9 Overhyped Things in the Current Photography Industry

There is a lot of hype in the camera industry, whether over the latest and greatest gear, presets, shortcuts to great images, or something else. Some of it is justified (depending on your perspective), but some of it is nothing more than empty hype. So, what is worth listening to? This interesting video essay discusses nine things one photographer believes are overhyped right now.

Apple Plans To Scan All Your Images and Report People to the Police?

Apple has announced this week that it is going to start rolling out new child safety features. These features are coming later this year in updates to iOS 15, iPadOS 15, watchOS 8, and macOS Monterey. Apple says that this program is ambitious and protecting children is an important responsibility.

A Great System for Better Posing and Directing Models

There's no doubt about it, even if you have the best camera and lens, the correct settings, a good location, and a great model, a poorly thought out pose can ruin the image. Here is a tip for ensuring you pose your subject in a way that has you taking great images.

9 Stupid Reasons to Buy a New Camera

There are a million reasons to buy a new camera. Some are more valid than others. In this article, I take a look at some of the silliest rationales for buying new cameras.

An Advanced Three-Light Portrait Setup With V-Flats and Gels

Once you have mastered the fundamentals of light and how it behaves, you can start exploring more advanced multi-light setups that allow you make more creative and personal images. If you are ready to level up your portrait lighting, check out this awesome video tutorial that will show you an advanced three-light setup using both v-flats and gels.

This Lens Is Incredibly Portable and Versatile and Only Costs $199

Good lenses are rarely affordable; a high-quality professional lens almost always costs thousands of dollars. However, the Tamron 24mm f/2.8 Di III OSD M 1:2 costs just $199 and offers impressive performance and versatility, especially for its price. Is this the next lens for you? Check out this great video review to find out.

9 Free Tools To Produce Your Next Photo Shoot

Eventually, as we progress in our commercial photography careers, we will become a part of sizable shoots with producers attached. Your first shoot with an experienced producer will feel like flying first class for the first time; you will never want to go back.

Pacific Northwest Escape Mission 4: San Francisco

Over the last year and a half, we’ve all realized the importance of connections. And as the world grapples with how to connect at a time when we’ve become increasingly isolated, there’s nothing better than finding symbols of hope in the real world.

Which Supertelephoto Mirrorless Zoom Lens Is Right for You?

The camera world is absolutely awash in supertelephoto zoom lenses right now, and there are plenty of options out there with varying capabilities and price points. This excellent video comparison takes a look at two of the best options, the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports and the Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS.

Nikon Increases Earnings But Loses Ground

Nikon recently posted its first quarter financial report which shows improved sales but still leaves many questions unanswered about its post-COVID recovery. Is it making or — indeed — losing ground to its competitors?

A Start To Finish Tutorial for Creating Amazing Day To Night Time-Lapses

Time-lapses are a right of passage for photographers, but they're an incredibly deep area. While a basic time-lapse is fairly straightforward and achievable with just a modern camera, more complex, cinematic productions require some know-how in both camera setup and post-production.

How Good Is the New Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports Lens?

Sigma's latest lens is the 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports, bringing with it a useful focal length range suitable for anything from sports to wildlife at a decently affordable price. This awesome video review takes a look at the lens and the kind of image quality and performance you can expect from it in practice.

3 Ways To Fix Mixed Lighting in Your Photos

If you're a wedding or event photographer, chances are, you've encountered mixed lighting situations. Though mixed lighting can be used creatively, there are times when it just isn't ideal. Today, I'll be walking through several examples of mixed lighting conditions with solutions on how you can work around it on location or fix it in post-production.

7 Lightroom Tips Every New Photographer Should Know

For most photographers, Lightroom is the place where they will start their photos and often where they will finish them. If you are new to photography, you might be surprised by just how much you can do with Lightroom without ever touching Photoshop. This helpful video tutorial will give you seven tips to ensure you are getting the most out of the program and creating high-quality edits.

How a Professional Landscape Photographer Creates an Image From Capture Through Editing

Landscape photography is a challenging genre that takes the confluence of a lot of techniques, creative ideas, and more to bring an image to fruition, but it is quite rewarding when you see the finished photo. This awesome video tutorial will show you how a professional landscape photographer shoots an image, from choosing the right focal length all the way through the edit.

I’m Tired of Gender Inequality and Sexism in the Photography Industry. Are You?

I think that it’s often difficult for people to understand or see the real struggles that female and nonbinary creatives face in the photography industry. If you’ve been keeping up with current news, Canon has faced some criticism recently. They aren't the first and won't be the last to make a huge diversity misstep.

Can You Spot Fake Bokeh?

Small, affordable cameras with small sensors and small lenses are doomed to produce images with deep depth of field, but what if you could add shallow depth of field in post?

A Review of the Sony a7R IVA Mirrorless Camera

The Sony a7R IVA was a quiet upgrade to the a7R IV, and though most of the changes it brought were relatively minor, it still offers the highly impressive performance of the original a7R IV along with a few extra refinements. This awesome video review takes a look at the camera and the kind of performance and image quality you can expect from it.

Fstoppers Reviews the Zhiyun Smooth-Q3: The Best Smartphone Gimbal To Date

The capabilities of smartphones when it comes to photography and videography have improved to a degree where they are legitimately useful tools for professionals and enthusiasts alike. I got my hands on Zhiyun's Smooth-Q3 to put it through its paces, and the results surprised me.

Helpful Tips for Selling Prints Online

Selling prints can be a fantastic way to create a bit of passive income from your photography, but with so many images and photographers out there, it can be difficult to get a bit of traction to start generating sales. This helpful video discusses a photographer's experience selling prints online and some of the things he has done to increase his sales.

Why You Shouldn't Give Up When Landscape Conditions Aren't Quite Right

Persistence is a quality that can pay off in many areas of life, and photography is no different. Sometimes, in landscape photography, you do not get the sort of light or conditions you were hoping for, but that does not mean you should pack in the gear and go home. This excellent video shows you the kind of pleasant surprises that can await you when you stick around.

DIY or Not: That’s the Question

If you want to buy some items for your photography, prices are often high. It feels like the manufacturer has increased the price just because it is for photography. Sometimes, it is possible to make that item yourself. But is the DIY solution just as good?

Restoring and Photographing With a Large Format Bokeh Monster

Look at any photography discussion board or Facebook page, and you’ll quickly run into members obsessed with bokeh, or the quality of out-of-focus elements in a photograph. If you are in the bokeh-obsessed stage of photography, then large format wet plate photography is absolutely for you.

How to Photograph and Create Time-Lapses of Lightning

Lightning can be a fantastic way to add a bit of drama to a landscape image, though it takes some technique to capture those fleeting moments. This fantastic video tutorial will show you how to photograph and create time-lapses of lightning.

How to Use an Optical Snoot

Optical snoots are inexpensive attachments that can open up a world of possibilities for precise light placement. Here is a detailed description of how to use them and what you need to start creating with them.

Who Makes the Best Supertelephoto Zoom Lens?

Supertelephoto zoom lenses have come a long way in the last few years, and there are now a ton of great options out there. This excellent video review takes a look at three popular options: the Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS, Tamron 150-500mm f/5-6.7 Di III VXD, and Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports.

Helpful Tips for Shooting Portraits With LED Lighting

No doubt, strobes are generally the tool of choice for lighting studio portraits, but constant LED lights have seen an increase in capabilities and popularity in the last few years. If you are thinking of using them as an alternative to strobes for your work, this excellent video tutorial will show you some important techniques, camera settings, and helpful tips for getting the best possible results.

Every Atem Mini Switcher Compared: From the Atem Mini to the Atem Mini Extreme ISO

The Atem Mini switchers have become extremely popular for creatives that wish to take their streaming to the next level. Having the ability to switch between a number of different cameras and angles can be invaluable in many instances. Blackmagic Design seems to have the best options on the market, but which model is the right one for you?

Why Are Pro Photographers So Secretive?

Professional photography can be a really secretive world. Finding out what your competitors charge, who they are shooting for and how they got the contacts, and the way they managed to light that epic image can be a real challenge.

Viltrox APS-C Sony E Mount T1.5 Cinema Lens Set First Look

If you are looking for an affordable set of APS-C Sony E mount Cine lenses, then this article may interest you. Viltrox has just released a new set of manual focus cine lenses for Sony E-mount APS-C cameras with a minimum aperture of T1.5.

5 Tips on Composition To Help You Master Bird Photography

Wildlife photography is one of the trickiest genres to shoot as it requires a lot of knowledge, equipment, and patience for even a chance at a good shot. In this video, a world-class bird photographer walks you through his best tips for improving your composition.

How Even Humble Speedlights Can Create Stunning Photos

Artificial lights and modifiers can quickly add up in cost, but you might be surprised by just how much you can accomplish with only speedlights and basic modifiers. This excellent video tutorial will show you how you can produce professional-level portraits using just speedlights.

How to Edit a Portrait Using Luminar AI

Skylum software has come a long way, and Luminar AI can now tackle a wide range of images quickly and easily to produce professional-level results. Editing portraits can sometimes be a tedious and time-intensive process, but this fantastic video tutorial will show you how to efficiently edit a portrait from start to finish using the program.

Why Are Professional Headshots So Expensive?

Someone looking to get their first professional-quality headshots taken might find themselves surprised by the price. Why are they so expensive and how do photographers justify charging so much money for so little of their time?

5 Tips to Get You Started in Astrophotography

Astrophotography is a genre that takes a lot of specialized knowledge, techniques, and equipment, but when you get things right, the results can be stunning. If you are new to the genre, this great video tutorial features five tips to help you get on the right track and produce better images.

How Leading Lines Can Improve Your Photos

There are many ways to control the way your viewer's eye interacts with your photos, and one of the most fundamental and powerful methods is to use leading lines. This excellent video tutorial will show you why leading lines are so powerful and how to implement them in your own work.

Why Photoshop Smart Objects Are So Useful

There are a ton of ways to approach editing an image, with different methods having their own pros and cons. One method involves using Smart Objects, and this helpful video tutorial will guide through editing landscape images with them and show you why they are so useful.

Noise and Blown Highlights Aren't the End of the World

If there are two things that photographers work really hard to avoid in their images, they are noise and blown highlights. It is drilled into us from day one that these are to be avoided as much as possible. But are they really the end of the world? Maybe not.

A Review of the New Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports Lens

The Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports lens is here, and it brings with it a range of improvements and the company's latest technology, all meant to make it a versatile, high-quality supertelephoto lens that will not break the bank. 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.

Tamron Teases Sony Shooters With Two Intriguing Lenses

Sony shooters will soon be blessed with two new zoom lenses courtesy of Tamron: the unusual 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD and an updated version of the incredibly popular 28-75mm f/2.8. Both are due to go on sale in the next four months.

An Interview With Baber Afzal: Light Painting a Porsche Commercial

Baber Afzal is the soft-spoken talent who only found his way to photography after picking up his sister’s Sony point-and-shoot nearly over a decade ago. That twist of fate has led him to work for some very well-established clients in the UAE, including the Porsche UAE’s new Panamera campaign.