Fstoppers Original Articles

I listen to podcasts every day on all sorts of topics, including photography. Thus, I began thinking about how you start a podcast from scratch and whether, ultimately, you can turn them into money. I asked a veteran podcaster these questions and more.

Handmade selling is on the rise and with it comes an increasing number of new product photographers. Quality product photography is essential for marketing your goods, but it doesn't need to be expensive or overly technical. In fact, there are some easy things that you can adjust that will help elevate your product photographs to the next level!

With the rise in photographers choosing film over digital, large format film cameras are becoming more sought after. But can this look be recreated with a digital camera? Here’s how one photographer did it.

The majority of landscape photos are shot with a maximum or almost maximum depth of field. Everything is sharp, from front to infinity and beyond. But have you ever considered shooting a landscape with a shallow depth of field?

While this view of the Tetons and Snake River, as made famous by Ansel Adam’s iconic photo, doesn’t have great resolution, there’s a reason for that. One of the biggest changes to photography might start with landscape photos just like this, only it doesn’t involve hiking or even camera gear. Want to know what it is?

Photographers of Instagram, rejoice! We can now upload content directly from our computers. Check out how to add photos right from your desktop with this step-by-step guide.

Sometimes our photographic progress seems to stop, and we need a boost for our creativity. Try one of these assignments to stimulate your photographic mojo.

If you’ve viewed deep-sky astrophotos (not landscape astrophotos), you may have noticed that extremely long exposures (not counting mosaics) are used. In extreme cases, exposures may run over 12 hours. Unless you have a space telescope, it should be obvious that multiple exposures have been used.

There are literally thousands and thousands of 35mm film cameras that have been produced over the last 100 years or so, and more are being manufactured even now. However, there's one camera that sits at the top of the tree, at least for me.

For many years, manufacturers were quite distant from their consumers, choosing to sell through a series of distributors and dealers. While the last couple years have shown a little change, via developments like roadmaps, influencer connections, and some direct-to-consumer sales, it’s still tough to make your voice heard. A new announcement by Wedio and Cooke Optics shows that you might have a closer connection with the maker of your next lens.

Low-light shooting brings its own problems with underexposure, high-ISO noise, and difficulty focusing. But with a few tweaks in Lightroom, you can save those otherwise lost photos and bring them back to life.

It's a relatable but unusual title for an article. However, I'm sure you might have an idea of which direction this is going to go: photography as therapy.

How well do you know photography? Here’s a quiz to test your knowledge of all things camera-related. I doubt anyone else can get them all right apart from you. Settle down with a cup of coffee and give it a go.

Sometimes, photography, like life itself, can be a dance of one step forward and two steps back. So, allow me to divert from the nuts and bolts of camera gear for a moment to talk about something just as important to sustaining a career.

Have you ever wondered how to create a stronger portfolio and artistic voice? In this article, I will share my methodology for creating better photographs.

Becoming a full-time landscape photographer can be difficult to navigate and there are many paths you can take. I've focused heavily on developing a YouTube channel to hopefully turn my passion into more, and in this 3rd update, I go over my progress, revenue, setbacks, and what the future holds.

I went back to shooting film recently, and I couldn't believe how different the process was. It isn't just taking a photo without the live view screen, it really is a different world. A world that you should experience if you want to improve as a photographer.

How does one garner success as a photographer? This article delineates between different photography markets to showcase some aspects of art practice that are necessary for intra-disciplinary success.

In this day and age, more and more people are setting up recording spaces. Whether for simple work meetings, live streaming, or recording content, the need for a good-looking space is in high demand. This is a walkthrough of how I have my space set up and lit.

Most people get into photography because it is fun and exciting. But when you do photography as a job or even if you are in school studying photography, it can at times lose its luster. Finding ways to bring joy and fun back to photography can be a challenge, but is a worthwhile pursuit.

It’s all about full frame mirrorless cameras nowadays. If you don’t go for such a camera, you are not taken seriously. Why not choose a mirrorless crop camera? I have six reasons to go for the new Canon EOS M50 Mark II.

It is a truism that the rich and famous are early adopters of the latest technology. Given that photography was unleashed on the world in 1839, what is the earliest surviving photo of a US President?

Siddharth "Sid" Mantri is a landscape photographer currently based in Spain. His unique voice leads him to find smaller moments of a narrative within large landscapes. He creates images that aren't just swathes of landscape, but rather elements within a landscape that unequivocally act as a subject within a scene.

If you’ve been shooting (landscape) astrophotos for a while but are relatively new to astronomy, you may be contemplating stepping up to a telescope for your astrophotography. But taking the next step isn’t as simple as getting a longer lens for more magnified views. You should understand the changes in your shooting and equipment that this implies.

Let’s face it, you are a good photographer, but your chances of being celebrated for your photography 50 or more years from now are slim. But what can you do to increase your chances of being remembered?

One of the simplest ways to make your images more effective is by paying attention to this one fundamental component of photography and applying it in ways that you may not have thought of.

Cheaper cameras' shutter lives are shorter than more expensive ones. As the shutter counts of premium cameras increase, so does the price. But I started to notice surprising discrepancies between brands. Here's what I found out.

A short walk leads to a short story about how bigger isn’t always better.

According to rumors, Nikon’s next Z-mount camera will feature retro styling with a choice of three different looks. For a manufacturer whose mirrorless cameras have often been overshadowed by releases from Sony and Canon, rediscovering a feature that makes a product distinctive could be a smart move from Nikon.

As you progress in landscape photography, you might find yourself wondering how others get everything in focus within their images. In this article series and video, I'll go over how to focus stack while in the field and what to do once you sit down to process your images.

The weather isn’t always pleasant for landscape photographers. Have you ever tried to take advantage of extreme weather conditions?

In grade school, we’re often taught to keep things simple. Although valuable advice, simplicity often gets overlooked by photographers. This article is quite simply a reminder to keep it simple.

When I first got interested in food photography, I was really overwhelmed by what I needed to get. And then, I heard Andrew Scrivani say: “The best gear to get you started is the camera in your pocket and the light from the window.” That was true, to an extent.

Whether you just bought a new lens from a reputable vendor or snagged a deal off an auction site, you’ve got to test it. Fortunately, you don’t need a crazy, dedicated setup just to check out your gear. In this guide, I’ll run through how I’d test a newly acquired lens in about 10 minutes, all without any fancy gear.

The latest Lightroom Classic update has just landed, and there are a fair few features and functions that will benefit many professional users. But what about the average Joe who uses Lightroom occasionally for their own hobbyist snaps?

Those of us in the Northern Hemisphere are now in the throes of summer, which means harsh sunshine for a larger part of the day. While midday sun is generally not ideal for photographs, it isn't always avoidable. Luckily, there are some simple ways to work around and even with that blazing star and still end up with strong images.

A lot of landscape photographers will tell you that the best types of images are devoid of people — just nature in all its splendid, unspoiled glory. I beg to differ. Here are some reasons why you should put yourself in the frame of your landscape images.

Sony's not a camera company or at least hasn't been until relatively recently. Its heritage is as un-optical as any recent manufacturer can be and is certainly far removed from the heritage of the likes of Nikon, Canon, Leica, and Pentax. Yet, among the gravestones we see littering the photographic landscape, it seems likely that the A mount will soon join them, finally severing any link to the past. So, why wasn't the A mount Sony's future?

Food is a fundamental part of survival. The very first thing we do after being born is eat. Human brains know food on a primal and instinctual level. Our brains automatically reject or call into question food imagery that doesn't look real. In advertising, our brains are a little more forgiving.

The internet is a strange and wonderful place. While there are a lot of tutorials about how to become a better photographer or what piece of gear is better than the other, sometimes, you just need to have a little fun.

On June 7th, 2021 Apple streamed their Worldwide Developers Conference Keynote for 2021. This keynote had been eagerly anticipated, as we’re now halfway into Apple's transition to Apple Silicon, and many people have been waiting to see what new software will go alongside the impressive hardware launched at the April Spring Loaded event.

Earlier this week, Instagram published a blog detailing information on how its algorithms work and why transparency is important when it comes to building trust. With that in mind, when will Instagram tell us how much money it makes from allowing the millions of possible copyright infringements that happen every single day?

Every lens has a sweet spot, the aperture where the image sharpness is at its best. If the aperture becomes larger, lens errors will become visible. When the aperture is closed, lens diffraction will become visible. In this article, I am going to take a closer look at lens diffraction.

You take photos, you write books, you're published in weekly and monthly newspapers and magazines, and travel the world with the sole purpose of... traveling. You sound like one of the early social media influencers of the 2010s who was "living the dream," constantly on the road, distributing a drip of photos and articles to the travel-enthused general public. However, it's 1888, and your name is Frank Carpenter.

In the film world, it doesn’t take long before you start to get hooked on the idea of shooting medium format. Why, you ask? By this time, no reason whatsoever.

We'd all love to be mentioned in the same breath as our favorite photographer. Especially if that photographer is a highly celebrated master of their genre. But what happens when your image is mistaken for, and credited to them, instead of you?

So many photographers talk about testing, test shoots, and time for print (TFP), but what are these things exactly? In this article, I will explain my take on them.

The recent addition of an astrophoto time-lapse mode (uncovered by XDA Developers) coming to Google’s camera app on their Pixel line of phones piqued my interest. Not that I think it will replace all of our “real” cameras, but I do have a deep appreciation for the engineering wizardry required to push right up to the physical limits of a tiny sensor and lens. And as an astronomy enthusiast, any developments that might open an appreciation of the night skies to a wider population get me very interested.

Different camera makes and models are better than others for longevity. The main failing point of cameras is the shutter, because it is a moving part. Most manufacturers publish targets for shutter life. By spending a little more, you may get much better value and reduce environmental impact too.

Having spent a long and exhausting, but fruitful and necessary, weekend going about the chore of reorganizing my overly cluttered garage, I found myself with time to think about a basic question. Why exactly did I become a professional photographer?