There is a short list of books that distinguish themselves from the mainstream of photographic discourse, and even fewer for which a good case could be made that they are required reading for anybody serious about photography. This new book about the art of photography scores on both counts.

Lens Distortions is a Photoshop plugin that allows you to easily add lens blurs and light leaks to your images for creative effect. With the continual proliferation of digital photography, there is still a great demand for the look and authentic feel of 35mm film. There are certain colors, textures, and tones that are unique to the format many of us grew up with. Lens Distortions Legacy Plugin allows you to build on the replication of analog photography by adding carefully placed imperfections to your photographs.

About 5 years ago, when I was still in my Photography college in Australia, our teachers would regularly introduce us to the new and noteworthy Australian photographers' and digital artists' work. Among others there was one artist, whose work really grabbed my attention and I have been watching her growth and success ever since.

You may be familiar with portrait photography, but have you ever had the pleasure of experiencing the fine art form? If you haven’t, it’s time you did. Fine art portrait photography has exploded in the luxury portraiture photography market in recent years. The results are superbly evocative and make simply stunning wall art.

Pressure, fear, joy, excitement – these are not uncommon emotions on any shoot. A few weeks ago, I spent a few hours in a helicopter above New York City with Vincent Laforet where we experienced all of these emotions. This exclusive interview and BTS video highlights not only what’s involved to produce aerial stills of this nature, but provides 5 key insights we can all apply to our own shoots.

If you're ready to check out a few more fantasy portrait photographers, then you're in the right place. This time around, the goal is to find and highlight a few folks that you're probably not already following but are definitely worth a look.

Creating something new is the most important ingredient for making art. But we can’t create something new when we just capture a scene in reality. The trick is bringing an artistic concept to your photographs.

I am lucky enough to have hosted or been a part of workshops around the world. One thing I teach in my workshops is that photographers should not look at other photography to be inspired.

The world’s best photographers are defined by their styles. For example, you can instantly look at an image by Martin Schoeller or Annie Leibovitz and recognize what you’re seeing. Their work is distinctly theirs. I believe that a big part of a photographer's success lies in finding this style. It may not come easily to everyone, however.

Whether it's the glamor of Paris, the captivating shores of Ireland, or the natural beauty of the Grand Canyon, it is very easy for a photographer to assume that one must go above and beyond to capture the landscape images that he or she desires. Dennis Ramos, a world-renowned fine-art and landscape photographer, took a completely different approach. He captured the beauty that surrounded him where he resides in Tampa, FL.

What started as an innocuous trip to the craft store ended with myself and a model sitting in my studio with tears running down our faces. I shouldn’t say that it ended there, though, because the first session of A Woman’s Soul was only the beginning of a month-long process of emotional vulnerability, bravery, and change.

Sarah Ann Loreth is a fine art photographer who creates thought provoking, eye catching images that are reflective of her innermost feelings. She strives to develop beautiful, emotive photographs that tell a story of whomever it is capturing...

Paris-based French Photographer Dani Olivier has spent eight years refining a process for creating incredibly mesmerizing images by projecting intricate patterns of light onto nude models.

Photographer, director, and writer Tyler Shields is known for his world class, oft avant garde, work. We've covered many of his previous over-the-top projects here on Fstoppers, including feeding a $100,000 purse to a crocodile, his Mouthful exhibit, and blowing up his Rolls Royce Silver Shadow — all in the name of art. Shields is at it again with his fine art series Sirens which blends the genres of landscape and nude in a beautifully surrealist way. In this video, Tyler takes you behind the scenes in a look at the creation of some of the Sirens images.

As a boudoir photographer for over seven years, I am always seeking new ways to keep the artistic appeal to my images. Sometimes we work so hard to create something so epic, that we forget about that simplicity is usually the key to greatness.

In this article I'll share five tips on how I actually improved my photography. Here I'm not talking technicalities such as sharper images, shallow depth of field, using a tripod, or removing your lens cap.

There is nothing better than being out in nature, inhaling all the mood out there, deciding on the best possible camera position, and enjoying landscape photography. But what if there are 25 other photographers beside you so that it becomes difficult to move just 20 inches to the left or right without disturbing another photographer?

If you have considered diving into the world of art festivals, here's a little glimpse of what to expect based on personal experience. Spoiler alert, it's not an easy road to travel.

At the heart of photography as a medium is a fundamental problem: every photograph is a lie. This slippery instability is often what makes it effective as a tool for communication, but it can also create problems for some of the world’s most respected photographers, including Steve McCurry and, more recently, fine art photographer Tom Hunter.

“It’s like a Mercedes-Benz. You drive it off the lot, it loses half its value," says artist Peter Lik, describing his own work. This brutal article from the New York Times examines the extraordinary amounts of money that people continue to spend on Lik's work and how he has created his own speculative — and lucrative — economy.

Warning: treacherous waters are ahead. A dark, cold place where only the brave dare to explore. Recent video projects by photographer and cinematographer Sven Dreesbach create a feeling of icy-cold tension, contrasted by a sense of meditative pleasure. It's a vibe that is best soaked in rather than pontificated upon by some internet writer. Oh, and he did it all on iPhones.

Zen photography comes naturally with an empty mind. It’s both waiting for a moment where light, shape, and dynamics fall into place, and being devoid of planning in advance. Instead of checking the weather online before a shoot, you just venture out and essentially wing it. It’s all about being in the moment. As a landscape photographer, I want to share the ways of this minimalist sub-genre.

You may not have been aware that film director Stanley Kubrick was also a professional photographer, having shot assignments for magazines before he ever made any of his award-winning movies. So what did his photographer’s eye bring to his movies, and what can we learn from his creative process?

A lot of people associated HDR with over-processed, surreal images. This is not always the case. Shooting HDR can be very useful in different circumstances. It is often seen in real estate and landscape photography and can be very useful to balance a wide range of light levels. There are many programs out there for merging images together to create an HDR photo, but one of the simplest ways to create these dramatic photographs is using Photoshop's built-in HDR Pro.

Capturing reality was never photography's sole purpose—it always flirted with imagination. But in an age dominated by digital tools and AI, how far can we push photographic art before it stops being photography?

Leonard Nimoy passed away this week at the age of 83. His long career and legacy will always be remembered in his portrayal of the iconic character "Spock" from the 1966 TV series Star Trek. With numerous film spin-offs and a resurgence to the 2009 blockbuster Star Trek as the half-emotionless Vulcan he was just as relevant today as he was 40 years ago. Though his film career was beyond fulfilling in its own right, his photography work is what will also stay with us for years to come.

A simple Google search will turn up millions of results on what photographers should do/not do when working with models. However, nine times out of ten, these articles are written from a photographer’s perspective, and the model’s voice is rarely heard. Well, today is your lucky day! I have jumped in to give you the model perspective! Whether you are shooting underwater, commercial, fashion, conceptual, etc., some of the same rules of etiquette apply across the board.

Peter Lik must be one very happy camper. Earlier we broke the news of the sale of the “Phantom”, a black and white image of Arizona’s Antelope Canyon, sold for a record breaking $6.5m, making it the most expensive photograph ever sold. A massive internal discussion amongst Fstoppers writers took place shortly thereafter, arguing whether any photograph was actually worth that much money.

There are a zillion photographers out there, but there aren’t a zillion clients. How do you make your work stand out? Success comes when a client will book you because it's you and not because you are just another good photographer. In the process, having a recognizable style might also make you a happier photographer. But how can you get there?