Tag: photography

These stunning photos celebrate the intricacy of the microscopic world

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Tumour cells in a mouse’s brain

Bruno Cisterna/Nikon Small World

A snapshot of a delicate web of tumour cells inside a mouse’s brain has clinched the top prize in this year’s Nikon Small World photography competition, which celebrates microscopy.

Tightly packed, upright strands of a protein known as actin border each cell, which contain green jumbles of tiny tubes, called microtubules, that surround a violet nucleus.

Bruno Cisterna Irrazabal at Augusta University in Georgia, who took the photo, is exploring whether the breakdown of the structures around nuclei could influence the development of neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease.

“One of the main problems with neurodegenerative diseases is that we don’t fully understand what causes them,” he said in a statement. “To develop effective treatments, we need to figure out the basics first.”

Clumps of slime moulds within nets of thick threads

Henri Koskinen/Nikon Small World

Maroon-coloured fruiting bodies of slime moulds, belonging to the species Cribraria cancellata, glisten in another entry, taken by Henri Koskinen at the University of Helsinki in Finland. A dainty net of thick threads, known as a peridium, encloses a clump of spores.

A cross-section of European beachgrass

Gerhard Vlcek/Nikon Small World

Photographer Gerhard Vlcek captured this vibrant cross-section of European beachgrass (Ammophila arenaria), taken from the Austrian city of Maria Enzersdorf. The turquoise tubes adjacent to the plant’s orange tissue are vascular bundles made up of xylem and phloem, which carry water and food.

Miniature scales from the wings of a Ulysses butterfly

Daniel Knop/Nikon Small World

The azure flecks on the end of this syringe needle are miniature scales from the wings of a Ulysses butterfly (Papilio ulysses). Each scale can be as small as 30 micrometres in length. The astonishing shot was taken by photographer Daniel Knop in Germany.

The eight eyes of a green crab spider

Paweł Błachowicz/Nikon Small World

Paweł Błachowicz in Poland got up close and personal with a green crab spider (Diaea dorsata) to capture this intimate photo of its eight eyes. This species is no more than 6 millimetres across.

Translucent water fleas at different stages of reproduction

Marek Miś/Nikon Small World

This wonderfully neon image of two translucent water fleas (Daphnia sp.) was taken by Marek Miś in Poland. The one on the left is filled with embryos, while its companion is replete with eggs.

A cross-section of a common bracken

DavidMaitland/Nikon Small World

Vascular bundles form an expressive smile in this cross-section of a common bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) stem, taken by David Maitland in the UK.

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October 17, 2024
Google Photos Is Getting a Gemini Infusion to Power Its Search

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“Exploring new places, going the extra mile. He feasts with his friends, enjoys a good drink, and laughs with his family, quick as a wink. So here’s to you, Julian, a life full of fun, may your battery never die, may your data never be done. You’re a master of tech, a reviewer of renown, a poet, a joker, the life of the town!”

If you want to return to the standard search experience in Google Photos, you can tap on “Switch to classic search.” But you also don’t necessarily need to do that. I just wanted to find some pics of myself, so I started typing in my name into Ask Photos, and it quickly took me to a collection of all the photos of me in my library—no Gemini processing required. If you have named most of the people and pets that routinely crop up in your library, you won’t have to wait for Ask Photos to process the request just to see pictures of them.

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu via Google Photos

That said, I asked Yael Marzan, head of product for Google Photos, if Ask Photos would eventually replace the traditional search function completely, and here’s what she said: “We believe Ask Photos is a better way to search, but we need to go slow and responsibly and scale it in a way that makes sense.”

The Ask Photos rollout is much more limited. It’s a Google Labs feature, indicating it’s experimental, and only select users in the US will see the experience starting today. There is a waiting list if you want to request early access. Marzan says the Photos team is leaning heavily on user feedback to improve the experience. She says because this is a generative AI technology, there is more risk, and the reason for this cautious rollout is to see how people use Ask Photos and to make sure it provides “safe, accurate, and non-offensive answers.”

It’s worth noting that the Google blog post about the new feature indicates that humans may review queries to improve Ask Photos, “but only after being disconnected from your Google Account to protect your privacy.” The results are not reviewed by humans unless you provide feedback, “or in rare cases to address abuse or harm.”

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September 5, 2024
Close-up photographs of seeds show their intricate beauty

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Lady Margaret passionflower

Rob Kesseler & Wolfgang Stuppy

Since the emergence of seeds around 360 million years ago, plants have flourished – from the most imposing of giant sequoias to the daintiest of herbs. The new book Seeds: Time capsules of life by visual artist Rob Kesseler and botanist Wolfgang Stuppy explores these tiny natural wonders using a mixture of scanning electron microscopy and close-up photographs.

LEFT: Apple-of-Peru (Nicandra physalodes). RIGHT: passion flower (Passiflora caerulea)

Rob Kesseler & Wolfgang Stuppy

In the image on the left above, a delicate, leafy structure known as a calyx surrounds the fruit of the apple-of-Peru (Nicandra physalodes). To its right is a 3.4-millimetre-wide cross-section of a blue passion flower (Passiflora caerulea) ovary, stuffed with mature ovules that develop into seeds once it is fertilised.

Scutellaria orientalis

Rob Kesseler & Wolfgang Stuppy

The sinewy, textured nutlet of a yellow-flowered skullcap (Scutellaria orientalis) is shown above. Nutlets are very small versions of nuts, which are fruits with a hard outer shell and dry seeds inside.

LEFT: Mesembryanthemum tetragonum. RIGHT: Phacelia douglasii

Rob Kesseler & Wolfgang Stuppy

The Mesembryanthemum tetragonum, a small shrub native to southern Africa, boasts a spectacular, bright red seed that is just 1.3 mm in diameter (above, left). Next to it, at a mere 0.8-mm long, is the seed of a Douglas’ phacelia (Phacelia douglasii). The honeycomb-shaped seed of Caiophora arechavaletae, shown below, is lightweight enough to be dispersed by the wind. Taking centre stage (main picture, top) is the vivid ovarian cross-section of a Lady Margaret passionflower, stretching 4 mm.

Caiophora arechavaletae

Rob Kesseler & Wolfgang Stuppy

The life forms of Earth are amazing, says Stuppy. “Over millions of years, they have come up with these absolutely amazing adaptations, which helps them interact with animals and the environment.”

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September 4, 2024
The Best 360 Cameras, Tested and Reviewed

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It’s a small world after all, and these cameras can capture all of it at once, giving you a 360-degree view.

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September 1, 2024
The Best Compact Cameras, Tested and Reviewed (2024)

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I was recently thumbing through a photo book at the library and ran across a double-page spread of a crowd surrounding a celebrity taken in 2008. The photo itself wasn’t great, but something jumped out at me—everyone was holding a compact camera. Canon Powershots, Nikon Coolpix, Sony Cybershots, and others I didn’t recognize littered the scene. Fast forward a few years, shoot the same image, and those cameras are now smartphones.

I get it. The phone is always with you and good enough for the selfies and snapshots most people capture. But … shooting with your phone isn’t much fun. I think this is why we’ve seen a huge resurgence in interest in compact cameras. People love “vintage” compact digital cameras, and some laughably bad cameras from the early aughts are selling on eBay for more than they did new, thanks to viral videos. To save you from overspending, I’ve tested and ranked all the compact cameras I could get my hands on—these are the best point-and-shoot cameras I’ve tried.

Check out our many camera buying guides, like the Best Mirrorless Cameras, Best Action Cameras, Best GoPro Hero, Best Instax Cameras, Best Camera Bags, and our step-by-step instructions on How to Choose a Camera.

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What to Look for in a Compact Camera

If you want to upgrade from your smartphone to a dedicated camera, there are three key things to look for:

Size and weight: If it doesn’t fit in your pocket, are you going to carry it around? Part of the appeal of a pocket camera is that, ahem, it actually fits in your pocket. Except for the Fujifilm X100VI, all the cameras in this guide are small and light enough to carry in your pocket.

Image quality: The larger the sensor the better, but also, the better the lens, the sharper and more contrasty your images will be. I’ve mainly suggested fixed-lens cameras for this reason; they typically have faster, sharper lenses.

Extra features: Phones are decent snapshot cameras, but they rarely have good macro lenses, built-in neutral density filters, or fast autofocus. If you’re investing in a pocket camera, look for nice extras like these.

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August 29, 2024
Ricoh GR III and GR IIIx Digital Camera Review: Nearly the Perfect Cameras

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Despite the compact size, the GR III packs a 24.2-MP APS-C sensor, which is why it’s my favorite compact camera. At the time of writing, there is no other camera this small with an APS-C sensor. (There used to be two others in this class, Fujifilm’s x70 and Nikon’s Coolpix A, and both have been discontinued). While sensor size isn’t everything, the GR III’s sensor can deliver remarkably crisp, contrasty, detailed images on par with what I get from my Sony.

The original GR III launched in 2019 with the equivalent of a 28-mm lens. Ricoh followed this up in 2021 with the GR IIIx, which is almost the same save for the 40-mm equivalent lens. They’re both fantastic. I happen to love 40-mm lenses so I’ve spent more time with the GR IIIx, but for most people who want an all-around capable pocket camera, I’d suggest the 28-mm version is more versatile.

Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

Ricoh GR IIIx

Both lenses are capable of tack-sharp images with an impressive, soft bokeh you don’t usually get with a camera and sensor of this size. There’s also a nice macro mode that adds a bit of versatility to an already impressive package. That said, if you want a zoom, this is not the camera for you (that’d be the Sony RX100 VII).

Three things set the Ricoh GR III above the compact camera pack. The first is the APS-C sensor. The second is the size. This camera can go everywhere with you and it doesn’t get in the way. I often find, no matter how discreet I try to be, pulling out a full-size camera with a decent (read: large) lens on the front, and everyone in a scene notices and subtly changes. The GR III, on the other hand, is small enough that you can pull it out without attracting attention or ruining a scene (it also doesn’t make you look like a rich tourist when traveling).

The third reason I, and legions of other photographers, love this camera is all the little extras. I mentioned the macro mode, but there’s also a useful built-in neutral density filter for shooting longer exposure images without overexposing (think blurring flowing water, for example). The other mode I love is snap focus.

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August 19, 2024
Your Photos Aren’t Real | WIRED

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At a splashy media event this week at its headquarters in Mountain View, California, Google announced four new Pixel phones. But the most important stuff unveiled at the Made By Google event wasn’t the hardware itself, but rather all of the generative AI tools packed into the devices.

Most notable are some AI-powered camera features that allow Pixel owners to easily add their own image to a group shot after they’ve taken the photo, or to alter a photo entirely by changing night to day and adding objects that were never really there. It’s an exploration of our limits—how convincingly technology can bring alternate realities to life, and how much of the computer-generated scenery we can tolerate.

This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior reviews editor Julian Chokkattu joins the show to talk about Google’s fancy new photo tricks. We also talk about Gemini Live, the latest iteration of the company’s AI-powered voice chatbot. Finally, we ask the un-askable: Is Google Assistant finally dead, or just banished to Google’s attic?

Show Notes

Read more about all the new updates from the Made By Google event, including Google’s Pixel camera updates. Learn how the company is using AI to reshape reality. There are some potentially life-saving new features on the Pixel Watch 3. Also read Reece Rogers’ WIRED story about ChatGPT’s advanced voice mode and Jia Tolentino’s New Yorker story about tweens and Sephora.

Recommendations

Julian recommends folding flip phones. Lauren recommends Colorscience Sunforgettable Total Protection Face Shield Flex SPF 50 sunscreen lotion. Mike recommends the audiobook version of All Fours by Miranda July. (You can listen to it in Spotify Premium.)

Julian Chokkattu can be found on social media @JulianChokkattu. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.

How to Listen

You can always listen to this week’s podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here’s how:

If you’re on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link. You can also download an app like Overcast or Pocket Casts, and search for Gadget Lab. If you use Android, you can find us in the Google Podcasts app just by tapping here. We’re on Spotify too. And in case you really need it, here’s the RSS feed.

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August 15, 2024
Mangrove forests celebrated in stunning photographs

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These elegant and serene photos pay homage to a vital yet diminishing ecosystem: mangrove forests. The shots are some of the top entries in this year’s Mangrove Photography Awards, telling the story of the beauty, diversity and fragility of mangrove trees, which grow in salty, coastal waters – in stark contrast to most other trees.

Shown above is a dramatic photograph of a central strip of mangroves flanking the brilliant blue coast of the United Arab Emirates. Taken by photographer Ammar Alsayed Ahmed, the image was highly commended in the competition’s Mangroves & Landscapes category.

The top spot in this category was won by another of Alsayed Ahmed’s shots, which shows a gracefully winding river (shown above). The golden clumps of mangrove trees dotted along its length highlight the verdancy these forests bring to the area.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for an increasing number of mangrove forests worldwide. Despite being biodiversity hotspots and significant carbon stores that help offset climate change, mangroves are under threat from factors like logging, aquaculture and water pollution, in turn threatening the wildlife and people that depend on them.

These include species like lemon sharks, a juvenile pair of which feature in Jillian Morris’s entry (pictured above), taken in the Bahamas and highly commended in the Mangroves & Underwater category. Lemon sharks spend the first few years of their lives in mangrove “nurseries” and are one of the many marine species that dwell there.

In Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, an ambitious project to plant and restore coastal mangroves is underway. The Abu Dhabi Mangrove Initiative (ADMI) is part of a nationwide effort to plant 100 million mangrove trees by 2030 across the UAE. In 2023 alone, it distributed over six million seeds using specially adapted drones.

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August 7, 2024
To Study Tornados, Bring an Apocalypse-Proof Truck. And Rocket Launchers

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Reed Timmer has been chasing storms for more than two decades, since he intercepted his first tornado in northern Oklahoma as an undergrad majoring in meteorology. During that time, Timmer, who typically logs more than 50,000 miles on the road each year, has intercepted countless tornadoes, each one helping to further his extreme-weather knowledge. “We still don’t completely know what happens inside a tornado,” says Edgar ONeal, a weather journalist who is Timmer’s chase partner.

Enter the Dominator. This is the third iteration of Timmer’s custom-built tornado mobile, which he initially rolled out in the late 2000s. The current Dominator has the chassis of an F350 and weighs 10,000 pounds, enabling it to withstand the debris, gorilla hail, and 150-mph winds that accompany the most powerful of storms. According to Timmer, his “holy grail” is to drive the Dominator to within a quarter-mile of a twister, then shoot a rocket loaded with sensors directly into the heart of the tornado. Timmer has accomplished this once: In May 2019, the rocket tracked the vortex’s pressure drop and frigid air temperature. His team’s hope in the coming year is to launch dozens of rockets at the same time into the swirling updraft of a twister’s “inflow notch.” But even if all those rockets fail, the Dominator is full of its own sensors to capture valuable scientific data. “That’s the whole point,” says ONeal. “You can launch probes into a tornado, or you can be the probe, and that’s the Dominator.”

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August 4, 2024
Haunting photos bring fictional female explorers to life

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Tonje Bøe Birkeland as Tuva Tengel on a camel in Mongolia.

Tonje Bøe Birkeland

The imagined female scientists, explorers and adventurers seen in Tonje Bøe Birkeland’s photographs are echoes from a footnote in women’s history. In her ongoing series, The Characters, the photographer frames herself in the guise of Victorian and early-20th century pioneers – dressed in period costume, holding binoculars and bellows cameras – snapped in widescreen vistas of mountains, fjords and ice flows. Each picture is a performance.

The project began in 2008, when Birkeland was on a course about photography’s role in shaping historical truths. “It was all about did Neil Armstrong go to the moon? Did Roald Amundsen actually get to the Pole first?” she recalls. “That made me want to do something about women.” Her first character was a glaciologist.

Her photographs are puzzles and her work taps into the names, appearances and biographies of real, unrecognised women, such as Louise Arner Boyd, a polar scientist who traversed the north-east coast of Greenland in the 1920s. As well as stepping into the boots of her creations, Birkeland writes their journals and creates installations of their travel cases (packed with maps and geological samples), which she both photographs and exhibits. She has immortalised her intrepid alter egos in various settings, from the snowdrifts of Svalbard to the foothills of Bhutan.

In the top photo, she is seen as desert traveller Tuva Tengel on a camel in Mongolia. The three other photos show her as Arctic explorer Anna Aurora Astrup in Greenland.

Birkeland’s work will be at Forum Box in Helsinki, Finland, from 22 August to 19 September.

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July 3, 2024