Patrick and I have recently moved into new homes in Puerto Rico, and we have each been building our individual studios. I knew removing the echo from my concrete room was going to be difficult, but I didn't realize it would be this hard.
As photographers, we inevitably find ourselves dealing with that one client that causes us to take into serious deliberation the idea of working at the grocery store and throwing our illustrious career to the wind.
When learning to retouch skin in Photoshop, most people start with frequency separation. Has Adobe now made skin retouching even easier with Neural Filters?
I estimate over 90% of my shots are taken indoors, so I don’t give much thought to how my cameras would perform in a rainstorm. I’m in the minority with my lack of concern in this area, apparently, because I frequently see photographers voice their concerns when a new camera is announced that does not have weather-sealing.
There are plenty of ways to get better images, we’ve all seen articles on which new camera to purchase, which new laptop will improve your editing, which courses to purchase, or where in the world you can visit to get stunning images. But what about some truly effective ways to improve your ability to get the shot without spending a penny?
All of us first picked up a camera and started taking photos simply because we enjoyed the magic of the creative process. But after years working in photography, whether professionally or simply as hobbyists sharing our work with the world, that reason we do that can become obfuscated or forgotten entirely. Do you know your purpose in photography? This important video essay discusses the topic.
There are a lot of photography myths regarding pricing and money. In this, I will cover big myths and expand on them in the video.
Sennheiser recently sent me six different microphones from $49 up to $999. Does spending more money really get you better audio quality? You be the judge.
Gear isn't always about megapixels, dynamic range, or pixel-peeping. This piece of gear has changed nothing about the quality of my photos, but it might be my favorite purchase ever.
Lightroom is more powerful than ever, and you can complete quite a few edits in the application without needing to switch to Photoshop. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to edit wedding portraits using a wide variety of techniques, all in Lightroom.
Being self-critical is too easy or too hard, but in both cases, it can be difficult to be effective with it. In this video, Nigel Danson takes you on a shoot and discusses some of the ways he ensures his photography is improving.
Morning red needs some special requirements to appear. Find out how to plan and photograph red sky to get a masterpiece.
I came into photography after being a newspaper videographer for several years. I thought that my video skills would transfer cleanly into photography, and while in some ways that were the case, in more ways, it was not. Here's a video that breaks down exactly why that is.
"Use your platform for good. Don't worry about your platform, be concerned with your impact." Very few people find success without a helping hand or barrels of luck. As one of photography's stars, Rankin is using his influence to help out young and emerging photographers through the Visual Noise art fair at Maryland Studios and online catalog through Public Offerings Ltd.
Bird photography is not an easy genre in which to find success; it takes a fair amount of both specialized equipment and knowledge (a lot of which is outside photography) along with a lot of time, patience, and effort to find success. This great video features a few seasoned bird photographers discussing how to navigate the road to success in bird photography and some of the important lessons they learned along the way.
Are you looking for a display that will make your precision editing and retouching more convenient? Let’s check out what a high-resolution pen display tablet can offer.
Whether you’re using full auto, aperture priority, shutter speed priority, or manual mode, there’s a setting that could make your life easier. Here’s why it could be useful to almost every photographer out there.
The form of the digital cameras has become relatively standardized. There are certainly variations from manufacturer to manufacturer, but the basic design is generally stable across companies. That was not always the case, however, particularly in the early days of digital. This neat video takes a look at 10 of the weirdest digital cameras ever made and just what made them so unique.
With every camera comes a nice strap, often mentioning the name of the brand. Although the strap works nicely, there are much better solutions. In the last decade, I have found a solution that suits my own needs. Since I often get questions about it, I decided to write an article about it.
Much of great portraiture — particularly in a studio — is the art of great lighting. However, you don't need a 5-light setup and an elaborate scene to create great images, and the beauty dish is far more versatile than its name might imply.
Coming to you from Andrew Budziak, filmmaker and photographer, as part of Picfair's promotion of their Urban Wildlife Photography Awards: three locations for elevating your wildlife images in the big cities.
Many of you are likely familiar with the company Skylum. They make the ever-popular Luminar photo-editing software. Some of you may know that Skylum was founded in Ukraine, and the majority of their team resides there.
Do you want perfect photos? If so, then maybe you are barking up the wrong tree. In your quest for perfection, you are losing an essential element from your images.
Landscape photography often takes at least a bit of editing to produce a completed image, and as such, you will usually be doing some kind of editing work on the sky. Lightroom's newest version has a wide range of useful tools for doing this, and this excellent video tutorial will show you some of the options for selecting and adjusting a sky and the pros and cons of each.
Lightroom is a more powerful and nuanced application than we sometimes give it credit for, and there are some useful features that are easy to overlook. This awesome video tutorial will show you five hidden features in Lightroom that can make your work life a lot easier and more efficient and even improve the quality of your images.
Wet plate collodion is a photographic process that dates back to the mid-1800s. It involves using antiquated equipment and processes, including toxic chemicals and is difficult to master. So, why would a modern-day successful commercial photographer be interested in pursuing this? And what insights could his journey provide?
Once you get wider than 20mm, you generally do not encounter apertures wider than f/2.0, save for a few rare circumstances. One such option is the Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM, which positions itself as a fantastic creative tool for a wide variety of uses, and this excellent video review takes a look at the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.
While many photographers have probably stitched together a handful of images to create a panorama, this scientist has taken things to a whole other level by using a staggering 8,439 pictures.
The camera industry is quite the well-oiled PR machine, with short update cycles that get photographers drooling over new gear every few months and a lot of hype drummed up over the latest and greatest camera or lens — some deserved and some not so much. This great video essay discusses five things camera companies will not tell you, and it is well worth giving it a listen.
With the release of the Nikon NIKKOR Z 28-75mm f/2.8, I thought it would be a good time to take a look at the current list of options for photographers of all types.
Shooting the night sky, whether by itself or as part of a landscape, can be a magical thing. The problem is that with such low levels of ambient light, any manmade sources can quickly overwhelm the stars and ruin the frame. So, how do you deal with light pollution? This helpful video tutorial will give you some useful tips on how to avoid or mitigate it and come away with more desirable images.
Every photographer starting out with artificial light should work exclusively with a single strobe until they are comfortable with the basics of lighting, but once you feel like you are ready to move on to more advanced setups, the first step, of course, is to add a second light, which opens up a wide range of creative possibilities. This fantastic video tutorial will show you three different ways to use that second light for portrait work to expand your creative palette.
When I first heard of this Sony 16-35mm f/4 lens with power zoom, I looked at it as a gimmick feature. But after actually getting to use the lens, I think people are really going to love this lens.
Continuous, LED lights have become stronger and more affordable over the past decade, to the point where they're challenging a lot of strobes. The new Amaran LED might just top them all, however.
Portrait lighting is about a lot more than simply creating a technically balanced image of your subject; it is your chance to exercise your creativity and show off your subject in a compelling and interesting fashion. If you would like to improve your own portrait photography, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you how one photographer lit and shot a set of portraits using several lights and modifiers.
Nikon has really started to step it up in the professional mirrorless realm lately, and the new NIKKOR Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S lens is particularly emblematic of that, offering professional-level performance and image quality in an extremely portable design, all at a frankly insanely low price. This great video takes a first look at the new lens and what you can expect from it in real-world usage.
Have you noticed the bigotry towards women in the photographic industry? It's there and I feel partly to blame. But some camera manufacturers and big photography businesses are the worst offenders.
Whether you want to do it professionally, donate your talents to a shelter, or just want to create some nice memories of your favorite pup or kitty, pet photography can be a tremendously fun and rewarding thing to do. No matter why you are doing it, this excellent video tutorial featuring an experienced pet photographer will give you five great tips that are sure to help you get better results.
Knowing how to light, pose, and shoot a good portrait is only half of what it takes to produce a compelling final image; you also need to know how to retouch in a tasteful and balanced yet creative manner. If you want to improve your portrait retouching, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will walk you through an entire edit using a variety of advanced techniques and features all in Photoshop.
One of the biggest questions that photographers face is how to find clients and make a living from the craft. There is money to be made with photography, especially if you find a good contract. Here is one such opportunity that will allow you to make money with your photography.
You've probably never used a circular fisheye lens properly, which is to say in the manner it was designed. It's okay, almost no one has.
Kyle Hart has been making photo/video products we love for over a decade now. We love our Rhino Slider, but it's never been big enough for long dolly moves. The Rhino Dolly is here to change that.
The lens is probably the most important piece of gear any photographer will carry, having a tremendous impact on the technical and creative qualities of your images. If you are new to photography and wondering what you need to know about lenses, check out this fantastic video tutorial by an Australian Geographic photographer that will teach both their standard properties and the fundamentals of their usage.
Today, Nikon introduced a new lens that should have wildlife enthusiasts very excited.
Camera carts can be an expensive tool on set, and Inovativ are at the top of the bunch. Hopefully, these ideas can get more out of your cart for less.
At Fstoppers we love having our readership contribute articles to the site. There is a dedicated link on our contact page that makes it easy to send in your pitch. Your suggestion is sent to all of the Fstoppers writers and this gives you many opportunities for someone to find your pitch interesting and have it be published on the site.
Apple's M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M1 Ultra chips have blown the doors off the industry by providing highly powerful performance with equally impressive efficiency to match. The Max and Ultra chips sit at the top of the line, but the Ultra chip is only available in the desktop Mac Studio. So, should you opt for the Studio and its top-level power or the versatility of a MacBook Pro with the M1 Max chip? This excellent video comparison will help you decide.
Shooting off-camera flash outdoors can be tricky, as you need to contend with the brightness of the sun. This means that the flash can get pretty close, especially if you want to get a really soft light on your subject. What if it is in the frame?
When I was first starting out, I got deeply into conversations about style. What is this thing that will get me hired? How do I get it? Recently, I’ve realized that a photographic style isn’t the be-all and end-all magical thing that many beginner photographers think it is.
Modern cameras are highly impressive, able to tackle just about any challenging situation you can throw at them, even those that just a few years ago would have thrown the best options off their game. As such, it can be easy to rely on that technology a little too much and to forget just how far you can get with good technique and a solid creative foundation. This neat video reminds you of that by showing what you can do with a $25 camera that is almost two decades old.
