Shocking VTech Hack Gives Attacker Access to Thousands of Photos of Children

You may have seen an article several days ago detailing a hack into the servers of the children's toy company VTech. The hack gave attackers access to personal data for over 5 million parents and over 200,000 children. Motherboard has just posted an update to their story revealing that the hacker was also able to download over 190 GB of photos uploaded from thousands of children's camera-equipped tablets.

Fstoppers Photographer of the Month (September 2016): Angela Perez

The Fstoppers community is brimming with creative vision and talent. Every day, we comb through your work, looking for images to feature as the Photo of the Day or simply to admire your creativity and technical prowess. In 2016, we'll be featuring a new photographer every month, whose portfolio represents both stellar photographic achievement and a high level of involvement within the Fstoppers community.

3 Fresh Tips for Spring Landscape Photography

If winter is the season of monochrome, spring is the season of color. Spring, following a season of coma-like dormancy, reminds us that we inhabit a miraculous living organism. We are reminded that our planet is a colorful one. Absence, indeed, makes the heart grow fonder.

Von Wong's Epic Sunrise Band Shoot

I'm starting to wonder when Ben Von Wong sleeps... Not only is he constantly producing great work, but he is also constantly producing amazing Behind The Scenes videos to accompany them. In his latest video Ben takes us behind the scenes on his shoot with the band SX in Belgium. Limited to being able to shoot in just an indoor pool, he had to overcome the challenge of making it appear as if the band was outdoors, in water, at sunset.

Do You Ever Ask Yourself: 'Why Photography?'

The easiest answer to "why do photography?" would be "money." But, if that's not the case, have you ever taken the time to ask yourself if photography is the right thing for you, what you get out of it, and what your reason is for doing it in the first place?

New LitePanels Bi-Color LED Light "Astra," Four Times Brighter Than The Original 1x1

The LitePanels 1x1 has arguably been the industry standard for LED lighting in many news and documentary productions. At the recent CineGear show, LitePanels demoed their latest product, an update to the award winning 1x1. The new "Astra" light claims to have an output 4x greater than the original 1x1. Nate Weber from Newsshooter.com shares the first look in this video.

PocketWizard Announces New Plus IV Transceiver

We spoke, and PocketWizard was listening. The Plus III transceiver gets a highly coveted update, and you can say goodbye to sync cords. They have essentially turned the Plus III on its side and added TTL pass-through, along with a few other goodies.

Gear Review: Vello BG-N7 grip for Nikon

When major brands build product enhancements or special components, it’s only a matter of time before after-market options with much lower price tags become available. Generally speaking, off-brand products have about a 50/50 chance of being successful or disappointing. With the Nikon MB-D12 grip for the D800 being so highly priced, I took a look at Vello’s after-market model to see if it’s a worthy substitute.

My Review of the Sony FE 16-25mm and FE 24-50mm f/2.8 G

There are two lenses by Sony that are both interesting and curious. The FE 16-25mm f/2.8 G and FE 24-50mm f/2.8 G are small, lightweight f/2.8 lenses with a limited zoom range. How do these lenses perform, and are they worth buying? Let’s find out.

More Videos Of Pro Photogs Shooting With Cheap Gear

Yes, it has been done to death but everyone loves to see it so we will keep posting it. Digital Rev TV has been doing a series called the "Cheap Camera Challenge" and so far they have created 3 videos with 3 different photographers shooting on 3 different cheap cameras. Check out the full post to see all 3 videos.
Polar Pro Announces New Variable ND Filters

A filter can be an essential tool when it comes to getting the shots we have in mind helping us shoot anything from long exposures to balanced video. Today, Polar Pro released their Variable ND filter giving us the option to spin a ring for further control of how much light we let through the lens.

Don't Be Scared of Hard, Directional Sunlight - Use It

The most important tool in any photographer’s arsenal is their ability to use and manipulate light. However all too often many photographers either shy away from, or completely rule out using hard light and it may be hindering not only their flexibility but also their creativity. What if you could shoot in direct sunlight and love it?

When Kickstarter Works, It REALLY Works: CineSkates Now Distributed by JOBY

Almost two years ago we wrote about an interesting idea for a rolling DSLR rig we found on Kickstarter. The concept was a small, compact and heinously simple design called CineSkates. Fast forward to today, and CineSkates has evolved not only into a whole line of products under the name "Cinetics," but is one step closer to great success. Now distributed by JOBY (owned by Daymen who also distributes Lowepro bags), CineSkates shows that when Kickstarter works, it can really work.

Go Behind the Scenes Photographing U.S. President Donald J. Trump

When President Trump announced he would be skipping the White House Correspondents' Dinner to speak in Harrisburg, Pa., right in my backyard and on day 100 of his presidency, it was like the stars aligned. Among many avenues, I’m a stringer for a Harrisburg news journal, photographing politics and business news. Immediately after hearing the news at 10 p.m. on a Saturday night I applied for credentials and the wait began. A week later, on day 99 of the Trump Presidency, it was starting to look like I would be watching from my couch. With just 24 hours to spare, I got the green light. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at what it was like to photograph President Trump from a local photojournalist’s perspective.

The 'Selfie Latte' Made This Small Coffee Chain Go Viral

Welcome to the instant-generation: a generation that loves taking Selfies and also taking Instagram photos of the food they or their friends are having that same moment, and of course share it right away on Social Media. 'Let’s Café', a small coffee chain from Taiwan, decided to take advantage of the love of selfies and cell-food photography and created this smart Coffee machine that made them go viral on Social Media and grow their business. Here is the coffee version of Snapchat.

3 Reasons You Should Get the Sony a7S III

Some of us don’t need to be persuaded to buy new camera gear like the Sony a7S III. Early adopters buy the latest and greatest simply because they love new tech, and many photographers are gearheads that can’t resist. Even so, it’s probably a good idea to support your purchase with these three reasons you should get the Sony a7S III.

Cheap Printer, High-Quality Prints? Fstoppers Reviews the Datacolor SpyderX Studio

I am a big advocate of calibrating equipment. For this reason, I regularly make sure my monitors, cameras and, lenses are calibrated and working correctly. Printers, on the other hand, are a device that I've never done anything beyond using the factory settings. I figured it might be a good idea to reconsider that.

Lumenzia V6 Released With Over 130 New Features

Lumenzia is probably the most used luminosity masking tool by photographers. It has been improving since its launch, and with the latest version, it is faster and offers lots of new features.

Fstoppers Reviews the Elinchrom Indirect Litemotiv Softboxes

The Elinchrom Indirect softboxes are quite well known amongst fashion and commercial photographers. Especially the 190 octabank. Recently Elinchrom revised its indirect lineup and renamed it Indirect Litemotiv. The Swiss brand offered me the chance to play around with the whole line of Indirect Litemotiv for a little over a month. I must admit, these are great light shapers, and I did not really want to give them back. Are they the ultimate softboxes? I would not go this far, but they are very close. Here is why.

The Nearly Indestructible ioSafe is More Than Just an Awesome Server Array

If you're like me (and basically every photographer I know), you're a little bit paranoid. Your heart skips a beat when you hit "Format" on your memory cards. You don't trust a source unless it's backed up. ioSafe was not originally built for photographers, but it certainly caters to them with a fireproof, water proof and basically life proof design. With the addition of specialized apps, ioSafe looks to be a the way to store and monitor your precious images and video.

iOS 8 Improves Your Current Phone's Camera and Paves the Way for iPhone 6

Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) previewed a new operating system for the Mac as well as iOS 8 for the iPhone, which comes with a host of new features due out this fall. While many features of Apple's new iOS releases leave out older devices, this one will improve your iPhone's camera (past, current, and future) with some great features we've all been too patient to see.

How I Got The Shot! With Red Bull Photographer Ryan Taylor

Photographer Ryan Taylor recently worked with Red Bull to shoot a highlight story on Hilary Knight, one of Red Bull’s professional athletes and member of US Olympic Hockey team. With Knight going to the winter Olympics this February it was the perfect opportunity to showcase her journey to Gold.

Fstoppers Reviews the Manfrotto 055XPRO3 Tripod and BHQ2XPRO Ball Head Kit

Manfrotto has renewed its product lineup recently, and the new tripod models come with new features and improved designs. I have been using Manfrotto products for years due to their affordable prices, but unfortunately, every time I ended up with severe problems. Now, the long-known tripod series 055 also has a new version. For the last time, I decided to give this brand one more chance, and I've been testing this tripod with the new XPRO (BHQ2) ball head for the last couple of weeks.

The Importance of Building Rapport During a Shoot and How to Do It

I remember, way back when I first started trying my hand at portrait photography, the cold realization that I didn't really know how to direct a shoot. I wasn't horrible at it, but I lacked confidence due to a lack of experience and I made a mental note to work on it. It's now years later and I'm still working on it and I will keep working on it until I stop picking up a camera. If you haven't already, you will quickly realize that how you act during a shoot is of the same importance as your technical ability.