When photographing commercial interior images, a common issue is an unsightly glare on reflective surfaces. Removing these reflections by compositing image layers significantly improves your images, separating you from the pack of "run-and-gun" real estate and interior photographers.
When photographing interiors, flash is your friend, but a friend who needs some management. While flash brightens rooms, reduces glare, and brings out true colors, it can also produce the frustrating issue of ugly shadows.
The cinematic look is everywhere in photography. But is this trend, rich with orange and teal tones, on its way out? PJ Pantelis thinks so, and he has an idea of what he thinks the next big editing movement will be.
It’s likely that if you're reading this, you are interested in some aspect of photography. If you are interested in making an income from your photography, something you may be struggling with is marketing yourself and your work. This video from Don Giannatti will give you the kick in the pants you need to get yourself out there and get paying clients.
Leigh Campbell served in the military for six years as a photographer, documenting the war in Iraq. Learn how his time in the service shaped his commercial photography career.
Sometimes it pays to appreciate the one you’re with.
Monte Isom is a super successful commercial photographer based out of New York City. However, before he made a career of his own, he assisted some of the biggest names in the photography world. In this video he recaps his experience shooting the president of the United States of America.
Every four years during the summer, the sports world pauses to draw its attention to the top echelon of professional football. I decided to put together a World Cup inspired shoot, shoot some concepts I haven't done before, and give you a behind-the-scenes, education glimpse.
For many photographers, taking portraits of celebrities, athletes, and government officials seems like the pinnacle of a successful business. Sometimes, however, those jobs require an insane amount of work, risk, and safety precautions to pull off the shot. In today's Story Time With Monte Isom, we look at how Gregory Heisler captured Time's Man of the Year cover with NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Photographers and videographers both tread water in a crowded pool of competition, and often we feel in danger of drowning in that pool. In this week’s and next week’s articles, I will present the most common reasons we lose out on work we otherwise might have won.
In this six-minute video, YouTuber workphlo breaks down a simple DIY diffuser that works especially well when going for a "glossy" look in your product photos. This technique applies to close-ups of reflective products.
Today, I conclude my two part essay about a difficult two months of negotiation over a commercial photography shoot that may not have ultimately come to fruition, but taught very valuable lessons along the way.
After a lengthy and involved negotiation for a large commercial project came to an unfortunate conclusion, I wanted to share some of the lessons I learned that may help you in your future business.
Being a working commercial photographer requires consistent self-marketing and, according to award-winning commercial sports and portrait photographer Alexis Cuarezma — whose work can be seen on the cover of Sports Illustrated — portfolio reviews are a great way to do just that.
Most of us reach a stage in our career (usually early on) where we feel a bit lost and like we are on the wrong train. If you are stuck in that rut, here are some great reasons to get out there and start collaborating on test shoots.
Matthew Vandeputte is a Belgian photographer living in Sydney, Australia, whose work is at the forefront of commercial time-lapse and hyperlapse photography. In this video he gives a short insight into his work and offers a nice introduction to time-lapse photography while also providing some inspiration to anyone seeking to turn a hobby into a profession.
Very often it’s not the actual skill as a photographer that’s lacking, but rather the ability to ask and help someone solve a problem they have. In this video, Chris Do of Futur shares how you might be able to change your approach and thinking.
2018 is certainly well underway. It’s getting toward the time of year where we start to let our goals slip. In the UK, summer has arrived and it's far more appealing to sit in a beer garden than it is to lock yourself away at your desk.
The age of social media has brought with it a new type of advertising campaign. Companies are more in touch with their customers than ever and are always looking at creative ways to engage with their audience and show a bit of personality. KFC’s latest adverts are doing exactly that, after their released images creatively using fried chicken to imitate explosions.
In a saturated market of incoming photographers each holiday or tax season, it is easy to get discouraged when you are trying to get paid clients in the door. When we think of photography sessions we generally tend to lean on the idea of photographing only people in portraits. Families, boudoir, fashion, and even underwater sessions. With so many other creative ways out there to get paid why not tap into another resource for marketing?
You’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars on a fantastic camera body that outputs 5K or 8K imagery, but the film you’re working on requires some time-lapse b-roll for transitions. Instead of breaking out that DSLR, you can set up your RED camera to shoot that time-lapse and use the near same post-processing as you would for the filmed imagery you are currently capturing.
Let's be honest, how often do we get perfect conditions where everything just simply falls in the right place?
Today I take a trip down memory lane to identify a few of the television commercials that, for me, have exceeded the level of infomercial pitch to touch the mantle of enveloping art. As with any "tops of all time list," these are thoughts are completely subjective, but I'll do my best to explain my thinking behind each choice and hopefully, my list will inspire you to start thinking of your own.
Photography agents are nothing new. They've been around for a long time, but since the advent of social media they seem like something we are all a lot more aware of; anyone who's anyone has an agent, right? However, there are a few misconceptions out there as to what an agent offers.
On a multi-day assignment in Portland last week, I took advantage of my day off between assignments to experiment with the Sony a7R III and try it out in my normal workflow.
Two years ago I featured a macro videographer who was creating incredible visuals using chemicals and substances. Roman De Giuli has done it again, this time for the Winter Olympics.
While I was initially slow to adopt the notion of being literally tied to an external machine while I went full throttle through my photo shoots, I’ve found the process not only beneficial, but absolutely essential.
Frantic sporting action set on an urban backdrop? Check. Inventive, slick production while not taking itself too seriously? Check. Superstar cameos? Check. You’ve guessed it, it’s the latest Nike commercial. But is “Nothing Beats a Londoner” their best ever?
SmugMug just recently released its 16th film and this time they're featuring mountain sports photographer Blake Jorgenson, with a glimpse into his relentless pursuit of capturing the perfect moment in extreme conditions.
You book a commercial job and the client wants a beautiful face to grace their next ad. The client relies on you, the photographer to help with the process of hiring the model. The crew you hire rely on you to select the right candidate for their needs. That's great, right? Get the most radiant face, possibly the one with the highest social media numbers for that extra bump and you're set! Is that how it works?
Lifestyle photography means different things to different types of photographers. Some might say photojournalism is the truest form of lifestyle photography. A portrait or wedding photographer would describe it as putting their subjects in real life situations and capturing almost candid moments. I shoot commercial and editorial work so more often than not I create scenes using models and props that feel like real life events but weren't. No matter how you look at it though, lifestyle photography is about telling stories.
In the grand tradition of turning lemons into lemonade, I thought I would share with you a quick story about how a less than desirable situation for me this weekend turned into a chance to improve my business and my approach.
When it comes to studio product photography, we use a lot of tools in the studio. Sure, there’s the obvious: cameras, lenses, and lights. But today I want to talk about one of those little indispensable tools that can really make all the difference on set. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned over the years of working in a studio environment, it’s that you can never have enough clamps! There’s always something that you need to hold in place, or simply rig.
I recently had the opportunity to catch up with a photographer I follow who shared his wonderful story with me about how he got where he is today. A lot of us have been told we take great photos somewhere along the way and dreamed of making a living off simply taking good photos. This doesn't really happen in the real world since you actually need a niche of some sort. If you happen to live by some of the most amazing houses in the world, luxury real estate is one of those niches that can make the dream a reality.
With the advent of digital cameras, drones, the Internet, and social media, video has become much more a part of every facet of advertising and our general content consumption. Even Fstoppers began by sharing behind-the-scenes videos of photographers at work to inspire and educate people all around the world. Everywhere you look, now, video is always present. Today's behind-the-scenes video comes to you from Parker Walbeck, the guy responsible for flying the LG V30 on top of a Red Weapon to compare the video output. In this video, he takes us on a real-estate video shoot and walks us through his gear and process.
As I set up to shoot an assignment last week, I found myself in a casual conversation with the owner of the location. He was also a photographer, and as I opened my Pelican case and began to set up my strobes, he commented on the fact that he owned the same one. He then lamented the fact that this particular kit was no longer made by the manufacturer. It had been discontinued and replaced by a new line of photographic debutants. I had no idea.
Drugstore chain CVS Health announced today that it will stop using photo manipulation in the promotional images for its store-brand makeup and will require all other companies to follow suit by 2020. Companies that continue to use manipulated imagery will have their adverts labeled by CVS to help customers understand that the photograph has been altered.
It's been a while since we've sat down to critique of the Fstoppers images but we're back with the series for our 30 videos in 30 days challenge. To commemorate our recent tutorial with Monte Isom, we filmed a new episode of Critique the Community which will focus on commercial images. A few days ago, we asked the community to submit their work for us to choose from. Since the definition of commercial imagery encompasses a wide variety of subject matters, we chose 20 varied images to give some feedback to. Do you agree with Chelsey and Lee's commentary on the images below?
Fstoppers is happy to announce we're bringing back Critique the Community in 2018. We invite everyone to submit your best commercial image to be critiqued by the Fstoppers team. We are keeping this first critique of 2018 pretty vague and broad, so if you think your image is "commercial" then submit in the comments below! Please follow the guidelines for submissions below to ensure eligibility for your image to be chosen. We will be accepting submissions through Thursday night, January 4, and will be offering feedback to a total of 20 pictures.
You’re no doubt familiar with these two images since both have served as stock photos placed on every Windows computer. However, the huge difference in the payday for their respective photographers may surprise you.
World-renowned photographer Clay Cook decided to bring Christmas a bit early by hosting a livestream on the topic of marketing for photographers. Cook is an editorial and advertising photographer who works very heavily in the commercial space shooting editorial portraiture. Cook has worked with a myriad of national brands and celebrities throughout his career and is poised to offer great advice to any budding photography looking to begin a career in any commercial photography market.
Russell James has quite firmly held the position of official backstage photographer at the Victoria’s Secret shows for 22 years – since the first in 1995. Now, he’s written a book about the experience.
It might be the most wonderful time of the year but that doesn't mean there will be snow falling for your photo shoot. In this video, you’ll learn how to photograph and use real snow for overlays in Photoshop.
A group of masked feminist campaigners in Paris is taking direct action in protest against sexist advertising. Brigade Antisexiste is an anonymous collective of activists who meet regularly in order to graffiti and undermine billboards and other printed adverts that are considered demeaning.
I don't have a vendetta with the color blue, or any colors for that matter; that would be odd. I do, however, remove the color blue either entirely or nearly entirely from the lion's share of my images, and for good reason.
In this series, I attempt to identify the key professional virtues I have found to be the most important in building my own career, as well as identifying traits of other successful photographers that are most key to their success. Today’s virtue: teamwork.
In this series, I attempt to identify the key professional virtues I have found to be the most important in building my own career, as well as identifying traits of other successful photographers that are most key to their success. Today's Word of The Week? Standards.
In this series, I attempt to identify the key professional virtues I have found to be the most important in building my own career, as well as identifying traits of other successful photographers and business leaders that are most key to their success. Today’s virtue: adaptability.
Product photography can be one of the most technically challenging genres to undertake, but that doesn't mean you need every piece of gear you can think of to pull it off. In this video I demonstrate how to light a product shot with one light and a few inexpensive modifiers.
Art is about storytelling. It’s about using all the tools at one’s disposal to convey and idea or an emotion. To connect an audience to a brand, or a personality, or a moment in a way the no other medium can. Along with my own technique, the ingenuity of the on-camera talent and the creative team behind it, plus the tools necessary to complete the job, the location you select for your shoot is one of the many raw materials that will have an effect on the eventual alchemy you bring forth to produce a great image.
