Newly found code in Google Photos suggests the platform will soon introduce a weekly photo highlight reel known as My Week that can be shared with contacts. 

Evidence of the upcoming feature was discovered by tech blog TheSpAndroid after diving deep into the files of Google Photos version 6.69. There, they discovered strings with text descriptions explaining how the update could work. According to their findings, users will be able to select multiple pictures to make up a My Week highlight reel. They can then invite contacts to their account so they enjoy recently taken images.

TheSpAndroid explains this is similar to how regular albums currently work on Google Photos. However, My Week differentiates itself by being on the homepage. Invitees won’t have to dig through multiple folders to find the source. Android Authority, which also discovered the same strings of code, corroborates this opinion. They believe My Week will allow contacts to stay “up-to-date with your life” by automatically sending photographs every week. Users can pick out what they want to send to their contacts. 

There is some debate on how exactly the highlight reels will be shown. TheSpAndroid admits it’s not sure whether images will be in a “memories carousel” (think Instagram Stories) or in a separate Memories tab.

Collecting photos in real-time

In addition to My Week, TheSpAndroid found evidence of another feature called real-time albums. 

The string of code suggests Google Photos will recommend placing images taken at an event or trip into one of these albums while you’re still traveling. That way, you won’t have to remember to do it after the event is over. It’ll save you a lot of time and hassle. The report states once an event is over you can tell the platform to stop uploading to a real-time album, implying Google Photos will collect images automatically. 

Do take the information here with a grain of salt. As Android Authority points out, “there’s no guarantee” that any of these features will see the light of day. It just means that Google is working on something. It is possible to enable the flags corresponding to MyWeek and the real-time albums, but they won’t do anything. 

The tech giant has been working on improving organization tools on Google Photos. Who among us does not have an unruly mess in our accounts? Very recently, the company rolled out Photo Stacks giving the platform the ability to automatically group pictures into alike groups. Back several months ago, a new creation tool was added to tie together clips into a minute-long highlight video. My Week seems to be the next step in Google’s photo organization endeavors.

While we’re on the topic of photography, check out TechRadar’s round of the best camera phones for 2024.

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A Toque macaque monkey, one of two species endemic to Sri Lanka, looks out from a perch as two women tour the grounds of the medieval capital of Polonnaruwa. Located in north-central region of the country, Polonnaruwa was the island’s medieval capital between the 11th and 13th century. Built alongside a large ancient artificial lake there are well-preserved ruins of palaces, bathing pools, stupas and enormous rock sculptures of Buddha. More than 70% of Sri Lankan residents are Buddhist. The Toque is one of two monkeys that are endemic to Sri Lanka. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

The International Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY) competition celebrates all things botanical photography, including close-ups, abstract images, and landscape scenes. The winners of the 17th edition have been revealed and are beautiful.

The Garden Photographer of the Year was started by the Garden Photographers’ Association members in 2007 in the United Kingdom and added “International” to the contest name the following year, following significant international interest. The contest is run in association with the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, UK, and an exhibition is held annually in Kew. The exhibit then tours other areas throughout the year.

This year, photographer June Sharpe won the overall prize and the Abstract Views category for her beautiful image of colorful, layered branches.

“The layered branches of this conifer reminded me of the dancing cranes often featured in Japanese woodcuts. In post-processing, I added a fill layer and used exclusion blending mode to alter the colors and enhance the feeling of movement and sense of the ‘birds’ dancing in a fantasy woodland,” Sharpe says of her winning photo, featured above.

“When judging pictures we are hoping to be embraced, and taken on a journey, within a story. June’s picture delivers. There is an abundance of interest and depth which fires the imagination. The soft, new growth transforming between plant and feathers — it is both enticing and enchanting. We are pulled into and beyond the symbolic dancing cranes, and embraced by their ‘wings,’ to a place of hope and peace. It is rare that one can connect with nature and feel such compassion,” adds head IGPOTY judge Tyrone McGlinchey.

Alongside Sharpe’s overall victory and top marks in the Abstract Views category, the IGPOTY awarded winners in 17 additional categories, including four special awards categories. Selected category winners are featured below.

The full winner’s gallery, which includes second and third-place winners and commended entries, is available on the IGPOTY website. The IGPOTY contest also named Annaick Guitteny’s portfolio, “Evanescence,” as the best of the year.

The winners of the 17th International Garden Photographer of the Year competition are on display at Kew Gardens from February 3 until March 10. Complete details on this and other exhibitions are available on the IGPOTY’s website.

Image credits: All images courtesy of the International Garden Photographer of the Year. Individual photographers are credited in the photo captions.

Portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz is letting go of another Manhattan property, according to the New York Post. The famed visual artist listed a full-floor West Village condo-turned-workspace—in addition to the Upper West Side duplex that she listed in October, which went into contract the following month for $8.6 million (that sale has yet to be finalized, per listing records).

Priced at $8.5 million, the West Village property features a 60-foot-long ribbon of steel windows overlooking the Hudson River. The two-bedroom, three-bathroom dwelling is currently set up as a photography studio: one of the bathrooms has been converted to house a huge Epson printer, the primary bedroom is an office, and the would-be dining table is pictured with a suite of office chairs in listing photos.

A bar area in the condo.

Photo: Evan Joseph for Corcoran

Leibovitz paid $6.5 million for the 3,200-square-foot space in 2022. Perhaps the prominent photographer will have better luck selling the space for a profit than she did with her uptown abode, which she bought in 2014 for $11.3 million, $2.7 million more than the unit’s current contract price.

The more recently listed abode is located in a nine-story Greenwich Village building designed in 1998 by Manhattan architect and developer Cary Tamarkin. Concrete columns, heated bluestone floors, and large circular cutouts in the ceiling add to the modern industrial look of the residence.

A sitting area in the condo.

Photo: Evan Joseph for Corcoran