Recent Pictures Articles

The Most Detailed Photo of Tokyo Ever Taken

io9 scored some interview time with the talented, patient and hard working, Jeffrey Martin. How do I know Mr. Martin is all these things? Simple. Because that's what it takes to make a photo so large it took 2 days to shoot, 4 months to edit and is comprised of more than 8,000 frames, at a resolution of 600,000 pixels wide. Watch this video that demonstrates the awesomeness that is the largest, most detailed, and zoomable, panoramic photo of Tokyo ever taken. Then go play with the photo for yourself.

No Credentials: An Inside Look Into EDM Photography (NSFW)

Recently, a duo by the name of Cruz + Jacob released an short documentary about a niche of concert photography known as EDM Photography. EDM, short for electronic dance music, has swept up the top music charts and its popularity is spreading quickly. The filmmaking duo snuck into this year's ULTRA, one of the biggest EDM festivals in the US, and did a pretty good job at showing what it's like to be an EDM photographer or videographer.

Meet Fuji, The Three Year Old Photographer

When I read the article about Onafujiri "Fuji" Remet on Huffington Post I was excited for this kids future. At just three years old his father placed a Sony DSLR camera in his hands and with it he has created over 3000 photos already. This article hit home for me because I had a similar experience as a kid and it helped me see the world in a new way.

Using Ordinary Objects in the Foreground to Create Interesting Images

During the film era people would often use different tools, such as prisms, to create new and interesting images. Without the use of tools like Lightroom and Photoshop, camera malfunctions, such as light leaks could be very valuable in creating unique art. Perhaps its time to remanufacture these ideas, and use them to help create something truly interesting.

Inside the Nightmare: The Delightfully Twisted Imagery of Joshua Hoffine

Chilling to the bone, Joshua Hoffine's children horror series is one that will keep haunting you even with the lights on. He uses his own daughters as the terrified dreamers in the images, and the results have definitely caught the attention of many people, going viral recently. We get to know the man behind the maniacal machinations and how he captures these childhood fears.

30 Images Of Real Cities That Look Like Miniatures

Shallow depth of field is something we can enjoy when shooting portraits, insects, products and other small and/or close subjects. But when shooting wide shots of landscapes and cities, it's technically pretty much impossible to achieve this effect with our normal day to day lenses (assuming most of you don't carry tilt-shift lenses or tilt adapters). Of course some parts of the image will be out of focus, but the general effect wont be as noticeable as when shooting close subjects with open apertures. This is when Photoshop comes into play.

Licensing News Photographs Off Twitter & Instagram, Is This The Future Of Instant Media?

When scooping other sources, being the first is king. Everyone knows that and the race is constantly moving faster and faster to do so.

There has been some buzz around companies like CrowdMedia, Scoopshot, Rawporter and Blotter whose sole purpose is to get imagery out to major news outlets that have been scraped off of Twitter and Instagram.

26.5 Tips On Becoming The Perfect Second Shooter

As a wedding photographer I am always on the hunt for that perfect second shooter. Over the last 4 years I have shot 120+ weddings and worked with over 70 different second shooters. Most of them have been fantastic but I have always thought it would be nice to have a list of second shooter tips I could send them before the wedding day. I'd love to hear what you think of the tips in the comments section below. Let me know what I left out and feel free to share stories (good or bad) about working with second shooters in the past.

Photographers Who Found Nemo And Photographed It

The Clown Fish wasn't always a famous fish that people recognize or know about, but thanks to Pixar and Disney, it became one of the most popular fish in the world. Visually of course, not on the plate. 'Nemo' is a bright orange fish with 3 white stripes. Easy to recognize, and great to photograph. The Clown Fish spends most of the day hiding in and around sea anemones, which make the photographs look even more epic. Check out these awesome photos of Nemo found on Flickr.

Tony Northrup Shares Tips For Capturing Close Up Bird Photographs

Every time I go to state parks along the lakeshore, I always see a few people with DSLR cameras walking around taking shots. Anytime there's an interesting bird nearby, it often becomes the subject of their attention. These colorful creatures are as majestic as they are quick though, and don't usually tolerate humans being too close to them. In this video tutorial from Tony Northrup, he shares many tips to get up close to birds in the field or even your own backyard.

Inside the Mind of Landscape Photographer Benjamin Edelstein

Whenever I take a moment and look at landscape photography it's like a tiny escape. An escape from the busy commotion of the cities that we live in and the chaos of the people in those cities. Most landscape photography is calm and serene with a beautiful array of colors acting as a canvas. Photographer, Benjamin Edelstein known for his stunning work sits down with us to talk about what it is to be a landscape photographer.

Awesome Mini Worlds Photographs From Planet Earth

Ever wondered how cool could it be to photograph different planets from close by and show how each one of them is different and unique? Well, unless you're an astronaut or a robot named 'Curiosity', you'll have to wait with that dream. But until then, why not making your own planets, all based on planet earth? Check out these awesome examples of mini-worlds (or "mini-planets", "Stereographic panoramas") found on Flickr.

Behind the Scenes Look Into My Commercial / Fashion Photo Session

A single photograph from a photography session barely shows you all the planning and execution that goes into a photoshoot. Dozens of ideas, shooting styles and concepts often come into play in the pre production, not to mention the hours that can be spent in post production as well. As a result, I decided to give you all a breakdown of my recent photoshoot with good friend and model, Harmony.

Tutorial on Using PocketWizard Hypersync for Shallow Depth of Field in Bright Daylight

This week, Ben Von Wong shows us a set of great conceptual photographs he shot with model Jen Brook that feature a great shallow depth of field and dark, moody atmosphere despite being photographed in bright daylight. Ben was able to do this using PocketWizard hypersync and was kind enough to document the shoot to show us exactly how he did it.

Behind the Scenes of a Day of the Dead Photoshoot

Día de Muertos or Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday that has seen a spike in exposure in the United States the past few years making it a perfect subject for a photoshoot. Follow Jay P. from The Slanted Lens as he takes you behind the scenes of his latest shoot featuring a model dressed up as a Calavera (sugar skull) posing in an eerie cemetery backdrop.

15 Photos Showing The Largest Political Event In History

Only 2 years passed since the 2011 Egyptian revolution where president Mubarak was replaced by president Morsi, and this week the people of Egypt decided to make another change and oust the elected president in what is now known as the largest political event in history of mankind. Over 14 million people flooded the streets of Egypt this week to protest against President Morsi, and Tahrir Square came to life once again.

10 Creative Mobile Apps to Fill Your Time

Stuck in the car on a boring road trip with the parents this 4th of July? Well here is a list of 10 creative apps to help pass the time. From drawing with words to finding what color the back of your dad's head really is. Check out the mostly iPhone friendly list, sorry Droid fans!

Paraglider’s Photographs Remind Us How Beautiful Planet Earth Really Is

Combining her love for landscapes and risk taking, photographer Jody Macdonald is able to capture some of the worlds most gorgeous landscapes, from 20,000ft in the air. By paragliding, Jody photographs some of the worlds most beautiful places, with a perspective previously unseen, and the results are stunning.

Easy and Elegant Ring Shots in Under 3 Minutes

One essential part of almost every wedding day is the rings. Not only are the rings a symbol of a couple's love and commitment to one another, they also usually cost a good deal of money. Capturing an amazing picture of the rings can not only wow your clients, it also adds great value to your portfolio. The best part is, getting a fantastic ring shot can be simple and quick.

Photographer Sues Celebrity Blogger Perez Hilton for Copyright Infringement

Interesting story of the week. Famous blogger, Perez Hilton is being sued by NYTimes Photographer Robert Caplin, who also runs the Photo Brigade. Perez Hilton is being sued for copyright infringement of 14 photos of Glee star Darren Criss (who doesn't love Darren Criss?). Robert is seeking $150,000 per photo which equals out to an astonishing $2,100,000 dollars.

20 Awesome Photos Of The Supermoon

If you've been outside earlier this week, you must have noticed the gorgeous moon up there in the sky. Not only it was a full moon, but it was closer to us than usual. The 'Supermoon' is 11%-14% larger and 30% brighter than the normal-distanced moon we see every night. The reason for the change in the distance is the elliptical orbit of the moon around the Earth. Take the big-looking moon, add a telephoto lens, and you get some epic landscape and cityscape photos.

25 Insanely Detailed Macro Images Of Insects

When was the last time you saw a spider, and decided to stop what you're doing and stare right at it? Or maybe take your camera and do a 1-on-1 photoshoot from few millimeters away? What most of us really do is somewhere between screaming, and jumping on the nearest sofa. But there is a small group of photographers that instead of screaming like a 2 year old, actually go and look for these insects. They find them and photograph them up close, and it's amazing to see how these tiny insects really look. If the insects you meet daily scare you, wait until you see this set of images.

Sofles Infinite - Hyper Time Lapse Music Video Through Abandoned Buildings

With a brilliant display and talent and planning, street artist Sofles and Selina Miles from Unity Sound and Visual joined efforts to create an epic dubstep music video. While Sofles spray paints the walls of abandoned buildings, a hyper time lapse precedes him, wrapping around walls as he works through different areas. How did they do it?

Joey L. Creates Indoor Blizzard For Unique Portraits

One guy in our industry that continually impresses me with his execution of beautiful environmental portraits is Joey L. One concept he has been wanting to shoot for sometime is some portraits of "artic explorers" but rather than fight with the elements of the weather he pulled it all off in studio. Read on to learn how it was done and what equipment was used.

Photographing Planes While Getting a Tan Is  As Awesome As It Is Scary

Maho Beach is one of the most unique beaches on earth to date. The beach is located on St. Maarten, a tiny island near Puerto Rico. It's so tiny, that the local airport is located only few feet behind the beach where hundreds of people enjoy the sun, the water and the sand. Beach goers + Jumbo planes? big win for us photographers. Check out these crazy images of planes almost touching the tourists on the beach.

creativeLIVE - Comprehensive Lighting Essentials Week

Beginning tomorrow and spanning through the weekend, creativeLIVE will be hosting their Lighting Essentials workshop with the likes of Lindsay Adler, Rick Friedman, Roberto Valenzuela, Tony Corbell, and Chuck Arlund. Spanning the remainder of the week, these five awarding winning and critically acclaimed photographers will teach you everything you'll need to know to manipulate the light in photographs. Click the more link for an entire breakdown of the schedule.

Photographer Snaps Nearly A Hundred Photos a Day With Homemade Camera

Miroslav Tichý, was a photographer that constructed his own homemade cameras out of cardboard tubes, tin cans, dress elastic and old camera parts he found. From 1960 to 1985 he used these homemade cameras to snap thousands of images around town often of unsuspecting women. It wasn't till 1981 that one of his friends gathered up prints strewn all over his studio, and organized them to share with the world through photo exhibitions, that Tichý's work would finally be discovered.

35 Powerful Images Of The Violent Protests Against The Leadership in Turkey

The protests against the leadership in Turkey are entering their 7th day today, and Flickr is flooded with thousands of images showing the violent clashes. The protests started when the government decided to destroy Taksim Square, one of Istanbul’s only public parks, and transform it into a development project - But the protests quickly became about much more than that. They escalated to those against the Islamisation of Turkey, the brutality of the police, and the autocratic behavior by PM Recep Erdogan.

An Emerging Artist’s Approach To Fantasy, Steampunk, And Victorian Portraits (NSFW)

In this interview, I speak with Russ Turner, a photographer who is relatively new to shooting fantasy portraiture, but has already received awards and praise for the quality of his work. Russ talks about working with costumed models, how he incorporates Photoshop, and shares some of the places where an aspiring shooter can get started doing photography in this genre.

New Mextures iPhone App Quite Impressive

Merek Davis today announced the release of the image enhancing Mextures app for iPhone. Over the last year iPhone photographers have downloaded Mextures textures more than 200,000 times directly from Merek Davis’ store and tagged 140,000 images on Instagram; now they have an iPhone app to more easily create and share visually stunning images. I have got to say that after buying and playing with the app this morning, this is one that you don't want to miss out on.

25 Photos Of Food That Will Make You Very Hungry

If you follow us here on Fstoppers, you know how much we love food and food photography. For the past few months we posted here countless of tutorials, methods, tricks and business tips to help you take your food photography to the next level. Now it's time for some inspiration: Check out this set of delicious-looking dishes that will leave you hungry. Very hungry.

Think Tank Rolls Out New Video Series "About A Photograph"

Think Tank launched “About A Photograph,” a video series that features stories from photographers about the photographs they have created.

The videos are co-produced by Think Tank Photo co-founders and award-winning photojournalists Kurt Rogers and Deanne Fitzmaurice. Each video will feature some of the world’s leading photographers recounting the stories behind these images that captured global attention.

Photographing A Collection Of Human Brains

Photographer Adam Voorhes out of Austin, Texas, has documented a collection of approximately 90 human brains that the University of Texas had amassed over the past 30 years.

The story goes that Voorhes found the collection a few years back after meeting Dr. Tim Schallert, while searching for a way to illustrate a Scientific American article.

Group Shots - Sometimes You Should Leave Your Wide Angle in the Bag

When you think group shots, what lens immediately comes to your mind? Often, the initial reaction to a "group picture" is to reach for the widest lens in your bag. It's a safe option that makes sure you'll fit everyone in the frame. It could be said group shots are more about accounting for everyone who was present rather than being a work of art. However, if you care about the quality of images you're creating, maybe your widest option shouldn't be your default.

Exceptional Self Portraits From a 14 Year Old Photographer

At 14 years old, I personally, was riding bikes, drawing and playing video games. I had literally no clue that I was going to become a professional photographer, or even how to really use a camera. So when I see photos from 14 year olds, I expect work as scatterbrained as I was. Boy am I wrong. Meet Zev, a 14 year old photographer who has the creativity and photo manipulations that will put most of our photography portfolios to shame.

One Method to Style and Photograph a High-End Watch

Aaron Nace at PHLEARN teamed up with professional product photographer Rob Grimm to demonstrate how a super high-end watch shoot would be put together. Check out how Grimm takes numerous shots and combines them into one advertising-quality image.

Testing Diffusion Materials with Jay P Morgan

Have you ever wondered how different diffusing fabrics affect the quality of light that you shoot with? Jay P. Morgan from the Slanted Lens walks you through the different diffusion materials by Rosco. He explains how the different fabrics can lessen the stops of light and how it can affect your color temperatures and look of your shoot.

How a Photographer Captured His Own Marriage Proposal

Couples spend a lot of time, effort and money to make sure their wedding day will be captured the best way possible - after all it's one of the most important days in their lives. But what about another major life event, like the proposal itself? Most times, unless it's meant to be a viral proposal, the proposer is not thinking of documenting it and the moment will never be shared or shown to family and friends. Wedding photographer Richard B Flores proposed earlier this week, and he knew he wanted to have this memory documented forever.

Photos Showing the Devastation of the Oklahoma City Tornado Aftermath

On May 20th, one of the deadliest twisters in known history touched down in Moore, Oklahoma, a suburb of Oklahoma City. The Tornado caused catastrophic damage to homes (over 13,000 of them were destroyed), infrastructure, schools and a hospital. Take a look at these powerful images showing the aftermath of the deadly Tornado as found on (the new) Flickr.

Conjuring Inspiration: BTS of the 'Bringing Dreams to Life' Photoshoot

Benjamin Von Wong has finally wrapped up his long and productive European tour, Von Wong Does Europe. The very first shoot that he was able to do was also ironically the last to be published and for good reason. It will blow you away. Taking over 60 hours to retouch Ben collaborated with talented retouching guru, Chester van Bommel.

Tackle Exposure, Skin, Eyes, Sharpening & More in This 5 Minute Retouch

This might be an extreme take on the all-too-common client request of "get it done quickly," but it serves as an excellent benchmark of what can be done in a short amount of time. Odds are, you won't ever be asked to do a full post-production retouch in such a short amount of time, but the idea behind what Aaron Nace of PHLEARN is showing here is solid: with the right tools and knowledge you can streamline your workflow with extreme effectiveness.

Flickr (Finally) Gets Total Design Overhaul, Adds New Features

In efforts to make Flickr "awesome again," Yahoo unveiled today their new and re-imagined Flickr with a new design and new features. Some of the major design changes include a new homepage featuring large images posted by your friends, new beautiful profile photosteam and new photo pages. Flickr also announced each user will get 1 Terabyte of storage for free, with the ability to upload hi-res photos, and many of them.

Creating Creative Portraits By Dragging The Shutter And Adding Movement

As photographers, we usually use two different techniques to capture our images: The first is freezing the moment and capturing the split second we are witnessing. The other option is using a long exposure, to show movement, changes, or show things we don't normally see with our eyes. But what if you combined these two concepts - freezing a moment while adding movement? Check out these creative and unique portraits using this technique.

Endearing Animal Portraits By 18 Year Old Photographer Jessica Trinh

I love animals and many of us do. They're so expressive and it makes you wonder what they're thinking of. You see the innocence in their eyes and you know it's genuine. Let's not forget to mention their ever ready playful demeanor. When you combine these vibrant attributes with photography, it sets up for some endearing work. Cue in animal photographer, Jessica Trinh.

Announcing The Winner And Runners-Up To The Fstoppers Portrait POTD Contest!

After looking at all of the great submissions for our April POTD contest, it took a few weeks to narrow them all down and come up with commentary for what were some outstanding photos. Like I said in the original post, it was truly humbling to have people from all over the world send us their images to view and judge against others. It was great to see images from all over the world of various cultures and places, and I'm happy to announce that we've finally settled on our top portraits and the winner of the $100.

Not Happy With Your Depth of Field? You Can Adjust It In Post

Of course many of us want to always nail a shot in camera, but sometimes things happen. Maybe it looked great on your camera's LCD, but entirely different once you got it on your computer. Maybe your sensor is too small and shallow DOF is hard to nail. It's for these cases that Aaron Nace at PHLEARN does tutorials like this one, where he shows how to adjust depth of field in post.

Incredible Photograph Of Lightning Striking The Grand Canyon

In this amazing split second moment of time, Travis Roe captured a bolt of lighting striking the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

The once in a lifetime photograph was shot last year but recently surfaced after Roe submitted the image to the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Tao Lin's 'Facedown Generation' of Taipei

We have all witnessed it, practiced it, you might be doing it now while reading this post. Sadly, seeing someone staring down at a mobile device in public has become such a common sight, that we might walk right past without even thinking about it.

While on a recent visit to Taipei, Tao Lin created photographs of strangers interacting with their mobile devices.

Follow Brian Matiash As He Goes Urban Exploring For Unique Images

This new video from the Life In Focus series from F-Stop Gear tells the story of Brian Matiash, an urban and landscape photographer from Portland, Oregon. A departure from the usual mountain or expedition setting, it's cool to see a photographer who is working on the streets of a city and how he makes use of the rugged F-stop bags. Hear Brian discuss how he got into photography and what motivates him to shoot urban areas.