So you might have heard the rumblings this week that Photobucket is holding users' photos ransom after a recent change in their Terms of Service. The long and short of it is that free accounts can no longer embed their images on third party sites. Photobucket's failure to inform users with anything besides the quick blog post linked above has caused an uproar amongst their millions of users; many of whom have relied on the image hosting service for years to provide storage for anything from photos for blog posts to online sale listings on Amazon and eBay.

Shoots that run smoothly will always produce better pictures and keep clients happy. Use this detailed checklist to avoid any major headaches and improve the chances that your next photoshoot is a huge success.

Since its first version, Photoshop has changed quite a lot. The functionalities it offers are greater now than ever before. But plugins are legion and for beginners it is hard to differentiate the ones that are truly useful and those that are just a waste of money. The Retouching Academy Beauty Panel has been around for a little while and was revamped very recently. I use it all the time when retouching but I get many questions about it. I am frequently asked if it is worth its price and if it makes my retouching any better. Here is my take on the panel, why I bought it, and above all, why I keep using it everyday.

No, I don't mean car chases, transforming CG robots, and explosions. I'm talking about small budget videos and films that sometimes require a lot more investment than you or your clients might think.

Camera straps are about as ubiquitous as cameras themselves. If it weren't for the dreadfully uncomfortable ones that come with most cameras, you'd think they're pretty hard to get wrong. Most third party ones are at least adequate, or better, so what can someone do to stand out? We've spent the past month with four custom hand-made-to-order leather straps, in the form of a wrist strap, two neck straps, and even a unique TLR strap from the Deadcameras lineup. Do they have what it takes to stand out in an endless sea of straps? Let's find out.

When starting out in photography, you are immediately blasted with dozens of potential cameras you can buy. Picking the right one can be one difficult task. When buying a camera, you are not only investing in a device, but rather in a system of lenses, accessories, and much more. This is why picking the first camera is often a very important choice. In this article, we will see which cameras are the best for beginners. The last one might surprise a few of you.

While there's no such thing as one bag for all purposes, Wotancraft may have come pretty darn close with their Trooper. Read on for our take on this modular military-style messenger.

For many photographers, separating your subject from the background can be a time-consuming nightmare. What if you could just click your camera's shutter once and have a perfect mask ready in your camera? Freemask by Hensel lets you do that.

For quite some time now, there have been plenty of flash options available for the Fujifilm X system. Fuji themselves have released several flashes, Nissin and Metz have also had some good offerings. However, many have been waiting for the big names like Profoto and Elinchrom to offer full Fujifilm X support and bring some serious power to the system. Over the past couple of weeks, Godox has announced and released two new products to bring their entire system to Fujifilm X users. The first of which we will meet today, the TT350F Thinklite Flash.

Last year, I reviewed the Profoto B1 Strobe, and named it the best strobe on the market today. Phottix is looking to take that crown with their newly released Indra500 TTL, a 500w/s studio strobe with an optional battery pack. What puts it ahead of the competition? How about TTL built in, as well as High Speed Sync.

The Nikon D800 is an impressive 36mp which puts in the same realm as SOME medium format cameras. The Camera Store decided to film a video comparing the D800 and the similarly equipped Hasselblad H4D which has a 40 megapixel sensor. The Hasselblad has the advantage of a much larger sensor and a better, sharper lens but the D800 censor is designed to shoot at higher ISOs. Which camera will win each test? You'll have to watch to find out.

Once your photos improve after practicing photography for a while, they will likely also attract a larger audience. And at some point, you might be asked if your photos are for sale. It is how I got into selling my images as prints more than ten years ago. In this article, I share an easy way to get started.

When you’re in the market for buying a new monitor, you’re probably overwhelmed by a host of specifications. Size, resolution, color gamut, and panel technology can make all the difference when you look for a new screen to edit your photos on. As a photographer, not all specs are that important. Dynamic contrast for instance; a feature that adjusts brightness and contrast according to what's on the screen at a given moment. In this guide, we’re focusing on buying a monitor that is geared specifically towards post-processing.

Being an artist isn't easy, especially when the world is against our way of life and creation. The artist life is discouraging for sure, and every once in a while I still have days where I just want to lay in bed. I have learned that you can't let yourself have many of these days if you want to be great, there's always someone else who's pushing through it. Whether you're a professional or just a hobbyist, being uninspired sucks. Luckily there are so many things you can do to beat the gloom and keep on creating.