Fstoppers Original Articles

Types of Photos That Are Most Successful on Facebook

Over the years I have been able to organically build a base of over 26,500+ people that follow my work on Facebook. In addition, while many complain that Facebook is only sharing their posts with less than 10% of their fan base, I am averaging around 40% of my fans that are seeing my posts. So what's the secret? Here's how I get my fans engaged and some tips that will help you do the same.

The One Technique Everyone Should Be Talking About

Edward Weston began his career making soft, almost out-of-focus images that emphasized patterns and light. After a trip to Mexico in the 1920s, he decided that photography was really about details and realistic depictions of the world. He made a complete turnaround in his work and began making work that was simple and focused on tones and textures. He got so into "straight" photography that he didn’t even believe in cropping his images.

These 'Game of Thrones' Photos From Time Magazine Are Colorful to Say the Least

Allow me to put on my curmudgeon hat for a moment, but do you ever feel like photographers shooting for big publications will sometimes go for wild off-the-wall creative concepts that seem to just fall flat? That's how I feel about these portraits of "Game of Thrones" actors for Time magazine from British Photographer Miles Aldridge.

Henri Cartier-Bresson and Myron Barnstone on the Golden Section and Dynamic Symmetry

The closest art to photography is painting, and thus the two primary visual art forms share basic precepts regarding light and composition. In the same way photographers use different lenses, filters, and lights to achieve their vision, so too might they learn to use various time-honored, classical techniques in composition. While a polarizing filter is not used for every shot, neither is the golden ratio and sacred geometry. But just as every photographer will have a polarizing filter in their toolkit, so too will they have knowledge of sacred geometry, whose rules they can exalt, or break, at will.

Three Steps to Make $500 an Hour in Your Photography Studio

Primarily, I'm a NYC Wedding Photographer. However, I also photograph business headshots in my NJ Studio as well. I love doing this as a side-gig that brings me extra money for practically no work at all. To be honest, I wasn't really all about it when D.C. Headshot Photographer Moshe Zusman told me I should start implementing it into my business. Seemed a bit boring and I didn't get how it would make me more money than the $10,000+ High-End Weddings that I photograph now. I was wrong.

All You Need To Start Landscape Photography in 2021: Part Two

In last week's article, I went over what qualities and questions you should be answering when choosing a camera. In part two I'll be going over the most important aspects of choosing a lens and tripod when diving into landscape photography.

Learn to Delete Everything to Polish Your Photography Skills

We’ve all seen it before. Everyone runs out to shoot a storm, weather event, or just the sunset at the lake, but it just turns out to be an uninteresting event. Next thing you know someone inevitably posts one or more mediocre photos from it on social media as if it was the greatest thing ever.

My Three Wishes for Nikon

It’s the time of year again for my 100% non-scientific, not-based-on-actual fact, purely speculative wonderings about the future of my main camera brand.

This Simple Trick Leads to Better Landscape Photos

We are used to traveling to the most beautiful places with the aim of getting outstanding photographs. But when we import our images to Lightroom, we have often to accept that our photos are no more than the same old story that was photographed there already by thousands of others before. How can we get photographs that stand out?

One Tiny Change in Photoshop to Speed Up Cropping

For many of us, we’ve been using Adobe Photoshop for so long that at this point we don’t question our own workflows; we do what we’ve done before because that’s the way we’ve always done it. I did something crazy the other day though. I questioned if a tooltip’s displayed information could be changed. And I was a little shocked that yes, it could be.

Ten Essential Travel Apps for Nomadic Photographers

Besides your camera, your phone is probably the most important tool for a successful photography trip. So if your laptop was stolen, could you get by with your smartphone? Would it be handicapped without a cellular connection?

Create Amazing Food Photos With a Single Speedlight

Inspired by a recent photo book I purchased, "Creative Flash Photography" by Tilo Gockel, I set out to create a series of food photos this week as part of a Thai dinner theme my wife and I decided on. The principle here was simple: create a great image using a single speedlight and a bounce card. That’s it.

The Easiest Way to Edit in Lightroom From Multiple Computers

One of the most common complaints among Adobe Lightroom’s users is the issue of it restricting your catalog access to a single computer. Photographers who travel often or studios with multiple editors have continually looked for options that would allow them to sync their edits across several computers conveniently. If you search the web, you can find a few workarounds for this problem, but none that are as simple most photographers would like. However, the creation of the new Lightroom CC has opened up several new possibilities, including a simple option to easily edit your images from multiple computers.

Should I Shoot in 1080p or 4k For My Next Video Project?

Creating and viewing video content in 4k resolution has never been more accessible. But don't go shooting in 4k just because you can, it might not be necessary. The process of delivering 4k video content as a videographer or filmmaker has certain limitations and changes in workflow that are worth considering before you hit the record button.

Your Emails Might Be Losing You Jobs

One of the biggest frustrations any new professional photographer has is obtaining clients. I’m going to assume that at this point you have sufficiently nailed down your technique, you’ve built up a decent portfolio, and you have a website that is easy to navigate and shows off your work. So why are you not getting replies from your prospective clients? Well the answer may have NOTHING to do with your photography.

Beginners: This Is Why Your Camera Meter Is Dumb

Both beginner and intermediate photographers are sometimes surprised to find out just how limited a camera meter is. Understanding how the camera meter works and how you can compensate for different lighting conditions is something that can significantly improve your photography.

Documentary Film Explains Why Apple Killed FCP7 - But Will It Be Anything More Than a Promo for Final Cut X?

There’s an interesting documentary in the works if you’re a video editor. With an obvious pun for the title, "Off the Tracks" interviews professional editors, trainers, and application developers to dig into why Apple made such a shift, when their existing app suite was already successful. I’ll provide some background, but also some editorial commentary below, as I feel like this documentary has potential to either be very interesting or completely pointless.

Three Tips for Photographing Models

If you're tired of scouring Google images and Pinterest for model posing ideas, read this article for three tips on how to do so.

Behind The Scenes: How I Got Published

As a photographer and an artist, one of the most rewarding accomplishments you’ll have is when you see your work featured in some type of way, whether it is in a magazine, an art gallery, an advertisement, etc. In this piece, I will take you behind the scenes of the exciting and riveting experience of a fashion editorial, from the preparation, to the actual shoot, post-processing, and beyond.

Perfectly Iceland, Part 1: The Photographer’s Zoo

When you’re planning a trip to visit Iceland’s majestic countryside, chances are that you are probably following the ring road in one direction or another. And with good reason. Almost all the major sights are dotted around this single road. Or are they? Should we even be chasing these well-known compositions to get a copy of our own on the wall?

AI Masking That Beats Lightroom

With the latest Capture One, you get an incredible level of control over your images. I’ve already been a fan of the layers and masks in Capture One for a while, but with the new update, the software can create those for you. This, and so much more, is why you should try out the new Capture One.

VonWong Goes Stormchasing for Severe Weather Backgrounds in Portrait Series about Climate Change

No stranger to unique and challenging photography pursuits, Ben VonWong's latest adventure sent him across the Western United States in search of summer thunderstorms, with an entourage of assistants, filmmakers, and models helping along the way. VonWong shared this behind-the-scenes video, but also some insightful information as to the conversation he hopes to start– one about the seriousness of climate change.

Create Stunning Portraits With This Simple Two-Light Setup

Creating an even, flattering light in the studio doesn't have to be difficult. In this tutorial, I will show you three simple parallel lighting hacks to make portraits that everyone from the boardroom to Broadway will love.

Take Better Family Formals, Get Better Wedding Clients

You don’t need another image of the bride’s shoes, the groom’s bow tie, or some other “detail” photo to repost all over your Pinterest album. Really, you don’t. That’s not the photo that will make you the hero of the wedding day, or even keep you in the conversation for the rest of the evening.

The Future of Photography - Adapt or Die?

Imagine living in the 1900s as a professional photographer. People were overdressed, kids were running around the streets, not with knives or guns, but with sticks, chasing something crudely resembling a wheel. Yet, photographers everywhere were getting upset. Not only because of some "weekend warrior" undercutting them, but due to the fact that Kodak unveiled something that would forever shift the photographic market for decades to come...

5 of the Best Non-Photography Books That Shaped My Career

From modern-day yogis like Kelly Slater to Tim Ferriss, all have one piece of advice that I will paraphrase here: if you want to excel at your craft, you must always be the student, not a master, and immerse yourself into your discipline at all times.

Fujifilm GFX 100: Technical Marvel, Ergonomic Nightmare

Fujifilm has revolutionized the medium format digital world. Their cameras came in at one-tenth of the cost of the existing players, and they want to make them even cheaper! I have worked with the GFX 50S for several months and own a GFX 50R, so when I had the chance to spend a couple of days with the GFX 100, I snapped it up. I'll share my experiences with it here.

The Time to Prepare for Viral Photos Is Before They Go Viral

Unless you're a photojournalist, the chances are low that your photos will ever go viral. If you're trying to go viral, you'll probably be prepared ahead of time. If you just so happen to be in the right place at the right time, you may not be prepared for what happens when your photos go viral.

The 5 Best Gear Purchases I've Made

After delving into some of the regrettable gear choices I've made, it's time to shift the focus to the gear that has truly excelled in my toolkit. In this article, I'll share the equipment that brings me joy whenever I use it. Be it a camera, or a light stand, or even a keyboard, it's all in here.

Ello...Do You Come Here Often?

If you are an active user on Facebook (and not living under a rock), you have surely seen status updates and links referring to your friend's profiles on the new social network, Ello. But as a working photographer or cinematographer, is investing time into another social network really worth it?

My 10 Most Used Pieces of Gear in 2019

With the year coming to an end, it’s a great time to take inventory and see what you did right and what needs improvement. This also translates to your gear. What was used the most and what should be thrown up for sale? This is a list of my most used gear for 2019.

How to Create Perfect Night Photos

A few months ago, I shared how to take stunning night photos. There, I touched on the technical aspects of taking and editing such images. In today's article, I expand on the topic, focusing on creating perfectly noise-free night images.

New Locations and How A Photographer Can Find Them

When I was younger, my dad took a class on photography at a local community college. To this day, he says that the biggest thing he learned from the class was that to take interesting pictures, you have to go to interesting places. I suppose that if you are a travel, landscape, or nature photographer, that is true. What a lot of people don’t realize is that interesting places are all around us. Having grown up in Ohio, I always thought that I was stuck in a dreary, featureless landscape of corn and soybeans.

How to Recover Skin Texture from Over-Exposed Highlights

A common issue that we're often faced with when using hard light modifiers such as a beauty dish or open reflector, is that of over-exposed highlights on our subject's forehead, nose and under eye areas, which also results in lost skin texture in those regions. While raw processors offer up the ability to recover highlight detail, this rarely leads to satisfactory results. In this tutorial I'll show you how to recover the texture while leaving the overall luminosity in-tact to produce a well-balanced result.

Fstoppers Reviews the Samyang AF 24mm and 35mm f/2.8 FE Lenses for Sony

In the last two years, Samyang has introduced a number of autofocus prime lenses specifically for Sony’s FE mount and, having recently bought the Sony a7 III, two in particular caught my eye: the 24mm and 35mm f/2.8. These tiny lenses have been in my bag for the last month and I think they’re fantastic value for money with unexpected performance given their size.

Improve Your Composition by Not Fixating on These 5 Things

Curiosity and fascination are very helpful things that can fuel a photographer to capture stunning images. However, as we get inspired by spectacular things that we see, it is necessary that we also have composure to make the most out of whatever we are photographing.

Fstoppers Photographer of the Month (August 2020): Emily Moore [NSFW]

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 2020, 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.

My Daily Exercise to Improve My Photography Skills

I have mentioned before that I am always seeking new ways to improve. Today, I want to share one of my daily initiatives that I religiously employ, and that’s my daily color exploration.

Weird Gear Buying Advice I Wish I Got Earlier

There is a ton of gear buying advice on the internet. It ranges from people telling you to spend thousands on gear, to people saying all you need is a stick and a brick. I try to be somewhere in between and buy gear based on factors such as return on investment, need versus want, and return on creativity.