Happy Holidays from Fstoppers!

We are all at home visiting our families right now but we just wanted to wish all of our readers and fans a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday! We're going on almost three years strong now and are so lucky to have such a strong group of creative people that continue to support what we're doing. You can look forward to not only to the release of the most thorough Wedding DVD you'll ever watch, but more FS originals (it's about time, right?).

Droid X Travels Across America In 5 Minutes

Awhile back we featured a popular video by Jeff Calbom in his Walk Across America commercial. Smithje77 recently traveled from Washington to Maine in 7 days. He was creative enough to take photographs every 90 seconds with his Droid X and piece them together in this fun video. The video is no where near as complicated as Jeff's version but it's still fun to see how much the landscape changes across North America. This reminds me of the time my family drove from Alaska to Maryland and down to Alabama back when I was a kid. I'd love to see someone create another video like this but travel through some more extreme terrain like the Rockies or the Arizona desert. Always remember, just because you only have a camera phone doesn't mean you have an excuse not to be creative!
Take $765 Dollars Off Of The Nikon D7000 Bundle, Plus Great Deals On Canon And Impact Gear

Check out this massive discount on the Nikon D7000 bundled with the Nikon 18-200mm DX VR II and a ton of extras including a free Nikon 50mm f/1.8! You'll even get free overnight shipping through January 5th! Also, Impact is offering $85 dollars off its 3 pack of 7' Parabolic Umbrellas and the Canon EOS Rebel T3 with an 18-55mm IS II Lens is only $399.00!

Big Firmware Update For Fujifilm X-Pro1 Coming

Since its launch in early 2012, Fujifilm has received customer feedback regarding the X-Pro1's performance. Fujifilm has listened carefully to these comments. By installing the new firmware, consumers will see a significant improvement in Auto Focus speed, manual focus and processing/writing speeds. Read on to learn about the updates included and link where to find it when it comes available on September 18, 2012.

In-Camera Face Replacement, Just Around the Corner?

Camera/video tech is becoming ever more sophisticated to the point where we now have cameras that can recognize and track faces. So, how long will it be before we start seeing cameras that can completely change a person's face in-camera? Never going to happen you say? Tell that to Arturo Castro and Kyle McDonald.

Stand Out Photo Workshops Are Coming - Learn From Industry Leaders

If you hadn't heard of it before, the Stand Out! Photographic Forums is a huge photography industry event (taking place in New York City, Toronto, and Los Angeles) loaded with affordable workshops taught by some of the biggest and most successful names in the industry. You can learn directly from legends like Mark Seliger, Pratik Naik, and Michael Muller. Phase One was even nice enough to ask me to come and teach classes on digital teching and shoot pre-production. You should read below to learn more about all of the classes and offerings.

The Next Generation of Fstoppers

This week we are featuring a few standout BTS videos created by our readers for the Fstoppers Behind the Scenes Contest ending this Saturday. If you want to see all of the submissions jump on over to the forum and see how the competition is shaping up. In the meantime, you have to check out what Parker Smith and his [jr]high school friends created for the contest. While the photography itself is nothing ground breaking, seeing young photographers like Luke and Trent work with other teenagers is nothing short of inspiring. It just goes to show what a little initiative and some creativity can do.

BTS - Poolside Photo Shoot from Parker Smith on Vimeo.

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2023 in Use: A Step-by-Step Workflow

A lot has changed from the previous version of ACDSee. It has new tools and powerful AI features. If you are looking for Digital Asset Management, developing, and editing tool, the ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2023 may meet your needs. Here's a workflow introducing you to and guiding you through the main features of this dynamic software.

Wow Your Clients With This Beautiful Fine Art Album

Have you ever wondered what could separate your photography business from the competition, especially in crowded markets like engagement, wedding, and newborn photography? The Fine Art Album from Zno could be your unique selling point to make your business stand out.

Maximizing Your Potential: A Guide for Building Value and Setting Competitive Prices

As a photographer, understanding your place in the market is essential to the success of your business. Whether you are just starting out or are an established photographer, it's important to have a clear understanding of your competition, your preferred target audience, and demand for the photography services you offer.

Michael Muller Photographs Speedo

I guess this has become Speedo Week on Fstoppers! I recently discovered the photography of Michael Muller and must have spent a good hour on his website checking out all sorts of amazing photography! He has recently been working with Speedo for their summer catalog, and the production that goes into these shoots is insane. Click the post for a second video showcasing some BTS material from this shoot and be sure to check out Michael's website for all sorts of inspiring photography. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhy6g8Ewpac<
Free Educational Event: Sony Creative Space 2021

It's rare to have a free educational event. It's even rarer to have such an event with big-name educators such as Chris Burkard, Scott Robert Lim, and Brooke Shaden. But the Sony Creative Space 2021 is doing just that plus so much more.

How To Light A Land Rover By Tim Wallace

I just ran across this quick BTS of a Land Rover photoshoot. The video itself isn't that impressive but the photography sure is. It's really interesting to see how Tim Wallace determined his lighting. First he focused on the ambient light for the background and then after he had that locked in he added 3 strobes to fill in the car but keep the sky dark. >https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDq8O5ia4Mk<
Win Free Admission To The Fstoppers Photography Workshops In The Bahamas

Just a few hours and/or days left on these! The first ever Fstoppers Workshops taking place in the Bahamas May 28th - June 1st is quickly approaching. Our crazy Atlantis Hotel Discount Room Rate is expiring on the April 22nd , and all of the instructors are each running a social media contest for those of you wishing to attend. Collectively there are over 15 free spots in a variety of workshops. To enter, simply check out the full post

Last Days For Fstoppers January Photo Contest

It's the end of the month which means it's almost time to judge the monthly Fstoppers Forum photo contest. The response for this month has been really great and I can't wait to see who wins it and takes home some new gear. The final submissions will be valid until Midnight (EST) on Feb 1st so be sure to submit now rather than later. As we do every month, the winner of the contest gets to pick the next theme and Jay has chosen "Power". This month's winner will also win a custom image and website link on the Fstoppers rotating banner above and also a Photoflex Octodome Extra Small Kit which is our goto soft light for location shooting. As always, our contests are judged by the winner of the previous month's contest so you have to impress Dec winner Jay Malone and not anyone on the Fstoppers Staff. Have fun submitting to the January Fstoppers Forum Contest and good luck to everyone!
Tune In Live Tonight At 8PM for Q&A With Award Winning Newborn Photographer Stephanie Cotta

Tonight at 8pm Eastern, Stephanie Cotta will be hosting a live Spreecast answering all of your Newborn Photography questions. If you are currently photographing newborns, or would like to, and would like a sneek peek into the in-depth Ultimate Newborn Photography Tutorial currently sold in the Fstoppers store then this is your chance to tune in and ask newborn related questions on lighing, posing, composition, marketing, pricing, and everything in between. We will be giving away free tutorials during the event as well so tune in for details.

Fstoppers Photographers Party In San Fran Tonight

Lee Morris, Jaron Schneider, and I want to meet up with local photographers and friends tonight Sunday May 13th. Come join us for drinks and conversation at Vinyl Wine bar from 7pm-10pm. We don't expect a huge group so it should be a great low key get-together.

Vinyl Wine Bar
359 Divisadero St.
SF, CA 94117
(415) 621-4132

Lexar Announces New XQD and 256GB SDXC Cards

Until now, Sony has been the only XQD card manufacturer (you know, for those crazy fast, kind of small, and weird format cards that go into your Nikon D4). Finally, Lexar has announced their own 32GB ($299.99) and 64GB ($579.99) versions along with a USB 3.0 XQD card reader. The cards feature read speeds of up to 168MB/s (1100x) and slower write speeds that aren't yet stated. A 256GB SDXC 600x card was also announced, holding the high-end for both capacity and speed of Lexar's SD card lineup.

Fstoppers Photographer of the Month (October 2023): Dan Ostergren

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 2023, 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.

Novum Launches New BorrowLenses.com Website

When someone turns us onto a product or service we really enjoy we like to spread the word. Our friends over at Novum Studios just recently launched the new site design for BorrowLenses.com and it looks great. The Novum team was responsible for the site design you see on Fstoppers.com, and since we are not web designers, they have been instrumental in helping us turn our ideas into working realities. I can't really say enough about Case Sandberg and his team so if you need any custom wordpress design work check them out. Also check out Borrow Lenses new site especially if you want to test or rent gear for an upcoming project.
Are You Collaborating Correctly?

It can be frustrating when, as a new photographer, you want to work with models. You put your little ad up on Facebook and… nothing. What do you do?

Kandao's QooCam Fun Is Easy to Use, But Sacrifices Image Quality

There are a lot of cameras out there that are aimed at the burgeoning “vlogger” segment, from interchangeable lens cameras with flip-out screens, to converted action cameras. Kandao takes a different approach, repurposing some of its 360 technology to create the QooCam Fun.

Fstoppers Reaches 200,000 Facebook Fans: THANK YOU!

I think I speak for all of us here at Fstoppers when I say the last few years has been one hell of a ride. Fstoppers went from being a tiny little speck of a niche interest blog to over 10 million readers in just shy of three years. We're hugely proud of what this site has become to all of you, and hitting the 200,000 Like landmark means a lot to us. So thank you!

Would You Pay To Watch Select Vimeo Content?

Vimeo recently rolled out a Tip Jar feature for it’s content creators, where you can tip a donation to the artist. Coming up next for Vimeo is a Pay-To-View service, where audiences will actually have to pay to watch the video. It’s controlled solely by the creators, but will Vimeo take a cut of the money, like they do with the tip jar?