Photo Insights – August 2026

Summary

White dunes in Lencois Maranhenses National Park, Brazil, shot from a drone, front Photo Insights August 2026, and Jim Zuckerman's issue answers that image with Drones and Wind at page 4, Changing Proportions at 6 and Ask Jim at 27.

Photo Insights August 2026 is Jim Zuckerman's monthly, and the Brazil drone cover sets up a practical issue: Drones and Wind at 4, Changing Proportions at 6, Something Fun To Try at 11 and a photography quiz at 17. Jim's eBooks appear at 19, What's wrong with this picture? at 22, Short and Sweet at 25 and the Ask Jim column at 27. Photography tours land at 28.

The back half serves readers directly: Student Showcase at 30, The story behind the picture at 34, Past issues at 37 and a subject index at 45. The value here is narrow but real — each piece is a technique a photographer can run the same afternoon, and the subject index at 45 makes the issue usable as a reference rather than a one-read magazine.

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Content Guide

▸ Technique
p.4 · DRONES AND WIND
Jim Zuckerman opens on drones and wind at page 4, the piece matching the Brazil cover image and the problem of flying in moving air. He covers what the wind does to a drone shot and how to plan for it. Check wind speed before you launch, since the piece ties image sharpness to air movement.

p.6 · CHANGING PROPORTIONS
Changing Proportions at 6 works on image ratio and what altering it does to a composition. Zuckerman names the proportions and shows the effect. Try one landscape at two ratios before you settle on a crop.

p.11 · SOMETHING FUN TO TRY
Something Fun To Try at 11 gives a single exercise a photographer can run in one session. The page names the setup and the expected result. Shoot the exercise this week rather than reading about it twice.

p.22 · WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?
What's wrong with this picture? at 22 puts a flawed image in front of the reader and asks for the fault. The answer names the specific error. Study the frame, write your own diagnosis, then read the printed one.

▸ Columns
p.17 · PHOTOGRAPHY QUIZ
The photography quiz at 17 tests technique rather than trivia, with questions drawn from the issue's own material. It names cameras and settings where relevant. Score yourself before checking the answers at the back.

p.19 · JIM'S EBOOKS
Jim's eBooks at 19 lists the digital titles available, with subjects and formats named. It reads as a catalogue of the techniques covered in the magazine. Download one title on a subject you shot badly this month.

p.25 · SHORT AND SWEET
Short and Sweet at 25 runs brief items that do not need a full page. The column covers tips and small corrections. Keep a note of the tips here on your phone for the next shoot.

p.27 · ASK JIM
Ask Jim at 27 answers reader questions on technique and equipment. The column names the gear and the settings involved. Send your own camera question in, since the column runs on reader mail.

▸ Community
p.28 · PHOTOGRAPHY TOURS
Photography tours at 28 lists the trips Zuckerman leads, with destinations and dates named. It is the page for readers who want to shoot on location with instruction. Book early, since the tours listed here run to small groups.

p.30 · STUDENT SHOWCASE
Student Showcase at 30 presents work from workshop attendees, naming each photographer and their image. The page gives real examples of the teaching. Compare your own attempt at the same exercise against these.

p.34 · THE STORY BEHIND THE PICTURE
The story behind the picture at 34 takes one image and explains how it was made, with location and settings named. It is the clearest teaching page in the issue. Recreate the shot with your own gear using the settings printed here.

p.45 · SUBJECT INDEX
The subject index at 45 lists the issue's contents by subject, making the magazine searchable after reading. It names the topics covered. Mark the three subjects you shoot most, then find them here first next month.

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Editor's Take

Photo Insights August 2026 is a working tool, not a magazine to admire, and that is both its strength and its limit. Drones and Wind at 4 earns the Brazil cover by dealing with the actual problem of flying in wind, and The story behind the picture at 34 is the single best teaching page here. The weakness is scale: this is a slim issue, and several entries — Short and Sweet at 25, Something Fun To Try at 11 — are brief to the point of thin. There is no issue number printed on the cover, which makes back-issue collecting harder than it should be. The cover image, drone-shot white dunes from Lencois Maranhenses, is strong and thematically honest. This is for photographers who shoot regularly and want one technique a month; it will do nothing for a reader who does not pick up a camera.

Strengths
• Drones and Wind matches the cover with real method
• Story behind the picture is the clearest teaching page
• Subject index makes the issue usable as reference

Weaknesses
• Several entries are brief to the point of thin
• No issue number printed, hurting back-issue use

Verdict: Selective read — Buy for the drone and story-behind pages; the rest is slight.