Maybe you’ve heard the term "Drip Email" or "Drip Email Campaigns?" Perhaps you’re not exactly sure what that is or how it is one of the most effective ways to retain and convert leads.

A strong photography portfolio is essential. It’s the first thing potential clients see, and it can make or break their decision to hire you. If your portfolio doesn’t connect, no amount of marketing can fix it.

Self-doubt can creep into any creative process, but in photography, it has a way of growing unchecked. That inner critic can leave you questioning your abilities, even if you’ve won awards or spent decades honing your craft. It’s not a lack of skill that fuels this doubt—it’s often how you compare yourself to others and how you view your own work.

When it comes to video work, while getting good visuals is obviously crucial, you also have to know how to record high-quality audio as well, or the final product will be dragged down. One of the most fundamental and crucial bits of knowledge you will need is how microphone polar response patterns work and which to choose for different situations. This excellent video tutorial will show you what polar response patterns are, the properties of the most common types, and how to pick the right one for a specific scenario.

Knowing how to confidently and efficiently pose couples is an absolutely crucial skill for any engagement or wedding photographer, and yet, posing is one of the trickiest skills that often takes photographers the longest to master. If you find yourself struggling a bit with posing, check out this helpful video tutorial that offers some great tips sure to put you on the right track.

What does an atomic detonation look like with a 1/1,000,000 s exposure? If you drop milk onto a red table, do you make art? This article holds an interesting discussion about high speed photography.

Creating distinctive images can set you apart. Tools like prisms and gels are often overlooked but can add a dynamic flair to your work. By experimenting with these elements, you can provide clients with unexpected, striking results.

Gels are one of the most versatile tools in your lighting kit, offering endless creative possibilities when used right. Whether you’re adding color to a scene or adjusting the quality of light, gels give you control over your final image.

For the last few weeks, every single Fstoppers photography and video tutorial has been on sale. That comes to an end on January 7th.

The Holidays are here and we are celebrating with our best sale of the year! Right now, all Fstoppers photography and video tutorials on sale to kick off the season. Every course is automatically 30% off but when you add additional products to your cart, you can get up to 60% off each tutorial.

Wedding photography is notorious for being a demanding, high-stakes genre, and as such, it is natural that with that comes a fair amount of stress. Nonetheless, that does not mean you can't do certain things to reduce that stress. This excellent video tutorial features an experienced wedding shooter discussing five reasons why you might be overly stressed shooting weddings and what you can do to fix that.

Freelance work can be exciting, but it’s not without challenges. One of the biggest hurdles is recognizing red flags early enough to make informed decisions about potential jobs. Whether it’s unclear communication, rushed timelines, or vague contracts, these warning signs often hint at larger issues down the road.

Are you a young and budding photographer, looking for your way in a complex world with numerous paths available to you? This fantastic video tutorial features an experienced photographer critiquing a range of images and offering some valuable advice along the way.

If you want a successful career as a photographer, you have to dismiss one toxic term that damaged our industry: "starving artist." It has caused more damage and more self-doubt to artists across the globe than probably anything else.

Camera settings and lighting adjustments dominate many photography conversations, but obsessing over these details might actually limit your growth as a photographer. Fixating on exact camera or lighting settings from someone else's work won't replicate their results and can distract you from developing your own instincts and creative style.

When it comes to working with artificial lighting, there is sometimes the misconception that professional images require multiple sources, all of which are big, heavy, and expensive. That is not always the case, though. In fact, you can create professional-level shots with just a single speedlight, and this excellent video tutorial will take you through the entire process, from setting up the shot through post-processing.

Photographers are constantly asked to work for less than they are worth or even for free, and that can often put us on the defensive, ready to reject any offer that will not bring us meaningful income. That can sometimes stop us from saying yes when it would actually be the best thing for us. This excellent video essay is a reminder of how saying yes can sometimes bring benefits beyond money.

In this video walkthrough, watch as Dean Samed shows you all the steps it took to create his cyberpunk girl photo manipulation. This a behemoth of an image,e so be sure that you have 40 minutes to watch the full process.

Curves adjustments in Photoshop are essential for refining contrast and tone, but they can introduce unwanted color changes. This can leave you with oversaturated or washed-out colors that may not suit your vision. Finding a way to control these effects without compromising the image's vibrancy is a challenge many users face.

When you're going for that sharp shot of fall foliage, wind can often ruin the picture, causing your subjects to sway and streak across the frame. But what if you could make that work for you?

As a photographer, I'm starting to use video more often, whether to work on a client's project or promote my work using video. Most, if not all, mirrorless cameras on the market today can also produce high-quality 4K video. However, there is one factor that needs to be taken into account when making a video: sound. Sound is often overlooked, yet it is one of the most essential factors in any video or film.

Developing a photographic style is often treated as a critical milestone, but it's worth questioning whether having a defined style actually benefits your photography. Photographers frequently chase consistency, yet sometimes variety or unpredictability might be exactly what's needed to keep your creativity fresh.

Composition in commercial photography can be a tricky landscape to navigate. It’s not as straightforward as personal or editorial work.

Vignetting can be a powerful tool in editing, helping you direct attention to the most important part of your image. Whether you're working with portraits, product shots, or landscapes, controlling how light fades toward the edges can enhance your composition. But not all vignettes are created equal, and using the wrong approach can make your edits look artificial.

Building a successful wedding photography business from the ground up is a daunting task, but indispensable for those who wish to transform their passion for capturing love into a lucrative career. The steps to achieve this bear importance due to the competitive and saturated market of wedding photography, which demands a clear and innovative approach to thrive.

Planning makes or breaks a photo shoot. The difference between an average shot and a great one often comes down to preparation, not gear. If you show up without a plan, you’re gambling with time, money, and results.

Hiring a photo assistant can significantly enhance your workflow. Their role is often misunderstood or underutilized, but understanding how and when to hire one can make your shoots more efficient and less stressful.

The creative industry is a tough one. We are absolutely passionate about what we do, which is different to most jobs out there. I mean, the jobs might be good, be interesting and satisfactory, but the running of your own photography or visual arts business has entrepreneurship, art, traveling, meeting other creative industry types, and the process of making something creative all combined into one job that you consistently spend time on building out, learning, and growing.

War photography is a genre that transcends mere visual documentation. It is a testament to the human spirit, a mirror to society, and a call for change.

Update: 7 seats left. Are you planning on attending Pye Jirsa's Ultimate Wedding Workshop down in the Bahamas? If so you better reserve your spot soon. Pye Jirsa of SLR Lounge will be teaching his 2 day course on all things wedding photography down at our first ever Fstoppers Workshops. If you have seen the wedding work of Lin and Jirsa Weddings then you know Pye and his team are at the pinnacle of the wedding genre.