There are a lot of "rules" in photography, meant to codify what makes a good image and how to create one yourself. But for every rule there is out there, there are 100 notable exceptions to it. So, how do you break the rules in a way that produces compelling photos? This excellent video discusses three different ways to go about it.

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 2021, 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.

Shooting a commercial is a difficult task at the best of times, but to do so only utilizing natural light, is even trickier. In this video, go behind the scenes of the shoot as Eric Floberg walks you through settings, equipment, and considerations to get to the professional final result.

Making drastic changes to an image used to take a lot of know-how and time to complete. Now, with the use of LUTs and this tutorial, you can turn a daytime image into a nighttime image quickly and simply, with great effect.

The vast majority of landscape photos are only half done once the shutter has been pressed; a lot of the image is created in the edit, both from a technical standpoint and in adding your personal style. As such, it is important to be aware of where things can go wrong, and this excellent video tutorial details one of the most common mistakes and what you can do to avoid it.

Canon introduced the EF mount in 1987, and it brought with it a number of innovations while ushering in the autofocus era for the company. Before that, though, was the FD mount, and while it had almost exclusively manual focus lenses, one special lens, the FD 35-70mm f/4 AF, actually had a very strange and unique autofocus system, and this neat video shows what it was like to shoot with.

No one enjoys the hassle of going through airport security, but for photographers and filmmakers, it can be especially frustrating and tedious to deal with having all of our gear unpacked, inspected, and repacked, and it can be a serious delay. TSA PreCheck has the potential to alleviate a lot of that, though. Is it worth the $85 fee for five years? This great video essay discusses the topic.

There are two types of opinionated photographers: those who love Godox lights and those who feel Godox lights are not for professional use. Here are some considerations for whether the Godox system is for you.

Creating video content can be so time-consuming that it is off-putting for people starting out on platforms like YouTube. In this video, and experienced videographer and YouTuber, Sidney Diongzon, goes through five tips to help speed up and smooth out your workflow.

Some of photography is intuitive, some of it requires some understanding, and then there are quirks of the craft that can catch you out completely. This particular truth of photography is counter-intuitive and can be frustrating too.

If you're new to flying a drone, there is a lot to learn. I wanted to share my practical advice that can save you time and money. This is the advice I would give myself if I were to go back in time. I would hopefully have helped prevent some frustration and improved my ability to create!

What happens when you combine a high-end video-centric mirrorless camera, a gimbal, and a remote-controlled offroad car? Potentially a spectacular and singular angle, but will it work?

The process from concept to actually shooting a short film can have a lot of moving parts that quickly balloon the overall size of a project. Unforeseen problems will inevitably arise, budgets, schedules, and resources, all putting stress on the crew. Now, imagine choosing to shoot the entire film underwater and at times at a depth of 100 feet. This is exactly what Josiah Gordan envisioned for his film "Angelita."

Shooting portraits using natural light means paying careful attention to how that light is behaving and how it falls upon your subject. This insightful video gives you a series of tips on how to make the most of a wide variety of shooting conditions.

Universal Music Group has bizarrely started to copyright strike videos that contain the Moon. You know, the huge celestial object that sits in the sky and is visible to almost anyone — that moon. Copyright strikes from UMG have essentially become a meme in the last decades; however, this one definitely takes the cake.

With film photography becoming more popular by the month, what accessories might you need to complement your gear, make life easier, and keep your equipment ticking over? Here are ten refreshingly affordable items to add to your setup.

Last week, the model who appeared as a naked infant on the cover of Nirvana’s 1991 album "Nevermind" filed a lawsuit claiming damages on the grounds that the photograph constitutes child pornography. This claim is problematic on a number of levels.

There's a feature with flashes that if you're in the know, is a lifesaver. High speed sync is something that allows you to shoot beyond what's considered the maximum sync speed of your camera, and to shoot wide open with flash in bright light, it's often a necessity to balance the exposure.

It’s not unusual to hear lists of things that successful people do, but what about some patterns that are destined to hold you back? Here’s a list of six habits that you should do your best to avoid as you progress your career as a creator.

Sony fans had to be very patient ahead of the arrival of the a7S III, and they’ve had to do the same for the greatly anticipated a7 IV. Might we finally see an announcement in October?

If you’re a wedding photographer looking to make your business more attractive to clients while also earning yourself more money, today’s cameras make video an obvious addition. Here’s how to start mixing it into your work.

Hopefully, many photographers are doing the right thing and backing up their precious images to keep them safe. Problem is, are those particular storage methods any good long-term?

One of the frustrating parts about landscape photography is that unlike most other genres, you do not have any control over the light. Getting surprised by the light often leads to landscape photographers making a mistake that deprives them of worthwhile images, and this excellent video discusses why and how to avoid it.

Astrophotography is a tremendously challenging genre that requires some specialized techniques and knowledge, but when you nail a shot, the results can be jaw-dropping. If you are looking to improve your astro images, this excellent video tutorial will show you five great tips that will help you take better photos of the night sky.

Landscape photography is a popular genre, but the vast majority of those who enjoy it do it as a hobby and not a profession. So, how do those who do it professionally make a career out of it? This insightful video features a professional landscape photographer discussing his long-term approach to his career and some things to be aware of along the way.

At just four months old, Spencer Elden is the star of possibly the most iconic baby photograph of all time, as he floats on the cover of Nirvana's album Nevermind, but now in his 30s, Elden is suing the band over child sexual exploitation.

The golden spiral is often touted as a sort of magical tool for photo composition that automatically creates balanced, compelling images, but it is not without controversy regarding its effectiveness. This interesting video features one photographer examining the concept and discussing why he thinks it is not a good tool for beginners to use in their photography.

Sports photography is a challenging genre that requires fast reactions and solid technique, but it can also be a ton of fun and can yield jaw-dropping action images. If you are looking to improve your sports images, check out this great video tutorial that offers five helpful tips to take better shots.

Canon's top-level supertelephoto prime lenses are some of the most impressive in the entire camera world, offering extreme focal lengths and apertures paired with uncompromising image quality and performance. The RF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM brings a sports and wildlife staple to the company's mirrorless line, and this excellent video review takes a look at the sort of image quality and performance you can expect from it in practice.

Last week, we walked through How to Capture an Environmental Shutter Drag Portrait. A shutter drag portrait is a portrait that captures movement around a subject using slower shutter speeds. Following the steps in the video, we wound up at a final raw image. In this video and article, I'll be walking through the editing process from start to finish in both color as well as black and white to get to our final images!

Something landscape photographers often have to deal with is extreme dynamic range and the fact that different parts of the frame look better at different times of day. A common technique is to take multiple exposures and blend them in post, and this awesome video tutorial will show you how to do it quickly and easily using the Lighten blending mode in Photoshop.

Canon's RF 600mm f/11 IS STM and RF 800mm f/11 IS STM lenses are some of the most unique to come to the market in a while, offering photographers extremely long focal lengths at very affordable prices, albeit with the compromise of a very narrow fixed aperture. Is that compromise reasonable? This great video review takes a deep look at the lens.

Danish Siddiqui was no stranger to dangerous situations, having captured images of the Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar that garnered a team Pulitzer Prize in 2018. He put himself in harm's way during the tensions between the Hindu majority and Muslim minority in Delhi and again during the pandemic. His images of funeral piers in India were in stark contrast to the government's statements that the COVID response was well in hand.

Sometimes, we're hampered by malfunctioning gear or we just can't afford to invest in a second speedlight, so it's imperative that we learn how to make do with what we have. Creating an evenly lit, bright, and airy portrait with just one speedlight might seem like too much to ask, but not if you have a few grips and some reflective material at hand.

Replaces skies in minutes with Photoshop CC's replace sky feature and these useful tips to get perfect results every time.

Fujifilm's GFX series rewrote the rules on medium format, bringing it to the price level of upper-level full frame options and opening an entirely new format to many photographers. The GFX 100S continues that, bringing a top-shelf sensor and capabilities at a price ($5,999) that is about as aggressive as you will see in any camera. As such, it is an intriguing option for wedding photographers. This great video takes a look at the camera and if it can keep up with the demands of the genre.

We spend a lot of time talking about different kinds of lights and modifiers, but once you have spent a lot of money on your setup, you will want to make sure the stand you put it on will hold it safely and allow you to maneuver it as needed. This helpful video tutorial will show you four commonly used types of studio light stands, when they are appropriate, and how to use them.

Epson asked me if I was interested in reviewing the EcoTank photo ET 8500 all-in-one printer. I said yes and got the opportunity to use the printer for a month. Is it worth investing in this printer? Let’s find out.

There are millions of wonderful pets in shelters at any given time, all waiting for someone to take them home and love them forever. One of the best ways to give back with your camera skills is to photograph shelter pets to increase their chances of being adopted. These great videos will show you the importance of doing so and offer you some helpful tips and tricks for doing so.

If you've ever wondered how professional wildlife photographers get that perfect mirror-like reflection in bird photos and what camera settings they use to capture birds in flight without missing the shot, then this walkthrough is for you.

I have no doubts that we have all forked out some of our hard-earned Benjamins on something completely regrettable, as I certainly have. Over the years, I have made some questionable purchases, and here are the worst.

Understanding the basics of flash photography opens up a world of creative avenues. This tutorial uses some basic concepts but also applies knowledge of color temperature and practical lighting.

We've been waiting a long time for the Canon EOS R3 and we finally have some good, albeit rumored, news on when it'll be launching, and it's not too far away.

Perfecting skin in portraits is one of the hardest edits to do well, as it involves an interplay between removing unwanted blemishes and retaining skin texture. That's why in this tutorial, I'll show you how to make simple, well-balanced edits using Lightroom.

While color grading can be dramatic and can define the mood of the scene, it is just as important a step when you are editing footage that isn't in need of stylizing. In this video, see one editor's workflow in Adobe Premiere Pro.

There is not a more confounding and mysterious element of digital photography than ISO. And just when we've all thought we've figured it out and it starts to make sense, another wrinkle appears and threatens our conceptions all over again.

The mirrorless camera was an innocuous enough invention that stemmed from Olympus' early innovation, but is it Sony that has managed to change the camera market for good and upset the CaNikon apple cart?

Jupiter is one of the most stunning objects in the night sky, and while it is relatively close to us are far as objects in space go, it is still a mind-bogglingly far distance from our home planet, making it a real challenge to photograph. This neat video goes behind the scenes to show the process an astrophotographer went through to get a photo of the biggest planet.

When it comes to organizing and editing your images, there are two behemoths in the industry: Lightroom and Capture One. They are very distinct applications, and you may find you prefer one over the other. If you are wondering which one is right for your work, be sure to check out this great video that highlights their biggest differences and the pros and cons of each application.