Once it’s gone, it’s gone

Why should a tiny bird like a Thorntail—barely two grams in weight—take up such an enormous amount of space on my hard drive? It seems the folks at DxO may have heard my quiet complaint. Instead of the usual gigantic 150MB DNG files, the recently introduced DxO PureRAW 6 can now shrink its DNG outputs to just 24MB. That’s roughly half the size of the original RAW! I’ll soon take a closer look at how such massive compression affects image quality. For now, the first results look very promising. But let’s move on to the photography news of the past week.

St. Patrick’s Day is Ireland’s moment to shine on the world stage, and nowhere is that spirit more alive than across the island itself. St. Patrick’s Festival in Dublin remains one of the world’s great cultural celebrations—a vibrant week of music, dance, spectacle, and community culminating in the iconic March 17 parade through the capital’s historic streets. But the festivities extend far beyond Dublin. Cities and towns including Kilkenny, Limerick, Sligo, Waterford, Cork, and many others host parades, concerts, and cultural events, creating a nationwide celebration that welcomes visitors from around the world.

Tickets are now on sale for the second annual Puerto Rico Wine & Food Festival presented by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company. The four-day culinary and cultural celebration returns April 23 through 26, 2026, at San Juan’s La Concha Resort and celebrated destinations around the island, featuring acclaimed and award-winning chefs, restaurateurs, wineries, sommeliers and mixologists.

“We are excited to return for a second year after an incredibly warm and welcoming reception to our inaugural event,” said festival founder Robert Weakley. “This year, we are proud to introduce a lineup of local, regional, and international talent who represent the very best of the culinary and hospitality industries.”