What’s keeping you from being the photographer or even the artist that you hope to be? How much of it is under your control, and what can you do to get past the roadblocks?

I hold these truths to be self-evident. One, things don’t always go the way we’d like them to. And two, how we respond to failure is equally, if not more important than how we deal with success.

The end of the year is always a time to both make one final push to close the business year strongly and to reflect on the current state of affairs. As a photographer, it’s also a good time to look back on where you stand as an artist and where you still want to go.

Sometimes, as photographers, we get a little tied up in having everything about a shoot be as professional and as perfect as we possibly can. But, as Daniel DeArco points out in this great video, it doesn't always have to be that way.

A bad second shooter can create many problems for a wedding photographer, so it is important go the extra mile to make sure the second shooter does exactly what you need.

As photographers we are constantly learning. It's how we get better at our craft, to say we are always learning is an understatement. Everyone I know in the field is always looking up how to do something better or more efficiently. People tend to start to see these when they try to transition mediums, be it from photo to video, and they begin to realize they have to learn things from the ground up. As photographers we tend to stick with what we know we are good at, but how do we go about identifying our weaknesses and improve on them?

Have you talked to experienced filmmakers? It's like attending a miniature film school where you can almost get a degree. Here are a few solid tips from David Fincher himself that you can apply to to small productions you may be in charge of.

You can have the tools, and you can have the know how, but what is one of the most powerful skills that most photographers, videographers, and just about anyone else will swear by in a creative industry? The power of forethought and pre-planning. Granted, for some this step isn’t as important as it is to others. However, whether you sit down and make a shot list, sketch out some rough ideas for shots, or just develop a really strong concept of what you want to accomplish on a project, most people do pre-plan in some way shape or form.

Resource Magazine has a big issue out this quarter: Bill Nye is telling the world why photography will save it. Want to know the answer? You're going to have to grab this fall's issue of Resource. But a behind-the-scenes video of the photo shoot for this feature's spread shows just how much compositing there is in modern-day photography. Composited or not, the video is a quick, interesting look into a neat shoot with science's most famed personality.

Let's pretend for a moment that you've found a magic lamp, and it's going to grant you one and only one Instagram-related wish. I can think of what I'd wish for. Can you?

At the alarming rate of destruction and wanton littering and waste that is happening globally, is it time for us as photographers to stop publicly announcing the location of our shoots?

DSLR shooters may not think they need a 360-degree camera (they don't), but that doesn't mean there is no reason to get one, and Kai Wong makes the case why this 360 camera is worth your investment.

I recently posed a challenge to DALL-E 2 (or to myself?) to mimic one of my photos using prompts. I didn't think it was actually going to work, until it did. Almost.

Since's Instagram's inception, there have been countless arguments by creatives for and against the social media platform. Here are three reasons why you should get on and stay on Instagram.

Sometimes photos are called high key or low key. I never thought much about it and just made the photos I liked, regardless of what it could be called. But when is it correct to name a photo high key or low key? Let’s find out.

Modern cameras have an amazing dynamic range. It allows the capture of all the luminosities between the darkest parts and the brightest parts. If you want more, a bracketing series can go beyond that. But do we need everything within the dynamic range, or not?

Periscope is a social media app that turns your life into a live broadcast. Instead of updating your Facebook status or sending a tweet, with this app, you start a live broadcast similar to any live broadcast you see on TV. The difference is that you get live interaction with the people that are tuning in to watch you. Now that the app is available on both Android and iOS, it’s starting to pick up some steam, and like any social media platform, it’s good to get in on the ground floor. Before you do, I have a list of positives and negative you may want to consider.

One of my biggest fears as a professional photographer is that someday, somehow, for some reason, I’m going to lose critical images from a shoot and make a client, and myself, very unhappy. A memory card gets corrupted, a hard drive fails, or my studio burns down.

There are a lot of ways to improve at photography, and we should never stop trying them. Sometimes, it comes down to just risk versus reward.

The Internet is loaded with articles on new gear or popular techniques. Everywhere you look, you will find some new unboxing video or review piece. Everyone promising that they will make you the photographer you have always wanted to be. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy looking at fancy new equipment as much as the next guy -- and I have written a few of those articles myself -- but do all the toys and tricks help my career in the long run?

Loving what you do is the goal of most, but can doing what you love threaten that passion?

Each week on Fstoppers Answers, we answer a question asked by the photography community. This week, we were asked - "How do you market to social media? (When marketing your photography on social media, is it more effective to always be trickling out content constantly, or less frequently but higher quality and more content at once. For example, if I do a shoot with a model, should I post a photo a day, or a set a week?)"

Running a photography business, or even just posting to social media as an amateur, can end up driving some of us crazy with worry and anxiety. I'm one of these people, but thanks to friends, family, and my own doggedness I've learned some ways to cope with the madness.

DxO, now celebrating its 20th anniversary, has done a solid update to PhotoLab, its class-leading RAW editor.

I've heard several arguments in the past against cropping images. But in my opinion cropping is OK. Here's why.

I’ve long complained about the usability and connectivity of cameras, and while the big manufacturers seem happy to keep punishing us with shoddy interfaces and annoying memory cards, an upstart has shown us a vision of the future.

A decade ago, the differences between zoom and prime lenses were stark: zooms offered convenience and versatility, while primes offered better image quality and more extreme apertures. However, the gap has closed in recent years, with zooms showing marked jumps in image quality and pushing their designs to new extremes, blurring the line between the two. So, can you get by with just zooms now? This insightful video takes a deep look at the question.

In an age where content is king, it can feel overwhelming to constantly churn out post after post ad nauseam. Is there an alternative?

Today, NikonRumors published a brief story about Nikon's winnings in the 2014 Red Dot awards. Every year the fellows at Red Dot in Essen, Germany select products in various fields with outstanding design. In the past, Nikon has been awarded Red Dots for their D4, 1-series mirrorless system, and various coolpix cameras. This year Nikon took home three Red Dots for their ACULON T51 binoculars, D5300 APS-C DSLR and, surprisingly, the Df.