Photography equipment has come a long way in recent years; staggering megapixel counts, blisteringly fast AF systems, and low-light performance that was unheard of not long ago. But in my opinion, one of the most useful and underrated advancements has been in off-camera lighting, notably portable, battery-powered strobes. Gone are the days where I hauled my 30kg case that housed my 3 Bowens Gemini lights and the rats nest of 10 metre power cables and PC Sync cords to every assignment, I no longer need to search high and low for power outlets and risk clients tripping over cables, nor do I need to spend every pound earned on a physiotherapist to repair my back from the labour of it all....

“If you focus on this instead of getting the latest and the greatest camera gear,” says Mike Smith, “you will get so much better than you could have ever imagined.” By ‘this’, he means storytelling. It’s an elusive but valuable skill and one that any photographer benefits from. It’s the difference between a nice image and a compelling image. But it’s not easy. Including any kind of narrative in a still image is hard....

I believe that most of us edit our images to a certain extent. But if you’re a photojournalist, the amount of editing you can apply is minimal. If you go overboard, your work may even be considered unethical. But can this be solved differently? Should photojournalists be allowed to edit images if they openly disclose it? Michael The Maven discussed this in his latest video, and it’s certainly an interesting topic....

The long-awaited Fuji X-H2 is apparently on the way, but unlike the original, there are seemingly going to be two separate X-H2 models. The regular X-H2 and an X-H2S. The X-H2 is rumoured to be a high-resolution model with a ~40mp sensor capable of shooting 8K video, but there hasn’t really been any evidence to back up those rumours. The X-H2S, on the other hand, has had its entire spec sheet leaked....

Well, even though Light’s L16 wasn’t the critically acclaimed success that the hype hoped it would be, it looks like Light’s technology is definitely being taken seriously by the smartphone world. After some heavy investment from Leica, a partnership with Sony, and the new Nokia 9 PureView containing Light tech, Light has now announced a new partnership with Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi. As with much of the smartphone news over the last few days, the announcement comes out of MWC 2019, happening right now in Barcelona....