When you decide to get serious and make your photo/video hobby a source of income, one thing that you need to look into is insurance. With the abundance of different plans available it's easy to become overwhelmed as to what coverage is right for you, but hopefully this guide can make that decision easier.
Tired of hunting for budgets as if they were unicorns? A few weeks ago I wrapped up our commercial pricing guide which is a great reference IF you can get a paying client. As many of us know, sadly, that can be a pretty big IF. Here are a few strategies to help you turn a client with no budget into a winner!
There are many ways to improve as a photographer, but not all ways are created equally. One of the most effective and well-documented methods for improving at any skill is also one not undertaken by most photographers.
We at Fstoppers often talk about Instagram with a note of positivity, but not everyone tends to agree that Instagram is a "cool" thing or worthy anyone's time. In fact, many comments on those articles seem to be saturated in what appears to be a deep-seated hatred. But do we really hate Instagram, or do we hate something that we can only express by hating Instagram? I think it’s the latter, and here’s why.
PRO EDU recently released a five-part video series on their YouTube Channel dedicated to RAID. RAID, for those of you new to the term, refers to a system of file storage that can write a copy of everything you save to a separate hard drive so that you have two copies of everything you save. The benefit here is that if your hard drive fails, you don't lose all of your data and you have an identical copy ready to roll. In this video series, Gary Martin of PRO EDU explains everything you need to know about RAID systems to get started on your first RAID setup.
A few years ago we featured photographer Kevin Kozicki in a behind the scenes video using pointsettias for a beauty shoot. Kevin is back with an amazing glamor photo and video shoot with filmmaker Christopher Park in a beautiful pool location using the Phase One IQ180 that was featured in Sessions Magazine. We had the opportunity to speak with Kevin and get his insight on the shoot.
Packing for a shoot in your town can be a pain, but packing for an extended shoot in another country brings a whole new set of complications into consideration. Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of extended trips for my personal project “Tattoos of Asia.” Over the few trips that I’ve done, I’ve managed to pare down my kit to what I absolutely need. It has been a long process, but I’ve learned quite a bit, and I’d like to share that with you as I prepare my kit for my upcoming India trip.
Benjamin Lowy, a photographer represented by Reportage by Getty Images, met Scott Sutton, a man panhandling, outside the Union Square movie theater in New York last November. Scott was holding a sign that read "Give selflessly and you will reap endlessly," and Benjamin walked over.
Once you try this mouse from Logitech, it is likely that your Wacom tablet will be pushed to the back of your desk to gather dust. With 20 fully programmable buttons, including a clickable scroll wheel that also tilts either way, the level of functionality reached with this mouse is unmatched by any mouse or peripheral device on the market. Not to mention, it's budget-friendly!
A single photograph from a photography session barely shows you all the planning and execution that goes into a photoshoot. Dozens of ideas, shooting styles and concepts often come into play in the pre production, not to mention the hours that can be spent in post production as well. As a result, I decided to give you all a breakdown of my recent photoshoot with good friend and model, Harmony.
Dave Re has a demanding job. He heads the photography team within the media department of one of the fastest growing sports in the history of sports. CrossFit (CF), a topic that I wrote about last month, is a fitness regimen that has gained extreme popularity in just a short time. Although Re never planned going to work every day as head staff photographer for CF Media, he has embraced it with open arms.
Ryan Brenizer is famous for his shallow depth of field panoramas known as the Brenizer method. In addition to this, he has photographed presidents, singers, athletes, and has more than 350 weddings under his belt. He was named one of the "10 most sought-after wedding photographers in the world” by Rangefinder Magazine, so when he talks, you should listen. In this video, Brenizer goes through five lighting tips that can help you throughout the day of shooting a wedding.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to stare down the barrel of a gun? Well Toronto-based photographer Peter Andrew teamed up with art directors Simon Duffy and Derek Blais to show us. The series, “Point Blank”, features iconic handguns in high-resolution "portraits", some of which are printed as large as 4×8 feet. In order to achieve the incredible detailing in these shots Peter used
Just in time for 2016, the FAA released a registration system and will require anyone currently operating unmanned aerial systems (UAS), otherwise known as "drones," to register by February 19 of this year. Although the FAA's legal authority over this issue is questionable and although this applies to anyone flying drones only within certain weight guidelines for hobby or recreational use outdoors, there are a number of reasons you should register in the next 10 days, even if these particular circumstances do not apply to you.
On November 9, ON1 software released the latest version of their flagship editing software. Photo RAW 2018 looks to move ON1 further forward to being a genuine alternative to Adobe suite as an all-in-one photo editing tool. Touting a variety of critical new features Photo RAW 2018 promises to be the strongest iteration of the software to date. In this review, we will be putting Photo RAW 2018 through the gauntlet to determine if its latest new features move it closer to that goal.
A photographer and digital artist by the name of Terrence Blanton has released a new website and photo series called "Eagle Faction" that is explosive and very influenced by Call of Duty and Battlefield. Terrence got ahold of a local Airsoft team to help create a fictional series about a team of former military and outdoorsmen that band together to help salvage their local territory of America after a collapse and invasion in the year 2023.
Phase One has officially announced the release of Capture One Pro version 8 with a host of new features and a new purchasing model option. More than just minor enhancements, version 8 brings with it truly useful features that allow you to perform more of your work within it and not have to turn to Photoshop or additional plug-ins.
At only 24 years old, photographer and filmmaker Toby Harriman already has an impressive resume. From his vertigo inducing aerial photography to his "Modern Surf" series, Harriman has made quite a name for himself in his very short career. His latest time-lapse film not only adds to his impressive accomplishments, but may be his most impressive project yet.
Many new photographers hold a lot of excitement and fear inside of them waiting to be unleashed the moment they receive a call to do their first big photoshoot or ad campaign. For talented automotive photographer John Zhang, this was no different when he received a call from one of Land Rover USA's ad agencies recently. He has been nice enough to share his entire experience from the first client call to executing the shoot itself. There is a lot to learn from Zhang and his photoshoot, read on below!
Let's take a step back and talk about the growing popularity of the processed photograph. Apart from some rather technical post-processing jibber-jabber, we’ll dabble in philosophy, astronomy, and the evolution of the human species. We will meet strange creatures along the way that see many more colors than we do, as we conclude this with a moral question in photography.
Legendary Swedish camera manufacturer Hasselblad announces a new medium format camera body, the H5X, this week in preparation for photokina. The newest addition is to utilize Hasselblad’s latest capture functionality, working seamlessly with current H System lenses. With a retail price of $5930.00 without viewfinder, $7469.00 viewfinder included, the H5X sits at a practical entry-level cost for new medium-format shooters or those seeking a backup for the H5D.
I met Brian Friedman as we were both shooting various iHeartRadio festivals and concerts around the US a few years back. Brian is a machine. He's passionate, hard working, and one of the best modern concert photographers I've ever met.
Postproduction is often so integral to a photographer's style that many photographers wouldn't dream of allowing their raw files to be seen by clients because they feel that their editing process is what makes the photo look like "their work." While I find postproduction just as important as any photographer, the unfortunate truth is that spending too much time in Lightroom or Photoshop might actually be damaging your business.
A couple days ago we took a DJI Phantom 2 and flew it straight up into the air over Charleston, SC to test its "range". The video, although interesting, was not fully thought out and we decided to pull the video.
It should be surprising to hear about the same person getting robbed in one day. It should be even more surprising when you hear that the victim, Christopher Morris, has photographed wars in over 18 countries including Afghanistan, Somalia, Yugoslavia, and Chechnya. He is obviously no stranger to dangerous situations. Yet despite all of his experience in chaos and war, Detroit got him. Not once but twice.
Chilling to the bone, Joshua Hoffine's children horror series is one that will keep haunting you even with the lights on. He uses his own daughters as the terrified dreamers in the images, and the results have definitely caught the attention of many people, going viral recently. We get to know the man behind the maniacal machinations and how he captures these childhood fears.
First shipped on September 8, 2017, the successor to the popular Nikon D810 is still potentially months away from hitting some customers' hands. For those who waited until the official launch of the camera, finding a D850 body before the holidays could prove to be challenging from some of the larger retailers.
From the perspective of highway overpasses, photographer Alejandro Cartagena has documented the daily commute of Mexican workers in his photo series, "Carpoolers." Setting out during morning rush hour, Cartagena photographs the weary travelers laying in truck beds amongst the tools of their trade. The result of this overhead perspective photo series is a delightfully simple and revealing glimpse into the daily life of these hard-working travelers.
In my last article on flash photography, I gave you a few simple techniques for keeping your flash looking natural and allowing it to blend in with your existing light without calling attention to itself. This time around, we're going to do exactly the opposite, and look at how varying the amount of ambient light in a photograph can affect the way your flash appears and how this can be used for dramatic effect.
