Fstoppers Is Asking for Your Help
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Fstoppers has worked hard to bring you valuable educational content from incredible photographers like Peter Hurley, Mike Kelley, Dylan Patrick, Elia Locardi, and Joey Wright. Now we're asking for your help! We at Fstoppers are preparing to create our next premium photography tutorial which will probably cost around $300. We would like to know from the Fstoppers community which genres we should focus on and who it should be with. Would you take a quick one minute survey to help us out?

Terminator 2 T-1000 Special Effects BTS
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When I was a kid (and still now) I loved Terminator 2. The special effects at the time were the best we had seen yet. The way the T-1000 morphed in and out of liquid metal blew my mind. Now days it would probably be done 100% with CGI, but when this movie was made CGI was still in it's infancy and they had to use a lot of puppetry. T2 had a lot of CGI firsts though, including being the first movie to have realistic human movements on a CGI character, the first use of a PC to create major movie 3D effects, and many other firsts. Check out this BTS video on how they made some of the molds...

Keeping It On the Road
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A little over two years ago, Emily and Jeremiah divided their lives into three piles: sell, donate, and keep. Having called Charlotte, NC home for five years, they aimed to get away from the monotony of 50+ hour work weeks. Weekend getaways just weren’t cutting it anymore so they sold their townhouse and hopped in their Expedition, with a camper in tow, and started a new nomadic lifestyle. Jeremiah would be working remotely, while Emily documented their travels. An opportunity that many dream of, but few follow.

2018 New York City Drone Film Festival Winners
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This was my second year in a row going to the New York City Drone Film Festival and I have to say that I have yet to be disappointed. Year after year, they manage to find some of the best videos from a variety of different categories to share with the world. Without further ado, here are the winners from the NYCDFF:

Do You Value Your Art Over Customer Service?
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If you’ve run a photography business for any amount of time, I can almost guarantee that you’ve come across clients who make requests you don’t want to fill.

Coppertone Commercial Shot Almost Exclusively With DSLR's
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Besides getting a great glimpse into the filming of a well put together sunscreen commercial, Gary Lankford offers some great perspective on the usefulness of DSLR's as opposed to using some of the bigger and more expensive rigs that might be out there. The versatility of having several cameras and being able to take them anywhere can outweigh some of the higher quality option cameras. Check out the final commercial below.

Empowering Children Through Photography
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100cameras.org has to be one of the coolest photography related projects I've seen. The children in this program live in poverty but are given the opportunity to help improve their communities by sharing their stories through photography. Their photos help us understand the difficult conditions more than 1 billion children live in, world wide. The photos are for sale online and 100% of the proceeds go back to that child's community. You can check out some of their work on Instagram and if you

U.S. Sues Adobe for Hidden Fees and A Confusing Cancellation Process
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It hasn't been a good couple of weeks for software giant Adobe. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing the company for violations of U.S. consumer protection laws, what it deems "hidden termination fees" and an overly complicated process to cancel your Adobe services. The complaint centers around Adobe's Creative Cloud offering, which bundles various software products.

Peak Design Updates Its Award-Winning Camera Cubes
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Launched five years ago, Peak Design’s Camera Cubes introduced a superb system of organizing and protecting cameras, lenses, and accessories. They have now updated the Camera Cubes with additional protection and new sizes.

An Interview With Baber Afzal: Light Painting a Porsche Commercial
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Baber Afzal is the soft-spoken talent who only found his way to photography after picking up his sister’s Sony point-and-shoot nearly over a decade ago. That twist of fate has led him to work for some very well-established clients in the UAE, including the Porsche UAE’s new Panamera campaign.

Manfrotto Is Making One Crazy Looking Tripod Head
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When deciding to buy tripods, ball heads, lightstands, and umbrella brackets, I quickly learned that it's worth it's weight in gold to buy the best there is out there, and the best is usually made by Manfrotto. So I was a little curious when I heard they were releasing a new tripod head that allows smooth pivoting found in a video fluid head with the quick versatility found in photo ball head. Drew Gardner got his hands on the new Manfrotto MH055 Photo-Movie tripod head, and I must say this thing looks like it was made by aliens or something. It should be interesting to see the reviews on this once it comes out in June. Nothing is more annoying than having to carry around two different tripod heads for stills and photos so maybe this could be our answer. Check out the video below for a demonstration on why photo heads can't be used for video and vice versa.
Adding An Angry Mob Makes Any Portrait Interesting
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These days, creating a portrait that grabs the average pedestrian's attention isn't an easy task. So what did local New York City comedian Colin Kane do to spice it up a little? He added a raging mob of crazy people behind him in this awesome portrait by photographer Monte Isom. It looks like Monte used a large 7' Octabank to light the crowd and then a beauty dish with a little fill from a smaller softbox to give Colin a harsh key light look without losing the shadows. I love the overall idea and I've personally always wanted to work with a big group of people like in this video. If you are in NYC, check out Colin's stand up act and definitely head over to Monte's site to see some mind blowing advertising images as well as the largest group photo ever! Click the full post to see the high res final image.

Comedian Colin Kane angry mob photo shoot with Photographer Monte Isom from monte isom on Vimeo.

The Right and Wrong Way to Utilize a Styled Shoot
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Styled photo sessions can be a powerful tool for any wedding photographer’s portfolio. However, if utilized incorrectly, styled photos can arguably hurt the wedding photography industry. Here’s how to properly use styled photo sessions for your portfolio.

Watch Footage from Panasonic GH4 4K Camera at ISO 1600-3200
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Check out this footage taken at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Montery, California (my old stomping grounds!) from Cheesycam.com. The footage is, because it is on Vimeo, not 4K obviously since it's not supported, but you can download the original footage here. What do you think?

Hasselblad Announces Four XCD Lenses for X1D Mirrorless Medium-Format Camera
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Hasselblad was the first to follow Pentax's lead with a smaller, more manageable, and more affordable medium-format system; except in the case of the X1D, the company was also the first with a mirrorless medium-format system for the modern era. Today, the X1D is still the most compact medium-format digital camera you can get, and Hasselblad just announced four new lenses for the system.

[Video] Indoor Fireworks and Other Insane Acts at 2500fps
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“Dumt & Farligt” is a Danish TV show were two guys are given free license to do what ever dangerous thing that comes to mind, in and around the home. But the best part is they they document it all with a Phantom Flex capturing every ludicrous detail at 2,500fps. See what happens when a lighter next to a candle is shot, a waterbed is filled until it pops, fireworks are set off in a living room, a bottle of red wine is microwaved and more.

Seniors Ignite Series - Creating a Year-Round Senior Business
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Our latest article in the Seniors Ignite series with Jen Basford from 3 girls photography covers how to create a year round senior business. Jen has created a studio that doesn’t slow down in the off months. Instead, she is constantly building her portfolio and generating revenue. How does she does do this? In this article, we dive into the four things that have helped Jen create a year-round business.

The Key to Success in Creative Endeavours
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I get into this topic knowing full well that my title may be a little contentious. Who am I to presume that there is a single key to, or even a single definition of, success that will work for us all? However, I have been thinking deeply recently about the things that I have done well at, and the things that I haven’t. There is one theme that seems to run through them all, and it keeps cropping up with everyone I speak with and a great many voices seem to echo similar thoughts. So, stay with me.
Tips for Scouting Locations for Your Next Interview Video Shoot
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When doing a documentary-style video production, an interview or series of interviews is often at the heart of the content. Uncontrollable lighting, background noise, and the size of the space you have to work in all play a significant role in capturing a quality testimonial, so location scouting to check on these is an important facet of our production process. In this short video, Joshua Pardon and I explore two rooms at a location and discuss what we look for when making a decision on where to set up for a shoot.

Fstoppers Photographer of the Month (April 2019): Erik Johansson
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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 2019, we're featuring a new photographer every month, whose portfolio represents both stellar photographic achievement and a high level of involvement within the Fstoppers community.

Creating an Early 20th Century Style Portrait
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With modern cameras having incredible resolution and dynamic range, we all obsess over sharpness and the tonality of our images and how flexible the raw files are. But when broken down, what really makes a good portrait? Is it the perfect focus on the eye or a subtle transition of highlight to shadow from a massive softbox? As with all things, what defines a good portrait can go out of style. This was an interesting wake up call when a friend asked me to create an early 20th century style portrait of him.

Kaleb Wentzel-Fisher's Bokeh Spells Out Words
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If you've ever played with an effects lens like the Lens Baby Composer then you are probably aware that you can actually create out of focus areas that have specific shapes by using specially designed apertures. Well Kaleb Wentzel-Fisher took this one step further and actually made his out of focus bokeh spell out words during a recent video shoot. I think there is a lot to be desired with the final video but the concept is pretty genius. Check out this video below to see how Kaleb designed the 'aperture' blades and click on the full post to see the final video.

Light Works - Behind The Scenes from Supernormals on Vimeo.