Hi friends,

It's been a quieter week on my end. No airports, no 4am alarm clocks, no frantically charging batteries in a hotel lobby. Just home, working through edits and planning what's coming next.

This morning I posted a new video breaking down which lenses to use and when. It's one of those questions I get constantly, and I wanted to explain it in a way that actually makes sense visually rather than just listing specs. If you haven't seen it yet, I'll link it below.

The Nat Geo Creator Cohort has some things coming together behind the scenes, and I also have some new trips in the works that I'm excited about.

I can’t say where exactly yet, but there may or may not be a SAFARI involved…

For now, I want to share a tip this week that connects to something I think about constantly when I'm out shooting, especially during golden hour.

Most photographers learn early on to keep the sun behind them. And for good reason: front-lit subjects are evenly exposed, colors are saturated, and your camera's meter is happy.

But some of the most striking photographs happen when you flip that logic entirely and shoot straight into the light.

Backlighting does a few things that are hard to replicate any other way. It creates rim light around your subject, separating it from the background with a natural glow. It turns atmosphere visible: dust, mist, fog, even pollen in the air becomes part of the image when it's lit from behind. And it introduces a quality of light that feels warm and dimensional in a way flat lighting never does.

Start with golden hour. Backlighting is most forgiving when the sun is low. That warm, diffused light wrapping around a subject at sunrise or sunset is where this technique really shines. Midday backlighting is possible but much harder to control.

Expose for your subject or the sky? This can be a hard lighting situation to shoot in and you might have to make a decision of if you’re going to underexpose the subject or overexpose the sky. You’ll have to ask yourself which one is the main focus. Is it a landscape photo using a subject to add interest to the scene? Expose for the sky. Is it about the subject, are they the main focus? Expose for the person. A glowing, slightly overexposed background in a portrait often adds to the mood.

Use a lens hood (or your hand). Flare can be beautiful or destructive depending on the shot. If you want clean contrast, shade your front element. If you want those warm flare streaks, lean into it. Just be intentional about which look you're going for.

Look for translucent subjects. Leaves, hair, flowers, thin fabric: anything that lets light pass through it looks incredible when backlit. The light seems to come from inside the subject, which creates a quality that feels almost painterly.

Next time you're out during golden hour, try turning around. Face the light instead of keeping it at your back. You might find that the photograph you weren't planning to take is the best one of the session.

Canon 5D Mark IV officially discontinued. Canon added the 5D Mark IV to its discontinued products list in Japan this month, ending one of the most influential DSLR lines in photography history. The 5D series launched in 2005, and the Mark II's video capabilities in 2008 launched an entire generation of indie filmmakers.

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen stepping down after 18 years. Under Narayen, Adobe transitioned from boxed software to Creative Cloud and grew revenue from $3 billion to over $25 billion annually. He'll remain as board chair while a successor is selected. The timing is notable: the announcement came alongside strong Q1 earnings but amid broader skepticism about whether traditional creative software can thrive in the AI era.

Nikon issues service advisory for Z6III, Z5II, and ZR. Nikon discovered that certain units of all three cameras were manufactured with substandard parts, which could cause them to become inoperable. Free repairs including shipping start March 23, regardless of warranty status. If you own any of these cameras, check your serial number on Nikon's service advisory page.

This one isn't a photographer in the traditional sense, but if you care about how light, composition, and visual storytelling come together, you need to know this name.

Autumn Durald Arkapaw just became the first woman in the 98-year history of the Academy Awards to win the Oscar for Best Cinematography, for her work on Ryan Coogler's Sinners. She's also the first woman of color to win. Before her, only three women had ever been nominated in the category.

Her path started in still photography. She studied art history, used a photography background to pivot into cinematography at the American Film Institute, and built her career working with independent female directors before landing major studio projects. For Sinners, she also became the first woman to shoot on IMAX 65mm film.

During her acceptance speech, she asked every woman in the room to stand up. "A lot of little girls that look like me will sleep really well tonight because they want to become cinematographers," she said afterward. Whether you shoot stills or video, her story is a reminder that the fundamentals of light and composition don't change just because the medium does.

This week's tip is about working with light, so it felt right to feature a small tool that helps when natural light isn't cooperating.

The Ulanzi VL49 is a pocket-sized LED panel that mounts directly to your camera's hot shoe or clips onto your phone. It's rechargeable via USB-C, weighs almost nothing, and puts out surprisingly useful light for its size. I wouldn't call it a studio replacement, but for a little fill light while vlogging, or for product shoots where you need a little extra light, it's a really helpful tool.

It has adjustable brightness and color temperature (3200K-6500K), which means you can match the ambient light instead of fighting it. The whole thing is smaller than a deck of cards and costs around $25.

If you've ever been on a shoot where the light was almost right but needed just a small push, this is worth throwing in the bag.

(Full transparency: I earn a small commission through this link. It helps keep this newsletter free and my coffee mug full. Thanks for supporting!)

I'll keep this one short. The world feels a little heavier than usual right now, and if you're feeling that too, you're not alone. I hope you're finding time for the people and things that matter to you.

This past weekend, I went for a 5-mile trail run in the hills next to my house and it felt incredible (even though I really didn’t want to go when I first woke up).

Get outside if you can. Honestly, bring your camera or don't. Sometimes just being out in nature is at least enough to help reset your mental state.

I'll be back next Thursday with more.

This week's question: What's the most recent photo you've taken that you're proud of? Doesn't have to be anything fancy. I just want to see what you're making. Hit reply and share it with me.

See you next week,
Paige

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P.S. Curious how I edit my photos? These are the exact presets I use for almost every travel & landscape shoot (designed for both mobile and desktop).