A stunning image of America’s birds has been named the winner of National Geographic’s first-ever “Pictures of the Year” photo contest.
The picture, chosen from among nearly 5,000 contest entries, shows four bald eagles on a snowy day at the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve in Alaska.
Photographer Karthik Subramaniam told National Geographic how he camped out near the shore of this preserve for a week to capture the perfect shot.
AS BALD EAGLE MAKES MIRACULOUS COMEBACK IN US, AUTHOR REVEALS THAT HUMANS ‘REDEEMED OURSELVES’
“Wherever there’s salmon, there’s going to be chaos,” Subramaniam, once a software engineer, repeated as his motto.
On the last day of Subramaniam’s week-long trip, he watched as bald eagles “swooped in and out of the fishing ground,” NatGeo reports.
A bald eagle arrives to steal a perch on a tree log that offers a strategic view of the shoreline at the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve in Alaska. When other eagles drag freshly caught salmon in from the water, these bystanders swoop in to take a share.(Karthik Subramaniam)
The photographer chose a spot near a log where a few birds lingered — and trained his lens on a nearby branch.
THE BALD EAGLE: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE GREAT CONSERVATION SUCCESS STORY OF AMERICA’S BIRD
Subramaniam was in the right place when he caught an incoming eagle sweep in to bump his bird buddy out of a prime spot on a branch.
He captured the maneuver and named it “Dance of the Eagles,” after George R.R. Martin’s novel “A Dance with Dragons.”
NatGeo photo contest honorable mention: On a road trip through the Austrian Alps, Alex Berger spotted a one-lane road that wound into the mountains and looped back on the map. He followed it alongside a small stream lined with walls of forest when he spotted this golden tree blooming from between the trunks.(Alex Berger)
Subramanian said what he likes most about the photo is the tension of the moment.
“It opens up the question: What happened next?” he told NatGeo.
WORLD’S LARGEST, RAREST OCEAN STINGRAYS SPOTTED AND TAGGED IN MOZAMBIQUE
Haines, Alaska, is home to the largest congregation of bald eagles in the world every autumn, according to National Geographic.
About 3,000 bald eagles arrive during this time for the salmon run.
NatGeo photo contest honorable mention: Asiilbek, a nomadic Kazakh eagle hunter, preps his golden eagle, Burged, for a horseback hunt in the grasslands outside Bayan-Ölgii, the westernmost province of Mongolia. (Eric Esterle)
“Every year in November, hundreds of bald eagles gather at Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve near Haines, Alaska, to feast on salmon,” Subramaniam said in a press release. “I visited there last two Novembers to photograph them.”
“Studying their behavior patterns helped me anticipate some of their actions,” he went on.
“For example, when an eagle drags salmon to a dry spot, other eagles in the area would inevitably fly there to claim their share, and that leads to chaotic action.”
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The photographer added that the eagles also seemed to have “favorite spots to hang out.”
“And usually, commotion ensues when an eagle wants an already occupied spot,” he said. “This photo was taken during one such commotion.”
NatGeo photo contest honorable mention: At about 3:40 a.m. on a frigid summer morning, photographer W. Kent Williamson snapped this image from Tipsoo Lake in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington. From across the still water, he could see a line of headlights as weary climbers approached the peak’s 14,411-foot summit — the culmination of a multi-day climb. (W. Kent Williamson)
Subramaniam first began experimenting with wildlife photography while sequestered in his San Francisco home during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Californian shared with NatGeo how during that time he explored local nature reserves and walked city parks to search for birds and other wildlife.
Subramaniam’s winning photo will be featured in National Geographic magazine’s May issue.
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Nine additional photos were selected as honorable mention winners.
For a list of all 10 winners and their winning images, visit nationalgeographic.com.
Angelica Stabile is a lifestyle writer for Fox News Digital.
You’ll definitely want to use Galaxy S23 astrophotography mode once you get your phone, as it’s surprisingly impressive for a smartphone. Thanks to the power of AI and combining multiple images, you can get beautiful images of the night sky.
The fact you need to download a separate app full of settings to adjust is a bit intimidating but just stick with our guide below. We’ll show you step-by-step how to enable the correct settings and prepare your Galaxy S23 and your shot, and by the end, you will hopefully have your first astrophoto.
Assuming it’s already dark outside where you are, and you’ve got your phone to hand, here’s what you need to do to use the Galaxy S23’s astrophotography mode.
How to use Galaxy S23 astrophotography mode
This astrophotography mode works on any Galaxy S23 handset, and also the Galaxy S22 series, since it’s tied to an app rather than the phone’s hardware. These steps should be the same, no matter which phone or model you are using.
1. If you haven’t already, download the ExpertRAW app, which is free from the Galaxy Store app.
2. Open up ExpertRAW and then the Settings menu (the cog in the top/bottom left corner)
3. In here, make sure the Special photo options slider is turned on, otherwise the astrophotography mode won’t be available to you. Also, enable RAW photos so you can capture the most possible detail. See our how to take RAW photos on Galaxy S23 guide if you need more details on this.
4. Return to the main app window, and tap the astrophotography button (the constellation icon) in the top right.
5. Before taking a photo, select whether to hide or show the AR sky guide, which will help you target specific things in the sky, and the duration, which can be set from four, seven or ten minutes (ten minutes providing the best shots). If you’re happy with the settings, just tap the cross in the corner to minimize it.
6. Lastly, pick your lens of choice and tap the shutter button. Wait for the magic to happen, and then check the Gallery app to see how your photo came out.
I tried this feature out on a cloudy night, so I wasn’t able to see much beyond a couple of particularly bright stars. I hope you fare better than I did.
A couple of other tips for you: A tripod is basically a necessity for these shots considering how long it takes for the exposure to come out.
And since it’ll be dark out, particularly if you go to an area with minimal light pollution, you may also want to bring a flashlight so you can see what you’re doing.
Take a look at some more Samsung Galaxy tips before you go. We have guides on how to use the hidden magic eraser tool on Samsung phones to quickly edit your photos, how to use finger sensor gestures on Samsung phones to add extra shortcuts to your most-used features, and how to set up Easy Mode on Samsung smartphones if you or the person you’re setting the phone up for would prefer a much simpler interface.
If you’d prefer more general Android how-to tips, we’ve got plenty of those too. Take a look at how to check screen time on Android to see how long you’re spending using different apps, how to split screen on Android to open up app multi-tasking on your phone, or how to show battery percentage on Android phones so you know just how much power you’ve got left.
Indian digital artist Sarang Bhagat creates amazing illustrations that have the potential to shift your perspective. These thought-provoking illustrations have the power to challenge your perceptions and encourage you to view things in a new and emotional way.
In the below gallery, you can find 25 best illustrations from Sarang. He creates thought-provoking illustrations that may make you look at some ordinary things differently. The images are like stories that can tell us something more than meets the eye.
Scroll down and inspire yourself. Check Sarang’s Instagram for more work.
The quest for climate solutions reached a critical turning point when scientists recently concluded that curbing the crisis will require more than just cutting emissions: We must vacuum out the carbon already pumped into the skies.
Without question, global leaders and investors should pursue the goal of decarbonizing the economy to limit the damage as much as possible. But a new report led by the University of Oxford observes that there is already so much carbon dioxide baked into the atmosphere that current concentrations will push our planet past 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming even if we were to build a 100% zero-carbon economy tomorrow.
The “State of Carbon Dioxide Removal” report is one of the first independent assessments of how much CO2 is currently being removed from the atmosphere, and how much will need to be scrubbed out, year after year, to stabilize greenhouse gas levels by midcentury. It’s an important contribution to the climate conversation and a topic that will be getting a lot more attention going forward.
But here’s where the report misses the mark: It underestimates the enormous potential for Mother Nature to do the work of carbon removal herself. And in that same vein, it fails to acknowledge a growing frontier of technological innovation that can aid and significantly amplify the power of natural climate solutions.
The authors of the Oxford report call for an aggressive ramp-up of “novel” CO2 removal strategies. These range from low-tech biochar and biofuel production with carbon capture and storage, to more fantastical contraptions such as mechanical trees and other machines designed to suck CO2 out of the air and convert it to carbon bricks, or other storable forms. The report finds that carbon dioxide removal from new technologies must increase “by a factor of 30 by 2030… and by a factor of 1,300 (up to about 4,900 in some scenarios) by mid-century.”
While I heartily support novel, climate-smart technology investments — I routinely celebrate them in this column — we are still years if not decades away from developing machines that can perform carbon dioxide removal on a scale that’s even close to what nature can do. Billions of dollars are being invested in so-called direct-air-capture technologies (mechanical trees and the like), but none yet have succeeded at scale.
Meanwhile, forests, grasslands and well-managed farmlands currently remove and sequester billions of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year via photosynthesis. Exactly how many billions is up for debate. The University of Oxford study says that terrestrial ecosystems currently remove 2 billion tons of C02 a year and estimates that this number could double to 4 billion by 2050. But that’s below the low end of potential removal estimates cited in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which predicts that terrestrial ecosystems could eliminate roughly 5 billion to 8 billion tons of CO2 from the atmosphere per year by 2050, simply with improved land stewardship practices.
Trees and crops perform a kind of lemons-to-lemonade climatic miracle as they breathe in carbon dioxide through their leaves and funnel it not only into useful materials such as corn, cotton and wood, but also through their roots into the ground, where carbon becomes the lifeblood of fertile soil.
Gregory Nemet, a co-author of the “State of Carbon Dioxide Removal” report and a public policy professor at University of Wisconsin at Madison, told me that pretty much all successful CO2 removal to date has come from natural climate solutions like protecting forests, planting trees and better managing soils. So I asked him, “Why not invest heavily in that?” To my mind, supporting and expanding the extraordinary potential of natural ecosystems to perform carbon removal is what investors and policymakers should be focusing on — not fantastical machines.
A premise of the report, Nemet said, is that “there’s a limit to what nature-based climate solutions can do.” But I see that limitation as a failure of creative thinking.
For one, it assumes that we’ll stick with current land-use patterns, which are heavily skewed toward agriculture: Farmlands currently cover well over half of the United States and about 40% of global land surface. The vast majority of those lands are dedicated to grain and conventional livestock production. But a combination of new technologies and policies can make it possible to grow more food on far less land. And land liberated from agricultural usage can be re-wilded and reforested — thereby turning billions of tons of carbon pollution into living ecosystems.
There’s no question that better management of forests and farmland can substantially reduce our atmospheric warming even within the next decade — and, further, that exponentially more carbon can be removed from the atmosphere if we invest in technologies that support and extend the power of nature. (Disclosure: My brother Bronson Griscom co-wrote a major study on natural climate solutions and leads ongoing research in this area for Conservation International.)
The biggest challenge with these natural solutions is that they are delivered by a complex set of ecosystems spread across the earth. It’s crucial to develop low-cost monitoring technology so this vast network can be measured and managed. Remote surveillance systems including satellite and radar that can track changes in land use with increasing detail can go a long way to help, as can devices that attach to trees to monitor rates of carbon sequestration.
Investors and policymakers should also support the development of microfinance systems that can reward populations with the richest forests — mostly in the equatorial nations — for the sustainable management of these essential carbon sinks. Some will be compensated for not cutting down trees. Others will be paid to sustainably manage agroforestry operations and to harvest trees in a way that benefits the long-term health of the forest. This would be a system far more sophisticated than PayPal, one with software that monitors and evaluates complex indicators of ecosystemic health and delivers payments accordingly via cellphones carried by farmers and forest managers in the field.
Above all, we need investment in climate-smart agriculture technologies from AI tractors and robotic weeders to vertical farms, GMO and CRISPR crops designed to withstand increasingly stressed growing conditions. I also have great confidence in the shift toward regenerative farming practices that can substantially increase both fertility and the capacity to sequester carbon dioxide in the earth’s soils. And there’s tremendous potential to shift land-use patterns on a grand scale through the creation and adoption of demand-side technologies — most notably meat alternatives such as plant-based products and cultured meats that require dramatically less land for the production of high-quality proteins.
Let me be clear that I’m not opposed to the more far-off technologies espoused in the University of Oxford report. Some important recent progress has been made by the Swiss company Climeworks, for example, and the Canadian company Carbon Engineering in the development of machines that function like giant C02 vacuums. In the long term we need all the solutions we can get, from machines and nature alike.
But our climatic clock is ticking, and right now we must focus our energy and investment on the most expedient path. For a long time, climate advocates resisted the discussion of carbon dioxide removal for fear it would distract from the urgent need to mitigate emissions. We certainly can’t let polluting industries off the hook. But we can’t ignore the importance of carbon removal any longer. Nor should we put too much emphasis, near term, on carbon-sucking machines.
The path forward requires humility. And if climate change has taught us anything, it’s that nature is a whole lot smarter and more powerful than we are. It’s time we acknowledge that the killer app of carbon dioxide removal is Mother Nature. Let’s invest in her.
More From Other Writers at Bloomberg Opinion:
• Cities Would Literally Be Cooler With More Trees: Lara Williams
• Global Warming Tests California’s Innovative Spirit: Faye Flam
• How Will Geoengineering Work? Look to Game Theory: Tyler Cowen
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Amanda Little is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering agriculture and climate. She is a professor of journalism and science writing at Vanderbilt University and author of “The Fate of Food: What We’ll Eat in a Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World.”
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion
The best photo editing apps can transform average snaps into works of photographic art. All kinds of photography benefits from good image editing, especially astrophotographs. When we look up into the night sky with our naked eyes, we can make out faint sources of light, the bright light from the moon, and perhaps a sighting of a nearby planet on a clear night if we’re lucky. But with the help of the best cameras for astrophotography, we can see the much fainter glows of nebulae and galaxies. Even the best telescopes and best binoculars can’t reveal all the subtle colors and patterns that post-shoot editing using photo editing apps can.
Photo editing apps can transform your average-looking astro images into spectacular masterpieces by bringing out hidden elements. While some consider using the best photo apps to edit images to be cheating, that just isn’t the case. As 99% of astrophotographers will be shooting in RAW, the raw data captured will be just that, and often looks dull and lifeless before any editing is done to enhance what’s already there. It’s just an extra means of polishing the finished product beyond the in-camera shot.
Even if the photographer only employed the in-camera filters, cropping, or stacking, that is still a form of editing. Photo editing apps can be an astrophotographer’s best friend, and editing software has shot up in popularity in the digital photography community.
Many different photo editing apps are available, with varying abilities and tools which need consideration, especially regarding astrophotography’s specific requirements. In this guide, we’ve included off-the-shelf software that can be modified to meet the needs of astrophotographers. Some do this better than others, here are the best photo editing apps for astrophotography that we’d recommend you try.
Best photo editing apps for astrophotography 2023
Why you can trust Space Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
(Image credit: Lauren Scott)
Best editing app overall: Lightroom has a brilliant and non-destructive workflow that will suit busy photographers
Specifications
Payment type: Subscription
Compatibility: Windows, Mac
Mobile app: Yes
Cloud storage: Up to 1TB
Reasons to buy
+
Unrivalled image organization and cataloguing
+
Fast color corrections using Presets
+
Available for desktop, tablet and mobile
Reasons to avoid
–
Monthly subscription only
–
RAW image conversion could be more advanced
Aiming at professionals, Lightroom is primarily a raw image organizing, cataloging, and developing tool. Users can dump their memory cards into it at the end of the day to quickly get a database of the shots taken that day with geotags and facial recognition. They can search and rate files to select the best ones and return to them later. This is what makes Lightroom different from many other editing apps.
When it comes to editing in Lightroom, the user has creative control over contrast, brightness, color saturation, and the option to smooth out lens idiosyncrasies. You can also create presets, edit with masks and heal any unwanted dust spots in your images. Lightroom is a very powerful app and has many features that can speed up your workflow and make post-processing easier. Once you’re finished editing, a high-quality JPEG image can be watermarked, exported and shared. To read more about the things Lightroom can do, check out our Adobe Lightroom review.
However, it’s perfectly possible to use Lightroom differently. Its workflow is entirely non-destructive, so you’re always left with your original file as a kind of digital negative rather than overwriting the original. Your changes only become permanent when you export an edited image; even then, your original image is safe.
You don’t have to work with raw files, although astrophotographers should because of the increased color depth that’s captured. Lightroom also excels at batch processing images, you can load in all 300 of your star trail images at once, batch edit (kind of like copying and pasting the same settings onto each image), then export them to another app for stacking.
(Image credit: Future)
Best for large projects: This powerful image editor works seamlessly across desktop, iPad and mobile
Specifications
Payment type: Subscription
Compatibility: Windows, Mac
Mobile app: Yes
Cloud storage: Up to 1TB
Reasons to buy
+
Sky replacement tools work effectively
+
Strong mobile and web design tool
Reasons to avoid
–
Neural filters are a bit weird
–
Only available with a subscription
–
Complex interface to learn
Much like Lightroom, Photoshop CC is the app that other image-editing software makers use to model their interfaces. It’s a great tool for astrophotographers and is the industry-standard photo editing app, used extensively worldwide — although there is a learning curve. We looked at all the pros and cons in our Adobe Photoshop review.
Photoshop’s editing method utilizes selections and layers, meaning you can, for example, select only the sky in an image and edit this separately from the land — though Lightroom has recently also adopted this feature. Selections can be automatically identified using Adobe Sensei, a cloud AI tech that allows the subject of a photo to be accurately selected just by choosing a menu option — phenomenal. Of course, it can also be painstakingly manually created like in the good old days if you’d rather!
Layers give you the option to build complex effects in your images. The layers can be moved around, merged, painted, hidden, or have holes cut in them. Layers are essential for creating a star trail image where hundreds of photos are combined or revealing the soft light of a nebula from many stacked frames.
Adobe plans are relatively inexpensive for the range of tools you can access, for $19.99 a month you can get a subscription to Photoshop and Lightroom together, which is a great deal if you regularly use both programs. If you don’t want the full-fat version of Photoshop, you may find Photoshop Elements a bit easier to get on with — keep reading to see if it’s better suited to you.
(Image credit: Chiat Goli/Ian Evenden)
Best option for astro enthusiasts: There are some useful preset astro features available on this editing app, which is cheaper than some of its rivals
Specifications
Payment type: One-off
Compatibility: Windows, Mac
Mobile app: Yes
Cloud storage: None
Reasons to buy
+
Cheaper Photoshop rival
+
Some dedicated astro features
+
Excellent tutorials
Reasons to avoid
–
Can be tricky if you’re already used to Photoshop
–
Cloud storage isn’t
Serif Software’s rival to Photoshop takes Adobe’s selection and layer method of photo editing and applies it directly to night-sky images through its Astrophotography Stack persona. The ‘personas’ are Affinity Photo’s way of reconfiguring its user interface for specific tasks, it has one for exporting images, another for decoding raw files, and so on. You can read more about these to get a better understanding in our Affinity Photo review.
This essentially means that you can import calibration and light frames into Affinity Photo, which will then stack them automatically at the press of a button, ready to be transferred to the app’s primary Photo persona for color correction and image sharpening. Advanced users can delve much deeper into the settings, to the extent of manually choosing the Bayer pattern used during raw decode or using frame analysis to reject those with star trails or other unwanted flaws.
A dedicated ‘Remove Background’ filter is a nice astro-specific feature. This feature will help in returning the sky between the stars to its original black tone if a background color cast has crept into your photographs.
(Image credit: Jason Parnell-Brookes)
Best for speedy editing: This reasonably priced software allows you to make super fast edits
Specifications
Payment type: One-off
Compatibility: Windows, Mac
Mobile app: No
Cloud storage: No
Reasons to buy
+
Super fast edits with powerful AI tools
+
Templates make it easy to enhance images with no prior knowledge
Reasons to avoid
–
Batch processing could be simpler
–
No dedicated astro tools
Skylum, the developer of Luminar, has taken a slightly different approach to image editing than Adobe and many other software houses in the sector. It prefers to provide a series of pre-set ‘looks’ (much like Instagram filters) and background images that you can apply to your image, scale to achieve the level of intensity you want, and even selectively apply these looks. The ‘looks’ are simple to add to the entire image or just a specific area, like the sky. AI programs have the creative ability to change your photos in ways you might not have thought of.
Traditional image-editing tools are available, but they aren’t the application’s core function. For that, you will want to consider Luminar Neo.
Luminar AI is a user-friendly, fast app built around the company’s AI tools but Neo now takes center stage as the company’s flagship product, bringing a new editing engine and the ability to create more refined images.
Neo has introduced the ability to add layers to your edits, much like photoshop. It also has a developer module, similar to Lightroom. Which version you get depends on whether you want to make quick edits using preset adjustments or more complex changes like adjusting the sharpness and vibrance. To help you decide, check out our Luminar AI review. There is a difference of approximately $40, but for a lifetime license, that cost is negligible.
(Image credit: Andy Hartup)
CyberLink PhotoDirector 14
Best for beginners: The user friendly software packs in lots of social media friendly features
Specifications
Payment type: Subscription and one-off
Compatibility: Windows, Mac
Mobile app: Yes
Cloud storage: No
Reasons to buy
+
So easy to use
+
Brilliant static and animated effects for social media
+
Great for both editing and enhancing
Reasons to avoid
–
Lacks some lens profiles
–
Feels very iterative
–
Not the best for astro work
Calling PhotoDirector 14 feature-packed would be a huge understatement, and we must be approaching the limit in the number of ways an image file can be poked, prodded, shrunk, stretched, and generally manipulated. It begs the question of how many additional features can be crammed into one program and how many of them are actually used. This most recent version is even more feature-packed than the previous PhotoDirector 13, though sadly they still don’t offer much for astrophotography editing. Think of it as a jack of all trades, master of none.
Though, for an astrophotographer, this isn’t necessarily a good thing. PhotoDirector 14 is a beginner-friendly application that can turn its hand to editing almost any image, astro included. Still, its attempts to appeal to as many people as possible make it tricky to whittle down to the useful tools you want for editing your night-sky shots.
You can purchase PhotoDirector 14 for a one-off fee, much like its rivals, but you can also purchase a subscription version (PhotoDirector 365) which is more expensive. You get a generous 50GB of cloud storage for the duration of your subscription.
(Image credit: Lauren Scott)
Best for amateurs: A solid, entry-level piece of software for hobbyists
Specifications
Payment type: One-off
Compatibility: Windows, Mac
Mobile app: No
Cloud storage: 2GB
Reasons to buy
+
Technique guides are helpful
+
Quick switch between Editor and Organizer
Reasons to avoid
–
No profiles for lens correction
–
Software will ultimately be replaced by a newer version which you will have to pay for again
Photoshop Elements is the scaled-back, beginner-friendly version of Photoshop aimed at beginners and enthusiastic amateurs rather than professionals. The differences are stark, especially in the way you pay for it. Adobe’s Creative Cloud apps — Photoshop and Lightroom on this list — are subscription software. That means you pay a fixed amount each month (currently $19.99 per month, which is pretty reasonable for what you get), and if you unsubscribe, the software stops working. The advantage of this is that you always have access to the most recent version of the application, which is updated often to include bug fixes and new features.
With Photoshop Elements you pay a one-off fee, which also has a video-editing brother called Premiere Elements. The downside of paying a one-off fee is that it’s only a matter of time before there will be a new version of the app available that you’ll need to buy again if you want to make use of any new features. Lightroom and Photoshop are available in the good-value Photographer’s Bundle, so you’d need a good reason to purchase Elements instead. That may be the app’s ability to teach you image editing through its Guided mode, or maybe you strongly believe in being able to keep your software without having to pay a subscription — if you think Elements may be more suited to you, check out our Photoshop Elements review.
Even though Photoshop’s layer and selection approach is replicated almost perfectly here in Elements, along with some neat new Sensei AI features, there’s not much on offer to attract astrophotographers specifically.
(Image credit: Ian Evenden)
Best for organization: Good value software with a really useful in-built organization system
Specifications
Payment type: Subscription or one-off
Compatibility: Windows, Mac
Mobile app: Yes
Cloud storage: At additional cost
Reasons to buy
+
Great for batch conversion
+
Decent value
+
Good organizer
Reasons to avoid
–
Professional version doesn’t have layers
–
Confusing pricing
ACDSee is a very versatile app, making it a great choice for a general-purpose image editor — see how it fared in our ACDSee review. It has a catalog management interface broadly similar to Lightroom and is split into a series of modules in the same way Affinity Photo has personas. There are several tools available to help you enhance your night sky photographs between the Develop module, which decodes your raw images, and the main edit module, which operates more like Photoshop.
ACDSee offers raw image processing so you won’t need a separate app if you’re shooting raw files, and its Ultimate incarnation has some Photoshop-like layers for you to stack images. There’s also an Advanced Lighting EQ tool that can be applied selectively. This helps to bring out the best in soft, dim glows from the night sky or to darken night skies back to black.
(Image credit: Ian Evenden)
Best for learning techniques: The list of features and tools available in Corel PaintShop just keeps growing.
Specifications
Payment type: One-off
Compatibility: Windows
Mobile app: No
Cloud storage: No
Reasons to buy
+
Broad range of tools
+
Easy to learn and grow with
Reasons to avoid
–
Only works with Windows
–
Not as advanced as Adobe
Paintshop Pro, a long-time member of the image-editing club, takes a similar layer-based editing approach to Photoshop. There’s RAW image support, and it’s starting to get the kind of AI and content-aware tools that can make impressive differences to astrophotos — check out our Corel Paintshop Pro review for more information.
Even though it isn’t designed specifically for this kind of photography, this general-purpose picture editing app has many tools that can be utilized to enhance your astrophotos. While the app has a specialist workspace with custom tools for editing underwater photos and drones, night-sky shots sadly don’t get the same attention. This is particularly true of its noise reduction tools. As we all know, taking photos of the night sky often requires raising the ISO to uncomfortable levels, so we need this function to get rid of unwanted noise while preserving the sharpness of the stars. They have added focus stacking into their most recent update, though, which would be good for stacking astro shots with different exposures for the sky and foreground.
(Image credit: DxO PhotoLab)
DxO Photolab 6
Best for noise reduction: Powerful AI tools can keep images clean and precise by removing excess noise
Specifications
Payment type: One-off
Compatibility: Windows, Mac
Mobile app: No
Cloud storage: No
Reasons to buy
+
Excellent noise reduction
+
Lightroom plugin
Reasons to avoid
–
Not a general-purpose tool
–
Only for RAW files
Photolab can be considered more of a digital darkroom rather than a full-fledged image editing app and has one particular feature that will be music to an astrophotographer’s ears. Its updated AI-powered DeepPRIME XD noise reduction can retrieve previously unseen detail like “nothing you’ve seen before”, they claim, and the haze-reducing Clearview tool can effectively improve your deep-sky images’ contrast and color saturation. Comprehensive lens correction also smooths out the distortion that camera lenses, especially those with ultrawide angles, add to photographs.
You will need to shoot in raw, though. The additional color depth provided by these unprocessed files is always welcome when it comes to astrophotos. Still, some find the extra strain on their computer’s processor, and the requirement for more storage space makes shooting in JPEG more convenient.
Advanced users can install Photolab as a plugin for Lightroom, so they can spend most of their time there but transfer over to Photolab to utilize its impressive AI tools.
(Image credit: Capture One Pro)
Capture One Pro 23
Best for powerful editing tools: This package has extensive editing tools and works reliably for tethered shooting – but it comes with a steep price
Specifications
Payment type: Subscription and one-off
Compatibility: Windows, Mac
Mobile app: Yes
Cloud storage: No
Reasons to buy
+
Extremely professional quality
+
Compatible with many file formats
Reasons to avoid
–
Expensive
–
It isn’t beginner friendly
Another app that follows the Lightroom template rather than the Photoshop one, tethering and studio photography is Capture One Pro’s specialty. It is remarked for the high quality of its raw image decoding, and it’s also compatible with many other image formats, including the HEIC files produced by recent iPhones.
This software is aimed at professionals, however, once you’ve got to grips with it, it’s uniquely powerful, bringing together the best of Lightroom and Photoshop (with its adjustment layer-based editing system). It does have a ‘learn’ feature that, by offering a series of in-camera tutorials, helps make it less intimidating for beginners. Though Capture One Pro does seem to be a great tool for improving workflow, many of its latest updates seem to be catered more toward organization rather than editing, making it better for photographers who photograph people or events and need to cull images quickly.
The downside? Capture One is expensive. You could get two or more of the other apps for the same price so it’s probably not worth it unless you are a studio pro.
Natural History Museum touring exhibition: Wildlife Photographer of the Year,Natural History Museum touring exhibition: Wildlife Photographer of the Year, at The Base, Greenham, until Sunday, March 26. Review by LIN WILKINSON
As well as celebrating the spectacular beauty and diversity of the natural world, the effects of climate change also underpin the themes and concerns of many of the international photographers showing in the ever-popular Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at The Base gallery at Greenham.
Dimitry Kokh shows two photographs of polar bears who have taken over an abandoned Russian island settlement, scavenging for food. In one, a bear peers through a hut window, paws on sill. It’s a beautifully balanced image, using the faded blue and yellow of window and hut; a photo that can be enjoyed on a formal and emotional level.
In a field of underwater kelp, Scott Portelli comes face to face with an inquisitive Australian sea lion. Zhigang Li has set the hefty yellow stems of the noble rhubarb against gloomy mountains and hanging cloud.
Two UK photographers have constructed abstract images, David Maitland using a macro lens to expose the fluorescent colours and shapes of a leaf, Alex Mustard taking bootlace seaweed as the starting point for a vertical composition. Lorenzo Shoubridge (Italy) captures a hungry dormouse skewed in mid-air, trying to catch a moth.
The photojournalism section includes images that show relationships between humans and animals. Douglas Gimesy positions an animal carer working on her laptop beside a sleeping, orphaned wombat.
Brent Stirton (South Africa) has photographed the final moments of a rescued mountain gorilla, who lies dying, cradled in the loving arms of her life-long carer. It’s a quiet, deeply affecting image.
Charlie Hamilton James’s photograph of a ranger removing a snare from a wildebeest takes the shapes and movement of man and animal to create a memorable image.
Brandon Guell (Costa Rica/USA) shows tiny, green gliding frogs laying eggs on palm fronds, in a very pleasing composition of verticals and vibrant colour.
Deft use of colour and form in the photo of a flame bowerbird’s mating display, the red head with its shining eye curving around the yellow and black wings.
Laurent Ballesta (France) claimed the Portfolio Award for his striking panel of the sea life and natural structures beneath the waters of Antarctica; powerfully composed photographs in vibrant, metallic colour.
Anand Nambiar (India) depicts a hunting snow leopard chasing Himalayan ibex towards a cliff, as much a pattern in restricted colour as a representational image. A well-caught, minimal shot by José Fragozo (Portugal) shows the tail end of a giraffe as it disappears behind concrete blocks; the natural world forced ever closer to human infrastructure.
In a striking wide-angle image, shot in brilliant light, Alessandro Gruzza (Italy) has maximised the foreground, cushion plants in the Andean peat wetlands leading the eye to a distant snow-capped volcanic cone.
The Young Photographers’ winner (11-14 years category) is Ismael Dominguez Gutierrez (Spain), who photographed stunted, bare trees, one with a sole perching osprey, emerging from a lifting Andalusian fog, to create a mysterious black and white image. Katanyou Wuttichaitanakorn (Thailand) shows a masterly abstract composition in soft pink, blue and grey. Two tiny fish about to disappear into the baleen plates of a whale are the only recognisable living elements.
A pleasing aerial shot by Paul Mckenzie (Ireland/Hong Kong) comprises a brown-rimmed circle of green within a dotted expanse of blue.
It’s the golden hour on a beach somewhere, and sun-kissed waves are crashing around two surfers as they venture into the ocean. The scene is captured in a captivating aerial photo taken with a drone by ‘Jane Eykes’, and the image, a cropped version of which you can see above, won a photography contest hosted by Australian photo retailer digiDirect.
But all is not as it seems. It was not Jane Eykes who took the photo, nor is this even a photograph at all, as we know it – it’s an entirely AI-generated image created by Australian company Absolutely Ai (under that pseudonym).
Using Midjourney, an image-generation program in the mold of Dall-E, fed with with simple prompts such as ‘two surfers, sunrise, beautiful lighting, drone shot, wave crashing’, Absolutely Ai entered the resulting image into the competition as a test of how far AI-generated images have come. Pretty far, it turns out.
“The surfers in our image never existed. Neither does that particular beach or stretch of ocean,” Absolutely Ai says. “[the image is] made up of an infinite amount of pixels taken from infinite photographs that have been uploaded online over the years by anyone and everyone, and what you’re left with is a new, entirely convincing award winner.”
This story adds a new thread the snowballing conversation around AI in art. I spoke with Absolutely Ai’s founder Jamie Sissons, an award-winning professional photographer – in the documentary genre, ironically – about the significance of AI-generated imagery for the organizers of and entrants to photography competitions, and for the wider photography world.
Just how good are AI-ggenerated images right now?
In the 24 hours after digiDirect shared the image as the winner of its ‘Summer Photo’-themed contest on Instagram, there were plenty of complimentary comments about it. Put simply, no one thought the image was suspect.
Absolutely Ai then publicly confessed its experiment to digiDirect and forwent the prize money, and the story made the news across Australia. Now that it’s in the spotlight, the winning image has come under intense scrutiny, especially from photographers. That scrutiny is less about its aesthetic quality – it’s a lovely looking drone shot – but whether it is convincing or not.
“I say it is a convincing image because no one had the reason to think otherwise”, Sissons told me. “There are things that don’t look right with it – I’d say it’s over-saturated, the wave doesn’t quite crash the right way, the run-off, the lines through the waves aren’t quite right. But even when you’re having a good look at it, it’s a convincing image.”
And that’s really the point – 95% of people do not have the critical eye for image detail and the time and/or inclination to pore over an image in great detail. We swipe our screens, pause for a moment when an image catches our eye, double-tap to like it, then scroll some more.
But this story pushes another button, especially for photographers, because the image should have been spotted as a ‘fake’. After all, this was a photography contest, judged by photography professionals, that awards photographers for their creative endeavors, and the professionals were taken in by an image that took a few word prompts to create (and from a huge pool of photos from almost entirely unknown sources, which is a whole other issue).
And this is only a taste of what’s to come. “These are still the very first iterations of what we will see from AI tech,” says Sissons. “A lot of these platforms and apps are still in testing phases, so in a year, two years, five years, who knows what it will look like?”
Should photographers be worried about AI-generated images?
AI images are not perfect. One known pitfall is hands – how many people do you know with six fingers? And AI can struggle to create a realistic image when the prompts are really specific’ Jamie uses ‘the queen playing badminton with a polar bear’ as an example. Keep the prompts broad, however, and AI is already a frighteningly effective tool.
“For my winning image, the prompts were general and could be portrayed in a million different ways,” Sissons explains. “AI is also great at doing ideas: A lonely person – it will come up with something that really fits the bill. But if you go specific – a lonely child sitting on a bench, it’s raining, the bus is late – the more it will struggle. The wider you keep it, the better the result.”
General ideas presented through images are bread-and-butter marketing and social media for businesses with an insatiable appetite for new content. “There will still be a need for photographers to cover specific ideas, but the work around broader themes in photography is under threat,” adds Sissons. ” I’d be worried if I was one of the big stock libraries.”
Indeed, when it comes to stock libraries, Getty is fighting back, suing AI image generator Stable Diffusion for $1.8 trillionfor what it believes is to be “brazen” intellectual property theft on a “staggering scale” after its watermark began appearing on Stability AI-generated images.
Man vs machine: the next chapter
Technological advances in photography – think digital photography, Adobe Photoshop and the iPhone – have historically been met with mixed, and often highly emotive, reactions, and it’s no different with AI. I contacted the World Photography Organisation for comment about how AI-generated images could impact photography competitions, and received the following statement from Founder and CEO Scott Gray:
“As a medium photography has always been at the forefront: constantly adapting and evolving, it has a singular ability to transform itself and push boundaries. We are interested in photography as an art form, and within the Sony World Photography Awards we have our Creative Categories in the Professional and Open Competitions which welcome photographers to experiment and explore the dynamism of the medium.
“With technological advancements, a wider audience of creators are engaging with lens-based work and we look forward to seeing how this can expand the reach and impact of photography.”
After Absolutely Ai revealed the true nature of its contest-wining image, digiDirect publicly acknowledged that it had indeed mistakenly awarded its prize to an AI-generated image, and chose a new winner.
For future photography contests, the photo retailer will request that winning entrants submit the raw image of their edited entries, which includes metadata about the camera used, as a guarantee of authenticity – this is already established practice for high-profile contests like the World Photography Organisation’s Sony World Photography Awards.
Upping the ante, digiDirect announced a new competition that will accept photo or image submissions. The prize money has been increased, and an expert panel of photographers will judge the entries, without knowing if the submissions have been created by humans using a camera, or artificially. It’s man versus machine – and as a photographer, I know who I’m rooting for.
If you’re looking for the best tripods on the market, you’ve come to the right place for all the information you need. Tripods can be a vital part of any photographer’s inventory and are crucial for long-exposure photography, including astro.
Partner one of these tripods with the best cameras for astrophotography, and there will be no stopping you. Get the angle you want, keep the camera perfectly still to shoot the cosmos, and get those awe-inspiring images you’ve dreamed of taking.
Best tripods in 2023
Why you can trust Space Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
(Image credit: Benro)
Benro Mach3 TMA37C
Best overall — this is a serious bit of kit for serious astro photographers
Specifications
Material: Carbon fiber with magnesium castings
Leg sections: 3
Weight: 4.1lbs
Max load: 35lbs
Folded height: 24.6 inches
Ball head or pan/tilt head: Can purchase either separately
Reasons to buy
+
Kit includes spiked feet and short centre column attachment
+
Intuitive, no fiddling
+
Sturdy leg locks make it easy to use
Reasons to avoid
–
Have to buy the head separately
–
Only one leg has a foam grip
–
Doesn’t fit into the carry bag with the geared head attached
Despite its chunky look and feel, the Benro Mach3 9X CF TMA37C is a surprisingly light tripod. It has been built for durability, reliability and to cope well in all weathers. While this is no travel tripod, it has certainly been designed with the portability and flexibility needs of serious landscape photographers, making it an ideal choice for dedicated astrophotographers too.
The Mach3 series of tripods feature a range of configuration options and come in both carbon fiber and aluminum. At this size it makes the difference in weight between the carbon fiber and the aluminum quite significant though it also makes quite a significantly deeper dent in your wallet if you opt for the carbon fiber model.
Unfortunately, you will need to purchase the head separately which will add to the already sizable cost, but you can then tailor the tripod to your own specific preferences and needs. There are a few added extras that you get for your money however, a set of spiked feet and a shorter center column are included which come in handy when you need to get low to the ground.
$384.95 means there’s no hiding that this tripod is an investment, but you do get quality for your money. Its durable build and attention to detail mean it’s designed to last, so you’ll get years and years of use out of it.
(Image credit: Jamie Carter)
Our top portable pick — a narrow, novel, and night-friendly support for full-frame DSLRs and even smartphones
The Peak Design Travel Tripod is as compact a travel tripod as you’re likely to find and it’s ideal for anyone considering all types of landscape photography, not least wide-field astrophotography. It has been cleverly designed into a super-sleek, neat and compact package with no wasted space. Its three legs and ball-head collapse to meet with no gaps, making it ideal for fitting into your daypack or your luggage.
Despite clearly being designed for travel, it isn’t the lightest travel tripod on the market. The construction comes in both aluminum and carbon fiber versions but the reduction in weight with the carbon fiber one is accompanied by a higher price. We think the aluminum option at 3.4lbs is a better option when it comes to value for money as the carbon fiber model is only a tiny bit lighter a 2.8lbs and not really worth the extra cash.
As we discussed in the functionality section of our Peak Design Travel Tripod review, the height of this tripod might be a bit of an issue for taller users as, despite having five leg sections, it’s about ten inches shorter than similar models on the market.
The Arca-Swiss quick-release tripod plate is incredibly stable and can carry loads of up to 20lbs but it does require a hex key to affix the camera in place which isn’t so easy to do in the dark. Another neat travel feature the model incorporates is a swivel lever to rotate the ball head and it means there’s nothing protruding and getting in the way.
The Peak Design Travel Tripod will prove a smash hit for astrophotographers, especially those wanting something easy to transport and quick to set up. It’s compact when packed up and proves great for outdoor performance.
(Image credit: Vanguard)
A solid, sturdy and versatile option for mirrorless and DSLR cameras
Specifications
Material: Aluminum
Leg sections: 3
Weight: 5.38 lbs
Max load: 15.4 lbs
Folded height: 28.15 inches
Ball head or pan/tilt head: Ball head
Reasons to buy
+
Multiple positions, including low to the ground
+
Solid and stable
+
Easy to put up and take down in the dark
Reasons to avoid
–
Required hex key
–
Heavier than other similar models on the market
The star attraction of the Vanguard Alta Pro 263AB is its sheer flexibility and the various multiple positions it can be put into. Besides the standard tripod configuration, you can splay the legs from upright at 25º all the way to almost 90º to the center column. Additionally, the center column comes out and can be angled at 90º from the now-splayed legs and means the camera can be as low as ten inches from the ground. This gives it much greater stability when capturing star trails with very long exposures.
With only three leg sections on each leg, there are only two clips to fix when setting up the tripod, which we found sturdy enough to keep the camera still in light to moderate breeze during long exposures. It was easy enough to put up and take down in the dark. The same can’t be said for the connector plate which requires a hex key, though given that two plates are provided with the tripod, the idea is likely that you simply leave it on your camera full time rather than remove it at the end of a shoot.
As we concluded in our Vanguard Alta Pro 263AB tripod review, this tripod is a brilliant all-rounder. If you enjoy different styles of photography, this could be the option for you. However, it may not be best suited for astrophotography as it’s size and weight may make you think twice about lugging it around at night. Despite this, it’s a great, versatile tripod for the price you pay.
(Image credit: 3 Legged Thing)
A joy to handle and an ideal choice for astro and landscape photographers
Specifications
Material: Carbon fiber
Leg sections: 5
Weight: 3.1lbs
Max load: 30lbs
Folded height: 16.14 inches
Ball head or pan/tilt head: Ball head
Reasons to buy
+
Great build quality
+
Tactile bubble grip knobs
+
Light and portable
Reasons to avoid
–
Slight ‘falling into place’ with longer lenses
–
Hex key plate attachment
–
Higher end of the price spectrum for this type of tripod
The Brian tripod by 3 Legged Thing is a highly portable travel tripod that incorporates some pretty solid engineering design. As we established in our 3 Legged Thing PUNKS Brian Tripod review, it’s simultaneously one of the tallest tripods when fully erect yet also one of the most compact once folded down.
While it’s not the lightest of the travel tripods available, at 3.1lbs, it’s certainly something that isn’t too cumbersome to carry around for a day or night. It has a premium feel to it but it also has a more premium price tag than its nearest competitors though, overall, we think it’s worth it.
This tripod is easy to put up and take down in low-light conditions thanks to the tactile bubble grips on the knobs and leg extenders. However, the camera connects with a hex key as opposed to a D-ring which can be a little annoying, but a tool is provided for it and it attaches to the body of the tripod with a carabiner.
The Brian tripod by 3 Legged Thing can carry weights of up to 30lbs and although we discovered instances of the camera ‘falling into place’ once affixed in its compositions with a very long lens we think it’s more about weight distribution than the weight itself, it seemed to happily take the weight of a DSLR with a shorter zoom lens attached. But this is really the only small criticism for a piece kit that otherwise meets the needs of an enthusiastic astrophotographer.
(Image credit: Amazon)
As light and as solid aluminum travel tripod as you’re likely to find,
Specifications
Material: Aluminum
Leg sections: 4
Weight: 3.28 lbs
Max load: 19.48 lbs
Folded height: 15.7 inches
Ball head or pan/tilt head: Ballhead
Reasons to buy
+
Lightweight aluminum build
+
Excellent build quality
+
It doesn’t droop with full-frame DSLR
Reasons to avoid
–
Not space-efficient
–
Relatively large when collapsed
–
Not full height
Small carbon fiber tripods may be the lightest around, but being mid-size and made from aluminum, the Manfrotto BeFree Advanced Travel Tripod keeps to a reasonable height and price tag. Photographers after the perfect tripod to take out at night require three things: a lightweight tripod that is easy to carry, fixings that make it quick to set up and take down, and solidity and rigidity that can be relied upon to keep your camera steady even in windy conditions. The Manfrotto Befree Advanced Travel Tripod has all of that, being one of the lightest aluminum travel tripods we’ve tried, though perhaps it is not the most efficiently designed for transit as it takes up a lot of space in luggage. But its exceptional build quality and reliability in the field make it a sound choice.
As we found in our Manfrotto Befree Advanced Travel Tripod review, it has an unusual fold-down configuration whereby the three legs fold through 180º to meet the ball head. Though we found it fiddly to begin with, it’s easy to do in the dark once you’ve got the knack.
The four section legs are fixed with soft twists and can be erected to a full height of 59 inches. The camera connects to the plate with a D-ring and is compatible with the RC2 and Arca-Swiss plate attachment.
The same model is available in carbon fiber and weighs a little bit less at 2.75lbs.
(Image credit: Amazon)
The Manfrotto 190 Go! tripod is a popular and versatile support for outdoor and landscape photographers
Specifications
Material: Carbon fiber (also available in aluminum)
Leg sections: 4
Weight: 4.1lbs
Max load: 14.33 lbs
Folded height: 22.5 inches
Ball head or pan/tilt head: XPro ball head
Reasons to buy
+
Fast operating M-lock mechanism
+
90° column for horizontal positioning
Reasons to avoid
–
No hook for adding stability
–
Not all models have a carry bag
–
Doesn’t come with a strap
The Manfrotto 190 Go! tripod series was launched almost five years ago, but it is ever popular with hobbyists and advanced photographers who need a lightweight, sturdy base for their camera. The price has only dropped slightly since our hands on Manfrotto 190 Go! review which shows it is still a desirable product.
The range includes several models: you can choose from either carbon fiber or magnesium construction, several different heads and leg sections but every 190 Go! tripod is defined by how quick it is to operate. The highest-end model is probably too expensive for amateurs or casual photographers but the aluminum version is cheaper.
The easy assembly is thanks to an ‘M-lock’ mechanism, a super speedy twist lock that allows you to unlock the leg and set the right height up in just a few seconds. Other key features include a versatile 90° central column that can swing out into a horizontal position, plus a Link attachment for adding extra accessories. The leg positions can be held at 25°,46°,66°, or 88°.
The whole combo weighs 4.1 lbs and supports a maximum load of 14.3 lbs.
As well as making for a speedy setup, these unobtrusive M-locks mean that the legs themselves are streamlined, with no protruding parts that might catch on a bag when you want to pack the tripod away. The rubber grips on the locks themselves are easy to get hold of even in the dark.
(Image credit: Manfrotto)
Manfrotto MK055XPRO3 BHQ-2
Manfrotto is one of the most well-known, popular and, crucially, reliable brands in tripod technology.
Specifications
Material: Aluminum
Leg sections: 3
Weight: 6lbs
Max load: 22lbs
Folded height: 28 inches
Ball head or pan/tilt head: Ball
Reasons to buy
+
Affordable price
+
Comes with the new XPRO ball head
+
90-degree adjustable center column
+
Easy Link connector
Reasons to avoid
–
Feet not interchangeable
–
Doesn’t come with a carrying bag
–
No weight hook
The Manfrotto MK055XPRO3 BHQ-2 is designed for studio photographers who often go out on shoots. Made from aluminum, it has the weight and sturdiness of a studio tripod but is portable enough to pack away neatly and carry for short periods. Although it’s primarily designed for mirrorless camera systems, tests suggest it can also happily carry a medium format rig.
The legs are extended and secured with a new power lock system that uses flip locks rather than leg twists. One of the key innovative features of this model is the Easy Link connector which is designed to attach arms, holders, lamps and reflectors. Again, things that are much more useful to a studio photographer working outdoors than an astrophotographer but if you’re planning on using lights creatively with the backdrop of the night sky, this could well be the tripod for you.
(Image credit: Benro)
This is everything a beginner landscape or astrophotographer needs to get started in long exposure photography
Specifications
Material: Carbon fiber or aluminum
Leg sections: 4
Weight: 2.2lbs
Max load: 8.8lb
Folded height: 20 inches
Ball head or pan/tilt head: Ball head
Reasons to buy
+
Lightweight and compact
+
Good value for money
+
Durable construction
Reasons to avoid
–
Some features are cheaply finished
–
Slightly sticky ball head
–
Some longer lenses have to ‘fall into place’ when composing shots
You can’t beat the Benro Slim travel tripod for those nights of trudging between vantage points or those days when you might need a tripod but don’t quite know what the day holds in store. This lightweight and well-crafted tripod has been designed with travel and movement in mind and has everything a beginner landscape or astro photographer needs to get started in long-exposure photography.
Although the Benro Slim was developed for the increasingly popular mirrorless systems, it can also handle the weight of a DSLR and zoom lens remarkably well too. Not only that, it offers the impeccable build quality from a trusted brand but at a price point that won’t break the bank. It’s stable, reliable, compact and, crucially, lightweight enough to just always have it with you in your camera pack.
It’s available in both carbon fiber and aluminum versions which differ only in weight and price point; the aluminum one is slightly weightier but slightly cheaper. It’s very easy to put up and take down and features anodized aluminum leg twists that secure into place with half a twist. It uses a standard Arca-Swiss connector plate that slides in easily and is secure enough for a range of mirrorless and DSLR lenses.
(Image credit: Future)
This tripod can be used when the environment allows but it’s not a replacement for a full-sized tripod
Specifications
Material: Aluminum, ABS plastic, stainless steel and TPE
Leg sections: 1
Weight: 1.6lbs
Max load: 11 lbs
Folded height: 13 inches
Ball head or pan/tilt head: Ball
Reasons to buy
+
Small, lightweight
+
Wobble-free when wrapped around something stable
+
Can hold surprisingly heavy kit
Reasons to avoid
–
Limited positioning options
–
Not a full-sized tripod
The Joby GorrillaPod 5K Tripod is quite a different beast from most tripods because it’s made of articulated ball joints and doesn’t have extendable legs or the complicated knobs and levers of a bigger product. It’s small and compact at 20 inches in length and a total weight of 1.6lbs which makes it very portable and versatile
It’s designed to be fixed in place by twisting into shape around railings, trees, and just about anything in the urban landscape as well as rocks and craggy natural landscape features. It can also be free-standing but isn’t quite as stable in this configuration.
It is made from aluminum, plastic and stainless steel, making it strong enough to carry the weight of a DSLR plus zoom lens as well as lighter equipment and smartphones. The main drawback, however, is that you’re dependent on what you can affix it to in order to create your composition so it doesn’t have quite the same level of versatility as a standard-designed tripod.
It’s a great option if you’re just starting out with long exposure photography but for those who are more into it, it’s more of a bonus addition to your kit for those ‘just in case’ moments rather than a replacement for a full-sized tripod.
How we test the best tripods for astrophotography
In order to guarantee you’re getting honest, up-to-date recommendations on the best tripods to buy here at Space.com we make sure to put every tripod through a rigorous review to fully test each product. Each tripod is reviewed based on a multitude of aspects, from its construction and design, to how well it functions and its performance in the field.
Each tripod is carefully tested by either our expert staff or knowledgeable freelance contributors who know their subject areas in depth. This ensures fair reviewing is backed by personal, hands-on experience with each tripod and is judged based on its price point, class and destined use.
We look at how easy each tripod is to operate, whether it contains the latest up-to-date stabilizing technology and look at its weight and portability. We’ll also make suggestions if a particular tripod would benefit from any additional kit to give you the best photographing experience possible.
With complete editorial independence, Space.com are here to ensure you get the best buying advice on tripods, whether you should purchase one or not, making our buying guides and reviews reliable and transparent.
Best tripods 2023: What to look for
There are a few things to consider before you grab one of the best tripods to ensure it meets your requirements. These are namely stability, portability, weight and price. Most ‘travel tripods’ are made of one of two materials: aluminum or carbon fiber. The latter is much lighter and therefore easier to carry around, but typically more expensive. Aluminum, however, can get colder, affecting handling and functioning on colder nights.
Something else to consider is that tripods are usually made from between three and five leg sections. Generally, the fewer leg sections a tripod has, the more stable it is. However, a tripod with fewer leg sections doesn’t pack down as small as something with a higher number of leg sections. You’ll have to weigh what you want to prioritize, especially if you’re using one of the large and heavy best zoom lenses for your night sky images.
Removable feet, in-built spirit levels, and tripod head compatibility are all things to consider when picking your tripod legs and is something you can look at in more detail down below once you’ve settled on your favorites. In the meantime, you can also check out our guides for the best lenses for astrophotography, and the best camera backpacks. However, for the best tripods on the market, all you have to do is read our round-up below.
As you can see from our selection, there’s a lot to consider when investing in a tripod. But they’re essential if you’re combining them with any of the best cameras.
Some people argue that travel tripods don’t always offer enough height for easy camera operation but that depends entirely on how tall you are and it’s not quite so important for star trail photography. Most of the models we’ve reviewed here have splayed legs that allow the camera to be set up quite close to the ground which is a far more stable spot for long-exposure night sky photos.
Tripod feet are generally made from a thick rubber that has good traction on an array of surfaces and many — but not all — are designed with the option to unscrew them and attach either spiked or clawed feet for better purchase on rougher ground.
Tripod legs are extended and secured with either flip or twist locks. The twist lock design tends to be more secure but some manufacturers, notably Manfrotto, have devised some particularly secure flip locks.
Along with this, you should keep in mind the weight, stability, portability and price of your tripod. If you’re prioritizing one of the features, you might have to sacrifice some of the others.
Here are the 25 photos that will leave you puzzled and perplexed. Photos without context can be difficult to interpret or understand fully. They may lack the necessary information to provide a complete understanding of what is happening in the photo, who is in it, where it was taken, and why.
Without context, a photo can be interpreted in different ways depending on the viewer’s perspective, assumptions, and biases. This can lead to misunderstandings or misinterpretations, especially when the photo is shared on social media or other platforms where it can be taken out of its original context.
There is a Twitter page named “Images That Require More Context” posts funny and weird pictures without providing any context to them. The images posted on the Twitter page are so bizarre that they might fill your head with lots of questions while making you laugh.
Scroll down and enjoy yourself. All photos are linked and lead to the sources from which they were taken. Please feel free to explore further works of these photographers on their collections or their personal sites.
FREMONT, CA — Ankur Srivastava snapped this picture recently of the hills, with Lake Elizabeth in the foreground. Enjoy the weather this weekend — cold temperatures are predicted next week!
Thank you for sharing your photo, Ankur!
If you have an awesome photo of nature, breath-taking scenery, kids caught being kids, a pet doing something funny, or something unusual you happen to catch with your camera, we’d love to feature it on Patch.
We’re looking for high-resolution images that reflect the beauty and fun that is Northern California, and that show off your unique talents.
