A nice portrait is made up of four elements: composition, lighting, post-processing, and subject. The first three are easy to learn about and improve on your own, but after annoying your friends and family and getting sick of Facebook and Instagram, how do you improve?
In this Adobe Photoshop Playbook video, Bryan O'Neil Hughes suggests a variety of options to help you tackle noise when processing your photographs. Due to the improvement of pixel quality, noise isn't usually so much of an issue. However, it still can be a problem especially in your low light images.
I’ve been to the New York State fair for more years than I can count. It’s a great time. There are carnival rides, animals, music, and lots to photograph. Oh, and of course, corn dogs. But in recent years, I’ve found myself carrying less and less photographic gear to the fair and just enjoying the moment. Except that I wasn’t really enjoying the moment because I wasn’t making photos. That's why this year I decided to challenge myself to make different photos of the same event.
I'd been thinking about getting some kind of lighting system for night photography for quite some time. As someone who is primarily a landscape photographer, I wanted to expand my time outside, but most of my work was at sunset or dawn.
This is one of the most interesting, and almost bizarre behind the scenes video I've seen. Musical artist Jack Conte came up with an idea for a video to go along with a music track he created called "Pedals", and through building his own spaceship set, using real working robots, and even getting Jeff Orlowski to shoot it, everything came together for an inventive final product.
Den Lennie from F-Stop Academy shot this behind the scenes video that documents James Tonkin as he creates visuals for his short film "A Night at Nine Elms" with the EF-Mount version of the BlackMagic Cinema Camera. James talks about his experiences with the BMCC and discusses using Canon EF lenses. See the final short film in the full post.
Adobe's Camera Raw sliders make global tonal adjustments easy. But when working in-depth on a single image in Photoshop, we have even more tools at our disposal to customize and maximize our tonal ranges.
Rooftops hold a certain allure but it's not just urban explorers and extreme sports narcissists that are drawn to the tops of buildings to capture this alternative view of the city. Photographer and Artist Alain Cornu drags a 4x5 field camera onto the rooftops of Paris to create stunningly beautiful images that feel like portals into another world.
A gimbal is an important piece of technology that makes for some smooth video. It's the device that stabilizes the camera so you can get that cinematic look in your shot. It removes the vibration and shake. The gimbal's motors keep the camera level as the camera operator moves it. Drones use them, the DJI Ronin is basically a large gimbal, and the DJI Osmo is the latest handheld gimbal that DJI brought to market.
In the last few years, filmmakers all over the world have been expressing their creativity by shooting short and feature-length movies using their phones, showing that you should never be afraid to tell a story if you don’t own a $50,000 camera. Here are five great ones, shot on five different generations of iPhone, including one shot entirely on the new iPhone X.
Hey everyone! For this Fstoppers Spotlight, I’m excited to present renowned conceptual fine art photographer Lisa Kereszi. Kereszi, who started out assisting none other than Nan Goldin and currently serves as Acting Director of Undergraduate Studies in Photography at the Yale School of Art, creates stunning images that are both stark and surprisingly complex. Click the Full Post to read my interview with one of the most renowned photographers of our time.
It was day one of the family holiday to Austria. A low-key photo week, with the camera on-hand to take some shots and grab anything interesting. We landed, checked in to the apartment, and then prepared to head off for the afternoon. Where had I put my camera?
If there's one thing I've learned from scoring films, it's that the importance of the interplay between music and moving pictures cannot be overstated. Here's how to choose the right music for your video.
We are still making our way through all 179 contest entries and posting our favorites as we come to them. I'm a big fan of the BYU Photo Team's shoot below which involved shooting the girls with splashing water. By soaking the gymnasts right before they jump, they are able to capture the motion of their moves with the water by lighting from behind the subject on either side.
Product recalls tend to produce something between concern and shock in consumers, especially when they come years after initial production. And while Nikon is no stranger to recalls, a safety recall on one of their camera bodies might meet consumer reaction closer to the shock end of the spectrum.
There are many bad photographers who think they are good. The topic of why has been discussed on countless occasions. But, is it a bad thing? Is it really wrong to be bad and think you’re good? Let’s find out.
"Coty Tarr is an active lifestyle photographer based in New York City," so says the not quite so lengthy bio on his website. On initial thought, one might think the concise personal description is a little off-putting, but to anyone that has ever met Coty, it is nothing if not an apt discriptor. In a world where many photographers feel the need for shameless overpromotion (not that there's anything wrong with that), Coty takes a more subtle approach, working tirelessly and letting the caliber of his images and his work ethic speak for him.
Okay, I know my title is a bit dramatic but nevertheless I really think this is one of the best videos I've seen this last year for any working professional. Yesterday, Chase Jarvis had Ramit Sethi on his Chase Jarvis Live site, and the conversation was a cornerstone pillar for any working professional photographer. You see, Ramit is a New York Times and Amazon best seller book author (his book I Will Teach You To Be Rich is a classic), and he dropped by Chase's studio for some candid yet blunt answers on how a professional should run his career. Ramit covers how to book worthwhile jobs that satisfy you both creatively and financially and a ton of great advice that can be very psychological at times. The interview is super long so pace yourself, but if you stick with it I think you will be 10x more successful than you currently are (but hey I'm no fortune teller). Oh and if you want an early start on a great career in photography, why not let Chase Jarvis judge your own work by entering into our behind the scenes contest he is judging! Sorry about the sound at times.
On March 15th, we reposted a YouTube video of a comedian who claimed to have tricked ABC News into running a fake story about him. Well, it appears that the real ones who were duped were this writer and the comedian's fans, because the actual news story wasn't about the comedian at all.
Crated.com, a new platform for photographers and artists to sell their work, launches in just a few short weeks. What's so amazing about Crated? They have a rigorous curatorial process to keep artwork standards high, allow artists to sell their work through their platform, handle top-quality printing and fulfillment, and allow artists to keep 80% for themselves where most galleries take anywhere from 30-50% in commission.
When I clicked on this video, I figured I wouldn't learn a thing. If you're like me, you fully understand how to use the f-stop principle, even if you can't remember where all the numbers came from. I know I've heard all of this before, but it's been years. When I explain f-stop to someone, I don't get quite so mathematical. In this video, Dylan Bennett provides a straightforward and mathematical explanation of f-stop.
Photography, at face value, is already a difficult combination of capturing a scene as it unfolds and manipulating a tedious balance of exposure, aperture, and ISO to illuminate an image that does true life justice. When you add any additional element to the equation, the entire process can be thrown off. I often find this challenge in photography to be resting on the surface of the ocean in surf photography. Here are six tips I’ve learned that can help your surf photography.
Sharpening to enhance detail is a critical process to finishing any image, especially when preparing images for print. As a photographer who specializes in creating large wall portraits of dogs, I routinely apply a strong degree of sharpening prior to printing. There is one specific technique that I use for sharpening that is especially effective when editing portraits of dogs and other furry subjects. Here is my best tip for enhancing detail in fur and hair while maintaining a soft appearance.
Hey, fellow landscape photography enthusiast! Can you feel that slight chill in the air yet? Yep, fall is right around the corner, and you most likely already know what that means: it's prime time for capturing those breathtaking autumnal landscapes. The vibrant colors and the cozy vibes are a landscape photographer's dream come true. But, before you dash out with your camera, let's chat about how to get prepped for some epic fall photography.
If you’re an outdoor or adventure photographer, one of the situations likely tangle with regularly is balancing the line between comfort and size when it comes to your backpacks. You usually need a bag to both safely transport your expensive gear as well as your climbing supplies. However, our spines have limits and the bag also needs to be supportive and lightweight. Lowepro’s recent iteration of their popular camera bags is the Photo Sport Pro 30L AW, aimed to give you a light bag option for your adventurous ways.
Al Jazeera English just premiered the first episode of their new show, "The New African Photography." Following a time of great turmoil for Africa, the show centers on the changing image of the continent as told through the eyes of photographers. The goal is to ultimately replace the images of famine and war that often come to mind and with images that redefine what Africa is becoming today.
Ah, the allure of the sea! The crashing waves, the salty air, and the breathtaking beauty of the coastline. If you're a beginner photographer looking to embark on a seascape photography journey, you're in for a treat. Seascapes offer a wealth of stunning photographic opportunities, but getting started can seem a bit daunting. Fear not! In this article, we'll explore the five essentials for beginners to kick-start their seascape photography adventure and capture mesmerizing images that will transport viewers to the shores.