Astronomy Photographer of the Year usually shares the annual winners in September. It’s a long way from now, but there’s another treat for astrophotography fans out there: people’s choice. The contest has just published the People’s Choice Winners for 2021, and as always – they’re absolutely gorgeous. The overall 2021 winner and the category winners were announced last year, with Chinese photographer Shuchang Dong selected as Astronomy Photographer of the Year....

… and none of them have anything to do with making photographs. 1. People person Yeah, you gotta be a people person. No, I didn’t say you have to be an extrovert, you have to be a people person. You have to read people and understand what isn’t being said while they are talking. You can be outgoing or quietly soft-spoken, but you have to be able to work with people and be someone they would like to work with....

Setting the whole DSLR vs mirrorless argument aside for a minute, there’s one thing that’s remained constant amongst all of them. Don’t let it get in contact with saltwater. And if you are going to head out into the ocean with it, make sure to check that you’ve got a reliable dive housing with no leaks! Lensrentals recently had a Fuji GFX 100 out, which they were told was used in a dive housing and “suddenly died for no reason”....

For some, the humble mobile phone is their weapon fo choice when it comes to shooting video. For others, it’s simply what they have with them at the time. But regardless of which category we fall into, we want to get the best footage we can. A phone’s only ever going to be so good, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make the effort. In this video from the folks over at Moment Lenses, we see how best to use Filmic Pro to get the most cinematic footage out of our phones....

This is another one of those photography products that’s either really dumb or absolute genius. I haven’t quite decided yet. Most photographers who shoot outdoors will have to deal with the rain at some point. Personally, I defend against it by using weather sealed gear. But that’s not an option for every photographer. Devised by a small team in Brooklyn, the Camera Canopy is another way around that problem. It’s essentially an acrylic roof that attaches to your hotshoe and goes over your camera and lens, protecting it from the rain falling down from above....