The Invisible Camera: Your Mind Will Be Blown
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Chris Marquardt has developed a really mind blowing new camera called The Invisible Camera. Using ground breaking technology developed by the Max-Planck Institute in Germany, Chris has designed a camera that can properly expose an image even when the film is exposed to ambient light. The special film uses a technique called "directional desensitization" which prevents the emulsion from capturing light; the only light registered is from the very small projection created by the tiny pin hole. What's even more mind blowing is this technique might allow for images to be captured at ISO 1/500th or 15 stops lower than ISO 100! Chris estimates that this increase in resolution would be equivalent to about 3,000 5D Mark II cameras which I can't even imagine. Hopefully some of our more technical readers can explain this to me since I have a feeling it's going on sale a week from this Friday and The Invisible Camera has offered a demo model to Fstoppers.
Know Your Gear: Five Tips for Better Images
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First and foremost, gear is not the be all and end all. Creativity will bring the most out of the simplest of gear. We stand on the shoulders of giants now. Remember that it was only a few years ago that high ISOs were all but unusable and that once you'd shot a black and white frame, it stayed black and white. The fact remains, though, that understanding what your gear is capable of is the key to exploiting its strengths and weaknesses, which is where creativity lives. Learning a few simple things about what your existing gear is capable of will do more for your images than any shiny new purchase. Use these five simple exercises to learn more about what the tools you have can do.

Platon & Putin: The Story Behind the Image
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In 2007, world-famous portrait photographer, Platon shot what he later described as one of the scariest assignments of his life. He was to photograph Time Magazine's person of the year: Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Recently, CNN shared the story behind the image in a rare interview with the photographer.

[BTS] The Anatomy of a Luxury Interior Shot
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When it comes to interior and architectural photography, there is often much more involved than what meets the eye at first glance. In order to create a photograph that is realistic and enticing, careful planning, staging, lighting and a healthy dose of patience is imperative. In this Fstoppers Original, we dive into a luxury interior shot and see what it takes to construct a mouth-watering interior photo from the ground up.

Give your iPhone Manual Controls with the DxO ONE
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DxO, a company best known for its software, has unveiled a pocket-sized DSLR quality camera that is meant to be paired with your iPhone. Using the iPhone as a control panel and proofing screen, the camera itself concentrates on capturing images using it's own lens and settings. This idea could be the best of the DSLR and iPhone worlds. It's small and offers much more versatility and control than the normal iPhone camera all the while, still capitalizing on the immediacy of sharing with an iPhone camera.

One of the Best Tools to Use When Planning Your Next Photography Trip
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I don’t get to shoot landscapes as often as I’d like, but when I do, I try to maximize the time I have in a place to the fullest extent. Many times, that’s just waking up for sunrise while my relatives snooze their alarms on a family trip, but eventually, when I started planning my own adventures, I had a hard time figuring out where to start until I discovered an incredible tool.

Affinity Photo, Finally a True Alternative to Photoshop for Windows
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Affinity Photo was released over a year ago on Mac OS X. Its success on the App Store definitely shows how great the software truly is. It is also proof that people are looking at different options than the traditional Adobe workflow. Until now, one thing refrained many: Affinity Photo was available only on the Apple platform. But today is a new day and the software is now Windows compatible.

10 of My Favorite Lightroom Features
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There are 10 Lightroom features I use more than any other, and many of you reading might not even be aware of them, as they're often hidden away or require sneaky keyboard shortcuts, so read on to find out what they are.

How to Use Your Camera's Dynamic Range in Post Processing
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The dynamic range of a camera is something that is considered to be important. A large dynamic range is often preferred. But how can you make use of this in your photography? In this article I will explain how you can use your camera’s dynamic range in post processing.

6 Pieces of Equipment That Really Improved my Images
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I know I harp on about gear not mattering. Nevertheless, there are individual purchases that I have made over the years that have had a real impact on my work. Having been a commercial photographer for some time, I thought I'd share my opinion on this.

Northrup Vs. Fro, JPG Vs. Raw: Why Is It Even Still a Debate?
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It’s the equivalent of a presidential Twitter feud, but for the photography world. Everyone’s favorite Anderson Cooper lookalike Tony Northrup released a video on November 4 about the benefits and downsides to shooting raw files versus JPG files, and in this video dispensed some advice on when to shoot raw files and when to shoot JPG files (and when to shoot both). Naturally, this elicited a strong response from everyone’s favorite (only?) Fro, Jared Polin of “Fro Knows Photo” fame, who is known for his shirts indicating to the world that he does indeed shoot raw. All the time.

My Favorite 35mm Film Camera I've Ever Used
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There are literally thousands and thousands of 35mm film cameras that have been produced over the last 100 years or so, and more are being manufactured even now. However, there's one camera that sits at the top of the tree, at least for me.

Be Careful of the Brightness of the LCD of Your Camera
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Since the introduction of digital photography our cameras are provided with a nice LCD screen to see the photo we’ve just taken, or to see the photo that we’re about to take. But be careful with these screens, they can be misguiding in some situations.

PocketWizard Plus X: PW Shakes Up Flash Trigger Market With New Product Offering
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PocketWizard has just announced the addition of a new trigger to its lineup: The PocketWizard Plus X. Priced at $99 (and already in stock at B&H), the Plus X offers much of the same functionality and reliability as PocketWizard's much-beloved Plus II and Plus III, but with a simpler, no-frills interface and a gentler price. Read on for the spec list, a mini-review, and my thoughts on the new unit.

Casting Negativity Aside And Growing As An Artist
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"Oh, so you're a photographer now...?"

It's a question I'm sure each of us has heard. Coming to us from a friend and/or family member that we haven't seen in a while, maybe those who we're remotely connected to on any one of the social media platforms where we post our work. It rings of sarcasm, and while I don't believe it's meant to hurt us, truthfully, it kind of does.

5 Simple Ways to Find Your First Clients
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So, you’ve got your portfolio finished. You have strong images that display the work that you want to be hired for. Your website is branded in a way that appeals to your target market. Your business cards are all set to go. So why aren’t clients flying through your door?

Understanding How Sensor Size Affects Depth of Field
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Most photographers have started with a crop camera when digital photography was introduced. Only after a few years, the full frame cameras became affordable and that is the moment when all the discussions about the effect of depth of field and crop sensors started, often with the mentioning of physics laws and mathematical calculations. Let’s try to find out with some real world examples.

Is the Fujifilm X-T2 Ready for Professional Use?
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There's a question I've been getting in my inbox every couple of days since the release of the Fujifilm X-T2: Is it ready for professional use? There have been several articles floating about and a lot of opinions in forums, but the honest answer to this is the same as it is for absolutely every camera body and system on the market. It really depends on the type of work you do.

Kessler Reveals New Automatic Panning Add-On For Sliders: The Parallax
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Known for their industry leading camera sliders and portable jibs, Kessler continues to innovate by creating useful products for filmmakers. Their latest creation is called the Parallax, and in this video, Eric Kessler demonstrates how it works to create a motor-less, controlled panning action on your existing slider. This can make a move where during your camera's horizontal move, the head pans to stay with its subject.

Advanced Posing Tips - Why Hand Placement Matters
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We often aim to capture great expressions when cueing and posing subjects, but we sometimes overlook basic elements that may distract our viewers. In particular, natural pointers like our arms, hands, fingers, legs, and feet command a strong presence within images, but we don’t always recognize the power of their presence in the moment. While we surrender some control during truly candid moments, we should make every part of an image purposeful and keep natural pointers in check when posing.

It's important to remember that we are here to analyze and understand, but not be overly critical. While these tips/techniques are great in understanding the visual weight and posing elements within an image, they are not reasons to throw out what would otherwise be a great photograph.

How to Use a Long Exposure to Remove People From Your Landscapes
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Most landscape and cityscape photographers prefer to have images that are void of tourists, traffic, and other distracting elements in their scenes. One way to remove these eye sores is to meticulously clone them out in Photoshop, but what if there was a way to get a scene to look empty with a single exposure all in camera? Today I explore using a 15 stop neutral density filter for the first time.

A Look Inside David LaChapelle's Studio
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"VICE Meets: David LaChapelle" goes inside David LaChapelle's studio in Los Angeles and sits down with him to talk about his early days in New York, what he did in art school and why photography is the parameter that prevents his head from exploding. It's always amazing to get a glimpse into the mind of a great artist and begin to see what makes them tick.