9 Great Tools for Smartphone Filmmaking in 2022

In the last few years, I've found myself using my smartphone more and more as my video camera to capture life's moments. On an actual shoot, it's also not uncommon for me to use one as a b-camera. If that's you as well, here are nine great tools to help improve your smartphone videography (and a bonus tip).

How to Take Better Portraits in Bright Sunlight

Bright, harsh sunlight sitting far overhead is the bane of many portrait photographers' existences, but it is not impossible to create compelling portraits with flattering light in such conditions. This helpful video tutorial will show you how to take bright sunlight and harness it for worthwhile images.

How to Edit Landscape Photos in Black and White

We are used to seeing landscape images with vibrant, eye-catching colors, but of course, that does not mean you can't create compelling photos in black and white. It takes more than simply pulling all the saturation out of a file to create worthwhile shots, though. This fantastic video tutorial will show you how to edit landscape photos in black and white to get the best results.

Fstoppers Photographer of the Month (October 2022): Sebastian Malinowski

The Fstoppers community is brimming with creative vision and talent. Every day, we comb through your work, looking for images to feature as the Photo of the Day or simply to admire your creativity and technical prowess. In 2022, we're featuring a new photographer every month, whose portfolio represents both stellar photographic achievement and a high level of involvement within the Fstoppers community.

A Beginner's Guide to Flash Photography

A lot of photographers feel a bit overwhelmed by the prospect of learning how to work with flash, but once you learn the fundamentals of how light behaves and how to control it, you will find strobes are not that great a mystery and that they can open an entirely new creative world. If you are new to working with artificial light, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will get you up and creating images in no time.

What Is Color Depth and Why Does It Matter?

Color depth (also known as bit depth) is one of the properties of photos and video that is discussed less often than marquee features like resolution, but it has a deep impact on the quality and appearance of your work. If you are new to photo and video work, check out this great video tutorial that will show you everything you need to know about color depth.

How This Photographer Got to $500 Per Day

The internet is wall-to-wall packed with people telling you they make ridiculous amounts of money in all different ways, only to go on to sell you a course that does make them money. Well, in this video, Evan Ranft gives his honest breakdown of how he has managed to get his income to such a desirable amount.

The First Photographer You Have to Satisfy Is Yourself

Being a creative, even if it is work you are doing for a client, is a deeply personal thing. As such, one of the most important things is staying true to your creative vision. This excellent video discusses that idea and why you are the first person you need to satisfy with your work.

The Future of Drone Development

Many of us associate DJI with their dominance in the drone market for photo and video; however, there is an entire world of enterprise solutions that you might know about. These are innovations that could even show up in the next drone you purchase.

Helpful Tips for Better Portrait Photos

Portrait photography is a challenging genre that requires a combination of technique, the ability to work with a human subject, creative vision, and more. Whether you are new to the genre or an experienced professional, check out this fantastic video tutorial that offers a wide range of tips and helpful advice sure to help you create more compelling images.

The Many Portrait Looks You Can Create With Just a Single Light

Although you will often see professional portrait photographers working with multi-light setups, you can absolutely create compelling images using just a single light. In fact, there are different looks you can create just by varying the position of your light. This excellent video tutorial will show you how light placement affects your photos and how to use it to create the looks you are after.

Turn Your iPhone Into a Powerful On-Camera Monitor With This Tool

On-camera monitors are an essential tool for anyone doing video work, but a proper display is often quite expensive. Modern iPhones and iPads have spectacular screens, however, and in those displays are a ton of potential for filmmakers. The Accsoon SeeMo acts as a go-between for your camera and iPhone or iPad, allowing you to feed it an HDMI signal from your camera and use it as an on-camera monitor. How does it perform in practice? This great video review takes a look.

A Compositional Mindset That Will Give You Better Landscape Photos

Composition is one of the trickiest aspects of landscape photography. We get no control over what is in the environment or the way the light behaves, and as such, we have to be clever in our positioning, choice of parameters, and framing in order to create images that are simultaneously orderly and compelling. This excellent video tutorial will show you a compositional mindset that will help you come home with more worthwhile photos.

The 5 Worst Portrait Posing Techniques

When it comes to portrait posing, there are some great poses, some not great poses, and then, there are those poses that are so egregious that they should be avoided at all costs.

An Effective and Compelling Two-Light Portrait Photography Setup

Portrait lighting is about more than creating a technically correct exposure; it is your chance to add your creative touch to your images and create a memorable style. Once you are comfortable with a single light, multiple lights will open an entirely new world of possibilities for your work. This excellent video tutorial will show you an effective two-light setup for creating compelling portraits.

An f/0.95 Lens for $249? Can It Provide the Image Quality Professionals Need?

It is no secret that photographers like wide-aperture lenses, and with the advent of mirrorless cameras, we have seen the release of many 50mm f/0.95 lenses, offering photographers ultra-narrow depth of field and loads of bokeh. One such lens is the Meike 50mm f/0.95, which offers that extra-wide aperture for a variety of APS-C mirrorless mounts and does so at a very affordable price. Can it still offer professional quality, though? This excellent video review takes a look.

Why Photography Is a Never-ending Journey

Today, I’d like to take a charitable break from discussing gear, to chat about something I’ve found to be far more important to understand about photography.

Why Tripods Are Sometimes Overrated for Landscape Photography

Perhaps no accessory is more strongly associated with landscape photography than the tripod, and for good reason. That being said, some photographers insist on using them for every shot, no matter the circumstances. Can that actually be a hindrance? This great video dives into the use of tripods in landscape photography and why sometimes, it is better to just hold your camera.

Pushing a Camera to its Limits on a Low Light Husky Ride

If you want to know how good your camera is, pushing its abilities as far as they will go is the way to find out. Combining speed, vibration, and low light stretches its photographic capabilities, and flying mud, rain, and thick fog help too.

An Exciting Canon Lens Is on the Way

Recently, rumors emerged saying that the Canon EOS R6 Mark II's release was imminent. That story continues, and it seems that in addition to the new camera next month, we will also see a mirrorless version of one of Canon's most legendary lessons.

How to Add Catchlights to a Subject in Photoshop

Catchlights are one of the most important bits of a portrait that signify a professional image. It is not uncommon, however, for your subject to be posed in a way where they just miss having a catchlight. That is no reason to bin that photo, though, as you can add a realistic catchlight quickly and easily in Photoshop. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to do just that.

5 Things You Must Do Before You Press Record On Your Next Youtube Video

A common misconception surrounding success on YouTube is that it all hinges on the best or right gear for the job. A lot of readers of Fstoppers are here to research cameras and lighting to level up the quality of their videos, and rightfully so. But without the right processes in place, no amount of professional quality gear will matter. I can guarantee you that 99% of where content creators go wrong on YouTube is in the planning stages, before they even press record. Trust me.

An Important Photography Lesson

It can be easy to look at top photographers and think that they have simply unattainable levels of skill and natural talent and as such, that a normal person can never reach such heights. However, the truth is a lot more complex than that, and it is something that you should really think about as you grow and mature as a photographer. This excellent video essay discusses why photography is less about skills and more about the time and dedication you put into its pursuit.

A Review of the New OM System OM-5 Mirrorless Camera

The OM System OM-5 mirrorless camera is here, and it brings with a lot of the company's innovative features and technology at a relatively affordable price. This excellent video review takes a look at the new camera and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.

At the Limits of Landscape Photography

Are some types of landscape photography inevitably doomed to failure? If they proceed from a desire to depict what Immanuel Kant referred to as "the sublime", then this may well be the case.

How to Remove Shadows From a Person's Face in Photoshop

When you are shooting in a studio, you have full control over the lighting and content in the frame, but if you are shooting in another environment, particularly outside, you may end up with unwanted shadows distracting from your subject, ruining an otherwise compelling photo. All is not lost, though. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to convincingly remove those shadows using Photoshop.

A Review of the Versatile Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM Lens

A wide-aperture 24mm lens is useful for a huge range of applications ranging from astro work to event photography, and when you add in macro capabilities and image stabilization, it becomes all the more versatile. The Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM has all those things, making it quite the intriguing option for a lot of photographers, and this excellent video review takes a look at just what kind of image quality and performance you can expect from it in usage.

A Look at One of the Most Interesting Lenses Made

The AstrHori 85mm f/2.8 Macro & Tilt lens is one of the weirdest options you will come across, and at $329, it is also surprisingly affordable. So, what all can you do with it, and does it offer the performance and image quality needed to make all those strange functions worthwhile? This great video review takes a look at the lens and what you can expect.

A Review of the New Venus Optics Laowa Argus 25mm f/0.95 APS-C APO Lens

Venus Optics has established themselves as a company that produces unique and high-quality lenses that enable new and interesting creative approaches. Their newest lens is the Laowa Argus 25mm f/0.95 APS-C APO, made for a wide variety of APS-C mirrorless cameras. This excellent video review takes a look at the new lens and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in usage.

Luminar Neo Adds a Focus Stacking Extension

The fifth Extension coming to the Luminar Neo editing platform is Focus Stacking, a tool for achieving a deep depth of field in a photo by merging (or stacking) up to 100 source images. Now, creating photos that are in sharp focus from the front to the back of the image becomes much easier, whether you’re shooting macro photography, portraits, or landscapes.

First Look at the New Sony a7R V

The latest and greatest from Sony is finally here and the Sony A7RV has the latest in autofocus technology

A Beginner's Guide to the Exposure Triangle

Shutter speed, aperture, and ISO are the three most fundamental parameters in photography, and with them, you have control over both the technical and creative aspects of your exposure. Together, these three parameters form the exposure triangle. Learning the triangle should be a priority for any new photographer, and this excellent video tutorial will show you everything you need to know to master it and take full control of your images.

How to Book More Photo and Video Clients

You can watch endless videos about lens reviews and Instagram for photographers on YouTube. Very few channels offer business advice that moves the needle for photographers.

Nikon Launches Firmware 3.0 for the Z 9

After a promising launch and a massive update with version 2.0, Nikon has announced the release of version 3.0 for their flagship mirrorless camera.

We Review The GoPro HERO 11 Black: Good But Not Groundbreaking

Delivering an updated product once a year every year guarantees a spike of hype and sales, but brings with it some challenges — challenges that continue to get bigger as a product matures and competitors arrive. The GoPro HERO11 Black launched last month, but what do the latest upgrades mean for a company whose value has fallen by 90% from its peak just a few years ago?

Why You Should Embrace Inclement Weather in Landscape Photography

Few people enjoy standing in the middle of rain and wind, but for those who are willing to do it, the reward can be particularly interesting and compelling images. This excellent video tutorial will show you why weather that would make most people run inside is actually a fantastic opportunity for great landscape images.

A Look at the New iPad 10 and iPad Pro M2 Tablets

iPads have evolved from fun content consumption devices to seriously powerful creative tools, and they are fantastic options for a wide variety of photo and video work. The latest generations of the standard and Pro models are here, and they bring with them a wide variety of new and improved features. This excellent video review takes a look at both the new models and the sort of performance and experience you can expect from it in practice.

3 Photography Marketing Tricks and Hacks That Actually Work!

Photographers understand that marketing is essential to attracting new clients and growing their business. However, marketing strategies are constantly evolving, so what worked in the past isn’t always going to work in the present or future. In this article, we will share three photography marketing tricks and hacks that actually work based on our 12-plus years of experience operating a successful multi-shooter studio!

A Review of the Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G Lens

The 24mm focal length is popular for offering a versatile wide angle of view, but not one so wide that significant distortion starts to become an issue. For Sony photographers and filmmakers, the FE 24mm f/2.8 G offers a very portable design meant to pair with company's lightweight mirrorless cameras to offer easy run-and-gun shooting. This excellent video review takes a look at the lens and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.

Sony ZV-1F Versus Sony ZV-1: Which Is Better?

Sony's recent ZV line of compact cameras has caught many people's attention for a number of reasons, particularly vlogging and video. But which is the best option for you and why?

9 Tips for Successful Drone Flights

Drones are more popular, powerful, and portable than ever, and they offer you the ability to get photos and videos from perspectives that simply would not be possible otherwise. Of course, with such a different method of working, flying and shooting with a drone requires some special considerations. This great video tutorial will show you nine important keys to consider before your next drone flight that will help you ensure you get the best possible shots.

Focus Stacking for Sharp Landscape Photographs

Most of the time, landscape photographers want everything in the image as sharp as possible, from the closest foreground element all the way to the farthest mountain or cloud. Accomplishing that takes more than simply setting your lens aperture to f/32 and shooting away. Focus stacking is one of the most common techniques for achieving this, and this great video tutorial will show you how it is done.