Editor’s Note: Call to Earth is a CNN editorial series committed to reporting on the environmental challenges facing our planet, together with the solutions. Rolex’s Perpetual Planet initiative has partnered with CNN to drive awareness and education around key sustainability issues and to inspire positive action.

It is an otherworldly scene. A paper nautilus floats on a piece of ocean debris after a volcanic eruption in the Philippines, its orange eye bright against the black water, its parchment-like shell curled in a perfect spiral, with specks of light falling like raindrops on the image.

And for this photo of a paper nautilus, a type of octopus, Jialing Cai has been named the Ocean Photographer of the Year 2023, beating thousands of photos submitted to the competition which aims to display the beauty of the oceans and the threats they face.

The marine biologist and amateur photographer captured the photo on a blackwater dive – a night dive in the open ocean, which uses floodlights to attract the ocean nightlife.

Thousands of entrants submitted underwater and coastal images, as well as pictures captured by drone, to the competition, organizers said.

Some of the awe-inspiring entries to the contest feature a polar bear cub contending with the fragility of melting ice, a scuba diver exploring the underside of a gigantic iceberg and diving gannets.

Will Harrison, editorial director of Oceanographic Magazine and the Ocean Photographer of the Year, said in an email sent to CNN Thursday: “The range and quality of submissions entered into this year’s competition is special. From world-class drone images of megafauna to breath-taking underwater images of deep-dwelling ocean wildlife, the full spectrum of ocean life is brought to life like never before.

“This is an extraordinary collection of photography from an extraordinarily talented group of ocean photographers: divers, surfers and sailors uniting to dazzle the world.”

The images from this year’s competition, produced by Oceanographic Magazine, in partnership with Blancpain, Arksen and Tourism Western Australia, will be on display for five months at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney from November 17.

A selection of the winning and highly commended images can be seen in the gallery above.

Earlier this week, it was reported that the broadcaster was set to pay a dedicated Fair City photographer €240,000 over three years to take 16 still images on set.

However in a statement today, RTÉ said the photographer would be paid “a maximum of €60,000 per annum, or €240,000 over four years”.

The successful candidate will work an average of 20 hours per week over the course of three days per week.

This works out at €60 per hour, before tax, given the photographer will work 20 hours across 50 weeks in a year.

“The contract is guide price and is for a maximum of €60,000 per annum, or €240,000 over four years,” RTÉ said in a release this morning.

The new role will require a photographer to “deliver a minimum of 16 approved photograph stills in both high and low resolution to Fair City each week, for 50 weeks per year, as specified by RTÉ”.

This imagery will be used across a variety of media outlets to help drive audiences to the show “as viewers can now decide what to watch based on the promotional image that appears on their platform”.

Executive Producer or Fair City, Brigie de Courcy said: “I cannot overstate the importance of high quality, highly curated photography in promoting Fair City in the busy landscape of press and digital publicity. It is vital to have a skilled photographer to capture, in single frames, moments of drama that will intrigue our regular audience, and bring new viewers to Fair City.”

Mr Bakhurst on Wednesday when questioned about the previous offer from RTÉ to pay €240,000 for a Fair City photographer across three years, said he “can’t believe” the salary that was being offered for the work.

This move comes one day after RTÉ announced a recruitment freeze to combat plummeting TV licence fee revenue.

In an email sent to staff, Mr Bakhurst said the recruitment freeze will begin with “immediate effect”. He also announced all “discretionary spending” would be halted.

The new RTÉ chief said partial or full sale of RTÉ lands is on the table as the broadcaster seeks to solve a financial crisis.

Mr Bakhurst said a funding request for €34.5million had been lodged in order to give RTÉ time to see where to make further cuts next year.

It comes on the back of an anticipated shortfall of €21m in TV licence fee payments by the end of the year.

The current licence fee system is “obsolete and redundant”, the RTÉ chairperson has said, as she admitted the national broadcaster is fighting for its future.

RTÉ Commitee: Brendan Griffin TD says he’d rather spend his TV licence fee in the pub.

Royal photographer Julian Calder has revealed the behind-the-scenes preparations that were involved with getting the late Queen ready to be photographed.

The portrait connoisseur told HELLO!’s A Right Royal Podcast, which you can listen to below, about the surprising footwear that the late Queen wore for the Chief of The Chiefs portrait. The monumental photograph was snapped on the grounds of Balmoral Castle back in 2010.

Bid farewell to the idea of dainty little shoes; Queen Elizabeth had replaced satin with stompers whilst treading the grounds of her beloved Scottish residence.

“She was wearing walking shoes underneath her robes,” Julian tells HELLO!.

He recalls the late Queen’s agreement to the portrait, which came under the condition that the robes stay dry. “She said, ‘Right, we’ll do this. But make sure that the robes don’t get wet.’ So with her blessing, we went off and we did it.”

© PA Images

And indeed, Julian and his team went to great lengths to ensure the protection of the royal robes. Hidden from the camera’s eye is a sheet which paved an invisible platform for Her late Majesty, keeping her safely separate from the Scottish dewiness.

Julian tells HELLO! of the challenge of finding an accessible landscape for the late monarch whilst also ensuring it fulfilled its fundamental purpose.

© PA Images

“When you’re doing a figure in landscape, the figure must dominate the landscape. But the landscape has got to be very sympathetic with putting the figure in there.

“And it all worked.”

Indeed it did, with Queen Elizabeth II captured in a striking vow of strength and authority whilst she radiates beneath layers of emerald green.

© Getty

“She wanted to see it,” Julian says. “She looked at everything, but she didn’t quite understand why she’s standing there in the road. I think in the end she accepted it, that it was a significant portrait, and slightly different from most of the ones that she had done.”

Elsewhere, HELLO!’s royal editor Emily Nash talks about Balmoral, King Charles’ first summer there as monarch and why it’s such a special place for the young kids of the royal family.

It’s undeniable that Tamron stands out as perhaps the best 3rd party lens maker of our time — especially if you’re a Sony photographer. Today, Tamron is announcing that the new Tamron 70-180mm f2.8 G2 will cost only $1,299 when it launches in October 2023. You’re bound to wonder why they went with this focal length. When we reviewed the previous version, we realized that we truly didn’t miss the extra 20mm. With higher-megapixel cameras available today, you might feel the same about the Tamron 70-180mm F2.8 Di III VC VXD G2. However, there’s also a chance you might want even more!

I’m going to start this preview of the lens out by stating that this is an incredible lens for anyone that needs to shoot portraits on the regular — and that’s a big part of the necessary understanding. This isn’t a lens necessarily meant for shooting events unless they’re close quarters. With that said, I truly want to see a revival of the Tamron 70-210mm f4 for mirrorless cameras. Looking back at my review of that lens, I get a feeling of fondness for the images that I created with it. And with that said, I wish that Tamron would make something like it with an f2.8 aperture. Though even better might be a 150-300mm f2.8 lens to accompany their excellent 35-150mm f2-2.8. In fact, I’m not sure you’d need the new Tamron 70-180mm f2.8 G2 if you own that lens.

Tech Specs

These specifications are taken from the press release. The biggest change is the addition of vibration compensation:

* Length is the distance from the front end of the lens to the lens mount face.

** The circular diaphragm stays almost perfectly circular up to two stops down from maximum aperture.

Specifications, appearance, functionality, etc. are subject to change without prior notice.

Ergonomics

The Tamron 70-180mm f2.8 G2 lens has a few key updates to it. The biggest one is the addition of a USB port on the side. But ergonomically, otherwise, it’s very similar to the older lens. There’s a zoom ring, a focusing ring, and a switch on the side. Like many of Tamron’s other lenses, it also has the silver ring towards the back.

Build Quality

The new Tamron 70-180mm f2.8 G2 is said to be weather resistant, just like the last one was. We haven’t taken it out into a heavy rainfall yet to test that. But we’re pretty confident that as always, we’ll find Tamron’s lenses to be even more durable than Sony’s cameras.

In the hand, this is a small and lightweight lens. It zooms in and out — and overall there isn’t anything that majorly stands out about it. The texture is pebbled just enough to give you grip — though you’ll mostly likely place your hands around the rubber rings instead. We can’t truly complain about this lens and how it feels.

Ease of Use

For the uninitiated, the Tamron 70-180mm f2.8 G2 has a USB port on the side for updating firmware. That’s a nifty feature that surprises lots of people. But otherwise, this lens is mostly a point and shoot affair. There are custom presets you can set and control on the lens along with a lens lock. This is bound to be one of the most straightforward telephoto zooms you’ll use. New photographers might really like that.

One of the biggest new features is the addition of vibration control for shaky hands.

Focusing

We tested the new Tamron 70-180mm f2.8 G2 at the Tuxedo Rennaissance Faire and had a whole lot of fun making images with it. We used the Sony a7r III and the Profoto B10 with it. The camera was set to human detection mode for eyes and face. The combo worked well together when taking portraits of people and overall, we didn’t face any glaring problems.

However, these tests were done in ideal lighting with the Live View Setting effect turned off. This is how Sony’s cameras perform at their absolute best when it comes to autofocusing in a variety of situations. This has even been confirmed to us by Sony reps. We have to test it with melanated people of color in low light to truly see how it will perform. That will be done in our full review to come.

Image Quality

Truly, I don’t care about pixel peeping. Nor did the people that I took portraits of! What they totally did care about is that they looked good. And the reason why I say that this lens is so great for portrait photography is because when paired with a 42MP full-frame sensor, you’ll see that it’s just sharp enough to not need major retouching with subjects. I say that this is the case even with a flash being used!

Is the lens sharp! Of course, it is! Is it so sharp that you’ll want to spend loads of time in post-production editing the skin? No way. In fact, we really don’t like sitting for hours retouching images. So if all you want to do is just shoot, then you’re in for a great time.

Here are sample images for you.

Unedited

Edited

First Impressions

So far, I’m really liking the Tamron 70-180mm f2.8 G2 for portrait photography. Though personally, I’m wondering a few other things about it. For example, how is it really standing out from all the other brands out there? Other brands have made very lightweight and small 70-200mm f2.8 lens. While this is even smaller and lighter while having a more affordable price, I still think it might need something else like a faster aperture or something like that.

Stay tuned for our full review to come.

As the first major survey of Southern photography in twenty-five years, this exhibition will examine that complicated history and reveal the American South’s critical impact on the evolution of the medium, posing timely questions about American culture and character.

Featuring many works from the High Museum of Art’s extensive collection, A Long Arc will include photographs of the American Civil War, which transformed the practice of photography across the nation and established visual codes for articulating national identity and expressing collective trauma. Photographs from the 1930s to the 1950s, featuring many created for the Farm Security Administration, will demonstrate how that era defined a new kind of documentary aesthetic that dominated American photography for decades and included jarring and unsettling pictures that exposed economic and racial disparities. With works drawn from the High’s unparalleled collection of civil rights–era photography, the exhibition will show how photographs of the movement in the decade that followed galvanized the nation with raw depictions of violence and the struggle for justice. Contemporary photography featured in the exhibition will demonstrate how photographers working today continue to explore Southern history and themes to grasp American identity.

A Long Arc : Photography and the American South since 1845
September 15, 2023 –J anuary 14, 2024
High Museum of Art
1280 Peachtree Street, N.E.
Atlanta, Georgia 30309
www.high.org

Ariella Aïsha Azoulay’s worldview was shaped by the complexities of her experience of growing up and rejecting Israeli citizenship and the ‘settler colonial identity’ that she had been assigned. Now, as a writer, art curator and professor of comparative literature and modern culture and media at Brown University, she works to reframe the past to challenge concepts of knowledge, art, history and human rights as they’ve been framed by imperialism. Made on the occasion of her being awarded the International Center of Photography’s 2023 Infinity Award for Critical Writing, Research and Theory, in this video Azoulay draws from her writings to argue for the collective imperative to ‘unlearn’ the omnipresent colonial constructs that surround us. In particular, she focuses on the need to view photographs as part of ongoing conflicts and questions that can still be grappled with today, rather than just past documentation of an inevitable, settled present and future.