Fstoppers Original Articles

If you’re in a place right now where you’re unsure of your pricing, and you’re not booking as many clients as you’d like, it may be time to consider raising your pricing. Here’s why raising your photo package prices may help book more clients and make you love being a photographer more.

As photographers, we are all subject to the “I saw this photo on Pinterest” or “I love this photo of my friend” requests. Below are three tips on how to handle these requests without killing your creativity and keeping your client happy.

We live in a three-dimensional environment, so understanding how the nautical terms of roll, pitch, and yaw work can eliminate glaring errors and elevate our photos. While effects are obvious, others are unexpected. Here's an exercise to hone your skills.

At the start of the year 2019, I told myself to make significant changes for me to achieve more this year and it has resulted to what I can definitely call the best year for my photography. Let me share with you 5 of them that I think can bring you more progress for 2020.

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 2017, 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.

I love light; it is the foundational component of my photography. I started off with light setups from the internet; however, I soon realized they don’t work for what I was aiming to get. This led me to come up with my own way of lighting photographs. Here is how I do it and how you can learn it.

Writing can be a powerful tool, even in regards to your photography. Self-critique in the form of written content is a great way to reflect and grow, helping to improve your images.

Well, we did it. We have successfully started the weekly Fstoppers photo theme. It was not only great to see so many submissions, but the response from people hearing about the idea has been excellent. There are so many photographers out there looking to explore new techniques and grow their photography skills we are excited to see all the different ways to portray a theme prompt. Let us take a look at how the entries for leading lines went. Also, make sure you check out the new theme revealed at the bottom of this article.

In the early days of your photographic journey, chances are a tripod will be among the first few pieces of gear you acquire, simply because it's the next logical thing to purchase to elevate your photography. Whether you get it for free or pay for it, you'll soon realize it's cumbersome, bulky, heavy, and frustrating to lug around on every photo adventure. You may eventually abandon it or opt for one of those lightweight and small travel tripods to replace the bulkier one you have, hoping it will still be able to deliver. Unfortunately, you might soon realize that having a bad tripod is worse than not having one at all.

When you set aside time to learn as a photographer, how do you spend that time? Do you peruse your portfolio or browse through a respected photographer’s portfolio to break down why some photos “worked”? You may fall prey to a cognitive bias called Survivorship Bias.

One month ago, in a freak soccer accident, I was flipped on my head and snapped my collar bone. Besides the excruciating pain, my mind immediately ran through the calendar of jobs I had lined up as a freelance photographer and videographer in the coming weeks that I knew I’d have to navigate with one arm. Panic quickly set in.

I still remember the first time I heard the word. Senior year of high school. Sitting lazily squeezed into a metallic desk-chair combination unwillingly decorated with the carvings of amateur graffiti artists from years past. The boisterous post-recess classroom went quiet as my favorite teacher, and apparently everyone’s favorite teacher, Mrs. Wallace entered the room. With an ever-present sense of flair, she strode to the chalkboard and wrote out eight letters in big bold type. P-A-R-A-D-I-G-M. I didn’t know what it meant. Heck, I didn’t even know how to pronounce it. But, in that moment, I was introduced to not only a new piece of vocabulary, but given a dynamic tool to develop as an artist, and as a person.

A new year, a new approach. Another entry from Captain Obvious that is somehow ever so easy to ignore.

Photographing the night sky can be fun, especially when there is a meteor shower. Every year, I try to capture the famous Perseids during my summer holiday in August. But in December, there is the Geminids, which also can be quite spectacular. This year, I had bad luck and a lot of luck at the same time.

As a photographer, working with children can be incredibly challenging at times, but it can also be just as much fun. I have found that there is no real secret behind taking great shots of kids, but rather it comes down to how you navigate interacting with each child while on the shoot. The range of personalities that kids will display is incredibly diverse, this means that it is unlikely that you will be able to interact with any given child the same way that you did with another. This also means that it will be really easy to capture very unique shots on every single shoot.

Everywhere in Europe, heathers are looking positively vibrant. I trust that it's a worldwide phenomenon along the northern hemisphere. They’re also blooming three weeks sooner than past years; a result of an early Indian summer, due to the changing climate. Ostensibly, purple heather is a magnificent subject in landscape photography, but there are many more things you can capture in what is arguably the best season for photography. So let’s get you ready to capture this herald of autumn.

Many argue for their own approach to making photographs. Some people are analog shooters, some are digital, all have their opinion as to which approach is best or superior. I say try them all.

Retouching is one of the main reasons most photographers use Photoshop. Understanding how and when to use the specialized tools can be trial and error until you find which works best for your workflow. A few tips on what each tool is doing behind the scenes can help with these choices.

Is a photo everything it seems and what does it say about why and how it was taken? This image from publishers Lawrence and Houseworth shows a full team on the Sierras, but what is it telling us?

Jeff Rhode has the highly unusual role as a full-time hospital photographer. In this interview, he shares his heart-rending photographs of COVID-19 patients and the staff supporting them and talks about the experience of photographing history as it happens.

Client galleries have become the de facto way of distributing photos post-shoot, whether you are a seasoned pro delivering to a corporate client or helping out at a friend's wedding. Can you do this on a shoestring and is there an efficient workflow?

Next time you sit down for an editing session, do your eyes and brain a favor and remember to zoom out more frequently. Don't forget that any given image is a whole piece, more than just details.

The Christmas Wish Project that has now gone viral and this incredible photography and Photoshop work is being showcased across the world, bringing joy and imagination to her audience. Karen Alsop, the photographer behind the project, was kind enough to exclusively share the behind the scenes of her project.

Up-selling is part and parcel of the wedding and portrait photography business. Many photographers depend on these selling techniques to generate a decent income. But similar opportunities can be found in the commercial genre — you just need to know how to target them.

Filing a DMCA takedown notice to have Instagram remove a photo that has been used without permission is a frustrating process. Now, evidence is emerging that Instagram’s handling of these notices could put the social media giant in a tricky legal situation.

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.

When it comes to sending an important email, timing can be quite literally the difference between success and failure. Take the following things into consideration before you next hit the send button.

I caught up with Matt Lever, one of the top photographer’s you’d expect to see backstage at Fashion Week. He explained how he’s shooting for Elle Magazine, and the hoops you’ll need to jump through to break onto the scene.

Cameras of today are packed with functions and possibilities. Most of us are only using a small part of what’s possible. Still, we often want just one other function that is not available. What function would you like to add to your camera?

It’s clear that there has been a tremendous upswing in the number of photographers across all markets. But also with that trend has seen a staggering number of people jumping into teaching and selling workshops.

Unless you live in the big metropolitan cities like New York or Los Angeles, photographing models is easier said than done. That's because any chance of success in the industry, and the models move to the bigger hubs. That will not change, but there are opportunities to photograph models in generally any location and that's what I did with this tutorial.

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 2018, 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.

Whether it’s all a gimmick or not, photos in virtual reality are amazing. They’re easy to create, and throw your audience into a straightforward, immersive experience. If you haven’t tried making one yet, you should.

Photographing live music can be an amazing experience once you embrace the idea that you have no control over any of the elements in your frame. So how do you create great pictures when you have limited angles to shoot from, terrible lighting, and no control over what your subject will do next?

When I was first starting out, I got deeply into conversations about style. What is this thing that will get me hired? How do I get it? Recently, I’ve realized that a photographic style isn’t the be-all and end-all magical thing that many beginner photographers think it is.

One of the easiest and most beloved methods of color correction is a simple swipe of the white balance temperature slider. It can change the whole tenor of a scene. There are limits to what it can do, however.

Landscape photography can be a challenging genre to begin with, but having a general blueprint can help newcomers ease into it.

Straight to the point today: is photography, or the pursuit of anything creative or artistic as a legitimate profession, a thankless pursuit and vocation?

As artists and creatives we thrive off of energy, at least I know I do. Sometimes we can be our own worst enemies and talk ourselves out projects we want to do, want to come back to, or have almost given up on. I've been on this end of the spectrum, holed up in my editing bay whacking my head against the wall on my third cup of coffee. When there is no one around to talk through the details of a project, it can start to become extremely daunting. This is why working out of shared spaces can be a life saver for some creatives, like myself. Let's take a look at what benefits come with working in a shared space.

Concerts and events can either be exciting and fun or quite challenging for us photographers due to the low-lit environment and having to share the space with other photographers, all while being crammed into a tight space. Luckily, a little bit of planning and preparation can go a long way to avoid any disasters while shooting.

With his hand wedged firmly in a crack of the sheer granite face of El Capitan, Alex Honnold looks up and scans his route as he doggedly continues his death-defying ascent of the iconic rock formation with no safety ropes to save him in case of calamity.

When I'm looking for a fine art paper with a crisp, clean, and beautifully tactile feel to it, one of my first thoughts is to turn to the William Turner paper from Hahnemühle. This is without question one of my top five papers that I've seen and printed on thus far, have you tried it yet?

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 2016, we'll be featuring a new photographer every month, whose portfolio represents both stellar photographic achievement and a high level of involvement within the Fstoppers community.

Like most photographers, you have probably had in influx of senior calls recently. Schools will be back in session in less than a month, parents are trying to squeeze in appointments before their kids get busy with their final year of high school. What are you doing to turn your calls into appointments?

In our never-ending search for the perfect camera, we often bandy around a common term to describe the ultimate in performance: flagship. But what really is a “flagship” camera?

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.

So you've read all my articles on film and decided: "You know what? I'm going to give it a shot!" Great! You're about to embark on a rewarding, sometimes frustrating journey into the old school! However, one of the first questions you'll have to answer is: What film should I shoot with? There are so many choices out there with varying brands, speeds, grain structures, and formulations that it can be daunting to select a few to try out. I know that when I first started out, I had no clue what to try. Hopefully, this guide will serve as a broad primer on some of the most popular stocks and take some of the mystery out of picking your first film.

Instagram's censoring policies make no sense at all. But the least they could do is not call women prostitutes based on what they are wearing.

You're set to capture something amazing with your camera, but where should you begin? Without a clear process, it's easy to rush, overlook details, or end up with photos that miss the mark. Let’s outline a simple, repeatable approach to help you slow down, capture more, and make each shot count.