2025 promises to be a landmark year for England with milestone celebrations and exciting new launches across the country. The new year will mark the 200th anniversary of the modern railway with nationwide festivities, celebrate Jane Austen’s 250th birthday with immersive events and crown Bradford as UK City of Culture 2025. From the Women’s Rugby World Cup to the launch of new hotels, food halls, tours, events and attractions, Brits can expect 2025 to be action-packed.
Brighton’s most eye-catching landmark, the i360 observation tower, is filing for insolvency. The doughnut-shaped observation tower located by the beach has been riding high up on a pole to reveal far-reaching views over the coastal city since 2016.
The operators blame escalating costs, bad summer weather, and the cost-of-living crisis for its demise.
Brighton and Hove City Council, who loaned millions to the city landmark in 2014, has described the decision as “extremely disappointing.” The i360 is the council’s biggest creditor and the decision leaves the council facing a loss is £32 million for its loan debt and interest repayable to the Government.
The Leader of Brighton and Hove City Council and Labour leader Bella Sankey blasted the development as a “day of shame” for the Green Party, which led the authority at the time, and a “sad day” for the city.
“Their calamitous decision to loan a vast sum of public money to this failed business venture has left the residents of Brighton and Hove £51 million out of pocket. Our council must now repay their folly amounting to over £2 million each year for the foreseeable future – money that could’ve been spent on nurseries, play areas, public toilets, preventing homelessness, road repairs, transitioning to net zero and dozens of other vital local services.”
Chairwoman of Brighton i360 Ltd, Julia Barfield, said the decision comes after a “significant decline” in consumer spending and that the private company will work closely with the council throughout the process.
“Additionally,” she said “we are working closely with the prospective administrators at Interpath to ensure the continued operation of the business during this period and to explore all potential avenues for restructuring.”
The viewing deck will remain open while administrators search for a buyer to rescue the attraction.
If you’re unfamiliar with an in-camera technique known as “Expose to the Right” (ETTR) this tutorial explains the concept and demonstrates how one of our favorite pros uses it to nail exposure every time and get the best possible image quality out of every shot. The pro hack takes less that nine minutes to explain, and it will prove invaluable for every image you shoot in the great outdoors.
Instructor Simon d’Entremont is a noteworthy nature and wildlife photographer based in beautiful Nova Scotia, Canada. He kicks of today’s episode with this question: “Do you find that your photos look noisy, lack clarity and don’t look sharp?” If so, you’ll learn how easy it is to increase quality and impact by understanding how ETTR works.
Before explaining this important trick, Simon describes a few problems that it’s intended to fix, and he begins with a quick overview of how exposure affects the noise performance of a camera. As he says, “noisy images lack dynamic range and often appear soft.” He reviews the difference between color noise and “read noise” from the circuits on your sensor.
Perhaps worse of all is what Simon refers to as “shot noise” that, unlike the aforementioned issues, can’t be eliminated by today’s advanced camera sensor technology. So what’s the fix? According to Simon it’s as simple as using ETTR so that the sensor captures more photons.”
Simon explains how to modify shutter speed and aperture to get the job done. As he says, “Longer shutter speeds increase the number of photons collected by collecting them over a longer period of time, as does a wider aperture by having a larger hole through which they can enter.”
The foregoing explanation makes it easy to understand why and how the ETTR technique is so powerful. One key factor is that image noise doesn’t increase or decrease proportionally as exposure is modified. This fact helps determine the best exposure settings to use, and the ultimate image quality you’ll achieve.
Simon illustrates all this in two interesting ways. First you’ll see the difference between two versions of the same shot and why one is significantly better than the other. But he also demonstrates how noise levels change from area to another within a single image.
Be sure to visit Simon’s popular YouTube channel where you’ll find numerous instructional videos for improving your nature and wildlife photography skills.
We also recommend watching the earlier tutorial we featured with another highly acclaimed outdoor shooter who demonstrates how to use Lightroom’s powerful Tone Curve tools to add intense colors in photographs with dull skies.
