Fstoppers Originals

The Desert Island albums question is a favorite for many podcasts, with the premise altered slightly for the industry in question. So let's see what the answer is for our readers. 

I have been sent a lot of messages and seen a lot of comments on this topic over the last year, and it is something I have shied away from tackling, but in this article I am going to delve into the taboo debate around internet photographers versus professional photographers.

Like many photographers, I was intrigued by the announcement of the Peak Design Travel Tripod. It was a Kickstarter offering, like many things Peak Design sells. It appeared to be a fresh look at what a travel tripod should be, so I plunked down my money. I opted for the carbon fiber model, as travel tripods are all about weight, and carbon fiber is lighter. 

Are you daydreaming about traveling while on lockdown? Why not immerse yourself in the beauty of deserts and learn how to capture beautiful landscape images when we're allowed to travel the world once again? 

Pentax is one of those loved brand names that inspires confidence and loyalty among its followers, a result of its engineering excellence and value for money. Yet, it has been largely absent from the camera market in recent years. Has it slipped into a commercial coma, and will life support be switched off shortly? 

Minimalist photography by and large captures my imagination far more compared with traditional landscape photographs. I also I find that the less that’s in the frame, the more challenging it is to photograph. Go figure.   

The coronavirus is making it incredibly difficult for photographers to make new content while the world is on lockdown. The good news is you already have a treasure trove of untapped potential buried in your homes, garages, and offices, and it's crying out to be posted online.

Fujifilm has revolutionized the medium format digital world. Their cameras came in at one-tenth of the cost of the existing players, and they want to make them even cheaper! I have worked with the GFX 50S for several months and own a GFX 50R, so when I had the chance to spend a couple of days with the GFX 100, I snapped it up. I'll share my experiences with it here. 

COVID-19 has certainly turned the world upside down. One of the most unexpected effects, though, has been on the streets in normally bustling cities. Taking advantage of the quiet roads, wildlife is starting to creep back in and reclaim urban areas.

Today, an open letter to the one who knows me best. 

Dear Photography,

I want to say thank you. I want to thank you for giving my life meaning and a purpose that I never knew was missing. I want to thank you for giving me a reason to engage with the world and live life outside of the bounds of my imagination.

It's easy as a photographer to get caught up in having dozens of strobes and spending hours trying to get an image perfect in camera. It doesn't always have to be that hard, though, and in today's photography tutorial, I work through a mock advertisement campaign shot with just one strobe light. 

The Canon R5 announcement has pricked up the ears of most of the industry for one reason or another. Already, however, we're seeing photographers claiming they might switch manufacturers for it. Is Canon domination on the horizon again? 

This is undoubtedly a crazy time for photographers. There's no work, and we can't stretch our creative muscles as often as we're used to. How are the pros coping? Many pro photographers are using their photography skills to create something they'd never normally have time to do, and the results are remarkable.  

Most people are spending so much time on social media during the world-wide lockdowns and it has been such a polarizing topic if marketing efforts should cease for such non-essential products.

With landscape and travel photography, you might only have one chance at the shot, regardless of the quality of light. In this tutorial, I’ll walk you through how I edited a blue hour shot of the Virgin River in Zion National Park, using ACDSee Photo Studio and targeted adjustments. 

Tonight marks the peak of the Lyrid meteor shower, with plenty of meteors visible from mid to late April each year, so get your camera ready and learn how to capture them in all their glory. 

There are many things that can make or break your photography. But if you can identify the difference between these two things, and use them both to your advantage, then all facets of your photography will continue to develop exponentially. 

This past weekend marked ten years of me being a full-time professional photographer. There have been ups and downs since 2010, to be sure, but I’ve learned a few things along the way. 

Many photographers are dealing with stress and worrying which leads us to be up all night. During the last recession Brett Missick turned his insomnia into a lifelong project. 

Yesterday, Canon swapped the Cripple Hammer for the Tickle Spanner: the EOS R5 is going to be a game-changer. With price and sensor size unknown, there are still some major questions waiting to be answered, and while it’s a dream for many videographers, some photographers might yet be a little frustrated. 

We all know about Luminar. The post-processing software from the company Skylum is quite popular amongst a lot of amateur photographers. Perhaps professional photographers also. It is said to be an alternative for Lightroom, but I don’t agree.

Adobe introduced the Range Mask to Lightroom Classic a few years ago, and it’s a useful means for targeting an adjustment when the local tools — Adjustment Brush, Gradient Filter, and Radial Filter — are simply too clumsy. If you want a deeper understanding of how it functions in relation to Luminance, read on. 

The first time you do anything, you’re bound to do it poorly. The first time I shot football, I thought a 1/200 s shutter speed would be perfectly fine to stop action. The first time I shot portraits, I thought my f/1.6 photos were perfectly sharp (they were not even close). And the first time I flew a drone was a catastrophe worse than both of those experiences. 

There's no denying that, as photographers, we are living through unprecedented times. No one truly knows what we should be doing or how the next few months will pan out. One big question that keeps coming up is this: should we still be reaching out to brands, magazines, and agencies we'd like to shoot for? 

Bill Clinton was President, John Major was Prime Minister, the 49ers won the Super Bowl, and Pete Sampras and Steffi Graf were Wimbledon champions.