Zhiyun Announces the Crane-M2 S: A Mirrorless Capable Gimbal at a Lower Price

Looking for a gimbal that's capable of stabilizing your mirrorless camera, phone, or action camera, all without taking up too much space in your bag? Zhiyun's newly announced Crane-M2 S brings the unique features of the larger M3, including a fill light, USB-C fast charge, and a built-in display, to the more compact form-factor of the Crane-M2. Want to see what makes this gimbal such a powerhouse?

DxO PureRAW 2 Can Work From Within Lightroom, Increases Speed, and Adds New Cameras and Lenses

DxO PureRAW is a permanent part of my photographic workflow. Before anything else, I take my raw files from my mirrorless camera and my drone through PureRAW first. It checks my camera and lens data and outputs a raw file with corrections that eliminate lens distortions, vignetting, noise, and a host of other issues specific to my hardware. Here's my review of what was a must-have the last time around.

Would You Buy a Digital Xpan?

The Xpan was one of the most innovative cameras ever produced. Launched in 1998, it was a joint venture between two giants: Hasselblad and Fujifilm. Its unique design brought panorama images to 35mm, with the ability to switch between standard and panorama images on the fly.

How Good Is the New OM System OM-1 Mirrorless Camera?

The OM System OM-1 is here, and it brings with it some mightily impressive improvements and upgrades along with a range of new features that help to modernize the system and make it competitive with APS-C and full frame options again. This great video review takes a look at the new camera and the kind of performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.

What Exactly Is Image Stacking?

If you have ever seen images of deep space objects like nebulae and galaxies while perusing the internet today, you may have wondered why they look the way they do. I mean, it’s not all difficult to point your camera up and take pictures of the night sky. But there’s a lot more to it than that.

13 Great Tips and Ideas for Springtime Landscape Photography

Spring is just about upon many of us, and it brings with it a wide range of exciting new photo opportunities and chances to explore your creativity and expand your portfolio. If you want to make sure you get the most out of the next few weeks, check out this fantastic video tutorial that discusses 13 ideas and tips to improve your springtime landscape photos and expand your creative output.

Tips for Managing Time and Location Data in Photos

Have you ever had to sort through a box of photos, perhaps from your parents’ collection of vacation photos? An all too common question is: “When was this photo taken?”

Camera Settings Every Landscape Photographer Needs to Know

One of the beautiful things about landscape photography is that your camera settings play two roles: providing a technically correct exposure and just as importantly, allowing you to render the frame in the way your creative mind sees fit. There are some camera settings you need to make sure you have down, however, and if you are new to the genre, this helpful video tutorial will make sure you know what they are and how to properly use them.

How to Combine Multiple Catalogs in Lightroom

As you progress in photography and accumulate more images in your library of work, you will probably end up with tens or even hundreds of thousands of photos, and keeping them organized can be quite a task. Part of that will sometimes mean working with multiple catalogs that you might want to combine down the line. This excellent video tutorial will show you everything you need to know to merge multiple catalogs in Lightroom.

How to Capture Sharp Photos of Birds in Flight

When it comes to photos of birds in flight, few other things matter if the final image is not sharp. If you would like to make sure your photos of birds in flight are nice and crisp, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will give you a range of tips as well as a nice discussion on what makes a compelling image of a bird in flight.

6 Pieces of Gear You Will Regret Buying in 2022

There is a lot of advice on what gear you should buy in 2022. But, if you look beyond the marketing of companies, is there gear that you probably don’t need in 2022? The answer is, yes, there is a lot of gear you don’t need. Here are my top picks on what you should not get.

Amazing DIY Photo Storage Server

Let's face it: as photographers, we are crazy about saving our files. I have terabytes of images and videos spanning multiple hard drives in different arrays in my studio, and it drives me nuts that it's in disarray. Maybe you’re in the same boat, looking for a better way to safely store all your important images in one place.

The Importance of Following Your Photographic Intuition

When it comes to photography, we often spend a lot of time either trying to follow formulaic procedures to create the best images or trying to imitate the work of others. And that can often create perfectly acceptable images, but on the other hand, it is important to remember that sometimes, intuition is the best way to get things done. This excellent video essay discusses that idea and how to apply it to your own work.

Stop Making These Editing Mistakes (Part Two)

These are six of the most common mistakes I see photographers make in their editing regardless of skill level. This part will cover white balance, getting caught up in your histogram, and not spending enough time cropping.

7 Composition Mistakes Beginner Photographers Make

There are few things that can make or break a photograph like composition. If you organize a brilliant composition of a scene, you could turn an average photo into something special. However, conversely, if your composition is poor, it can undo a lot of hard work.

How to Photograph Foggy Forests

Forests can make for wonderful photographs, but they can be very tricky to create compelling and clean compositions in given the dense and unpredictable, snaking branches. Fog can be a fantastic natural way to alleviate this issue, and it provides dramatic, diffuse light. This helpful video tutorial will show you how to create the best images you can when shooting a foggy forest.

How to Choose the Best Aperture for a Photo

Along with shutter speed and ISO, aperture is one of the three fundamental exposure parameters that help to create a technically sound photograph. However, aperture is not just a tool for getting the correct exposure, as it gives you powerful creative control over the look of the resultant image. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to choose the correct aperture for a variety of images both to create a technically correct photo and to convey what you want creatively.

5 Photographic Phenomona You Absolutely Need to Adhere To

As you get better and better at photography, you learn more and more. This has the negative effect that there then exist fewer and fewer new things to learn since you already know most of them. I was surprised to find this video by Alex Kilbee where he shares some lesser-known photographic phenomena.

How Believing in Yourself Leads to Better Photographs

You have checked the weather maps, you have a clear idea of what you could photograph to get a masterpiece, and then, things are different, and you have no idea what to photograph? That’s fantastic, because this is the best starting point to become a better photographer.

Using Flash To Change Your Photo From Day Into Night

If you like shooting your muse in a night-like environment, you might run into some difficulties. With flash, it is also possible to create the night during daylight. This way, it becomes much easier to shoot your muse, without all the difficulties you encounter while shooting in the dark. On top of that, it isn’t difficult at all.

A Guide to Shooting With Sony Cameras and Lenses on a Budget

Sony offers some of the most advanced cameras and lenses in the world, but of course, tricking out your entire kit can quickly cause the costs to add up. That being said, if you do not insist on having the absolute best equipment, it is quite possible to build a competent and capable Sony kit without breaking the bank. This helpful video will take you through the best options for cameras, primes, and zoom lenses.

What You Need to Know to Take Fantastic Pet Photos

Whether you want to make it a business, volunteer your time and skills for shelter pets in need, or just want to create better memories of your own furry friends, pet photography is a specialized skill that takes some careful technique and knowledge. If you are ready to improve your pet photography, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you everything you need to know from the best gear to lighting, camera settings, working with treats, and more.

Is This the Only Lens a Photographer Needs?

Tamron has really gone through a renaissance in recent years, creating impressively capable and practical lenses that significantly undercut the prices of many first-party options. The 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD is quite a significant step forward, covering a huge range of common focal lengths with impressively wide apertures. Can it be the only lens some photographers need? This fantastic video review takes a look.

Stop Making These Editing Mistakes (Part One)

These are six of the most common mistakes I see photographers make in their editing regardless of skill level. This part will cover how heavy your edit should be, controlling your saturation, and fixing halos in your images.

The 40mm Focal Length Is Just About Perfect

I've used a 40mm (equivalent) lens for years, and while I first discovered this weird focal length more than a decade ago with Micro Four Thirds, it's become a staple of my collection enough to move it from "weird" to "wonderful."

Why Your Focal Length Choice Is So Important for Portrait Photography

When it comes to portrait photography, one of the most fundamental and important creative decisions you can make is the focal length you use. If you are newer to portrait photography and curious about how it affects the look of your final images, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you a set of portraits shot at a range of different focal lengths.

A Review of the Sony a7S III In the Field

I am not a Sony shooter, but, for the last couple of months, I’ve gotten a chance to play with the Sony a7S III and use it for an assortment of projects. Here are my impressions from the outside looking in.

An Easy and Effective On-Location Lighting Setup

When you are working in the studio, it is not a big deal to create complex, multi-light setups, since all your gear is there and doing so only requires moving it a minimal distance. On the other hand, when it comes to working on location, unless you have an entire crew with you, efficiency is the name of the game. This helpful video tutorial will show you a quick, simple, and effective lighting setup for on-location portraits.

There Are No Shortcuts in Photography

There are a ton of products out there that promise you a quick and direct route to being a better photographer. Before you spend your money on what might be an empty promise, however, spend a few minutes watching this fantastic video essay that discusses what it really takes to become a better photographer.

Serena Williams Slams NY Times for Erroneously Printing Photo of Venus

Talk about a publishing faux pas. In an interview for Williams' new venture fund, the NY Times mistakenly used an image of her sister, Venus. Covering Serena’s new $111 million fund, the article also referred to her as "Tennis Star" rather than using her name in its headline. In a tweet on March 2nd, Williams called out the NY Times.

A Landscape Photographer's New Favorite Camera Bag

There are a lot of camera bag addicts in our community and it's easy to see why: they can revolutionize your shooting experience when outdoors. Of all the genres of photography that need the right camera bag, landscape is right up near the top. Here is one landscape photographer's new favorite bag.

Get Published, Get a Showing at Unpublished Photo 2022 (UP22): Call for Entries

Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, in Venice, Fondazione Culture e Musei and Museo delle Culture (MUSEC) of Lugano, and 29 Arts in Progress, of Milan are supporting the fourth edition of the open call: UNPUBLISHED PHOTO 2022 – UP22. The open contest is designed to showcase young talents (under 36) in contemporary photography.

Great Performance at a Great Price: Fstoppers Reviews PGYTECH’s Mavic 3 Filter Line

DJI’s Mavic 3 is an amazing drone, but DJI’s pricing for their filters isn’t so amazing. Fortunately, companies like PGYTECH have made a range of filters compatible with the Mavic 3’s unique mount and camera setup. Are they worth pairing with the high-performance camera the drone is equipped with? I put PGYTECH’s Mavic 3 filter series to the test in this review.

Using Liquify to Improve Your Portraits

Any photographer with experience in portraiture knows that the image captured in camera is far from a finished portrait. Post-processing of portraits is a skill that takes time and practice to learn. Learning to use the Liquify tool can help to make a good image into a great image. As with all of the tools in Photoshop, it's important to know how much is too much.

What Can Photographers Learn From Why People Go To The Cinema?

Have you ever heard someone say: "you have to watch it at the cinema"? This is usually when it's a movie loaded with action, special effects, and sound design that captures your imagination. Is this all that gets the cinemas to sell seats? If your answer is yes, this video might make you consider your opinion.

How To Turn Your Garage Into a Professional Portrait Studio

When it comes to portrait photography, most professionals employ a range of lighting equipment to dial in the exact images they are looking for no matter where they are or when they are shooting. That being said, you will be amazed what you can accomplish with natural light and the knowledge of how to shape it to your needs. This great video tutorial will show you how to create professional portraits in a garage using just natural light and a few modifiers.

5 Productivity Hacks That Help Me Be a More Efficient Professional Photographer 

As a photographer, it is easy to get bogged down in creativity, without really thinking about how effective your process is. As time is the most valuable resource that you have, you need to use it most efficiently. In this article, I will break down a few tips that helped me become a productivity master.

Everything You Need to Know About Virtual Copies in Lightroom

Lightroom has some useful tools for organizing and working with large collections of photos, and one particularly useful option is virtual copies. If you have not used them before or you want to get more out of them, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you everything you need to know to use virtual copies.

This Powerful Technique Will Improve Your Photo Compositions

Composition is a nuanced, tricky thing, and it holds within it the power to capture the viewer's eye and imagination. If you are looking for ways to improve the compositions of your images, no matter what genre you shoot, check out this fantastic video essay that will show you a time-tested technique for creating more interesting and compelling photos.

Does Being Too Late Ruin Your Photo Day?

As landscape photographers, we are used to leaving our warm bed in the early morning, being on location, and also having a composition before the sun starts to rise. But what if we arrive after the sun has come up? Is there still a way to go home with strong photographs?

5 Helpful Tips for Better Family Photos

Family portraits are something that will almost always be in demand, but with multiple subjects to manage, with some of them often being unruly kids, it can take a lot to get a successful result. If you want to create better family portraits, check out this excellent video tutorial that will give five tips sure to help you improve.

Finding Shackleton's Endurance, Can Hurley's Images Be Far Behind?

Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship, Endurance, which was crushed by ice and sank in 1915, has just been found. How is this photography related? Somewhere on board the ship is a treasure trove of Frank Hurley images documenting one of the last expeditions of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.

2022 Will Be a Big Year for Capture One

A lot of photographers love Capture One, particularly for the image quality it produces and for its robust tethering capabilities. Capture One plans to expand in 2022, with a new iPad app on the way, and this video preview shows some of what you can expect.

Russia’s War in Ukraine Will Leave a Lasting Scar on the Photography Industry 

A week into the war, many start to ask about the long-term impacts of the war. As a Ukrainian-born writer with family and friends in Ukraine, I am keeping a very close eye on the news surrounding the war. A war on such a grand scale will have a profound impact on most industries, photography included. Here is my analysis of how this war will echo in photography.

5 Essential Tips to Improve Your Street Photography

There are few genres of photography I find more interesting and engaging than street, but it's a tricky discipline to master. In this video, Pat Kay walks you through five essential tips that could help you improve.