FS Originals

The Fstoppers Wedding DVD Is Now Available

After 3 years of planning and 2 years of filming and editing, our newest tutorial: How To Become A Professional Commercial Wedding Photographer is now available. Our goal was to create the most complete and informative video on wedding photography and we believe we have done it with this 14 hours digital download. The world is filled with people trying to turn their passion for photography into a career and I believe that wedding photography is the easiest way to start making money with your camera. [more]

ENDS TOMORROW: Win a Sneak Preview of Fstoppers New Wedding Photography Tutorial

UPDATE: CONTEST ENDS TOMORROW! After 2 full years, it is finally done!  Our digital download, How To Become a Professional Commercial Wedding Photographer “DVD” tutorial is ready to be released. Lee and I have spent countless hours in filming, editing, and producing this 14+ hour tutorial, and we want to give three lucky Fstoppers readers a free, pre-release copy in its entirety. And to top it off, we are giving each of those 3 winners one of our secret light modifiers currently in preproduction. [more]

One Example Of Becoming a Successful Photographer Through Specialization

How many photographer websites do you visit that have an endless list of subjects they claim to photograph? Many photographers think it will help with their Search Engine Optimization, but what is really happening is that they are grouping themselves with all the hundreds of thousands of other photographers that also shoot ALL that stuff. The secret is to be different. To pick something and specialize in that one thing. One perfect example that I came across is talented Mike Allebach of Allebach Photography, also known as the “Tattooed Bride Photographer Guy.” [more]

Fstoppers Interview With Outdoor Adventure Photographer Celin Serbo

This past November while on a trip to Colorado, I had the chance to meet up with Celin Serbo, an outdoor lifestyle photographer whose client list includes the likes of Nikon, Backpacker Magazine, Nat Geo Adventure, and First Ascent, among many others. We spoke about the challenges of capturing images in the field, the importance of being business-savvy, and the obstacles of incorporating filmmaking into the services he offers. [more]

HDR Vs. Flash For Interiors And Real Estate Photography

I know that many of our readers are real estate photographers or have at least tried their hand at real estate photography. The most common method used to create ‘good enough’ real estate photos is HDR: whether it is tonemapping or exposure fusion, HDR is definitely the most-used method for real estate and beginner interior photographers. In this post, I’ll do a comparison between tonemapping, exposure fusion, single on-camera flash, and multiple off-camera flash, and show you the benefits (or disadvantages, rather) of each. [more]

FS Review: Sigma’s New 35mm f/1.4 is Amazing

Fewer things get me as excited and enthusiastic about gear in my studio than something reliable. I just want it to work. Part of the reason I haven’t shot much on a Nikon is that it takes too much thinking for me. Having shot on Canon for 10 years, I just like using something that my hands just understand. The same goes for tripods, lights, and most definitely applies to lenses. For me, the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 lens just works, and might be have the best combination of speed and sharpness in and auto focus-enabled lens I have ever had the pleasure of shooting. [more]

Dodge & Burn: The Retro Camera T-Shirt Story

I love being a photographer. I also love showing the world my love of photography by wearing clothing that boldly states my profession. I’ve seen several t-shirt designs that have interested me, but none that catered to the old film cameras that I was brought up with. I was introduced to a new t-shirt brand a few weeks ago and my search was abruptly ended. Dodge & Burn, which hails out of New York City, develops designs based on historic cameras of yesteryear. I caught up with company founder, Ted Rybakowski, for a quick chat.  [more]

The Photographers You Idolize Are No Better Than You

We look up to other people in all aspects of our lives. Most of us admire our parents or an older sibling. We desire to be like those who have “made it” like actors, musicians, or wealthy business owners. As photographers, we probably all have a list of our favorite people in the industry. I’m here to tell you that they are no better at photography than you are. [more]

Fstoppers Rapid-Fire Q&A Session With Fine Art Photographer Vinny Picardi

Vinny Picardi is a successful fine art and advertising photographer based in Los Angeles, CA, who has exhibited work all over the country and around the world. I recently came across Vinny’s work and I have to say that I’m a pretty big fan, so I thought it would be interesting to share not only just a photo series with our readers, but also to take some time to ask a few questions to get inside the head of a successful fine art photographer. [more]

High Fashion, High Energy Styled Photo shoot

Hello fellow Fstoppers. My name is Chris Lambeth and this is my first post on here using my own work. Also, the first shoot I feel that is up to the level to be shared with more then just my Facebook fans and friends. My good friend and fellow photographer Seth Barlow, who has shot for companies such as Louis Vuitton, Gulf & Main, ect, decided to move back to my town of Spokane WA from Miami and purchase a studio. We got the place all cleaned up, or at least enough to shoot in, and decided to do a test run. [more]

Hyperreality: The Anatomy of a Composite Landscape Shot

Have you wondered how the landscapes in advertising photographs always seem to be perfect? How on can they possibly get the perfect shot on every assignment with the weather being as unpredictable as it is? Well, while this isn’t true for every photographer, most have quite a lot of photoshop trickery at their disposal which allows them to shoot components of a final shot at different times and then assemble them later in post. This post is going to give you a complete walk through of how I shot and combined two elements to create the shot you see here.

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