Each month this year, Fstoppers is running a genre specific Critique the Community contest with some amazing prizes. The theme for March is "Weddings," and we are giving away $3,000 in prizes to 3 lucky winners. Oh, and one of the most successful wedding photographers I know, Pye Jirsa, will be guest judging the images. Here are the details!
Is your art good? Is it mediocre? Is it expected? Are you surprising yourself? Have you seen growth in your craft, or are you simply doing the same thing? Are you proud of your body of work in 2023? As artists, sometimes, we get so busy in art-making that we don’t take the time to evaluate our art. I’ve crafted these 10 questions as an evaluation tool for you to pause in the process of art-making and to congratulate yourself, correct yourself, and direct yourself.
One of the hardest, cringiest things any photographer can do is go back and look at the images they created early in their career. In this video, Lee Morris and I revisit some of our best and worst images taken prior to launching Fstoppers.com. How bad are these photos? Let's find out!
According to Taylor Jackson, we're all Sony shooters, whether we like it or not. With the majority of today's cameras carrying Sony's imaging sensors, are we all becoming Sony shooters without even knowing it?
Painting is an art form. So are music, prose, and dance. No one argues otherwise. But photography, since its very inception, has had to justify itself as a legitimate art form.
The a7R V is the first AI-based camera from Sony. It has a dedicated AI processing chip, deep-learning algorithms, human pose detection, 8 stops of IBIS, and 61 megapixels of resolution. But is it really the best Alpha ever?
Criticism of photography is commonplace. Sometimes, it is invited and genuine, other times, not. How you decide to give or receive it can affect your self-esteem as a photographer. Moreover, it says much about your own creative abilities. Here's how to appreciate criticism and avoid being a criticaster.
There are few things that can make or break a photograph like composition. If you organize a brilliant composition of a scene, you could turn an average photo into something special. However, conversely, if your composition is poor, it can undo a lot of hard work.
Many presumed Luminar AI to be the big update for Luminar 4. But Skylum surprised everyone when Luminar AI turned out to be a completely different program. Or perhaps it isn’t that different at all?
So you've got a few photos of the same thing and you don't know which one to pick. Do you publish them all? No, you read this and then make a decision.
I'm sure most Facebook groups are started with the best of intentions so people with similar interests can share their passions. However, is the constructive criticism you get from Facebook groups really that helpful?
Creating a portfolio is more than simply selecting pretty images. In this video, I go over three photographers' work who are at different levels and explain how they should build their portfolio and what they need to do to move up to the next level.
We've started the new Youtube Channel "Fstoppers Live" and our first video is being filmed live today at 1pm eastern time. Please join us and don't forget to subscribe to our new channel.
To be a great travel photographer it requires more than just the ability to capture pretty photo — in fact, sometimes the photos don't have to be pretty at all. This is a long video, so grab a coffee/tea/beer, and prepare to absorb some quality knowledge from a professional travel and documentary photography.
It's been a while since we have seen new educational content from Photographer Zack Arias but it seems like he is back and this first video explores some of the reasons you might not be winning photo contests.
Starting off in any genre most photographers will go through the feeling of being on top of their game. This is until years later when they look back at their portfolio and cringe compared to the work being produced now.
Recently, someone in our comments suggested a really cool idea, and we need your help. If you've been featured on an episode of our Critique the Community, help us with a future video by responding to this post.
Most photographers look back at their very earliest work and cringe; I am no exception. But what could I learn from harshly critiquing my earliest imagery and what value might it hold for beginners? Let's find out.
In late September 2019, I joined up with three other wildlife and landscape photographers to take on Jackson Hole, Wyoming for a few days surrounding the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP) WildSpeak West symposium. In this video I review my best images taken with my new gear from this short but productive three-day trip to the Tetons.
I know, it’s a loaded question. Heck, it’s a loaded word, that one — good. According to whom? By what measure? Who do you think you are to criticize my work? I know. And, I agree. But I suspect there are still a few checks we can make to see if an image is headed in the right direction. Let’s look at five of them!
Lately, I've found myself really thinking a lot about portfolios, in both physical and digital form. This throwback video helps with the most basic question: how do you choose the work for your portfolio?
In the latest video from Fstoppers, professional architectural photographer Mike Kelley critiques images submitted by fellow photographers. All of the images were submitted by architectural photographers who are part of a closed group on Facebook.
Photography can be a lonely journey for some. If you are just beginning your foray into wildlife and/or underwater photography, then please join Mike O’Leary and me as we host a free webinar on Saturday, August 24th at 3pm EST. With this webinar, Mike and I hope to answer any questions you may have in relation to starting out in wildlife or underwater photography, as well as how one can use the medium as a positive force.
If you are an avid outdoor photographer like myself and will be in the New York area next week, you’ll be delighted to know B&H Photo and Video is holding their annual OPTIC Outdoor, Photo/Video, Travel Imaging Conference this coming June 2-5.
Late last month I did a post on my ongoing problems with Adobe and the Creative Cloud software and apps. I sometimes find Photoshop unreliable, as well as Bridge. I've also had numerous crashes with the Creative Cloud app too. There were a lot of good comments on my piece, and I also attracted some of the good folks at Adobe who were anxious to weigh in on my experience, which I welcomed.
If you want to continue to grow as a photographer you need to have honest, real time feedback and yes, criticism. Sure, you can ask a friend maybe see if Mom wants to flip through your portfolio and you might get some feedback but more than likely you’ll get some “wow, that’s a cool shot” or “Honey! This picture is lovely!” but no really push back on your composition or lack of. So, go find a photo editor.
Photoshop and I go way back. I had the first version in 1990, and it has served me well as a photo editor for both my landscape and deep sky work. Over the last couple of years, though, every time I use Photoshop or Lightroom in their Creative Cloud versions I can't help thinking something is wrong.
We have some incredibly talented photographers posting images to the Fstoppers Community and in today's video, Patrick and I picked out 10 of our favorite photographs that are currently trending.
Opinions are like cameras: everybody’s got one, and it should be upgraded once in a while. If you love giving feedback on photography, great, but make sure you're doing it in a way that’s right for the giver as well as the receiver.
