Photo Insights – September 2026

Summary

Vertical Panos opens Photo Insights September 2026 on page 4, and the cover carries a male lion shot in the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya by Jim Zuckerman.

The September 2026 issue runs Jim Zuckerman's monthly mix: Vertical Panos on 4, Don't Be So Quick To Trash Photos on 10, Something Fun To Try on 11 and a Photography quiz on 19. Problem pages follow with What's wrong with this picture on 24, Short and Sweet on 27 and Ask Jim on 29. The back half holds Photography tours on 30, Student Showcase on 32, The story behind the picture on 36, Past issues on 39 and a Subject index on 47.

No issue number appears in the contents. For a photographer who wants one technique and a place to shoot it, the vertical pano lesson and the tour list are the reason to read.

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Content Guide

▸ Technique
p.4 · Vertical Panos
The cover technique runs vertical panoramas, naming the frame and the stitching approach. It addresses a format most shooters skip. Shoot one vertical set of frames and stitch them today.

p.10 · Don't Be So Quick To Trash Photos
The piece argues against deleting frames too fast, naming what a rejected file can still give. It covers salvaging rather than shooting new. Reopen one deleted frame and re-edit it with this note in mind.

▸ Columns
p.11 · Something Fun To Try
The column sets one exercise, naming the subject and the constraint. It is short by design. Shoot the exercise on this page before the week is out.

p.19 · Photography quiz
The quiz page runs questions on technique, naming the answers at the back. It covers testing what you know. Score yourself on this quiz, then check the answers.

p.24 · What's wrong with this picture?
The problem page shows a frame and asks what fails, naming the fault in the answer. It trains the eye rather than the camera. Find the fault in your own last frame before reading the answer.

p.29 · Ask Jim
The Ask Jim page answers reader questions, naming the fix per problem sent in. It addresses real shooting trouble. Send one question of your own to the next Ask Jim.

▸ Regulars
p.30 · Photography tours
The tours page lists trips with locations and dates named. It covers where to shoot with Zuckerman. Book one tour location from this page if you want a guided trip.

p.32 · Student Showcase
The showcase runs student work with the photographers named. It covers what learners are producing. Compare your own work to one frame shown here.

p.36 · The story behind the picture
The back page runs one frame and the story of how it was made, naming the place and the moment. It closes the issue with a real shot. Read one story here and note the location for your own list.

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Editor's Take

The vertical panos lesson on 4 is the clearest technique in the issue and the cover lion from the Masai Mara gives it a real photograph, not a stock frame. Don't Be So Quick To Trash Photos on 10 is a good argument for re-editing. The weakness is the format: this is a thin, column-led monthly, and Ask Jim on 29, the quiz on 19 and the index on 47 fill pages that a fuller magazine would use for features. There is no issue number, which makes filing awkward. It suits a Zuckerman follower who wants a monthly nudge and a tour list, not someone wanting a feature-led magazine.

Strengths
• Vertical pano lesson is directly usable
• Cover names a real place and animal
• Trash-photos piece argues re-editing
• Tours list real locations

Weaknesses
• Thin column-led format
• No issue number to file by

Verdict: Selective read — the pano lesson works, the rest is a newsletter.