There's almost an infinite amount of decisions that a photographer has to make on their journey to becoming a professional. While many of these choices may be somewhat trivial, other decisions will place you on the wrong path, cost you money, or slow your progress down dramatically.

It was about a year ago I reviewed the NIK Collection 2, a rebirth of popular Adobe plugins that laid fallow while its new owner, Google, tried to figure out what to do with them until DXO bought the software in 2017 and continually upgraded the collection. They have now added a feature that is really going to excite photographers.

Image editing takes a lot of skill in numerous techniques and creative vision to pull off successfully, and even the most talented and experienced photographers and retouchers can occasionally go awry in their work. Anyone, novice or experienced, can improve their image edits with this simple technique.

Presets these days come in at a dime a dozen, that is unless you are looking for something that is more than a simple set of slider movements and a curves adjustment. In that case, SLR Lounge and DVLOP have what you are looking for.

While details still remain a little cloudy, we can be fairly certain that Sony has a few announcements coming up in the next couple of weeks, and we can now be pretty sure that one of them is a brand new 12-24mm f/2.8 GM for full-frame mirrorless cameras.

For many, the name "Minecraft" evokes images of 12-year-olds toiling away in a cube-like virtual world. The image is surely foreign to much of our readership. But the foreign and new are now commonplace, and we are sure to see new uses for virtual worlds of all kinds — even art galleries and fundraisers.

The TikTok photographer who recently interrupted a wedding photoshoot has been accused of capitalizing on the Black Lives Matter movement, exploiting the current unrest and shouting out his sponsor along the way.

Photography has changed as a profession. In this video, I go over how I make my money as a photographer, including a full breakdown of my income streams and what percentage of my income they comprise.

In this video, I go over how I price local and small commercial photography jobs. The video covers day rates, license fees, and how they differ from bigger jobs.

Do you remember the game "Would You Rather?" It is a straightforward premise: pick two equally unappetizing options, and make the player choose between them. It is equal parts cringing and laughing, so jump in and give it a try.

Composition is one of the trickiest and subtlest aspects of photography and is often one of the last things photographers master. If that is something you personally struggle with, you should try this simple change in thinking to make more powerful and compelling images.

In the midst of a mirrorless wave, the release of Nikon’s latest DSLR, the D780, has gone largely under the radar. But, for some photographers, it might just be what the doctor ordered.

The rainforest canopy rustled overhead with the fragrant scent of an oncoming downpour. Glancing down at the sodden trail, we noticed a set of paw prints pressed into the detritus-flecked mud, each five inches across. They led in a slow procession of confident strides down the center of the jungle path. The hairs rose on the back of my neck.

You may have noticed a photography education form in recent years online. With the popularization of digital courses, photographers have found fantastic ways to spread education in their community. They’ve also found a lot of opportunities for their business growth in creating an educational platform. So, why do so many photographers get into education in the first place?

If you struggle with the different concepts of composition, this in-field tutorial might be something for you.

Go behind the scenes on a promo shoot for the Canon 5D Mark IV.

In my experience, it's been rare for me to watch a tutorial on YouTube and feel completely satisfied with the information being presented. In many instances, the information is either really basic, common knowledge or just a new way of saying something that's already been said. The video linked above is a very welcome change from that.

The last few years have not been kind to the photography industry. With smartphone manufacturers flooding the market with easily accessible and relatively good quality cameras, the camera industry has struggled. Now, with COVID-19 hitting the mix, the tough times have become far worse.

Video footage has been released showing the moment a veteran WCCO Photographer was shot with rubber bullets and arrested, even though he clearly identified that he was working for the press.

When it comes to storing data, photographers have it easy. What if you’re a filmmaker shooting on multiple cameras across multiple projects for multiple clients? Resolution is increasing by the year, and fortunately, hard drives are also growing in size, but what do you do if you have 200 terabytes of data to look after?

If you're like me and just about every photographer I know that shoots film, you have more than one camera. Maybe one or two 35mm options, a 645 or 6x6 camera, and perhaps a 6x7 camera. The question is though, how many is too many?

You can't do a project on a zero budget. If you actually spent a zero amount, that means you never did anything.

When it comes to photographing models, a comfortable subject can make for exceptional photos. Making your subjects feel like they are in a safe and welcoming environment will make your photoshoot a successful photo set for both your portfolio and the models. As a photographer, it is your responsibility to make the subject of your images feel comfortable and in a safe space.

In order to be a great portrait photographer you need a set of decent tools in order to do your job. Whether you work in the studio or out in the field we take a look at five top lenses for portrait photography.

There's often some confusion among beginner Lightroom and Photoshop users about how they should be exporting files. In this video, watch how a professional photographer prepares his files for use on the web and in print.

A new pack of presets, called Crush, has just been released by SLR Lounge and DVLOP. With a "bold and vivid" aesthetic, this pack combines DVLOP's technical background in preset development with SLR Lounge's professional style. Want to see what's included?

Making movies is expensive. It's harder than you think to go from an unlimited budget to one of just a few million dollars. Sarcasm aside, what can we learn when a giant of cinema tries to shoot a masterpiece on budget?

Distractions can ruin what would otherwise be a great photo, and they can sneak up on you more easily than you might expect. This interesting video discusses the issues of distractions in landscape photos and what we can do about them.

The HSL panel is by far one of the most powerful ways to edit your photos in Lightroom and to develop a signature style. If you are a bit unsure of how to use the HSL panel in Lightroom, this fantastic video tutorial will get you up and running in no time.

Composition is a tricky and intricate aspect of landscape photography, and though there are no hard and fast rules, there are lots of great tricks and guidelines that can help you on your way. This helpful video will show you seven great tricks to improve your landscape image compositions.

Compact cameras have fallen from popularity in the last decade with the rise of the smartphone, with most photographers working with their full setup and carrying a phone on the side. However, some photographers still carry along a compact camera, and this great video discusses why you should consider doing the same.

Phone cameras are the most used cameras on earth, but it's only in the last five years or so that photographers have been taking them more seriously. Now, Sony are looking to blur the boundaries even further.

Lighter has always been better with technology, particularly when you carry the item around. But is it truly always better to be lighter?

Light painting a car can be tricky to get right and difficult to know exactly what steps to take in camera. This video shows you the complete process, from garage space through to finished (and frankly brilliant) image.

Last night, amid a tense evening in Chicago, just as a city-wide curfew was declared, Central Camera, a well-known and loved small business, filled with smoke and flames.

The portable lighting space has never been busier, which is great for us consumers. But is this one of the best portable lights on the market?

A photographer and journalist has been blinded after a police bullet “exploded” her eyeball while she documented the riots currently ongoing in Minneapolis.

Episodic television budgets are on the rise, but more money is never enough. Award-winning cinematographer, Jeffery Waldron, tells how overcoming creative challenges onset can lead to beautiful solutions.

This may be something that is obvious for some, but I noticed how many starting photographers struggle when it comes to understanding the relationship between resolution, detail and shutter speed, and how these things effect each other. This article is for those photographers.

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 2020, 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.

Canon’s RF mount has opened up new avenues when it comes to lens design, but the ludicrous prices of its premium glass close it off from huge swathes of potential customers. All of that might be about to change thanks to one tiny lens manufacturer.

Most of the articles on Fstoppers are serious. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty burned out from this COVID-19 thing and thought this video was hilarious.

A light painter has explained the process by which he was able to utilize a drone and create stop-motion animations drawn in the sky — of Pikachu and a game of Tetris, no less.

After numerous suspensions of her social media accounts, a renowned photo colorist fears she will be permanently blocked from Facebook and Instagram. She says she is hesitant to continue posting new work after the social platforms previously threatened to ban her for posting colorized images of Nazi leaders.

Layer masks are one of the most fundamental and powerful tools in Photoshop and one of the first things anyone new to the application should work on mastering. If you are new to Photoshop, this great video will show you everything you need to know about how layer masks work and how you can use them in your image editing.

Wildlife and sports photographers live on supertelephotos lenses, and Sony offers two great zoom options in that range. However, they have overlapping focal length ranges and some similar features, so you might be wondering which of the two is right for you. This great video takes a look at both of them to help you decide which one is right for your work.

The Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 Di III VXD lens is the final entry into the company's trinity of f/2.8 zoom lens, and like the 28-75mm f/2.8 and 17-28mm f/2.8, it is quite a bit cheaper than similar first party lenses. If you are wondering how it compares to the more expensive options, check out this great comparison with the Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 and 70-200mm f/4.

Perhaps no compositional guideline is more strongly ingrained in the minds of photographers than the rule of thirds. And while it is certainly a useful heuristic, it is not the law, and it is overused quite a bit of the time. This great video discusses why the rule of thirds is overrated.

Our photos are important to us, and as such, it can be difficult to be honest with ourselves and objectively evaluate their quality. However, if we want to improve as photographers, it is crucial that we be willing to do so, and this great video discusses why.