First of all, I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Douglas Sonders and I am a photographer and filmmaker. I'm excited to share this first post as an official member of the Fstoppers team with you. I have loved this site as a reader since its inception and am honored by the opportunity to share with you loads of new original content, much of which will come from behind the scenes of my own crazy shoots.

Lunch time here at work which means it's time to set the stylus down and lurk Facebook. Once upon a time I would have been saying "time to lurk Myspace," and it looks like that time could be coming back. Myspace is rebuilding itself from the ground up, and it honestly looks stunning.

It can be daunting to try to think of a completely new, never-been-done-before concept for a shoot. But sometimes, the answer is surprisingly simple. In an age in which everyone is touting shooting on the latest equipment with 4K video, while begging for ever-greater bit rates, Japanese designer Dan Tomimatsu took pause to give us something refreshingly simple and beautiful. Using a water droplet "stuck" inside a five-yen coin as a lens on an iPhone, Tomimatsu shot "O (eau)" with the intention of reminding the world that beauty can be found outside of razor-sharp 4K imagery.

As much as photography has gained from 2020's relentless releasing of cameras, videography has arguably gained more. Canon's new, affordable (for a dedicated cinema camera) video-centric body is another stellar option with just a few caveats.

In this article, you will discover the key differences between two very popular cameras with video shooters, the Sony a7S III and the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro. Check out the article to decide which one of these video workhorses is the right one for you.

The Rhino Slider Evo and Motion Controller is in my opinion the best slider system on the market. It's incredibly robust, shockingly simple to setup and use, and best of all, it's all powered with an internal battery in the controller itself. The new motorized pan head Rhino Arc takes this system to the next level.

This video covers a wide range of tips and tricks to make your set runs smoothly, things occur as you planned, and small items don’t go missing. I’ve seen some of these used by YouTubers mostly, but there are a hundred of them, so use what you think is best suited to your shooting style.

The Canon 1D X Mark III is quite the quantum leap forward from the already capable Mark II, with one of the most noteworthy features being the inclusion of 5.5K raw video at 60 fps using the full width of the sensor. If you are interested in the 1D X Mark III for your own video work, this excellent review will show you what you can expect from the 1080p, 4K, and 5.5K raw video capabilities in the camera.

Photographer Bert Stephani might just be the luckiest guy on the planet as one of the first people in the world to use the much-anticipated Fuji 90mm f/2.0 portrait lens. The lens, officially known as the Fujinon XF90mm f/2 R LM WR is currently available for pre-order and will likely be shipping in mid-July 2015. In this video, Stephani gives a honest look at the latest and greatest portrait lens in the Fuji X-Series lineup and shares some really wonderful sample images straight out of the camera.

It is widely acknowledged that necessity is the mother of invention. DIY and jury-rigged lighting setups are all the rage these days. The phrase "gear doesn't matter" has become a mantra. Why are photographers so loathe to admit that gear can matter? Sometimes not having the right gear is what stands between you and your concept.

Fashion and comedy don't often come in one package. But here, Mario Testino delivers a superb version of his humor and lets all the models from Kate Moss to Amber Valletta and Gigi Hadid form part of it. It's a video to celebrate his Clio Fashion and Beauty Lifetime Achievement Award, written and directed by Sophie Edelstein.

Take a few minutes to experience this spectacular piece of 90s gold featuring Jean Claude Van Damme, or should I say JCVD. Before this ultimate film bad-ass was featured doing epic splits on trucks for Volvo, he was showing us what cameras were capable of in the 90s film industry.

As long as humans have known birds, they have also known that they fly. But apparently, some of them could levitate — or at least that’s what a recent viral video on YouTube seems to suggest. How amazing is it to capture a floating bird? Let’s have a look!

Canon has been at work creating a suite of cameras and lenses that support 8K video capture. Here's the first jaw-dropping footage that's been released showcasing their 8K cinema camera under development.

In today's wedding video business market, the female demographic is vastly unrepresented and is far outnumbered by men. In this insightful video, discover the ways that one female videographer found success and is booking 80 weddings a year!

With the November 22nd anticipated release of the newest installment of "The Hunger Games" series upon us; Lionsgate has just released a brand new four minute behind the scenes b-roll video that shows a small glimpse of what we can be expecting this Thanksgiving season in theaters. I always find these b-roll videos to be especially interesting and seeing how much effort goes into creating these blockbuster films.

So what’s it like to shoot in 12K video? This was just one of the many questions I had which inspired me to take the Blackmagic Design URSA Mini Pro 12K out for a spin and see how it would perform in the real world.

Jason Paul and Pasha Petkuns teamed up with Red Bull to produce the most unique freerunning video that I've ever seen. They begin at the upside down house in Germany but quickly move to perspective/depth of field tricks that any of us are capable of reproducing.

There are few videos I have clicked on faster than a drone filming itself crashing into a volcano in Iceland. This video shows a DJI first-person view drone as it records the rivers of lava flowing out of Fagradalsfjall before plummeting into a fiery death, all in glorious 4K.

Final Cut Pro X is Apple's video editing software that has been steadily growing in popularity over the years. Here are five of the best plugins you can get for it and examples of what they do.

Camera cages aren’t just for filmmakers, and now that prices have come down, is it worth considering?

In this simple lighting tutorial, I discuss three different ways to create softly lit and dramatic images with a single reflective umbrella.

Drones are being used in so many creative ways these days that I can’t even keep up with all of the beautiful and exciting footage being shared daily. Some things do catch my attention more than others, however. Like drones being used as precision weapons to take out bikers, instead of filming said incredible footage.

Stijn Verlinde is boarding a flight home to Belgium from a shoot in Las Vegas. “The one piece of advice I would give to anyone starting out is 'be dedicated'.” Stijn, who started out a few years ago with some basic gear has lived by that advice. He is constantly working and is revolutionizing dance music festival videos across the globe. His success is not elusive or down to luck – it’s the result of three very clear factors we can all apply.

We all know that visual effects have come a long way in recent years, but it’s always worth remembering that the best of the lot are the kind you don’t notice. This video – a wonderful tribute to VFX – is a smart way of showing off exactly what can be done.

Is it just me, or is the Canon 80D getting dragged into a lot of comparisons lately? This latest comparison, however, is definitely very interesting and really highlights the gap between the average DSLR and something that costs about the same as a Tesla Model X. Potato Jet, a filmmaker and YouTuber, demonstrates in his video how footage from the Canon 80D compares to the Arri Alexa. It's no secret that the Arri Alexa is the only choice for many filmmakers and there are so many good reasons as to why this is.