Recent Hacks Articles

How to Organize and Digitize Old Photos

We live in a digital photo era but that doesn't mean that your old photos and negatives boxed up in the attic should be forgotten. The first step in preserving these is to get them organized. Next, you need to digitize old photos so they can be easily viewed and shared with others.

How I Boosted My Creativity With One Simple Trick

With one simple change to my everyday routine, I suddenly feel more creative, able to generate ideas more quickly, and with greater clarity. You can achieve the same thing with one simple trick that won’t cost you a penny.

Cinematographer Recreates Scenes From a Hollywood Film on a Budget

Working in film will often challenge your resourcefulness and creativity. While much of what we see on the silver screen these days is shot with a massive crew using huge green screen sets, and elaborate and expensive lighting, you don't need an elaborate production to create a film that's visually rich.

How to Get Cinematic Footage From Your Entry Level Camera

Entry level DSLRs and smaller format cameras don’t do a great job when trying to achieve footage with a cinematic feel, but with these tips, you can add an extra touch to your filmmaking. All of the advice is either incredibly practical in terms of how you shoot, or requires a very low level of investment. If you’re new to shooting video, be sure to check out this list.

Creating Creative Studio Spaces on a Budget

In the process of creating good content for their clients, creative professionals often have to use their knowledge and experience to come up with solutions to problems on set. But what if you don't have a set?

Putting a $100 Cinema Projector Lens to the Test

An experimental photographer has utilized an old ISCO MC 65mm f/2 Cinema Projector lens by adapting it to his mirrorless camera for a new series of photos and videos.

Newly Released Lens Filters Come With Prism Effects Built-In

The fun thing about photography is that there are so many ways to do it. One of the most popular novelties in recent years has been the use of prisms and holding objects in front of the lens to create artistic blurs. Now, one company is helping photographers do it hands-free after releasing lens filters with prism-effects built-in.

How to Speed Up Photoshop

More often than not, we get the product out of the box, toss the manual, and find out the settings as we go along. It's 2019 and things should be intuitive.

This Simple Camera Hack Changed My Life

It's so simple yet so powerful and has literally saved me hundreds of hours and untold gallons of frustrated, angry sweat. If you want to know a quick, fast camera hack that can make your photography life a rosy ride of comfort, then keep on reading.

Using Glass for Creative Photography Hacks

Lately, it seems as if I am seeing a lot of photos where the model or subject is seen through a window, for example, the shot where the model sitting inside a coffee shop enjoying a cup of coffee while the photographer snaps a photo from outside. If you are having trouble finding a location to do that, here's a hack for you to recreate a similar look.

Simple Lightroom Trick: Before/After Preview Key

If you've read my past articles on Fstoppers, you know that I love editing shortcuts. These quick tricks save you time and frustration, making your business more productive and profitable.

Make It Rain With This DIY Machine for Product Photography

Water dripping down the side of a beer bottle, splashing around a shampoo bottle, or sparkling on a flower petal are staples of product photography, but creating water effects in a controlled environment doesn't have to be difficult or expensive.

Six Ways to Hack a Light Stand or Tripod

Tripods and light stands are found in virtually all photographer's kit bags. While most of these stands already do an excellent job, a few low-cost modifications can make them infinitely more versatile.

Five Quick and Easy Lens Hacks for Portrait Photos

Sometimes, all it takes to spice up your portrait photos is a little bit of creativity and some cheap tools to give you some neat in-camera lens effects. This great video will show you five quick, easy, and cheap lens hacks to enhance your portrait photography work.

Pomodoro Technique: The Secret to Efficient Photo Editing?

Subscribe to business or productivity "influencers" on the web and you'll receive a variety of tips: “Nap this long,” “Consume more of these,” “Turn that device off!” But how do these techniques apply to photo editing, and can a one-size-fits-all productivity approach help us photographers use our editing time more efficiently?

This Budget Bullet Time Effect is Simple and Impressive

When the new technique called bullet time debuted 20 years ago with the movie "The Matrix," the effect was so different and mind-blowing that it raised the bar for outside the box camera effects. A couple practice runs, a group of boys playing basketball, and a clever cameraman was all it took to pull off this big budget effect without even opening a wallet.

Taking Portraits With a $5 Slide Projector Lens

No stranger to experimenting with cheap equipment and camera hacks, photographer Mathieu Stern’s latest project involves trialing a lens technically built for use with projectors, which he purchased at a yard sale for just $6.

Tips for Fixing Common Issues With the Hasselblad a12 Medium Format Film Back

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. It sucks to eat that cost but reserving it for pieces that command a higher sales price means eating that cost is much more palatable.

How I Improved My Photography by Ditching HDR

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.

This Fun Drone Accessory Makes So Much Sense

I have just seen a video reviewing one of the coolest drone accessories I've ever seen. I'm not sure how it isn't a standard accessory included in the box of every drone sold.

Color Grading for Videos: Photoshop Does It Too

Color grading your videos can be tricky, so it's best to have an arsenal of options when one doesn't work out right. In this tutorial from YouTuber photoshopCAFE, you'll learn how to use Photoshop to digitally enhance and correct your video works.

Exposure Bracketing: What It Is and How to Do It

How many times have you snapped a beautiful scene, only to be disappointed when your images don’t adequately represent the reality? Though the camera’s images sometimes fall short, have no fear, because bracketing is here.

Dramatic Portraits Lit Using Only a Mobile Phone Flashlight

If you've ever found yourself in an impromptu situation where you knew you could get a really cool shot if you just had a little bit of extra light, the techniques in this video might knock your socks off with their simplicity and creativity.

Your Best Asset as a Photographer Isn’t Something Taught at Photo School

I didn't study photography in any official capacity — not unless you count a quick Google whenever there’s a term I don’t understand. So naturally, I'm biased in the argument about whether studying photography is worth it. But in my opinion, the most valuable asset to a photographer is something that cannot be searched on the internet, nor can it be taught.

Make Your Cutouts Pixel Perfect With Ease

There are many ways easily to cut out an object from an image using Photoshop, but inevitably, the very edge of your object is imperfect. In this video, Colin Smith at PhotoshopCafe shows us how clean up those edges not just quickly, but perfectly.

A Fantastic Photoshop Shortcut: Opacity Keys

Photoshop is a complex program that takes years to master. And even after you've spent countless hours learning the ins and outs, surprising new shortcuts are a pleasure to discover.

Is It Time to Replace That Cheap Old Lens?

If you own a cheap older lens, go back to the first set of images you captured with it, then compare those to images shot recently with that same lens. You might be surprised by how much better those old images look.

Unique Holiday Gift Idea: Photograph Your Own Pet Calendar

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.

Faking a High End Portrait Backdrop With Texture Overlays

Do you crave the look of a high-end, hand-painted portrait backdrop for your studio, but don't want to shell out the bucks for such a luxury? Why not grab your favorite roll of seamless paper and fake it ‘til you make it?

Sony Video Hack: How to Unlock 6K And 8K Raw Video

If you have ever wondered how you to get higher video resolution and more dynamic range from your Sony camera, then you are in luck, because Josh Yeo has come up with a creative approach for getting 6K and 8K raw video from your Sony camera that you owe to yourself to check out.

Simple Overhead Camera Rig You Can Take Anywhere

If you are looking for something a little more sturdy and flexible than your standard tripod with a horizontal center column for doing overhead camera or video shots than this set up is a great solution.

Take Any Camera on Your Next Water Adventure

If you are not ready to plunge into the price tag of the hard case underwater housing but are serious about wanting to get into more shoots working with the element of water, Jake Kelsick has tested out the capabilities for your new adventure.

Hacking Portrait Mode to Create a 3D Parallax Photo on Facebook

Photographer Oat Vaiyaboon from Hangingpixels Photo Art has found a way to harness the new Facebook 3D Photo feature with his existing DSLR and drone photos using depth maps. You really have to see them in action to appreciate the coolness of the effect.

How to Capture Flying Food Photos

Are you looking for a way to add more excitement to your food photography? Well, have you tried making your food float or even go for that exploded-view of the dish coming together or apart in the frame?

Medical Advice for International Travel Photography

When traveling to exotic or remote locations, it's important to be prepared with both the necessary medications as well as the proper paperwork and insurance that an area requires.

How to Make Amazing Smoke Art

Have you ever wanted to add a little something extra to a portrait or product shot, but just didn't know quite what would make the difference? Why not include some crazy cool smoke art to add another level of interest?

Remove Surface Glare On Your Interior Photos With This Quick Tip

When photographing commercial interior images, a common issue is an unsightly glare on reflective surfaces. Removing these reflections by compositing image layers significantly improves your images, separating you from the pack of "run-and-gun" real estate and interior photographers.

Try This Shadow Fix on Your Next Interior Shoot

When photographing interiors, flash is your friend, but a friend who needs some management. While flash brightens rooms, reduces glare, and brings out true colors, it can also produce the frustrating issue of ugly shadows.

Tiny Drone Collaboration With Droneworks and Casey Neistat

Building an obsession with tiny drones over the past few months, it makes me so happy to see other people getting creative and modifying them to fly "better" cameras. Droneworks went to New York to put together another video with Casey Neistat, only this time with a much smaller drone than they had been using in the past.