Selfie sticks seem fairly simple to use. Attach your phone, connect any required cables, extend the monopod, and snap a photo as you normally would with your smartphone.
Apparently, there is an art to it, though, if you are to believe this professional selfie-stick photographer. As part of its Shorts & Murmors series, The New Yorker has released a tongue-in-cheek video showing how one aspiring photographer is going around in hopes of changing how people capture themselves while traveling.
Throughout the three-minute short, we get a behind-the-scenes look at Marc Philippe Eskenazi as he interrupts selfie-taking people in New York City and inquires whether or not they would like a few pointers on how they can better take their self portrait.
To say his methods are unorthodox is a bit of an understatement. From shoeless antics as he rolls around on the streets of New York to wrapping himself like a monkey around people, selfie stick in hand, it is impressive he did not get a police escort or a healthy dose of pepper spray at any point in the video.
Ultimately, despite his best efforts, it appears as though the subjects were not impressed with his ‘professional’ work, with most of them saying the resulting photos were actually worse.
Whether you are a professional or not, keep on taking those self portraits, even with a selfie stick. After all, as Digital Trends shared on Wednesday, taking daily selfies can improve your overall mood and level of confidence.
If you don’t have a selfie stick and are in the market for one, you can dine a nice little round-up of our 10 favorites here.
Full-frame cameras tend to be chunky beasts, but Sigma wants to prove that big imaging doesn't need a big body. Enter the Sigma FP2, the successor to its tiny, boxy fp mirrorless camera. It keeps the same modular design but packs in some serious upgrades, including a 24.5-megapixel partially stacked full-frame sensor, improved autofocus, 6K video recording, and 70GB of built-in storage. Sigma calls it the world's smallest full-frame camera, and while it might be tiny, the same cannot be said for its price tag.
Sigma FP2 brings faster shooting and 6K video
A phone thermal camera is one of those tools you don’t think you need until the first time it saves you from an expensive problem, and the Thermal Master P3 just got easier to try. For Halloween, it’s discounted with the code THERMCAM10, a 10% cut that works out to $107 off the total. It’s also fresh off a win at the 2026 Tom’s Guide AI Awards for best phone thermal camera, which is the kind of third-party nod that separates a serious tool from the cheap clip-on sensors that flood this category.
We are nearing Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days, which officially run October 6 and 7. But there is no need to wait until the sale begins to start looking. Early offers are already live, and camera gear is one category where I found enough worthwhile discounts to put together a proper creator-focused list.
I’ve deliberately gone wider than interchangeable-lens cameras here. There are pocket and action cameras, a 360 camera, an instant camera, two wireless microphone systems, and a pair of webcams covering very different budgets. Prices were checked on October 2, and as always with Amazon, they can move quickly.