Why I Love the Nikon 58mm f/1.4G Lens

In my experience, there are two kinds of great lenses. The first is the kind that gets the job done. These lenses are technically amazing and produce extremely high-quality images. The Sigma 35mm f/1.4 Art is one of those lenses. It produces sharp, high-contrast images time and time again. But it doesn’t really have character — a feeling — of its own. This brings me to the second category of great lenses. Every now and again a manufacturer produces something truly special, a lens with qualities that can't be measured on an MTF chart or in lab testing. Nikon's Nikkor 58mm f/1.4G is one of those lenses.

How to Make Your Retouching Workflow Faster and Mobile With These Five Pieces of Hardware

As photographers and retouchers, we are often required to travel. But travel eats up a lot of time and thus it is crucial to optimize one’s workflow. While gear is not everything in our industry, it still maintains a critical place, especially to help save time. Spending more and more time on the road, I recently had to take a look at my editing workflow and find new solutions to make it better and faster. In this article, I’ll share with you some of the accessories I use or have since discovered to cut my retouching and keep me sane.

How to Shoot and Edit Natural Looking Holiday Home Photos

Real estate photography, while not the sexiest of photography genres, is quite accessible and a handy way to earn some cash, especially if your starting out. Many interior design and architectural photographers cut their teeth taking photos for estate agents and holiday home companies, but much of the high volume stuff looks way too flashy. In this article I'll show you a relatively easy way to get natural looking light without blown-out windows.

Amazing Desert Photography in Morocco

Photographing sand dunes can be a very productive photographic endeavor if you find a stretch of desert remote enough that not every inch of it is covered in footprints. In this article, I show you my favorite place to photograph dunes, and I give tips on how to get the most out of this sandy subject matter.

Bite-Size PS Tutorials: Sharpening with High Pass Filter

Two things converged for me recently: an increase in questions sent to me regarding my commercial photography and the unexpected popularity of my bite-sized Photoshop tutorials. Both occurrences are born from the same inquiry of understanding how certain things are achieved. I used to bother people constantly with questions on how I could attain a certain look in post-processing, or how an image is so sharp, and so on. From time to time, I still do. So, I'm going to do my best to make the answers to the most common questions readily available with this mini series.

Are Photographers Even Artists?

Have you ever heard the argument that photography isn’t art, because everyone can do it? That’s bull. All forms of photography need artistic thinking to some extent.

"Open Letter to Adobe" Answered by an Fstoppers Reader

Last week I published an open letter to Adobe Lightroom written from the perspective of photographers that use the web gallery feature in Lightroom. It generated a decent amount of feedback both positive and negative. Many people told me that this couldn't be done and that Adobe would never offer something like this. Then I read a comment from a reader that was doing exactly what I wanted. Problem solved!

Master Manual Exposure Blending With This Foolproof Photoshop Workflow

With modern HDR-blending algorithms making exposure blending so quick and easy, manual exposure blending may seem like an outdated skill for landscape photographers. However, automated software doesn't always produce the cleanest results. In this article, we'll discuss a foolproof workflow for manual exposure blending that will give you total control over your images and ensure results of the highest quality. The good news is that this workflow doesn't require any third-party panels or difficult luminosity masking!

Canon Announces the Full Frame EOS 6D

Here it is Canon faithful: the Canon 6D! We've been hearing a lot about what this camera could be, the rumored specs, and the possible pricing for the past couple months, and that all became real this morning. The Canon 6D is packed with a whole lot to love, 20.2 megapixel, ISO range from 100-25600, Digic 5+, 11-point AF, and a 3-inch LCD all at a price that we were anticipating yesterday: $2099 USD.

What Canon Cameras to Expect Next

We have already seen Canon's mind-blowing lens roadmap for the RF mount, but now that the EOS R5 and R6 are here, what can we expect next in terms of cameras?

Watch This Free Headshot Tutorial From Peter Hurley's Illuminating the Face

When it comes to all things headshots and manipulating human expression, the best guy to seek council from is Peter Hurley. Peter's career has spanned about 15 years now, and over those years he has gained a tremendous amount of knowledge. Last year with the help from our friends at Profoto, Lee and I were able to film a supplemental free chapter to Peter's Illuminating the Face Tutorial. In this video Peter takes us outside to show some of the techniques he uses out on location.

How I Started Working as a Commercial Photographer

Becoming as a commercial photographer can't be defined with a formula. Each story is different but lots of stories share similar basic principles. They can be applied not only in the areas of photography and filmmaking, but also in other businesses.

More Bokeh but Less Light? Canon's Most Expensive 85mm Prime Just Got More Expensive

Canon just announced that it will launch its RF 85mm f/1.2 DS lens, where the “DS” stands for “Defocus Smoothing.” What does that mean exactly, and on a piece of gear that carries a hefty price tag, why doesn’t the fancy marketing mention that the lens lets in less light as a result of this funky new coating?

Canon Announces the 6D Mark II and SL2 Cameras

With perhaps one of the most hotly anticipated updates, Canon has announced the 6D Mark II, the second version of their popular budget full-frame camera, which now has some intriguing new features. They've also announced the SL2, the second version of their smallest DSLR. Check out the improvements to each model!

Mike Kelley Vs. Lee Morris: Whose Images Are Best?

I recently challenged Mike Kelley to a photography competition. We both had two and a half hours to photograph the iconic "Dome House" in Charleston, South Carolina. Today, you will get to vote on your favorite photographs and choose a winner.

Photographer Creates Eye-Catching Organic Portraits Using Plant Life

French photographer and digital artist Cal Redback has been creating images that bring new meaning to the term, "organic portraits." Sparked by a fascination with double exposures, Redback began to photograph friends along with local plant life, blending the two together to create a unique set of portraits that seem to take on a life of their own.

$10 Photoshoots? Ourspot: A Place to Hire Amateur Photographers

With the current state of the photography business flooded by part-time professionals, Ourspot (or something like it) was ultimately inevitable. The website, which launches in San Francisco today (New York and Los Angels coming soon), is an online marketplace where anyone can hire an amateur photographer for as little as free to as much as a few hundred bucks.

Mastering Sharp Focus in Landscape Photography: Hyperfocal Distance, Double Distance Method, and Focus Stacking Explained

Have you ever struggled to get your image from the foreground to the background in focus? As photographers, especially in the genre of landscapes, the ultimate goal is to achieve sharp focus from the foreground to infinity. Have you struggled with this in the past? You can use hyperfocal distance, double the distance method, and focus stacking techniques to achieve sharp focus from foreground to infinity. While a few of these methods can be challenging, with a little knowledge, they are more accessible than one might think.

30 Images Of Real Cities That Look Like Miniatures

Shallow depth of field is something we can enjoy when shooting portraits, insects, products and other small and/or close subjects. But when shooting wide shots of landscapes and cities, it's technically pretty much impossible to achieve this effect with our normal day to day lenses (assuming most of you don't carry tilt-shift lenses or tilt adapters). Of course some parts of the image will be out of focus, but the general effect wont be as noticeable as when shooting close subjects with open apertures. This is when Photoshop comes into play.

Behind The Scenes With The Nikon D810 For "Every Moment Counts"

Announced less than a month ago, the new Nikon D810 has made video DSLR shooters foam at the mouth with its long list of cinema-centric features. The crew from Cinescapes Collective got their hands on an early release of the D810 and put together a short film for Nikon Professional Services. Watch the BTS video to hear their thoughts on the Nikon D810, then read on for the final film and stills from the production.

What Does Obamacare Mean For Photographers?

Today registration opens around the country for the new Affordable Healthcare Plans (a.k.a. Obamacare) which will take effect on January 1, 2014. People on both sides of the fence are fired up and expressing their support or disgust for the plans. It got me thinking though: What does this mean for self-employed photographers?

Why a $9.99 Card Reader Will Complete Your Photography Setup

A chain is only as strong as the weakest link, so the proverb goes. We could modify that for photography and say that our processing is no faster than the slowest component. It's not necessarily about having the latest great-and-good, but rather about having matched components. And there's no better place to start than when offloading your photos from the camera.

Genius Little Technique to Add ND Filter to Tricky Lenses

This little DIY "hack" from MrCheesyCam on YouTube shows you how to add a 3 stop ND filter to lenses that you might otherwise not be able to (such as the MFT Rokinon Fisheye as shown in the video). All the components needed for this nifty little mod cost well under $10.

I've Screwed Up Many, Many Times… But It's Okay!

I've been shooting professionally for just over four years now – “professional” as in starting a legitimate business where I charge money to take photographs of my clients. We could wax poetic on the distinctions between “amateur” and “professional” that don’t involve the exchange of money, but the area that I want to focus on has to do with the responsibilities and perceptions that come along with people hiring you as a business.

An Easy Street Photography Project to Get You out There

Are you stuck in an artistic routine or struggling to become comfortable photographing people in the street? Try this simple project that'll get you out there, shooting and gaining confidence!

The DJI Zenmuse X5 Makes The Inspire 1 Worth Buying

When DJI announced the Inspire 1 drone, I didn't get it. It was a much larger and more expensive quadcopter that had only a slightly better camera attached to it. I had no interest in the Inspire 1 until they announced the new Zenmuse X5 Micro 4/3 camera/gimbal system. I currently have one and I can tell you, it's pretty amazing.

Use This Camera Hack to Make Soap Bubbles Look Like Planets

With just a few simple ingredients and a couple of camera hacks, you can make these otherworldly photos at home on a budget. From the comfort of your own living room, you'll be able to capture images reminiscent of those famous iPhone wallpapers.