Fstoppers Original Articles

A to Z of Photography: Von Wong (Interview) and Vivitar

This week we continue the A to Z of Photography with an interview with contemporary photographer Benjamin von Wong, renowned for his attention grabbing, fantastical images. We follow this with a history of Vivitar, a camera and lens manufacturer that didn't make cameras or lenses!

Running a Photography Business With a Chronic Illness

If you've ever experienced a flare or diagnosis of a chronic illness while being self-employed, you'll understand the overwhelm of navigating your health and your business interests. It can be hard to focus on rest and recovery when you're fearful about the longevity of your business and the cash flow you need to live.

Show Your Printer Some Love This Holiday Season

There are a lot of things that go neglected during the pandemic. But while a little undone personal grooming won't harm anyone, leaving your printer unloved for some time can cause some headaches.

What the Heck Is the WeeklyFstop Photo Theme and Why Should I Care?

As some of you may or may not know, there has been a weekly photo theme running here on Fstoppers called the weeklyFstop. It is very easy to join in and the themes change from week to week so everyone's strengths and weaknesses get a turn. This week the theme is "favorite" which should cater well to all genres and skill sets. The real beauty is that you don't need a large following to join in. A number of our featured photographers haven't even passed 100 followers. This fact, one might argue, makes our list one of the most unique around. We'd love to have you join in and show us your favorite thing to capture.

Maximizing Your Photography Trips Through Appropriate Clothing Choices

Capturing the beauty of the natural world through photography is an art form that requires a keen eye, technical skills, and creative vision. However, one often underestimated aspect that can significantly impact the outcome of a landscape photography trip is the choice of clothing.

Maximize Your Photo Adventure Budget: 6 Tips to Save Money

You may need some inspiration or be ready for an adventure. Your first thought is to pack up your camera gear and head out on an adventure. Then, you start to research and decide it's too costly. I used to think that I would never be able to travel and explore. I was wrong after finding a little ingenuity. Here are six ways to travel without going bankrupt.

Critique the Community: Submit Your Best Family Portraits Now

For the next episode of Critique the Community, we would like to invite Fstoppers members to send over their best Family Portraits for feedback. Your submission can include families, kids, or babies. We will keep submissions open through Friday, January 12th, at midnight and will release the feedback from Lee and Patrick early next week. Make sure to check out the guidelines below to make sure the picture you provide is eligible to be chosen.

Three Ways to Increase the Financial Return on Your Time

It can grind by slowly, then it flies, but whatever which way you cut it, the whiling of time is business time, your time. Here are the three most important reasons why it matters and how you can use this to increase your financial return.

What Makes You a Successful Photographer? And Do You Even Need to Be One?

You see them all over the internet, on your socials, exhibiting in galleries, and lining up clients by the dozens. Successful photographers seem to have it all figured out, and that makes you feel like you’re doing everything wrong. Do not worry. You’re not alone in this.
Taking Back the Narrative: Fstoppers Interviews Ryan RedCorn

The visual narrative of indigenous people in the United States has been largely controlled by cameras held in hands of those who don’t belong to their communities. Award-winning Osage photographer Ryan RedCorn is changing that one shutter click at a time.

Tips from a Pro: We Interview Live Music Photographer Kevin Kerr

Live music photography is an area that intrigues many, yet few really find a breakthrough. We recently spoke with Kevin Kerr, who swapped his Silicon Valley profession for a career in live music photography. Find out what is in his gear bag and what goes into a great live music photograph.

How 'The Hideaways' New Zealand Book Project Was Made

Sam Stuchbury and Hilary Ngan Kee’s enchanting new book "Hideaways" is a stunning showcase of tucked-away escape spots all over New Zealand that the creative, urban couple sourced and stayed at while researching the book — and they’re all available to the public.

Want to Be a Successful Photographer? Learn to Be Flexible

Photography, like many creative careers, rarely has a path to success that is straight and without unexpected twists. If you want to find success in the field, it is crucial that you stay flexible to the possibility of the shape of your career evolving or even changing shape drastically.

Is It Possible to Get out of an Editing Block?

Editing is no different than shooting – you will get stuck for inspiration at one point or another. But, how can we get through it without losing our mind?

5 Tips for Creating Realistic Drop Shadows in Photoshop

Have you ever cut out an object in Photoshop, put it on a new background, added a “drop shadow” effect, and sat in front of your monitor thinking, “This just looks so Photoshopped”? I’m here to help! Here are five easy steps to creating realistic drop shadows in Photoshop.

A Few Thoughts on Resolutions From Working Photography Professionals

As the year comes to a close and another begins, it’s a natural time to take stock. I like to look back on the past year and decided what lessons I’ve learned, and what I can do better next year. Perhaps it’s time to think about new habits – which immediately brings to mind the specter of resolutions. Do you make any? Want to share with us?

A to Z of Photography: Central Park and Lewis Carroll

Continuing our A to Z foray into the world of photography, we move on to C and the iconic Central Park. What possible reason could Central Park have for inclusion in this brief A to Z and didn't Lewis Carroll write books? Find out as we move on to alphabetical Cs.

Why Revisiting the Same Location is Essential to Improve Your Landscapes

Variety is king during a one to three-week landscape photography trip. Visiting a few points of interest per day ensures at least one spot will work out. But to take your photography to the next level, it’s crucial to revisit the same location many, many times — and not just for the weather.

Don't Miss the Fstoppers Series on TogTools Podcast

We are so excited to announce that the staff writers and contributors from Fstoppers have teamed up with TogTools to give you a new series with an in-depth look behind each of our businesses. If you aren't familiar with TogTools, it is an awesome resource for new and emerging photographers to obtain industry information from some of the best pros in the industry. Founders Stephen and Jess Robertson bring you in-depth podcasts with answers to questions you have always wanted to learn from some of your favorite photographers and videographers.

Give Back To Your Community By Organizing A Kids Photo Walk, Part 1

If you reside anywhere that’s similar to the sleepy little town I live in, you’re aware that there aren’t many opportunities for children to get hands-on with art; especially photography. In light of this fact, my wife and I decided to create an opportunity for youngsters living in our home town to spend a morning with us expanding their knowledge of photography.

Why Don't Fashion Designers Credit Models?

I'm an obsessive Instagram user and, as I run an account in the fashion niche, I'm often looking at the pages of big brands. Something has been bothering me for a long while, and it's this: why don't designers tag their models?

#SETINTHESTREET Overtakes New York With Elaborate Environmental Studios

Justin Bettman is a talented New York based photographer who shoots mostly for his own personal fulfillment. His ideas are raw, quirky and will make you feel like you're sitting front row in an old cinema. Recently he teamed up with Gözde Eker who is a set designer in NYC to bring his newest, crazy idea to life. That's where #SETINTHESTREET was born.

12 Weeks of Christmas: 7 of the Best Voice Assistant Commands

Alexa, Siri, Cortana, and Assistant are here to help, and that has led to a home invasion not seen since the Body Snatchers first lifted B-rate movies in 1956. Voice control is here to stay, so how can photographers make use of it? Here are seven of the best queries.

Spring Clean Your Gear by Selling to MPB

Have you got equipment you don’t use? Do you need to upgrade your gear bag? There are surprising reasons why MPB is the answer to clearing your clutter, bringing in some welcome cash, and enhancing the tools of your visual storytelling craft.

Add Excitement for More Opportunities

Finding clients to hire you can be a complicated and expensive process. This article explores a free and simple marketing technique that has proven to be extremely effective.

Insecurity Among Photographers: Is It Unavoidable?

It's hard doing creative things. There is a lot we put ourselves through, and the emotional journey of an artist is a rollercoaster with loops, turns, and upside-down parts. Here are a few examples of thoughts you might have had before.

Is It Ethical to Use Stock Footage in Political Ads?

There's a new political ad out from the Trump campaign that is slickly produced, with a large number of seemingly average people artfully showing their distaste for Joe Biden's vision of America should he become president. Or is that actually the case? In what's an epic takedown of the ad, a former Obama spokesperson digs up every clip used in the video to show that not a moment of it is real, raising the question of whether such uses of stock footage have a place in ads that can easily sway the electorate.

Nine Tips for Photographing Great White Sharks

As we are now in the middle of the white shark season in Guadalupe, Mexico, many shark lovers are preparing to make their way to the waters surrounding the volcanic island situated 150 miles off the western coast of the Baja Peninsula. Having photographed white sharks in various locations around the globe, I thought I’d put together a few tips for anyone keen to shoot them for the first time.

A great white shark investigates cage divers

1. Fish-Eye and Wide-Angle Lenses: While I mostly shoot underwater with a fish-...

A to Z of Photography: X-Trans Sensor and Xiaoxiao Xu

With the letter X we move on to looking at Fuji's highly regarded X-Trans sensor which is very different from nearly all the sensors in other digital cameras, before looking at the work of contemporary Chinese photographer Xiaoxiao Xu.

Bad Photo? No Problem, Aftershoot Has Your Back!

Not all photos are created equal. Some are objectively better than others. However, the photos themselves may not necessarily be bad; it may just be that the image is badly exposed or the white balance is off. Fixing bad images quickly can be a hassle for some, but it is a piece of cake for Aftershoot. Read on to find out how to fix your bad images quickly.

Remembering a Photograph as the Event: Your Memory Isn't What You Think It Is!

Almost everyone has a cell phone these days and by extension, a phone camera. This means that anyone with a phone can create a decent enough image. To clarify, I’m not trying to debate whether someone is a “real photographer” or not. Instead, my intention is to persuade you to approach photography in a more considered and intentional way.

FICTION: In the Blink of An Eye Part I

Fstoppers is about all things photography related, so in a slight departure from our normal articles we are serializing a photography focused short story. Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

"The Neighbours Project" Creates Tintype Portraits Of The Homeless To Raise Awareness And Donations

As a writer for Fstoppers I hear about a lot of personal projects. This past weekend, my attention was grabbed when I read about how Denver-based photographer Dylan Burr undertook a project to create wet plate collodion photographs. It wasn't his image making process that stood out to me though- it was his subject matter. Read on to see the images Dylan created, but also hear how he is hoping to impact the community through his efforts.

Genius, Madness, and Obsession: How the Instant Camera Was Invented

You could be forgiven for believing that the requirement for instant gratification is a rather new affliction. However, it's more likely that swift results were gated behind technology and that the few inventions that provided it were well placed for unprecedented success, like the instant camera.

The Blueprint: How to Create Cyanotypes

Cyanotypes are a type of printmaking process invented in the 1800s by Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Baronet KH FRS. What a name!

A to Z of Photography: Reflex Camera and Tony Ray-Jones

At pretty much three-quarters of the way through the alphabet we stop at R, an eminently popular letter, to look at the foundation of pretty much all contemporary cameras — the Reflex. This is followed by the inspiringly funny work of Tony Ray-Jones whose career was cruelly cut short.

What Would You Do If You Were Unable to Work?

Have you ever wondered what would happen to your business if you were unable to work? I talked to one such photographer about his experience with a near catastrophic injury, and the fallout surrounding it in regards to his business.

Fstoppers Photographer of the Month (April 2023): Max Klein

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 2023, 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.

How to Make Your Photographs Resonate: Tell Untold Stories

Photographers understand the potential of imagery to change people’s lives, but sometimes this can work in very subtle ways. The most inspiring images can come from discovering a niche and, in the words of one photographer, creating what you want to see in the world. What happens when your own passion combines with something that deserves greater visibility?