There's a lot of negativity and poor advice on photography on the internet, and that can put off amateur photographers — photographers who would otherwise go on to become full-time professionals. So, here's some of the best advice for amateur photographers who want to make it.
The dreaded 2016 has come to an end and from the ashes has risen a brand new year filled with creative opportunity. Everyone wants to be better this year than they were last year, no matter what year it is and 2017 will be no different. Improvement, however, doesn't just happen, it begins with a plan. If you don't have one, you need one. Antoine De Saint-Exupéry once wrote: "A goal without a plan is a wish." He was right, stop waiting for a road to being a better photographer to reveal itself and instead start paving one for yourself.
Some photographers still believe that it’s important to shoot in manual mode, no matter what situation they’re in. As long as the correct exposure is achieved, it isn’t important if this is done manually or partly by the camera itself. But sometimes, manual is indeed the best choice.
I'm no app designer, but the latest Instagram update seems like an absolutely terrible idea.
Residents in London’s affluent Notting Hill are complaining that their streets are becoming overrun with Instagram influencers staging photoshoots.
When LG invited me to their OLED exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London, my ears pricked up. This is for two reasons: the first is that a couple of years ago, I wrote a piece on OLED lighting and how I think it will change how photographers light their subjects in the coming years. The second is because, well, I love technology. LG's OLED 4K TVs and monitors are the epitome of digital clarity, and while I suspected that to be the case, seeing it in the flesh did more than confirm my suspicions.
When the Sony World Photography Awards (WPA) suddenly decided to remove photographs of Hong Kong protests from its website, it destroyed its credibility as a competition. If the decisions of the judges are being edited to avoid upsetting the Chinese government, how is this not censorship?
You don't have to look too far right now to see terms like crypto art and NFT being banded around. What is all the fuss about? And what could this "gold rush" mean for photographers?
Yesterday a cyber attack hit corporations, governments, organizations, and home users as well, and according to the press, it keeps spreading around the globe. This cyber attack is a ransomware called "WanaCrypt0r 2.0" and it encrypts the data on Windows-based computers. This is quite terrifying for photographers too, as there is still a risk for those who work on Windows PCs and keep their photo archive on PC-mounted hard drives.
The guys that brought you the Lume Cube are at it again with a Kickstarter to bring an even more powerful and portable light source for on the go photographers. The original Lume Cube is waterproof, features Bluetooth syncing, and has a build quality easily giving GoPro a run for its money. The Life Lite is all that but in an even smaller package at an incredibly enticing price point.
We’ve all been there; the studio is set, the model is awkwardly waiting, but the light isn’t quite right and the stress begins to build. With every test shot, the light quality increases and the anxiety level decreases. Finally, like a blast of cool breeze on a hot day, everything clicks into place. The light is perfect.
It may feel like Capture One Pro 8 was just released not too long ago, but Phase One isn’t slowing down the development of their beloved raw converter and photo editing software. Today, Capture One Pro 9 was released and it is their best image processor ever.
The standard motto regarding photography equipment is "invest in glass" with good reason. While sensor technology certainly has a tremendous impact on the quality of the photograph, the real limitation often lies in the optics. One need only look at the difference between a kit lens and a top-level prime to prove this. However, new methods of image processing may soon alter the
In the past few years, the growing number of wedding photographers and their vast range of prices have made finding your value as a photographer challenging. This series of articles will help you to navigate your prices to meet your goals and earn your worth as a wedding photographer.
The Perseid Meteor Shower peak has come and gone for 2021. This year the Moon’s interference was minimal, setting early in the evening around the predicted peak days, but luck always plays a major role in anyone’s success.
A lot of photographers seem to fall for promises that presets make, and sometimes, they are true. There are packs out there that give decent results. But the problem with presets is that they do the creative work for you instead of helping you be the creative you wish to be. And that is what is holding you back. But what if there's one unique preset that will distinguish your work from everyone else's? You can't buy it, but you can develop it. Here's how.
Even if you don't recall the name Dixie Dixon I bet you will recognize her images. Over the past few years Dixie has been taking the fashion industry by storm and we are excited that her first major workshop will be taking place at Fstoppers Workshop Atlantis in the Bahamas this year.
Google recently demonstrated research that makes the process of identifying and removing watermarks from images automatic, which would obviously introduce a huge problem for stock agencies. Luckily, they also showed an easy solution for protecting the images.
Peak Design is responsible for running some of the most successful Kickstarter projects to date. The company has now launched updates to its existing series of popular Everyday bags while adding a few new ones into the mix. This time, they’re even skipping Kickstarter: everything ships today.
The mania surrounding food photography is a pretty recent phenomenon. In the last decade, what used to be a niche in photography took social media by storm and ever since has been one of the favorite topics for a huge amount of accounts. It is supposedly the second most popular subject of photography fanatics on Instagram after the selfie tsunami. I sat down to talk with Hein van Tonder, a food photographer carving his way into the food royalty.
How many of you have ever been to a national park or hiking trail only to find people disregarding the rules and trails all in pursuit of an ever better selfie or photo for Instagram? Then check out this Instagram account that's getting traction right now for calling out those very people and their bad behavior.
In a fun and unique approach that combines many different facets of art and multimedia, production group CanCanClub out of Buenos Aires worked with Antonio Balseiro from Gazz and 1st Ave Machine, Art Director Hernán Aragunde, and the crew from Nintendo to create a 30-second commercial for "Paper Mario Sticker Star." In this first of two behind the scenes videos, you catch a peek at the live action video shot,
Willow Creek is what Sven Dreesbach calls a “proof of concept and workflow” for an eventual surf film he’d like to make – but, as it stands, it’s a short film that achieves a lot in its own right. Shot with an iPhone 5s and color-graded using Davinci Resolve, Dreesbach produced a very moving piece of cinema that has an erie but mystical vibe to it - thanks in part to the Ry X track Shortline accompanying the film. Sven was gracious enough to talk with Fstoppers a bit about the hows and whys behind crafting this stunning short film.
Peak Design is known for their functional designs of camera accessories that are coupled with sleek and modern aesthetics, and the Everyday Sling is no different. Available in three sizes: 3L, 6L, and 10L, the Everyday Sling has you covered whatever your shooting and wherever your travels take you.
Today, Panasonic released details about their upcoming fixed-lens cameras, the DC-FZ1000 II bridge camera with 16x zoom and DC-ZS80 compact with 30x zoom (24-720mm!).
In the world of digital photography, our discussion topic has always revolved around equipment, software tricks, and tips for getting better images. But deep down, we should know that data management discipline after every shoot is also crucially important. After all, what is there to edit and publish if there is mishandling of our photo files?
Like any specialist occupation, photography is an expensive one. There are big savings that can make it affordable for the professional, some of which can help the amateur too.
When most think about maternity photography, the visual is light airy looks with flowers wrapping the soon to be mother. However there have been many changes in the way photographers are shooting this genre and many photographers want to break the stereotype.
I read articles on here all the time about wedding photographers losing all of their gear while traveling, break-ins at studios, and general destruction of camera gear. In spite of all of this, I decided to cancel my equipment insurance.
The latest M4 MacBook Pro marks another substantial upgrade in Apple’s pro laptop lineup, bringing a blend of powerful performance and practical new features. I've used it over the past week, and here are my thoughts.
