I have a large and relatively heavy Gitzo tripod that can carry as much as a small elephant. But I also bought an expensive Gitzo traveler tripod because sometimes I want to travel light. The question is, was it worth the money?
Do you struggle with finding compositions in woodland? Over the years, I have developed a strategy that helped me to succeed. Sometimes, I even see one composition beside the other without even looking.
If you want to guarantee that your SD cards are genuine, do not buy them from Amazon. According to numerous reports, the online retailer still has massive problems when it comes to weeding out counterfeit goods, even when selling via its Prime service.
Back in the days of film cameras, a few select Canon bodies had a very interesting feature: autofocus points controlled by your eye. The feature never made it over to the digital side of things, but that may change soon enough, with a new patent showing Canon researching the possibility of adding it to its mirrorless line of cameras.
The Godox X3 is a premium flash trigger, with a crystal clear OLED touchscreen and minimalist design. But does this trigger have the brains to match the beauty? In this review, I'll test the X3 versus Godox's previous flagship trigger and help you figure out which option is best for your flash kit.
For a long time I've held firm to the belief that in my compositing work, the "refine edge" is worthless. Why? Maybe I'm just stuck in my ways but it just never seemed to work as well as I thought it should. However, Glyn Dewis may have convinced me to give it another shot. In this very straightforward tutorial he shows a fairly simple series of techniques to create a precise mask using this tool.
As photographers we like to believe that everything we shoot is flawless straight out of the camera. The truth is that, most of the time, each of us spends more time and effort editing our work than actually shooting it. We will completely change the color or the crop of an image without thinking twice. Why then don't we at least consider one of the easiest way to completely change an image; the "horizontal flip."
Portrait photographers know how overwhelming it can feel to create work that depends on collaboration with a complete stranger. With this in mind, I asked five professional photographers in central Texas for their top portrait photography tips.
Santa's coming! And for many photography enthusiasts, that means gear! For the luckiest amongst you, it might mean lenses and bodies. Others might be looking forward to a Loupedeck Live or Simplr Strap. That stuff is fantastic, too. For me, though, wedding photography is my job, and I don't ask Santa for gadgets because I buy them when needed. Instead, my family now usually asks: "which book do you want for Christmas?"
Whenever I talk to another photographer the topic of “personal work” always comes up. Usually in the casual form of, “hey, have you shot any personal work lately?” This standard artistic rendition of the workplace, “how’s the weather” is usually brushed off and more enjoyable conversations quickly replace it. However, for me, it is probably better that my “personal work” remains limited, for doing it usually leeds to bodily harm (or in this case recurring nightmares).
A Sherriff’s Office in Monterey Bay, California has issued a warning to the public, after a cosplay photoshoot held on a public beach raised concerns due to those involved using a large rifle.
Earlier today we posted this video of an Eagle lifting a baby in the park, and it started a massive debate whether its real or not. Now we have the answer: its FAKE. Check out this BTS video showing how 4 animation students from Montreal created this viral video. Did you get it right?
Each week, we have a segment called "Fstoppers Answers" where we invite our community to ask our writers a question pertaining to the industry or their workflow. Last week, you asked "Does Not Having The Latest Gear Make You Feel Less Adequate?" and this week, we want to see your workstations for editing photos and video footage.
The majority of photographers I know have a love/hate relationship with post production and retouching. In fact, for most of them, it's more of the latter. As a fashion photographer/retoucher myself I find I'm often in the minority as I personally enjoy both. Quite often I enjoy retouching more than shooting even. There are of course people out there who solely retouch and don't shoot at all.
This past week I passed the one year mark of shutting down my old Instagram when it was about to hit a new milestone, and starting from absolute scratch. Why did I do this? Was it a good idea? Let's dive in and find out.
Photographers frequently buy and sell gear, whether that is because they like to try different bodies and lenses or because they would like to upgrade their equipment. So, what is the proper way to sell your old gear? I think I have found the best place on the internet.
You might have heard some rumors spinning around earlier today regarding Lightroom 5, and those have been confirmed by Adobe in a Beta release of their latest iteration of the product. The Lightroom 5 Beta comes just 13 months after the availability of Lightroom 4, this time adding more options like a more advanced healing brush, radial gradient tool, smart preview, and high DPI support on Windows machines.
Excuse me a moment while I try and reassemble my brain, it’s kind of just been blown by the video reel I’m about to talk about. While I collect my senses, feel free to join me as I showcase this piece of artistic genius and the talent of the young lady who put it together. This might just be the most insane, joyous 50 second video you’ve ever seen.
With Luminar Neo, you have the option to remove power lines and sensor dust spots with a single click. It’s never been easier, and above all, it takes a lot of work off your hands. But is it faster than doing it manually? Or does the automatic process take up more time in the end?
An undeniable and long-standing staple in the photography world, Fujifilm's market share in the West is still fractional. With all of its innovation and strong reviews, one must ask, what more can Fujifilm do to increase influence in the Western market?
Ever wanted to make a complex mask in Lightroom but haven't had the patience to follow through? Well, using this simple technique, you can do it in just five seconds.
The biggest mistake I see when reading a photographer’s blog is the choice of words used in blog page titles. The words you choose may be keeping your blog invisible to the world forever. It's not necessarily a "mistake" but typically not the optimal choice of words for search engines.
With our current sports-focused Critique the Community, now seems like a great time to share some tips and best practices to help you improve your sports and action photography in 2016. Read on for 11 solid suggestions to help you become a better shooter.
At Fstoppers, we do our best to stay away from topics that are strictly political in nature. Generally speaking, it's not our place. We are a blog for creative professionals, not any number of sites that poke at hot button issues for the sake of sensationalism. However, once in a while, a situation arises that directly affects photographers and their decisions. One such situation occurred when Weddings Unveiled Magazine rejected a photographer's paid advertisement.
When it comes to lenses, photographers who hear "ultra-wide" and "fast apertures" are usually bracing for an equally impressive price tag. The Viltrox 16mm f/1.8, however, seeks to deliver excellent optical quality and unique lens features at a reasonable price—in this review, I’ll see if Viltrox can execute a truly great ultra-wide prime.
I’ve been sent a few messages asking how to get noticed by the people we want to work with and how to approach them. I’m never sure I can help because I’m no expert, but I do try as best as I can. In order to keep my advice consistent, this article sets about the rules I made for myself. By no means are they perfect, you may not agree with many of the points and I know for a fact that I sometimes fail in following them myself. But in general they work for me and I don’t mind sharing what I’ve found.
I rarely use gels or modifiers on my speedlites because I am lazy and in a hurry on wedding days. I just fix the color issues in post. However today I was notified that a new product was posted on Kickstarter. Meet the MagMod, a simple magnetic band that mounts to your flash allowing modifiers to be slapped on and off. Check it out, I just backed the project myself.
Having now had at least one of the second generation of Nikon Z cameras, either the Z 6II or Z 7II, in my possession for almost a year now, I thought I would share three of my favorite things about the cameras so far.
Every couple weeks we release a new episode of Critique the Community where Fstoppers members can submit their best images to a genre specific contest for a chance to receive feedback and win a free Fstoppers original tutorial. This week, we changed things up and selected only 5 star images to discuss.
Leave it to the same university that would probably save our world from an apocalypse to, until that need arises, create better, smaller lenses. Harvard’s School for Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) recently expanded on a previous design for flat optics by adding nano silicone antennae that actually bend the light. The result is an incredibly thin and completely flat glass lens capable of the same light bending properties as our current lenses, but with virtually zero chromatic aberration.
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