Steadicam Volt Smartphone Stabilizer Blows Kickstarter Goal Out Of The Water
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Have you ever been interested in creating professional looking videos but haven’t been able to justify the cost of dedicated professional video gear? You’re in luck considering the remarkable video quality that is achievable using the most current smartphones. Combine the latest smartphone video recording capabilities with stabilization technology developed by the originators of the Steadicam and you’re now able to capture professional looking video easier than ever.

When You Do and Do Not Need a Model Release
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If you have ever worked with a model, you’ve probably heard of the concept of model releases. Here is an explanation of when you need them and what kind of language they should contain.

3 Strategies to Safeguard Against Anything Getting in the Way of Delivering Promised Photos
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Nearly every day I am hearing about some pseudo-horror story from a model or client about a shoot that went missing because of some technical problem after the photos had been created. Nothing is more frustrating than working hard to create the images that your client wanted only to be unable to deliver on time (or at all) because of some unforeseen technological problem that derails your entire process. As a professional you need to be prepared for these sorts of surprises before they happen so that you can always be ready to pivot and still deliver on your promise.

There Is Nothing Like Photographing a Sunrise [Part 2]
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For me, capturing a sunrise often coincides with a vacation. During the month of February 2015 temperatures were insanely cold. Memories of a fun-filled fall were long forgotten and cabin fever was starting to spread through the household. Worry not though, Groupon came to the rescue with a reasonable two-day pass for an indoor water park about ten minutes away in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. The wife bought the deal, and I took Thursday and Friday off work. To Canada we go!

[News] A Camera that Produces Descriptive Text
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Matt Richardson created a unique, prototype camera that actually describes scenes. "The Descriptive Camera works a lot like a regular camera—point it at subject and press the shutter button to capture the scene. However, instead of producing an image, this prototype outputs a text description of the scene. Modern digital cameras capture gobs of parsable metadata about photos such as the camera's settings, the location of the photo, the date, and time, but they don't output any information

Using Film for Portraits of a Highway Patrolman
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I started a new project recently creating portraits on 11x14 film. I have had an 11x14 back for my Deardorff for several years, but I have never shot much in that format. I decided to try a couple sheets in hopes of kick starting a new project.

Breaking Out Of A Creative Slump
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You know what I think the worst feeling is? Going into a creative slump. I loathe when it happens, but to any of us who are creative by nature and trade, occasionally you go into a slump, a mental block if you will, and creativity is nowhere to be found. I will search high and low for inspiration and still nothing moves me to create and be creative. I think though I have found a way to avoid this now.

Four Reasons Why Underwater Photographers Should Travel Together
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When I moved to Singapore in 2010, I picked up both scuba diving and underwater photography. As many divers do, I began traveling with my local dive club. It was a great group of Singaporeans and expats and I loved each and every adventure.

Live Now: Lindsay Adler's Skin 101: Lighting, Retouching and Understanding Skin Course
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Capturing beautiful skin tones is essential to any great portrait, yet skin is notoriously difficult to photograph and retouch. For the next 3 days on CreativeLive, you can join Lindsay to Learn how to handle your subject's skin and add polish to all of your portraits. For the next 3 days, Lindsay will take you through the essentials of understanding, lighting, photographing and retouching skin in all its variations.

On Being Profitable as a Photographer
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It’s the height of tax season, and an odd thing just happened to me. I was at my accountant’s office filing my business taxes for 2018 last week, and she said to me, “Wow. I have a lot of photographers as clients, but most of them aren’t making a living. What are you doing differently?”

The Greatest Photography Halloween Costume Ever!
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For some people, Halloween can be a stressful time as you panic to come up with that perfect costume that will impress all your friends and help you score big with the opposite sex. Photographer Tyler Card decide to one up everyone by creating his own lifesize working Nikon D3 which can capture all of his trick or treating fun. Check out the demo below and then head to the full post to see how Tyler made it in his BTS video.
Fstoppers Releases Elia Locardi's 'Photographing the World 3' Tutorial!
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I am excited to announce the release of one of the most epic projects Lee and I have been working on this year. As many of you know, Fstoppers teamed up with Landscape Photographer Elia Locardi back in 2014 to produce two separate tutorials on landscape and cityscape photography. This year we caught back up with Elia and followed him around his favorite country and some of our favorite mega cities for "Photographing the World 3." If you have been anxiously waiting for the next installment of PTW, the wait is finally over!

Sigma Offers $60,000 in Prizes to Celebrate Its 60th Anniversary
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To celebrate the company’s 60th anniversary, Sigma is offering eight prizes of $7,500 to four photographers and four filmmakers. Entry — which is free — is open to any resident of the U.S. who is enrolled in a photography or film course.

We Review the Kandao QooCam 3: Third Time’s the Charm
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While 360 cameras haven’t quite entered the mainstream for most photographers, Kandao’s QooCam 3 makes a solid case why they should: Kandao’s third entry into its QooCam lineup is a solid 360 action camera at a bargain price.

The FAA Is Developing a System for Remote Identification of Drones
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Consumer drones continue to grow both in capabilities and sheer numbers at a rate that seems to be outpacing the government's ability to find a way to properly integrate them into the national airspace. As the FAA works to catch up, their newest proposal could be a big step forward.

Meet the Cinematographer Who's Recording a Year-Long Documentary Around the World with Just One Fstop Bag
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You may have already read about Steven Holleran in a recent Fstoppers article. If not, let me briefly fill you in: Holleran is an extremely talented and accomplished visionary behind the lens. He's been commissioned by companies such as Google and Nike, and was the daring cinematographer for the popular Netflix series Fire Chasers and the award-winning Sundance film "A Boy. A Girl. A Dream." Plus, he's a badass.

Jens Haugen Knows What It Takes To Get A Good Photo, Go BTS To See How He Does It
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Go behind the scenes with photographer Jens Haugen. Jens produces some amazing work. Probably because he shoots with a hasselblad,(jokes). A lot of work goes into fashion photography like this. From Mua's, Art Directors, Stylist, ect.. every person has an important role in developing the finished product. Not having a entourage should not discourage you tho, it just means you have to work harder and pay attention to detail with a fine tooth comb. For instance the color schemes in these photos are very well constructed and tie her outfits in with the BG. The balance of light and the way they use the light to shape her face is really beautiful too.

Think Tank Announces New Apple-Centric Bags for Laptops and Tablets
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Think Tank announced a new bag and accessory case today that focus specifically on jiving with your favorite Apple products. The "My 2nd Brain" bag comes in three sizes for iPads and the different sized laptops, while the PowerHouse is an accessory bag to keep cords and whatnot in place. It's an interesting direction for the camera bag maker, to say the least.

Remember Your Local Photography Store This Holiday Season
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As small business owners ourselves, why do we instantly head to the internet when we need new photography gear? You would think we would understand why it is essential to support the local businesses whenever we can, yet most of us don’t. I can already envision the responses to this article, like the internet provides better prices, more prominent selection, easy purchasing, and many more reasons. Some of these may be true, but some aren’t, and there are other reasons to shop at your local photography store.

Saudi Arabian Women Unveiled
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I have always been a fan of documentaries and especially those that cover photographers and the story behind their photos. If you are like me, you'll enjoy watching this 15-minute film documenting Ziyah Gafic as he reveals interesting stories about a number of his projects including one that helps to lift the stereotype of Saudi Arabian women. This was the first time I have been exposed to Gafic's work but I was quickly drawn in by a lot of the things he had to share which he has learned over the years of being a photographer.

Easy Focus Stacking Technique for Sharper Ecommerce Photos
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Ecommerce images represent a product on the web to provide potential customers with an accurate representation of the products. Therefore an efficient workflow that enables you to get an image of a product that is fully in focus is extremely crucial. Check out this article to find out how easy focus stacking might be the answer for you if you find yourself struggling with focusing issues.

MAC Cosmetics Posts Images With Unedited Facial Hair
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Cosmetic companies are known for using high levels of retouching in their images. MAC Cosmetics is the latest company to ditch the Photoshop in some recent posts, and the Internet is divided about it.

[Video] A Dynamically Lit Elegiac Nighttime Short (a must see!)
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Fashion photographer and filmmaker Jacob Sutton teams up with Artec pro snowboarder William Hughes and designer John Spatcher, to make this stunning short that features a very unique light source, an LED suit. Just picture it, a lone surfer illuminating his way down the slopes of Tignes in the Rhône-Alpes region of south-eastern France, captured on a Red Epic camera. Can't? You don't have to. Just watch!
FREE Frequency Separation Action From Elena Jasic
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Yesterday I posted a tutorial on frequency separation from Elena Jasic. In case you missed it you should go check it out! Well today she hit me up to tell me she had quite a few questions still regarding the preparation of the layers for frequency separation, so she made a handy little action, and asked me to pass it on to all of you. Who doesn't like free right?!