Fstoppers Original Articles

Gear cannot make you a better photographer. This statement is said over and over and I actually really believe it. But despite believing this statement to be true, I also believe that switching to mirrorless has made me a better photographer.

Setting aside the runny noses, forget the frozen fingers and the frostbitten toes, and the winter season can lend itself to some pretty magical photos. Personally, and I’m sure many of you will agree, it’s hard to find a willing subject and convince myself to drag my gear out when there is a blizzard. The truth is, if I could create a life-sized snow globe studio with central heating, I’d be a happy man. Well, I found an alternate solution.

Does it even make sense to compare these high-megapixel cameras? Does it even matter which one you choose when it comes to picture quality? As it turns out, not really.

A few months ago, I started processing all my raw photos with a new Lightroom plugin. It led to a significant increase in image quality, as I show in this article.

Olympus has been assigning the Zuiko name to its range of high-quality lenses since 1936. Zuiko-branded lenses were made for SLR, rangefinder, and automatic point-and-shoot cameras in medium format, 35mm, and even half-frame formats. Assessing the best of anything in photography leads to vivid debate and lots of room for subjectivity. Here are my 5 reasons why I believe Olympus knocked it out of the park with their Zuiko range, and when you look at all factors are the best film lenses ever made. Be sure to leave a comment to let me know your thoughts.

I first came across the compressed cRAW files when I reviewed the Canon EOS M50 a few years ago. The new Canon mirrorless cameras also have cRAW available. This compressed raw file will enable you to save even more images on one memory card without loss of quality.

Ok — let’s start with a disclaimer: I’m a fan of Platypod (both the company itself and the products individually). The most compelling photographs show us the world in a way we’re not used to seeing, which is where the Platypod excels.

Sending a photography quote out is always a stressful moment, especially if it is for a job you really want. Here are a few memorable reactions from potential clients.

We’re sitting on the precipice of game-changing year for photographers. 2015 is going to be the year of medium-format. Ricoh (formally Pentax) dropped a bomb this year with a sub-$9,000 medium format camera. There are even rumors about Sony and Mamiya teaming up for a medium format rangefinder of some kind. Yes folks, the competition is heating up, and this version of “king of the hill” is already getting nasty.

Apple just held their Peek Performance event. How does the newly announced Apple Hardware compare to the existing lineup and the competition? What does the future hold for creatives using Apple hardware?

Today, I’d like to discuss one of the most overused and most misunderstood concepts in photography. What exactly makes something a “professional camera”?

It's tempting to go from one thing to the next, whether it is a piece of gear or a method of shooting, but have you tried mastering one of them without losing your interest at the first hurdle?

Canon produces some of the most popular cameras in the world. There's a Canon camera available for pretty much every kind of photography genre. In this article, we will be looking at the best budget options available from Canon for photographers at any level.

Last year I profited nearly half what I made at my day job in freelance photography using nothing more than my iPhone. I've spent the last 4+ years on Instagram building a following and client base that has allowed me to vie for projects and relationships with clients to make money. That has slowly grown to allow me full creative freedom to shoot with nothing more than an iPhone and get paid for it. Now, before you go and sell off all your Canon or Nikon gear hear me out, this is not as easy as it sounds, but I'll lay it out for you.

Inspiration time. These guys are the cream of the crop on 500px at the moment. Note that this selection of landscape photographers doesn’t necessarily reflect my own judgment. It’s based on an average of 8 past articles on 500px ISO titled: “This Week in Popular: Top 25 Photos on 500px This Week.” Of this initial group, I have selected only landscape photographers, and here are their most recent works. Let’s go!

With the decade drawing to a close, there is a lot to review, like which camera was the best. I'm not looking for sales stats, official awards, or the general consensus. I want to know what you think the best camera of the decade is and why.

I have only been shooting photography for a little over 3 years now. Things have progressed so quickly during that period of time that I haven't really had the chance to look back at the evolution of my photography. I had to think thing long and hard about the investments I have made over the 3 years and the things that really changed the game for me.

Photography, as an art form, has undergone a significant transformation in the digital age. Straight out of camera (SOOC) images, untouched and unaltered, have been the ultimate end goal for many photographers, offering viewers a glimpse into the raw, unfiltered beauty of captured moments featuring their professional skill sets.

Doing long exposures is the most fundamental trick up a landscape photographer's sleeve. But for effective use of its visual effects, there are a few essential steps that one must follow.

The best camera is the right one for your particular job. But what are some of the less than obvious reasons why we pick up one camera instead of another?

If you're struggling to get the likes, followers, and comments you'd hope for on Instagram then there may be a few things you're doing wrong on the social network. There are definitely a few tricks that can help you grow but also a few things you should avoid at all costs.

Hey, camera manufacturers! Stop lying to us.

Luminosity masks are a fantastic way to make precise selections based on luminance values (hence the name). As with all things Photoshop, there are multiple ways to achieve the same result. I find using channel selections to be the easiest way to manually create my masks. I realize I'm probably preaching to the choir, but for those yet to join in on the singing, I hope you find this information useful as you continue to build your editing tool set.

If you’ve heard of "America’s Next Top Model," you’ll undoubtedly be well acquainted with its photographer. A judge for 17 seasons, Nigel Barker was propelled to household name status as viewers saw him critique model portfolios and take part in various themed photo shoots. Now, in partnership with Adorama and with the backing of Canon, he is preparing to launch his own show: "Top Photographer With Nigel Barker," a web series showing Barker on the hunt for emerging talent in photography. In this exclusive Fstoppers interview, I chat with him about how the show will work and also get advice on social media, the process of selecting portfolio images, and how to handle yourself with clients.

G.A.S (Gear Accumulation Syndrome), is something all photographers feel it at some point in their careers. That feeling the gear they have is never good enough. Learn how to overcome that, and start taking the photos you've always dreamed of today.

When I look at product photography and video in the fashion and beauty product industry, many of the shots are now computer-generated. It might be at a steep cost initially to get the team to create the products in 3D space, but once that’s done, the product can be used in any scene you need for the client. Are we beyond photography?

Weather and conditions permitting, the Perseid meteor shower puts on an annual show that blows stargazers away. Use these five photography tips to capture this dazzling spectacle.

Travel photographers seem to be going crazy for far-flung locations on Instagram. If you follow a bunch of them, you are bound to come across stunning photographs of some amazing places they’ve been making images of. It seems like everyone has caught the Scandinavian bug, seeing so many photographers flocking to Iceland or the Faroe Islands to capture those breathtaking landscapes. In this article, I will list the most popular locations for travel photographers on Instagram, but also include a few places you may not have considered.

I love everything about shooting film. I love the feel of it, I love the cameras, I love the surprise of seeing the images, I love the community. I love it so much I set up my own film photography podcast called Matt Loves Cameras.

There is no doubt that the wide-angle zoom lens is the most popular for landscape photography and is my go-to lens in most of my work. It is however, not necessarily the easiest lens to use as it takes in a lot of the landscape.

We've all heard of the stereotype of "the starving artist," but a new study from the UK put concrete numbers on this portrayal, showing that graduates with a degree in photography truly do (on average) become starving artists. Adding insult to injury, the study reveals that photographers are not only on the list, they are ranked the worst for post-graduates making low income. Ouch.

Photographers and artists alike are extremely passionate people. With strict deadlines and hectic schedules, we all have the tendency to jump the gun and act or open our mouth before taking a step back from the situation. There is one word which you will be hearing a lot throughout this article. It is a trait at the core of what we do and it’s very much a necessary virtue: patience.

Tilt-shift lenses are often thought of as specialist glass destined for only architecture, but their high-quality optics and magical results actually make them perfect portrait lenses.

Mirrorless cameras may well be the future, but I'm not buying the hype that they're revolutionary. Not yet anyway.

Was Santa kind to you? Did he bring you that brand new camera you've been drooling over for months? Before you run out and start shooting with it, here are 10 things you should do.

NFTs have become a very controversial topic in the world of photography. Whether you believe in their model or think they are the ultimate waste of resources, there's a lot to digest here, and I encourage you to join in on the discussion.

So, you want to chase a career in professional photography and have managed to build yourself a respectable portfolio that you can begin to use to market your talent. The next step in building your credibility as a professional in the space comes in the form of crafting a web presence that reflects the brand of a seasoned pro. You need customers to see you as someone that really knows what they are doing and is serious about every aspect of your brand. A big part of this aspect of your brand is your own personal website. Social media is fantastic for expanding your influence but it lacks the intimacy to fully represent you. You need a website and that website had better make you look good!

We all get stressed about our gear at some point in our careers. Knowing how much and what quality of photography gear you need is complicated. This will help shed some light on exactly how much equipment a professional photographer needs.

If you've ever shot on a budget lens, or composed a dark subject against a bright sky, you will have surely noticed color fringing — a glowing colored edge around any contrasted subject. Learn how to remove even the most difficult chromatic aberration in Lightroom Classic using some manual adjustments.

Landscape Photography can be quite intimidating especially to new photographers. Aside from the fact that it entails quite a bit of leg work, it can also seem as if it requires a lot of unique pieces of gear.

As my photographic career has evolved, so has my appreciation of image quality. I now spend a huge amount of time on the road and would love a lighter, smaller system, and yet I can't bring myself to let go of my full-frame sensor.

As a solo business owner, I find a good portion of my time has me tethered to a screen. For me, that means being at home in my office as I work on a desktop. I prefer having a large monitor to work on and the cost/performance ratio of laptops was prohibitive when looking at a primary machine. Recently, I also have found myself wasting a lot of time in between shoots - either waiting for the next shoot to start, or on public transport twiddling my thumbs - that could be used much more effectively. So, I decided to invest in a new laptop, and my searches took me to the Dell XPS 15 UHD.

A recent round of layoffs at Canon’s USA headquarters in Melville and the closing of a major service center in New Jersey can’t mean good things for the company’s future in photography.

Pricing has always been a subject of interest for photographers. Whether you practice high-end commercial photography or you take beautiful family portraits, understanding and determining a just pricing strategy for you and the client is very important.

The writing is on the wall for film photography. It is a zero-sum game with only one end result – the extinction of film photography. Perhaps something will happen to change that but I doubt it.

When you really think about it, current camera design doesn't really make much sense.

Commercials are generally supposed to be innocuous. They're inconsequential, and by that very property, trying to use them to tackle something deeper is touchy territory, and as Pepsi just demonstrated, can be an incredible failure.

There are many smart tools and life hacks out there, which aim at making us more efficient in our work and life. The following method has been inspired by a former president of the U.S.

You can only be profitable as a photographer if you have clients. Clients are the good and bad about being an artist. On one hand, you are paid to do what you love, but on the other, they usually don’t care about the same stuff you care about. In this article, I will tell you exactly what your clients want from you.

Enough about the “best lenses” for this kind of photography. Let’s talk about what is practical and what works.