Does photography have the power to radically change and improve lives? Brooke Shaden, one of the most successful contemporary fine art photographers around today thinks so. Brooke has a single-minded goal to help others through photography - and she’s only got 23 days left to do make her plan a reality.
Thomy Keat is a photographer based in Paris. Although corporate photography makes up much of his job, Keat says street photography is “the thing that makes me want to keep doing what I do as a professional photographer.” Pulling strong stylistic influence from his commercial work, Keat’s street photography is full of contrast, bold lines and repeated colors.
Sponsored by “Hunger Free Colorado”, a recent photo series gave digital cameras to 15 woman living on food stamps in Colorado, and asked them to document their lives using the cameras in a series called "Hunger Through My Lens". The concept is simple, but what it leaves us with, is some incredibly powerful images on the harsh reality of the lives of those battling hunger in America.
The night sky is an astounding phenomenon that fascinates almost every individual. Stars have been around for thousands of years and yet, humankind is still mesmerized by their beauty. Despite the distance, we have such a strong connection and love for these great unknown entities. Capturing the magnificence of the night sky is highly rewarding and can be an exciting process as well.
Publications allowing individual photographers access to their Instagram accounts is an increasingly common practice, and helps to foster a more intimate look at a photographer’s process. For example, Time Magazine allowed several photographers access to its Instagram account after Hurricane Sandy, enabling the magazine to update its almost 600k followers in real time.
Before starting in the world of retouching, I always wanted to know more about it. Now that I'm working full time as a retoucher, I am happy to give back when I can. Julia Kuzmenko McKim of the Retouching Academy reached out to me to speak with her on retouching, inspiration, and business. If you aren't familiar with her already, she's also a staff writer here.
Few months back we featured the incredible and unique rock climbing photos of Seattle-based photographer Kiliii Fish. This week Kiliii finished his newest photo series he worked on for a long time - this time survival was the theme. The results? Nothing short of epic. In this interview he explains the whole process and reveals how he shot and edited it all.
I’ve just watched one of the best fashion shorts I’ve seen in months. It combines gorgeous color, cinematography, camera movement and Hitchcock-styled, film noir sensibility beautifully. Interestingly, after speaking to one of the directors, regardless of budget or what we’re shooting, there are real gems to be gleaned from their experiences. Read on for the full scoop.
Jeffrey Mckee is a Lawrence, KS-based photographer and a graphic designer for the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas. His colorful portraits, created with Polaroid instant film, evoke a sense of dreamy playfulness.
Like so many 20th century processes, Polaroid photography is a format far less common than its digital counterparts. However, equipment and film for instant photography have been made more accessible in recent years.
I met Brian Friedman as we were both shooting various iHeartRadio festivals and concerts around the US a few years back. Brian is a machine. He's passionate, hard working, and one of the best modern concert photographers I've ever met.
Luke Fontana is a photographer and person based in New York, specializing in celebrity portraiture. After three years in New York, Luke has nothing short of an impressive body of work. He is proof, above all else, that hard work and determination are the key ingredients of success. Having the mind of a comedy writer doesn't hurt either - something you can witness in 120 characters or less here.
Recently, a huge string of hackers were exposed for getting into private boudoir galleries and downloading images of nude models and clients directly from the photographer’s websites. Some of these people were using them for personal pleasure, as ransom to get money from the model/client, and many more other disgusting things. I reached out to Erin from Erin Watson Photography, who was one of the targets of the group of hackers.
“There was a sniper, he was trying to kill me, and he hit my camera which was by my face, and I still have that Nikon camera with a bullet hole in it". So begins one of the most compelling interviews I’ve ever seen. Welcome to a rip-roaring three minutes and twenty seconds of a wonderful journey into the mind of Don McCullin.
In under five years, Andy Frame went from being a photography nobody to running one of the most successful photography operations that I'm aware of. I had a chance to catch up with him and hear all of his absolutely inspirational story so that I can share it with our readers, and so that I can motivate my own self to do better on a regular basis.
Adventure Sports Photographer Tim Kemple was one of the only photographers in the world who was lucky enough to try out the new Phase One IQ250 that was just announced earlier today. Check out the behind the scenes video, but also read the full article for my interview with Tim, where he shares his thoughts on the system, as well as what it's like to beta test cameras.
Viewers of "The Walking Dead" are no strangers to Norman Reedus, but few may be aware that Reedus is an accomplished photographer. In this episode of Mark Seliger's "Capture," Reedus joins Al Wertheimer - who you may or may not know as Elvis's personal photographer. It's a great combination of guests - Reedus, known for his dark and almost morbid style (more pictures here) and Wertheimer, known for taking probably the most intimate shots of The King. As always, it's a pretty fascinating episode.
We often look at photojournalists and think, how could you do what they do. How could you stand around taking photos while people are suffering or could benefit from your help? On the other hand, we rarely think about transfering that realm into something tragic that happens in our own eyes, but that is exactly what Abe did.
The Reserve Channel is consistently one of the best resources of inspiration and interesting content for creatives. We've featured the Emmy-nominated show Capture on Fstoppers several times. Today we bring you another of the Reserve Channel's shows, the always fantastic ARTST TLK. In this episide, Pharrell Williams sits down with Leonard Nimoy to discuss photography, the character of Spock and what it means to be an artist.
Here at Fstoppers we featured both Brooke Shaden and Lindsay Adler countless of times for their great photographic work as well as their methods of working and handling business. Today they joined forces once again and did an hour and a half live broadcast answering questions asked by fellow photographers - from inspiration to business and struggles. Bring some snacks, sit back and enjoy!
It seems like Stillmotion is never content sitting still for long. These Portland based filmmakers have spent the better part of a decade chasing their dreams and doing so on their own terms. The one consistent thread for Stillmotion has always been executing amazing stories that need to be told.
Lynn Goldsmith is considered to be one of the best music photographers in the world. She was one of the only female photographers in the scene in the 70s and 80s, and photographed pretty much all legend we can think of. From Michael Jackson to Bruce Springsteen, Bob Marley and The Beatles. In this interview with CBS she shares some of the stories and experiences she had as a rock and roll photographer.
When winter hit and weddings and senior portraits weren't generating any income, Michael Sasser decided to expand his reach by adding boudoir style photography to his repertoire. If you're looking for a way to increase your business through the slow months, this might be just the thing for you. In this interview, Michael explains how his new sessions have been working out.
I’ve just had Selina’s answers back for this interview and feel sick. Some numbers - 80 hours shooting, 7000+ stills, 40+ hours of rendering, sleeping in shifts to meet deadlines. I thought my current project was tough - compared to her's, I feel like I'm sat on a beach drinking a piña colada. Her video “Limitless” has had 6+ million views in 2 weeks, so all her hard work paid off. Read on to find out how she put this beautiful video together.
As the end of the year looms, we begin to look back and reflect on the previous year and think about aspirations for 2014. What will make this coming year successful for you? Getting paid to live and work as a photographer? Producing creative, fulfilling work? Being published? Teaching and helping other photographers? One photographer I've worked with this year did all of these and in this interview, she shares her insights on what success is for her - and importantly, what this could mean for you and your career in 2014.
It's no secret that I love the music phenomenon of EDM or electronic dance music, and it seems I'm not the only one with fans ranging from all ages across the globe its popularity only seems to be spreading. With so much new music and artists coming into the scene it's interesting to see how the music can be visually interpreted into music videos.
Each year Patrick and I work on one extremely large project. Two years ago we created The Art Behind The Headshot with Peter Hurley. Last year we finished our 14 hour tutorial on how to become a wedding photographer. In 2013 we teamed up with Mike Kelley to produce what I believe is the best resource available on How To Photograph Real Estate, Architecture, and Interiors.
What does it take to be innovative? What can happen when you put your work out there and others see as innovative, or inspiring? Matthew Vandeputte, a photographer and film editor based in Sydney helps answer some of these questions. Yesterday he put out a fantastically well shot and edited motion lapse piece that I think raises the bar, and with 250,000 300,000 views in less than a day, also suggests others feel similarly. What does over 100,000 images look like over the course of 90 seconds? How did he put the piece together? Read on and find out with this exclusive Fstoppers interview.
An LED light kit for video is something I've always wanted to own. After years of using hot ARRI and Lowel lights, and renting LitePanels when the budget allowed, I discovered a company called Zabolight that was making LED panels and other fixtures at a much cheaper price. I purchased a kit of these, and did some testing to see how they compared to other more expensive brands.
Photography is filled with niche markets that require a specialized skill set from the photographer. What kind of skills does it take to capture a vehicle (that is worth more than all the houses on your street combined) moving at over 200mph? I sat down with Jamey Price to find out more about the world of motorsport photography.
The brain child of Michael Krebs and Hannah Pribitzer, Revolog is a unique company providing a unique service in what many consider a dying art: film. I still shoot film on occasion, just to mix things up creatively. I stumbled upon Revolog a few years ago, and fell in love with their product and their passion for film.
This weekend, Fstoppers has been at PhotoPlus Expo in New York City to give an inside look at all the new products being announced to the photography community. Yesterday, we showed off new products from Samsung, Spider Holster and more, and the day before we showed off the impressive DEFY gimbal system and others. Today, we were able to look into Sigma, Canon and Nikon's new product lines.
PDNonline released a video interview in which master portrait photographer, Greg Heisler, explains an incredibly vital piece of the portraiture puzzle. In many ways I believe that relating to your subject can be one of the most difficult things to do on a set. It certainly was when I first started out. Many of you were in similar positions as well I'd bet. When I first started in photography I was so bad at interacting with my subject
All this weekend, we're giving you exclusive coverage of PhotoPlus Expo in New York City, where all brands meet, announce and show of their latest products and innovations. Yesterday, we were able to give you an inside look at the Sony A7R, TriggerTrap RedSnap, DEFY Gimbal system and others. Today, we're able to show you an inside look into Samsung, Manfrotto, and more.
Photo Plus Expo is upon us, and I'm here to give you an exclusive look at what all that happened yesterday. If you're in New York, you're highly encouraged to check out all that is happening. If you're not able to check it out, I am here to show you the new products, exclusive interviews and all the events and news going on in New York this week.
In 2012 I interviewed Carli Davidson regarding her animal portrait photography. She was able to bring out and show personality and emotion in our furry friends in a way that was truly unique. She recently released her book "SHAKE" which is filled with pages upon pages of dogs shaking off, caught in the action. If you or anyone you know is a dog-lover, this is a book you'll want sitting on your coffee table.
This summer, TEDxYouth went to Lincoln Nebraska to find youth speakers and they struck gold. Wyn Wiley was suggested to be a TEDxYouth speaker by two of his teachers and little did he know that it would be an experience not only for the audience but for himself. He created 9 minutes of pure selflessness that is guaranteed to ignite a spark within yourself.
Whether you’re a photographer or you focus on video, this article highlights the high octane visual set piece created by Slaughterhouse Pictures, who successfully combined principles of both stills and motion work to create high impact visual media with zero budget and very limited resources. Read the exclusive FStoppers article and watch the BTS video to get some simple and highly effective little tips that you will be able to apply to all aspects of your own work.
It's tough to not love pretty much everything about Mark Seliger's Emmy-nominated show, "Capture." In this episode, Mark sits down with actor Alan Cumming and fashion and portrait photographer Sebastian Kim and they talk about everything from Woody Allen to 'scooter porn' to assembling a photograph like a puzzle.
If you’re curious about learning how to shoot video with your DSLR, or wanting to improve the video you shoot, this might be right up your alley. New York fashion and portrait photographers and videographers, Lindsay Adler and Jeff Rojas, are about to kick off a 3 day workshop called ‘Keep It Simple – Video for Photographers’ on Creative Live focused on helping photographers make the jump into shooting great video simply and efficiently.
Over a year ago we wrote about Brandon Stanton's project named 'Humans of New York' where he photographs random people in NYC and post the results on his blog (and Facebook). Back then his project was still small and not-so-known, but today he has millions of followers and each one of his photos go viral within seconds of posting. Brandon just released his first book this week featuring his best 'Humans of New York' photos, and to promote it, ABC's 'Nightline' spoke with him about his project - worth watching!
Cameron Davis is a photographer, cinematographer and creative director based in New York. Growing up in Southern California, Cameron has developed a style that blends East Coast with West Coast, adding in flavors of London and Paris. Focusing primarily on shooting editorial fashion imagery, Cameron's work has been published in treats!, GQ Italia, Fault and S Magazine.
About a week ago we featured the behind the scenes of the groundbreaking film "Gravity". I am a firm believer that the sound of a film is what connects the viewer to the feel and cinematic experience of the story. In this featurette with director Alfonso Cuarón and re-recording mixer Skip Lievsay they explain how sound works in space where there literally isn't a sound to be heard.
For the last 25 years, Michael Paul Smith has been building detailed scale models for an imaginary world he calls "Elgin Park." Michael builds eerily identical scaled models of cars 1/24th the size. He carefully picks out real world environments for these cars and builds whatever else is needed to sell the shot. He then uses backgrounds of real environments to make the shot as realistic as possible. Here's the kicker: he's doing all of this on a $200 point and shoot.
In the competitive landscape of fashion photography, Charles LUCIMA stands out with fashion-editorial images and videos that have graced magazines and televisions around the world. We caught up with Charles after his three-day, Destination MARS workshop and right before shooting a new line of cosmetics.
Arguably the most important person on any production set is the producer. Charged with preparing for the worst and having a back up plan to a back up plan, a producer is responsible for making sure any shoot happens without any mishap, injury, or stoppage whatsoever. Blaine Deutsch is commercial advertising producer who handles days of pre-production, casting, big crews, planning, preparing, investing, paperwork, contracts, permits, and thousands of dollars on the line.
Sometimes it's useful to stop, take stock and just remember why it is we shoot what we do, and what we are trying to do with our work. With this in mind, and to stoke the fires of your inspiration, the filmmaking accessories manufacturer, Zacuto, recently released ‘Light & Shadow’, a wonderful 20 minute film by Steve Weiss which asks searching questions from some legendary American cinematographers.
Kesler Tran is a photographer based out of Los Angeles and New York specializing in fashion, editorial and beauty. Of the three, one will probably find his beauty work resonating the strongest; it teems from every pore of his images. His eye for light and shape, as complex and trained as it is, seems effortless when one browses through the images on his tumblr. With the sheer amount of content, it's also hard to imagine him ever taking a break. Thankfully, he took one for us.
Steve Fischer is a Los Angeles based fashion photographer specializing in shooting women for the fashion, high fashion, lingerie, swimwear and beauty markets. Steve started shooting about 15 years ago, taking a minor hiatus to write and produce television commercials. Not too long ago, he was in a car accident that nearly killed him and left him physically unable to shoot for several years. He returned to his love of fashion photography about four years ago and is here to stay.
Dixie Dixon is a Dallas based badass and one of the sixteen "celebrated contemporary photographers" of the Nikon ambassador program. Dixie specializes in commercial fashion photography and is a prime example of how hard work, apprenticeship, and relentless dedication pays off in commercial photography. I recently chatted with her and stole all of her secrets of success for you, the reader. Because that's how much I love you, reader.
Dani Diamond is a talented portrait photographer based out of Connecticut and is also an active member of our Fstoppers Facebook Group. His headshot work is impeccable and eye-catching. Recently Dani has started a personal project coined simply as "The Project." His mission is to find fellow photographers from around the world, take their headshots and challenge his craft under the scrutiny of his talented peers.
