Fstoppers Originals

People will tell you there are no shortcuts, but that is only true if you think a shortcut is a magic "Masterpiece" mode in your camera or a special action in Photoshop. 

How many bags do you travel with for landscape photography? Two or three depending on the trip duration? How about one carry-on sized backpack for a year of travel? 

A surprising omission and sudden need to fill a gap led me to an important revelation. 

What is a photograph? Is it a collection of ones and zeros that comprise a digital image? Is it a reaction of chemicals that settle to reveal an artist’s vision through light and shadow? Or, is it simply a product? A way to make money by monetizing the needs of the market.

A photographer renowned for spending months at a time carefully curating his sets has just completed his latest project. He has now built a life-size replica of a local 1960s Chinese takeaway; complete with the original paintings and fittings, the series features genuine customers and the owner of the real takeaway. It debuts exclusively on Fstoppers.

January 10 marks the 50th anniversary of Life's Apollo 8 issue. It's quite extraordinary to look back at these images 50 years after they were first published. The power of photography can be easily lost when there are trillions of photographs produced a year. The value of photography can be further obscured by a need for likes or the anonymity of hurtful criticism.

2019 has just begun, and it is time to wrap up and look back at 2018. Like last year, I have found my favorite photos, and what they have in common are strong compositions. 

A new year means new possibilities. Each year, most photographers put aside money for specific items such as gear, repair, equipment, and more. The one item many forget is education. This is an important part of growing as a photographer and needs to be addressed each year to keep the creative mind flowing.  

A number of products premiering at CES 2019 give an indication to the future of photography and videography. Even without new equipment, there are some changes you can make to ensure your images and video are ready for the future. 

I remember the thrill of owning my first camera: the Panasonic FZ20. I was so excited; I didn't need an alarm to get me up for sunrise. How things have changed! These days, if no one is commissioning the shoot I struggle to be motivated. This article tracks how this happened and offers four suggestions on how to keep enjoying photography.

I'm sure many of us have set goals for 2019 to become more successful in different variations of what the word entails, but have you or would you consciously decide to start a meaningful project, one that is unlikely to give you monetary reward, but a deeply personal one? Would you set time aside for it? 

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic CC has recently updated to 8.1. With any new software release, there are new features. This new version is no different. Some of these options can speed up your workflow or speed up performance in general. 

By “commandments,” I simply mean photography truths that have worked for me. Everyone has photography truths to believe in, but here are my 10.

Today, I’m tackling photographer-on-photographer criticism. And while some may read this article (as well, some may not) and comment that criticism can be valuable, I’m here to dispel that belief. 

You carry that decent camera around with you because you want decent photos. Every so often, then, you need to get some of those unprocessed raw files on to your phone. How do you do it?

When you are a new photographer, the allure of street photography is powerful. It’s a way of tapping into your passion in a much more approachable way than fashion photography or adventure wedding photography. 

Efficiently and effectively creating impactful black and white images of people can be tricky, but utilizing ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate's Light EQ tool, I've whittled my workflow down and kept the results just as high. 

The day has finally come. Capture One users can finally use the XRite ColorChecker to create camera profiles and get proper true-to-life colors in our photos. The necessity for a proper color workflow is imperative for anything you plan on printing, or duplicating in any way (Especially when working with brands). 

Artificial intelligence has come into our lives in various ways, and photography is no exception. In fact, did you know that it's already being used in smartphone cameras? But what is the future looking like for merging artificial intelligence and subjective, artistic craftsmanship?  

The votes are in, and you've helped to choose our Fstoppers Photographer of the Year! We've also randomly selected one member who voted to receive a free Fstoppers tutorial of their choice! 

It is a photographers nightmare to see precious and expensive camera equipment fall. I have seen it happen quite often and most of the times a tripod was involved. Fortunately it never involved my equipment. Perhaps it is due to luck, but I believe ten important guidelines helped a lot.

"If your pictures aren't good enough then you aren't close enough" Robert Capa 

There are countless tools, tricks, and techniques photographers use to edit their photographs. This is one I use 99 percent of the time when editing my landscape images.  

When it comes to taking photos on your mobile device in low light, the options are kind of terrible: a super bright flash that blinds everyone and a not so great photo or ambient light in a dark room where everyone ends up blurry or even grainy. This ridiculously easy iPhone hack will take your low light mobile photos to a whole new level. 

In this extended essay, I’ll go into detail on my decision to invest heavily in a cinema camera, and the pros and cons related to the purchase.