The Right and Wrong Way to Utilize a Styled Shoot

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.

Adding An Angry Mob Makes Any Portrait Interesting

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.

Color Theory Pro Will Help You Manage Color Like a Pro

Managing colors is one of the most important things photographers need to get right. It’s true for portrait, landscape, and wedding photographers—all of us. And there are a lot of approaches to getting the color right.

Hasselblad Announces Four XCD Lenses for X1D Mirrorless Medium-Format Camera

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

“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

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.

Watch Footage from Panasonic GH4 4K Camera at ISO 1600-3200

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?

Fstoppers Photographer of the Month (April 2019): Erik Johansson

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.

The Key to Success in Creative Endeavours

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

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.

Creating an Early 20th Century Style Portrait

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

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.

What's The Best Advice for Turning Pro as a Photographer?

We've all needed help on the path to becoming photographers. Did some great advice help get you there? Advice may help you out of a bind or may help you to understand something you can't quite get the hang of. Of course, advice may also lead you down the wrong road. So, once you receive advice, you have to determine the value of the guidance. Is it good or bad advice? I asked a few photography colleagues to share the best advice they've received on turning pro. I'd love to hear about good advice you've been given, or good advice you'd like to share on turning pro.

Women and Advertising: How One Company Is Ahead of the Game

DJI's latest advertisement for the Mavic Air is incredibly woke. Not only is it targeting the growing number of women heading outdoors in search of adventure, it also pokes a little bit of fun at gender politics in the world of filmmaking and photography.

Mike Kelley Photographs Modern Architecture Behind The Scenes Episode 7

Our behind the scenes series during the filming of Where Art Meets Architecture 2 continues today with Episode 7. In this episode we continue shooting an incredible modern home in the middle of a lava field and we attempt to entertain ourselves in a few different ways while we are out in the middle of nowhere.

Try Being Your Own Test Subject for Photoshop Practice

Maybe you don't need any practice in Photoshop, maybe you do. Perhaps you're just looking to kill some time and create something fun, bizarre, hilarious, or something simply unlike anything you've ever done before.

Customize Your Lightroom End Marks

Here is a great little video by the people over at SLR Lounge that really has nothing to do with productivity, speed, or even making you a better photographer. It's just cool feature that allows you to brand your Lightroom with your own logo, making the entire program appear custom to your own business.

[Contest Entry] Projecting Shapes Of Light On A Model NSFW

The Fstoppers 2011 BTS Contest is now closed and we are going through every single video 1 by 1 to choose our favorites that will make it to the next round. In the next round our panel of celebrity judges will narrow the lot down to the top 3 winners. At this point we still have not seen every video but if you would like to look through them yourself, you can see them all here on our forum. I just ran across this really interesting video by Loren Byerstein and Syx Langemann that involved shooting a nude model with a projected pattern. Not only do they show you how they did it but they have actually released the software to make your own patterns easily. If you want to give something like this a try on your own, you can download the software here.
Building a Darkroom When You Have No Room

Although I've professed my love for film many times in many articles, I've always been missing a key ingredient to the analog experience. Namely, I've never learned to print my own film in the darkroom. Sad, I know. Well, no more! My journey to teaching myself to use a darkroom starts now and, whether you like it or not, I'm taking you with me. First things first: Where the hell am I going to put a darkroom?

Instagram is Bringing an Intriguing 'Buy Now' Feature for Products Within Posts Next Week

Everyone might not be familiar or privy to the changes that Instagram has made over the last couple years, but one thing is for sure, they are doing some great things when dealing with brands and how they feed ads to their consumers. Next week, they will begin to roll out a feature in which select brands will be able to tag specific products for people to click through and purchase with one click, all in-app.

BTS Video of Incredible Maternity Shoot by Simeon Quarrie

Here at Fstoppers we have featured the fascinating talent of Simeon Quarrie before as he takes what could be an ordinary shoot and turns it into the extraordinary. Back in July we featured his behind the scenes video of a pre-wedding shoot staged in the rain and in May we shared with you how he goes above and beyond to put together a finished video product the same day that the clients can watch during the wedding reception. Today, I was fascinated yet again while watching the behind the scenes video of Simeon on a maternity shoot.