If there are multiple objects that make up the subject in your photo, it can be wise to consider the rule of odds. An odd number of objects makes the image more interesting compared to an even number. As always, there are exceptions to this rule.
Is CineStiil’s new 400D a replacement for Fujifilm’s legendary Natura 1600 film? Many devotees of Fujifilm’s high-speed color negative film would find this an absurd proposition, but bear with me.
There are often things that are helpful to workflow, no matter how minor they are. One of my favorite customizations to a new install of Photoshop is the cursor customization. When watching a tutorial and I see the instructor clicking through a menu instead of using a shortcut key for something as simple as duplicating a layer, I can understand the reason why. When demonstrating to people, it's valuable to slow things down and make sure they understand. It may seem subjective to flat out say that changing the cursors is the best thing to do, however I believe that once you try it you will agree.
Sony released the a7 to great fanfare and that one camera has received a plethora of well-deserved awards. Did I say one camera? How about three cameras.
In an age of ultra sharpness and perfect optical balance, our technically brilliant images can often lack charm. So in this tutorial, I'll show you how to use retro lenses on your modern digital camera for photographs that have a lot of character and harken back to the days of film.
Every photographer needs a good website; that's a given. What isn't so obvious is should you have a contact page? What about a photo on your bio? Is it best to have multiple galleries or everything on one landing page? Today Lee and I review a few websites to show you what does and doesn't work when displaying your work.
The wedding photography and videography industry, just like many others, has taken a massive hit during the pandemic. Are you going to persist through this, or are you thinking of giving yourself a change of direction?
Google is a beast. There’s no other good way to put it, Google is a beast of a platform with an incredible amount of free valuable content available at our fingertips. But as with any beast, there is always a dark side, and for Google a big con is that the monster search engine never forgets. In the realm of Search Engine Optimization (or SEO) there is a plethora of both good and bad information available to the masses. Because of this, business owners have formed bad habits with SEO that are outdated and harming their ranking within Google and its algorithm. Here are a few habits you may have that could be harming your photography website’s rankings, and how you can fix them.
The rule of thirds is completely overrated. There, I said it. Nope, I am not going to take it back.
If you're trying to build a fan base for your Facebook page, continually inviting people to like it most probably isn't the best way to accomplish this. What people don't realize is that using the invitation feature built into Facebook is close to useless. There is an art to making your Facebook page flourish.
I love looking at landscape photography, and I enjoy taking them too, though I am by no means a landscape photographer. That disconnect needed to be overcome, so I started experimenting.
The combination of vastly increased living standards for many people around the globe, individualism and social media has created a boom in tourism never seen in the history of humanity. Towns, areas and countries such as Venice, Dubrovnik, The Isle of Skye, US national parks, Iceland, The Netherlands and The Faroe Islands are feeling it (and that is just to name a few). The Faroe Islands seem to do something different.
One small piece of gear is an essential buy for landscape, travel, and adventure photographers. Even if you already own one, a number of recent developments may mean it is time to update.
Every now and then, it's nice to be reminded of how spoiled we are and how much information really lives inside our raw files. Whenever we capture a raw image, we have a plethora of information at our disposal. That's all well and good, but this one example really helps bring it home.
An external recorder can be a good choice for video. Such a recorder has no use for photography, but it can function as an external screen. Since you don’t need the recording option, there are some affordable possibilities as well. Perhaps an external screen can be of benefit for your photography?
Posing is an art and technique that must be honed. Many photographers may feel they're in a rut with posing or that their routine is lacking. Here are a few reasons why your posing may seem lackluster.
It may seem like it was only yesterday, but the upcoming total lunar eclipse is actually the first one in nearly three years. Taking place on the morning of January 31, it will be fully or partially visible to folks living in Asia, Australia, the Pacific, and North America. If you are in the United States, the farther north and west you live, the better. Here are five tips I’ve put together to help you prepare for capturing some epic shots.
In a world saturated with photography, you have to find ways to stand out. If you are able to put in the extra skill and effort to make something that is unique, it can quickly gain attention. Backlighting is one technique I use to accomplish this. Initially, backlighting seemed like a difficult task. Extra equipment, more work, and setting up stands and lights all made it so intimidating as a new photographer. Now that I am years in, I can honestly say that my backlit shots have captured more attention and sold more jobs than any other one thing in my business.
Photographers can be both nostalgic and habitual, finding a piece of gear they really love and sticking with it for a long time. Most of us have some piece of gear we love and won't ever part with. This one is mine.
For years, I enjoyed cinematography and photography as almost non-overlapping magisteria. I was fully aware that they played by many of the same rules, but I didn't entertain the idea of extracting elements of cinematography and inserting them into my images until much later.
This week we are filming 5 days of fashion, beauty, test, and portrait looks with Michael Woloszynowicz from Vibrant Shot Photography. Michael is a Toronto based photographer and high end retoucher creating an in-depth Pro Tutorial with PRO EDU that will be available on sale in the Fstoppers store this summer.
All this week, we've been providing you with the best gift guides this holiday season for photographers and videographers alike. A few days ago, I showed you the best deals under $75, and yesterday touched on the best deals under $200. Today, I'm here to show you the absolute best photography gifts for your loved ones that are under $500.
Composition in landscape photography is an essential aspect of the craft. Many rules talk about leading lines, the rule of thirds, visual weight, and more. These rules are good guidelines, but the art of simplification is at the root of good compositions.
Modern cameras can be set to very high ISO values. But the higher your ISO is, the more noise will be visible. There is a point when the noise levels become higher than acceptable. Do you know what high ISO value is still acceptable for you?
One of my favorite tools in the studio is a vacuum cleaner. You may not need one all the time, depending on where you live, but I need one if I’m going to do any kind of macro or product photography at all. If you’re a photographer, it comes as no surprise that items from around your house are essential to your photography.
The dramatic looks that can be achieved with strobes can very well be accomplished with natural light if utilized correctly. Understanding how to use the sources and the environment will increase the overall image every time. Using pull backs of each shot is a valuable tool in order to truly appreciate and understand how each image was shot. One photographer shows just how to light dramatically with minimal set ups.
Spending countless hours on your client's gallery to present to them during the reveal means nothing if you cannot show them options to display. Creating the right line that works with your studio and brand to present to the client will increase sales, as well as referrals from that client. It is all about the workflow and how smoothly the process is during your sales session. (Codes for free gift at the end!)
Landscape photography often requires multiple focal lengths to display a certain variety of output. But does having one lens, a prime lens, enough to shoot landscapes?
Welcome to the second part of Choosing a Lens for Visual Storytelling in Photography. This week, we’re going to look at the way in which lenses help you to express distance and intimacy and dive deeper into the story you want to tell.
I don't know about you but I've been a little overwhelmed about the power of artificial intelligence and the speed it's replacing jobs that can be automated. Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have recently stated that a basic salary should be paid to every citizen in America to make sure that people who have lost their jobs due to automation can keep on their feet and do whatever it is they've always wanted to do.
Jason Miller works as the Global Content Marketing Leader at LinkedIn by day, but is somewhat of a rock 'n' roll photographer by night. With an extensive portfolio consisting of the likes of Marilyn Manson, Foo Fighters, and KISS, Fstoppers chatted to Miller to get his thoughts on working as a semi-pro photographer, and how he balances his day job with his passion for photography by night.
We all want to get better. Here are three quick steps to help you get on your way this weekend.
You carry that decent camera around with you because you want decent photos. Every so often, then, you need to get some of those unprocessed raw files on to your phone. How do you do it?
As I use my Fujifilm X-Series cameras more and more for event work, I've needed fill flash here and there to enhance some of the portraits I'm asked to take on the fly. With there being very few good options for the Fuji system at the moment, I picked up a Nissin i40 back in April. Initially, I just wanted it as a fill flash, but more and more, I have been using it as a backup for outdoor flash work. Below, I'd like to share my experiences with the flash.
Insta360 recently announced that they’ve raised a further $30 million in funding, and that they’ve been profitable since 2017. That’s more than can be said for GoPro.
This entire summer, I have been trying to include elements of water in many of my photoshoots. In today's behind the scenes video, I team back up with Krystal Xamairy and attempt to photograph her in a pool using a fish tank and a few strobes. The results are pretty interesting, to say the least.
My passion for photography stemmed from a series of trips I had taken overseas and a desire to capture the beauty of those places with more finesse. Landscapes were a natural draw for me and it didn’t take long to come across the concept of exposure blending.
Every time I’m on a set or grabbing coffee with another local filmmaker, we always end up talking gear for a bit, and inevitably the question comes up of “What camera would you buy if you had to buy right now, and why?” I decided to research things a bit and put together an article that explains what I’d buy if I absolutely had to right now, and the answer might surprise you.
As I read another report this week of a photographer losing his life’s work to petty theft, I started to question if I was doing enough to back up my own images. How many copies of your work do you currently keep? Are you doing enough to protect your photos? It’s easy to get complacent, but ask yourself: are you prepared for a thief to strike?
It is surely the simplest of operations — instructing the camera when to take a photo. Surprisingly, for such a straight forward task, there are a myriad of ways to actuate the shutter. What are they and what is the best?
Photographer Aaron Anderson has once again created an amazing set of images that came from an idea he could not shake. It's often been said that anyone can do something once but to keep coming back with impressive results is what differentiates the best from the rest.
I have seen absolutely beautiful things happen in the photo industry. I've seen strangers become best friends, I've seen grand ideas being brought to life, and I've seen photographers grow from beginners to mentors. I've seen so many things that make me proud to be a part of such an amazing community. The sad news is that I've also seen the uglier side of it. I've seen jealousy turn into bad-mouthing, I've seen photographers knowingly leave out key techniques from classes or talks, and I've seen new photographers become discouraged and disheartened by the cold shoulders of the more popular photographers in the industry.
Monte Isom is a super successful commercial photographer based out of New York City. However, before he made a career of his own, he assisted some of the biggest names in the photography world. In this video he recaps his experience shooting the president of the United States of America.
When it is time to buy a camera, image stabilization can be something that is on the bucket list of must haves. Image stabilization makes it possible to shoot with longer shutter times than normal, preventing the use of a tripod. There are many different implementations of image stabilization, but it is not the Holy Grail. You could say image stabilization is overrated.
There is nothing quite as heartbreaking as the actual moment when your creativity is quashed. There are lots of culprits that can lead up to that moment, but I find that it's often traceable to a single action (or inaction) by another party.
As large as the photography community is in a whole, it seems small and intimate when a crisis attacks one of our own. We have seen photographers unite and rally when another is hit with tragedy. However the way one couple decided to deal with the crisis themselves leads to a whole new way of thinking for personal projects and photography shoots.
Were you one of the early adopters who jumped to a Fuji X series, selling your extensive Canon camera body and lens range, to be thoroughly unimpressed with the image quality to then jump back? Or did you fork out on a PhaseONE medium format, drooling over that dreamy tonal range to then see Pentax release the rather good 645Z for a quarter of the price a year later? Enter the "Yesterday's Tech" purchasing model.
As a full-time freelance photographer, we often ask ourselves why we should work for free, especially at the start of our careers. Are we being taken for a ride, or is it worth investing in our client for possible future returns?
While you can use almost any lens to make an environmental portrait, there are a combination of features that make the 35mm a great choice for this style of portraiture.
