If you've ever found yourself in an impromptu situation where you knew you could get a really cool shot if you just had a little bit of extra light, the techniques in this video might knock your socks off with their simplicity and creativity.
Sam Abell is one of the most famous American photographers of the 20th century, particularly known for his frequent work for National Geographic. This awesome full-length documentary will teach you vast amounts about what it means to take a photograph.
The Sigma 40mm f/1.4 Art is such a ridiculous lens. Whenever I've thought about 40mm lenses I thought about the Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 pancake lens. I'm sure many of us have owned one of these lenses; it's actually pretty good. The tiny form factor, relatively fast autofocus speeds, and great image quality. Obviously, this lens was just too small for Sigma.
In this behind the scenes article, see how I set up my studio in the athletics office of my school and shot a series of intense portraits of my college football team.
December can be a trying time for photographers running a business. As business slows down, discouragement can creep in. Luckily, however, January is around the corner, which means a new beginning and new goals for a new year.
One of the greatest challenges that we have as photographers is to try to show a three-dimensional world in only two dimensions. That missing dimension, depth, can only be implied. There are many ways to create a feeling of depth. Lighting and composition are two, but my favorite is using what I call dimensional framing.
In an effort to please everyone, setting expectations and educating your clients is something that creatives often shy away from. But why not create a shiny little brochure to educate your wedding clients?
As photographers, it is often incredibly simple to just stay in your safe lane and stick to photos. I know people that have been photographing for years and never once touched the video function on their DSLR. They are intimidated by it. But adding video to your marketable skills is far simpler than you may think, and with today’s rapidly changing landscape, it’s an incredible tool to add to your repertoire.
I'm sure we've all been guilty of over-processing our images from time to time. Have you made any of these six mistakes yourself?
Everyone wants to be a better photographer. Whether you're just starting out or are an established veteran, we're always wanting to be better at our craft. Today's video has some accessible tips for improvement that anyone can put into practice right away.
Shooting and editing photo sessions can be time consuming and altogether frustrating if you don't have a streamlined system. Here, a seasoned pro gives away some great tips for shaving time and frustration from your workflow.
When you're shooting with strobes onto a plain backdrop, one of the most common problems you're likely to encounter is a shadow from your subject on the background. This helpful video will show you how to deal with this situation.
Cleaning up sensor dust, hot pixels, acne, or other particulate distractions that can manifest themselves in your photographs can be frustrating and tedious. Fortunately for you Adobe users, Lightroom has done its best to try and make that as easy and simple as possible.
Managing your color is one of the most subtle yet important aspects of creating consistently top-notch images. This helpful video will show you how to keep your colors consistent from the shoot to the edit.
Postproduction for photographs, in our digital age, seems to be a never ending topic particularly since cameras and choices of software are always improving with ever better capabilities. When taking digital negatives and processing them for a completed product, techniques like high dynamic range processing can allow for more creative control of an image, which is precisely what this tutorial covers.
Are you taking full advantage of every single tax break you can get in your photography business? This upcoming tax season, follow these tips to make sure you keep as much of those hard-earned dollars as you can.
Thomas Heaton breaks down an essential woodland editing technique, known as the Orton effect. He recommends using it when shooting natural, woodland scenes. It provides just the right amount of pleasing glow and softness to take down the artificial and overly contrasty look that can sometimes crop up with photos of trees.
There's been a bit of uproar lately around a company that claims it can produce advertising photos that would normally cost thousands of dollars for as low as $19. This great video rails against the temptation for up and coming photographers to take those gigs.
Astrophotography can be incredibly rewarding, albeit daunting if you're new to this particular way of creating with a camera. In this on-location tutorial, we are given some great pieces of advice for how to go about shooting both landscapes and portraits under a nighttime sky.
A lot more goes into a headshot session than what it looks like on the final output. And it takes the perfect marriage between the photographer and the subject to arrive at the best headshots. In this video, Vanessa Joy shares her thoughts using a behind the scenes video and explains the process.
When it comes to lighting, you likely think about it in terms of how it's shaping your subject or whatever object you're illuminating. Now, it's time to think about not only that, but how the light looks as it moves through the space.
Merrell, an outdoor footwear brand, wanted a photography concept that would celebrate diversity on trails, but in a way that felt genuine and reflected reality. While outdoor brands usually look towards more of a traditional commercial photography approach, Tim Kemple had something else in mind to achieve their goals.
In this article, you will learn about shooting a lookbook for your retail clients. For those looking to expand on their photography, shooting for lookbooks and e-commerce can be profitable and should keep you busy.
It has been ten years since I started work as a professional photographer and I had the chance to survive in this crowded business over these years. Let me share some of my experiences throughout this journey.
As fall draws to a close and we head into the colder winter months, the scenery around us shifts for the season. If there is something that you'll miss the most from the warmer weather, what would it be?
Selling your images online can be seriously complicated. You can try to submit images to some of the larger stock image marketplaces, but getting approved is tough. Even if you do get some of your images through, the marketplaces will take up to 85% of your royalties away from you.
Adobe Portfolio is an excellent option for creating your first website or even as a replacement for photographers that don’t want to focus on web development, but not everyone knows how to get all the value out of it. With some simple customizations, Portfolio can become a powerful and easy to maintain site for photographers of all levels.
A chilly September morning. The crispness in the air added weight to the solemn moment. My composition was all figured out. I patiently waited for the final elements to come into place.
The Fstoppers community is full of talented photographers producing images beyond the average photographer’s capabilities. When you view them all together in a gallery, there are certain things that make excellent photographs stand out beyond the mass of above-average images being shared regularly. Here’re a few of the things that catch my eye.
It doesn’t always take expensive equipment to make big changes to the mood of a shot. Here are a couple ways I found to improve my portraits with a tool I didn’t so much buy as I found laying in the trash.
If the majority of what we and our clients see online are beautiful couples' portraits, is there a place for reportage wedding photographers, and how would you step into it?
It took roughly five years to learn the lesson the lesson that helped increase my bookings. That lesson was show fewer styles to book more.
In this article, take a behind the scenes look into how I shot this fall-themed shoot in my 8x8-foot living room.
Frequency separation can be a very overwhelming technique used most commonly for skin retouching. It is a technique that is very easy to overdo and destroy texture when not used correctly. If you are unfamiliar with this technique, where do you start?
A few days ago, I decided to challenge myself by attempting to photograph a toy car and make it look real.
Lament a lowlife that lurches and lurks the local lanes, and I'll let loose a listless laugh. But tell me tales of a memory card formatting itself in the middle of a wedding and I'll hide behind the proverbial sofa, toes curled in fright.
Most people do not understand lighting, frequency separation, or color grading. Here are some things to consider to make your next image even more engaging.
With a show of hands, how many of you have practiced long exposure photography using your camera and some neutral density (ND) filters? Whoa, that's a lot! Now, how many of you have practiced this type of photography with your mobile phone?
What’s the best way to advance faster as a photographer? It’s probably not buying a new camera or even spending more time on your photography.
Landscape photography can be a quirky genre in which you're by yourself, braving the elements in search of that elusive shot. This great video takes a lighthearted but educational look at everything that goes into creating a landscape photo.
Bit depth is one of the most fundamental and important parameters you're likely to come across in photography and videography. This great video will give you a quick introduction to what bit depth is and why it matters to your work.
A telephoto lens is not often the go-to lens for landscape photography. That accolade is usually given to your wide angle lens. However, over the years, I have been using my telephoto more and more to create powerful landscape images.
It doesn't matter what industry you work in, there are very few clients that won't try to squeeze you on your price. Here's how to spot the signs and the psychological strategy you can employ to make sure you get the amount you deserve each and every time.
In this article, go behind the scenes on a year-long photo project, a "Century of Portraits," and see what it took to make this ambitious series a reality.
If you are looking for something a little more sturdy and flexible than your standard tripod with a horizontal center column for doing overhead camera or video shots than this set up is a great solution.
Have you ever seen a small backdrop placed in the middle of an open field or exotic location and wondered how that was possible? In this quick video, learn an easy way you can mount a small canvas backdrop to a C-stand.
You're shooting the landscape, a dense forest rife with fantasy vibes perhaps, but there just isn't the fog you wish there was to complete the scene. Well this video has you covered and can help you get that little extra atmosphere in a pinch.
You've spent the time learning your craft, you've built a portfolio, and you've invested in your business, but the clients still aren't rolling in. Here's why how you craft your portfolio can hold you back.
Interested in trying out macro photography? This quick and helpful video will give you three tips to keep in mind when you start shooting the small stuff.
“Exposure doesn’t pay the bills.” As photographers, we’ve all heard this saying, and we’ve all probably even said this at least once. It’s frustrating to be expected to work for free at all as a creative professional. You and your work need to be taken seriously.
