Designing a Star Tracker for Astronaut Don Pettit to Use on the ISS

A mechanical device with gears is shown on the left. An arrow points from it to a vibrant, blurred image of space, Earth, and a distant galaxy on the right, suggesting a connection between the device and space exploration.

In the spring of 2023, I received a phone call from Peter Blackberg (an old friend, RIT alumnus, and a space enthusiast) when he asked if I would join a call with NASA astronaut Don Pettit. Don wanted to build a star tracker for his next space flight.  

A promotional image for Aiarty Image Enhancer V3.0 featuring a before-and-after comparison of an enhanced photo. Text highlights new AI models, face restoration, and DPI options. The interface is displayed on a laptop screen.

Upscale, Denoise, Deblur Photo and Restore Facial Details with New Aiarty Image Enhancer Powered by AI

Every photographer encounters challenges with image quality at some point. These could be blurry or out-of-focus pictures from unsteady hands, grainy or noisy shots from cranking up the ISO, underexposed images in dim lighting, or pixelated photos that lose their clarity and detail when zoomed in -- these are all typical headaches requiring effective solutions.

DJI Flip Review: Lightweight Done Right

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More than ten years ago, I decided to dip my toe into the world of aerial video when Chris Niccolls and I reviewed the DJI Phantom 2 for The Camera Store TV. Two crashed drones in less than a week later, I decided to leave aerial footage to the professionals. But now DJI has introduced the $439 Flip, with incredibly low weight, just enough video quality mojo, and some cool automated tricks. It might be the perfect compliment to my YouTube camera kit, but I wanted to see how it performed in the field before committing to having it in my bag.

Two digital cameras are displayed side by side against a blue fractal background. The left camera is a Canon EOS R5 without a lens, and the right camera is a Fujifilm X100V with a lens attached.

Camera Sales Surged in Japan in 2024

Japanese retail analyst BCN+R released a new report showing that consumer electronics, including cameras, experienced a huge boom during 2024, especially at the very end of the year.

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Healing Tools in Photoshop: Picking the Right One

Fixing blemishes is one of the most basic uses for Photoshop, tiresome though it is at times. They vary, these blemishes, whether they’re dust spots on digital images, marks and scratches on film scans, or blobs, stains, and tears on old prints. Other blemishes are the kind that exist on your subject, like skin flaws.

Photographer Captures Horses Being Saved From LA Wildfires

A person in a dark jacket gently strokes the head of a brown horse with a blue halter. The sky in the background is dark and smoky, indicating a potential fire or storm. They are standing on sandy ground, with hills and vehicles in the distance.

In a sobering what-are-the-odds assignment, Reuters sent freelance photographer Carlin Stiehl to document a safe haven for horses and other animals as Los Angeles battled deadly wildfires. The photographer knew the property: he had learned horseback riding there as a boy.

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Stock Photography’s Crossroads: Can a Getty-Shutterstock Merger Fix It?

As someone who spent over a decade in the stock photography and creative tools industry, I’ve seen firsthand how it has evolved. The news of a potential Getty and Shutterstock merger made me think about how the stock photography industry actors found themselves at a crossroads and what future lies ahead.

The State of Canon, Nikon, and Sony’s ‘Holy Trinity’ Zoom Lenses in 2025

A man lies on a wooden floor surrounded by various camera lenses. The words "Nikon," "Sony," and "Canon" are written near groups of lenses. He looks up with a playful expression, wearing a black shirt and khaki pants.

The majority of professional photographers pray at the Church of the Holy Trinity. That is to say that they make their daily bread with an ultra-wide f/2.8 zoom, a general-purpose 24-70mm f/2.8, and a 70-200mm f/2.8 telephoto. This is a tradition that has held true for decades from the time of the autofocusing film SLR to the modern mirrorless cameras of today. Good things come in threes so today we look at the best three lenses from the three biggest companies.

The Custom Nikon Z9 and Thermal Blanket Headed to the Moon

A Nikon camera without a lens is displayed next to a white and red camera bag, which has a camera lens built into the front, both set on a white surface with a dark, blurred background.

Nikon and NASA have a rich history of collaboration dating back more than 50 years when Nikon supplied specialized analog cameras for Apollo missions. Nikon cameras are headed back to the Moon, and Nikon showed off some of the new lunar-bound technology this week at CES.

A woman with star-spangled Minnie Mouse ears sits on a bus looking at her phone. Next to her, two children in a stroller wear matching red Mickey Mouse family shirts, alongside adults wearing similar themed shirts.

The Happiest Place: Memories and Reality at an American Amusement Park

My good friend, the oldfangled film photographer Elizabeth Nahum-Albright, was recently tasked with a common problem: the disposition of her newly dead father. His most urgent demands were clear: he was to be cremated and placed, like all of his cats, into a cookie jar.

A detailed grayscale image of the Moon's surface, featuring numerous craters and a stark contrast between illuminated and shadowed areas. Several large craters are prominent in the center-left, highlighting the rugged lunar terrain.

The Three Best Photos From BepiColombo’s Historic Mercury Flyby

The joint European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) BepiColombo mission performed its sixth flyby of Mercury yesterday, January 8, 2025. This historic maneuver enabled the spacecraft to capture incredible new photos of the planet's surface from just 295 kilometers (183 miles) away.

Adobe’s Generative AI Jumps The Shark, Adds Bitcoin to Bird Photo

A seagull flies over a body of water with its wings spread wide. An enlarged inset shows a gold Bitcoin symbol highlighted in the center, indicated by a red arrow from a smaller coin image in the bottom left corner.

Last year, Adobe updated its Firefly generative AI platform multiple times, the most recent coming in September. Over that time, the Lightroom and Photoshop tools that rely on the technology have gotten steadily worse and the system's choice to add a Bitcoin logo to a photo of a seagull is a perfect distillation of the problem.

Two characters from "Wicked" stand side by side, looking upward with a surprised expression. One is dressed as the green-skinned Wicked Witch in dark attire and a hat, while the other is Glinda in a pink dress with blonde hair. Light shines behind them.

How the Fantastical Blockbuster Movie ‘Wicked’ Was Lit

When it was released in 1939, The Wizard of Oz broke new ground in movie production thanks largely to its remarkable lighting setup. The blockbuster prequel Wicked, based on the award-winning Broadway play of the same name, likewise captivates contemporary audiences thanks in large part to its visual aesthetic and incredible lighting.

A vast, colorful galaxy cluster filled with numerous bright stars and galaxies against a dark backdrop. The image showcases a celestial spectacle with scattered light sources of varying sizes and colors, highlighting the universe's vastness.

The 570-Megapixel Dark Energy Camera’s Dazzling View of 230 Sparkling Galaxies

The groundbreaking Dark Energy Camera (DECam) entered service in 2012 and served as the primary camera used for the Dark Energy Survey. The 570-megapixel camera, which features 74 total CCD image sensors, recently captured a dazzling photo of the Antlia Cluster (Abell S636), a group of at least 230 galaxies located about 130 million light-years from Earth.

Black wireless earbuds hover above an open charging case against a neutral background. The earbuds have ear hooks for a secure fit. The case features a small LED indicator light.

The Tiny Hollyland Lark M2S Wireless Mic System Is Nearly Invisible

The sixth-generation Hollyland Lark Series microphone, the Lark M2S, is exceptionally tiny, weighs just seven grams (0.25 ounces), and is logo-free, ensuring it is easy to conceal while still delivering high-quality wireless audio for videographers, content creators, vloggers, and streamers.

Samyang 35mm f/1.4 P Review: Fantastic Value for a Fast Prime

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It's well-known that I am not a fan of the 35mm focal length. It's also well-known that I am in the extreme minority on this. Everyone loves a good 35mm lens which is a prime candidate for a faster f/1.4 aperture. Samyang has answered the call with its latest "Prima" series of lenses which promise to be optical standouts with sophisticated autofocusing.

Viral Olympic Surf Shot Tops World Sports Photography Awards

A surfer mid-air above a wave, with a surfboard trailing behind connected by a leash. The person is wearing a pink shirt and blue shorts, pointing upward with one hand. The sky is cloudy, with large waves visible below.

Sports photography is a game of split-second timing and never-to-be-repeated moments, so to be at the top of your game takes no small amount of skill. The best of the best in this demanding genre has just been recognized with the winning frames from the World Sports Photography Awards.