Fstoppers Original Articles

The concept of a one image portfolio is difficult to imagine. But what if you had to only display one image? Which image best represents you as a photographer?

Continuing on our serialization of a photography themed short story, here is Part 2 of "In the Blink of an Eye." If you didn't manage to read Part 1 last week, then catch up to find out what Charlie Sydcup videoed during a trip to the City of London.

In today's video we take you behind the scenes in our new Fstoppers studio and show you exactly how we built and designed our latest video set. We will show you all the microphones, cameras, and lighting gear as well as our thought process in tackling this empty canvas of a room.

In an industry where supply is abundant, saying "no" to work can feel both counter intuitive, and suicidal for your business. The truth is, it has quite the opposite effect.

Whether you're an established wedding photographer or aspiring to be, here are some truths about wedding photography that will make you say "yep" or "I had no idea!"

Whenever I bought a new lens, I always added a UV filter to it. It was obvious to do so, and I never gave it any thought. But there was a moment that I stopped adding that sort of filter and I never looked back since. Does a UV filter still have any benefit, or is it a waste of money? Let’s find out.

The pain of losing a loved one never leaves you, only dulling with time. We now have a plethora of photos that record ourselves, but memories are more emotionally powerful. So how do you remember what they looked like, their visual "essence"?

Today, Luminar 3 has been updated to version 3.02, and the company, after glitches in version 3, is moving toward being a solid Adobe Lightroom competitor.

The mirrorless tsunami is well under way. We have a wealth of full-frame options with new mounts, smaller flange distances, vastly improved EVFs, and smaller bodies. Given the dent that this is already putting in DSLR sales, what’s the next step? Sony already has a well-established range of crop-sensor mirrorless bodies, but will Canon and Nikon follow suit?

Have you ever wondered what went into creating a moody fashion shoot? In this article, go behind the scenes of a fashion shoot I did using a darker aesthetic and mood.

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.

“Let’s go to New Zealand!” Ka-ching, that’s a pretty chunk of change to shell out, but travel has become comparatively more affordable than ever before. If you are considering extended travel to invest in your landscape photography, you can save a ton of money without turning vagabond.

Since's Instagram's inception, there have been countless arguments by creatives for and against the social media platform. Here are three reasons why you should get on and stay on Instagram.

Photography is a medium in which — for the most part — a moment is intended to be immortalized. But a recent study of memory and cognition coming out of University of California further explored that under certain conditions, taking a photo of an object made it more difficult to recall than merely looking at it, and now, no one is quite sure why.

With most website traffic overwhelmingly coming from smartphones, a client is going to ask for portrait content sooner or later. How can you avoid the major pitfalls?

Since's Instagram's inception, there have been countless arguments by creatives for and against the social media platform. Here are three reasons why you should get off and stay off Instagram.

You may know how to photograph your subject in a certain light situation, you may know how to compose your photograph to create additional drama, but do you allow your true emotions and feelings shine in your work?

My landscape photography relies on a formula. As a photographer attempting to create images with artistic vision, this realization frightens me. This article explores six steps for breaking out of formulaic photography.

When shooting beauty, there is a lot to keep in mind. How does the makeup look? Is the lighting clean? In the background clean? How is the model's expression? Learn my own process and join me behind the scenes in shooting a male beauty story with the Fujifilm GFX 50S.

As with any creative medium, there are blips of unfortunate comedy. Photography has had more than its fair share, and let's be honest, many of us have tried them. So what are the worst fads of all time?

One important setting can drastically affect your computer monitor’s accuracy. It’s important to check, but is almost hidden in the menus.

Canadian creative Jordan Manley is a master of capturing artistic, storytelling moments in the outdoors through both stills and motion. Find out some tools of the trade and learn what makes him tick.

It’s clear that there has been a tremendous upswing in the number of photographers across all markets. But also with that trend has seen a staggering number of people jumping into teaching and selling workshops.

When it comes to flash photography, there seems to be a constantly recurring question: manual or TTL flash? So at the end of the day, which one should you really be using?

Pricing was the area of professional photography I struggled with the most in the early years. However, it was far too recently that I realized I had a fundamental error in my approach to pricing and value.

Let go of the fear and leave your logo and watermark off your images. You will get more work and recognition because of it.

I recently spent time working alongside Alice Prenat, the portrait photographer behind the elegant Parisian studio, Portrait Madame. After her talent was discovered by Sue Bryce, Prenat launched an upscale brand and studio in Paris, where she celebrates the "everyday" woman.

At some point we will all get stuck. We will all feel like we’re not developing as creatives. These ruts can drive us down or they can be a wake-up call to do something different. How we handle them determines how we function as creatives afterwards. In this article, we’ll discuss the power of doing something different.

I am always looking to improve my work and increase my efficiency and my open mindedness to try new methods isn't always rewarded. However, applying one psychological principle for habit building has proven effective.

As many of you know, Lee and I recently moved to Puerto Rico, and with that move, we are having to completely redesign our new studio space. In today's video, we tackle our in-home network and wireless Internet connection. Surely the limitations in Puerto Rico will prove to give us trouble... or will it?

Bad retouching is not the subject of this article. Sometimes we read articles that talk about banning retouching or rumors that some brands or companies are going to get it banned from their advertising. If we dig deeper into the very reasons for such a decision, we should ban many other processes involved in the crafting of commercial imagery.

New gear is always fun to work with, however a new piece of glass is not going to make you a better photographer. Many new photographers feel the urge to buy the latest gear thinking it will improve their skills. Learning how to work with what you have, learning new techniques, or even changing directions for a new desired genre is far more important than that latest camera announcement.

I’ve had a long flirtation with mirrorless cameras of all stripes, from the earliest Panasonic to Fujifilm to Olympus. I’m usually quite happy with and shoot them all frequently, but at the end of the day, it’s always a full-frame DSLR that reminds me why none of those have ever become my main squeeze.

An undeniable and long-standing staple in the photography world, Fujifilm's market share in the West is still fractional. With all of its innovation and strong reviews, one must ask, what more can Fujifilm do to increase influence in the Western market?

Instagram pods have been on the rise ever since Instagram switched users’ feeds from chronological to an algorithm-based order. However, there’s one big reason why you should consider not joining a pod, and here’s why.

With Canon’s latest announcement causing a few waves, many people — myself included — are getting a bit sore from sitting on the fence. The EOS RP will no doubt sell a bucketload, but is it the right camera for you? It might be cheap as chips but I won’t be advising anyone to buy it. Here’s why.

Selling prints is a tricky business with seemingly infinite reasons for someone to decide they don't want to purchase your image. But one simple question can dramatically increase your odds of convincing a potential customer to pull the trigger on investing in your art.

It's easy to lose sight of why you love photography. It sometimes feels like you spend so much time selling the medium's power, that you forget its power can be greater than you can even describe.

Your client’s terminally-ill grandfather is the only one not smiling in the shots of the entire family. Do you liquify his facial features to make it look like he might be smiling? Do you transform a flat gray sky in your latest landscape to a dramatic sunny one? Where do you draw the line?

Today, I’ll share a brief story about a brief moment with big consequences.

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?

Last week Lee Morris and I embarked on something I like to call "The Puerto Rican landscape challenge." The goal of this series is to not only showcase some of the most beautiful locations on the island of Puerto Rico, but to also find out, once and for all, who is the better landscape photographer. Today is the beginning of this ultimate challenge.

A recent comment on one of my articles has become the straw that broke the camels back. Now, I feel the need to combat a common myth which dissuades many photographers from becoming full-time professionals.

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.

One of the best investments any photographer can make for their business is in education. There is always new gear, techniques, and knowledge to learn about and there is no better way than a fun destination conference. WPPI held each year on the Las Vegas strip is all about fun, education, and the destination.

Learning about photography was once confined to books, courses, and mentorship. Now, however, there are more resources at our disposal than we could ever deplete. Here's one that flies a little under the radar.

Fstoppers is about all things photography related, so in a slight departure from our normal articles we are serializing a photography focused short story. Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

If you're relatively new to the world of stock photography and trying to figure out the best way to make money, then I might just have the answer for you. With creativity, you can produce work that fills a need and earns income. In this article, I aim to provide some methods that will help give you an edge.

As photographers we're in a fortunate era where we have more tools at our disposal than ever before. That said, there's one well known one I have used consistently for years, that many photographers neglect.

For those of us that like shooting on a mirrorless camera, we’ve probably become accustomed to the lightweight and easy to manage cameras. So are the S1 and S1R a step too far on the scales?