Exclusive articles and expert opinions written by Fstoppers’ talented team of creative professionals. Here we cover everything from the latest photographic techniques to advice on running a successful photography business, to first hand accounts of working in the photography industry.
One of the most consistent opportunities we have as photographers to earn money with our cameras is photographing real estate and hospitality properties, such as Airbnb rentals, and contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t take a huge investment to offer quality images for this purpose.
The definition of a “cinema camera” seems to be ever evolving. So what are some of the things that set them apart from mirrorless?
Before I created Fstoppers, I was a full-time wedding photographer. Over that time, I designed a handful of wedding albums as both show albums and as client albums. To be honest, I never really enjoyed the album-making process. Now, the tables have turned, and for my wife's first year anniversary gift, I decided to make an album with images from my own wedding. How will my wife respond, and will I enjoy the process? Let's find out!
Phone cameras have gotten increasingly better year over year, yet no matter how much they improve, they always fall short in comparison to professional cameras. This year is different.
Some months ago, I was excited enough to place a preorder upon hearing of the announcement of Sky-Watcher’s Star Adventurer GTi, the latest in their Star Adventurer series of star trackers. In September, I finally received it and have been checking it out. Let’s see if it has indeed met my expectations.
Skylum has revealed another Extension that will soon be added to the Luminar Neo editing platform for Pro plan subscribers and owners of the 2022 Extensions Pack. Five Extensions have already been revealed, and today, another has been announced for next month: Supersharp AI, a tool for sharpening details in an image.
Passion: I was raised in a generation that was spoon-fed it three square meals a day. My parents' generation, who were raised by the survivors of World War II, had a more tempered outlook. Then came my generation. We were systematically told we could be anything we wanted. The phrases, "live passionately" and "follow your passion" summoned us out of bed with ardor and launch full force into our dreams. My generation flocks by the millions to Burning Man and Tony Robins' conferences hoping to get another hit of zeal to keep going.
In today’s article, I’d like to pose a fundamental question. Has the growth of social media been a net positive or negative for the world of photography?
Cameras are constantly improving. Keeping up with the latest model and its arguably better performance can instill a need for a perpetual upgrade and a bad case of G.A.S. Well, I'm here to turn back the clocks and look at a 20-year-old compact digital camera that is a lot more capable than we might give it credit for. Read on to remember, reflect, and be surprised by this forgotten gem.
Whenever I visit a city, I try to find viewpoints from which to photograph its skyline. Those are either outside the city's bounds or on top of some of its higher buildings. Accessing those rooftop views often requires an entrance fee or good connections. In Kuala Lumpur, all that's needed is to stay in the right apartment.
Beginning your video editing journey can be painful on a slow machine. I’ll explain a few tweaks that might help smooth out the experience.
Composition in shooting cityscapes relies heavily on your choice of lens. With the right lens that matches your envisioned image, your urban landscape photos can have so much visual impact.
There hasn’t been a bad camera released in the last few years. But, still, some cameras are better than others. In this article, we will see what cameras are the best ones to pick up in 2022. Some are cheap, while others are expensive, some are made for fast shooting, and others capture stunning detail in the studio.
There is a ton of advice on what gear to buy and what gear not to buy as a photographer. It is written from a billion different standpoints, each one with a slightly different take. I didn’t feel any of those articles resonated with me, so here is one that I hope will resonate with you regardless of the genre or niche you’re going for.
Iceland is the land of fire and ice, but what happens when there's neither? Travel plans can change at the last minute due to many factors, the weather being a big one, lost luggage another. So, how do you adapt and make even a short trip memorable? Do you push your creative boundaries and try something new, or do you just step back and enjoy experiencing each new adventure?
As a commercial photographer, I have a ton of competition from other photographers. There are a lot of other people who take fashion pictures. There are even more people who claim they take fashion pictures. All in all, it seems like I’m up against the world when it comes to working. If you ever wondered how to beat your competition, here is an approach that always works. Always, without exaggeration.
Occasionally, it’s worth Googling your name to see what turns up. When I did it, it showed that a website was plagiarizing Fstoppers articles and stealing my photos too. This is what I did about it.
Artists enjoy calling their work “original.” For good reason too, as artists, we want to stand out and send an authentic message to the world. But, there are hardly any truly original ideas in the art world. Everything has been invented, reinvented, and re-reinvented over again. In this article, we will discuss how to create, reinvent, and stay away from copying.
I recently had the opportunity to be followed by Taylor Jackson on a shoot while at the Sony Kando event.
All of us have spent hours editing a shoot or if you’re like me, procrastinating editing that shoot. Spending less time editing and more time shooting is what most of us ultimately want. If only there was a way to automate editing at a low price and high standard. If this sounds like you, this may be the solution.
We spend a lot of time talking about when it’s the best time to buy new gear. But it can be harder to know when is the right time to let go of the old gear as well.
Have you found the perfect place to host your photos? I've been hunting everywhere for the best site to upload my images to and share them. After my research, what I concluded was the best for me took me completely by surprise.
You’ve been commissioned to photograph new images for a restaurant, but there’s a lot of spinning plates and moving parts. In this article, I share my essential steps for preparing for and running a photoshoot at a restaurant.
Building a website that helps potential clients choose you over others is not always an intuitive process. Here are six ways that you can upgrade your website.
When I travel, I stay in each location I visit for several days to increase my chances of encountering great light. But even a week is sometimes not enough to get a single colorful sunrise or sunset. Either the sky remains free of clouds or it's completely overcast, preventing any interesting light from breaking through. Night photography is one way of dealing with a clear sky. But what can you do during gray weather?
Having really expensive gear can make you a versatile photographer with an advantage over your peers. In my opinion, knowing how to use gear creatively is a much more critical skill.
For those who don't know, Sony hosts a yearly event called Kando. Kando is a Japanese word that roughly translates to "the sense of awe and the emotion you feel when experiencing something beautiful and amazing for the first time." So, does this experience live up to its name?
One of the challenges for photographers who post online is learning to cultivate what we decide to post. When I was just getting started as a headshot photographer, I only had an occasional client, and the fact that I created a headshot at all was a huge accomplishment. Because of this, I would immediately post images from the session on my Instagram feed and website. As my clientele grew and I developed my own style, however, I realized that I needed to be much more selective in deciding why and when I post an image.
We often try to avoid reflections in our photos. That’s why we use polarization filters. But reflections can also make your photos more interesting. In this article, I have some advice on how to find and use amazing reflections for your photo.
We live in a three-dimensional environment, so understanding how the nautical terms of roll, pitch, and yaw work can eliminate glaring errors and elevate our photos. While effects are obvious, others are unexpected. Here's an exercise to hone your skills.
Wedding photography can come with a unique set of challenges and stress points, which will keep many photographers from ever venturing into the genre, many opting for a route with less pressure. That said, there are ways we can alleviate some of this stress. Perfect planning and preparation prevent poor performance. A mantra we can all follow a little more in our lives.
Olympus has been assigning the Zuiko name to its range of high-quality lenses since 1936. Zuiko-branded lenses were made for SLR, rangefinder, and automatic point-and-shoot cameras in medium format, 35mm, and even half-frame formats. Assessing the best of anything in photography leads to vivid debate and lots of room for subjectivity. Here are my 5 reasons why I believe Olympus knocked it out of the park with their Zuiko range, and when you look at all factors are the best film lenses ever made. Be sure to leave a comment to let me know your thoughts.
All this hype and scaremongering about AI in photography is missing one crucial point. No matter how good it gets, far from taking over the world of photography, AI will always fail at one critical point. Our recent history tells us why.
The Fstoppers community is brimming with creative vision and talent. Every day, we comb through your work, looking for images to feature as the Photo of the Day or simply to admire your creativity and technical prowess. In 2022, we're featuring a new photographer every month, whose portfolio represents both stellar photographic achievement and a high level of involvement within the Fstoppers community.
Although depth of field is often discussed in portrait photography, the conversation tends to center around background bokeh. In this article and the accompanying video, however, I would like to address depth of field as it relates to the face itself and attempt to answer the question as to which aperture is best for photographing faces.
What happens when a non-vlogger takes a spin with Nikon’s new social media-focused Z 30 compact camera?
We benefit every time that smartphone in your pocket improves its camera system. Professional or not, we must admit that the quality of the software producing images on our smartphones is brilliant. All this clever tech will hugely impact photography in the future. Here’s why.
Zoner Photo Studio X is a holistic solution to post-processing and file management for photographers, and yet it flies under the radar. Despite the fact its price is a fraction of Adobe's full suite, major updates to improve it are rolled out regularly, and this latest one adds a number of features.
I am a sucker for gadgets, but I am also a skeptic, so when I took the plunge on an inexpensive handheld digital microscope I found for macro photography, I didn’t have high expectations.
The future of art has arrived. And it isn’t pretty.
Have you ever felt stuck as a creative? Have you experienced being out of ideas when you badly needed them?
The Internet can be a cruel and unforgiving place, especially when sharing your art, opinions, or creative endeavors with people worldwide.
Electronic Hub recently posted a study divulging which electronics have the most unreliable reviews on Amazon, with some of our most beloved cameras sitting near the top.
I asked in a Dutch photography community how they feel about black and white photography for landscapes. It seems it's not generally accepted, and many strange reasons are given why black and white shouldn’t be used. I’d like to share a few of those reasons that caught me by surprise.
It should go without saying that everyone reading here at Fstoppers is interested in taking photos. I know that many of you also want to shake things up and make some money doing it. With three new upcoming start dates, it’s worth taking a look at Side Hustle 101, the product of Canon Canada’s new partnership with The Maker’s Collective.
It's something we are all seeking. There is no doubt that some photographers are fantastic at what they do, but even the best won't create a great shot every time. So, is there a secret formula to creating one?
OM Digital Solutions announced an update to their lens road map, and macro photographers will be excited about what's there. Plus, they have a new Linear PCM sound recorder.
Like most photographers, I own more than one camera bag. There is my main bag, my video gear bag, my small kit bag, my rolling bag for airplane travel, and that one, never-been-used, just sitting in the back of the closet, camera bag of unknown origin.
The Hasselblad X1D 50C and X1D II 50C helped to redefine the paradigm of medium format, putting a large sensor inside a sleek, small body. Now, the X2D 100C is here, and not only does it double the resolution of its predecessors, it brings with it a bevy of impressive improvements and new features. In this review, we take a look at the camera and what you can expect.
In order to create great portraits, you need to have a lot of great components: lighting, composition, as well as camera and lens choice. Deciding what focal length to use for portraiture can be difficult, so in this article, I will make a few suggestions on lenses you should use for your next portrait photoshoot.
