Making photography a career is the dream for a ton of people, but very few find lasting professional success. Why is that? There are many things that make it difficult, but one of the most common and damaging is something we often do to ourselves.
Learning how to balance artificial light with ambient light is one of the most important and versatile skills for a portrait photographer to learn. If you are still working on that, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you a series of outdoor portraits shot using a combination of strobes and ambient light and how they were lit.
When I first saw the Platypod, I honestly thought it was a gimmick. Compared to the lightweight Gitzo travel tripod I’ve loved for years, the Platypod is really just a piece of aluminum with some holes in it. I scoffed at the concept of it for a long time since I had no idea how much it would improve my travel photography.
Frank Lee blends mundane domestic visuals against the backdrop of equally repetitive sounds to create not mere actuality, but reality.
NIK Collection 4 is hitting the virtual streets today with some updated tools and some welcome changes to its GUI.
I had the opportunity to check out what a team behind stabilization technology can do with regards to shooting video on mobile devices.
As landscape photographers, one skill that always requires honing is composition. Essentially, we seek to find a bit of beauty in the chaos of nature and then capture it in a frame. Finding and capturing reflections is a great way to portray order and symmetry. Here I've compiled some tips and tricks that can help you master your reflection compositions.
When it comes to the business of photography, for many reasons, pricing is one of the things that often trip people up. But, once you stick to a few simple rules, it becomes easier.
The original Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro lens was well known for being a versatile performer, offering 1:1 macro capabilities, sharp images, excellent image stabilization, and reliable autofocus, becoming a favorite of not just macro photographers, but portrait and wedding photographers as well. The new RF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM brings some major improvements, and this excellent video review shows the image quality and performance you can expect from it in practice.
Somewhere between Allen Funt and season 245 of Survivor, reality television has become the most popular genre of television. We’ve seen a handful of photography-centered shows, but not nearly enough. Frankly, even I got tired of watching the drama of America’s Next Top Model just so I could watch 10 minutes of photography. Thanks to Rankin and the BBC, we’ve been giving something much better.
Even if commercial car photography is not your thing, there is always something to learn from seeing professionals on a shoot. Especially when the results are this impressive and the gear used was minimal.
While some manufacturers have been releasing gear at a breakneck pace, Nikon has been quite quiet the last few months. It seems they are finally waking up, though, with a lot of lens announcements rumored to come this week.
Self-portraits tend to get a somewhat bad rap, in part because of the selfie craze. But, self-portraits can be an incredibly beneficial process for photographers that can lead to great growth and skill development.
Twenty feet away from arguably the most spectacular high desert scene lay a pile of photographic detritus. Busted tripod legs, smashed lenses, and camera bodies pulverized beyond recognition, the scene looked more like a badly bungled camera store robbery than a National Park vista.
With its latest line of M1 devices, Apple has really shocked the market. Laptops such as the Apple MacBook Air are demonstrating performance that is on par with more expensive computers. Now, the Apple M1 iPad Pro is demonstrating incredible performance.
Camera sales are declining rapidly. There is seemingly nothing that we can do about it.
There are a ton of photography competitions out there, often promising prizes, prestige, and more to the winners. Are they actually worth taking the time and spending the money to enter, however? This excellent video essay discusses photography contests and their pros and cons.
A successful landscape photograph takes the confluence of multiple factors, and because you are dependent on multiple factors, it can be easy for just one to go wrong and derail the entire shoot. It is common to overlook that phenomenon and to be left stuck, and this excellent video essay discusses what you can do to ensure you still come home with a worthwhile image.
If you are going to shoot a model, it is great to have an idea about the right lighting setup. Experimenting when the model is standing in front of your camera may not be the best time to do this. With the software set.a.light.3D, it is possible to simulate any possible lighting setup imaginable.
Formula 1 photography requires some specialist gear, and the equipment used during post-production by this seasoned professional is fascinating, allowing him to deliver images as quickly and efficiently as possible.
We are lucky to live in an era where we have vastly powerful cameras that can tackle extreme situations with ease, but of course, that was not always the case. This neat video follows a pair of photographers shooting long-exposure landscape images, one with a modern camera setup and one with a few older film cameras, one almost a century in age.
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.
The majority of landscape photography is done with wide angle lenses like a 16-35mm. And certainly, these are highly useful for the genre, but on the other hand, they are not the only appropriate focal length. In fact, much longer lenses can be just as useful, and this excellent video discusses why a 70-200mm lens could be just what you need for your work.
A quality macro lens can be one of the most useful optics in a photographer's bag, suitable for a huge range of applications from detail shots to portraits. For Sony shooters, there is the FE 90mm f/2.8 Macro G OSS, and this excellent video review takes a look at the kind of image quality and performance you can expect from it in practice.
While the choice of a memory card might seem simple if you normally just grab whatever’s on sale, there are a number of reasons to reconsider that method. The latest generation of cards offer faster speeds and larger capacities at better price points. Whether you’re looking to equip your newest action cam or drone, PNY’s Pro Elite MicroSD card is a great choice.
As portrait photographers, we dream of great models, great light, and a great location. Well, this shoot quite comfortably has all three in abundance and required a helicopter to get there.
If you're looking at creating high-end video with a camera, the amount you can spend can vary as much as if you were looking at buying a car. But how much better is a large format cinema camera anyway?
There's nothing worse than losing photos because you either accidentally deleted them or somebody forced you to get rid of them. But fortunately, there is a way to recover them in no time at all.
It’s no secret that the orange and teal look is popular in movies and photos but getting that look without using LUTs, can seem like a mystery. Unless of course, you know exactly what steps to take in post-production. In this article, you’ll discover the secrets to getting the orange and teal look.
In 1980, philosopher Roland Barthes published a book that would shift our understanding of photography. Drawing on Barthes' words, Jamie Windsor asks the question: How much control do we have over our photographs?
Leica pretty much took the world by storm with the 35mm camera, and manufacturers haven't looked back since. In the film and digital realms, 35mm has been the mainstay for any serious photographer, however, it is also true that those who wanted a little bit "more" went medium format. This tended to be the mark of certain professionals with a price tag to match. So, why then is Fuji capitalizing on a digital market that Pentax seemingly had at its feet?
When the pandemic started, as a professor I had a plan to record all of my lectures in a professional-style studio setup with proper mics, lighting, background, etc. While it was mostly kids and life that got in the way of doing it that way, a huge factor was also the complexity of setting up all the necessary equipment to make it happen.
Defining and cultivating photographic style is a "long term" endeavor. Samuel Elkins shares his personal journey through this process.
When it comes to beauty photography, being able to showcase the details is a crucial aspect, which means the need for strong post-processing skills. If you are looking to improve your work, check out this great video tutorial that will show you how to sharpen and enhance the details in your photos using both Capture One and Photoshop.
Last month, Canon teased us with the R3, offering some incredible features while keeping many of its specifications under wraps. Since then, pricing rumors spread, leaked photos emerged, and the product listing has just gone live. Based on Canon’s history all of this gives us a few more insights into what might be in store.
For a lot of us, making the move from passionate hobbyist to professional is a dream, but the road there is anything but straight and easy to navigate. If you are ready to start making some income from your photography, this excellent video tutorial will give you some helpful advice to increase your chances of finding success.
A good landscape photograph is about more than just an interesting subject and a proper exposure. A good landscape photo is able to capture and keep the viewer's attention by telling a story and evoking feelings. This excellent video essay discusses just what it is that makes a good landscape photograph and how to make them yourself.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has leapt into photography, and as usual, Olympus cameras lead the way with these new technologies. Great for enticing new photographers into our art, it simplifies capturing images. However, as AI takes its first big steps into photography, will it boost overall sales?
As a professional commercial photographer, most of my purchases are made as investments. Sadly, not all of them have been, but the general ethos is that I have to invest in my photography to stay relevant in my career choice.
Henri Cartier-Bresson is one of the greatest photographers of all time. What is it that gave him his style, and how would you go about recreating it? This video tries to find out.
This is another brief story about the possibility of progress over the course of a photography career.
A couple in Colorado was left shocked after Amazon delivered an empty box instead of the Sony a1 worth $7,000 that they ordered — and then refused to give them a refund.
Photoshop is a very complex and intricate program, and it can feel a bit overwhelming when you are new to photography and just starting to learn how to use it. If you are new to the program and wondering how to get started, check out this excellent video tutorial that will get you on the right track in no time.
There are more and more people by the day looking to get into film. And why not, right? Depending on what you’re looking for, it may be too late.
A superzoom lens can be tremendously convenient and useful in any situation where you need a lot of focal lengths at the same time or want to avoid changing lenses due to the environment. For Nikon mirrorless shooters, there is the 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR lens, and this excellent video review takes a look at the kind of performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.
Sky replacement used to be a very tedious process, but recent advancements in software have automated some of the most difficult aspects. This excellent video tutorial will show you everything you need to know about sky replacement in three popular programs: Photoshop, Luminar AI, and Affinity Photo.
You can get your hands on exceptionally fast glass far easier and at far less of a cost than ever before. This nifty-fifty breaches the f/1.0 widest aperture and is fast becoming a gem of a lens.
Photography is undoubtedly the art with the lowest entry point. You can just pick up your phone and snap away. With billions of images created every day, they sometimes follow trends. Many beginner photographers start following pages on Instagram that “repost bangers.” However, those bangers are very far from what photography is about. In this article, I will talk about some of the worst photography trends that have become memes.
Apple’s Thunderbolt Display was discontinued in 2016, and we haven’t seen anything quite like it since.
