Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop

Most of us probably use Photoshop on a regular basis. We've almost taken it for granted and it has made life a bit easier for us when it comes to correcting images. It's hard to imagine a world without Photoshop where people still modified and manipulated photos. These images exemplify that and will be a part of a showcase put on by The Metropolitan Museum Of Art.

New Hope for Nik Collection, DxO Acquires from Google

For the past few years, the popular Nik Collection has had an interesting journey starting back in 2012 when Google originally acquired the photo editing plugin. Over the course, the collection has gone through a price drop and ultimately landed as a free download which made several photographers happy. Who doesn't like free stuff, and for free it was a pretty solid collection of plugins.

Adobe, Autodesk, and Corel Sue Forever 21 for Software Piracy

Software corporations Adobe, Autodesk, and Corel filed to sue the apparel retail company Forever 21 for software piracy. In the filed complaint document, the software corporations claim that Forever 21 has, "(a) copied and reproduced certain of the Adobe Products, Autodesk Products, and Corel Products; and (b) circumvented technological measures that effectively control access to the Adobe Products, Autodesk Products, and Corel Products (collectively, the 'Access Control Technology').” Forever 21 also allegedly continued to use the software even after being contacted by Adobe. The software corporations are suing for damages due to the piracy of the software, profits derived by Forever 21's alleged use of the software, and other damages.

Luchador Fighter Portrait Series Behind The Scenes

Last year, I decided to pursue a fun portrait series of Luchador fighters from the Chikara Pro Wrestling League, located on the East Coast of the US. I've always been fascinated with this style of fighting and entertainment. These big colorful characters take the ring to pummel each other to the great delight of their dedicated fans. Some may call it "fake" or a performance, but I can tell you first hand that I saw blood drawn during a match on more than one occasion. These fighters are dedicated to their craft and I wanted nothing more than to capture them on camera.

Time-lapse Video Shows Rocket Launch from Space

We’ve seen plenty of time-lapse but this one is probably unique as it captures the launch of a Progress rocket directly from the International Space Station (ISS).

[Video] Jeremy Cowart Takes Us Through His New Portfolio

Entertainment Photographer, Jeremy Cowart, walks us through his new print portfolio and explains his reasoning for image placement and what is meant to catch his client's eye. I must say, it is quite impressive and there is much to learn here that you can apply to your website's portfolio as well. Enjoy!
My Website Got One Simple, Almost Unnoticeable Update That Truly Rocks

I'm not sure when it happened, but sometime in the last couple weeks my website received one simple update that filled in the single complaint I had with the design: it made right clicking to save my images to your desktop a thing of the past. I received no notice and ran into this update by mistake, but I might be happier with my service more now than ever.

The Revolution Will Be Televised - The Meteoric Rise Of Stijn Verlinde

Stijn Verlinde is boarding a flight home to Belgium from a shoot in Las Vegas. “The one piece of advice I would give to anyone starting out is 'be dedicated'.” Stijn, who started out a few years ago with some basic gear has lived by that advice. He is constantly working and is revolutionizing dance music festival videos across the globe. His success is not elusive or down to luck – it’s the result of three very clear factors we can all apply.

Dronelapse Video of Miami - The Tilt-Shift Technique and Tutorial

After eight months of work I finally finished this project: an aerial tilt-shift hyperlapse of Miami. The idea was to produce something different. Time-lapse videos are very common these days and most drone operators can make a decent hyperlapse with their drones. In this video I wanted to replicate the out-of-focus look normally associated with macro photography to give a miniature effect of the city of Miami. Here is how I filmed this video and what I learned during the process.

BlackRapid Works with Nikon to Release Quick-Draw Straps

"Nikon Corporation is pleased to announce the release of the Quick-Draw Strap and the Quick-Draw Strap S, two new products developed in cooperation with world-renowned American camera accessory manufacturer, BlackRapid." That's right! Nikon is going to be pushing a new strap into the photography market. This is pretty exciting, minus the fact that I finally just bought my BlackRapid.

The Sunday Times Pays Tribute To The Power Of Photography

Released this past weekend, Britain's Sunday Times Magazine pays tribute to some of the most iconic and powerful photos from the last century in a short video they've entitled "Photojournalism." The simple two minute video creatively adds motion to the images, in an attempt to bring back the feelings and emotion the photographers were facing during the time these powerful images were captured.

SquareSpace Featured Image Contest: Vote For Your Favorite

Two weeks ago we asked you to submit your best "Featured Image" and the top three submissions would win a year of SquareSpace. We wanted to see what images you would use to entice visitors to your website. We got hundreds of entries, but after careful deliberation we narrowed them down to the top ten images we thought really brought a "pow" to the party. Now we leave it in your hands: vote for your favorite!

Fstoppers Reviews the Sigma 50mm 1.4 Art for Sony E

Today I’ll be talking about the Sigma 50mm 1.4 Art lens for Sony E mount. As with my prior review of the 35mm version, I will be going over the topics that are relevant to me which are sharpness, focusing, bokeh, and usability.

Finn Beales: From Mountain Dweller to World-Class Photographer

Have you ever felt with limited in your creative field because of where you live? Finn Beales has done what most in his region only dream of: escaping that limitation and embracing the world around him to create his own path as a professional photographer.

This App Tells You Which Image Will Perform Best on Instagram

I can’t be the only one who dreamt of knowing which image would perform best on Instagram before posting a set or simply what picture people like best amongst a selection. A great photographer should be able to pick his images on his own, but sometimes, when it comes to social networks, it’s more complicated than that. Being able to know what is going to work best to schedule the images accordingly is a huge advantage. Well, there might be a solution out there, and it’s called Cinnac.

Three New Rugged LaCie External SSD Drives Announced

LaCie has announced three new additions to their external SSD storage line for videographers and photographers working on the go with full-sized media. These include the Rugged SSD Pro sporting Thunderbolt 3, the Rugged SSD with USB 3.1 Type-C, and the Rugged BOSS SSD with built-in SD card slot for direct transfers.

Philippe Kerlo Shoots Beauty Shots Through Plexiglass and Paint

Philippe Kerlo is a really creative beauty and fine art photographer based out of Paris France. Some people are dubbing his work as "extreme glamour" which might be a fitting title. I was recently turned onto his work by one of our readers when they sent us this video of him shooting beauty portraits through plexiglass covered with paint, acrylic, wax, and other colored materials. The results are really stunning and the idea is so simple I thought I had to share it with everyone. Be sure to check out Philippe's portfolio because his work has a lot of interesting angles like the photos shown in the full post.
Photography Legend Bert Stern Dies

Iconic photographer Bert Stern has died at the age of 83. Stern, probably best known for his images of Marilyn Monroe, passed away at his home in Manhattan on Tuesday. He is survived by Shannah Laumeister, a longtime friend, who has said that she and Stern had been secretly married since 2009. Laumeister is also the director of a recent documentary featuring Stern, “Bert Stern: Original Madman.”

My 5 Early Landscape Photography Mistakes

As we consume social media, YouTube videos, and online articles, it is easy to think everyone else out there knows what they are doing. I made many mistakes early on in my landscape photography journey. I still make mistakes today! I’m going to share some of those early mistakes I made and things I wish I'd started doing sooner.

Quickly and Easily Archive Photos: We Review the Epson FastFoto FF-680W Scanner

Most of us over 30 have at least one box of old photo prints in a closet somewhere, and digitizing them is a worthwhile if tedious task. The Epson FastFoto FF-680W scanner seeks to make quick and easy work of that task while still producing high-quality results, and in this review, we take a look at what you can expect from it in practice.

Are Cameras Just for Men? The Industry Needs to Change

Olympus has produced a beautiful series of videos on YouTube whereby its ambassadors visit some stunning locations, exploring Lapland, Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Namibia. What’s noticeable is that all of the Olympus Xplorers are men.

[Video] Nat Geo Photographer Shoots The Worlds Largest Cave

National Geographic photographer Boyd Matson takes us on a 25 minute journey through the 2.5-mile Hang Son Doong cave along the Vietnam-Laos border. This cave is 3 times the height of Niagara Falls and has a complete Jungle growing inside of it. If you have any interest in photography, biology, or geography, you have got to check out this video. Thanks to Dale Travers for submitting this video.