Does Posting Work Online Make Us Better Photographers?

Being a photographer in the digital age is a double-edged sword. On one hand, we have an endless resource of articles, videos, and experts right at our fingertips. It’s truly a golden age for education, and a motivated person can go from an absolute novice to an expert almost completely on their own. But at the same time, we are more exposed than ever before, and as photographers, posting our work online means opening ourselves up to a sea of criticism — both good and bad.

Made For Travelling And Vlogging? A Preview of Sony FE 16-25mm f/2.8 G

Sony released a rather odd lens a few days ago. The FE 16-25mm f/2.8 G is neither a replacement for the GMaster nor the cheaper f/4. It is its own odd thing. What is its purpose? Where does it fit in the lineup? Does purchasing it make sense? For some, it most definitely might. Not for all, though.

Pricing of the Sigma dp2 Quattro Announced

In February of this year, Sigma announced the next generation of their fixed lens professional camera series, the dp2 Quattro. We have had a bit of experience holding the new camera but none shooting with it. We expect that to change as today they announced the pricing and availability of the new camera, which will come to market at $999.

Four Ways to Compose Wildlife Images for Maximum Impact

It's very difficult to stand out from the crowd as a wildlife photographer. It's a genre where one can go overboard with creative editing quite quickly. Many would say not to get creative with wildlife editing at all — that wildlife imagery should be an accurate representation of the animal and its environment. So, how does one create an image that stands out from the crowd?

The Arctic Light, Another Great Timelapse

Terje Sørgjerd has created a few timelapse videos that we have featured on FS but this may be the best. Terje writes; "My favorite natural phenomenon is one I do not even know the name of, even after talking to meteorologists and astrophysicists I am none the wiser.What I am talking about I have decided to call The Arctic Light and it is a natural phenomenon occurring 2-4 weeks before you can see the Midnight Sun." "I had numerous setbacks including: airline lost my luggage, struggling to swim ashore after falling into the Arctic sea: twice, breaking lenses, filters, tripod, computer, losing the whole dolly rig and controller into the sea, and even falling off a rather tall rock and ending up in the hospital. As much as I wanted to give up, the best way out is always “through”. I am glad I stuck it through though because there were some amazing sunrises waiting."
Fstoppers Review of the Shimoda Explore 60 Adventure Photography Backpack

I’d like to introduce you to the Shimoda Adventure Camera bags, specifically, the Explore 60. It’s a backpack that’s built for outdoor adventure photographers and filmmakers, and has options for 60L and 40L versions. Never heard of it? Well, I’m sure you have used or seen some of the gear that Shimoda’s lead designer has previously worked on. I’ll tell you about this and more in my full review.

Marty Martin Creates Supernova

The BTSV for this music video isn't very technical and normally I wouldn't post it but the final product is so good that I made an exception. Watch the music video below first and then try to guess how they filmed it, then check out the BTS in the full post. I was shocked when I saw the simplicity of the shoot. ><
Gnarly Bay Shows Off Their 2011 Reel

Gnarly Bay has been doing quite a bit in the past few years. Their demo reel for 2011 is just them saying "we're better than you", but in the nicest way possible. Do yourself a favor and head over to their Vimeo page and check out some of their work. I have learned quite a bit just from watching their stuff, and it makes me think of ways that I can be more creative, not only with video but in my photography as well. Enjoy!

Top 10 WeeklyFstop Photos: Frozen

For this week's list of "frozen," I would recommend gloves or mittens and possibly a nice cup of hot chocolate. Just looking at some of these frigid shots has a tenancy to induce shivering. Wait until you see the winner, I would venture to say the shot was 100 percent meant to land on our list.

How To Light And Photograph A Glass Bottle

In this weeks episode of The Slanted Lens, Jay P. Morgan shows us how to light and photograph a glass bottle. This video is also about superimposing products into real scenes so that the product looks it's best. Tutorials like this are priceless for anyone who is interested in product photography. Glass can be extremely tricky but Jay makes things super simple for us.
Kodak to Sell Off Film Division, Ilford to Benefit

As the sad story of the fall of Eastman Kodak continues, news reports coming out state that Kodak is poised to see off its entire film division, looking to exit that segment of the market entirely. That division includes Personalized Imaging and Document Imaging departments which encompass digital scanners, picture kiosks, souvenir photo products, photographic paper, as well as Kodak's film businesses, the once bright and shining star of its core competencies.

Photoshop Tips For Moving Car Photography

This week over on the Fstoppers Forum there has been some pretty interesting posts. One that grabbed my attention was made by user Evolize Photog who showed how he photographs luxury cars in motion. In this video Evolize shows how he photoshopped his suction cupped boom arm out of a Lamborghini Gallardo hero shot. This should be great inspiration for our behind the scenes contest we are running the rest of this year. I'm sure a lot of you are like me and have questions about mounting a boom arm, triggering the camera, and positioning the camera for the best angle. These are some of the topics you should consider when making your own BTS video in the future. Do we have any other automotive photographers here on Fstoppers?
Watch This Episode of "Capture" With Alan Cumming & Sebastian Kim

It's tough to not love pretty much everything about Mark Seliger's Emmy-nominated show, "Capture." In this episode, Mark sits down with actor Alan Cumming and fashion and portrait photographer Sebastian Kim and they talk about everything from Woody Allen to 'scooter porn' to assembling a photograph like a puzzle.

Phlearn Photoshop Tutorial: How to Create and Place a Logo in Perspective

In this tutorial, Photoshop guru Aaron Nace of Phlearn.com shows you an easy yet effective way to take branding your images to another level. By placing logos or other branding elements into a scene's already existing spaces (such as billboards, truck trailers, or even clothing) you can really drive home the message you are trying to deliver. Follow Nace's simple step-by-step instructions to recreate this effect in your images.

The Best Images from GuruShots "Marvelous Still Life" Challenge

If you haven't heard of GuruShots, it's a photography website that hosts "The World’s Greatest Photo Game,” They host regular challenges and allow photographers of every level to submit and participate. Their latest challenge "Marvelous Still Life," received thousands of entries and millions of votes. You can see the three winners of the challenge as well as hundreds of top rated images below.

'The World at Night': An Astrophotography Book by Babak Tafreshi

The night sky is photographed more today than ever before, and yet, dark sky areas are shrinking at incredible rates. That's something The World at Night (TWAN) program and Babak Tafreshi are trying to educate others on with this new book and the amazing collection of images within.

[Pics] Can You Guess What's Underneath?

Ok, obviously it's not that hard to guess what Photographer Todd Sanchioni used as his subject in these images. Ten years ago, his Covered Car series started out as nothing but later turned into something he couldn't avoid noticing; covered vehicles were everywhere. Click the full post to see more of his images.
International Earth & Sky Photo Contest Winners Announced

Winners of the 4th International Earth and Sky Photo Contest, hosted by The World at Night (TWAN), were announced this week with some awe inspiring photographs.

TWAN is an international effort to photograph nightscape and time-lapse videos of the world’s landmarks. According to TWAN's website "The contest was founded by TWAN and Dark Skies Awareness project in 2008 as a regional

Behind The Lens With Gregory Heisler

Stumptown Visuals sat down with world renowned photographer, Gregory Heisler just before he spoke at ASMP Oregon's August meeting. Gregory, who is best known for photographing more than 70 Time Magazine cover portraits, gives us a glimpse into what it's like to be behind the lens and have worked with some of the most famous people in the world.

Platon's Photoshoot in Burma:  First Lady of Freedom

Portrait photographer Platon is best known for his stylized wide angle photographs of political figures such as Bill Clinton, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Vladimir Putin, Hugo Chavez, and countless other iconic leaders throughout the world. His images have graced the covers of Time, The New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, and Esquire to name a few. For Platon, putting himself in a position to capture portraits of some of the most unapproachable and impenetrable political rulers has not only been stressful but also extremely dangerous. Such was the case when he set out to Burma, one of the most dangerous countries in the world, to photograph opposition politician Aung San Suu Kyi. In the video below Platon recaps his experience being chased by Burmese secret police in his effort to create the cover image of the January 2011 issue of Time.
BTS: Shooting With the GFX 50S for a Male Beauty Shoot

When shooting beauty, there is a lot to keep in mind. How does the makeup look? Is the lighting clean? In the background clean? How is the model's expression? Learn my own process and join me behind the scenes in shooting a male beauty story with the Fujifilm GFX 50S.

The Downside to Pursuing Your Passion: Dreamer's Guilt

I love what I do and pursue my passions fervently and in all directions. While you're starting out and not achieving much, you feel a wealth of support, but with success comes a type of guilt I've labeled, Dreamer's Guilt.

Lomography Launches Kickstarter for the New Lomo'Instant Automat Camera

Lomography, makers of fun film cameras and cool vintage lenses, has just launched a Kickstarter for their latest instant camera, the Lomo'Instant Automat. The Automat is the second generation of the Lomo'Instant camera and offers updates and improvements over the company's original instant camera that they successfully Kickstarted over two years ago.

New Zeiss Loxia 50mm and 35mm Lenses Announced

A new line of manual-focus lenses, designated with the Loxia title, have been announced by Zeiss. The initial compact lenses to be released later this year, a 50mm f/2 and a 35mm f/2, are crafted specifically for Sony’s E-mount full-frame α7 cameras. Christophe Casenave, product manager at Zeiss, says there is “growing desire for a digital manual-focus experience” on Sony Alpha 7/7R/7S cameras and that the Loxia line is “ready to exceed those expectations.”

The Importance of Expressing Vision in Photography

Sometimes it is difficult for me to look back at the photographs I created early in my career. The shots are all technically strong, but there is something missing. That missing element can be defined as vision. In this article, I will detail my journey in understanding the need to incorporate this crucial element into my art.