Lensrentals is a great resource for gear rentals but somewhat in the background of their main business, they also have a blog run by their founder, Roger Cicala. His ins-and-outs of the technical aspects of gear they rent is often detailed and entertaining for gearheads.
There is an entire generation of memories currently trapped in VHS and unless we act to rescue them, these may continue to languish there. Years of video footage are stuck in these old tape formats that are usually relegated to a bookshelf somewhere in the house or stored in a box in the basement.
In today's video we take you behind the scenes in our new Fstoppers studio and show you exactly how we built and designed our latest video set. We will show you all the microphones, cameras, and lighting gear as well as our thought process in tackling this empty canvas of a room.
As many of you know, Lee and I recently moved to Puerto Rico, and with that move, we are having to completely redesign our new studio space. In today's video, we tackle our in-home network and wireless Internet connection. Surely the limitations in Puerto Rico will prove to give us trouble... or will it?
For very little money it's now possible to have your cake and eat it too when it comes to using both vintage and modern cameras. Prepare to have your mind blown.
Not planning on spending any money on new equipment but fancy experimenting with items you can easily find around the house? Here are eight simply camera hacks for you to try out in your next shoot.
Photographer Giles Clement decided to spend an afternoon building his own 16x20-inch field camera from wood and plastic and make his own ambrotypes on large sheets of glass. This very short video reveals the magic of homemade, large format photography.
With the amount of used camera gear I come across in my adventures across Southern California, I often run into pieces that invariably need some sort of minor repairs. The more labor intensive or skilled technician tasks get sent off to an appropriate repair-person.
Does winter have you climbing the walls looking for something to do? Do you need some new or more interesting backgrounds for your food or product photography? Well then perhaps this DIY project is just the thing for you.
Finding a cameraperson or device that can follow you as you perform unpredictable skateboard tricks and maneuvers could be a very complicated and expensive process. This guy found the perfect solution: his dog.
Rod Evans has found a new use for his 360 camera, and the results are absolutely stunning.
If you rely heavily on HDR for your image processing, I have some news for you: It can be a lazy approach, and you may be using it in the wrong applications. It's time to learn about the limitations of HDR and far better alternatives at your disposal.
Canvas backdrops are seen all over the world in magazines, online, and fine art prints. You see celebrities and politicians photographed in front of them all the time. However, they are extremely expensive, ranging anywhere from $400 to over $8,000 depending on the exact brand (if you can find a price for them at all).
Nothing beats the thrill of discovery — especially if that discovery involves a long-lost tape of your 80s era wedding, for example. You may have photographs of the beautiful venue, the ruffled bridal dress, the white balloon arches… but a video can make your memories of that day come alive in a whole new way.
With the holidays over and us in that strange time after Christmas but before the new year, we often find ourselves both stir crazy and broke. With this video from The Creative Contrast, they teach us how to solve that by cheaply creating our own collapsible V-Flats.
One of the most popular pieces of gear most photographer assume a studio should have is a reflector of some sort, and a v-flat is greatly preferred. Some photographers who look for a DIY option but can't seem to find a source for the large foam boards usually give up and proceed without them. Here's another method you can use to create your own v-flats.
Making photos look "cinematic" is a big trend these days, often times with various plugins and presets, but this hack brought to us by The Creative Contrast allows us to get photos with the trademark anamorphic bokeh that it hard, if not impossible, to fake in Photoshop.
There's something particularly satisfying about getting an image right in camera, but this photographer took it to new levels, dragging a fog machine into the forest to set up the shot his client needed.
Sometimes, half the fun of what we do is coming up with a ludicrous idea, then making it happen. You know, something like shooting a 360-degree camera out of a cannon. That's exactly what these guys did.
In this behind the scenes article, see how I set up my studio in the athletics office of my school and shot a series of intense portraits of my college football team.
V-flats are traditionally not portable by any means. For those that have a little DIY in them, I made my own portable v-flats that I can take with me anywhere I need. Here’s how to make them.
It's the time of year when you might be stringing holiday lights all around your house. Put them to use with this fun DIY project that only takes a few minutes to complete.
Slides contain a lot of memories from events past: anniversaries, weddings, birthdays, family vacations and more. If you want to preserve those images for generations to come, you need to think about digitizing them. Here's a rundown of the options available and the results you can expect from each.
First, why do you need to convert slides anyway?
It's always refreshing to me to get behind the scenes and see how some cool images are made. Then, to realize that the only light source was a cell phone LED along with a few props, I realized that my studio needs a shopping trip.
Don't have thousands to spend on lighting gear? One of the most valuable lighting methods you could find out there also happens to be the cheapest: a window. The best part about it, is that it is free!
The holidays months can bring extra leisure time, and there's nothing more rewarding than spending that free time on a challenging photography project. During last year's fall holidays I decided to turn my available energy into something creative and fun: a pet calendar for 2018.
With the wealth of options out there for lens-adapting and DIY modifications, many industrious photographers are taking things to the next level. The process of adapting anamorphic projection lenses to a take-up lens has been well-established for years now.
The elusive v-flat. Once you know what a v-flat is, the next question is always: “where do I get them?” For years, photographers were sent on scavenger hunts looking for 4X8’ sheets of foam, sheets so large, truck rental was required. They were anything but portable. Until now.
Most of have probably created a panorama at some point by stitching several images together. Some of you may have even tried the Brenizer method to mimic the look and feel of a larger sensor. I wonder, how many of you have stitched video clips together to mimic large-format cinema cameras?
Seamless paper backdrops among other backdrops are great for photography backgrounds, but sometimes, you want a background with some real texture. While having several different walls painted different colors or having different textures sounds great, the space and size of a studio can put limits on what you can actually do.
The spookiest day of the year is upon us and it might have you in the mood to create something frightful. Photoshop, of course, offers nearly limitless creative opportunities to scare your social media followers, but what if you'd rather create something horrifying using practical effects rather than digital?
You're shooting the landscape, a dense forest rife with fantasy vibes perhaps, but there just isn't the fog you wish there was to complete the scene. Well this video has you covered and can help you get that little extra atmosphere in a pinch.
Creating a custom email signature is easy if all you want is plain text. It’s worth it to create your own HTML signature to stand out with something fresh. And it’s not nearly as scary as it sounds.
Besides my camera, the one item that I always travel with is my Justin clamps. They are one of the most versatile pieces of equipment that I own, but they can be pricey. So why not build your own?
Cheap and decent quality LED lights can be found online easily these days; however, sometimes, you have to make specific sacrifices in either quality or function to get those cheaper prices. That's when DIY comes in.
You guessed it right. It doesn't have two memory card slots and it doesn't shoot 4K, but so doesn't an old ARRI cinema camera. This is a cheap point and shoot camera challenge where the creator of the video tries to make its footage look cinematic with the least amount of cheating.
If you have ever found yourself wondering about basic home studio setups for your YouTube channel, look no further. In this crash course video for a home setup, we'll take a look at the fundamentals to get you up and running.
If you are a geek, an avid DIYer, a painter, or a curious photographer, this one is definitely for you. Learning how the camera works by making a camera obscura that is actually usable is such a fun project.
In this six-minute video, YouTuber workphlo breaks down a simple DIY diffuser that works especially well when going for a "glossy" look in your product photos. This technique applies to close-ups of reflective products.
While having a brick-and-mortar studio is nice, it isn't always feasible. Photographers create backdrops out of their homes, garages, or on set to disguise the location using stands with muslins, seamless paper, or even collapsible options as well. In searching for other options, I found a portable wood look to be the perfect fit.
Creating soft light can become an expensive pursuit. A large, indirect softbox will cost around $2,000 and the cheaper ones are often badly built, are small, or generally lack good light quality. Being a tight git, I set about finding a way to create high quality, soft light for my food photography, although this set up will work for pretty much all genres.
If you're into tinkering gear and customizing things to the way you like them then this might be your kind of video.
Are you still shooting film? Are you as impatient as I am and wish you could view your film as soon as you get home? If so, then this video is a must-watch.
Windows can be used to create interesting shots, especially when using the reflections to your advantage, but that’s not the only way to incorporate glass in your photoshoot. There are several different ways, but what if you are looking for a grungy-looking window for a specific concept you have in mind? Here's how to make one.
For a lot of us who are chasing a career in photography, we soon come to a bit of a pinch point. We have thrown all our money into cameras, computers, lenses, and lights, so our house is a mess of kit clutter. Here's how to build your own dedicated studio.
If you're ever seen portraits shot somewhere like an arcade or next to a neon sign, you know they offer a neat look full of washes of color that envelop the model. If you don't have access to such lighting, this great video will show you how to recreate the effect at home.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Ilford Photo released a video on how to develop your own black and white film. Now, they've followed it up by giving you everything you need to know in order to turn those negatives into beautiful, tangible prints.
Photographer and digital artist Renee Robyn is known for creating magical composites complete with gorgeous costumes and dreamy scenery. But what happens when there is no designer to provide styling, no makeup artist, and a budget of only $50 to spend?
G.A.S (Gear Accumulation Syndrome), is something all photographers feel it at some point in their careers. That feeling the gear they have is never good enough. Learn how to overcome that, and start taking the photos you've always dreamed of today.
“The best camera is the one you have with you.”
Along the lines of my "it's not about the gear" principle that I believe in so much nowadays (believe me, it took years to drum that into my head), this is a quick tutorial on how to use an IKEA lampshade for an unusually simple product photography setup and covers both the shooting and the retouching for the example photos.