How Commercial Photographer Aaron Anderson Shot 'The Ranch'

Photographer Aaron Anderson has once again created an amazing set of images that came from an idea he could not shake. It's often been said that anyone can do something once but to keep coming back with impressive results is what differentiates the best from the rest.

What is the Best Way to Fire the Shutter?

It is surely the simplest of operations — instructing the camera when to take a photo. Surprisingly, for such a straight forward task, there are a myriad of ways to actuate the shutter. What are they and what is the best?

Nikon D850 Converts 35mm Film In-Camera

The Nikon D850 is all over every photography blog and for good reason. One feature isn't getting too much spotlight though, the ability of the D850 to act as a super high-res 35mm film scanner, converting said image in-camera. Like many Nikon enthusiasts, I stayed awake for the highly anticipated official D850 press release from Nikon this past Thursday. Much akin to my reactions during most of the Game of Thrones season 7 finale, I let out a giddy squeal when I read this short line in the Nikon press release:

A Hilarious Story About Photographing the President of the United States

Monte Isom is a super successful commercial photographer based out of New York City. However, before he made a career of his own, he assisted some of the biggest names in the photography world. In this video he recaps his experience shooting the president of the United States of America.

Small, Mighty, and Safe: We Review the Synology 1 TB BeeDrive

Backup and storage solutions are 10 a penny these days, and with so much choice, knowing which ones to choose becomes increasingly more difficult. Each of these solutions has its own advantages and disadvantages. Whether that's cost, security, compatibility, or capacity, these solutions can range in price from free to hundreds of dollars per year.

Image Stabilization, Vibration Reduction, and In Body Image Stabilization Is Overrated

When it is time to buy a camera, image stabilization can be something that is on the bucket list of must haves. Image stabilization makes it possible to shoot with longer shutter times than normal, preventing the use of a tripod. There are many different implementations of image stabilization, but it is not the Holy Grail. You could say image stabilization is overrated.

Series Entitled Egarement Takes Levitation To The Next Level

Using just basic props and a lot of attention to detail, French photographer, Cerise Doucede has manage to create images that captivate, and inspire. In the series entitled “Egarements” (French for distraction), Cerise has spent approximately 3 days of prep time for each photo, creating images of levitation that boggle the mind.

The Number One Killer of Creativity

There is nothing quite as heartbreaking as the actual moment when your creativity is quashed. There are lots of culprits that can lead up to that moment, but I find that it's often traceable to a single action (or inaction) by another party.

Magic Lantern RAW Video Workflow Tutorial

So as a lot of you have probably seen, you can now record full 1080p 14Bit Raw video on the Canon 5D Mark II and Mark III. This is truely incredible. However, you can not just import the video and get to editing right away. To be able to use the RAW video, you have to convert the RAW files to DNG. Here is a quick workflow tutorial on how to do that. It's really not that hard to do, just a little time consuming.

Dan Winters Shoots Benedict Cumberbatch for the Cover of TIME

Two things you can't get enough of: Benedict Cumberbatch and Dan Winters. Cumberbatch stars in The Imitation Game - opening next week - as Alan Turing. Dan Winters photographs him for the cover of TIME. Dan Winters' perfect attention to detail is on full display here - personally building various set pieces and even having an authentic WWII Enigma machine hand-delivered from a museum six hours away.

The Photographer's Manifesto

I have seen absolutely beautiful things happen in the photo industry. I've seen strangers become best friends, I've seen grand ideas being brought to life, and I've seen photographers grow from beginners to mentors. I've seen so many things that make me proud to be a part of such an amazing community. The sad news is that I've also seen the uglier side of it. I've seen jealousy turn into bad-mouthing, I've seen photographers knowingly leave out key techniques from classes or talks, and I've seen new photographers become discouraged and disheartened by the cold shoulders of the more popular photographers in the industry.

100+ Million ISO May Not Be Far Away!

Some of you may remember this article that I wrote a while back in which I touched on the benefits of capturing wide-spectrum light rays with photographic sensors, and while I haven't seen anything about single-pixel detectors hitting the consumer market anytime soon, I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll soon be able to see some of these benefits anyway with the help of one of the lightest industrial materials on earth - Graphene!

Hold Your Breath: The Healing of Photography Underwater

As large as the photography community is in a whole, it seems small and intimate when a crisis attacks one of our own. We have seen photographers unite and rally when another is hit with tragedy. However the way one couple decided to deal with the crisis themselves leads to a whole new way of thinking for personal projects and photography shoots.

Do You Use Yesterday's Camera Tech?

Were you one of the early adopters who jumped to a Fuji X series, selling your extensive Canon camera body and lens range, to be thoroughly unimpressed with the image quality to then jump back? Or did you fork out on a PhaseONE medium format, drooling over that dreamy tonal range to then see Pentax release the rather good 645Z for a quarter of the price a year later? Enter the "Yesterday's Tech" purchasing model.

Shooting for Free - Is It Worth It?

As a full-time freelance photographer, we often ask ourselves why we should work for free, especially at the start of our careers. Are we being taken for a ride, or is it worth investing in our client for possible future returns?

[News] It's Official: Canon 5DMkIII's Backlight Affects Exposure

Canon has issued a product advisory for the 5D MkIII, admitting that the company's newest addition currently on shelves has some issues exposing correctly while the backlight is on. Canon is working on the issue, but has not yet stated anything specific about possible solutions...

Sony a9 Firmware Update 5.0: What I Love and What's Still Missing

Sony just recently released one of the biggest firmware updates I have ever seen from the company. With so many feature additions and upgraded functionality, I wanted to walk through my favorite items. Not only that, but I also want to talk through some things I feel are still missing.

Using a 35mm Lens for Environmental Portraits

While you can use almost any lens to make an environmental portrait, there are a combination of features that make the 35mm a great choice for this style of portraiture.

Canon Announces Availability and Pricing of New EOS M

Canon has announced the pricing, specs, and availability of the new mirrorless, the EOS M camera! It is launching with the new 22mm f/2 STM lens as a kit for $799, and the new EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens, Mount Adapter EF-EOS M and Speedlite 90EX will all be available in October at an estimated retail price of $299.99, $199.99 and $149.99 respectively.

A Love for Adapted Lenses Leads One Photographer on a Journey to a Slower Pace

If you're in the photography game, either professionally or passionately, you've undoubtedly been overcome by the tingly, musing desire to buy some new gear that maybe you didn't need. You know, the stuff that clicks and shines and makes you dream of meandering the streets of New Delhi or the Highlands of Scotland on a golden, breezy morning. Michigan-based wedding and portrait photographer Rachel Schomsky is a self-professed "glass addict" who never thought her constant tinkering with vintage and adapted lenses would lead her on path of rediscovery with Lensbaby's new Velvet 56 manual focus lens.
Learn Inexpensive Ways To Create Gallery-Style Works Of Art

If you're not tuned in to creativeLIVE right now, you should be! Today through Saturday May 18, creativeLIVE is hosting award-winning portrait photogrpaher, Brooke Shaden. Brooke is teaching some great tips to create eye-catching works of art without any flash or expensive studio props.

Have 10K Instagram Followers? Then You Get to Stay Free at This Hotel

To be categorized in the "strange yet brilliant ideas" bin, the 1888 Hotel in Sydney, Australia is coining themselves as the first "Instagram Hotel" with their architecture both inspired by and made for Instagram shots. What results is actually a really well-designed space that's fitting for the most discerning hipster... a hipster who can stay for free if they have at least 10,000 Instagram followers.

[Gear] 2.5K Resolution For Under $3000!

Black Magic Design has just announced a crazy new cinema camera that records to 2.5K RAW for under $3000. That's incredibly cheap for a camera that has features that most high end DSLR's are currently lacking.

Leica Announces the SL2 Full-Frame Mirrorless Camera: My First-Hand Impressions

Leica has just announced its successor to its full-frame mirrorless camera, and it just might be a sign they are listening to the demands of professional photographers. The Leica SL2 has a 47.3-megapixel sensor, an updated Maestro III processor, and is capable of 20 fps bursts. It can shoot video up to 5K 30 fps, C4K 60 fps, and has 5-axis IBIS.

Preorder Fstoppers Newest Tutorial, 'Photographing the World With Elia Locardi 3'

Fstoppers is heading back out on the road with Elia Locardi to film the latest installment of "Photographing the World." This time time around, the gang will be heading to the Alps, Dubai, and a few countries in South America as they explore even more advanced landscape techniques and post processing. Now is your chance to sign up for early bird access to Elia's new tutorial and to watch a sneak peek video of Elia's crazy travel lifestyle courtesy of Smugmug!

This 360° Spherical Panorama Video Takes Panoramas To The Next Level

Photojournalist Jonas Ginter always wanted to take the idea of the still-2D spherical panoramas and somehow make them in video format. It took him 2 years to develop the idea and tools, but finally last week he achieved his goal. Jonas used a 3D printer to build a special mount that holds 6 GoPro cameras, and placed them as close as possible to each other to make sure they overlap. The result is simply great.