Have you ever wondered how to create portraits with those dreamy watercolor backgrounds? In the following tips, I’ll give you a few tricks on how I achieve this whimsical, ethereal look in my work.
Joe McNally once said: "the easiest way to take better photos is to point your camera in the direction of more interesting subjects." One of the most common challenges photographers face is finding incredible people to work with. There is a misconceived belief out in the world that convincing amazing talent to step in front of your camera is actually really terrifying and hard. Fantastic talent is always looking for the opportunity to create new images to toss onto social media, and thus is always looking for great new photographers to work with.
You may have the best camera and lenses, but the images you create as a photographer or videographer, may not look good, unless you don’t have a good monitor. Therefore, when it comes to preview and editing images; the resolution, color space and panel technology matters. So, it is vital to get a decent monitor that meets your requirements within an affordable price range.
If there is one lens manufacturer whose heritage exudes excellence, it’s Zeiss. They are the Ferrari, the Lamborghini of camera optical glass and with that reputation comes their, usually, extremely high price. And much like a Lamborghini, the Zeiss is a no-frills powerhouse that does one well-designed thing: as the Lamborghini is fast, the Zeiss is sharp. Zeiss’ latest telephoto prime is no exception, and the 135mm f/2.0 APO SONNAR is truly magnificent.
I have had the blessing and curse of having too many photos to edit in the past few months. I've had plenty of opportunities to improve my work with the high frequency of shoots, but it's caused me to feel buried. During a typical shoot, I'll take between 250-400 photos. With each light setup, I'll take a few shots to ensure it's just how I want it, then I'll start directing my model. I strive for 3-4 solid shots per setup, one of which will end up being the final image. Both myself and my hard drives are feeling the pressure. In order to make sure that everyone gets their photos in a reasonable timeframe, I've adopted a new workflow for my editing.
Retro never truly disappears. The Kodak Ektar H35N half-frame camera evokes memories high school parties and youth summer camps. But is this plastic fantastic or missing the mark? I ran some film through it to find out.
I went back to shooting film recently, and I couldn't believe how different the process was. It isn't just taking a photo without the live view screen, it really is a different world. A world that you should experience if you want to improve as a photographer.
Photoshelter released a new guide 11 Secrets to a Great Photo Website, packed with information and tips about creating and updating websites for your photography business.
The free downloadable guide dives into 11 important points you should keep in mind when building your website to attract potential customers, helping spread word-of-mouth referrals and how to grow your businesses through your website.
This week, we are exploring how to create a white-to-grey backdrop using strobes. Though this technique can be done somewhat efficiently with two lights, three is optimal. And as in last weeks post, I want you guys to try out this technique and share your results. I will post my three favorites in the next lighting post. I shot all of these images on a white sweep, with the figures about ten feet off of the background.
I love film photography; there's a special quality that analogue photos have that digital could possibly never match. However, I never shoot with my film camera anymore. Why not?
Ken Block, owner of DC Shoes and action sports mogul is well known for his incredible skill in a rally car. He's also been known to make some incredible videos, such as his original Gymkhana piece. For this installment, Gymkhana 5, Ken decided that he wanted to take over San Francisco: and that is just what he did. He also made sure that it was captured to perfection: I can't imagine that any less than one hundred cameras were used in the making of this piece.
Over the years I have gotten to know many photographers that can take great photos but who suffer staying motivated in their business. Many of us try to do it on our own with no one to really believe in us. Our family and friends watch us from the sidelines waiting for us to throw in the towel. I have found that watching a daily motivational video is a great way for me to stay focused and inspired. Here are 5 of my current favorites I believe every entrepreneur should watch.
Boudoir photography can be one of the most powerful ways to bring confidence back to an individual. Challenging their negative thoughts about themselves while repairing their body image is more rewarding to a boudoir photographer than the money itself (OK yes, the money is great but be honest — you love it when they cry those happy tears of joy seeing their images).
As a fellow commercial photographer I know that clients come to us for consistency and reliability. They hire us because when they are spending the big bucks on advertising campaigns they don’t want to leave things up to chance. It is part of our job to deliver the end product on time and free of flaws, but even a professional at the top of their game still battles with human error.
Have you ever been going through the magazine rack of your local book store and just stood staring at the cover of a car magazine? No? Ok, well maybe that's just me. But when I see a photo of a blazingly fast sports car clinging to the corner of a race track it certainly piques my interest. Even if you aren't a "car person" chances are you have at least wondered how these cover shots are made.
I was shocked at my favorite product this year at PPE. Mostly because it wasn't digital, electronic, or even made of glass. I was most impressed with a product that helps our capture workflow in studio and on location.
When you ask most filmmakers what their next purchase is, you'll like hear an answer like "A new camera body, some lenses and better audio gear". It's always easy (and fun) to lust over new and expensive gear, but often we forget to buy the little things that make our life on set much less stressful. Although these tools are extremely affordable, they will often be the ones that make you a hero on set. Here are some tools that every filmmaker should have in their gear bag:
Food photography will at times take you out of the studio and on location. It may be to a restaurant, a farm, or a bakery. If you have to travel to where the food is, then you will have to think about what background you will shoot on. When shooting at a restaurant, capturing the decor and ambiance of the dining room with the dish is preferred by the client. Capturing the tables, walls, or any other distinctive features of the restaurant in the background will enhance your image of the dish. When shooting a food product, the ambiance might not be there. What do you do if all you have are grey walls and a metal counter top?
Christmas is two weeks away and you are probably starting to panic about your lack of gift buying progress. Have no fear, Fstoppers is here! The stocking is a perfect opportunity to make your resident portrait photographer's Christmas magnificently jolly as there are so many wonderful little toys that fit into an oversized sock. In this post you will find an assortment of fantastic small pieces of gear that will stuff any photographer's heart full of joy this holiday season.
Paul C. Buff recently released a brand new Vagabond battery pack, the Vagabond Lithium Extreme. With a price tag of $399.95 this might be the next product you end up buying tonight. There are a few great improvements from their older Vagabond models, and overall, it is exciting to see a new product release from Paul C. Buff.
The Nik Collection photo editing suite is back again, but this time the latest iteration of the popular plugin has a modest price tag.
Having a process is one of the most essential keys to success in art, design, and photography. In this tutorial we will look at what to do after we have completed all of the major changes to our portrait retouch. In the beginning of our retouching we will commonly address larger issues like blemishes, distractions, tone smoothing, dodging and burning, and color corrections. But, after completing the major steps of our retouch, what are the finalizing steps in our process? Let's take a look at the five final steps you should follow before completing any portrait retouch.
Picture this: you and some friends are on a week-long backpacking trip in Alaska, and it’s a frigid 20 degrees Fahrenheit outside. You really don’t want to get out of your sleeping bag. Luckily, before you got in it, you went out and set up your camera with a incredibly lightweight remote that you can control from your phone so that you can take photos of the aurora without leaving the tent. If you want to be able to do this, and for only $100, you should check out the Pulse camera remote by Alpine Labs.
Canon has been quite aggressive in developing and releasing RF mount lenses, and it looks like they intend to keep pressing forward, with over a dozen new patents showing plans for some pretty incredible options.
Canon unloaded a ton of news this morning. Apart from specifically releasing specifications for the EOS 1D C (Cine) DSLR and the C500, they're also apparently working on a few other things, including four lenses and other 4K cameras -- the C300 was definitely just the beginning. Full specs and tons of photos after the jump!
Creating and maintaining backups of our data is essential in the business of photography. There are countless articles out there about the importance of backup, and anyone who has lost precious data will feel that need acutely. Data loss is not a question of if but a question of when. We need to take the necessary steps to prepare for that loss. How we do it, and the tools we can use are about as varied as the types of photography we all do. Today, I'll run you through my workflow.
Today, Adobe has released several updates for their software, including a new editing interface for their mobile app and a new "Reference View" for the Develop Module in the desktop app.
A young couple fell to their deaths in Yosemite National Park last week. We should all take it as an unfortunate reminder: no photograph is worth your life
We all love big sensors, affordable glass, and cheap camera bodies, but is DSLR videography a dying breed? If so, what are the alternatives that we should be looking at?
![[News] Major Canon Video Announcements -- 1D C and C500!](https://cdn.fstoppers.com/styles/med-16-9/s3/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/canon-c500.jpg)
