Photography has an air of mystery around it. Not every client understands how photographers work, which leads them to ask silly questions. Perhaps you have heard some of these yourself, perhaps you haven’t. In any case, here are five of my top favorites and how to answer them.

2022 has been quite the year for the industry, with a variety of impressive cameras and lenses making their way to the market. 2023 looks like it will be another exciting year, with a lot to come from all the big players in the industry. This great video essay discusses what we can expect from the likes of Canon, Nikon, Sony, and more.

Demanding anything is a scary notion but the trend towards social and global responsibility is growing in 2014, and having the right voice and attitude can result in elevating your brand. As we enter the New Year it is no longer enough to make separate personal and professional goals. The distinction between the two is blurring for many businesses as the global marketplace looks towards feel good solutions. How can you be part of the change?

It’s the tradition of suburban parents everywhere: the mall Santa photo. It’s also an excruciating photo day for actual photographers.

There is one versatile and affordable modifier called 5-in-1 collapsible reflector kit that practically every photographer owns. As the name implies, it can be put to use five ways, but have you ever tried all the possible usage variations of this babe? Usually, it is a double-sided material with four different finishes: gold, silver, black, and white, which is zipped around a white scrim frame. We are going to analyze the characteristics of each side and see how and when to use them to our advantage, and trust me it is going to be more than five usage tips.

There are now several manufacturers will fully developed and advanced mirrorless camera lines, and it can be difficult to choose between the many different options. This interesting video features an experienced photographer discussing why he chose to switch to Sony after being a Canon user for over a decade and features some excellent insights into what features and capabilities a modern creative needs and appreciates.

Canon, Nikon, and Sony are all now seriously committed to the mirrorless camera market, so what does that really mean? As each manufacturer pursues a slightly different path in the mirrorless market, and Sony having several years head start compared to Canon and Nikon, where will each system be in one to two years? Just importantly where does each manufacturer stand today?

Today, an open letter to the one who knows me best.

Hitting your goal on Kickstarter is one thing, but to absolutely kill the competition by making something that truly stands out and brings a follower base stronger than any other brand brings real value. Langly has humble beginnings, as they started their first campaign on Kickstarter a few years ago, hoping to bring their simple goal to life. Now, they have over 170,000 followers on Instagram and plenty of social backing to keep them building for years to come, while also launching one new accessory after another.

Just got a new box in the mail with a rather awesome surprise; a loaner Nikon Z 6II. I will have the camera for a couple months to fully put through its paces, but wanted to share some initial thoughts.

Working as a wedding photographer is often an exercise in mutual respect with other vendors who have parallel, yet sometimes different, priorities in serving the bridal couple and their family. Most of time everyone is on the same team, but occasionally we photographers run into rules that don’t serve anyone properly. When those rules come from the church, it’s often hard to explain them away.

I find so many photographs today to be technical masterpieces, yet they lack any sense of life. They don't draw the viewer into the photograph or encourage the viewer to spend several moments viewing the photograph.

Wedding photographers would like to hold their clients — or would-be clients, for that matter — to certain standards. As a collective, we’d love to see them shop for the best vendors, spend good money on photography, and have unplugged weddings with nary an Uncle Bob in sight. The list goes on. It would stand to reason that most of us in “the business” would probably find the idea of a bride acting as her own photographer to be pretty abhorrent. We’d chalk it up to selfie culture run amuck or DIY gone wrong, wouldn’t we? Would you? I probably would have, if I’m being honest. However, we might be wrong.

Christopher Nolan continues to give us of the best movies ever produced. My first Nolan movie was “Memento,” and I surely realized that the theme of his movies, his way of telling a story, and overall character portrayal was something I've never seen before. His vision and talent has given us many after that. “Inception,” “Interstellar” and now “Dunkirk.” His way of doing what he does is worth paying attention to. And when I read up about him, I came across an interview where he mentions how he removes distractions from the set.

I make a habit of spilling as much ink as possible in this column towards extolling the virtues of making your gear purchases based on business needs rather than emotion. In today’s article, I will do the opposite.

Almost every hobbyist photographer has considered making the transition to full-time professional. Similarly, almost every professional photographer has made that transition from hobbyist to professional. There are myriad factors why that career move isn't always possible and a great deal of them stem from the central notion of money, or lack thereof. Whether you want to organically build your photography from hobby to side-hustle and then to a career or you merely want to improve you earnings in any of those categories, developing a niche can make a crucial difference.

You have your gear, you have your shot list, so you're ready to go out and shoot the perfect eight-hour wedding, right? Wrong! Being prepared for a wedding day is about more than just having your camera ready to go. Before leaving for your wedding shoot, you need to be prepared to perform at your best. A big part of that is developing a routine, similar to an athlete, that places you in peak performance and the best position to succeed. When I walk out the door for a wedding I have two main things on my mind other than the images that my client needs. One is that I am now a living breathing ambassador for my brand and the other is that the content for this shoot, and every shoot, is future marketing material.

Time-honored English fashion and portrait photographer David Bailey is 81. His prominent heyday was a time that now seems remote — one of a young Mick Jagger and the four Beatles. Now Bailey himself thinks that the day of the star professional photographer is gone forever.

The L-bracket is a pretty simple idea: have a way of mounting your camera vertically or horizontally to the tripod. Between that simple idea and the actual product, however, is a big difference in execution. I recently tried out Smallrig’s L-bracket for the Nikon Z6 and Z7 series, and I was really impressed by how it elevates that fundamental concept to accessory perfection.

I’ve been pondering on how to answer a challenging question. I was first asked the question by an Fstoppers reader a few weeks ago. Since then, I’ve been asked the same question by two different potential clients. In this article, I’m going to attempt to answer, "what is my approach to architectural photography?"

I got the idea of shooting a total moon eclipse with a long lens. I was thinking about the Canon EF 500mm, but all I could get was a massive Canon EF 800mm lens. The lens turned out to be too long for the eclipse photo I had in mind, but I got a great opportunity to shoot for a while with this long and heavy white beast.

I've noticed a peculiar phenomenon lately that I don't quite understand. I'll be browsing someone's website or Instagram, and the piece of information they lead with is the gear they're shooting with. Why do photographers do this?

We all have a different bag setup. Some prefer to travel light and mobile while others go for a more heavy duty option. Some people want a stylish option that shows off some personal flair while others just want something practical. We each like a different layout and store our gear and accessories in a different way or in a different pocket. In spite of our different preferences when it comes to our camera bags, there is one universal truth. One item that, regardless of your specialty, you positively need to have somewhere in your bag. You must keep a few up to date business cards in your bag at all times.

YouTuber Michael Delaney found a pit full of rattlesnakes and, despite anyone's best suggestions, didn't turn back. Instead, armed with a GoPro on the end of a stick, Delaney recorded the scene, most of during which the only audible audio was the collective rattling of the bunch. Eventually, repeated strikes from multiple snakes knock the GoPro off of its mount and into the middle of the pit (good luck getting that one back). Put it some headphones, put the video on full screen... I dare you not to flinch at the first good strike...

It is said that Instagram killed the personal photography portfolio websites, but having an online portfolio still matters. Even if your Instagram account or your Facebook page draws their attention first, serious art buyers or potential clients usually head to your website afterwards, and at that point, having an online presence with a decent portfolio makes a great difference.

Yesterday Tamron announced the development of a new lens, but what caught my attention more than specs and the PR-speak that comes with a product launch was the way the new lens looked... strikingly like what Sigma is going for. I’m excited and happy to see Tamron pushing with a new design, but they have a lot to prove with the change and, arguably, a lot to lose if it doesn’t stack up.

Video cameras' resolution war has already started. So has the frames-per-second race. Current DSLRs shoot high resolution stills and lower resolution video. What if you can have an 8K video camera that captures both raw stills and raw video in 8K? Would you replace your stills camera with it?

Whether you're looking to hire a photographer yourself, are looking to work with another photographer, or are being given advice or criticism from another photographer, what are some red flags that put you on high alert?

Software and firmware updates are a fact of life for photographers. They don't come all that often and usually offer bug fixes or new or improved features. As a longtime Canon user, I found firmware updates easy and unintrusive. Having recently moved to a Sony a7 III, I'm rather shocked at the complexity of what should have be a simple operation.

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but the photography community is an opinionated bunch, and to make matters worse, there are a lot of people outside of the community who are opinionated about it too! So, let's take the edge off by sharing the worst photography opinions and why they should be condemned to history.