Fstoppers Original Articles

Exclusive articles and expert opinions written by Fstoppers’ talented team of creative professionals. Here we cover everything from the latest photographic techniques to advice on running a successful photography business, to first hand accounts of working in the photography industry.

The Incredible Work of Molly Baber

Molly Baber is a multi-disciplinary visual artist and fashion photographer creating conceptual works that evoke blood, death, and feminine power, as well as a subconscious fantasy through ritual, divination, and mythology.

The Gear Trap Is a Problem, but Cheap Equipment Can Also Limit You

Most of us are familiar with "the gear trap," the fine line that's crossed when a shooter makes a top priority of continually researching and purchasing newer and better camera equipment. This can be a dangerous money pit. But there are times when your gear must be upgraded, lest you suffer the technical shortcomings of outdated or inadequate equipment.

Rules Will Kill Your Photography Creativity: Part One

Here is a fact: You will not find your creativity by following a rule, regardless of how many people believe it. In this series of articles, I aim to put this right. I’m on a mission to change how photography composition is taught — forever.

Why One Photograper Teaches Photography for Better Mental Health

Billions of people around the world are self-isolating to slow the spread of Coronavirus. However, it's not just our physical wellbeing at risk, but also our mental health. Stu McKenzie has pioneered a new project to help veterans with PTSD, which could also help those suffering from anxiety and depression during the quarantine.

5 Essentials for Long-Exposure Landscape Photography

Doing long exposures is the most fundamental trick up a landscape photographer's sleeve. But for effective use of its visual effects, there are a few essential steps that one must follow.

Canon Just Filed a Patent for a Brand New Cripple Hammer

Details are emerging of a new patent just filed by Canon that could revolutionize one of its most exciting products: the Cripple Hammer. Brace yourselves, because the plans for this updated version look crazy.

Gear to Get Your Game Face on for Client Videoconferences

We all live in Zoom right now. With the global pandemic, chances are your client meetings aren’t happening in person anymore. But while your photography gigs may have temporarily dried up, you still have to put your game face on, even if it’s via videoconference. Here’s some gear to help you do that.

CamRanger Helps Medical Community During Covid-19 Pandemic

With so much depressing news about Covid-19 circulating these days, any good news is much welcomed. The other day, I was greeted by some needed good news when I opened my email. I’m a firm believer that humanity is more good than bad, though sometimes, it is hard to keep the faith. CamRanger helped to re-enforce my belief. CamRanger is stepping up to help the medical community protect themselves from infection by Covid-19. Yes, a company that produces remote controls for your camera is fighting Covid-19.

Fstoppers Photographer of the Month (March 2020): Mikkel Beiter

The Fstoppers community is brimming with creative vision and talent. Every day, we comb through your work, looking for images to feature as the Photo of the Day or simply to admire your creativity and technical prowess. In 2020, we're featuring a new photographer every month, whose portfolio represents both stellar photographic achievement and a high level of involvement within the Fstoppers community.

Round-Tripping With Capture One: A Workaround Trick

Capture One is a great tool for processing raw files, but it lacks one key feature found in Adobe's Camera Raw: the ability to export files as Smart Objects. While that feature seems a way off, there is a cool workaround hack that lets you come close.

Many Are Unprepared for Another Kind of Disaster

Just as literally billions of people were caught unprepared for the coronavirus outbreak, many are also unprepared for a data disaster. Sure, many professionals are prepared, but many others just think they are.

Using Lockdown to Improve Your Photography in Five Simple Steps

By now, most of the countries around the world are under full lockdown or about to undergo lockdown. At the time of writing, my country (South Africa) would be one of the latest to undergo lockdown. Tensions seem to increase the day before the actual event, as people question what they'll be doing with themselves while locked in a house for three weeks or longer. Luckily, it doesn't need to be as scary as you think, especially if you're a photographer.

How to Start Selling Prints Through Your Website for Free

If you're like me, you just had a couple of months’ worth of work canceled and are now looking for alternative income streams. If you want to know how to start selling prints online — with no setup costs and no ongoing fees — read on.

6 Brutal Business Lessons the Coronavirus Has Taught Us

The coronavirus has affected most of the world. In the UK, freelancers have been hit hard with no financial help until June at the earliest. Here are some brutal business lessons that we are all going to have to swallow.

7 Things Photographers Should Do While Stuck at Home

It’s no secret that a ton of people are stuck at home right now. So, while there are a lot of great things to watch on Netflix, here are seven things you can do to help your business while stuck at home.

Why f/1.4 Doesn’t Mean Professional Anymore

For the last couple of decades, a prime lens wasn’t professional grade if it didn’t have a maximum aperture of f/1.4. Times have changed, however, and now, you have to look past the aperture to really understand where a lens is positioned. Want to know what drove this change?

Self-Isolation Series, Part One: Product Photography

Many countries around the world are now experiencing social distancing and practicing self-isolation, me (in the U.K) included. So I’m pledging to run a series of photography tutorials for those of us affected by these measures.

Have You Bought an Experimental Camera and Not Realised It?

Cameras are expensive, and you spend your hard-earned cash in the expectation that not only will your purchase be the latest and greatest, but that it works out of the box. Would you still buy it if you knew it was at least partially experimental?

Why We Should All Be Grateful for Adobe

You can not go on any photography-related blog these days without seeing some kind of negative post about Adobe, or an Adobe article without a comments section of people with their pitchforks and lanterns out.

The Easiest Way to Give Your Images a Fresh New Look

One area a lot of photographers can focus their quarantined free time is updating their portfolios. Unfortunately, taking new and fresh photos is probably not part of that process, but that doesn't mean you still can't find new images to add to your website or social media stream.

History's Most Deadly Pandemic in Photographs: 1918/19

While we hunker down and practice social distancing, it’s important to remember that there are critical reasons to take the spread of this virus seriously. Call it what you will, Influenza, The Spanish Flu, or H1N1, the 1918 Pandemic killed upwards of 100 million people. Can images from this 100-year-old tragedy help contain the spread of COVID-19 today?

How I Used Photoshop to Edit This Cozy, Time-Blended Photo

It’s amazing how a few simple insights can open up whole new vistas of possibility in your work. Here’s how a combination of camera work and composite editing were used to create an image of a cozy mountain-scape.

Create Incredible Portraits in Small Spaces

You don’t need a big studio, and you don’t need to travel to an exotic location to create incredible photos. All you need is a space to work in, even if it’s a small one.

The Fstoppers Daily Diary While Quarantined in Puerto Rico

Like much of the world, Lee and I have found ourselves in mandatory lockdown in our home. During this uncertain time, we thought it would be interesting to record our thoughts, experience, and predictions in a daily diary that we can reflect on years from now. We welcome you to our Coronavirus Journal.

How to Take Stunning Pet Portraits at Home

Take simple pet portraits at home while you’re self-isolating. All you need is a pet, a window, and some pet treats to grab their attention, then set your camera to aperture priority mode and work on your composition.

Dean Samed: The UK's Most Prolific Genre Cover Artist

If you ever entered the dark depths of Deviant Art a few years back, you would have most likely stumbled upon the name Conzpiracy at some point in your journey. Like a modern-day urban legend, his complex manipulations of the macabre made waves through the DA community.

If the Olympics Are Rescheduled, How Will the Photographic Industry Respond?

It looks like the worldwide pandemic has finally hit the biggest sports and photography event of the year, as the international Olympic Committee is looking at rescheduling the 2020 Summer Olympics. With this news, the big camera and lens companies may be looking at their newly announced, but as yet unreleased models, and could be wondering if waiting out the economic ramifications of the COVID-19 virus is the most viable idea.

It Is Okay to Not Be Productive During COVID-19 Down Time

Naturally, the photography industry has greatly suffered during the pandemic, and many of us have found ourselves at home, dealing with job cancellations and empty client books. But, just because you have suddenly acquired valuable time on your hands that you normally would have spent on your business or creative endeavors, it does not mean you need to push yourself into extreme productivity.