One of the best pieces of advice I have been given in recent times was to not be a firefighter. Before you all jump on me and tell me I'm a dummy for saying something negative about people who are clearly more heroic than I am, let me explain. What I mean is to not be proactive in how I operate.
One of the most popular videos we have produced in the last year was with Mike Kelley and Lee Morris as they battled it out in the Amateur Vs Pro Architecture Photographer Shootout. This week Mike and Lee have set their rematch, and you our audience will be the judges!
One of my biggest fears as a professional photographer is that someday, somehow, for some reason, I’m going to lose critical images from a shoot and make a client, and myself, very unhappy. A memory card gets corrupted, a hard drive fails, or my studio burns down.
It's another day in Puerto Rico and another photography shootout. Last week, we asked you which photo was better, but today, we take you behind the scenes and reveal the winning images. This is a battle for the photography blogs!
Recently, I teamed up with Ted Linczak to discuss a simple source of revenue that many wedding photographers fail to utilize well: wedding albums. Ted adds tens of thousands of dollars to his business every year with a few simple workflow and sales techniques. In this video, he shares some of his tips.
As someone who produces a lot of timelapses and video content for YouTube, nothing excites me more than testing out a new piece of gear. So, when edelkrone asked me to review their latest motorized slider and panning head unit, I jumped at the opportunity to see what this kit could do.
There aren’t many things photographers unanimously agree on, but the desire to improve post-processing results and reduce the time required to do it is one. With so much of a photographer’s time spent behind a computer, anything that not only expedites but enhances the experience is welcomed with open arms, and using a Wacom pen tablet is one such thing. For Capture One, using a Wacom Tablet can be a real boon, and here’s how.
Photographers nowadays have plenty of tools at our fingertips: Lightroom, Capture One, Photoshop, etc. However, all of these are either expensive, complicated, or have recurring payments (or all three). The automatic photo editor PhotoWorks is here to change that, targeting the photographer who isn't quite tech-savvy with layers, warping, and such, but wants a bit more "oomph" to their photos.
I hope I'm not the only person who does this, but up until recently, I had not used any of the cataloging features from any image editing software. This isn't because I thought any of them were particularly bad; instead, I just have my own way of managing files and their locations. However, ACDSee has changed my mind about this.
It’s amazing what mid or entry-level hardware can deliver when you pair it with great software. The best software will be able to make up for some of the weaknesses and exploit every ounce of its strengths – ideally with relative ease. That's what we'll see here with Capture One's Luma Range tool.
I once tried to color calibrate my monitor... It was a disaster.
Making the switch to Capture One from Lightroom is easier and quicker than you think. There’s this perception that given the two pieces of software are from different companies, moving your Lightroom catalogs to Capture One is some arduous and protracted process, that you’ll have to start from scratch with all your images, re-edit, re-rate, and create whole new folder structures. But that perception is not reality.
It isn't fearmongering to say that one mistake, and not even necessarily your own, can bankrupt your photography business if you're uninsured. So Fstoppers have teamed up with Insurance Canopy who have created Full Frame Photography Insurance to go over the issue and offer some insight.
I know this article is sponsored, and some of you may pull back a little because of that. I don't blame you; I mean, I'd personally have reservations too, but I genuinely mean every bit of praise I give to Luminar 3. This software is seriously awesome, and in this article, I'm going to explain why.
How do you spot a good retoucher from a novice? It's in the skin. Sure, that’s an oversimplification, but one thing that separates the best from the lesser is how they treat skin.
Capture One is multi-faceted image processing and asset management software. As a raw processor, it is considered the gold standard, supporting over 500+ cameras, and with it comes a uniquely powerful toolset for developing, color grading, and tethering. But that is just the tip of the technological iceberg that is Capture One. With a focus on user experience, its mountain of capability and complexity is hidden under a veneer of simplicity so as to make working with your images fast, focused, and easy.
Have you ever thought what post-processing is involved behind the car images you see in the ads? An interview with founder and CEO of "Curve Digital" Nick Limb lifts up the curtain behind their workflow.
A few weeks ago, I beat Lee Morris in our Puerto Rico Landscape Challenge. With that victory, many of our readers said my edit in Photoshop was simply too over the top. Today, I try to re-edit my photo to see if I can create something a bit more realistic.
There are dozens of options in the video-editing software space. There's a new entrant, Wondershare’s FilmoraPro, which promises pro-grade tools and features without a pro-grade price.
As someone who has previously used the Movavi Video Editor 15, I was really interested to see what the full suite had on offer. After using the Movavi Video Suite to edit some of the videos that I recently posted on YouTube, I have to say I'm quite impressed.
In a crowded industry, standing out can be difficult. Chris M Forsyth, Montral-based photographer specializing in capturing unusual spaces, manages to do just that, and with aplomb.
As someone who produces videos for YouTube, one of the things I've struggled with is the music. Buying individual songs from people to use in projects can be very costly and impractical. Fortunately, platforms like Artlist.io make it extremely easy to find the right piece.
Whether you’re new to stock or have been submitting images for a few years, it’s always worth paying attention to how best to squeeze as much visibility out of your images as possible. Just how good are your keywords, and are they getting your photos seen ahead of everyone else's?
As many of you know, Lee and I recently moved to Puerto Rico, and with that move, we are having to completely redesign our new studio space. In today's video, we tackle our in-home network and wireless Internet connection. Surely the limitations in Puerto Rico will prove to give us trouble... or will it?
When you photograph in a studio you have the luxury of having an abundance of electrical power, access to bigger monitors, and grip equipment for your computer devices. The newest 17-inch LG gram is a compact-body laptop in the 15.6-inch class. It weights only 1,340 grams and allows you to have a similar experience not only in studio, but also on location.
Last week Lee Morris and I embarked on something I like to call "The Puerto Rican landscape challenge." The goal of this series is to not only showcase some of the most beautiful locations on the island of Puerto Rico, but to also find out, once and for all, who is the better landscape photographer. Today is the beginning of this ultimate challenge.
One of the best investments any photographer can make for their business is in education. There is always new gear, techniques, and knowledge to learn about and there is no better way than a fun destination conference. WPPI held each year on the Las Vegas strip is all about fun, education, and the destination.
If you're relatively new to the world of stock photography and trying to figure out the best way to make money, then I might just have the answer for you. With creativity, you can produce work that fills a need and earns income. In this article, I aim to provide some methods that will help give you an edge.
With online photography portfolios being absolutely essential, it's paramount you ensure you have the best website possible. Here are my top five templates for photography websites.
In today's competitive marketplace, successful photographers are finding themselves creating more and more content that isn't strictly photo based. Platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook are reaching more and more people with video content. In today's article, I outline 10 simple tips you can use to polish your video content.
With the new year comes an opportunity to set some goals and make some decisions as to how to make improvements to your career. Learning new techniques and developing skills is a fundamental part of being a photographer and a filmmaker, and Skillshare has an abundance of classes that cover everything from frequency separation to bookkeeping.
Efficiently and effectively creating impactful black and white images of people can be tricky, but utilizing ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate's Light EQ tool, I've whittled my workflow down and kept the results just as high.
Photography isn’t an all-or-nothing venture; you can be a part-time photographer and do quite well for yourself while maintaining a full-time job. Here’s how to do it.
Every photographer needs a good website; that's a given. What isn't so obvious is should you have a contact page? What about a photo on your bio? Is it best to have multiple galleries or everything on one landing page? Today Lee and I review a few websites to show you what does and doesn't work when displaying your work.
Skin retouching has always been one of those things that require a bunch of work in Photoshop or an expensive add-on program. But the new ON1 Photo RAW 2019 has streamlined the entire process.
One of the first things I learned early on after becoming a full-time photographer is the importance of establishing a diversity of revenue streams. I’m not a traditional commercial photographer whose brand is predominantly focused in one area, or specialty, such as booking client gigs (weddings, maternity, etc), shooting products photography for companies, or catering to the swath of people who need headshots.
Most photographers have invested in several camera bags over their career. Often, you need something that can hold everything including the kitchen sink, but other times, you might want something a bit more stylish and compact. Today, I check out one of the most compact yet stylish bags I've ever reviewed: the Wotancraft Sniper Backpack.
ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2019 has a tool called Light EQ™, and it's superb for making many changes quickly and easily.
One of the things I have always loved about ON1 Photo RAW is its ability to do everything I needed within a single program. From a photo browser to a raw editor and then even working with layers. But their recent interface update has made things better then I could have imagined.
We at Fstoppers do our best to keep the photography community informed of noteworthy holiday deals. Since Black Friday week is here, we wanted to let you know about some deals we've heard of from various photography and video companies. Some of these deals are only available for a very limited timeframe, so if there's something that piques your interest, make sure to act on it now!
Selling your images online can be seriously complicated. You can try to submit images to some of the larger stock image marketplaces, but getting approved is tough. Even if you do get some of your images through, the marketplaces will take up to 85% of your royalties away from you.
Our friends at SLR Lounge have announced a Black Friday sale for 30% off of their education and resources. If you're unfamiliar, Pye Jirsa and his team create some of the best photography education outside of Fstoppers, with complete and comprehensive education focused on wedding and portrait photography.
Photography trends and the demand for types of images are ever evolving. Staying up to date on current trends and looking to the future is a great way to stay relevant.
When you own a photography company, there are multiple ways to make money. Unfortunately, most things that make money require quite a bit of work. Thankfully, this is one of the ways you can make money without doing too much work.
Making the jump from amateur to professional photographer can be both an exciting and scary thing, and it’s important to know how to do everything correctly. Make sure you do all these things before you open for business.
It's a well-worn but true adage that audio can make or break a video. Musicbed is a new subscription service that hopes to revolutionize the way filmmakers access and use songs in their video productions.
TourBox is a new piece of portable hardware designed to make working with Lightroom and Photoshop and other software easier and more intuitive. Looking more like a video game controller than a midi interface, it works alongside your mouse or tablet with the intention of making your workflow smoother and less fiddly.
Adobe Lightroom has ruled the roost for raw processing suites, with Capture One in pursuit. But a new and tremendously deep alternative is looking to overhaul your work flow: ACDSee Photo Studio 2019.
Looking for a photo-editing alternative to Adobe's Lightroom CC that won't break the bank? Today, I test-drive Alien Skin's new Exposure X4 editing suite for the first time.
One of the most difficult aspects of professional photography is dealing with business. This will help.