Fstoppers Original Articles

Creating imagery that’s “brandable” is part of many working photographer's bag of skills but still takes some know how with lighting, posing, and while creating a human connection to excel at a high level with consistent results. Let’s dive into how we can make our commercial and branding imagery simply while also growing our network and earning new clients in the process.

One of the things that I see underutilized in both Lightroom and general computer use is the context menu, also known as the "right-click menu" to many. It's a great user interface feature that reduces the number of toolbar buttons that often clutter an application.

The new Canon EOS R6 and the R5 in particular have generated loads of excitement with their powerful feature sets. However, Canon also announced four new lenses alongside the cameras, and I think those are just as much reason to be excited.

What can photographers learn from an award-winning illustrator? As it turns out, quite a lot.

For videographers, being able to keep to a budget can make or break your project or business. All too often, though, saving money means cutting corners and sacrificing quality. Want to know a way to reduce your costs and still create a well-crafted product?

The millennium was yet to dawn, but 1999 saw Bill Clinton acquitted, the Columbine massacre, the world's population hit 6 billion, and "The Sopranos" debut. Lance Armstrong won his first Tour de France, the Euro came in to circulation, Napster was released along with Internet Explorer 5, and "The Phantom Menace" and "The Matrix" were first screened. But why did it also see the birth of the DSLR?

Apple recently announced that they will soon begin a two-year transition away from using Intel chips in their computers to using in-house ARM chips instead. How will this major paradigm shift affect creatives who use Macs for their work?

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.

Canon has just announced their brand new mirrorless cameras, the EOS R5 and EOS R6 (Thursday, July 9th, 2020), and the R5 especially seems to blur the lines between mirrorless and cinema quality thanks to its huge specs.

Have you watched any old television shows lately? Have you noticed anything strange about them? In watching an older show recently, I was surprised by just how many shots are blatantly out of focus.

No matter whether you’re using an older crop sensor DSLR, a newer full frame mirrorless, or a vintage film camera, you can most likely get a ton of resolution out of your photographs with this one trick.

Hard drives fail, computer programs get corrupted, and companies have data losses from time to time. If you rely on Adobe to keep all your files and settings safe, then you may be in for a shock if things go majorly wrong. Make sure you have the following four items manually backed up while you still can.

There definitely is not a single road to success but coming from the 40-year experience of this veteran advertising photographer, there are definitely things you should keep in mind for a successful career.

With a holiday where people are expected to gather in large groups taking place during a global pandemic, I went a different way for my Fourth of July weekend.

Many photographers buy and sell gear at a steady pace, always looking for some interesting new lens or body to try. I am no different, and I have bought and sold my fair share of gear over the years. I have come to regret selling one specific camera and lens, though.

If you’re like me, you’re one of Instagram’s billion active users, and if you’re a photographer, it’s a natural choice to have a presence on the platform that has been synonymous with photography over the last decade. Instagram, however, doesn’t seem to care about photographers — only users. Should that change? Can it?

2020 has been an unprecedented year both for the camera industry and the world at large. What will the landscape look like five years from now?

If you've been into photography for a while, whether you're frugal or easy going with your money, you will have likely bought and sold equipment. Well, which piece of equipment do you wish you hadn't sold?

Going head-to-head with one of Sony’s best value lenses is a tough proposition, but Viltrox is taking it on with the 85mm f/1.8 FE STM II. This updated version is starting to appear on shelves and at just $400, it’s a very appealing prospect for those on a budget, especially when you consider that it might one day magically morph into an f/1.6 lens.

In striving to become a better photographer and business owner, I’m always trying to learn more about how others have found their way to success. I recently had the chance to speak with Natasha Gerschon about her journey. Gerschon was more than happy to share.

It's easy to pick up bad habits in anything you do, and photography is no different. Here are seven that you ought to check for and make sure they haven't crept into the way you work.

Whether you’ve worked with Photoshop for years, or are new to the program and want an updated approach to cloning, healing, and editing out distractions and issues, there’s been a number of updates that have challenged the old paradigm of editing in these situations. Want to know the new approach you should be using?

At the time this article was written, roughly 35 million Americans were unemployed. Many of the businesses where they once worked do not expect to be able to fully reopen, even after being given the green light by governmental authorities.

Working as a photographer is not all doom or gloom; in fact, there are some really great moments along the way. What has been your favorite memory along the way?

Have you seen people with those small digital cameras or smartphones, holding them at arm’s length, and viewing the LCD screen while taking a picture? As a serious amateur photographer, you don’t want to takes pictures this way. I have six good reasons for using live view screen when photographing from a tripod.

Olympus was once the doyen of the photographic industry, with the OM range beloved for its svelte lines and high-quality manufacturing. Revitalized by mirrorless in the digital era through its collaboration with Panasonic, their OM-D range is iconic. So, why were they bought by the private equity fund Japan Industrial Partners — specialists in restructuring — and what are the portents for the future?

While many drone owners focus on aerial video and photos, there’s one often overlooked item on the spec sheet that your shiny new Mavic can also do: 360 photography, from the sky.

Like many new photographers, Kelly Robitaille started by taking photos of her children, but she would become well known for a striking visual style that is anything but typical.

New camera gear is really cool. But you know what else is cool? Sitting in your new hot tub while your miniature horse grazes nearby. It's time to look at the things you can spend your money on instead of new camera gear.

As I delve more into lens options for the Nikon Z system, I’ve found a small feature that pays big dividends.

When it comes to camera tech, I find that a lot of the features incorporated into cameras are nice to have. But at the end of the day, they could disappear in the next model, and I'd be just fine. However, these five features have changed the way I shoot, and I could never live without them.

Let's play a game. Your rich uncle just gave you his credit card and told you to buy whatever camera and lens (old or new) you want. What do you pick?

The 7artisans 35mm f/1.4 is a beautiful little addition to the line up of mirrorless lenses, offering a truly vintage feel — and price — but without requiring an adapter. I’m not sure I’ve ever had so much fun with a lens.

I'm mainly an Arizona based golden time landscape photographer, and I also mix in Milky Way and telescope based astronomical photography of galaxies and nebulas. On June 5th, a lightning storm struck the Catalina Mountains near Tucson, and almost literally, all hell broke loose.

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.

Lensbaby has always been an enigma to me, and I've never been quite sure what niche they're meant to fill. Perhaps you can help me.

­With the abundance of choices in lenses, why would you choose the humble walkaround lens?

Analyzing data from thousands of film photographs, this scientific analysis sought to assess the characteristics of film photographs that are associated with success on social media.

Last week, one of the world's biggest camera manufacturers retweeted a short film of a Black Lives Matter protest shot on one of its cameras. Given that the company’s photography ambassadors for the country where the protest was staged are 19 white men and one white woman, how does it justify lending the movement its support?

The exposure triangle is one of the most fundamental concepts any photographer needs to master to take control of their images. If you struggle to understand how it all comes together to produce a complete exposure, this article is for you.

Now that things are opening up again around the world, we can start doing outdoor photo sessions again, and this one trick will help you stand out in your community.

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.

One of the things I love most about photography is the challenge of creating something new and refreshing. In today's behind the scenes video, I thought it would be fun to try to capture some family photos with a split view above and under the water.

Photography is full of tradeoffs where you gain one thing in exchange for losing another. Here are five tradeoffs that every photographer should know.

Why is it that we get more reds, oranges, and yellows when the sun is at the horizon at either sunrise or sunset, and how does the sky remain blue during the day anyway? Let’s look briefly at the chief principles at play when it comes to changes of color at the golden hours.

Even if you’ve never blurred an image in Photoshop in your life, you might be aware that usually the best way to do it is by using Gauss. But who is Mr. Gauss, why is he so good at blurring images, and why would image editing be completely different without him?

The only thing more exciting than winning a Sony World Photography Award is getting the opportunity to speak with each of the winners. I interviewed each of them for Fstoppers about how they work, their inspirations, equipment, future plans, and advice on entering awards – enjoy!

There are more cameras around than ever before, and more photos are being taken than at any other point in history. Personally, I do not think that is necessarily a good thing.

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.

Canon is the most popular camera manufacturer in the world, but it has had a reputation in the past for using sensors inside its cameras that have lagged behind the best of the competition. Why is this and what does the future hold?