What I Learned From a 16 Year Old Shooting the NY Times Magazine Cover

I'm guilty in being the one telling myself that if I had the gear I wanted, I would go out and shoot the projects I wanted to shoot. So nothing happens until I actually buy the gear. What you and I know is that it's not the gear, it's the person, the patience and the will to do great work that makes your photography a force to be reckoned with. And I've realized that the photographs I look at most, of my own and photographers I admire, are the candid images of models in the greenroom before they go out on the catwalk, or the model I'm shooting for a test, where the moment between shots appear and capture her walking to my instructed area.

The Importance of a Legal Contract in Wedding Photography

Most of the times, wedding photography is looked at as this big ball of happiness, glam, and glitz where two hearts come together to exchange eternal vows and so many people come together to celebrate it in a grand way. Now that’s the fun part. From a wedding photographer’s eyes, there’s a lot more to it. From client communication to shooting to editing to delivery, there are so many things that a wedding photographer juggles around before signing a project off happily. One of the most important parts of it is the legal contract.

Finally a Pro Gimbal At a Great Price of $249

The Zhiyun WEEBILL 3E gimbal represents a significant evolution in the WEEBILL series, offering advanced features and performance tailored to meet the needs of professional videographers and filmmakers at the right price. Having used this now for the last number of weeks, I want to share my thoughts through this review that will examine the design, functionality, performance, and overall value of the WEEBILL 3E, providing an in-depth understanding of why it might become a favored choice in the gimbal market.

The Genius "Astro: Time-Lapse And Motion Control" On KickStarter

Industrial Engineers, Oscar Ramírez and Carlos Pendas, have come up with what seems to be the most simple and intuitive motion controlled pan/tilt intervalometers I have yet to see, and looks like it will be a breeze to setup and use (even for a moron like myself). Simply put, the Astro has 3 controlling discs that you have to set: Top disc sets duration, middle disc controls the rotation, and the bottom disc sets the interval.

Tips for Shooting Landscapes in Tourist-Heavy Locations

What do you do if that one location you want to photograph on your trip just happens to be one that hundreds if not thousands of other people also want to photograph? It can be a tricky situation to navigate. Sometimes it can be straight up frustrating. After too many instances where I found myself just being irritated, I found a few different ways to approach my shots of popular destinations that allowed me to capture what I wanted without having to feel like I was fighting crowds just for my shot.

Are Photoshop Plugins Still Relevant?

As Adobe’s Creative Cloud continues to grow, so does its most loved software, Photoshop. Over the years, Photoshop has single-handedly expanded its offering of creative tools to thousands of people across the globe, serving all types of industries from photography and design to forensics and astronomy.

Ten Regrets I Have as a Professional Photographer

If you had your time again, would you change anything about your photography career? Here are 10 regrets I have accumulated while practicing as a professional photographer for the last decade.

How To Spin A Camera Around A Building

The folks at Candy Glass Productions have posted a cool tutorial on how to spin a camera around a building, using the CN Tower in Toronto as an example. This would be an awesome technique to highlight a landmark from a vacation if you're throwing together a video for friends and family. You could also scale down this technique for use on a portrait subject for any mixed media projects.

How to Mix Daylight with LED Light

In this video from The Slanted Lens, photographer Jay P Morgan takes you behind the scenes at East West Bank as he shoots a two camera interview of two executives. By mixing daylight with LED light, he shows you how to blend a single LED light source with natural window light while on location.

The Secrets of a Cinematic Look and Feel

No, it's not by adding black bars or shooting in slow motion. There's much more to the skill of making your videos look like the movies.

Using Third-Party Batteries Can Corrupt Your Video Files

Last week we were filming the second video ever using our new GH5s, and one of the cameras ran out of batteries in the middle of a take. At the time, we didn't think anything of it and we simply replaced the battery and continued filming. When we transferred all of the footage after the shoot, one of the video clips was corrupt and we had to re-film the entire project.

Adapt or Perish: AI Is to Digital What Digital Was to Analog

AI this, AI that. I know, we're all getting a bit fatigued with the conversation. But, the truth is, it is looking as if it will be the next major evolution in many industries, photography included. And so, it's worth reminding ourselves that we must adapt or perish.
Need for Speed: Fstoppers Reviews the Mitakon Zhongyi 50mm f/0.95 Lens for Sony FE

There aren't too many people in the f/0.95 club. Until fairly recently, it was a ludicrously expensive badge of honor, typically worn by Leica-toting physicians and hedge fund managers. After all, the legendary Leica Noctilux 50mm f/0.95 costs just shy of $10,000. Of course, there are some micro four thirds options. But those don't really count, do they? All that changed in April of 2014, when Mitakon announced their "SpeedMaster" 50mm f/0.95. After spending the better part of a month shooting it, I'm almost a believer... almost.

Finding Your Own Photographic Style, and Why It’s So Important

Should you think more about having a coherent and distinctive style to your photography? If you want to raise your game, then finding your own look is imperative. There's one surefire way of developing that. However, some big obstacles will try to trip you up along the way.

Rooftop Photographer Facing Serious Charges for Climbing Ben Franklin Bridge

On July 25, New York-based Photographer Martin J. Romero-Clark was apprehended due to climbing Ben Franklin Bridge to take some urban scenic photos. As a matter of course, it is dangerous and an illegal act to climb on a bridge, but now he is facing three felonies, each may carry a sentence of up to seven years.

Nine Things To Do When You Don’t Know What To Photograph

There are moments when it's difficult to go out photographing. Perhaps the weather is too bad, or it becomes dark too soon during wintertime. I have a couple of suggestions to spend these periods with less inspiration in a useful way.

Fstoppers Reviews the Fujifilm XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR Zoom Lens

The Fujifilm XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR lens fills a gap in the Fujifilm lens lineup that was previously unfilled. With its red badge that denotes Fujifilm’s top-of-the-line lenses, this standard zoom equivalent for the Fujifilm X system is squarely aimed at the working professional.

Learn How To Composite Like A Pro

I'm sure by now most of you have tried to attempt a composite. I know when I first started to piece them together I was left with what could only be described as a cheesy mess that should not even be called a photograph. There are so many intricate details that go into making a believable composite. Perspective, color matching, how good a selection you made,ect... all play a important role in having a finished product. After several failed attempts at composites I gave up. Then I came across this tutorial. It gave me hope that maybe I can make a believable composite.

The Real Story Behind Rudy Giuliani's Time Magazine Photoshoot

For many photographers, taking portraits of celebrities, athletes, and government officials seems like the pinnacle of a successful business. Sometimes, however, those jobs require an insane amount of work, risk, and safety precautions to pull off the shot. In today's Story Time With Monte Isom, we look at how Gregory Heisler captured Time's Man of the Year cover with NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani.

A Complete Guide to Mastering Lightroom Masking (Part 1)

There are a lot of great tools available for editing, and my favorite techniques tend to have large impacts for little effort. Lightroom's masking tool does this better than anything else I've ever used. This guide will teach you everything you could possibly want to know about Lightroom masking regardless of your skill level.

DIY 3 Point Lighting For $26!

DIY photo/video gear projects can almost always save you a few bucks if you have the skills and time to make it. But there are a few DIY gems out there that can save you hundreds of dollars, if not more. One of these gems is stillmotion's tutorial on 3 point lighting for video interviews made from a whopping total of $26! They did a great job of pinching every penny while still yielding a great DIY product. If you end up trying this (or variations of it) we'd love to see your outcome in the comments below. Enjoy!

The 7 Traits of Successful Photographers

Over my years as a fashion photographer and retoucher I’ve made contact and had conversations with countless other photographers. I’ve watched some of them flourish and some of them flounder. Those that rise above the competition and make their mark in the industry seem to embody a certain set of traits or characteristics that help in their success.

Why the Best Camera for Beginners Isn't Their Phone

A common piece of advice for photography beginners is to use your phone to take images, as it's a powerful camera in the right hands. I used to give this advice too, but after a lot of thought, I realized I was wrong.

Removing Distractions From Your Photographs

So, how do you shoot at the legendary Disney Concert Hall without breaking their rule of 'No Professional Photography'? You do it with finesse. Benjamin Von Wong was faced with the task of shooting the Trio Dinicu at the location without looking like a professional photographer. In this behind the scenes video he shows you how he accomplished that and also walks you through cleaning any distractions from your photo using Photoshop.

Five Highly Underrated Camera Features

Most of us gravitate toward a few key features in cameras: things like ISO range, continuous burst rate, etc. Here are five camera features I think do not get enough credit.

Photographing a Stranger Is Easy: Here's How

Shooting someone's portrait can be a very personal experience. Even in a controlled environment such as a studio, the success of an image often depends on a photographer's ability to establish a rapport with their subject. That is difficult enough at the best of times, but what about those occasions when you don’t control the environment, such as photographing total strangers in the street?

The Nik Collection Will Be Back in 2018

The Nik Collection was a highly popular editing suite that was eventually purchased by Google, who made it free, but also unfortunately abandoned development of the project. DxO bought the collection in October of this year and has now set the middle of next year as the date of its rerelease.