Macro photography invites you into a miniature world of detail and color. Among its most captivating subjects are insects and flowers, both intricate, diverse, and full of visual possibilities. Photographing insects and flowers requires a blend of patience, technical skill, and creative vision, whether youre a beginner or an experienced photographer looking to level up.Essential Gear for Photographing Insects and FlowersPhotographing insects and flowers doesnt require the most expensive gear, but there are tools that will greatly enhance your results. A macro lens in the 90mm to 105mm range provides excellent working distance and crisp detail. Tripods are helpful for stability, especially when shooting flowers or using focus stacking. You can also use extension tubes or close-up filters as cost-effective alternatives to dedicated lenses. Finally, using a flash or reflector will help brighten your subject, especially in shaded environments.Techniques to Capture Natures Tiny SubjectsMacro photography insects and flowers comes with unique challenges. Mastering these techniques can help elevate your images:Focus on the Eyes: When photographing insects, ensure the eyes are sharp. For flowers, focus on the stamen or the area with the most texture.Get on Their Level: Shooting at eye level with your subject creates intimacy and visual interest.Shoot Early Morning: Insects are less active and light is softer, perfect for capturing fine detail without harsh shadows.Mind the Background: Use wide apertures to blur distractions and let your subject stand out.Steady Your Shot: Use a tripod or fast shutter speeds to avoid motion blur.Light and Composition for Maximum ImpactNatural light is great for macro photography, but its not always ideal. Diffuse harsh sunlight with a white umbrella or sheer fabric. Consider using a ring flash for even light or side lighting to emphasize textures like flower petals or an insects wings.When composing your shot, fill the frame with your subject to showcase fine detail. The rule of thirds can help you create dynamic images. Symmetry in flower petals or wing patterns makes for compelling visuals, and including a reference object like a fingertip can offer scale.Overcoming Close-Up and Macro ChallengesMacro photography insects and flowers often involves unpredictability. Heres how to solve common problems:Wind blur? Use a windbreak or wait for calm conditions.Skittish insects? Pre-focus on a flower or use burst mode.Bright light? Watch your histogram and reduce exposure compensation if needed.Patience is Part of the ProcessMacro photography rewards those who observe and wait. Noticing a bees pattern between flowers or how sunlight moves across a petal can give you an edge. The quiet discipline of waiting often leads to your most magical frames.Extended reading:Six tips for taking a digital detox (and why photographers need them!)The post Essential Gear for Photographing Insects and Flowers Like a Pro appeared first on 500px.

Alongside a new trailer and the announcement of Resident Evil Requiem coming to Nintendo Switch 2, Capcom announced two more Resident Evil titles bound for the console. Resident Evil Village Gold Edition and Resident Evil 7: biohazard Gold Edition will launch on February 27th, 2026, for the Switch 2. Instead of cloud versions, both will be available natively.Resident Evil Village includes the Winters Expansion and Trauma Pack, with the former continuing the base games story with Shadows of Rose. It also featured new characters for Mercenaries mode. Resident Evil 7: biohazard packs all DLC content as well, alongside Not A Hero, a story expansion focused on a pivotal side character.Stay tuned for more details like their resolutions, frame rates and much more in the coming months. Resident Evil Requiem is available on the same day and will be available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Head here for the latest details from Gamescom.Prepare to re-live unspeakable horrors in the Baker mansion, a remote, eerie village, and more.Resident Evil 7 biohazard and Resident Evil Village are coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on February 27th! pic.twitter.com/5zFtarCEFO Resident Evil (@RE_Games) September 12, 2025

Whilst putting together our latest Breakdown of the VFX used in 20 Century Studios Free Guy, we interviewed Digital Domains VFX Supervisor Nikos Kalaitzidis to get a feel of exactly how much work was involvedQ: How did you design the look for the game version of Free City, do you all play video games or did you have to research?A: We actually did a bit of both. Charlie Lemur, who worked on the client-side VFX team for Free Guy, is a huge gamer, and director Shawn Levy used him as a consultant and expert for the look and feel we wanted for the gameplay portions of the film. On the Digital Domain side, our in-house VFX editor for the film was a gaming fanatic, and he provided input. After work, he would record his gaming sessions to share with us the next day as reference for different styles of games. Our initial design focused on photo-realistic gameplay, but director Shawn Levy and the filmmakers thought that if the audience saw photo-real gameplay on a players monitor in the film, they may mistake it for a live action shot. At that point, we had to come up with a more traditional style of gameplay for the movie with two things in mind 1. It could not be mistaken for anything but gameplay and 2. the audience needed to feel empathetic with the emoting and action of the characters. The end result was a stylized look between Grand Theft Auto and Fortnite.Q: Free Guy is packed full of video game references, gags, and little details. Are these part of the spec given to you by the director and film makers or is there a certain amount of freedom when it comes to adding Easter Eggs and extra details?A: Most of the cameos and Easter eggs we included werent planned. They came about when we were creating gameplay, and both Shawn Levy and Ryan Reynolds wanted to add more comedic elements into the mix. One example is that both Ryans wife, Blake Lively, and his 4-year-old daughter appear in the film as game characters. Blake even kicks Guy right in the family jewels. Another funny moment was when Shawn appeared in the game world as the character Hot Nuts as a burning blimp came crashing down behind him in the middle of the street of FreeCity. We did have some creative freedom, but it was really a collaboration. We worked closely with the filmmakers to make sure each shot included all the elements they wanted.Q: When collaborating with different VFX houses on the same project, how does the work get shared out? Do you get to Cherry pick the scenes you want to work on? (If so, which scene did you really want to be involved in?) A: Its different for every project. We typically bid on the entire project, but ultimately its up to the VFX Supervisor on the studio side. In the case of Free Guy, Swen Gillberg divvied up the work between VFX houses, and delegated individual sequences mostly based on the vendors strengths. The opening Oner known as the BadAss Oner, for instance, was something that played to our strengths. We spoke to Swen about it from the very start, and we were working out the creative and logistics before the show was even awarded. We actually have a great relationship with the other teams on Free Guy. There was even a moment on set when Bryan Grill from Scanline and I decided to arm wrestle for a particular sequence as a joke, but Swen convinced us that theres plenty of work to go around. Fun fact, Ive known those guys for 25 years. Theyre like family. We really had a blast working together.Q: Can you explain a little of the process that went into translating Ryan Reynolds facial performance onto the face of the bodybuilder for the Guy fighting Dude?A: This handsome work was delegated to and executed by LOLA VFX. They did an amazing job on it. For the gameplay portions of the film, we were able to record Motion Capture and Facial Capture on our stages at Digital Domain of Ryan Reynolds to help us with key comedic moments. Q: We understand you used your proprietary tool Charlatan to overcome a problem with being unable to do a reshoot with Channing Tatum for a Badass Scene. Did you use any other proprietary tools in the movie? For Free Guy, the proprietary tools we used included Charlatan, and only in that one scene, and Masquerade for facial capture. When we choose what tools to use, it really just comes down to what tool is best for the job. Sometimes we experiment with different ways of creating a sequence, but only when it makes sense for that sequence. For the scene with BadAss, Charlatan was the best way to accomplish the goals and we were amazed at the outcome.Q: The final question has nothing to do with the film, wed just like to know your professional opinion. As we understand it, the Charlatan tool uses a library of learning data for machine learning, other VFX houses also have proprietary tools that have similar A.I Learning abilities. Do you think A.I. tools are the future of VFX? and if so, would a shared centralized machine learning database be a possibility?A: After having conversations with Matt Smith, the head of the Charlatan team at Digital Domain, we believe AI will continue to creep into the visual effects workflow, and even replace parts of it. Research in this area is advancing quickly, and Digital Domain is invested in its future. Large datasets are often one of the primary keys to this research. VFX houses could collaborate in this via Federated Learning, where datasets are shared without exchanging them. Were already doing this to a degree with our machine-learning software Charlatan, and with our proprietary Masquerade tool, facial capture with our real-time LiveDrive system and in the real-time cloth simulation tool, Elbor. Paint/Roto via Nuke 13 does this, and it has incredible potential. In the future, I see AI used in large scale environment generations and texture shading, possibly with mocap cycles and blending of cycles too. Hopefully, it may be leveraged to reduce facial shot modeling timeframes. As the demand in our industry grows, and we have a finite labor pool, the help of AI technologies is definitely welcomed!Special thanks to Digital Domain and Nikos Kalaitzidis for answering our questions!The post Amazing Free Guy VFX Breakdown appeared first on Fame Focus.

The location of the new Ramsden Park Community Recreation Centre. Photo credit: City of TorontoThe City of Toronto has launched an international design competition to help shape the future of downtown Toronto with a new Ramsden Park Community Recreation Centre.The City of Toronto is building a new accessible and net zero emissions community recreation and aquatics facility adjacent to Ramsden Park. Located close to Rosedale subway station, the future Ramsden Park Community Recreation Centre will offer year-round recreational programming and services.The facility will include a 25-metre, six-lane pool, a leisure pool, a full-size gymnasium with a running track, and multi-purpose community spaces. Groundbreaking is anticipated in 2028, with the centre to open in 2033.The competition was launched in August 2025, and will take place in two stages. In Stage One, applicants will submit their qualifications for consideration. In Stage Two, five shortlisted design teams will submit conceptual designs for the new community recreation centre in response to the RFP.This marks the first City of Toronto design competition held for a community recreation centre since 1987, and is part of the Citys commitment to fostering design excellence and enhancing the public realm.Design teams from around the world are invited to imagine a vibrant, inclusive, and welcoming destination while advancing global best practices in design and sustainability in alignment with Toronto Green Standards and the Citys TransformTO Net Zero Strategy.The new Ramsden Park Community Recreation Centre is aiming to enrich civic life through innovative architecture and urban design, as well as provide community amenities for a rapidly growing city, while reflecting Torontos diversity.National and international design teams led by an architect licensed with the Ontario Association of Architects are invited to respond to the open Design Competition Stage One Request for Supplier Qualifications (RFSQ).An optional virtual information session will be held on October 2, 2025.Applications will close on October 31, 2025, at noon.The post City of Toronto launches design competition for new recreation centre appeared first on Canadian Architect.

The 2024 Central European floods were a series of floods caused by a record heavy rainfall generated by Storm Boris, an extremely humid Genoa low. The flooding began in Austria and the Czech Republic, then spread to Poland, Romania and Slovakia, and then onwards to Germany and Hungary. The floods caused 28 fatalities and over 4 billion euros in damage. This photograph shows floodwater surrounding the Franciscan monastery in Kodzko, Poland, on 15 September 2024.Photograph credit: Jacek HalickiRecently featured: Sclerophrys gutturalisUstyurt Nature ReserveCommon ringed ploverArchiveMore featured pictures

September 15: Battle of Britain Day in the United Kingdom (1940)Title page of the German government gazette issue proclaiming the laws1776 American Revolutionary War: British forces made an unopposed amphibious landing at Kips Bay on Manhattan, the American defenders having fled due to artillery fire.1795 French Revolutionary Wars: Great Britain seized the Dutch Cape Colony to use its facilities against the French Navy.1935 Nazi Germany enacted the Nuremberg Laws (pictured), which deprived Jews of their citizenship.1944 World War II: American and Australian forces landed on the Japanese-occupied island of Morotai.2017 A homemade bomb partially exploded on an eastbound District line train at Parsons Green tube station in West London, injuring 30 passengers.Catherine of Genoa (d.1510)Edm Boursault (d.1701)Signe Toly Anderson (b.1941)Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (b.1984)More anniversaries: September 14September 15September 16ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout