Fstoppers Reviews the Kandao QooCam 8K: The Holy Grail of 360 Cameras for Photographers?

In the automotive world, there’s a saying that there’s no replacement for displacement — a bigger engine is a bigger engine, and that’s all there is to it. One can say that this is the approach that Kandao is taking with its new QooCam 8K: more resolution and larger sensor sizes that make for quite an appealing 360 camera on paper and, as it turns out, in real life too.

Watch This Gorgeous Time Lapse Video of an Iceland Expedition

Yesterday I posted a great aerial video over New York, and today I stumbled on this gorgeous time lapse/environmental piece by videographer Eric Hines. The project, called Expedition Iceland, is a collection of shots from a 17 day adventure around the country during the midnight sun in June 2013. It was all shot on a Canon 5D Mark III, a few different Canon lenses and Kessler equipment (such as the CineDrive).

[Contest] Peter Hurley to Judge Headshot Facebook Contest

Last week we announced our headshot photography contest, where the winner would receive the The Art Behind the Headshot DVD. I said that you readers would be picking the winner. However, when Peter Hurley calls and offers his services, you don't say no. It's time to impress Peter!
A Tour Of Ansel Adam's Darkroom

One of our readers just emailed us this great video of landscape photographer Ansel Adam's darkroom. Michael Adams, Ansel's son, gives us a full tour of Ansel's home studio and shows some of his prints as well as much of his equipment. I currently have Adam's Moonrise, Hernandez hanging in my kitchen and it's really fun to see what the untouched negative looked like before all the dodging and burning. What's always amazing to me is that these prints were all done before the days of the computer, and every area that was altered had to be done by hand and with extreme precision. If you don't already own some of Adam's work, head over to the Ansel Adam's store and pick up a book or print.
Canon Patents More Interesting Lenses

Canon has produced some incredible RF mount lenses thus far, and they have shown they have no plans of slowing down. A new set of patents have emerged, and they show quite a versatile lens in the works.

Canon Adds New Cinema Prime with the CN-E35mm T1.5 L F

Canon rather quietly snuck a new lens onto the market today, announcing the CN-E35mm T1.5 L F single-focal-length Cinema prime lens designed for large-format single-sensor digital cinematography cameras employing Super 35mm or full-frame 35mm imagers. This brings Canon's cinema lens family up to six.

Fstoppers Reviews the Ugreen 2-in-1 Lightning and Micro USB Cable

This is a quick review of something very simple: a charging cable. "A charging cable?" you may wonder. "Now, why would anyone care about that?" Well, the cable reviewed is a special kind of cable: it combines an Apple Lightning connector and a micro-USB connector. That is nothing new, but it is done well here and actually a much more useful thing than you'd expect.

How Time Away Helped My Street Photography

When you are a new photographer, the allure of street photography is powerful. It’s a way of tapping into your passion in a much more approachable way than fashion photography or adventure wedding photography.

Fstoppers Reviews the Barber Shop 'Bob Cut' Messenger Camera Bag

I have to admit, I have become quite the collector of camera bags. So after entering the world of mirrorless cameras, I thought, what better excuse do I need to get a new, smaller, lighter camera bag? Enter the Bob Cut medium messenger from Barber Shop bags.

Imgur Unveils Project GIFV, Gives GIFs Massive Quality Boost

Ah, gifs. The internet's favorite way to share emotions and short clips. They've seen a considerable boost in popularity in recent years, especially on Reddit. Imgur, the major Reddit image sharing choice, hosts a majority of those gifs. Apparently they've been working on a way to make the experience better, because today they unveiled Project GIFV, an initiative to bring the iconic looping video of the GIF into the modern web and dramatically improving their quality.

37.5MP CMOS-Based Leica S with 4K@60fps and CCD-Based Leica S-E Medium Format DSLRs Announced

In a perhaps not-so-surprising turn of events, Leica has entered the medium format CMOS market with their new Leica S. At 37.5 megapixels, this doesn't seem to be the same 50-megapixel Sony sensor everyone else is using, naturally. This time, Leica means business with a weather-sealed magnesium body capable of 4K video at 60fps and 3.5fps still shooting between ISO 200 and 6400. Looking for the more traditional CCD version? Leica updated that, too, with the new breakout S-E.

What Should We Do About Facial Hair?

How many times do we have to shoot an epic project and start the post-processing knowing that there will be a considerable amount of time spent removing facial hair? Is this how it should be, or can it be changed?

6 Lighting Setups Any Photographer Can Use

Having a few simple lighting setups available at your disposal is one of the most important tricks any photographer can have up their sleeve. In this post, I'm going to share with you six of my favorite lighting setups for wedding photographers, but really any photographer can use these simple tips.

Insights on Retouching With Kelly Robitaille

Recently, I had the good fortune to interview high-end retoucher Kelly Robitaille to get her insights on retouching and learn how she’s built her career and skills as a high-end retoucher as well as getting her advice to those who want to build a similar career.

PTW Episode 8: Lee Crashes Mavic Drone Into Italian Mountain

In today's behind-the-scenes episode of “Photographing the World,” Elia and the Fstoppers team continue to photograph the ancient city of Matera, Italy. Lee gets abducted by an old man, Elia scouts the city for the best camera location, and I walk for hours in search of food. After a successful production day, we then face one of the most disastrous moments in all of our “Photographing the World” journeys.

2017 Pulitzer Prize Winners Announced

The 2017 Pulitzer Prize Winners were announced today at Columbia University in New York, N.Y. Pulitzer Prize Administrator Mike Pride made the announcement, and the following are a few of the many standouts.

RED's CEO Jim Jannard Has Resigned, Jarred Land To Take Helm

Jim Jannard, the mind behind Oakley and RED Cinema camera, has "finished [his] mission" and will be leaving as the face of RED. Current President Jarred Land will be taking the reins in Jannard's absence. "I have done my best. I saw a fatal flaw in the camera industry. We did our best to address it. I will now sink into the background, I hope with my reputation intact. I will work on the future of digital cinema... behind the scenes." [Read Final Letter]

[BTSV] Contest: Bass Guitar Massacre the Photo Shoot

Dan Savinelli: "This is my behind the scenes video for the FStoppers 2011 Contest. It is a photo shoot where I utilize composite photography & some creativity to come up with a more exciting portrait. I give tips and knowledge where ever I can, I hope you learn something.”
A New Take On The 365 Project: One Second Of Video Every Day For a Year

Everyone who has ever taken any interest in photography has thought about attempting to take one picture a year in order to fuel creative growth or to create an interesting and varied body of work in a relatively short time span. Jonathon Britnell put his own spin on the 365 project (technically a 366) by shooting one second of video every day for a year and compiling into a very cool documentary look at his life over the last year.

Agricultural Drones Will Be a $2.9 Billion Industry by 2021

As the farming industry continues to modernize and turn to automation, the role and importance of drones are exploding in the industry – so much so that the agricultural drone market is supposed to quadruple in value in just four short years.

[BTSV] The Wednesday Rundown 1.25.12

Howdy and welcome to the Wednesday Rundown. Another week of videos created for our yearly contest and we keep finding great ideas. David Price does a great job shooting a historical scene. With the help of photoshop and some great ideas he captures this candle light portrait. If you have a video that you think we might like to post, please click on "submit content" above.






August's Best Facebook Group Photos

Hard to believe summer has come and gone, eh? Well, at least for those of us in the northern hemisphere. You guys gave summer a smashing farewell, as the images we've seen in the Fstoppers Facebook Group were downright stupendous. With now over 5200 members, we're swimming at the deep end of the talent pool. Here's the best from August!

Sold! An Update on The Most Expensive Photobooks Sold at Auction

Based on feedback I received about my article investigating the most expensive photobooks ever sold, I reached out to the two largest auction houses in the World to provide a more authoritative list of photobooks sold at auction. What do you expect to see in this list?

Youness Valo Bouslame Shoots Paper Dresses

Check out this fashion shoot from photographer Youness Val Bouslame who shot a very interesting paper dress using only a single beauty dish. I love how the video gives you a side by side look at the shooting of the image and the final image. Definitely a simple lighting set up and some beautiful results.

Enhance Interaction On Your Facebook Pages With Replies

This may not come as a surprise to you, but the more you interact with your fans, the more they will interact with you! Using the replies feature in Facebook pages allows you to easily comment back and forth with your fans and encourage loyal readership, but first you need to turn the option on!

Winter Is Coming and It’s Bringing the Photography Funk

We have a lot to be thankful of as photographers. We make our livings doing the things we love. Clients hire us to create images because they love what we do. They entrust their most precious moments to us, and believe that we will deliver. Personally, I have photography to thank for the fact that I am able to live in another country, travel the world, and meet everyone from farmers in remote villages to presidents of entire countries. The diverse work that I do gives me experiences that not too many people have. So why is it that every winter I dig deep into the recesses of my soul and question who I am and why I do what I do? Why do I always want to quit?