Technology Explained, Practice
Daniela Bowker
Resolution and pixels and image quality! Oh my! ...

When you hear the term 'high-res' thrown about with such abandon when it comes to images for web use, have you ever stopped to think just how big or how high quality and image meant for the web needs to be?

Resolution and pixels and image quality! Oh my! Saving images for the web
Feature Articles, Photography Theory
Haje Jan Kamps
Low-contrast photographs don't have to be boring

There's an assumption that high-contrast images are more dynamic, more compelling, more inviting. Have a go at some low-contrast photography. You might surprise yourself with the results.

Low-contrast photographs don't have to be boring
Feature Articles, Theory
Daniela Bowker
Seeking balance in your photos

Balance doesn't mean symmetry; it means an internal consistency and tension within your photos. And it's a vital element of composition. 

Seeking balance in your photos
Feature Articles, Photography Theory
Haje Jan Kamps
Training your photographic luck

Great photos might be down to a little bit of luck, but most of that 'luck' you make yourself. Don't believe us? Read on...

Training your photographic luck
Feature Articles, Practice
Daniela Bowker
The ups and downs and ins and outs of ...

Photographing buildings doesn't have to mean wide-angle lenses and fretting about correcting for the keystone effect. Any lens, and angle. Don't believe us? Let us show you!

The ups and downs and ins and outs of photographing buildings

colour image

The trillion pixel picture of the night sky

Bottom left is the northern hemisphere of our galaxy; bottom right the southern hemisphere. Image: M. Blanton and SDSS-III

You must think that I’m somehow obsessed with astrophotography. The truth is that I’ve never had a go at it, but I do find it fascinating and I adore star-gazing. This means I did let out a small ‘Squee!’ when I saw that the largest ever colour image of the whole sky has just been released. It comprises seven million images, each one made of 125 million pixels. That’s a lot of pixels. (More than a trillion, in fact.)

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey has been compiling data using a now-retired telescope at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico since 1998. This week, they released the humungous picture at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle.

Bottom left is the northern hemisphere of our galaxy; bottom right the southern hemisphere. Image: M. Blanton and SDSS-III

The image provides astronomers and astrophysicists with massive amounts of information to explore everything from yawning black holes to the tiniest stars.

To have a look at more images from the project, take a wander over here, whilst there’s a visualisation of it all on YouTube.