BTS: Thinking Outside the Barrel to Photograph for a Magazine

A couple of years ago I was tasked with getting a shot of grape stomping for a local food magazine, Edible Ozarkansas, who were doing a story on the history of local wine production in Arkansas. Right away, images of Lucy and Ethel of "I Love Lucy" stomping grapes in the giant barrel came scrolling through my mind. Challenge accepted.

We Review the Zhiyun Molus X100 COB Light

A while back, I found myself in need of continuous lighting for my video work. Initially, I chose for a budget-friendly LED panel. However, I was less than satisfied with the results, which led me to purchase the Zhiyun Molus X100 COB light. In this review, I'd like to share my experiences.

[Video] BTS Look at a Kitesurfing Paradise

Naish Kiteboarding's Brand Manager, Damien Girardin, gives us a BTS look at what goes into the making of their photoshoots and video productions. The video starts with a short and sweet explanation of what they went through to make it and then cuts to the final product. Enjoy!
Can Photography Be A Calling? Lauren Greenfield Spends 25 Years Documenting Wealth

Can photography be more than just work? Can it be a calling? How do you know? And what if that calling coincides with a transformational period in world history and you are called upon to document every move? Lauren Greenfield’s new exhibition and book, “Generation Wealth” is a time capsule a quarter century in the making.

What Is the Right Skill to Succeed in Photography?

In the world of photography today, it is pretty common that the relationship between creative concept and photography skill is intertwined and very much expected from a photographer. In this article, we’ll dive deeper into this discussion between these two relationships to see how photographers can unleash their artistic potential and bring their work to the next level and how one skill affects the other skill. Everything from the spark of inspiration from the basis of creative concepts to the technical skills required for project execution will be discussed in hopes of achieving balance between creativity and technical skill to push a photographer’s work to a greater height.

Sony Releases Three New Lenses

In addition to the five new cameras released today, Sony has also released three new lenses: the Sony 70-400mm f/4-5.6, the 50mm f/1.4 Carl Zeiss Planar, and the DT 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6. These three lenses span across different uses and customers and it's a nice mix. What's not so nice is the pricing, which could leave a few of you sticker shocked.

Create Stunning Comet NEOWISE Composites

Anyone who's shot Comet NEOWISE has noticed one thing: it looks a bit small in the frame when shooting on wider lenses. That's why with the help of some image editing, creating a composite where we replace the sky may be the best way to produce a stunning comet composite.

How To Recover Corrupt Panasonic GH4 and GH5 .mdt Files

One of the worst gut wrenching feelings any content producer can face is opening up a memory card only to find that a file is corrupt or missing altogether. Recently we sold most of our Nikon gear and switched over to the new Panasonic GH5 cameras because of their better video features, superior image stabilization, and overall smaller size. Unfortunately we have found that unlike our Nikon cameras, the GH5 can corrupt files pretty easily if you are using their battery grip. In this video, I show you how these files can easily corrupt as well as a few software options you can use to recover any files corrupted during a loss of power.

Chris OConnell Strobes Above His Camera's Sync Speed

Our cameras sync at a maximum of 200-250th of a second but in this video Chris OConnell strobes at 1/500th of a second with his Broncolors. How does he do it? Well the new Pocket Wizard TT1 and TT5s are the secret. Instead of trying to explain it all here, watch the video below and then head over to the full post for a second video with more details. <
The Evolution of an Image

My photographs are hardly ever representative of objective reality, but they are representative of my vision, my artistic interpretation of the scene. In this article, I will talk about why I made a particular photograph, what was done in the camera, and then what I did in the darkroom to realize the finished image—or at least the image as it is right now. Realizing that I hardly ever reach a final conclusion on a photograph, especially when I am working on it in a wet, traditional darkroom, everything remains a “work in progress.”

Why Are Many Short Films Bad?

There's yet another short film in your feed. You play it, and a few minutes later, you wonder why it ended in such a meaningless and abrupt way. Sound familiar?

The Curse of a Good Relationship in Photography

Most of the time, photography relies on good relationships. They make the business run smoother and ease the shooting. In some areas of photography, smooth jobs are not the best, though.

The Wednesday Rundown 1.18.12

Howdy and welcome to the Wednesday Rundown. Another week of amazing videos for the BTS contest. Check out Mark's 100 portraits, each with a unique twist. If you have a video that you think we might like to post, please click on "submit content" above.
Mike Kelley and Skypixel's New Aerial Photography Contest

It's always fun to track how various Fstoppers writers grow in their career and undertake new challenges. Mike Kelley has been one of my favorites to watch with the success of his first and second architectural photography tutorials, as well as his expanding aerial photography work. He successfully created and promoted a book featuring his aerial work of Los Angeles. Now, Mike is helping to judge a new aerial photography contest being put on by SkyPixel. If you'd like to participate, check out the details below.

Why I'm Not at All Concerned About Google VP Vint Cerf's Warned Bit Rot

Last month, internet pioneer and Google Vice President Vint Cerf warned the world on BBC about the impermanence of our data in a digital form due to the fact that the technology that can read it today will become obsolete. He argued that in a few hundred years, we may not be able to read any of the images or videos created today for the same reason we can't read a floppy disk: because technology will have moved on without us, and without that information. But is he right?

Five Ways Teaching Helps Your Photography Business

Photographers can be greedy when it comes to knowledge, hoarding techniques, shoot locations, and general valuable information on our craft. While we photographers need to be competitive, we also need to share our knowledge.

ProMediaGear Takes Their Dual Curved/Straight Slider to Kickstarter

Earlier this year at WPPI, ProMediaGear showed us something we thought was really awesome: a slider that easily flips between curved and straight. It's a really simple idea that no one had ever thought of: why can't the two types coexist? Now ProMediaGear wants to get their slider to market faster through crowd-funding on Kickstarter.

The Use of Reflections in Your Photography

I love using reflections for my landscape photography. A nice sunrise or sunset with a reflection of the colored sky in a pond or lake is very rewarding. But you can find reflections everywhere. I tell you about it in this article.

How I Got the Shot: 2021 Personal Branding Photos

Branding is important for any photographer, and with 2020 behind us, I thought it best to update my own personal branding with some new profile photos across all of my socials. This is how I got the shots.

Cullai for Mac Is a Good Idea but Has a Way To Go

CullAI is a new Mac app recently on the scene. It's designed to let you point to a folder of images and let the software create a catalog that lets a photographer quickly decide which photos are worthy of further use.

Moment Introduces Their Freshly Redesigned and Improved App

Moment is known for its fantastic smartphones lenses bringing DSLR like experience on your mobile device. They are releasing a new version of their app to offer you the best photographic experience possible on your phone, even if you don’t own any of their lenses.

The Kick: Wirelessly Controlled LED Panel From An iPhone

Photojojo.com is well known for having a ton of fun photography related products. Their latest happens to be a LED light panel that can be controlled from an iPhone.

The Kick is a five row LED light panel that can be customized to any color temperature through a downloadable app. The unit runs on a USB rechargeable battery which is a huge plus.