If you are a photographer who is utilizing physical DVDs, USB drives, or even digital solutions like Dropbox to deliver client images, then take note as there is another way.
Artificial Intelligence is a powerful machine-learning technology that's starting to seep into our image editing workflow and it'll soon render some manual editing obsolete, but which will go first?
It’s simply impossible to ignore the change our industry is undergoing. The wide availability of industry-standard equipment has seen an uprise of people pursuing photography as a career. Photographers are battling against many threats to their careers; increasingly, celebrities who are trying their luck behind the camera. Be it models, socialites, or the rich and famous, people who are not renown for their photographic skills are increasingly booking jobs ahead of established professionals. So are those of us who work behind the lens full-time being made redundant? Can anyone be a photographer these days? It’s time to discuss.
Photography dreams can come true, and for Adam Coppola, that’s just what happened this year when he opened his newly completed photography studio. I had an opportunity to tour Coppola's newly completed dream studio a few weeks ago.
Have you ever thought that your photography may have a positive impact on someone's life so much so it helps them cope during traumatic life transitions and illnesses? Because it can.
As I went through the process of archiving and backing up my collection of images, I couldn't help but think: do digital images last forever? Or do they only last as long as the lifespan of a photographer? With these questions in mind, let's explore my thoughts on digital photography and its future.
Reading is what? FUN-damental! Ok, my bad dad joke aside, books are a great way to gain a deeper perspective on a topic from those making great strides within a field.
If you are lucky, you will meet some fantastic photographers. It's a real privilege working with them, isn't it? There are common factors most good photographers have. But, above anything else, they all have one thing in common.
We all love having a spot to ourselves, but many times, that isn’t possible. There are a few unspoken rules when it comes to shooting in congested areas that every photographer should know.
Hasselblad was one of the first that used super resolution techniques. Today it can be found in many cameras, producing resolutions that are up to four times higher than the pixel count of the sensor. You can also do this with your camera. This is how it works.
Now that the holidays are over, there will be an influx of photographers on the scene testing out their new DSLRs hoping to put their own creativity out into the world. As seasoned photographers, we know that it cannot stop at the shutter click for our clients so that is where vendors and products come into play. There are many options in this industry to chose from, whether it be flash drives, custom packaging, or even financial software. So where do you begin?
Like many photographers in quarantine, I’ve been trying to get creative without the ability to get out. I’ve had a lot of gear sitting around that doesn’t get much use, and so I’ve gone through my boxes to dust them off and see what’s possible. One gem I had forgotten about was the FotodioX Mount Adapter that lets me mount my Nikon F glass to my Micro Four Thirds cameras.
This week I had the pleasure of visiting Adorama in NYC, for a deeper look at Panasonic’s groundbreaking camera. While there, I discovered some interesting specs that aren’t being talked about. Let’s take a look at the innovations and pitfalls of the camera at a deeper level.
Since Lightroom and Photoshop introduced their automatic sky selections, changes to the sky in landscape and architecture photos have become very easy. But, how good are those automatic selections? If you edit photos for web representation alone, they are mostly good enough. But if you intend to print your photos, you might want to improve them, which is what I show in this article.
Sometimes the only things standing between us and achieving our photography dreams is... ourselves.
Remember that first time you've looked at those dream portfolios? How did they happen? You've probably compared your portfolio against those and thought, "How would clients put their trust in me for something as big as that?" The hard truth is, those dream-portfolio photographers had a great website issued by the hospital they were given birth at. Face it, if you don't have your portfolio website printed on your birth certificate, you won't ever have one. Of course that's not true.
Strobist. Natural light shooter. These words are at two opposite ends of the spectrum of photographer that seem like they're always a hair's breadth away from starting a photographic civil war, both sides preaching their philosophy as if deviation is blasphemy. One side is derided as being "afraid of learning to use flash" and the other side is jeered at for creating "flashy," "fake," or "contrived" images. Both sides seem immovable in their adherence to their preferred light source. Despite this disagreement, a popular saying in photography is, "light is light." So which is it? Is one better and the other worse, are they just preferences or are both sides cutting themselves short?
Having met and talked with quite a few photographers, I have seen that there are a lot of things we do which, to me, a fellow photographer are annoying. Some are innocent enough such as asking for the lighting setup, but others sit on the fence about being illegal.
Not all of us work with professional models that can turn on the natural-looking poses when the lens is bearing down on them. Whether it’s Auntie Jean or an aspiring model-to-be, some people just don’t feel comfortable in front of the camera, and this often makes for awkward-looking portraits. So, here are five tips you can use on your next photoshoot to put them at ease and take better portrait photographs.
Is it really necessary to have your own photo studio? Here's why I let go of my own photo studio and use PeerSpace instead.
A drone allows you to take photographs to the next level. There is only one downside for most drones I know of. The camera can’t be tilted for vertical shots. That doesn’t mean you can’t shoot vertical images. The solution is a panorama.
If you are doing any business or marketing on Instagram, then at some point, you have been annoyed that you can only put one link on your profile. For a lot of users and most photographers, the ultimate goal is to drive traffic from Instagram to your website/portfolio.
As a retoucher, I spend most of my day molded into a chair and working in front of the screen. It was only after a couple of years that I began realizing the strain it took on me. Being much younger, it wasn't as much of an issue as it was when I started getting older. I immediately began finding ways to make my time behind the screen more comfortable and healthy. As fellow creatives, I am sure most of you also have the same issue. I reached out to my colleagues for advice and here are some suggestions I found.
Last year, the Fstoppers team joined Joey Wright in Curacao to film one of our best tutorials to date, Swimwear Photography - Lighting, Posing, and Retouching. Not only was the location and team incredible, Joey's photography techniques and ability to work with models produced some of the best photography information I've learned in years. Every lesson spans well beyond the genre of swimwear and can be applied to any shoot involving a model. As a tribute to the tutorial, we are releasing a free excerpt from one of the best lessons on posing I've ever watched.
The unfortunate and widely-reported death last week of 26-year-old rooftopper Wu Yongning led to a lot of discussion regarding rooftop photography, personal responsibility, and the blurred boundaries between urban exploration, parkour, and "exposure porn" - i.e., hanging from the edge of buildings or balancing at incredible heights in order to create photos, videos, and short-lived internet fame.
Small, affordable cameras with small sensors and small lenses are doomed to produce images with deep depth of field, but what if you could add shallow depth of field in post?
Photoshop is a fantastic tool, but it is not always the fastest software on earth. Large files such as PSD, TIFF, and PSB that contain numerous layers can require a few seconds, if not minutes, to load. When all you want to do is quickly check that all the files in a folder are the final versions, it can be tedious! However, there is a neat trick to open your big files much faster. Here is how.
When I moved in to my studio a little over three years ago, I needed a place to hang, store, and use my rolls of seamless paper. I didn’t have many — just a few nine-foot rolls of white, gray, black, and green — but I wanted them out of my way. Storing them vertically wasn’t a good option in the space, and storing them laying down is never a good idea. So, I wanted to figure out a simple system that I could build that would do the trick. Here’s what I came up with.
Those who wish to practice their off-camera flash technique or simply, wish to create a successful concept shoot to boost their portfolio, should strongly consider practicing the arrangement with themselves as the subject.
Do you often think about the significance of the subject you are photographing? What if you knew it would be gone forever someday? Though we don’t always realize it in the moment the shutter clicks, the images we capture with our cameras become more precious when the subjects in those images no longer exist.
With the market inundated with countless products, it can be overwhelming to choose the right price point for the gear you need. Does the price tag truly reflect the quality and performance of the equipment? Let's dive into this question.
Camera manufacturers have faced a tough time in recent years as sales dwindled, whilst photographers have demanded ever better products and the development of mirrorless systems. COVID-19 added insult to injury by essentially halting production. How have manufacturers fared? Everyone is a loser, but who has lost less than anyone else?
If you love shooting landscapes, you probably thought about using neutral density. Perhaps you already own a set of nice filters, but do you know which filter you need to use? This beginners guide can help you choosing the right neutral density filter.
You've probably seen thousands of articles on screen calibration and you may strive to deliver perfect images and videos. Unfortunately, in the end, your client views them on their non-calibrated way-too-blue or way-too-orange screens. Sometimes they say "looks good to me." Other times the response may be "it's too dark," or "it's too blue." They may even edit your photos to make them look "better." How do you handle these situations and is it really critical for you calibrate your monitors?
As a personal approach to traveling, I generally bring more gear than I think I’ll ever use. As is almost always the case, I find that there’s something more I should have brought or, conversely, something I should have left behind.
Scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed this week brought up something interesting. Dan Fable, a Manchester musician turned photographer/videographer, was offering an insane deal for bands. What’s more insane is that people weren’t taking him up on the cheap offer.
Raised in a small farming community in Saskatchewan, Canada, Chad Carpenter found himself far from the idea of ever being a boudoir retoucher. Boudoir in a small conservative town can be considered taboo and Carpenter never imaged he would be leaving his job in order to work as the main retoucher for his wife's boudoir company.
A major concern I hear from boudoir photographers is the lack of a formal studio space for shooting. While I do have a downtown studio in a historic area of Palatka, Florida, if I am traveling there is not always that option of finding a shared area. Understanding how to create your own studio space in hotels, vacation homes, or Airbnbs can bring your boudoir business front and center to potential clients.
What a time to be alive for photography! Advances in technology, combined with reduction in pricing and the “gear wars” that brands wage against each other continue to make image-making hardware of the highest quality more and more accessible to the every person. This market process continues to make it possible for us to minimize sacrifices in image quality we once made when shooting in less than optimal conditions.
In the world of photography, preparation goes a long way. From creating mood boards weeks in advance, communicating with everyone who will be on set, to making sure your gear is in proper working order, there is a lot to do before you even shoot. Whether you are shooting in the studio, working on a large scale shoot, or just going for a photo walk with some friends, here is a simple list of steps to make sure you are ready the night before a shoot.
The golden hour, a cherished time for photographers, offers breathtaking opportunities at both sunrise and sunset. While both moments provide stunning lighting conditions, there is something truly magical about sunrise photography. This article explores the top five reasons why sunrise photography shines brighter than its counterpart, sunset photography, why many choose to set their alarm at a ridiculous hour, leave their warm bed, and head out into the darkness with their camera bags packed with both certainty and uncertainty.
Storage management is a common issue shared by many photographers due to the constant increase of the megapixel counts in our cameras. Here is a detailed guide about the storage options and how to make the right choice based on your photo-video needs.
When Lightroom mobile was initially released a few years back, I, like many Adobe users at that time, was curious, and found myself finger tapping all the way to my phone's respective App Store to download it. After that addition to my phone was made, the once fresh home screen icon for a long time sat irrelevant, and relegated to the end of the bench, placed inside of a seldom seen, far lateral, home screen folder.
A short while ago, I wrote about a kerfluffle with White Castle’s social media team about a photo I took of their Impossible Slider. At issue was the way White Castle (and other large companies) treated people who asked for some form of compensation for their photos to be used on the company’s social pages.
If you began shooting video within the last five to eight years, it's quite likely that you rode the "5D Mark II wave." Maybe you didn't own a 5D, and still don't, but that camera revolutionized the world of video production forever. Not only did that camera enable many "budget" filmmakers to make top notch content, it inspired almost every manufacturer to begin shoving video into every camera they could. No longer was it necessary to buy a dedicated video camera to create motion pictures. While I will certainly credit Canon with originally bringing professional video capability to the masses, I have to hand it to Sony for rocketing "DLSR video" to another level entirely.
Announced back in June, Nikon’s first macro lenses for the Z mount appeared to be typical successors to their F mount predecessors, covering 50mm and 100mm focal lengths. The Z 105mm, as before, is a more premium choice, offering a few more features and a more choice designation. I’ve finally gotten my hands on one, and after some thorough testing, I’m ready to share my thoughts on this recent entry to the Z lineup. Whether you’re a macro specialist or Z photographer, you’ll want to check out this review.
Whether you are looking to get into astrophotography or take your skills to the next level, 2021 has lots of great astronomical events happening all over the world. Planning in advance and being in the right place at the right time is the first step to getting amazing shots.
When creating imagery of any night landscape, you are taking your camera and the other equipment you own and pushing them to their limits. With that in mind, should photographers be upset when their favorite imagery is put together in post?
We all know that one of the necessary parts of starting as a photographer is working for free in order to gain exposure. Working for free is a great starting point to build your portfolio, develop your technique, and build a name for yourself as a photographer without the pressure or expectations of a client. The hard part is knowing when to accept free jobs and when to start charging for your services.
There’s nothing worse than wrapping up a shoot that you’re really proud of only to have your client tell you that they’re not happy with the final images. If this happens, you really only have two options: either take the time to re-shoot or provide a refund. Either way, there’s about a zero percent chance that you will get a referral from them. By simply sharing your images with your clients on set, you can make sure that everyone is on the same page and you can begin the editing process with peace of mind and confidence that your client is going to be thrilled with your final product.
