Community Photos

The Fstoppers community includes photographers at every level working in every genre imaginable — and this section is where their work lives. Browse images submitted by members, discover photographers whose work resonates with you, and share your own. It's one of the most direct ways to engage with what this community is actually producing.

The Bright Sun Rises: Awesome Sunrise Photos

There is something truly magical about sunrises. That orange glow in the sky, that yellow haze, or just the fact no one is out there. Its just you and the view. Call me lazy (maybe?), but I just cant bring myself to wake up at 4am or 5am to photograph, or even just look at a sunrise. At least some people are crazy enough to wake up early to shoot it for all of us to enjoy. Check out these great images of sunrises found on Flickr.

Victoria's Secret Revealed - Unretouched vs. Retouched Photos

A few months back Victoria's Secret accidentally released a dozen unretouched photos from a shoot with supermodel Doutzen Kroes. We shared those images in a post on Fstoppers and it caught the attention of many of you. The retouched versions of those same photos are now out. Let's compare the results! 

The Barclays Center Will Use Your Photos Without Paying, Or Asking You

The Barclays Center opened 2 weeks ago in Brooklyn, and it's one of the most beautiful and exciting arenas in the world to date. It's a huge project that will make that part of Brooklyn very attractive, and will bring many sporting and music events to the area. But for fans and photographers, their Facebook policy might cause some anger.

Street Photography with the Leica M9 Through the Eyes of William Palank

Perfect travel or street photography is a delicate concoction of the right place and the right time mixed with a superb eye for the extraordinary. William J Palank is one of those individuals who managed to brew that concoction with a supernatural elegance. While traversing the globe, his weapon of choice these days is the Leica M9, a digital rangefinder that produces an uncannily beautiful image. To help us celebrate Mirrorless Month, Palank describes what about the Lecia M9 allows him to shoot at his best.

Pictures Of Happy People Will Make You Happy

There is nothing better than seeing happy people around you - doesn't matter if they're family, friends or total strangers. Seeing happy people will make you smile, and this is why this week we are featuring 15 awesome pictures of happy people found on Flickr. Check them out and let us know which are your favorites.

20 Awesome Street Photography Pictures You Should See

Street photography is the kind of photography most of us don't usually like doing, but its probably the kind of photography we appreciate the most when the pictures become old. Its always amazing for me to see how people live, or lived, in other places or other times. Great street photography pictures can tell a story of time and place, and makes you make up your own story for the subject photographed. Check out these awesome photos and let us know which ones you like the best!

Insert Here: Sensual and Artistic Portraits of Sex Toys [NSFW]

Sam Kaplan, a New York-based product and still life photographer, was inspired to create a series of photographs of an object that is often enjoyed in the bedroom rather than on a gallery wall. Sam decided to change all of that, and his series 'Insert Here' takes the taboo and transforms it into an exploration of line, form, and color: Dildart, if you will. It goes without saying that you might want to be careful where you open this post.

Light Painting Taken To The Next Level

A collaborative project with Marshmallow Laser Feat and James Medcraft produces a "3D light painting" of the Mclaren P12 aerodynamic stream. Working with the car they were able to process the car's wind tunnel airflow data and cut out paths for the lights. 650 Sliced frames were used on a motion control rig as it moved back and forth. Which in the end created 3d light painting.

Considering the Choice: To E, or not to E

Forgive me for the non-linear article to follow, but this is my first evaluation of the transitive properties of the figurative "E" and it's marginal utility in the life of the Nikon D800. Whereas others may tell you which camera can photograph grass or your pet Weimaraner, I would like to talk about the real life application the D800 has to those of us that call this hobby a job.

Fstoppers Exclusive: How Marek Glaser Made the Insane BMW M5 Bullet Commercial

What does it take to turn a blue BMW M5 into a bullet? A little of this, and a little of that, but mostly it takes a team of talented individuals with a dream and the know-how. With a limitless imagination, impeccable understanding of light and meticulous attention to detail, photographer/director Marek Glaser and Big Block digital productions took the imaginary and made it reality.

The Hubble Telescope Shows Galaxies 13.2 Billion Years Old

The universe is estimated to be 13.7 billion years old, and a recent composite of images taken on NASA's Hubble Telescope show 13.2 billion of those. Earth years, that is. Called the eXtreme Deep Field, or XDF, the photo was assembled by combining 10 years of NASA Hubble Space Telescope photographs taken of a patch of sky at the center of the original Hubble Ultra Deep Field. The XDF is a small fraction of the angular diameter of the full moon.

How Lightroom 4 Could Have Saved a Wedding Flash Misfire

As a wedding photographer, there's a certain amount of pressure to get all the "key moment" shots throughout the day. Make sure you get the kiss, dances, tosses, cutting, etc... The list adds up quickly. Despite good preparation, dependable equipment, and anticipation of events,  every now and then you're probably going to miss one of these shots.

Portraits and Projection Mapping in Fashion Photography

We've seen behind the scenes videos of how projection mapping can be used artistically and commercially. Tobias Bjorkgren takes on a slightly different angle and applies the concept to his latest fashion shoot. The use of projection allows him to stand his models in front of varying scenes without having to leave the studio. To see the final images, check out his blog.

Window Photos Will Make You Think

There is just something about portraits of people looking out the window - doesn't matter if its in a building, train or car. Its something we do all the time, but never really pay attention to it. This is why seeing these awesome images capturing this quick-everyday-moment is really great. It makes you think. What are they seeing? What are they thinking of? are they happy? sad? maybe waiting for someone?.

Studio Photos Taken for the Release of "The Dark Knight"

Update: Warner Brothers has asked us to remove the images.

Some images have surfaced on Imgur that show some white backdrop, studio images taken for the release of the original Dark Knight. From what I understand, these are images that poster designers would use to craft the extremely popular and highly lucrative (both as a movie advertisement and as individual sale) designs to support the movie.

Relax to John Eklund's "Art of Timelapse"

Stressed at work or need a break? Seriously, put your feet up and enjoy. There's nothing that will relax you quite like some gorgeous scenes of nature put to some dulcet piano notes. John Eklund took this series of time lapses at multiple locations throughout the pacific northwest shooting around 260,000 images.

Netflix Adds Documentary Depciting War At Its Most Terrible

Now available on Netflix, "Shooting Robert King" goes behind the scenes of what it was like to be a documentary war photographer. You always hear and see images from the war but NEVER about what it's like to be thrown into it as a documentary photographer. At just 24, American photojournalist Robert King began his 15 year journey to follow his passion. Originally he set out to win a Pulitzer prize, but in the end found himself with a life changing experience.

VSCO Film Gives Your Digital Images An Authentic Film Look

I have never been a huge preset guy. I love having total control over my images, so presets were never really a big thing to me. I also love shooting film, and no matter what kind of tinkering I do in Photoshop I never really nail that film look with my digital files. Then I discovered VSCO Film.

French Magazine Publishes Princess Kate Sunbathing Topless

It's a standard today that once you get famous, you're going to have paparazzi following you around taking pictures. Granted, it's their job to get the juiciest shots possible to show up on the racks of your local convenience store. But, every few weeks there seems to be some new complaint by celebrities of invasion of privacy, so it begs the question, how far is too far?

An Entire Wedding Shot On An iPhone And Processed Using Instagram

Kim A. Thomas, a photographer out of San Francisco, recently shot an entire wedding using just her iPhone. She processed everything using Instagram as well. The couple, Jonathan and Brandi, wanted her to do so by request. She never used an SLR for any of the shots. Her main camera was the iPhone 4s with an iPhone 4 as a backup. She did use an SLR mount for her lenses and a tripod. Take a look at the shots and let us know what you think of them! 

View From Space: New York City on September 11, 2001

For once, I'm going to keep my mouth shut. I'll let NASA do the talking on this one, and then let the picture speak for itself: "Visible from space, a smoke plume rises from the Manhattan area after two planes crashed into the towers of the World Trade Center. This photo was taken of metropolitan New York City (and other parts of New York as well as New Jersey) the morning of September 11, 2001.

Amazing Photos Of The 9/11 Tribute In Light

11 years passed since that horrible day on September 11, 2001, where 2,996 people lost their lives and many more injured in the biggest terror attack in history. Since that horrifying day, every year on the night of 9/11 - NYC's sky is being lit up by 2 beams of lights as a memorial for the twin towers. Check out the best photos of 'Tribute In Lights' found on the net.

In-Camera Face Replacement, Just Around the Corner?

Camera/video tech is becoming ever more sophisticated to the point where we now have cameras that can recognize and track faces. So, how long will it be before we start seeing cameras that can completely change a person's face in-camera? Never going to happen you say? Tell that to Arturo Castro and Kyle McDonald.

John Keatley Shoots "Bad Coffee"

Photographer John Keatley takes us behind the scenes of his latest series "Bad Coffee" and gives us a great look at how it was shot. He gives us some really interesting insights into how he deals with the with the myriad of ideas that come from working with retouchers, assistants and make up artists on a big shoot.

The Tutu Project: An Inspiring and Refreshing Project That Aims To Fight Breast Cancer

Photographer Bob Carey has taken the fight against cancer into his own hands with the most unusual of tools: a man-sized pink tutu. By creating a combination of whimsical and emotionally charged self-portraits, Bob's project tugs at the heartstrings and spreads awareness in a humorous, yet touching, way. Check out the amazing photos and story in this video, which was produced by PocketWizard. You can get more information about the project and see more photos at thetutuproject.com.

20 Great Images of Lighthouses

Lighthouses are a pretty rare thing to see these days - every time I see a lighthouse, I feel like I went back in time to late 19th century or early 20th century. Check out these 20 magical images of lighthouses found on Flickr.

The Better Pancake: Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL II

About a month ago, you might recall my bitter disappointment with Canon’s new 40mm f/2.8 STM pancake lens. Aside from being light, it presented very little else that I could see as a positive. So my search for a great pancake lens continued, eventually leading me to the Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL II Aspherical lens.

August's Best Facebook Group Photos

Hard to believe summer has come and gone, eh? Well, at least for those of us in the northern hemisphere. You guys gave summer a smashing farewell, as the images we've seen in the Fstoppers Facebook Group were downright stupendous. With now over 5200 members, we're swimming at the deep end of the talent pool. Here's the best from August!

Chase Jarvis Breaks Down a Time Lapse Set Up

If you've ever wondered about a simple, travel friendly time lapse setup, check this out. During his recent time in South Africa, Chase Jarvis was able to use four different cameras to capture time lapse sequences over the course of two hours. Not only does Chase break down the settings he uses, he also explains how time settings of his camera will translate to a final product at 24 fps.

12.5 Years Of Self Portraits

Photographer Noah Kalina was one of the first people to make a viral video on Youtube, back in 2006, when he posted a clip made out of self-portraits he took of himself for 6 years. He called it "Everyday", and got over 23 Million views. It got so big back in 2006, even the Simpsons made a parody about it. Today, Noah uploaded a new version of the video, this time it includes 12.5 years of self-portraits. Every day, for 12.5 years. crazy.

Images of Child Labor Between 1908 and 1924

Working as an investigative photographer for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC), Lewis Hine (1874-1940) portrayed working and living conditions of children in the United States between 1908 and 1924. The Library of Congress' National Child Labor Committee Collection includes more than 5,100 photographs that came with the records of the organization. Many of the pictures are familiar, but others are relatively unexplored.

Hubble Space Telescope Spots a Supernova 80 Million Lightyears Away

We've been featuring a lot of space-based photo news lately, and for good reason. Since the Curiosity's landing on Mars, there has been a renewed interest in life beyond Earth. That, and NASA has been rockin' it with some seriously cool stuff. Like this, a photo captured by the Hubble Space Telescope of a supernova exploding 80 million lightyears away.

Summer In America: A Patriotic Series By Photographer Manny Mares

Hey everyone, my name is Anthony and I am new here to Fstoppers. I really got into photography by documenting hardcore shows (as in hardcore punk rock). I first encountered Manny Mares on a message board for this genre of music. During this summer I have watched Manny continuously post images from a series he has been working on called "Summer in America." 

NASA, Give Me a Break. Earth Photos are Way Cooler.

For the past 30 days NASA spammed the Internet with Panoramas or regular format pictures from Mars. Any news site I read features new photos from Curiosity every 2 days, 20% of the tweets on my feed are related to photos from Mars. Yeah, Its awesome to see photos from other planets around us, but to be honest? Earth photos are way cooler. Even the most boring spots on earth gives us super interesting shots. Check out these great finds from Flickr - and wake me up when we land on Saturn.

Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop

Most of us probably use Photoshop on a regular basis. We've almost taken it for granted and it has made life a bit easier for us when it comes to correcting images. It's hard to imagine a world without Photoshop where people still modified and manipulated photos. These images exemplify that and will be a part of a showcase put on by The Metropolitan Museum Of Art. 

Nightfall in Los Angeles - Timelapse

"Nightfall" is one of the most recent works by photographer Colin Rich, who photographs the transition from day to night over the massive city of LA in a stunning way. Colin utilizes some fantastic camera movement which really adds a dynamic element to the work.

Long Exposure Photography: Can You Guess What This Is?

Ontario ceramic artist Steve Irvine took this wickedly wonderful long exposure that had me drawn to it like a moth to a flame. If you haven't figured it out yet, these are moth trails at night, shot infront of a flood light.

San Francisco Cop Suspended for His Photo Hobby

When off duty, Officer Gared Hansen enjoys shooting (photographing, that is) nude models as mermaids and other magical beings. But when his department found out about the extracurriculars, they suspended him -- Internal Affairs even looked into him after that. Naturally, Hansen sees it as a fun hobby. But the SFPD says that it reflects poorly and in bad taste upon the department...

Interview With Magnum Photographer Christopher Anderson

Talented Magnum Photographer, Christopher Anderson, experienced something that completely changed his life. In June 2000, while traveling in Haiti, he met writer Michael Finkel and together they documented a group of 44 Haitians on their journey to the United States. A few days after they set sail, they realized the handmade boat was sinking. Anderson’s first reaction was to continue taking pictures – even though he knew there was a chance they may never be seen.

Awkward Stock Photos Will Make You Re-evaluate Stock Photography

'Awkward Stock Photos' is a great tumblr blog featuring some of the weirdest and the most unnecessary stock images in the world. From Santa without pants to a snake smoking pot all the way to a banana kicking a cow. You wont believe the amount of awkward stock photos companies like Shutterstock, iStockPhoto or Getty Images offer for sale. I wonder who are the people who shoot that stuff (and why?!), and more importantly - I wonder how many people buy these photos.

Shooting Zombies Through A Car

In this behind the scenes video, photographer Jay P. Morgan of The Slanted Lens shows us how he shoots zombies through a car using a Kessler shuttle pod. The camera movement is the most crucial part in making this commercial. The Kessler pod has to stay high enough so that when they move through the car, it will not shake the camera.

20 Unique Images Of Birds

Check out these 20 images of few of the most interesting animals on the planet: from Sentinels to Eagles, owl and Egrets. Birds of all types flying, Eating or just posing to the camera. There is no doubt photographing birds (and getting awesome results) is one of the hardest things to do, you need a lot of luck, perfect location and sometimes also very expensive lenses and gear, so seeing these images makes me truly respect the photographers who took them. Check out the set of images found on Flickr and let us know which are your favorites!

Pre Wedding Photos in Jaipur India

If your wedding client asked to have a customized pre wedding shoot halfway around the world, how would you treat the opportunity? Simeon Quarrie, who has developed a reputation for himself as an incredible creative and committed photographer jumped at the option to be flown to Jaipur, India to shoot in a unique setting for his wedding clients. 

20 Beautiful Active Volcano Images

Active volcano is something most of us will never see 'face to face', but the ones who do go next to one can get beautiful and unique images of this geological phenomena. Check out these amazing volcano images found on Flickr - some taken by pro photographers, some by amateurs - but all are truly great.

Fstoppers Reviews the Sigma 180mm f/2.8 Macro Lens

Specialized lenses are tricky things. Since they are built for a set of specific purposes in mind, they really need to follow through on that small list of tasks lest they be discarded as an unnecessary expenditure. That is a lot of pressure to make an outstanding lens, so how did Sigma fare with their new 180mm f/2.8 macro? Is it a good addition to your lens collection?

Man Makes $20,000 on his Smartphone with Scoopshot

If you recall, we published an article a couple weeks ago about an app called Foap, where users could make money licensing their iPhone photos. Well, a similar app called Scoopshot (based in Finland) has just informed me that one of their users has made about $20,000 selling his photos.

3000 + Hand Cut Pictures in Stop Motion

Every now and then you have to stop and recognize a piece of work not only for the creative thoughts put into it, but also for the sheer amount of effort involved in pulling off the project. Vu Hoang and a small team managed to come up with this clever stop motion music video using over 3,000 hand cut pictures stitched together in a clever guy meets girl music video.

How Lens Focal Length Shapes the Face

It's pretty crazy to think just a small change of focal length can drastically distort your subject's face. In this behind the scenes video , Jay P. Morgan of The Slanted Lens goes into detail to show us each change and how it effected the model's appearance. Maybe you're interested in buying a fixed lens or maybe you're interested in gaining tips on portrait and headshot photography - either way this video is definitely worth checking out.

Flickr Spotlight - Everyone Wants To Be Michael Phelps

Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympian in history. Best ever. He did something many people tried doing for many years, and his achievement will raise a whole new generation of people who will have a dream of being like him. Tomorrow we are going to see Michael Phelps competing for the last time, so there is no better time to dedicate a post to him. Here are 20 of the best images of swimmers found on Flickr.