4 of the Best Apps for Planning Photoshoots

Apps have undoubtedly revolutionized modern life and there are few areas untouched by them. Photography is no exception and with the help of the right app, your shoots and your workflow can improve tenfold. Here are four apps one photographer reaches for when planning his next shoot.

How to Improve Your Landscape Photo Compositions

Composition is one of the most challenging aspects of landscape photography, and a good composition can be what takes an interesting subject and creates a compelling photo of it. If you have been struggling with creating good compositions, this great video tutorial will show you an effective method for finding worthwhile subjects and using them to make better photos.

Shooting Locations With No Golden Hour Light

There are a few locations you'll encounter in landscape photography that don't get golden hour light. This video discusses a few examples of those locations and a few ideas of what you can do when you find yourself without golden hour.

The Top Five Photography Spots in Socotra: This Place Is Beautiful

Socotra is one of the most stunning places on the planet to photograph. Its strikingly white sand dunes and breathtaking dragon blood trees certainly have a lot to do with it. But there’s way more to love about one of the planet’s most biodiverse islands.

How to Blend Photos With Different Shutter Speeds in Photoshop

Landscape photographers often blend images shot at different focal distances for maximum sharpness and occasionally those shot at separate focal lengths for creative effect. However, you can also blend images shot at different shutter speeds for both creative effect and high levels of sharpness, and this excellent video tutorial will show you how to do it using Photoshop.

A Year With Fuji's Flagship X-T4 Mirrorless Camera

Fujifilm's X Series of cameras has gained a lot of respect over the years as a line of capable, well-designed bodies that offer photographers a functional and creatively inspiring experience. The X-T4 is the most recent flagship in the company's line of mirrorless cameras, and this excellent video review discusses how it holds up after a year of usage.

Fstoppers Reviews the SunwayFoto GH-02 Gimbal Head

I recently decided to upgrade to a nicer gimbal head for my tripod. However, I wasn't quite fond of the $500+ options available on the market. I'm sure they are nice, but I couldn't justify the extra cost because my current gimbal did almost everything I needed.

Do You Really Understand How Reflections Work in Photography?

Controlling reflections on your subject has to be one of the trickier skills to master in photography. It's a deep and nerdy topic to dive into, but this video is specifically about food photography and how simple changes in your shooting angle can dramatically affect the final image.

Sony a7S III Versus Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro

In this article, you will discover the key differences between two very popular cameras with video shooters, the Sony a7S III and the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro. Check out the article to decide which one of these video workhorses is the right one for you.

5 Things You Should Do Before Every Wedding You Photograph

Wedding photography is a high-pressure genre in which being prepared in every aspect is crucial to ensuring success when the big day arrives. This excellent video tutorial features a seasoned wedding photographer discussing five things you should do before every wedding you shoot.

Stop Storing Your Files Like It’s 1999

Whether you’re shooting 8K video or are just coming back from a shoot with 1,000 images to sort through, your digital asset management strategy has to be on point. Over the last few years, technology and standards have advanced quite a bit, and it’s easier than ever to create a powerful, versatile, and safer approach to storing your files, but it can also be confusing. This guide will take a look at the standards you have to know when upgrading your storage.

How to Get Started in Deep-Sky Astrophotography With a Telescope and Your Camera

Astrophotography is a very challenging genre, requiring specialized equipment, technical knowledge, top-notch technique, and a lot of patience, but it can be tremendously rewarding when it all comes together and you get a stunning image of something that is an unfathomably large distance from our home. If you are new to deep-sky astrophotography, this great video tutorial will show you the basics of getting started with a camera and a telescope.

Don't Listen to Photography Gatekeepers

Photography culture is a weird thing, and there can be a lot of unnecessary gatekeeping regarding gear, skills, creativity, access to opportunities, and more, and it can all be rather discouraging, especially for newcomers. This excellent video essay offers some important words of encouragement for facing those gatekeepers.

Talent Alone Isn’t Enough to Get You Very Far

Talent is a wonderful thing, but talent alone isn't enough to bring you success in the photography world. And let's face it, there are lots and lots of talented people out there. Here are some other things that you will probably need far more than talent to succeed in photography.

What Camera Gear Makes Me the Most Money

As a working professional commercial photographer, the return on investment (ROI) of your equipment is very important. Or at least it should be. In this video, I look at what actually makes me money.

What Is a Shift Lens and What Does It Do?

Shift lenses offer a lot of unique solutions in certain situations. Is it beneficial for your photography workflow? In this video, we'll see the uses of a shift lens and for what genres of photography you may want one.

Finally a Tripod I Love: Colorado Tripod Company

I've been testing out the Centennial Tripod from Colorado Tripod Company and I love it. Buying US-made products is cool, but when those sellers offer top quality at a good price, it's even more awesome! Read on to see why I think your next tripod should be made in Colorado.

Do You Need a Filter for Night Photography?

Filters can be used in a variety of situations, particularly in landscape photography, but do you need them when you do night photography, and will they improve your images?

A Beginner's Guide to Autofocus

One of the most fundamental and important features of any camera is autofocus, and modern bodies have impressively capable and comprehensive systems that are designed to competently tackle just about any scenario you can throw at them. With those capabilities come some complexity, however, so if you are new to photography, check out this great video tutorial that will show you the ins and out of autofocus systems and settings and how to choose the right option to get the best results.

Are You Shooting Raw? There May Be a Good Reason Not To

I shoot solely raw. However, I know some tremendous photographers whose cameras are set to record just JPEGs, and they will never change. I am envious because they spend less time in front of the computer. Shooting raw is worth learning, but maybe there's also a good reason to shun it.

Do You Deal With Impostor Syndrome?

Being a creative comes with a healthy dose of assaults on our confidence, both internal and external. When it comes to those internal assaults, one of the worst is impostor syndrome. Impostor syndrome can undermine your confidence and make it difficult to perform at your best behind the camera. This excellent video essay discusses the issue and what you can do to overcome it to become a happier and more confident creative professional.

A Review of the Nikon NIKKOR Z 20mm f/1.8 S Lens

With a relatively light and small footprint along with a wide aperture for its focal length, the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 20mm f/1.8G ED is a compelling option for Nikon mirrorless shooters in a wide variety of genres. 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.

Mighty Fine Macro: Fstoppers Reviews the Venus Optics Laowa 50mm f/2.8 Ultra Macro APO Lens

There’s no shortage of lenses to choose from when it comes to the Micro Four Thirds mount, and so, for one to stand out, it’s got to offer something special. The Venus Optics Laowa 50mm f/2.8 Ultra Macro APO is a lens that just happens to have a few tricks up its sleeve to make a case for itself, namely 2:1 magnification for macro photography and the computer chips to make it play nice with Micro Four Thirds cameras.

A Look at the Pentax K-3 Mark III DSLR

Pentax may have a smaller market share than most, but their users are quite loyal to the company and its determination to keep DSLRs alive and evolving. The K-3 Mark III is their latest flagship APS-C DSLR, and this great video review talks about some of the improvements to the camera and shares lots of sample images to show what you can expect from it in practice.

5 Affordable Tools That Will Make Your Filmmaking Lives Easier

If you're starting out in photography or videography, it feels as if there are unlimited items you need, which is not the case. However, there are some less expensive tools that can aid in your production and make a bigger difference than their cost implies.

Shooting With the Canon EOS R5 and RF 50mm f/1.2L

The Canon EOS R5 and RF 50mm f/1.2L USM lens are two of the company's best offerings, offering top-notch image quality, high resolution, and performance even with an extreme aperture, making them an especially exciting option for portrait shooters. This excellent video shows the kind of performance and image quality you can get from the combination.

5 Tips for Capturing the Milky Way With Your Astrophotography

The Milky Way is the first major landmark after capturing stars in astrophotography, depending on where you are in the world. However, capturing it can be tricky, require some know-how, and the right equipment. So, here are five tips to help you get it right.

Sony a1: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Sony Netherlands gave me a Sony a1 for a review. During two weeks, I dove into this amazing camera, learning about all the things that make the Sony a1 the top of the Alpha line-up. I shot a lot of pictures and learned a lot of things about this camera. These are my thoughts.

Using the Incredible Canon 200mm f/2L for Portraits

As far as extreme lenses go, Canon's 200mm f/2L IS USM is near the top, with one of the most extreme focal length and aperture combinations out there. Though it was generally designed as a sports and wildlife lens, it has found a second home as a portrait lens, and this fun video discusses what it is like shooting with it, both the pros and the cons.

Using a Supertelephoto Zoom Lens for Minimalist Landscape Photography

Landscape photography is traditionally done with a wide angle lens in order to capture the majority of the scene in the frame, and while there is nothing wrong with that approach, you can make images that are just as visually interesting with longer focal lengths. This excellent video shows how one photographer uses a supertelephoto zoom lens to create minimalist landscape photos.

Learn to Utilize Frequency Separation in Landscape Photography

Frequency separation is a Photoshop technique that involves "separating" the colors in an image from the textures. Though typically used by portrait photographers for retouching a model's skin, it's a useful tool for landscape photographers to have on their belts. In this article, I outline two cases in which frequency separation helped me process a recent image.

Helpful Tips to Make You Work Faster in Lightroom

A lot of us spend a ton of time working in Lightroom, and anywhere we can increase our efficiency, even by just a little amount, can add up to big savings in the long run. This helpful video tutorial will show you a variety of ways to work more quickly in Lightroom and save a lot of time.

Easy Tricks To Create Moody Portraits in Adobe Photoshop

The art of creating an appealing and memorable, moody portrait is often in the post-production of that image as much as it is in the lighting. In this short video, you get some tricks for getting the most out of your shot when you're creating a moody edit.

Drone Crashes Into Icelandic Volcano Capturing Its Own Incredible Demise

There are few videos I have clicked on faster than a drone filming itself crashing into a volcano in Iceland. This video shows a DJI first-person view drone as it records the rivers of lava flowing out of Fagradalsfjall before plummeting into a fiery death, all in glorious 4K.

How to Use V-Flats to Create Eye-Catching Light for Portraits

Lights and specialty modifiers can be quite expensive, and filling out your collection can be a major hit to your wallet. However, one of the most versatile modifiers and a favorite of many studio photographers is also one of the cheapest. The humble v-flat is tremendously useful, and this excellent video tutorial will show you how to use them to create eye-catching light.

How to Direct and Pose for Better Headshots

Whereas things like camera settings and lighting can be quantified and thus committed to memory in a straightforward manner, posing and directing a subject is a bit more nebulous and often gives photographers a fair amount of trouble. Peter Hurley is well known as a master of directing and posing, and in this excellent video tutorial, he shares some of his best advice that is sure to improve your own work.

Creating Time-Lapse Videos With Just Lightroom and Photoshop

Lightroom and Photoshop are generally considered to be tools for standard (still) photography, but simple video tasks can be handled entirely within your photographer’s Lightroom and Photoshop subscription package (no need for Adobe Premiere Pro), and without any third-party add-on tools. In particular, the pair of programs handles time-lapse videos quite nicely.

How to Color Grade a Photo in Lightroom

It used to be that for serious color grading work, you needed to work in Photoshop, but Lightroom now offers some powerful controls for color grading that let you take precise control to dial in the exact look you want. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to leverage those controls to color grade your photos.

The Blueprint: How to Create Cyanotypes

Cyanotypes are a type of printmaking process invented in the 1800s by Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Baronet KH FRS. What a name!

A $300 Full Frame Camera Shootout: Canon Versus Nikon

There have been so many cameras over the last 20 years that there are certainly some bargains to be had now. In this video, two cameras each costing less than $300 are pitted against one another.

Photographing Black Cowgirls on Film

Vuhlandes is a film photographer based in Detroit, Michigan. In this video, he collaborates with cowgirl Brianna and her horse, Dapper Dan, to create images that meld Vuhlandes’ urban style with a distinctly nostalgic, yet new Americana.

How Many Lenses Do You Actually Need?

With more and more amazing lenses being introduced at a dizzying pace, I find myself asking a very basic question: How many lenses do I actually need?

How Good Is the Impressively Affordable Tamron 20mm f/2.8 Di III OSD M 1:2 Lens?

Currently on sale for just $249 and weighing less than half a pound, the Tamron 20mm f/2.8 Di III OSD M 1:2 lens is an affordable, versatile, and highly portable lens. How does it hold up in practice? This excellent video review takes a look at the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it.