These Are The First Photo Prints I've Made In 10 Years

It's strange to think that I have been a photographer for over 10 years now, yet I have never printed my own work larger than an 8x10. Unfortunately we live in an age where sharing low res digital photos on social media has become the end all be all for the majority of our images. Recently I decided to celebrate some of my favorite personal photographs by printing them LARGE and installing them in the Fstoppers Studio. The resulting 60"x40" acrylic prints I made through WhiteWall.com has me wondering why it has taken me this long to install fine art on my own walls.

How to Recover Skin Texture from Over-Exposed Highlights

A common issue that we're often faced with when using hard light modifiers such as a beauty dish or open reflector, is that of over-exposed highlights on our subject's forehead, nose and under eye areas, which also results in lost skin texture in those regions. While raw processors offer up the ability to recover highlight detail, this rarely leads to satisfactory results. In this tutorial I'll show you how to recover the texture while leaving the overall luminosity in-tact to produce a well-balanced result.

Fstoppers Reviews the Samyang AF 24mm and 35mm f/2.8 FE Lenses for Sony

In the last two years, Samyang has introduced a number of autofocus prime lenses specifically for Sony’s FE mount and, having recently bought the Sony a7 III, two in particular caught my eye: the 24mm and 35mm f/2.8. These tiny lenses have been in my bag for the last month and I think they’re fantastic value for money with unexpected performance given their size.

Improve Your Composition by Not Fixating on These 5 Things

Curiosity and fascination are very helpful things that can fuel a photographer to capture stunning images. However, as we get inspired by spectacular things that we see, it is necessary that we also have composure to make the most out of whatever we are photographing.

Sony Teases New Alpha Camera Announcement Next Week

The full frame mirrorless camera world has been majorly heating up in the last year or so, with Canon in particular challenging Sony's place at the top of the technological development race with the EOS R5. Now, Sony is preparing to strike back, teasing a new Alpha camera that will be announced next week.

More Exciting Canon Lenses Are on the Way

We know that Canon is bringing a lot of new RF mirrorless lenses to market fairly soon, and it looks like we have more information coming in, with some exciting news on new designs.

Playing With Shadows

When shooting an ingredient shot, shadows can make or break an image. Sometimes you want less noticeable shadows while other times dark shadows can add a lot to an image. In the case of this pomegranate, I shot it both ways. Let me show you how playing with the shadows will have a dramatic effect on your final image.

Ello...Do You Come Here Often?

If you are an active user on Facebook (and not living under a rock), you have surely seen status updates and links referring to your friend's profiles on the new social network, Ello. But as a working photographer or cinematographer, is investing time into another social network really worth it?

TSA Confiscates Blower Because "It Could Fly Like a Missile"

Of the things photographers should consider not putting into their carry-on luggage, the Giottos Rocket is pretty high up there. Generally the reason is that it somehow resembles a bomb. Even if the resemblance only exists in Looney Tunes. However, that isn't why CanonRumors user Surapon lost his. Nope, this reason is legit even dumber.

Fstoppers Photographer of the Month (August 2020): Emily Moore [NSFW]

The Fstoppers community is brimming with creative vision and talent. Every day, we comb through your work, looking for images to feature as the Photo of the Day or simply to admire your creativity and technical prowess. In 2020, we're featuring a new photographer every month, whose portfolio represents both stellar photographic achievement and a high level of involvement within the Fstoppers community.

Great Tips On Shooting Handheld Video

Last week I was at Disney with my family and had my DSLR with me to get some good photos, but I hadn't planned on shooting video and there was no way I was going to haul a video rig with me around the park even if I had planned on it. When I shot video I made sure to lean on something stable and let stationary objects do some of the work for me without the shake of my hand affecting the shots.

My Daily Exercise to Improve My Photography Skills

I have mentioned before that I am always seeking new ways to improve. Today, I want to share one of my daily initiatives that I religiously employ, and that’s my daily color exploration.

Weird Gear Buying Advice I Wish I Got Earlier

There is a ton of gear buying advice on the internet. It ranges from people telling you to spend thousands on gear, to people saying all you need is a stick and a brick. I try to be somewhere in between and buy gear based on factors such as return on investment, need versus want, and return on creativity.

6 Ways to Survive a Wedding As a Photographer (When You’re Not the Photographer)

Recently I had the distinct honor of being a groomsman in a close friend’s wedding. It’s a lot of hurry and stand while remembering where to look. The pressure really is more on the two people getting married to remember their lines: “I do.” But as part of the wedding party, you also get the full brunt of posing, smiling and cheesing it up for the wedding photographer.

First Images From the Sony a9 Mirrorless Camera - Sports Photography With Full-Frame Stacked Sensor and 20fps

Last week Sony unveiled their most ambitious Alpha camera to date with the a9. The 24.2-megapixel mirrorless camera takes on the general form factor of previous a7 II bodies and packs in their latest photo technology with a strong emphasis on autofocus, speed, and removing distractions such as shutter noise and screen blackout in continuous shooting. This all adds up to a product that has the potential to make a large impact on the sports photography scene. Today I'm excited to share a number of images I shot with the Sony a9 of a range of track and field events plus hockey and ice skating.

New York Court Rules That by Posting on Instagram, This Photographer Gave up Her Exclusive Licensing Rights

There’s been much confusion and many legal dramas in recent years surrounding the use of images in online articles, particularly the legality of a picture embedded from social media. Now, a New York federal court has sided with Mashable after they faced legal action from a photographer who was unhappy they embedded her Instagram post into their article.

Nikon Is Likely Done Creating New DSLRs

In news that really isn't a surprise to many, Nikon will likely no longer develop any new DSLR cameras, now turning their focus entirely to their mirrorless lineup.

Get More Money From Your Image Library

If you are like me, your image library is full of personal shoots and client images that were never used. Instead of just letting those images collect dust on your hard drives, now these images may have a new home. The people at Image Brief partner with designers and advertisers and pair them with photographers who may just have that perfect image for their campaign.

Does The Profoto Frost Dome Make A Difference At All?

For years photographers and YouTube commenters have been telling us that in order to get the most out of our Profoto B1 and D1 lights, we need to add the Profoto Frosted Glass Dome to our strobes. Today I test this add-on to see if it makes a difference at all, and the results are surprising.

How to Quickly Light and Composite Architectural Interiors

A great portion of my business is spent on architectural photography. My technique involves using a mixture of ambient light, flash, and tungsten hot lights blended and masked together in post to create well lit images that are time consuming to shoot and often frustrating to edit. I'm always looking for other techniques and resources to incorporate that will allow me to work more efficiently and/or improve my images. This week I found such a technique right under my nose.

The 20 Minute Time-Lapse Guide by Dustin Farrell

Last year Dustin Farrell released a video that gave a quick walkthrough of his time-lapse workflow, we covered it here. He briefly introduced his workflow for shooting and processing his images from camera to export. Last week he released another video which takes a much closer look at the process behind his images.

Getting Paid to Become a Better Photographer

I often see instructional videos and one-on-one tutorials with amazing photographers on various websites and while many of them are amazing and full of valuable information, they usually cost several hundred dollars. There are a lot of photographers that I would love to have a one-on-one tutorial with, but often it is just not in my budget. While I like to stay as busy as possible with my own photography business, in my free time I'll sometimes come across good opportunities. When I started assisting in my spare time, I quickly found that I could learn as much, if not more, than if I was watching a tutorial or having a one-on-one conversation with an experienced photographer — and I get paid to do it.

Learn The Many Uses of White Seamless with Zack Arias

There are shooters who spend 100's if not 1000's of dollars on courses to learn what you can learn in these two videos from DEDPXL. In them commercial, editorial photographer Zack Arias goes into great detail on how to light your subjects with a seamless white background set up. Learn everything from studio dimensions, light and model positioning, camera and light settings, post production, equipment use, taking the background from black to white and more tips and tricks then you can retain in one viewing.