Fstoppers Original Articles

One of the biggest challenges I hear from new boudoir photographers is how to move successfully and fluidly from one pose to the next during a session. Posing should not be stiff and rigid, or the end result will reflect the forced feeling. The last portion of all my boudoir sessions is on the floor. Quite frankly, that is where all the upsale images come from by maximizing the use of one pose into multiple selections.

Dirty backgrounds are something that most of us have had to deal with at some point. Sometimes, all we need to do is clean the background. Other times, it's actually better to do a full background replacement. The full replacement can be as subtle as eliminating shadows and sensor dust or something as drastic as changing the background color. In this tutorial, we go over an easy, but precise, way to do this.

Medium-format cameras have long been in the hands of working pros because of their combination of ease of use and incredible image quality. While large format was always the king of resolution and dynamic range, it is difficult to work with on location and cumbersome. Today, medium format is a little different. Phase One and Hasselblad have both released 100 MP options, allowing for unparalleled image quality.

Medium format is the pinnacle of image quality. You can’t beat the physics of medium format. The price is also hard to beat, but in a bad way. Medium format is notoriously expensive. In this article, we will look at a few cameras that get me, as a medium format user, excited.

If you’ve been learning photography and have started to take your first steps outside of your camera’s program mode, aperture priority can help you get to grips with your camera and develop your knowledge. This camera mode can make shooting easier and open up more creative possibilities.

Creating an image that appears “sharp” is something I struggled with for a LONG time. I read countless articles on the topic and invested heavily in gear thinking that was the cure. While gear can certainly help, I believe there are a few key areas to focus on in order to create images that are tack sharp.

This has been the year of mirrorless! There have never been so many attractive options for DSLR shooters to make the transition as there are now. But should we?

Every camera is standard set to AWB, meaning "Auto White Balance". AWB uses 18% gray as a reference, to correct any color cast in the image. But the auto white balance is a dumb algorithm that cannot interpret a scenery. Perhaps it would be best to set the white balance yourself, instead of relying on the camera.

On some days, we can see one composition beside another, but on other days, it is hard to find just a single one. What is the difference between those days, and how can we increase our chances to find outstanding compositions all the time?

We own two Canon PIXMA Pro 100 printers at the Fstoppers office and love them. They print fantastic looking prints, are dependable, and for a limited time they are being sold for only $60.

Taking your cityscape photos during blue hour is always a safe bet if you don't get spectacular light at sunrise or sunset. A deep blue sky provides the perfect color contrast to the incandescent lights in the city and will help you create a pleasing result. But what if you are lucky with light and weather? Do you take a photo while the colors pop in the sky or with the city lights during blue hour? Luckily, you can get both by applying a technique called time blending. In this article, I show you how.

When you are first starting, landscape photography can seem daunting, especially when you see all of the beautiful images others post online. Here are a few ideas taken from my experience that may help you find more success as a landscape photographer.

It was the year of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, iTunes, the final Concorde flight, and the invasion of Iraq. George W. Bush was President, and Tony Blair Prime Minister, whilst Serena beat Venus at Wimbledon and the Devils won the Stanley Cup. In cinemas "Matrix Reloaded," "Pirates of the Caribbean," "Finding Nemo," and "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" first aired. But what happened during 2003 in the photographic world?

You may be familiar with portrait photography, but have you ever had the pleasure of experiencing the fine art form? If you haven’t, it’s time you did. Fine art portrait photography has exploded in the luxury portraiture photography market in recent years. The results are superbly evocative and make simply stunning wall art.

If you want to learn to take better pictures (who doesn't?), this is the tutorial for you. Try this simple challenge to improve your compositional eye and expand your creativity.

Entry-level cameras are the best option for beginners, right? Plus, that popular brand must be the right choice, mustn’t it? As the song goes, it ain’t necessarily so. Here’s why you should consider choosing something better.

Some mistakes you make as a photographer over and over again, learning a little bit each time you make them. But this is one mistake I can't afford to make again.

Some photographs raise potent emotions. Emotions are as much an essential element of photographs as composition. So, how do we embed them into our images?

This week I wanted to share a few of the tools we commercial photographers use to create our tabletop images. Particularly the items used in photographing beverages. There's a lot of trial and error when it comes to this sort of photography, often times we find ourselves using things in ways far from their originally intended purpose. Having said that, there's a lot of things that have become kind-of standard practice in food/beverage photography, some of those items I'll share with you today.

Let‘s imagine you would need to choose a new camera for landscape photography. I’m pretty sure a large dynamic range would be something on the priority list. But is the dynamic range important or not?

As someone who makes 100% of their income by taking pictures, I understand how uncertain, and perhaps unstable, this career is. Spending thousands on gear is easier than ever, and with such a low entry point, everyone wants to be a photographer. It is not easy, and here are some rules I have come up with to survive in this industry.

A new Finnish startup business, Huhtikuu Yksi, offers software that unlocks advanced functionality in basic camera models and standardizes features from different brands. I interviewed the company's CEO, Harri Tyhmäläinen.

As you’re probably aware from the level of hype in your news feed, the Perseid meteor shower is approaching and you should get outside to see it now! Technically in late July, it is already active in our skies, but the reality is that there is a fairly narrow window of high activity only around the peak time. My own experience is that the number of meteors drops off dramatically a day before or after the peak evening.

On September 2, Sony announced that the previously rumored FX6 cinema camera was indeed coming before the end of 2020. Here’s some juicy speculation on what we can expect.

What does it take to create an amazing landscape photograph? So many photographers, me included, have been guilty of creating beautiful content that portrays only the successes of landscape photography. In today's free landscape tutorial, I'm going to share some of the failures.

Many boudoir photographers starting out may be green with envy on studio owners with larger square footage. In many cases the ability to move around furniture and props without tripping every step is a welcomed luxury. However, the grass is not always greener on the other side. Having a large studio also means having more issues on controlling light, especially when it is natural light.

It's a very mixed feeling: you are happy they like the shot, but you are also disappointed that it's not sharp. I'm going to share my way of dealing with the situation, but I am also curious about your way of handling the problem.

Camera sales are declining rapidly. There is seemingly nothing that we can do about it.

Canon’s announcement of the 1D X Mark III has inevitably set the camera world chattering, confirming some rumors (raw video) and debunking others (there is no new battery with a secret new feature). Among the specifications, it’s interesting to see what’s been left out and how this compares to Nikon’s own “announcement” last month, not to mention the Sony a9 II.

Sometimes, the things that make a camera the perfect fit for you aren’t the same things that make all the headlines.

We all have that person or two we've been following on social media since first opening our own accounts. For me, Joshua Snow is one of those people. Snow is a fellow landscape photographer who I've been fortunate to follow since I first started posting to Instagram. Recently I was able to chat with him about how he transitioned from aspiring to professional photographer, and where his motivation and inspiration lies.

If you are a beginning photographer who has only worked with amateur models, it may be your dream to work with a professional model one day. Is there a noticeable difference between working with a professional model and an amateur model?

If you've often been shooting in what seems like dramatic light only to get back to your computer and realize that the images are kind of so so, then you're not alone. However, in certain situations, what seems like a dull and unimpressive image might just need a little tweaking to take it to another level.

With over 20 million YouTube channels on the platform in 2019, it's important to stand out. Check out a selection of my favorite YouTube channels in the photography and filmmaking category that you should be following today.

Warning: although Photoshop was used to identify the guitar, this isn't really photography-related, but this story is too good not to share.

5 Day Deal is back again and even though Patrick and I made a video attempting to explain it, we are still getting a ton of questions and complaints from confused photographers. People keep asking us if this is a scam. Let me try to answer everyone's questions.

A lot of new lenses are amazing. Although the quality of the predecessors was already good, the new generations are even better. But with the amazing quality comes a size, weight, and prize. You should ask yourself if these are the lenses you need.

Today, I’d like to review, well, reviews. Since gear and gear reviews are something all of us, including myself, spend a bit too much time obsessing over, it’s worth taking a step back to think about what they do and do not have to offer.

Being a photographer can be a very expensive endeavor. Seeing pros on the internet have the latest and greatest gear in large quantities makes you wonder if this is what you need to be one of them. The truth is, no. Here is our list of basic gear that you need to start a business.

We have all heard the old adage: buy cheap and buy twice. Here are five things you shouldn’t skimp on.

Cameras don’t always come cheap, but when you find the right fit for your style and your business model, value isn’t always only about the sticker price.

Each day there are new ways to accomplish the same task, especially with the ever-evolving social media whirlwind. Today I want to share my favorite two methods I use for sharing to Instagram (or any other social platform, but primarily Instagram since posts need to be made from your mobile device).

All I’ll say, is that I owned the original a7 and it kinda sucked. Is Nikon going to get it right the “first” time? Or will next week's supposed announcement of the Z-series cameras begin a long cycle of trying to one up themselves while trying to keep up with the major mirrorless players?

One of the biggest questions that photographers face is how to find clients and make a living from the craft. There is money to be made with photography, especially if you find a good contract. Here is one such opportunity that will allow you to make money with your photography.

Pressure, fear, joy, excitement – these are not uncommon emotions on any shoot. A few weeks ago, I spent a few hours in a helicopter above New York City with Vincent Laforet where we experienced all of these emotions. This exclusive interview and BTS video highlights not only what’s involved to produce aerial stills of this nature, but provides 5 key insights we can all apply to our own shoots.

Last month B&H helped us build an extremely expensive workstation. Today, we built a computer that rendered footage faster in Adobe Premiere for 1/3 of the price.

If you're a creator of any kind, chances are you've experienced being in a creative rut at some point in your journey to make cool stuff. As a photographer and cinematographer, nothing could be more true for me. Photographers by nature, I feel, have a "do it yourself" attitude. In talking with Photographer Nikki Smith, a DIY backdrop project could be just what you need to reignite that missing spark and add an additional element of creativity to your work.

I have to admit it: I’ve never been on team Lightroom. This may be a bit of a low blow, but Lightroom has always seemed like the sandbox for those who couldn’t play on the big-boy playground: Photoshop, of course.

"Oh, this is going to be good," I chuckled to myself. Fstoppers co-founder Lee Morris had just posted an article and video called "The New iPhone Fashion Shoot: Bikinis, Foam Core, and Flashlights." I knew the response would be fast and passionate. I wasn't disappointed.