Features

PetaPixel's Features are in-depth, heavily researched stories designed to answer the most important questions on a topic. Where we flex our journalistic muscle, expect to find the best storytelling and original reporting the photo industry offers.
A composite image shows a solar eclipse sequence on the left and a computer screen displaying eclipse planning software on the right.

This Photographer Built An App to Capture Perfect Solar Eclipse Photos

On August 12, 2026, a total solar eclipse will dazzle people in Greenland, Iceland, northern Russia, Spain, and a small part of Portugal, plus some lucky people on boats in the Atlantic Ocean. For photographers gearing up for the total solar eclipse next week, and others farther down the road, photographer Steven Madow has created an incredibly robust new solar eclipse automation app, Umbra.

A person in camouflage gear and a large backpack bends forward in a grassy, wooded area, looking toward the camera, with text “DEMONTAGE” at the top of the image.

The FPV Drone Footage From Ukraine Is Unprecedented

Which drone video that you have watched will stay with you the longest? There's been some great ones, like that bowling alley video a few years ago or beautiful shots of Iceland. But they don't compare to the avalanche of videos coming out of the Ukrainian frontline, many of which show a human being's final moments.

A person films a vintage airplane from a cockpit using a camera; next to it, the airplane is seen flying above a city skyline at sunset.

Red Bull Used a Vintage Camera to Film a 68-Year-Old Plane’s Historic Return to American Skies

For the first time since it was manufactured in Santa Monica, California, in 1958, the historic DC-6B aircraft from Red Bull’s aviation collection returned to the skies over the United States for a series of flights, with New York City serving as its first stop. To capture the significance of the aircraft’s return, the production team chose an equally historic approach: filming the aircraft using vintage Bolex motion picture cameras from the same era.

Two people in traditional attire dance outdoors on a sandy area, surrounded by a group of onlookers with palm trees and huts in the background. The image is in black and white.

The First-Ever Documentary Film Was ‘Moana’

Disney's live-action remake of Moana is set to be released in theaters tomorrow, and all is not well: box office sales are projected to be weak and critics are asking why this film, starring Dwayne Johnson, is even being made in the first place. But the first movie called Moana was shot all the way back in 1926 and far from being a live-action remake, it was the very first film to be labeled a documentary.

A scuba diver with underwater camera gear swims among a large group of hammerhead sharks in deep blue ocean water.

How Underwater Filmmaking Can Help Save Hammerhead Sharks Before It’s Too Late

National Geographic kicked off its annual summer Sharkfest event in a huge way with a brand-new, jaw-dropping special, Hammerhead Sharks Up Close With Bertie Gregory. These eye-catching, iconic sharks are wildly misunderstood, unfairly feared, and face an existential threat. Gregory spoke to PetaPixel about his new special on hammerhead sharks and what people can do to protect marine life.