artificial light. For the best possible imagery in 2026, you must seek out true darkness.

This is where International Dark Sky Reserves play a pivotal role. Designated by DarkSky International (formerly the IDA), these are regions surrounded by populated areas that possess an exceptional quality of starry nights and a nocturnal environment that is specifically protected for its scientific, natural, educational, and cultural value.

Visiting a Dark Sky Reserve—such as Aoraki Mackenzie in New Zealand, NamibRand in Namibia, or regions in the American Southwest and rural Europe—does more than just let you see more stars with the naked eye. For a camera sensor, it means a significantly better signal-to-noise ratio. The absence of artificial light allows you to use higher ISO settings and longer exposures without washing out the image frame with orange or grey haze. When planning your 2026 celestial travels, prioritising proximity to a Dark Sky Reserve will exponentially improve your photographic output, especially for faint targets like meteors or the Milky Way’s galactic core.

The Main Event: The Great European Total Solar Eclipse (August 12, 2026)

Without question, the anchor event of 2026 is the total solar eclipse on August 12th. While total eclipses happen somewhere on Earth roughly every 18 months, they often occur over inaccessible oceans or remote tundras. The 2026 path of totality is unique because it crosses highly accessible areas of the Northern Hemisphere during peak travel season, specifically touching eastern Greenland, western Iceland, and cutting a swath across northern Spain.

A total solar eclipse is perhaps the most dramatic natural event a photographer can witness. The moon completely blocks the sun’s brilliant photosphere, plunging day into an eerie twilight, dropping temperatures, and revealing the sun’s magnificent, wispy corona.

Photographing the Eclipse

Capturing an eclipse requires preparation and, crucially, safety equipment. You cannot point your camera at the sun during the partial phases without a certified solar filter; doing so will destroy your camera’s sensor and can instantly blind you if you look through an optical viewfinder.

The photographic workflow involves two distinct stages. During the partial phases, where the moon slowly takes a “bite” out of the sun, a solar filter must be on your lens. You will need a telephoto lens, ideally 400mm or longer, to get a detailed disk size. Spot metering on the sun itself will usually yield a correct exposure, resulting in an orange or white sun against a black sky.

The magic happens during the brief minutes of totality. As the final sliver of sunlight disappears—creating the brilliant “diamond ring” effect—you must swiftly remove the solar filter. This is the only time it is safe to view and photograph the sun naked. During totality, you are photographing the faint solar corona. You will need to drastically change your settings, opening your aperture and slowing your shutter speed. Because the corona’s brightness varies significantly from its inner edge to its outer wisps, the best technique is “bracketing”. Take a rapid sequence of photos at different shutter speeds (ranging from perhaps 1/1000th of a second down to 1 or 2 full seconds) to ensure you capture the full dynamic range of the sun’s atmosphere. As soon as the diamond ring reappears on the opposite side, the filter must go back on immediately.

For those targeting Spain, the eclipse occurs very late in the day, near sunset. This offers a unique, albeit challenging, photographic opportunity to capture the eclipsed sun just above the horizon, potentially incorporating landscape elements—a rare composition in eclipse photography.

The Summer Spectacle: The Perseid Meteor Shower (August 2026)

August 2026 is a powerhouse month for astronomy. Just days around the solar eclipse, the annual Perseid meteor shower will reach its peak. The Perseids are beloved for being bright, frequent, and often producing dramatic fireballs.

Crucially, the moon phase for the 2026 Perseids is incredibly favourable. Because the new moon occurs on August 12th for the eclipse, the peak nights of the Perseids (around August 12th-14th) will feature moonless skies for most of the night. This is the ideal scenario for meteor photography.

Photographing Meteors

Unlike the eclipse, which requires telephoto precision, meteor showers are about wide perspectives and patience. You need a camera with good high-ISO performance and your widest, fastest lens (ideally f/2.8 or faster).

The technique involves setting up your camera on a sturdy tripod in the darkest location you can find—again, a Dark Sky Reserve is the gold standard here. Set your lens to its widest aperture and manually focus on infinity using a bright star. Your ISO will likely need to be between 1600 and 3200, depending on your camera’s noise handling.

You want to take continuous long exposures. A typical exposure time is between 15 and 25 seconds. If you expose longer than that, the stars will begin to trail noticeably due to the Earth’s rotation (unless you are using a star tracker). Use an intervalometer (either built-in or an external remote) to lock the shutter down, taking back-to-back photos for hours.

Compositionally, while the meteors radiate from the constellation Perseus, they can appear anywhere in the sky. It is often best to compose a shot that includes an interesting foreground element—a mountain range, an interesting tree, or an old barn—and point the camera generally toward the radiant point, but including a vast expanse of sky. The goal is to capture as many frames as possible in hopes that a bright meteor streaks through one of them.

Planetary Giants: Jupiter and Saturn at Opposition

Throughout late summer and autumn of 2026, the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn will reach opposition. This means they are opposite the sun in our sky, rising at sunset, staying visible all night, and appearing at their brightest and largest for the year.

While dedicated planetary cameras and large telescopes provide the best views, impressive photographs can be taken with standard DSLR or mirrorless gear. A long telephoto lens (even a 70-200mm with a teleconverter) can resolve Jupiter as a distinct disc and easily capture its four Galilean moons as tiny pinpricks of light lined up beside it. Saturn’s rings are also resolvable with sufficient focal length.

The key challenge here is exposure. The planets are much brighter than the surrounding stars. If you expose the stars, the planets will be blown-out white blobs. You must use a fast shutter speed and low ISO, spot-metering specifically on the planet to capture surface bands on Jupiter or the definition of Saturn’s rings.

The Lunar Finale: Supermoons in 2026

While the year begins with a flurry of celestial activity, it saves a double-header of lunar brilliance for the winter months. In 2026, after the initial supermoon in January, the final two major lunar events occur back-to-back in November and December.

1. The Beaver Supermoon (November 24, 2026)

This moon marks the time of year when beavers traditionally prepare for winter. As a supermoon, it will appear roughly 14% larger and 30% brighter than a standard “micro-moon” (when the moon is at its farthest).

2. The Christmas Eve Cold Supermoon (December 24, 2026)

The final supermoon of the year is particularly poetic, occurring on Christmas Eve. Known as the Cold Moon, it will be the closest full moon of the entire year, reaching its absolute peak brightness against the crisp, clear winter sky.

How to Photograph the 2026 Supermoons

The primary challenge in supermoon photography is the sheer intensity of its light. To the naked eye, it looks massive and detailed; to a camera, it often looks like a glowing white hole in the sky. To get a professional result, you must take full control of your exposure.

The Technical Recipe

Manual Mode is Mandatory: Switch your camera to ‘M’. The moon is essentially a giant rock illuminated by direct sunlight, so it requires settings more akin to daylight photography than night photography.
Low ISO: Keep your ISO as low as possible to preserve the fine details of lunar craters and “seas” (maria).
Narrow Aperture (f/5.6 to f/11): This range is typically the “sweet spot” for lens sharpness. Using a narrower aperture also ensures that if you have distant landscape elements, they remain relatively sharp. But you can use as wide as F/5.6 to let in more light while keeping the entire moon in focus.
Fast Shutter Speeds (1/125s to 1/250s): Surprisingly, the moon moves quite fast across the sky. A common mistake is using a long exposure (e.g., 5 seconds), which results in a blurry, oblong moon. Use a fast shutter to “freeze” the moon and capture its texture.

Conclusion: Preparation Meets Opportunity

The year 2026 offers a compelling itinerary for the astrophotographer. From the high-stakes drama of the Spanish or Icelandic eclipse to the serene, all-night vigils for Perseid meteors, the opportunities are vast. Success in astrophotography, however, rarely happens by accident. It is the result of meticulous planning—scouting locations, understanding the specific phases of the event, practicing with your gear in the dark beforehand, and crucially, respecting the need for true darkness. By aligning your travel plans with certified Dark Sky locations and mastering the techniques required for these varying phenomena, you can ensure that 2026 is the year you capture the universe in all its glory.

Astrophotography featuring Historical Sites

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There is a profound, almost dizzying irony in pointing a high-tech digital sensor at a 4,000-year-old stone circle to capture light that has been traveling through the vacuum of space for millions or billions of years. When we practice astrophotography at historical sites, we aren’t just taking a “pretty picture”. We are performing a feat of cosmic archaeology. We are aligning three distinct timelines: the deep time of the universe, the ancient history of human civilization, and the fleeting millisecond of the camera’s shutter click.

For the modern photographer, these sites offer more than just a foreground; they provide a tether to our ancestors who looked at the same constellations—albeit in slightly different positions—to navigate, harvest, and worship.

The Philosophy of the Frame

Why go to the trouble of hauling thirty pounds of gear to a remote ruin in the middle of the night? Because a photo of the Milky Way over an empty field is a science experiment, but a photo of the Milky Way over the Great Sphinx of Giza is a narrative.

Historical sites provide scale and context. They remind us that while empires crumble and languages fade, the celestial dance remains the one constant. It’s a humbling reminder that we are part of a long continuum of sky-watchers. Plus, let’s be honest: a crumbling Roman aqueduct just looks significantly cooler under a canopy of stars than your backyard fence.

Technical Foundations: The Gear and the Math

Astrophotography is one of the few niches where “spraying and praying” will leave you with nothing but a black screen and a cold cup of coffee. You need a specific toolkit to bridge the gap between the dark earth and the bright stars.

The “Rule of 500”

To avoid “star trailing” (where the stars look like little sausages instead of points of light), photographers use the Rule of 500. This formula helps you calculate the maximum shutter speed before the Earth’s rotation becomes visible in your frame.

If you are using a 20mm lens on a full-frame camera (crop factor of 1), your max exposure is 25 seconds. Any longer, and those stars start to smear.

Planning: The Digital Scout

You cannot simply show up at Stonehenge and hope for the best (mostly because security will tackle you, but also because of the weather). Success in this field is 80% planning and 20% execution.

Light Pollution Maps: Use tools like Dark Site Finder to ensure the ruins aren’t drowned out by the orange glow of a nearby city.

Celestial Alignment: Apps like PhotoPills or Stellarium allow you to use Augmented Reality (AR) to see exactly where the Milky Way core or the Moon will rise relative to the monument.

Permits and Legality: This is a candid peer advice: Do not trespass. Many historical sites are protected UNESCO heritage zones. Shooting at night often requires special permission, a paid guide, or attending “Star Parties” organised by the site’s conservators.

Iconic Locations and Their Challenges

1. The Pyramids of Giza, Egypt

The ultimate prize. The challenge here isn’t just the desert heat; it’s the haze and the light pollution from nearby Cairo. To get a clear shot, photographers often have to use light pollution filters or wait for specific atmospheric conditions that clear the dust.

2. Stonehenge, United Kingdom

Stonehenge is notoriously difficult to access at night. However, the alignment of the stones with the solstices makes it a masterclass in archaeoastronomy. Capturing the North Star (Polaris) centered over a trilithon creates a “star trail” image that feels like a portal through time.

3. Moai of Easter Island (Rapa Nui)

Remote, dark, and haunting. The Moai statues offer a vertical element that perfectly complements the vertical band of the Milky Way. Because there is almost zero light pollution, you can capture the “Airglow”—a faint emission of light from the Earth’s atmosphere—that adds eerie greens and reds to your sky.

Note: When shooting at these sites, “Light Painting” (using a flashlight to illuminate the ruins) is a controversial subject. Many purists prefer using “Low Level Lighting” (LLL) or simply mask in a separate foreground exposure taken during blue hour to maintain a natural, moonlit look. You may go either way depending on the level of effort you wish to put in.

The Art of Post-Processing

The raw file coming out of your camera will likely look flat and underwhelming. The magic happens in the digital darkroom.

Stacking: Taking 10–20 identical shots and using software (like Sequator or Starry Landscape Stacker) to average out the digital noise. This makes the “sky” look silky smooth while keeping the “ruins” sharp.

Colour Balance: Ancient stones often look best with a slightly warmer tone, while the night sky usually benefits from a cooler, deeper blue. Learning to mask these two areas separately is the hallmark of a pro.

Enhancing the Nebula: Use “Dehaze” and “Clarity” sparingly on the Milky Way core to bring out the dust lanes without making the stars look like neon glitter.

Ethics: Respecting the Ancestors

Beyond the technicalities of sensors and shutters, night photography is an exercise in quiet endurance. It demands a brand of discipline that extends far beyond your gear; it is the persistence to stand in the cold for hours, waiting for a single cloud gap that may never come. We don’t just capture these scenes; we enter into a silent contract with the environment.

Leave No Trace

This philosophy is our primary directive. As temporary guests in these spaces, we must treat the landscape with profound reverence. Scaling ancient masonry or fragile rock faces for a “hero angle” is more than just reckless; it is a betrayal of the site’s history. True creative mastery is found in discovering a compelling perspective within the boundaries of respect, ensuring the location remains pristine for those who follow.

The Responsibility of Light

In a world of long exposures, our light is our footprint. While high-powered lasers are useful tools for celestial navigation, they can be remarkably intrusive. A single stray beam can ruin a fellow photographer’s twenty-minute exposure or, more critically, interfere with established flight paths—which if we might add, may land you in jail. We must manage our light with extreme caution, prioritising the “dark sky” experience for both the lens and the community.

Honouring the Midnight Sanctuary

There is a spiritual stillness that settles over a site at 3:00 AM. When the world is asleep, these locations offer a rare, raw atmosphere. Honour this by moving with intention and keeping your voice to a whisper. By embracing the silence, you aren’t just being a polite observer; you are allowing yourself to connect with the site’s true character. This connection often results in work that feels grounded, timeless, and deeply resonant.

Conclusion

Astrophotography at historical sites is more than a technical challenge; it is an act of preservation. By capturing these monuments against the backdrop of the cosmos, we document their survival through the ages. We see the handiwork of humans who are long gone, framed by the light of stars that might no longer exist. It is the ultimate long-exposure—a snapshot of our place in the universe.

vivo India Launches V70 & V70 Elite

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vivo India has introduced the vivo V70 and V70 V70 Elite in India, focusing on camera upgrades, performance, and software support.

Both phones feature a 50MP main camera with optical image stabilisation (OIS) and a 50MP ZEISS Telephoto camera with up to 10x zoom. They support 4K 60fps video recording on both front and rear cameras, with zoom recording options. A 50MP front camera with autofocus and a 92° field of view handles selfies and group shots. Portrait modes offer multiple focal length options ranging from 23mm to 100mm.

The V70 Elite runs on the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor, while the V70 uses the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4. Both devices include LPDDR5X RAM, UFS 4.1 storage, and a 4200 mm² vapour cooling chamber. A 6500mAh battery with 90W fast charging is standard on both models. They are rated IP68 and IP69 for dust and water resistance and include an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor.

Each phone has a 6.59-inch 1.5K OLED display with slim bezels and peak brightness of up to 5000 nits. The V70 is available in Passion Red and Lemon Yellow, while the V70 Elite comes in Passion Red, Sand Beige, and Authentic Black.

Both run OriginOS 6 and will receive four OS updates and six years of security patches. The devices are manufactured in India.

Prices:
V70: ₹45,999 (8GB+256GB), ₹49,999 (12GB+256GB)
V70 Elite: ₹51,999 (8GB+256GB), ₹56,999 (12GB+256GB), ₹61,999 (12GB+512GB)

Both phones are available to preorder now with offers Online & Offline, and they ship from February 26th onwards.

Sentience: A Manifesto for Modern Landscape Photography

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The world of landscape photography is currently at a crossroads. For decades, the recipe for a “great” photo has been fairly rigid: find a famous mountain, arrive at sunrise, set your tripod to a specific height, use a wide-angle lens, and wait for the “hero light”. But in 2026, we are witnessing a quiet revolution. As artificial intelligence becomes capable of generating “perfect” sunsets with a single tap, the value of that technical perfection is plummeting.

If a machine can create a flawless vista of the Himalayas, why do we still trek for days to see them? The answer doesn’t lie in the pixels; it lies in the presence.

The “Sentient Landscape” is a philosophy that moves away from the hunt for the perfect shot and toward a deeper, more visceral relationship with the world around us. It’s about slowing down, embracing the “messy” reality of nature, and using your camera not just as a recording device, but as a sensory bridge. Here is how we redefine the craft for an era that values soul over sharpness.

Finding Poetry in the Small Stuff: The Intimate Landscape

We have been conditioned to think that “landscape” means “everything”. We reach for our widest lenses to cram as much of the horizon into the frame as possible. But there is a profound, quiet power in doing the exact opposite.

The Intimate Landscape is the art of extraction. It’s about using a telephoto lens—the kind you’d usually use for birds or sports—to zoom into the patterns of the earth. When you remove the sky and the horizon, you remove the context of scale. A ripple in a sand dune can look like a vast desert; the bark of an ancient tree can look like a topographical map of a canyon.

By looking for the “landscape within the landscape”, you stop being a tourist and start being an observer. You begin to see rhythms, textures, and shadows that the “hero shot” hunter misses. It’s the difference between hearing a symphony and listening to the vibrato of a single violin string.

Painting with the Cosmos: Astro-Landscape Impressionism

Astrophotography is often the most technical, rigid genre of them all. It’s usually about noise reduction, star tracking, and pinpoint sharpness. But the stars aren’t just cold dots of light; they are ancient, pulsing energy.

Astro-Landscape Impressionism – specifically through a technique called Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) challenges the “sharpness” rule. Imagine standing under a brilliant night sky, perhaps with Jupiter or the Milky Way burning bright above you. Instead of locking your camera down on a heavy tripod, you hold it. As the shutter stays open for a few seconds, you move the camera with a slow, deliberate rhythm.

The result is a dreamscape. The stars turn into streaks of light, blending with the silhouettes of trees or mountains. It looks less like a photograph and more like a painting by Van Gogh or Monet. You aren’t capturing the geometry of the night; you are capturing the feeling of standing under the infinite. It’s a way of saying, “This is how the night felt to me,” rather than “This is what the night looked like.”

The Atmospheric Protagonist: When Weather Becomes the Hero

How many times have we checked the weather forecast, seen “cloudy and rainy”, and decided to stay home? In the conventional world, rain is a nuisance. In the Sentient world, the storm is the story.

When we wait for the “perfect” light, we are essentially asking nature to perform for us. But the most honest moments in nature are often the most difficult. A mountain peak that is half-hidden by a heavy monsoon mist is infinitely more mysterious than one under a clear blue sky. A forest floor during a grey, drizzly afternoon has a depth of colour—a “neon” green to the moss and a deep obsidian to the wet rocks—that a bright sun would simply wash out.

“Weather as the Hero” means leaning into the low contrast. It’s about realising that fog isn’t hiding the landscape; it is the landscape. It adds a sense of “Soft Fascination”, a psychological state where our brains can rest and recover by looking at the gentle, repeating patterns of nature without the harsh glare of a “hero” sun.

With all that being said, we’d advise not going out in bad weather, such that it can cause damage to your equipment or harm to you, just to try and get a “good” shot.

The Intentional Pause: The Psychology of Not Releasing the Shutter

Source: Reddit.com/u/life_is_a_conspiracy

The biggest barrier to great photography in 2026 isn’t bad gear; it’s the digital trigger-finger. We take thousands of photos, hoping that one of them will be “the one”. This “spray and pray” method actually disconnects us from the very place we are trying to capture.

The most avant-garde advice for a modern photographer is simple: Stop shooting, or to be more precise, stop shooting as much.

Practice the “Five-Frame Limit“. Go to a beautiful location and spend three hours there, but allow yourself only five clicks of the shutter. What happens to your brain when you do this is fascinating. You stop looking at your screen and start looking at the land. You notice the way the wind moves through the grass. You feel the change in temperature as a cloud passes. You hear the distant call of a bird.

When you finally decide to press the button, that frame carries the weight of those three hours. It isn’t just a picture; it’s a memory that has been carefully selected and refined by your own presence. This is what it means to “shoot with intent”.

PS: Film photography is totally not dead, try taking it up if you’re struggling with the issue of the digital trigger-finger, and have got some coin to spare.

Vying For An Authentic Future

As we move further into a world of digital perfection, Sentient Landscapes offer a path back to what makes us human. It reminds us that photography isn’t about the gear we use, it always has been about the way we choose to see.

By embracing the intimate, the impressionistic, and the atmospheric, and by slowing our pace to match the rhythm of the earth, we create images that are uniquely ours. They might not be the “cleanest” or the “sharpest” shots on social media, but they will be the most honest.

In 2026, the most radical thing you can do as a photographer is to stop trying to be a machine and start trying to be a soul in the wilderness.

Master of Moments – Marsel Van Oosten

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Marsel van Oosten is an award-winning photographer known for his profound artistry, especially his striking wildlife portraits. His work often blends the grandeur of landscapes with the intimate presence of wildlife, revealing the delicate balance of nature. His photographic style and thought-process has earned him critical acclaim, as well as the Wildlife Photography of the Year award. Asian Photography spoke to him about conservation, AI vs authenticity, lessons from the field and more.

For Marsel van Oosten, the path to becoming one of the world’s most recognised wildlife photographers was not paved with an early obsession for the camera. In fact, while studying art direction and graphic design at art school, photography was a medium he openly disliked. It was only after entering the professional world as an art director at an international advertising agency that he began to appreciate the profound power of still images. Tasked with selecting photographers for global ad campaigns, he was forced to dissect various styles and visual languages. Over 15 years, he collaborated with hundreds of top-tier photographers, treating every interaction as a masterclass. Eventually, this professional observation turned into a personal pursuit, though his first attempts during holidays were met with frustration. With a designer’s eye, he knew exactly what a “good” photograph should look like, but he lacked the technical vocabulary to execute it. This led to a period of intense self-education through amateur photography magazines, where he mastered the fundamentals before a honeymoon to Tanzania—his first safari—permanently shifted his focus toward the wilderness.

“The biggest threat to our planet is the idea that someone else will save it”

When reflecting on the motivations behind his transition into wildlife and conservation, Van Oosten explains that his travels have allowed him to witness a world in a state of rapid decline. He notes that with each passing year, more species are pushed toward the brink of extinction while ecosystems are systematically destroyed or polluted. His work is fuelled by a desire to inspire a sense of urgency in the viewer, grounded in the belief that “the biggest threat to our planet is the idea that someone else will save it.” He describes a “global narcissism pandemic” fuelled by social media, where the hunt for “likes” has turned into a destructive force. He points to the Masai Mara as a tragic example of how greed, corruption, and unsustainable “selfie tourism” can lead to conservation disasters. While he acknowledges that social media has occasionally amplified conservation efforts, he remains wary of how the unhinged pursuit of a “cool shot” often overlooks the welfare of the animals and the integrity of the environment.

This otherworldly landscape was photographed in Argentina with a drone. Marsel had Daniella walk to a predetermined location to add scale to the image.

When asked how he would define his specific photographic signature, Van Oosten emphasises a rejection of current trends in favour of an internal creative compass. In a field as saturated as wildlife photography, he finds that staying true to reality while avoiding excessive processing is the ultimate challenge. His style is an extension of his character: a relentless pursuit of order within chaos and a deep-seated aversion to visual clutter. Drawing heavily from his graphic design background, he prioritises graphic shapes, balanced lines, and clean compositions. He avoids what is popular, choosing instead to document subjects that inspire him personally, which he believes is why his work often feels fresh to the public. Central to his signature is the “idea” behind the frame. Because photographers have little control over wild subjects, he invests heavily in research and pre-visualisation. Before a shoot, he studies existing imagery of a subject specifically to ensure he does not replicate it, planning his trips with clinical precision to capture the specific image already living in his mind.

Regarding the specific image that might define him as a photographer, Van Oosten points to the cover of his book, MOTHER, which features an elephant standing at the very edge of Victoria Falls. This particular shot, which was one of his first publications in National Geographic, serves as a bridge between his two primary passions: wildlife and landscape. He notes that while both genres require vastly different skill sets, his favorite work often exists at their intersection—a landscape image with a strong wildlife element. For him, the Victoria Falls elephant represents “perfection” and acts as a visual manifesto for his entire career.

This photo of a male golden snub-nosed monkey consists of two exposures: first, Marsel took the picture with the monkey, then waited until the monkey had left the frame and shot a second exposure with a longer shutter speed to create movement in the water. He combined the two exposures in Photoshop. Shanxi, China.

The conversation naturally shifts to the technicalities of the digital darkroom. When asked about the extent of his post-processing, Van Oosten compares the role of a photographer to that of a Michelin-starred chef. A great chef uses the best ingredients, but the mastery lies in creating a dish that is more than the sum of its parts—achieved through a “creative sauce” of herbs and spices. In his world, post-processing is that sauce. However, he strives for a result that looks entirely unprocessed and natural, a feat he describes as being much harder to achieve than applying a standard filter or preset. He is obsessed with subtle details that most viewers may never consciously notice. His process is one of patience; he refuses to publish an image immediately after a first session, knowing that a fresh perspective the following day will inevitably reveal necessary refinements. He critiques photographers whose styles are built entirely on heavy colour treatments, arguing that if one removes those filters, the underlying images are often mediocre. For Van Oosten, a truly memorable image must stand on its own without the crutch of digital manipulation.

The rewards of such a high-stakes career are often tempered by unforeseen consequences. When discussing his most rewarding moment in conservation, he recalls winning the overall title of “Wildlife Photographer of the Year” for his image of golden snub-nosed monkeys. At the time, the species was largely unknown to the general public. The image went viral, appearing in newspapers and exhibitions across the globe, successfully generating the awareness needed to secure funding for their protection. Yet, he speaks candidly about the “double-edged sword” of such fame. The surge in awareness created a massive demand for tourism in a fragile Chinese ecosystem that could not sustain the influx, ultimately forcing the area to close. This realization has changed his approach, making him far more secretive about the locations of fragile ecosystems to prevent his own work from inadvertently causing their downfall.

When Nikon asked Marsel to shoot photos to promote the new Z7, he suggested they shoot in the tsingy mountains of Madagascar. Tsingy means “where you can’t walk barefoot.” This is the sharpest landscape in the world, perfectly suited to the extreme sharpness of the new camera and lenses. Marsel hired a local mountaineer to bring the landscape to life and demonstrate the sheer scale of these formations.

In the modern era, the conversation inevitably turns to technology. When asked how he promotes authenticity in the age of Artificial Intelligence, Van Oosten offers a perspective that often sparks heated debate. He leans on his art school education, asserting that in art, there are no rules. He distinguishes between “functional” photography—such as forensic, scientific, or news photography—which must adhere to strict reality, and photography as an art form, which includes nature. While he personally prefers to stay close to the scene as he witnessed it, he holds no grudge against those who use AI or heavy manipulation to realise a creative vision. He predicts that many genres will lose the “battle” against AI because it allows creators to achieve what wildlife photographers never could: total control over the subject. While many argue that AI-generated images lack soul or connection, Van Oosten is more pragmatic, stating that for him, it is always about the end result. He views the “trust” people place in cameras as a historical accident, noting that we don’t question the integrity of a Rembrandt painting just because it isn’t a literal photocopy of a scene.

“Authenticity is not relevant in art, and I don’t think a photographer has a responsibility to disclose how the work was made”

Finally, when asked about the most important lesson he has learned while shooting in some of the harshest conditions on Earth, his answer is surprisingly simple. Beyond the technical mastery, the gear, and the conservation goals, he has learned to enjoy every single moment spent in the wilderness. He acknowledges the privilege of existing in a world of such spectacular biodiversity. Even on the days when the light is poor, the animals are elusive, and he doesn’t capture a single frame, he remains deeply grateful. For Van Oosten, the primary goal is never to take those moments for granted, recognising that being a witness to nature is a reward in itself.

A female tiger and her cub have climbed a large rock formation from which they have a good view of their territory. South Africa.

Samsung to Unveil AI-Powered “Seamless” Galaxy Camera Experience

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Samsung is set to redefine mobile photography with a major update to its Galaxy camera system, debuting next week at Galaxy Unpacked event on February 25, 2026 (11:30PM IST). The new experience promises to “democratize” professional-grade editing through advanced Galaxy AI, allowing users to perform complex creative tasks simply by describing them.

Key capabilities teased include transforming photos from day to night in seconds, restoring missing details in objects (such as fixing a bite taken out of a cake), and seamlessly merging multiple photos into a single cohesive image.

Described as the “brightest Galaxy camera system ever,” the update aims to unify capturing, editing, and sharing into one intuitive platform. By removing the need to switch between apps or master technical skills, Samsung claims the new system will make everything from cinematic video creation to low-light astrophotography faster and more natural for all users.

Canon RF 45mm F/1.2 Review

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2025 was a year of interesting lenses, and we have one of those to review today. THIS, is Canon’s latest offering—the RF 45mm F/1.2 STM—which doesn’t look or feel or even cost like an F/1.2 prime lens. Coming in at ₹40,495, this is a staggeringly low price point, ESPECIALLY for a F1.2 prime lens with autofocus.

In this article, we’ll be reviewing this lens, exploring the pros and cons of using this lens, and whether we’d recommend this to you.

An Interesting Focal Length

Before heading into the review, let’s quickly discuss why it’s 45mm and not 50. An easy answer would be cost and size, but there’s one more interesting perspective. See we’re told that the field of view of the human eye is equivalent to an image produced by a 50mm lens on a full-frame sensor, but technically, it’s closer to 43mm. So this 45mm lens is closer to your vision’s FOV. Nitpicking done, let’s move ahead with the review.

Look, Body & Feel

Canon has learnt from Nikon last year, where they launched affordable F1.4 lenses with good image quality, and have tried to match up to them with this lens. The 45mm 1.2 is constructed using engineered plastic, with a metal mount, weighing at 364 grams, making it super portable. Paired with a body like R6III, the kit is lightweight and super portable. The lens features nine glass elements in seven groups with only one aspherical lens and a front filter thread upfront of 67mm. Naturally, it doesn’t come with OIS.

But mind you, this lens isn’t weather sealed—which might be the first area where Canon has cut back on to save cost. But there’s also no special coating on the front element, so the lens is prone to smudges and whatnot—we recommend a cleaning kit handy.

There’s no bells & whistles obviously, there is an AF-MF switch, a focus ring and a control ring upfront which moves freely with a very light click. That’s it, super minimal, super easy to use.

Image Quality

This is perhaps the most interesting section of the video you have been waiting for. The images this lens produces are not tack sharp at F/1.2—which is expected. Images aren’t very sharp at the centre, but this sharpness falls apart even more when we go towards the edges. Stopping down the lens to F/1.8 and lower renders sharper detail, but of course, that comes at the cost of depth of field and the quality of bokeh.

Autofocus

This is where we find the second reason why this lens costs so little. The 45 F/1.2 features an STM motor for autofocus, which means it’s marginally slower than USM or VCM motors in other Canon lenses. Another thing to observe is that the lens focuses internally and you can see the mechanism in action—which is another ingress point for dust & debris.

Paired with the EOS R6 Mark III, we could see that the camera could identify and track subjects in a wide-variety of scenarios but the lens couldn’t keep up, leading to a lot of missed shots. The focusing speed is okay for slow-paced/normal scenarios, and we’d recommend not using this lens for any fast-paced scenarios like sports, wildlife or action.

In videos, focus breathing is prominent, and is well-corrected by the R6 III we shot on. But for photographers who’re looking to focus stack using this lens, it might be a dealbreaker.

And there is a slight delay when you engage the focus and when the lens actually focuses. You can actually hear and sort of feel the focus motor engaging when it’s working, but it’s not loud enough to show up in the video you’re shooting.

Bokeh

The bokeh out of this lens is its best characteristic, as you can see. At F/1.2, they’re spherical in the middle with some cat’s eye bokeh in the corners and the bokeh becomes less-round as we stop down the aperture. The texture of the bokeh itself isn’t too bad, no onion rings or any weird artefacts. But you can also see some weirdly shaped bokeh in the corners, which is an interesting touch.

Close Focussing

The minimum focussing distance (MFD) for this lens is not too bad at 45cm, giving it a very low magnification ratio of 0.13x. At minimum focus in wide aperture, the lens produces reasonably sharp images, at least in the centre, which of course becomes better as we narrow down the aperture.

Chromatic Aberration Performance

This is perhaps the biggest con with this lens. Testing through quickMTF showed us why this lens costs so little. In the centre, the CA value was 0.79 and as we went to the edges of the frame, it went to 1.15—which is very high. This shows up in the out of focus areas in images, where you can clearly see some visible colour fringing in the out of focus areas, and this extent of chromatic aberration can’t be removed in software either—and it can be distracting from the locus of the image i.e. your subject.

Flaring & Ghosting

For a lens with no special coatings, the flaring is surprisingly controlled and can even be pleasing in some cases. But you have to be careful with the front element as it can collect fingerprints easily. There is no lens hood in the box, but it can be purchased separately if needed.

Is This For You? Verdict

For a lot of photographers, Canon’s “nifty-fifty” 50mm F/1.8 is their first prime lens. If you’re new to the Canon ecosystem and you’re not a professional, you could look into getting this lens as your first F/1.2 lens. The image quality out of this lens might be interesting to some users, who might prefer the look of an older, soft-focussing lens on a newer body with autofocus, but that does come at a price. At ₹40k this looks more like an experimental, fun lens rather than a solid option for shooters looking for a small, light lens with good image quality.

The 50 1.8 is definitely a better option across the board in terms of image quality and autofocus, but what this lens gives you is access to super shallow depth of field and low-light performance and if you can use the softness of this lens as a creative tool, then you can get some very interesting, but beautiful images.

Canon EOS R6 Mark III Review

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Watch our video review here

It’s time to dig out the Canon-Nikon rivalry from the DSLR era! Last year when we reviewed Nikon’s Z6 III, we concluded that it’s a solid buy with no real competition in the space. Well, that has certainly changed with the launch of the new Canon EOS R6 III.

Priced at ₹2.44L puts it above its entry-level sibling – the R8 and below the flagship R5, R3 & R1 bodies. It also squarely sits in the same price bracket as the Nikon Z6 III which is interesting for the competition!

Look, Body, Feel

The Canon EOS R6 Mark III has gained a little bit of weight, sitting at 699 grams, 29 more than Mark II, and feels solid in the hands. The construction is similar to the previous model and the button layout is also identical. The grip is deep and comfortable.

On top of the camera, on the left is the photo-video mode switch and on the right is an assortment of buttons including the record button, multifunction button (Mfn), on off button, the PASM dial and two control rings. In the PASM dial, you now have a dedicated Slow & Fast mode (written as S&F) — making slow motion & hyperlapse creation easy — a feature Sony cameras have had for a while.

But there are several quality-of-life upgrades that have come to this camera – for starters, you now have a CF Express card slot on the right alongside a UHS-II SD card slot. That’s required for the features this camera has, which we’ll discuss in just a moment. On the left, you have an assortment of I/O ports, but this now comes with a full size HDMI port instead of the micro HDMI like last year – a welcome improvement.

The 3.69M dots 120Hz EVF & 3-inch 1.62M-dot rear screen haven’t changed from the last time, but the Mark III comes with a tally light to indicate video shooting.

Sensor & Features

The sensor is where the Canon EOS R6 Mark III makes its most dramatic departure from its predecessor. Canon has moved away from the 24MP standard that defined the R6 series, opting instead for a brand-new 32.5MP CMOS sensor. This is the same sensor found in the EOS C50 cinema camera, bringing a blend of high resolution and speed that moves the R6 series closer to “flagship” territory by a small bit.

The Mark III does not feature a stacked sensor like the flagships or semi-stacked sensors, like in the Nikon Z6 III or the new Sony A7 V. But Canon has engineered this with their DIGIC X processor, significantly increasing readout speeds, which according to them is around 13.5ms – not bad at all for a sensor of this resolution!

The Canon EOS R6 Mark III comes with photo burst speeds of 12 frames per second mechanically, and 40 frames per second with electronic shutter, with up to 150 pictures in the buffer and 20 frames of pre capture. But the buffer shouldn’t be an issue if you use a CF Express card.

The Mark III is powered by the new LP-E6P battery that’s found in the R5II & C50, giving it an endurance of up to 620 shots – which is up from the up to 450 shots of Mark II. The Mark III also comes with a new digital hotshoe capable of supporting new wireless mics that don’t need cables & flashes.

Autofocus

The new sensor & Digic X processor make up for a pretty robust AF system, and if you’re familiar with previous Canon R bodies, you’ll feel right at home with the options. However, for newbies we’d recommend reading the manual or looking up a video explaining how it works.

We shot all our test images with the new RF 45mm F/1.2 lens, and the subject detection worked remarkably well – but it took a little bit for the actual lens to catch up due to its limitations.

The camera identified faces and eyes really well even in dimly lit conditions and the AF worked well with animals as well. After detecting faces, you’ve an option to switch eyes using the joystick in the back when dealing with multiple subjects. But it’s not all good news as we had near-misses as well, and sometimes had to shoot multiple shots to get the shot.

AF is consistent but very slightly lags behind the flagships – still a good performance. The people face register priority especially is a game-changer in this segment of cameras, as it allows you to prioritize whom to keep in focus when there are multiple people in the frame.

Image Quality & ISO Performance

As expected from a 32MP sensor, the images are well-detailed and the dynamic range is very good even for the JPEGs straight off the camera. In classic Canon fashion, colours are pleasing to the eye but don’t stray far from reality, and in lowlight there’s no weird colour shift, even in lowlight with less-than-ideal lighting conditions.

Up to ISO 3200, the camera delivers clean images with lots of detail. At ISO 6400 and beyond, you can see visible noise but the image is still sharp. Even at a high setting like ISO 12800, the noise pattern isn’t visible to the naked eye and you’ll need to zoom in to observe it, as it’s so minute, and it can be removed easily with software. So with this camera body, you can comfortably push limits by increasing shutter speed & not worry about noise anymore.

Video Quality

The Canon EOS R6 Mark III is no slouch when it comes to video, capable of shooting 4K up to 120fps full-width, i.e. without cropping into the image. One thing to note is this is not just regular UHD 4K (written as 4K-U), but also DCI 4K (written as 4K-D), which is a little bit wider. The 4K (up to 60fps) video is also oversampled from 7K, giving you more clarity & sharpness.

Interestingly, this option is also available in 1080p, allowing you to shoot at 2048×1080 pixels, but is labelled as 2K-D – which might be confusing, as we understand 2K to be 2560×1440 pixels. Dropping the resolution to “2K” or 1080p also gives you an option to shoot at 180 fps.

Videos carry the classic Canon colours but enough dynamic range for everyday use but Canon also allows you to shoot in C Log 2 and C Log 3 – depending on which workflow you prefer if you want more dynamic range and control over colour in post. The R6 III allows you to load custom LUTs as well, but doesn’t allow you to only shoot in Log while previewing them – the LUT is baked into the video.

The R6 Mark III’s flagship feature is the ability to shoot RAW video at 7K up to 30 fps and compressed RAW at 7K up to 60fps. Currently there’s no option to shoot at a lower resolution like 4K which might have been more helpful, as full-width 7K RAW shooting comes with a bitrate penalty, i.e. it’ll chew through your memory, and not to mention, battery. The biggest advantage this has however, is that it can shoot Open Gate, to give you video in 7K resolution in an aspect ratio of 3:2 up to 30 fps. Since this is shooting in 7K, you again have the bitrate and battery penalty.

It also has IBIS which has improved claims at up to 8.5 stops with a compatible lens, but the classic “Canon wobble” hasn’t completely disappeared. With the lens we used, we couldn’t observe much due to the focal length, but you may with wider lenses. Overall, an improvement from previous years.

As for rolling shutter, even with a big sensor, we don’t observe much of it due to its comparatively fast readout speed, but it’s more observable compared to cameras with semi-stacked sensors. Overall, images shot on electronic shutter & videos with motion involved are more than usable.

Is This For You? Conclusion

Like we specified in the intro, the Canon EOS R6 Mark III sits between its entry-level and flagship professional siblings. With that identity, it can be used by a wide variety of people, starting from amateurs looking for an upgrade to their first ever professional-level camera; or a professional photographer looking for an uncompromising backup camera. The pre-capture & high burst rate combined with a big buffer are especially game changers for people wanting to get into sports & wildlife photography without spending twice as much or more on a body capable of that.

If you’re sporting a DSLR like the 5D Mark IV or an entry-level Canon R series camera from the yesteryears, this might be a plausible upgrade for you. But Canon does need to iron out a few kinks – especially in the video section, allowing LUT preview while the video is recorded in LOG. And please, add an option of shooting RAW at a lower resolution! An active cooling fan option for video wouldn’t be bad either.

At a price of ₹2.44L we believe this is fairly priced for its features & the value it provides surely sets it apart from the competition while establishing its position as an enthusiast-grade camera.