Incredible Drone Aerial Footage Of Iceland Volcano

Eric Cheng of DJI recently took his Phantom 2 to Iceland, hoping to get close enough to fly over the erupting Bardabunga volcano. The footage he brought back is spectacular.

Five Methods To Recover From A Creative Collapse

Whether we're a photographer, graphic designer, painter, musician or dancer... throughout our career, we’ll slam right into a rock solid wall and it some cases it can be so traumatizing that some of us may never recover. It’s not really a question of if; it’s a question of when and if you’re a new artist then brace yourself, there will come a time when things just don’t click. I’ll be honest; I hit that wall with writing for Fstoppers this past month. Writing 1,000 words once a week is no easy feat, I figure it's only appropriate to write about this very topic as I sit here in recovery from a creative collapse.

New Photography-Related Domain Names Are Now Available For The General Public

After many years of having the same generic domain extensions such as .com and .net, earlier this month brand new domain extensions were introduced to the public. There are many different new domains, but photographers and creatives will be most interested in the following: .photography, .gallery, .graphics, .camera, .lighting and .equipment. This video will explain everything you need to know about the new domains.

Background Basics for Wildlife Photography

One of the most desirable qualities in a wildlife photograph is having good separation between the animal and the background. Here’s a simple breakdown on how to achieve this with any camera and lens.

Beautiful Japanese Photography Studio Designed to Harness Ambient Light

Have you ever wished that you could simply walk into your studio space and immediately have perfect lighting? Japanese architecture firm FT Architects has created a gorgeous photography studio which uses diffused skylights and windows to harness ambient light and do just that. This beautiful studio located in Kanagawa, Japan seems to be the first of its kind.

Removing Dust, Lint, and Debris Using Built-In Photoshop Tool

Today I want to share a quick tip on cleaning up lint, dust, cat hair, and things like that from clothing or other areas of your photo. I'm super picky, and even if the image is a 5x7 and the dust may not even show up on the print, I like to fix things like that on my large files anyway. You never know when the customer may come back later and order a wall portrait from that file they only previously purchased a 5x7 from, and I don't want to have to go back in and re-retouch the image.

The Rising Of A Blockbuster: Making Of The Dark Knight Rises

Probably the most anticipated movie of the summer, The Dark Knight Rises, is sure not to disappoint. I have always been a long time fan of Christopher Nolan's style of film-making and his practical approach to filming special effect scenes. In this in-depth 13 minute making of featurette Christopher Nolan and his crew talk about the scope of filming a movie this size, the scale of the locations and how important it is to them to try to film all of their special effects in camera decreasing the amount of CGI used in post.

Are You Ready For The World’s Biggest Photo Walk On September 6th?

Photo walks have grown exponentially in the last few years serving a growing international collective of photographers who are looking to meet other like minded souls and shoot together. Next month sees the second 500px annual Global Photo Walk taking place on September 6th, promising to be the biggest photo walk of all time.

How to Get Paid, Even If Your Client Can't Afford It

We all know how the story goes. A client has grand ideas, but a budget that won’t cover your costs. How can you still get the project done, without taking a pay cut? Here are three creative ways of getting fully paid, that should leave everybody happy.

Photoshop Brought Back My Grandfather

In November 2015, my mom came up with some old photos of my deceased grandfather, which were negatives printed on film. She said that she had asked several photography studios if it was possible to get normal prints from the printed negatives, but the answer was always no. As those were some of the only photographs left of him, she had kept all of them with a hope. Years after, it was my turn to try. The process to get some decent prints and move my mom to tears was ever so easy.

The Five Photoshop Default Options You Should Change Right Now

Photoshop offers a ton of customization opportunities, letting you configure and alter it to fit your workflow. While the default options are a great starting point, there are five preferences I’d consider must-change for the best experience. Want to know how you can make Photoshop work better for you right away?

Focal Length And Your Portfolio

I recently parted ways with my Nikon Z 24-200mm f4-6.3, not because it's a bad lens and not up to the job, but simply because it didn't fit in with my portfolio. Or should I say didn't feature heavily in my portfolio, if at all.

Submit Your Best Images that Deserve to be Printed and Win a $795 Album [UPDATED]

[UPDATE: A winner has been chosen. Congratulations to Verginiya Yancheva for getting 48 upvotes for her image! Check out her winning image below.]

We are teaming up with Moleskine and MILK to give away one of their new Leather Albums (valued at $795), and YOU are all judges! Submit your images, and the Fstoppers Community will upvote their favorite image which they believe "belongs in an album." There are just two simple steps to enter!

Five Creative Habits Every Filmmaker Should Adopt

It’s common knowledge that to master a craft you have to practice it every day. As Twyla Tharp says in her classic book The Creative Habit, “I’ve learned that being creative is a full-time job with its own daily patterns… The routine is as much a part of the creative process as the lightning bolt of inspiration, maybe more.” But what does that mean for filmmakers whose craft is so macroscopic? A film takes years. It includes writing, casting, financing, producing, editing. So how, exactly, do you practice filmmaking?

What is Camera Shake Reduction and How Does it Work?

Adobe Photoshop’s new feature “Camera Shake Reduction” has been has been carrying a ton of hype, likely due to the publicity Adobe has been putting behind it since last year (and more recently just a couple weeks ago). However, what it actually is and how it works is somewhat misunderstood. Many were prepared to hate the program, thinking it a panacea for all bad, blurry images. It’s not the all-healing-blur-fixing-magic-of-the-gods some of you might think it is, but it’s still really flipping amazing.

Dave Hill Shoots The Ford Fusion Ad Campaign

This is a very cool video from Dave Hill as he shoots the composite images for Ford Fusion ad Campaign. This is a definitely a complex shoot and it's great to get a behind the scenes look at the way Dave works.

Testing Diffusion Materials with Jay P Morgan

Have you ever wondered how different diffusing fabrics affect the quality of light that you shoot with? Jay P. Morgan from the Slanted Lens walks you through the different diffusion materials by Rosco. He explains how the different fabrics can lessen the stops of light and how it can affect your color temperatures and look of your shoot.

New Tutorial Shows You How To Make Money From Your Photography

This week, I was able to watch Karl Taylor's "Making Money From Your Photography" tutorial. As a young photographer, I learned a ton from this three-hour tutorial and believe that any photographer, regardless of age or experience, could learn something new.

Fstoppers' Featured Guest Blogger: Jeremy Cowart

As I mentioned at the beginning of the month, we are going to have guests stop by to write posts, just for you, our FS readers. Some of these well known and accomplished members of the photo industry will be here to get something off their chests. Others to plug something. Some to teach and others to entertain. This month we are happy to bring you Jeremy Cowart and he wants you to think about something. Jump into the full post to see what's on his mind and be sure to check out all that his links have to offer. Thanks for this great post Jeremy.

Is This the Most Ostentatious Leica Ever Released?

Leica has announced the launch of the M10-P White, an edition of the stealthy M10-P that is definitely not inconspicuous. If the color isn’t enough to raise an eyebrow, the price probably will.

Do You Honestly Make Photographs?

Each and every one of us is looking for appreciation. Showing our images to friends and family, most of us hope for a nice comment or feedback. Professionals are even dependent on their clients’ excitement and recommendation. How far do you tweak your images to reach that?

Behind The Scenes on a Trash The Dress Session

Remember Justin Wojtczak? If not, make sure you watch this video of Patrick surprising him with the news that he won the Fstoppers 2011 BTS Contest. Well Justin is back with his latest behind the scenes video. In this BTSV Justin takes a bride into a creek in the woods of Georgia and shows us how to shoot on a budget.

Barcelona's Top Five Photography Locations

In the lead image above can anyone mention who was inspired by Gaudi's rooftop sculptures in Hollywood? For first time travelers to Barcelona these are my five favorites photo spots. I am expecting many readers to add their best spots that are not on this list. Please make sure to Google pin your exact locations in your comments. Much like my recent post on Tokyo I would love to see lots of sharing especially less popular locations.

The Making of an Industry Standard: An Interview with WANDRD

There's a sort of running joke between the Fstoppers writers about the number of bag reviews we've published in the last couple months, and we've certainly caught our share of flack for it in the comments as a result. Despite all that, having had a chance to sit down for a brief interview with the people at WANDRD, I think we may have a new industry standard on our hands. If there's ever been a bag worth getting excited about, this is it.