Articles written by Patrick Hall

Now this is an interesting story. Lately there has been a ton of controversy and debate about the role of photoshop in today's advertising market. FHM (For Him Magazine) just published their December issue with Pakistani cover model Veena Malik wearing what appears to be nothing. But that's not the full story; also pictured on the cover is Veena baring the tattoo "ISI" which refers to the rather polarizing Pakistani intelligence group. Pakistani's are outraged both because of the ISI reference and also because of Venna's lack of modesty displayed on the US men's magazine. It is quite common for photographers to shoot "implied nude" images with models actually wearing clothing (and the visible piece photoshopped out), but Veena claims the magazine maliciously manipulated her cover shoot without her permission. As for the ISI reference, well apparently both FHM and Veena were in agreement on the controversial art work with Veena making recommendations on how it should be drawn on her arm. Stories like this happen all the time but it's rare to see such a story with world wide appeal. What do you guys think? Read more about the full story on the BBC News page.

We've featured a lot of timelapse videos here on Fstoppers. And while they are really cool, very few videos have been made on how you can actually make one yourself. The guys over at Dynamic Perception, makers of the Stage Zero Dolly and MX2 Dolly Engine, have created a pretty thorough explanation of how to program dolly movements with long DSLR exposures. Many of the concepts in this video are useful no matter what electronic dolly you are using, and it really does a great job teaching some of the pitfalls you might have when calculating the timings required for both great photos and slick camera movements. Click the full post to watch an intro video to timelapse and head over to Dynamic Perception's site if you are interested in getting into this type of photography.

We have a lot of contests going on each month but we wanted to give away something really special for the Holidays. What are we giving away that is so special? How about a free Apple 16GB iPad 2 and a free digital copy of Peter Hurley's The Art Behind The Headshot!
All you have to do to enter is follow @fstoppers on Twitter, and tweet the following message: "Follow @fstoppers and retweet this message to win Peter Hurley's DVD and an iPad 2 http://bit.ly/tsTufu" Make sure you tweet this message between now and the end of December 15th, 2011 because we will announce the winner the following day. Goto Peter's The Art Behind The Headshot Website for more information. Thanks to everyone who has already purchased the DVD and good luck to everyone entering the contest. NOTE: If you plan on ordering the DVD or already have purchased it, you will be refunded if you win the twitter contest.

So you've had a long week of work and just survived a record breaking wind storm...what does one do to cut the edge in Salt Lake City? How about socializing over a few beers with other local photographers? Lee and I will be in Salt Lake City, Utah this weekend hitting up Solitude (if the snow sticks around) before we head down to film the next Fstoppers Original in Phoenix. We've been told the best local watering hole is a beervanna called The Bayou (645 South State Street), and nothing cures a long flight and a little jet lag like a few cold brewskies. Meet up at The Bayou around 9PM if you are in the area and we'd love to hang out a bit. In typical Fstoppers fashion, yes this meetup is being announced within the maximum 48 hour notice :)

The videos keep coming in for our 2011 Fstoppers Behind The Scenes Contest as we enter the final month of submissions. Most photographers use either strobe, fluorescent, or incandescent light to mold and sculpt their subjects. German photographer Julius Ise went a completely different route and used UV blacklights along with some gelled lights for separation to produce extremely vivid images. The shoot has an overall tribal theme and I really think the blacklight look brings something to the overall vibe. I'd say this is one of my top 5 submissions so far but Julius will have to impress our judges. What do you guys think? Leave Julius your thoughts below in the comments. Also check out Julius Ise's full portfolio because it's pretty awesome as well.

When Lee and I started this website almost two years ago, our vision was to not only share knowledge of what some of the best photographers around the world were doing but to also create a community that could inspire other creative professionals. Our Facebook Group is full of photoshoots from our readers that were inspired by some of the top talent featured on Fstoppers, and it's always fun to see photoshoots that were inspired directly from something we first did here. The latest such video comes from the Netherlands where photographer Wouter de Winter recreates my very own Indoor Wakeboard Studio Shoot using kiteboarders. Wouter isn't the first to draw inspiration from the original video but he is the first to also create a BTS video about it, and I think you will enjoy it. The next step for other photographers should be to take this idea and create something even bigger! If you have ideas or thoughts about what direction the next "indoor wakeboard shoot" should go, leave them in the comments below. I'd love to hear where others would take this concept...it might even make for a great BTS Contest Video!

I recently came across this video produced by [Framed] Show, and it really made me stop and think about how I run my business...and this is not just for wedding photographers! Sal Cincotta takes a second to put all of the gear, lighting diagrams, inspiration, and BTS videos aside to talk about something that a lot of photographers fail to capitalize on in their own businesses. Treating your clients to "an experience" they will remember and appreciate is probably THE most important thing you can do for your photography business and gaining future clients. Little things like answering your phone and email within 24 hours seems like a no brainer but how many of you take time out to send handwritten thank you notes or personalized gifts as a token of appreciation? The winter season is a great time to revamp how you will engage your clients in the spring and summer so let me ask you this: What are some things you do to improve your relationship with your clients? Leave your thoughts in the comments below and if you have any ideas that aren't wedding based I'm sure everyone would love to hear them.

Everyone has been waiting for the new Nikon D3s and D700 replacement cameras for what seems like forever. Nikon Rumors recently opened a whole can of worms as they released photos that the rumor blog owner stats as being 99% legit. However new speculations have come out from another reliable source over at DigitalRev. We here at Fstoppers aren't going to claim we know what the next Nikon DSLR will actually look like so instead we pose this question: Which version of the Nikon D800 do you think is more accurate and which one excites you the most? Click the FULL POST to view a side by side comparison of both speculated versions of the camera and leave your thoughts below in the comments. I'd actually be more interested in the DigitalRev version but that's just me.