Running a successful photography business presents many challenges. When a photographer goes from hobbyist to professional they quickly learn that there is much more to master other than being technically adept at their craft.
Interpreting a photo can be a difficult task. We capture a moment and those moments are not equifinal, that is they don't all lead to a known end. In fact, it's quite the opposite. The visual juxtaposition of people and objects have the potential to lead to multiple outcomes or multiverses.
Another year has come and gone, and as such the time has come to reflect on the road ahead. With the New Year just a few days away, now is the best time to do some soul searching and adopt some resolutions that will help improve your photography going forward. This road is often a challenging one, based on the forever hunt for ever greater photographs.
Two days after Donald Trump’s inauguration, I posted a tweet about his use of a low-resolution, potentially unlicensed image being used as his header image on his preferred weapon of choice, Twitter. On technical and professional levels, it was a fail (you can see it at the top of this article). I should have realized it was a sign of things to come.
Yoga balls and standing desks may have become a stereotype of the hipster office space, but there is a legitimate reason for this alteration in traditional office paraphernalia: sitting is bad for you, and photographers should take heed before their health begins to deteriorate.
No matter if you photograph headshots, weddings, portraits, or sports, one of the most important skills you can have as a photographer is picking out interesting yet non-distracting backgrounds. Many photographers prefer shooting with fast prime lenses but in today's short photography tutorial, I'm going to show you why I prefer the power and versatility of a telephoto lens.
For the longest time, I avoided shooting weddings at all costs. I personally thought they were something photographers only did to make money and that no one truly enjoyed them. But as I developed more and more as a professional I started getting the itch to just try one, just to say I could do it.
I hold these truths to be self-evident. One, things don’t always go the way we’d like them to. And two, how we respond to failure is equally, if not more important than how we deal with success.
Life is not always easy. I have no illusions that I’m breaking the lid off a fresh story with that one, but it still bears repeating. Life is not always easy.
Recently Fstoppers reviewed ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018, the newest version of their all-in-one editing flagship. If you are not familiar with ACDSee’s platform, it is an editing suite similar to Capture One Pro or Photoshop, but also includes photo managing tools and quick editing capabilities similar to Lightroom.
Pripyat, once a town of 40,000 people and now a short distance from the world's single most deadly object, stands inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. As I waited to get a coffee at the tiny shop alongside the Zone's checkpoint, I cringed slightly at the array of glow-in-the-dark knickknacks on sale.
Given the choice, most of us would probably buy the latest and greatest camera bodies as soon as they came out, because hey, new toys are cool, right? But most of us don't have unlimited budgets, so it's important to know when you really need to upgrade and when it's just a case of gear lust. Here's what to consider when you're wondering if it's time to buy a new camera.
So, you just opened your presents, and you received that amazing camera you've been staying up late reading reviews about for the last six months. Rad! Now what? Here are the first 10 things you should do with that new camera.
We’ve had our first snowfall of the year here in the Netherlands. It’s one of those instances when most people stay indoors, while just about every landscape photographer is aching to feel the snow on their face. One of them is acclaimed British Landscape Photographer Simon Baxter, who I've asked to help me analyze the introvert mind.
How many pixels do you need in an image? Sounds a simple enough question and the inexorable megapixel race doesn't seem to have ended, in much the same way that the PC processor race marched on unabated for several decades.
In theory, crowdfunding seems like one of the beautiful perks of the Internet: any entrepreneur with an idea and the will to bring it to fruition can receive the financial support of interested patrons from all around the world, and in return, those patrons get early and/or discounted access to an exciting new product.
You've probably seen thousands of articles on screen calibration and you may strive to deliver perfect images and videos. Unfortunately, in the end, your client views them on their non-calibrated way-too-blue or way-too-orange screens.
Instagram has rolled out the Stories Highlights feature and it's definitely a good thing for photographers. The lack of hyperlinking ability within the platform by way of only being allowed one profile link is very limiting for specific marketing.
Last week I was mailed a device that claims to turn a standard paper airplane into a drone. Could this possibly be true?
The device itself is called the Power X FPV. It comes with paper for building the plane, an extra set of propellers, and the "motor" that slips onto the paper airplane and then connects wirelessly to a smartphone.
We all make mistakes when it comes to purchases we make when we're first starting out. As we continue to grow and evolve we continue to make mistakes. Hopefully, our mistakes aren't too financially costly like a camera body or lens that we don't need and never use.
Growing up along the coast, I became accustomed to beautiful views of the ocean and, of course, lighthouses are an important part of the New England scenery.
The theme "toys" this week on the WeeklyFstop was a playful one. You may not think of it when you grab your camera, but adding a toy to a shot is a quick easy way to practice camera technique and composition. It is also a fun way to engage your kids and encourage them to help set up some scenes to photograph.
Sometimes it is difficult to tell the difference between a technically accurate photograph and one that has been modified, enhanced, composited (you pick the word) in order to give it a broader audience appeal. Nature is both stunning and surprising in its raw magnificence which begs the question: why should we mess with it at all in photographs?
Procrastination is often the name of the game when it comes to aspects of maintaining our photography. Finding time and motivation to do fun shoots should be pretty easy throughout the year, but maintenance tends to be pushed to the back burner.
So your kid just started playing pee-wee football, or maybe you are a portrait photographer who just landed a sports gig. Maybe you’re shooting your first assignment for the college newspaper. In any case, while sports photography isn’t for the faint of heart, here are four technical tips to get you started on the right path.
One of the best steps you can take for yourself and your photography business is setting goals. Being intentional about setting time aside to write out all of your goals can be one of the most powerful business strategies for the upcoming year.