For years I’ve heard people saying, and probably have said myself, that if you chase your dreams, find your passion, and only do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. But do you really have to? Should you? This video provides an interesting counterpoint to that concept.

You never know what’s going to happen in New York. Last week, photographic gold was struck in Times Square in the deep cavernous archives inside the Conde Nast building. Two thousand prints shot by Edward Steichen, one of 20th Century’s most influential photographers, were found after lying hidden for over eighty years. The story behind them, and of Steichen’s rise to photographic fame and acclaim, are almost too unbelievable to be true.

Below is a selection from a New York Post article that I read earlier this week. At first I laughed at the reality of a photographer being so careless around an ancient piece of art. The laughing stopped pretty quickly though once i thought "What if I had done this and had a lawsuit hanging over my head".

I'm guilty. As a commercial and fashion editorial photographer as well as a writer for Fstoppers, I love lighting, bokeh, rigging, and all technicalities involved with cinematography and photography. For many months, content fell second to setup. From my experience, there are three types of photographers: those that confide in instinct and sunlight, those that rely on post processing, and those that excel at artificial lighting and formalities.

I've seen photography products that have made me laugh at their silliness. I've seen products that have made me roll my eyes at their absurdity. But it wasn't until I saw this product that I audibly cursed at my computer screen in sheer disbelief.

Assisting for a photographer or videographer can be a rewarding experience filled with knowledge and new perspectives. An assistant often receives an insider's view into how a photographer runs a production, and gains networking opportunities that may not have been accessible before. However, being an effective assistant requires more than holding light stands or reflectors. Great attention to detail and a humble can-do attitude can ensure your return to set, and solidify your reputation as a reliable assistant. While every photographer varies, we will review some of my tips for proper etiquette for assistants, from a photographer's perspective.

Earlier today Lauren wrote a humorous, opinionated, post about ‘Morning After’ Boudoir Photography. This post was met with great hostility and inappropriate personal attacks towards Lauren. Is Fstoppers too big now to have a voice? Are we only allowed to report news stories without expressing opinions? Did we go to far or did commenting get out of hand?

Walking into a bookstore, grabbing a magazine off the shelves, and seeing your name and images in print is nothing short of wonderful! Getting published in a fashion magazine is extremely rewarding, but it is no easy task, especially when getting started. Over the past 5 years I’ve been publishing in magazines ranging from online magazines to large internationally acclaimed publications.

When he's not sitting in southern California traffic, San Diego editorial photographer, Rob Andrew, spends his days freelancing from one gig to another with all his gear in tow. In order to stay nimble, Rob has developed a style of shooting creative food photography with a surprisingly minimal amount of gear. He recently published what he calls a "Bag Check" on his blog, outlining the tools he uses to get the job done.

When was the last time you went to see a live concert of your favorite artist without taking out your phone to snap a photo or take a video of your favorite song? Or what about the last time you traveled to experience the beauty of different parts of the world without seeing it though the phone screen?. The habit of documenting everything we experience developed just in the past few years with the help of smarter phones, and of course the rising of social media that pushes people to share their experiences, especially in the form of photos. But is this habit actually killing our memories and experiences?

When I caught wind that the tripod masters at Really Right Stuff were about to release a new product, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. I love new gear. Because it had not even finished final production yet, they unfortunately could not send me a brand new one in time to satisfy my desire to see it. However, they didn't want to disappoint and instead sent me the prototype! Score! Let’s take a look at the TFA-01 Pocket Pod.

On Fstoppers, we’ve long been fans of quality behind-the-scenes video counterparts to an interesting photo or video project. They are great marketing tools for us as creatives searching for more work, but they also help promote the primary business or product. This means we can justify pitching these videos as an add-on service to our clients.

You've heard the name. Listed among the accolades as one of the greats, Herb Ritts' ability to seamlessly blend together both environment and model set him apart from his peers. A mastery over lines, shapes, and all things pertaining to light that trademarked his work as timeless. He had an eye for capturing a moment and creative intuition for creating one. This documentary gives us a glimpse into the man behind the work. In a sense it is even more intimate then we could've hoped, as it is told by those who were closest to him.

In the final part of the Dramatic Beauty Portrait Tutorial, we will look at how I do my Black and White conversion. This image is a dramatic image so it calls for a punchy and high-contrast black and white conversion. In this tutorial, I will show you how I stack blending modes and adjustment layers to get my image exactly where I want it. You can follow these steps in your own images or use the techniques and customize them for your own use. In the video you will also see how to use layer masks to create targeted adjustments for your high-contrast black and white portraits.

At the Photo Plus Expo a couple months ago in New York, a new photo management software solution was introduced to much fanfare: Mylio. Mylio aims to solve a lot of problems that other companies seemed to be floundering around. It would give us complete access to our images no matter what platform we were on, and would regularly back them up across platforms and in the cloud or through whatever system you were currently working. It also brought something else to the table that immediately caught my interest: an in-house, custom built raw editor that worked on iPad, iPhone and desktop computers.

Cosmopolitan Magazine has released its July issues and they all have one thing in common; Katy Perry. She will be gracing the covers of all 62 international editions of the magazine making her the magazine's first ever global cover star. No doubt that this is a landmark achievement for Katy Perry but is it also a clever strategy to further cut costs by the magazine industry?

The explosion of the app development industry after the colossal growth of smartphone and tablet products in the market started out as a fantastic new tech segment worth watching. It has contributed significantly the rebirth of my beloved Bay Area and Silicon Valley. However, in recent months, this once proud and innovative space has devolved into an overcrowded, hyper competitive and absurdly redundant “look at me” marketplace. This is probably most true for apps based on taking and sharing photos and videos, and I’m getting really sick of it.

Editorial photography is still alive and well, despite what the cynics will tell you. It no longer has the budgets it used to, and there are not as many publications to go around, but you may still get called on from time to time to shoot a series of images for a magazine. Editorial assignments can be extremely varied, and a challenge to do successfully, but they're extremely rewarding and often lead to meeting interesting people along the way. But where do you start when you get the call?

When building a successful photography business, there is no aspect more crucial than a client meeting. This is your chance to represent the very best of your brand, while putting a face to the person behind the camera. For many photographers, the decisive face-to-face meeting can be an intimidating challenge. For others, it is their opportunity to shine and demonstrate how personable they are. Whether your are a wedding photographer or a commercial photographer, there are many techniques that can make your meeting a success.

I think it’s probably a fair assumption to make, that at some point during your photographic journey, you’re going to purchase a piece of photographic equipment. With today's World Wide Web, that can be as easy as a few clicks and a wistful look at your decreasing bank account, but I’m here to make the case for your local, “brick and mortar,” camera store. Well maybe not all of them.

Late last year I was contacted by one of my magazine clients to shoot their upcoming cover with Panic At The Disco front man Brendon Urie and it had to take place across the country in Las Vegas in about a week (I am NYC-based by the way). I scrambled to find some cool locations in the region, knowing full well I did not want to shoot in some cramped hotel suite. Little did I know that with some good researching and shrewd negotiating, I would find some of the coolest locations I have ever photographed, and just moments from the Las Vegas strip.

From Vogue to People, including Playboy and National Geographic, all these popular magazines are familiar to us and instantly recognizable, but just a few of us know what their first editions looked like decades ago. As time passed by, bringing forth new faces, new fashion, and a whole new way of thinking, magazines needed to evolve with their time and adapt. Some have stayed faithful to their initial visual identity, having only undergone minor changes because they knew what worked for them. On the other hand, other magazines covers have changed drastically, their covers being a far cry from the original design.