Lightroom presets are a great way to create quick and effective edits, but if you’re relatively new to photo editing, it might be useful to know how to make the most of them and when they should be avoided.
How many pixels do you need in an image? Sounds a simple enough question and the inexorable megapixel race doesn't seem to have ended, in much the same way that the PC processor race marched on unabated for several decades.
In August 2015, I quit all working commitments and took the leap in to full-time photographer. In March 2016, I wrote an article of advice about being a photographer I wish I'd known earlier after I began to scrutinize my performance under the new, professional microscope. Well, time has elapsed, shutters have shut over 100,000 times, and more things have been learned. My photography business has grown in this interim and I found myself thinking about this aforementioned article again. Here are seven of the most important things I have learnt about being a professional photographer that I wish I'd known earlier.
Just as Canon announced that profits from its camera division have dropped by almost two-thirds, Sony has given an indication that it is not optimistic for the future, predicting that it will sell 1.4 million fewer cameras than it did in 2017.
You may have heard of Google Glass in the past, with their nerdy glasses that stream social media directly into your field of vision. Their first video felt unpractical, and at time, a nuisance. They've changed that with their latest video, showing how you can seamlessly blend technology with your day to day life through photography, image searching and creating videos on the fly. Is this the future of technology; is our next camera just going to be photographing our field of vision?
On Friday our writer Dave Geffin featured Jean Claude Van Damme's newest commercial for Volvo, hailing it as the most successful commercial of 2013. The post was an instant success but then Jean Claude himself saw the post and decided to share it to millions of his followers. For 3 days Fstoppers received thousands of clicks per second. So many clicks that the site would crash instantly every time we reset the server.
Have you missed all of the drama surrounding Tony Northrup and his ISO claims? Let's take one final look.
In my opinion, mastering negative dodge and burn is the key to any beauty retouch. There are many steps and many hours that go into a great retouch, but negative dodge and burn is as essential, if not more so, than any of them. The term "negative dodge and burn" is one that I first heard from fellow retoucher Pratik Naik. It was the concept of having a specific process of removing distractions and smoothing tonal transitions through dodge and burn that was responsible for one of the biggest jumps in my own personal retouching game.
There are plenty of ways to get better images, we’ve all seen articles on which new camera to purchase, which new laptop will improve your editing, which courses to purchase, or where in the world you can visit to get stunning images. But what about some truly effective ways to improve your ability to get the shot without spending a penny?
Air travel is a fact of life for jobbing amateur and professional photographers alike. At some point you need to stuff your gear in a bag and get on a plane. Here are my top 5 rules for air travel.
Today, Adobe has released Photoshop CC 19.1 with some major improvements and new features that are sure to please a lot of photographers. Check out what's new!
An Atlanta-based photographer is taking legal action after being shot upon entering the home he was assigned to photograph. The homeowner blames a "miscommunication."
Recently we wrote about photojournalist Avi Adelman who was arrested by DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) officer for taking photos of an incident. Today we can report that DART have voted to finalize the case this with a $345,000 settlement, after Adelman had filed a lawsuit following his arrest.
There’s no question that if Sony wants their mirrorless system cameras to succeed, they must be supported with a vast and varied collection of lenses. Today they unveiled the FE 50mm f/1.4 ZA lens, a large aperture prime lens utilizing a Planar design that will soon be found in portrait, wedding, and street photographers’ bags. I was lucky enough to be one of the first people to see and use this lens for a day’s worth of shooting, so take a look at some sample images and my first impressions.
After updating the firmware for many of their lenses just a couple weeks ago, Sony today has released firmware updates for many of their popular full-frame and APS-C mirrorless cameras. The updates mainly focus on overheating indicator issues as well as resolving the “star eater” problem that was introduced in a prior firmware version, plus other various support and stability fixes.
It seems like the whole world (or at least the photographic world) is buzzing about the new Osmo Pocket 3 from drone maker DJI. It's a portable, full featured kit for video makers, YouTube creatives, and even regular consumers who want to easily capture high quality 4K video with a gimbal mounted camera.
A major update is now available for Creatic, the free iPhone photo editing app. In Creatic 2.0, users now have access to many more editing tools, a preset manager, live filter camera, and a newly designed discover tab for browsing and interacting with the community. After using it for a few days, I found that there’s actually a surprising amount on editing control in this app not found elsewhere.
Editing takes time, quite often it takes a lot of time and many of the steps can be quite repetitive and boring. The best thing I've ever done for myself to speed up this process is memorizing keyboard shortcuts, so I've put together this list of five resources (in no particular order) that I've found to practice familiarity with these shortcuts and become more comfortable with the programs themselves. In order to cater to the largest audience I will be focusing on Adobe-tailored tools, however some may crossover into other programs.
Plus three gorgeous Brazilian triplets. But that's not the point here.
Seriously though, I've seen a lot of crazy things done with the Red Epic, but I've never seen it shot without it's IR pass filter. The results are the definition of ethereal. The biggest shocker to me though was that none of these shots, which included a very complicated Handheld to Rope to Handheld shot that looked like a crane shot, were all done without any post-stabilization or complicated steadicam rigs. All of the shots were done using the Movi stabilization system.
Are your handheld landscape photography photos never quite sharp? Do you struggle with what camera settings to use once you start trying to handhold the camera for your photos? I have five tips to help maximize your success with handheld landscape photography.
Photographer Jimmy Nelson is facing backlash over his portrayal of some indigenous people in his book, Before They Pass Away. The book (which is stunning to look at) portrays tribes and cultures supposedly untouched by the modern world. But some people are upset that the photos represent a stylized version of these cultures and are not a representation of how they actually appear today.
When it comes to boudoir photography, everyone has their own opinion as to what constitutes as a boudoir session. It is soft and romantic? Is it edgy and seductive? Is it only meant to be seen by the clients partner? Or is it an expression of the client finding comfort in their own sexuality?
Location, Location, Location. We've heard that for years, but if you're in the right place with the wrong message and the wrong means, then you're doing more damage than good for your business. Wedding Photographers know that our target demographic is on facebook, so let me show you why they are and how you can use this to your advantage.
The highly-anticipated Mavic Air finally landed at Fstoppers a few days ago. This tiny quadcopter comes with an impressive set of features but everything is not perfect. Here is short preview of what I like and dislike about this drone.
Canon has had the pedal to the floor when it comes to lens development for the last few years, and it seems they have no intention of stopping. Two new patents have emerged that show two more extreme lens designs, both based on respected DSLR lenses.
As one of the most popular autonomously flying apps on the market, Litchi is taking the complexity out of flying drones. Drone enthusiasts now can easily set waypoints and POI’s in Google Earth, before even leaving home. By using state of the art technology, Litchi is attempting to corner the market, by replicating features which were once only available through more expensive apps and providing them in a simpler and more affordable format.
We all wish we could make money doing photography, but one macro specialist found a way to have his photography made into money. Twenty Canadian dollars, to be exact.
NYC-based commercial photographer Kenneth Volpe sat down with the good folks over at Profoto to give some insight on the way he lights his images and a bit of his philosophy when it comes to his photography business, Transposure. With Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Engineering, Kenneth is a guy that definitely understands fine light and exhibits it in the way he makes his photos. Check out the full write up over at
Finally, the greatest mobile lens company is now kicking things off in serious fashion with offering their lenses to more major phone brands. With iPhone being the flagship for the longest time of prime users they are also offering it to the Google Pixel as well as the latest and greatest from Samsung with the Galaxy S8.
