Scott Serfas Shares Advice For Breaking Into The Action Sports Photo Industry

"You need to pack up your stuff, move to the mountains, and LIVE IT." Scott Serfas says this bluntly when asked how someone else can get a job like his. In this new behind the scenes video from the Life In Focus series, Scott talks about how he worked himself into a position as a top action sports shooter, while we get to see him work in a more urban setting for a snowboarding action shot.

What Would You Do With This Massive 9x11 Large-Format Digital Camera?

Marketed as an 8x10 digital camera, the sensor of LargeSense's LS911 is actually a bit larger at 9x11 inches. That's nearly 30 times the area of medium format digital cameras. All things considered, the price is somewhat reasonable if still relatively unaffordable.

Tips to Get Your Wedding Photography Published

It happens to me all too often: a bride or groom sees our wedding work work in a bridal magazine or blog and tells me that it's been a dream of theirs to be featured and can't wait for me to submit the wedding. Often, this happens far before her wedding has been shot; I'm talking first meeting and boom, "I can't wait to be in a magazine." As professional photographers, obviously, we know there is much more to getting featured than the desire itself. At this moment, when my client gushes about their dreams of being published, I see this as an opportunity to educate them and help get their wedding that much closer to being featured.

How to Reinvigorate Your Love for the Craft of Photography

As photographic professionals, we spend a lot of time just getting work done. There are emails, phone calls, retouching, shoots, gear maintenance, backups, portfolio management, and all the other things you've heard listed by anyone giving you the sermon on photography as a business as opposed to photography for the love of the craft. The reality is, for many of us, that some of this stuff just isn't all that inspiring. Below are a few things I recommend if you start feeling that strain.

How to Improve Your Documentary Photography

Although I now work in the commercial world, my passion started with documentary photography. I was, and still am, obsessed with Annie Leibowitz’s work with the Rolling Stones and I loved William Egglestone’s color observations of the mundane world he found himself in. When I find a free day, there is nothing that I enjoy more than walking out with my camera to document someone else's life. However, unlike the plethora of studio lighting tutorials available, there seems to be a real lack of articles on documentary photography. Here are six tips on how to improve your images.

Avoid Landscape Photography Frustration and Enjoy the Journey

As a landscape photographer, do you feel frustrated when things don’t quite work out? Maybe the weather wasn’t cooperating or despite your best efforts looking for an engaging composition, you couldn’t find one before the light faded. Learn to enjoy the journey and watch the frustrations fade away.


3 Ways of Changing Makeup Color in Photoshop

Changing makeup color or the color of anything in Photoshop for the matter doesn't have to be a challenging task, although it can be very easy to mess up. In this tutorial I will show you three different ways of changing makeup color in Photoshop.

However, these techniques can be used to change the color of any portion of your image portrait or otherwise. The techniques in the video will range from quick methods that beginner Photoshopers users can use to the more advanced techniques retouchers can make use of.

A Beginner's Guide to Planetary Astrophotography

As we transition from summer to fall, two of the most photogenic planets, Jupiter and Saturn, have passed the point of closest approach (opposition) to the Earth for the year. Yet, they still make great targets for planetary astrophotography, especially since they are now high in the sky soon after sunset. As another bonus, photographing these planets does not require traveling to a dark sky site. This kind of astrophotography can be done from our backyards.

Watch a Drone Rescue Two Drowning Swimmers

Drones get a lot of criticism for both privacy and air safety concerns, but they also hold enormous potential beyond simply making aerial photography and videography available to the average shooter. This video shows some of that potential as a drone saves two swimmers caught in a rip current.

In Wake of Fatal Crash, FAA Will Ban 'Doors-Off' Flights Not Using Quick-Release Restraints

On March 11, tragedy struck, when a sightseeing and photographic tours helicopter crashed in New York's East River, killing all five passengers, with only the pilot escaping. In light of the event, the FAA has announced that it will order all "doors-off" flights not using quick-release restraints suspended until better restraint systems are developed.

You Want to Buy a Camera? Focus on What You Love!

Making decisions about cameras and lenses is always difficult. Most of the time, we have to compromise. Finding out what you love about photography helps you making a better choice regarding your photography gear.

Joe McNally Talks About The Importance of Scale In Your Photography

When it comes to taking better photos you can never go wrong with a few choice words from Joe McNally. In this short video Joe reminds us of the importance of giving our audience a sense of scale and demonstrates how the simple addition of a person can create a more compelling image.

Critique the Community: Submit Your Best Headshots Now

Our next episode of "Critique the Community" will feature headshot photography. This featured images was taken by the master himself, Peter Hurley, and in our next episode Peter will critique 20 random images submitted by our readers. Please post your submissions into this post by Thursday October 22nd at Midnight for your chance to get direct feedback from Hurley and the FS staff.

Photo of John Lennon's Glasses: A Plea on Gun Violence

An image can be an incredibly powerful thing. Someone once told me that a picture isn't worth a thousand words; it speaks a thousand languages. On the 44th anniversary of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's wedding, Ono tweeted an image of Lennon's bloodied glasses - the glasses he was wearing when he was slain over 30 years ago.

[BTS] Building A Car Composite

This is a very cool video from the guys over at Aesonica, they're shooting an Audi A4 with only a single light and a whole lot of post work. Just goes to show that you don't need a ton of money to make a great shot of a car.

Well, you'll need plenty for an awesome car to shoot, but that's not important right now.

Utilizing Natural Light in Photojournalism

The ability of identifying various qualities of light and knowing how to interpret that light is essentially a core concept of photography. One must learn how light translates to an image in order to successfully convey one’s vision and develop a style. In this 5 1/2 minute interview, photojournalist Ed Kashi chats with Marc Silber about his growth as a photographer by way of understanding light.

Fstoppers Reviews the Elinchrom 17" Softlite Reflector and Grid Set

I am a photographer who started shooting with daylight only, and I moved to discover new possibilities of lighting only after mastering daylight and craving more tools to create the desired images in my head. I don't believe the idea that you have to have all the possible equipment to be a good photographer or that the equipment makes you the photographer. My credo was always to master what you have available and only afterwards move to a new tool. This way, you can have all the understanding of your tools and avoid a bulk of unnecessary equipment.

5 Ways To Take Better Waterscape Photos

Shooting bodies of water is both fun and challenging. In this article, you'll learn five techniques that will rapidly help you to improve your images of oceans, lakes, and rivers.

We Review the Laowa 28mm f/1.2 Lens

Laowa has been producing lenses since 2013 and now has a vast collection, from cine lenses to landscape, to specialist lenses, and everything in between. These lenses are sharp and solid and cater to the ever-growing needs of photographers.

Instagram Finally Brings Messaging Ability to Desktop

If there is anything that annoys me about Instagram, it is definitely the inability to respond to direct messages on a desktop computer. Thankfully, the company has finally brought the ability to read and respond to direct messages to the web version of the app.

Finding Value in an Older Camera

It sits there on your shelf, looking at you: that old camera that you were so excited about a few years back. Now, it's not even worth the trouble of listing it on eBay or Craigslist. Or is it? Recently I picked up my old Fuji X-E1 and put it through its paces. I was surprised to find out that it's still an enjoyable camera, but not for the reasons that it originally was. Sometimes, a camera's flaws hold a certain charm that can only be appreciated with some distance.