Who Should Fstoppers Feature Next?

That is the question we are currently asking our readers on our forum. We have a few really cool videos in the works but we still have to plan ahead. If you happen to admire a particular photographer please stop by our forum and write us a note, if we like what the photographer is doing we will travel to them and create a video for them free of charge. Visit the forum post by clicking here.
How to Calibrate Your Monitor With the Datacolor Spyder5ELITE: Plus Holiday Deals

With the holiday sales starting this week it's the perfect time to start calibrating your monitor or upgrade your old device to a new one. Datacolor is offering some great deals on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. So pick up a new device and read through my walkthrough on how to use your new toy.

The Last 3 Minutes Revisited

About a month ago we shared Shane Hurlbut's video The Last 3 Minutes and the behind the scenes on the making of that video. Here is another look at some more scenes from the short movie all filmed on the Canon 5D Mark II. It's really cool to see Shane taking the time to give commentary over this BTS footage. Enjoy.
I Learn To Scuba/Fail At Underwater Photography

I spend most of my time in Charleston, SC and NYC. It was February and Charleston was uncomfortably cold and NYC was unbearably cold. I had some free time so I decided to fly down to Placencia Belize and learn to scuba dive. As a photographer I wanted to get some cool photography as well. The trip ended up being the most memorable trip of my life but I broke 2 of my 3 underwater cameras on the first day and I didn't get a single quality image under the water... Read more after the jump and watch the youtube version is you happen to be on your cell phone. ><
Make your SB-800 better in under 10 minutes

I actually made a video about this over a year ago when I had no clue how to use Premiere. I also didn't have and wireless mics so I edited the whole video in movie maker and everyone who saw it said they couldn't hear me over the music. So we decided to reshoot it with our fancy D300s cameras, Sennheiser Mics, and Adobe Premiere. Hopefully you can understand me now because I am not going to do this again. Youtube version after the jump. ><
Behind The Mask Photography:  Glasspass Behind the Scenes

Marie-Louise Cadosch of Behind the Mask Photography is not your average run of the mill photographer. Her background as a fashion stylist seems to play a huge roll in creating a classy mood in her photographs. In her Glasspass behind the sceens video, Marie-Louise spares no effort on the production end and the images are great because of it. I love photographers who work with a large team of creative professionals, and you can really tell they add so much to overall mood of these images. It also looks like she gives a little Ode to the Kill Bill / Sin City movies without making it too obvious. Very cool shoot!

Glasspass Shooting - Behind The Scenes from Behind The Mask Photography on Vimeo.

Camera Preset Buttons:  Quickly Returning to your Previous Settings

Have you ever had to move between 3-5 different environments and maintain consistent exposure and color among each scene? Many photographers move between several locations every half hour (studio setup, indoor bounce flash, outside natural light, low light video) and have to quickly reset their camera's settings over and over again. Imagine only having to hit one button to revisit your camera's settings for an environment you were just in 20 mins ago! There could be a faster way to make those transitions.
68 Percent of Adults Edit Their Selfies Before Sharing Them With Anyone

Think we're in the middle of a Photoshopping epidemic? You don't even know how bad it is (well, now you do). According to a recent survey, 68 percent of adults take to some kind of photo editing before they share any photo with another person or online. As desktop and mobile editing tools become easier to use — with some even serving the specific purpose of being easy to use for the less technically inclined — Photoshopping images is the latest trend... and it's still growing.

David Jackson:  Behind the Scenes for Matter

I came across this video the other day by photographer David Jackson out of Appleton Wisconsin. David is a commercial photographer who like most innovative artists shoots primarily on location. Check out his latest behind the scenes video of a promotional shoot he did with Matters: A Design Store with a Cause. MATTER: Behind The Scenes from David Jackson on Vimeo.
Fstoppers Launches Today

In the past 3 months Patrick Hall and I (Lee Morris) have been working on this idea. As professional photographers we love watching other pros work. Everyone has their own technique and style and when a new behind the scenes video pops up on a blog or forum we are the first to watch it intently. We want fstoppers.com to become the website that has interesting, and informative videos of professional still and video shoots. Searching through vimeo.com is great if you want to see talented artist's work but our goal is to show you HOW they created their work. If you are a creative professional we want you to be a part of fstoppers.com. Join our Vimeo group and submit us your behind the scenes videos and articles. We will help you promote your business by posting your work on our site and you will help all of us learn a little bit more about our field. If you would like to be a part of Fstoppers in any way please email us at contactfstoppers@gmail.com.
French Magazine Publishes Princess Kate Sunbathing Topless

It's a standard today that once you get famous, you're going to have paparazzi following you around taking pictures. Granted, it's their job to get the juiciest shots possible to show up on the racks of your local convenience store. But, every few weeks there seems to be some new complaint by celebrities of invasion of privacy, so it begs the question, how far is too far?

Meet Patrick Hall:  Charleston Wedding Photographer

Patrick Hall is one of the founders and writers for fstoppers. In the summer when he is not shooting commercially, Patrick enjoys shooting weddings in Charleston. Check out this slideshow featuring his favorite images of 2009.
Celebrated Food Photog Marcus Nilsson Dishes on Shooting On-Camera Flash, Tilt-Shift Lenses, and Why He Hates Sandwiches

Marcus Nilsson thinks outside the box. A former chef, Nilsson stumbled into food photography and ended up being one of the photographers who shaped our contemporary approach to cuisine. Today, Nilsson is still pushing that envelope (with on-camera flash, what?!), and regularly works for some of the world’s top foodie magazines, including Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Martha Stewart Living, Details, Esquire, Everyday with Rachael Ray, the Food Network, GQ, and Travel+Leisure. Check out the full FS Spotlight interview below, where Nilsson dishes on shooting on-camera flash, tilt-shift lenses, crazy Mexican market foods, and why he hates sandwiches.
Charleston Family Portraits and Photography:  Charlestonfamilyphotography.com

Charleston Family Photography is a company based here in Charleston South Carolina that specializes in beach photography, family portraits, child photography, and group photos. What is so great about them is they use the natural environment as their studio so whether they are shooting family portraits at folly beach, isle of palms (IOP), Sullivan's island, or Kiawah Island, their photography really captures both the beauty of the sand and water as well as your family in their natural happy state. Most families will still want a few more traditional portraits with the entire group lined up...

[BTSV] Contest: A 360 Degree° Action Packed How To

Watch "The Chase", a behind the scenes look at a 360º panoramic car chase. Submitted by photographer/retoucher Eric Herrmann, producer Steven Hasegawa, BTSV Austin Kearsley with music by Zack Hemsey. The panoramic final image is pretty impressive, so, be sure to check it out here: thechasepano.com.
[Contest] Win a Lowepro Bag on Facebook

Last week we announced a contest on our Facebook sponsored by our friends over at Lowepro. It was only supposed to last one week, but we decided that we would show a little New Year's generosity and extend it an additional week. That means you can still enter to win an awesome Lowepro Pro Messenger 160 AW simply by telling us what style of bag is your favorite over at the Fstoppers Facebook page. Just click the contest tab and submit your answer. Enter now by clicking here. All entries must be received by January 3! Good luck!
Free Online Wedding Workshop: 
Location, Posing, Execution

People often ask me "what is the most difficult part of shooting weddings?" One challenge I face at every wedding is having to pose the bride and groom in less than flattering sunlight or in a less than perfect location. Wedding photographer Roberto Valenzuela is tackling this very issue during his creativeLIVE workshop. Robert's free-to-watch workshop will air September 6-8th and you can ask him anything live through webchat.

Shooting the Titanic: How Do You Light the World’s Most Famous Shipwreck?

Hey everyone! I'm Reese and I'm excited to be joining the Fstoppers team. Lee and Patrick have brought me on to do the FS Spotlight, a new weekly Q&A with professional photographers at the absolute top of their field. The interviews are going to touch on everything from from how they reached rock star status to shooting video to what cameras they shoot with and their advice to all aspiring photographers. Click the full post to read about Titanic Photographer Emory Kristof! As a writer/photographer myself, I want to hear how they got where they are and how they get these amazing shots, but more importantly I want to know what YOU want to hear from them as well. What's your interest? Surfing? Combat photography? Food? Retouching? If you could score a 5 minute Q&A with any photographer in the world, who would that be? Let me know!
[Video] How To Shoot Fashion Quickly In Any Location

Nick Fancher is the lifestyle photographer for the website JackThreads.com. JackThreads is constantly receiving large shipments of totally different types of apparel that need to be shot as quickly as possible. Nick takes us through a normal day of shooting that may involve multiple, totally different looking photoshoots. This is a fantastic example of how a poorly filmed video can still become a killer BTSV with some simple voice over information. The bottom line is that Nick uses the absolute smallest amount of gear to come up with fantastic images in an extremely short amount of time. I'm hoping that Nick has something big planned for our Behind The Scenes Contest.
[Video] ‘Park Life’ A Doc On Climbing, Life, And Filmmaking

The filmmakers at Louder Than 11 shot this documentary in Yosemite Valley and have made it freely available for anyone. While most of this visually-rich film shows bouldering, it’s all about the stories of the climbers, including the filmmakers themselves, who talk about balancing their passions for climbing and filmmaking. This has arguably some of the best graphics and editing I’ve seen in a rock climbing video. Shot on an AF100.
[Contest Entry] How To Shoot Fashion By Nick Fancher

A few weeks ago we posted a video by Nick Fancher that became a huge hit. Nick showed us what it was like to shoot for an online clothing store that required over 10 unique looks shot and edited every day. I was hoping that Nick would create another video for our Behind The Scenes Contest which ends on December 31st and lucky for us he did. With a camera and a few on camera flashes, Nick creates some fantastic shots.
Annie Leibovitz's Lighting, from the eyes of a Photo Assistant

Assistants, aka "voice activated light stands", can be a wealth of knowledge and experience if you are fortunate enough to have access to one that's been around. It's not entirely unheard of, to meet an assistant that knows their lighting better than the photographer they are working for. If only one of them would create a blog about their BTS exploits... wait a minute. What do we have here?

The Future of Streaming: Meet OBSBOT Tail Air

In the post-apocalyptic post-COVID world, video conferencing and streaming have become bigger than ever. The smart features of the OBSBOT Tail Air camera make it far more than just a simple camera with video capability. It has features that you will find in high-end remote cameras. It's small, high quality, and made for everything from large concerts to live interviews.

Why I Still Prefer the Optical Viewfinder Over the Electronic Viewfinder

In an era where electronic viewfinders have dominated most mirrorless cameras, it may seem old-fashioned to still use a DSLR camera with an optical viewfinder. Yet, as someone who has spent more than a decade behind the lens, constantly switching between mirrorless and DSLR, I still find myself drawn to the simplicity and authenticity of the optical viewfinder.

Adobe Announces Reflection Removal Feature

One skill a photographer must develop is determining which elements in a scene have the most potential to draw the viewer’s attention in the final image. Reducing the visual mass of distracting elements is crucial in directing the viewer’s attention. Sometimes, it is a matter of physically moving an object in the composition. Other times, it’s a matter of the photographer moving their position. Using a different focal length can help to emphasize or de-emphasize certain elements.

In Defense of 'Over-Editing': 3 Reasons I Love It and Reject the Criticism

I woke up with my morning coffee to these thoughts: “Overprocessing images can sometimes compromise the integrity of the image and do more harm than necessary. Here are several reasons why one should refrain from over-editing their images.” I thought to myself, “I need to caffeinate further before finishing this article” and took a big gulp of my coffee.