Fstoppers Original Articles

Do you think you've taken an incredible environmental portrait? Would you like to hear what we think about it? The next episode of Critique the Community will feature a selection of 20 environmental portraits which we will give feedback to. Make sure you do the following to be eligible to be chosen.

You've probably seen some pretty comical behind-the-scenes images of the kinds of positions photographers put themselves in just to get a shot. They climb trees, hang off cliffs, stand in the middle of rivers, lay down in the dirt, all just to frame up that perfect shot. Well there's almost always a reason behind the madness and sometimes those reasons end up having a much bigger impact than most people might expect. Sometimes it's about getting a really intriguing angle on a particular subject, but I find myself laying in the dirt quite a lot just so I can create a composition that carries more depth. Let's compare a couple different shots that can help make some sense of this.

Like many photographers around the world, I watch a lot of YouTube. Whether it's for inspiration, gear reviews, news, or beautiful cinematics, YouTube has changed the photography world. But should you start your own channel? Join me as I discuss some of the good reasons you should.

While many drone owners focus on aerial video and photos, there’s one often overlooked item on the spec sheet that your shiny new Mavic can also do: 360 photography, from the sky.

[Update] The winner has been announced. Congratulations to Eric Au for being selected as the winner of the Fujifilm XT30 with XF18-55mm lens kit! His entry of visiting the Fstoppers YouTube channel snagged him the prize.

Let's chat about stock photography. I've used stock sites for nearly a decade while working as a designer and commercial photographer with great success. Most of the options I used in the past left a lot to be desired, which is why last year, I switched over to Adobe Stock. I made the change for many reasons, but the most important was their integration into Adobe Creative Cloud.

The Canon EOS 60D was much derided on its release in 2010 for "dumbing down" the venerable xxD lineup compared to its predecessor, the semi-pro 50D.

Photography is complex. I’ve mentioned it before and I’ll state it again: it is not easy. There’s so much to learn in order to become proficient in the art. Cameras, composition, light, and subject interaction. These are just some of the things that will decide if you’re able to do well. The key to learning each of these things is time. Time, and a sprinkle of perseverance, will get you so much further than any new gear purchase you can make. Today, I’d like to take a look at how we can learn some elements of our photography and further our craft.

Composition may be one of the most widely discussed artistic aspects in photography. In theory, the idea is simple. Putting it to work, particularly in motion arts, is easier said than done. Composition is one of the most important creative aspects of any filmmaking. Simply put, it is the act of defining the position, arrangement, and view of objects within the frame. The composition is, in effect, representing the point of view of your viewer and it will have a direct impact on how that viewer feels when they see it.

Documentary videos have always been there to grab my attention. These short, yet powerful videos can really pull you in, making you want to know more about what you're watching. I have made a few videos like this myself but none that I have really liked until now. I don’t usually like to share my work or go into depth about it, but here I will go over a few things to do when shooting a documentary like this.

We live in a day and age where the phrase "Everything is relative" is the final word for many conversations and a basis for conclusions. This kind of mentality can lead to disastrous results.

When shooting tethered, it’s easy to get lost in files and make things more complicated than they should. However, with Capture One there is an easy way to stay on top of things and cut your image selection time drastically.

It's easier than ever to get started with video, thanks to the great video capabilities of most cameras (and even phones!), but having the right accessories can make a huge difference. Here are some essential accessories every videographer should consider adding to their kit.

There is a common myth about commercial photography: it is a genre just like landscape, macro, and product. However, this could not be further from the truth. As someone who thought so, I spent too much time creating “commercial” work. What I should’ve done instead is this.

Have you ever seen your own plant grow in a time-lapse? You can, and it’s a great exercise to learn something new about your camera and post-processing.

Having recently written a piece in which I explained how my iPhone 14 Pro replaced my professional camera in some cases, I was wondering, in what ways is my phone actually, technically better than my DSLR? It turns out there are a bunch of features that I wish cameras had.

A lot has changed in the photo world over the past decade or two. One big change has been how the focus has shifted from artist intention to end product — the photograph. A good photo is a good photo because it is a good photo. Or is it?

Around four months ago, amidst a harsh lockdown here in South Africa, I moved from the big city to a small coastal town, Betty's Bay, nestled between the Overberg mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. There was no work coming in, and there was no budget to rent additional gear for any shoots. It was worrying, but on the upside, I had to do something to occupy my mind and pass the time, and luckily, I had my camera to shoot while I wait. What followed was two months of intense filming and editing for my first narrative short film.

While strolling aimlessly along downtown streets this weekend, doing a bit of photography just for fun, I was reminded of one of the reasons I fell in love with photography in the first place. I was also reminded that this simple reason still provides benefits, both professionally and personally.

Photographers can be catty. Real catty. In fact, out of all creative groups I can think of, I can’t put my finger on one that is more competitive and judgmental than photographers. So how should you react when you’re hired to photograph an event and find another professional there with a camera?

In this article, I will show you one of the most critical skills a landscape photographer must have. It helped me take the title photo and many of the best images in my portfolio.

As raw processing software for wedding editing or batch editing in general, Capture One has nothing to envy from Lightroom. Quite the opposite, it’s perfectly tailored to help wedding photographers get a fast and efficient workflow.

Photographs can cause an instantaneous emotional response; that's what they're good at. So what's stopping you from using that to get people to pay attention to the things that you care about?

What we do in our free time is often connected to our innate passion. Such one random act of passion led us to launch a social documentary filmmaking brand. A lot of us, especially wedding photographers, have this bandwidth of free time where we are not shooting any weddings. In this off-season, do the things we do sum up to make a difference? This post is about how we chose to make short social documentary films and how transforming the experience was on the whole.

Capture One is multifaceted image processing and asset management software. As a raw processor, it is considered the gold standard, supporting over 500+ cameras, and with it comes a uniquely powerful tool-set for developing, color grading, and tethering. But that is just the tip of the technological iceberg that is Capture One. With a focus on user experience, its mountain of capability and complexity is hidden under a veneer of simplicity so as to make working with your images fast, focused, and easy. What we'll address today should help in understanding how the software works and how to bend it to your liking, hopefully resulting in an even better experience.

If you were anything like me when you first started in photography, you probably took a metric ton of pictures of just about anything you could point your camera at. But what was the first photo you took that got you truly excited about photography? Did it change your path through photography or even life itself?

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.

2020 is the most unusual year most of us have gone through, and its effects have been far-reaching. The question is, how has it impacted you as a photographer? Whether you're professional, amateur, or somewhere in between, we want to know how you have been affected.

Mary Bel is a single mom of 2 teenage kids, works full time, and finds a small glimpse of love, through self-portraiture.

Standing out from your competition can be daunting. One easy way to do this is to make sure your business shows you are inclusive and welcoming. A lot of photographers say they are inclusive, but they are not projecting that. Here are 10 questions to ask yourself to help you figure out where you can improve your business.

It's 6 AM, and I find myself gazing through my kitchen window at the dawn breaking over the city, trying to shake off the remnants of sleep. The socialist architecture outside casts a gloomy gray hue.

What does it take to document a 2,000-kilometer run deep in the scorching-hot Namibia desert for over four weeks straight? And how is it possible to edit, upload, and share videos and photographs completely off the grid? Just ask Travel, Lifestyle, and Adventure Photographer Ryan Richardson from Life Outside Studios for the answer.

I was 14. After a year of mowing lawns and shoveling driveways I had finally saved up enough money to buy my first real camera (a Canon S30). At the the time, online stores like Amazon barely existed. Still growing in their late-90s infancy, the global online marketplaces we have become so accustomed to (like eBay) were barely a blip on the retail radar. Instead, I got in the car, and my mom drove me to an amazing place that felt like the center of the photography universe. Housed in an old bank (vault and all) was this incredible, gear-packed mecca called Milford Photo. My visit that day changed my life forever.

Many of us spend hours of our lives reading gear reviews, checking rumor sites, getting excited about a new camera or computer releases, and generally keeping up to date with the technology behind modern photography. Some believe that by staying up to date with new technology we can make better-informed buying decisions and potentially get better at our craft. Some are simply interested in new technology. But how important is it for photographers to stay up to date with the bleeding edge of new technology?

Sometimes it pays to try and identify the key virtues I have found in others that help them build their career, their life, and make their dreams a reality. Today’s hidden skillset? Taking advantage of opportunities.

One could say that it’s taken the last thirty years to gain a type of access to a sovereign nation that I’ve been privileged and honored to obtain. I say it’s taken that long for me to prove myself to a people that don’t take lightly to disrespect, and recall vivid memories of a time that people with my colored skin acted in unfathomable ways - and access is limited.

It’s crazy how ideas develop over time and how far we can track our today’s understanding of the world. Find out, what an influential Italian monk from the 13th century already knew about creating good pictures.

With the wealth of options out there for lens-adapting and DIY modifications, many industrious photographers are taking things to the next level. The process of adapting anamorphic projection lenses to a take-up lens has been well-established for years now.

Since the United Kingdom left the European Union, moving goods and equipment across borders has become more complicated for British passport holders. What are the rules, and will you need to spend more than £300 on an ATA Carnet to take your camera gear across the channel?

A rainstorm and a muddy field can make football look great, but if your camera gets soaked, you might miss some great shots. Being inadequately prepared to shoot in inclement weather could be a really expensive mistake.

When I talk to a lot of photographers, they seem to think that business and creativity are at odds with each other. Being a salesperson and an artist just don't go together, right? I think we've just been mislead on what it really means to sell.

There are so many ways to approach photography. We can search for artistic expression, money, Instagram fame, or any number of other things. Photographer Damari McBride believes we should all do a volunteer photo-journalistic project at least once. Let’s find out why.

As I was browsing Facebook, my attention was caught by a short video made by Arthur Nguyen. The brief video depicts demolition of two university residence buildings but what got me hooked was the way Nguyen recorded and edited it, which made me want to watch it several times in a row. I reached out to the young artist behind this video to find out more about why and how he created it (and on a student's budget!).

What matters more, gear or creativity? For this camera challenge, I set out to do a portrait shoot with an 8-megapixel camera that is almost 20 years old. Yes, I am talking about the Olympus E-500.

Photographers could talk about soft light and color temperatures all day long, but what could we bring to interior design? Could photographers do a better job than an interior designer?

If you have a camera, a love for video, and a couple of hours to spare each week, then a sneaky little side gig in stock video creation might just be the perfect thing for you.

Have you been told to stop messing around shooting models and get a job? Do your loved ones wish you'd do something more stable instead of wondering when the next job will drop into your email? Well, I believe they're on to something.

A new player in the photography industry, ClickASnap, offers YouTube-like payments for creators who simply upload their images. The business model is simple: take everything that’s good about photo-sharing platforms and make it better by adding features photographers long wanted.

Have you ever gone to a photoshoot you were so excited about, had the greatest time there, just to go home and realize all the images were shot in JPEG? Or you go through the photos and you realize a lot of the shots the client’s hair was in the way? These are both examples of a Photoshoot Hangover.