Have you ever wondered what makes a successful photographer? History can teach us a direction we should consider taking, and it may mean upsetting some along the way. But perhaps they deserve it.
Our video camera of choice is currently the Panasonic GH5 but we also occasionally shoot with our Nikon D850, and our iPhones. We happen to have gimbals for each of these cameras and so today, we compared them.
Developing an idea for a memorable photoshoot is not an easy task. It involves concentration, creativity, discipline, managing skills, and much more depending on the type of photoshoot. Often, we start with a barely visible image in our head. But having a strong sense what we want, will help us develop it into a final, achievable visual. An inspiration is a crucial part of this algorithm. Everything can serve as an inspiration: from a dress to a hair color you saw on someone; from music to a movie you watched last night; from a color at the shop counter to a tree in your backyard. When you have something realistic to build your theme upon, things get easy. But what do you do when you have no idea where to shoot it? Your mobile phone can be your savior here.
Admit it, we have all done it. Whether you used Napster to download music illegally when you were in highschool, made a mixed tape for a friend, or put music behind your last Youtube video, none of us have paid for music properly in every instance. In most cases we know what is right and wrong but there are still many misconceptions about licensing music. In this article Matt Thompson of SongFreedom.com goes through 7 legal and moral misconceptions when it comes to using popular music.
A groundbreaking court ruling has been overturned in Texas, and the ramifications could affect thousands of Texas creatives and their copyrighted property.
As photographers, we have a responsibility not to misrepresent the history and culture of our subjects. An exchange on Instagram gave me a stark reminder of how easily this responsibility is forgotten and abused, especially in the world of urban exploration.
I have been using a square filter system for many years. It proved to be a flexible system that allows one filter to fit on every lens I own. A magnetic filter system is a great alternative, though. I tried both during my recent travels over Lofoten, Norway and I want to share my experiences.
Here's an oldie but goodie about the secret of success in creative work. It was a talk given by Ira Glass which was then turned into an animation by David Shiyang Liu. It's less than 2-minutes long and has some fantastic advice for creatives. I have witnessed a lot of friends in the industry really struggling with their own work right now and so I thought sharing this would be relevant for all those in the same position. Read after the jump for the entire quote.
I'm a strobist by heart. When I first got into photography, I didn't even begin shooting portrait work until after I had gotten at least a flash. That purchase, quickly turned into studio strobe after studio strobe until I found that I was completely controlling all light sources during my shoots. So who better to review SLRLounge's latest DVD, 'Natural Light Couples Photography Workshop', right?
So you've got a few photos of the same thing and you don't know which one to pick. Do you publish them all? No, you read this and then make a decision.
Over the last three years, I have built out four new photography studios, and each time, I find better and better ways to streamline my spaces. In this video, I want to share with you one of the coolest ways to mount your seamless paper or Gravity backdrops.
The last few years have been difficult for camera manufacturers. The silver lining to this is the fact that manufacturers have been really pushing the boundaries and producing incredible cameras systems and lenses. Although Fujifilm has done amazing things for medium format, Hasselblad truly has something incredible with its latest system.
Unless you have been living under a rock for the last year or so, you probably have noticed that the force is awakening! After a wait that has spanned a generation, Star Wars fans are finally getting a sequel to the saga that started in the seventies! With the arrival of Star Wars come hordes of its most endearing fans dressing up as their favorite Jedi or Sith heroes! Which means an awful lot of opportunity for photoshoots, but there is one problem. Those dull, plastic, toy, lightsabers just don't have the same epic feel that will do the rest of the costume justice. Luckily creating a lightstaber blade in Photoshop using visual effects is quite easy!
Though you can read more about the Powershot G1X here (since the info was leaked early by Best Buy who shortly thereafter removed the page), the Canon T5 experienced no such leak. The T5 is an entry-level affordable ($550) way for newbies to take ditch a point and shoot for a DSLR. It features an 18.0 megapixel CMOS (APS-C) image sensor and a high-performance DIGIC 4 image processor.
Back in September, Fstoppers announced the news that Panasonic's Lumix CM1 would be coming into the world boasting a 20-megapixel camera paired with some gorgeous Leica glass. Now we have word that the phone along with its sexy glass partner will be coming to the US this summer. Will this finally be the mobile device you ditch your iPhone for?
When your income disappears overnight, what do you do? Like many professional photographers during the lockdown, Tristan Poyser found himself suddenly out of work. He took a job at the Amazon warehouse, which led to a fascinating documentary project with unprecedented access to this notoriously secretive company.
Is buying a Leica akin to strutting around with the latest ridiculously priced Louis Vuitton handbag? Is it all hype and image? Is it mandatory that Leica owners place their camera on the table in a coffee shop and spend more time taking photos of it—with their phone, I assume—than actually photographing with it?
David Bailey is a master of portrait photography. His four month gallery exhibition “Stardust” just closed in London. It took 3 years of planning to put it together, and looked at his 50+ years as a photographer and artist. I got to see it before it closed, but if you didn’t get a chance to go, don’t worry – here are five things that I think made Bailey the success we celebrate today, and what we can learn from him.
I am a keyboard shortcut junkie. Anytime I can find a way to do something quicker using a keyboard shortcut I will force myself to use it for a few days till I have built it into my workflow. A few of my favorite keyboard shortcuts are found in the Lightroom Crop Tool. I love sharing these tips with other photographer friends and watching their eyes light up as they realize some of the great features built into the Lightroom Crop tool which help speed up their own workflow.
While everyone is talking about the Canon EOS R5, its little brother seems to get less attention. The Canon EOS R6 looks like the same camera, but with less resolution. But the Canon EOS R6 is a complete different camera all together. Let's have a look at it.
To be clear, STARVIS is a new sensor whose technology is mostly meant for applications in scientific, industrial, and security spaces. And Sony won't give out any "normal" number with respect to ISO yet, either. Part of that might be because actual ISO is difficult to determine, since the back-lit CMOS sensor places its photodiodes in front of other hardware components that, conventionally, would block a substantial portion of light information. But as unclear as the exact results are, here, the latest advancements in ultra-sensitive sensor trickery point to a new level of attainability.
What does it mean to have a successful business? What does it mean to have a successful family? What does it mean to have a successful life?
Obviously, there is not one definition for success, although there may be some social norms that we base our definitions on. Maybe it's making a certain amount of money. Maybe it's staying married for a certain amount of years. Maybe it has nothing to do with either of those!
A basic formula to attain a fulfilling photography career does not really exist. The industry is abnormal, so your life climbing into it will be too. Whether your dream is to be the go-to photographer in a small town or to be a world-traveling journalist, this is what you can expect in a life full of photography.
We've covered the pros and cons of color grading many times before on Fstoppers, though when it comes to big-budget movies like "Man of Steel" do you think its overall tone can decide whether it's a financial success? The guys at VideoLab have created a side-by-side comparison of what the latest Superman would look like if it was done the original way, in full saturated color rather than the darker, more gritty version we know today.
I have always had a love for the visual arts. As a kid I constantly was shooting and editing snowboard and skateboard videos with friends, as I grew older I got more and more into photography. In June of 2007 I purchased my first DSLR to start shooting hardcore punk rock shows, and soon after made a Flickr to share my work with the rest of the world. 5 years and some change later Flickr seems to be on the decline, and I am left wondering, "what now?"
Whenever I bought a new lens, I always added a UV filter to it. It was obvious to do so, and I never gave it any thought. But there was a moment that I stopped adding that sort of filter and I never looked back since. Does a UV filter still have any benefit, or is it a waste of money? Let’s find out.
What happens when one of the world’s foremost portrait photographers decides to turn to photograph still life paintings instead of people? There are no two ways about it - Jill Greenberg is fascinating. Her new work is beautiful, but there is also a clear artistic statement behind it. In this exclusive, we get to understand her direction and motivations behind "Paintings", her latest body of work.
Nikon announced its new flagship DX-format (APS-C) DSLR, the D7200. While these announcements are often lacking in the excitement that their big brothers command with new releases, this one has two new tricks up its sleeve. Aside from the largely expected 24-megapixel sensor, added built-in Wi-Fi, and more powerful EXPEED 4 image processor, the D7200 features TWO stops of extra low-light performance, letting in four times as much light with a native ISO of 25,600.
My heart sank when I first saw the headline that a photographer had been shot by a police officer because his gear was mistaken for a weapon on a rainy night. I didn't want to open the story because I knew it would instill some more fear in my own work while shooting around law enforcement and other potentially dangerous situations. After finally reading the news story, my curiosity led me straight to Andy Grimm's social media to see who he was. I only had to spend a few seconds on his Facebook page to realize that unlike the tragedy that struck him on the stormy night of September 4, his story was pretty beautiful and inspiring.
![[News] The New Nikon D800 Might Actually Look Like This](https://cdn.fstoppers.com/styles/med-16-9/s3/default_images/default-image.jpg)
