ONA Welcomes Summer with Beautiful New Products

ONA, a camera bag and accessory company known for really beautiful products, announced several new additions to their line today. The Leather Bowery, The Bolton Street Backpack, The Dark Truffle Leather Brixton, The Smoke Bowery and The Presidio Camera Strap were all announced today. All these look really sharp and are sure to appeal to many of you (they certainly look great to me). I'm personally a fan of their new "dark truffle" leather color.

Broken Gear? Fix it with the 'Play-Doh' of Camera Repair

Imagine a colorful self-setting rubber that you can keep in your camera bag and bust out at any time to repair on-the-job cracks, breaks and tears. Sugru is such a product, a moldable Play-Doh-like synthetic that can also be shaped into custom camera grips, monopod and tripod mounts and can add color and texture to existing buttons on your DSLR.

17 Awesome Star Trail Images

Shooting a star trail is something that is easy on paper: using just the equipment you already own, aiming to the sky and shooting long exposure. But in reality it takes months and years to really perfect your craft and create amazing star trail images. In the past we featured a tutorial on sky photography, and also this amazing star trail image NASA photographer shot from space - now it's time to show you some amazing results of different photographers around the world. Check them out and let us know which ones are your favorites.

14-Year SNL Director of Photography, Alex Buono, on His Beginnings, Working for Free, and Advice for Film Students

When someone asks if you’ll be able to meet with a DP that has worked with NBC’s Saturday Night Live over the last decade and a half, you don’t exactly say, “No, thanks.” You’re simply guaranteed to get something great. Even coming from USC’s film school, it takes a lot to get that position. But, by his own admission, Alex Buono would be hard pressed to disagree that all it takes is attitude, persistence, and a little free work at the start.
Jan von Holleben's Creative Use of Everyday Objects as Props

We've all seen and been inspired by the works of Jan von Holleben, with his trade mark "laying down" poses. In this latest series created for German newspaper ZEIT he is at it again but what strikes me is the clever use of everyday house hold objects to depict one's dreams. See the photos inside.

Blackmagic Announces a Broadcast Camera with a Massive Viewfinder: Studio Camera

Apparently Blackmagic has been busy this past year, as not only have we seen the URSA at NAB, but also they just announced the Studio Camera. Inside its magnesium alloy body you get a massive 10” viewfinder, 4 hour battery, talkback, tally indicators, phantom powered microphone connections and built in optical fiber and SDI connections that let you connect to your switcher with a single cable.

Is There Finally a Growth Hacking Tool for Photographers?

Last month, the creators of MotoCMS, an award winning DIY website building program, ran a Kickstarter campaign for Defrozo, a free display and marketing melding of Smugmug, ShootQ and Zenfolio. What could be more fun than putting up some photos and have the offers pour in, right? I was excited to get started. Look out, Big Boys, Defrozo is here, and it’s awesome!

Big Week for Instagram: Announces Changes and Growth

This week has been a big one for Instagram. The social media platform announced that it is cleaning up spammers, and Fortune noted that Instagram has left Twitter in the dust with 300 million active users. What does this mean for our businesses? If you aren’t on Instagram, or using it actively, you are missing out.

Watch Camera Tutorials Right on Your Canon DSLR Screen

Would you like to take full advantage of your shiny new Canon 5D Mark III's 1,040,000 dot Clear View II TFT LCD screen and maybe learn something new at the same time? Then you should check out Canon's product page, where you can find “on-camera tutorials” for your specific camera model. That's right you can watch tutorials right off the back of your camera. Simply choose your model and

5 Clauses to Include in Your Photography Contracts

No matter how uncomfortable it might feel to send out a photography contract at the beginning of your commercial photography journey, having a robust contract in place is essential for creating professional relationships with your clients.

Using Positive and Negative Space for Composition in Photography

There are a lot of ways for a photographer to make a composition. Although some won’t like to accept it, the rule of third often fits quite nicely. But no matter what you use as a basis for composition, we always use negative space. Most of us just don’t realize it.

Demystifying Camera Picture Profiles

Most, if not all, have seen the picture profile settings in our cameras. These can include settings for Landscapes, Portraits, or even Cine-style formats for filmmakers looking to achieve that cinematic look. But what do these mean and how do they affect our final image?

Sigma Confirms Pricing for New 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens

Quick update: Sigma's newly announced 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens (unveiled last week) already has a confirmed price point: $1,999. It will be available some time in October, with a specific date not yet given. At that price point, it's much higher than the Tamron we reviewed earlier this year, so Sigma must believe the performance and build quality to outperform the Tamron.

Canon Patents Advanced and Intriguing Lens

The RF mount has seen some extreme lens designs, with Canon pushing into new territory with options like the revered 28-70mm f/2L. It seems they have no intention of slowing down, as another interesting design has emerged, this time one sure to please sports and wildlife photographers.

[Video] Become a Professional Photographer in One Week (or not)

Another humorous video from Kai over at DigitalRev has him training a complete newbie to try and pass him off as a pro photographer in under a week of not so intense training. Then they face him off against a real pro in a final challenge with Hasselblad Master Eric Wong as the judge. Will the judge know the difference? Can Kai's fake pull it off? Watch to find out.
Editorial Food Photography With Minimal Gear: Rob Andrew's "Bag Check"

When he's not sitting in southern California traffic, San Diego editorial photographer, Rob Andrew, spends his days freelancing from one gig to another with all his gear in tow. In order to stay nimble, Rob has developed a style of shooting creative food photography with a surprisingly minimal amount of gear. He recently published what he calls a "Bag Check" on his blog, outlining the tools he uses to get the job done.

The Real Versus the Beautiful (Part 4): The Future of Photography and the Moral Compass

The previous article about the processed image ended with similar arguments both for and against digital manipulation, and the artist’s disclosure of such actions. But how does the motivation for creating art through both photography and creative editing arise? I’ve gathered a panel of fellow international landscape photographers to expatiate on the power of the processed image. Professional landscape photographers Ryan Dyar, Felipe Gómez, and Simon Roppel are here to help us understand why certain decisions in editing process are made, as well as in the field.

Cull and Edit an Entire Wedding in One Hour with Aftershoot

We've recently reviewed a lot of different programs that allow users to "train AI" to edit like they do in Adobe Lightroom. Aftershoot is the latest program to do this, but it has a few significant features that make it stand apart.
Fstoppers Reviews the Phottix Indra500 TTL

After shooting flash for a handful of years, I have acquired a small arsenal of lights that are suited for different needs. I have the large studio lights that are great for overpowering the sun, small hot shoe flashes that have the ability to use features like TTL and high-speed sync, and then video lights that allow me to see exactly what my light is doing before I take an image. So when I saw that the Phottix Indra500 TTL could do all three, I was instantly intrigued.

Fstoppers Reviews the Phottix Mitros TTL Speed Light

The Phottix Mitros TTL Flash was announced in early 2012 but saw another full year of development before it was finally officially released in March of 2013. That kind of time spent building a product really resonates with me, and I was expecting a finished product that was going to stand up to the rigors of daily use. I was not disappointed.

Fstoppers Reviews the Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Lens

On the back of producing the world’s best-selling lens, Tamron has released a piece of glass that got me incredibly excited: the 17-28mm f/2.8 for Sony full-frame cameras. I’ve tested this lens extensively on both jobs and personal projects over the course of a month, and hopefully, I can now tell you whether you should buy this lens or not.