As the year draws to a close, I'd like to share a personal story of my own journey. While everyone's story is different, I hope that you are able to find some lessons in both my wins and losses that will help you to push forward and make the coming year even better than the last.

As a photographer, your average day most likely includes at least one blog, social media, or image post. Piggybacking on these posts with additional links is a great way to sell a product, promote a service or grow your following, but as with anything, there is a good, better and best way of doing things. Here are some tips that will help you to maximize the return on your daily posting efforts and generate more business.

A few days ago, I published a copycat video on my Vimeo account. After the video was first shared by DPReview, the file became viral and got shared hundreds of thousands of times all over Internet. How did I produce this little funny video? How does having 250,000 views per day affect your visibility and social network accounts? And finally, what does this video really mean?

In the modern world of photography, it's easy to be lured into the belief that owning the latest and most expensive gear will automatically elevate your skills as a photographer. However, the truth is far from this misconception. While high-quality equipment can undoubtedly enhance certain aspects of your photography, it is essential to understand that gear alone does not make you a better photographer. In this article, let's delve into the reasons why true photographic prowess lies in the photographer's skill, creativity, and vision rather than the equipment they possess.

Last week, we asked the Fstoppers Community to submit their best sports images to be critiqued by the Fstoppers team. We had a fantastic variety of images to choose from with over 250 entries. To keep in theme with this episode, we decided to film it during a recent ski trip. Lee and Patrick gave feedback to twenty images chosen from the submissions. Check out the selections and add your feedback and thoughts to the comments.

Love him or hate him, it is hard to ignore the impact that Kanye West has made over the past decade and beyond in the creative world. He has left his fingerprints all over the industry whether it's as a recording artist, songwriter, fashion designer, or an entrepreneur. He has slivered his way into a category that he has actually created; it is hard to define or even completely understand his genre. And that's why it can be very inspiring to listen to him explain what goes on in his mind when the lights are dim and his guard is down. As a creative with your opinions of him aside, this two minute monologue makes you think.

Stanislas Giroux gets it. All of his videos have a common thread of featuring fantastic soundtracks. This video, "Curves of Iran," celebrates modern Iran's rich visual textures and — you guessed it — curves. Fitted to great music, fun (but fitting) sound effects to every cut, and a great overall tempo, this video makes use of hyperlapse-like cuts, but spares your brain from the monotony of yet another time-lapse by letting the actual shots play in real time once you've "arrived" at your new destination. Truly imaginative. And at the Giroux's request, I'll remind you to listen with headphones.

A lot of writers and experts in the photography world have been joining the chorus of “photographers should add video to their skill basket.” But, as far as business models are concerned, photography and video can be as different as sushi and gelato. So, before you jump head-on into video, consider my words of caution.

For as long as photography has existed, the art of deception has been front and center of the craft. You change photos, I change photos, we all change photos. Who cares, as long as the viewer is happy?

You are going to fail because you cannot fight the chaos. I don’t believe that, but this article is very sensible and the real first line of this piece wasn’t catchy enough: structure, organization, and discipline are the foundations of being successful and self-employed. If my formative years were anything to go by, I was the antithesis of all three. Thankfully, determination and maturity seeped in and I became obsessed with how I could be the most productive, organized, and disciplined without a boss or a separate office building and with the constant lure of Netflix.

Today, I’d like to share with you a story. A story about a brief moment that was a long in the making.

As we finally draw to a close of 20 years of awkward decade names (the Noughties and the... Teenies?), it's time not only to reflect, but to look forward. So, I want you to give me your best predictions for changes to the industry over the next 10 years.

In a personal and heartfelt video, one of the most talented landscape photographers around talks about his recent struggles with his own mental health in relation to content creation and the ultimately meaningless pursuit of likes on social media.

This couple took wedding photography to a whole new level when they got their wedding shots taken. They used a series of drones in order to capture their big day. The shots that they created are undoubtedly original and stand out from the crowd... for now. With the release of the new DJI Phantom 3 that we recently covered, drones could be here to stay, but are we at a stage now where we can outsource our photography to machines?

“How to Market your Photography” is a wonderful resource which was written by the marketing specialists at Photoshelter.com and MadMimi.com. I found this guide to be very user-friendly, with just the right amount of information you’ll need to get going, weather you are just starting out in the industry, or a more established photographer, who is looking to update the approach you’ve been utilizing to generate business. I will quote some excerpts from Part 1 of this guide, which contains the most fundamental advice to those of us who find words like “strategy” and “marketing” as intimidating and stressful.

An old phrase too often associated with dreamers and the work-shy became a foundational philosophy behind my photography, once I fully understood it.

Most of the readers of this site I’d wager fall into the category of content creators, not content consumers. That being the case, rants about not being properly compensated for the hard work put in to producing images comes up every so often. But have you ever been on the other side of that situation?

If you are content to remain at the same skill level, taking the same photos for the rest of your career, then please, ignore this article. If you want to become a better artist, read on, but be prepared to be uncomfortable.

Perhaps one of the biggest moral debates I have with myself is when I look at the good work of “bad” photographers — work that has a life of its own and work that has become culturally significant. Yet, that work has a dark side to it: the creator. Is it possible to look at photographs without ever thinking about the photographer behind them?

Do you know about the different sensor sizes you can get in cameras and how one sensor size might be better than another in certain situations, regardless of what some people might tell you?

I stumbled upon this video earlier today and it was one of those things that really made me think. What if I didn't do what I do? Would I be happy or would I regret not doing it? I find that a lot of people are content doing the work they do or working the job they work. I believe that it is when we push ourselves to be creative or work harder and put our stuff out there for it to be seen, that we begin to take the right steps forward. The question "why not?" acts as a motivator to go out and create because all the reasons "we can't" are just excuses as to why we aren't.

Landscape photography used to be about discovering new places and creating incredible images that no one had seen before. Nowadays, it feels like it's more about checking the location tag of something spotted on Instagram and photographing a scene that has already been shot to death.

Leica branded cameras have very few ‘features.’ Instead, they favor craftsmanship and quality and the Leica M6 is no exception to this.

The way we shoot is often a fashion trend. Make sure you’re creating original ideas, rather than following a cliche.

There was a time I used to live on a paradise island called Mauritius and the summer lasted almost the whole year round. The sun was not an issue back then, as the sun protection was a ritual. The times have changed and I relocated back to my motherland Armenia, which has very severe cold winters and really hot summers. As the summer lasts only limited time we usually forget to protect ourselves from sun when it suddenly starts burning like hell.

When the original 24-70mm f/2.8 L lens came out, it quickly became the go-to, do everything lens of choice for almost every Canon photographer I knew. Yes, we all had our prime favorites, but if we needed a workhorse that we could rely upon to do-it-all or only had the space to bring one lens, we grabbed for our 24-70. The original is still considered to be an amazing lens, and it's no wonder that it's one of the toughest lenses to find used on the market. Needless to say, I am excited about the upgraded 24-70mm L II.

At the time I was a 31-year-old N.J. and N.Y.C. luxury wedding photographer that had been married for 5 years and had over 6 years of stable business ownership. You’d think getting pregnant would’ve been no big deal — but it was for me.

Creative ruts happen to every photographer but some are deeper than others. In some cases, switching up your gear, trying a new genre, or changing your approach can lift you out of a slump. You can’t always shoot your way out of a creative rut, though – sometimes, the best thing you can do is put your camera down and try a different approach.