Best overall		Sony RX100 VII		SEE IT	While quite expensive for a point-and-shoot, this camera offers a lot of quality and high-end features in a tiny package, so we think it’s worth the price.
Best for travel		Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III		SEE IT	The one-inch sensor is larger than in a typical compact camera, translating into better low-light shooting, even when not using the built-in flash, and built-in autofocus pixels help track objects for sharp shots even when your subject is moving.
Best instant camera		Instax Mini 11		SEE IT	There’s just something special about a camera spitting out an image, and the wait for it to appear seemingly magically to kids of all ages.

Point-and-shoot cameras may be less common these days, in part thanks to smartphones, but there are still some worthy reasons to invest in these pocketable cameras. For starters, even though smartphone cameras have become quite impressive, the sensors in compact cameras are still larger. And the lenses typically have more to offer as well. Plus, sometimes it’s nice to keep the phone tucked away but still be able to take photos. The best point-and-shoot cameras offer great image quality, easy-to-use controls, and compact designs, making them ideal for a wide range of people and situations.

• Best overall: Sony RX100 VII
• Best for travel: Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III
• Best waterproof: Olympus Tough TG-6
• Best film camera: Ilford Sprite 35-II Reusable 35mm Film Camera
• Best instant camera: Instax Mini 11
• Best for street photography: Ricoh GR IIIx
• Best for content creators: Sony ZV-1
• Best budget: Panasonic LUMIX DC-FZ80

How we chose the best point-and-shoot cameras

The writers and editors at Popular Science have decades of combined experience writing about and reviewing cameras because they’re also the writers and editors of Popular Photography. These picks come from a mixture of personal experience, spec comparisons, user reviews, and editorial reviews.

The best point-and-shoot cameras: Reviews & Recommendations

When picking our favorite point-and-shoot cameras, we emphasized models that perform in a variety of different situations while keeping their sizes small. While some of these models climb up over $1,000, we tried to keep the price relatively low for most selections because these aren’t the most advanced models.

Best overall: Sony RX100 VII

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Specs

• Sensor: 20.1MP 1″ Exmor RS BSI CMOS sensor
• Lens: f/2.8-4.5 9-72mm (35mm equivalent: 24-200mm)
• Weight: 10.65 ounces
• Dimensions: 4 x 2.29 x 1.69 inches

Pros

• Exceptional autofocus
• Versatile zoom range
• Large sensor
• 4K video

Cons

• Pricey for a point-and-shoot

The Sony RX100 VII is an awesome little camera. Despite the tiny body, it’s packed with a large, one-inch sensor, resulting in excellent image quality for the category. It also has the best autofocus of any point-and-shoot camera, meaning you’ll get more images in focus even when working with moving subjects.

This compact camera offers a 24-200mm equivalent lens, which is a versatile zoom range. And it is capable of 4K video, making this a well-rounded camera suitable for just about everyone. The only downside is the price. It is quite expensive for a point-and-shoot. But it offers a lot of quality and high-end features in a tiny package, so we think it’s worth the price.

Best for travel: Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III

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Specs

• Sensor: 20.2MP 1″ Stacked CMOS sensor
• Lens: f/1.8-2.8 8.8-36.8mm (35mm equivalent: 24-100mm)
• Weight: 1 pound
• Dimensions: 4.13 x 2.4 x 1.63 inches

Pros

• Large sensor
• Versatile lens
• Manual control options
• Solid flash

Cons

• A little pricey

The one-inch sensor is larger than what you’ll find in a typical compact camera. This translates into better low-light shooting, even when not using the built-in flash. And the sensor has built-in autofocus pixels that help track objects for sharp shots even when your subject is moving. 

The 4.2x optical zoom lets shooters capture more distant objects without sacrificing image quality, and the 3-inch tilting LCD screen allows for shots from creative angles. Finally, raw photo capture provides extra flexibility for travel photographers who want to perfect images with photo editing software once they return from their trip. It’s a great camera for beginners and more experienced shooters alike.

Best waterproof: Olympus Tough TG-6

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Specs

• Sensor: 12MP BSI CMOS sensor
• Lens: f/2-4.9 4.5-18mm (35mm equivalent: 25 to 100mm)
• Weight: 8.92 ounces
• Dimensions: 4.45 x 2.6 x 1.28 inches

Pros

• Waterproof
• Extremely tough
• Versatile lens
• Underwater shooting modes
• Compatible with tons of accessories

Cons

• Small sensor

This point-and-shoot camera can go pretty much anywhere. It’s waterproof down to 50 feet without a separate case. It’s totally dust-proof, so it won’t suffer if you take it to the beach or deep in the desert. Plus, it’s crush-proof up to 220 pounds, so you can sit on it by accident and still go shooting later in the day. Most compacts can’t stand up to that kind of abuse. 

Toughness isn’t worth much if the camera isn’t very good. This compact offers a relatively small sensor, but it has a versatile 4x zoom lens that will cover most common scenarios on your adventures. And if you fall in love with the camera, Olympus offers a ton of different accessories like action camera mounts and underwater lights to go with it. (Looking for something cheaper but still waterproof? We’ve got you.)

Best film camera: Ilford Sprite 35-II Reusable 35mm Film Camera

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Specs

• Sensor: N/A
• Lens: f/9 31mm
• Weight: 4 ounces
• Dimensions: 4.7 x 2.6 x 1.7 inches

Pros

• Comes in eight fun color combinations
• Very affordable
• Fixed settings make it easy to use
• Features a built-in flash

Cons

• Fixed settings may be limiting
• Plastic lens results in some softness

If you want to get your feet wet with film, the Ilford Sprite 35-II is a fantastic and fun choice. It’s similar to disposable camera in that it has a plastic lens with a fixed aperture and shutter speed. But it’s reloadable, thus producing less waste. And it simply looks cooler than a disposable camera as well.

The Sprite 35-II features a 31mm lens with a fixed f/9 aperture to ensure that your scene is in focus. It also has a fixed 1/120s shutter speed. There is a built-in flash for low-light situations, perfect for shooting indoors. You won’t get precisely sharp and perfect results from this camera, but we think that’s half the fun. It’s a great outlet compared to highly technical cameras and fun to bring along on outings with friends and family. And since it has no settings at all, it’s a true point-and-shoot that is extremely simple to use, even with it being a film camera.

Best instant camera: Instax Mini 11

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Specs

• Sensor: N/A
• Lens: f/12.7 60mm
• Weight: 10.34 ounces
• Dimensions: 4.24 x 4.77 x 2.65 inches

Pros

• Affordable
• Produces fun, tiny instant prints
• Easy to use
• Includes a selfie mirror on the lens

Cons

• Results aren’t the sharpest

There’s just something special about a camera spitting out an image, and the wait for it to appear seemingly magically. The best instant cameras are easy to use and result in attractive prints, which is true of the Instax Mini 11. The results aren’t pristine like you may be used to with your phone or digital camera, but we think that’s part of the charm.

The Instax Mini 11 features a fixed 60mm lens with an f/12.7 aperture that focuses from 11.8 inches to infinity. Or, you can turn the lens to Selfie Mode for a close focusing range of 11.8 to 19.7 inches. And there is a built-in flash, which is ideal for indoor shooting. It is a little slick to hold but comes with a lanyard to prevent drips.

I recently let my nieces and nephews—all under 12—use the Instax Mini 11, and seeing how excited they were was a blast. They all wanted to keep taking photos despite the limited quantity of film I had and ran around showing the rest of the family what they captured. And despite some of them being quite young (and impatient to take a photo), they all managed to take a clear and relatively sharp photo. 

Best for street photography: Ricoh GR IIIx

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Specs

• Sensor: 24.2MP APS-C CMOS sensor
• Lens: f/2.8 26.1mm (35mm equivalent: 40mm)
• Weight: 9.2 ounces
• Dimensions: 4.3 x 2.4 x 1.4 inches

Pros

• Large sensor provides excellent image quality
• Compact and pocket-friendly
• 40mm lens is sharp and versatile

Cons

• No zoom
• Battery life isn’t great

Ricoh’s GR IIIx is a fantastic pick for street photography, largely thanks to its compact design. It is pocketable, so you can easily keep it on you when out and about. And it won’t draw much attention when you take it out to snap a photo. It also has slick all-black styling and an easy-to-hold design, even when shooting with one hand.

This discreet look is furthered by the lack of a zoom lens. It uses a fixed 40mm focal length (35mm equivalent), so you won’t lose the compact size when taking photos. 40mm is also an ideal focal length for street photography, as it is wide enough to get some context in the scene but not so wide that you end up with loads of extra space around your subject. If you do want something wider, the GR III is essentially the same, except it features a wider 28mm equivalent lens.

The GR IIIx image quality is excellent, partly thanks to the relatively large sensor. Images are sharp all the way to the edges, even when shooting wide open at f/2.8. And it produces vibrant, attractive colors. Interested in learning more? Check out our full review of the GR IIIx on Popular Photography.

Best for content creators: Sony ZV-1

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Specs

• Sensor: 20.1MP 1″ Exmor RS BSI CMOS sensor
• Lens: f/1.8-2.8 9.4-5.7mm (35mm equivalent: 24-70mm)
• Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Dimensions: 4.15 x 2.36 x 1.71 inches

Pros

• Excellent lens
• Large sensor
• Very compact for its specs
• Above-average autofocus features

Cons

• Can feel a little cramped with big hands

Sony’s ZV-1 is a camera truly designed for vloggers and, as a result, is packed with features to make recording yourself easier. The auto exposure settings keep your face bright and clear. It even centers your face and quickly adjusts background blur with the push of a Background Defocus button. And the little camera gets Sony’s impressive autofocus abilities, so if you are showcasing other people or products, the camera will quickly find focus for you.

The forward-directional onboard mic and detachable windscreen will help you get great sound, leaving you fussing with levels in post less. There’s also a handy flip screen so you can preview the frame and capture the perfect shots and angles, making it one of the best point-and-shoot cameras for vlogging.

Best budget: Panasonic LUMIX DC-FZ80

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Specs 

• Sensor: 18.1MP 1/2.3″ MOS sensor
• Lens: f/2.8-5.9 3.6 to 215mm (35mm equivalent: 20-1200mm)
• Weight: 1.35 pounds
• Dimensions: 5.1 x 3.7 x 4.7 inches

Pros

• Massive zoom range
• Responsive autofocus
• 4K30p video recording
• Easy to hold

Cons

• Not as compact as other options

Panasonic’s Lumix DC-FZ80 is an affordable bridge camera, offering a DSLR-like body with easy-to-use controls. Because of the deep hand grip, it’s an easy camera to hold than the other point-and-shoots mentioned on our list. It isn’t as compact as a result, so it is a tradeoff, but for many, the classic feel is preferred. 

The built-in lens provides a whopping 60x zoom, making it suitable for just about any situation you find yourself wanting to photograph. And it’s autofocus is quite responsive, so you’ll be more likely to get sharp photos as well. And it’s capable of 4K video, making it a good tool for getting started with video as well. And best of all? It’s cheaper than most alternatives.

Things to consider when shopping for the best point-and-shoot cameras

Point-and-shoot cameras are small and compact cameras that can create sharp, vibrant images. This makes them the best camera for beginners, a good option for travelers, and even a worthy choice for some professional uses. Here are some features to consider when choosing the right one for you.

Are you a true beginner?

A point-and-shoot camera is designed to make the process of photography as simple as possible. They typically feature fully automatic exposure and focus so that you can, as the name implies, point the camera and snap a photo with nothing more than a press of a button. If you are a true beginner and want the easiest-to-use camera, you’ll want to look for models with simple menu systems and fully automatic controls. 

That said, some point-and-shoots offer more settings than others. If you are slightly beyond beginner status or want a camera to grow into, check to see what settings the camera allows you to change. You may want to adjust things like ISO, shutter speed, and aperture down the line, as opposed to relying on auto exposure modes.

Will you travel with your camera?

One of the main purposes of a compact camera is that the camera is, well, compact. With typical dimensions of roughly 2.5 x 3.5 x 1.5 inches, point-and-shoots are specifically designed to easily fit into pockets, purses, fanny packs, and other small compartments. And unlike hefty DSLRs or mirrorless cameras, point-and-shoot cameras weigh way less than a single pound. And if you’re worried about safety, the discreet size of compact cameras makes them less of a target for theft.

While all point-and-shoot cameras are pretty compact, there are still size differences across available cameras. Be sure to pay attention to the dimensions and weight of the cameras you are considering if that is something important to you.

Do you need a tough camera for an active lifestyle?

If you live for the outdoors—hiking steep mountain trails or backpacking through desert Canyons—you need a point-and-shoot camera that can handle adventure. Rugged and waterproof cameras are built to endure and capture the extreme environments you love exploring. Taking electronics to the beach is usually a big no-no, as even a single grain of sand can cause damage. Yet rugged models can resist sand, allowing you to take all the sunset shots you want.

For us less risky folk, these tough cameras can survive your average accidental drops, spills, and kicks. Some of them may be overkill for general use, however. If you don’t intend to take your camera on rugged adventures, you may be able to save some money by getting a camera without extensive protective qualities. 

FAQs

Final thoughts on the best point-and-shoot cameras

• Best overall: Sony RX100 VII
• Best for travel: Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III
• Best waterproof: Olympus Tough TG-6
• Best film camera: Ilford Sprite 35-II Reusable 35mm Film Camera
• Best instant camera: Instax Mini 11
• Best for street photography: Ricoh GR IIIx
• Best for content creators: Sony ZV-1
• Best budget: Panasonic LUMIX DC-FZ80

No matter the setting, creative vision, skill level, or age of a photographer, there are high-quality options that meet every need. The ultimate advantage of a point-and-shoot is its size and portability, making it the perfect camera for travel and adventure, as well as documenting day-to-day life.

Why trust us

Popular Science started writing about technology more than 150 years ago. There was no such thing as “gadget writing” when we published our first issue in 1872, but if there was, our mission to demystify the world of innovation for everyday readers means we would have been all over it. Here in the present, PopSci is fully committed to helping readers navigate the increasingly intimidating array of devices on the market right now.

Our writers and editors have combined decades of experience covering and reviewing consumer electronics. We each have our own obsessive specialties—from high-end audio to video games to cameras and beyond—but when we’re reviewing devices outside of our immediate wheelhouses, we do our best to seek out trustworthy voices and opinions to help guide people to the very best recommendations. We know we don’t know everything, but we’re excited to live through the analysis paralysis that internet shopping can spur so readers don’t have to.

The post The best point-and-shoot cameras in 2023 appeared first on Popular Science.

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As technology evolves, AI-generated images of human faces are becoming increasingly indistinguishable from real photos. But our ability to separate the real from the artificial may come down to personal biases—both our own, as well as that of AI’s underlying algorithms.

According to a new study recently published in the journal Psychological Science, certain humans may misidentify AI-generated white faces as real more often than they can accurately identify actual photos of caucasians. More specifically, it’s white people who can’t distinguish between real and AI-generated white faces. 

[Related: Tom Hanks says his deepfake is hawking dental insurance.]

In a series of trials conducted by researchers collaborating across universities in Australia, the Netherlands, and the UK, 124 white adults were tasked with classifying a series of faces as artificial or real, then rating their confidence for each decision on a 100-point scale. The team decided to match white participants with caucasian image examples in an attempt to mitigate potential own-race recognition bias—the tendency for racial and cultural populations to more poorly remember unfamiliar faces from different demographics.

“Remarkably, white AI faces can convincingly pass as more real than human faces—and people do not realize they are being fooled,” researchers write in their paper.

This was by no slim margin, either. Participants mistakenly classified a full 66 percent of AI images as photographed humans, versus barely half as many of the real photos. Meanwhile, the same white participants’ ability to discern real from artificial people of color was roughly 50-50. In a second experiment, 610 participants rated the same images using 14 attributes contributing to what made them look human, without knowing some photos were fake. Of those attributes, the faces’ proportionality, familiarity, memorability, and the perception of lifelike eyes ranked highest for test subjects.

The team dubbed this newly identified tendency to overly misattribute artificially generated faces—specifically, white faces—as “AI hyperrealism.” The stark statistical differences are believed to stem from well-documented algorithmic biases within AI development. AI systems are trained on far more white subjects than POC, leading to a greater ability to both generate convincing white faces, as well as accurately identify them using facial recognition techniques.

This disparity’s ramifications can ripple through countless scientific, social, and psychological situations—from identity theft, to racial profiling, to basic privacy concerns.

[Related: AI plagiarism detectors falsely flag non-native English speakers.]

“Our results explain why AI hyperrealism occurs and show that not all AI faces appear equally realistic, with implications for proliferating social bias and for public misidentification of AI,” the team writes in their paper, adding that the AI hyperrealism phenomenon “implies there must be some visual differences between AI and human faces, which people misinterpret.”

It’s worth noting the new study’s test pool was both small and extremely limited, so more research is undoubtedly necessary to further understand the extent and effects of such biases. But it remains true that very little is still known about what AI hyperrealism might mean for populations, as well as how they affect judgment in day-to-day lives. In the meantime, humans may receive some help in discernment from an extremely ironic source: During trials, the research team also built a machine learning program tasked with separating real from fake human faces—which it proceeded to accurately accomplish 94 percent of the time.

The post Some people think white AI-generated faces look more real than photographs appeared first on Popular Science.

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Beyond its energy drinks, Red Bull is well known for its support of high-intensity, barrier-breaking sports. In line with this, the company hosts an annual international photography competition called Red Bull Illume Image Quest. In its seventh year, the competition nets thrilling images of a long list of adventure sports, including climbing, kayaking, big mountain skiing, surfing, and more, many of which highlight the diverse landscapes found on our planet. There are 10 distinct categories that applicants submit to, covering a broad range of types of images and levels of photographers. 

[Related: Check out some of the winners of the latest iPhone Photography Awards]

This week, Red Bull announced the top 50 finalists from the thousands of entries, chosen by a jury of 52 photography industry experts. The winners of individual categories and an overall winner will be announced at the Red Bull Illume Winner Award Ceremony in Sölden, Austria, from November 28 to 30. Following that, the exhibit will set off on a worldwide tour, so you may have a chance to see the images in person. You’ll also be able to purchase a book of the images if you find them inspiring enough. Here are some of our favorites, but be sure to head over to the full gallery to explore them all. 

The post The Red Bull photo contest illuminates epic landscapes and adrenaline-pumping scenes appeared first on Popular Science.

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Sometimes, amazing science happens in the background with little to no public attention. All those years of hard efforts and incremental progress are left unseen except by those living and working through it. Now, a new book detailing the making of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) aims to change that by sharing photographs, diagrams, and behind-the-scenes information of the science and pioneers behind the project. 

Inside the Star Factory: The Creation of the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s Largest and Most Powerful Space Observatory gives us a full-body summary of an astronomical feat that required more than 100 million hours of labor over the course of 30 years. It covers everything from the initial conception of the idea to the Christmas Day launch in 2021, providing a robust picture of what went into designing, engineering, and testing such a masterpiece. Science writer Christopher Wanjek provides an in-depth overview of the history of JWST, but even more, the book serves as an “illustrated guide [that] shows readers the heady world of scientific discovery at the very limits of human knowledge.”

All of the 100-plus images of the telescope’s construction were taken by Chris Gunn, who joined the project 15 years ago and was the only photographer given such extensive access to the development and launch of JWST. Over his long career, he’s focused on creating intricate images and videos related to science and technology, with previous experience capturing the last servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. His work puts faces to NASA’s biggest telescope endeavor, humanizing the entire assignment and showcasing those who dedicated so much of their time to a single goal. 

We had a chance to speak with Gunn about his new book to find out more about his process and experience. Here’s what he revealed. 

PopSci: How did you get involved with NASA and JWST? 

Gunn: I worked as a photographer on the last servicing mission to Hubble from 2006 to 2009. When that mission ended, I was asked to join the JWST team. I had never imagined being on such a long-term project. 

PopSci: What was the most challenging part about photographing the project? 

Gunn: The most challenging part about photographing this project was also the most exciting: the constantly evolving subject. Seeing parts of the observatory come together was amazing, but the trick was to keep a consistent look and feel in my photographs throughout the project. I started to pay more attention to the environments that I was shooting and bring elements of these environments into my compositions. When I could light my subjects, I took great care to do it subtly. Eventually, I realized that JWST’s geometry photographed beautifully but any distortion ate away at that beauty. Over time I became a more selective shooter with more restraint. 

PopSci: What’s your favorite moment (or moments) from your time with the team? 

Gunn: My favorite moments include the arrival of the first mirrors, the first time I saw the optical system deployed inside of NASA Johnson’s test chamber, and the mating of the optical system to the sunshield and main spacecraft bus. During each of these project milestones the cleanrooms were filled with a sense of awe and wonder. They aren’t particularly noisy in general, but they were super quiet for these moments. I had a sense that I was witnessing something great that humankind was achieving. 

PopSci: What were your go-to cameras and lenses? 

Gunn: One of the most interesting things about being on such a long-term project is seeing the progression in photographic technology as the years passed. I initially shot with Nikon’s D3s and D3X cameras, and finally settled on D4s for several years. Nikon’s 14-24mm 2.8 lens was my favorite lens early on. 

After the observatory was built, I switched to a medium-format Hasselblad-H camera boasting 50 megapixels. The Hassy gave me more resolution, and more importantly, allowed me to shoot with less distortion. Later in the project I acquired a mirrorless Hasselblad, which I used with adapted H lenses. The Hasselblad 50mm was probably my favorite lens as it offered a sharp, undistorted, and wide perspective. The medium format cameras also forced me to slow down and concentrate on composition. 

PopSci: Do you have a no. 1 photograph from the series? 

Gunn: I have quite a few favorites—they’re all in the book. If I had to choose one, it’s the image used for the cover. It was made at the tail end of a long day and depicts the one and only time that the secondary mirror was deployed using the flight motors. That’s the smaller mirror in the center. The center section of the primary mirror reflects the secondary mirror, and you can see the primary mirror in this reflection. Look closely and you also can see me in this reflection. The selfie was unintentional.

Buy Inside the Star Factory: The Creation of the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s Largest and Most Powerful Space Observatory here.

The post This NASA photographer documented the 30-year journey to build the James Webb Space Telescope appeared first on Popular Science.

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When humans finally return to the moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program, they’ll arrive with a bevy of high-tech equipment to capture new, awe-inspiring glimpses of Earth’s satellite. But cameras have come a long way since the Apollo missions. In 2023, some incredibly advanced options are already almost moon-ready right off the shelf.

According to a recent update from the European Space Agency, engineers collaborating with NASA are finalizing a Handheld Universal Lunar Camera (HULC) with real-world testing in the rocky, lunar-esque vistas of Lanzarote, Spain. While resilient enough to travel to the moon, HULC’s underpinning tech derives from commercially available professional cameras featuring high light sensitivities and cutting-edge lenses. To strengthen the lunar documentation device, researchers needed to add a blanket casing that is durable enough to protect against ultra-fine moon dust, as well as the moon’s extreme temperature swings ranging between -208 and 250 degrees Fahrenheit. At the same time, the covering can’t impede usage, so designers also created a suite of ergonomic buttons compatible with astronaut spacesuits’ thick gloves.

[Related: Check out this Prada-designed Artemis III spacesuits.]

So far, HULC has snapped shots in near pitch-black volcanic caves, as well as in broad daylight to approximate the lunar surface’s vast spectrum of lighting possibilities. According to the ESA, HULC will also be the first mirrorless handheld camera used in space—such a design reportedly offers quality images in low light scenarios.

Even with the numerous alterations and adjustments, the HULC is still not quite ready for the Artemis III mission, currently scheduled for 2025. The ESA reports that at least one version of the camera will soon travel to the International Space Station for additional testing.

“We will continue modifying the camera as we move towards the Artemis III lunar landing,” Jeremy Myers, NASA lead on the HULC camera project, told the ESA on October 24. “I am positive that we will end up with the best product–a camera that will capture Moon pictures for humankind, used by crews from many countries and for many years to come.”

Images of Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong striding across the lunar surface during the Apollo 11 moonwalk instantly became iconic photographs in 1969, but they were only a preview of many more to come. Over the next three years, 10 more astronauts documented their visits to the moon using an array of video and photographic cameras. When humans finally return as part of the Artemis program, HULC will be in tow to capture new, awe-inspiring glimpses of Earth’s satellite.

The post A sneak peek at the lunar camera destined for the Artemis missions appeared first on Popular Science.

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Editing photos on an iPhone may seem intimidating, given all the options and settings, but it’s accessible to all skill levels. Thanks to its user-friendly interface and intuitive controls, you can easily enhance your images with preset effects or manually adjust settings to achieve the desired look. No expensive editing software necessary.

The iPhone’s photo editor also offers advanced features such as selective editing, which allows you to make precise adjustments to specific areas of your images. Additionally, you can easily share your edited photos directly from the app by posting them to social media platforms or sending them to friends and family. 

How to edit photos on an iPhone

Since most of us snap pictures on the fly, we are not thinking about the composition or lighting when we take the photo. We are trying to capture a moment as quickly as possible. Thankfully, that’s where post-editing comes in. Like icing a cake, editing images gives them a finished look. And editing photos on an iPhone might be even easier than messing around with gloopy buttercream.

Crop, rotate, or flip your photo

Was your selfie interrupted by a random bystander? No worries; that’s why there’s the crop tool. Cropping is one of the easiest and fastest ways to remove unwanted elements or distractions from the frame. Trimming the edges can also help improve a photo’s composition by adjusting the placement and balance of elements within the frame. In Photos, tap any thumbnail to view it in full screen. To start making changes, tap Edit, then tap the crop icon to choose one of three ways you can crop a photo.

1. Manual crop: With the crop icon selected, drag the rectangle’s corners to enclose the area you want to keep in the photo. Tap Done to crop.

2. Zoom crop: Alternatively, you can crop iPhone images by activating the crop tool and pinching them to zoom in. When the photo appears as you want it cropped, hit Done to save.

3. Use a preset ratio: Tap the aspect ratio icon in the upper right corner (a small rectangle with other rectangles stacked on top), then choose one of the cropping options, including square, wallpaper, 9:16, and 5:4. Hit Done to save the change.

• Pro tip: If you choose a ratio crop, such as 9:16, you can select a vertical or horizontal orientation by tapping the two rectangles below the image.

How to rotate a picture on iPhone

Tap the rotate icon (a square with an arrow curving around one corner) to turn the photo 90 degrees at a time. Keep going until you get the orientation you desire. Hit Done to confirm the changes.

How to flip a photo on iPhone

Touch the flip icon (mirrored triangles with an arrow above them) to reverse the image horizontally. Tap Done to save your edits.

Just know that if you don’t like your crops, rotations, and/or flips at any time during the editing process, you can tap Cancel in the lower left corner of the screen, then hit Discard Changes. 

Straighten your image and adjust the perspective

Sometimes, you don’t notice tilted or skewed lines in a photograph until after you take it. Fortunately, altering the perspective is simple with the iPhone’s editing software. Open a photo on your iPhone, tap Edit, then hit the crop icon.

Under the photo, you will see three options for straightening the horizontal lines in the photo and adjusting the vertical and horizontal perspectives. When you choose the one you want to use, drag the slider underneath to make precise changes. There is also an Auto option at the top of the screen, which will automatically adjust the photo based on the selected adjustment.

1. Straighten: This adjustment, well, straightens out horizontal lines within a photograph.

2. Vertical perspective: Corrects or modifies the perceived height or angle of objects in a photo, straightening vertical lines that may appear tilted or distorted.

3. Horizontal perspective: Changes horizontal lines and angles in photos, ensuring parallel lines and your desired alignment. 

After editing the perspective, select Done to save your changes; if unsatisfied, hit Cancel, followed by Discard Changes.

Adjust light and color

Light and color are important factors when editing photos on an iPhone—and anywhere, really—because they affect an image’s overall mood and visual appeal. The right lighting will bring out the subject’s features, add depth, and make important details stand out. In the same way, changing a photograph’s colors can make the viewer feel certain emotions, set a particular mood, or even send a message. Your phone’s Photos app has several tools that will let you adjust the light and color of your pictures.

[Related: How to take better selfies]

To begin, open the photo you want to alter. Tap Edit, then swipe left under the image to view the effects you can edit. The quickest and easiest way to make adjustments is to tap on Auto, and the slider under the Auto tab will allow you to adjust the intensity of the iPhone’s suggested edit.

If you prefer complete edit control, though, the iPhone photo editor lets you adjust each effect individually for a custom edit. The effects you can alter are:

• Exposure: Increasing exposure can make an image brighter, while decreasing it can create a darker and more dramatic effect. 
• Brilliance: Enhances an image’s overall clarity and vibrancy, making it more visually striking.
• Highlights: Brings out the brightest areas of an image, adding a sense of brightness and contrast.
• Shadows: Darkens the darker areas of an image, creating depth.
• Contrast: Makes the difference between light and dark areas more pronounced.
• Brightness: Changes how light or dark the photo is overall, but not as dramatically as adjusting exposure.
• Blackpoint: Adjusts the darkest point in an image, allowing for greater control over the overall tonal range.
• Saturation: Affects the intensity and richness of colors in an image.
• Vibrance: Similar to saturation, but designed to enhance the colors more subtly and naturally. 
• Warmth: Adjusts the color temperature of an image, making it appear either warmer (more yellow/orange) or cooler (more blue). 
• Tint: Adjusts the overall color balance of an image, adding a subtle hue to the entire picture. 
• Sharpness: Enhances the clarity and detail of an image, making edges and fine textures more defined.
• Definition: Improves an image’s overall sharpness and clarity by enhancing the distinction between different elements and adding depth. 
• Noise Reduction: Reduces digital noise in an image, resulting in a smoother and cleaner appearance. This helps minimize the grainy or speckled effect that can occur in low-light settings. 
• Vignette: Darkens the corners and edges of the image, creating a subtle or dramatic spotlight effect.

To use an effect, tap on its icon and drag the slider underneath to make precise adjustments. The outline around the button indicates the degree of adjustment, and you can toggle between the edited effect and the original to see how much you’ve changed the photo.

Apply filters

Filter effects enable you to easily add creative and artistic elements to your photos, resulting in more visually appealing and captivating images. To apply a filter, open a photo, tap Edit, then tap the Filters button (the three overlapping circles) to pull up the filter effect options. There are nine to choose from. Use the slider underneath your chosen effect to adjust its intensity, and if you need to remove a filter, tap Original. Hit Done to confirm the edit.

Portrait mode editing tips

If you’re someone who likes to use Portrait mode, you’ll need to be familiar with the iPhone’s Portrait mode-specific enhancements. These allow you to adjust the depth of field (also known as bokeh), which is the range of distance within a photograph that appears in sharp focus and makes the subject stand out. Portrait mode’s editing tools also include studio lighting effects for added flexibility and creativity. 

When you open a photo taken in Portrait mode, you will see two editing options not available in the regular photo mode. The effect at the top with the little “f” is f-stop, or depth of field. The circles at the bottom of the screen are lighting effects.

Adjusting the f-stop will increase or decrease blurring in the background. The smaller the f-stop, the more blur you’ll see. A larger f-stop will mean less blur. Tap the f-stop icon, and a slider will appear at the bottom of the screen, allowing you to adjust the effect.

To adjust the lighting, tap one of the effects. You can choose from natural, studio, contour, stage, stage light mono, and high-key light mono. Move the slider to the left or right to increase or decrease the effect. 

Write or draw on a photo

It can be fun to write or draw on a picture, and the iPhone makes it easy to do so. Choose a photo, then go to Edit and tap the pen-shaped button. Use the various drawing tools and colors to draw on the picture.

You can tap the plus button to magnify or add a caption, text, shapes, or even your signature. Tap Done to save your changes, or tap Cancel if you don’t like them.

How to undo photo edits on an iPhone

Don’t worry if you make an editing mistake—the iPhone’s Photos app gives you plenty of opportunities to undo your edits.

Undo and redo edits: While editing a photo, tap the left and right arrows at the top of the screen to undo and redo multiple edit steps.

Revert an edited photo: If you save changes and decide you do not like the edit, you can open up the photo, select Edit, and then hit Revert to restore the original version. 

Copy and paste edits to multiple photos

The iPhone allows you to copy edits from one photo and paste them onto one or more others, an ability that is particularly useful when you’re trying to edit a series of similar photos. Start by opening the photo that contains the edits you want to copy. Then tap the More Options button (three dots), followed by Copy Edits. Hit Cancel, then the back button to return to your photo library.

From there, tap Select, then touch the thumbnails of the photos to which you want to apply the edits. Finally, select Paste Edits from the More Options menu.

How to remove the subject from a photo on an iPhone

Although you can’t edit the background of a photo with the iPhone’s Photos app (you’ll need to install a separate app for that), you can cut and paste one part of the picture—the subject.

To do so, the photo’s subject and background should be clearly distinct, and the background shouldn’t be too busy or similar to the subject. Start by opening an image, then pressing and holding the subject. You should see a white glow around the subject, and a window should pop up asking you to Copy or Share. If that doesn’t work, move your finger around and try again—sometimes, it takes more than one attempt to select a subject.

When it does work, your iPhone will automatically separate the subject from the background, and you’ll be able to copy and paste it into another app, or share it using standard sharing options.

If necessary, change the date, time, or location

Your iPhone stores the date, time, and location in the photo’s metadata. If you need to alter this information, you can. Open the photo you want to change, then tap the More Options button (three dots) in the upper right corner. Touch Adjust Date & Time or Adjust Location, enter the new information, and hit Adjust.

To change the date, time, or location of multiple photos at once, tap Select, touch the thumbnails of the images you want to change, and follow the steps above. Don’t worry if you change your mind, either—you can undo your metadata edits by tapping the More Options button, followed by Adjust Date & Time or Adjust Location, then Revert.

FAQ

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An unexpected and astonishing find located more than 2.5 million light-years from Earth took top honors at the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year awards this week. Amateur astronomers Marcel Drechsler, Xavier Strottner, and Yann Sainty captured an image of a massive plasma arc near the Andromeda Galaxy, a discovery that has resulted in scientists looking closer into the giant gas cloud.

“This astrophoto is as spectacular as [it is] valuable,” judge and astrophotographer László Francsics said in a press release. “It not only presents Andromeda in a new way, but also raises the quality of astrophotography to a higher level.”

[Related: How to get a great nightsky shot]

While “Andromeda, Unexpected” captured the prestigious overall winner title, other category winners also dazzled with photos of dancing auroras, neon sprites raining down from the night’s sky, and stunning far-off nebulas that might make you feel like a tiny earthling floating through space.

Sit back and scroll in awe at all the category winners, runners-up, and highly commended images from the 2023 Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year honorees.

Galaxy

Overall winner: Andromeda, Unexpected

Runner-Up: The Eyes Galaxies

Highly Commended: Neighbors

Aurora

Winner: Brushstroke

Runner-up: Circle of Light

Highly Commended: Fire on the Horizon

Our Moon

Winner: Mars-Set

Runner-Up: Sundown on the Terminator

Highly Commended: Last Full Moon of the Year Featuring a Colourful Corona During a Close Encounter with Mars

Our Sun

Winner: A Sun Question

Runner-Up: Dark Star

Highly Commended: The Great Solar Flare 

People & Space

Winner: Zeila

Runner-Up: A Visit to Tycho

Highly Commended: Close Encounters of The Haslingden Kind

Planets, Comets & Asteroids

Winner: Suspended in a Sunbeam

Runner-Up: Jupiter Close to Opposition

Highly Commended: Uranus with Umbriel, Ariel, Miranda, Oberon and Titania

Skyscapes

Winner: Grand Cosmic Fireworks

Runner-Up: Celestial Equator Above First World War Trench Memorial

Highly Commended: Noctilucent Night

Stars & Nebulae

Winner: New Class of Galactic Nebulae Around the Star YY Hya

Runner-Up: LDN 1448 et al.

Highly Commended: The Dark Wolf – Fenrir

The Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer

Winner: Sh2-132: Blinded by the Light

Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year

Winner: The Running Chicken Nebula

Runner-Up: Blue Spirit Drifting in the Clouds

Highly Commended: Lunar Occultation of Mars

Highly Commended: Roses Blooming in the Dark: NGC 2337

Highly Commended: Moon at Nightfall

Annie Maunder Prize for Image Innovation

Winner: Black Echo

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Every time a delicious kernel of corn passes your lips or you crunch into a slice of crusty, freshly-baked bread, you can thank a farmer. According to the US Department of Agriculture, farming and food-related industries contributed about $1.3 trillion to America’s gross domestic product in 2021. 

It’s not a stretch to say that agriculture is critical to our lives, as is the machinery that prepares the land, plants and fertilizes the seed, precisely pulls the weeds, and harvests it all. From its inception in 1837, John Deere started by manufacturing a steel plow and has evolved into a modern company producing highly technical equipment. But beyond making farming vehicles like combines and tractors, the Illinois-based company also manufactures heavy construction and forestry machines such as motor graders, dump trucks, and skidders.

[Related: The metallic guts of GE’s massive jet engines, in photos]

Here’s an inside look at this colossal machinery and the people who put it all together in the John Deere Davenport Works factory in Davenport, Iowa.

[Related: An exclusive look inside where nuclear subs are born]

Correction: This article has been updated to clarify that the equipment made at the Davenport, Iowa facility is for construction, not farming. Additionally, a dump truck originally identified at a 410 P-Tier has been updated to be correctly described as a 310 P-Tier.

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The fastest way to transfer photos from an Android phone to a computer is to use the Google Photos app—but this option isn’t for everyone.

Maybe you don’t want all of your personal media files sitting on Google’s servers, or maybe you refuse to pay the company for cloud storage. Whatever your reason, you may want to move your pictures from your Android device to a laptop or desktop computer over a USB cable.

It’s important that you choose at least one alternative storage method for your photos and videos—that way if your phone gets lost, stolen, or badly damaged, your precious digital memories will live forever.

We’re going to focus on manually transferring files without WiFi, so you’ll need a USB cable that fits your Android phone at one end and your PC or Mac at the other. With the latest computer and phone models, a USB-C-to-USB-C cable should do the trick.

[Related: USB-C is on track to become the charging cable standard in the EU]

When working with both Windows and macOS, you may have to put your phone in file transfer mode. To do this, connect your Android device, tap the Charging this device via USB notification that automatically pops up, find Use USB for, and select File Transfer. 

How to transfer photos from Android to Windows

After you connect your Android phone to your Windows 10 or 11 computer with the appropriate USB cable, File Explorer should automatically open a new window showing the contents of your mobile device. If that doesn’t happen, you should be able to find your phone by looking in the left-hand navigation pane of File Explorer or clicking This PC to see a list of connected drives and devices.

Once you find it, you can browse your Android smartphone just as you would any other folder on your Windows system. You’ll typically find your photos and videos in a folder called DCIM, so you can move them to your computer however you like: drag and drop, Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V, or the copy (two rectangles) and paste (a clipboard and a rectangle) icons in the File Explorer toolbar at the top of the window.

You can also right-click on the name of your phone in File Explorer, and then choose Show more options > Import pictures and videos to move files across. You can pick and choose which photos and videos to copy, or you can just grab everything. By default, the files will go to the Pictures folder in your Windows user account, but it’s possible to change the items’ destination by selecting More options.

As it’s a new program freshly downloaded from the internet, you’ll get a pop-up dialog asking you to confirm that you want to run it. Once you do, connect your Android phone to your Mac with the appropriate USB cable. You should then see a pop-up window asking if you want to allow the “accessory” (your phone) to connect to macOS. Choose Allow to continue.

You’ll then see a list of all the folders on your Android phone—your photos and videos will likely be inside the one called DCIM. Open it up to get at your files, then drag and drop them wherever you like on your computer. If you want to use them with the macOS Photos app, open that program and click File, then Import to point it toward your photos and videos.

As always, it’s a good idea to keep your photos (and other data) backed up to an external drive, just in case something should happen to both your phone and Mac. For backing up your files to another location, you can choose one of many available third-party programs, or use the Time Machine tool that comes built into macOS. As always, cloud storage is an option if it works for you. Don’t skip this step—it’d be tragic to transfer everything just to lose it from a hard drive crash.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on December 8, 2022.

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You may have not realized it, but your messaging app of choice may not be sending photos at their best quality. Instead, it’s resizing or compressing the pictures you share to send them more easily. This is useful if you have a limited or spotty connection, but sometimes the shrinking makes your pics look small or even blurry when they arrive at their destination.

To send higher quality pictures on Android and iOS and make the most of your images, you’ll need to know which settings to tweak and where to find them. Once you do, you’ll have the freedom to adjust to every photo-sharing situation.

You get three options: Auto (recommended), Best quality, and Data saver. WhatsApp hasn’t gone on record saying exactly what specs the auto mode uses, or how it decides which settings to pick in any given occasion. But if you want to make sure your photos always look their best when you share them, choose Best quality.

[Related: Edit gorgeous photos right on your phone]

You’ll see a message telling you that best quality photos are larger and can take longer to send, so if you don’t have a particularly fast connection, you might want to use Data saver sometimes as well.

Finally, choose between Standard or High. Signal doesn’t offer any information about the details of these two options, but High is the one to pick if you want to maximize the quality of the media you’re sharing.

Change iMessage photo quality

If you rely on Apple’s instant messaging service, you should know that there is a data saver mode that will reduce the quality of the images you share. It only takes a moment to make sure that this mode isn’t enabled—from the main iOS Settings app, select Messages, then scroll down to the Low-Quality Image Mode toggle switch. If it’s on, turn it off to maximize the quality of your shared pictures.

Share from Apple Photos without losing quality

There aren’t any quality settings to know about in the Photos app on the iPhone, but be aware that the platform automatically resizes images in shared albums to a maximum width or height of 2048 pixels. To get around this, choose a different method of sharing through the Apple Photos app that doesn’t involve shared albums. Sending a direct iCloud link, for example, is a good alternative.

From the mobile app, tap your profile picture (top right), then Photos settings, Backup, Backup quality, and Original quality.

How to upload high quality photos to Instagram

Meta’s photo-sharing app was relatively slow to introduce image quality settings, but they’re available now. Instagram’s settings, specifically make it easier for users to share images and videos over a spotty connection. 

Other apps that don’t have photo quality settings

For apps we haven’t mentioned—including the likes of Facebook Messenger, Telegram, and Google Chat—there are no quality settings for images and videos you upload. 

Not only that, but there’s very little in the way of information about whether these platforms compress your photos at all. If you really want to avoid apps changing the quality of your pictures and videos, use a messaging app that has these settings available, or use direct links through apps like Dropbox, for example.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on January 18, 2022.

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Pictures and videos are likely to be some of your most precious digital possessions. They represent snapshots of loved ones, special places, memorable events, incredible trips, and even some moments that will have you laughing for years to come. We take a lot of these with our smartphone cameras, so we might as well make sure they’re safe and looked after.

Moving your photos and other files to cloud storage is a great idea if you want to protect them, and there are numerous apps and services that will take good care of your images. Even better, if you decide to, say, transfer your Amazon photos to iCloud, it is possible to switch platforms without too much of a hassle.

Get comfortable and open your laptop—phone apps are simply less capable than full-blown computers when it comes to downloading and uploading entire archives of images and videos. And no matter how much you trust your cloud storage provider, always back up your photos and other data somewhere else.

For an even easier way to move your photos to the cloud, download the Google Drive desktop app (free for Windows and macOS). It lets you specify certain folders on your computer that will automatically sync with Google Photos, which means that everything you add to those folders will have a copy in the cloud you can access from anywhere. Just open the app, click the cog icon in the top right and go to Preferences. Click Add folder and choose the location you want synced to the cloud. The app will ask where you want the copies of your pics to live—check the box next to Back up to Google Photos and finish by hitting Done.   

Finally, if you’re moving images from Facebook, iCloud, Pixieset, or Pic-Time, Google Photos has a built-in feature to make the switch seamless. Click Upload and from the emerging menu pick Copy from other services. Choose the platform you want to source your stuff from and Google will redirect you to that platform’s login page, where you’ll have to type in your credentials. What you see on the next page will depend on the service you’re dealing with. For example, if you’re moving content from iCloud, Apple’s platform will show you its “Manage your data” menu, where you’ll have a list of options, not all of them related to what you want to do. To move your photos and videos, select Request to transfer a copy of your data, choose Google Photos as the destination for your files on the next page, and hit Continue. 

Before you seal the deal, make sure you have enough space in your Google Photos account for the incoming files—if you don’t, nothing will transfer and you’ll have to repeat the process all over again. Follow the prompts to give iCloud access to your Google account and hit Confirm transfer to finish. 

This process is not immediate and you may have to wait up to a week for it to complete, depending on the number and heft of the files you’re moving. In the case of iCloud, you’ll receive a confirmation email, but you may have to check your account regularly if you’re using other services. 

If you need to export absolutely everything out of your Google Photos account, head to the Google Takeout service on the web. This tool will help you move all your Google data to another cloud platform, but you can also specify what you want to take with you and what to leave behind. By default, all the boxes on the list of services will be selected, so you’ll want to first make sure Google Photos is the only one—you can do this quickly by hitting Deselect all and checking the box next to Google Photos. Then choose Next step and select Send download link via email from the drop-down menu. If you don’t want to deal with one huge file, you can also choose the frequency of downloads, the maximum heft of each bundle of files, and whether you want to compress your images in a ZIP or TGZ file. Once you’re done customizing, click Create export and wait for the link to that archive (including your selected photos and videos) to appear in your Gmail inbox.

Apple iCloud Photo Library

Contrary to what you might think, Apple does play nice with other cloud services—but only some of them. With the rest, you’ll have to export your photos and videos before you can upload them to other platforms.

Facebook

Technically, Facebook is a social media platform, but if you tweak your privacy settings, you can use it to manage your photos and videos as well.

Amazon Photos

If you have an Amazon Prime account, you have unlimited space to store your photos. Yes, you read that right.

Flickr

Downloading individual photos from Flickr is easy enough. Just hit the download button, select your quality, and you’re done.

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Humans continue to alter Earth in ways both mundane and extreme, as diverse as rocket ships punching through the sky to scooping up rocks from a volcano’s mouth. This crop of images, pulled from National Geographic’s Pictures of the Year 2022, shows that influence as: new scientific developments, like ribbon-y curls of ultra-thin ceramic; natural appreciation, including hikers who march like ants atop the Bears Ears monument in southeast Utah; and altered animal behavior, such as the gathering of wild elephants and domesticated cattle munching on a trash heap in Sri Lanka.

Throughout 2022, 132 photographers took 2.2 million images for the magazine from 60 countries, according to National Geographic. Check out 10 of the very best in the gallery below.

[Related: 9 stunning pictures of the microscopic realm]

For more on this story, visit natgeo.com/photos.

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If your mobile phone (or laptop) falls in a lake, what happens to those years of photos you’ve been saving up? Unless they’re safely backed up somewhere else, it’s likely they’re gone forever. That’s a worst-case scenario, of course, but it sure helps demonstrate why getting your pics synced to the cloud is such a good idea.

There are plenty of other reasons to take on the task, though. If your pictures are saved on the web, you can delete your local copies and free up some space on your phone. What’s more, you’ll be able to access them from any computer or device, and share them more easily with friends or family.

Don’t let the rather vague idea of “the cloud” put you off, either. In this case, it just means data centers run by the likes of Microsoft, Google, and Apple. You can get started for free, and there are a number of excellent services to pick from.

Which one you choose will depend on whether you’re a true-blue Windows fan, buy every Apple device under the sun, or own a phone, a tablet, and a computer from different manufacturers. We’ve assembled the main photo backup platforms, which vary in features, pricing, and ease of use on different operating systems. We won’t guide you step-by-step through each service—it’s really just a case of installing the apps for your devices and letting them do their work—but we will give you the information you need to decide which type of backup is ideal for you.

Microsoft OneDrive

The cloud solution you’ll find built into Windows is OneDrive. You get 5GB of space for free, but can up that to 100GB ($1.99 a month) or 1TB ($6.99 a month with Office 365 thrown in). The key advantage is its Windows integration, which means all the software comes built into your OS and gets synced between all your Windows devices.

There are also apps for macOS, Android, iOS, and iPadOS, so getting all your pictures to the cloud won’t be a problem, although the experience on these other operating systems won’t be quite as smooth as it is with Windows. Microsoft has added some useful features to the web interface too, automatically tagging your pictures with descriptors like “indoor” and “outdoor” so you can find them more easily.

OneDrive doesn’t have the prettiest or most user-friendly interface we’ve ever seen, but it does the job and the prices are competitive, especially if you’re after some Office software as well. Microsoft seems determined to keep improving the service, too, which is another reason to stick with it, especially if you spend most of your time on Windows.

Apple iCloud

Where Microsoft has OneDrive, Apple has iCloud, though its photo-storing service has changed names a few times. Apple has now finally settled on iCloud Photos, which keeps all your pictures synced to the cloud and any other Apple hardware you have.

And if all you use is Apple kit, it works very well indeed. You get 5GB of space for free, but can buy iCloud Plus and increase that to 50GB for $0.99 a month, 200GB for $2.99, or 2TB for $9.99. It really is one of those “set it and forget it” services—once you’ve switched it on, you can just forget about your backups, and iOS will even offer to free up some storage space on your iPhone or iPad once your pictures have been safely sent to the web.

[Related: It’s a great day to secure your Apple and iCloud accounts]

On the downside, support for Windows is limited, and support for Android is non-existent, so this really is one for the Apple fans only. The web interface is also relatively basic, but Apple has steadily introduced some useful improvements, like iCloud’s ability to automatically tag objects and people in your pictures, and a few tools for creating highlights packages of your best snaps and videos.

Google Photos

Although Google Photos has fallen more in line with its competitors in terms of its offerings, it’s still an excellent choice for cloud photo storage, especially if you have a mishmash of devices running different operating systems. It works effortlessly across any kind of device or computer, and you get 15GB of space for free. One caveat: that storage is shared across all Google services, so if you have a lot of emails with large attachments in Gmail or tons of files in Google Drive, you’ll have less space for photos.

Google used to let you store an unlimited amount of photos for free, but that’s no longer how it works. For more space, you can buy Google One and boost your cloud photo storage to 100GB for $1.99 a month, 200GB for $2.99, or 2TB for $9.99.

Once you start storing, you’ll find Google Photos has some useful editing tools, and that there are some smart assistant tools for creating highlight reels of your best snaps. It’s easy to share photos and albums, and—as you would expect from Google—the search ability is the best available. Look for anything from “sunsets” to “dogs,” and Google’s AI-powered scanning will bring up matching pictures in seconds.

Dropbox

The best photo storage alternative to Google, Apple, and Microsoft is probably Dropbox. The bad news is you only get a paltry 2GB of space for free, and you may have to do regular maintenance to keep it tidy. You’ll probably want to go for the 2TB plan, which will set you back $9.99 every month.

Now, the good news: Dropbox is rock-solid and works seamlessly across Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and iPadOS. If you’re hopping between devices and computers and want to back up your photos from everywhere, it’s well worth that monthly fee.

[Related: 6 essential Dropbox tools you might be missing]

Also, Dropbox isn’t restricted to photos. It syncs any kind of file between your registered devices and the web, allows for quick and easy file and folder sharing (useful if you’re working on projects with other people), and even has an online note-taking tool called Paper.

Amazon Photos

Finally, there’s Amazon Photos, which is of particular interest if you’re a Prime member. You’ll get unlimited photo storage for free with a $14.99-a-month Prime account (though only 5GB for videos). Otherwise, you’ll get 5GB of photo storage space and will have to pay to get more ($19.99 a year for 100GB).

That’s a decent price for all the storage you’ll ever need, and thanks to the apps that Amazon makes available for iOS, iPadOS, Android, macOS, and Windows, you can upload pictures from whatever devices you use. Overall, Amazon Photos is well worth considering as a catch-all backup solution.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on February 2017.

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The beating heart of IBM’s quantum computer is a chip no bigger than a quarter. These extravagant machines promise to solve difficult problems that stump today’s best classical computers. The chip itself is only one part of a bigger puzzle. Unlike the portable laptops that people use in everyday life, the computing infrastructure that supports the work a quantum chip does is layered like a Russian doll, with convoluted interconnections within a Rube-Goldberg-like contraption.

However, even with its complicated construction and mind-boggling design, a quantum computer is still a machine that performs operations by employing both hardware and software. Some of those actions are similar to those performed by classical computers. Curious to understand how they function? Popular Science got a look around the quantum center in IBM’s Yorktown Heights, New York campus. Take a closer look at what’s happening inside—starting with something called the qubit (more on what that is in a moment) and zooming out, bit by bit. 

That’s cold 

To exhibit quantum qualities, objects have to either be very small or very cold. For IBM, this layered chandelier-like structure, which looks like an upside-down gold steampunk wedding cake, is called a dilution refrigerator. It keeps their qubits cool and stable, and is the infrastructure that the company created for this 50-qubit chip. It contains multiple plates that get successively colder the closer they are to the ground. Each plate is a different temperature, with the very top layer sitting at room temperature. 

The quantum processor is mounted to the lowest, and coldest, plate of the dilution refrigerator that gets to a temperature around 10 to 15 milli-Kelvin, which is roughly –460 degrees F. The first stage of cooling involves large copper pieces seen draping down in the top layer that are connected to cold heads as part of a closed-cycle helium cryocooler. More tubes feeding into the lower levels introduce another closed cycle of cryogenic material, made up of a mix of helium isotopes.

In the back of the housing structure are the hidden support infrastructure for the chandelier. This includes the gas handling system that supports the cryogenic infrastructure, as well as pumps and temperature monitors. And then there are the custom-built classical control electronics. When users run a program through IBM’s quantum cloud service, they are effectively orchestrating a set of gates and their circuits. Those get turned into microwave pulses that are appropriately sequenced, aligned, and distributed out into the system to control the qubits. And the readout pulses retrieve the states of the qubits, which are translated back into binary values and returned to the users.

Qubits and an ‘artificial atom’

Classical computers represent information using binary one-or-zero bits. In the case of quantum, information is represented through qubits, which can come in a combination of zero and one. This is a phenomenon referred to as superposition. “You have superposition all the time in the real world. Music is a superposition of frequencies, for example,” says Zaira Nazario, the technical lead of theory, algorithms, and applications at IBM Quantum. Because it’s a waveform, it provides an amplitude of zero and one. That means it comes with a phase, and like all waves, they can interfere with one another.

The superconducting qubits sit on the chip and have been packaged into something like a printed circuit board. Wires and coaxial cables for input and output signals protrude off the circuit board. In newer models of higher-qubit chips, IBM has been working towards more compact solutions involving wiring and integrated components to be more efficient with space. Having less clutter means that the components would be easier to cool. Currently, it takes about 48 hours to completely cool down a quantum computer to the desired temperatures. 

For the quantum computer to function correctly, each of the plates must be thermally shielded and isolated to prevent black body radiation from affecting it. Engineers vacuum-seal the whole device to keep out unwanted photons as well as other electromagnetic radiation and magnetic fields.

Qubits are controlled with microwave signals that range from 4 to 7 gigahertz. Classical electronics generate microwave pulses that travel down the cables to bring the input signals to the chip and carry the output signals back. As the signal travels down the chandelier, it goes through components like filters, attenuators, and amplifiers.

IBM works largely with superconducting qubits. They’re little pieces of metal that sit on the wafer, which is used to make the chip. The metal is made up of superconducting materials like niobium, aluminum, and tantalum. A Josephson junction, made by layering a very thin insulator between two superconducting materials, provides the essential nonlinear element needed to turn a superconducting circuit into a qubit. 

“What we’re building is quantum examples of oscillators,” says Jerry Chow, director of quantum infrastructure at IBM. Oscillators convert a direct current from a power source (in this case, microwave photons) into an alternating current, or a wave. 

Unlike typical harmonic oscillators, a nonlinear oscillator gives you an unequal spacing of energy levels, Chow says. “When you have that, you can isolate the lowest two to act as your quantum zero and your quantum one.”

Think of a hydrogen atom. From a physics standpoint, it has a set of energy levels. The right wavelengths of light hitting this atom could promote it to different states. When microwaves hit the qubit, it is doing something similar. “You effectively have this artificial atom,” Chow explains. “We have a quantum of energy, which we move around by putting the right amount of microwave photon at a certain pulse for a certain duration to either excite or de-excite a quantum of energy within this nonlinear microwave oscillator.” 

In a classical computer, there’s an on-state (one), and an off-state (zero). For a quantum computer, the off-state is the ground state of the artificial atom. Adding a pulse of a particular microwave photon of energy would excite it, promoting it to one. If the qubit is hit again with that pulse, it would be brought back down to ground state. Let’s say it takes 5 gigahertz for 20 nanoseconds to promote a qubit fully to the excited state—if you were to halve the amount of energy or halve the amount of time, you would actually drive a superposition state, Chow says. That means if you were to measure the state of the qubit with a resonator, you would have a 50 percent chance of it being in zero, and 50 percent chance of it being in one. 

Users can play around with the circuit elements, pulse frequencies, duration, and energy between different qubits to couple them, swap them, or perform conditional operations like building entangled states and combining single qubit operations to perform universal computation across the entire device. When waves intersect, it can either amplify or deconstruct the message.

What are qubits good for? 

The practical uses for quantum computers have evolved over the last couple of years. “If I look at what people were doing with the system in that 2016, 2017, 2018 timeframe, it was using quantum to research quantum… condensed matter physics, particle physics, things like that,” says Katie Pizzolato, director of strategy and applications research at IBM Quantum. “The key part of this is going to be taking classical resources and making them quantum-aware. We have to make the people who are experts in their field understand where to apply quantum, but not be quantum experts.”

The interest IBM has been seeing in terms of quantum problems posed to their machines can be grouped into three buckets: chemistry and materials, machine learning, and optimization (finding the best solution to a problem from a set of possible options). The key is not to use a quantum computer in every part of the problem—but on the parts that are hardest.

The team at IBM has been continuously searching for real-world problems that are hard for classical computers to solve due to their structure or the math they involve. And there are many interesting places to look for them. 

Classical computers solve basic math problems using binary logic and circuit components such as adders. However, quantum computers are really great at doing linear algebra—multiplying matrices, and representing vectors in space. This is due to unique features in their design. It allows them to perform functions like factoring relatively easily—a problem that is extremely difficult for a classical computer because of the exponentially increasing number of variables and parameters and the interactions between them. “There’s structures within that factoring problem that allow you to take advantage of the entanglements, all the things that you get with these devices. That’s why it’s different,” Pizzolato says.

And with chemistry and materials problems, qubits are just better at simulating properties like bonds and connected electrons. 

“We’re thinking about what types of things you can map to quantum circuits that are not simulable classically, and then what do you do with them,” says Pizzolato. “A lot of the algorithm discussion is how do I exploit the underlying mechanics of this device. How do you map on higher dimensional spaces and how do you use this coordination and multiplications of these matrices to rise up the answer that you want.” 

Remember, qubits can have a value of zero, one, or a combination of the two. Since qubits are waveforms, engineers can rotate the zero or one to give it a negative amplitude. Qubits can also get entangled—a unique quantum mechanics property that doesn’t have a classical analog. Entangled qubits can contain information not just in the zeros and ones themselves, but also in the interactions between all of them. Also, there are gates in quantum circuits that can rotate the qubit to change its phase, and oscillators can entangle those qubits. 

“The art of doing a quantum algorithm is how you manipulate all of those entangled states and then interfere in a way that the incorrect amplitudes cancel out, and the amplitudes of the correct one come forward, and you get your answer,” Nazario says. “You have a lot more room to maneuver in a quantum algorithm because of all these entangled states and this interference compared to an algorithm that only allows you to flip between zeroes and ones.” 

Qiskit, IBM’s open-source development kit for quantum computers, contains information on various types of quantum algorithms and programs at different levels of detail. 

Real-world examples

Still find it tricky to visualize what the qubit is doing? Let’s zoom out to some examples of how IBM’s partners are using quantum computers. For example, biopharmaceutical company Amgen is looking to use quantum computers and machine learning to predict the patients who would be best suited for a drug trial based on health records and other factors. 

And Boeing is applying quantum computing to analyze corrosion coefficients on airplanes. Airplane wings require a certain density of materials. Engineers make them with different layers of various materials, but need help figuring out how they should arrange the layers in a way that makes the wings stronger, cheaper, and lighter. This boils down to a combinatorial optimization problem. 

Goldman Sachs has been using it for options pricing. “These are very complex operations that are very computationally expensive. And they have complex distributions,” Nazario says. It has to do with calculating the derivatives of the variations in those options (a linear algebra operation), which will tell them about risks. 

Finally, in the natural sciences, research groups have been interested in using quantum computers to study photosynthesis. 

Building in parallel

Although IBM has been steadily increasing the processor size for its quantum computers, and building a community of partners from industry, national government hubs, and academic institutions, the company is still figuring out the best ways to move forward both with the hardware and software. 

[Related: We have quantum computers—now Amazon and Harvard want a quantum internet]

The company has previously said that it would have a machine capable of quantum advantage (in which it can reliably and accurately solve a problem better than a classical computer) ready by 2025. That means that in addition to developing new components, it needs to iron out some problem areas, and make what already works well, more efficient. 

“This is a big part of the focus of the software. We’ve recognized that a lot of the tools, the error mitigation tools, the intelligent orchestration, the idea of circuit-knitting, how do we break down the problems to extend what we can do on the quantum computer, these are becoming much more prolific in how we can push the technology,” says Pizzolato. 

The post In photos: Journey to the center of a quantum computer appeared first on Popular Science.

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In an era when most people carry a camera in their pockets, and a large amount of the pictures taken of us will eventually be posted on the internet forever, posing properly for a photo is an important skill everyone should have. You don’t have to look like a runway model, you just have to make sure you portray yourself in a flattering light. Posing is not hard, but if you haven’t practiced it, you’re probably doing something wrong. Don’t worry—we can fix that.

How not to pose

To paraphrase Leo Tolstoy, good photo poses are all alike, but every bad photo pose is bad in its own way. There are essentially unlimited ways to look awful or unintentionally ridiculous in a photo, and it’s possible you’re doing some of them whenever a camera is pointed at you. These are a few of the classic mistakes.

The forced grin

What we have here is the overeager forced grin. It’s the kind of thing that happens when you don’t know what to do with your face, so you just figure a huge smile will do the trick (it won’t). Here, all the muscles in my face are being violently pulled in opposite directions. It looks like I’m being electrocuted and honestly, if this photo resurfaces somewhere, I’ll wish I was.

The deer in headlights

Is a huge truck coming towards you with earthshaking force? Did you just hear a thunderously loud noise? Apparently I did—my eyes are so wide I look startled. Some consider big eyes a beautiful feature, but forcing them open will certainly not make you look better. Unless “utterly surprised” is the vibe you’re aiming for.

The multiple chins

Oh god, even with my beard I’ve got a treble chin. My head is not in a good place in this photo; or after looking at it. We all have necks, so we might as well just use them.

The Zoolander

Somebody call a model agency—Blue Steel is back! Being told you look like a model in photographs can definitely be a compliment, just as long as they don’t mean top American supermodel, Derek Zoolander. As we’ll see later, a slight pout can actually work well, but even a 13-year-old Instagram-fanatic can see this is seriously overdone.

The mid-talking

Whoops! I was chatting to whoever took the photo—well, myself—and now I look deranged. When you have a camera aimed at you, it is a good idea to shut up and concentrate on the possibility of your image being immortalized for posterity. You know, just in case this is the picture the world remembers you by. Alright, that’s enough masochism for now. I’m sure you get the idea, and you probably have a couple photos that prove you’ve made the same mistakes. All of these stem from the same problem: not knowing how to pose well.

Learn to pose your face

When it comes to photos, your face is the most important part of you. It doesn’t matter if you have the body of Adonis—if you smile like a beagle eyeing up dinner, any photos you’re in will look ridiculous.

The good news is posing your face is actually really simple. It’s mainly all about not making any of the big mistakes above, but also doing three key things that look really good in photos: one with your eyes, one with your mouth, and one with your jaw.

Work those eyes

Using your eyes only, you want to make it look like you’re smiling naturally, even if you’re not. This technique is called the “squinch” or “smizing.” Models and actors use it all the time, but regular mortals can rock it too. It generally makes you look confident, self-assured, and sexy.

The trick to the squinch is to squint slightly, but mostly with your lower eyelids. Your top eyelids will come down a little, but not so much you’ll look like you’re squinting and need glasses. Peter Hurley, the portrait photographer who coined the term “squinch,” has a video walkthrough if you need it, but the move is pretty simple to master.

Squinching will feel a little unnatural at first but it looks stellar in photos. A good idea is to practice in a mirror until you feel comfortable, then keep at it until you have it down.

Work that pout (but not too much)

Since there’s not a lot you can do with your nose or ears, your mouth is, by default, an important posing tool. The first step to posing your mouth is to not do anything else with it. That means no talking, no big say-cheese photo grins, and no over-the-top pouting. Avoiding those three mistakes will instantly make you look better in photos.

Next, you’ll want to give the appearance of a natural and flattering smile. To do this, lightly press your lips together, then pull the edges of your mouth up into a half-smile. If you want to go for a more mischievous or mysterious look, you can try subtly pulling up only one side of your mouth.

Combine this with the squinch, and it’ll look like you’re properly smiling. No forced rictus grins here.

Square that jaw

A strong jawline looks great in photos, but the way most people normally stand while posing for pictures doesn’t show it off.

Instead, to get a strong photo-jawline, you need to exaggerate it by extending your neck and leaning your head slightly forward, pointing the tip of your nose at the camera—a bit like the chestburster in Alien.

Again, this will feel a tad unnatural at first, but it really works. Maybe it goes without saying, but this technique will only look good as long as you’re posing front on—any other angle and you’ll look like you’re waiting for someone to repeat something you couldn’t hear. Peter Hurley also has a full video walking through this move.

Pulling it all together

Okay, now you have the three components of a good photo pose; it’s time to put them all together.

Don’t forget your body

Posing your face is enough for most photos, but sometimes, especially in group shots, you’ll also need to pose your body. Since you’re often at the mercy of what other people are doing around you, you won’t have much control over the situation, but there are some things you can do.

• Angle your body at 30-45 degrees towards the camera. It will make you look slimmer.
• Don’t lock your arms out straight or hold them stiff beside your body—they’ll look unnatural or bigger than they are. Slightly bend them. Also, keep your legs slightly bent—it’ll make your posture look more natural.
• If you’re not holding anything (or putting your arm around someone), clasp one wrist with your hand and let them hang at your waist. Do it casually, otherwise it’ll look like you’re taking your own pulse. You can also cross your arms, but make sure you do it in a relaxed way, since it can look a bit stern. The higher your forearms when crossed, the stiffer you’ll look.

On the left, I’m doing everything wrong. On the right, I’m applying all the tips combined.

Other tips and tricks

As I said at the very top, posing is a skill—you have to practice it. You could go to the effort of hiring a photographer, but it’s much easier to just spend 10 minutes in front of a mirror playing around with the different techniques and discovering what angles work best for your face and body. When you get a feel for them, try to repeat them and build some muscle memory. That way, whenever you see a camera pointed at you, your body will know what to do.

Unless you’re specifically going for a dreamy vibe, look directly down the lens of the camera, and though it may be one of the hardest things to do, try to ignore the person taking the picture and any distractions around you. Eye contact with the lens means eye contact in the photo, so all your attention should be on it.If you can, try to be either at eye level with the camera or slightly below it. It’s just a more flattering angle for everyone.

It goes without saying, but if you want to look good in a photo, make sure you look good out of it. Fix your hair, make sure your clothes are on straight, and touch up any makeup if you’re wearing it. A quick look in the mirror before you face a camera is always a good idea, for no amount of posing will help if your hair is pointing in all directions at once.

With these tips and a little practice, you should now be able to bust out an America’s Next Top Model-worthy pose whenever you need it. It’s a super-handy skill to have because it guarantees you will (almost) always look good in photos. Whenever a camera is pointed at me, I know that even if everyone else in a picture looks like a gremlin, I look hot as hell.

Is your head constantly spinning with outlandish, mind-burning questions? If you’ve ever wondered what the universe is made of, what would happen if you fell into a black hole, or even why not everyone can touch their toes, then you should be sure to listen and subscribe to Ask Us Anything, a podcast from the editors of Popular Science. Ask Us Anything hits Apple, Anchor, Spotify, and everywhere else you listen to podcasts every Tuesday and Thursday. Each episode takes a deep dive into a single query we know you’ll want to stick around for.

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This article was originally featured on Popular Photography.

The PhotoScan app from Google is one of the quickest and easiest ways we’ve found to create high-quality digital versions of physical prints. In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through the steps needed to digitize your favorite instant photos, whether they’re Polaroids or Instax.

Why you should use an app to digitize

Though your smartphone’s camera may work in a pinch, this method often results in photos with noticeable glare and/or perspective distortion. The PhotoScan app, on the other hand, automatically corrects for both of these through computational wizardry. It also detects the edge of prints, so you won’t lose the snazzy borders around your instant frames.

And unlike digitizing with a traditional scanner, which can be a time-consuming process, PhotoScan creates a file ready for sharing in about ten seconds.

Step 1: Download & open PhotoScan

PhotoScan is available for free for both Android and iOS devices. Once downloaded, open the app and you should see a vertical frame with several controls at the bottom, including an option to toggle the camera’s flash on and off, as well as a toggle for glare reduction. We advise leaving both of these turned on.

Step 2: Line up your print in the frame

Select the instant photo you’d like to digitize and place it on a flat surface, preferably on a solid-colored background. I used the front of a notebook for this. With the app open, hold your phone over the print and line up the image within PhotoScan’s frame. Then, hit the big circular button at the bottom of the screen. This will start the digitizing process.

Step 3: Follow the app prompt by moving the camera around over the print

Next, you’ll see four white dots appear in the frame over your print. An arrow will guide you to the first dot. Slowly move the center circle over the first dot and wait until it turns from white to blue, this will take about 1-2 seconds.

Once a dot turns blue, another arrow will appear indicating which dot to align the center circle over next. Repeat this process until you’ve held your smart device over all four dots, at which point, PohotoScan will begin generating the final image file.

And that’s it! You can view all of the files you’ve scanned using the app by tapping the thumbnail in the bottom right of the screen. PhotoScan also allows you to rotate images and adjust the corners before sharing your scans with the world. Happy digitizing!

The post How to turn your phone into a small-photo scanner appeared first on Popular Science.

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When it comes to selling stuff online, a strong lead photo is important. That’s true whether you’re hocking those vases you started making after you took a pottery class, the t-shirts you had made up featuring that clever line you couldn’t believe nobody had thought of, or simply just a bunch of things you don’t want anymore.

So if you’re looking to be the next Jeff Bezos, you should probably hire a professional photographer (and those vases probably won’t cut it, either), but if your ambitions are more along the lines of downsizing or making a buck off a hobby, you can definitely do the job yourself.

Using things you already own, you can turn a corner of your house into a makeshift studio that will help you take the best photos you can of anything you can’t wait to get rid of.

Ready your items

A perfectly shot, beautifully composed photo of a greasy, fingerprint-covered phone is still a photo of a dirty phone. Before even touching a camera, you’ll need to get your items ready to be photographed—grab a cloth and give them a dust-down. If there are fingerprints or grease stains, use a wet wipe or screen wipe to get rid of them. Also, plump up any pillows, iron out any creases, and generally just make things look nice. The more effort you put in before the shoot, the better your end photos will look.

Set up your “studio”

For small items, place a table near a window. They are a big and even source of natural light, which looks great in photos. Avoid using flashes or electric lights, unless you absolutely know what you’re doing.

Clean the table, remove any clutter, and, if you want, put a tablecloth on it. It’s going to be the background to most of your photos, so you’ll want to keep it as simple as possible. If you go for a tablecloth, avoid prints, and choose solid, neutral colors that contrast with the items you’re photographing. Black on black works for Wednesday Adams, but it won’t work for you here.

You probably won’t be able to easily move larger items, like a couch or TV, so you’ll have to photograph them in place. Before you do, clean up the surrounding area and throw open any blinds, curtains, shutters, and doors to let as much natural light in as possible.

Use the best camera you have

You should use the camera that will give you the best results. For almost everyone, that will actually be your smartphone, unless you have a recent DSLR or mirrorless camera that you’re comfortable using. If you don’t, don’t worry—smartphone cameras are so reliable and easy to use that they’re hard to beat.

If you have a smartphone with a built-in telephoto lens (like a Pixel 4, for example), even better. It’s the perfect lens for photographing small objects.

Don’t get too artsy

You’re trying to take functional photographs to sell something—not sexy shots for Instagram likes—so don’t go for any crazy angles and effects.

Instead:

• Fill the frame. Whatever you’re shooting should take up as much space in the photograph as possible.
• Shoot at a slight angle, rather than straight on. This will give everything depth.
• Show the object properly. Don’t take upside down photographs, place your item at a weird angle, or otherwise confuse things. You want people to look at the photo and instantly know what they’re seeing.
• Take lots of photos. Get shots of the sides and back, and any important details. They won’t be the main photos, but you might need supplementary shots. It’s better to get them now. Also, the more options you shoot, the more likely it is you’ll get a great photo.
• Watch the background. You want the object to stand out. If it blends with the background, use a table cloth or piece of colored card so it’s easy to see.
• Don’t use portrait or HDR mode. Smartphone cameras can apply a lot of computational photography effects—you can skip them here. It is unlikely they’ll give you good results and will only distract from what you’re trying to sell.
• Only take photos during the day. You want as much light as possible. If it’s dark, the images won’t look as good.

Taking photos of screens

Phones are one of the best things to sell online. For this, you will definitely want a photo of the screen, but taking one can be a bit awkward. If the screen is off, you’ll get a lot of reflections, and if the screen is on, you can get a horrible moiré pattern—that weird interference effect that looks like black lines on your screen.

Dark screens reflect whatever is in front of them. Your two options are to either turn the screen on or control what’s reflected. For small screens, like phones, it’s actually pretty easy. Take the photos of the phone face-up on a table in a room with a nice plain ceiling near a blank wall, and adjust the angle of your photo until nothing distinct shows in the reflection—simple.

For larger screens, things are a bit trickier. If you can’t turn it on, try to make whatever’s in the reflection at least look neat. Ensure there are no reflections of your unmade bed or dirty dishes.

If you’ve ever tried to take a photo of your computer screen with your phone, you’ll have seen a moiré pattern. It’s what happens when the pixel grid in your smartphone camera and the pixel grid in the screen don’t overlap perfectly. There are a couple of ways to avoid or minimize it:

• Shoot your photos at an angle. Play around until you find one where the moiré pattern isn’t visible. The effect can be pretty obvious if you stay head on.
• Move closer or further away. This changes how the grids overlap and so changes the effect. Find a distance that works.
• Put something on the screen. The moiré lines are most visible on blank space. If you display a colorful photo, even if there’s a mild effect, it won’t be noticeable.

Tidy things up in post

If you’ve got the chops, it’s worth tidying up any photos you shoot in Photoshop or whatever image editing app you like. You don’t have to do much—adjusting the color balance, brightness, and contrast can really make your photos pop. You can also use cloning or healing tools to remove any small blemishes you missed.

However, be careful not to rely entirely on Photoshop, or push things too far. If whatever work you did on the photo is easily noticeable, potential buyers might doubt the product looks as good in real life. You’re better off with good, natural-looking photos than something that screams, “EDITED!”

Sell, sell, sell

Once you’ve got your shots, it’s time to get selling. Just by putting in a small bit of effort, your images will stand out from the hoards of mediocre shots. Go through the photos you took and pull out the best few. You’ll want to upload enough images to fully show off your products, but not so many you overwhelm potential customers—like a bad real estate agent. Make sure the lead image shows the item off properly, then use any other images you like to show details and alternative angles.

The post These photo tips will help you get top dollar for the stuff you sell online appeared first on Popular Science.

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By now we’re all familiar with the basics of smartphone photography: You pull out your phone and push a button. But if you really plan to preserve those memories for posterity, then you’ll want your phone snaps to look their best. So up your phone photo game with these nine tips and tricks.

Camera settings, lighting, scene modes, and composition can all play a part, as we’ll explain. And when you’ve got your photos looking suitably fantastic, make sure you also take the time to back them up somewhere safe.

Adjust focus and exposure

Adjust focus and exposure

Smartphone cameras have come a long way in a short time, and most handsets now give you some control over the focus and exposure of your shot. If manual focus is available, it’s usually activated with a tap on the screen, on the point where you want the camera to focus.

Check in the settings for your phone’s camera app too. If you find a face recognition option, it’ll automatically zero in on faces, helping you avoid shots where your friends’ faces are a blurred mess.

Then there’s the exposure, or how much light is allowed into the frame. In the default iPhone camera app (shown above), you can tap once to focus, then hold and drag to adjust the exposure. It’s a similar story in the camera app for stock Android: Tap once for focus, then you can adjust exposure via the slider that pops up at the side or top of the screen. For more tips on nighttime photography, check out this guide to capturing celestial objects in the night sky.

Make use of HDR

Use HDR mode

HDR, or High Dynamic Range, is now a staple feature for smartphone camera apps. Simply put, it brings detail out of the darkest and lightest parts of your picture and creates a better balance of colors overall. The downside is that, in HDR mode, photos take a little longer to process while your smartphone works all this out.

It’s particularly suitable for landscapes and portrait shots, especially when there’s a wide range between the darkest and lightest parts of your photo. As it takes a few milliseconds longer to take a snap though, you should avoid using it on fast-moving subjects or when you can’t keep your phone steady.

Whatever your make and model of phone, you should see “HDR mode” in a prominent place somewhere on screen. It’s also likely that you can set this to automatically kick in (as on stock Android, above), which means HDR mode will activate whenever the camera senses it could be useful. You can also turn HDR mode on and off manually.

Use natural light where possible

Use natural light where possible

Light is one of the most important factors in any photo. If you can make use of the available natural light, then you don’t have to resort to your phone’s built-in flash (which may give you less-than-ideal results, particularly at a distance).

If you can, position your subjects so they’re well-lit from the front and not silhouetted by a strong light from behind. Of course, this isn’t always possible for quick shots, but do what you can.

Using artificial light can work too, though you need to take more care. In a night scene, for example, get your friends to stand closer to the glow of artificial lights rather than deeper in the shadows, and make sure their faces are as well-illuminated as possible. Using the flash can help, but if you have time, try one shot with flash and one without to see the difference.

Steady your shot

Steady your shot

One area where smartphone snappers still lag behind dedicated cameras is in their sensitivity to movement. Even a slight shake can leave a smartphone photo looking like it was taken on a rocking boat, while a more professional DSLR copes better with this type of motion.

It’s therefore important to minimize camera shake as much as possible. Buying a tripod might seem like overkill, but you can pick up cheap, small tripod models that are made specifically for smartphones.

If you don’t want to get a tripod then use whatever’s available—a wall, a friend’s shoulder, or even your other arm. Keeping the shot steady is particularly important in low light conditions, when exposure times have to be longer.

Apply the rule of thirds

Apply the rule of thirds

This is an old photography trick that’s been around for years, but you can still apply it to smartphones. According to the rule of thirds, an image is split into nine equal blocks that form a three-by-three grid (like in the image above). You should aim to get the most interesting parts of your image (like a treeline or a group of faces) near the corners of these segments, where the imaginary gridlines meet.

To improve your shot composition, give the rule of thirds a try. Whether you’re taking pictures of friends at a bar or working on a landscape shot, you’ll find it simple and effective.

It’s even more simply when you don’t have to imagine the dividing lines yourself. This being the age of instant smartphone photography, just about every camera app out there will display them for you. On the stock Android camera app, you’ll see the grid icon at the edge of the screen, while in iOS the grid option is under Photos & Camera in Settings.

Take photos in bursts

Take photos in bursts

The days of waiting for your film to get processed and developed before you can see your photos are long gone. Take advantage of our brave new world of instant photography by firing off as many shots as possible. Then, you can review your images after the event and delete all but the best ones.

Most phones come with a burst mode for this very purpose. On both iOS and (stock) Android, you activate it by holding down the shutter button in Photo mode. You can dive into the camera settings to make changes to how burst mode works.

Third-party camera apps often have a burst mode too. It gives you a useful range of different pictures to choose from, and can prove handy in pretty much any situation, from casual family shots with your blink-prone cousin to wildlife photos.

Edit images on the go

Edit images on the go

Getting good pictures from your phone doesn’t start and end with your camera app of choice. You can also add a photo editing app to the mix to tweak your shots before sharing them with the wider world.

You’re spoiled for choices in this department. In addition to the native photo gallery and editing apps supplied by Apple and Google, alternatives such as Snapseed (above), Adobe Photoshop Express, and VSCO can do wonders with your pictures. Adobe is even incorporating AI into their photo editing apps.

You can add filters, tweak colors, straighten images, and more. Also keep an eye out for the “one touch” fixes that enhance your pictures with minimal effort from you. Some image editing apps import photos taken by your camera, while others have an integrated camera component of their own. Which brings us on to our next tip…

Install a third-party camera app

Install a third-party camera app

If you’ve never ventured beyond your phone’s default camera app, then you might be surprised at just how many third-party alternatives are out there. They give you access to extra settings, different features, and bundles of filters to get your mobile photos looking their best.

Take Manual for iOS, for instance, which lets you control shutter speed, ISO, white balance and more. Afterlight for iOS and Android gives you access to a similar set of pro tools, together with a bunch of impressive filters.

Speaking of filters, Instagram for iOS and Android (above) isn’t just a social network. It can also turn your shoddy photos into works of art with a couple of taps. The app now includes a host of editing and tweaking tools besides the filters it’s famous for, making it one of the best photo-taking apps you can get.

Explore the default camera app

Explore the default camera app

Even with plenty of third-party camera apps to pick from, it’s worth exploring everything the default app on your phone has to offer. If you’re on iOS, the built-in camera comes with a selection of live filters you can choose from (tap the icon in the top-right corner to see them). And if you’re using an iPhone 7 Plus, then you can swipe across to the Portrait mode for an instant depth-of-field effect (where the subject remains sharp but the background is blurred).

On Android, the camera app you’ve got will vary depending on which manufacturer made your phone. The stock Google Camera app has a very useful lighting filter available via the thermometer icon. You can choose from presets including cloudy and tungsten, so you can get the colors looking just right no matter what type of light you’re dealing with.

Meanwhile, default camera apps from Samsung, LG, Sony, Huawei (above), and others include a variety of extra scenes and tools to play around with. On newer Samsung handsets, for example, you can tap the Mode button to bring up a Pro mode packed with filters and adjustments for color and contrast that can be tweaked even before you take your shot. So open up your app, and do some exploring.

The post Tips and tricks to help you take better smartphone photos appeared first on Popular Science.

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