Sometimes, there isn’t a whole lot to a photo: nothing’s moving, or it’s a scene without a strong subject. How do you — the photographer — make it interesting? Here are two tips to make that uninteresting photo just a bit more lively.
“What kind of camera should I get?” is probably one of the questions I get asked the most often. So, I’ve become pretty quick at coming up with recommendations, and I figured it might be nice to share how I come up with them.
If you’ve gone hiking out into pristine wilderness or to the tops of a mountain, bringing a tripod may not be at the right up there on your list of essentials. What do you do if you want to capture the beauty of the landscape in front of you, but also want a visually compelling image that is wider than any lens you may have?
How far can you get with a single prop inside a small studio set up? The possibilities are limitless and it starts with your imagination. Getting the most from a single prop is both challenging and exciting. It is a great way to improve your portrait photography. In this case, Gavin Hoey uses a basic black sun hat as the prop and brings out five different looks.
As photographers, we have a responsibility not to misrepresent the history and culture of our subjects. An exchange on Instagram gave me a stark reminder of how easily this responsibility is forgotten and abused, especially in the world of urban exploration.
There's so much we photographers can learn from watching what others in our industry do, whether we watch a tutorial or start an online photography course. But have you thought about improving your business by looking beyond photography industry?
One of my biggest problems when using Lightroom is just how long it takes to start viewing my images. Thankfully, ON1 Photo RAW does things a bit different.
Let's address the elephant in the room right off the bat, this monitor is absolutely massive. I have a fairly large desk and plenty of space at home to house this beast but it still seems large when viewing in the open. Though, it really comes down to how well it feels when working on it. To be blunt, it feels freaking amazing.
Are you ready to photograph some lavenders? Do you know when and where to go? Here is the answer and everything else you would like to know.
The theme play was a perfect follow up to last week's work. Fstoppers readers delivered another diverse batch of photos worthy of some love.
Sometimes, as photographers, we get a little tied up in having everything about a shoot be as professional and as perfect as we possibly can. But, as Daniel DeArco points out in this great video, it doesn't always have to be that way.
The Internet is wonderful and terrible and I love it and hate it. With easy access to the opinions of thousands of people, it can be easy to get sucked into trying to please other photographers out there instead of the people you should be focusing on: yourself and your clients.
Do you really need all those megapixels in that shiny just-released camera, or is your current 20-something-megapixel camera still just as good as the day you bought it? Let's talk a little about why the megapixel race is great for some photographers and might not even matter for others.
Disk space can be a real burden for photographers who shoot a lot of images per year. Tony Northrup goes through how you can save up to 67 percent of your used space by applying DNG compression to your Lightroom library.
We love our GH5 cameras, but they aren't the best in low light. Luckily, Panasonic recently released the GH5S, which has almost two stops better ISO performance, and with the right lens, we are finally able to shoot astrophotography.
Therukoothu is an ancient folk dance art form, almost 2,000 years old, which originated in South India. Documenting Koothu has always been my dream, and there are so many aspects to it. I wanted to start with the artist, the one who carries the soul of this art.
Emilia Clarke of "Game of Thrones" fame is certainly not lacking in career opportunities, but is it possible that she's found her dream job as a stock business photography model? Check out this hilarious video from Vanity Fair to see Clarke recreate tried and trued stock imagery poses.
The best smartphone cameras of 2018 are tested side by side in this blind test. Are you surprised by the results?
Believe it or not, the great Roger Deakins doesn't have a style, but yet we are inspired by his visual work. In this video you will hear this from his own mouth and you will find a few other cinematography gems.
An agency I work with for product photography hired me to photograph not one, but two race cars. I had already photographed motorbikes, but cars was going to be the first time. With cars the problems are almost always bigger: the surfaces are bigger, the reflections are bigger, the areas to be illuminated are bigger. Everything is bigger.
For anyone that would love to start learning photography but doesn't have the means to invest in equipment, this is the perfect place to begin.
As I sit in my office today, subject of an unintentional silence, I am forced to reflect on the importance of communication in my ability to perform my job as a photographer.
I still think the hardest part of portraits isn't shooting or post-production but the human element. Making your subject feel comfortable in front of the lens is crucial to getting shots you're both happy with. This helpful video will give you some quick tips on how to do just that.
Take a look at this Lightroom CC fueled, wedding day sneak peak for iPad-equipped photographers.
Lighting equipment, like all photography gear, can be pretty expensive. However, with a little ingenuity, you can get soft, flattering light with the cheapest of "modifiers." This helpful video will show you how it's done.
We live in the social media era and it is the preferred the marketing channel. Why should we talk about blogs? Here are some thoughts on giving more emphasis on your blog than the social networks.
Let’s not lie to ourselves and try to sugarcoat the issue -- in many circumstances, gear matters. There is no shame in admitting that despite all your talent, some shoots can’t be done without the appropriate hardware. Here is why.
From mountains to dunes to flats, Death Valley National Park has so much to offer the nature time-lapser. More Than Just Parks took full advantage of this 5,000 square mile wonderland for their latest video.
Last year we released Photographing The World 3 with Elia Locardi. To film this tutorial we traveled around the world with Elia for 3 months, and in the process, we used a ton of new gear. In this video, we talk about everything we used to produce this tutorial.
Underwater photography has become extremely popular with the increase of mermaid models. Getting the shot for a breathtaking underwater image is not as tricky as you may think.
If you have ever photographed the auroras you know how important it is to know when they will explode in the sky. We actually have data available making that prediction easier than just following the Kp number.
There are a multitude of methods of good composition, use of light, and editing that can be used to draw a viewer's eye to the subject of your image. One of the most common and effective methods is leading lines, and this great video will give you several demonstrations of their usage.
Hey, who doesn't like a good vacation? If you're anything like me then a big part of the vacation is not just going to be what you see and what you eat, but a good portion of it will be what you get to take home with you.
Light is everything in photography. If it's good, shooting feels like you just won the lottery. If it's bad, it can be incredibly frustrating to work in. This great video talks about finding the right time of day for the light you're looking for.
Flickr has been acquired by SmugMug, and the official date for the switchover is looming. Here is why now might be the time to back up everything, reach out to all your followers, and maybe think about deleting your account forever.
Photographing people, especially when they are not models, can come with some challenges. Not many have the experience of being in front of the camera. Throw some kids into the mix, and it can become a lot more difficult with a different set of obstacles during your session. What can you do?
On May 8th, Fujifilm released their updated firmware for the X-T2 mirrorless camera. This takes the current firmware to version 4.0 and embodies Fujifilm’s Kaizen philosophy by making enormous changes to what the camera is able to do. Let’s take a look at it here.
It's tempting to chase the idea of being unique in any creative field; after all, those are often the people that stand out. But the very pursuit of that can actually inhibit you from finding your true style, as this great video essay discusses.
In late 2015 the luxury camera company Leica released the Leica SL (Type 601) a full-frame mirrorless camera that came packed with top of the line features ready to compete with Canon and Nikon’s flagship DSLRs. Roughly two years later, and with several new advancements in camera offerings, how does the Leica perform? Can it still compete with other flagship models?
Have you ever thought that you need to shoot more for yourself but have no idea where to start? Photographer Pierre T. Lambert will save you time on this and offers a fun exercise that every photographer should try at least once in their lifetime: shoot underwater!
Using gels opens up a world of colors when shooting portraits. But you don't always have to place the gel paper over the light and shoot. How creative can you get when shooting portraits with color gels?
As professional photographers, there's no doubt in our minds that making photography into a career should be considered "a real job." However, the path you take to become a professional may make or break your career choice.
Mathieu Stern got his hands on a Scarlet-W, which shoots a whopping 5K image, to bring the best out of a vintage 135mm lens he picked up on eBay.
The Retouching Academy has announced a new contest, open to beginner and experienced enthusiast skill levels. Download the contest image file and submit your best retouch by May 15, 2018 for a chance to win some great prizes from Wacom, Capture One, and Retouching Academy.
Teleconverters are an interesting proposition: a cheap device you attach between your lens and camera body that gives you an increase in focal length. This great video will give you an introduction to their strengths and drawbacks to decide if they're right for your work.
We are all addicted to tutorials; at least, I know I am. I'm also addicted to food, so I need to double up my free time. My goal was to come up with an easy way to watch all the tutorials on my iPad. Sure, you could copy the tutorial files onto your iPad, but if you are like me and have a lot more content than would fit on the iPad and don't want to keep putting on and taking it off, there is a better way!
Justin Odisho is a prolific video maker who also shares great video-editing orientated tutorials on YouTube. In this video he discusses how to get clients and how to build your video portfolio with Daniel Schiffer.
When it comes to our cameras most of us put a lot of time into researching which camera to purchase. We review websites like Fstoppers, read user reviews on B&H and Amazon. All to make sure the camera we end up with has the feature we want and the best image quality we can afford. What we forget, however, is that image quality in real life usage can be quite subjective.
I live in a small city far from popular landscape photography locations and seemingly devoid of fellow photographers. I oftentimes find myself feeling a bit alone in the creative process. To remedy this, I went online to find peers and look for resources to get constructive feedback on my work. I ended up meeting someone who helped me improve my work and whose generosity took me completely by surprise.
Sometimes, you have a great lighting setup that gives you the exact look you want, but you need to fill in the shadows ever so slightly. This great video shows you how a ring flash can allow you to fill in shadows without changing the overall look of your setup.
