In today's episode I cover the possibility of being charged an import tax when traveling to Mexico, a new Nikon mic and David Hurn.
Show Notes
Welcome back to the show, Liam here and today is Christmas 2025 and I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! In today’s Episode 486 beware the camera tax, Nikon Mic, some space walking and more.
A little-known tax law in Mexico has the potential to trip up photographers visiting the country if they are carrying more than two cameras or even lenses.
Many photographers have doubtless traveled to the country with more than two cameras and been fine. But the nature of the law is arbitrary and photographers who get tripped up by it feel like they have been scammed.
“I got stung by a customs thing where, because I had an extra camera, they got me for about $350 worth of tax,” Formula One photographer Kym Illman explains about his recent trip to Mexico for the Grand Prix.
The money that Illman paid is not a deposit but a tax. Cabo Private Guide, a dive center based in Cabo San Lucas, explains that any extra equipment above the allotted amount is considered a temporary import regardless of the purpose.
“The problem arises in the arbitrary nature of enforcement, wherein some travelers (with the same equipment) pass through without any issues while others are charged a hefty fee,” explains Laura Tyrrell.
The problem is particularly acute for underwater photographers who travel to Mexico for its beautiful waters. Cabo Private Guide notes that underwater camera housings should be exempt, but it’s a gray area and a customs officer may decide to charge tax on it.
The tax seems to vary between 16% and 19%. In one Reddit post from two years ago, a Sony Alpha user said they arrived in Mexico with a Sony Alpha 7R V and three lenses. A customs officer said that because the photographer had three lenses, two of them had to be taxed.
“They wanted to charge 19% of the cost of the lenses (we’re talking 24-70mm 2.8 GM II, 35mm 1.4 GM, Sigma 85mm 1.4 DG DN),” writes the Redditor. “Managed to talk them down to just $200 which still felt like highway robbery but with a baby waiting after a long flight, I didn’t have the energy to make my case anymore.”
While screening is random, Cabo Private Guide advises possible workarounds including splitting camera gear across multiple bags, avoiding using obvious professional camera bags such as Pelican cases, and declaring the equipment as “personal use.”
There is also something called an ATA Carnet, which is an international customs document that allows for the temporary import/export of professional equipment.
Mexico accepts an ATA Carnet at all entry points, so if you would rather stay 100% above board, then this is the best way to go — but it does cost money. The United States Council for International Business (USCIB) has appointed two independent Carnet service providers: Boomerang Carnets and Roanoke Trades.
When Nikon announced the RED-fueled ZR cinema camera in September, it also unveiled a companion shotgun microphone, the ME-D10. This new mic is now finally available in stores.
As Nikon Rumors reports, the ME-D10 has started appearing at retailers, including B&H, where customers can get their hands on the new Nikon mic for $336.95.
One of the Nikon ZR’s standout audio features is that its built-in mic is the first of its kind to support 32-bit float audio recording, like high-end external mics. While that’s great, and the built-in mic has its place, an external mic still promises superior overall performance. That’s where the ME-D10 comes in.
The mic mounts directly to the ZR’s digital accessory shoe (hot shoe) and is powered by the camera itself. It supports 32-bit float recording, has a built-in shock mount, and offers two intelligent modes that users can switch between to achieve better recording quality in different environments. The “Pure” mode delivers standard capture at 40 Hz to 20 kHz frequency response without any filtering, while the “Focus” mode has a 90 Hz to 20 kHz frequency response that aims to pick up voices more clearly. Users can switch the mic’s pickup pattern from front cardioid to rear cardioid using a switch, with a third option, omnidirectional, also available.
“The ME-D10 is a 32-bit float shotgun microphone compatible with the new digital accessory shoe developed for the ZR. It requires no battery or cable, and the adoption of a shock mount and its compact design make for easy handling,” Nikon explains.
Speaking of the Nikon ZR, it’s also in stock now and has been for a short while. The 6K full-frame video-first hybrid camera delivers excellent performance, especially for its aggressive $2,196.95 price tag.
Beyond its 32-bit float audio recording, the ZR’s other standout features include its 24-megapixel partially stacked CMOS image sensor, borrowed from the Z6 III, large 4-inch display, RED color science, 6Kp60 12-bit RAW internal recording, and much more.
The Nikon ME-D10 compact shotgun mic for the Nikon ZR is available to order now for $336.95 and ships with a wind muff, case, and shoe cover.
Since veteran astronaut and fantastic photographer Don Pettit returned from his record-setting fifth expedition to space in April, he has been regularly sharing photos he captured aboard the ISS. His most recent one is a remarkable portrait of his fellow astronaut, Sunita “Suni” Williams, floating in space during her ninth spacewalk. The International Space Station’s (ISS) solar array is in the background, delivering an incredible sense of scale.
Pettit and Williams were joined on Expedition 71/72 to the ISS by Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, and Aleksandr Gorbunov, plus fellow NASA astronauts Barry E. Wilmore and Nick Hague. Expedition 72 lasted from September 23, 2024, until April 19 of this year, although the astronauts arrived in staggered waves. Wilmore and Williams were the first to arrive at the ISS on June 6, 2024. Pettit arrived on September 11 alongside Ovchinin and Vagner.
During his lengthy stay in space, Pettit captured a lot of fantastic shots, many of which PetaPixel has already featured. One of the most incredible parts of Pettit’s recent expedition was his collaborative project “From Above & Below” with Earth-based National Geographic photographer Babak Tafreshi. The duo captured the same events from two very different perspectives: Tafreshi on terra firma and Pettit from space. Some of Pettit’s photos for that project and more were captured using a custom star tracker built by RIT’s Ted Kinsman, who detailed his project for PetaPixel.
Of the many remarkable shots Pettit captured during his recent cosmic adventure, his portrait of Williams is undeniably one of the most breathtaking. Seeing an astronaut floating in space is always special, but to see Williams against the backdrop of the ISS’s solar array is distinct and special.
Friend of PetaPixel and exceptional astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy commented on Pettit’s portrait of Williams: “This photo is incredible. Really drives home the scale of the array!”
“My crew mate Suni Williams on her 9th spacewalk! Her extended mission time during Expedition 72 gave her the opportunity to conduct another, and she did a great job! It was a busy day but I managed to take this pic of her next to the ISS solar array, what I think is a good visual of the size of station,” Pettit himself remarked on Reddit.
As photographers, we often concentrate on technical perfection and the compositional layout. However, arguably more important than either of those is adding meaning to your photos. It can be challenging, but adding meaning can genuinely elevate your photos to the next tier.
Photographers have adopted the methods artists use to imbue their work with meaning. The obvious way is to depict emotions. A photo of someone crying can very easily evoke feelings in the viewer. However, meaning can also come from symbolism, like light and shadow representing good and evil.
Meanwhile, some photographers adopt the Surrealists’ dreamlike imagery to explore aspects of the unconscious mind. For example, Francesca Woodman used blurred figures and confined spaces to evoke the feeling of vulnerability. For others, meaning can be found in the glory of nature or the precision of architecture.
No matter the intention of the photographer, the meaning in any photograph is inferred by the viewer. That brings a problem. They might not have the experience or imagination to find any meaning, let alone the one you intended. You might create what you think is the most emotionally charged or academically challenging photograph you have ever taken. However, if the viewer lacks the mental capacity to see it, then the photo will be a simple depiction of a subject.
Even if the viewer can see the meaning in your image, what they see is unlikely to be the same as you intended. Because of their unique personal life experiences, the way they view the world is, inevitably, different from yours.
We are all influenced by a particular set of life events that mould the way we view the world. Psychologists have found that even siblings who grew up together can have very different perceptions of their family life. So, we can hardly expect anyone else to share our outlook. Their mental state, belief systems, current personal circumstances, and every other factor that affects them will result in their interpretation of your photo differing from yours.
In other words, even if you take an image that has meaning to you, it doesn’t guarantee that the viewer will understand it in the same way that you do.
The accurate depiction of a subject is what most photography tutorials teach us to achieve. We get the focus and exposure just right and apply the compositional rules we have learnt, and bingo! We have a photo. As I said, at a base level, a picture is nothing more than that.
It may be the photographer’s intention to create such an image. Passport photos and those intended for, say, bird identification books are intentionally devoid of any meaning beyond identifying the subject. That is a deliberately shallow interpretation because we don’t want to distract from the image’s primary purpose. There is no challenge in the same way that can and should be found in other photos.
Nevertheless, it may be crucial for you to have thousands of Instagram followers. If so, unless you are a famous, talented photographer, you probably take unchallenging, easy-to-like photos that are part of popular culture.
There is nothing wrong with producing content that lacks academic or psychological challenge. People find it comfortable. After all, many use their time watching soap operas, game shows, and talent contests on TV because it’s effortless. Alternatively, they are “doom scrolling” on their phones, soaking up addictive, quickly forgotten content. Popular culture exists because everyone needs to be entertained.
It also plays a vital role in comforting people and distracting them from the world’s woes. Just as The Masked Singer plays its part in that, so does online content, including photographs.
However, some argue that TV shows and online content act like a mind-numbing drug, distracting and pacifying people when they should be working to make their world a better place.
So, if you want to add another layer of sophistication to your work, you might be shunning popular appeal.
The content of a photo influences the meaning people get from it. For example, varying colors can evoke different feelings. Red, for instance, can represent love and passion as well as anger and danger.
Similarly, an image’s layout can affect meaning, too. A photo might be tightly framed and cluttered, making it feel claustrophobic. It will project a very different meaning from one with plenty of negative space.
Meanwhile, juxtaposition can reveal hidden emotions or unconscious states. Elliott Erwitt used that to inject humour and social commentary into everyday scenes, and Manuel Ramos’ photos found striking oppositions in subject matter, such as natural versus artificial elements.
Some photographic genres can convey deeper meaning more easily than others. Images of people usually tell a story. That may be their personality, as suggested by their facial features in a portrait, or by their actions in street photography. Meanwhile, it is more difficult to give a landscape photograph a more profound meaning beyond its beauty when bathed in the glorious golden glow of morning light. That may be because a landscape itself doesn’t have feelings. It is hard to empathise with the inanimate.
The meaning of photos can change over time.
For example, Tim Gidal’s 1929 photo “In the Biergarten, Munich,” features Hitler sitting in an outdoor cafe. The distaste that exists for the Nazi leader that everyone in their right mind feels now would not have been universal back then.
Meanwhile, the photograph of Ernest Hemingway crouching next to the body of a leopard he has just shot and killed evokes very different feelings for many people from when it was first published.
For more recent examples, Google “Photos of Jeffrey Epstein at a party,” and consider how those photos of smiling friends take on a more sinister meaning now than they would have done a decade ago.
As creative photographers, we learn to see the world in ways most people don’t. Therefore, identifying our unique way of perceiving the world is crucial to giving a photo meaning. But that can mean not sticking to mainstream formulas.
Sometimes, being formulaic and keeping to the rules is necessary. For example, when I am commissioned to do work, my images must conform to my employer’s brief. Consequently, there is little creative wriggle room for creative experimentation. Similarly, wedding photographers need to supply pictures that meet the newlyweds’ expectations.
Outside the professional realm, many photographers stick to fixed formulae for taking photos. Familiarity is easy for others to like. But adding meaning can sometimes mean breaking away from the familiar.
As I suggested before, a photo can be much more than a simple record of a subject. However, if that subject is something that you feel strongly about, then that strength of feeling can be apparent in the image. If you care about what you shoot, you will notice and include the small things that give the photo meaning. Your emotions, whether enthusiasm, love, empathy, anger, disgust, or concern, will be reflected in your work.
Conversely, if your subject holds no interest for you, others will notice it when they view your photos.
Photographers whose work depicted their surroundings with passion include Tish Murtha, Sebastião Salgado, and Dorothea Lange.
People can make up their own narratives about your photos, even if their stories aren’t true.
There is a fabulous wildlife photographer in Finland called Jari Peltomäki. He has some bird hides deep in the forest where people go to photograph golden eagles. I shared a photograph I had taken there a while ago, and an online troll immediately jumped on it. He angrily insisted that the bird had been baited to arrive there for photography, which he said was unethical.
Of course, there are always those who regularly spread derision and unfounded accusations, attempting to make themselves look better at someone else’s expense. Most people realise that trolls are only trying to compensate for their own inadequacies. Usually, their pitiful behavior is a failed attempt to bring others down to make themselves look better.
Indeed, the golden eagle was feeding on roadkill that had been removed and brought to the hides. Similarly, Jari takes the carcasses of euthanised pigs that were unfit for human consumption to feed the birds, too. But it is not a negative thing implied in the troll’s rant.
It is all part of a conservation project that has led to an increase in the eagle population. It has also reduced the number of these beautiful raptors being killed on the roads. Furthermore, the profits made from photographers visiting the hides are spent on thousands of bird boxes. Jari distributes them in young forests across Finland, where the trees have not yet developed holes in their trunks for birds to nest.
Your actions add meaning to the photographs. Your reputation will also affect how people read meaning into them. I have not yet met a troll who can take good photos.
Finally, the great Ansel Adams said, “Repeated returns are more rewarding than prolonged waiting for something to happen at a given spot.” Not only must subjects change from day to day, but familiarity also improves your ability to add meaning. The likelihood of discovering the best way to shoot a subject in a way that shows meaning is dependent upon how well you know your subject. Revisiting the subject repeatedly will help you to explore it and discover ways to add meaning to your photos.
Just ahead of Christmas, here’s an inspiring story about David Hurn, a 91-year-old photographer who has captured some of the most iconic images of the past century, including the instantly recognizable portrait of Sean Connery as James Bond.
The segment was created by the British news network, ITV. In the feature, Hurn discusses his career, which began in Hungary in 1956 when he documented the 1956 revolution. Despite his age, Hurn has never put down his camera, an inspiration to other photographers worldwide.
“My main problem is I don’t want to give up shooting pictures. I like shooting pictures,” Hurn tells ITV.
After a lifetime of capturing defining news moments, world-famous stars like Sean Connery and The Beatles, Hurn wondered what he could keep doing “until he conked it,” as he charmingly puts it. He now photographs for his local community magazine, the Tintern News.
“And so, I suddenly thought if I become the village photographer, and I fall over, somebody who knows me will pick up,” Hurn laughs. “You know, it is as simple as that.”
Although it may seem like a real step down from a long career of capturing famous photos seen by people around the world, Hurn has a very different view on his latest endeavor.
“As far as I’m concerned, The Beatles are, for me, no more interesting than the village fete that I’m about to go and do, you know,” Hurn says.
Every month, one of Hurn’s photos graces the cover of the Tintern News, delivered every month by volunteers to around 200 homes in the small Welsh village.
“They don’t come up to [David] and ask for his autograph,” says Toni Harrey, editor for Tintern News. “They probably ought to.”
Hurn recalls his lengthy career with as much humility as he approaches his work today, describing photographing Beatlemania as a terrifying experience.
“I was scared stiff most of the time,” Hurn says, referring to the absolute insanity of Beatles fans at the height of their popularity. “They could have killed people. They were that fanatical.”
Today, in addition to photographing the community magazine, Hurn offers masterclasses to local photographers, delivering advice built on his decades of remarkable experience in exchange for help cleaning up his yard. While photographing Beatlemania may have been terrifying at times, and capturing famous portraits of celebrities was fun, Hurn is also an accomplished photojournalist who covered major news events, including tragedies.
Hurn photographed the Aberfan disaster in Wales in 1966, when a colliery spoil tip, a massive pile of waste from the local coal mining operation, collapsed down a slope onto the local village. The slurry engulfed a local school and a row of homes, killing 122 children and over two dozen adults.
Hurn describes the event as the most challenging assignment he has ever had.
“We’re talking about 122 kids, suffocated by crap sliding a mountain side,” Hurn says to a trio of photographers in his home. “And when one got there, the miners who were the parents of these children, were trying to dig their children out.”
Hurn says one of the more challenging parts of the job was being there when the people whose kids were killed didn’t want you there, but Hurn says he knew he had to be there because events like that have to be documented.
Just a decade prior, Hurn was headed to Hungary to document the Hungarian Revolution, though at the time, he admits he didn’t know what he was doing. He had a camera he didn’t know how to use, saying he didn’t even know how to load the film.
But Hurn befriended a group of Life Magazine journalists who were also there and hung around them, carefully observing and picking up the skills he needed. It set into motion an incredible career that continues to this very day.
“I’m 91, and my body is fragile. You know, I have had a blissful life. As far as I’m concerned, when I die, I die,” Hurn says. “What I feel I do have which is enormous advantage is that I happen to do something which leaves something behind afterwards.”
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