Whenever we went on vacation, my ex-boyfriend would complain about me bringing my camera. “Put it away,” he’d say. “Enjoy the moment! Take in what’s in front of you with your eyes!” But he couldn’t have been more wrong. Far from being a distraction, photography helps you immerse yourself far more fully in a destination than aimless sightseeing ever could.

Ever since explorers took photographers with them to record their discoveries, travel and image-making have gone hand-in-hand. Today, with the rise in quality camera phones and digital equipment and picture-sharing sites like Instagram, photography tourism is booming. There’s a reason – and it isn’t just to brag about our adventures on social media.

The act of photographing a place makes me experience it more richly: from the way I explore, looking for details, colors and angles, to the interactions I have with people, chatting to market traders or bonding with tour guides in my pursuit of the best shots.

I recently did a five-day tour of beautiful Nova Scotia in Canada. On the first morning in the capital, Halifax, I got up before dawn and walked along the waterfront, capturing the resplendent sunrise. Apart from a couple of joggers, I had the boardwalk to myself – a vastly different experience from later in the day, once everyone else had woken up. 

I discovered tall ships, their rigging silhouetted against the tangerine sky, and several intriguing pieces of public art – things I’d probably have walked past with barely a glance if I hadn’t been looking for images.

I did the same thing the next day on the mysterious Oak Island, where my early wandering led me to a marina with a miniature lighthouse, which lined up so perfectly with the rising sun that the beacon seemed alight.

At Hall’s Harbour Lobster Pound, where they sort and grade Nova Scotia’s most famous catch, I got to know Lowell, the tour guide, while taking his photo. And in colorful Annapolis Royal, I ditched my group and went for a walk to photograph the historic houses, discovering hidden gems the non-photographers missed.

If I never do anything with the images beyond posting a few on Instagram, it won’t matter. For me, the act of photography is a reward in itself: stumbling across an unseen corner, feeling the thrill of perfect light or a close wildlife encounter. These are trip highlights, regardless of whether anyone sees the images.

But there’s a bonus: if I choose to edit them, I’ll get to relive those moments all over again and possibly even spot new details I didn’t notice at the time. Some people love to bask in the sun when they’re on holiday, but not me. Put the camera down and “enjoy the moment”? Not a chance.

Bella Falk

Bella Falk is a travel photographer, documentary director and writer from London. She writes the award-winning travel blog Passport & Pixels and won Best Photography at the Travel Media Awards 2020. Her images and articles have been featured in National Geographic Traveller, BBC Travel and Lonely Planet, among others.

You might be interested in the best travel cameras and the best lenses for travel photography. 

From her famous “revenge” dress to the lonely Taj Mahal pose, the late Diana, Princess of Wales knew the power of the photograph, and more often than not the acclaimed royal photographer Anwar Hussein was on hand to help her harness it.

Now some of these images, including ones of her walking through an Angolan minefield and shaking hands with an Aids patient, form a London exhibition by Hussein, 86, an accredited royal photographer for more than 50 years.

“She knew how to convey a message through a photograph,” said Hussein, who began photographing Diana once her relationship with Charles was made public and while she was still a nursery school assistant.

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As a Buckingham Palace accredited photographer, Hussein would be given access to royal engagements and accompanied the royals on tours. His two sons, Samir and Zak, have followed in their father’s footsteps, officially photographing Princes William and Harry and their wives, Catherine and Meghan.

Together, the Hussein family have amassed a huge archive of royal pictures, with 75 prints of Diana and her sons and daughters-in-law making up the walk-through exhibition. The stories behind each image are available to listen to in an audio guide.

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The photographs include the unforgettable “revenge” dress, said to have been worn by Diana on purpose to an engagement on the night Charles made his adultery admission on television. There are images of Diana as a mother-to-be, mother, fashion icon and humanitarian.

In the exhibition’s audio guide, Hussein says: “Throughout my career in photographing Princess Diana, I often say this is history being made. It has never happened before. I’m here to photograph it.”

One striking images is of Diana cradling a young cancer patient at a hospital in Lahore, Pakistan, who later died. Hussein recounts: “Diana told me that out of so many pictures taken of her, this was her favourite photograph of all. Even though the boy was blind, and he was in a lot of pain from all of the surgical cuts and sores on his head and body, you can see he is looking lovingly at her, and it seems like he could feel the care she had for him. She actually held him for a very long time, like he was her own baby. She was very moved when she found out the boy passed away shortly after her visit.”

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The exhibition, which has had success in Los Angeles and Melbourne before opening in London, juxtaposes the image of Diana alone in front of the Taj Mahal with one taken years later of William and Catherine sitting in front of the same monument. Another striking image, taken by Samir, is of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in the rain on an engagement in London.

“There are so many memories of our two families connecting and creating a special relationship, which I am pleased to be able to display in such a unique way through the exhibition,” Hussein said.

For years, many photographers in the community have requested Micro Four Thirds cameras that were more rangefinder-style and could cater to street photography. In fact, I could find tons of channels that asked for this on YouTube. More importantly, we’ve been asking for it for years. Finally, today, Leica is announcing the development of something that street photographers and others will possibly want: the Leica D-LUX 8. From what it seems, it’s a variant of Panasonic’s LX100 Mk II. The Mk II was a slight variant of the original LX100 that we reviewed in 2014. So does that mean that Leica is releasing a slight variant of a 10-year-old camera?

The Tech Inside: This is a Development Announcement

From Leica’s deck shared with the press. We don’t have all the tech specs or information yet, and all that is coming later on. Here’s what we should expect from the Leica D-LUX 8:

• 21MP Live MOS Four Thirds sensor, which is effectively 17MP because it is a multi-aspect sensor.
• Leica DC Vario-Summilux f1.7-2.8 Lens. 24-75mm (35mm Equivalent)
• Leica Q-interface
• Single SD Card
• Clicked aperture
• Leica FOTOS App integration
• DNG Raw: a first for this style of camera
• Manual Control Rings and Dials
• External Flash Included
• $1,595 price point. That’s a few meager dollars cheaper than the Fujifilm X100Vi. Except in this case, it might not be back-ordered.

This will make the D-LUX 8 the only current Four Thirds sensor compact camera on the market.

Is the Leica D-LUX 8 a 10-Year-Old Camera in Disguise?

We have to be honest, this seems weird for Leica. In the world of lenses, they’ll sometimes take Sigma’s optics and then change the exteriors and motors. But cameras? That’s stopped for a while now. From what we’ve been told by Leica’s reps, Panasonic will not make a variant of this design. In fact, they insisted that the Leica D-LUX 8 is a Leica design, and it’s inspired by the Q series of cameras such as the Leica Q3 and Leica Q2.

So, is this really a 10-year-old camera? Well, it doesn’t seem so, at least when you look at it from the outside. We didn’t review the LX100 Mk II, but if we look at DPReview’s images of the product and compare them, they don’t seem to be the same camera body. On the top, the Panasonic seems much busier. When you turn to the back, the Leica D-LUX 8 seems to be missing lots of buttons on the back.

Our Leica reps tell us that more information will soon be available on the new Leica D-LUX 8 camera and that this is really just a development announcement.

Could the Leica D-LUX 8 have Leica looks available via the Leica Fotos App? Perhaps more importantly, will it include weather resistance? Cameras of this type tend to have issues with lenses and dust getting inside. That’s the case with the entire Ricoh GR series.

It indeed seems to be the older Four Thirds sensor, and Leica-Looks could give it new life.

Preparing ourselves for the fact that this camera could really just be a much older camera in disguise, we’re reminding ourselves that the Fujifilm X100VI is a nearly five-year-old camera body with two-year-old internals. I wonder if this is the way of the world for rangefinder-style camera bodies going forward. I truly hope not.

Bucket hats are the new helmets.

Do they have the same effectiveness? That’s a big fat no, though I can’t condemn them fully because the “bucket hat protective method” seemed to work for this wildlife photographer in this viral video from 2013. Somehow, someway, this guy’s bucket hat managed to save him during a close encounter with an elk.

Most wildlife photographers try and keep their distance from the subjects their shooting. That’s why you always see them lugging around lenses that look more like cartoonish telescopes. They’re aware of the National Park Service guidelines to stay 25 yards away from wild animals, and 100 yards away from more dangerous wildlife like bears and wolves.

Initially, this photographer was probably a safe distance away from this elk. But he must have done something to anger or get the attention of the antlered creature at some point, because when the footage picks up, the elk is boldly getting in the face of the photographer… with its antlers.

When the elk lowered its head, the photographer did the same, leading to an unlikely head-butt-off. I don’t imagine that this is the best way to handle an elk attack, though then again, the method appeared to work okay for this man. He just got lucky that the animal’s antlers didn’t have more points.

There’s a good chance that the elk only got confrontational because it thought it was bigger than the man sitting on the ground. As soon as the photographer stood up (after a couple of tense moments of antlers catching his hat and shirt), the elk backed away. It wasn’t an ideal situation, but this bucket-hat-wearing man handled it as best as he could.

Check it out:

Bucket Hat- 1, Elk- 0.

Obviously the person in the above video would have been better off not ever getting that close to a wild animal in the first place. Considering the circumstances though, the impromptu utilization of his bucket hat as a shield and his own head lowering probably helped him walk away unscathed.

Social media users were terrified on the photographer’s behalf in the reply section below the post:

Buddy was dancing on the line of death that day

— Joseph🌹 (@joerevenceo) May 22, 2024

That Elk is not messing around. He doesn’t like to have his picture taken 🤣

— @Marcia M 𝕏 (@MbsrlM) May 22, 2024

He’s lucky he didn’t gouge his eyes out!😱

— Jack of All Tales (@JackofAllTales) May 22, 2024

My guy just sat there waiting to be impaled

— SkyTheGuy (@SkyyTheeGuy) May 22, 2024

He’s lucky Elk went “OH SHIT” when he saw him growing instantly like a mario mushroom

— Bingo Dingo (@DingoManBingo) May 22, 2024

Unfortunately, the bull was put down after this incident, as it wasn’t his first instance of aggressive behavior. Both the photographer and the person who captured the viral video were saddened at the news:

The photographer said:

“I love and respect animals and that’s why I photograph them and don’t hunt them. I am deeply hurt by the loss of such a beautiful creature that in its own way bonded with me. I looked forward to watching him grow to a mature bull as the years passed. I’m truly heartbroken to know he is gone.”

And the man who captured the viral video said:

“I am deeply saddened by the fate of the elk. It has certainly pulled a black cloud over this whirlwind “viral video” experience. I spoke to the reporter who broke the story and she assured me the decision was based on a pattern of aggressive behavior that began prior to the incident documented in this video. The behavior was the result of visitors feeding the elk and conditioning them to seek food from humans. This video only serves as an example of the elk’s dangerous behavior, not an impetus to it.

Again, it brings me great sadness to learn of this beautiful animal’s demise and the unfortunate circumstances surrounding it. I’m looking into a destination for proceeds from this video to help the NPS educate visitors on the dangers and consequences of feeding wildlife.

I also want to be clear that James, the photographer, was not complicit in a behavior that led to the elk’s demise, but rather was made an example of the result of such behaviors. The elk approached him from behind, likely looking for food as he was conditioned to do.”

You hate to see it…

Students in the Photography Program at Florida Panhandle Technical College in Chipley learned that ‘It’s better to give than to receive’, especially when the ‘gift’ is OC spray.

Pepper Spray, also known as OC or Oleoresin Capsaicin Spray, is a lachrymatory agent that irritates the eyes and causes a burning sensation, pain, and temporary blindness, used in policing, riot control, crowd control and self-defense.

On May 22, 2024, the Florida Panhandle Technical College Digital Photography Program in Chipley, Florida visited the FPTC Corrections Program to document the OC Spray Training, a mandatory training for Corrections Officers, as seen in Part 3 of these photos by FPTC Photography student Omar Castro.

The program, a combination of Photography, Videography, Audio Production, Drone Technology, Marketing, Website Production, Responsible Social Media, and other life skills, is open to dual-enrolled high school students and adults.

Florida Panhandle Technical College continues to push the envelope in innovation, constantly upgrading the array of production programs available, to satisfy the marketplace demand for drone pilots, film creators, cinematographers, television production technicians, audio engineers and content creators.

Call 850-638-1180 Extension 6317, stop by 757 Hoyt Street in Chipley or email paul.goulding@fptc.edu for more information about the Photography, Video Technology, Audio, Drone and Television Production Programs at Florida Panhandle Technical College, with financial aid available but limited seating.

Behind every picture, there is a photographer with a story. This time, we would like to overview both Elke’s beautiful portraits of dogs and her journey, which resulted in her becoming a photographer.

In an interview with Bored Panda, Elke shared: “I live in Germany with my husband and two dogs. When my husband fell seriously ill, I used photography as a means to try to get my mind off things and to cope with the stressful time. As I also had to take care of my mother-in-law, who suffered from dementia, as well as my own mother, my only “me” time was when I walked the dogs. I often took my camera with me. I even started a one-picture-a-day project as a creative outlet.”

What started as a short escape from a stressful life has now flourished into a creative career, offering us a unique, intimate look at dogs.

More info: Instagram | elkevogelsang.com

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MILTON — Art Academy of Milton is hosting an opening reception for a new exhibition of figurative photography, featuring works by Charlie Valentine Grae, Brian Spies and Steve Gibson, on Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. The exhibit will run for approximately three weeks.

This show contains works never seen publicly by the three artists, leaning toward the otherworldly and fanciful, with some images containing mature subject matter. Parental discretion is advised. It is located on the third floor with stair-only access, and is free and open to the public. Art Academy of Milton is located at 38 S. Front St., Milton.

Additional open hours to be published on Art Academy of Milton Facebook and instagram pages and in their website calendar www.ArtAcademyofMilton.com/calendar

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