Fstoppers Original Articles

I had been using a Mac since I first started photography and retouching. Over the years, I upgraded my Macs and used them without a problem, and all software that I have been using worked flawlessly. The Mac has several advantages such as ease of use, a perfect interface (OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard is still my favorite by the way), advanced file and folder tagging, and security, but there was a problem that led me to change my mind and switch to Windows: very high price tags and limited customization options.

While a photoshoot takes just a one day, retouching may take several days spending hours on Photoshop. Here is a list of some items and gear that may help you to make this long process easier and uninterrupted.

Every change that Instagram has introduced since it went mainstream has been a step backwards for photographers. It's reached the point that, although I still post a few times a week, my love for the platform died a long time ago, and watching it stumble towards nothing but selfies and adverts is heartbreaking. Here are my biggest gripes, in no particular order.

So a court recently decided that anyone can use your public Instagram images for free without having to notify you, much less pay you. Lots of photographers out there are outraged, but should you care?

Magic Lantern played a phenomenal role in using DSLRs to shoot video content. However, while it's benefits are obvious for Canon photographers, how does it stack up against the cameras of today?

In a recent article, I showed you how to create mist and atmosphere in Lightroom using a clever combination of masks, contrast, and dehaze. It worked great for woodland photos yet involved some manual masking. Today, I show you an even simpler technique for adding atmosphere in Photoshop.

If you'd like to try some comet photography, tonight and the next few days are for you. Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) will be in our night skies just after sunset. Happily, you likely have all the gear you need on hand. No fancy tracking mounts, telescopes, or filters are required. A DSLR will do the trick. Yes, stacking and tracking are great, but I'm trying to keep it simple here so you can just go outside and bring back a good photo.

Amidst the hustle and bustle of daily life, finding avenues for relaxation, exercise, and enjoyment is crucial for maintaining mental and physical well-being. Photography is a practice that can be more than just a hobby or a profession but also a therapeutic tool. This article discusses how photography can add value, peace, and well-being into your life.

I'm a knowledge junky. I've always been a fan of photography tips and tricks, storing away bits of information that make what I do easier, more enjoyable, or safer. But what about things you shouldn't do?

Sony mirrorless cameras have now become some of the most popular options on the market. The extensive features and fantastic autofocus have caused many photographers to switch over to Sony. In this article, we will be looking at the best budget options from Sony for photographers at every level.

In our hyper-connected online world, trying to suppress information can often backfire in spectacular fashion. This unintended consequence even has a name: the Streisand Effect. And it has produced some truly hilarious and downright bizarre outcomes when individuals, companies, and even governments try to censor content on the internet.

With the brand new Fstoppers website, everyone can now upload a portfolio to a profile for the world to comment and rate your photos. After just a couple of days from launch Jaime Ibarra's photos exploded onto the front page, with a whole series of popular photos and with good reason. His photos are a beautiful combination of emotion, concept and color that you cant help but be stunned.

Artificial intelligence is bringing incredible advances for photographers, from relighting portraits and making people smile, to cleaning up skin and swapping out skies. However, photographers everywhere would beg developers of photo-editing software to harness deep learning to create one simple tool.

After losing almost my entire photo kit due to blatant stupidity on my part (yay insurance), I was put in the unenviable position of rebuilding a camera system from scratch. Being a portrait photographer, I immediately gravitated towards full-frame bodies. I was close to pulling the trigger on one when it hit me: Why not try a crop sensor? I'm glad I did.

I use Lightroom, in some capacity, for everything I shoot. Without it, my workflow would be entirely different, and probably not for the better. While some of the recent feature updates have been fine, I still can’t believe these three features haven’t made it into the software after all this time.

The logo. That simple stylized image that is supposed to help people to recognize you. It's one of the first marketing moves you do when you see yourself as a not-just-a-camera-owner-anymore. But why do you do it?

I’ve learned a lot over the past 15 years as a professional artist. I’ve learned a lot about fear, failure, and success. I’ve been fortunate enough to mentor and educate thousands of photographers all over the world. Even as a young four-year photographer who many would still consider “green,” I’ve taught photographers from all walks of life, all levels of advancement, and even some who had reached a level of comfortable success.

There's something I've always loved about the photography community and in the age of the internet, it's nearly a unique quality: we give constructive feedback and rarely tear in to a photographer unprovoked. It is a welcoming environment that cultivates growth, for the most part. One particular area in which all previously mentioned qualities are magnified many times over, is young photographers. Their successes are fawned over and their mistakes excused, as they should be. Unless, of course, you're called Brooklyn Beckham.

No camera is perfect, but for me, the Sony a9 III is pretty close. Unfortunately, there is one problem that's holding this camera back.

The Internet has done a rather annoying job of trivializing the photo selection process. Culling images is a critical process in a photographer’s workflow that the client or model often wants to be a big part of. The majority of photographers I’ve asked address this by dumping all the photos into some sort of web-based proofing site and just send the link off to clients and let them make their choices.

Ash wants to take up photography. Never having owned a camera, besides the one on their phone, it’s something they have always had a hankering to do, especially after seeing all those great photos on Instagram. This is a cautionary tale, telling what can go horribly wrong for photographers.

Lenses are critical, yet many photographers tend to attach mediocre entry-level zoom glass on their camera when there are plenty of affordable quality lenses on the market. Here is a personal selection of some of the best optics that can be found under $300.

Last summer, my friend Andy and I, and his six year-old son, were out location scouting. As we drove around, the three of us were playing a very intense game of word association. One of us would say a word, and the others would quickly say the first word that came to mind. As we neared a potential location, Andy called out, “Key West” to which I mindlessly responded, “Jimmy Buffett…” In that instant, I realized that everything I thought I knew about marketing myself as a photographer was completely and utterly wrong.

The eclipse is coming. You know the one — it’s been the topic on most photographers’ lips for weeks. Have you thought about how you’re going to shoot it yet? On August 21, 2017 (this coming Monday), North America and some parts of South America, Africa, and Europe will get to experience one of the most spectacular sights available to us down here on earth: a solar eclipse.

This week I wrote an article pointing out that Canon Italy (among other Canon EU pages and Instagram accounts) had posted a composite landscape that had a large amount of the image stolen from Elia Locardi. There was an enormous response to this and so I decided to dig for more information and between my research, the community, and Locardi himself, there's rather a lot more to unpack.

Nikon upset and confused some customers when they moved the overall size and filter thread of their 24-70mm f/2.8 follow-up to 82mm (up from the standard 77mm). While this would mean that those wanting the latest upgrade for their mid-range zoom would need to invest in new filters and lift heavier weights at the gym, the change allowed Nikon to introduce unprecedented image quality and, of course, vibration reduction. But what if that image quality wasn't unprecedented? What if it wasn't even better? What if, God forbid, it was worse?

The photography industry suffered a seismic shift with the advent of digital cameras, yet it may be the ubiquitous camera phone that sounds the death knell of the industry as we know it. Everywhere in every hand is instant access to high-quality image-making technology that has forever altered the landscape of photography from what it means to be a photographer to how the viewing public perceives the value of images and image creation. Are professional photographers aboard a sinking ship, or is it simply time for us to learn to swim on our own?

A number of years ago, I read on a photography/marketing blog that there are reasons why we, as photographers, should think about working for free. As I was just then beginning my journey with my brand-new DSLR, I took the information with a grain of salt and imagined a day where getting paid to do what I love wasn’t some far-off pipe dream,

It's always nice to capture a subject in its purest form, presenting it powerfully. However, shooting an abstract photo can turn an ordinarily drab subject into a work of art.

I’ve always passed on 35mm prime lenses. On paper, they always seemed too close to what I could already capture with my phones or what’s duplicated in my 24-70mm professional zoom lenses. It turns out, I didn’t know what I was missing until I tried out the Tamron SP 35mm f/1.4 Di USD lens.

A photographer has found an amazingly cool way to capture and honor the art of facial tattoos from the indigenous New Zealand culture the Māori. Using the wet collodion process, the subjects appear to have their ink magically removed in portraits hung next to modern digital photos creating a surreal before and after effect.

Brian Rodgers Jr. has become the most popular and highly rated product photographer on Fstoppers, and today we are releasing his full-length product photography tutorial, “The Hero Shot.”

The iPhone X is finally here. It's a pretty amazing smartphone, but today, I only care about one thing: how well can it shoot video and can it be used as a professional tool.

By now, President Donald Trump’s infamous photo of himself awkwardly holding a bible in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington D.C., is well known. That peaceful protestors were gassed to get that photo opportunity has also been established.

Tamron recently announced the development of a new 18-300 mm zoom lens which is notable for two claimed firsts: its first X-mount model and the first APS-C model produced as a superzoom. Why is this an important development for Fuji?

The cost was 107 billion dollars for a giant leap for mankind but a trashy subject and framing for the first picture taken on the surface of the moon.

There are things professional photographers do that are almost certain to get them placed on Santa’s “bad guy” list. Are you guilty of committing any of these photography "sins"?

For almost 18 years, tripods definitely didn’t fit into my style of photography, which was lucky, because tripods are awful. In recent months, I’ve found myself shooting more and more landscapes, and I’m relieved to have found that tripods don’t necessarily fit into this type of photography either. Here’s why.

The faster you can edit a photograph in Lightroom, the more time you have to go back out and shoot. The catch is keeping your edits high quality while also saving time, so I'll show you some essential Lightroom shortcuts that you can use next time you go to edit.

Lightroom's Adjustment Brush and Spot Removal Tool have improved in leaps and bounds over the past few updates, opening the door to quicker, easier portrait retouching for photographers of all editing skill levels. Here are five steps to quick and easy portrait retouching in Lightroom.

When was the last time you took a photo with your DSLR? The time before that? And before that? Maybe a photo challenge will help you to consistently pick up a camera.

Smartphones have become an indispensable tool for most people, photographers included. We talk a lot about great apps for photographers, but here are five fantastic non-photography apps for photographers that will make your life far easier.

I have now been a proud owner of a Fuji GFX 100 medium format digital camera for three months now. So, was it all I hoped it would be?

Alfred Stieglitz’s influence on photography is incomparable. Hailed as the "father of pictorialism," he not only helped define the movement but helped forward photography’s place in a broader art context.

Do you ever think that some approaches to creating landscape photographs go too far? At what point do we stop and say it's too much?

We call this the "environmental shutter drag portrait." A shutter drag portrait is a portrait that uses slow shutter speeds to capture the motion around the subject. This technique is best done in a big grand scene full of action and detail. The eye-catching nature of these shutter drag portraits makes them perfect for impressing clients and serving as the highlight photo for every album and event. Today, I'll be walking through 10 easy steps on how to photograph your own shutter drag portrait.

This article is about two traits you need as a landscape photographer if you want to take photos that stand out. And I'm not talking about a good eye for composition, love for the outdoors, or an adequate fitness level to reach the photo locations you want to photograph. Those are also important. But there are two key characteristics you need as a foundation.

The photography world is chock full of products meant to make photographers think they will instantly improve their work and take dazzling shots. Some are obviously better than others. Here are the best and worst pieces of photography gear I've purchased.

With sensor prices dropping and leading manufacturers keen to get consumers on board with their latest mirrorless offerings, increasingly budget-friendly options are expected to emerge. However, would you buy an affordable camera that is cheap because it doesn’t have a viewfinder?

Sometimes, there are camera misfires or shots that just barely missed focus. Other times, there are other incidents where an image falls short of technical perfection but still finds a way to my list of favorites.