Fstoppers Originals

Last month, Fstoppers was commissioned by MOO to produce an ad for their printing service with Peter Hurley. Luckily, instead of a standard 30-second ad, MOO had a better idea.  

A recent trip to Disneyland had me stressing about the photos I’d capture. The experience taught me that leaving my professional cameras at home is possibly the only way I can truly enjoy myself. 

For many photographers, taking portraits of celebrities, athletes, and government officials seems like the pinnacle of a successful business. Sometimes, however, those jobs require an insane amount of work, risk, and safety precautions to pull off the shot.

I love my Mavic. Having flown with drones for a couple of years I have to admit that little machine made photography even more fun. It also improved my photography, my vision, my ability to pre-visualize scenes and it increased the production value of my videos tremendously. 

The repeated process of exporting images from Lightroom is something you most likely have done many times over. With that being said, if you have not already, save yourself some steps, and set up quick and easy presets.

Sunrise and sunset are often beautiful times for photography and we go out of our way to make shoots happen at those times. Once we get there, however, how is it that we best make use of that light?

If you think this is a sci-fi horror thriller film with Transformers-style VFX you'll be disappointed. In fact, the action takes place in the 50s as a young man turns unfortunate obstacles into a romantic outcome.

Photographers and videographers both tread water in a crowded pool of competition, and often we feel in danger of drowning in that pool. In this week’s and next week’s articles, I will present the most common reasons we lose out on work we otherwise might have won. 

I bet that I'm not the only photographer to at least think about the idea of diving into wildlife photography while standing in the middle of wilderness. It couldn't be that much different, could it?  

To grow as a photographer you have to get out there and challenge yourself. Consider joining in on the weeklyFstop as a great way to try new things and enhance your photography skills.  

Taking inspiration from cinema can lead to evocative images that also strike a nostalgic chord with movie lovers. Take full advantage of that power to create cinematic photographs that will charm viewers. 

Do you always resort to the same poses time and time again during your couples shoots? Need new poses for your arsenal? Check out these five ideas for your next couples session.  

Our video camera of choice is currently the Panasonic GH5 but we also occasionally shoot with our Nikon D850, and our iPhones. We happen to have gimbals for each of these cameras and so today, we compared them.   

Sometimes you might not have time to take every photo you’re editing into Photoshop but you still need to make significant changes to make an image look great. This tip can make your photos stand out without spending a lot of extra time in your editing suite.  

Silhouettes have been a source of artistic inspiration for as long as there has been art. But why is that? And have you recently exploited this genre in your photography?

Sometimes, there isn’t a whole lot to a photo: nothing’s moving, or it’s a scene without a strong subject. How do you — the photographer — make it interesting? Here are two tips to make that uninteresting photo just a bit more lively. 

When it comes to video editing software many of us may swear by one of the two popular options available from Adobe and Apple. Although they are great, they can be quite convoluted in some sense and the learning curve is extremely steep. Movavi have a fantastic alternative available with their Video Editor 14 Plus software.

“What kind of camera should I get?” is probably one of the questions I get asked the most often. So, I’ve become pretty quick at coming up with recommendations, and I figured it might be nice to share how I come up with them. 

The thrill of traveling to a new place and striking out to document it on our is the reason why many of us travel. But travel can include more than the rush of capturing images, it can have a payout.  

Today, I conclude my two part essay about a difficult two months of negotiation over a commercial photography shoot that may not have ultimately come to fruition, but taught very valuable lessons along the way. 

If anyone knows how to put together an incredible fantasy ensemble, it's creative portrait artist Laura Sheridan. Want to know where you can source amazing pieces like her for fantasy photo shoots? She's got a list for you. 

As photographers, we have a responsibility not to misrepresent the history and culture of our subjects. An exchange on Instagram gave me a stark reminder of how easily this responsibility is forgotten and abused, especially in the world of urban exploration. 

One of my biggest problems when using Lightroom is just how long it takes to start viewing my images. Thankfully, ON1 Photo RAW does things a bit different. 

We own two Canon PIXMA Pro 100 printers at the Fstoppers office and love them. They print fantastic looking prints, are dependable, and for a limited time they are being sold for only $60.

There's so much we photographers can learn from watching what others in our industry do, whether we watch a tutorial or start an online photography course. But have you thought about improving your business by looking beyond photography industry?