Fstoppers Original Articles

There are countless tools, tricks, and techniques photographers use to edit their photographs. This is one I use 99 percent of the time when editing my landscape images.

When it comes to taking photos on your mobile device in low light, the options are kind of terrible: a super bright flash that blinds everyone and a not so great photo or ambient light in a dark room where everyone ends up blurry or even grainy. This ridiculously easy iPhone hack will take your low light mobile photos to a whole new level.

In this extended essay, I’ll go into detail on my decision to invest heavily in a cinema camera, and the pros and cons related to the purchase.

Automation is a very good thing. From streamlining our workflows to speeding up client interactions and accepting payments, we are living in a time where the right software packages make running our business much easier. However, blindly trusting that pieces of software are doing what they're supposed to do can lead to financial losses or worse. A few days ago, I found this out the hard way.

After almost five years of adventures, it is finally time to upgrade. My Canon EOS 6D Mark I has served me well, and it’s been a reliable companion that I’m sorry to consign to bubblewrap, parcel tape, and eBay. Over the years, I've become quite attached to it.

Data management is a constant headache for photographers and videographers. Fortunately, hard drive manufacturers are going to release two new technologies this year geared to increase storage capacity.

A few days ago, China landed a rover on the far side of the moon and captured the first ground image of this hemisphere. But the Soviet Union already photographed the dark side 59 years ago with a little help from Kodak and a top secret U.S Air Force program.

We've all had our fair share of nightmare clients. I'm part of a Facebook group where photographers air their grievances and seek advice from their peers on how to handle certain situations. A recent topic of conversation was sharing stories of nightmare wedding clients and potential red flags they look for during their initial consultation. See below for some of my favorites.

Recently, there has been a push to have photographers keep their shoot locations secret, as park administration and others are asking photographers not to geotag their images. I don’t agree, and think this practice is counterproductive.

If you rely heavily on HDR for your image processing, I have some news for you: It can be a lazy approach, and you may be using it in the wrong applications. It's time to learn about the limitations of HDR and far better alternatives at your disposal.

If you want to keep your business relevant or have that breakthrough year you’ve been dreaming of, you need to have a plan in place that continually attracts quality clients. Here is where you can find them in 2019.

Matthew Leifheit, Yale graduate and recent student of Gregory Crewdson, had his first solo exhibition at DELI Gallery in Brooklyn.

I have mentioned before that I am always seeking new ways to improve. Today, I want to share one of my daily initiatives that I religiously employ, and that’s my daily color exploration.

It sits in your pocket, your closest friend, day-in day-out, doing your every bidding at the slightest touch. The smartphone is a modern marvel and is likely the first camera you'll reach for when out and about, needing to take a snap. But do you really know this camera, this closest of allies. Let me introduce you.

A scratched car, tiredness, and terrible weather are just some of the things you might encounter in your photography. I was hit by all three on a late evening in the Faroe Islands.

Nothing beats the thrill of discovery — especially if that discovery involves a long-lost tape of your 80s era wedding, for example.

While it is true that a photo or design element is instantly copyrighted the moment it’s created, there are still a few good reasons to update your copyright on your website and within your metadata in photos at the start of a new year.

Here are 10 things to stop doing in the New Year if you want to be a better, happier photographer and maybe make more money to boot.

If you are a parent, the obvious answer to “What’s the best camera to photograph my kids” is a pro DSLR, such as a Nikon D5, and a fast lens, like a 24-70mm f/2.8. However, those don't travel well in a diaper bag, so what’s a parent factoring carrying kids into his purchasing decision to do?

What does photography mean to you? In this article, I share my story about how photography changed my life and my journey as an artist. See my ups, my downs, and see what it took me to get where I am today.

Do you hate using a tripod? Do you find it too cumbersome to use, heavy, and do you think it stands in the way of creative photography? You are not the only one. I meet a lot of photographers during my workshops and masterclasses that find the tripod a necessary evil. And most of the time, it is because they are using it the wrong way.

Do you find that you’re a better creative while under the influence of drugs or alcohol? This article explores why substance abuse is so common among artist and explores less harmful alternatives.

You’ve covered your bases for that ever elusive amazing sunset shot: you’ve checked the time for sunset, mapped the exact location of the sun, and have composed a few frames so you know what to do when you get to the location. But what about the location itself?

Some photographers in Toronto, ON have used the ever-popular colored smoke grenades for some sort of video/photoshoot, leaving behind a deep red stain on a beautiful marble archway, and were even careless enough to simply leave behind the grenade instead of taking it with them, which brings me to my point: we need to be better.

As 2019 arrives, I look back at my camera-purchasing decisions over the last 12 months and learn a lesson or two about the meaning of the word “value.”

Trying to choose the right underwater housing can be overwhelming. Depending on the camera body you have, an underwater housing can easily be double what the camera cost. How can you be sure it’s the right fit before you splurge on this expensive piece of gear?

Want to start the new year with a free tutorial from Fstoppers? All you have to do is help us choose our Photographer of the Year!

It's almost 2019, meaning that it's the best time to update all of our information and branding. New logos, new website designs, new profile pictures, and to go along with all of that, brand new business cards!

Your smartphone might have the perfect auto-mode for the job, why not save some time?

Although it’s fun to spend time with family and friends on New Year’s Eve, it’s also a blast to be out photographing a wedding when the clock strikes midnight. After all, this is the kind of wedding that can only happen once a year. I’ve compiled a few tips to make sure the couple gets hitched without any hitches. Many of these will also apply to snowy or chilly winter weddings.

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 2018, 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.

As the old business adage goes: "not planning is planning to fail." It's time to get serious about your photography or videography in 2019, with an effective and actionable goal planner. Here's what mine looks like.

Morality and photography are two areas which usually only cross paths with photographic assignments to war-torn nations or tragedy. However, one photographic outfit in the UK is exploiting one of the most beautiful times in a person's life.

Tampa Bay, Florida: A local photographer who made a New Year's resolution this morning to not purchase any unnecessary gear in 2019 unfortunately only lasted 90 minutes before breaking it.

From bags, to tripods, and gadgets: were there any standout products that people picked up?

When it announced the a7 III in February 2018, Sony set the bar alarmingly high. What does it have in store for 2019?

If your partner is not involved in the photography or videography industry, you may not have thought about teaching them to become your assistant or second shooter. But what if this could be a great addition to your photography? Let's look at how this could help you build your business!

Just after Christmas can be a great time to grab yourself some photography related bargains. Follow these crucial tips to save thousands of dollars and stay safe online.

“Award-winning photographer.” Now, more than ever, I see the term popping up in a biography. But I wondered, does it hold any merit in 2018? With so many claiming to have received awards — most of which I’ve never heard of — it’s become a pet peeve of mine. Has the prestige of winning a photography award been diminished?

Thanks to apps like Instagram, there are some concepts that we've seen literally thousands of times, and at this point, they all blur into the same bland flavor. 2018 felt like the year of the lone person standing by waterfall, and seriously, we're sick of seeing that same shot over and over again.

With 2018 winding down to a close, it's time to start thinking about what to do with all of those wondrous images we've created. Storing them on a hard drive is difficult, because if the hard drive gets lost — so do your photos. The New Year is a perfect time to re-organize your life, do some cleaning, and keep your photos safe!

New underwater photographers often ask me what my favorite lens is for creating underwater images. And while I have a few different lenses that I shoot with underwater, none get used more than my Tokina AF 10-17mm f/3.5-4.5 AT-X 107 AF DX Fisheye Zoom Lens. It is lightweight, great for travel, and has a very short focusing distance, which makes it ideal for close focus wide angle underwater photography.

I've been sitting here for a bit, wondering what the worst gear release by a major manufacturer was in 2018, then I realized the answer was crystal clear.

As far as perks of being a photographer go, traveling the world and documenting everything you see along the way is right up there with the best of them. Luckily for Pep Bonet, he’s been around the globe as Motorhead’s previous resident photographer of 7 years, as well as documenting the impact of war and disease in Africa. Then, he became one of the first in Europe to test out the Nikon Z7 and S-line NIKKOR Z lenses. So how did he find it faired against DSLRs?

The long awaited version 3 of Luminar from Skylum arrived this month. It held the promise of new features, and digital assets management tools (DAM) that would rival Lightroom. That's important, because some percentage of photographers don't like the Adobe subscription model, and while powerful, Lightroom's Library management can be a pain. Of course others love it, and would never switch.

Second shooting is a great way to gain experience and fill out unbooked weekends, but there are a lot of things you can do to maximize your returns.

Most of us tend not to think too much about relative screen brightness and the appearance of our photos across the myriad of devices they may be viewed on. But should we?

High ISO is usually meant to be used when there's not enough light. However, there are cases when you have to take it up from its minimum value even when the sun is bright.

Photographing war has a long history dating back to at least Mathew Brady's photos of the American Civil War. Some images become inextricably linked to the events they portray. So what is it about this image that makes it so powerfully representative of the First World War?

Even if we're not professional photographers, most of us at some point have fancied getting paid full-time to take photos. Weddings? Sports? Fine art? Press? Commercial? How about a medical photographer?