Fstoppers Original Articles

The first time you do anything, you’re bound to do it poorly. The first time I shot football, I thought a 1/200 s shutter speed would be perfectly fine to stop action. The first time I shot portraits, I thought my f/1.6 photos were perfectly sharp (they were not even close). And the first time I flew a drone was a catastrophe worse than both of those experiences.

There's no denying that, as photographers, we are living through unprecedented times. No one truly knows what we should be doing or how the next few months will pan out. One big question that keeps coming up is this: should we still be reaching out to brands, magazines, and agencies we'd like to shoot for?

Bill Clinton was President, John Major was Prime Minister, the 49ers won the Super Bowl, and Pete Sampras and Steffi Graf were Wimbledon champions. It was the year that the Space Shuttle docked with the Mir Space Station, the World Trade Organization was formed, there was a serin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, OJ went on trial, the Oklahoma City Bombing took place, Windows95, Dolly the sheep was cloned, eBay went live, and Braveheart, Toy Story, Babe, and The Usual Suspects were released. But what happened in the photographic world?

The wide-angle view is probably the most used in landscape photography these days. It shows the landscape and can make some highly impactful photos. Here, I show you how to use an ultra-wide-angle lens to make impactful photos.

We might feel confined during the pandemic, but it does not compare to the dark realities of those locked up in forgotten prisons. After 40 years of media shut-out, we get to visually experience the life in prison in Brazil thanks to the "Locked Up" project.

One of the best ways to continually improve your photography business is to keep educating yourself. If you’re looking for opportunities to educate yourself from home, there are plenty of options available online. Learn more about how you can self-educate in photography right from the comfort of your home.

With Photoshop, there’s not much need to carry around a book of physical filters anymore, but there are still two that you have to make sure you have. Want to know why?

It’s important during this period of uncertainty to keep marketing your photography business. Marketing your business can keep you prepared for when things start to resume in the photography industry. Once events start up again, photoshoots begin to produce once more, and people can gather, your business will be ready. Here are some checkpoints to hit in your photography business marketing.

Before you finalize your images for posting or print, here are five general quality control steps in Adobe Lightroom that you should not miss.

In many of my shoots over the last year, I have opted to use only LED continuous lights over my strobes, and I can only see that trend continuing. Here's why I think you ought to consider LEDs if you haven't tried them yet.

In order to effectively reach your clients as a photographer, you must first know what product you are selling.

If you've taken photos in your past travels that may not have exactly pleased you, you should take some time after a while to revisit them.

Looking for something to do during the coronavirus lockdown? Photographers are finding more and more ways to be creative during this time. Read on for some fun photography project ideas to work on during COVID-19.

There’s something magical about watching a Polaroid coming to life in your hands. The little piece of instant film is a moment of captured time that is always a joy to have, but there is something about the scope of Ken Yu’s Polaroid Project that makes it truly special.

Much like the famous Schrodinger’s cat thought experiment, certain facets of film are both its best and worst qualities, and you won’t know until your film is processed.

This tutorial is for beginners who may want to start learning photography during the lockdown periods around the world.

In 1987, Ronald Reagan was president, Mathias Rust landed his light aircraft in Red Square, and the stock market crashed on October 19, dropping 22% in a single day. Fox also made its primetime debut, the Simpsons aired for the first time, and "Robocop," "Dirty Dancing," and "Good Morning Vietnam" were all released. But what happened in the photographic world?

Hello, my name is Jason Vinson. I'm a wedding photographer, and it's been three weeks since my last photoshoot.

Isolation is sending many of us into a form of madness, myself included. We've had lots of content created for photographers while you're in lockdown and indoors, but this is one for the garden.

Most of the world is on an enforced break right now, which we can't do much about. But when the fog clears, what can you do if you find your motivation for photography has fallen off a cliff?

Stockpiling makes some people feel secure against unexpected disasters and crises. Which crisis justifies stockpiling photographs? Let’s take a look at how we can reduce our amount of unnecessary data.

With lockdown, we're suddenly all on Zoom 24/7. It's great that we can remain connected even when we're working from home, but not so great that we have to see ourselves on screen every time we speak to someone.

Often, the portfolios of famous photographers and filmmakers have a "personal" category where we see work that drastically differs from what they are known for. Do you think that's the way it should be?

Printing is hard. Rather, printing well is hard. It's been a little bit science. It's been a little bit art. Trying to make digital prints look like traditional darkroom prints is even harder still. But is it possible?

Lightroom's color brush is an odd tool, but paired with a range mask, it can be a fantastic means of making water look far more appealing. Here's how I transformed the muddy brown of this lake into water so blue that you'll want to jump in and go for a swim.

I recently shot a new portfolio and every photographer I have shown it to thinks it is rubbish. But every art director, buyer, agent, and creative director loves it. Let's look into why this is.

New York is the city that never sleeps. It’s a city that’s famous for it’s bustling streets and the weird and wonderful community that populate it. It’s a hub of activity, or at least it was until lockdown.

Like many photographers in quarantine, I’ve been trying to get creative without the ability to get out. I’ve had a lot of gear sitting around that doesn’t get much use, and so I’ve gone through my boxes to dust them off and see what’s possible. One gem I had forgotten about was the FotodioX Mount Adapter that lets me mount my Nikon F glass to my Micro Four Thirds cameras.

You may be a wedding photographer thinking of ways to secure additional future jobs, or you might simply want to focus on doing a wider variety of shoots other than just weddings. So, in what ways can you branch out?

Who says that during the self distancing period you cannot meet and photograph others from the comfort of your own home? Who says you need your camera at all?

As a personal approach to traveling, I generally bring more gear than I think I’ll ever use. As is almost always the case, I find that there’s something more I should have brought or, conversely, something I should have left behind.

Businesses all over the world are in crisis due to COVID-19. Small companies are scrambling to figure out a way to keep their business open or at least relevant while this pandemic takes over. Studios are shutting their doors and owners prepping before their state gets the shelter in place order. But what happens if you, as the owner, test positive for the virus?

When I bought a tilt-shift lens for my landscape photography, I soon discovered how to shoot panoramas without the need for a nodal slide. But I noticed some parallax problems. The answer to this was the Rogeti TSE-frame.

Shooting something translucent on a reflective surface can take some effort, but with a few tips, you can do it with ease.

Us photographers may be going a little stir crazy without new shoots to edit, so I propose an alternative.

If you are a social photographer, it's very likely you're not shooting much during the self-isolation time. So, why not use the most challenging but also interesting subject there is, namely, yourself?

There are many ways to utilize this isolation period well, but if you want to get more eyes on your photography, this could be one of the most effective.

Is there anything better than buying new gear? Or anything worse than subsequent buyer’s regret? Here are some questions to ask yourself before you kiss your cash bye-bye.

With the news these days providing a constant supply of bad stories about our collective grief, I thought it a perfect time to shift focus to the upside.

Capture One is multifaceted image processing and asset management software. As a raw processor, it is considered the gold standard, supporting over 500+ cameras, and with it comes a uniquely powerful tool-set for developing, color grading, and tethering. But that is just the tip of the technological iceberg that is Capture One. With a focus on user experience, its mountain of capability and complexity is hidden under a veneer of simplicity so as to make working with your images fast, focused, and easy. What we'll address today should help in understanding how the software works and how to bend it to your liking, hopefully resulting in an even better experience.

I know I harp on about gear not mattering. Nevertheless, there are individual purchases that I have made over the years that have had a real impact on my work. Having been a commercial photographer for some time, I thought I'd share my opinion on this.

Have you ever been randomly invited to become a brand ambassador? Are you amazed that people fall for this scam? Here's how it works.

While the coronavirus poses a significant threat to our physiologic well-being, the overall experience of this crisis worldwide could be harmful to us in another way.

Spending your Covid-19 isolation time working on your business now could mean art sales later. Seattle-based Fine Art Photographer Jason Matias, who runs a program that helps artists sell their art, has a few tips for how to go about snagging those sales.

Professional photography is a pretty exclusive club in someways. It is a dream job that many of us are protective of and online this can be seen by those defining what makes you a professional photographer.

In this tutorial, we’re going to make some quick and simple adjustments to a close-up flower photograph using ACDSee Photo Studio Professional 2020 and its powerful Develop Mode.

Fear is a dangerous thing. We all have to find ways to deal with it and maybe even use it to our advantage. Unfortunately, I let fear make decisions early in my career, and I'm still feeling the effects. If you struggle with putting your work out in the open, maybe you can learn from my mistakes.

Would you throw 10,000 printed photographs in a bathtub to search for an image of your child’s first steps? No! So, why should you do it with digital files?

If you stack too many requirements onto getting yourself to shoot, you may miss out on simply enjoying photography like you did when you started.

When working in Photoshop from home or on the road, the new Wacom One tablet can be a super helpful tool that matches up especially well with your laptop, giving you not only the control you get with a stylus and tablet but an additional screen as well.