You’ve just wrapped up a shoot and excitement begins to swell in you as you prepare to review your pictures. You hope that just this once, you can walk away with deep satisfaction at the end result. However, to your dismay, just as you are preparing to review the pictures, you catch wind of a notification to view someone’s new Instagram post. That of which due to how polished it is, makes you look at your own work with despair. The spark you once felt for it is now gone.

In the last few years, us earth-bound humans have been blessed with stunning still images and breathtaking timelapses that were taken in outerspace. Veteran astronaut-photographer Don Pettit was at the recent SXSW event, and spoke about the challenges of capturing images in space.

We all know the term, and as cringe-worthy as it can sound, it doesn't negate it's importance: networking. Along with "entrepreneur," the word "networking" gets thrown around a lot in today's millennial-run world full of social media highlight reels and "try-hard" antics. But networking, in the purest sense of the word, is an absolute necessity in our industry of creative entrepreneurship. There are opportunities around you that you will never be privy to unless you start cultivating genuine relationships with the creators in your extended circles. Not only that, but there is a vast pool of resources and knowledge that you could be tapping into.

At some point, all creatives fall into ruts where it’s difficult to imagine new concepts. Unfortunately, inspiration doesn't always present itself. Sometimes we have to create it. Below is a list of practices I follow.

After enough time in the broadcast industry, it's hard not to have a soft spot for Portabrace. They are incredibly well made. However, outside of generic television and news gathering, I would say that Think Tank, Lowepro, and Pelican are the top dogs. I never found a Portabrace bag suiting my needs entirely, nevermind that they can cost a small fortune — until now. I managed to pick up an amazing backpack for just $99 after instant savings from B&H.

We all have our own motivation for the images we choose to make. Every photographer has that little voice, that driving force pushing you toward the goal, or that feeling in your gut when you really nailed it.

Maybe that works to your advantage now, but at some point, it’s likely to break loose and run wild…for better or for worse.

The photography megastore B&H has purchased 50 FlashDiscs from us as a "test run" and they just went on sale minutes ago. B&H will ship anywhere in the world (if you are wiling to pay the shipping costs) but shipping to Canada is particularly reasonable. Jump on this before they sell out in a few hours.

We get asked to show our lighting for our Fstoppers Original interviews all the time but it seems like we always forget to shoot our lighting schemes. StillMotion just released a killer video that shows how they light interviews with key, fill, hair, and background lights. By using Profoto's new HMI lights with Air remotes, you can easily change the output of each light without moving from behind your camera. Of course all of this still applies to still photography as well.

One thing I am always thinking about is consistency. This goes for every aspect of shooting. Does this fit my style? Do these photos flow together? Am I editing these photos exactly the same every time? Consistency is an important part of photography you might not be considering.

As photographers, we can learn from "Parasite" and its mind-blowing cinematography. I'm here to break down how composition, color, and lighting in this film's famous scenes make it such a standout.

Last week John Dominis, one of the most prolific photographers for LIFE Magazine, passed away aged 92. His work was celebrated not just for the strength of his image making, but because of the sheer breadth of what he shot. Today, when we're told to "focus and specialize" let’s take a moment to look back and remember one of the most consistent and diverse photographers of the 20th Century.

Manfred Baumann is a highly regarded portrait photographer specializing in working with the biggest names in Hollywood. Baumann has spent years developing a timeless style to his work that continues to be in high demand. Fstoppers chats with Baumann to get the low down on what drives both his creative process and how he built a strong business in a very tight niche.